The room was dark, the only source of light three flickering candles on an antique oak dining table. Hooded and masked figures stood in front of me. They stared expectantly at me, like I was about to speak. "Bring forth the prisoners, Lestrange." A cold, high voice spoke using my lips. Pleasure rippled through my being as the man and his family were brought forward. They knelt in front of me, the children whimpering. "What do you have to say for yourself, Dearborn?" I sneered. The man took a shaky breath and opened his mouth to answer. "Take into consideration," I added; "That if you speak in defiance your family may not be treated very," I paused, pretending to be searching for the right word "Humanely." I drawled, doing everything in my power to make the man before me quake with fear, but he sucked in a deep breath and looked up, staring right into my eyes.
"We will not join you." He hissed. I laughed, which sent the children into hysterics. I flicked my wand at them and their cries were silenced.
"I like you, Dearborn." I purred, "There's room for you in this world. But I'm sorry, there's none for your family." Dearborn screamed in agony as simultaneously three bursts of green light hit his two children and his wife. "Crucio" I cried, attempting to make his pain worse. He slumped to the ground defeated and sobbing. Disgust rushed through my body and I turned my attention back to my death eaters, the half light made their skeletal masks glow eerily. "Remove the Mudblood from my sight." I spat. Immediately three sprang into action and I felt a deep satisfaction. I turned to leave the room and caught sight of my reflection in the glass of the window overlooking the expansive garden. The candles only divulged one half of my face to the reflection. A cold, blood-red eye; high, deathly pale cheekbones; thin, white lips; and perfectly combed brown hair.
I screamed. Sweat was pouring down my face, my t-shirt twisted and my legs tangled in the sheets. Someone grabbed my hands, pulling them away from me. The pale blue walls, old wooden furniture and red carpet were unfamiliar to me. The other person in the room caught my jaw in his hand and turned my face. Familiar pale blue eyes caught mine and I smiled in recognition. "Remus." I croaked. He merely chuckled as my flailing limbs dropped and a small frown appeared on his brow.
"Natalie," his voice was calm and soothing, "Are you alright? What was that?" his face showed deep concern and suddenly the details of my... vision of sorts came flooding back. I flew out of his grasp and ran out of the room to the bathroom. I am quite unsure of how I knew where to run but my instincts must have kicked in. Either that or I smelt the soap. I pulled back from the toilet and lay down on the cool tiles of the floor.
"Nat?" Remus called from the doorway. He looked quite frightened at this point and I couldn't blame him, I was acting crazy. It suddenly occurred to me that I was obviously not at the leaky cauldron, where I had started, and quite obviously at Remus' own house. For the life of me I couldn't remember how I got there. "Want a shower?" Remus asked tentatively. I nodded and he threw me a towel, closing the door firmly shut on his way out. As I turned on the water pieces of the night before began to flow through my mind as I remembered exactly what had occurred.
I had arrived at the leaky cauldron at around 9pm. Upon entering I attempted to coerce the barman, Tom, into letting me lodge for the night and pay in the morning. I had been having a late dinner at a table when a guy at the bar had started buying me drinks. That's when it all got a little fuzzy. I distinctly remembered dancing to some kind of awful music but had no recollection of Remus ever meeting me. I turned the taps on and sighed when the steaming water impacted on my body, I closed my eyes, relaxing. As soon as the darkness engulfed me I saw the pale face and red eyes of my nightmare. I snapped my eyes open and gasped. I suddenly knew who those eyes had belonged to. There had been rumours flying of a tall thin man in dark robes, determined to rid the world of those unworthy of magic. They said he had a deathly pale face and his eyes were red, stained from the blood he had spilled, that he called himself a Dark Lord. My father had told me about him, during the summer. He was gathering purebloods'' who shared his views, and most of them did, to create a force that could influence the ministry and those who associated with it. There were not many facts about the man and he was keeping well off the radar of the non-pureblood society. It was clear this man was the one from my dream, although it was more a nightmare. I had no idea how I could have dreamed of someone I had never met. Frankly, it terrified me, I didn't want to start having crazy visions of the future. Past. Present? I wasn't completely sure. I pushed it to the back of my mind as I shut off the water and wrapped the towel around me. I found my trunk in Remus' empty bedroom and dressed myself. Nicking one of his hooded jumpers from his chest of draws, I strolled down the stairs and wandered about the house until I came across him. He was sitting in an armchair in the lounge reading a book. I slid onto a seat on the couch, the movement made me a little queasy. I coughed, attempting to gain his attention but he was completely absorbed in his novel. I ended up having to throw a cushion at him, which caused him to jump violently and swear loudly, apparently I had scared him.
"Happy birthday." He exclaimed after he had gotten over the initial shock. I had completely forgotten what the date was and honestly it took me by surprise. This birthday had certainly not been, so far, as good as the last one.
"Err thanks. Yay." I cheered sarcastically.
Remus looked concerned yet again, "Come on Nat, cheer up, you only turn sixteen once." he cried. I winced, the night before little escapade had left me feeling a bit under the weather. He sighed and then shrugged, "I suppose an anti-hangover potion is in order?" I looked at him adoringly, which he took as a yes, please and set off to the kitchen, whilst I lay back on the couch trying to gain a few more minutes of sleep. This was sadly interrupted as Remus came flying back into the room yelling at the top of his lungs, which caused me to cringe at his ungodly volume. "What in god's name are you doing here on your birthday? Why aren't you at home? Do your parents know you went out and got completely pissed last night?" he flung questions at me for five whole minutes before he calmed down and removed the cushions, I had been using as a sound barrier, from my head. "Natalie Athena Delano." He sounded like my mother, "Why were you staying at the leaky cauldron last night?" he asked, calmly. I sighed and felt angry tears spring to my eyes as I told him everything; how my father was not letting me go back to Hogwarts because he was afraid that I would be used as leverage if he was asked to join the Dark Lord's followers; how my mother and father didn't really care about blood but did not want to have to choose a side; how my brother was absolutely gleeful I was leaving the house; and finally how I was without my family, the people who were meant to support you and love you, on my birthday. By the time I had finished my story, tears were running thick and fast down my cheeks. Remus let out a sigh. "Well, you best be staying here then." He grinned at me.
I slept most of the day and received no word from my family or other friends, so I was more than a little grumpy when Remus woke me up in the afternoon. I stalked down the stairs and flopped into a chair at the kitchen table. He laughed at me and I gave him a death glare. "Erm, Remus?" I mumbled into my hand that was holding up my head. "What happened last night? We didn't... err" I coughed meaningfully. God I hoped we hadn't. He looked at me bewildered. And I thought he was supposed to be the smart marauder. I raised one eyebrow and I swear I saw understanding click into place in his head.
"Oh, no!" he exclaimed, "No no no no no." I sighed with relief.
"Thank god." I groaned.
"Oh, thanks." He said, offended.
"Not that I wouldn't it, it's just that I, erm, don't, erm, it would be bad for our friendship." I clarified. He simply chuckled to let me know he wasn't serious. I sighed again. "So, err, how did I get here?" I wondered aloud. Apparently he had found me at the leaky cauldron completely sloshed, "And the Tom was trying to get you out of the pub, you had caused a fight of some kind, so when you screamed out my name and tackled me Tom threw your trunk at me and told me to get you the hell out of his pub." He smiled brightly at the end of the story and I groaned and buried my face in my hands, shaking my head sadly. It was just typical of me to get thrown out of a pub. It was just another day in the life of Natalie Athena Delano.
The rest of my birthday was reasonably good. Well, that is if you call receiving no word from any of your friends or family, being homeless and immensely hung over, good. You do? Me too. Note the sarcasm. Ok so I wasn't homeless but Remus' house didn't exactly scream, we have so much space for one more person. Really it was kind of screaming, get out of my house you crazy, alcoholic, bitch! There was no spare room so I was either going to have to share a bed with Remus for the rest of the holidays or sleep on the couch. You can guess which one I chose. Remus had actually bought me a birthday present, the complete stories of Sherlock Holmes, which I was rather engrossed in when the front door swung open and in walked a man. He looked like he was in his early twenties and had the same chocolate brown hair as Remus. From what I could see he was quite tall, around 6'5", and was wearing blue faded jeans, black combat boots and a white singlet that showed off his muscular arms. I may have drooled a little at the sight. I put down my book as he trudged over to the armchair next to mine. He slumped into the soft red cushions and leant his head back, closing his eyes. I cleared my throat. He snapped his eyes open and sat up straight as a board.
"Who the hell are you?" he said, "You scared the hell out of me." I felt his eyes roam over my figure, and settle on my face.
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair and pleaded my mouth to from words. I was slightly inept with speech when confronted with a handsome man. This encounter was no different. "I'm, err, Remus." I finally managed to spit out after ten seconds of awkward silence. I realised that what I had just said made no sense. I tried again. "I'm, err, Remus', umm, a friend of Remus." There we go; normal human interaction. I blushed, wishing myself out of the situation. Obviously no higher power heard my plea. I mean it's not like I couldn't have a normal conversation with a good looking guy, it was just awkward that I was sitting on his couch and he had no clue who I was. I'm not mentally insane!
"Oh, you're the bird he came in with last night." He exclaimed. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I was pathetic. "Is he a good shag?" oh dear god what had I gotten myself into.
I squeaked in surprise at his bluntness. "oh, erm, no. I mean, wait." I stumbled over my words, trying to get them out of my mouth as quickly as possible. My abilities of speech astound me. "I didn't sleep with him." I mumbled, my cheeks flushed.
It was his turn to blush. "Oh, right sorry. I just assumed." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. We lapsed into an awkward silence, which lasted over a minute.
I was the one to break it, "I'm Natalie, by the way." I had finally found some conversational skills.
"Right," he exclaimed, "I remember you! I was a fourth year when you were a first. Romulus."
"Oh!" I had a sudden flash of recognition. "You were the seventh year James and I locked in a broom cupboard in third year!" I grinned at the memory.
He playfully glared at me, "That was you?" See I'm not totally hopeless! Conversation!
I chuckled and nodded. "I remember Remus telling me you were his brother, but I don't think I ever remembered when I needed too."
He chuckled and shook his head in mock despair. "You guys were little shits back then." He laughed again.
"But you have to admit." I added, "We were one hell of a team of mischief makers."
He shook his head in mock despair. "That you were." He winked and I felt myself melt into the couch. Okay so maybe I am completely hopeless. I attempted to smile flirtingly but I think I just looked like a gremlin.
A/N: IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT VOLDEMORT! READ!
So the end of another chapter. This one was a bit fluffy but its based mostly on my experiences (with good looking boys that is. I tend to make strange sounds or say thank you at rather inappropriate times). I hope I captured the creepiness that is Voldemort. I understand that most people will write comments on how Big V looked. Now I understand he is bald and has snake-like features in Harry's times, but I believe that he did not always look like that, sure he would have looked freaky but he still would have some human features it was only after he returned that he got the whole snake look down packed. That's my theory.
Anyway, enough of that. Pointers? Anything I'm doing wrong? Wanna complain about something? Criticism? REVIEW!