Chapter Twelve

I WOKE UP TO THE bright full moon shinin' through my window. It looked so beautiful an' peaceful out there, what with the skies clear and the thousands and millions of stars shinin' just as brightly as the big, orange moon, the moon that we called the harvest moon.

I sat up, stretchin', not feelin' tired anymore. If there was one thing I loved, it was the breathtakin' view of the night world illuminated by the moon and stars. I hadn't seen a view like this since the last time I'd lived in the country, which was some two or three years ago. It was a sight that I sorely missed.

Jumpin' out of bed, I grabbed some runnin' shorts an' a tanktop, throwin' them on as I searched for a glass of water to ease my parched throat. As a second thought, I ran and grabbed my gun in its holster that Dumbledore had given me a couple days ago, clippin' it on the waistband of my shorts. I almost thought about getting' Wattie, but then I changed my mind, figurin' he wouldn't want to be woke up just to go gawk at the night sky with me. Not many people had shared my interests, so I didn't force them.

I went over to my window, tryin' to see if I could open an' just climb out of it so I didn't have to try an' sneak 'round the castle, bein' quiet while tryin' not to get lost. I was pleased to see there was a latch, but the latch was hard to try an' move. Usin' all of my strength, I just managed to flip it, flyin' into the window when it suddenly gave away. I winced at the noise, lookin' over my shoulder at the door, figurin' somebody was gonna walk through it any second. When no one did, I let out a sigh of relief an' slid it open, hoppin' up on the sill an' droppin' to the ground in a crouch, glad that it wasn't a long drop.

The September night was crisp an' cool, a slight breeze light against my warm skin. I leaned against the castle wall, glad I was finally out. It had been almost a week since escapin' to that wizardin' town, an' I was desperately needin' another relief from bein' locked up indoors, an' at the moment, I could think of no better escape than this.

I pushed off the wall and began to walk along the grounds, takin' in the sights of both the sky an' the school itself, startin' to appreciate the beauty of both. I hadn't realized that the castle was…well, a real castle. But it was, fit with the little towers an' walkways on top, all of which when I was younger I knew the appropriate names but had forgotten them since. The stone was old an' gray, but had no sign of cracks or crumblin' pieces, which I had fully expected.

Lookin' over to my left, I saw this wide expanse of forest, the same dark one that I'd confronted Bellatrix my first day, helpin' the little kid. Figurin' it wouldn't hurt anythin', I walked towards it, takin' deep breaths of the fresh air. I knew Dumbledore wouldn't like what I was doin', an' that I'd be in for quite the earful when he found out, but I didn't care. It was my life, an', even if he had saved it, I wanted to live, live the best that I could. An' that included sneakin' out an' explorin'.

I wasn't sure what I'd expected to find in the woods, maybe some mythical, magical creatures or somethin', but I was kinda disappointed. It was strangely quiet an' empty, none of the nightlife was scurryin' 'bout, getting' business done. Maybe the teachers had cleared the space out for the safety of the students, or maybe there was nothin' here to begin with. Or maybe…maybe they were all in the shadows, yellow eyes peeled an' on me, tryin' to see who would be the first to eat me. That was a pleasant thought that sent shivers down my spine. I would've been scared outta my mind had I had any sense or not been armed, makin' me grateful to the ol' man once again.

It was then that the howl split the night air as quickly as if you'd sliced through butter. It was the eeriest and creepiest thing I'd ever heard…like a mix between a wolf an' a human cry. An', whether it was my imagination or not, it sounded hungry, an' I didn't plan to stick 'round for a midnight snack.

Turnin' on my heels to walk the other way, I heard fast approachin' heavy but stealthy footsteps. My heart started racin' ninety miles a minute, leavin' me outta breath an', for once in my life, scared outta my mind. Who knew what that thing could be, or even if I could kill it? I ducked behind a tree just as the noise came closer an' somethin' bounded into view.

I nearly fainted at the sight, knowin' I was gonna have nightmares for months if I lived to see the mornin' light.

I didn't exactly know how to describe this…thing, other than it was huge, even more so when it stood on it's hind paws-or were they feet?-, sniffin' the air. It was like a hugemongous wolf, but it's shape was all wrong. It was lanky, with ridiculously long arms and legs, with hands attached to the arms and feet to the legs, like you would find on a person. The skin, flesh, fur, whatever you wanted to call it, was shiny and smooth and a sickly grey, glistenin' in the moonlight. It's long snout turned my way, still sniffin' the air, and that's when I saw the large ice blue eyes. A shock went through me as I realized I'd seen those eyes before. But I couldn't have. An' if I had…then where?

All of a sudden the thing became as stiff as a board, head facin' my way, and that's when it's eyes went from the startlin' blue to the deep green in the time of one second flat. It let out a bloodcurdlin' howl, as if in triumph, an' started to move my way.

I whipped my head back 'round an' took deep, calmin' breaths. It's okay…there was nothin' to be afraid of, except some weird hybrid beast that wanted to eat me. No problem. I could take it, right? With my back against the tree, I reached for the hilt of my gun, pullin' it out slowly so I wouldn't make any more sound than I probably already was. I knew that, if I wanted to make it outta here alive, I would have to make the first move, catchin' the beast by surprise.

I cleared my mind, counted to three, an' jumped from behind the tree, bringin' the gun up an'—

The breath left my body as somethin' huge crashed into my side, slammin' me into the ground. I let out a scream, actually terrified, an' looked up into the grey eyes of a huge black dog whose jaw was open, as if it were 'bout to rip my throat out. Honestly, this couldn't get any weirder or worse, could it? Except for the fact that I couldn't feel my gun in my hand anymore. Yeah. That was much worse.

I brought my fist up an' hit the dog as hard as I could in the chest, makin' it yelp so I could shove it off me. I crawled on the ground, searchin' for my gun, an' I saw it, maybe two feet to my right. I lunged forward, an' just as my hand wrapped 'round it, the beast reappeared, howlin' in my face. I let out another scream an' brought the gun up, pullin' the trigger before I even had a chance to aim, squeezin' my eyes shut 'cause I knew this'd be the last moment of my life.

The loud crack filled the air, then the howl of pain an' the loud crash of it hittin' the ground. I opened my eyes, darin' to hope that it was dead. But it wasn't. I'd only gotten it in the arm, but it was stunned, an' that was my chance. I lept to my feet an' too, off, sprintin' for the castle.

I didn't make it as far as I would've like, though.

I heard steps, an' then a shadow fell over me an' it was crouched in front of me, teeth bared an' a wild look in it's already crazed green eyes. I lifted my shakin' left hand up, ready to fire again, when I heard a bark an' the dog reappeared, only this time there was a stag with it, which was chargin' the beast while the dog lept at me, lockin' my arm in its jaws.

Yellin' and spittin' out streams of curses, I kicked it an' backed away, eyein' all the new threats. But when I looked back to the dog, it was standin' in front of me, growlin' and barin' its teeth at the beast, which the stag was rammin' its horns into.

Confused by this turn of events, I wasn't able to do much but stand there like a blunderin' moron lookin' like a fish outta water. Eventually, the stag an' the beast disappeared into the woods, leavin' me with the dog, who was watchin' them until he couldn't hear them anymore. Once he was satisfied the danger was gone, or at least that's what I assumed he was doin', he turned to look at me with a very human-like expression in his familiar grey eyes.

I stared back for a second, an' then I began to sway, feelin' woozy and awfully dizzy. This had got to be the strangest day of my life, an' how did I cope? I passed out, fallin' to the ground as the darkness swallowed me whole.

A/N: So, what'd you guys think? Sorry this one was kinda slow too…I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go with this chapter, but I think I got it all sorted out! (Well…hopefully!) Sadly, there wasn't as much action as I could've hoped for…but, eh, then again, I wasn't sure HOW to get that…but, eh, whatever. I tried. Maybe next time will be better!

So, anyways, my thank-you's:

midnight zoe: Yeah, thanks for all your help, by the way! Glad you liked it!

Arina-Peachy: Haha nah, s'okay! I do that all the time, and then as soon as I let it known to the world, it's like Wow! Seriously? I knew that! Haha glad it's not just me! :) Thanks and I'm glad you liked it!

xXallegedangelXx: Haha the crazy imaginations are the best! In my world, anyways. And yeah…it just…*sniff, sniff*…brings tears to your eyes! Why didn't they get run over? Did you not go through your plan enough times to look for flaws or were the stupid things just trying to mess up your fun? ;) Dumbledore shouting? Now THAT'D be a scary sight! Like…something from a horror movie! Eh, maybe I SHOULD have him shouting at somebody… And the fish idea's good…I think I might have to use that, if you don't mind…that sounds like fun! XD Thanks for your review and for making me laugh everytime!

What's A Kammel-Monkey: Yeah, yeah, whatever! And plus, only one of them's my Twin…the other's my sister. Get it right! :) Glad you liked the chapter!

Also, to any of you who are interested, I've created a website that has images of the characters in this (and my other) FanFic(s), so go check it out and give me feedback, please! As you've already figured out, I don't bite unless provoked. Here's the web address:

www . witchynikesfanfics . weebly . com

but without the spaces in between, k? Thanks guys!

Alrighty then everyone! All that's left is for you to review and let me know what you thought! I love the feedback I've been getting! Keep it up! R&R!

Nike