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Krysta · 10-21-2008, 09:46 AM

Chapter 23, Part 3

"Should we wake them?" asked Sirius smiling down at the pair who had fallen asleep wrapped in each other's arms. Krys stood beside him smiling gently.
"It seems a shame." She replied. "Reminds me of us. Snuggled up on the Gryffindor sofas." She added with a sigh.
"Krys, darling, you and I never snuggled on the Gryffindor sofas." He commented with a frown. Krys suddenly looked uneasy and slightly bemused as though she'd just rethought that memory.
"Er, we didn't?" she asked trying to sound innocent and not at all succeeding.
"Krys, is there something you want to tell me?" he asked with a sly squint. She kissed him softly on the cheek.
"Not just now darling." She answered and reached down to shake Ron's shoulder. "C'mon lover boy we got work to do." She murmured close to his ear.
"Mmmm." Replied Ron turning a little and tightened his arms around Hermione who had begun to stir a little.
She was actually the first to come round and opened her mouth in horror when she saw the two adults standing over them with amused expressions on their faces. She sat bolt upright and in doing so knocked Ron out of his slumber.

"What the…argh!" he cried when he saw Krys's blue eyes staring into his. Krys grinned in amusement at his reaction and stood upright again. Ron rubbed the back of his neck and looked nervously from Hermione to Krys to Sirius.
"We, er…"
"We were tired and we…"
"Were a bit in shock!"
"You know with everything that's happened."
"And we…"
"Just fell asleep?" asked Krys, who was visibly trying not to laugh at their guilty mumblings. They both nodded enthusiastically.
"Of course." Agreed Sirius with a smirk.
Hermione straightened her top and rearranged the fabric of her jeans whilst Ron tried desperately to sort out his hair which very much resembled Harry's.
"Come on." Krys said in a more serious tone. "We've got problems."

"So they're in the forest?" asked Sirius looking at Hermione who sat on the other side of the table.
They were sitting at one end of the Gryffindor table in The Great Hall. They'd been joined by Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Hagrid; who was sitting sideways on the bench since he couldn't quite get both legs under the table.
Most of the other students had already been sent home, the Hogwarts Express having left that morning. The concern was now the fifty or so kids still out there.
Hermione nodded in response to the question.
"They're in the old temple. They're being held there but I don't know who by." She explained and Ron noticed that Krys was gripping a piece of parchment in her hands. It was the one Harry had been reading earlier when he'd gone to the infirmary to fetch him. Hermione had clearly also noticed.
"That scroll." She said looking at Krys. "It's from the person holding them. He wants Harry so you will go after him." She continued and Krys stared at the table.
"Yes, I know." Sirius and Snape looked at her sternly.
"I thought you said Dracus was taken care of." Snape said, darkly.
"Hugo Dracus is no longer a concern." She replied with a nod.
"Then who?" asked Sirius. Ron frowned. He wanted to know, as Harry had, what had happened to Dracus and how Krys had escaped from the Coven in the first place. But he knew this wasn't the time for the question.

"I can't say for sure…"
"But you have a pretty good idea." Snapped Snape and she looked at him, her eyes burning.
"He isn't your concern. He won't harm those kids."
"Why not? How can you be sure?"
"Because he doesn't care about them. He only wants me."
"Then why does he have them?"
"Because he knows I won't let anything happen to them. He's going to hand them over to…to Voldemort."
"What?" everyone replied in one voice.
"I think you need to come clean with us, Krys."
"It's…" she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "It's Caeleb Dracus." She finally replied and the remaining colour drained completely from Professor McGonagall's face.

Ron looked at Hermione for some sign that she understood what this meant but she looked as confused as he felt. He looked back at Krys who was staring at the table in a desperate attempt to avoid the gaze of Sirius. There was silence for a few moments, which was suddenly broken when Sirius got up from the table and walked briskly away from them. As the door slammed behind him, Krys jumped and sniffed. Her eyes were shut but Ron could see they were pink around the edges.
Professor Snape's expression was as dark as Ron had ever seen it but he looked at Krys with pity more than anger.
"What does Voldemort want with the students?" he asked in his low droning tone. Krys wiped her eyes and looked up, trying to draw strength from somewhere. To Ron it looked like all her strength had gone out the door with Sirius.
"Because when he wakes up tomorrow morning, he's going to be feeling extremely hungry." She answered and to begin with Snape looked confused. But something resembling clarity and horror was manifesting itself on his face.
"No. You can't mean…"
"We can't let that happen, Krysta."
"I know that!" she cried back at McGonagall who looked desperately worried about something.
"He made a deal with Caeleb; the kids for me. He would use Harry to lure me out there and Voldemort would get Harry as a bonus."
"But he can't hurt Harry, can he?" asked Hermione and Ron looked at her questioningly. She gave him a look that said she would explain later. Krys shook her head.
"No, but he would make him watch as he killed the others."
"Krys, how on earth do you know all this?" asked Snape. Krys looked at the table once more, her fingers shaking.
"Tom told me. The deal was…he would let them all go, allow our escape from the Chamber." She began to explain and everyone was looking at her with equal expressions of disbelief and dismay. An ugly sneer was appearing on Snape's face.

"You made a deal with him?!" cried Ron in disgust.
"I had no choice, Ron!" she looked around at everyone pleadingly. "We would all have died down there. I…I had to!"
"And what was your end of the deal?" asked Hermione, her voice shaking, close to tears.
"He wanted to put an end to Dracus. I guess he was sick of Dracus swanning around like Lord of The Manor. He needed him out of the way. What I didn't know was that it was all part of the deal with Caeleb. He double crossed me." She hissed.
"You sound surprised, Krysta. What did you expect?" asked a new voice and Krys covered her face as Sirius rejoined them. He re-took his seat and avoided any eye contact with her.
"Caeleb wanted revenge on his Father, he always has done."
"Tell you that did he? On one of your midnight rendezvous?" asked Sirius, spitting the words out.
"This isn't helping." Hermione butted in and all the adults looked up in surprise.
"Sirius, Krys you obviously have some things to sort out, but this isn't the time. Right now we need to find Harry before Voldemort or Caeleb find him. We have to reach Voldemort before he gets to make his request." She announced looking at each person in turn. One by one each adult nodded in agreement. Only Ron was left staring at her.
"What request? Of who?" he asked. Hermione looked at him solemnly.
"One that can't be granted…at any cost." She said looking at him sternly.

"Krys has to go out there." Announced Hermione. "Hagrid we need you by the lake, you'll know why when the moment comes."
"Righ'." Agreed Hagrid and got up heavily to leave, the whole bench creaking. Hermione turned to professor McGonagall.
"Professor you have to stay here, the Hogwarts express will be in London by now and the Ministry could be here any moment. That means you have to make yourself scarce." She announced, turning her attention to Sirius. "They catch wind of you being here and you'll be sharing your evening cocoa with a Dementor." She told him and Ron noticed a slight shudder at the thought. Sirius nodded readily.
"Professor do you have any Veritaserum?" she asked and Snape sat upright.
"Of course." He announced looking at her suspiciously.
"Good, if we're lucky we may need some. Then you and Sirius need to get to the Temple. Get the others out. Hopefully we can keep Caeleb and Voldemort occupied long enough." She announced. He nodded, giving her a look that Ron translated as a kind of stiff upper-lip kind of admiration. He then disappeared towards the dungeon.

"What about you?" Ron asked quietly as everyone began getting up from the table. Hermione turned to him and he gulped as she took his hand.
"I'm going with Krys." she told him and Krys looked at her sharply.
"You're doing no such thing!" exclaimed the woman moving over to the students.
"You'll need me there. You're no match for Caeleb."
"Well then you certainly aren't, girl." She cried.
"She's right, Hermione." Sirius reappeared beside Krys, though Ron noticed he'd made a point of not touching her.
"Maybe I'm not. But two sisters is better than one, right?" she said looking up at Krys partly in pleading and partly in the knowledge that she was right, and Krys knew she was right. Krys nodded and Hermione got up to join her.
Ron grabbed her wrist pulling her back down. He looked at her pleadingly.
"I'll be ok, Ron. This is what I'm meant to do." She told him gently. He nodded.
"I know. I know that…this is your calling and all but…" he stopped and looked at her face, trying to memorise it, like he hadn't done that a million times already. "I reserve the right to worry about you." He told her and she looked at him intensely.
"Herm, we have to go now. We have to find Harry as soon as possible." Krys butted in, looking as though she felt bad for the interruption. Hermione looked back at Ron and before anyone could say anything she leaned forward and kissed him. The looked at each other for just a second, then Krys took Hermione's arm and the two women left the Hall together.

Sirius breathed deeply watching them leave as intently as Ron was. He dropped back onto the bench with a sigh.
"You ok?" asked Ron, a little timidly. Something intense had happened between him and Krys. Sirius looked at Ron and laughed.
"No, not really. Ron, my son…" he said semi-jovially, clamping an arm on Ron's shoulder. "I hope you know what you're letting yourself in for."

The lake was still in sight when the rain started. Harry cursed out loud to himself as his usually unkempt hair became plastered to his head. He turned sharply at the first squealing sound behind him. He held his wand out in defence but lowered it again when a splash in the lake revealed the source of the sound. Nearly all two-dozen dolphins were on the Lake's surface, their long grey noses pointed to the stormy sky. Another sonic cry filled the air as another dolphin crashed beneath the waves. Harry stopped to look at them. He'd never seen them act like this before.

He tripped again and cursed as his knees sunk into the mud. He pulled himself up again and clambered on relentlessly down the rough path towards the waterfall. This was the only route Harry could be sure of not getting lost on. It was by no means the shortest route, but the shortest route was straight through the trees and he didn't have any balls of fire to guide him this time. He was so busy concentrating on where his feet were treading he didn't see the figure ahead until he'd run straight into him.
Hands grabbed Harry around the neck and a familiar whining voice met his ears. He looked up scowling with hatred into the face of Peter Pettigrew.
"Hello Harry. My master is expecting you."

He struggled with all his might but he could not free himself from Wormtail's grasp. It turned out that his new hand was indeed, extremely strong and powerful. He threw Harry across the clearing and Harry cried out in pain as he landed awkwardly against one of the boulders. He was covered in bruises and cuts from where he had been dragged roughly through the forest. An unmistakable laugh was just audible above the thunder that rumbled overhead.
"My dear boy we just keep bumping into each other don't we?" Harry looked up through the oncoming rain, into the face of Lord Voldemort.
"I'm not afraid of you." Harry growled up at the hooded figure and Voldemort studied him for a few moments.
"No. So I see. Maybe it's time you were re-educated…"
"What are you going to do, stare at me until I die of boredom. Unless you've forgotten I have your wand." He announced dragging himself shakily to his feet, using the boulder for support. A cruel smile spread across Voldemort's face.
"Do you? Check your pockets, boy. I think you'll be quite surprised." He crooned, with a sneer. Harry gasped in horror as Voldemort slid his hand out of his own cloak retrieving a familiar black wand. Harry fumbled in his own robes but found only his own.
"But…how?" he asked, horror filling his trembling voice.
"Harry, my boy, you never know who you can trust do you?" he asked cruelly and Harry stumbled back as the cruel, insane laughter filled his ears. Voldemort raised his hand high above his head, his eyes glinting madly in the lighting that filled the sky. He opened his mouth in a blood-curdling scream of anger and screamed.
"Avada…AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! !"

Voldemort's scream was so excruciating Harry had to cover his ears and he wasn't quite sure what had just happened. From what he could see, Voldemort now lay several feet away on his back, looking for all the world as though he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Harry squinted in the darkness, the rain distorting his vision slightly. A black shadow stood over Voldemort, white teeth and yellow eyes were lit up by a flash of lightning. Harry suddenly realised the rumbling sound he could hear was not thunder, but the growling of a Black Leopard. A movement to one side caught Harry's attention and he screamed the warning just in time.
"Krys! Behind you!" The cat dodged out of the way just in time to avoid the almighty fist that was aimed at her head. Wormtail squealed in anguish as Krys returned the favour by launching at him, pinning him helplessly to the ground, long, sharp claws digging fiercely into the flesh on his shoulders. Her teeth were bared in a snarl.
Harry scrambled back to his feet once more, as did Voldemort. Harry saw his nemesis searching frantically for the wand that had been knocked from his hand when the great cat had pounced. Harry acted faster and wiser. Gripping his own wand in his left hand he commanded loud and clear.
"Accio Wand!" Voldemort screamed in anger and frustration and his wand's twin flew neatly into Harry's hand once more.

"And just in case there's another mix up…" cried Harry. He pocketed his own wand carefully and held aloft Voldemort's. He gripped either end of it ready to snap it in two and just as Voldemort realised what Harry's intentions were, he let out another scream.

"If you know what's good for you, Potter, I wouldn't do that."

Everything stopped dead. Krys stopped snarling and Voldemort stopped screaming. At the sound of the new voice, it even sounded as though the wind and thunder had subsided just to allow the new speaker to be heard.
Sure enough a new figure could just be made out in the shadows of the trees. Krys had re-transfigured into her human form and Wormtail scrambled hysterically away from her. Behind him, Harry could hear Voldemort chuckle and a new level of dread found its way into Harry's heart.
The look on Krys' face said it all.
Harry didn't know why, but suddenly he was very, very afraid.

10-21-2008, 09:46 AM	#250 (permalink)
Krysta Jarvey Join Date: May 2008 Location: Leicester, UK Posts: 567 Hogwarts RPG Name: Krysta Hedwig Sixth Year	Chapter 23, Part 3 "Should we wake them?" asked Sirius smiling down at the pair who had fallen asleep wrapped in each other's arms. Krys stood beside him smiling gently. "It seems a shame." She replied. "Reminds me of us. Snuggled up on the Gryffindor sofas." She added with a sigh. "Krys, darling, you and I never snuggled on the Gryffindor sofas." He commented with a frown. Krys suddenly looked uneasy and slightly bemused as though she'd just rethought that memory. "Er, we didn't?" she asked trying to sound innocent and not at all succeeding. "Krys, is there something you want to tell me?" he asked with a sly squint. She kissed him softly on the cheek. "Not just now darling." She answered and reached down to shake Ron's shoulder. "C'mon lover boy we got work to do." She murmured close to his ear. "Mmmm." Replied Ron turning a little and tightened his arms around Hermione who had begun to stir a little. She was actually the first to come round and opened her mouth in horror when she saw the two adults standing over them with amused expressions on their faces. She sat bolt upright and in doing so knocked Ron out of his slumber. "What the…argh!" he cried when he saw Krys's blue eyes staring into his. Krys grinned in amusement at his reaction and stood upright again. Ron rubbed the back of his neck and looked nervously from Hermione to Krys to Sirius. "We, er…" "We were tired and we…" "Were a bit in shock!" "You know with everything that's happened." "And we…" "Just fell asleep?" asked Krys, who was visibly trying not to laugh at their guilty mumblings. They both nodded enthusiastically. "Of course." Agreed Sirius with a smirk. Hermione straightened her top and rearranged the fabric of her jeans whilst Ron tried desperately to sort out his hair which very much resembled Harry's. "Come on." Krys said in a more serious tone. "We've got problems." "So they're in the forest?" asked Sirius looking at Hermione who sat on the other side of the table. They were sitting at one end of the Gryffindor table in The Great Hall. They'd been joined by Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Hagrid; who was sitting sideways on the bench since he couldn't quite get both legs under the table. Most of the other students had already been sent home, the Hogwarts Express having left that morning. The concern was now the fifty or so kids still out there. Hermione nodded in response to the question. "They're in the old temple. They're being held there but I don't know who by." She explained and Ron noticed that Krys was gripping a piece of parchment in her hands. It was the one Harry had been reading earlier when he'd gone to the infirmary to fetch him. Hermione had clearly also noticed. "That scroll." She said looking at Krys. "It's from the person holding them. He wants Harry so you will go after him." She continued and Krys stared at the table. "Yes, I know." Sirius and Snape looked at her sternly. "I thought you said Dracus was taken care of." Snape said, darkly. "Hugo Dracus is no longer a concern." She replied with a nod. "Then who?" asked Sirius. Ron frowned. He wanted to know, as Harry had, what had happened to Dracus and how Krys had escaped from the Coven in the first place. But he knew this wasn't the time for the question. "I can't say for sure…" "But you have a pretty good idea." Snapped Snape and she looked at him, her eyes burning. "He isn't your concern. He won't harm those kids." "Why not? How can you be sure?" "Because he doesn't care about them. He only wants me." "Then why does he have them?" "Because he knows I won't let anything happen to them. He's going to hand them over to…to Voldemort." "What?" everyone replied in one voice. "I think you need to come clean with us, Krys." "It's…" she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "It's Caeleb Dracus." She finally replied and the remaining colour drained completely from Professor McGonagall's face. Ron looked at Hermione for some sign that she understood what this meant but she looked as confused as he felt. He looked back at Krys who was staring at the table in a desperate attempt to avoid the gaze of Sirius. There was silence for a few moments, which was suddenly broken when Sirius got up from the table and walked briskly away from them. As the door slammed behind him, Krys jumped and sniffed. Her eyes were shut but Ron could see they were pink around the edges. Professor Snape's expression was as dark as Ron had ever seen it but he looked at Krys with pity more than anger. "What does Voldemort want with the students?" he asked in his low droning tone. Krys wiped her eyes and looked up, trying to draw strength from somewhere. To Ron it looked like all her strength had gone out the door with Sirius. "Because when he wakes up tomorrow morning, he's going to be feeling extremely hungry." She answered and to begin with Snape looked confused. But something resembling clarity and horror was manifesting itself on his face. "No. You can't mean…" "We can't let that happen, Krysta." "I know that!" she cried back at McGonagall who looked desperately worried about something. "He made a deal with Caeleb; the kids for me. He would use Harry to lure me out there and Voldemort would get Harry as a bonus." "But he can't hurt Harry, can he?" asked Hermione and Ron looked at her questioningly. She gave him a look that said she would explain later. Krys shook her head. "No, but he would make him watch as he killed the others." "Krys, how on earth do you know all this?" asked Snape. Krys looked at the table once more, her fingers shaking. "Tom told me. The deal was…he would let them all go, allow our escape from the Chamber." She began to explain and everyone was looking at her with equal expressions of disbelief and dismay. An ugly sneer was appearing on Snape's face. "You made a deal with him?!" cried Ron in disgust. "I had no choice, Ron!" she looked around at everyone pleadingly. "We would all have died down there. I…I had to!" "And what was your end of the deal?" asked Hermione, her voice shaking, close to tears. "He wanted to put an end to Dracus. I guess he was sick of Dracus swanning around like Lord of The Manor. He needed him out of the way. What I didn't know was that it was all part of the deal with Caeleb. He double crossed me." She hissed. "You sound surprised, Krysta. What did you expect?" asked a new voice and Krys covered her face as Sirius rejoined them. He re-took his seat and avoided any eye contact with her. "Caeleb wanted revenge on his Father, he always has done." "Tell you that did he? On one of your midnight rendezvous?" asked Sirius, spitting the words out. "This isn't helping." Hermione butted in and all the adults looked up in surprise. "Sirius, Krys you obviously have some things to sort out, but this isn't the time. Right now we need to find Harry before Voldemort or Caeleb find him. We have to reach Voldemort before he gets to make his request." She announced looking at each person in turn. One by one each adult nodded in agreement. Only Ron was left staring at her. "What request? Of who?" he asked. Hermione looked at him solemnly. "One that can't be granted…at any cost." She said looking at him sternly. "Krys has to go out there." Announced Hermione. "Hagrid we need you by the lake, you'll know why when the moment comes." "Righ'." Agreed Hagrid and got up heavily to leave, the whole bench creaking. Hermione turned to professor McGonagall. "Professor you have to stay here, the Hogwarts express will be in London by now and the Ministry could be here any moment. That means you have to make yourself scarce." She announced, turning her attention to Sirius. "They catch wind of you being here and you'll be sharing your evening cocoa with a Dementor." She told him and Ron noticed a slight shudder at the thought. Sirius nodded readily. "Professor do you have any Veritaserum?" she asked and Snape sat upright. "Of course." He announced looking at her suspiciously. "Good, if we're lucky we may need some. Then you and Sirius need to get to the Temple. Get the others out. Hopefully we can keep Caeleb and Voldemort occupied long enough." She announced. He nodded, giving her a look that Ron translated as a kind of stiff upper-lip kind of admiration. He then disappeared towards the dungeon. "What about you?" Ron asked quietly as everyone began getting up from the table. Hermione turned to him and he gulped as she took his hand. "I'm going with Krys." she told him and Krys looked at her sharply. "You're doing no such thing!" exclaimed the woman moving over to the students. "You'll need me there. You're no match for Caeleb." "Well then you certainly aren't, girl." She cried. "She's right, Hermione." Sirius reappeared beside Krys, though Ron noticed he'd made a point of not touching her. "Maybe I'm not. But two sisters is better than one, right?" she said looking up at Krys partly in pleading and partly in the knowledge that she was right, and Krys knew she was right. Krys nodded and Hermione got up to join her. Ron grabbed her wrist pulling her back down. He looked at her pleadingly. "I'll be ok, Ron. This is what I'm meant to do." She told him gently. He nodded. "I know. I know that…this is your calling and all but…" he stopped and looked at her face, trying to memorise it, like he hadn't done that a million times already. "I reserve the right to worry about you." He told her and she looked at him intensely. "Herm, we have to go now. We have to find Harry as soon as possible." Krys butted in, looking as though she felt bad for the interruption. Hermione looked back at Ron and before anyone could say anything she leaned forward and kissed him. The looked at each other for just a second, then Krys took Hermione's arm and the two women left the Hall together. Sirius breathed deeply watching them leave as intently as Ron was. He dropped back onto the bench with a sigh. "You ok?" asked Ron, a little timidly. Something intense had happened between him and Krys. Sirius looked at Ron and laughed. "No, not really. Ron, my son…" he said semi-jovially, clamping an arm on Ron's shoulder. "I hope you know what you're letting yourself in for." The lake was still in sight when the rain started. Harry cursed out loud to himself as his usually unkempt hair became plastered to his head. He turned sharply at the first squealing sound behind him. He held his wand out in defence but lowered it again when a splash in the lake revealed the source of the sound. Nearly all two-dozen dolphins were on the Lake's surface, their long grey noses pointed to the stormy sky. Another sonic cry filled the air as another dolphin crashed beneath the waves. Harry stopped to look at them. He'd never seen them act like this before. He tripped again and cursed as his knees sunk into the mud. He pulled himself up again and clambered on relentlessly down the rough path towards the waterfall. This was the only route Harry could be sure of not getting lost on. It was by no means the shortest route, but the shortest route was straight through the trees and he didn't have any balls of fire to guide him this time. He was so busy concentrating on where his feet were treading he didn't see the figure ahead until he'd run straight into him. Hands grabbed Harry around the neck and a familiar whining voice met his ears. He looked up scowling with hatred into the face of Peter Pettigrew. "Hello Harry. My master is expecting you." He struggled with all his might but he could not free himself from Wormtail's grasp. It turned out that his new hand was indeed, extremely strong and powerful. He threw Harry across the clearing and Harry cried out in pain as he landed awkwardly against one of the boulders. He was covered in bruises and cuts from where he had been dragged roughly through the forest. An unmistakable laugh was just audible above the thunder that rumbled overhead. "My dear boy we just keep bumping into each other don't we?" Harry looked up through the oncoming rain, into the face of Lord Voldemort. "I'm not afraid of you." Harry growled up at the hooded figure and Voldemort studied him for a few moments. "No. So I see. Maybe it's time you were re-educated…" "What are you going to do, stare at me until I die of boredom. Unless you've forgotten I have your wand." He announced dragging himself shakily to his feet, using the boulder for support. A cruel smile spread across Voldemort's face. "Do you? Check your pockets, boy. I think you'll be quite surprised." He crooned, with a sneer. Harry gasped in horror as Voldemort slid his hand out of his own cloak retrieving a familiar black wand. Harry fumbled in his own robes but found only his own. "But…how?" he asked, horror filling his trembling voice. "Harry, my boy, you never know who you can trust do you?" he asked cruelly and Harry stumbled back as the cruel, insane laughter filled his ears. Voldemort raised his hand high above his head, his eyes glinting madly in the lighting that filled the sky. He opened his mouth in a blood-curdling scream of anger and screamed. "Avada…AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! !" Voldemort's scream was so excruciating Harry had to cover his ears and he wasn't quite sure what had just happened. From what he could see, Voldemort now lay several feet away on his back, looking for all the world as though he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Harry squinted in the darkness, the rain distorting his vision slightly. A black shadow stood over Voldemort, white teeth and yellow eyes were lit up by a flash of lightning. Harry suddenly realised the rumbling sound he could hear was not thunder, but the growling of a Black Leopard. A movement to one side caught Harry's attention and he screamed the warning just in time. "Krys! Behind you!" The cat dodged out of the way just in time to avoid the almighty fist that was aimed at her head. Wormtail squealed in anguish as Krys returned the favour by launching at him, pinning him helplessly to the ground, long, sharp claws digging fiercely into the flesh on his shoulders. Her teeth were bared in a snarl. Harry scrambled back to his feet once more, as did Voldemort. Harry saw his nemesis searching frantically for the wand that had been knocked from his hand when the great cat had pounced. Harry acted faster and wiser. Gripping his own wand in his left hand he commanded loud and clear. "Accio Wand!" Voldemort screamed in anger and frustration and his wand's twin flew neatly into Harry's hand once more. "And just in case there's another mix up…" cried Harry. He pocketed his own wand carefully and held aloft Voldemort's. He gripped either end of it ready to snap it in two and just as Voldemort realised what Harry's intentions were, he let out another scream. "If you know what's good for you, Potter, I wouldn't do that." Everything stopped dead. Krys stopped snarling and Voldemort stopped screaming. At the sound of the new voice, it even sounded as though the wind and thunder had subsided just to allow the new speaker to be heard. Sure enough a new figure could just be made out in the shadows of the trees. Krys had re-transfigured into her human form and Wormtail scrambled hysterically away from her. Behind him, Harry could hear Voldemort chuckle and a new level of dread found its way into Harry's heart. The look on Krys' face said it all. Harry didn't know why, but suddenly he was very, very afraid. __________________ Last edited by Krysta; 10-21-2008 at 10:27 AM.