Anne’s burning fury had stolen her ability to speak. Her lungs, her heart- her whole body was tense and frigid with pure anger. She couldn’t utter a single word.
After a few silent moments of writhing, her voice could only manage a strangled squeak to escape her lips. Anne glared into Bellatrix’s hollow eyes with a look of absolute abhorrence.
Bellatrix stared calmly back at the furious, ragged, and bleeding girl hanging limply in before her. Her face was completely impassive.
Then suddenly, Bellatrix threw her arms around Anne’s neck and held her in a tight embrace. Anne’s eyes widened; she could feel herself stop breathing.
“My friend, I have missed your company for a while,” Bellatrix whispered into Anne’s ear.
At these words, Anne finally managed to gulp down the invisible cork obstructing her ability of speech.
“LET GO OF ME! BELLATRIX! LET GO, YOU EVIL BITCH!”
Anne began to violently struggle with the chains imprisoning her, thrashing about with her whole body like a fish out of water. Bellatrix still held on, causing Anne to continue to shriek as if a red-hot poker had been thrust into her side. She struggled fiercely until Bellatrix pulled away. There was a flustered and angry look upon Bellatrix’s face, and an enraged fire glinted in her eyes.
And yet, there was the slightest hint of sadness. But this trace of sorrow remained only for a fraction of a moment. Her face was soon as stoic as before.
Anne ceased to flail about as soon as Bellatrix had stepped back. Her struggle had taken its toll and she now hung limply by her cold chains, her head drooping, her lungs taking in labored gasps of air. Silence fell between the two girls.
All that pierced the velvety darkness were Anne’s raspy intakes of air.
Minutes passed by and the silence continued, and Anne’s agitated breathes began to calm. Her breathing was soon as silent as the surrounding atmosphere. Her wide eyes stared down at the blackness above which she was suspended over. Shock still ruled her body and mind, but it didn’t manage to erase her most important concern. Her heavy chains rattled as Anne lifted her head with painful difficulty to face Bellatrix. They stared coldly at one another.
“Give him back to me.”
A look of fury once again flickered across Bellatrix’s pale face at these whispered words as if Anne had shouted curse words at her instead.
“Give him back to you?” Bellatrix whispered. Anne could see her pulse quicken.
“GIVE HIM BACK TO YOU?” she suddenly screamed, making Anne blink in surprise. All restraint and unfeeling characteristics seemed to flee from Bellatrix’s shaking body.
“THAT’S ALL THAT’S IN YOUR MIND STILL? THAT, THAT HALF-BREED-”
“You can stop right there, bitch. Don’t you dare say anything more than that,” Anne’s voice was barely audible, but there was a threatening menace lurking in her tone. There was a dangerous smile playing around her lips.
Bellatrix blinked before erupting in a high-pitched shriek of laughter. She doubled up, clutching her stomach, her laughter resonating eerily in the infinite black void.
“You really haven’t changed, my friend. No, not one bit. Not one bit at all,” Bellatrix murmured, as she wiped tears of empty mirth from her dark eyes. As she did so, a look of resentment shot across her eyes.
Anne’s countenance suddenly transformed into a twisted, almost mad, look of fury.
“Stop calling me YOUR FRIEND!” Anne’s voice escalated into a scream. She tightly shut her eyes as if the mere sight of Bellatrix was like acid to her eyes. Her trembling body caused her chains to rattle also.
“THAT WAS YEARS AGO! IT’S OVER! YOU WERE NEVER MY FRIEND! REMUS WAS MY FRIEND! HE SHOWED ME TRUE CARE AND FRIENDSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE! HE STILL DOES AND I SWEAR THAT IF YOU DON’T GIVE HIM BACK TO ME, I’LL RIP YOUR EVIL HEAD RIGHT OFF YOUR SHOULDERS!” Anne spat out the rest of her words with all her remaining strength. She could feel her chains tightening their steel grips upon her wrists and ankles as she hung limply, gasping in almost a panicked manner.
Silence passed once more.
“So that’s what you think? You think our friendship was nothing, do you? All those claims of everlasting partnership in crime were nothing, were they?” Bellatrix said in a hushed tone, full of repressed anger.
It was Anne’s turn to laugh.
“Oh, I see where this is going! I see, I see. First you take Peter into your midst and now you want me too,” she smirked. Bellatrix could see a trickle of sweat slide down the side of Anne’s smooth forehead.
They stared at each other. It was hard to tell which countenance bore more hate.
“I don’t know how much deeper into the Dark Arts you’ve gotten over the years, and you very well know the reason why I am forced to refrain from telling the world about all your little deeds, but know this,” Anne’s smirk slowly slid from her face as she spoke.
“The partnership is broken. What I thought was loyalty, friendship, and happiness were all lies. All you ever did was use me. But-” Anne grinned a humorless smile once more. “-I did the same to you at the time. We both knew, and are still very much aware, that we suited each other just fine when it came to doing evil. And that’s why you’ve set this whole thing up, haven’t you? To try and get me back to do something? Pretty impressive. I didn’t know you valued me this much,” she grinned slyly.
“You’re as sharp as before, if not sharper,” Bellatrix grinned back. After a moment’s pause she lowered her eyes for the first time.
“So nothing I say will ever restore our partnership?”
Anne gazed upon Bellatrix’s lowered head. She felt a twinge of pain. She felt pity.
“No. Nothing, Bella. Nothing can do that. I,” Anne hesitated. Bellatrix quickly lifted her head and gazed into Anne’s eyes.
As Anne stared into those empty eyes, she felt herself grow more confident with the truth, the truth about Remus.
“I love him,” she whispered.
Bellatrix seemed to flinch. Anne hurried on with her words.
“And I love not being weighed down with crimes. He showed me that I can be happy without power and riches. I hoped that I could show you that too, but…” Anne trailed off as she continued to return Bellatrix’s steady gaze.
“But that is nearly as likely as you rejoining my company,” Bellatrix finished Anne’s sentence bitterly. Bellatrix returned to staring at the empty expanse beneath her feet. Her dark hair fell across the sides of her pallid face, hiding her expressions from Anne’s view. It was a while before she spoke once more.
“I don’t doubt the fact that we used each other to our fullest abilities, but… but I did value you,” she whispered. “You were the best partner I ever had. At the time, I even regarded you as a sort of confidante. But I’ve changed,” Bellatrix jerked her head up. Anne stared stoically back at her.
“I’ve met different people, and I’ve done things you cannot even imagine.”
The familiar manic glint fired up in her pupils once more.
“I can certainly imagine, Black,” Anne growled.
Bellatrix’s face suddenly split into a nefarious grin. All trace of anger and regret vanished from her complexion.
“Well, since you’ve obviously made up your mind about me, then I suppose there’s no reason to keep you alive any longer.” She drew out her wand lazily. She gave it a swift flick. Anne’s chains disappeared.
Anne had expected to fall down into the indefinite dark abyss, but found herself crumpled onto a solid black expanse instead. Using both arms and breathing heavily, she managed to sit up. With another great effort, she stood up, swaying slightly as she did so.
“Well, as long as you want to kill me, it’ll be no problem as long as I get sent to wherever you sent Remus,” she muttered in an annoyed tone. Bellatrix sent up a peal of mirthless laughter.
“Do you really think I’m that merciful? Surely, my oldest and best accomplice would know more about me than that. Or haven’t you figured out that your half-breed isn’t dead?” Bellatrix smirked maliciously.
Her words slapped Anne coldly on the face.
“Not…not dead?” Anne’s head began to spin.
Bellatrix shrieked with laughter once more.
“Don’t tell me that the notorious Anne Wu wasn’t even able figure that out! No, my pathetic one, he is not dead. But,” Bellatrix raised her index finger, “I assure you that as soon as I’m finished with you, I’ll send up your half-breed to join you as soon as possible. Along with your other pathetic Mudbloods and blood traitors, of course,” she added nonchalantly, as an afterthought.
Anne’s body gave an unconscious jerk as she realized that the others were in grave danger. Obviously, Bellatrix hadn’t gotten her grips on them yet, but that was only a matter of time…
Her breathing quickened as she felt panic and shock ensnare her.
“But, I wouldn’t feel good inside if I just killed you off easily, Wu,” Bellatrix said silkily. “No, no. That wouldn’t do at all,” Bellatrix took a step forward. Her tall, dark figure seemed to loom over Anne’s bloody and ragged one.
Bellatrix suddenly pulled out something from the depths of her robes and tossed it to Anne. Anne swiftly caught it in one hand. She looked down at it.
It was her wand.
As she stared at the wand in her hand, Anne realized what she had to do. She closed her eyes as if in prayer.
“Yes, Wu. I see that you’ve finally figured it out,” Bellatrix whispered. “It’s the only way to get yourself and your dear friends out of this nightmare that I’ve spent months on creating for you.” Bellatrix stepped forward once more.
“Fight me. Kill or be killed, it’s your choice.”
Anne tightened her grip on her wand. As much as she loathed Bellatrix, she knew that she couldn’t just cold-bloodedly murder her.
But if she didn’t, apart from being killed herself, she somehow knew that there would probably be no other way to save the others. It all depended on her and her choice.
Her friends’ faces flashed across her eyes. As she stared at their happy expressions, she came to her final decision.
Anne pulled herself up to her fullest height and slowly directed her wand straight at Bellatrix’s pale face.
“Let’s fight Black.”
“What was that?”
Sirius snapped around to face Lily and Alice walking closely behind him. Lily and Alice lifted their tired eyes to meet his own. They had been tromping through the rough forest grounds for some time now.
“What was what?” they asked in care-worn and exhausted tones.
“That, that noise. Didn’t you hear it? It sounded like something…” Sirius trailed off as all of his senses directed their attention to their surroundings.
“Oh, dear Merlin, I didn’t hear anything, Sirius, and I don’t think you did either. This night is starting to get to us,” Lily muttered grimly.
With the gleaming sword gently hitting against the side of her leg, she stepped up next to Sirius, who was still carrying the unconscious James. She let out a deep sigh of remorse as she attempted to wipe some of the congealed blood off of James’s pale lips.
“Don’t worry, Lily honey,” Alice whispered soothingly, steeping next to Lily and patting her shoulder. “He’ll be fine. He is the infamous James Potter after all,” she smiled.
“Yeah,” Lily managed to give a small smile in return. “He’s my James.”
There was a fluttering of wings.
“What was that?” Lily whispered, immediately pulling out her wand. Alice quickly did the same.
“See? I told you there was something! ‘This night is just starting to get to us’,” Sirius said in a high-pitched imitation of Lily, as he directed his wand directly in front of him. Lily shot him an evil glare.
The three of them stepped into a tight circle with their backs against one another’s, their wands at the ready. Lily strained her ears to catch the slightest hint of a sound, but silence prevailed. Then…
“AARGGHH!”
Sirius let out a roar of surprise and fear. Lily swiftly spun around to face him, but her vision was immediately obscured by a flurry of black feathers, fluttering wildly in her face.
She let out a sudden scream of pain as she felt her arm being pierced by razor-sharp metal talons. Her senses were suddenly filled with the putrid smell of rotting flesh, making Lily’s throat clench up in an attempt to swallow the vomit that was itching to escape her.
“STUPEFY!“
There was a squawk of surprise, and Lily’s vision was cleared of the wild feathery mass. In the split second in which the blur of black feathers cleared, she was able to catch a glimpse of her attacker.
On the ground lay a gigantic black bird.
But it wasn’t just any bird. Although it had the body resembling that of a raven’s, it had talons of what looked like sharp and jagged copper. Instead of having the face and beak of a bird, it had the head and face of an old, wrinkled, and aged woman.
Its sallow face was so creased and time-worn that it looked more like a shrivelled piece of dried flesh than anything else. Its hair was lanky, brown, stingy, and had the unhealthy appearance of never having seen a spot of light in all of its days. Its eyes, still wide-open from being stunned, were grotesquely blood-shot with slit, cat-like pupils.
Lily only had a fraction of a moment to stare at the horrible creature in shock and disgust when another one of the colossal creatures swooped down upon her. Lily let out an aggravated scream of surprise of fear as she managed to stun the black monster. It fell with a thud next to its other kin.
Lily managed to take a swift glance above her head and saw to her horror that the sky was swarming with the horrific creatures. A myriad of ink-black feathers slowly fell to the ground all around her, like heavy dark droplets of rain.
She stumbled and backed up until her back slammed into one of the rough trees. She desperately tried to search for Alice and Sirius, whom she could hear were screaming, but the cloud of black feathers and the glinting of dozens of pieces of copper made any chances of spotting them near impossible.
Lily had only taken her second breath, in the process filling her nostrils with creature’s malodorous scent, when the giant monsters began flying down on her in great packs.
“ARGH! NO! STUPEFY! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!“
Lily furiously aimed her spells at as many of the monsters as she could, but they were innumerable. It was like trying to shoot all the grains of sand on the beach. Her bright spells merely attracted the attention of more of the flying beasts. They swiftly flew down to attack Lily, their massive wings slicing through the darkness.
She caught a glimpse of the sharp talons inches in front of her face, before they forcefully slashed into her arms. Red blood splurted on to the black feathers. With a cry of pain, Lily felt her fingers loosen their grip on her wand. There was another flash of metal and blood, and her wand went flying through the air.
Another vicious slash and another scream of pain, and Lily felt her belt snap fall from her hips. The gleaming sword was flung into the air.
No sooner had Lily realized that she was now totally defenseless, a black wing slammed into the side of her head and she toppled to the ground. Her bloody arms began to frantically search the floor for her wand, but it was no use. Countless numbers of black feathery bodies were pressing down on her, smothering her, slashing at her.
With no choice left, Lily fought desperately back with her body. She screamed in anguish as she kicked and scratched at whatever was nearest. She closed her eyes to shield them from the sharp feathers that were pressing into every part of her body. The stench of decaying flesh made it seem as if she were being buried in a pile of corpses. Her red hair tangled with the black feathers like a flame licking the darkness. Blood was everywhere.
I can’t just die like this! There’s still hope- still a chance for getting everyone out of here!
Lily felt herself suffocating as the rank-smelling bodies weighed down on her. Her arms and legs were still waved and scratched wildly about.
Then as suddenly as they had come, the frenzied fluttering of wings lifted off of her, and the sharp pains of metal digging into her flesh disappeared. As Lily’s view was cleared of the flood of black feathers and she lay on the ground panting for blessed fresh air, she heard a new sound.
Lily, still lying flat on her back, opened her eyes ever so slightly just in time to see two arrows zing through the air. They struck their targets with a deadly thud. There were squawks and fearful shrieks. Black feathers were everywhere. Then black mass was retreating and quickly flying away. Their rotting stench was disappearing along with them. The last pair of wings fluttered frantically as it dodged one of the deadly arrows, then silence ruled once more.
Lily quickly rolled onto one side to stand up. As she did so, her eyes locked on two things standing inches away from her head.
Standing side-by-side was the illustrious sword planted firmly in the dirt and next to it, a pair of sturdy hooves.
Lily’s wide eyes wandered up the sword and the hooves. As her eyes reached the tip of the hilt of the sword, they spotted the muscular torso of a young man. She tilted back her head to look into the handsome face of the centaur standing before her. Her amazed stare was returned by a pair of astonishingly blue eyes.
“Lily!”
Lily kept her eyes glued to the centaur’s. There was something immensely captivating about them…
She only broke off her eye contact when she felt Alice brush up against her. Sirius was close at her tail.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt? Oh my- you’re bleeding so much! What were those things?” Alice cried as Sirius conjured bandages. Both of them had already wrapped their own wounds.
“Harpies.”
Lily, Alice, and Sirius turned to stare at the centaur. He had a broken bow in his hands.
“What?” Lily whispered. It was only then that she noticed that James was sitting slumped over on the centaur’s back. She looked at the centaur with frightened eyes.
“Those creatures are called Harpies. It is most unusual for them to plague these skies,” he said, gazing steadily down at the three stunned teens. “Neither is it normal for three humans such as yourselves to be so deep into the forest so late at night. Come. We must go to where it is safe before more harm is done to your fragile bodies.”
With that, the centaur grabbed the hilt of the sword, pulled it out, and began walking into the trees.
The three of them exchanged uneasy looks. They were all thinking the same thing- was this centaur to be trusted? He did help fend off the Harpies, but…
Alice helped Lily get to her feet. There was a tired, but wary look in her eyes as she stared after the centaur. Lily knew she was thinking the same thing she was.
It didn’t look like they had much of a choice except to follow. He had James on his back, and none of them dared to do anything rash when there was the possibility of getting James injured even more.
As Lily bent down to pick up her wand, the centaur spoke.
“My name is Firenze. I assure you that I can be trusted. Now please hurry. There is not much time.”
A/N: Even more confusing? Right? Good! But you’ve got to admit, you want to now what happens next, right? Right. ^^
Review please!
A/N#2: Just to give a heads up, the next chapter will be the OFFICIAL end to the Shattering Dreams saga.
A/N #3: DISCLAIMER: Someone emailed me saying that my Harpies are similar to things that appear in "The Amber Spyglass". Just to tell you, I got inspired for Harpies from Greek/Roman mythology!
Thanks to all the fans!