Chapter 12
You wake the next morning to a gentle thud near the door. You open your eyes, looking over at a pile of clothes that now sits just in front of the threshold of the locked door, as well as a bowl of the grey porridge and a glass of water.
You sigh as you get out of bed, looking out of the small window and realizing that the moon is still out. You decide not to push anything to Severus yet, letting him sleep as you dress in the dark room.
The clothes are heavy, built for moving through rough terrain without tearing. You attach the belt to the pants, feeling around the various pockets, finding them all to be empty. You zip the jacket before braiding back your hair, tucking the end under the hood.
You sit on the floor under the light of the moonbeam as it shines through the window, choking down the grey sludge with gulps of water. Almost as soon as you set the plate down on the floor, a knock sounds at the door before it flies open.
Your mother stands in the doorway, looking down at you with a face void of all expression.
“Oh good, you’re ready.” She says, fidgeting with her hands awkwardly. “Let’s be off then.”
You stand, following her down the twists and turns of the hallway and stairs before finally stepping through the threshold of the front door. You hold your breath as you do, half expecting it to burn as you leave the house.
But nothing happens. You let the breath go, smiling to yourself as you follow behind your mother through the dying front garden to the massive gate. You step through that with just as much ease and find yourself on a narrow path winding away from the seashore.
“Where to first?” You ask, breaking the heavy silence between you.
She pulls the map out of a bag slung over her shoulder, looking at it before looking forward again.
“We follow the path beyond the tree line.” She says, pointing as she leads you towards it. “We should come to a clearing, and we’ll go from there.”
You nod, replaying her instructions in your mind over and over so that you’re ready to tell them to Severus when he wakes up. The hills immediately around the house are barren, but trees begin to spring up as you get onto flat land, walking the complete opposite direction that you and Severus had taken when you found the house in the first place.
The sun comes up as you disappear into the trees, and the coverage of the leaves blocks out most of the light as it rises. Your mother doesn’t speak as you walk, her eyes trained on the map and the trail ahead as her hand clenches and releases a tight fist with each step.
Are you okay? Severus finally asks, his voice sounding tired as he does.
Your eyes flit to your mother, making sure she doesn’t react. When her fist clenches and releases without missing a beat, you answer.
Yes, are you? You push back. Is Nova?
The trees seem to be getting thicker as you walk, and you think you must be reaching the center of the forest now.
Yes. Severus answers. We’re both okay. Where are you?
You relay the information from your mother before trying to push him as many images from where you’ve already walked as you can, trying to show him your location.
Okay, I’ll work on recreating the map. He replies after a moment. See if you can get her to show it to you again.
You nod to yourself, looking up at the back of her head as she clenches and releases her fist again.
I will. You answer. Did Dumbledore say anything else about the stone?
Something rustles in the leaves of the tree beside you, and you both freeze in your tracks. Your eyes search in the dimly lit forest, looking for any kind of danger or anything out of place. You reach for your wand before realizing you haven’t seen it since you arrived.
No. Severus answers, his energy picking up on your sudden alertness. What was that?
“My wand.” You murmur, looking at your mother. “Where is my wand?”
She looks at you out of the corner of her eye, her chest rising and falling heavily as she does.
“Don’t try anything funny girl.” She hisses, raising her hand and materializing your wand in her palm.
She tosses it to you before pulling her own wand out of her bag, putting the map into it before tightening the strings. You both point your wands forward at the sound of the rustling as it begins to rustle again.
What’s happening? Severus asks, surely feeling the jolts of anxiety as they course through you to him.
You don’t answer as a large werewolf steps out from behind the trunk of the tree, staring at you with it’s wide, yellow eyes. Your heart speeds as you freeze in place, watching as it slinks out into the light, stalking you and your mother as its prey.
“Tell me you have wolfsbane in that bag.” You breathe, eyeing your mother quickly.
She shakes her head, her wide eyes looking back at you before they lock back onto the werewolf.
“Shit.” You breathe, racking your brain for anything you’ve learned about werewolves in school.
“The sun is up.” You whisper. “How is he in his werewolf form still?”
Your mother shakes her head slowly as the wolf takes a step closer.
“This forest has it’s own rules.” She replies breathlessly. “Like the house. The magic is different here.”
You take another deep breath, gripping your wand tighter.
“Get ready to run then.” You answer, watching her eyes widen as she looks at you. “Stupefy!”
The spell leaves your wand, hitting the werewolf and freezing him in place. As soon as the word is out of your mouth, you find yourself running down the path, your mother close behind you as you tear through the forest.
“That won’t last long!” She calls behind you.
You run faster, hoping she can keep up.
“I know!” You reply. “We only have to get to the clearing!”
A growl rips through the forest behind you, and you risk turning your head to see the werewolf running wildly down the path a few yards behind your mother.
“Hurry!” You call, seeing a small light at the end of the path that you can only hope is the clearing. “Petrificus Totalus!”
The spell explodes from your wand, missing the wolf.
“Confringo!” You exclaim, trying one last time to slow him down.
The spell hits a tree, as you planned, causing it to fall just behind your mother. You hear the werewolf as he slams into it, and you silently thank Professor Flitwick for making you practice your dueling spells for hours.
At last, you step through the clearing, spinning around and looking for your mother. She’s slowed down significantly, and the werewolf is back on her heels as she runs towards you.
You run back into the forest, hurrying towards her with an outstretched hand.
“Go!” She calls, her eyes wide as she looks at you.
You grab her hand with force, pulling her behind you as you run back towards the clearing.
“You can do this!” You call back, forcing her to run beside you.
Finally, you step through the line of trees, both of you collapsing into the dirt and breathing heavily as you stare back into the dark forest. The werewolf crashes through the line of trees a moment later, hissing wildly as the light touches his fur.
You pull your mother away from him, still breathing heavily as you stare at him from the ground. His body begins to contort as his fur sizzles away, revealing dark, smooth skin beneath. A man looks up at you after the sizzling stops, his dark eyes questioning you as they meet your gaze.
“Who are you?” He asks, his voice raspy and weak.
You stand up, taking a slow step towards him.
“I’m (Y/N).” You answer, kneeling down to his level a few feet away from him. “And that’s my—friend. Selene.”
You gesture to your mother, not sure why you lied about who she was, feeling odd about saying her name out loud.
“How did you get me out?” He asks, his eyes flitting between you and your mother. “I’ve been trapped in that forest for ages.”
You turn to your mother, gesturing for her to come nearer.
“Do you have water?” You ask, and she nods, standing and bringing her bag over to you. “It was a lucky guess.” You tell him, looking back into his eyes.
You take the canteen of water from your mother, handing it to him.
“The forest has dark, strange magic.” You tell him quietly. “You must’ve gone in there on a full moon when you changed, and you’ve been stuck there ever since.”
He nods, drinking from the canteen eagerly.
“Thank you.” He breathes, looking between your face and your mothers. “You saved me.”
You smile at him, nodding as he hands the canteen back.
“Of course.” You answer.
He stands, covering his naked body with his hands.
“Here.” Your mom says, reaching into her bag and handing him an extra jacket. “Take this with you.”
He nods, smiling at her as he takes it, tying it around his waist.
“Thank you both.” He answers. “Take this.”
He takes off the necklace around his neck, handing it to you.
“If you ever need help, blow into the pendant, someone will come to your aid.” He says with a grin.
You smile back at him, nodding as you slip the necklace around your neck.
“Thank you.” You tell him, and he winks at you as he walks away.
You turn back to face your mother as he turns away, and she stares back at you with an unknown expression.
“What?” She asks. “Shocked that I did something nice for him? Or angry that I stole your martyr bit?”
You shake your head, rolling your eyes as you do.
“What do we do here?” You ask, looking around the clearing.
She keeps her eyes on yours for a moment longer before rifling around in her bag for the map.
That was excellent magic. Severus pushes to you. You’re amazing.
You smile to yourself, sending love back to him.
“We have to find a portkey.” She says, looking at the map before looking around the clearing again. “I’m not sure what it looks like.”
You nod, following her lead as you scour the clearing for any pull of magic. Everything seems mundane, simple rocks and plants in the forest, nothing hidden or magical.
How do I find a portkey? You ask Severus, kicking at a pile of leaves.
You look over at your mom, watching as she overturns a large rock, shaking her head at it.
You’re looking for an object. Severus answers. Look for the magic in the object, feel for it.
You close your eyes, taking a deep breath, searching for the pull of magic. Everything feels natural and calm, all except for one golden thread of chaos. Your eyes open as you follow the pull of this magic, searching for the source.
It leads you to a tree just on the outskirts of the forest, barely on the edge of what you think would be the boarder of where the magic within touches.
“Hey.” You call to your mother, not sure what to call her at this point. “Come look at this.”
She walks over to you hesitantly, looking over your shoulder at the hallowed-out tree. Just inside sits a golden pair of binoculars, and you feel the magic buzzing through the air around it.
“Do you think that’s it?” You ask, looking at her out of the corner of your eye, keeping a tight grip on your wand as you slide it into the waist of your pants, hoping she’s forgotten about it.
“It must be.” She answers, looking back at you. “We have to touch it at the same time.”
You nod reaching your hand out to her. She looks down at it suspiciously before looking back up at your face.
“Look I don’t like it either.” You tell her, looking between your open hand and her face. “Just take my hand, that way we’ll be sure to go together.”
She takes a deep breath, and something almost like nervousness washes over her face as she tentatively takes your hand in hers.
“On three.” She says, and you nod, both of you looking towards the binoculars. “One… two… three.”
Your hand grabs one side of the binoculars as hers takes the other, and the world begins to spin as you are swept away to wherever the portkey wants to take you.
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