THE RETURN
AS SOON AS THE ENTRANCE TO THE MAZE CLOSED, IT FELT AS IF THE AIR HAD GOTTEN HEAVIER. Natasha's eyes widened as she looked around, the air cool enough that she was able to see her own breath. She shivered slightly as she wished she had a jacket to pull around herself. However, all she had on her was her suit, wand, and other things she might need in case of an emergency.
Which basically meant: Getting the Hell out of the Maze if she's being chased by a crazy ax-murderer or something.
Natasha felt she was pretty well prepared in case of an emergency! Lifting up her wand, she muttered a soft, "lumos," and bright light filled the gloomy maze. Quietly making her way forward, she kept herself in a defensive position at all times; her eyes narrowed in concentration as she surveyed her surroundings.
The sticks cracked underneath her feet, no matter how many times she tried to avoid them. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught something. It was a sphinx. A creature with the body of a lion, giant clawed hands like a bird, and a long, yellowish tail that swished back and forth in anticipation. Turning her head towards the creature, it seemed to notice Natasha's appearance. It turned its head towards her, and with that, Natasha was able to see the creature had a head of a beautiful woman.
It was so odd, yet so beautiful to see. The female sphinx tilted her head to the side as she watched Natasha, who locked gazes with her and wouldn't let go. "It's odd, is it not? The first creature you encounter, and it's me. I'm supposed to be one of the last creatures you're supposed to meet." the sphinx had a husky voice, her eyes sharp as she looked at Natasha in curiosity. "You are most certainly an interesting human. I would be even more careful once you get past me."
She said nothing, and the woman seemed just fine with that. "You're very near your goal, my child. The quickest way is past me." She explained to the ginger, who thought about her words. The Sphinx was right, it was pretty odd Natasha had barely encountered any monsters -- or well--the easy ones.
Why hadn't she been attacked? While yes, she was quiet, she was pretty sure many creatures could hear her. Did they hear her and just decide not to attack? No... that wouldn't make any sense. They're supposed to be hunting her, and they're acting like it's a deer-hunting season. She had brushed it off earlier, but she now noticed it was too quiet; way too quiet.
"What are the other ways?" Natasha asked, just for pure curiosity. If she couldn't get past the sphinx, she should know what she was up against. The sphinx shrugged gracefully, an odd look in her eyes. Rolling her eyes, Natasha asked what the riddle was.
The creature smiled, her teeth were sharp as she leaned back on her hind legs, her body blocking the middle of the path.
"First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard,
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"
As soon as the sphinx started speaking, Natasha's brain started going a mile minute as she tried to figure out the riddle. "Person who lives in disguise... a spy. That's the first part, right?" Locking eyes with the creature, the woman nodded gracefully. Humming, Natasha started thinking of the next parts. "String them together," she muttered underneath her breath, her eyes glancing down to her suit. Her eyes landed on the symbol on her garter belt, her eyes widening in awareness. Her head snapped up and she blurted out, "Spider! The next thing after this is a spider."
The brown-haired sphinx nodded, a pleased smirk on her face. "A wise child you are, my dear. I would hate to have to attack such a fine mind." She cracked her neck to the side, it letting out a satisfying snap as she adjusted her position. "Are you ready for the next monster you shall face on this adventure?"
Natasha nodded, and the woman's grin widened. "Then, I shall let you pass." Standing up, the woman stretched, stepping aside for Natasha. Keeping her eye on the creature at all times, Natasha made her way past the sphinx. "Be Careful, child! Dark times are ahead!"
A feeling of dread filled Natasha's stomach, and the hairs of the back of her stood up straight. She didn't know if it was because of the warning, or the giant-ass spider in front of her. Natasha felt her heart drop as she watched venom drip down its chin. Taking in a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, she cracked her neck to the side as she readied herself for the fight.
Rolling out of the way of the incoming spider, Natasha quickly shot out a severing spell, however, the spider moved too quickly and it ended up damaging the maze. Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Natasha started running towards the spider, and using her entire body weight, she jumped on the back of the creature and took out her knife from her garter belt, stabbing it in the head. Yanking the knife out of its' neck furiously, the teen grunted as she dropped down from the now dead spider.
She grimaced at the piece of the web that was stuck to her suit and used her wand to flick it off. Setting the corpse on fire, Natasha made her way down the path, a bright glow illuminating the maze. Taking in a deep breath, Natasha held her breath as she stood in front of the cup.
Sounds of rustling leaves alerted Natasha and she turned around to see Cedric running up to the cup, a frantic look on his face as he shot out spells left and right, seemingly not even caring what spells he was using. "--Romanoff! Romanoff! Help, please!" His voice was hoarse as he yelled for help. Natasha sighed, looking back at the cup. She honestly didn't care about winning the cup, and with that thought on her mind, she began running towards the Hufflepuff boy.
Sliding on her knees, she swished her wand like a sword -- the first group of angry fae falling down in piles of blood and guts. She felt the blood splatter her face, but she didn't let that stop her. Her eyes widened as she stared at the hoard of creatures coming towards them, There had to be dozens of different creatures; twenty in each group.
Whipping her head towards Cedric, she stared at the exhausted boy in shock. "What the hell did you do to piss all of them off?" She asked, her body poised for an attack. He shrugged, a confused look on his face.
"I don't know!! They started acting like that after... after I heard the scream..." He trailed off, his grey eyes staring at the fast-approaching groups' creatures fearfully. "What scream?" Natasha demanded, her killing-curse green eyes narrowed in confusion.
Cedric licked his lips, "It sounded like Fleur... It all went wrong after that..." He shuddered as he thought of his night so far. Well, at least it would be one hell of a story to annoy his grandchildren when he was old and frail. "Romanoff, what do we do?"
Gulping, Natasha asked, "Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"Then you have to trust me to watch your back." She told the handsome boy. Cedric nodded fearfully and stood back to back with her, both of their eyes wide as they waited for the creatures, who stared at them in hunger and rage. "Let's go." Without wasting any time, Natasha sent out the most lethal spell she could think of at the moment, which happened to be pretty illegal, but since she's the 'girl-who-lived' or whatever, they'll probably just let her go with a slap on the wrist and a warning about how dangerous the magic she was using was.
Natasha didn't know how long it went on, both of them fighting for their lives as they switched places whenever one was having trouble with the creature they were fighting. "Duck!" Cedric yelled, Natasha, doing exactly as he said as he shot a spell over her shoulder.
At one moment, her wand got taken away and she had to resort to using her other weapons. Taking out her gun, she was so, so glad she had the idea to carve runes into her bullets. Clenching her jaw, she shot the rabid monster in the head. "Cedric, I need you to summon my wand!" She yelled, her voice cracking slightly as she panted, ducking out of the way of an arrow a crazy-looking cupid had shot her with. She didn't need to say anything more as her wand was back in her hand in no time.
Flicking her wand, her gun was refilled with her custom bullets. It was like a gory dance as the two moved around each other, Cedric shooting out spells silently and Natasha using both her gun and wand.
The only sounds in the maze were the sounds of pained grunts, the spells shooting out of their wands, and the sound of Natasha's bullets hitting their targets. "Natasha, I don't know if I fight for much longer!" Cedric called out.
Cursing slightly in her head, Natasha forgot that Cedric wasn't a seasoned fighter. She had an idea, but she wasn't sure it would work. If she could... if she could find a way to release Tom from wherever he was, perhaps his magic might be able to help her. Taking in a deep breath, Natasha prayed to Mother Magic that this would work. Summoning all of her magic, she quickly placed Cedric in a shield. The monsters all came running towards her and Natasha let go, letting out a loud scream as pure magic burst out from within her.
Her body was burning up, and yet... it was an amazing feeling. To feel just the pure magic in the air. Opening her eyes, she observed her surroundings. Her magic had destroyed a good amount of the huge walls that were keeping them within, and all the creatures lay dead -- in pieces at her feet.
"Natasha?"
"Natasha?"
Two voices at the same time called her name out, and she let out a shuddering breath as she felt relief fill her body. Leaves crushed underneath the ground as Cedric raced over to her, holding her up as she quite literally, was about to fall over. "Oh, my Merlin! Natasha, are you okay?" Cedric's mouth went a mile a minute, and Natasha ended up zoning up as she felt the familiar buzz of Tom's magic in her head. 'Hi, Tom.' Even her voice in her head sounded worn out as she greeted Tom, who seemed to buzz with excitement and worry.
"Natasha! Oh, thank fucking hell!" His voice seemed to gain a bit of a cockney accent with his relief. If Natasha could see him, she bet she would see him closing his eyes in relief. "Natasha, I am so sorry! I--"
'Shh, ' She shushed the voice in her head, 'We can talk about this later. But... we need to get out of here.' With that, Tom went quiet. Blinking back to reality, she looked up and locked eyes with Cedric, who was staring down at her in concern. "Romanoff?" His voice was soft as he stared down at her in confusion, respect, fear, and awe. "Are you okay?"
Taking in a large gulp of air, she nodded. "Yeah, yeah..." she trailed off, her voice breathy as her eyes trailed over to the cup. "You deserve the cup, Cedric." Immediately, he began shaking his head in disagreement. "Cedric, you're the proper Hogwarts Champion. I believe it's only fair you win this tournament."
"...How about... How about we both take it?" He suggested. Locking eyes with him, Natasha knew this was the only way to get him to agree to take the cup. Giving him a smile, they began making their way up to the cup. "One, two..."
"THREE!"
Landing as gracefully as she could, Natasha looked around the graveyard in confusion. "Second part of the maze, perhaps?" Tom suggested. Shaking her head, Natasha had a feeling it had nothing to do with the maze. 'I don't think so, Tom.' She replied. Looking around, she limped over to Cedric and held a hand out for him to take.
"You okay?" She asked, planting her feet to the ground as Cedric pulled himself up with a groan. The Older Boy looked around in confusion, his lips slightly open as he surveyed their surroundings. "Yeah, yeah... But, where are we? Shouldn't we be in Hogwarts, right now? We did just grab the cup, yeah?" Gesturing towards the still glowing cup.
Shrugging in confusion, she wiped the blood off of her forehead as she looked around. It was a dark and overgrown graveyard; a feeling of utter despair and sadness surrounding the place. The black outline of a small, modest church was visible beyond a large, yew tree that looked ready to fall down at any moment in time. On her left, she could just make out the outline of a large manor up the hill.
"We should search for some people," Cedric whispered, shaking slightly as he waved his wand -- both his and Natasha's body warming up from the cold night. Natasha had nothing to say to that and began making her way towards the church. Tom seemed to recognize the buildings and was currently freaking out.
"Natasha, no! Don't go there, don't--"
However, that didn't seem to stop what happened next. Hearing the sound of leaves and sticks breaking underneath someone's feet, she turned around to see an ugly man, his face shaped like a rat. In arms, he seemed to be cradling a baby of some sort. But Natasha knew, babies would never sound like that.
"Kill the spare!"
Natasha had no time to do anything as a bright green light was heading Cedric's way. She gasped as she watched the boy fall down to the ground -- dead. She stumbled back in shock as she watched the light leave his eyes, his face stuck in a look of pure shock. She didn't even notice the shooting pain in her skull until the shock of Cedric dying wore down. She winced, grabbing her head as she turned to face Cedric's killer.
Grabbing the first weapon she could, she held up the gun as she stared down the two men. Well, she was pretty sure they were two men -- the one in the blanket had a pretty masculine-sounding voice. She went to go shoot, but the creature in the blanket held up its hand. It... It was somehow controlling her!
It chuckled, "Oh, Natasha... we have time for that later. Put away your silly, muggle toys." It taunted the girl, but Natasha wouldn't give up. She went for her wand but found it was nowhere on her. The rat-man holding the being held up her wand, a cruel smile on his face.
"Crucio!"
It wasn't like how everyone said it was. It didn't feel as if her body was on fire. She felt cold, her muscles aching for some kind of warmth. She wiggled on the ground as she let out howls of pain, her face screwed up in pure agony as she thrashed around. The only thing she could hear was her own screams and high, pitched cackling. She could feel herself getting picked up, but found she had no energy to even try to fight back. Her head hit the back of something hard, and she could feel liquid dripping down her skull.
"NATASHA! NATASHA! Are you okay? Natasha, answer me!" The familiar sound of Tom's voice filled her head. He was flustered -- Natasha could tell that much. He seemed bewildered by the attack, his magic going haywire within her as she took in a haggard breath. Her fingers twitched as she felt some awareness begin to come back to her body -- no longer just shooting white pain.
She had been so prepared for everything, except this. This was something she never expected to happen. To... to be abducted by a weird rat man and a weird-lookin' baby! She struggled to keep her eyes open, to try and keep the life inside of her. She was so tired... She had done good, she could let go but... The idea of seeing her family at her funeral, the family who she had just gotten back; their eyes red and puffy... sent some newfound determination to Natasha. 'Tom?' Natasha asked, 'You would tell me anything, yeah?'
He seemed to gulp, but let out a shuddering breath. "Yes, I... I would, Natasha. Whatever you see or hear, that's not me anymore. I... You changed me, Natasha and I swear... I will get you out of here." Natasha's eyes drifted over to the weird baby and had a feeling that was who Tom was referring, too.
Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort.
Taking in a deep breath, she opened up her green eyes to see a large cauldron in front of her -- the perfect size for Deformed-Baby Voldemort. She could feel Tom's amusement and pushed down the smile that wanted to pop out. The Rat-Man (As Natasha was calling him in her head) dropped Voldemort into the cauldron.
"Bone of the Father Unwillingly given..." The rat started, using his wand to dump the bone into the cauldron. Steam burst out out the boiling cauldron, but that didn't seem to worry the rat; in fact, it seemed to excite him even more. "Flesh of the Servant," Pulling out a large knife, Natasha's eyes widened as she realized what the hell he was gonna do.
HE WAS GONNA CUT OFF HIS FUCKING HAND!
"--Willingly sacrificed." He took in a deep breath before swinging down as hard as he could. He let out a wail of pain as he hugged the stump of his former hand to his chest, limping over to Natasha with the knife he just used on himself. She struggled to move away from the man, but he grabbed her arm and lifted up her sleeve, digging the knife in harshly as he dragged the knife down, his eyes lit up in glee.
Natasha bit her lip, the taste of copper filling her mouth as he dug around her wound with his dirty fingers, staring at her in wonderment. "The enemy's blood forcibly taken..." Walking over to the boiling hot cauldron, he flicked her blood into the pot. She clenched her teeth as she watched the pot. "You will.... resurrect your foe."
A hideous creature floated up into the air, looking like a deformed fetus as it transitioned from a baby to a monster. Long fingers grazed his bald head; blue veins bright against his white skin. His lips were thin, stretched together into a malicious smile as he examined himself. However, the most horrifying thing for Natasha was his eyes.
Eyes that he shared with Tom.
"Robe me, Wormtail." He demanded in a high-pitched voice -- airy and overall sounded nothing like her Tom. It wasn't even close to being her Tom. The now identified Wormtail scurried over to the tall being, draping a long black cloak over his figure, which seemed to make him even more haunting and scary.
He was hideous; monstrous. "Voldemort..." Natasha whispered underneath her breath, staring up at the creature in fear. He seemingly heard what she said and looked over, looking over at her in disgust, his lips sneered up in pure distaste. Reaching into the pocket of his robe, he pulled out a yew wand and stroked it with his long fingers, a look of fondness on his face.
Flicking his wand, he lifted up Wormtail with his wand and threw him into the angel that Natasha was tied to. She felt a bit of satisfaction as she watched the rat-like man crumble to the floor, wailing loudly as he held his stump to his chest. Standing up on wobbly feet, Wormtail limped over to the monster, staring up at him with fat tears rolling down his face.
"My Lord..." He whimpered, "My Lord... you promised... you did promise..."
Voldemort rolled his blood-red eyes, looking down at the man in annoyance. "Hold out your arm." He demanded lazily. Wormtail smiled, holding out his stump to the man. "The other arm, Wormtail."
However, Wormtail continued to beg for the man to fix his arm. Bending down, he pulled out Peter's arm; forcing up the sleeve of his robe, revealing the Dark Mark. Voldemort examined it carefully, gently tracing it with his long fingers. He seemed to be in his own word, not even acknowledging the man's uncontrollable weeping. "It is back..." His voice was soft, "They all have noticed it and now, we shall see... Now we shall know..." Pressing his wand against Wormtail's flesh, Natasha watched as the mark darkened.
With a look of cruel satisfaction, Voldemort stood back up to his fall height, tilting his head back as he looked around the dark graveyard. "How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" He whispered, his gleaming red eyes falling upon the dark sky, "And how many will be foolish to stay away?"
For a bit, Natasha thought he had forgotten about her -- the man pacing back and forth. However, he stopped, his eyes falling onto her figure. He smirked, tilting his head to the side as he gazed upon the beaten-up red-head beauty. "Ah. Yes. You." His lips were stretched wide, a sadistic look of glee on his face. "The Famous Rosa Potter... or shall I say, The Famous Black Widow."
She held her head up high as she stared him down. "I was quite surprised to hear the light's savior was raised as a killing machine." He walked slowly over to her, "Natalia, it's almost scary with how much we have in common."
"У меня может быть красный цвет в моей бухгалтерской книге, но я совсем не похож на тебя." She sneered, her green eyes narrowed in anger. He raised a non-existent eyebrow in amusement, his lips spread wide. (I may have red in my ledger, but I am nothing like you.)
He chuckled, stroking his wand as he stared down at the girl. "You keep telling yourself that, dear Natalia... But one day, you'll be as bad as me." His voice was soft but yet it traveled through the graveyard. "Nothing to say? Perhaps I should just... Crucio!"
The familiar feeling of coldness filled her body once more, and she threw her head back in agony, her body thrashing around in her prison. Tom tried to comfort her, but she found her mind blank. Did her parents have to go through this? When he found her, did he torture her parents or did he just kill them?
She hoped he just went straight to killing; she wouldn't wish this on anyone. Tears fell from her eyes as she continued to scream in pain. When was it gonna end? How long had it been? Minutes? Hours? Weeks? She had no clue; all she wanted was the pain to stop! It seemed her wish was granted for a bit as Voldemort stopped his spell, letting the girl rest for a second.
"Natasha, let me try to reason with him! Please!"
She chuckled breathlessly, shaking her head, 'There's no reasoning with him, Tom. He's too far gone.'
And with that, the pain started all over again. Natasha wasn't sure how many times she was hit with the spell, but whenever he took a tiny break, Tom would try to reason with her. But she was firm on her decisions; nothing would be able to change this monster's mind.
Natasha could hear the sounds of people arriving, and she peeked open her eyes to see many people in dark robes and masks appear before her. "Death Eaters..." Tom muttered quietly within her mind, his magic going a mile a minute as he tried to fix her injuries as much as he could. Voldemort looked away from her and clapped his hands with a pleased expression as he examined all the people. He seemed slightly displeased with the number of people but smiled nonetheless. "Oh! Look who finally returns!"
He stood in silence as he waited for them to make a move. After a few, uncomfortable moments, one of the death eaters fell to his knees and crawled towards the beast, kissing the hems of his robes. "Master... Master..." He murmured. Tom made a noise of disgust in the back of her mind, probably complaining about how unsanitary that was. Soon enough, the rest of the Death Eaters followed suit, kissing the hems of Voldemort's robes; begging for forgiveness.
"Welcome, Death Eaters," He started, "Thirteen Years... Thirteen Years since we last met. Yet you answer my calls as though it were yesterday. We are still united under the Dark Mark, then? Or are we?" Natasha watched as his face pulled back into a terrible expression, his slit-like nostrils widening. "I smell guilt... There is a stench of guilt upon the air."
A shiver ran through the circle as if each of them were guilty of this crime. Voldemort said nothing, and continued his speech, "I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact--such prompt appearances-- and I ask myself... why did this band of wizards never come to aid of their master, whom they swore eternal loyalty?" No one spoke, all too scared of the consequences. Natasha thought it was stupid they were staying quiet, either way -- they were gonna get tortured by the mad man, it was only a matter of time.
"And I answer myself," His eyes moved through each and every one of them, "they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment... And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living?"
"And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort... perhaps they now pay allegiance to another... perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?" He shook his head in disappointment, "It is a disappointment to me. I confess myself disappointed." With that, one of the men in the circle flung himself to Voldemort's feet, wailing for forgiveness. The shell of a man began to laugh, holding his wand out to the man. "Crucio!"
Loud screams filled the graveyard, and for once -- it wasn't Natasha. 'You were really like this, weren't you?' Natasha asked Tom. 'You used to be like this.'
"I was. And... I still get those urges..." His voice was heavy; sounding so, so tired. But, Natasha felt no sympathy for him. He didn't get to be tired. He got to have a 13, year-long break living in Natasha's head. If he had just... left her and her family alone, she wouldn't have had the childhood that she did! "Natasha, I am so--"
'Shut up.' She ordered. He immediately shut up, and Natasha came back to the present. She watched the group of Death Eaters, giving Voldemort looks of respect and fear. The snake-like man turned his attention back to Natasha, who was watching with a blank expression. "We have a special guest joining us tonight! Rosa Potter!" He cackled gleefully as he made his way over to the girl, moving her hair out of the way to touch the faint scar on her forehead. It was tiny, but it was still there. However, when he touched her, he stopped.
Staring at the scar with wide eyes, he tilted his head to the side as he continued to caress the scar with his sharp nails. "Oh? What do we have here?" He muttered underneath his breath, a look of genuine curiosity in his voice. "What are you doing in there?"
Immediately, her head began burning as she felt something being pulled from within her. It was worse than getting tortured with the Cruciatus Curse. Her brain went haywire, and she started screaming in Russian. Voldemort cackled as he pulled the broken shard of his soul from her head, flicking his wand in an odd pattern.
The shape of a male-human body began to form in front of them, and he fell to the floor in a heap of limbs. Voldemort sneered, kicking Tom in the ribs, "Pathetic..." He stared down at the shard of his soul in disgust, "All those years, and you just let her live. "
Tom stood up in wobbly legs, glaring up at the snake-like man in disgust. "What was I supposed to do? Kill my life source?" He questioned, spitting in the man's face. "I'm not stupid like you are." Voldemort barred his teeth, whipping out his wand in anger. Tom immediately ducked out of the way, grabbing one of the Death Eater's wands. "You've truly lost it!"
"Lost it? I--"
Natasha began to zone out as the two began to argue, throwing spells at one another. She needed to get out of here, she needed... she needed her wand. Ignoring her body's screams for her to stop, she managed to get her right arm out of her prison. "Acio." She whispered, her fingers twitching as she waited for the familiar feeling of her wand in her hands.
It flew over to her quickly, and she reacted immediately. Flicking her wand, she exploded the angel; some of the stone knocking out the death eaters. Falling to the ground, Tom and Voldemort turned to her. Stumbling up, she wiped the blood off of her face. "You boys gonna keep arguing or?" She trailed off, not giving them any time to react as she flicked her wand in a complicated matter. Gnarled roots shot up from the ground, and pulled both Voldemort and Tom to the ground.
She wasn't sure who to trust anymore, but she wasn't about to chance anything. "All those years to learn new things, and all you know is crucio? And you were supposed to be this, powerful wizard!" She shook her head in amusement, "At least, Tom, knows to switch it up once and a while."
Discreetly, Natasha's eyes trailed over to the cup. It was pretty far away and would gain attention if she tried to get it now. She would have to distract him. "You're like a rabid animal, honestly begging to be put down. You're useless." She taunted the man. He screamed, breaking himself free of the roots.
"Avada--!"
She didn't even let him finish the spell as she flung a severing spell his way. His eyes widened as he stared at what was leftover from his left arm. All that was left was a bloody stump. "You--Y-You whore! You took my arm!" He screamed, a look of pure and utter rage on his face. Tom chuckled, and Voldemort snapped his attention over to the man. "You should be mad as well! The original just lost a part of his body!"
Tom shook his head in amusement, "Why would I be mad? I taught her that spell." His lips quirked up into a smirk, and he immediately summoned the leftover pieces of concrete and began flinging them at him. "Natasha! Run!"
Giving him a nod of gratitude, she began to dodge all the spells the awake Death Eaters tried to fling at her. Sliding on her knees, she quickly summoned Cedric's body and grabbed the cup, the familiar feeling of being sucked through a tight tube.
She grunted as she landed on the grass.
It was loud.
All she could hear were cheers and shouts of excitement. She could hear someone rushing over, and she looked up to see Dumbledore and Sirius running up to her. "Cedric... He... I..." She found that she couldn't get the words out, staring down at the teen boy's corpse in shock. "It was a trap... It was a trick... It was a t-trick!" She cried out, all of her emotions coming out at once. "He's back! Voldemort's back!"
"That's my boy!" Natasha felt herself being pulled away from Cedric's corpse as his father rushed up to him, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Come on, girly," The gruff voice of Moody pulled her from her thoughts, "Let's go." Pushing herself away from him, she stared at him with wide eyes. He raised an eyebrow, a look of confusion on his face. "Well?"
Shaking her head, Natasha continued to back away from the man. "No," She said, her voice firm, "I'm not going with you. I'm going to get proper medical treatment. Why would I go with you?" Tilting her head to the side, she watched as his tongue flicked back and forth.
"Come on, Romanoff!--"
With all that had gone on that night, Natasha had finally run out of patience. Pulling back her fist, she punched him in the face hard. Climbing on top of him, she continued to punch him in the face -- honestly not even sure what she was doing anymore. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I'm not going with you!" In her rage, something managed to fall out of his coat pocket and someone picked it up.
"Dumbledore," The low voice of Snape called out, "this is polyjuice potion."
They both shared a wide-eyed look, and immediately pulled Natasha off of fake-moody. The crowd was silent as they stared at the bloody girl in shock. She had an almost feral look on her face as she stared down at Moody in disgust. "Natasha, " The familiar voice of Sirius whispered in her ear, "let's go..." Her eyes slowly left the man, and she stumbled away from the scene with Remus and Sirius.
Natasha Romanoff always knew she was special. However, she didn't like that she was special. Being Special for Natasha Romanoff meant life was hell on earth for her. On June 25th, 2004; Natasha Romanoff's life changed forever. And it would never be the same.
Again.
END OF ACT 1