➥COMPLETED
Nova Black hadn't thought she would ever set a toe behind those thick castle walls she had fought to forget about during the past thirteen years, but here she was at Plattform 9¾, staring at the scarlet train in front of her with wobbly k...
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DARKNESS HAD fallen over Hogwarts castle, only the faint light of a silver half moon enlightening the parts of Nova's room that weren't hidden behind the tall wooden folding screen shielding her bed. It was far past midnight, and the youngest Black was turning the small flask of her stolen Draught of Dreamless Sleep between her fingers.
Harry Potter's words still echoed in her ears like canon fire mingling with her own hammering heart, and those mixed beats making it impossible to find rest — not even as it was slowly growing warm in her sweaty palm.
Nova spent the night awake. An uncommon condition to the librarian, who used to take sleep as her righteous escape from reality whenever she could, but it must have been fate, or maybe just the biggest coincidence she ever witnessed, that her mind was still wide awake and her consciousness fully aware of every little detail in this silent night.
The strange noise she heard on the hallway outside her closed and locked door could have been easily mistaken with footsteps, but as they neared her chambers, Nova noticed that it was more than one pair of feet hitting the floor with soft clicking noises, and every muscle in her sensitive ears came alive, as she froze on her bed, listening into the disturbed silence.
Whatever was outside her door, it was light feeted, moving fast and moving closer. Nova slipped from her bed, getting to her feet as silent as she could, her bare feet meeting the cold stone, having goosebumps prickling on her skin as she slowly rounded the folding screen to move closer to the door. Her own breath seemed a screech into the night, and Nova forced it to remain inside her lungs, crossing the room step by step.
The tapping noise outside had died the moment she reached the door and no matter how hard Nova listened into the silence, she couldn't hear anything but her own heart beat echoing in her ears.
Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. She threw another glance down at the vial in her hand; it seemed to be time to knock the senses out of her. Finally releasing the breath she held, her shoulders sacked down and Nova stepped away from the door, turning around, just to froze in motion as she did.
The clicking had returned. A single tap, then a second. Silence again, followed by a deep growl that had the tiny hair on Nova's neck rising alongside goosebumps springing to life on her cold skin.
She didn't dare to move, while the click click outside returned in a monotonous rythm, growing quieter as whatever caused it strolled further down the corridor. Her muscles, formerly having forsaken her fully, now decided to work without an order, and obeying Nova's silent screams to make it stop seemed not to be an option at all.
Turning once more, Nova's hand reached out for the doorknob, the cold metal burning against her skin. Before she could even lose a thought about holding herself back, her wrist turned and the lock clicked open. She tore the door open with a fast jerk, but hesitated as the dark corridor lay in front of her. With caution, Nova took a step forward and turned her head to follow what she thought was the direction the tapping had vanished to.
Her breath hitched in her throat once more, a gasp died before it tumbled from her lips. Half had Nova hoped to find the corridor empty, but instead there was a shadow, a huge dark shadow, enlightened by a torch at the end of the hallway.
Wild, messy fur, shoulders high as a bear — with its back turned at Nova, the huge black dog that has saved her life in front of the Whomping Willow was fastening its steps as suddenly more lights enflamed the corridor and footsteps grew louder in the distance, mingling with whispered voices in the night. In this very moment, the dog threw a glimpse over his massive shoulders, his gleaming yellow eyes landing on Nova, but then flickering to the ground at her feet.
In retrospect, things happened so incredibly fast that it was a miracle Nova had been able to act even faster. The dog revealed his fang-like teeth, his fur ruffled up, eyes narrowing to slits, as he fully turned and dashed down the hallway, aiming right at Nova.
She quickly took a step back, slamming the door shut right in this moment the dog reached her, throwing his full bodyweight against the wooden barrier keeping Nova from those death bringing fangs. Nova, with all force she could afford, pressed herself against the door, frantically looking for her wand, that uselessly lay on her nightstand. The wood threatening to burst under the dogs attack, the thundering bangs of it smashing itself against the door was sounding like explosions in Nova's ears.
Light was shining through the small gap above the door and Nova could only watch the dogs furious shadow, while she did everything in her might to keep the door locked, closing her eyes as she felt her strength growing weaker. Why was this monster about to murder her now, when last time it had saved her from getting her bones crushed by a mad tree?!
Almost did she scream when something brushed her ankle, and her eyes tore open wide, her foott flinching back. A rat was jumping away from her bare soles before she could hit it, but Nova's eyes didn't much pay attention to the small animal, her eyes fixating the wooden stick now laying beneath her feet, like it had always been there ...
Close, but still too far away, her wand was right in front of her toes, but Nova was unable to shift a muscle, fearing that the beast outside would use her one second of unawareness to crash through the border.
"No — go away! Leave it!", Nova pressed through gritted teeth, as she watched the rat pick up the wand with its tiny sharp teeth. "Wha—?!"
The rat, still with the wand caught between its teeth, started climbing up Nova's bare ankles, up her sweatpants, then onto her shoulder, where it rushed down her arm, until its claws pierced into the skin of her wrist. To Nova's plain surprise, the rat placed the wand exactly in the right position for the youngest Black to grab it.
"Colloportus!", she snapped as soon as she could wrap her fingers around the fragile, but powerful stick.
The word was spoken and silence fell on the other side of the door, but only for a brief moment. Voices grew louder outside, the dog's paws thundered down the hallway, and Nova, with the rat now sitting on her shoulder and a nervous laughter on her lips, slid down to the floor, her back leaning against the door.
With a glance at the rat, she said, "Brave little guy", before there was a knock on her door and the rat rushed away into the shadows.
