A Broken Slytherin : Lunar Loss (Book 3)

The Figures Across the Lake

y/n felt her heartbeat in her head bang against the walls of her skull with every step she took, desperately trying to make it the lake in time. Even when the dementors weren't attacking her, she felt the ever-present sense of impending doom loom around the woods. It only grew stronger the closer they came to the lake.

Harry was leading them through the trees, messily dodging the dark trees as he went. His pained face was highlighted in the moonlight. y/n had never seen him so desperate in his life. 

An opening in the trees gave her a glimpse of the horrific scene that y/n had already experience once before, now forced to see again. 

The trio stopped just before the tree line, careful to stay out of sight in case their past selves saw them watching themselves across the lake. But even when shrouded by branches and tree trunks, the horrors before them were clear as day. 

Dementors were already upon Sirius, Harry and y/n across the lake. Past Harry's Patronus charm had just failed and a dementor swooped in to feed on Sirius again. y/n watched her own past self, on the ground frozen with fear. She was reminded of the fear she felt in that moment and couldn't help but feel that same terror creep into her mind. 

  "Expecto... Patronum!" past Harry cast again, but alas, the charm was not strong enough to ward the creatures off. "y/n!" past Harry cried, "Help me!"  

y/n's heart felt like a blade had pierced through it. The Harry across the lake was on the ground, weak and utterly terrified for not only his own life but his friend's and Godfather's.

"Please... I need you!" Past Harry shouted again.

"This is awful," Hermione said, her face screwed up as she observed the scene across the lake. Her eyes darted between Harry and y/n just in front of her, feeling sick to the stomach that they were put through something so horrible.

"Don't worry," Harry said, "My parents will come... They'll conjure the patronuses."

"Expecto Patronum!" Another cry rang out across the woods, this time from past y/n, on her feet reaching out her wand to the sky beckoning nay remaining strength within her to save them. The shield of light flickered for a moment before dissipating into nothing. A dementor swooped down upon her and y/n heard her own screams of pain ring in her ears.

She watched as she fell to the ground on her knees, weak and completely empty. Harry once again tried to ward them off but fell right back down next to y/n. The dementors loomed closer continuing to feed mercilessly.

"Any minute now." Harry said more to himself than anyone, "Right there, you'll see!" He said, pointing to an outcrop of rock where their saviours appeared to them just hours before.

y/n and Hermione eyed Harry warily. He seemed so utterly convinced they would come. y/n looked around the woods, for anyone, anything, that could be coming to save them. But they were alone.

"Harry, listen to me, no one is coming,"  Hermione said, trying to make Harry see reason.

"They will! They will come!" Harry yelled.

"They have to," y/n breathed out, hope draining quickly.

As they waited and waited the dementors kept coming. One after the other closing in on the three on the lake's edge. Sirius went limp, the small orb of light floating from his body once again.

"You're dying," Hermione choked, "all of you."

y/n's mind raced. Someone needed to come. They need to be saved now or they would surely die. Her hand brushed against her wand in her pocket, and everything clicked. She grasped it firmly and turned to Harry who immediately understood as well. They took their wands and ran out into the open, their wands raised.

"Harry! y/n! No!"

The pair stood together, their wands held up to the night, and their feet planted firmly on the ground. They knew what they were to do. They looked at each other once, before turning to face the fray once more.

y/n let every happy memory she could think of fill her up to the point where she couldn't help but smile at the horrific scene before her. Her memories with her Grandmother from her early years of childhood, the days she spent roaming the woods playing pretend by herself, meeting her best friends on the Hogwarts Express, joining the Quidditch team and flying a broom for the first time, meeting the Weasley family who took her in as one of their own, finally finding a place where she belonged...

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

She and Harry's wands shook with the amount of magic flowing through them as the tips began to shine a bright white before exploding into a light show around the lake. 

A whispy form of light escaped Harry's wand before cementing its form into a valiant stag that emanated light as it stood strongly at the shore. Dementors began to flee but a few stronger ones remained.

That's when, from y/n's ebony wand, a long, graceful beam of light flew out from it and danced through the air. The light then manifested and shone brighter than before as a noble, long, three-headed snake sat ethereally in the air, giving off strong pulses of light in sync with Harry's stag.

With their combined force, the two patronuses warded off the dementors banishing them from the woods and purging the lake of any memory of them. The stag and snake returned to their caster's side as the last few waves of light began to fade away into the night. Across the lake, y/n thought she made eye contact with her past self for just a moment before the past her collapsed with Harry onto the shore of the Lake on either side of Sirius.

The patronuses faded away as y/n and Harry lowered their wands, heaving from the effort the charm took. They turned to look at each other and grinned with glee, any feeling of dread or despair defeated.

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I'm pre-writing a bunch of chapters so I can focus on exam study 100% so expect a few more out soon to finish off the book. Also to everyone who comments and votes on my chapters from any of my books I see you and I appreciate you all so much. 

Hope you enjoyed this update and tell me what you think about y/n's Patronus! Do you like it? Hate it? Tell me!

Have a great day loves 🖤

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