His Angel

Chapter 27

What she saw on the ground at the base of the tree almost made her lose her footing.

"'Arry!" She gasped.

He was unconscious…or was he asleep? She couldn't tell. His head was resting rather uncomfortably against the tree and he wasn't giving the slightest indication that he'd heard her.

She called his name again, but to no avail. She tried to move closer to him when suddenly, branches sprung up from the ground making her take several steps backwards coming dangerously close to the edge.

Even as she watched the branches wound themselves around him, effectively tying him to the tree. Despite this he showed no signs of regaining consciousness, if he was even…

"No!" She couldn't let that thought form in her mind. She ripped her way through, desperately trying to loosen the bonds but they had wrapped themselves around him too tightly. More branches were coming out from the ground, wrapping around her arms and pulling them back, away from him. The more she struggled, the tighter the branches dug into her skin, making her gasp as she felt her skin tear.

"I would advise you to stop doing that." A quiet voice said, seemingly from nowhere. At once the branches that were holding her in place loosened and sunk back to the ground. Harry's were still in place and showed no signs of letting him go other than a few that receded. Before she could pinpoint the source of the voice it spoke again. "As you can see you're not helping him…or yourself."

At this point she couldn't believe she wasn't dreaming when she saw the tall, hooded figure standing right beside the tree.

All at once something clicked in her mind. She'd seen this…apparition…before. But where?

The…was it a man or woman? She couldn't tell. Was it even human? It bore a startling resemblance to a full fledged Dementor other than the fact that it wasn't floating, nor did it look…wispy.

Neither made a move to speak. She got the feeling that it was waiting for her to do something...anything. She could practically feel it's gaze despite the fact that the hood covered nothing but a dark hole.

She tried to move towards Harry again who was still bound to the tree. Before she could reach close enough to touch him the branches came back to life; rising from the ground and forming a barrier around him. The sharpened edges looked positively menacing as they stood poised to strike, almost like a poisonous snake…daring her to take another step forward.

"Please…can't you 'elp? I must get him out." She asked in desperation, turning towards the figure.

"I'm afraid I can't do anything to help." It said softly, the voice was no louder than a whisper. "However…" It lifted a skeletal hand that seemed to gleam in the moonlight and pointed right at her. "You just might be able to do what I cannot."

"You…who are you?" She asked cautiously, taking a few steps back away from the tree as once again, the branches returned to the Earth. "Why have you done this to him?"

"I assure you…I have done nothing." For a moment she thought she could detect some emotion behind that ghostly voice. It seemed to pause for a moment, watching Harry who was still lying unconsciously against the tree, oblivious to what was going on before him. "Tell me…" It turned back to her. "Do you know where we are?"