FINE LINE - HOGWARTS EXPRESS
A loud whistle sounded out through the station, steam bubbling from under the train made its way onto the tracks. Mavis stood, a warm smile plastered on her face as she momentarily got lost in her head.
Her third year was about to start and she could only hope that it would be quieter than the past two.
After finding out her Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had Voldemort at the back of his head during her first year and a rogue basilisk roamed the school during her second, Mavis could only hope for something peaceful.
That, however, would probably fly out the window as she so happens to be friends with the notorious Harry Potter.
She was soon knocked back into reality when someone bumped into her shoulder. Students were pushing past her, shouting at whatever was closest to them. Taking the hint, Mavis made her way onto the train, trying to find her friends.
Walking down the corridor, Mavis soon found the compartment containing her friends, although there was somebody else in there too. A man was sitting fast asleep next to the window, his coat pulled up to his eyes, blocking out his surroundings.
From what Mavis could see, the man looked ill and exhausted. Though he looked quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with grey.
Quietly making her way into the compartment, Mavis sat next to Harry. Each of her friends greeted her with beaming smiles. It wasn't long before the four engaged in a long conversation, particularly about the summer before Harry mentioned something that Mr Weasley told him in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Sirius Black escaped to come after you?" Hermione said in shock, her hands covering her mouth, "Oh Harry, you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble."
"I don't go looking for trouble," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. "Trouble usually finds me."
"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" Ron said shakily.
To Harry, Hermione and Ron were taking the news worse than expected. The two of them seemed much more frightened of Black than he was. But what scared Harry the most was how quiet Mavis was.
"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," Ron said uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."
"But they'll catch him, won't they?" Hermione questioned earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the muggles looking out for him, too..."
"Sure - of course, no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before and he's a raving, murderous lunatic..." Ron trailed off.
"Thanks Ron." Harry mumbled, his face falling slightly.
"You okay, Mavis?" Hermione questioned looking at the girl's aghast expression.
"Yeah, fine," Mavis murmured, picking at the hem of her jumper.
"You're awfully quiet." Hermione said.
"I just have this fear," Mavis admitted. "I never knew my parents and Andromeda won't mention anything, but do you think it's possible for Sirius Black to be my father?"
"I mean, it's a possibility," Ron shrugged nervously, his foot bouncing up and down.
"What if he tries coming after me too?" Mavis said suddenly.
"Mavis -" Hermione tried.
All of a sudden, the compartment began to rattle. The rain thickened as the train sped yet further north, the windows were now a solid, shimmering grey, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life along the corridor and over the luggage racks.
The rain kept hammering onto the window, the wind roared, but the man, who Mavis came to learn was Professor Lupin, laid still, seemingly deep in sleep.
"Why are we stopping?" Hermione asked. "We can't be there yet."
The train started to get slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows. Harry, who was nearest to the door, got up to look out onto the corridor.
All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments. The train came to a stop with a jolt, sending Harry back into his seat. Distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen off the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.
"What's going on?" Ron questioned in a high-pitched voice as he scrambled to look out the window.
"Ouch!" Hermione gasped. "Ron, that was my foot!"
"D'you think we've broken down?" Harry wondered, looking at Mavis who just shrugged her shoulders.
"Dunno," Mavis replied. "Although, something is definitely wrong."
There was a squeaking sound, and Mavis saw the dim black outline of Ron, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out.
"There's something moving out there," Ron said. "I think people are coming aboard."
There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. The four of them stopped moving. It was silent, none of them dared to say anything. Mavis felt as though her heart was in her throat. The girl looked ahead, trying to find the eyes of her best friend. But it was no use, the compartment was too dark to even see to the end of her nose.
The room grew colder as ice and frost began to form on the windows. The door to their compartment slid open. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the moonlight coming in from outside, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood.
Mavis's eyes darted downwards before she could stop herself, and what she saw made her stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking and scabbed, like something dead.
It looked around the room before focusing on Harry. Then, the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all. Mavis felt her own breath catch in her chest as she watched Harry's eyes roll to the back of his head.
Harry couldn't see. He was drowning in cold. It was inside his chest, it was inside his very heart. There was a rushing in his ears as though he was being dragged underwater.
And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms but couldn't.
From Mavis's perspective, she watched on as this creature took a hold of her friend. A thick white fog surrounded Harry. She looked towards Ron and Hermione, hoping they knew of something they could do, but it was no use.
When Harry collapsed further into his seat, the dark-hooded figure turned to its left, looking directly at Mavis. The girl suddenly felt all the happiness in her body evaporate. She tried calling out for help but her pleas went unnoticed; it was all inside her head.
Her eyelids began to droop, the heaviness of them becoming too much. She felt helpless, there was nothing she could do but surrender to the darkness closing around her.
Suddenly, the stranger from before had risen to his feet and quickly pointed his wand at the cloaked figure. A bright, illuminating light shot out from the top of his wand, and suddenly, the creature reeled back and slipped out the door.
As soon as it left, the lights turned on and the train began to move again, slowly but surely. In a state of panic, Hermione immediately rushed to Mavis's side, cradling the girl's head in her hands. "Maeve? Mavis? Are you alright?"
"W-what?" The girl questioned, opening her eyes slowly, taking in her surroundings.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked again, nervously scanning over Mavis's features.
"Huh? Oh, yeah," Mavis mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she began to sit up.
"Positive?" Hermione double checked.
"What about Harry?" Mavis wondered, ignoring Hermione's question, looking to her side.
"Ron's helping him," Hermione said, her hand cupping Mavis's cheek, moving her attention back onto the bushy haired girl.
"What happened?" Mavis asked, looking at the girl in front of her, suddenly noticing how close their faces were.
"And who screamed?" Harry added on as he quickly looked towards the door.
"No one screamed," Ron said, still nervous that the creature would come back.
"But I heard screaming." Harry said.
"Me too -" Mavis nodded.
A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.
"Here," he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece before turning to Mavis and doing the same. "Eat it. It'll help."
Mavis hesitantly took the piece of chocolate, only taking a nibble from the food. Hermione, who was still crouched in front of her, moved so she was now sitting beside her.
The bushy haired girl took a hold of Mavis's unoccupied hand in hers and placed it on her lap, the latter fiddling with her fingers.
"What was that thing?" Harry asked.
"A Dementor," Lupin explained.
"From Azkaban?" Mavis's eyes widened comically.
Lupin nodded, "Eat, it'll help. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a little chat with the driver."
Leaving the four in the compartment by themselves, Lupin disappeared down the corridor.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry? Mavis?" Hermione questioned anxiously.
"I don't get it, what happened?" Harry wondered, wiping some sweat off his face.
"Well - that thing - the Dementor - stood there and looked around, I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face - and you - you -" Hermione said.
"I thought you were having a fit or something," Ron said, taking over for Hermione, still looking scared. "You both sort of went rigid and collapsed onto your seat and started twitching -"
"After you collapsed, it went after Mavis. That's when Professor Lupin got up, walked toward the Dementor, and pulled out his wand," Hermione said. "He did something; this silvery thing shot out of his wand and when I looked back up, the Dementor was gone."
"And did any of you - " Harry began, looking at Mavis specifically, "You know, pass out?"
Mavis gave a brief nod, still in shock about what happened only moments ago.
"No. I felt weird though," Ron said, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again."
"But what about the screaming?" Harry asked again, not understanding. He felt weak and shivery, as though he was recovering from a bad bout of the flu.
"No one was screaming, Harry," Hermione said, looking between him, Ron and Mavis.
"There was," Mavis spoke up, taking another bite out of her chocolate. "A woman, she sounded like she was in agony but I couldn't make out what she was saying."
Before Harry could respond, Professor Lupin came back. He paused as he entered, looked around and said, with a small smile, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know."
Harry took a bite and to his great surprise felt warmth spread suddenly to his fingers and toes.
"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," Professor Lupin said and with another smile he bid his goodbyes once again, leaving the four alone for the second time.
The four of them didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. Mavis too stuck in her head about what happened.
Who was the woman?
Who was she screaming for?
And why the hell did she recognise the voice?
httplilyyy speaks .ᐟ
- 001. hello my lovelies! that's the 'first' official chapter of this little fic done!
- 002. sorry for the small chapter but as the fic goes along they will get longer :)
- 003. feel free to leave comments here and there, or even message me! i'd love to know how you're liking the story <3