Louanne Delacour

The Black Dog

December 24th, 1993

Around me was a fire. I stood in the great hall, watching the enchanted place where I shared so many happy memories burn to the ground. Even the stones caught fire. The banners, the tables, the candle wax. Bodies littered the floor, definitely not spared the violence of the flames.

"Help!" I tried calling. I tried screaming, shouting, and yelling. But my throat closed up and my heart pulsed quicker and quicker. I could not even move. Nothing and nobody was able to save me when the fire raced forward and caught up to me, letting me burn.

I saw people. People made of fire. Fire and shadows. They taunted me, jabbing at me with their cold, burning hands.

"Stop it!" I tried to say.

Stop. Just stop . . .

I awoke in a cold sweat.

The darkness I opened my eyes to should have been inviting, considering any light would have immediately blinded me, but it was not. I couldn't move. Every shadow in the hospital wing became a person, and every bed became a dead body.

My sister, Fleur, explained this to me once. Sleep Paralysis, she'd called it. When you're so absolutely terrified that, no matter how you wish to move, your brain cannot let you. How I loathed it.

I've no recollection of how long I laid there--- I assume minutes that merely felt like hours--- staring and afraid of the demons haunting me, but as the light began filtering in through the windows and Madame Pomfrey sauntered in, I was able to relax.

She tended to me gently, bringing me a small breakfast and checking my temperature. When she didn't say a word, the questions in my head grew loud.

"What day is it?" I asked.

"December 24th. Christmas eve," she answered. "You were out for a week."

I wasn't able to bite back my surprise. "A week?" I asked helplessly. My voice broke from disuse. How could it have already been a week? "What happened?"

"Hm?" She paused to think. "Oh! The fire. Yes, Dumbledore put it out easily. There's almost nothing magic can't fix. And it seems you were only one hurt. I'm not surprised none of you kids could put it out, so don't blame yourself. Headmaster says it must have been magically aided. No doubt someone just accidentally lost control of their spells." She got up and handed me some sort of liquid. "Drink this, and you can go. Some of your friends stayed here for break."

"How come I blacked out?"

"You have fire in you, you know. That's why you can throw it and breathe it. Your body processes it as normally as I process water. You need it." She got up and moved to the foot of my cot. "Such a temperature change is dangerous for someone like you. You are--- quite literally--- like glass. Burning heat to burning cold will break you." She walked out the door calling behind her nonchalantly, "Be careful!"

With that, she left, leaving me to my thoughts. And, man there were a lot.

What in the name of Merlin does "Magically Aided" mean? How the bloody frickin heck am I made of glass? Did I cause the fire?

"It had to be me," I whispered to myself. I maneuvered to the edge of the mattress. "Who else was so attracted to it? So eager to let it continue its course? That was stupid. Great job, Louanne. I mean, who in their right mind decides to throw themself into the fire? Guess you're just 'not like other girls'"

I quietly laughed and held my hand out palm up, tempted to summon the embers right then and there. But I'm not stupid, and I know that could make things worse. Then another thought came up.