The Raven's Call

The Horror Show (Part 2)

I feel a tear trickle down my cheek as Alex wraps his arm behind my back. I hear Hermione gasp as she clings to Ron, Harry placing a hand over her shoulder to comfort her. This is a sad night, one that is far from over. "Ah!" Ron exclaims, dropping the rat he'd been holding. "He bit me! Scabbers." He mutters, chasing him around for a moment. "Ron? Ron!" Hermione calls out as he pushes past us to catch his rat. "Ron!" Harry calls out now as the two begin chasing after him. "Scabbers, come back!" Ron calls out. Alex, Asteria and I, curious, chase after them, too. "Wait!" Harry exclaims, the two stopping in their tracks. We almost bowl into them. 

"Scabbers, you bit me!" He scolds the rat. "Guys, you do realize what tree this is?" Hermione asks. "That's not good... Ron! Run!" Harry yells out. "Run! It's the Grim!" Ron exclaims, pointing behind us. There, standing on all fours, is a shaggy, black dog. The Grim. The dog growls, running towards us before jumping over our group, charging straight towards Ron. He bites down on Ron's leg before dragging him along the grass. Harry and Hermione chase them until the dog drags him down into a tunnel under the tree. The tree... This is the Whomping Willow... Oh, crap. A branch whips the two back towards us, them landing on us in a big pile of bodies. Groaning, we all stand back up, still hearing Ron's screams. "Come on!" Harry instructs before we all start running, trying to dodge the branches as we make our way to the tunnel. Harry is knocked to the ground as different branches launch myself, Asteria, Alex and Hermione up into the air. I lose sight of the others, holding on as tight as possible, squeezing my eyes shut while I'm whipped by smaller branches as I'm thrown around. I hear the others scream as one by one their voices get quieter. Alex is launched off somewhere, then Asteria and then... me? I open my eyes as I feel a breeze. I'm no longer holding onto the tree. Not only that, but I'm soaring through the air, straight towards... 

Splash!

I've fallen head-first into The Black Lake... Great. I swim up to the surface, regaining my surroundings. I see the docks in the distance, where the first years row in from the train station, and to the other side is nothing but forest. I pull my wand from my pocket. "Accio Nimbus 2000" I call as moments later my broom flies to me. I quickly climb on it and speed off, looking for my friends. I manage to spot Alex on his broom, at the Quidditch pitch and zoom down to meet him. "Remind me to have Hagrid teach me about cutting trees down next lesson, Atti... Merlins beard, you're sopping wet! I don't feel like now is a good time to take a dip!" "I landed in the Black Lake, you git." I mutter, landing next to him. "Well, that was a stupid idea, wasn't it?" Alex retorts. "Well, at least the water broke my fall." I say with a sigh. "Touché. And I might be a git, but I'm a dry one at least. Did you see what happened to Asteria?" I roll my eyes at his comment before looking around. "I think I saw her falling over that way..." I say, pointing towards the forbidden forest. "Well, I guess we'd better go get her, lest we face the wrath of Judge, Jury and Executioner Lucius." Alex says with a grimace. I nod, mounting my broom once again. "To the forest we go." I utter before leading the search for Asteria. 

Deciding to split up, I head to the west and Alex to the east, we're bound to cover more ground that way. I use Lumos to light my way as I patrol the forest, no sign of Asteria to be seen. "Awoo!" I hear for a moment as the clouds part, showing the full moon. "Awoo!" There it is again. The werewolves are out tonight, this is going to be more dangerous than we'd previously thought. 

"AWOOOOOOOOOOO!" 

Another howl, this one deeper and longer than the first two. And now silence. I'm not getting anywhere closer to finding her... Then suddenly, a guttural scream, one that was familiar to me. "Asteria!" I call out as I fly towards the source of the scream. Seems Alex heard it too, as he meets up with me on the way. There in the forest, we're met with a horrible sight. There, Asteria lays in the dirt, sprawled out in a pool of her own blood. Her breathing is shallow, as she looks up at the full moon through the trees above. A mixture of blood and tears stream down her face as her eyes focus on myself and Alex as we kneel down next to her. "Asteria?!" I exclaim, trying to find the source of the blood flow, but finding nothing, I grab hold of her hand, squeezing it tight. "We're here, Astra..." I whisper, tears streaming down my cheeks and to my dismay, we are too late. She breathes her last shallow breath as the light leaves her eyes, her eyelids shutting shortly after. 

Asteria Malfoy has died.

We sit there in silence for a while, as I sob over my friend's lifeless body. "Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. C'mon mate..." I hear Alex break the silence, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We gotta go find someone who can help..." I shake my head. "I'm not leaving her by herself... someone has to stay with her. I'm staying..." I mumble, brushing some of her hair from her face. "I'm not leaving you here alone, whatever did this is still out there." Alex protests. "Just go!" I shout, full of emotions. He huffs lightly before taking his leave. "I'm going to fix this, Astra..." I whisper as I pull her lifeless body into a hug. "I will fix this."

I wait for what feels like hours before Alex returns, Professor Snape by his side. "I have many questions, Grey. But I will save them for later." His usual droning voice full of worry as he scoops up Asteria in his arms, leading us back to the castle.