The Clockwork Locket || SIRIUS BLACK

The Well

Despite the half-moon, the forest seemed to grow darker the farther they walked. The trees were so close together it was almost claustrophobic, and the shadows swallowed the light produced by their wands, making it harder for them to see the path. Cassie was certain they would have been lost hours ago if not for James, Sirius, and Peter in their Animagus forms scouting ahead, and Little Leaf, who perched on her shoulder and pointed his twiggy arms in the right direction every now and then.

The bowtruckle offered her comfort in the eerie forest, his little feet gripping her shirt and his small leaves brushing across her cheek when he moved. Remus kept close to her side as well, alert and quiet, and she had half a mind to reach out and grasp his hand, but thought better of it. She was a Gryffindor. She had to be brave.

She kept repeating it to herself as the trees loomed over them, black and still and ominous. Once or twice, she caught eyes peering out at them from the gloom, and she knew they weren't just the Animagi. They gleamed sickly yellow and acid green; some had slits for pupils, while others seemed to reflect their wandlight back to them; but all of them glowed with an unsettling intelligence that kept Cassie on her guard, her grip on her wand so tight she was afraid she would snap it.

The locket bounced on her chest as she walked, feeling like an erratic, jolting heartbeat against her skin. Her own heart had been thumping rapidly ever since they had entered the forest, and the two pulses were making her jumpy, her muscles tense in anticipation.

She nearly leaped out of her skin when Remus grabbed her elbow from behind. She whirled on him, Little Leaf clinging to her hair to keep from falling off.

"Bloody hell, Remus!" she said, keeping her voice low despite wanting to shout at him for scaring her half to death. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," he said, sheepish. "I was just going to ask you how far you think it is to the well from here."

"How should I know?" Her anxiety made her waspish, and he held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"I know, I know, sorry," he said hastily.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

A low whine issued from her side. She looked down when something wet touched her hand. Sirius nuzzled her with his nose, and when she acknowledged him, he licked her hand reassuringly.

"Thanks, Padfoot," she said, deciding to just go with it instead of freaking out that her boyfriend was a dog and currently licking her hand. She patted his head between his ears, and he seemed to smile, his pink tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Little Leaf chirped, tugging on her hair. He pointed between two trees, the trunks just far enough apart to allow them room to squeeze through.

"I think we have to go through there," she said to the others.

"I'm hoping it's a coincidence that those trees look like a gateway?" asked Remus nervously, but as he said it, Cassie saw it, too.

The trunks bent out at an angle, like an oval, and the roots and branches entwined to make an arch almost ten feet tall. Little Leaf tugged on her hair again, insistent, and she grimaced.

"With our luck? No way," she said.

He sighed. "Naturally."

That time, Cassie did reach out her hand, and Remus placed his own into it, smiling tightly. She could feel his callouses, and one or two small scars, but it lent her a silent strength that helped steel her resolve.

She led the way to the trees, barely hesitating before stepping through, pulling Remus along with her. They emerged into an equally dark clearing, the landscape remaining the same, but a lingering magic seemed to settle over her skin like a thin covering, making the hair on her arms stand straight up.