Out of the Shadows [Book Three]

Chapter One:

DEDICATED TO scarlett_oblivion for her support in the last two books!  

Chapter One:

My eyes didn't leave the window for more than a few seconds at a time the entire train ride. My entire body was filled with a sense of dread at the future and a large part of myself wanted to warn everyone. 

But I wasn't sure what I should warn them about. Neville and the other four people in our train compartment knew already what was happening within the Ministry of Magic.  They already knew how, and why, Dumbledore was murdered, but still the feeling haunted me.

"You should put on your robes, we'll be arriving soon."

I jumped slightly at the first words that had been said in nearly a half hour, my eyes shooting towards Ginny as she spoke before watching her get her robes out from her trunk. I followed her lead, grabbing my own robes before heading to the girls changing compartment. 

The moment I walked into the main corridor of the train I noticed the hooded, masked figures strolling from compartment to compartment.  They both gripped the arms of first years who struggled against them desperately, begging to be released.

Nobody helped them.

Fear swept through me, a fear of being found by people who would consider me a deserter, a traitor, people who would kill me without a moments hesitation. 

I turned away from the Death Eaters and launched myself into the changing compartment in hopes that they would pass it by.

Without paying much attention to the two Ravenclaws who were also getting ready and seemed to have not even noticed what was going on outside the compartment doors, I threw off my regular clothes and tossed on the robes as quickly as I could before glancing in the body-mirror.  Sighing, I looked for something to fix so that I could spend as much time changing as possible.

I straightened my collar out nicely before running my hands over a few wrinkles to straighten them out.  I looked terrible, to be sure.

My face and body were beautifully proportioned as they had always been but the bags under my eyes, the frizziness of my hair and the terror within my eyes ruined everything.

I had seen the same look in Blue before I killed her; I just never expected that I would ever carry it on my own face. Not to mention the reason they were there was due to the same people I had tried to impress by killing her.

I felt the train stop and watched as the girls quickly left to catch a carriage.  I stayed, listening for any signs that the Death Eaters were still on board all the while pulling out my wand and swishing it slightly in order to tame the frizz in my hair before muttering a quick spell and watching as the bags under my eyes disappeared. 

I left the compartment, keeping an eye out for any threats and made my way off the train slowly.  They had gone.

I wasn't exactly looking forward to heading up to Hogwarts and honestly I wanted to waste as much time as possible.  I hated that I felt that way because since I had first gotten my invitation to Hogwarts I had always thought of this place as my home. Nobody should hate returning home but I no longer felt it was the safest place for me.  If Death Eaters could board the train, who knew if they could gain access to Hogwarts?

I hopped aboard one of the last carriages left, barely noticing the giant, skeletal, winged horse that pulled it.  I'd been seeing them so long it was practically invisible to me all over again; I almost never noticed them anymore.  They were once the most beautiful creatures to me and after using Casoplenta Homo and killing my first person I had been so excited to be able to see them... But now I felt slightly disgusted with myself for it.