Bella and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Fifty-Three

A/N: THERE MIGHT NOT BE ANY UPDATES TOMORROW AS MY BOYFRIEND IS STOPPING AT MINE SO I'M NOT ALONE IN THE HOUSE TOMORROW NIGHT! MY EX IS STILL AT IT - HE TRIED PHONING EARLIER AND LEFT ME ANOTHER VOICEMAIL...BUT WHAT HE DOESN'T KNOW IS THAT MY PHONE IS LINKED TO THE POLICE SO WHENEVER HE PHONES AND LEAVES A VOICEMAIL, IT GOES STRAIGHT TO THEM.

***

There was a howl and a rumbling growl; I turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the Forest - 

"Dad, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" I yelled

Sirius was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at my words, he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws was fading to silence as he pounded away across the grounds.

Me, Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron.

"What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered. Ron's eyes were only half-closed; his mouth hung open. He was definitely alive, we could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem to recognise us.

"I don't know," Harry replied. 

I looked desperately around. Black and Lupin both gone...we had no one but Snape for company, still hanging, unconscious, in mid-air.

"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," I said, pushing my hair out of my eyes, trying to think straight. "Come -"

But then, out of the darkness, we heard a yelping, a whining; a dog in pain...

"Daddy..." I muttered, staring into the darkness.

I had a moment's indecision, but there was nothing we could do for Ron at the moment, and by the sound of it, my dad was in trouble -

I set off at a run, Hermione and Harry right behind me. The yelping seemed to be coming from near the lake. We pelted towards it, and since I was running flat out, felt the cold without realising what it must mean -

The yelping stopped abruptly. As we reached the lake's shore we saw why - Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head.

"Nooo," he moaned. "Nooo...please..."

And then I saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake towards us. I spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating my insides, fog starting to obscure my vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side, they were encircling us...

"Guys, think of something happy!" I yelled, raising my wand, blinking furiously to try and clear my vision, shaking my head to rid of the faint screaming that had started inside it -

I'm going to live with my dad, we're finally going to be together.

I forced myself to think of my dad, and only him, and began to chant: "Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum!"

Black gave a shudder, rolled over and lay motionless on the ground, pale as death.

He'll be all right. I'm going to go and live with him.

"Expecto patronum! Guys, help me! Expecto patronum!"

Harry shook his head and started chanting with me. Hermione took a deep breath and did the same.

"Expecto -" Hermione whispered, "expecto - expecto -"

But she couldn't do it. The Dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from us. They formed a solid wall around the three of us and were getting closer...

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" I yelled, trying to bolt the screaming from my ears. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A thin wisp of silver escaped my wand and hovered like mist before me. At the same moment, I felt Harry and Hermione collapse next to me. I was alone...completely alone...

"Expecto - expecto patronum -"

I felt my knees hit the cold grass. Fog was clouding my eyes. With a huge effort, I fought to remember - Sirius was innocent - innocent - we'll be OK - I'm going to live with him -

"Expecto patronum!" I gasped.

By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, I saw a Dementor halt, very close to me. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist I had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside.

"No - no -" I gasped. "He's innocent...expecto - expecto patronum -"

I could feel them watching me, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around me. The nearest Dementor seemed to be considering me. Then it raised both its rotting hands - and lowered its hood.

Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, grey, scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth...a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death-rattle.

A paralysing terror filled me so that I couldn't move or speak. My Patronus flickered and died.

White fog was blinding me. I had to fight...expecto patronum...I couldn't see...and in the distance, I heard the familiar screaming...expecto patronum...I groped in the mist for my dad and found his arm...they weren't going to take him...

But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly wrapped themselves around my neck. They were forcing my face upwards...I could feel its breath...it was going to get rid of me first...I could feel its putrid breath...someone was screaming in my ears...that was going to be the last thing I ever heard -

And then, through the fog that was drowning me. I thought I saw a silvery light, growing brighter and brighter...I felt myself fall forwards onto the grass -

Face down, too weak to move, sick and shaking, I opened my eyes. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around me...The screaming had stopped, the cold was ebbing away...

Something was driving the Dementors back...it was circling around me, Sirius, Harry and Hermione...the rattling, sucking sounds of the Dementors were fading. They were leaving...the air was warm again...

With every ounce of strength I could muster, I raised my head a few inches and saw an animal amidst the light, galloping away across the lake. Eyes blurred with sweat, I tried to make out what it was...it was bright as a unicorn. Fighting to stay conscious, I watched it canter to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, I saw, but its brightness, somebody welcoming it back...raising her hand to pat it...someone who looked strangely familiar...but it couldn't be...

I didn't understand. I couldn't think any more. I felt the last of my strength leave me, and my head hit the ground as I fainted.