Evelyn Potter and the Army of Shadows

Chapter Two - Evelyn

The pain drew a fire between his eyes, but worse was the pain of the crevice in his heart. It was like a weightless anchor had pulled him away from the depths of his dream and to the surface, leaving a hole that he'd never felt before.

His fingers went to a spot just below his hair, where a head-splitting sensation was breaking its way out of a nineteen-year absence. He'd felt this before, but the dream was something new, and he found himself asking a very old question.

Had it been a dream...or a vision?

His cry sounded throughout the house, but the first thing he did when he rose with the pain, was reach for the pair of black, round glasses at his bedside table.

The woman ran into the room as he slipped them on, and his vision improved just enough to see her red hair hanging behind her face.

And then there was that newfound emptiness. A part of him was missing, but he didn't remember needing it before, like it had been added and taken away all at once.

The girl in the woods...who was she? The hair had been black like his, but the tips had begun their first stages of a familiar red.

The eyes had been the most striking part, however. Just before his had snapped open, hers had been a prominent green that stayed with him in the moments of his waking. He had only ever felt such a rush of nostalgic joy at one other moment in his life - when he looked into the Mirror of Erised a quarter of a century ago. To see the eyes that were so like his, a twin pair that instilled a feeling of uneasiness in his core.

The woman was trying to speak to him, but he couldn't hear her. The ringing in his ears acted as a barrier, blocking out even the loudest external noise.

And then there was a more vibrant sensation, one that he felt more connected to, one that he could pinpoint more easily. It was an empathy that people said could only be felt for those that a person loves deeply. The man with the round glasses and untidy hair had only experienced this a few times in previous years. Losing Lily at Diagon Alley had been one of the most extreme, but the time that James had fallen out of the elder tree stuck out in his mind as well.

Now, here it was again. The feeling that the invisible tether between him and his children was being severed, one piece at a time.

Suddenly, a pair of soft hands were gripping his shoulders, shaking him gently but frantically.

"What is it? Harry...?"

Finally, his wife's words swam into his head.

I wish I knew, he thought bitterly.

The pain raged on.

* * *

The first thing she saw was the horde. A whole lot of them, hovering just feet away, the tassels of their black, torn-looking cloaks succumbing to the dark winds and billowing at their sides. Their hoods concealed the mystery that was their faces, but she suspected that it was a secret better left untouched.

Their presence gave her a disconcerting notion, and she knew at once that she was in trouble. Their behavior, however, seemed to be indecisive, refraining from any kind of approach or attack.

Her fingers clenched the dirt beneath her, but she urged herself to stand to her feet. Her fingers were hesitant to leave the comforting earth, but they abided by her greatest efforts and rose out of the soil, just as she did.

Now she was standing, her eyes darting around as the knot in her stomach tightened. Though she could not see their eyes, their malignant intent was evident. Her black hair whipped in and out of her vision as she turned frantically, attempting to look at all of them at once. But it was no use - she was the epicenter of a swarm of black, hooded figures. The name for these evil creatures was on the tip of her tongue, but she simply couldn't bring it to light.

Then there was a heavy trudging, somewhere behind the thicket of nameless drifters. Her heart couldn't decide whether to leap or sink, as whoever this newcomer was, she couldn't be sure of their intentions. It was dark, but she could nevertheless make out the outline of a large silhouette coming towards the grisly scene.

In an act of pessimism, the girl chose fear over hope, but quickly began thinking of a way out, as well. It was clear to her that the creatures surrounding her would not come within her reach. She looked up, searching for a low branch to pull herself up and away from the drifters, but there was none.

There had never been a moment where she wished for a wand so wholeheartedly, but its absence was a difficult truth. She would have to find some other means of escape. A large part of her longed to fight off the mysterious figures, but an escape would have to do for now.

Biting her tongue, she resorted to testing the bounds of their detachment. She took two steps forward, and saw that her instinct was indeed correct. The two in front of her drifted back; however, the circle remained intact, the rest moving with the ones she had scared away.

They wouldn't touch her, but they wouldn't leave her alone, either. Perhaps it was a more ferocious approach that would get them to disperse. The girl braced herself for a run, when a shimmer appeared from outside the circle. Her eyes moved toward its source, and she had just enough time to make out a pair of beetle black eyes amid black, scraggly hair, before the shimmer erupted into a sea of silver light. It charged at the drifters, who were instantly thrown in all different directions, scattering aimlessly.

Her hair blew vigorously, and she was sure she saw an eight-legged, scuttling creature morph out of the light. It chased the hooded figures away until the girl could see them no more.

Now the light was withdrawing back into the caster's wand, and the spider went with it.

"Lumos," said a gruff voice. A calmer, simpler light emitted from the man's wand, and once again those dark eyes peered gently at her.

"Yeh ain't hurt now, are yeh?"

She shook her head, speechless as his size slowly dawned on her.

"Those dementers...they di'nt touch ye er nothin'?"

"No," she shook her head, growing impatient with the cold air that plagued her arms, but more so with the way that the large man was staring at her.

"What's yer name? Ye a student?"

She shook her head, knowing nothing of what he said. "My name's Evelyn....I'm sorry, but, where exactly am I? I was hoping you might be able to tell me where my father is..."

The man eyed her even more suspiciously.

"And who would that be?"

She stared at him.

"Harry. Harry Potter."