Ch5: WILL PARRY
LUNA'S POV:
"Dementors?" asked Luna weakly, and glanced over at Ronald uncertainly. He looked like he was torn between astonishment and fear, but obviously the fear won because he turned a bit green.
"Where are they?"
"Not very far," said Consilium, "they'll be here in about four minutes."
Luna nodded; she didn't question what her daemon said. She had felt it when Consilium had gotten close to the foul creatures and it wasn't something she was eager to experience again before long. The problem was, however, that the Dementors came from the same side as the one they were heading, and they couldn't go back to the castle. Nor could they hide in a building, because they couldn't risk being captured or seen. At least she couldn't, Ronald still had a choice.
"You should go back," she said, turning to the red-haired boy she was in love with. Each word cost a little bit of her heart to say. "Go back, you'll be safe there."
Ronald shook his head, almost bitterly. "No, I can't leave you here... I'm supposed to protect you, you know."
The words took Luna by surprise. "Why?"
He laughed. "Because I'm a Gryffindor boy. I have my reputation to keep up. Besides, I couldn't dare to face my sister again if I left you here alone."
Luna smiled a little when she remembered Ginny's temper. "Let's go then, but we need to hurry."
And so they ran.
They ran towards the only place available for them: The Shrieking Shack. They didn't dare to look over their shoulders, but all three of them - Consilium included - became uncomfortable aware of how the lights behind them were extinguished one by one, and replaced by darkness. They ran a little more, and Luna prayed they could stop soon; her legs and breath were already worn out and tired. Soon the screaming began, and Luna could tell without looking that the population of the village had become aware of the situation.
While they ran Luna tried to think of the Patronus spell. Could she do it? Could Ronald? However, she knew that she would probably find that out soon enough and she decided to not fret more about it before it was absolute necessary. The Patronus charm took a lot of strength from the caster, and she was so out of breath at the moment that she doubted she could even get a little mist out of her wand if she tried.
"Come on, hurry, this way," said Consilium, flapping his wings a little harder to gain more speed.
Luna could see their goal then, on the top of the hill, but it could just as well been miles away. She didn't think she had the strength to run one more step.
How silly, she thought, you've survived all those years at Hogwarts, yet a little running is about to take you out.
She dared a sideways glance at Ron, who seemed in better shape than her. His mouth was firmly set and he had a determination in his eyes that she couldn't help but adore. Maybe Quidditch had done him some good in more ways than just muscles?
Luna shook her head. She couldn't think about Quidditch in a moment like they were both in!
Suddenly her foot hit something hard and she stumbled, falling to the ground. The impact was hard enough to drain the last breath she had out of her. She cursed herself for looking at Ronald instead of the ground. Merlin, why did she have to feel so cold and tired all the time?
Luna raised her head and looked behind her shoulder. The sight made her quiver with fear.
She wondered if Yambe Akka would visit her when she got her soul sucked out, or if that wasn't enough to count her as dead. Then she felt someone pulling her elbow and Ronald helped her up, putting her arm over his shoulder and taking much of her weight.
"We need to go on," he said, sounding scared but focused, as though he had experience working under press. He probably had.
"I don't want to die like this, Ronald," she said, and was surprised because her voice was low and harsh.
"You won't. We're almost there, hang on..."
They scrambled over more rocks and roots, twisting their ankles and almost falling several times over, trying to find the best way up to the old building. It wasn't a clear road - far from it - rather a small path that hadn't been used for many, many years. Probably there had never been a road there at all, Luna guessed.
However, the Dementors were closing in on them; Luna could practically feel them breathing down her neck. She couldn't give up now - not when they were so close to the building...
Ronald seemed to be thinking the same thing and speeded up a bit, Luna following closely behind, running fast and heard. She had lost his hand. However, her legs didn't feel attached to her body anymore and the only thing she could think about was that she had to run. Consilium noticed her distress and flew up behind her, seizing her shoulders with his claws and pushing her forward, helping her.
Eventually they reached their destination, and Luna had never been more grateful. As soon as they were inside Ronald bolted the door shut, and used a strong locking charm on it.
"They can't get in now," he said with satisfaction, but Luna shook her head.
"What about the windows?"
He paled. "Bloody hell! Didn't think about that!"
They both knew what they had to do, and even though it hurt to even think about Luna realized they were in for some more running. They weren't safe until all windows were safely closed and sealed shut.
Both of them worked their ways floor by floor, moving up as soon as they were certain that all windows were shut in the level they were in. However, someone had already done lot of the work for them, as several of the windows had tick, wooden plates in front of them.
They barely made it. When Ronald made sure that the final window on the final floor was safe, he withdrew his hand and rubbed it as though he had been out on a cold winter night without gloves. The Dementors were probably right outside, waiting for them.
"I'm so tired, Ronald," said Luna weakly, nursing a shaking Consilium to her chest. She had a hard time controlling her breath. "Is there somewhere we can lay down?"
He didn't answer her, however, he was looking at something in the corner of the room. His wand was halfway raised as though he couldn't decide whether or not to use it.
Luna, fully alert again, diverted her look towards the corner he was looking at. She thought she might faint from what she saw:
There, sitting on an old, wooden chair was a dark-haired man. But he was not alone.
He had a daemon beside him.
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RON'S POV:
Ron didn't care about the grey cat that sat beside the man; his attention was completely on the stranger with sharp features and piercing look. It was something haunted about him, as though he had been through a lot and lost just as much.
Ron recognized that look; it was the same look he could see on Harry's face from time to time. Whatever this man had been through... he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
In the corner of his eye he saw Luna move and then she was by his side, again holding that peculiar, talking owl to her chest.
"Ronald-" she started, but he had more important matters to figure out. Like finding out who that man was, for instance.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The man seemed to study him for a moment. "I am William Parry. Who are you?" The man seemed to say this with obvious sarcasm, as though mocking him. The cat to his left hissed and jumped up in his lap. The man stroked its fur gently, absentmindedly, then his gaze wandered from Ron to Luna beside him. Suddenly the man was no longer sitting, but running towards them.
"Lyra!" he said, looking like a madman, "is that really you? How -!"
Luna hastily took a couple of steps back and Ron quickly stepped between her and the man, raising his wand higher.
"If you don't stop right there then I'll have to curse you."
The man stopped. "Lyra?" he asked again, just as desperate. "Why are you hiding? Don't you recognize me?"
"I'm not Lyra!" said Luna, peeking over Ron's shoulder, her voice quavering. "You're mistaking me for someone else!"
Mr. Parry looked her over closely, not saying a word. The cat was at the man's feet again.
"It's not her, Will," it said, taking Ron by great surprise, "and that's not Pantalaimon."
Luna gasped, suddenly forgetting to be scared and jumping forward so she was beside Ron again. "Pantalaimon? That's not possible! How do you know about my mum?"
Ron was stunned. Who was Lyra, and who was Pantalaimon? And what did this man want? What was going on?
The man called William Parry hesitated for a moment, widening his eyes. Then he smiled. "You're Lyra's daughter? Lyra Silvertongue?"
"Yeah, but she changed her name to Lovegood when she met my dad. She's -she's dead now."
The man was silent for a moment, but Ron couldn't help but notice how the cat rubbed itself against Mr. Parry's leg, more than just to comfort him. He had seen Crookshanks do something similar towards Hermione, but this was different. More intimate, somehow. "I figured that much, really," he said painfully, his voice softer, "I knew there had to be a reason to why she didn't come all those years. How long ago is it?"
Luna hesitated only for a moment before answering. "She died when I was ten. She was working on an experiment and it went wrong somehow. I don't know why or what it was. I'm sixteen years old now." Mr. Parry nodded.
"You look so much like her."
"I guess. My dad says so all the time."
"He's not wrong. I thought I'd never see Lyra again, yet I see so much of her in you."
"Wait a minute," said Ron, holding up a hand. "We've ran like hell, there are Dementors all around us that tries to suck our soul out just outside these very walls, that by the way looks like they can fall apart any minute! And I still don't know the reason for why we're running in the first place! Can someone please tell me what's going on?"
Luna looked a little uncomfortable, as though she wondered how much she should tell him. "It's complicated," she said, and stole a glance at Mr. Parry who had a knowing look in his eyes and at the cat beside him. Ron couldn't help but feeling agitated that this strange man that neither of them had seen before seemed to know more about Luna than what he did himself. He also wondered if the cat and the owl was some kind of Animagus, and if that could be the reason for why they talked. Then again; Sirius hadn't been able to talk in his dog form...
"Try me," he said, but couldn't chase away the thought that he was stuck with not only one, but two crazy human beings.
"I don't really know everything myself," she started uncertainly, "but I heard something earlier today when I was going to give a message to Headmaster Dumbledore. The Minister of Magic was there and they were talking about me. This Cornelius guy seemed certain that I was dangerous somehow, and therefore he wanted to... eliminate me. Yes, that's what he said... Dumbledore stood up to me at first, but he must've realized that it wouldn't work so he gave up. They wanted to take me right away, but I wouldn't let them, so I ran."
Ron tried to take this all in. The more he thought about it the more he regretted going with her... yet, a small part of him was glad, because he could help her, or at least he thought he could. He knew he had to find something clever they could do soon, but his mind was blank.
"How do we get away?" he asked, going over to a crack in the wall and looked out. A Dementor stared him in the face and he yelped back, returning to them shaken and pale. "It... doesn't look like the Dementors are going to move anytime soon... people are bound to wonder why they are stuck up here and if they know that they are looking for you then it won't be long before they'll figure out where you are."
"There's a way," said William Parry slowly, as though it was against his better judgment to mention it. "But we shouldn't use it... it has a will of its own, and I promised your mother not to." The man turned to Luna. "But I can, if it is the only way to save you."
Luna didn't seem to know what to say so she just nodded. Her owl Consilium was now standing on her shoulder, looking alert and anxious.
The man nodded back, and went to the corner where he came from, picking up something from the floor. He returned with an old looking, tattered brown bag.
"It can cut through anything," he said, "it doesn't matter what. Wood, stone, iron, humans, Angels, Specters, air... even make a window to other worlds that we can climb through, like the world of the dead. I should know - I've been there. Therefore it's also very dangerous."
Luna was trembling. "Mum told me about this, she has told me about that knife. When you say Specters you mean Dementors, right?"
"If you mean those creatures outside, yes. They're not called the same in every world, but they're the same thing. Over the years they have gained more abilities: they still feed on daemons and Dust, but they can fly and even turn themselves invisible for normal people with ordinary Dust, though those people can still feel them well enough and take harm from them. They're corrupted Angels, from the Abyss."
"Demons? Dust? Abyss?" questioned Ron impatiently. He still didn't have a clue what they were talking about.
"Not demons, Ronald," said Luna, "daemons. Dee-mons."
"What's that? And what do you mean about dust? The world of the dead? Angels?"
"Did you really think there was only one world?" she asked incredulously, and Ron stuttered.
"Yes?"
"Well, I suppose that's alright. I didn't knew other worlds existed either until I was four."
Ron stared at her. The words in itself were insulting, yet Luna made it sound like it wasn't and that there was nothing wrong with believing that it only existed one world. He pondered over that for a moment, before turning to the strange man again. The man was holding a small, ugly and ordinary-looking knife in his hand, and Ron startled slightly until he realized that the man wasn't going to hurt them with it.
"This knife is forged two times. Long ago it was stolen from me, and many windows were created without closing. I just got it back five years ago."
Ron looked closer at the knife, and surprised himself by thinking that the knife wasn't so ugly or ordinary after all. The handle was reddish brown and elegant, with a winged, naked man engraved in gold to the front. The blade was about five or six inches, silver and sharp, and the tip was so fine that it was difficult to tell where it ended. It had something wonderful, mysterious and even dangerous about it. Oh, he wanted something like that! He felt as though the knife was calling on him, tempting him...
"Wait," said Luna suddenly, "there's something we should try first. Ronald - the Patronus charm!"
Ron looked away from the knife. "Yeah," he said, "we can try that."
But the room was so cold and he was so tired, and his heart was still sore from his friends' betrayal.
"It's not working," he said bitterly, as nothing but a weak, little mist came out from the tip of his wand and disappeared immediately. He couldn't do it. Luna didn't do much better, and sighed sadly.
"I can't do it either... and if we can't do it inside then there's no way we can do it if we let them in."
"We need to use the knife then," said Mr. Parry. "Forgive me, Lyra. Which world?"
"The one I was born in, I suppose," said Luna. "I'm Luna by the way. Luna Lovegood."
The man smiled. "Nice to meet you, and you too Ronald. Call me Will."
^ - * - ^
A new chapter today, just as I promised. Three days, huh? That's a record for me! Do I deserve a little reward for that? *puppy eyes*
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