Alright, chapter five. This is going to start to get really interesting very soon. As promised, the prophecy will be revealed this chapter, and Carys is going to find out a lot that she wishes she didn't. I hope you enjoyed the battle scene last chapter. I know it was short and kinda sketchy, but there will be some more drawn out ones and longer ones as this fic progresses. Again, these first chapters have been setting the stage. This one is going to segue into a progressive one. Some of what they have to do is going to be outlined. There will be a lot of breaking and entering, getting around and through wards, and in the future, Carys is going to take a page out of the Death Eater handbook. So you'll just have to keep reading.
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Carys locked the door to her bedroom and put up sound proofing charms. She didn't really think the boys would eavesdrop on her, but she wouldn't put it past them if they thought it was important either. She took out the orb, turned off the light, placed it on the floor, and smashed it with her heel. Mist surrounded her, clinging to her, smothering her in images and sounds.
She saw herself being born, her father holding her for the first time. She saw when her cousins and Sebastian had been born, she'd been in her grandfather's arms the whole time. She felt safe, and loved. She saw herself grow up, a six year old chasing Caleb and Josh in the back yard, mud wrestling with Gwydion and Artemis, getting her mouth washed with soap when she was mad and cussed at her mother.
She saw herself at eleven, donning robes for the first time and lining up in front of the Sorting Hat after it had sung it's song. She was scared of it, scared of what it would say. Scared of what it had said.
`Like your family, I see. Grandfather, father, mother. Elements of all you possess. The determination and ruthlessness of Lucius, the struggle and heart of gold of Draco, the kindness and temper of Ginny. Intelligence, yes, there is much of that. And bravery is not lacking here. Loyalty is prominent also. Qualities from all four houses, and parents from opposite ends of the spectrum. Will you take after Lucius and Narcissa? Determined and ruthless? Or after your parents? Good hearted, brave and loving? A mixture of the two perhaps? Nothing is impossible. Your future is unclear, my dear. A difficult choice you must face. In all four houses you would flourish. One will batter you down and make you stronger. The other will support you. Do you want strength or support?'
To which she had answered strength. She had love and support from her family, and she'd truly thought that the hat was going to put her in Gryffindor. However, with a resounding yell, it responded differently. `SLYTHERIN!'
She saw herself join the Quidditch team at twelve. Go through two more years, and receive her Prefect badge. She saw herself as Head Girl, at graduation, moving into her own apartment. She saw herself at that moment, surrounded by mists. And then she saw the future.
Black. Everything was dark, she was surrounded by evil and hopelessness. It was bearing down upon her, surrounding her, possessing her. She felt it take over, and she was evil. She felt herself turning into that which she had always despised. She felt herself turning into her grandparents.
There was a woman there. Billowing black robes, and a curtain of black hair. She was young, and power rolled off of her like water. She exuded power and strength. Carys was sitting on her right side, and there were two people in front of them. Sebastian and Noah. She saw herself torturing her friends. And then she saw herself kill them.
She wanted to scream, but couldn't, so far was she sucked into the vision. She saw herself gain more and more power, grow more and more evil. All the good in her had been extinguished. She saw herself killing, taking over the post of Headmistress of Hogwarts. All students unwilling to pledge their allegiance to her were slaughtered.
The world was dark, eternally gray. She saw herself fight and kill her parents, Harry and Hermione, Ron and Luna, Lily and James, Molly and Arthur. All the family she had, she killed. Her siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles. They all perished at her hand. No one was spared. Then she saw herself taking over the Death Eaters, being proclaimed their Queen. Their leader. She'd done what no one else had been able to. She'd brought down the Order of the Phoenix and taken over the magical world.
She saw the woman again, but this time she was on the floor, in a fetal position, screaming as Carys stood above her, grinning, holding her wand and torturing the woman. She saw herself cast the killing curse on her, and in her dying breath, she uttered one sentence. "Rejoice in what you've become; the student that surpassed the teacher."
Carys saw the woman die, and she saw herself continue down the path that she had chosen. Or, that had chosen her, as the case seemed to be. She watched herself take down the Ministry. She watched herself move on to the Muggle world, until, eventually, she controlled it all. And just when it seemed that her mission was complete, she felt herself go mad, as she imagined Voldemort had. She lost her mind, starting going crazy. Killing her followers. She thought she was going to have to watch herself destroy the world.
But before that happened, before she could kill everyone, she watched herself pick up a wand. And she watched the future Carys kill herself. And she felt herself die. The scream managed to break through the mist that time.
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She curled into a ball on her bed, sobbing and clinging to her pillow like it was her lifeline. And maybe it was. She felt pain greater than she had ever known, and beneath that, she felt the stirrings of glee in what she would do. And she was tempted to rip that part of her out and destroy it. But a part of her was happy that she had that power. That if she so chose, she could take over the world. That she could do what no other witch, wizard or Muggle had been able to.
And it scared her to death. She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't let herself. There was no way she was going to turn into her grandparents. She'd kill herself first. And as that was supposedly how she ended up anyway, she'd just be hurrying destiny and fate along.
She didn't hear the door open. Didn't really notice Sebastian and Noah cross to her bed. They sat on either side of her, and she buried her head in the nearest lap, that of Noah. The sobs tore through her, wracking her body and stealing her breath. Sebastian's hand closed warmly over hers, and she felt her best friends pulling her back from the nightmare. Her future.
Noah pulled her close, stroking her back, rocking back and forth. Tears didn't intimidate either of them. They were used to them, if not comfortable with them. "Shh, baby. Tell us what happened?"
"I'm evil." She murmured, holding on to her cousin with all the strength she had. "I turn evil."
Sebastian gripped her chin, lifted her face to his. "You are not going to turn evil. The future is not set. You remember that. The past is the only thing certain."
She looked at him with tear streaked face. "I killed you. And Noah, and my parents and your parents. I killed them, and all my grandparents, and I liked it. I felt the joy."
"That wasn't you. That was them. Prophecies are not certain. You know that. And now that you know about it, you can stop it. Carys, you are the best person I know. We are going to beat her, and we are going to do it together. And you are not going to be evil."
Carys wasn't so sure. "Sebastian, you don't know what it was like. I watched myself kill and torture and maim. I took pleasure in taking lives. It was what I got out of bed to do. I took over the Muggle world. I killed children who wouldn't pledge themselves to me. I did unspeakable things to hundreds of people, and I relished it." She took a deep breath. "I was worse than Voldemort. I was worse than this woman. I was worse than Lucius and Narcissa."
"You are not worse that Voldemort, or this woman, or your grandparents. Carys, I know you. We've known you all our lives, and all but the first six months of yours. And I know that there is no way in hell that you could do anything like that."
Noah, always the logical one, despite his parentage, spoke. "Carys, we have to consider the possibility that this is a trick. We don't know what prophecies look like, so there's no way to know if that was a true prophecy. It could be a tactic to throw her off her game. If they've done their research, they know we're a threat, and no offense, Carys, but women are more emotional. It's both a blessing and a curse. In this case, you'd be the easiest to trick into believing something untrue when it's something like this."
Carys nodded, desperately wanting to latch on to what Noah was saying and believe him with all her heart. But something wasn't right. "I want to know. I have to know if that was a real prophecy."
"Then we'll try to find out. We'll call Grampa Arthur on Monday and see if there have been any break ins in the Department of Mysteries. He probably can't give us any specifics, but I'm sure he can say yes or no. And from there we can decide where to go next."
Carys wiped her eyes, banishing the last of her tears. "Okay." She stood, walked toward her bathroom. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go get a shower and go to bed now. I'm really exhausted."
Sebastian and Noah left the room, both their faces creased in worry. They went, by silent consensus, into Sebastian's room. Noah leaned against the door. "Think it's a trick?"
Sebastian shrugged. "I'm praying it is. I hope to God it's a trick and that she doesn't have to fight this. But I don't know. I think Carys has always had to fight the same battle that Draco does. And now it's decided to really start fighting back. I think if we found a prophecy for Uncle Draco or Julian or Jordyn, it would probably be much the same thing. It's in their blood, and in their genes, and they have to battle it."
"She won't give in."
"No, I don't think so. Maybe if she was by herself. It would be easier. But with us here all the time, and a family like the one we've got, she'll be able to resist all of it. And this will make her stronger; give her confidence in her ability to take on evil and win. I think that's something we all need to do."
Noah sighed and stretched. "I think she's had it harder than any of us ever realized. I never really thought about it, because we obviously didn't know Uncle Draco before he ganged up with our parents and Aunt Ginny. But from what they've said he wasn't the best person to be around. He was evil, and he was cruel, and he was being groomed to take over for Voldemort. Dad said it nearly ripped him in half when he tore himself away from it. That has to affect her, seeing what her father goes through every day. People still don't completely trust him, and they're still scared of him."
"We'll just have to wait and see what happens." Sebastian said, thinking about the situation. "But if the prophecy is real, she's going to need a lot of help. And we can't tell our parents."
"Agreed. But hey, what are friends for? We'll pull her through, Sebastian. The same way your mom and my dad did for Uncle Harry."
"Yeah." Sebastian collected his clothes and headed for the second bathroom. "Get some sleep, Weasley. We're going to need it."
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