Stars in Her Eyes {Wolfstar's Daughter}

Chapter 29: Only the Start

Smoke spilled onto the abandoned field as the remaining fires fizzled out to reveal their damage. The previously joyful atmosphere of celebration and victory had long disappeared, with all other forms of life along with it, it seemed. It now sat empty, hollowed out of all light and happiness and instead pooled with darkness. Rustling leaves scraping across the trampled ground provided the only source of noise, complimenting the howling wind.

Nell didn't know how much time had passed, whether it had been minutes, hours, days even. All she knew was that there was nothing left. No lingering footsteps, no lurking shadows, no steady breathing aside from their own. All that remained was them. Her and Harry, trembling in the dirt, holding on to the sound of each other's pounding heartbeats like a lifeline. They weren't asleep, nor unconscious. Simply in a state where they lay frozen and the noise felt endless as they listened to the world around, praying for the silence to come.

After waiting until she was certain it was over, certain that they were alone, Nell dared to raise her head from where it lay locked against Harry's chest. Her vision remained spotty and clouded from having squeezed her eyes closed so desperately for so long. As she scanned across their surroundings she gently nudged Harry who still clung tightly against her body.

"Harry. Harry it's over, they're gone." Her voice was scratchy and groggy, as if she'd just woken up. Beside her, Harry had now sat up in place too and was rubbing his eyes beneath his cracked glasses, to regain his own vision .

Ironic how they both looked as if they just woke up when in reality they been through quite easily the worst night of their lives.

As she got a better look at him she saw he had gained a nasty gash on his head, coating in sticky dried blood. And from the metallic taste that coated her own throbbing lip, Nell assumed she had busted it as some point during their fall.

"You think everyone got out okay?" Nell's words quivered as her mind drifted the worst. The idea that someone had been hurt whilst she laid helplessly in the grass like a coward was almost too much to bear. Immediately she wished they had gone back, that they had tried harder to find their family, to make sure that they were safe.

Obviously that was never an option during the attack and deep down Nell knew that. They did the only thing they could in order to survive. But she knew she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if something had happened.

"Merlin I hope so." He said, bringing himself to stand on shaky legs before helping Nell up. His eyes darted around them in search of any form of getting home

"Look we need to find something, a portkey or- or someone who can apparate us." He said, turning around on the spot.

"Okay but we need to be ca-" Nell started before Harry clamped his hand over her mouth and pulled them back down to the ground. Nell's eyes widened in confusion before Harry's voice filled her mind.

'Look.' He nodded his head over to the remnants of a burnt tent, and through its scorched skeleton a shadowy figure could be seen scuffling around, kicking things in their path.

'Is that a man? What's he doing?' Nell sent back as she squinted over to the shadow from their place back on the ground. He was close enough to notice but still too far for them to make out any distinguishable features of his face.

'I don't know. But he doesn't exactly look friendly.' Harry replied, looking at the man's hostile exterior and pulling Nell closer into his side.

All of a sudden the man shot his wand into the sky and shouted something unfamiliar to the two kids. At his words, a green spark flew upwards and the clouds swirled under his command. They continued to morph and warp in the sky until a harrowing green skull appeared in their place, creating a screeching sound as it burned into the blackness of the night. The two kids snapped their hands to their ears in response as the vicious sound reverberated across the field. As soon as he saw it appear, the mysterious man turned on his heel and disappeared in an aggressive tornado of black smoke.