𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 - Harry Potter | ON HOLD

Prologue II

Her reflection in the water was transient as she moved past each pillar.

Her feet stung against the flooded stone with each step she took, guided by the torches on the crumbling walls. The moonlight hit the water and highlighted her blurry figure in the river that troubled the castle floors.

The darkness that surrounded her threatened to swallow her whole as the rushing sound of water grew louder. However, it was no match to the pounding of her heart beat as it distorted her mind, her vision unfocused as she desperately tried to get a handle on her surroundings.

“— unfortunate, truly."

The unfamiliar voice stabbed through her and she stumbled as it met her ears with a painful hiss. Her velvety skin seared with pain and she felt burned by invisible flames, licked by the heat two words caused. They were venomous and inhumane, and a part of her knew she shouldn't understand them.

Her hand flattened against the wall next to her to catch herself and the falling crumbles of rock pricked her palm and fingers. Her breathing became haggard as the effects of the mysterious being stayed heavy in the atmosphere.

She glanced around and swallowed the lump in her throat. Her eyes fell to the water that covered her bare feet, following the trail of the moonlight.

“It's exhilarating, isn't it?”

She sought out the voice, tracing the destroyed castle with her eyes. Her chest visibly moved with her harsh breathing as she found every dark corner, wondering if the stranger was hidden away in each one.

With a quick, dull-witted decision, she stepped away from the wall, letting her warped face stare back at her as she followed the off-gray glow of the moon.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she walked, jumping at any noise that disturbed the silence. She held her breath, eyebrows furrowing as the water started to rise, hitting her ankles.

A mangled, clicky growl made her muscles lock up. The burning of her skin sank into her bones as she kept her gaze frozen on the ground.

“To hold such power inside you… “

Three seconds.

The three seconds of deafening silence should have warned her, but she stood still and waited. As soon as her brain caught up to the situation, it was too late.

A loud, terrifying hiss sounded, and she was pulled to the ground by her wrist. An agonizing pain shot into the joint and through her veins, scaling up her arm until her whole body started to writhe in the water.

The pain sunk into and set her aflame, melting into her lungs until she couldn't breathe. Through the white of her vision, the castle flashed, faded, and slowed like a camera.

She could feel the scream she let out, it set her chest ablaze, but all she could hear was the sound of the fire coursing through her body.

“How does it feel to bear the fragility of life? To hold it in your hands and know you could destroy it so easily?”

Her cries were silent, and for a moment she could feel the water soak through her clothes, the stone of the castle floor harsh against her back. The rising water made her panic grow, making the blinding ache spread faster.

Through the pain, her eyes flickered, alarmed. They raced around the castle in blurry flickers before landing on her wrist, and though her sight was obscure, she could make out the puncture wounds that formed two lines— something bit her.