NOTHING GIRL || Remus Lupin

-Seventeen: Into the Fire-

-And here's what you missed at: Hogwarts-

Remus tried to focus on anything- anything- other than the thing stood six feet behind him.

He didn't know how they were going to get out of this.

...............................................

Helia tried to control her breathing.

Fear wasn't something she was used to, nor had been for a long time. Danger had seemed fun; the exhilaration and rush from being inches from death. The satisfaction in a blank look and a witty comeback that made your opponent think twice. The not knowing if you were coming home from this. It was like a drug.

But now she could feel Remus' fear rolling off him in waves. And she could feel his determination to get out of here, like a mantra sounding out with every beat of his heart straining toward the next: live, live, live. 

And then Helia imagined letting that qivittoq (Helia was now sure that was what the creature was) rip the tree from behind Remus, claws tearing at bark and skin. Blood staining the earth red. And her doing nothing. Nothing.

Her heart beat in tandem with Remus'. She wasn't going to let him die. No one else was going to die because of her.

She looked at him. Live, live, live.

Qivittoq were lost souls, wandering people. They chose a route of self-imposed exile and it warped them, changed them into animal things. Some grew claws or fur. Some lost their ability to walk on two legs. Some forgot they were ever human at all.

She inched her fingers down to where her wand was hidden in her robes, keeping her movements as slow as possible. If she was right, and the thing was a qivittoq, then it took a lot of it's characteristics from reptiles, that much was clear from it's movement. She strained to remember primary school biology, or any of those programs on animals her parents used to watch. She cursed-not for the first time- the non standard wizard curriculum.

"I'm sorry, Remus." Helia whispered. She saw his eyes widen for a moment. "Petrificus Totalus."

Remus' body went ridged, stuck still like a soldier to attention as the body binding curse hit. Helia looked away before she would have to face the confusion and hurt swirling in Remus' eyes. She stepped out from behind the tree, facing the creature.

Scales crawled up the side of it's face. It bore a resemblance to humans, though any light was long extinguished from it's slit pupil eyes. It towered over her, more than seven feet tall for sure, and was slightly hunched. As she watched, a forked tongue flickered from it's mouth, making her stomach churn.

These were the kind of odds she was used to, her against the world. Pissing of the Bloody Baron and antagonizing the local werewolf. Always knowing that one day her luck would run out and she would be crushed by the undeniable odds against her. But that day was not today.

The qivittoq smirked when it saw her, or at least Helia assumed it was a smirk. Lips pulled up at the corners into a grotesque parody of a smile.

"One little dove." it said. "Has your friend flown away?"

"I hate all this metaphorical shit." Helia said shortly, lifting her wand. "Impedimenta!" The spell had no effect. "Reducto." Something next to the qivittoq exploded. It side stepped away from the blast, but showed no signs of discomfort. Helia hit the thing with curse after curse, each failing to break it's tough hide. "Avis! Opugno! Brachiabindo! Mobiliarbus." A tree behind the beast levitated off the ground and slammed into the creature. Finally, it fell to the ground, buried under the bark.