Why?
Why now?
Why at all?
Why!?
These words were screaming in Sky's head. Piercing screams that she felt would shatter her very skull. She stumbled through the forest, her vision blurred by the tears that were threatening to escape her light gray eyes and show themselves on her cheeks. She had left during the middle of her evening class, rushing into a professor's room that was down the dungeon corridor to beg them to keep an eye on the class. The Potion's Master had left for the weekend again so he couldn't take over.
Sky's arm was burning. It was one of the worst feelings she had ever had to feel. Worse than when she burned her mark. She wondered if it was punishment somehow. Late punishment. The pain in her arm had drifted through to her entire body by the time she had exited the school and bolted for the forest. By the time she entered, every step she took was searing. But she needed to get away. Nobody must see her like this. Nobody must know.
She gripped tree's for support, feeling light-headed and not sure if she was going to faint. Finally, she fell to the solid ground and layed back against the tree, sobbing silently. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying not to cry, but the pain was just too much. She lifted up her left arm, pulling back the black fabric of the robe and the sleeve of her black sweater, and saw the faint outline of a skull with a green snake protruding him it's mouth. It was returning. The mark was coming back.
The hall was empty, silent. Class was in session, and no one was to be seen. Leah was the only one walking through the deserted corridor in the dungeon, a place avoided by many students. The sound of running footsteps suddenly broke the silence. They sounded rushed, and Leah could hear the person sobbing.
It was easy to run after the person while they were inside, but they quickly left the building. Leah tried to enter their mind to try and figure out who she was following, but the piercing screams that greeted her made her leave their mind. She was left to find them by natural means. She began to run, faster and faster. Finally she stopped, looking around herself. She was in the forest. She had let her mind lead her, and this is where she had ended up. There must be something here.
She turned to see Sky, a short distance away, sobbing and clutching her arm. Her left arm. Leah ran to her, her thoughts racing. She sat down next to Sky immediately, and put her arms around her. Leah didn't want to force Sky to tell her anything, but just wanted to ease her friend's pain.
Sky pushed her teeth together to stop from screaming. Her body felt like it was in flames. The pain was indescribable. By now her breathing was quick, tears had broken their barrier and slid down her cheeks. Most of this was pain, but another part fear. Sky didn't want this. She didn't want it at all. The mark had been gone for so long. She had been the only one who was able to make it disappear and Voldemort was dead. But she didn't want to be a Death Eater anymore. She knew she was done, but this mark-this mark was a reminder of all of the terrible things she did. It was a reminder that she joined the same group that murdered her parents when she was only a child.
And that itself, was worse pain than what the mark was causing.
She didn't know how much more she could take. She wondered if this was typical. If other's experienced this or if it was only her. She was still sobbing and suddenly felt a pair of arms wrapped around her body, trying to comfort her. Sky opened her weary eyes and saw a girl embracing her. She didn't know what to do. The only person who could understand was Jason, and he wasn't here.
"Leah...?" Sky muttered. How did she find her?
The pain was apparent in everything about Sky. The tears, the way she gritted her teeth, everything. Leah didn't quite know what to do. She had never seen someone in this much pain. It appeared to be physical pain, but she didn't see any blood, bruises, or other external injuries.
What could possible cause such a happy person so much pain? She wondered.
Leah didn't know anything about what was wrong with Sky, but it probably had something to do with the tattoo that appeared to be growing on Sky's arm. As Leah continued to stare at it in wonder, it started to look more and more like the dark mark. This simple fact made everything so much clearer. The dark mark. The followers of Voldemort himself. But... Sky? It couldn't be. Simply couldn't be.
"That's me!" Leah said, trying to smile. "How can I help?"
"Make it...stop." Sky groaned, throwing her head back and resting it against the tree and closing her eyes tightly. Of course, she knew Leah wouldn't be able to stop the pain or do anything to make it better. This was beyond the kind of magic taught to students. Sky didn't even know what to do. Maybe she just had to wait it out.
"I'll make it stop Sky. I will."
Leah pulled out her wand, never actually believing that it would be able to do anything. She tried the basic healing spells just in case, but none seemed to work. She threw her wand to the ground, probably a bad idea, but she would worry about that later.
She shifted herself, so that she was sitting in front of Sky. Leah put her hands on the sides of Sky's head, and looked her in the eye. She took a deep breath, preparing for what she would soon face. She closed her eyes, just breathing. Last time, she had been unprepared. Not this time. No, this time, she would go in fists up, guns blazing. Ready.
She flung open her eyes and hurled herself into Sky's mind.
((Um...don't know how to play this out lol. I'll give it a shot though.))
There were many things going on in Sky's head. Most of them were flashbacks. Others were fears, her ideas of the future, Jason, her friends, her job. There was the image of Sky, taking the blue flame to her arm, burning the skull and snake off of her skin. It had worked and lasted for awhile. Then there was the image of her getting tortured by Voldemort, his face hidden beneath a cloak. He felt no guilt as he said "Crucio." And there was the image of Sky's parents, falling to the floor of their bedroom, lifeless. The memories were frightening, even from another person's point of view. It was like watching a muggle horror film in the dark.
((Oops! Sorry! You could always kick me out if you wanted... I mean, it is your head :) ))
No amount of preparation would have been able to ease Leah into Sky's mind in it's current state. She could hardly comprehend what was going on, and was constantly getting thrown into flashbacks and memories. Worst of all, there was a loud high pitched screaming noise constantly ringing in her ears.
Leah wanted to leave so badly, but forced herself to stay. There had to be a way. A source of all this madness. And where was Sky? Even in her own head, Leah couldn't find her. She was probably hiding, trying to escape this madness, as any sensible person would. Leah moved to the edges of Sky's mind, the deeper parts of it, where the madness might be less extreme. Perhaps there was some file cabinet of memories or something that one could hide behind. There appeared to be no escape.
Most importantly, where was Sky?
((Lol.))
"Leah, I'll explain. Just...please get out of my head." A voice said softly in Sky's mind. Sky could fell Leah wandering around in her mind. It was an odd feeling, one that was indescribable. But most certainly awkward.
Sky was scared to tell her story. To explain what was going on. How would Leah react? Could she trust her? This was a serious matter after all. Very serious.
((I`m going to bring Stacey and Jason in to this, Sky. =) You asked me to join and I`m in a good mood.))
Stacey was calmy walking between the rows of desks of her empty classroom, making small motions with both of her hands. There were little puddles of something dark green in color every now and then on the floor and there were papaers scattered on the floor. She had been teaching some of ehr more advanced students about killing imps, and, well, things had gotten a little out of control. The class was longer than the others but the young teacher had sent everyone back to their common rooms early. Cleaning up imp goo wasn`t their idea of fun, and it was Friday. Everyone was itching to get out of classes out outside into the nice weather.
Stacey tilted her head to the side as she got to the back of the large room and observed her work. The classroom was nice and tidy again, so she allowed herself a smile and ran her hand over her stomach.
Just as she was about to take a step forward a piercing scream raked through her mind. She groaned, squeezing her eyes closed and reaching out to the closest desk for support. The scream was loud, mind-shattering, like nails on a chalkboard. A shiver ran up her spine and she jerked into a straighter position. How could something mental like that get through all of her shields?
It was simple. The person who was initially experiencing the terror was a mind she knew. Sky`s.
~~~~~
Jason stood outside the gates to the school, looking up at the huge castle with a blank look. The school had given him nothing. When he had saught out shelter from the dark side of his life he was denied. People had found him out, had accused him. He had been lost and alone until he had met Sky just before graduating.
Slowly he shook himself out of his memories and pushed the gate open. He had plans to surprise Sky at work and take her out to dinner. It was such a beautiful night, compared to the horrible winter they`d had. Just as he got a yard past the iron gates a searing pain ripped up his arm. It felt like someone had taken a knife and heated it in white fire, then sliced his arm open.
He moaned and gripped his left forearm. He leaned forward and fell to his knees. He kenw that if he didn`t he would have collapsed totally. Tears stung in his eyes-- and that didn`t happen hardly at all-- and he looked up at the school. Faintly he saw someone ran from the school followed by a blur that he recognized as a running vampire. He didn`t register this, though, all her knew was that he was in pain and somewhere deep down in his soul that Sky was feeling the same hurt.
((Haha definitely awkward :) ))
Leah was startled by the voice echoing through Sky's mind. It was soft, yet projected easily. Leah took note of all of Sky's emotions. It was hard not to... being surrounded by them. She felt Sky's uncomfortableness, and quickly searched for her way out.
Once Leah was safely outside of Sky's head, everything seemed so much quieter. Her ears rang with the screams, and in a way, it felt as though she was still hearing them. Then she remembered that Sky really was still hearing them, and she turned her attention to her friend.
"Sky, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to... you know what? Never mind. We can talk about this later! What can I do!?" Leah asked, desperate. She had never experienced much with the dark mark before. Of course, her life as a vampire had had it's hardships, there hadn't been anything quite like this.
The pain was starting to calm down a little now. Though it was still bad, Sky could see better and find a sense of concentration.
"There really isn't...anything you can do." Sky said quietly. "I've never had this before, but I do know it's not something easily fixed by magic. It's complicated." She sat up straighter and sucked in a deep breath of air.
"I'm sorry..you had to see that."
((Stacey`s talking is in bold.))
Stacey`s head was pounding with the rhythm of her feet silently hitting the ground. Her eyes were electric green, and she was heading towards the forest. The beating of her heart seemed loud in her ears, like everything. She was hyperaware of all the little sounds. Distantly she could hear birds settling in for the night and calling out to their mates. She could hear the wind running through the grass all around her. She heard it all. Especially the torment going on in her friend`s mind.
She had blocked out most of the noise, sorting through it all as she pushed some noises away. It was sort of distracting to have someone else`s thoughts in your mind while you were running. Soon the Stacey was weaving through the trees, trying to locate Sky. She faintly felt another mind nearby and realized it was Leah, trying to help.
~~~~~
Sky.
Sky. Sky. Sky.
Skyskyskyskyskyskyskysky.
Jason had pushed himself off of the ground, ignoring the spinning in his head, and started running for the forest. He didn`t know how he knew where Sky was, but he did. His footsteps were loud, but he didn`t care. He needed to get to Sky now. He knew that she was in pain, bad, bad pain, and he needed to be there for her. Ever since he came back he left like they were always in danger, always in need of saving. He was tired of it. He just wanted to be with her and be happy.
Finally reaching the trees just as a sharp stab in his arm. He hissed through his teeth and just kept running. He needed to get to Sky. Sky. Sky. SkySkySkySkyskyskyskyskyskyskyskysky...
~~~~~~
"Sky!"
"Sky!"
Jason and Stacey reached the place where Sky and Leah were at the same time. Jason fell against a tree, clutching his arm. Stacey jumped into action, instantly beside Sky with her hand wrapped around her forearm.
"Sky, can you hear me?" Stacey asked, glancing between Sky, Leah, and Jason. "Does it feel like someone`s inside your mind, or like someone put somethin gin your mind?" She spoke slowly and calmly. She was the girl who had been possessed numerous times while at Hogwarts. She knew how to handle this kind of thing.
Sky felt Stacey grip her forearm and yelped. The mark seared at her touch. Even if it was through her clothing.
"My goodness!" Sky gasped. "And..no. It doesn't. Nothings there. Nobody is attacking my mind." She said. Her eyes darted to Jason and she spoke with her eyes.
You too?
She could see the pain on his face. He must have been feeling what she was. And yet, here he was in the forest. How did he even find her? Jason knew her way too well.
Stacey loosened her grip on Sky`s arm, leanign over her.
"Someone had to have done this, Sky. It wouldn`t just happen." She looked again over at Jason, asking a question with her eyes. He nodded in reply, then look at Sky. He was really pale under her dark hair, and you could tell he was in pain when he moved towards Sky.
"Are you okay, love?" He asked feverishly, reaching out for her hand. "They must have found out..."
Sky's fingers wrapped around Jason's and she squeezed it softly.
"I know why it's happening Stacey. Well...kind of." Sky didn't want to tell Stacey about to the mark. Stacey had enough to deal with these days and didn't need the problems of her friend to add on to her stress. She was Sky's best, and pretty much only friend. Was it bad that Sky didn't want to tell her?
She sighed. "Yes. I'm alright now. Or at least better than I was." She squeezed the bridge of her nose. "That was the worst thing I have ever felt."
Stacey scrunched her eyebrows together, confused.
"What? It jsut... stopped?" She asked. Sky was her friend. One of her only true friends. She didn`t want to see her hurt.
~~~~~
Jason leaned forward on his toes, pulling his arm away from Sky so he could hold her hand. The stinging and burning in his arm had just stopped. It was like it never happened. There was just a slight tingle, like someone had slapped his arm.
"Sky... I think we should go home."
Leah listened to Stacey, as she tried to figure out what it was that was hurting Sky. Her eyes remained on Sky though, wondering how much she would tell Stacey. Jason however, was a different story entirely. Leah had never met him, but knew that he and Sky were sharing some secret, that they weren't planning on telling quite yet.
Unsure quite what was going on, Leah questioned, "How could something like that just... stop?"
Sky shook her head and stood up, slowly and carefully. She felt drained. That moment where she was writhing in pain had taken a lot of energy and strength out of her. She felt slightly embarrassed that all of these people were here, but was thankful to have Jason here to understand. He knew exactly what she was dealing with.
"It's not safe to go home, Jason. They already came once, what's to stop them from coming back for round 2?" Sky said, taking out her wand. She didn't know why, she just felt like it was a good idea. Then she heard Leah speak up.
"It's strange." Sky wished she knew how to explain. "This is bizarre magic we're dealing with. Which comes with bizarre effects in return. I just want to know why this happened now. I've never ever felt this."
Stacey leaned back on her heels and tilted her head to the side.
"Maybe... it`s punishment for something." She had no clue about what happened when Jason and Sky ahd tried to burn his Mark off. She didn`t know that they had been attacked. Still, it made Jason a little nervous that she had guessed closely.
"Sky, we can`t stay here, either. We have to go somewhere. What about Jake?" Jason thought of the little chocolate lab at home. He was probably wandering where they were, hungry.
Leah watched carefully as Sky stood up, and stood up with her, just in case she needed a hand. She knew that there were three people here to catch Sky, but still.
"If you two need a place to stay, you're of course welcome in Gryffindor!" Leah said, smiling. Leah, of course didn't need her four-poster bed, and so it was always open for someone who did need it. Jason, on the other hand, would not be as welcome in the girl's dormitory, and would have to try and find a place in the boy's dorm.
She shook her head in amazement and said, "If you find out why it happens, let me know... it's very interesting, to say the least. And I think a punishment would make sense..." Leah wondered how much Sky had told Stacey, and if there was more to what Leah already knew.
Sky smiled at Leah.
"Thanks, but that's probably the second worst place to be right now. I'd be at risk for putting students in danger. And maybe it is a punishment...but for burning..the mark? I did mine before and nothing happened. But we tampered with..his and stuff started to happen." Sky groaned at the mention of Jake's name. She picture the cute little puppy sitting all alone in the partially damaged house, waiting for his owners to come home.
"Stacey would you do me a huge, huge favor?" Sky asked with pleading eyes.
Jason clenched his teeth togther as Sky thought out loud about why they were being "punished".
"You... were`nt active when you burned it, though, were you? That might be why." He suggested softly.
~~~~~
Stacey watched Sky adn Jason carefully, her eyes falling to a dark ember. Something was wrong. Soemthing she couldn`t fix.
"Yeah, I can do you a favor." She replied to Sky, still looking up at Jason.
Sky turned to Jason, taking both of his hands and stepping close so she could speak to him without everyone else hearing. She made the mistake of saying too much but at least these people were trustworthy.
"It's not good to go home. Now that my mark's back, we're both in danger. I'm not saying we should go into hiding, but I know I can't go back to work like this. I was going to ask Stacey to look after Jake. Until we figure out what to do." She looked up at him, asking him with her eyes what he thought they should do. She needed him to make a decision.
Jason squeezed Sky`s hands and looked down into her eyes. He leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers. He closed his eyes for a long moment.
"Sky, I don`t know. Hiding isn`t going to help. They made our Mark burn without being anywhere near us. Alarms would have gone off it they were within five miles of here. They had to have done it from wherever they`re staying. If we hide, they`ll just find us and hurt us more. We have to get rid of these Marks, love." There was a tone in his voice that made him seem nervous, and he was. Any sane person would be. He and the person he loved were attacked from several miles away. He was trying to get away from the Dark world, not closer to it.
~~~~~
Stacey took a few steps back as Sky moved closer to Jason. She could see that they wanted to talk, and privately. She closed off her mind so she wouldn`t overhear anything and motioned to Leah.
"I don`t think they should be going off by themselves. There`s safety in numbers. The two of the are strong, but a group of Death Eaters is stronger." She breathed to the vampire.
Leah followed Stacey and stepped away from the couple. They had made it fairly clear that the conversation was private, and Leah made sure that she did not overhear any of what they were saying. She concentrated completely on what Stacey was saying.
"I agree. But I also don't think that they should just sit back in a group and hope that the Death Eaters get scared away. They need to find a balance... ultimately it's their decision though. I'll support them no matter what they choose, and I'm sure that you would too." Leah said, thinking aloud to Stacey.
""I know it's not." Sky said softly. "But I can't go back and teach with this on my arm. I can't put the safety of the students at risk. How can we remove them? Nothing is working. I've researched everything I could in the library. Unless there's a book somewhere out there, we're hopeless." She kissed him before stroking his hair. "I don't know what to do...."
Jason wrapped his arms around Sky and pulled her closer to him.
"I promised you that I wasn`t going to let anything happen to you, Sky, and I intent to keep that promise. Maybe we can, I don`t know, lie low around Muggles for a while. The Death Eaters aren`t going to want to attack us in public. Not with Voldemort being dead. They don`t have enough power for that."
"Okay." Sky said. She stood there for a moment, listening to his heart beat before turning to Leah and Stacey.
"I'm sorry for kinda just ignoring you guys like that. We had to discuss something, but Stacey, I wanted to know if you would mind watching our dog Jake for a little while. He needs to be somewhere where he can get out and play."
Stacey turned to face her friend, noticing how Jason tightened his arm around Sky and stayed close to her. He really cared about her, it was obvious. She hoped things would work out for them.
"Yeah, sure. Aiden and I were thinking about getting a puppy anyway. This was we can test drive one." She said cheerfully. "Just let me know when I can get him."
Leah stood silent, smiling slightly. She was of course fine with Sky talking to Jason on the side. You've got to do what you've got to do. And no one can be mad at that. She hoped that they would be alright, whatever it was that they were going to do. Leah wasn't sure if they were going to tell anyone, or if they even knew themselves. But Leah wouldn't get involved unless asked. It was best that way.