Temporary pain, Eternal shame.
Date : April 13th 2003
Characters : Astoria Greengrass & The Entity.
Location : Outside of Annwn and Roman Tor
Status : Private.
Summary : Astoria's on the run. Upon entering Annwn, she meets the Entity.
Complete : Complete.
After a rather peaceful week without any threats from Voldemort’s Hand, Astoria had returned to London on Sunday afternoon. There were no owls waiting for her and she couldn’t help but breathe out in relief. She wondered if she had finally paid her debt to them. Judging from the inactivity of their behalf, she had. But of course, one could never be too sure with organisations like those.
With that thought still lodged in the back of her mind, she still kept an eye out for any suspicious people. But when you’ve been looking over your shoulder for too long, everyone suddenly becomes suspicious in your eyes. Still. Even with Voldemort’s Hand’s inactivity over the last week, Astoria felt as if someone was keeping an eye on her, following her even when there seemed to be no one around. The idea drove her crazy.
Her flat had been broken into and left in chaos before, but it was still the safest place she could imagine at this moment. Outside of Annwn, of course. So when someone rang the doorbell, it was only natural to go to answer the door without that horrible feeling creeping up on her. For all she knew, it could simply be her sister or a co-worker.
But upon opening the door, she came face to face with a man who was definitely not her sister, or one of her colleagues at the Ministry. Her eyes widened and she wanted to slam the door in his face, but her visitor was quicker and forced his way inside the flat. Astoria began to back up, her eyes constantly flicking left, right and back to her attacker, searching for a way out. The moment she reached for her wand, the man attempted to grab her by the arm. Astoria was swift enough to move out of his way, but she was still stuck on one side of the table while he stood on the other side.
“Why are you here?” Astoria tried to snap, but her voice trembled too much to put any force into it.
“What’s wrong, sweetie? Aren’t you glad to see me?” The man smirked, moving back and forth along his side of the table, waiting for an opportunity to catch her. When Astoria simply glared at him, he rolled his eyes and continued. “You disappeared on us again. You fail to do what we tell you to...”
“I gave you what you wanted!” Astoria shouted. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“It’s really not polite to interrupt people when they are speaking.” The man’s eyes narrowed a little, his voice becoming a low hiss. At her shout, he threw his head back and laughed. “You can’t really expect us to let you off the hook that easily, can you?”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Astoria quietly said, her fingers slowly reaching for her wand. “I can’t tell anyone, because I’m an accomplice now...” She was trying to buy herself some time, slowly starting to circle around the table, her visitor starting to do the same. She needed to get to the door, run and get out, but she was sure he’d have caught her before she even made it to the hallway and she couldn’t Apparate from within her flat.
“And that is the exact reason why we can’t let you simply walk away. You might be able to make a deal with the Aurors.” He sneered. “You know too much. It’d be so much easier to just kill you, but you’ve proven to be useful to us.”
“I don’t have a death wish just yet.” Astoria snarled. Taking a firm grip on her wand, she whipped it out and shot a stunning spell at him, before whirling around and bolting for the door.
Of course, the spell wasn’t nearly powerful enough to stun her attacker, but it would at least slow him down somewhat. Or so she hoped. She ran through the hallway, racing for the staircase. When a Blasting Curse hit the wall just above her head, she yelped and ducked. She descended four steps of the stairs, before taking the rest of them in one jump. Her knee twinged and Astoria grit her teeth, mentally cursing herself for having chosen a flat on the fifth floor. Her only chance was to Apparate. Going down the next flight of stairs, she concentrated and Apparated away.
Soon, she found herself in the maze that were the streets of London. She didn’t care whether people had seen her Apparate out of nowhere, there was no time to think about bloody Muggles right now. Behind a corner, she bent over, leaning her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. A flash of red light passed within an inch of her and she jerked her head up. “Shit!” She mumbled when she recognised her friendly visitor stalking towards her. How had he found her here so quickly? Her breathing still ragged, she closed her eyes and quickly concentrated on an other location, before disappearing from view.
She ended up right outside the gate of Hogwarts. Her heart pounded in her chest as she whirled around, frantically looking left and right. Had he followed her again? Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Astoria limped over to a big rock, before sitting down on it. She ran a hand across her face, her wand dangling between her fingers. It seemed that she had lost him. This couldn’t go on much longer. She was being chased like some wild animal and she didn’t know how much longer she would be able to deal with it.
A scorching feeling shot through her left hand and up her arm, causing her to drop her wand. Astoria shrieked, jumping up. “Don’t run, little one.” That awful voice cackled. “You can’t run forever.” Astoria didn’t even take the time to locate him, but simply broke out in a run again. Her hand and arm throbbed painfully, but there was more at stake right now than burnt fingers. More flashes of red, blue and yellow lights missed her and Astoria was definitely scared that one of them would actually hit her and render her immobile and at the man’s mercy.
She had to Apparate again. She simply had to. But where to go? He seemed to follow her everywhere. How was that even possible? Starting to run even harder, she could almost feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins, her heart beating painfully in her throat, her side starting to twinge. That maniac had to have some kind of tracking spell on her. How could he have known she would Apparate to the Hogwarts grounds? Or to the middle of London? There was no other explanation. In her mind, there was only one option left. Only one place left to go. Annwn. Of course, she didn’t know whether he could follow her there or not, but at least she knew the town better than he did. Maybe she’d have a chance to hide there somewhere...
But in order to Apparate, Astoria needed her wand, which lay in the grass near that big rock... She glanced over her shoulder and barely avoided a Blasting Curse. She gritted her teeth and changed directions, starting to head back for the rock, breaking into a sprint. She had to get to her wand. When she spotted it, she lunged for it, her fingers grasping it. Her breath caught in her throat and she quickly Apparated near the boundaries of Annwn.
Stumbling, she looked over her shoulder. She hadn’t made it to town yet and whatever-his-name-was would not be far behind her. She stood on top of a hill and she could spot Albion Lake down below. Ignoring her throbbing arm and knee, she began to ran down-hill. She had to get into town and found a place to hide. If that man caught her... Shaking her head, she banned those thoughts from her mind. She didn’t even want to think about that.
Almost at the foot of the hill, her foot suddenly caught something and she fell onto her stomach, the blow knocking the wind out of her for a moment. Her wand flew from her hand and rolled further down. Astoria cursed loudly and crawled after it. Finally catching it, her eyes widened at the sound of several twigs snapping behind her. Turning over, she started to scramble backward, pointing her wand at whatever had been right behind her.
Characters : Astoria Greengrass & The Entity.
Location : Outside of Annwn and Roman Tor
Status : Private.
Summary : Astoria's on the run. Upon entering Annwn, she meets the Entity.
Complete : Complete.
After a rather peaceful week without any threats from Voldemort’s Hand, Astoria had returned to London on Sunday afternoon. There were no owls waiting for her and she couldn’t help but breathe out in relief. She wondered if she had finally paid her debt to them. Judging from the inactivity of their behalf, she had. But of course, one could never be too sure with organisations like those.
With that thought still lodged in the back of her mind, she still kept an eye out for any suspicious people. But when you’ve been looking over your shoulder for too long, everyone suddenly becomes suspicious in your eyes. Still. Even with Voldemort’s Hand’s inactivity over the last week, Astoria felt as if someone was keeping an eye on her, following her even when there seemed to be no one around. The idea drove her crazy.
Her flat had been broken into and left in chaos before, but it was still the safest place she could imagine at this moment. Outside of Annwn, of course. So when someone rang the doorbell, it was only natural to go to answer the door without that horrible feeling creeping up on her. For all she knew, it could simply be her sister or a co-worker.
But upon opening the door, she came face to face with a man who was definitely not her sister, or one of her colleagues at the Ministry. Her eyes widened and she wanted to slam the door in his face, but her visitor was quicker and forced his way inside the flat. Astoria began to back up, her eyes constantly flicking left, right and back to her attacker, searching for a way out. The moment she reached for her wand, the man attempted to grab her by the arm. Astoria was swift enough to move out of his way, but she was still stuck on one side of the table while he stood on the other side.
“Why are you here?” Astoria tried to snap, but her voice trembled too much to put any force into it.
“What’s wrong, sweetie? Aren’t you glad to see me?” The man smirked, moving back and forth along his side of the table, waiting for an opportunity to catch her. When Astoria simply glared at him, he rolled his eyes and continued. “You disappeared on us again. You fail to do what we tell you to...”
“I gave you what you wanted!” Astoria shouted. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“It’s really not polite to interrupt people when they are speaking.” The man’s eyes narrowed a little, his voice becoming a low hiss. At her shout, he threw his head back and laughed. “You can’t really expect us to let you off the hook that easily, can you?”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Astoria quietly said, her fingers slowly reaching for her wand. “I can’t tell anyone, because I’m an accomplice now...” She was trying to buy herself some time, slowly starting to circle around the table, her visitor starting to do the same. She needed to get to the door, run and get out, but she was sure he’d have caught her before she even made it to the hallway and she couldn’t Apparate from within her flat.
“And that is the exact reason why we can’t let you simply walk away. You might be able to make a deal with the Aurors.” He sneered. “You know too much. It’d be so much easier to just kill you, but you’ve proven to be useful to us.”
“I don’t have a death wish just yet.” Astoria snarled. Taking a firm grip on her wand, she whipped it out and shot a stunning spell at him, before whirling around and bolting for the door.
Of course, the spell wasn’t nearly powerful enough to stun her attacker, but it would at least slow him down somewhat. Or so she hoped. She ran through the hallway, racing for the staircase. When a Blasting Curse hit the wall just above her head, she yelped and ducked. She descended four steps of the stairs, before taking the rest of them in one jump. Her knee twinged and Astoria grit her teeth, mentally cursing herself for having chosen a flat on the fifth floor. Her only chance was to Apparate. Going down the next flight of stairs, she concentrated and Apparated away.
Soon, she found herself in the maze that were the streets of London. She didn’t care whether people had seen her Apparate out of nowhere, there was no time to think about bloody Muggles right now. Behind a corner, she bent over, leaning her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. A flash of red light passed within an inch of her and she jerked her head up. “Shit!” She mumbled when she recognised her friendly visitor stalking towards her. How had he found her here so quickly? Her breathing still ragged, she closed her eyes and quickly concentrated on an other location, before disappearing from view.
She ended up right outside the gate of Hogwarts. Her heart pounded in her chest as she whirled around, frantically looking left and right. Had he followed her again? Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Astoria limped over to a big rock, before sitting down on it. She ran a hand across her face, her wand dangling between her fingers. It seemed that she had lost him. This couldn’t go on much longer. She was being chased like some wild animal and she didn’t know how much longer she would be able to deal with it.
A scorching feeling shot through her left hand and up her arm, causing her to drop her wand. Astoria shrieked, jumping up. “Don’t run, little one.” That awful voice cackled. “You can’t run forever.” Astoria didn’t even take the time to locate him, but simply broke out in a run again. Her hand and arm throbbed painfully, but there was more at stake right now than burnt fingers. More flashes of red, blue and yellow lights missed her and Astoria was definitely scared that one of them would actually hit her and render her immobile and at the man’s mercy.
She had to Apparate again. She simply had to. But where to go? He seemed to follow her everywhere. How was that even possible? Starting to run even harder, she could almost feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins, her heart beating painfully in her throat, her side starting to twinge. That maniac had to have some kind of tracking spell on her. How could he have known she would Apparate to the Hogwarts grounds? Or to the middle of London? There was no other explanation. In her mind, there was only one option left. Only one place left to go. Annwn. Of course, she didn’t know whether he could follow her there or not, but at least she knew the town better than he did. Maybe she’d have a chance to hide there somewhere...
But in order to Apparate, Astoria needed her wand, which lay in the grass near that big rock... She glanced over her shoulder and barely avoided a Blasting Curse. She gritted her teeth and changed directions, starting to head back for the rock, breaking into a sprint. She had to get to her wand. When she spotted it, she lunged for it, her fingers grasping it. Her breath caught in her throat and she quickly Apparated near the boundaries of Annwn.
Stumbling, she looked over her shoulder. She hadn’t made it to town yet and whatever-his-name-was would not be far behind her. She stood on top of a hill and she could spot Albion Lake down below. Ignoring her throbbing arm and knee, she began to ran down-hill. She had to get into town and found a place to hide. If that man caught her... Shaking her head, she banned those thoughts from her mind. She didn’t even want to think about that.
Almost at the foot of the hill, her foot suddenly caught something and she fell onto her stomach, the blow knocking the wind out of her for a moment. Her wand flew from her hand and rolled further down. Astoria cursed loudly and crawled after it. Finally catching it, her eyes widened at the sound of several twigs snapping behind her. Turning over, she started to scramble backward, pointing her wand at whatever had been right behind her.