Tidbit
I figured, due to the fact that I recently updated my Freewebs homepage for the first time in over a month (once again), and am also vowing to work harder on updating and posting Shadows, I'd start off by sharing a teaser from the long-awaited chapter 6.
For those who have forgotten, chapter 5 ended on a cliffhanger during Bill and Fleur's summer wedding. Charlie had fought with Bill while Ana had interrogated Scrimgeour, and when the two encountered each other, tempers were hot and just about ready to blow. Then, Kingsley came in bearing a message: the Death Eaters had attacked.
Now, for the tease...
For a moment, no one moved. Silence descended upon the night like a slow death.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Ana saw Hermione stand from her seat. She climbed up onto the table, held her wand up high, and whispered, "Stupefy incendia." A small ball of light rose into the air, quivering. It started to grow, gathering energy, pulling from sources of power that surrounded the reception.
Her arm dropped. "EVERYONE! RUN!"
The light exploded. A terrifying, dazzling array of fireworks burst up into the sky, showering over them. They cawed and cackled and spilled like a great tidal wave until it was deafening, until there was no silence left.
And everyone began to run.
Chairs were knocked over. Floating candles dropped to the floor. Plates of food broke and crashed to the ground. The white tent shook with movement as the guests began to flee, into the Burrow or out into the yard. Apparition popped in time to the crackling fireworks, while Mrs. Weasley threw open the doors of her home and ushered people in. The Floo coughed with escapes, one after another after another...
Those who stayed behind brought out their wands.
Slowly, Ana raised hers. Unsheathed, it smoked beneath her touch, magic aching to be freed. But she could not kill tonight-- it was not the time nor place. Blood had the tendency to run like rivers and, were she to cause a flood, it would drown her before the hunt could even begin. She could not be traced back to this evening, to this battle. She would stay as long as she could before running with the others.
The vengeance in her sighed, resigned, but Ana shook her head. Not yet.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Kingsley's Patronus was gone, vanishing into the darkening ether. Then she touched Charlie's arm; he too had his wand out, blue eyes brimming with unmasked fear.
"Here they come," she said, and the first wave of Death Eaters appeared.
:-)
For those who have forgotten, chapter 5 ended on a cliffhanger during Bill and Fleur's summer wedding. Charlie had fought with Bill while Ana had interrogated Scrimgeour, and when the two encountered each other, tempers were hot and just about ready to blow. Then, Kingsley came in bearing a message: the Death Eaters had attacked.
Now, for the tease...
For a moment, no one moved. Silence descended upon the night like a slow death.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Ana saw Hermione stand from her seat. She climbed up onto the table, held her wand up high, and whispered, "Stupefy incendia." A small ball of light rose into the air, quivering. It started to grow, gathering energy, pulling from sources of power that surrounded the reception.
Her arm dropped. "EVERYONE! RUN!"
The light exploded. A terrifying, dazzling array of fireworks burst up into the sky, showering over them. They cawed and cackled and spilled like a great tidal wave until it was deafening, until there was no silence left.
And everyone began to run.
Chairs were knocked over. Floating candles dropped to the floor. Plates of food broke and crashed to the ground. The white tent shook with movement as the guests began to flee, into the Burrow or out into the yard. Apparition popped in time to the crackling fireworks, while Mrs. Weasley threw open the doors of her home and ushered people in. The Floo coughed with escapes, one after another after another...
Those who stayed behind brought out their wands.
Slowly, Ana raised hers. Unsheathed, it smoked beneath her touch, magic aching to be freed. But she could not kill tonight-- it was not the time nor place. Blood had the tendency to run like rivers and, were she to cause a flood, it would drown her before the hunt could even begin. She could not be traced back to this evening, to this battle. She would stay as long as she could before running with the others.
The vengeance in her sighed, resigned, but Ana shook her head. Not yet.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Kingsley's Patronus was gone, vanishing into the darkening ether. Then she touched Charlie's arm; he too had his wand out, blue eyes brimming with unmasked fear.
"Here they come," she said, and the first wave of Death Eaters appeared.
:-)