FHB: Chapter 31

As Lucius contemplated his decision, he heard it again. Polkus seemed so focused on the meeting that he did not even notice when Lucius slowly slipped away. Watching human and dementor strike a deal was no doubt educational, but Lucius did not like the idea of being watched.

Pulling out his wand, Lucius crept away and kept his eyes and ears open. If he listened closely, he could hear the sound more clearly. It was very subtle but audibly present in the still forest. Following the sound, Lucius used the little moonlight to guide his path. He was careful not to make any sound himself, but with one wrong footing, a twig snapped.

Lucius immediately stopped in his tracks and silence greeted him instantly. The subtle sound of what seemed like walking was gone. He must have alerted whoever it was he was following, and now he and the stranger were on the lookout for one another.

Not daring to take another step, Lucius looked around hoping to see an outline of a being. It was then that he realized he had gone too far, and Polkus was no longer in sight. Now worried that he might have made the wrong decision, Lucius stretched his wand hand forward as he was prepared to use it. Unfortunately, someone beat him to it. Before he could even utter a spell, a dim light whizzed in his direction and hit his wand out of his hand. Lucius watched as his wand flew from his grip and landed in a bush far from him.

Panicking, Lucius ignored the fact that his footsteps were waking the forest and dashed towards the bush. He could barely see where he was going and with another wrong footing, he found himself landing face flat on the ground. When Lucius attempted to recover from the fall, he turned on his back only to find a wand in his face.

“Lumos,” the owner of the wand said and light shone on his face, temporarily blinding him.

Lucius could not see who the stranger was but the stranger could see him clearly. If only his wildly thumping heart did not drown the voice of that stranger, he would have been able to guess who it was.

“Lucius?” the owner of the wand asked.

Not knowing if he should answer, Lucius propped himself on his arm and began shuffling backwards. The bush was within reach and when his hand found his wand, he did not hesitate to use it.

“Impedimenta!” Lucius shouted and watched, as the stranger flew backwards and landed with a thud.

Scrambling to his feet, it was now his turn to see who his enemy was and when he did, he immediately sent her wand flying in the opposite direction. She growled angrily at him as she got to her feet, but she did not make a move to retrieve her wand.

“What are you doing here?” Tanya demanded.

“What are YOU doing here?” Lucius asked in return.

“You should get out of here if you don’t want any trouble,” Tanya warned. It sounded less of a threat and more of genuine concern.

“You should get out of here too,” Lucius said.

“I’m serious.”

(“No, you’re Tanya.” Sorry, I had to)

“So am I.”

“We have aurors all over. We heard about this meeting and…” Tanya trailed off, suddenly aware that she should not be sharing too much.

“You’re lying. There is no way the ministry would send a rookie like you out on a dangerous mission,” Lucius replied.

Tanya looked slightly offended, but she wiped that expression off her face when Lucius continued, “You’re probably here on a rumour, and I doubt there are aurors all over.”

“We have called for backup,” Tanya quickly said.

“No you have not.”

And just as Lucius said so, a spell shot right past them and hit a tree directly behind Tanya. The bark of the tree snapped and both Lucius and Tanya scrambled out of the way as it came crashing down.

“I told you,” Tanya said unconvincingly.

Lucius would have laughed at her lie, but flashes of light and yells of spells distracted him. The forest was no longer dark and still, as the birds fluttered from their nests and out of harms way.

“Where’s my wand?” Tanya quickly asked.

Before Lucius could vaguely point at where her wand had flew to, a painful scream echoed throughout the forest

“Gavin?” Tanya asked softly as fear swept across her face.

There was another scream and Tanya immediately cupped her mouth. Shortly after, Lucius heard his name being hollered.

“Malfoy! Who do you have there?” the voice called out. It was one of his own, even though he did not recognize the voice.

Lucius froze at that very moment. The hand that was holding his wand began to sweat as he stared at Tanya, who was also frozen in place.

“Malfoy! You hearing me, boy?”

Lucius swallowed dryly as he raised his wand at Tanya. He was not sure on what to do. Should he cast a spell on her or tell her to run? Tanya watched Lucius with her eyes wide open, but not a word escaped her lips. Lucius only had two options at that moment; bring her in or let her go.

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on whether Lucius should bring Tanya in or let her go!)

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