A Darkness Returns - a Harmione story

8 - A Cat and a Crack

*As seen previously*

"The girl - I think her name was Olivia, from what I recall - was the only one to survive. She doesn't have any relatives here in Britain, so for now, the wizard family has taken her in." Suddenly, she shivered as she felt something soft slither around her legs.

Startled by the sound, Harry looked up from the gold-tarnished ornament he was examining, only to drop it to the ground. "Holy mother of Merlin -- Hermione, it's just a cat. You must have been the one to make that noise earlier, hmm," he cooed as he bent down and scooped the old tabby into his arms. His fur was of a coppery color, similar to that of Crookshanks. However, unlike Crookshanks, this cat was very thin and scrawny, with dark, brown-colored orbs for eyes rather than piercing yellow ones. They were grateful to refocus their attention away from the murder, which had been a rather dismally bleak topic.

"Aw." Hermione reached over to scratch his fur. "Poor thing. It looks like he hasn't eaten in weeks!" She pulled out a packet of biscuits that she always had around for Crookshanks from her beaded handbag and gave a few to the cat. "We should probably let Liam know that what we heard was just a cat."

"Why don't we take him home?" Harry suddenly interjected.

"What?"

"The cat. He could give Crookshanks some company."

"Harry, I want to keep him as much as you do, but I don't think so. He probably belongs to some --" she gasped as they walked into the other room, following behind the cat after it had leaped out of Harry's arms, only to see dry blood all over the bare wall. The room had been trashed, a dresser lay tumbled to the ground, with its contents scattered about. The window was open, and the curtains had been completely torn.

Hermione's eyes raced across the room and its contents within a heartbeat. There were clothes (that must have belonged to the twin girls) lying on a fur rug that was splattered with blood. An adorable pink sweater with a cartoon unicorn printed across the front seemed completely out of place, draped over the seat of a wooden chair that had been turned over and decorated with deep and prominent claw marks. The only pieces of furniture in the room that remained upright were two twin-sized beds and a bookshelf, and even then, the sheets had been shredded and the books had been completely obliterated, a few picture book pages lying near her feet amongst other photos and numerous drawings.

It was as if a giant had ingested the room, chewed it up a bit, and then spit it back out. Hermione was horrified. Meanwhile, Harry was overcome by a wave of a deja vu type feeling as he recalled the last time he had come across a room that had been as completely obliterated as this one: Sirius's room back at Grimmauld place.

Hermione was the first to move, as she took a step forward to examine the blood on the wall. "It's a warning," she solemnly proclaimed.

Harry stood beside her and said, "You're right. It's not human. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's dragon blood," as he focused on the smell and distinct coagulated appearance of the blood and his thoughts darted to the memory of going to Professor Slughorn's home with Dumbledore years ago.

Hermione appeared slightly impressed before conjuring a vial to take a sample. She used her wand to prod a slightly wrinkled piece of paper that for whatever reason, seemed to stand out from the other scraps of paper, wood, and whatnot on the floor. It was almost as if this particular paper emitted a magical aura of some sort. It was covered in a language that she vaguely recognized, but without her Ancient Runes manual, she was unable to decipher a word of what it said. She looked up when she heard the cat hiss and leap out of Harry's arms to the window sill. Suddenly, a crack sounded outside the window as she and Harry's eyes locked in recognition of the characteristic sound of apparition.