Chapter Twenty Two
Hermione wasn't sure if she could run any more. What on Earth had possessed her other self to wear these boots? They were hard enough to walk in, let alone sprint away from a hoard of cursed towns folk. What was she thinking? Parvati was definitely struggling as well, but for once was suffering in silence.
Suddenly Harry veered off to the right down a path flanked by two lines of trees. The area was deserted save for a large house up ahead of them at the end of the path, dappled by the shadows cast from the trees in the early afternoon sunlight. As he skidded to a halt he fumbled in his pocket and eventually pulled out a set of keys.
"Come on, come on," whispered Parvati as he flicked hurriedly for the right one and jammed it into the lock. With a collective gasp the four students fell through the door and slammed it shut behind them.
For several minutes they panted in the silence, not looking at one another. For the second time that evening Hermione thought she might throw up, but managed to hang on until the feeling passed again. Parvati smoked another cigarette with trembling fingers, but not one told her off, even though the smoke did nothing to help Hermione's nausea, she just didn't have the energy.
After a time Harry straightened up and walked into the living room on the left. Hermione guessed this must be his house, but it was just as deserted as all the others. The early October sunshine was too weak to permeate the net curtains, making the house pretty dark. "Mum?" Harry called out, turning on the light in the adjoining kitchen. Parvati moved like a shot and smacked the switch off again.
"Are you crazy?" she snapped, staring at him in disbelief, hastily stubbing out her cigarette in the sink. "Do you want them to find us? We haven't even checked the house properly — your parents could be in here looking just like the rest."
"Again, wishing I'd brought a shotgun," said Terry, looking curiously round the living room. He caught his reflection in the large mirror above the fireplace, and they grimaced at each other as he pulled his beanie hat off, unstuck his sweaty hair from his head, then slumped into the comfy looking sofa. Hermione contemplated doing the same, but then reasoned if she sat down she might not get back up again.
"My parents are not zombies," growled Harry at Parvati, who scowled back.
"Nobody's a zombie," she retorted, folding her arms. "Didn't you see the blue lightening?"
Harry frowned. "Yes, but-"
"Yes but nothing — they're under the Imperius Orbis Curse — it's like the Imperius one but loads of people at a time, that's why they're so slow and thick, it's less concentrated."
Everyone was staring at her, including Hermione. She was just going to give that answer herself and was a little put out.
"What?" demanded Parvati. "You think after what happened last November I wouldn't take Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts?" She scoffed and walked over to the window, peering out of the curtains. "They're not dead, but they're not exactly alive any more either. Only the person that cast the spell can take it off, and unless they do they'll all be like that until they waste away."
"You mean die?" asked Harry in a hollow voice.
Parvati nodded, but it was Hermione who answered. "They'll starve to death," she said in a small voice, choosing not to look at anyone, but focus on the floor instead. "They'll just wonder around until they get too tired, then they'll just lie down and die." It made her feel sick thinking about all those families, a whole community, emptied of their personalities.
"So they don't want to eat our brains then?" asked Terry. Parvati shook her head.
"But they can still infect us, make us like them, just by touching us." She shuddered and looked out the curtains again. "They're attracted to our energy." Hermione sank to the floor. The weak sunlight was spilling in through the kitchen, making the living room a series of shadows and outlines. She leant against the wall by the kitchen door and pulled off her boots, sighing in relief as she massaged some feeling back into the balls of her feet.
This is just like what happened to Harry, she thought ruefully. Wasn't it bad enough to be in a parallel universe? Why did Godric's Hollow have to turn into a monster movie too?
Suddenly Parvati gasped and jumped back from the window. Terry jumped to his feet as she backed into him, rigid and shaking. "I saw — there was a few of them," she whispered, he eyes fixed on the window. "They were on the road, I don't think — I hope they don't come this way. They won't will they?" she almost pleaded to Terry, turning to face him. He squeezed her shoulders.
"You said they were thick right? They'll probably just walk right past," he whispered reassuringly. Harry crept silently up to the window and squinted out the small gap the curtains made.
"I think they're gone," he said. Hermione let out the breath she'd been holding and pulled her gaze away from the window. They really ought to start thinking of a game plan, they couldn't just sit in the living room after all. She began to rub her feet again.
It took her a moment to realise the pool of sunshine from the kitchen was only half the size it had been before.
She froze and stopped breathing again. She didn't want to, but very slowly she made herself turn her head to look. There in the kitchen, shuffling gradually and silently towards them, was a red headed woman in her late thirties. Lily Potter.
She had her arms outstretched and her white eyes were unblinking. Unable to control herself, Hermione screamed and scrambled away from the possessed woman. The others whipped round and Parvati screamed too at the sight. "No!" cried Harry, aghast. Terry pulled them back into the corner of the room, away from the window and Lily. There was a small part of Hermione that was morbidly fascinated to see Harry's long deceased mother in the flesh, but the large part that was telling her to run far, far away was winning out.
"No, no, no!" hissed Terry as the woman approached.
"We have to get out of here," said Hermione looking wildly around. They backed towards the entrance way, but as they passed the window it shattered down on their heads as several hands crashed through, groping widely. Hermione felt a sharp pain on her shoulder, then a burning sensation as the blood began trickling down. Parvati screamed again and bolted for the stairs, but her way was blocked.
It could have been an older Harry, maybe in ten or twenty years time, but Hermione knew really it was James Potter, it had to be. Parvati ran straight into his outreached hands.
"NO!" screamed Harry, but it was too late. The second James' bare hands touched her skin Parvati went rigid, teetering on the step she was on, and a flash of blue lightning jumped between them. Her eyelids fell, like she'd abruptly fallen asleep, and her shoulders sank. For a second nobody moved, and then her eyes, her milky white eyes opened as she let out a moan from the depths of her throat.
"Parvati, no!" cried Harry and made to dash for his friend, but Terry grabbed his arm and hauled him back, seizing an umbrella from a stand as he turned back into the lounge. The people outside were still trying to get through the window but couldn't work out the mechanics of it. They were cutting themselves up pretty badly on the glass but didn't even seem to realise. Terry marched straight up to Lily Potter and swung the umbrella at her like a cricket bat, knocking her out of the way. Without speaking he snatched Hermione's hand, and the three of them pelted into the kitchen, slamming and locking the door.
