The Winding Road of Shadows

The Winding Road of Shadows

by Mu xxx

DISCLAIMER:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Rating: NC17
Pairing: Harry/Snape (Harry/Ginny in the beginning SORRY!)
Warnings: This story will contain SLASH or sex between two males and also explicit HET sex. Beware of supernatural themes. I apologise for the Harry/Ginny in the beginning- please forgive me! There also may/may not be mention of Harry/OMC.

AN:There will be some travel in this fic, and I do hope to keep all details as accurate as possible- some aspects of the particular countries described may be changed to suit the purpose of the fic... if this offends anyone, then sorry! ^__^

Chapter TWO

An Undisclosed Location In Britain

The pain was immense, but short lived. Of that he was thankful. Using his vast intellect, it didn’t take him long to figure out just what had happened- it helped that he remembered everything up until his final breath. So, he’d succumbed to the family curse.

This was interesting.

It put a whole new spin on things, and gave him a whole new outlook on… life. Yes, life, his life, a life that no one was going to take from him again. A life that would include vengeance, to a certain degree, since he did need something to amuse himself with for the duration of eternity and then some.

For the meantime, however, he required only sustenance and a place to rest his new body. The first was relatively easy, considering the battle that had been fought outside was sure to leave many casualties, and the second was even simpler- it helped being the sort of person who trusted no one, as it gave you options.

So, until he was strong enough, he would bide his time.

Yes, time was something he had.

And something Potter didn’t have.

~~

Harry and Hermione, Britain

Harry was glad that Hermione decided to stay over the night of this birthday. After the dreadful day he’d had, he needed someone there with him. And it was beneficial to Hermione too; Harry didn’t think she should be left alone.

Once everyone had left, they hadn’t discussed what had happened between him and Ginny and Harry was glad for it. He didn’t even want to think about it. It hurt too much, and made him angry at the same time. Both at himself, and at Ginny and Ron, though he knew Ron was only looking out for his sister. Harry didn’t understand why he couldn’t just like Ginny the way he was supposed to, why he didn’t want to… to do those sorts of things with her.

But then, Harry never had just been a normal boy.

He was rapidly losing himself in his melancholy when Hermione gently touched his shoulder, effectively startling him.

“Sorry Harry, you looked lost. It’s pretty late, we should get some sleep. What do you think?” Hermione said softly and Harry nodded.

They made their way upstairs, but Harry couldn’t enter his room. He was stuck in the doorway, his eyes on the still rumbled bed, knowing that the sheets would probably still smell like Ginny and sex. He shivered, paralysed.

“Harry?” Hermione asked softly, and Harry almost convulsed. He turned to Hermione, knowing he looked out of sorts, imaging that she could see his heart trying to hammer its way through his chest in distress. “Are you okay? I was thinking I don’t want to be alone tonight and… well, you have plenty of rooms with two beds. Do you think we could share?”

Harry’s breath whooshed out quite suddenly, relived. “Yeah, yeah okay.” He led her past the room he used to share with Ron and past the one that Hermione used to share with Ginny. He paused, realising that the other rooms only had double beds.

“Oh god, Hermione…” He shivered, feeling sick to his stomach.

Hermione was beside him, her hand hovering near him, seemingly reluctant to touch him. Harry turned to her, stricken, and she immediately gathered him up in her arms.

“What did she do to you, Harry?” Hermione asked him softly, holding him tight. When Harry didn’t answer, she dragged him into the nearest room, cast a refreshing charm on the bed, and then sat them down on it. They were already in their pyjamas.

Harry let Hermione pull the blankets up around them, not minding that she was close to him, because he knew Hermione would never touch him like Ginny had; they were best friends, and he trusted her implicitly.

“Better?” Hermione asked, still cradling Harry’s head to her warm chest.

Harry nodded, and then smiled, suddenly appreciating Hermione a whole lot more than he had. “Yeah, thanks.” He paused. “I suppose… I’m only going to say this once, since it does sound ridiculous like Ron said. Yes, I had sex with Ginny, but… it wasn’t right. It didn’t feel right. I just wanted it to end, and I know that it shouldn’t be like that, should it?”

Hermione shook her head. “No Harry, you’re completely right. It shouldn’t. I suppose, while we’re sharing… you remember fourth year? Well, Viktor and I… I think what you experienced today was the same as what I experienced then. Despite what you may think, I did want to be like other girls, popular, normal girls.” She snorted. “I just didn’t show it as much. So when Viktor wanted to I agreed… but it wasn’t a wholehearted agreement, so I can’t exactly cry rape, since I said yes.”

Harry shivered, moving up so that he could take his turn in pulling Hermione close to him and holding her tight. He had never been like this with her before, and it was nice. It felt good. It felt safe.

“We’re idiots.” Harry said, and laughed a bit pathetically.

“We were idiots, but we won’t be anymore.” They both sighed, revelling in their friendship, taking comfort from it.

“No, we won’t.”

~~

It was a bit of a run-around to get Harry’s passport, but he and Hermione managed it in record time. It was a pain getting the correct ID, but Harry wanted this to be legitimate. After that it was plane tickets, and since they didn’t know how long it would take, bought one-way for a hefty sum of £1000 due to the short notice. Their Australian visas would last them for three months, and Harry hoped that was long enough to track down Hermione’s parents.

It was currently winter over in Australia, though the winters there certainly weren’t as cold as the British or Scottish ones. The city they were flying to, Melbourne, which was in the Victorian state, didn’t even get snow, though surrounding mountains did.

Emotionally, Harry was torn. He was angry at himself for allowing Ginny to take advantage of him, as Hermione assured him that was exactly what she had done, and for letting himself be made to feel like a worthless piece of shit. It wasn’t in his usual nature to take things lying down, and though he felt this trip was a means of escaping the horrors of his current life-style, Harry knew he has to do something to pull himself out and away from his depressive, morose thoughts.

Ginny had been after him for years, Harry knew, and for a while there he too had harboured what he thought were romantic feelings for her. Everyone seemed to agree that he and Ginny were made for each other, that after Voldemort they would settle down, get married, and begin a whole new brood of red-haired, green-eyed children. It was the perfect fairy tale ending, and as such, wasn’t meant to be for the likes of Harry. It wasn’t only that, but Harry had never entirely trusted Ginny’s motives.

Finding Hermione’s parents was a welcome distraction, even if he felt dreadful for his best friend. Harry was going to put in his every effort to find her parents, and solve the mystery of their disappearance. They needed supplies for their trip, and it was during this trip to Diagon Alley, his first since the defeat of the Dark Lord, that Harry felt that dreaded sense of unease he would come to know well.

The main street of the Alley was packed with happy shoppers. There wasn’t one closed up or abandoned shop in the area, which was lucky, as the influx of shoppers hadn’t been so large since just after Voldemort’s first defeat in 1981.

Harry was feeling uneasy, though at first he thought his discomfort was merely due to the crowds. He was under a glamour charm, something Hermione had studied up on, and so was unrecognisable to the masses. Nevertheless, Harry felt eyes on him, felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle with unease, felt his skin breakout in gooseflesh despite the rather warm, yet overcast morning.

Scanning the crowds Harry couldn’t spot any one person staring at him, and that only increased his unease. His gut feelings were rarely wrong, and Harry knew he was being watched. He wondered if this was what it felt like to be an animal preyed upon by a natural enemy, stalked almost, run into a corner ready to be captured and consumed.

Harry shivered.

“Come on; stop scanning the area like you’re waiting to be cursed. We need to keep moving.” Hermione said in a hushed voice, deliberately not using his name. She too was under a glamour spell, and looked just as plainly featured as Harry did.

They were in a hurry, Harry agreed. There were a few things for their trip that they needed to buy, a tent included. They figured it was about time they purchased their own, and neither wanted to re-borrow the one they had lent whilst they had been searching for horcruxes.

Any magical items that they were taking were going to have to be transfigured into every day Muggle items; so that when their luggage was x-rayed at the airport nothing funny would show up. According to Hermione, they also had to watch what else they bought with them, as apparently Australia had ridiculously strict quarantine laws. This meant that their wands would be a problem, since they were made from wood, though Harry was sure no wizards wand would ever be infested with bugs or mites or whatever.

It wasn’t until they were safely aboard their Qantas flight that Harry relaxed, despite having never been on an aeroplane before. Hermione seemed to sense this too.

“Something’s on your mind Harry, I can tell. You’ve been tense since we went to Diagon Alley.” Hermione whispered, leaning over Harry to look out the tiny window.

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know. Something feels off, that’s all. I’m thinking about you a lot, too.” He smiled weakly at her and Hermione put her hand on his arm and squeezed gratefully.

“I felt bad at first for stealing you away to come with me, but now that it’s reality, I’m so glad for it Harry. I think this will be good for you, if only it weren’t for such a terrible reason.” She took her hand back, and settled into her seat.

The truth was, Harry really had been feeling antsy since their visit to Diagon Alley. He didn’t like the sensation of being watched, especially when he didn’t know if he really was or not. Perhaps he was just going mad after a hectic few years of Voldemort troubles, and wasn’t used to the feeling of having nothing serious to do. Except he did have something serious to do, and that was finding Hermione’s parents.

“Okay, so tell me everything thing you know Mione.”

“I used the obliviate charm, but included the specification charm imbedded into it to remove all traces of one particular identity, without destroying the memories, merely hiding them deep within the recesses of their minds. The spell was created especially for this purpose, and I thought it would be foolproof. I’m certain that it worked as it should have, too. I also after that crafted memories of them researching Australia and outlining vague plans.” She paused while drinks were being served.

“Well that all sounds pretty straight forward.” Harry said, wrinkling his nose when the coke he was drinking made it tingle from the fizz.

“It was as straight forward as memory magic ever is, anyway. You know how I am with spells; I make sure I know them perfectly before I ever attempt to cast them on others. I just hope I didn’t make a mistake.”

Harry snorted. “As if. I can’t see you making a mistake with something like this, Mione, even if you were stressed as hell when you did it.”

Hermione sighed. “I know. I’m just hoping this is all a misunderstanding and that I missed somewhere or something when I was looking for them before.”

“Me too.” Harry sat back, determined to enjoy his first flight in a plane. The taking off had been the most exciting bit so far, though he would bet that his firebolt, despite being a few years old, would give the plane a run for its money.

Peering out the window, frowning when all he could see were the tops of clouds, Harry realised that this was the first time in the last few days that he felt comfortable to relax completely. He had been tense, and anxious, unable to shake the feeling of being… well, followed seemed to be a bit of an extravagant description, though it certainly described what he was feeling.

Deciding he better make the most of this feeling of relaxation, Harry sat back and attempted to sleep.

~~

Wendell and Monica Wilkins, Australia

Wendell and Monica Wilkins were happy in their new one bedroom apartment in the heart of the city of Melbourne. Their building was situated in the very stylish area of Southbank, and over looked the river. They weren’t in the penthouse apartment, but then they were only two in number, so what would be the point in all that extra space?

They had relocated from their beloved home back in Britain, on a whim, needing a change of scene. It was simple for them to acquire jobs, given their professions, as dentists were needed in every town and city.

They were a very happy couple, and had been married for almost twenty-five years. They had met at university, when they were studying dentistry, and had fallen in love almost at first sight. From early on it was agreed that, for the first few years of their joint lives, that their careers would take priority. It was this that enabled them to purchase a beautiful house in a good neighbourhood, only after purchasing their own dental practice.

Since then, and for the last twenty-five years, both had been very happy in their marriage. They had prospered, and were never in want of anything.

Except…

There was a deep, profound emptiness that weighed heavily in Monica’s chest. It was as if she had lost something, like a limb had been forcefully torn from her body. It also didn’t help that she kept seeing ‘things’ from out the corner of her eye.

It would happen multiple times per day, just a feeling movement always in her peripheral vision, always distracting her from whatever it was that she was doing; be that shopping at the supermarket, or filling a tooth.

It also didn’t help that her husband was a million times worse.

It had begun fairly recently into their relocation, for both of them. Monica and her sense of incompleteness, and Wendell with his paranoia. Monica was frustrated that Wendell didn’t seem to understand that the reason everything seemed so easy, from their move from England to the gaining of employment, was simply that they had prepared for their trip very well. Wendell on the other hand, felt that there was something else involved, though he hadn’t voiced his suspicions until he almost completely consumed by them.

This didn’t help Monica with her agitation at seeing things from out of the corner of her eye at every other moment. In fact, it only increased her own unease, a sense unease far different to her husbands.

A sense of unease that led to them feeling their new home, their jobs, and abandoning part of their sanity.

~~

An Undisclosed Location In Britain

It had been easy to track Potter, startlingly easy. It helped that he knew the various locations he could be found, and even the company he kept. Another advantage was the family curse; his transformation into an almost infallible predator ensured that his senses were able to locate, track and even capture his prey with relative ease. The only down side to that was that the game would be too far in his favour, thus limiting the enjoyment factor.

However, Potter’s actions ensured that the chase would be neither too quick, nor too simple. Potter flying to Australia would be a suitable way of dispelling any scent tracks that he had ensnared, not to mention he had never been to Australia before and would therefore have no previous knowledge of the area he would be tracking in.

He was surprised at how remarkably uncomplicated it was to transition into his new life. Even as a human he had possessed acute senses, never having any eye problems and having very good hearing and a flawless sense of smell. Since becoming the creature he now was these senses had improved dramatically; he could see beyond the spectrum of human colours, hear conversations taking place a kilometre away and smell the rain two days before it was due.

And the best bit was, he could blend in with the human population without any hindrance.

Yes, with Potter as prey, the near future was looking bright indeed.

Very bright.

~~

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