The eyes of Winter

Chapter 36....Delivered from Darkness

Winter released into the night sky, then dropped wearily onto Onyx\'s
back. It seemed to be getting better, but this certainly was no picnic. She
felt drained, way beyond empty inside, barely able to keep her eyes open.

The cool November breeze was picking up, and it seemed to cut right
through her gray riding cloak. Her bare skin underneath tightened with
goosebumps, the cold rushing over it. She held tight to Onyx as he trotted
the now almost familiar path back to the stable, thank Merlin he was smart.

Winter was so cold all she could do was shiver as she slid off the large horse\'s
back and onto the stable floor. Onyx sniffed around her limp body, nudging her
to get her to stand, but she just didn\'t have the strength. Instead Winter crawled
a few feet to a bale of straw, climbed up on it, and rested her heavy head.

Only wanting to close her eyes for a moment, just a few seconds, but sleep
overtook her. Unfortunately, the potion Snape had brewed for her was still resting
next to her bed, and it had been untouched for the night. Winter would have never
guessed HE would be waiting for her again.

She woke on the floor of a drabby room, with an extremely large fireplace. The
fire roaring in the small room, making it seem like an infe


\"Well, well.\" A cool voice came from the darkness, but she soon saw his
eyes, the red eyes of Voldemort. \"I did not think you would return to me so
soon, earth witch.\"

They seemed to be alone, besides Nagini who slunk from the shadows to
come and greet her. Winter forced her self to sit on her knees, she could go
no further. She brought her hand up to run a gentle touch down Nagini\'s
smooth scales.

\"Sas, mana kasha hesh.\" Winter glared at Voldemort as she talked to
his favorite pet.
(Hello, my beautiful one.)

\"You impertinace truly amazes me.\" Voldemort had a tinge in his voice like
he was toying with her. \"My power brings you here, no small feat I may add, and
before you even address me, you speak to my pet snake.\" He shook his head
at her and tutted.

Winter kept running her hands over Nagini\'s long body, not wanting Voldemort
to know she could rise no further.

\"Why am I here?\" Winter questioned him with no anger in her tone, this was not
the time to pick another fight. \"I already know what you want.\"

\"Is that so, earth witch?\" Voldemort came into the light and sat in front of
the roaring fire. \"Then you should know why you are here.\"

\"Fine then, *how* did you bring me here?\" Winter\'s eyes were like steel.

\"So simple for me, but surely too complicator yor you to understand.\"

\"Try me.\" She continued to glare at the Dark Lord, as Nagini wound around
trying to play with her weakened body.

\"If you would care to know, in simple terms, I collected your blood from
our last *meeting* and turned it into this summoning spell.\" Voldemort laughed
in his evil way, making her ears ring. \"Your blood has dried and now it will serve
my purpose.\" He pointed with a bony finger to the floor next to her where she
hake. ke.

She turned her head to look down. Next to her in the old wooden planks of the
floor were smeared lines of dried blood, red angry strokes forming an ancient
symbol of some sort. Dark magic for sure.

Winter had not the energy to be angry. How dare he use her blood! So that
was the reason he had bled her like a leech. She should\'ve known.

\"If you truly seek my powers for your cause, this is not the way to
go about it.\"

Winter pushed Nagini off her gently, and whispered for her to
leave the room. Nagini slunk off, and as she passed her master,
he eyed her suspiciously.

\"Well by all means enlighten me.\" Voldemort sneered, \"Since you
act as if you know everything about my plans for you.\" He leaned
forward in the shabby high backed chair, dangerously close to the fire.

\"There is nothing you can do. I will not join in your masses of blind
hatred.\" Winter\'s voice remained calm as his eyes flashed angrily. \"I will
never bow before you, Voldemort. Our magic may take us above
others, but you are just as human as I am. Your blood is animal, and
thanks to you my blood is now something I do not know, but our
flesh is human.\"

\"There are some who would not call me human, and even less
who would speak to me as you do.\" Voldemort was looking at
her with a strange gaze of his red eyes, almost like he enjoyed
being spoken to without terror for once, and not the usual shaky
tones. \"Why do you not fear as the others do, child?\"

She did not avert her ice eyes from his glowing ones, another practice
he was not used to. Not many looked into his eyes and didn\'t get a cold chill
down their back, before looking away in terror. Winter pushed around his
thoughts, like a picky eater\'s food at suppertime. Moving swiftly across the
top layer of his disturbing plans and schemes.

\"Because I know you fear without me your major objective will never be
completed.\" Winter stated her words like they were silly rumors, but in fact
were the Dark Lords most private thoughts. \"You believe you will not be able
to do the one thing that calls to you everyday, the thing that eats you from
within, the only thing your blood screams for,\" Winter trailed off and sneered,
looking frightfully like a Malfoy. \"The death of Harry Potter. His death overshadows
my own, because your mind is now fixated with the idea that you need me for his
demise, and maybe you do.\"

Voldemort gawped at her words. How could she have been in his mind, a second
time no less, without him knowing? His anger was about to boil over, but she was
right. The little harlot did know everything. She had seen it, been in his head again
without even the slightest hint of her presence.

He tried to contain himself and warned, \"Do that again, Karhem, and I will have
your eyes cut out.\"

\"No you won\'t.\" Her reply was flat and simple, yet infuriating. \"You have it all
planned within your mind. As I told you last time we met, I only need a short time
to see these things. You may hurt me Voldemort, but you will not kill me.
This I know.\"

\"Don\'t be so sure.\" Voldemort broke his eye contact with her, and returned them
to search the flames. \"The amusement I find in you is very quickly wearing thin,
but I figure you will be marked soon enough, a wit with the others.\"

\"Never!\" Winter spat, \" I will not be marked as anyone\'s servant, and neither
will the others.\"

Winter knew this would not last much longer. Voldemort was growing tired
of her brazen actions and words, and she had no energy left. Not even enough
to apperate from the room she was in. The mark on the floor had to be removed,
but how?

She had learned in DADA that for blood to be weakened it must be diluted.
There was no water or anything else around to be used, she couldn\'t even
use her wand for water. She had not brought it, after all she was naked
under her cloak. Then suddenly an idea struck her, it was horriable, but was it
worse than being with Voldemort? She doubted it.

\"Oh yes,\" he laughed in his hissing way, \"Your plan. How is that coming by the
way? Any takers in your little scheme to turn my own future minions against me?\"

Winter shifted slowly on her knees, inch by inch, to get herself across the blood
marking in the floor boards. She pretended to adjust her long cape to splay out
around her on the floor, and just as Voldemort was beginning to wonder what
Winter was up to, it was too late to stop her.

Winter followed through with the only non-magical plan she could think of.
She let loose the only source of fluid she had. Winter urinated from between
her naked legs, cringing as the warm stream flowed down her legs to the floor.
She began to immediately scrub with her cape, as the wetness pooled on the
floor, watching some of the red streaks vanish in the small circle pattern.

Voldemort was on her in a heartbeat, trying to grab her violently. But she was
already disappearing as the spell faded also. He only got a handful of her misty
form, and could still hear her mocking voice coming from her hazy lips.

\"I will take your next generation, Voldemort. THEY WILL BE MINE!!! And
they will bring your downfall.\" Her laughter echoed in the empty room.
\"Today, you have truly learned the meaning of PISS OFF!!! You will never
have me!\" Her voice echoed into nothing, and was gone.

Voldemort was yelling harshly into the warm air, even after she had
completely disappeared. \"You will pay for that, you disgusting, crass
little bitch! I will use your body until you are drained dry!\" He shook his
gaunt hand in anger, \"BONE DRY!\"

*********************************
Ron had secretly taken Hermione to the Astronomy tower to watch the sky
as Winter released. He hadn\'t told anyone about it, but Hermione was curious.
They huddled next to each other as they had watched the sudden upward burst
of green and blue particles in the distance, behind the quidditch field.

\"What do you think it is?\" Hermione asked in a low whisper.

\"I don\'t know, but it\'s something beyond us.\" Ron had been watching
from the tower a long time, this was the fourth time he had seen it.
\"Whatever it is, Mione, it\'s Winter who\'s doing it.\"

\"But why would she want to do that?\" Hermione couldn\'t figure it out.
\"What\'s it all about, Ron? Do you think we should go to Dumbledore?\"

She had never seen anything like it, or even read about any kind of
spells that caused actual physical manifestations of magic. Most other
spells that conjured physical elements, made misty forms or lines of
power. Nothing like what her and Ron were witnessing.

He kissed his lover\'s head sweetly, holding her as they watched from
the tower, secretly glad that it wasn\'t Hermione that had to endure
the strange pressures that Winter did. Ron knew it was wrong, but
couldn\'t help his protective feelings for Hermione.

\"I wish I knew, but it\'s always on the full moon, and Winter always
comes back worse for wear. I\'m almost sure Dumbledore knows what
it really is.\"

The night Ron had taken her back to the castle, he hadn\'t thought for a
moment Winter was really drunk. Ron had many older brothers, he knew
what drunk looked like. He only played it off for her sake. Ron was almost
sure this was something she did not do for her own pleasure. He loved
Hermione, had for a long time, but Winter held his curiousity more than any
other woman he had known. She was too open and honest about life for
her own good, and that was something most women wouldn\'t dare show.

*********************************************************
Two floors down from a large window he had forced open, Draco was
also watching as the spell began. Watching the clouds in the midnight sky
move suddenly to make way for the massive beam of moonlight that forced
its way down.

So engrossed in something she refused to let him completely know about,
he jumped sharply as a hand gripped his shoulder tightly. He whirled around
to see the black shining eyes of Snape.

\"Draco?\" he questioned smoothly. \"This is not your patrol area tonight.\"

Draco turned his eyes back to the open window just in time to see the force
of her spell fly skyward. \"Look,\" he whispered.

Snape let his hand fall back to his side heavily as his eyes followed
Draco\'s longing gaze. \"By Merlin\'s robe....\" Snape trailed off, not knowing
what else to say.

\"It\'s Winter.\" Draco felt lost, not knowing what to do. He wanted to go
to her, but she refused any help with what she called her \"curse.\"

\"I can see that,\" Snape snapped back.

\"I don\'t know what it is,\" Draco bit his lip in frustration, \"but I know it\'s
why Voldemort wants her.\"

\"What IT is,\" Snape continued to stare out the window as he spoke,
\"Is the spell of the ancients. A spell the Dark Lord would never
even attempt to do in his dreams.\"

\"Why would Winter even want to summon that much power?\" Draco
had only bits and pieces from what she had told him, and it had not
fully clicked yet.

Snape sucked in his breath harshly as the small particles burst across
the dark sky, spreading themselves all over the Hogwart\'s grounds. Sinking
into the forest slowly, then fading from sigh
\
\"Summon?\" Snape scoffed. \"Not quite. Draco what you see out there is
nothing but pure power being *released* not summoned.\"

Release? Suddenly it hit Draco like a freightrain. This is what she had ment!
He had taken it lightly, like some simple spell to ease her pain. But now it sunk
in, harsh reality finally finding him in the dead of night. The thing that kept her
alive, was what Voldemort wanted most.

Draco bolted from the open window, leaving Snape alone still staring into
the now empty sky beyond the quidditch pitch.

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Hello readers,
Hope you like new chapter...more exciting chapters
to come soon...things are beginning to get ugly with the Death
Eaters...but I guess they usually are anyway...except the Malfoy\'s
of course! LOL... If you have not done so yet, please check out the
new and improved Chapters #1-9 of this fic...it needed some tuning up...
hope you enjoy...thanks again to all my wonderful reviews..keep them going!!