Darkness Takes Light
by AineRose
Chapter One- Magic men
Daniel Osbourne walked slowly down the dusty road. His van had broken
down in the Irish countryside and now he had to walk to the nearest town. The
jet black sky twinkled with stars and he absently wondered if he would see any
leprechauns. Of course, a few years ago he never would have thought it without
laughing but then again, he was a werewolf, and the only werewolf in the world
to ever successfully learn to control the wolf inside of him. He didn’t like
being in Ireland, especially in
the far west- in the same county where Angel had grown up over 200 years ago.
It was definitely creepy. He had passed through the actual city of Galway the day before
and it had definitely grown since 1753.
He sighed. Thinking of Angel made him think of home and well, that
never led to anything particularly useful, only a heavy heart. He had kept
slight contact with Giles in the last year but he hadn’t heard anything for a
few months. He assumed that Giles had gone back to the Hellmouth after he heard
of Buffy’s resurrection. That made sense.
He heard a rustling to his left and turned quickly. Anyone else
wouldn’t have heard it but Oz was different. He walked over to the edge of the
forest in front of him and tuned his senses in. he had gotten very good at that
in the last few years. He listened carefully for a while and was able to detect
people in the wood. Ten…no… eleven…no…twelve. It was like there were more of
them popping out of nowhere. He couldn’t see them but he knew that they were human.
How could humans teleport. It wasn’t possible…. Or maybe it was. Oz took a step
closer and leaned against the tree. The scent hit him in an instant. Magic.
They were using magic. He heard a movement and tensed until he realised the
movement was coming from somewhere else. Another magic-man entered the clearing
and he brought a family with him. Oz craned around the tree so he could see.
The men were all wearing masks and he could feel Dark Magic coming from
them. The family were normal but were obviously terrified. The young girl was
curled close to her father, whose eyes were darting all around him. The mother
was sobbing into her husband’s chest. A voice spoke up.
One of the warlocks turned to look at the family in disgust, “Filthy
muggles,” he said softly, but Oz caught it. He turned to look at his men. “We
have before us, a family of despicable muggles,” he began, playing with the
apprehensive men. “What should we do to them?”
He already knew the answer. He turned to the family again and pointed
to the father. “Crucio.” the man
collapsed in screams of agony. Oz swore to himself. “Bastards,” he whispered
softly. He thought quickly. There wasn’t enough time to cause a distraction. He
had to act.
He ran swiftly around the clearing and hit one of the men in the back
of the head. He went down fast and silently. Well, maybe it is time for a distraction. He grabbed another one of
the men and he let out a high-pitched scream. Oz punched him in the gut and he
fell to the ground. The rest of the men turned to him. The man with the wooden
stick (Is that a wand?) looked at him
imperiously. Well, at least he stopped
attacking that man. But what’s going to happen to me? The man spoke up.
“Well, well, what do we have here? A little boy who decided to play
hero,” he said calmly.
Oz shrugged, “Well I heard about the party and decided to crash. You
okay with that?”
The man pointed the stick at him, “Imperio.”
Oz waited. Nothing happened. Must be a
wolf thing. He had expected the same agony as the poor father but just felt
nothing. The warlock looked at him angrily. “Seize him!” he ordered. Three men
ran towards Oz but he ducked. He grabbed the nearest man and kicked him hard.
He went down like a ton of bricks. He grabbed another man and headbutted him.
The men went down, one by one. It was a few minutes until Oz realised that each
time he attacked a man, another teleported and took his place. Uh-Oh.
He continued to fight but the front man muttered the same thing he had
muttered to the father and Oz collapsed in pain. It wasn’t enough to hurt him
badly but it distracted him for a minute. The men swooped down on him and they
all pointed their wands at him. They all muttered the same curse and Oz fell to
his knees. He didn’t have time to scream. The men grabbed him and they and Oz
both disappeared into thin air, leaving only the terrified family behind them.
* * *
They appeared in a dark, cold room. Oz fell to his knees again, the
pain lessening to a dull agony. He looked up and saw the most terrifying man he
had ever seen in his life. He sniffed the air and was shocked-and horrified to
find out the man had at least been a human once. Dark Magic flowed through his
veins. His face was flat and chalk-white. His eyes were just red slits and his
bony fingers clutched a wand.
He looked at Oz for a minute and a horrible thought came to Oz. I can’t kill humans. I killed Veruca, I
can’t kill any more. One of the masked men approached him in fear.
“My Lord, we were about to
torture some Muggles when this boy intervened. We became worried when he
resisted the Imperius Curse without any trouble and decided to bring him to
you. He is very strong.”
The snake man looked at the man and then down at Oz. “I see,” he said
with a hiss. He pulled Oz up to him and looked into his eyes. Oz looked back at
him without fear. The man sniffed the air as well and then looked at his men.
“My loyal Death Eaters. Do you know what you have brought me?” They shook their
heads. “The strongest werewolf to ever prowl this earth. He can kill with his
bare hands, without any type of magic. He will be perfect.”
He looked at Oz and spoke directly to him. “My boy, I am Lord
Voldemort. You have heard of me haven’t you?” Oz frowned.
“I used to have this friend who once made a very true remark. The amateurs
always expect you to know their names.”
Voldemort snarled. “Well, you have spirit don’t you. Won’t you join us?
Together we will rule the world.”
Oz almost laughed out loud. “Hate to burst your bubble but I fight
evil. You know, tend to prevent apocalypses, not the other way around.”
Voldemort looked at him angrily.
“This is your only chance to join me.”
Oz responded by punching him in the face. The Death Eaters gasped.
“Take him to the Dungeons!”
Voldemort spat out. The used their wands to push Oz towards the door on his
left.
* * *
They pushed him into the cell and magically shut the door. Oz looked
around the dark, cold room and realised that he wasn’t alone. He heard a small
girl crying in the corner. He made his way over to her and she shrunk back.
“Hey, it’s okay. I won’t hurt you,” he whispered softly. She looked at him,
terrified and then seemed to relax.
“How long have you been here?” he asked gently
Her voice was hoarse from crying. “What day is it?”
“Friday, August 15th.”
“A week and a half.”
He looked at her for a minute. “I’m Oz.”
“I’m Ginny. Ginny Weasley.”
“Why are you here?”
“I think I’m bait. My brother Ron is best friends with Harry Potter.”
“Who?”
“He’s like Voldemort’s arch-enemy. He’s just 16, a year older than me.”
“You’re only fifteen.” It wasn’t a question.
She nodded. He sniffed the air. “You’re a witch.”
She nodded again. “Aren’t you?”
“Nope. My girlfriend was though. She had hair just like you. Maybe
you’re related.”
“Why are you here?”
“I’m not sure. I refused the Snake-guy’s offer to join him and he got
kind of angry. Then I punched him in the face. He, uh, didn’t like that.”
“You punched him in the face?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. How come he wants you to join him?”
“I’m an extra-powerful werewolf.”
“What do you mean by extra-powerful? My Defence against the Arts
teacher was one and Voldemort didn’t want him.”
“I learnt to control the changes in Tibet. I only change
when I’m really angry. Kind of like the Incredible Hulk.”
She smiled slightly and Oz was painfully reminded of Willow. “You should get
some sleep.” He told her. “You’re freezing. Come here.” She curled up to him
and fell asleep. Oz looked at her thin frame. She hadn’t eaten in days.
* * *
Over the next few hours, Oz watched Ginny carefully. He knew that she
was hungry
and terrified. He wished that dogs couldn't smell fear because she was
radiating
it. She was small and pale, with fiery red hair. That was all that he
could
distinguish in the dark room. The cell was in the very centre of the
building
and no light could get in. Ginny began to tremble. Oz wrapped his arms
around
her tighter and looked around him for a way to escape.
There was no way out.
The door was metal but Oz thought he could have taken it if it wasn't
for the
magic that entangled it. Oz sighed softly. It was times like this that
he missed
his friends. Buffy would have broken down the door-magic or not. Xander
would
keep their spirits up. Anya, Cordelia and Spike would annoy the hell
out of
everyone and Cordelia would probably insult Voldemort's fashion sense.
Giles
would try to find a way out and Willow, Willow would be all
nervous and babble
and then do a spell and use her amazing brain to figure something out.
A pipe dripped somewhere and Oz was sharply brought out of his
daydream. His
friends weren't here. And, even if they were, they weren't his friends
anymore.
He had left them and they were gone forever. He didn't have a home or a
family.
He was completely alone. A horrible thought suddenly entered his mind. Why
should I live anymore? What
is there left to live for? He looked at the small
girl in his arms.
She was the same age that Buffy was when she started fighting vampires.
She was
young and bright and she had wonderful dreams. She had a family to take
care of
her and a home to go back to-if she ever got back. Oz swore that he
would
protect this girl with his life. She deserved a life. Oz knew that she
would
probably never recover from this ordeal, but he hoped that she would.
Ginny's eyes fluttered open and she frowned slightly. She opened her
eyes and
found her self asleep in the lap of a complete stranger. She knew that
she was
still in the cell and it took her a while to remember who the man was.
She was
weak with hunger and cold.
If only Snape was still
here. He fed me for the first few days. I wish they
hadn't given him another
mission. If I get out I'll make sure that Ron never
insults him again. Not many
people would be a spy for the Good side. she
thought
Oz was watching her carefully. "When was the last time you
ate?"
"A few days ago, I think. I guess I lost track of time."
He rummaged in his coat pocket and pulled out a bag of toffees and a
bottle of
water. "We'll have to ration it out. We might need it for a long
time"
He handed her 2 toffees and let her drink some water. The sugar tasted
funny in
her mouth. "Aren't you going to have any?" she asked him
"I can last a good few weeks as long as I have water. I ate last
night." She
nodded, satisfied and lay back down. He wrapped his coat around her and
told her
to go back to sleep. He even dozed a little himself.
* * *
"You okay?"
"Mmm. I just miss home."
"Tell me about it."
"I have 6 brothers. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George- they're
twins and
Ron. Harry and Hermione are Ron's best friends."
"What about your best friends?"
"I don't have any. I mean I'm good friends with Hermione but not
best friends."
"And you like Harry?"
"What makes you think that."
"I can tell."
She sighed. "I don't get it. Why me? Why not Ron or Hermione?
Harry already
saved me once. He's not going to do it again."
"He saved you before?"
She told him all about the Chamber of Secrets.
"Whoa!"
"I guess. Tell me about your home."
He looked away. "I don't have a home."
"Where do you live?"
"In the back of my van, mostly."
"Well where were did you live. You weren't born in the back of
your van were
you."
"Nope." He sighed sadly.
"I was born in Sunnydale, California aka. The
Hellmouth. Do you know what that
is?"
"We did it in school last year. What about your friends?"
He looked down. "Please tell me," she pleaded.
"One of my closest friends was the Slayer, Buffy Summers. Then
there was her
Watcher, Giles. My girlfriend was Willow and there was
also Cordelia and Xander.
There was Angel as well. He's a vampire with a soul."
"Tell me about your girlfriend."
"She had hair like yours and was a witch as well except that she
was a Wicca.
She restored Angel's soul an hour after waking up from a coma."
"Tell me about you and her."
"I loved her. I still do, I think. We were together for almost 2
years. I left
to figure out how to control the wolf and when I came back, she had
fallen in
love with another witch…"
"That's really sad."
"I guess." His voice broke. Willow was his
weakness. "So tell me about this great school of yours."
"Oh…Well, It’s called Hogwarts School of Witch craft and Wizardry
and I'm about to start my fifth year. It's this big castle where wizards and
witches learn how to do magic…."
*******