Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Butterfly Effect ❯ Interlude: A Sound of Thunder ( Chapter 11 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Right after I posted Chapter 8: The Book from No One my visitor count cut in half.

I wish people would review and tell me why they leave the story. *sadface* I've only gotten positive reviews. Where are all the ones that say 'this story blows… do this better,' huh?

Don't get too hung up on Harry with others. It should be obvious that Harry and Ginny are in love. They just don't understand it yet. How could anyone at that age? They will be together and there is not a force in the world that will stop that from happening.

Enjoy.

Interlude: A Sound of Thunder

The jungle was wide and full of twitterings, rustlings, murmurs, and sighs.

Suddenly it all ceased, as if someone had shut a door.

Silence.

0000

There was a sound of thunder.

Rain pounded down against the darkened windows of his shop. He had had a poor sales day and was in a rather terrible mood. Malfoy thinks he can just come into my shop and force me to buy his tripe. Not even worth half of what I paid for it. But a Malfoy gets what a Malfoy wants, doesn't he? Bloody Death Eaters. Flinging threats like the Dark Lord is still alive.

The bell above the door rang with a tinkle as it swung inward.

A man, face shrouded by the hood of a black cloak, stepped into the shop through the curtain of water cascading from the roof.

"What can I help you with sir?" he subserviently asked the man, who walked slowly up to the counter.

There was a flash of lightning; it eerily illuminated the face beneath the cloak.

"You!" he gasped, terrified.

There was a sound of thunder, its boom shaking the foundations… shaking his wares… shaking his very bones.

"Yes… me," the man whispered, slowly withdrawing a wand from the depths of his robes.

"But you're dead!"

"Perhaps I am," the man muttered benignly, deep voice lilting with an accent he had not heard in half a century. "Perhaps I am not. Nonetheless, I need information. Information which I know you have. You will tell me the town of residence of one Mr. Marvolo Gaunt."

"I don't know what-"

There was a burst of sickening spellfire; it reeked of brimstone.

Barnabus Borgin fell to his knees as the black spell slammed into his ribcage, cutting deep into the flesh, cleanly slicing through his right lung, obliterating away half of his chest. Barnabus looked down at the wound in surprise. He felt what was left of his stomach shift sickeningly as it began to slip out of his body, but the spell was meant to cauterize the wound. The gaping hole burned over quickly, sending shockwaves of agony to his brain. He let out a violent cough, spewing crimson liquid and little chunks of his insides all over the back of the counter.

"You have roughly two minutes before you drown in your own blood," said the man. "You could apparate away for help… but you will likely die before you receive it. So, tell me what I want to know… and I shall heal the wound."

"Little H-Hangleton," Barnabus moaned, choking in pain. "They lived in Little Hangleton." He could feel the blood pooling inside his ribcage. "Master, heal me, please!"

His old master circled the counter to kneel beside him. He reached out a hand and wiped away the blood streaming from Barnabus' lips. "OhBorgin, my favorite spy," his master crooned, caressing his cheek. "You of all people should know… that I am a liar and a cheat."

There was a sound of thunder. It almost drowned out his scream of misery.

"W-Why have y-you killed me, Master?" Barnabus cried out, tears streaming down his face. Spittle and blood sprayed onto the cloaked man's face. "Together, we could start again. The Reich could rise once more! Please!"

"No, my dear Borgin, the Reich is dead. As am I. As you shall soon be. We are evil men… and we deserve no less." His master held out a hand and blessed Barnabus' forehead with the mark of the Hallows; the mark of the Greater Good. "Do not fear the end, old friend. Go now unto peace."

He couldn't breathe. He felt his heart stop pumping. Slowly, so very slowly, the world darkened. The very last thing Barnabus Borgin saw in his decidedly sinister life was a pair of sad blue eyes.

There was a sound of thunder that sung the coming of the end.

0000

"Lav," said Parvati cajolingly. "You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

Parvati rubbed her back in a soothing circular motion. The Indian girl said that she used the same rub to console Neville after a lesson with Snape. "If you go up to the Owlry again… you'll just make yourself feel worse."

"I'm not going up to the Owlry! Just get to dinner, Vati," mumbeled Lavender, staring out the large window into the stormy rose garden. "I'll be fine.

Parvati sighed and left her alone.

Lavender leaned her forehead onto the cold glass of the French window. She could feel the heavy raindrops pounding against it; could almost feel them on her skin. Lavender wanted nothing more than to step through these doors and out into the icy rain and tumultuous wind. She wanted to feel anything other than the way she was feeling, even if it meant getting pneumonia.

It wasn't always like this. Sometimes she was fine… cheerful. Sometimes she would laugh and flirt with Ron… well, attempt to flirt with Ron that is.

But other times… times like today… times like when she visited the Owlry, where some part of her instinctively knew that that's where it had happened, she would fall into this: a state of all consuming hate for herself. She felt used. She felt broken. She felt dirty.

At times like this one, the only thing Lavender could do to feel normal again was come here and stare at the roses. She didn't know why it helped; only that it did.

A soft sob and a sound of thunder brought her out of her reverie. It was the kind of small sob that broke your heart when you heard it. The gossip fiend within her couldn't resist finding out who had made that little cry. Lavender was truly surprised when she found its source.

Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister and Harry's best friend, was sprawled across the floor between the T and the S shelves, sobbing into the pages of a blank book. She was deathly pale and the streaks on her cheeks indicated that she had been crying for days on end. Lavender knew intimately what that looked like. She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and shook gently. "Hey… Ginny… Are you… Can you tell me what's wrong?"

The girl sat up quickly and grabbed at Lavender's shoulders. Ginny's eyes were bloodshot, manic, and swirling frantically in their sockets. Her voice came out in a raspy whisper. "Tell… Have to tell… Have to… Have to tell…" Her eyes widened with anguish and she held up the little black book as if she wanted to throw it away. Something, however, held her back… almost like it was physical restraint. "The book… the book isn't... The book… Have to… Have to tell H-"

Ginny flinched and whirled around, staring over her shoulder. But when she turned back around to face Lavender however, she wasn't crying at all. She… she was grinning. Ginny got up, winked at her, and walked away without another word.

Lavender sighed and walked back to her window.

But she didn't see a rose-garden through the glass.

She saw green scales, pointed and hook-shaped.

She saw fangs the length of her arm.

She saw enormous yellow eyes; yellow eyes that turned her blood cold; yellow eyes that sucked her mind dry; yellow eyes that turned her heart to stone.

"Lav!" Parvati cried, smiling down at her. "You're back!"

"Wh-What?" asked Lavender in confusion, sitting up. "I'm back? What do you mean? How… how did I get to the Hospital wing? I was just in the Library!"

Parvati seemed so different than how she had looked before she had left for dinner. Her hair was pulled back in a long ponytail. Her face was… old. She… she has breasts!

"No, Lav…" said Parvati sadly. "Sweetie. This is going to be tough to accept… but… that was eight months ago."

0000

"They're in love, James. Deny it all you want but I've seen that look before," Lily said, wiggling her feet on his chest. "It used to follow me around in the hallways for hours on end in our seventh year. Who was that bloke again?"

James groaned resignedly, grabbed her legs, and pulled her into his lap. "Me."

"Oh, was it?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Don't tease me love. Not on the day I find out I'll never have grandchildren."

Lily grinned and loosed the top three buttons of her blouse. "Why would I want to tease you?" She leaned down and lightly bit at his neck.

The resounding moans he made had her soaked instantly. Lily crushed her lips onto his mouth as his rough hands slid onto her arse, pulling her tightly to his body. She could feel his muscles rippling beneath her.

With a thought their clothes were gone. Every now and then Lily enjoyed a nice session of kisses and slow tender thrusts, but neither of them were really that type of lover. They were rough and tumble. They were an 'up-against-the-wall, on-the-kitchen-table' couple. In seconds he was pounding into her and she couldn't stop herself from screaming his name… even though she would have screamed anyway. It always pushed him to new levels of performance. And he could certainly perform adequately.

James' thumb fell to her button as his length thrusted upwards and her world exploded in everlasting bliss. A lightning storm pulsed within her sex. She could practically hear the sounds of the thunder. Her entire body trembled yet James didn't relent or slow. The other thumb and a warm pair of lips found her nipples and her climax doubled in intensity. She rode that wave for what could have been days… it probably wasdays in this place.

As they lay together after hours or days or years or centuries of lovemaking, James asked her if this was real. She sighed and lightly licked his collarbone. "You know it is. I love you, James Potter. I love you forever and ever."

His brown eyes sparkled as he nodded and she was drenched all over again. "Forever and ever, Lils."

0000

Molly stared down at the photograph fondly as the sound of the thunder of a week-long October storm rolled across the moor, rocking the top floor dangerously. She tapped her wand on the wall next to her and gasped as her entire core of magic emptied into the charms that kept the house together. She had never liked recharging the wards and the house charms. That was Arthur's job. She hated the sucking sensation that accompanied the chore, while he rather fancied it.

Her attention returned to the photo of Harry's Birthday party. Ron and the little Granger girl were making eyes at each other when the other wasn't looking. It only half surprised her that nearly identical looks were passed between Harry and Ginny, except that they weren't hiding it.Come now, love. You expected something like this. Six brothers. But it is Harry Potter. I imagine there are plenty of boys and girls alike that share Ginny's feelings. Well… give it time. Maybe they'll grow out of it.

A little voice in her mind whispered to her, 'Would it really be so bad if they didn't?'

0000

I love same sex parents. *wink wink* James and Lily can only see Harry's life as it happens. I have NOT eliminated the possibility of children. Be patient my lovelies.

Review! Any and all opinions are welcome. I actually read and consider them.

If you bail on the fic… leave me a review and tell me why.

Check out my profile for a link to this story's Fan-Art page. Contains some NSFW content for your viewing pleasure.

Yes I know… not really a chapter. More like drabbles within a story. They just didn't really fit.

Lav just can't catch a break can she?