Life Eternal: Prologue - Hunting the Moon
Oct. 11th, 2004 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alectoperditaTitle: Life Eternal
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alecto_chan
Rating: R
Summary: Severus Snape is placed on a mandatory leave of absense by Headmaster Dumbledore. No, not for the hol one would think he desperately needs but to help his family renovate and refurbish the Snapes' ancestral home he had abandoned some twenty years ago in North Yorkshire. At the very least, it will prove to be an interesting summer with murder, intrigue, dark creatures, a wedding in planning, meddlesome family and employers, and Voldemort's lingering shadow.
Pairing/Warnings: HP/SS SLASH, meaning manxman luv!!! (I do hope one knows what that means and I really resent listing it alongside warning of all things, damn prudes)
A/N: My self-indulgent post-war, post-Hogwarts fic inspired partly by the readings for my Goth Lit class. This fic is halfway written, standing at 36 pages typed currently and mostly plotted out already. Time for writing is slowly dwindling with mid-terms. I will hopefully be able to finish it in the time after mid-terms and before finals. I need a beta-reader for this, to help search out possible plotholes and spelling/grammatical error that I have missed... But here's a prologue/teaser in the meanwhile.
Life Eternal
Prologue - Hunting the Moon
by Alecto Perdita
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling, and is being used in this fanfiction for fan purposes only. All situations, opinions and characters not belonging to J.K. Rowling are the intellectual property of Alecto Perdita.
Harry loaded the clip of silver bullets into his pistol. He cocked the hammer and reached for his wand in his holster. The full moon freed herself from the dark veil of clouds. Her silver rays fell upon the bare patch of dead leaves in the middle of the forest. He began to wonder if he should have chosen someone else besides himself to act as bait. Then again, he doubted that any of the villagers would have been willing to volunteer anyway.
He had chased the werewolf here- to the very place where six villagers had been found dead and marred to date. Harry definitely wasn’t looking to be lucky number seven. He circled around the area, ankle deep in past years’ dead leaves. His eyes were trained on the surrounding bushes and trees. He didn’t dare mutter a Lumos at a moment like this.
Harry heard a rustle to his left as he pushed a few bangs of silver blond hair out of his eyes. He shifted his weight about. He heard a rustle to his right. He cursed silently at his own foolhardiness under his breath. He was surrounded. He had chosen an infinitely bad spot to confront the creature but there was no other way to draw it out. "Just come out! There’s no use in hiding!"
A howl echoed through the woods. It was a morbid response to his challenge. Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand. There- he felt the presence of the monster in the bushes behind him. He whipped around and fired three bullets into the shrubbery without hesitation. A wounded cry filled the air.
Harry almost didn’t step out of the way in time when a dark shape shot out of the said bush and charged at him. The werewolf was a sight that would have many a wizard freeze. It bared its razor sharp teeth and salivating jaws at Harry- indicating it very well had chosen him to be its next meal. This wasn’t the first time Harry had faced a werewolf. However, the experience he had with Remus’ terrifying transformation in his Third Year was tame in comparison.
“Diffindo.”
The wolf howled again in pain as he sprouted a cut on its left hind leg. Harry did not waste his time. Keeping his distance, he launched a variety of cutting spells to slow down the monster. He worked it to the point of exhaustion, coupled with parallel pains inflicted on the wolf’s body. The werewolf collapsed to the ground. Its chest heaved a slight bit less with every breath taken.
Harry moved to stand over the creature. It continued to snarl and snap at him but could do nothing more. It was no longer of any harm to anyone. The werewolf would die on its own if left alone for another few hours. It would die the instant the sun rose. The human body simply could not deal with this level of injury. However, it would be cruel of him to leave the creature to suffer so and Harry Potter was anything but cruel.
He raised his handgun and aimed between the wolf’s eyes. He ignored the image of Remus, as Harry last saw him on the battlefield bloodied and fatally injured, that surfaced. He pulled the trigger without any remorse and buried a silver bullet in the wolf’s skull.
The moment the wolf’s life ended, he felt a shiver run down his spine. He stood there and took a deep breath and allowed the experience to wash over him. Merlin, he hated that no matter how many times it happened. There was no helping it though.
Harry worked quickly to gather leaves and firewood to place over and around the corpse. He drew a ward circle around the funeral pyre so not to cause an unwarranted forest fire. There would be no return to human features in the light of day. It had died a wolf and would remain so. No family would have the chance to reclaim this corpse. He lit it with an Incendio spell and fanned the flames to the height that he figured would keep burning until sunrise.
His next job would be a welcome change from this.
*To Be Continued*
Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Chapter 1 >
Author:
alecto_chanRating: R
Summary: Severus Snape is placed on a mandatory leave of absense by Headmaster Dumbledore. No, not for the hol one would think he desperately needs but to help his family renovate and refurbish the Snapes' ancestral home he had abandoned some twenty years ago in North Yorkshire. At the very least, it will prove to be an interesting summer with murder, intrigue, dark creatures, a wedding in planning, meddlesome family and employers, and Voldemort's lingering shadow.
Pairing/Warnings: HP/SS SLASH, meaning manxman luv!!! (I do hope one knows what that means and I really resent listing it alongside warning of all things, damn prudes)
A/N: My self-indulgent post-war, post-Hogwarts fic inspired partly by the readings for my Goth Lit class. This fic is halfway written, standing at 36 pages typed currently and mostly plotted out already. Time for writing is slowly dwindling with mid-terms. I will hopefully be able to finish it in the time after mid-terms and before finals. I need a beta-reader for this, to help search out possible plotholes and spelling/grammatical error that I have missed... But here's a prologue/teaser in the meanwhile.
Prologue - Hunting the Moon
by Alecto Perdita
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling, and is being used in this fanfiction for fan purposes only. All situations, opinions and characters not belonging to J.K. Rowling are the intellectual property of Alecto Perdita.
Harry loaded the clip of silver bullets into his pistol. He cocked the hammer and reached for his wand in his holster. The full moon freed herself from the dark veil of clouds. Her silver rays fell upon the bare patch of dead leaves in the middle of the forest. He began to wonder if he should have chosen someone else besides himself to act as bait. Then again, he doubted that any of the villagers would have been willing to volunteer anyway.
He had chased the werewolf here- to the very place where six villagers had been found dead and marred to date. Harry definitely wasn’t looking to be lucky number seven. He circled around the area, ankle deep in past years’ dead leaves. His eyes were trained on the surrounding bushes and trees. He didn’t dare mutter a Lumos at a moment like this.
Harry heard a rustle to his left as he pushed a few bangs of silver blond hair out of his eyes. He shifted his weight about. He heard a rustle to his right. He cursed silently at his own foolhardiness under his breath. He was surrounded. He had chosen an infinitely bad spot to confront the creature but there was no other way to draw it out. "Just come out! There’s no use in hiding!"
A howl echoed through the woods. It was a morbid response to his challenge. Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand. There- he felt the presence of the monster in the bushes behind him. He whipped around and fired three bullets into the shrubbery without hesitation. A wounded cry filled the air.
Harry almost didn’t step out of the way in time when a dark shape shot out of the said bush and charged at him. The werewolf was a sight that would have many a wizard freeze. It bared its razor sharp teeth and salivating jaws at Harry- indicating it very well had chosen him to be its next meal. This wasn’t the first time Harry had faced a werewolf. However, the experience he had with Remus’ terrifying transformation in his Third Year was tame in comparison.
“Diffindo.”
The wolf howled again in pain as he sprouted a cut on its left hind leg. Harry did not waste his time. Keeping his distance, he launched a variety of cutting spells to slow down the monster. He worked it to the point of exhaustion, coupled with parallel pains inflicted on the wolf’s body. The werewolf collapsed to the ground. Its chest heaved a slight bit less with every breath taken.
Harry moved to stand over the creature. It continued to snarl and snap at him but could do nothing more. It was no longer of any harm to anyone. The werewolf would die on its own if left alone for another few hours. It would die the instant the sun rose. The human body simply could not deal with this level of injury. However, it would be cruel of him to leave the creature to suffer so and Harry Potter was anything but cruel.
He raised his handgun and aimed between the wolf’s eyes. He ignored the image of Remus, as Harry last saw him on the battlefield bloodied and fatally injured, that surfaced. He pulled the trigger without any remorse and buried a silver bullet in the wolf’s skull.
The moment the wolf’s life ended, he felt a shiver run down his spine. He stood there and took a deep breath and allowed the experience to wash over him. Merlin, he hated that no matter how many times it happened. There was no helping it though.
Harry worked quickly to gather leaves and firewood to place over and around the corpse. He drew a ward circle around the funeral pyre so not to cause an unwarranted forest fire. There would be no return to human features in the light of day. It had died a wolf and would remain so. No family would have the chance to reclaim this corpse. He lit it with an Incendio spell and fanned the flames to the height that he figured would keep burning until sunrise.
His next job would be a welcome change from this.
Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Chapter 1 >
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2004-10-11 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2004-10-11 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2004-10-12 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2004-10-13 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
on 2004-10-12 06:49 pm (UTC)I would gladly be your beta, if you desire. I mean, I'm not the quickest beta, but I'm pretty thorough.
My email is beware.the.pamplemousse@gmail.com if you are interested.
♥
no subject
on 2004-10-13 02:02 am (UTC)PS I love your freaking icon.
no subject
on 2004-10-13 07:06 am (UTC)It's drastically different, beta-ing a fanfic and reading it. I don't mind beta-ing WiPs at all. ^__~
XD LMAO! Thanks.
no subject
on 2004-10-13 06:07 pm (UTC)Very good. :-)
on 2004-10-12 09:44 pm (UTC)Re: Very good. :-)
on 2004-10-13 02:06 am (UTC)Re: Very good. :-)
on 2004-10-13 05:51 pm (UTC)From what I've read of your fic so far I'd say it's well-written :-) and if you hadn't said it wasn't beta’d I never would have guessed it. The only items I could find to take issue with are so tiny they're practically invisible. I had to re-read the prologue twice, at a slower pace, to find them, and I'm an annoyingly thorough proof-reader. ;-) The beta offer still stands if you're interested.
~*~
Re: Very good. :-)
on 2004-10-13 06:12 pm (UTC)Re: Very good. :-)
on 2004-10-14 10:34 am (UTC)~*~
no subject
on 2004-10-13 05:52 am (UTC)no subject
on 2004-10-13 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2004-10-13 10:39 am (UTC)If you need a beta reader (for this or other Snarry fics) you can e-mail me at 'kawai_amanda_saitou@hotmail.com', anytime!
Hugs!
Amanda
no subject
on 2004-10-13 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-01-28 09:06 am (UTC)*raises hand*
This prologue was interesting. If you've ever had a problem with teeling-not-showing it's not in evidence. It's definitely an interesting setup for the rest of the story. I particularly like your first paragraph- your description of the moon piercing the clouds was spot on.
I'm a late arrival but I WILL read as much of this as I can ^^ I'm procrastinating from my own writing >.>
In summary: good job so far.