June 13, 1995

Last night had been amazing and extremely satisfying. Daé had had a sleepover with Charlie, Fleur and Gabrielle. Just the four of them watching a muggle movie on the television Charlie managed to smuggle inside.

Lucius and Severus had stayed with them for some pizza. Which Lucius begrudgingly accepted after Severus shoved it in front of his mooth, saying he wouldn't be above feeding him. This unfortunately had a small side effect of Lucius promptly refusing all food unless Severus fed him.

Severus of course refused this and they compromised with Lucius snuggling up to Severus while eating his own food. It was painfully domestic and reminded Daé of his own parents' bond.

Afterwards Lucius had hugged him and wished the others goodnight, while Severus looked at his mate with a soft smile gracing his features. Though when Charlie pointed this out he promptly changed it to one of his patented sneers.

They had fallen asleep in a puppy pile on Daé's bed in the comfortable warmth of shared body heat.

Which was why he shouldn't be shivering from the cold right now. His flailing hands in search of the others came up empty and he begrudgingly opened his eyes to look around an empty dorm room.

A very empty room. No clothes or shoes lying on the ground to indicate it has any inhabitants.

A shiver went down Daé's spine and he jumped out of bed to check the door. His hand rested on the door handle, when he retreated back into his room.

Leaving the room through the door might not be the best idea. Someone took away the others in the room without waking him up and he can still barely find his way through the castle halls.

No, entering the castle would only result in misery. Dumbledore hadn't told them when the next Task would start and this was obviously related. Staying on known grounds was better than venturing into the unknown.

After searching the room the only items Daé came up with were the clothes on his body and a forgotten book he didn't know the origins from. As he nor any of the other people who had visited the room had any use for a N.E.W.T. level Potions Textbook.

Now that using the door to leave the room was out of the question, the only remaining way was through the window and hoping the fall wouldn't kill him.

Daé opened the window and with the book clutched in his hands, he stepped over the edge.

The drop wasn't as scary as Daé had anticipated, as his feet hit the ground the moment he let go of the window frame. It appeared the Headmaster didn't actually want to kill the Champions before the fun begins.

The bushes he landed in scraped his bare arms and left minuscule wounds all over them, as Daé wrestled his way out of them. A look around the bushes reveal a path leading further into the maze, with at its end the entrance of Hogwarts castle.

The exit he had to find his way to.

-

It turned out to be completely impossible to advance in any way or form by following the pathways. All the tricks Daé knew and had previously successfully used to find his way out of any maze, turned out useless.

The full moon was the only light he had to find his way and as the night progressed further he started to become more and more uncomfortable.

In theory he could pull of his shirt and use his wings to safety, but he didn't dare try that in fear of the retribution it would eventually bring. The makers of the maze knew he could fly, they knew he could use his wings to easily overcome a challenge like this.

And that was exactly why he wouldn't use them. These monsters had used dragons as life bait and thrown them into a badly executed simulation. Who knew what kind of monstrosities would be forced upon them, especially if Daé would make an attempt to cheat by flying.

No, better to play it safe and follow their rules. At least till he had a better idea what to expect.

The path he had chosen made a sharp right turn and ended in yet another wall, with a sigh Daé turned around to walk back to the road fork. Some small vermin scuttled away, its rat tail the only thing visible under the moonlight.

A howl pierced the calmness of the night and made goosebumps appear on Daé's arms. It wouldn't be a werewolf, right? The Tournament wouldn't let a werewolf loose in a labyrinth during the full moon.

He wasn't sure and that was a problem. The moon was almost on his highest point and Daé was still not closer to the exit, than when he began.

Another howl, this one far too close for comfort prompted Daé to run. Making turns left, right another left.

But no matter what he did he always ended at the same crossroad he began.

The werewolf didn't appear to know where it was going either, their howls sometimes close and other times almost too far away to be perceived. This did give Daé some hope, maybe the beast simply got caught up in the magic and wasn't placed here with the purpose to hunt down the Tournament Champions.

After yet another blind turn, Daé's leg got stuck in a hole and he almost fell forward. It prompted him to calm down and actually use his head. There had to be a way to beat this labyrinth, otherwise what would be the point. He just had to find the right perspective of looking at it.

"Oké Daé, calm down. What would Fleur do?"

Well, she most certainly would have never found herself in this situation to begin with. The rest of her snarky advice consisted of try again till it works, which was equally unhelpful.

A creature flew over his head, its wings severing the sky. Its sound, making all hairs on Daé's body stand up straight. Hopefully, it was merely an owl and not something actually nefarious.

He was slowly advancing through the maze, well at least that was what he hoped was happening. His new tactic was choosing whatever road brought him farther away from the werewolf's cries, until now it seemed to be successful.

A crossroad with five different pathways leading away, made Daé stop in his tracks. He hadn't seen this before, the previously choices in the maze had never been this extensive. He had to be coming closer to the exit.

Three choices later and he once more was stuck. The tactic of getting away from the werewolf no longer worked as the beast stayed as silent as a mouse. It was hunting.

"Well Fleur's advice didn't work, what do you say Charlie? Should I be extremely worried right now?"

The eye roll Daé was sure to receive if he had actually asked Charlie that question in a situation like this, made him crack up a smile.

It was absolutely unhelpful and Charlie would have sauntered along with whatever direction Daé would choose. Sure of the others' ability to get them out of this maze.

Daé merely had to have the same trust in himself as others had in him.

A snarl brutally ripped him away from his daydreams. A glitter of teeth in the darkness and Daé was running as fast as he possibly could. The Potions Textbook thrown away in his haste to get away.

Left. Right. Right. Left. Third turn. Fourth turn.

No matter what way Daé went, the werewolf was a stone's throw away from jumping on his back and sinking its teeth in Daé's flesh.

Please, please let him stay safe. Daé didn't know who he was begging. All he could focus on was the warm breath of a predator on his back.

It might be worth it to take the chance and see what would happen if he used his wings.

He was about to rip off his shirt and spread out his wings, when a much larger creature sheered through the sky. Its cry far more blood curdling than the werewolf's ever could be. A Veela hunting down their enemy.

Maybe he should reconsider his chances against a werewolf. He had been able to escape it for quite some time already after all.

The howl behind him, stopped any and all plans Daé might have had about facing a werewolf head on. There's no way he's going to do that, and live to tell the tale.

Another left turn, made him skitter to a sudden stop as a shack appeared before him, its door broken down and laying splintered on the ground. Daé made a sharp turn and continued running parallel to the shack till another opening in the hedge granted him entrance to the labyrinth once more.

His lead on the werewolf had grown bigger when he had been on the clearing with the shack. But was now rapidly disappearing.

A werewolf would always be faster than a humanoid, no matter the magic singing in their blood.

The beast had merely been playing with him, by hunting him through the maze.

The sharp pain of claws in his back made Daé crumple to the floor. Ripping through muscles, tendons and flesh, destroying everything on their path. Daé's wings who were normally kept safe far within his body, protected by bones and muscles, got ripped. The resulting pain overpowering anything he had ever felt before.

The paw pushed and turned him around, revealing Daé's soft belly, defenceless against the beast's teeth.

Daé closed his eyes as the beast's teeth descended on his throat and the world turned black.

Charlie would have to continue without him and raise Brand on his own. Daé would no longer be there with them

-

Pain. Anger. Cold.

Walls everywhere.

Where is it?

Walls disappear. Sky. Air.

Running.

A howl warning people who is out.

Hedges. Scratches.

Wait.

A smell. Young, human.

Food.

-

The werewolf was locked up in the shrieking shack as a prevention method. Yet as the moon rose in the sky, a door was created letting the wolf lose in the labyrinth.

After all, what was a Triwizard Tournament without the death of a champion?

The man's feet skittered over the ground as he led the wolf closer and closer to the Veela boy, but stayed behind once the wolf found the way on his own.

A book laying forgotten on the ground, thrown away in the boy's haste to get away.

The man changed back from his Animagus form to pick up the book. He scanned his surroundings before running away in the opposite direction the werewolf went.

Time to find the next one.

-

Food. Chase. Fast

Fear.

'Snape, what are you doing here!?'

Fear?

Anger. Hate.

Malfoy.

Bad.

Run. Run. Run away.

Leave.

Harm?

No!

Back.

-

"Attention everyone! The sun has rising, which concludes the Third Task. Cedric first place, Viktor second and Daé is yet to appear. A search party will enter the maze shortly to collect his body. Till the Winner Ceremony, and have a good day.

-

Chosen item: book

March 6, 2023