For the Hogwarts Forum
Writing Club, Showtime, "Burn" (searching)
Word Count: 521
Dean takes a step, then another, his eyes searching the area frantically. This had been their campsite. Though the Snatchers have ransacked the area, Ted's belongings are still there, but the man isn't.
"It's no use, boy," Griphook tells him. "Mourn for the dead and move along."
For a moment, Dean considers seeing if kicking a goblin is similar to playing football. Griphook's cold, callous voice makes his blood boil. Ted is the reason they're still alive. How could the goblin not care?
He shakes his head. "He isn't dead. You've seen him in action! He… He just… He ran! He had to have!"
His words sound flimsy to his own ears, but he has to hope, has to believe. He can't give up on Ted. With a quick glare at the goblin, Dean stalks off. He will destroy this forest if he has to. Whatever it takes to find him.
"Ted!" he calls, cupping his hands around his mouth to help his voice carry. "Ted!"
Dean has only known Ted for a few months, but it doesn't matter. He's never really had a father figure in his life until he'd met the older wizard. Ted had helped him; he'd risked his own life to give Dean and Griphook a chance to escape.
"Ted!" he calls again, moving deeper into the forest with search. "Ted!"
What if he's hurt? That's why he isn't answering. He'll find Ted wounded but alive, grinning and apologizing for worrying him. That has to be it; it's the only possibility he will accept. He isn't dead. The Snatchers haven't killed him.
"Ted!"
He searches until his legs give out from exhaustion. Dean collapses on the ground, eyes fixed upon the sky as night slowly gives in to day. He still calls the wizard's name again and again until his throat is raw and his voice is brittle and rasping.
Griphook finds him as the sun begins to appear in the sky. There is still no sympathy in the goblin's ugly features, only a smug, silent I told you so.
"No time to rest," Griphook says. "We have to move in case they come back."
Dean nods but doesn't speak. His throat aches, and he doesn't trust himself not to cry now. He climbs to his feet. His leg muscles continue to ache and burn, and standing causes him to wobble.
"Mourn and move on," the goblin advises again.
Dean shakes his head. He and Ted have only parted ways. This isn't the end. When the war is over, they'll be reunited again; he just knows it.
…
When he manages to tune in and listen to Potterwatch, he still has hope in his heart. Ted will find a way to get a message to them, to let them know he's alive and on the run elsewhere.
But then the tone changes, and he can feel the hope die. Ted's name is part of the list of the dead.
Griphook looks up at him, his eyes hard and calculating. "You can mourn now," he says simply.
And now Dean allows himself to weep for his father figure.
