"It's a bad idea I'm telling you, just stop thinking about it, please."
"Just help me out a bit," he reasoned back, ignoring the warning. "Give me a starting place, and I'll do the rest. You won't be responsible if anything bad happens to me then."
"How could I be more at fault if I told you where to look, when that's all I know? You'll go mad, John. Trust me. It'll tear you apart."
"More than I already have been?" His eyes were wide and pleading, anxious.
Harry gave him a sad look and shook his head. Patting his friend on the back, he walked out of the dark flat.
He was up with the sun, eager and anxious, hopeful and determined. He was going to do it anyway. He knew the general area in the forest where he needed to go, even if Harry wouldn't give him any specifics.
Two quick apparitions and he was in Hogsmeade, looking at the castle where he'd spent his first six years of schooling. Where he'd fought for his friends, before he'd even been to the real "war". Where he'd seen people fall: allies and enemies.
The chilly Scottish air whipped through the air and cut through his jacket. He cast a warming spell, and set off at a brisk pace, trying to ignore the gradually-returning limp in his leg.
She looked out the window of the castle at the small shape of a man, nearly lost against the trees in the falling darkness. "You can't just leave him there! He's been out in the cold all day!"
"There's nothing we can do, Hermione. He's a wizard, and you know that if he of all people has his mind set on something, he won't give it up. I don't know if even we could help."
Sadness shone in her eyes and she traced her fingers over the window, looking despairingly out at John's small form. "I guess I already knew that... I just- I just wish things could have been different."
Ron pulled her to his chest, and she let her tears fall.
"So do I, so do I."
Thirteen long and difficult days it had been, working from the outside of the Forbidden Forest in, going over every inch of the ground.
Snow had fallen on the grounds of the castle, but not in the depths of the trees where he was now. Rain could get through, but he had drying and warmth charms to keep the chill away. No animals had disturbed him, not that many were out so near to the winter months.
He had needed to use wandlight as the hours grew later, but he had a feeling that it was the night. The night the stone became his. He wasn't going to leave until he found it.
"Three times over," he muttered to himself, one hand brushing leaves out of the way and the other holding his wand so the light shone onto the ground he was searching.
Fingers traced over pebbles and dry leaves, pine needles and sticks. A sharp corner-
They skittered back, his arm trembling and cold sweat appearing on his brow. Had he?
He had.
The anguished yell, so full of pain and despair, echoed through the air, a keening scream of utter pain and confusion. Crows flew up from their slumbers and the thestral herd traveled away from the unusual sounds. Four heads – three in the castle and one in a cave on the farthest reaches of the Forbidden Forest, just on the edges of the mountains.
"Get him in! Get him in! He's almost blue! We need to fight off the hypothermia, but not too quickly. Ron, get some blankets-"
"She's right! Mr. Potter, get a tub of lukewarm water! Not cold, but not hot either."
"Where on earth did you find him?"
"Very deep-"
"Too close-"
"Did he find-"
"-must have, but he-"
"Where is he?"
The voice echoed over the rest in the sudden stillness of the Hospital Wing, louder than everyone else's, and they froze. His eyes focused on the bed John was on and he took a few steps forward, toward the blonde-haired man, and then everyone began to speak at once.
"Mr. Holmes-"
"Sherlock! We thought-"
"How did you-"
"Knew you weren't-"
"Quiet," he said, voice lower than it had been, but just as powerful. "I have been away, as you obviously know. I've been tracking my brother's communications, as well as all of yours. I knew what John was looking for and hoped he wouldn't find it. When you sent word to Mycroft about this foolish errand, I hurried as fast as I could..."
His voice trailed off.
Everyone was silent, not sure what to say.
"We'll leave you with him, Mr. Holmes," Madam Pomfrey said gently, already herding the others out of the ward.
A nod was his thanks as he approached his blonde friend.
So this was one of six oneshots I've written over the past few months. No, I will not be adding onto it (imagine your own ending!). Yes, I'm branching out from Harry Potter fanfiction...
Please leave a review to tell me what you thought!
As always, thanks for reading. :)