I was totally and completely flabberghasted. Somehow, I had been transported in exactly the same position to a completely different location. I was also beginning to feel terror creeping into my stomach and up my throat as I surveyed my new surroundings. There were three more redhaired people standing in the shabby kitchen with us, a plump, friendly looking woman, and two men, a tall middle-aged one and a short and burly young one.
No sooner had I registered these three than I spotted another man waiting in the very cluttered adjoining living area that had a dining table and a few couches among other things. He was different to the others in the way that his hair was not red, instead it was a faded brown colour. He, too, seemed to be middle-aged, maybe a little younger than the other man but he looked to be either completely exhausted or very, very sick. He had bags under his eyes and his skin was very pale looking. He was staring at me exactly the same way as the others, though – like I was some sort of explosive devise about to go off.
Then, I noticed that all five people – including the guy from the park – were holding what appeared to be wooden sticks, just like what I had seen Mr Park Guy wave before we were transported.
It had taken me only a few seconds to drink in all this information. No one moved an inch, like we were all waiting for some kind of signal. Suddenly, there was a gigantic cracking sound somewhere behind me and my head whipped around, expecting to see someone brandishing a gun. Instead, I saw the blond girl from the park had apeared. She, too, had a stick in her hand. It was quickly dawning on me that these were not ordinary sticks...
No one moved or spoke for a few seconds. We all just looked at each other. Each one of their eyes were fixed on me, waiting for me to say something and I stared up at them, waiting for one of them to speak. The seconds ticked by.
The plump woman was the first to break the silence.
"Don't worry, dear, we won't hurt you." She spoke slowly and carefully, sounding kind and sincere, but I was reluctant to trust her, seeing as she and her cronies had just kidnapped me. "We just want to have a word with you about something very important. My name it Molly Wesley. How about we get you some breakfast?"
She moved slowly towards me, as though to help me up off the floor. Something about her movement snapped my brain back into action, as though she reminded me that I, too, was capable of moving.
I could see a door between the three people in front of me and the man standing in the living room. I made that my target as I leapt to my feet and jumped over Mr Park Guy who was still sitting in an upright position on the floor. His arms flailed to grab me but I dodged out of his reach and pushed past Molly before she had time to react.
I ran towards the door but I wasn't quick enough to get past the burly one. He had hurled himself in front of me and I slammed into his chest where he wrapped his muscular arms around me, imprisoning me in his grasp. He was only about an inch taller than me but he was way, way stronger. I squirmed and fought to get free with every ounce of energy I had but his grip was too tight, I couldn't get loose.
I could hear the others scrambling around behind me, trying to decide what to do.
"It's ok, we won't hurt you!" Molly was imploring at my side. "Just calm down and let us explain!"
"She is wild!" I heard the French girl exclaim.
"Stun her!" The man who was restraining me grunted through gritted teeth. I heard the words but I didn't understand. "Somebody stun her!"
I heard Molly protest at the same time as I heard a man's voice say strange words in a foreign language.
Suddenly, my whole body seized up. My arms snapped to my sided and my legs clamped together. I became completely immobile and still in the arms of my restrainer. The only thing that I could move was my eyes. They roved around in my head, trying to spot a way out of this mess, like they expected to see a giant button that said 'press here to escape!'
"Thanks, Remus." Said the man holding me, with a sigh.
"I decided it was better to body-bind her than stun her." A tired but gentle voice said. I immediately linked it to the tired man in the living room. "That way we can talk to her reasonabley."
"If she'll listen to us." Another voice said with a hint of sarcasm. I thought it sounded too youthful to be either of the older men. I decided it must be Mr Park Guy.
"Don't hurt her!" Molly fretted over my shoulder.
"She's alright, Molly" This voice had to belong to the middle-aged redhead. He was the only one who hadn't spoken yet and I didn't recognise this voice.
"Bring her in here, Charlie. Put her on the couch" Remus suggested mildly.
The man holding me grunted in assent. He must be named Charlie. He picked me up around the middle and carried me like a marble statue over to where Remus stood then bent over to flop me onto a two-seater sofa with my back propped up against the cushions so I could see the room. My feet and calves hung over the end.
Charlie perched on the edge of a low coffee table in front of me, still watching me, ready to grab me if I tried to run for it again - as if I could. I noticed how blue his eyes were. He must be the brother of Mr Park Guy. They looked so similar. The other one was more classically handsome but Charlie had more rouge-ish good looks.
It was obvious that he had spent a great deal of time outside. The freckles on her face were so big and numerous they almost blended into one seamless tan except that they varied somewhat in colour. His fingers and hands were rough and callused and his wide shoulders and thick arms which gave him the aura of strength.
I stared him straight in the eyes, trying to telepathically communicate my displeasure at being manhandled and kept against my will. There was the ghost of a smirk on his face and I think he understood.
I could see the man and woman from the park sit into another couch to my right. He slung and arm around her casually and she snuggled into his side. They were both staring at me but she was looking sceptical whereas he just looked curious.
Remus came to stand a little behind Charlie on the left. The other older man sat down on the coffee table beside Charlie and again, I noticed a resemblance. Maybe he was the father of the two boys?
Molly hovered in the background looking uncomfortable.
"Hello, Sarah, my name is Arthur Weasley." How the hell did he know my name? I was getting seriously freaked out – something weird was going on her and I didn't like it.
"This is Charlie, my son," Arthur continued, gesturing at the people as he introduced them. "That is Remus Lupin, Bill, another one of my sons, his fiancé Fleur and my wife, who you already know. Firstly, I'm very sorry that we had to put you through this. We didn't want to hurt or alarm you but It's just very important that we get some information about a very difficult topic and we think you can help us.
"But before we can get to that, its probably best if you understand a little bit about our world." He was talking slowly and cautiously to me but in a very matter of fact tone. Like a doctor explaining a complicated illness to a young child.
"Oh, Arthur, she looks so uncomfortable!" Molly piped in before he could go on.
Everyone looked back at her except Charlie. He stayed fixed on me.
"Yeah, dad, unfreeze her. If she tries to run again, we can just recast the spell." It was Bill who spoke.
Arthur surveyed me for a second then said "Very well" and waved his stick.
A shot of faint light came out of the tip of it and spurted towards me. I would feel my limbs loosening like ice thawing rapidly. My body slumped into the couch and I knew I could move again. I sat up cautiously, not taking my eyes off of the two men sitting in front of me.
"There, that's better." Molly said as she gave me a weak smile.
"Where am I?" I demanded.
"You are in our home." Arthur replied without the slightest hint of nervousness.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"I already told you, we think you can help us with a problem we have." He stared me down, determined not to break eye cantact. He wanted me to believe him, I could feel it radiating from his very pours. It was then that I started to accept that they might possibely be telling the truth when they said they didn't want to hurt me.
"You used magic." The words leapt out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them.
"Yes, I'm a wizard. Everyone here is either a wizard or a witch. Are you frightened?" He was taking in every minuscule movement I made, trying to gage my reaction. Everyone in the room was tense, as though expecting a radical reaction. But they needn't have worried. I had figure it out – I was still sleeping. I was going to sit back and enjoy this dream, just like all my other dreams.
"No." I answered truthfully, because in that moment of realization my fear had disappeared.
Fleur's eyebrows shot up in disdainful surprise, but the rest of them either didn't react at all or hid their reactions completely.
"I don't think she believes you." Said Charlie, perceptively.
"Or she doesn't think this is real." Added Remus, as casual as anything. He gave me a small smile. "I assure you, this is not a dream. You are truly sitting in a room full of truly magical people."
"The wizarding community lives in secret." Arthur began again. "We are not allowed to reveal ourselves to the muggle community- that is to say, the non-magical community. That is why you didn't know about us before now. Some of us live among muggles, some of us chose to live among magical people only, but we all perform magic with magic wands, just like you saw me do." He hesitated. "Do you understand?"
"Yes." I said with a tiny smirk. This was a really interesting dream.
"No, she doesn't." Charlie contradicted me again. He was scrutinizing me intently. "You're not dreaming, or hallucinating or making this up in any way... ok?" He was firmer than any of the others, but not unkind, fixing me with his blue eyed stare.
There was so much sincerity there that I almost started to believe him. Almost.
But then I remembered that they were trying to convince that magic was real. And that was impossible. Wasn't it?
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