Auden was woken up the next morning by someone roughly pulling the blankets off of her. "Wake up," Greyback said in his gruff voice. He grabbed her arm and yanked her out of bed. She gasped and opened her eyes in time to see another Snatcher dragging George down the bunk bed ladder while yet another pulling Fred off the couch.
"What time is it?" Fred asked in an annoyed tone, rubbing his eyes and glaring at Greyback and the two other Snatchers standing in front of them.
"It's about eight in the morning and I was bored so I thought we could have a little fun." Greyback clapped his hands together and grinned at them. It was amazing how something typically so pleasant looked so terrifying and unnatural on him.
"Oh, no," George groaned.
"Oh, yes," Greyback said. "Let's start with the girl, shall we?" He grabbed Auden's arm again and began dragging her from the tent. She whimpered and tried to pull away as his sharp nails dug into her arm.
"Let her go," Fred said in a low, angry voice. He took a step forward as his hands balled into fists.
Greyback turned and smirked at him. "Don't want to," he answered, dragging Auden towards the entrance again.
Fred lunged towards them, but Greyback flicked his wand and Fred was blasted backwards into the coffee table sitting in front of the couch. He slid across it and onto the floor.
"Fred!" Auden yelled, but Greyback had dragged her outside before she could see anything else besides George rushing to his brother's side. "What did you do to him?" she asked angrily, trying to wrench herself free.
"You'll find out later…if you're lucky," Greyback said. He roughly pulled her into the trees, away from the clearing that they were camping out in. "I discovered something last night," he said quietly.
"What would that be?" Auden asked. His hand was still tightly grasping her arm. It hurt, to be honest.
"You're one of Harry Potter's best friends."
"Oh, no, not this again," Auden said impatiently. "The Death Eaters have already asked me and the Weasleys about Harry. We don't know anything. That's why we're being tracked."
Greyback moved quickly. He roughly threw Auden to the ground and pointed his wand at her. She looked up at him, gasping from the shock of her fall.
"Don't take that impatient tone with me," he snarled in a whisper. He took a step towards her and she scrambled backwards. Greyback kept walking towards her and she kept moving backwards until she was against a tree.
"If that's what you're wondering," she began, "I didn't know anything then, and I don't know anything now."
Greyback crouched down in front of her, his wand still pointing at her face. "Do you know what kind of reward I would get for capturing Harry Potter?"
"I honestly don't know where he is and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!" Auden said bravely.
Greyback made an angry yell that came out like a growl and flicked his wand. Auden felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and when she looked down, there was a fairly large gash. Her coat and shirt were ripped and everything. "Whoops," Greyback said, raising his eyebrows and smirking.
Auden looked back up at him, clenching her teeth together.
"Now, maybe you can tell me this," Greyback said. "Is Harry Potter traveling alone?"
"Yes," Auden lied. "He felt he needed to go alone. Besides, we've told the Death Eaters that Ron is sick with spattergroit and Hermione is in Australia."
Greyback snorted. "Well, that's Potter for you, always playing the brave, important hero."
"It's not playing. It's all real and he's a lot braver than you and the other Snatchers are," Auden told him. She was going to pay for that, but she didn't care.
"How dare you," Greyback said. "Crucio!"
Auden curled up into a ball as she screamed. She tried to tell herself to just wait it out, the pain wouldn't last forever, but it was hard to think straight. Finally, Greyback lifted the curse. "Are you going to talk now?"
"About what? I don't know what you want me to tell you," Auden said, determined to not let the breathless exhaustion show in her voice.
"I want to know about Harry Potter!" Greyback yelled, flicking his wand again and making another gash appear, this time on Auden's upper arm, just before her shoulder and just under the first gash. She flinched and bit her lip, but kept her mouth shut.
"You're a tough one to crack," Grayback said, running his hand through his stringy hair. "Crucio!"
Auden wanted it to stop, but she wasn't going to crack. Fred had had the curse performed on him yesterday and he had done his best to look brave. If he could do it, so could she. Although, the amount of time that Greyback was using the curse on Auden was longer than he had used it on Fred. It seemed to be lasting forever. Auden was beginning to feel sure that she was actually going to die out here.
Finally, Greyback lifted the curse. Auden lay there, gasping for breath and shivering. She felt like she couldn't move.
"The world could do without back-talking filth like you," Greyback said, lowering his wand. He aimed a kick at her side before walking away.
Auden rolled over onto her back, still struggling to breathe. Her right shoulder was throbbing and still bleeding, although not as badly as before. She also felt that her ribs had been bruised from the kick. They didn't feel broken at least.
"Auden?" She heard a voice yell from through the trees. It sounded like George.
"Auden, please say something so we can find you," Fred's voice yelled, sounding panicked.
"I'm here," she said, trying to make her voice as loud as she could.
"There she is," she heard George say. Footsteps crunched through the leaves and within seconds, Fred and George were crouched down on either side of her.
"Oh, Auden," Fred whispered, horrified. "What did he do to you?"
"Cuts," Auden whispered, gesturing to her cuts, "and the Cruciatus Curse. Then he kicked me." She gestured to her ribs.
"Are they broken?" Fred asked.
"I don't think so," Auden said. She tried to sit up, but she flopped back to the ground with a groan almost at once. Everything hurt, and she was weak from the Cruciatus Curse. Besides that, she was cold.
"Does this hurt?" George asked, gently touching her ribs.
"Yes," she said, squeezing her eyes shut.
"They don't look broken," Fred said, biting his lip. "I think they're just bruised. We've got to fix them…the cuts too. I can't believe he did this to you. I swear I'm going to hurt him for doing this."
"We don't have wands," Auden whispered.
"I might just strangle him with my bare hands," Fred said, his voice low and angry.
Auden gave a small laugh. "Don't, though, seriously. I don't want you to end up hurt."
"I don't care," Fred said, pushing her hair off her forehead.
"Well I do," Auden answered. "He's going to get around to torturing you as it is and I don't want you to make it any worse by taunting him."
Fred was quiet for a moment. "You're shivering," he finally observed. It was true. Even though Auden still had her coat and scarf on from doing Potterwatch, it wasn't enough to keep her completely warm, especially after spending hours outside in the cold. They hadn't been somewhere warm since the afternoon before.
"Not too badly," Auden assured him, trying to downplay it.
"Don't lie, I can see you shaking," Fred whispered. He pulled off his own jacket and wrapped it around her.
"Don't," she whispered hoarsely. "You'll be cold."
"I don't care about me," he said. He was quiet for a moment. "Come on, let's get you back to the tent."
"Do you need help lifting her?" George asked.
"No, I can do it," Fred responded. "Thanks, though. Aud, let me know if I'm hurting you."
Auden nodded as Fred gently scooped her into his arms. "How did you know where to find me?" she asked, resting her head against Fred's chest.
"We could hear you screaming all the way from the tent," George said. "Fred wanted to instantly come running after you, and I did too for that matter, but I didn't know what Greyback would do. But the instant the screams stopped, we ran for it. We hadn't gone very far when we saw him coming towards us," George said. "He told us to come and find you and he looked all smug. Honestly, I expected it to be worse than this from the look on his face. I think the only reason he wasn't angry that we had left the tent was because he wanted us to be the ones to find you like this."
"What happened to you when he blasted you over the table?" Auden asked Fred.
"All he did was blast me backwards to stop me from getting to you. Nothing serious."
They had reached the tents by now. The Snatchers could be heard laughing from their tent, all except one that was positioned in front of the other tent as a guard. He raised his eyebrows slightly as they passed, but showed no other emotion.
Fred set Auden down gently on the bottom bunk bed. "George, do you know how to fix injuries without wands?"
"No, do you?" George asked.
"Not a clue," Fred answered.
"Auden?" George asked hopefully.
"Hey, I'm the injured one here," she said, smiling faintly. "But no, I don't know how."
"We could probably just clean the cuts and put bandages on them," George said. "I don't know about the ribs though. If they really are bruised, they probably heal on their own."
"Magic would be faster, though," Fred said impatiently.
"At least everything can be cured," Auden said. To be honest, she was just thankful for that and thankful that Greyback hadn't caused any damage that was more serious or life-threatening.
"Yeah, but I want you cured now," Fred whispered. "I can't stand to see you like this."
Auden smiled and reached up to put a hand on his cheek. "I'm really okay," she whispered as earnestly as she could.
"Yeah, well you don't look it," Fred said, a grin starting to form on his lips.
"Jerk," Auden laughed. She stopped suddenly and flinched as her bruised ribs throbbed. Maybe she wasn't all that okay.
"How are we going to get something to clean the cuts?" George asked.
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound at the tent entrance. A small bowl was being pushed through the flap.
"What-?" George began, getting up to inspect the bowl. "It looks like cleaning potion…kind of like the one mum used to clean off my ear."
"What if it's a trick and it's something that's going to injure her further?" asked Fred.
"I don't think it is," George said, picking up the bowl and sniffing it. "It smells normal, and it looks normal, too."
"Well, which one of them gave it to us?" Auden asked. "And why?"
George stuck his head out of the tent flap. Auden could hear his voice talking to the Snatcher guard. "Did someone come by to give us this?"
"No, nobody came by," the guard said.
"So…did you give it to us?" George asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," the guard answered in a voice of someone trying to be innocent. He lowered his voice. "Here, you can borrow this for the ribs and to heal the cuts after you clean them. I just need it back."
Auden shared a look with Fred. What was the guard giving George? More importantly, why was he helping them? It was confusing, to say the least. He was genuinely being nice and trying to help them, but at the same time, he was part of the group that caught them in the first place.
"Are you serious? Your wand?" George asked.
"Yes, just like I said, I need it back as soon as you're done, and don't mention this to any of the others or you'll regret it."
"Okay, thanks," George said, sounding surprised and somewhat skeptical.
"He's trying to help us?" Auden asked in a hushed voice as George returned to the tent.
"I guess so." George looked stunned as he looked at the items in his hands.
"Well, bring those over," Fred said, looking as stunned as George.
George knelt down next to his twin beside the bed and placed the bowl and wand on the floor.
"Okay, Healer Assistant George," Fred said. "Are you ready to heal this lovely young patient?"
"Why do I have to be the assistant?" George asked.
"Because that's the way it is," Fred said. "Now please hand me the wand."
George obeyed the order, rolling his eyes at Auden. "Are you sure you trust this one to heal you, Aud?"
"Well," Auden said thoughtfully, "who's the one who usually fixes the problems when you guys test your products?"
"I do," Fred and George said at the same time. They glanced at each other and their mouths twitched into tiny, identical smiles.
Auden sighed. "Okay, I don't care who does it but just fix my ribs and give that guy back his wand before he changes his mind."
"Okay," Fred whispered, "if I'm going to fix this you're going to have to take off the jackets and roll your shirt up. You know, just so I can see the damage and have clear access."
Auden nodded, pulled Fred's jacket off of her shoulders and slipped out of her own. She pulled her shirt up just enough to reveal the side of her ribcage, which was already turning a horrible black and blue color tinted with red. Fred was gripping the wand so tightly that his knuckles were turning white and he was glaring like he was considering murdering every Snatcher holding them captive. He probably really was considering it.
"Oi, Fred," George waved his hand in front of his twin's face. "Staring at the bruise isn't going to heal it. And don't grip the wand so tightly. It's no good if you break it."
"Right, sorry." Fred blinked and shook his hair out of his eyes. He pointed the wand at Auden's side and waved it over the bruise, which vanished instantly. "Better?" he asked nervously.
"Much better," Auden sighed.
Fred stood and moved himself to sit on the edge of the bed so that he could examine Auden's shoulder better. Auden's long sleeved shirt was torn where the cuts were, just like her coat, and the shirt was dirty with her blood.
"Will this make it easier?" Auden asked, as she slowly pulled her arm out of the sleeve, wincing as she moved it.
"Yeah, that works," Fred said. "George, can I have the cleaning potion, please?"
George silently handed Fred the bowl and a small cloth that he had found in the tent. Fred put the cloth in the bowl and reached towards the cuts. He suddenly hesitated for a moment.
"What?" Auden asked, looking at him in confusion.
"This is probably going to sting a little bit," he said softly.
"I think I can handle it," Auden whispered with a small smile.
Fred returned the smile and gently pressed the cloth to Auden's shoulder. She bit her lip as she felt the sting of the potion against her skin. "I'm fine," she said as Fred pulled the cloth away quickly and looked at her with a concerned look in his eyes.
Fred continued to clean the two cuts and when he was finished, he waved the wand over them, causing them to completely disappear. Auden looked up to see him letting out a sigh, as if he had been holding his breath.
"Thanks," Auden whispered, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.
"No problem," Fred answered quietly as Auden began to slip her arm back into her sleeve. He got up and crossed the tent to the kitchen area. A moment later, Auden heard cupboards opening and closing.
"Er, Fred, what are you doing?" George asked, returning from giving the Snatcher back his wand.
"I'm checking to see if there's any food in this tent. We need to eat and I don't know about you two, but I'm starving."
"Anything good in there?" Auden called.
"A box of spaghetti," Fred answered slowly.
"Are you joking?" Auden laughed.
"No," Fred answered. He paused. "I'm going to have to make this the Muggle way. No magic."
"Need some help?" Auden asked.
"No, you stay there," Fred ordered.
"But I'm all better, thanks to you."
"Still, you need to rest and it's really not a big deal for me to make this," Fred said, looking over his shoulder at her.
"Fred, really," Auden said with a sigh. "I'm fine." It was true. She was feeling a lot better now. It probably would help for her to rest, but she felt up to helping Fred if he needed it.
"Just stay," Fred answered, now pointing a wooden spoon at her. "Stay there and I'm going to cook for all of us."
Auden flopped against her pillow. "Fine, just don't forget to stir it," she said as George laughed. "I'm not going to be over there reminding you."
"I can handle it, Auden," Fred chuckled. "Just stay where you are."
"You know, you'd better listen to him, Aud,"George said, "or else he'll chase you with his spoon. You see, he takes after mum."
Auden had to laugh at George's comment. "Fred, are you sure you can handle this?"
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Must you always doubt my abilities? Just because I'm a boy doesn't mean I can't cook."
Auden laughed. "No, you can't cook because you can't cook," she said. "You being a boy has nothing to do with it."
"I mean, I've done thisbefore," Fred continued. "Once. With your help. But really, it can't be more difficult than the lasagna we made." He shrugged, taking out multiple pots and pans. He stared at all of them, looking confused.
"You're right, it's way easier," Auden smirked. "So if you mess up, it's going to be hysterical."
"Great," Fred said, still looking at the pots.
Auden giggled. "Use the pot in the middle. The other two are too big."
"Right, I knew that," Fred said. "I was just testing you to see if you knew."
"Sure you were," Auden snorted.
"It's true," Fred said, a small smile twitching the corners of his mouth upwards.
"Fred?" Auden asked after a few minutes of watching him in the kitchen.
"Yes, my dear patient?" Fred asked.
"You do know that you need to turn the stove on for the water to boil, right?"
"Oh, yeah, I know," Fred said, quickly turning knobs on the stove in an attempt to turn it on.
Auden laughed. "I would come over and help you, but I'm not allowed to get out of bed."
"No, you're not," Fred laughed, anxiously leaning over the pot as if he expected the water to be done boiling already. Auden rolled her eyes and shook her head. Honestly, Fred could be incredibly ridiculous and stubborn at times, but Merlin, did she love him. Suddenly, she noticed George's expression. It was strange, almost if he were both happy and sad at the same time.
"What's wrong, George?" she asked, propping her head up on her hand.
"Nothing." George shook his head as Fred continued cooking, unaware of the conversation going on behind him. "It's just...he really loves you. And you really love him. And I love that you two are together. But...watching you two really makes me miss Katie, that's all."
"Oh, George, I'm sorry," Auden said, giving him a sympathetic look. Of course he missed Katie. It only made sense and Auden felt terrible that he couldn't be with her right now. She wished there was some way to get word to Katie that George was fine because Katie probably missed him just as much, if not more, than he missed her. She also felt bad that she and Fred were together while George and Katie were separated. It wasn't all that fair.
"No need to be sorry," George said, looking at her and giving her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's not your fault. I wonder if she and Lee have gotten help yet."
"I'm sure they've told someone, but they have no idea what forest we're in. We don't even know what forest we're in."
"We've got to get back," George sighed, shaking his head.
"I know," Auden said, sitting up and resting her elbows on her knees. She leaned her chin on her arms and quietly watched Fred racing around the kitchen. "I hate seeing him like this."
"Like what?" George said.
"You know what I mean. You must have noticed it," Auden said. "He just hasn't quite been himself and it's all because of me."
"What are you talking about?" George asked. "It's not all because of you."
"He's blaming himself because he asked me to join Potterwatch and then we got captured. He thinks it's his fault that I'm here and that it's his fault that I'm not back at school and I just wish I wasn't making him so upset."
"Auden, listen," George said quickly, his eyes wide. "You're not making him upset. It's them, the Snatchers that are making him angry. And he's blaming himself because he wants to protect you. He wants you to be safe."
"I don't even know where safe is anymore," Auden sighed. "I just feel so bad. I mean, I lose my memory and hurt him. Then we're caught by Snatchers and I get tortured. If I went back to school, he'd be worried, and if I went with Harry, he'd be worried. I just feel like I can't make him happy."
George was silent for a moment. "He loves you. You know that, right? I mean, he's liked his share of girls, and you know he dated Angelina, but I've never, ever seen him look at a girl the way he looks at you."
"Really?" Auden whispered. Her stomach fluttered slightly in happiness at George's words. Of course, she knew Fred loved her, but hearing what other people had noticed on their own always made her incredibly happy.
"Really," George nodded. "You know how twins are supposed to sense the other's feelings?"
"Yeah," Auden nodded.
"Well when he's near you it's like I can sense how happy he is. I mean, he tells me, of course, but...it kind of radiates off of him, actually. Anyway, my point is that you do make him happy, not sad. I don't think you could ever make him sad. I think he's just feeling that he doesn't know what to do to make sure you're safe. He knows that no matter where you are, you're in danger. We all are. Like you said, we don't know where safe is anymore. Ultimately, though, I think he's just glad you're with him. That way he knows what's going on with you firsthand."
"That's how I feel and that's what I told him last night...but he still seems off."
"I told you, it's because he knows that you'd be unsafe anywhere, really, and he feels like he's not doing his job of protecting you. But you have nothing to worry about. It's not really you he's upset with." George smiled and put a hand comfortingly on Auden's knee.
"Thanks, George," Auden said. "And for the record, if I know what look you're talking about, then I see you look at Katie the same way."
George smiled and looked down at his hands, but he didn't have time to say anything, because Fred appeared with a small tray that contained three plates of spaghetti. "There's not much," he said, "but it's food."
"Hey, it smells good," Auden smiled, taking a plate from the tray.
"Your surprised tone insults me," Fred said, sitting on the floor beside George.
Auden put her fork down. "I don't want you to sit on the floor. Sit on the bed, it's more comfortable." She patted the end of the bed.
Fred and George looked at each other and shrugged before climbing onto the bed.
"So how is it?" Fred asked.
"Disgusting," George said with a smile.
"George is being mean," Auden grinned. "It's delicious. Good job, Freddie." She patted Fred's knee and he grinned.
When they finished eating, they spent the rest of the day trying to figure out a way to escape. They needed to first figure out a way to get their wands back, which was going to be difficult since Greyback was most likely keeping them in his tent and sneaking in there would take some planning. Around dinnertime, one of the Snatchers brought in a single bowl of soup along with two empty bowls.
"Just one?" Fred asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
"Greyback says you can share," the Snatcher said. He gestured to the two empty bowls before leaving the tent.
After they finished sharing the soup, Fred noticed Auden stifling a yawn behind her hand.
"Tired?" he asked, standing up and taking her and George's soup bowls along with his own.
"Fred, let me do the dishes," George said. "You made lunch earlier." He gestured to Auden's bed. "Go sit."
Fred let George take the dishes from him before sitting down on Auden's bed again and pushing hair away from her face gently. "You should get some sleep."
"I'm not that tired," Auden said, stifling another yawn.
"Ah, well I think you are," Fred answered, standing up and pulling the covers over Auden. "Besides, you're still weak from being tortured this morning. You need to rest." He bent down to kiss her goodnight, but Auden grabbed his wrist.
"Will you stay here until I fall asleep?" she asked, looking up at him almost pleadingly. Truthfully, she didn't want him sleeping on the couch again. She needed him beside her.
"I am here. I'll be in the tent. There isn't much room where I can go," Fred smiled.
"I know, but will you stay here, here?" she pointed to the small space next to her.
Fred smiled. "Sure," he said, pulling the covers back again and climbing in beside her. She rested her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. He gently stroked her hair as she shivered slightly. "You should put a jacket on again," he whispered.
"But I'm too comfortable to move," she answered sleepily. "Besides, I have these blankets…and you."
"These blankets are so thin, though. They do nothing."
"Like I said, I have you. We can keep each other warm." There was silence between them for a moment. "I love you," Auden whispered in a voice that was barely audible. Fred smiled and he could've sworn his insides melted.
"I love you too," he whispered back. He continued stroking her hair until her breathing became slow and even.
George had finished the dishes and was just passing by the tent flap when he paused, tilting his head slightly.
"What is it?" Fred mouthed.
George put a finger to his lips and pointed to the tent flap to indicate that he was listening to a conversation. Fred kept still in order to hear better. The Snatcher guarding their tent was talking to another Snatcher.
"Yeah, there's a taboo on his name now," the guard was saying.
"A taboo?" the second man asked.
"Yeah, I guess if anyone says the Dark Lord's name, all the Snatchers know about it at once. Greyback didn't say how we know if it happens, but we're supposed to be able to locate the people who used the name. All their protective charms break if they have any and we get to take them in."
"What's the point of that?" asked the second Snatcher.
"Greyback said that it's mostly Order members that use the name and supposedly Potter was never afraid to use it either," said the guard. Fred's eyes widened. What if they caught Harry?
"Has anyone been caught yet?
"Not that I know of," the guard said. Fred relaxed as the guard continued. "I did overhear Greyback saying that the Dark Lord isn't even in England anymore. He's travelling, but I don't know why."
"I wonder why that could be," the second Snatcher said.
There was silence for a moment before the guard chuckled. "I've been hearing about rumors, too."
"About the Dark Lord?"
"Yes," said the guard. "Like how people can die just from looking into his eyes. That just seems ridiculous. Sounds like a type of mythology tale."
"I agree," the second Snatcher said. There was a sound like leaves rustling. "I guess I better get some sleep."
"Wow," Fred breathed after a moment. "You-Know-Who travelling. I wish we knew why."
"Yeah, me too," George whispered, turning away from the flap and climbing sitting down at the end of Auden's bed. "You know, the guard doesn't seem that bad."
"He's still a Snatcher," Fred said, slowly trailing his finger up and down Auden's arm as she slept.
"I know, but I don't have a bad feeling about him like I do with the others."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, but I still don't trust him," Fred said.
"Neither do I," George answered through a yawn. "Not completely, anyway."
Fred looked down at Auden's sleeping figure as she shivered slightly in her sleep. Fred smiled slightly. Apparently his body heat wasn't keeping her as warm as she had thought. "Hey, George, pass me my jacket, will you?" He gestured to his coat, lying beside George on the bed. When George handed it to him, he gently pulled Auden to a sitting position, and, without waking her, slipped the jacket around her shoulders before lying back against the pillows again and pulling her with him. He looked at George again as his twin stood up to climb into the top bunk. "Will you be warm enough?" he asked.
George shrugged and nodded. "I suppose so."
Fred grinned and shook his head before tilting it to the other side of the bed he was on. "Get in on her other side," he said.
George returned the smile and crawled over Auden's legs as gently and quietly as he could. He slowly made himself comfortable on her other side as best as he could. It was difficult to fit the three of them in the single bunk bed, but it didn't matter. It made them warmer and they were less afraid that way. It was just like when they were kids and would fall asleep on the Burrow's couch together after a long day of playing Quidditch and running around outside.
"Goodnight, Fred," George whispered.
"Goodnight George," Fred said. He looked back down at Auden's sleeping figure and rested his cheek against her soft hair. He would make sure they got out of there if it was the last thing he did.
A/N: The song I used was Crazy for This Girl by Evan and Jaron.
Thanks for reading!