Chapter Twenty
A/N: Thank you to Slytherin66 for reviewing the last chapter.
As she watched her daughter disappear in a puff of black smoke, Appoline let out a piercing shriek and fell to the floor. This could not be happening, it could not be true. Her daughter had been taken away by the Death Eaters. Little Gabrielle was gone.
The swirling haze of chaos was finally beginning to ebb away and for just a moment, the wedding guests were blissfully ignorant of the atrocity that had occurred. Then they saw Appoline fall and their bliss was shattered, leaving only the agony the Death Eaters' attack had caused.
Fleur was the first one to move, crossing the tent on shaky legs to kneel beside her mother. The young woman's face, so full of joy not long ago, was ashen, her mouth moving soundlessly, as if she was trying to offer words of comfort but did not know what to say. There was nothing that could be said to make this better. A child had been stolen and was now in the clutches of the Dark Lord; the crowd struggled to imagine anything worse than that.
All across the floor was strewn broken glass, the only remainder of the wonderful vases Appoline and her younger daughter had spent the morning arranging for the celebrations. They flickered with the flames from the burning curtains of the tent, mystical and captivating, but the moment they were stepped on, they gave way with a loud crunch and could no longer flicker. Each of the people remaining in the tent were rooted to their spots, not wanting to risk stepping on a piece and breaking the silent mourning of the women knelt on the floor.
Eventually, it was Bill who lifted the silence, wrapping his arms around his new wife's shoulders and planting a kiss on her golden hair, just below the tiara she had fought so hard with his great-aunt Muriel to be permitted to wear for the day. 'I can't believe I was so obsessed with something so trivial, something so completely unimportant.' she chastised herself. 'Gabrielle would never have made such a fuss, and now she's the one who's been taken away.'
"Oh, darling." Bill sighed. The sound of his voice broke through Fleur's shock and the tears finally began to flow, tracing their way down her cheeks to land on a smattering of rose petals from the display on the top table. Gabrielle had spent hours arranging the pale blooms perfectly; now they were torn to pieces and black from being trampled underfoot.
"She's gone." Fleur whispered, the words making the situation all the more real. "She's gone, Bill. Zey took 'er. Zey took 'er away from us."
Bill could offer no comfort, so he merely held her. Most of the guests had gone away, either during the Death Eaters' attack or after it, and the sound of the breeze rippling the tent fabric was all that could be heard above the gentle sobs of the Delacour family. It was a scene of mourning, yet Gabrielle had not died. At least not yet.
A whisper of movement stirred across the tent, where Bill could see his mother move into his father's embrace. 'She'll be thinking about Ron. He's gone as well. But at least he's with Harry and Hermione. At least he should be safe.'
Somehow, Bill could hardly even convince himself. In this war, no one could ever be safe.
"Where would they have gone?" The voice was quiet, knowing the heavy silence it broke- such a low volume was quite a feat for George. "Where are the Death Eaters coming on missions from? Where's the Dark Lord hiding out?"
The group fell silent, no one sure of the answer. Lord Voldemort was an elusive figure, just as he always had been, seeming as impossible to track down as one of Luna's tales of creatures from The Quibbler. Suddenly, a small gasp came from Arthur Weasley.
"What about the Malfoys? Their house is plenty grand enough for a headquarters and it has more than enough space to hold the Death Eaters." The man seemed vaguely proud of his deduction, or would have done, had the situation requiring it not been so grave.
"They've fallen out of favour now." Ginny claimed. "It was all around the school, all the Slytherins were whispering about it behind Draco's back. After what happened at the Ministry, the Dark Lord won't listen to them anymore. Why would he use their house if he doesn't trust them?"
"Your father's right." Molly agreed, resting her hand on the man's shoulder. "It's the most reasonable option."
"But 'ow are we supposed to find zem?" Fleur asked, the frustration leaking through her voice as she wiped the tear tracks from her face. "We can 'ardly walk up to ze gates and ask for Gabrielle. Zey would kill us on sight!"
"Ron will get there, and Harry and Hermione." Bill pointed out. It was not a comforting observation, to imagine his brother and friends in the hands of the enemy, but after such a devastating attack it seemed inevitable. "They'll find her and bring her home."
"And what if zey cannot?" Fleur asked, desperate. She had enough consideration for those around her that she did not elaborate further. She did not mean, of course, what if they could not find her sister, but what if they could not bring her home? The idea of Ron being lost as well as Gabrielle would be too much for all of them to bear, not to mention the disastrous consequences of the loss of Harry.
"We just have to trust that they know what they're doing." Bill stated, pulling his new wife tighter into his embrace. Slightly beside her, Apolline remained crouched, her own husband clutching her hand until it was bloodless, as if he was afraid that she would disappear as well. In such a desperate situation, it seemed bizarre that they could do nothing but sit and wait. But hope was better than nothing they all reasoned.
Anything was better than giving in.
A/N: I know, I made you wait so long and then didn't even give you Gabrielle, but you'll see her again soon, I promise. Please review!