Disclaimer : All Harry Potter characters are the property of JKR. But all original characters (Wenny, Carl, Dray, Emma, Shane, Russo, etc.) are the property of FaithInSnape & her friend. lol
Written by: 'WennyG' (AKA 'FaithInSnape') & 'Carl'
Chapter Thirty-Six: Escape Plan
Carl looked towards the opening door and the person stepping inside, not really in the mood for any surprises. He felt Wenny tighten her hold on him and he did the same. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who it was. "Mr. Gytha!" he said.
Dray quickly walked inside and closed the door behind him. He saw Wenny with her eyes closed and could tell she was quite shaken up. "Wenny, are you ok? I couldn't stop them from coming up here. I'm sorry," he said as he walked towards the two of them on the floor.
When Wenny heard Carl call out to her father, she, too, gave a sigh of relief and then turned to look up at him. She nodded in answer to his question, then after a moment shook her head slowly. "No, but I will be," she said quietly, looking away. She hoped he didn't ask too many questions because she really didn't want to go into details about what had happened. She just wanted to get out of that room and apparate away as soon as possible.
Dray kneeled down beside them and looked at her for a moment before turning to Carl. "What happened?," he asked, worried. He could tell that something had happened and knew that Wenny probably wouldn't tell him.
Carl looked at Wenny for a moment before turning to Dray and taking a deep breath. "I think the guy's name was Russo. He uh..." he said, pausing. He couldn't decide whether to tell him the whole thing. "He put the Cruciatus Curse on both of us," he told him.
Dray sighed as he looked back at Wenny. "I see," he said quietly as he continued to watch her.
Wenny was still avoiding her father's eyes, and even more so when she heard Carl's answer. Though, she was grateful that he had answered the way he did.
Dray watched Wenny for another moment. He could tell that something else had happened, especially since she wouldn't look at him. He didn't want to upset her, though, so he decided not to push the issue. He sighed and looked back to Carl, "Lucius is supposedly coming up here in less than an hour to escort you guys to the...meeting. So we're going to have to come up with something now."
Carl nodded his head as he looked from Wenny back to Dray. "Well, you know the place and the Death Eaters better than we do," he said.
"Right," Dray said. "Well, I suppose they'll start coming together in one place fairly soon. The problem would be getting you guys out of here between then and when Lucius comes up here," he said, thinking.
"Is there anyway to distract Lucius?," Wenny asked, turning to look at her father. "Maybe you could catch him on the way up here and speak to him for a few minutes to give us time to get out?"
"Possibly, but I'm not sure what I could distract him with, without it looking suspicious. And we definitely do not want Lucius suspicious. He's got a lot to prove after...," he trailed off.
Wenny looked at him for a moment, "you knew he was attacking us? And you did nothing about it?" She was starting to get rather angry at her father. How could he have known their lives were in danger and not do anything?
Dray sighed and put his head in his hands. "I didn't know it was you. They just mentioned that Carl had a young girl with him. They didn't name names," he said. He paused a moment and looked up at her, "Did you really think I wouldn't have cared if they were about to kill you?"
Of course she did, after the huge deal he made of her being sorted into Hufflepuff and how much of a disappointment it was. She was only a kid when it happened and before then, her father had been her best friend. To say she had been hurt by his actions was quite an understatement. But Wenny wasn't about to answer his question, so she simply looked down at the floor.
Besides, it still bothered Wenny that he knew Carl was being attacked and hadn't done anything. Regardless of whether or not he knew that Wenny even knew Carl.
Carl looked between Dray and Wenny for a moment. He loooked up at Dray with an expression that said well, you didn't exactly do much to help her think otherwise and then looked at Wenny and held her a little closer. After a moment, he looked back up at Dray. "So what's the plan?" he asked.
Dray sighed as he looked from Wenny to Carl. "I'll just have to hope to have good timing," he said quietly. "But you two should be ready to go the second I come, because Lucius will probably be not far behind me."
Wenny wasn't sure what else to say and she wasn't quite ready to look at her father yet, so she simply nodded. She was more worried about whether or not she would be able to apparate them before being caught again, rather than getting out of this room. It wouldn't take long for them to run out the door, but apparating would take a lot of concentration on her part. And as she discovered at the Hog's Head, that wasn't easy in high stress situations. Not for her at least.
"Ok, here's what we'll do, as soon as you hear me muttering the curses to unlock the door, be ready to run out the moment I open it. That way, I can say that you two ambushed me as I opened the door. Now, this is how you get out of here," he said as he drew a small map on the floor. "It isn't too difficult, but be sure to memorize it after I leave. The last thing we need is for you two to get lost in here while trying to escape."
Carl looked down at the map and studied it for a moment. He was a little nervous to say the least, but he had to believe that they could do it. He was starting to wonder if Snape was going to be there for the meeting. But he didn't want to think about Snape right now, so he looked back up at Dray and smiled slightly. "Thank you for helping us," he said quietly.
"I couldn't imagine not helping my daughter...and her...boyfriend," he said as he looked from Carl to Wenny. He stood up and looked down at them. "I really do wish you both luck," he said quietly as he sent Wenny a small smile.
Wenny heard her father's comment and looked up at him. Until then, she hadn't really considered the danger he was putting himself in by helping them. If the others found out that he had helped them escape...well, that wasn't something Wenny wanted to think about. Knowing the possibilites of what might happen if things didn't go as they hoped, Wenny realized, as she had with Carl earlier, that this could be the last time she would see her father. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes as she stood up and put her arms around him, "I'm sorry."
"Shhh, don't apologize. You guys are going to be fine. Just remember what I told you. Memorize the escape route I drew, be ready to run me over when I open the door, and then apparate as soon as you are outside the building. Don't turn back, and don't wait for anything or anyone, ok?," Dray said, trying to comfort his daughter.
Wenny nodded, "ok." She held on to him for another few moments, knowing what she needed to say, but not quite sure if she would be able to. But this was her father and their lives were on the line. It wasn't a time for pride. "I love you," she said quietly.
Dray sighed, "I love you, too, Enidwen." He pulled back and looked at her, "You guys are going to be fine." He looked over at Carl. "I expect you to take care of her," he said, trying to hide his own nervousness and the tears that were threatening to appear. He was hoping for the best, but preparing himself for the worst.
Carl watched them with a smile on his face. He felt himself feeling a little jealous, and he hated himself for it, but he quickly tried his best to make that feeling go away as he nodded his head to Dray. "I will," he said, wanting to hold himself to his word this time.
Dray smiled at Carl and then at Wenny. He hugged her for a moment one last time before turning towards the door. He looked back at them. "Good luck," he said very quietly, nodding his head slightly and smiling at Wenny.
Wenny watched her father leave and then turned to Carl. "Well, I guess this is it, then...," she said quietly. They would either escape and find their way back to Hogwarts safely, or...they wouldn't. And she was absolutely terrified.
Carl stood up and walked over to her. He nodded and smiled at her as he put his hand on her cheek. "We can do it," he said quietly. "We'll get through this," he told her as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and then put his arms around her.
Wenny nodded, "yeah. We will." She was hoping they wouldn't have to wait long because her nervousness seemed to get worse with each passing moment. It gave her too much time to think and to worry about the whole thing. She looked down at the little map, "we should start memorizing this."
He nodded as he followed her gaze down to the small map on the floor and then sat down infront of it. He started to try to remember which ways they were going to need to go, but his nervousness was getting in the way. He took a deep breath and started again and memorized where they would need to go from the room they were in.
After a few moments, she looked up at him. "Carl," she began, "...if they happen to catch us, I don't want you to die for me." She had been thinking about it a lot and she knew that he probably had as well. How could they not, in the situation they were in? She knew that getting caught was a definite possibility and if the Death Eaters caught them trying to escape, they wouldn't be as nice as they had been. And they hadn't been very nice. She shuddered at the thought of what they would do if she and Carl were caught trying to escape. "I can't watch you die and even if you did that, they'd just kill me afterwards."
Carl stood up and walked over to her. "Wenny, I'm going to do anything I possibly can to give you as much time as you need to escape. Even if that means dying for you," he said quietly, putting his hand on her cheek. "And if something happens to me, you run as fast as you can and you apparate out of here. Promise me," he told her.
Wenny shook her head. "I don't want you to do that, Carl. And I wouldn't be able to apparate if...something like that happened," she replied honestly, but not wanting to think about something happening to him. If she couldn't apparate in the Hog's Head, how would she be able to if she had just seen Carl killed? Or knew he was about to be killed?
He sighed and closed his eyes. Then lets promise each other something," he said, opening his eyes again. "We won't let anything happen to the other," he said. Although, how could they possibly promise that? If they got caught, there was really nothing they would be able to do. But they could at least start there.
She nodded this time, "ok. I promise." She knew that it would be a promise that was easily broken, but she would rather promise that than to promise to leave him behind. She put her arms around him and put her cheek against his, closing her eyes. She was trying to prepare herself for whatever might happen.
About that time, Wenny heard someone outside of the door start muttering the curse to unlock it, and looked at Carl. "Oh god," she said, starting to panic. She took a deep breath, "we can do this." She grabbed his hand and quickly walked over to the door, hoping her father was the one on the other side. But even if he wasn't, she knew they had to run for it anyway. They would just be more likely to be caught.
He smiled at her and then heard the curse. He felt his heart start beating quicker within his chest as he held onto Wenny's hand tightly. "We can do this," he repeated Wenny as he turned towards the door, taking a deep breath. Then he saw the doorknob turn and the door start to open.