AN: And the strike continues, which means my free time to write also does! Blargh! Here you go guys! Enjoy for I assure you, this chapter does not have much Christmas cheeriness... muwhaha..? Oh, and thank you so much to my reviewers, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, earthlover8815, and Alicia Spinnet! You're reviews really encouraged me to get this chapter out and I hope all my lovely, lovely readers enjoy! I probably would have had it out earlier but Ellen Degeneres is very distracting... gah...
Dedication: A very happy shout-out to my best friend, Amanda! Happy sixteenth birthday! You're so old...
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
A loud pop echoed over the hills just outside the Burrow, and Charlie Weasley appeared in the snowy haze. He had a bag strapped across his chest and he was wearing a thick jacket as the snow swirled around him. The wizard sighed in contentment as he caught sight of his childhood home. The windows were a warm, glowing orange and there was smoke billowing out of the chimney. A smile tugged at his tired face as he began to make his way down the hill towards the house. He was looking forward to spending the evening with his family and whatever delicious meal his mother had come up with. He had been gone from home for too long and he couldn't wait to just sit around, perhaps with a drink in hand, without having to worry about Death Eaters and Dark Magic every second.
Romania had turned out to be a bust. There were dark activities going on there, that much was for certain, but as for exactly where and who, the group that had been out there had very little to go on. Several of the members had wanted to stay behind and try and find out exactly what was going on, but Dumbledore insisted that everyone report back to the London and their jobs. Most of them had gone reluctantly, but Charlie was more than thrilled to return home. Home meant good, warm food, and a regular desk job where he wasn't chasing down Death Eater all the time, and more importantly, home meant Amy.
Charlie sighed gruffly and ran a hand through his damp hair as thoughts about Amy began to run through his mind. The past few months had been beyond difficult for him. Ever since that day he had gone to visit Amy in Hogsmeade and the events that had transpired afterward, there had been no word between them. Charlie had of course stormed off that day, furious that the witch had blamed him for what had happened to the Katie girl, but at the same time, he thought he understood where she was coming from. It was something Amy tended to do. Whenever something happened to a friend, family member, or student she had the tendency to take whatever that student was feeling and taking the blame. She had done it when her dad was ill and she was doing the same thing now. She thought it made her selfish, but Charlie understood that it was just the witch being empathetic towards those she cared for. Charlie was still a bit hurt that she had blamed him and told him off for trying to do something nice for her, but at the moment, all he really cared about was getting something to eat and then later curling up with Amy at his side.
Finally, after stumbling up the slick steps of the Burrow, Charlie paused to shake the snow from his hair and shoulders. He shivered as snow slipped down his jacket and he stomped his feet to get the muddy snow off his boots. Still shivering from the frigid snow, Charlie opened the door to the home and quickly made his way inside.
Immediately, the wizard was overwhelmed by the warmth of the fireplace and the delicious aroma of whatever his Mum was cooking. As he shrugged off his coat, Charlie noted that none of his siblings were in the front room before the crackling fire. He could, however, hear voices coming from the kitchen, and with a bright smile on his face, Charlie made his way around the large, glittering Christmas tree and towards the voices in the other room.
As he drew closer, his stomach began to rumble in hungry anticipation of whatever feast his mother was making and he patted his toned stomach appreciatively at the thought of sitting down with his family and eating a real homemade meal. It was good to be home after all.
Charlie didn't pause outside the door of the kitchen as he assumed that only his family would be inside. Upon entering the room however, Charlie found that not a single one of his siblings, aside from Bill, was in the room. Accompanying his older brother were his parents, Remus Lupin, Tonks, and Mad-Eye Moody. Thought slightly surprised to see the others, the smile didn't drop from Charlie's face, and if possible, he smiled even more broadly at the residents of the kitchen.
The group looked up as Charlie entered the room, and the wizard smiled at them, not noticing the looks of concerned etched into each one of their faces.
"Hello!" Charlie greeted brightly. He dropped his bag to the floor and walked across the room to press a kiss to his mother's cheek. "It's been awhile, yeah? Are you all staying for dinner?" He looked expectantly at the guests at table as they all stared up at him. None of them had been expecting Charlie to be back yet. They had thought they would have a few more days before his mission in Romania was over, and yet here he was. Smiling and cheerfully, and so completely ignorant to everything that had happened. Not that it was his fault of course. How was he to know that…
"Charlie!" Molly proclaimed with wide eyes. "We weren't expecting you back for another day or so. We hoped you might be with…" She trailed off as she looked desperately at the others at the table, yet Charlie took no notice of their concerned looks.
"Yeah, well Professor Dumbledore figured that if we weren't able to find any Death Eaters by now then we never would," Charlie told his Mum. He moved around the table to the over. He cracked it open a bit and peered inside, before nodding appreciatively at the food that was baking within. "He told us that is would be best for us to come home for now." He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter as he looked at the people around the table.
Moody was propped up against the wall, his arms folded atop his staff as his eye blazed madly around the room, searching every nook and cranny. Tonks sat in front of him, her hair a meek brown and her face etched with lines. Her eyes had dark bags under them and Charlie wondered for a moment if she was being overworked at the Ministry. Though she looked exhausted, her eyes were bright, although with what Charlie wasn't exactly sure, and she was glancing from person to person, although her gaze refused to stop on him or Remus. Lupin for the most part looked as he always did; slightly ragged and worn around the edges, but still the dependable Remus that he always was. The only discernible difference that Charlie could see was that his usually kind eyes were dark with something else.
Molly swallowed and toyed with the tips of her hair as she looked at her son. "Is Amy with you?" she asked, hoping that he didn't hear the tremble in her voice.
Charlie shook his head and shrugged a bit.
"No, she's not," he told her, his eyebrows furrowed together slightly. "I expect she's either at her apartment or in America with her parents."
There was a pause and then Tonks started crying. Charlie blinked at the witch as she wiped at her eyes hastily and Bill leaned over to pat her on the shoulder. While no one else in the room was crying, they all had apparent looks of concern and sadness etched into their faces. Charlie stared at Tonks for a moment before pulling his eyes off her and onto his Mum.
"Did I-Did I miss something?" He asked softly, his eyes locking onto Tonks whose eyes were now swollen and her nose red.
Molly sighed quietly before standing from her seat. She moved towards her son and placed a gentle hand on is arm. Charlie looked down at her, his forehead crinkled together and his eyes curious.
"Perhaps you should sit down," Molly told him softly. Her brown eyes were sad and she gently pulled on her son's arm so that he was sitting down before taking her seat again. She kept his hand tightly gripped in hers as she looked at him.
Charlie looked around the table at everyone there, all of whom were refusing to look at him. Instead they chose to look down at their hands or at the wood table before them, almost as though… as though they were scared of him… or scared to tell him something…
"Mum," Charlie started slowly. "What's happened?"
Molly swallowed and opened her mouth to say something but stopped. She looked frightened and sad, and Charlie's heart began to beat faster. What could possibly make his Mum nervous? She was normally the most talkative person in the world, yet now she couldn't say more than a few words to him. Charlie looked expectantly at the others but they all looked away from him except Remus who sighed and straightened himself in his chair so that he was facing Charlie from his spot at the table.
"Professor Dumbledore came by with a message a few hours ago," Lupin started slowly. He was picking his words carefully as though he was afraid the wrong word would set off a bomb. "He explained to us that he believed someone has gone missing, likely taken. He gave us this and told us that it had been found in an alleyway in Hogsmeade."
Mad-Eye stomped forward a few steps. He eyed Charlie warily as he lifted a bag up before plopping it onto the middle of the table. Charlie looked from Auror to bag. It was a normal looking bag from what he could tell, made of a grey canvas material with several pockets and zippers. Slipping his hand out from his mother's, Charlie leaned forward and grabbed the strap of the bag. He slowly pulled it closer to his seat.
Unzipping the largest pocket, Charlie folded the material back and looked into the depths of the bag. At first, all the wizard saw was articles of clothing. A shirt here, a sweater there and someone's wand tucked into the outermost pocket; it merely looked like someone's overnight bag or something of the sort, but then something caught his eye, and he reached into the bag to pull it out.
The item he drew out was a thin shirt made of a familiar jersey material, in a familiar red and gold color. The material was cool beneath his fingers and he gripped it in both hands and shook it out a bit so he could see the lettering on the shirt.
His blue eyes narrowed a bit and he cocked his head as he read the writing a few times. "This is mine," he muttered to himself as he turned the shirt around to see his number, thirteen, on the back. As he turned the material, a well-known scent of violets and pomegranates washed over him. He took a deep breath of the scent, and his eyebrows furrowed together as he looked up in confusion at those around him before settling his befuddled sights on his mother.
"Mum?" he asked softly. Molly's lip quivered a bit as she reached across the table to clasped Charlie's hand. His jersey was still wrapped in his other hand. "Whose bag is this?"
Molly cocked her head and her eyes glossed over with tears. "Professor Dumbledore thinks that it's Amy's," Molly told her son gently, her voice just above a whisper. Charlie's breath caught in his throat and his jaw clenched. His mind began to race as he looked down at the jersey in his hand. He now recognized it as one he had given Amy months ago, and there was a brief image in his mind of when Bill had appeared at his apartment during the summer. Amy had stepped out of the bedroom in this shirt and he could practically feel the blush that had appeared on their faces.
Molly continued to speak as Charlie stared at the shirt in his hand. "The end of term was on Friday, and as usual the teacher all stayed until the students had gone home," Molly explained softly. "Amy stayed later than usual and didn't leave the castle grounds until dark. Several students told the Headmaster that they remembered her going through the courtyard. She got off the grounds and into Hogsmeade, but for some reason she stopped, and someone must have grabbed her." Molly's voice shook as her words faded away and the kitchen fell into silence aside from Tonks' occasional sniffle.
Charlie sat there, his shoulder hunched over as he let his mind race back to the last time he had seen the witch. He had thought it was such a brilliant plan to surprise her after being apart for so long. He hadn't thought that pulling her into an alley would scare her, and he could still clearly remember the look of anger on her face when she turned around to hit him. He almost smiled at the memory of how much fury someone as small as her could put into a punch. She wasn't that short of course, but he did have almost six inches on her after all. For a moment, he could almost feel Amy's arms wrapped around his torso as he pulled her close to him, but that faded away as the image of her locked up somewhere, tortured and in the hands of some Dark Wizard, entered his mind.
The anger that burned up within him was reminiscent of the anger he had felt that day in Hogsmeade, after Katie Bell had been admitted to the Hospital Wing. He remembered being furious that Amy had blamed him, and herself, for what had happened to the girl. He couldn't believe that she would even try and take the blame for something which was clearly out of both of their hands. They hadn't known the student would be cursed, and it wasn't because of their date that she had been cursed. Even if Charlie hadn't stayed to see Amy, Katie probably still would have ended up in the infirmary, and nothing Amy or Charlie had done could change that.
But… if there was one thing Charlie could do, something he could do right then, it was that he would do anything to get Amy back. Anything that happened to her now he would forever blame himself. If they hadn't fought back in October… if they hadn't stopped sending letters… he might have been there to meet her and she wouldn't have been alone and vulnerable…
Yet, he couldn't think like that. He couldn't let himself be consumed by his emotions. He had to keep a clear head if he was going to get her back, and that was one thing he planned on doing. He was going to get her back.
His hand tightened into a fist over his shirt, the material scrunching between his fingers, and he looked up determinedly at those around him.
"What do we do now?"
…..
Charlie raised his hand and tapped sharply on the glass of the window before shoving his hand back into his pocket. Behind him, Bill was peering curiously around him at the front porch of the Wyman's house. The younger redhead moved his weight from one foot to the other as he waited for someone to come to the door.
Similarly to England, the winter weather had hit Chicago with a force and the snow was swirling around the two brothers. Bill had, rather reluctantly, volunteered to go with Charlie to America to see if Amy had possibly gone to stay with her family for the holidays. It was the wizard's last hope that she was safe and sound somewhere. He had already gone to her apartment and his as well only to find them empty and slightly dusty. He had contemplated also going to Hogwarts just to ensure that she was not in fact hidden out there, but he figured Dumbledore would know if the witch was anywhere within the castle grounds. Chicago was his last hope, and if she wasn't here… well, he may combust.
The inner door of the house opened and light flooded the tiny foyer that separated the apartments. Ann Wyman poked her head around the door and squinted into the dreary afternoon. Her eyes lit up brightly when they landed on Charlie and she smiled as she stepped into the entrance way to unlock the front door.
"Charlie!" she greeted brightly! "What a lovely surprise! Please come in." Charlie smiled faintly as the woman pulled the door open so that he and his brother could enter the warm home. Ann looked curiously at the taller redhead but followed the two brothers back into the house without question.
As Ann closed the door, the others in the household looked up expectantly. Alan was seated on the couch while Rose, Eric, Rich, and David were sprawled throughout the room. Ann carefully shuffled around the two brothers to take her seat next to her husband.
"You're not the pizza man," Rich stated stupidly as he sat up from his relaxed position on the floor. His eyebrows crinkled together under his fluffy curls and he pouted a bit. Rose rolled her eyes and leaned over to hit her younger brother who groaned slightly.
"Real polite, Rich," she reprimanded before turning to face Charlie. "It's nice to see you, Charlie." Her eyes went wide for a moment as a thought seemed to strike her. "Is Amy with you?" She peered around him hopefully at the figure behind him, not noticing the way that the wizard flinched. Her face dropped as she realized that the tall figure was not that of her sister.
Charlie swallowed and shook his head stiffly. "No, no she's not," he told the Wymans, his voice shaking slightly. "That's, um, why, well…" he trailed off not knowing exactly how he was supposed to phrase this question. It wasn't every day that he had to ask his girlfriend's family if she had run off to stay with them rather than being kidnapped. Bill seemed to notice his brother's struggle and stepped out of Charlie's shadow and into the light.
The family eyed the tall wizard curiously as he smiled slightly at them. "We know that it's rude to drop by unexpectedly, but we actually wanted to know if you had seen Amy as of late, say within the past week or so." Ann looked at her husband before slowly turning back to the two wizards. Her forehead was furrowed together and her mouth parted in curiosity, and Charlie felt a slight pang in his chest as he realized that Amy shared the same furrow in her brow when she was thinking that her mum did too.
"No," she said slowly, her eyes jumping from Charlie to Bill. "We haven't but the winter holidays have just started so I expect that she's probably in London." Bill nodded slowly, not missing the way his brother's jaw clenched at Ann's words.
"Right," Bill said lightly. "We just thought it would be best to check if she was here before-"
"I'm sorry," Rich cut in, holding a hand up. "Who exactly are you?" He pointed at Bill who ran a hand through his long hair.
"I'm Bill Weasley," he told the man plainly. "Charlie's older brother."
"And why exactly are you and Charlie asking where our sister is?" Eric asked now, setting down the book he had been reading before the wizards' arrival. "I mean, she lives in London with all of you, so you would think we would be asking you that."
Bill cleared his throat and looked over at Charlie who was staring stonily ahead at the wall. His jaw was clenched together tightly, and his hands were in fists at his side. Bill could see from his position next to his brother that his eyes were welling half with anger and half with tears as he realized that Amy was not home with her family, which only narrowed the possibility that she was safe somewhere and had not been kidnapped. Bill looked back at Amy's family who were looking expectantly at the brothers before he nudged Charlie gently in the side.
"Perhaps you should tell them," he muttered quietly, his eyes downcast. There was a moment where Charlie did nothing before he nodded stiffly and looked up from the floor slowly. He caught Ann's eye immediately and his words caught in his throat as he noted how innocent and naïve her expression was in that moment. She had no idea that he was about to turn her life upside down. None of them did.
"Amy…" Charlie trailed off for a moment before shaking his head and gathering his Gryffindor bravery and strength. He knew he would need it because the moment he said these words it was likely that the dams would break and he would break as well. "Amy's gone missing."
There was a collective gasp from the room, and the Wymans and family all sat up straight, leaning forward to stare at the wizard.
"She's what?" Alan demanded. His blue eyes were wide with distraught as the words sunk in.
Charlie took a deep breath and looked the man in the eye. "Amy's gone missing," he repeated again. Rose opened her mouth to say something but Charlie plowed on. He knew that if he didn't finish now he never would be able to. "The end of term was on Friday and she left sometime after the students, when it was dark. She was off the grounds and in the nearby village and someone grabbed her. Her bag was found in an alleyway, but there's nothing to suggest who took her or why she was taken."
"Wait, she's been kidnapped?" Rose asked. Her voice was filled with disbelief. "I mean, I know she can be annoying as hell, but who would kidnap her?"
Charlie shrugged stiffly and wiped at his eyes, trying to mask the redness of his eyes. Bill cast a side glance at his brother before clearing his throat and stepping up to the interrogation plate.
"We're not sure who took but there have been some ideas thrown around," Bill told the family.
"Ideas thrown about by whom?" Rose demanded standing up so that she was facing the wizard with a fierce determination. She was probably about seven inches shorter than Bill but the look on her face was enough to make the wizard anxious. He knew she didn't have any magical abilities but the fire in her eyes was kind of terrifying, and the wizard rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"I don't know if Amy or Charlie told you about the Order of the Phoenix," Bill began. He raised an eyebrow as he waited for their response which came from Ann with a brief and stiff nod. Bill absorbed this information quickly before continuing on. "Well, it was a member of the Order who found the bag and since Amy is part of the Order-"
"She's what?" Ann broke in, staring wide eyed at the wizards.
Bill looked at Ann with equally wide eyes before over towards Charlie who was looked awkwardly at the floor. He leaned over a bit to mutter something at his brother.
"We didn't actually tell them she was part of the Order," he explained quietly and Bill nodded in understanding before looking back at Ann.
"Right, well, yes," Bill stammered. "Amy is a member of the Order which is why we decided it would be best to stop here to see if she might have come to visit rather than starting a quiet investigation of her whereabouts."
"Why don't you just go to the police or something?" Eric asked. "You must have some type of law enforcement."
"Our 'law enforcement,'" Bill explained. "Is a tad overwhelmed with the influx of Dark wizards at the moment and their job does not entitle them to deal with anyone outside of Dark wizards. Amy is not a Dark witch so they will really take no interest in her disappearance."
"But you will?" Rose asked, looking from brother to brother. Her voice shook a little as she did so and her eyes were rimmed with red. "You're going to look for her? You're going to find her?"
Charlie looked up at these words before over at his brother who eyed the dragonologist sadly. He opened his mouth to say something reassuring yet realistic but Charlie cut him off.
"Yes," he told them. He looked up and glanced from each family member with blue eyes, and the Wymans saw that even though they were filled with tears Charlie's eyes were also completely sincere and strong. "I promise to bring her back."
Bill eyed his brother warily, knowing that he shouldn't make a promise especially one that he may not be able to keep, but he said nothing. Instead, he swallowed his realistic reply and merely took in the comforted and somewhat relieved expressions on those in the room.
The room fell into silence as each person contemplated what they had just been told. Their daughter, their sister, their love was gone and there was really nothing they could do about. They weren't magical and they didn't have the knowledge to assist the wizards in anyway. They didn't know how chaotic the world within theirs was and they certainly didn't know the danger they were in every time they stepped outside their doors. And yet, here they were, two of the Weasleys, delivering them bad news accompanied with possible false hope, similar to the false cheeriness that the Christmas lights around the room seemed to emit.
Bill coughed gruffly and looked over at Charlie. "We should probably be leaving," he told the room. "We're expected back."
Ann sniffed and wiped at her nose before standing up wobbly. "I'll show you out," she told the wizards, looking up at them with wet eyes. Bill turned and gestured for her to go first. He nodded at the family who was still sitting there quietly before following the woman out the door. Charlie paused a moment longer and looked from each family member before his eyes landed on Alan. The man looked Charlie very seriously in the eye and Charlie stared back unflinchingly. Several moments passed and in those moments the wizard clearly understood what the father was trying to get across to him. Through a mere look, Alan was telling him that whatever happened to Amy was on his hands. Any blood that was shed, any tears that were cried were because of whatever happened next.
Eventually, Charlie looked away from Alan, and with a fleeting wave at the others in the room, he followed his brother out into the cold. Bill was standing on the porch while Ann stood in the doorway, no words passing between them as the snow swirled around them. Charlie stopped just at the door frame and looked down at the mother of his girlfriend. Ann in return looked woefully up at him and shrugged slightly.
"I'm sorry to tell you all this just before the holidays," Charlie told her softly. "It's rough and I'm sorry to have to burden you with it as well."
"It's not a burden," Ann told the wizard suddenly. She looked a bit surprised to hear the wizard say the word and she cocked her head a bit. "Amy's wellbeing certainly isn't a burden to us. We may not show it all the time, or maybe we just have a funny way of showing it, but we love her. She's so incredibly different than us and she thinks in such extraordinary ways but that doesn't make her any less of a Wyman. She's my daughter and I'm so…" She paused and took a deep breath. "I'm so incredibly proud of her and everything she's done, even the things that I don't understand. Especially the things that I don't understand.
"Which is why you have to bring her home," Ann ordered, and Charlie looked thoughtfully at the woman. "She deserves to know just how proud we are of her and how much we love her. She's out daughter, and even though she is a witch, she's our witch." Charlie smiled a bit at that, although he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about having to share Amy with seven other people.
Ann swallowed before stepping forward to embrace Charlie tightly.
"Find her," she whispered. "She's our daughter and we need her."
…..
Thousands of miles away, in an abandoned, run-down house Amy screamed out in agony as wave after wave of pain washed over her in a never ceasing flow. Her head was thrown back and her hair was wild as scream after scream poured from her mouth. Her breathing was incredibly ragged, her face streaked with dirt and tears, and all the witch could do was scream as the intensity of the curse forced upon her burned within her.
She had awoken upon the cold floor of a cellar sometime earlier. She couldn't be sure exactly when or how much time had passed since she had been in Hogsmeade for the cellar had no windows and the only light that glinted through the room was that from the torturers wands and masks. Amy had sat in the darkness for several hours after awakening, or so she presumed. She had attempted to find a way out in the beginning, first by searching every inch of the room for a crack or opening and then by trying to claw her way through the cement and dirt. She had stopped only after the skin on her fingers had torn and begun to burn and had finally slumped against the wall in exhaustion as she let the cold of the room wash over her. There was little she could do but wait, and she didn't have to wait long before several figures made their way into the dingy basement.
Amy had staggered to her feet and attempted to glare defiantly at the wizards who swarmed around her, but her biting words and cold front only seemed to urge them to taunt her more as the circled around her, their hands twitching over their wands in hungry anticipation. They had all stood around for ten minutes or so and for a few brief moments, Amy thought that it was all a joke, a haze of some sort, but those thoughts were dashed away as one final wizard entered the room. The witch had eyed him carefully as he made his way through the circle and she thought for a moment that he was just another wizard, just another person there to scare her, but as he spoke her blood went cold and she realized this was no joke at all.
He smiled at her, pleasantly, gleefully and that was the last thing Amy really saw before the wands turned on her, all at once. She endured the curses of ten grown wizards for several minutes, thrashing and screaming as the painful fire course through her veins. Eventually, one or two of the wizards backed off, followed by the others until only one wizard remained, the one who had smiled and turned the wand on her first. He backed off the curse eventually but barely a second passed before a new curse was inflicted on her and her screams began again.
For hours, Amy was exposed to the mad curses of these madmen and she could do nothing but scream and cry, all hope at retaining her pride and dignity gone. At the end of the first day, it was only as her body went lax and her eyes rolled into her head as she fell into unconsciousness that the wizards backed off for good.
"We shouldn't wear the princess completely out on the first day, should we now?" the one who smiled sneered at his comrades who laughed in return. The Dark Wizard knelt down next to the nearly unconscious witch and brushed away a strand of her hair gently, smirking as she flinched at the slight touch, her muscles quivering and shaking as the pain of her torture still racked her body.
"Isn't that right, princess?" Avery asked the witch. Amy's eyes gazed over his face just once before they glassed over and she went limp against the cold floor. The first day of her pain was complete, but they all knew there would be more to come.
For pain can last a lifetime if you let it, and the Death Eaters certainly weren't going to stop it.
…..
AN: Gasp! Oh no! What do we do?!
Blargh... well, what a lovely surprise from the Wyman family. I thank them for taking the time to come and pop in my story! And thank you Ann. Your "she's our daughter" remark is slightly (not really) reminiscent of the Dudley redemption scene, so... thanks?
You know what would get an even BIGGER thanks? A review... I love reviews... No joke.
Signing off,
WiseGirl
