"At least I got to see you one last time."
-Beast (Beauty and the Beast)
This is it, Scarlett couldn't help but think. She was going to die. Umbridge had returned to her office not too long ago in quite a bad mood from the stress of the day, and continued frustration with Scarlett's mother. Upon her return, she had taken everything out on Scarlett and tortured her worse than ever before shoving her back into the little stone room. It was excruciating. All Scarlett could remember was hearing her own screams fill the air as she writhed around on the floor.
That had been about half an hour ago. Now the work day was over and everyone had gone home, including Umbridge. Scarlett was lying on her back in the stone room. She had no idea how much time was passing because she was pretty sure she was drifting in and out of consciousness. During the times when she was conscious, it was a struggle to keep her eyes open.
That was why she thought she was dreaming when she heard the quiet, muffled sound of Umbridge's office door opening. There were more muffled sounds—footsteps, it sounded like—and then the sound of books being moved somewhere further down the bookshelf.
Scarlett fought to stay conscious to see what would happen next, but then she told herself it didn't matter because she was dreaming. And even if she wasn't, it's not like whoever was out there would find her, or even care if they did. It was probably a Death Eater who would laugh at her and shut the door again.
That was why Scarlett was surprised when she saw, through half closed eyelids, the door opening. She tried to look at who was standing in the doorway, but she couldn't stay conscious. Everything faded to black just as Scarlett felt someone gently lifting her and carrying her out the door.
When Scarlett finally opened her eyes again, she didn't know where she was. The first thing she saw was a white ceiling, the complete opposite of what the ceiling of the room in Umbridge's office looked like. She wondered for a moment if she was in St. Mungo's, but quickly realized she wasn't considering the room was completely silent. No sounds of machines or busy Healers running around. She turned her head with some difficulty-it was throbbing and still felt a little foggy-and she saw that she was in a regular bedroom. A bedroom of someone's house. Sunlight was shining through the window, letting her know that it was morning. Other than that, she knew nothing about where she was or what day it was. It was then that she suddenly remembered what had happened before she lost consciousness. Someone had found her and carried her out of Umbridge's office. But who?
Looking around the room, Scarlett noticed that it was impeccably neat. The bedspread was navy blue and all of the furnishings were a dark wood, which gave off the impression that it was a boy's room. There was a bookshelf filled with books over near the window, which made Scarlett smile slightly. That was a dead giveaway that it hadn't been Fred who had rescued her. Besides, she had been in his flat and neither his room nor George's looked like this. But then whose room was it?
Scarlett's eyes fell on a picture frame sitting on the desk across the room and she squinted at it as she tried to make out who was in the photo. All she could really make out was that it was a group of people all with red hair.
Scarlett's heart skipped in excitement, but then she frowned. There was really no use in getting her hopes up. Just because the people in the photo had red hair, didn't mean it was the Weasleys. Besides, she wasn't at the Burrow or Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, and it seemed far-fetched that she was at Bill and Fleur's new place. Bill didn't work at the Ministry, so getting in to rescue her would be as dangerous for him as it was for every Weasley. Except for Mr. Weasley and Percy, of course, who both worked there.
Scarlett froze for a second as, just then, a possibility crossed her mind, but then she gave her head a small shake. There was no way that the possibility could be real. It just wouldn't make sense.
Before Scarlett could think anything else through, though, the door quietly swung open. Scarlett turned at the sound and her eyes widened as she saw that her crazy thought was actually not just a possibility, but a reality. The person in the doorway was none other than Percy Weasley.
"Oh, you're awake," he said, giving her a small smile.
She nodded, giving him a confused stare. She was still trying to process what was happening. "Yeah," she finally answered, hating how hoarse her voice sounded.
"I was hoping you would be awake soon. I brought you these." He held up a mug of tea in one hand and a plate of eggs, bacon and toast in the other.
Scarlett didn't say anything as Percy approached her with the food. She pushed herself up to a sitting position with some difficulty and a lot of grimacing as Percy set the mug of tea on the nightstand and gently handed her the plate of food. She had to admit it smelled delicious, but then again, she was starving. Anything sounded appetizing right about now.
"What would you have done if I hadn't woken up?" Scarlett finally asked as she stared down at the food in front of her. "The food would have gotten cold."
"Well," Percy said slowly, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "I was actually hoping that the smell of food might get you to wake up. It always used to work on Fred and George when we were kids."
Scarlett smiled. It was her first smile in ages and it actually felt a little odd, but at the same time, it felt great.
"How do you feel?" Percy asked. "I thought about bringing you to St. Mungo's, but then didn't think it would be all that necessary."
"No, it's not. I'm fine," Scarlett told him. "Just sore, hungry and very worn out."
"Yeah, you look it," Percy told her. There was a pause. "Go ahead, eat," he finally urged. "I can't imagine you got much to eat locked up where you were."
Scarlett almost didn't want to eat just yet. She had a million questions that she wanted to ask. A million questions that needed answers. In the end, though, she took a bite of her breakfast and from there, it was like a flood gate had opened. She had never eaten so quickly in her life, but right now, she didn't care and Percy didn't seem to either.
"So," Scarlett finally said when she had slowed down enough to talk.
"I know," Percy sighed, "I have a lot of explaining to do."
Scarlett nodded. "Do you think you could, uh, tell me what day it is first? I lost track."
"It's March. March 18th."
Scarlett sighed and leaned back against the pillow as she traded the now empty plate of food for the mug of tea. "I can't believe how long Umbridge kept me locked up for."
"How long?" Percy asked.
"Since mid-August."
Percy's eyes widened and he let out a whistle. "I wish I had known sooner."
"How did you find out where I was?" Scarlett asked.
"I heard screaming," Percy answered, "when I passed Umbridge's office yesterday afternoon. I knew it couldn't have been anything good so I made the decision to come back and investigate. I tried the bookshelf first, to see if Umbridge was hiding anything. It just seemed logical, if not a bit cliché."
Scarlett half-smiled. "I'm surprised Umbridge didn't have the charms up that made her office sound-proof. She used them every other time she tortured me, but yesterday I think she was just in a really bad mood and she must have forgotten." She paused. "Why did you rescue me?"
Percy gave her a look. "I'm not heartless, Scarlett. I don't know what you've heard, but—"
"I heard you chose the Ministry over your family."
Percy's shoulders slumped and he looked completely dejected. Scarlett had never seen him look that way before.
"I was stupid," he muttered. "The more that time went on, the more I realized just how stupid I really was. I've been thinking about my decisions a lot lately. I'd like to make things right, but it's hard to do anything. I'm sure you have somewhat of an idea of what it's like at the Ministry now. I can't just change my mind without some kind of consequence."
Scarlett nodded. "Your family is quite upset that you left. They miss you. They're more sad than angry."
Percy snorted. "Mum maybe, but the rest of them hate me. You were there last Christmas when Fred and George threw half of their dinner at me."
"Actually, I think they miss you just as much as everyone else. At least Fred does. He told me. He didn't think you'd choose to desert them."
Percy was quiet for a moment as he looked down at his hands. Finally, he looked up at her. "Just out of curiosity, how did you become so close to my family again? What changed?"
Scarlett actually let out a quiet laugh. "Fred and I have to get married. Charlie performed an Unbreakable Vow on us when we were nine and Bill modified our memories in his panic to make things right. Charlie visited your parents two summers ago to tell them what happened back then and they told my mum and all of them told me and Fred at the same time."
"Charlie is such an idiot," Percy sighed with a faint smile. "Have you done it yet, then? You and Fred? Have you gotten married?"
Scarlett shook her head. "No, we've been dating, actually, but before that we were dating other people, and—well, it's kind of a long story, but we've been putting off the marriage, mostly due to my own stupidity. We actually only have about a month and a half left, so we'll have to figure something out. Your mother wants to give us a proper wedding, but Fred and I didn't—and still don't—really care. We just want to make things easy. We didn't want to make your mother plan two weddings and we didn't want to steal Bill and Fleur's thunder and before that I was really just being stupid."
Percy winced. "I heard about Bill and Fleur's wedding. I happened to be in a lift with my dad and he mentioned it to Perkins, a man who's in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office with him. Anyway, I think he did it to upset me and I'm sorry to say it worked. I feel terribly, but I couldn't have gone. Like I said, it's difficult for me now and I don't think it would have been taken all that well if I just showed up at the wedding."
Scarlett reached out and patted his hand. "Don't worry. When you do get a chance to apologize, I'm sure they'll forgive you."
Percy nodded. "So, what are you going to do? About you and Fred?"
Scarlett shrugged. "I don't know. I think our biggest issue right now is finding a Ministry official that's qualified who will marry us. One that we can trust."
"I'll do it," Percy said quickly. "Whenever you and Fred are ready, come find me here and I'll do it."
"Really? You don't have to do that. I'm sure you're already at risk for rescuing me. If Umbridge finds out…."
"I want to do it," Percy said. "I mean, why not add more offenses to my name?"
"You don't care if you get in trouble?"
Percy took a deep breath. "Surprisingly, no. Maybe marrying you and Fred will be a way for me to be accepted again. Maybe they won't hate me so much. And I'm also not too keen on missing out on the weddings of two of my siblings."
Scarlett smiled. "They don't hate you," she assured him. "Anyway, this will have to be kept top secret as it is and maybe it is best that you do it. I was worried before about someone reporting back to Umbridge. I was worried that she would try to do something to Fred in an attempt to ruin my life. She and my mother have a weird history. It's another long story. Anyway, now she'll probably do anything to find me once she realizes I've—." She broke off and gasped. "Percy, what time is it?"
Percy glanced at his watch. "A little after nine. Why?"
Scarlett thrust her mug of tea at him before flinging herself out of bed at a surprising speed considering how weak she still was. "I have to go," she said frantically, looking around for her wand as she tried to think. She spotted it on the nightstand and picked it up.
"Scarlett, what are you talking about? You can't go anywhere. You aren't well enough," Percy protested.
"When Umbridge realizes I'm gone, she's going to go after my mother. She's going to think my mother rescued me. I have to go warn her. I have to do something."
"I can go if you—"
"And, what, I'll sit here and twiddle my thumbs as I wait for news?" Scarlett asked shrilly. She was becoming more panicked by the second. She knew Umbridge would discover her absence any minute if she hadn't already and from there, she wouldn't waste any time in going after her mother. Scarlett had to move fast. "I need to go let my mother know I'm okay and I need to get her to safety. I have to get us both to safety and then I can make my next move from there. But right now I don't have a lot of time."
"But Apparating—I don't think you're strong enough yet. You might—"
"Percy, look, I have to go," Scarlett insisted, backing towards the door. "Thank you for everything and I'll be in touch about you-know-what." With that, she turned and made her way through the flat. She kept going until she was on the sidewalk outside. From there, she turned on the spot and Disapparted to her mother's house.
She roughly reappeared at her destination, causing her to lose her footing and stumble to the ground. At the same time, she was trying to bite back a scream of pain as she clutched at her upper arm. A glance showed her that she had splinched herself and she was bleeding fairly heavily.
Ignoring the pain and the blood, she got to her feet and froze when she saw the front door of the house had already been blasted open.
Now trying to fight back tears and waves of panic and fear, Scarlett ran for the door and snuck inside as quietly as she could. Now that she was in the house, she could hear screams coming from the kitchen as well as two rough voices. Scarlett paused in the front hallway, knowing it probably wouldn't be smart to go tearing into the kitchen just yet.
"Tell us where she is!" demanded one voice, a man's, that Scarlett didn't recognize.
"I don't know where she is!" Scarlett's mother cried in response.
Immediately after her response, Scarlett heard her mother start screaming again as she was tortured. Scarlett clenched her fists as she fought the urge to run into the kitchen. Thinking rationally, she knew that if she showed herself, she didn't know what would happen to her. She didn't know how angry Umbridge was. What if she had given orders to kill Scarlett too? And even if she hadn't, Scarlett doubted the toad cared what happened to her. There was a good chance that Scarlett and her mother could end up dead and that meant Fred would end up dead as well. Scarlett had to be overly careful and that was the only thing preventing her from running in and showing herself.
"Look, lady, if you tell us where she is, we'll let you live," said a voice that Scarlett recognized as Scabior's.
"I swear, I don't know where she is," Mrs. Callaway whispered. Suddenly, she appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, sliding herself backwards on the floor, obviously trying to get away from Scabior and the other man, who were still standing further in the kitchen, out of Scarlett's view. Mrs. Callaway chose that moment to glance to her left. She did a double-take at the sight of Scarlett standing in the hallway, but managed to keep her composure, and Scarlett knew it was to prevent her from being seen.
"How else would she have escaped?" Scabior asked. "You must have rescued her! You're her mother! You wanted her back without having to finish doing what you were asked to do!"
"Yeah, I just waltzed into the Ministry of Magic, did I?" Mrs. Callaway asked. She glanced at Scarlett and flicked her eyes towards the hall closet, indicating that Scarlett should hide.
Scarlett gave her head a tiny shake. There was no way she was going to hide and not help her mother in some way. She just had to figure out how to help her without putting herself and Fred in danger.
Mrs. Callaway shot Scarlett a look that said do it, now. It was the same one she had always given Scarlett when she was younger and didn't want to do something she was asked to do. It had always scared Scarlett into doing what she was asked when she was younger and she found it working now as she slipped into the hall closet, leaving it open a crack and preparing herself to jump out the second her mother needed help.
"It doesn't matter what you did or how you did it," Scabior said. "All that matters is that you tell us where she is."
"What are you going to do to her?" Mrs. Callaway asked.
"Bring her back to the Ministry until you meet that last requirement. If she puts up a fight, we'll kill her. It'll just put her out of her misery sooner, actually, because she would've been dead soon enough being held captive in the conditions that she was."
Mrs. Callaway held up her wand, which Scarlett was surprised she still had. She expected Scabior and Greyback to have taken it right away, but then again, they weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.
They were, however, good at dodging spells. They both dodged the Stunning spell Mrs. Callaway shot their way before snatching her wand from her and tossing it onto the kitchen table, out of her reach.
"I can't meet that last requirement," Mrs. Callaway insisted, breathlessly. "It'll break Scarlett's heart and I just can't do that to her."
Scarlett frowned as she wondered what exactly that requirement was. She wondered if it could've been as bad as her mother was making it out to be, but then again, it probably was. It had been given by Umbridge after all.
"If you can't meet it, then your daughter will be held captive until she dies. Like I said, it won't take long for that to happen. If she puts up a fight if and when we find her, we'll kill her. If you won't tell us what we want to hear, we certainly aren't afraid to kill you as well."
"Then what about that last requirement?" Mrs. Callaway asked. "There'll be no one to complete it."
"You don't seem too keen on completing it anyway, so maybe we'll do it. Just for a laugh. If you're dead, it won't matter anymore. Essentially, all Dolores wants is for you to be out of her hair and all you keep doing is dragging this whole ordeal out way longer than necessary. Dolores is getting fed up. At this point, she basically wants you dead."
Mrs. Callaway was silent as she glanced towards the hall closet again before looking back at Scabior. "I don't know where Scarlett is and even if I did, I don't think I'd tell you."
Scarlett bit her lip. This was getting ridiculous. She couldn't hide in the closet anymore. Not when her mother was in danger. What was she even doing in here in the first place? She was such a coward. She tried to move her feet, but realized she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, her feet wouldn't move. With a wave of annoyance, she realized her mother, before her wand was taken away, must have subtly cast a sticking charm her way to make sure she stayed put. The realization made her annoyed and angry and it made her want to run to the kitchen and show herself even more. Her mother was going to die if she kept protecting Scarlett. She knew full well where Scarlett was, she wasn't going to rat her out, and she had made sure that Scarlett couldn't show herself and ruin things, either.
Scarlett tried even harder to free herself as her mother's screams filled the air again. Tears were streaming down her face. She had to break free. She had to get out there before something bad happened.
"How do we know she's not telling the truth?" the second man said, speaking for the first time in a while. He moved into Scarlett's vision and she paused and tried to steady her breathing. Once she saw the man, she recognized him as Fenrir Greyback and her heart beat faster.
"What do you mean?" Scabior asked.
"Maybe she really doesn't know where the girl is. Maybe the girl knew we'd come after her and went somewhere else. Somewhere she didn't think we'd know about."
Scabior paused. "You could be right. But we have to find her. If we come back empty handed, Dolores will be furious and I'm not in the mood to be at the receiving end of her fury."
"Well," Greyback sneered. "I just so happen to have this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope.
"What is that?" Scabior asked.
"A letter," Greyback answered, grinning proudly.
"I know that," Scabior snapped, "but where'd you get it and who sent it?"
"I intercepted it. It's written to the girl from a, uh," he glanced at the return address, "a Finch-Fletchley."
Scabior snorted, the sound masking the gasp that came from Scarlett's mouth at the same time. Justin had written to her. And he had put a return address on the envelope. What was wrong with him? He was far from stupid, so what on earth had possessed him to write the address of the home he was hiding out in when letters were getting intercepted left and right nowadays. And what was he writing to her for anyway? She had thought he was still fairly mad at her.
"What kind of name is that?" Scabior was asking now.
"Dunno," Greyback shrugged.
"Did you read the letter?" Scabior asked.
"No, I just thought we'd need the address. It's the most important part."
"Why didn't you say anything before?"
"Well, I thought that if the girl wasn't with her mother, maybe she'd be hiding out with the Finchley's or whatever their name is. Coming here seemed like the better option at the time."
Scabior looked at him before snatching the envelope and reading the address. "Hang on…Finch-Fletchley…isn't that the Muggleborn kid Dolores was interrogating the girl about?"
"I don't know, is it?"
"Yeah, it is. I remember now. I don't know how I could've forgotten the name Finch-Fletchley. I should've remembered the name right away. But anyway, it looks like the girl has been in contact with him." He chuckled. "She's definitely dead meat now."
"No!" Mrs. Callaway exclaimed. "You can't kill her! We had a deal!"
"The deal might very well be off once Dolores finds out your sneaky daughter lied to her," Scabior said, tucking the letter into his pocket. He looked at Greyback. "Come on, let's go report back to Dolores what we found out and see if she wants us to head over for the Finch-Fletchley boy now."
He and Greyback headed for the door together and Scarlett held her breath as they stepped into the hallway. They were leaving. That was good. Her mother would be left alone. But on the other hand, Scarlett would still have to figure out a way to make sure she got to Justin before they did.
"Oh," Scabior suddenly said, pausing just outside the closet door. He turned and looked down at Mrs. Callaway, who was still on the floor. "Thanks for all the help," he sneered sarcastically. "You turned out to be just as useless for information as your stupid daughter was."
"If you find her," Mrs. Callaway said, slowly getting to her feet, "you're really going to bring her back to the Ministry?"
"Until you meet that last requirement, yeah."
"What can I do to convince you to change your mind? What can I do to make sure that Scarlett won't have to go back there without having to be responsible for making her miserable by fulfilling that requirement? Please, I'll do anything."
"There is one thing," Scabior said as he grinned wickedly. He raised his wand, pointing it at Mrs. Callaway's head. Both she and Scarlett realized what was happening at the same time. While Scarlett tried to break free of the sticking spell, it was no use. Neither one of them had time to move before Scabior uttered the curse.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The familiar jet of green light came out of the wand and hit Mrs. Callaway, blasting her back to the kitchen where she crumpled to the floor.
Scarlett clapped her hands to her mouth. This time, instead of fighting back a gasp, she was fighting back a scream. This could not be happening. She couldn't possibly be watching her second parent die while she sat there helpless.
"Come on," Scabior said again. "We'll go back to the Ministry and report all this to Dolores and then see if we should head over to get the Finch-Fletchley boy. We can ask what we're to do with the girl if she's hiding out with him. And even if she's not, he needs to come in for questioning." He glanced down at Mrs. Callaway and smirked. "Dolores will be pleased to know about her. I can't wait to see her face when we tell her." He and Greyback both grinned and headed for the door.
Even though Scarlett was positively livid at what they said, she forced herself to keep quiet until they left. As they turned for the door, Scarlett noticed Justin's letter flutter out of Scabior's pocket and fall to the floor. Just as it reached the ground, Scarlett heard the familiar pop of Scabior and Greyback disapparating, leaving her alone in the silence.
She was still in the hall closet, but she had sunk to her knees. She was completely and totally in shock and her hands were still over her mouth. She was trembling, tears were welling up in her eyes, and her head was spinning.
It took a moment for her to realize that the spell holding her in place had been lifted and she could now move her feet. She also knew she didn't have a lot of time. She still had to get to Justin and in order for her to do that, she had to force herself to think straight so that she could help him.
Pushing open the closet door, Scarlett crawled out and continued down the hallway to her mother. The tears began to pour down her face as she gently ran a hand through her mother's hair. She felt nauseous, shocked, scared, sad and angry all at once, but she tried to push the emotions away so that she could think. Turning, she spotted the letter still lying where Scabior had dropped it. She stared at it for a moment before turning back at her mother.
"I love you," she whispered, leaning over and quickly kissing her mum's forehead. Then, she stood up and retrieved the letter, scanning the address and memorizing it so that she could Apparate there.
She would have stayed with her mother longer, but she knew she was pressed for time. Of course Umbridge would want to send Scabior and Greyback to find Justin. There were two reasons motivating her to do so now: he was a Muggleborn and he was connected to Scarlett. Although, Scarlett didn't know if Umbridge would want her anymore seeing as her mother was now "out of her hair" for good, and she now knew where Justin was. But then again, who knew? If Scarlett had learned anything it was that there was no telling what Umbridge might do. For once, she also didn't feel guilty and stupid for not making it easy for Umbridge to find out about her and Fred getting married. It meant she wouldn't think she considered him close enough to hide out at his place and it meant that he was safe.
Sticking the envelope into her pocket, Scarlett looked back at her mother one last time and tried to suppress the new wave of tears that were coming to hear eyes. She wanted so badly to curl up on the floor and cry, but she couldn't afford to do that right now. Forcing herself to turn away, she made her way to the yard, where she disapparated.
Everything was quiet at Justin's aunt's house and Scarlett wasted no time in hurrying to the door and knocking frantically. She was mid-knock when the door swung open to reveal Justin.
"Scarlett?" he asked, clearly surprised to see her. As he very well should have been. "What's wrong?" he continued, his expression changing to one of concern. "You're crying. And you look awful. And your arm's bleeding. What happened?"
"It wasn't safe for you to just open the door like that," Scarlett sniffled, as the thought came to her. She really shouldn't have just knocked, either. If Justin had been thinking logically, he wouldn't have even come to the door. But he hadn't been thinking logically, and neither had she.
"I—," Justin began, but Scarlett interrupted him.
"Can I come in?" She didn't even wait for a response, before slipping into the house and shutting the front door as quickly as possible.
"What's going on?" Justin asked urgently, turning towards her. "How did you find me and why are you crying? Do you need something for your arm? Are you hurt anywhere else? Should I-"
"This," she interrupted, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the still unopened letter. Her tears had subsided for the time being and her voice came out oddly strong. "This is how I found you."
Justin blinked and took the letter from her. He stared at it before looking up. "Yeah, I sent this to you a few days ago. Have you read it?"
"No," she answered. "But what were you thinking by putting a return address on it? You know you're supposed to be in hiding, right? You can't do things like opening the door right away and putting return addresses on letters. Sending me a letter in the first place was a risk!" She paused and when Justin didn't say anything, she continued. "Where are your parents and your aunt and uncle?"
"They're out," Justin answered, setting the letter down on the table near the door.
"Out? What do you mean they're out?"
"They went out. They had to get groceries. How else do you expect us to survive? They're being careful, I swear." He paused. "But since you're here in person and you haven't read the letter yet, I just want to say—,"
"Look, Justin," Scarlett interrupted, "we don't have much time. We've already wasted enough as it is. We have to leave. Right now. Your letter was intercepted by two creeps working for Umbridge at the Ministry. They have your address now and they'll be coming for you any minute."
Justin stared at her with his mouth open for a few seconds. "I don't understand. How did you get the letter, then? And why were you crying when you got here? What else happened? I get the feeling that you're not telling me everything."
"Because I don't have time to give you every detail!" Scarlett exclaimed. She sighed and began to speak quickly. "Umbridge kidnapped me back in August and held me at the Ministry. She was angry at my mother for not entirely supporting the Muggleborn Registration Commission and she also wanted me to give her information on you. I didn't give her any because I didn't know all the details and because I wouldn't do that anyway. So she kept me until yesterday when I was rescued, but this morning she found out I was gone and sent Scabior and Greyback to look for me. They went after my mother first, but Greyback had intercepted your letter and when they didn't get any information from my mother, they decided to check in with Umbridge before coming here. So that's why we need to leave. Now." She grabbed his arm and pulled, but Justin stayed put.
"Wait," he said, looking dumbstruck.
"What?" she asked impatiently. Part of her knew that Justin was simply processing the information. It certainly was a lot. But she wished he could just get his head around the fact that they had to leave immediately.
"Umbridge kidnapped you because of me?" Justin whispered, his eyes searching her face.
"Partially," Scarlett answered. "But she also wanted my mother to behave so don't go feeling all guilty on me. It-"
"Why shouldn't I?" Justin asked. "I didn't want her to come after you because of me at all, so of course if I'm even part of the reason she came after you, I'm going to feel badly."
Scarlett sighed as her expression softened. She momentarily forgot about the time they didn't have as she looked up at her ex-boyfriend. "Don't feel bad. Seriously. I took a risk letting you know about her plan and I knew it."
"Did she hurt you? Did she do this to your arm?" Justin asked. "Tell me the truth, Scar."
Scarlett swallowed and rolled her eyes, despite the fact that she couldn't believe how much Justin still cared about her. She partially expected him to despise her. "No, I splinched myself in my hurry to get to my mother."
"Yeah, you said Scabior and Greyback attacked her? Is she okay?"
"Justin, I can explain things more later, but we really have to go. Please, come on," Scarlett begged. The panic was returning, filling her stomach with dread. She needed to get Justin to safety and they were just wasting time.
"No, answer me, Scar. Is that why you're upset? Did they hurt her?" He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her, his eyes sternly telling her to answer his questions while still looking at her with concern.
"They killed her, okay? She's dead," Scarlett answered. "I couldn't do anything. I had to stand there and watch. But I'm not going to do that for you, so come on." She pulled on his arm again, but he stopped her once more and she let out a cry of frustration.
"Scar," Justin whispered, stepping closer. "I'm so sorry." He looked genuinely concerned and that almost made Scarlett cry again. He wrapped his arms around her and Scarlett closed her eyes for a second. As much as she probably needed to be comforted, she didn't have time for it right now.
"Justin, we really need to go," she said, pulling away. "Like I said, once we're gone we can talk. I'll tell you everything, I promise."
"I'm not going to leave my parents and my aunt and uncle in danger," he protested.
"You said they're out, didn't you? Hopefully they'll stay out long enough for Scabior and Greyback to come, see that no one's here, and then leave. You and I can come back for them later. But it's a risk we need to take and I just need to get you to safety, so please stop being so stubborn."
"Scar, I don't want to take that risk," Justin said.
"You have to."
"But I can't."
"Look, I don't want to argue with you," Scarlett whispered, "so what do you suggest we do? And I meant it when I said we don't have a lot of time. They'll be here any—"
She was interrupted by the loud bang of the door being blasted open. She let out a gasp and turned around, raising her wand as she did so. Next to her, Justin did the same.
"Ah, look what we have here," Scabior grinned, stepping into the house with Greyback on his heels. "Just the two people we were looking for, both in one place. Our job certainly just got a whole lot easier."
Scarlett glared at him. She was cursing herself for not hearing them appear in the yard. She should have been paying attention.
"Leave Justin alone," she said. "Take me if you want, but not him."
"Well, the thing is," Scabior told her, "Dolores doesn't exactly need you anymore. She only sent us to look for you so we can break the news to you. Your mother's dead. We killed her. She won't be getting in the way and Umbridge won't have to bribe her. And now that we've found him," Scabior gestured to Justin, "she won't need you for information."
"You aren't taking him," Scarlett said, stepping in front of Justin. "Umbridge can keep me captive as long as she wants if you just let him go."
"Haven't you heard a word I just said?" Scabior laughed. "She doesn't need or want you anymore. We've just talked to her. Keeping you hostage now wouldn't be productive at all! And we can't just let Muggleborns go around free with stolen magic, can we?"
"That theory is ridiculous," Scarlett snapped. "Their magic isn't stolen!"
"It doesn't matter what you think. You're just a silly little girl and you can't do anything about what the Ministry is deciding to do, so move aside."
"No. I'm not letting you take him."
"Move aside!"
"No!"
Scabior scowled. "This is your last chance. If you don't move aside, I'll kill you like I killed your idiot mother and then I'll take the boy."
"I'm. Not. Moving." Scarlett's heart was pounding and she could hear her blood rushing in her hears. She knew that Scabior and Greyback would be aiming to kill her, but she would just have to dodge the spells so that she and Fred could both stay alive. But she wasn't going to hand Justin over either. She wasn't going to stand back helplessly this time. She was going to do something.
Scabior glared at her before raising his wand. "Have it your way. Avada Kedavra!"
"No!"
Just as Scabior finished uttering the spell, Justin pulled Scarlett out of the way and flung himself in the path of the curse. It hit him square in the chest and Scarlett stared in shock as everything she had planned for fell apart. There was no way for her to react and no time for her to turn around and grab Justin. So for the third time in her life, Scarlett lost someone she cared about, and for the third time, she failed to prevent it.
A/N: Would saying this chapter's intense be an understatement? All I really know is that it was one of the hardest and saddest chapters I've written so far. Hopefully it's not too overwhelming. I know it's also a bit long, but the last chapter was short, so maybe this makes up for it.
Thanks for reading!
