And here it is...part two! Thank you soooo much to my readers, reviewers, and of course my marvelous beta! Go check out 2cool4you if you haven't already, you won't regret it. Might as well check her out now because I'll be co-authoring a Hunger Games Fic with her later on!
Whew...started high school today. Not too bad, didn't get lost or anything, I'm just glad it's over. So one day down...nine months to go.
Now on with the chapter! :D
Part Two: Stronger With Time: Dawn of a New Era
Chapter 1: Seven Harrys
"Where are they? They should have come by now! At least Ron and Tonks!" Ginny put her hand to her pale forehead as both of us kept our eyes glued to the window. My own hands were clammy as I repeatedly swiped them on my jeans, waiting for any of the seven Harrys (or would that be Harri?) and their companions to burst through, with their Portkey, the protective charms that had been recently cast around the Burrow. It was the blackest night I'd ever seen-late July clouds blocked out any light that could have at least partially illuminated the Weasleys' land.
But we didn't need any moonlight to see that the Burrow was as still as a statue and just as devoid of life.
"Do you think we should wait outside, at least?" I finally spoke, breaking the heavy silence.
"No, no, dear, you and Ginny stay inside. We won't need them, of course, but, just in case...well, we need to make sure the protection charms work," Molly Weasley tried to give us a brave smile, but even her own face was pale and her smile trembling.
I nodded and turned back to the window, mind racing as I started to automatically jump to the worst conclusion. That only made not knowing worse; I knew Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were feeling the same, but intensified.
After much debate, it had been absolutely refused that Ginny make the seven Harrys eight-she was underage.
Of course, Mrs. Weasley hadn't gone, and then me-I had wanted to go just as much as Ginny had, but the fact remained...I hadn't been in the Order long enough. So of course, Mundungus Fletcher of all people got to go instead. Because we all knew how trustworthy he was.
Suddenly, Ginny gave a small gasp and in a flurry of movement, excitement propelled us through the door-we barreled across the dark lawn to a black mass who was on his or her hands and knees, and another gigantic shape that could not be mistaken for anyone but Hagrid.
The both of them clambered up to their feet as we rushed to them-
"Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are the others?" Mrs. Weasley cried as Harry threw the hairbrush, no longer a portkey, aside.
"What d'you mean? Isn't anyone else back?"
"N-no, you're the first," I informed him as he looked, horrified, between mine, Ginny's, and especially Mrs. Weasley's, pale faces.
"The Death Eaters were waiting for us," Harry said gravely. Mrs. Weasley gave a startled gasp and I put a hand on Ginny's shoulder as her hand flew to her mouth. "We were surrounded as soon as we took off-they knew it was tonight-I don't know what happened to the others, four of them chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort caught up with us-" His voice took on a tone where it was apparent that he was pleading to Mrs. Weasley to understand why he didn't know what had happened to her sons.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" She exclaimed, pulling him into a hug.
"Haven't go' any brandy, have yeh, Molly?" Hagrid asked shakily, speaking for the first time, breaking me out of my current thoughts-how could the Death Eaters possibly have known? "Fer medicinal purposes?" He added a moment later.
Instead of summoning it magically, she hurried back inside to the crooked house while Hagrid drew himself unsteadily to his full height.
Harry looked pleadingly at Ginny who answered immediately with information-
"Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they missed their Portkey."
"And it came back without them," I added, finishing Ginny's sentence-which we had taken to doing lately, and we both pointed to a rusty oil can lying on the ground nearby.
"And that one," she pointed at an ancient sneaker that could have once been a vibrant white-"Should have been Dad and Fred's, they were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were supposed to be third." I silently supplied light from my wand as Ginny inspected the minute hand on her watch- "If they made it, George and Lupin ought to be back in about a minute"
"Molly Weasley hurried back out of the house with a bottle that she promptly handed to Hagrid, he downed it in a matter of three gulps.
"Mum!" Ginny shouted at the same time I cried, "There!" we both pointed at a spot several feet away where a blue light had appeared, breaking the darkness-it grew larger and brighter, and Lupin and George appeared spinning and then stumbling on landing.
It was apparent immediately that something was wrong-Lupin was supporting George, who appeared to be unconscious. As George's face entered my vision I was not the only whose sharp intake of breath pierced the air as the blood covering his head and still dripping down his robes became visible.
Harry ran forward and seized George's legs, relieving Lupin of some of the weight.
In a blur he was deposited onto the Weasleys' couch after being rushed inside.
As the lamplight fell across his face, bringing the wound into detail, Ginny gasped and my stomach lurched slightly-one of George's ears appeared to be cut completely from the side of his head. All surrounding the gaping hole was scarlet, still wet, blood.
Just as Molly had bent over her son, Lupin roughly grabbed Harry and pulled him around to face him with a wild look in his eyes.
"Oi!" Said Hagrid indignantly, who was still trying to make his large body scarce enough to fit through the back door-"Le' go of him! Le' go of Harry!"
He was ignored.
"What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" He shook Harry, who had a shocked look on his face. He was the real Harry, was he not? Did Lupin know something the rest of us did not? "Answer me!"
"A-a grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?"
Lupin released Harry and massaged his temples warily.
"Wha' was tha' abou'?" Roared Hagrid.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to check," he said tersely.
"So why aren't yeh checkin' me?" Hagrid panted, still trying to ease himself past the door frame.
"You're half giant-the Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use only." He turned his eyes back to Harry. "We've been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved with the plan. You might have been an imposter." Suddenly his eyes flickered toward me, causing me to bristle because I suspected what he was thinking and I didn't like it one bit. His eyes stayed on me wearily and I met his gaze boldly with my chin held high, showing him that I had nothing to hide, because I didn't. Harry slowly turned as he followed Lupin's gaze to me, frowning in confusion.
"Astoria, did you tell Draco any part of the plan tonight?" I flushed an angry red at his accusation-not just at the assumption that I had told Draco something which I had promised not to, but at his hinting that Draco would have even considered selling the information if he had even known.
"No, I did not," I started coldly, straightening my back, the room growing quiet. "And if you're insinuating that Draco, if told, would even give a thought to giving away the Order's secrets," I spat. "Then I have a few things to tell you, the first one being that by mistrusting both myself and Draco you are calling Professor Dumbledore's himself judgement faulty, and not only that but also-"
"Astoria," Ginny's voice came quietly from behind me as she attempted to calm me. Too late, I thought. The Greengrass tempter had already flared, getting the best of me-
"In order to do so, Draco must be a magical prodigy-by doing so, he had to have found a way to evade Veritaserum and lie around it, you were even there in the memory, Lupin, you saw us take Veriteraserum!" I hissed, nostrils flaring as I pursed my lips together.
Harry looked at me with surprise and what might have been some sort of respect familiar only to us teenagers.
"Astoria, I don't doubt that you and Draco have fully proven yourselves as capable members of the Order. I was only thinking of all open ends and possibilities, I did not intentionally mean to seem as though I was pinning the blame on you and Draco."
"We mustn't make unfounded accusations at this time, Remus, not when friendships cannot afford to be marred by distrust at a time like this," Molly said quietly. Lupin turned to her, nodding like he was confessing a wrong to his mother.
I nodded also, anger disappearing. Everyone tactfully went back to focusing on George.
"None of the Order would have told Voldemort that we were moving tonight," Harry looked pointedly at Lupin. He and Harry took their discussion into the kitchen where I overheard snippets of conversation about how the Death Eaters had immediately focused on the real Harry.
At Ginny's insistence I walked back to the couch, observing George's progress.
Suddenly a scuffling noise came through the door open to the backyard, and I dashed out the door at the same time Harry was coming out the kitchen exit (Hagrid had finally managed to squeeze himself through) to meet the new arrivals.
As we dashed toward them, I recognized Kingsley's face as he stood up as well as Hermione; the last of the Polyjuice potion's effects were wearing off.
They threw aside a bent iron coat hanger and Kingsley immediately rose, his wand to Lupin's chest, no emotion on his face.
"The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?"
"Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him," Lupin said in a calm voice. Kingsley quickly turned his wand on Harry-
"It's him, I've already checked!" Now his look was directed at me. "Settle down, Kingsley. She's been here the whole time with Molly."
"Alright, alright!" He stowed his wand back beneath his cloak. "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"
"So it seems," came Lupin's answer, and I realized that my shoulders were tense, my jaw clenched as I was waiting for Kingsley to jump to the same conclusion Lupin had about Draco and me. I made a conscious effort to relax my body. "But apparently they did not realize that there had been seven Harrys."
"Small comfort!" I looked at Kingsley, slightly surprised by the intensity that carried in his voice. "Who else is back?"
"Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me."
Hermione stifled a small moan behind her hand and I moved to put my arm around her as Lupin, Kingsley, and Harry stayed rooted to the ground, discussing.
The two of us started inside as I told her about George and did my best to remain optimistic, as did she. Behind us then was a break in the conversation, and it changed to somebody named Stan Shunpike, who had apparently escaped from Azkaban in a mass break out. I shivered at the thought of all those vacant cells in the wizard prison, my mind immediately jumping to Draco's father.
"And her?" Kingsley asked quietly, and the way the hair on the back of my neck stood up I knew three pairs of eyes were boring into the back of my head.
"No Kingsley. Dumbledore-"
"I know!" Kingsley cut across Lupin harshly. "But do you think that it's possible, accidentally-Dumbledore is not incapable of being wrong, Lupin-"
"It wasn't Astoria, Kingsley. Or Draco. I've checked." By the firmness in Lupin's voice, I knew the conversation had ended there as Hermione and I entered the house. Hermione seemed not to have heard the last bit of conversation I had picked up-she was too lost in thought.
A bit later, a great crash from the kitchen sounded.
"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son! Now back off, if you know what's good for you!" Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley and I looked up to see Arthur Weasley burst wildly into the living room with Fred right behind him. They both looked frantic and pale, but more or less unharmed.
"Arthur!" Sobbed Mrs. Weasley. "Thank goodness!"
"How is he?" Asked Arthur, dropping to his knees at his son's side.
Fred gasped on the other side of the room at his twin-he stared, unbelieving as he tried to accept what his eyes were seeing.
For the first time since I had met him, he was without a joke falling out of his mouth, without the laughing sparkle in his eyes.
And then like he could sense his twin's eyes boring a hole into his forehead, George stirred, eyelids fluttering.
"How do you feel, Georgie?" His mother whispered.
George's fingers groped for the side of his head, fluttering around the still bloody hole.
"Saint-like," he murmured. Uh-oh...The curse couldn't have effected his brain, could it? Apparently Fred was thinking the same thing, because he put voice to my silent concern-
"What's wrong with him?" He croaked, terrified, in a tone I had never heard him use before. "Is his mind effected?"
"Saintlike," George repeated as if he were telling the punchline to a joke. I realized with a start we had all unconsciously leaned in toward George. "You see...I'm holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?" Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever. The color that had vanished from Fred's face returned now as a slow grin spread.
"Pathetic," he told George, though his grin contradicted the word. "Pathetic!" He repeated with more emotion, as if to prove he had his vigor back. "With the whole world of ear related humor before you, you go for holey?"
"Ah, well," George grinned at his mother, whose cheeks were glistening with tears. She held George's hand in both of her own. "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum."
"It's them!" Came Hermione's shriek from outside, and I bolted out the door, not for the first time that night. I stopped outside just in time to observe Tonks skid on her broomstick and jump into her new husband's arms, shouting, "Remus!"
Huge relief was apparent across both of their faces. Hermione also flung herself into Ron's arms, and Harry and I grinned at each other a bit awkwardly amidst our embracing friends.
I tossed and turned in my bed, kicking off the blankets when I started to sweat, then quickly pulling them right back up to my chin when the cold air rolled over my body, causing my skin to erupt into goosebumps.
The day's events rolled through my head-Mad-Eye was dead, Mundungus disappeared, Fleur's wedding was being planned to be held here at the Burrow...and on top of it all, my worry for Draco filled my mind. I hadn't seen nor heard from my boyfriend since my seventeenth birthday, slightly over a month ago. Though, he had told me that Death Eaters were using Malfoy Manor for their base the entire summer, and it would be lucky if he managed to owl me, much less see me. I started at the sound of a door creaking downstairs, and quickly pretended to sleep as I watched through one barely-open eyelid as Hermione quietly padded out of the room we shared with Ginny and Fleur. Counting to thirty after she was gone, I crept to the window to see Harry, Hermione and Ron talking together in the moonlight.
I stumbled back to my cot, collapsing as my eyes grew droopy and I finally began to grow tired.
My brain began to conjure up images of Draco, and I genuinely began to fear for him. Shouldn't he at least been able to write even once? I resolved to talk to someone about it tomorrow. Maybe Bill-we had grown a rather sibling-like relationship since I'd come to stay at the Burrow. Maybe I could tell him I just had to apparate (I had gotten my license just weeks ago) quickly over and check on Draco, even just for a few hours, to see if he was alright and give him updates about how things were going here. Bill would understand, wouldn't he? I drifted off to sleep with questions like that bombarding me and scenes of Death Eaters and Draco plaguing my half-asleep state until I plunged into a fitful sleep. My first and only dream that night was me being stuck in a constant state of travel by apparation, unable to reach my destination but also unable to go back to my starting point.
I couldn't bring myself to seize the opportunity to talk to Bill when I found him alone the first time that day- it wasn't until later, a few hours after lunch, that I was able to muster up the courage and bring him my request.
"Bill?" I asked, knocking softly on the open door to his room where he sat in front of a mirror hanging on the wall, applying an ointment to his face. Sunlight streamed through the many windows onto the wooden floor, lighting the whole room.
"Hey, Tori," he smiled at my reflection in the mirror. "What's going on?"
"Well, I have a small favor to ask you, really. A really small one," I emphasized, pausing.
"And?"
"And, well, Iwaswondingifmbe-"
"Whoa, slow down!"
"Sorry. I was wondering if maybe if I could..." I trailed off, suddenly really nervous.
"Merlin's beard, Tori, spit it out!" He grinned at me, turning around to look me in the eyes. I took a few steps closer to his chair so no one who could possibly be near to the doorway would overhear what I was going to say.
"Bill, what would you do it Fleur was stuck in a house full of Death Eaters? They weren't hurting her or anything, she was just...there."
"I would get her out of there, immediately!" He pounded his fist on the wooden table for emphasis.
"What if you couldn't do that?" I asked timidly, waiting for him to catch on.
"I'd visit her as much as I possibly could. Matter of fact, I'd probably set up camp under her window-"
"Bill, I have to see if Draco's okay!" I blurted suddenly before I could lose my courage. Bill's grin faded and his eyebrows drew together over his blue eyes.
"Why are you asking my permission to write him a letter?" He stood up and turned away from the mirror, looking down at me with a look of confusion etched upon his face.
"I'm not. Bill, I need to see him. I've thought this through," I pleaded.
"Okay, shoot. What's the plan?" He pushed back a strand of the red, jaw-length hair that his mother so badly wanted to cut, as she reminded him constantly.
"Well, I was thinking that since I have my license and all, I could apparate over to Malfoy Manor-secretly, of course-no one would know I was there except Draco, and no one would know I was gone except you."
Bill blew out his cheeks, cracking a smile as I gave him the puppy dog eyes.
"It's just for a few hours, after all, and I'd be really, really, careful, and-well, do you want to know where you come into the plan?"
"To be honest, I'm a bit scared to see what crazy scheme you've come up with. Are you by any chance related to Fred and George?" He joked, forming a steeple with his fingers and resting them on his forehead.
"Ha, ha, you're really funny Bill," I raised an eyebrow at him. "But honestly, you'd only have to do a couple things, firstly, cover for me. Second, I'd need you to give me permission to re-enter when I'm done-that's what you need to do to get past the shield charms, right? Get permission from someone to enter?"
"Right. Just one problem. How would we communicate? I'm not going to let you do this unless we have some way to keep in touch," he shook his head. "How would I know when you're done, so I can meet you at the barrier out there, how would I know if you got yourself into some kind of trouble?"
"Ah," I wilted slightly. I hadn't thought of that one.
"Actually..." Bill contemplated,beginning to consider something. "As it happens, in Dad's tinkering shed..."
"The one where he hides his muggle stuff from Molly?"
"That's the one. A few years back, Dad showed me this muggle device...whaddyacallem...talkie walkie? No...walkie talkie, that's it! But anyway, Dad had a charm on it so it can work anywhere, even with all the magic in the air...wow, the fun we had with those when we were little, Mum never could figure out how..." Bill laughed, a reminiscing look in his eyes.
"Uh, Bill? So, what exactly is a walkie-talkie?"
Half an hour later, Bill and I both stood out back in a shed filled with strange muggle items-it was amazing what things muggles invented to do the jobs of magic. Bill had finished explaining how to work the walkie-talkie, and we were done testing it out.
We both had one clutched in our hand when one more detail came to me-
"Wait, what will you tell the others once they realize I'm gone?" I asked wildly.
"I'll just say you've gone to your friend's house...Julie, right?" I nodded and he continued. "I'll just tell them you've gone to visit Julie," he said calmly.
"But I was just there a week ago-are you sure they'll buy it? Your parents did raise Fred and George, you know...do you think they'll know when they're being-"
"Totally and completely pulled under? No, I've got this, Tori. Don't worry. This was your idea, after all. Uncle Billy's got your back," he smiled reassuringly.
"A-alright," I took a deep breath and let it out slow, trying to muster up some Gryffindor courage.
"Okay, here I go."
"Be careful," he warned, giving me a quick hug.
"I will. Good luck, see you soon," I smiled bravely, swallowing and patting my pocket to make sure the reassuring bulge of my wand still stuck out. Letting out another deep breath, I closed my eyes after taking one last look at the Burrow through the window.
Determination, deliberation, and destination! Wilkie Twycross's voice was forever embedded into my head, playing back the repetitive three D's whenever I prepared to apparate.
I suddenly felt as though I was being jerked through a tube a centimeter from being too small for my body-my lungs involuntarily forced me to gasp, but the discomfort of the travel swiped away my breath.
Suddenly, I was gulping in deep lungfuls of air as I set my hands on my knees, still tightly gripping my walkie-talkie in my left hand, lifting my head to take in the view in front of me-my eyes widened and jaw dropped at the cold grandeur of the stone mansion in front of me, standing out especially with the stark comparison to the Burrow I had just left-
In an instant, the silence was pierced as a high, shrill scream cut the air-I dropped the walkie-talkie in a frenzy to cover my ears as I crouched down, grinding my teeth at the sensation of fingernails over a chalkboard-a highly uncomfortable feeling that accompanied the sound of the Caterwauling charm-a charm that, in fact, my appearance had set off.
Quickly moving a hand from my ear to grope for the walkie-talkie on the ground, I shoved it into my back pocket, pulling my shirt over it. I attempted to dissaparate, but the very air around me seemed to have solidified. I was either incapable of achieving the proper concentration, or there was a spell blocking dissaparation-perhaps both.
The tension in my shoulders released as I pulled my hands down from my ears at the sudden silence-I looked up to the slowly opening door.
Quick! Every nerve in my body seemed to scream. Your wand-defend yourself! The walkie-talkie-no, I wouldn't call Bill, I could get out of this by myself without endangering anyone else-
But my limbs felt as though they were jelly, and so my wand remained in my pocket as the door opened completely.
Out walked Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. Bloody hell, I was in trouble.
Narcissa's eyebrows were raised as she glided out to me. She held her chin high, and looked slightly nervous. Bellatrix was smiling so maniacally, distracting me, that I almost didn't realize the other faces lingering in the doorway. Almost.
"Hello, Bellatrix," my voice came out surprisingly calm and cool as I greeted the first sister to reach me, and I saw a flicker of doubt flash through her eyes as I lifted my chin and stood to my full height, and I relished in the fact that I had indeed grown bolder since I had last seen the dark-haired, wild eyed witch. Bellatrix didn't hold as much power over me as she had, like a child outgrowing her fear of the boogyman.
And I think Bellatrix sensed the change.
"Look at this, Cissy!" She cackled as the second sister reached us. I suddenly realized I was out of place in my cut-off shorts, t-shirt, and nothing done with my hair-it just hung down in it's normal, out of control, snarly curl. Though Bellatrix's was worse, I thought to myself. But otherwise, they were impeccably dressed in expensive robes.
"The Greengrass girl?" Narcissa's voice had more of a calming effect on me-it was not as high as Bellatrix's, and it was lacking the partially mental undertone that her sister's possessed.
"Hello, Narcissa," I managed the second greeting in the same cool voice. I hoped I could manage to keep this charade up-but then I realized. If I was going to make it out of this snake-pit unscathed, I had to not only talk the talk, I'd also have to walk the walk. I squared my shoulders and looked in the eyes of the sister who was the least likely to kill me of the two.
"So nice to see you both, isn't it?" I tried to keep any body language that might show that I was terrified, under control. Narcissa nodded suspiciously while Bellatrix's eyes conveyed even more doubt.
"I was just thinking that since I no longer reside with Zacharius and Jacquiline," I restrained myself from saying "my parents," and started to walk toward the manor door while I continued to talk, hoping they would take the bait and follow me, thus getting us all inside and closer to Draco. I wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing-"That I could still see their dear friends, of course!" I said in my best 'obviously' voice. "So, how have you both been?" I asked brightly, stopping at the open door, but not looking in, waiting for Bellatrix and Narcissa to step up to me. "You don't mind if I come visit, do you?"
"No, of course not," Narcissa said, flustered. But something had changed in her eyes-she knew what I was up to-was she going to help me in?
"Cissy, we're busy!" Bellatrix said significantly, turning on her.
"Bellatrix, were you not the one who told me that this girl is now my son's...lover? She obviously came to see Draco!" She plowed on without waiting for an answer, probably thinking she was helping me-my hands grew clammy-how did they know that? I began to tremble, just slightly enough for me to feel, but not enough to be visible. Bellatrix's grin widened triumphantly as she observed the look of shock on my face, reveling in the fact that she knew something that I didn't.
"Why Tori, it was only too easy to pinpoint you when Draco's friends let it slip that they thought Draco had been romantically involved toward the end of last year! It was only too easy!" She cackled, a maniac gleam in her eye. "Of course, by all means, come in!" She sang, shoving me in through the doorframe with her clawed hand, and I stumbled into the foyer. My eyes widened at the military order, the meticulous coldness, the un-homey feeling. Much like the Greengrass manor. I realized with a start that in my mind, I had begun to refer to the Burrow as home.
"Draaaaaaa-coooo!" Bellatrix's shrill call came, causing me to flinch.
I caught a glimpse of several knock Death Eaters through the arch to the next room, and I winced at their sneers. Great, I thought. They knew that I was with Draco, too, I could see it in their eyes.
And I wasn't stupid-the Death Eaters would have tortured me or worse by now-they were actually letting me see Draco, which meant that somehow, unknown to me, it played to their favor. Maybe they thought the more time Draco and I spent together, the more they could use me against him if he did something they didn't like-blackmail-
The very thing we had been trying to avoid.
Last year's secretiveness had all been for nothing now.
I heard pounding of footsteps, and I looked up over the grand staircase's railing at the top-the staircase was the kind in which a bride would love to descend upon.
"What is it, Be-" he stopped dead when he saw me, and Bellatrix's grin widened.
"Draco, this girl is here to see you," she said quietly, even though Draco was looking right at me. I offered him a weak smile that he did not return. He stood there, staring.
"Astoria? Mother, what's going on?" Draco's voice was on the edge of panic.
"She came to visit, Draco," Narcissa said in a cautious tone, almost like a warning. Feeling rather than seeing another presence in the room, I turned slowly to see that Fenrir (my heart began to pound and my hands grew sweaty) and Rodolphus Lestrange were moving surreptitiously to stand in front of the door-a silent message-you don't leave.
"Can't dissaparate out of the house, unfortunately," Rodolphus said in a tone that clearly said he didn't think it was unfortunate at all. "Not unless you're one of us. Sort of like a spider-web, don't you think? Quiet ingenious. The spider can move with leisure, but the flies..." he grinned at me, making it quite clear what my place was in the analogy-"Are only able to come in, without escape."
"Why don't you stay for dinner, Astoria?" Came the cool voice of a Death Eater I did not know.
"We insist," threw in Fenrir with such excitement I could only imagine I would be the dinner. I told myself the giant swallow I had just done was not a gulp.
Then, just as I was thinking that things couldn't possibly get worse, a burst of static began to hum, coming from my back pocket. I pretended to cough violently, loudly, attempting to cover up the sound of Bill's voice-
"Astoria? Tori? Are you there? Come in! Over!" Thank Merlin it was on the lowest volume setting, but it still could have been heard-
I stopped my loud coughing as the blessed word-over-sounded. I looked around cautiously at all the now very suspicious faces, every one of my nerves on end, waiting or the slightest burst of static to again set off another fit of coughing. Blood was rushing through my ears in the silence.
"Come, Astoria, I'll give you the tour," Draco was the first to speak.
Rodolphus opened his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it-
"Sorry for that coughing-I-uh, allergies. I'll be going now!"
"Wait," Rodolphus grabbed my arm with his icy cold fingers, yanking me back and looking me straight in the eye.
"If you've got something up your sleeve, Astoria, anything at all," he breathed. "Just because you are...with Draco...well, you're on our land now," I could feel the cold eyes of other Death Eaters boring into my back. "And you'd be wise to remember it." I forced myself to walk slowly, instead of bolting like I felt like doing. I slid my eyes to the side once I began to ascent the staircase-not a single Death Eater had moved and were watching, silently.
We had just gotten upstairs when Bill's voice sounded again, slightly more panicky now-
"Astoria! Are you there? Hold down the orange button on the side to talk-over!"
"I'm fine, Bill, I'm here," I held it up to my mouth while Draco continued to walk stiffly in front of me, not even turning around. I frowned, something was wrong, and I knew what. The Death Eaters knew now, and there was no reversing that.
"Are you there?" His voice came again. I frowned-hadn't he heard me?
"I'm here, Bill, can't you hear me?" We continued to walk down the corridor, and I covered my mouth when an image flashed through my mind's eye-
When I had dropped the walkie-talkie...I hadn't broken it, had I?
Bill
"Astoria! Tori! Are you there? Come in! Over!" Bill released the orange button on the side. He leaned against the table in the shed-Astoria should have called him when she arrived-he had given her a few minutes, maybe something had come up. Now, five minutes later, he gave up waiting and sent out a message-no response. Bill frowned, drumming his fingers on the table a bit anxiously. He would try again in a few minutes.
Of course! The answer clicked in his mind, smiling at the obvious answer-she had forgotten how to reply!
He tried to tone down his anxiety-nothing had happened to her, that couldn't be possible. He saw the way that Malfoy boy looked at her, and...well, Bill had a feeling he would die himself before he let anything get to Astoria.
"Astoria! Are you there? Hold down the orange button on the side to talk. Over!" Bill waited, panic growing in the silence. He turned up the volume dial all the way up-
"Are you there?" Bill practically shouted directly into the speaker. He slammed his palm down on the table, starting at the sound of the opening door.
"Bill? What are you doing in 'ere?" His fiancee's voice came. She appeared in the doorway, silvery hair glowing in the sunset as her brow crinkled over her ocean-blue eyes.
"Oh, just...well, it's a bit of a long story," he grimaced at his soon to be wife. Well, Fleur, I may have sent Astoria to her death. I should never have agreed to the plan! He thought.
"Well, I 'ave plenty of time for a long story," she closed the door, standing beside Bill and looking up at his face with pure love.
"Well, sweetheart, dearest..."
Thank you again! Please review, they honestly do keep me going and motivated. I'm finally getting better at responding to you all! :D
HansunIlona-Sorry, no facebook for me! Although I do have an email and with that comes instant messaging. cassiaburkemper
Thanks again, please review!