Natalie's butterbeer made her feel better, but even so, she couldn't shake off an ominous feeling that something bad was going to happen. It felt like a stone in the pit of her stomach, weighing her down.
Amy, Kelly and Sam weren't acting at all bothered by Charlie's odd behaviour. They were enjoying sharing a glass of Gillywater, which, since Amy was already 17, they had been able to convince Madam Rossmerta to sell them. Kelly kept pulling a disgusted face (as if she were sucking a lemon) and then proceeding to take another sip, all the while incredulous that Professor McGonagall was sipping her own Gillywater daintily at another table. The others were finding Kelly's reactions very amusing; but not Natalie. She sat brooding.
"I'm going to go look for Charlie, it's already starting to get dark, and with all this snow something could have happened to him."
"But what about the Dementors?" Amy asked jerking her head at the poster of Sirius Black laughing beside the pub door with an accompanying warning telling customers to make sure they had done all their shopping before dark due to Dementor patrols. Natalie wasn't sure what was worse, crazy and dangerous Sirius Black or the chilling Dementors. Then she realised she did know what was worse. Something bad happening to Charlie.
"It's almost three now, if I look for half an hour and don't find anything I'll come back. Charlie might already be in the Common Room I suppose."
"Alright if you think you should, but it's too cold for me." Kelly said taking another sip of the Gillywater
"Some friends you are." Natalie said smiling, not really surprised at the other's lack of enthusiasm
"It's only you who wants to go on this fool's errand, the rest of us know how far friendship stretches and wandering out into a blizzard for a love-struck idiot is not in the job description." Sam argued. A funny look crossed Amy's face, the same type she got in Potions when asked to concoct an antidote, and Natalie's pace sped up. She wondered fretfully if Amy had guessed she was in love with Charlie. It was embarrassing enough listening to her own besotted thoughts let alone if someone else knew about them.
"You're exaggerating, it's not a blizzard! It'll only be a thirty minute search; I'll be back in the castle before you know it." Hoping she'd been blasé enough to remove whatever Amy's suspicions were Natalie headed for the door.
As she opened the pub door the buttery yellow candle light lit a patch of the blank snow, in the dying light the snow was turning an unwelcoming grey. While Sam had been over dramatising the snow situation it was definitely falling in heavier flurries than before. Some snow settled on her neck, tickling her with its icy coldness. Natalie pulled her cloak closer around her and trudged through the snow back to the mountain path where she'd seen Charlie last. It was hard going without the others to distract her from the effort of pushing her way through the deep snow. With the dark it was also getting much colder. She desperately hoped she'd find Charlie soon.
Her heart felt like it was trying to escape her chest as she passed the Shrieking Shack which stood perched on the edge of the mountains like a predator ready to pounce. Natalie tried to quicken her pace as she passed the Shack but the snow was still slowing her down, it reminded her sickeningly of nightmares where no matter how fast you try to go you can never reach your destination.
Natalie cursed herself for bothering and she began muttering swearwords at herself, particularly after her socks grew soaked through. Natalie bent down to readjust her winter cloak so that less snow could soak her socks and, as she did so, she noticed a strange footprint in the snow. It was rapidly becoming obscured by the falling snow but she could make out that the print was made up of four stubby lines, like four thumbs, but much larger than human sized thumbs. Now that she'd noticed one track so now saw a large number surrounding her. Her chest began to rise and fall rapidly. Whatever it was had been here not long ago. The tracks were fresh. Even so close to a wizard town the Mountains could be untamed and Natalie had no idea what beast made tracks like that. She was willing to bet whatever it was wasn't friendly.
Natalie turned around to face the way back to Hogsmead. Charlie was probably already in the common room. Natalie had done the loyal thing and gone to look for him, but there was no point heading into the wilderness of the mountains to try and find him. 'Yes', she thought, 'he's probably already sat by the fire in the warm common room' and Natalie couldn't help thinking fondly of the mustard yellow chair, falling apart, dragged up beside the common room fire.
But then Natalie remembered the raptured look on Charlie's face as Estelle whispered in his ear in the entrance hall. Telling him he had to do something for her. To prove himself? Natalie could easily imagine Estelle laughing with her cronies over Charlie's love-struck stupidity. Wandering off into the Mountains on a foolish quest. She would have got a good laugh out of that, thought Natalie savagely. Natalie accepted what she'd known all along.
Charlie would not be in the Common Room already.