Title: Beware of Potions
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Summary: Fred and George create a new product in the summer before their 6th year, but when one of them samples it, they find that it has far different effects than they'd hoped for.
Chapter Six
The disorientation that always accompanied apparition spun around him, twisting his last look at his twin into a cyclone of color. Throughout the whole apparition experience, he felt a firm hand digging into his shoulder painfully. The shoulder and down along his back was warm and wet, and he knew it probably ached with pain as well, but he couldn't feel a single thing other than confusion at the images that swept rapidly around him.
His eyes shut of their own accord, wanting to deny for as long as possible what was happening. The world spun around him, for longer than any previous apparition trip he'd ever been a part of, and he sucked in a ragged breath through the rush of movement that was flying around him and his abductor.
Almost as suddenly as the apparition had begun, his feet hit the ground and he stopped spinning. He felt himself tilt at an angle despite the grip on his shoulder since, even though they'd stopped, his mind was still spinning to keep up. The teen kept his eyes closed in the vain hope that when he next opened them, he would find himself in front of the Burrow. The more he unseeingly observed, however, the more dread crept over him, telling him that he was nowhere near the home he'd lived in all his life.
There was no soft grass from the lawn in front of the Burrow to welcome him. No, instead he found that beneath his feet was a floor that creaked and moved ever so slightly – perhaps it was a hardwood floor that had began to decay in age. His right shoe scuffed it a bit and he realized that it was probably covered in dust amongst other things.
The next thing he realized was the smell of the place, which matched his theory about the floor perfectly. Instead of the airy smell of the country near his family's home or the scent of his mum's baking, the area smelled of dust and stale air, similar to one of the old unused classrooms at Hogwarts. Unlike the classroom that he'd often visited with his twin, however, this room set the hair on his neck on edge.
His mind flitted back to a memory of wandering through the Forbidden Forest with his brother and Lee Jordan. The three of them had wandered on an old path for a short ways, at least long enough to no longer be able to see the lights of the castle. After a bit of wandering, one of their wands shone upon a figure in the distance – a very tall, slim figure whose face was white but otherwise unidentifiable. Thinking that the person might be a student (though they'd never seen a student so tall), they had called out to the stranger. There was no reply, but the three boys shared a look that conveyed the fact that each of them felt those nervous hairs rising on their necks. Without saying a word, they had all cancelled the light from their wands and hastened back to the castle, checking periodically for the mysterious figure. Every time they checked, the tall stranger appeared to get closer, until the boys were running full tilt from the forest.
The boys never did discover who or what the mysterious figure had been. Even so, the fear that had filled him that night was nothing compared to what he felt just by standing blindly in this room. His senses were at war with each other. Half wanted to open his eyes and see what was around him for what it was, and the other half wanted to remain in sweet ignorance for as long as possible. The choice was made for him as several voices rose above the battles in his mind.
"My lord, I've brought you some company," a deep voice uttered and he pinned it as not only belonging to the one gripping his shoulder but to none other than Lucius Malfoy. There was no forgetting the kind of voice he had – it was one that could, if the user felt so inclined (as Lucius Malfoy often did), make the richest of men feel like the trash that clogged the street drains in London.
A rasping voice rose up to say, "How nice it was of you to stop in…" The voice lingered, giving the guise of a polite prompting for the teen to introduce himself. Eyes remaining shut, he clenched his fists in refusal. Though he would have told anyone that it was to defy those around him, the truth was that the voice he'd just heard had nearly made those hairs on his neck bolt for cover.
He felt a wand jab into his throat and, surprised by the action, opened his eyes widely and took in the sight around him. There was a chair that looked as worn as everything else in the room which, just as he'd guessed, was covered in dust. The minute particles floated through the air to settle on new objects and while he'd never much cared for the travels of a bit of dust, he found himself wishing it was all he had to worry about.
"The dark lord asked you a question," Malfoy's voice growled from behind him. The wand at his neck dug in a bit deeper and he felt a constant sting coming from it, warning him to speak now or be forced to speak later.
The teen glared resolutely at the chair in front of him and more closely examined the figure upon it. It… wasn't a child but… His mind couldn't comprehend it. Everything was foggy and he couldn't form the words to express what the being in front of him was. Again, it spoke to him, but the words washed right over him. Vaguely, he realized that a slowly growing feeling of fear was causing him to freeze, but he still couldn't identify why he should be afraid just yet. He shook his head slightly to dispel the confusion, but it only made the room continue to tilt at an odd angle.
The rasping voice was heard once again, and the teen caught the words "Wormtail" and "find out" before he felt a curse hit him. The hand on his shoulder let go and he quickly fell to the floor from the most intense pain he'd ever felt in his life. Before that moment, all of his senses had seemed somehow dulled, but now it seemed as if every single nerve in his body was on fire. The colors that he'd only just begun to sort out blurred together once again in a swirl of pain until suddenly, the fire stopped.
A low moan escaped his lips and he was startled to learn how sore his throat was – had he even been screaming? Somehow, he knew he wouldn't be surprised if he had been. Two hands grasped at his shoulders, reminding him of the fire that had eaten away at the same spots moments before. He felt himself wince as he was dragged to his feet and addressed once again.
"My young guest," the raspy voice spoke again, albeit dangerously quiet this time. "It seems that you have had too much excitement for one day to even answer a simple question. Perhaps a good night's sleep would… help you some?"
The teen glared dully at the creature, still feeling the strange tingling along his spine, although he was unsure if it was from unease or from the pain he'd endured moments before. Distantly, he heard the creature commanding the one known as "Wormtail" to take him "someplace comfortable to stay for the night."
He felt himself being handed off to the other wizard and dragged down a hallway to another room. The door opened and they went down a set of stairs – or rather, the other wizard stepped down, while the teen stumbled along in his grasp. They apparently reached their destination, for the wizard opened a door with a flick of his wand and the exhausted teen found himself being flung to the floor.
Glancing up at the wizard before the door shut, the boy realized that he recognized the face of this man. This was the man who had posed as Ron's pet rat up until the end of the last school year. As the door slammed shut on him, effectively cutting off his only source of light, the true peril of his situation hit home. That man, Wormtail, only lived for two reasons: to continue his disgraceful existence by cheating others out of theirs and to serve the darkest wizard to reign in the last hundred years. Realizing that, he knew that the creature upstairs wasn't just anyone, but instead that very same dark wizard that shouldn't still be alive.
As the cold and dark of the room crept over his tired and sore body, the teen found himself feeling terribly alone. He couldn't remember a time before this when he had been so cold and trapped, nor could he fully understand at the moment why his twin wasn't with him. Every time he tried to think back on what happened, his thoughts were interrupted by the distant, quiet sound of water dripping.
Drip… drip… drip…
Arthur had come upon the scene in Knockturn Alley moments after a team of Aurors had arrived. Spells, curses, and hexes were flying in every direction and he paused now and then to deflect or aim one at an opponent. The fight barely lasted two minutes as those who had stopped to watch the previous entertainment had slunk back to the shadows at the slightest hint of danger.
As the crowd dispersed and the Aurors gathered together a few opponents that had failed to evade capture, Arthur glanced around to try and identify what had started the skirmish. His eyes almost passed it, but the shock of red hair belonging to one of his twin sons caught his eye and he found himself running over to his son. The boy was on his knees and staring at a spot across the Alley. Arthur followed his gaze, expecting to see his other son, but his eyes fell upon a few skittish travelers that were quickly moving away from the scene around them.
Arthur put his hand on his son's shoulder, noting with worry that the boy's arm was bleeding and that several other cuts were scattered about his person. He lightly shook the boy's shoulder to get his attention, but he got none.
He crouched down, blocking his son's line of sight and looked into his eyes. For a split second, Arthur wasn't sure if he was looking at Fred or George, but then he saw a familiar bruise from the boys' previous fight and knew it was George. The fact that the bruise was the only thing he could use to distinguish this boy apart from his twin stung Arthur briefly, for he usually was very good at determining which twin was which. He shook his head ever so slightly and leaned forward to see how badly George was hurt and where Fred had gone to.
"George, son, are you alright?" Arthur asked, but the boy remained unresponsive. "Son, did you catch up with Fred? Where is he?" After that question, Arthur let loose a refrain through his mind, thinking 'Say he's flooed back home, say he's flooed back home…'
At the mention of Fred's name, George's eyes focused on his father's before starting to droop down in exhaustion. The last thing they needed was for him to fall asleep or pass out, so Arthur shook him slightly and tried to get him to speak. His efforts were in vain, however, as the boy slowly slumped over into his father's arms.
Not a second later, Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived at their side and began waving his wand over the teen to see how badly he was hurt. As he did this, he asked Arthur what had happened and why one of his boys was in Knockturn Alley.
"The twins were upset at each other and took off through the floo network, chasing each other through places both here and at Hogsmead," Arthur explained quietly, relief filling him as Kingsley's scans showed that George's injuries were bad, but not life-threatening. "I've no idea why they would have come here, no matter how upset they were – they both know better."
Kingsley was quiet for a moment before responding, "Apparently, they angered old Mr. Borgin enough for him to chase them out here. That's all I know for certain at the moment, though." He paused, lowered his wand. "Arthur, where is your other boy…"
"Fred – I don't know…" Arthur answered. His mind was racing with imagining a number of possibilities that could have been the result of angering anyone in Knockturn Alley. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became at himself for arriving too late to stop the boys.
"We haven't seen any trace of him, although we're heard rumors that some of those involved in the fight may have apparated away just before our arrival. If that's the case and they took him with them," at this, Arthur cringed, "then there's no telling where he is or what state he's in."
Arthur tried to respond to let the auror, who he highly respected, that he understood what he was saying, but his voice froze up and only a small croak made it out.
Kingsley bowed his head, trying to imagine how hard this must be for the other man, and said, "Take your son to St. Mungos and let us get as much information as we can. As soon as we find anything out, I'll be by to let you know."
Taking as deep a breath as he could, Arthur stood with his son in his arms and disapparated away to St. Mungos. A healer came to see him quickly and within moments he found himself sitting in a chair and waiting to hear news. His mind was raging over going back to the Alley and personally looking for Fred and demanding to see George and know if he was going to be okay or not. While he was waiting, an assistant came and asked him if he needed to contact anyone, and he kicked himself for not remembering that Molly would want to know what had happened.
His hands were shaking as he opened the floo connection to the Burrow and let Molly know where he was. He didn't get a chance to explain why he was at the hospital before Molly was coming through the floo with the other five children trailing after her.
"Where are they and when can I see them so I can give them a real reason for needing a hospital?" Molly screeched at Arthur the moment she saw him. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Percy all remained quiet and off to the side, not wanting to bring their mother's latest bout of wrath upon themselves.
Arthur put a hand on his wife's arm to try and calm her, but he removed it when he saw that it had the opposite effect. He suddenly wished that Kingsley were here to explain the situation rather than him. Speaking in a low voice, he explained, "The boys were chasing each other through the floo networks – I chased them through the Leaky Cauldron, Honeydukes, and back to Diagon Alley… I couldn't…" he paused for a moment to regain his control, which was quickly falling to pieces.
Molly's expression turned from furious to one of confusion at why he seemed so upset. She thought back to the Weasley clock and the hand that was probably still stuck on "lost." She'd glanced at it a few moments before Arthur had flooed to inform her where he was, but she had desperately hoped that the two boys were here with their father, although the longer it took Arthur to tell her what happened, the more dread she felt about their situation.
Arthur began to speak again and she reached out to steady him as he said, "They somehow ended up at Borgin and Burkes and angered Mr. Borgin. A fight broke out in the Alley and… I got there a minute later – the aurors had already arrived, but… George is here; he's hurt, but here." Arthur looked into his wife's face and said what she already knew to be true, "We've no idea where Fred is."
Behind her, the other five children stared at him with wide eyes before Percy leaned forward to say, "Did he take off somewhere? Are there people looking–"
"Kingsley Shacklebolt and his team of aurors are looking everywhere and he said that if he finds anything useful, that he'll let me know," Arthur responded quietly.
Molly bit her lip lightly to keep the warring emotions from escaping her. She knew that this was no time to give into the stress and worry, so she quietly asked, "How is George? Have you talked to him?"
He shook his head a bit and said, "I tried to talk to him back in the Alley, but he barely registered that I was even there. I know he's injured, and as far as Kingsley and I were able to determine, he should be okay." The potential of how that sentence could be made false hung heavy in the air around them and they all remained silent after that.
Almost as if the healers had heard their conversation and unspoken need to see George, a young man came out to meet them. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I'm Healer Hagen – I've been working and will continue to work with your son."
"Can we see him?" Molly asked, and she looked the part of a mother bent on seeing her child as soon as possible. Healer Hagen nodded, understanding her need, and motioned for them to follow him through a hallway.
"He was resting when I left, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's awake by now. His injuries were fairly minor, to be honest – a few cuts and a burn which were easily mended. He's not responded to any questions I've asked him though," Healer Hagen commented.
"He's not said anything about his twin?" Arthur asked discreetly as they stopped in front of a door. The healer shook his head and opened the door, gesturing for them to go in if they wished.
As soon as Molly saw her son, she was at his side asking him how he felt and if he needed anything. All of her previous anger had long since melted away when she discovered the danger that her boys had been in and that one of them was probably still in.
George didn't respond to her except to look at her, but even then, his expression remained the same. He looked lost, and everyone in the room knew why.
Arthur sat in a chair next to George's bed and waited a moment before asking with as calm a voice as he could manage, "George? Can you tell us what happened? How did you end up in Knockturn Alley?" At that last question, the other teens in the room made noises of surprise, for they too knew the many reasons why not to venture into Knockturn Alley.
"Fr-Fred… I just followed… I'm sorry… Couldn't stop…," George whispered faintly, his expression turning to hopelessness as he thought back on the events that occurred in the Alley. He was looking everywhere except at his parents and the other five teenagers, and Arthur looked to them and motioned for them to leave for a moment. He expected them to argue about it, but they quietly followed Percy from the room, seeming to understand that this wasn't the time for such behavior.
Molly watched quietly, holding onto George's hand as Arthur continued to question his son. He desperately wanted to reassure George that everything would be okay, but he knew that it wouldn't be until Fred was back with them. For that to happen, Arthur knew that these painful questions needed to be asked. "What happened in the Alley?"
George looked almost like he would be sick, but he closed his eyes with a firm resolve to let them know what happened and whispered, "Mr. Borgin chased us through his shop and finally blasted us out the door. Mr. Malfoy was there and he stopped us before we could leave…" George opened his eyes again and gripped his mum's hand a bit tighter. He didn't notice his father's expression turn to one of anger at the name he had used.
"Did Malfoy – Did he hurt you?" Arthur asked, trying to reign in his anger at his fellow ministry worker and long-time enemy.
George glared at the blankets on the bed and replied quietly, "He started the fight and threw us in the middle of it. It didn't last long – the aurors were pretty quick in coming after that blasting curse that Mr. Borgin used."
Arthur's forehead creased a bit as he thought back to that moment; he had just been running into the Alley and the aurors had already been there. So where was Fred?
Molly beat him to it and asked George, "What about your brother? Where's Fred, sweetie?"
George continued to glare at the bed sheets for a moment before explaining, "We were separated briefly and just before the aurors got there…" He trailed off a bit and Arthur was worried that he wouldn't finish. George drew in a breath, knowing that his father needed to know so that they could have some hope of finding Fred. He met his dad's eyes and stated, "I saw him – Malfoy grabbed him–"
Arthur growled and stood up, pacing fiercely in the small room. "Lucius Malfoy? Did they go down the alley or–"
"He disapparated with him," George said, shutting his eyes tightly. "Mum, I'm sorry, I couldn't stop him – he just kept jumping into floos and I didn't know what to do when he said 'Borgin and Burkes,' so I just followed… I couldn't…" The words were pouring out of him as he tried to find some way to explain to his mum that one of her sons was lost because of his and Fred's actions. He doubted the words were having the desired effect though, because he was nowhere near convinced that he'd done everything he could to stop what had happened earlier.
Arthur sat next to his son again, calming down enough so that George wouldn't think his father was angry at him. Molly let a few tears loose and held George to her to prevent him from speaking any further. At this point, neither parent blamed him, or even Fred, for what had happened. They just wanted to make it right and, at the moment, none of them knew how to right this wrong.
A moment later, they were interrupted by a knock at the door to which Arthur called for whomever it was to come in. Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped inside and nodded politely at Molly before turning to face Arthur.
"We've talked to several witnesses and it seems that Lucius Malfoy disapparated with the other boy," the auror said, looking at Arthur with a questioning glance, silently asking if he wanted to join them in a search.
Molly glanced at her husband and nodded. The second she did, Arthur was on his feet with his wand out and following Kingsley out the door. The distraught mother turned to her son and whispered, "He'll find Fred – he will; we just have to wait."
George continued to stare out in front of him, first at the bed sheets and then at the door through which his father had left. He wanted to hope that his mother's words were true, and that his dad would bring Fred back soon, but he couldn't dispel the growing feeling of despair that was echoing through his mind.
Sorry Lucy… it wasn't George, but don't worry, he'll get his share of drama and adventure in a while :)
THANK YOU to everyone that has reviewed! I especially love the ratings – a couple of your reviews made me laugh and do a happy dance They really keep me going and push me to update. I am having a lot of stress lately, from getting a job, hassling recruiters, searching for apartments, you name it! I had to run off to Starbucks today so that I could have time to keep hacking this story to pieces.
Anyways, keep on letting me know what you think and what you'd like to see! I love getting ideas to use and the feedback is WONDERFUL whether it's good or bad. I love to hear what people think!
