The next memory wasn't like her others. Perhaps because it wasn't hers at all.
Charlie found himself in a parlor of all places, waiting for tea beside a young wizard. He was weathered down in this scene, as if it had been years since he last saw him.
Maybe it had been.
His head hung low, his once warm cheeks paled. The fire had gone out of Rafe Bennett. Had it left with her?
Charlie felt the shock with them, the rumble of the earth. The humble room jumped, glass shattering all around them. Flames reigned down.
Hurrying out of the house and pushing his mother, Rafe dared a look back. His sister's charred body laid unmoving. The crushed corpse of whoever that Polly creature had been, weighted beneath rubble.
Charlie ran with the Bennetts. Neighbors followed them, charred bodies lining the path up the hill toward cover.
Rafe's mother stumbled, and she pushed him away. He flew through Charlie, burnt flesh filling the early evening breeze.
He raised his wand, ready to fight the beast. But he faltered. A rider climbed off, calling out.
"This one is mine."
"Who are you?" He blinked, looking at the waste laid out before them. His home. His family. His world. Gone in a dragon's breath. Charlie saw the wizard's hand give a tremble. "Reveal yourself."
When the cloak dropped, Charlie watched Rafe's surprise though he didn't feel it for himself.
"Orson? You're... alive?" His gaze flickered to the beast, teeth clenching. "You killed her, didn't you? Just as you," He looked back to his mother's corpse.
"Oh, Eden's fine. I assure you. Hormorphius." The dragon shrunk, contorting back into a thinly figure. Her white hair gloriously adorned in jewels, body well-dressed. Though those familiar eyes were sunken in behind purple circles.
"Eden?" Rafe could scarcely believe it. Charlie saw it in his face. He'd mourned her all this time. The look of blame he knew all too well. His own family had borne the mark of loss. That cursed what if.
But she held no recollection of him at all. Only a coldness shone in that sea foam stare.
"Eden, it's alright. It's going to be okay." Wes laughed.
"You worry for her in the end?"
"Your end." Rafe readied himself.
"Crucio!" Her scream filled the meadow, body collapsing to the ground. In between the bursts of pain, something in her seemed to snap. She flew into Wes, blocking him from the other man.
"Run!" She pleaded.
Rafe eyed the destruction before him, taking one step forward. Followed by a thousand back and into cover.
YOU ARE READING
Shadow and Flame
Fanfiction***Newly Revised*** After receiving a mysterious letter, Charlie Weasley is prompted to head back to Hogwarts. A girl has been missing for years, the case shrouded in a mystery only he can solve. Will the shadows of the past overtake him? Or will th...
