𝑺𝑶𝑳𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑬 [𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹/𝑻𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻]

𝐸𝑃𝐼𝑃𝐻𝐴𝑁𝑌

Without overthinking it, Edward reached for the young girls hand. The moment she mentioned being Gwen's intern, complete clarity overcame him. He knew she was telling the truth. And he knew, deep down, something was very, very wrong.

In an instant of grasping Astoria's hand, a familiar sensation overtook him; he felt everything going black; as he was pressed very hard from all directions, he could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around his chest; his eyeballs were being forced back into his head; as he felt his ear-drums were being pushed deeper into his skull. He could hardly stand the heightened sensation of this pain as it was suddenly all very still. They had made it to their destination.

Opening his eyes, he saw familiar decor...Familiar plants...He recognized the location. He had been here before. And yet, as he continued to feel disoriented from the entire ordeal, his abilities returning to him heightened the disorientation that he could not quite put his finger on where he was.

"Okay, so hear me out--" Astoria began to explain to the room, as Edward took a breath as he looked around the familiar room, trying to balance himself.

"YOU!" a voice snarled, as a familiar tall, dark-haired man with round glasses held his wand up to Edward in a menacing way. "Why are you here?! Where is she?!"

The familiar man before Edward attempted to push him back, but in the end he did not succeed. Edward was too strong for him to move. After all, though he was a wizard, he was also just a man.

But Edward knew the dangers of a wand being pointed at him, remembering how easily Gwen was able to paralyze him with a simple wave.

"Edward?!" Kate's voice sounded suddenly, coming to the man's side.

Edward blinked once more, surprised at the scene before him as he recognized Kate's thoughts in his mind and realized he was in Gwen's home.

"He's a friend!" Kate protested to the man, eyeing his wand with disdain. "He's family! He is not here to do harm!"

"There are traitors among us and you all invite the first person you know here?" the man snarled, not letting his wand down from Edward.

"Traitors?" Edward asked perplexed, looking around the room to see who else was standing there. He looked around for Gwen, seeing her nowhere in sight. Kate was standing nearby with a worried and shocked expression. Astoria was the last person in the room, looking uneasy as her eyes were on Harry.

How did you know to come? Kate asked in her head, as Edward could see the fear in her eyes. Did Carlisle send you?

"Know what?" Edward asked, looking around at everyone in the room once. His eyes landed on the man before him and with a pang of surprise as he realized he had seen him before, recognizing him as Harry Potter.

"What is going on? Why would Carlisle have sent me, Kate?"

Everyone had solemn faces as Harry Potter did not let down his wand. By the look on everyones faces and Harry Potter's comment about a 'traitor' among them, Edward truly had no idea what was going on. He managed to catch a glimpse of Kate's thoughts, as they flickered to Alex Scrimgeour's face splashed on a newspaper reporting he had been arrested.

"Alex?" Edward asked, completely bewildered at Kate's thoughts. "What happened to Alex?"

"He tried to enter illegally into Italy when he heard the news" Astoria said, looking quite nervous to Harry's wand. "He was captured and thrown into prison for crossing country borders illegally. We've been working to get him out, but the Italian Ministry believes we lied about the diplomatic mission."