Easy Mistake ; Harry Potter

O N E H U N D R E D A N D F O R T Y T H R E E | Into The Fray

12 Grimmauld Place was a bustle of noise and panic. Eleanor could see that the adults were trying to stay strong, to not show their fear but Eleanor could see through the mask. They were cracking just as much as Eleanor was.

Eleanor was sat down. Remus had come to her aid when she collapsed on the floor. He had pulled her up and brought her into a stong embrace, wiping away the tide of tears that were falling down her cheeks. He held her to him and whispered that they would do everything to get Josh back.

Tonks had rummaged up a quick cup of tea for Eleanor using magic and Remus had sat her down. Eleanor had whispered a small thanks to Tonks as she handed her the cup of tea. Eleanor knew it was made in a rush, in a flurry of magic. Eleanor knew Tonks had made it out of kindness, and Eleanor knew that magic could go wrong if your mind was in the wrong place. Everyone's minds were in a flurry of panic. Therefore when Eleanor took one sip of the tea, she had to fight the urge to spit it back out. It was disgusting.

Still, the tea had one good use. She wrapped her hands around the warm mug, liking the small amount of comfort the warmth brought her. It still did not bring her to ease though. Josh was out there, surrounded by Death Eaters, possibly being tortured. And then there was Harry, who blindly went to go and rescue him, without a second thought to the danger he was putting himself in.

Eleanor thought that surely even the Death Eaters would draw the line at torturing Josh. Surely, they wouldn't. Surely they could see that Josh was just a young boy. An innocent young boy with an addiction to chocolate and the incredible gift to bring warmth and love into people's lives. Eleanor felt her throat burning and fought back a sob.

Surely they wouldn't hurt him. Maybe they would simply hold him hostage for leverage. They wouldn't possibly hurt him, he was only a baby in comparison to the great big world. Eleanor's mind cruelly reminded her that Harry was only an infant when Voldemort set out to kill him and this time she was unable to hold back the sobs.

"How did this happen? Josh should be in school. They wouldn't have taken him out, would they? Not with all those Muggles around. Oh god, what if they did? What if they've hurt others?" Eleanor looked wildly at Sirius. "I should have been at school today. I didn't have any exams so I wasn't needed in, but what if I did go. They could have taken me instead. Then Josh would be safe. I don't care what happens to me, but if anything happens to Josh I'll-"

"Eleanor, stop!" Sirius had rounded the table and grabbed her shoulders. "Stop this, you can't think like that. Everyone would be devastated if anything happened to you. Don't think your life is less than anyone else's because it is not."

"But Josh-"

"We will do everything in our power to get Josh back. Okay, I promise!"

Eleanor nodded numbly.

Sirius released her. "Tonks has gone to the school. I wasn't really taken, so we are hoping Josh is still safely at school. If not-" Sirius heaved a sigh. "Well if not, we will cross that bridge. Like I said, we will get him back."

"Why take Josh though? He is just a child. An innocent child."

Sirius sat down next to Eleanor, his shoulders slumped. "We think it relates to Harry's dream."

"The one he had that brought me here?"

Sirius nodded slowly and Eleanor felt as if she had swallowed lead.

"We believe that for some reason Voldemort wants to lure Harry into the Department of Mysteries. Well Harry wouldn't just blindly wander into the Ministry of Magic, especially because he knew that Voldemort wanted something there. So Voldemort needed leverage. We think he was originally going to go after you, but obviously you luckily didn't have any school today, or we believe you would have been taken. Voldemort has no access to the Order, or the Headquarters, so I was obviously safe."