The Greywitch Trials | Harry Potter AU

Caught

Six Months Later

The fire crackled merrily, but Eloise's stiff joints refused to give way to the warmth after such a long time sifting through the snow in search of frozen herbs. Across from her, Dennis was staring at Susan's slumped form, a faraway look in his eyes. It always struck Eloise in the quiet moments like these how achingly young Dennis looked. The years hadn't caught up with him yet, and he was as skinny as he'd been when she'd first seen him during the sorting ceremony. During their time running, his hair had grown out after Susan had made one disastrous attempt at trimming it. 

Dennis' brown eyes were hollow when they flicked up to meet hers, "If we don't do something, she'll die."

"I know," Eloise whispered back, trying to ignore the cold dread that knotted in her stomach. They'd been putting it off for days, but they couldn't anymore. She shifted for a moment on the cold stone, before she stood up and made her way to Susan's side. The red-haired witch was curled on her side in an insulated sleeping bag Eloise had stolen from a muggle shop ages ago and breathing in a steady wheeze. 

Eloise crouched down and brushed the hair from Susan's face, the strands sticking to the sweat that coated her grey face. Despite her closed eyes, she mumbled silently and often shifted, clearly uncomfortable. 

Susan had been hit by a nasty curse nearly two weeks before when they'd accidentally Apparated into the middle of a Snatcher encampment. The three have them had barely made it out alive, but Susan bore the worst of the aftermath. The Cutting Curse had slashed up her left side horribly. And because none of them were adept at healing magic, the wound had begun to fester. 

With all the magic in the world at their fingertips, the three of them would have to resort to muggle medicine. Although embarrassing, it wouldn't have been the end of the world months ago, but the dark lord had not rested on his laurels. He'd found a way to blackout the entirety of Britain and erected a border around what he saw to be his land. The last Eloise had heard, he was rounding up muggles and containing them in clusters for when he decided what to do with them.  

The last paper she'd been able to get her hands on had been stamped with a picture of the royal family magically suspended above Buckingham Palace. 

Suffice it to say, visiting the deserted muggle villages and cities were dangerous at best and a trap at worst. 

Susan moaned in her sleep, the sound tugging at Eloise's heart painfully. 

"Shh," she murmured softly, running a gentle hand over Susan's messy hair, "We'll fix you up first thing tomorrow."

Dennis inhaled a sharp breath and was silent for a single beat before words started to tumble out, "I'm going with you. You'll need someone to watch your back if there are Snatchers - "

"Dennis," Eloise levelled him with a stern look, "You know Susan has a better chance if I go. Because if I fail - "

"We'll move on and find supplies somewhere else."

"Exactly."

She stood and made her way back to the cold rock she'd been sitting on before, ignoring how it dug sharply into her skin through the denim of her pants. They sat in silence for a long while, just staring at the fire and imagining a different life. None of them would admit it aloud, but they'd all thought the International Confederation of Wizards would have stepped in by now. Or at least MACUSA, as they had often stuck their nose into an innumerable amount of other incidents in Britain over the years. 

After so much time, the thought of the ICW swooping in and putting things to rights felt more like a fairytale than a possibility. 

Eloise secretly hoped that if they outlasted the Snatchers long enough, they'd be able to find a weak spot in the ward Voldemort had put up and escape to somewhere else in Europe. She'd always been partial to croissants herself.