Daisy Potter and the Wedding (Book 8, Harry Potter ff)

Chapter 9 - What Now?

*Fred's POV*

"FRED! FRED!"

"I'm coming, baby!" I yelled back into the night desperately, sprinting up the hill, nearly falling flat on my face as I tripped over a marble plaque half-buried in the grass. George and Terry were hot on my heels, wands in hand, Daisy's stashed in my pocket.

We'd been searching for her in the graveyard before we'd heard the screams. They were blood-curdling, chilling; they'd been scary, but now they were terrifying. Something had changed in her voice, and it was driving me crazy.

"FRED! GEORGE! TERRY! FREDDIE!"

"We have to find her." I was nearly sobbing, panic thundering through my body. "Where is she? We have to get her -"

"She's in that house, I'm sure of it." Terry panted, nodding at the house as he dodged a headstone. "Pretty sure that's where the screams are coming from."

"GEORGE - FRE-FRE-FREDDIE!"

That last scream was the loudest and most high-pitched; something about it chilled me to the bone.

"What if Riddle's got her? What if he's -?" George asked fearfully; his eyes were wide and his fists were clenched.

"Don't." I said, terror spiking in my chest. "Don't! C'mon, C'MON -"

We leapt over the little fence and skidded to a halt. The screams had stopped and everything was eerily quiet. We gazed up at the big house, our panting the only thing audible. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my palms were sweaty; I started striding around, my eyes moving over the walls and windows, searching for where Daisy might have got in.

My eyes landed on the back door, where there was a small gap in the slats boarding it up.

"D'you think -?"

"Probably." I breathed. Daisy wasn't the smallest girl ever; she was a curvy girl, to the appreciation of me and George; but neither me nor him were going to fit in that gap.

"Hopper, could -"

"Absolutely." The skinny boy said, looking determined but nervous. "Uh - I might need backup though -"

George and I looked at each other.

"Screw it." I said. "We're wasting too much time. Reducto!"

The boards exploded, and the door was blasted off its hinges. I was inside immediately, striding down the dark corridor within without any hesitation. I knew I should be scared for my safety, the screams of my girlfriend and the creeping darkness and silence should be warning me to be cautious, but I wasn't concerned about myself at all. All I cared about was finding Daisy and getting her the hell out of there.

It seemed that was George's motivation, too. He followed close behind, wand held out in front of him, stumbling over the debris on the floor but still moving forward determinedly. Terry was behind the two of us, eyes darting around carefully.

"Daisy?" I called out, glancing in doorways as I passed; something dripped in one room, and something dark moved in another; I jumped before I realised it was probably just the shadows from my lit wand. "Baby girl? Where are you?"

"C'mon princess, let us know where you are!" George braced himself against the wall as he spoke, shuffling past a bedframe that was pushed up against it.

"Softpaw, baby girl, talk to us!" Terry's eyebrows were knitted in anxiety.

"Hey, I have a patent on that." I joked, chuckling nervously as I directed my wand light around us, examining the staircase that we were now approaching. "Only I'm allowed to call her baby girl."