𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 | g. w

34. abandoned

a/n: not me saying I would focus on this story and then proceeding to update everyone but this one. hahha

It felt like we spent weeks in that forest, when in reality, it was only a few days. At best, I'd slept a few hours a night, the nightmares and my own haunting thoughts keeping me from being able to rest completely. I needed it, really needed it, but I just couldn't stop thinking about the others, worrying about their well-being, and fearing for the absolute worst. We still had no way whatsoever of finding out if they were even alive, and it had resulted in more than a fair share of panic attacks on my side.

"We need to get out of this damn forest" I breathe, chucking my stuff in my extension charmed bag in a haste. I've had enough of walking these woods day in and day out, figuring out a more or less foolproof plan to get back to the others. At this point, I don't even care if we'd be walking into a trap, I just need to know that they're okay. Alive.

"I agree, Mia, but we can't just go back without any kind of plan whatsoever. What if we find them, and they're not the only ones there, huh? What if the Death Eaters got to them, then what? We can't just be waltzing about, we'd be asking for it."

Alfie's always been the more reasonable one in our group, and I've always known to come to him should I need help with anything. That's how I know he's probably right this time around as well, and my way of thinking is probably only going to get the two of us into more trouble. Besides, he's a muggle born and I'm what they call a blood traitor for being his friend. The Death Eaters are out to get anyone who's muggle born or in defence of them, which means we're both in danger of getting caught and tortured, or even killed.

In other words, we would be risking everything by going back.

I run my hands through my hair in frustration, wanting to rip it out. "So what do we do? We can't just dit around and do nothing! Fred and George could cert well be getting tortured as we speak. I'll never forgive myself if I just hide away here forever. I have to at least try, Alfie."

I know Alfie said George made him promise to protect me and keep me safe, but I can't just sit around and do nothing. I lost all power to stay away the moment we all became friends, and I wont just give up. I can't. They need me, George needs me, and I'll fight til the death if that's what it takes to protect him. To keep them all alive.

"I made a promise, Mia." He frowns, taking my hand in his and looking into my eyes. It's a silent way of begging me to be careful, his eyes are pleading with me not to do this.

But I've made up my mind. I'm done hiding away. It might be very well be the biggest mistake I've ever had to make, and I might be securing my own death by doing so, but I find I don't care anymore. Lee. Fred. George. They're all I care about. They're who I'm fighting for.

"I'm sorry", I step away from him, and his hands fall to his side in defeat. A tear runs from his eye, and I want nothing more than to wipe it away and comfort him, but that would only make this even harder and I can't let myself. "I guess you're going to have to break it."

The last thing I see before I Apparate out of the woods we spent the last week and a half in, is Alfie's forlorn face, his hand reaching out to stop me.

(...)

I find myself searching every place I could think of to find my boyfriend and friends, but each location is as deserted as the next. I find myself at the Burrow, finding a terrified Molly and Arthur Weasley along with a scared out of her mind Ginny, neither which have even so much as heard from Fred and George. The only thing they can really tell me is that right after me and Alfie left the wedding, the Death Eaters rounded the family up and started questioning them about the Golden Trio and their whereabouts. Apparently, they had left right after the celebrations as well, and no one had heard from them since. The same went for the twins and Lee, who had disappeared from the venue, every trace of them gone.

Next, I find myself at the joke shop. I Apparate just outside of it, my eyes not quite understanding what they're seeing when I notice the boarded up door and broken glass scattered around the entrance. If I wasn't panicking enough hearing from Molly and Arthur about the twins' disappearance, then I certainly am now.

"What the—", I mutter under my breath, breaking open the door and finding the inside of the shop in complete and utter ruin. There's pieces of broken glass scattered on the floor, along with pieces of furniture and torn tapestry. The walls, which are nearly always completely filled with all sorts of funny products, are now almost completely empty, instead lying torn and open on the floor. I make my way across the room, towards the back and up the stairs. My whole body turns heavy when what I feared is confirmed: they're not here either.

It looks as if they've just left the flat for a short while, expecting to be back home soon. In reality, I know they feared not only for their own lives but for the people closest to them as well, and that they would probably not be reunited with this place any time soon. Even if they weren't gone and no one had heard from them.

It feels strange, being back here and not in the presence of any of my friends. It's almost as if I've somehow been sent to an alternate universe, where everyone and everything I used to know and love has been taken from me. Only, this isn't an alternative universe, and the people I care the most about have been taken from me.

I can't explain it any better than to say I feel completely powerless. Useless. I know they've been taken and that there's still a possibility of them being out there somewhere still, but I don't know where or if they're okay. I have no way of figuring it out either.

The tears that I've grown used to start leaking from my eyes yet again, and I fall to my knees in despair. It's in that moment that I hear a strange noise, coming from downstairs. I grip my wand tightly, trying not to think of the fact that I shouldn't really be using it, seeing as the Death Eaters could be tracking me down as we speak, just waiting for a moment where I'm exposed and alone.

"She's not here, George, we've been over this. It's not safe for us to be back here, and we've already scanned every inch of this place looking for them."

I'm convinced I must be dreaming, or hallucinating at best, when I hear the sounds of the two voices I've been missing so terribly for weeks now.

It can't be—

There's no way—

"George?"