Home

Chapter Seven: Surface Tension

Chapter Seven: Surface Tension

November 10th, 2017

Condensation gathered on the windows, and a chill hung in the air. Underneath a thin blanked, Freya Parkinson lay in bed, tossing and turning, her mind churning in worry. A hot water bottle lay discarded on the floor, now cold from the frosty air. A few sweets were scattered on the floor, the leftovers from the mini Halloween feast they had had over a week ago. The sun was beginning to crawl up from under the layer of darkness, and the room was bathed in a pink light. Rose lay asleep in the bed opposite, a small frown on her face. Freya shuddered, remembering the previous nights and the events that had followed.

The screams echoing through the hall, Rose thrashing in the arms of two faceless men...

Watching silently, Freya winced as Rose was strapped into the chair...

Screams went on and on, the men recording information onto parchment with Quick-Quills...

CC standing in the corner, doing nothing but watching...

And then, finally, nothing.

Rose was fast asleep, her mind and body exhausted from the night before. With a face that looked completely peaceful, you would never have guessed that she had been through a figurative storm.

Freya, however, looked the exact opposite. A mirror had been placed nearby, and the girl who stared back at her was pale, with purple and green underneath her eyes. Her brown locks were tangled, and she looked as though she might collapse at any moment. Having been kept awake all night worrying, Freya guessed tiredness was the culprit. A certain worry wouldn't let her rest.

If she didn't tell Rose what she knew, she was aiding those that held her captive.

~*~*~*~

Stepping out of the fireplace whilst coughing, Ron brushed off some stray ash - he'd told Hugo to stop setting fires off in the Floo fireplace - and headed to the bedroom with a spring in his step. The clock struck five am as he walked past, the chimes syncing with his footsteps. Despite the fact that he had been working through the night, Ron showed no signs of fatigue. He was in an optimistic mood.

"Morning, love!" Ron called as he walked into the bedroom. Dropping a selection of magazines and newspapers onto Hermione's side of the bed, he moved over and shook her awake.

Hermione looked up, murmured something as a response and turned away, nuzzling her head into the pillow.

"Hermione, please. You've got to get up. I've brought you your newspapers." Ron pleaded, looking at his wife with a begging face. "And I even bought the magazines you pretend to hate but read secretly."

Slowly, Hermione gradually began to move. Reaching for the Daily Prophet, she began to read the headlines.

"Weasley Girl Still Not Found, Viktor Krum due to Publish Autobiography, Rita Skeeter - This Week's News..." Hermione stumbled over her words, but kept reading out loud. "It's mostly about Rose."

Silence filled the air, before being broken only by the slight choke from Ron.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, looking over with a frown.

"What's wrong? We still haven't found her, Hermione, that's what's wrong! It's been over two months now, and no matter how hard we look, it seems as if she has vanished into thin air!" Ron began, before stopping, collapsing into a chair. "The only good news is that we have a lead - Goyle is going to talk."

~*~*~*~

Tiptoeing out of the room, Freya stopped every few paces, counting the steps and hoping she wouldn't be heard. She reached several paces further than she had done before, carefully marking the wall with a minute line of chalk to indicate her progress. While their kidnappers were concentrated in Rose, Freya was able to slip away without anyone noticing. Day by day, inch by inch, she was another step closer to finding an exit.

Creak.

Frozen, Freya looked around, trying to frantically identify where the noise had come from. If anyone found her...

Creak...

The noise was from just ahead. Moving silently forward, Freya glanced around the corner. CC was talking to several men - none of which Freya recognised. The talking was muffled by some kind of spell, but Freya could make out some of the words and phrases, by a mixture of lip reading and listening to the muffled sounds.

"We have the girl - she is everything we need..."

"We can't rely on her for everything..."

"She hasn't even been to Hogwarts."

"We can't risk taking him! If his father found out it was you..."

"No. My decision is final." Freya watched as CC spoke out, her voice breaking over the charm. "I don't care about the consequences. I say we are taking him, and my word is final. So you can all go about finding some more accommodation - I don't want him with the girls."

Freya fled, not caring about the noise. Her heart faced as she jumped into bed, closing her eyes just in time as a warden passed by. She was sure of one thing - CC was planning on taken someone else - a boy at Hogwarts. And while she wasn't sure, she suspected it would be Albus Potter - son of the Chosen One.