𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 | 𝐡. 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

𝟏𝟒𝟕 - 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐦

TW: mentions of vomit, puking, blood. reference to suicidal thoughts.

Songs I listened to while writing this. 

Never Let Me Down, Depeche Mode. Eventually, Tame Impala. Spit in my face, ThxSoMch.

𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙, they were still caught in the terrible storm that billowed overhead which gave Ophelia the bitter hope that they must still be in the same region they had just apparated from but it was hard to tell, they were surrounded by endless lines of trees and bushes with no streetlamps or fires to illuminate any direction they should take.

"Phee?" asked Ron timidly in her ear over the roar of the howling wind, "Where are we?"

"I don't know." she replied in a voice quite unlike her own, it was defeated and dejected as she wrapped her arms around herself to try and savour some of the warmth the tent had provided them with but her clothes were gradually getting soaked to her skin and there was absolutely no sign of shelter in any of the points they looked, "Where were you thinking of when we apparated?"

"I wasn't." said Ron pushing his wet hair out of his eyes, "Do you think we're far from them?"

"It's hard to tell." She shook her head as she squinted desperately at their surroundings, every direction looked the same, it was maddening, "I don't think I thought of anywhere in particular."

"Maybe we'll be closer than we think then?" asked Ron hopefully, "Come on, maybe they're out looking for us already--"

Ophelia hoped they were, but it was very slim -- they'd both said some quite unforgivable things and she wouldn't be surprised if they never wanted speak to them again. But she knew that if they were there was a chance they'd run into someone else other than them as well, she hoped as they trudged along that the rain thundering down above would wash away their footprints, she thought quite bitterly that she should've made a spell for that as it seemed most obvious to her now.

The thought to call out their names had briefly crossed their minds but passed instantly, not only would it announce where they were in the woods to any potential attackers but alert anyone with keen hearing that Harry Potter was hidden somewhere in the foliage and that was not a risk they were about to take.

"It must've been the Horcrux." Said Ron thoughtfully as Phee helped him climb over a mossy log, "I feel loads better now that we're away from it — and I can't help but feel guilty about what happened."

"Me too." Said Ophelia, "I'm so sorry that it came to this, I should've known better."

"Phee you don't have to apologise."

"It's my fault we're out here."

"I followed you." Said Ron, his attempt to comfort her only made her feel worse.

Ophelia suddenly stopped still, her stomach sinking as she whirled around as she came to one horrifying conclusion, they couldn't find them even if they wandered right by the tent, the enchantment was powerful enough to completely erase the area from their line of sight -- they might have walked right past it a dozen times by now, without a waypoint to look for there was no way they could make their way back.

"We need to find cover or we'll freeze to death." said Ophelia over the wind, "Come on this way." she said with an air of confidence that she had no right to have, she had no idea where they were going or where they were supposed to go but any direction was better than standing in the open wind getting pelted with icy rain bullets.