The Final Keeper | Sebastian Sallow Love Story

The Lost Child

Adelaide frowned, looking around the hamlet in Lower Hogsfield that was located south of Hogwarts. She was supposed to be meeting Sebastian and Ominis, but had sent them an owl that she'd be late because Natty needed to see her immediately. Sebastian was likely to be annoyed she hadn't waited for him to go, but she didn't want to waste any time.

She passed a villager who was conversing with a-she could only assume lover by the way she held onto him. "Theophilus Harlow came by here looking for Mr. Bickle. Very concerning."

Her husband scowled, "I would not want someone like Harlow looking for me, I can tell you that much."

Adelaide pretended not to be interested in their conversation and saw the Gryffindor student in front of a cottage. "You are here. Good."

"Is this Mr. Bickle's home?" She guessed from the earlier conversation with the villagers.

Natty nodded, "I believe so. He supposedly has evidence against Harlow. We need to speak with him."

"We need more evidence? The letter wasn't enough for Singer?" Adelaide asked confused.

The other girl shook her head and they walked closer to the house when they spotted a woman with greying hair, wearing a matching sage dress top and bottom.

"Where could Archie have gone?" She wailed, "If anything happens to him-"

Adelaide walked up to her, "Are you alright? We're looking for Mr. Bickle."

The older woman was now in hysterics. "My husband-is dead. He killed him."

"Oh-" Adelaide frowned, trying to console the woman, "I'm terribly sorry Mrs. Bickle. Who killed your husband?"

"Theophilus Harlow! I'm sure of it. He's been threatening my husband for weeks and-where is my son? Where is Archie?" She exclaimed as another sob racked through her body.

"You haven't seen him lately?"

Mrs. Bickle wiped a few tears from her face, "Archie was home with his father while I was out. His satchel's missing. Hopefully he's just gone wandering as he's prone to do..." a grim expression washed over her. "I hope he wasn't here when Harlow-when my husband-"

"Do you know which way Archie might have gone?" Adelaide asked, her voice a bit frantic. It was looking as if Archie was with Harlow.

The worried mother thought about this for a moment. "He has a little hide out in the forest south of here. He never wanders far, but if he witnessed Harlow doing something to his father... I'm afraid to leave-in case he comes back home."

Adelaide sighed inwardly. She might be little later than she thought meeting her favorite Slytherins. "We'll find your son, Mrs. Bickle." The confidence in her voice appeared to put the older woman a bit at ease.

"Thank you." She cried, sweeping her hair out of her face, "What am I going to do?"

"Please do not worry, Mrs. Bickle." Natty finally spoke up, "We will bring Archie home."

Natty and Adelaide started jogging towards the southern forest where Archie's hide out was reportedly located.

"When I took the letter we found to Officer Singer, she told me about Mrs. Bickle." Natty huffed beside her, "He had been doing the same thing we are-providing Officer Singer with evidence to take him down. I had hoped to speak with him about what he had found, but we-we were too late."

Adelaide gritted her teeth. How much damn evidence did Officer Singer need before she could start her own investigation. "What exactly did Officer Singer say about the letter you brought her?"

"She thanked me, but she clearly felt that it was not enough." Natty looked equally annoyed. "It is a shame that Hippogriffs cannot speak. Your friend Highwing could provide all the evidence against Harlow that we need. We need more."

After a few minutes of jogging, they came across a ransacked tent with toys, drawings, and parchments strewn across everywhere. "This must be little Archie's hideout that Mrs. Bickle mentioned." Louder, Natty called out, "Archie? Archie Bickle!" She looked around, "He would not have done this to his own hideout. Someone came here looking for him."

Adelaide nodded in agreement. Perhaps they could follow his footprints. She took out her wand, and waved it in one sweeping motion. "Revelio."

Golden little footsteps appeared.

"There!" Natty pointed at the trail. "Archie's footprints. He went this way." They followed the footsteps for a while before Natty spoke up again. "Men like Harlow would not think twice about killing a child. We must find Archie quickly."

She spotted something yellow in the trees up along the trail. It was...

"Archie's satchel." She realized with horror, "Why would he leave it behind?"

Natty examined with a grim expression. "He was likely running from Harlow-distracted." She glanced around, "I have a bad feeling about this. Harlow must have a reason for pursing Archie."

"I wonder what Archie saw." Adelaide thought out loud, "I hope he didn't see Harlow kill his father."

Natty's look darkened. "He would never overcome it. At least not in any way I can imagine."

They came to a fork in the road, but more frightening than that was the multiple set of footprints now.

"Harlow caught up to him here. This is not good." Adelaide sighed and gestured to the left, "They went this way."

Interestingly enough, they came across a field of Thestrals as they jogged along the path. She wasn't expecting Natty to say anything about them, nevertheless see them.

"Thestrals!" She exclaimed, "They are beautiful, are they not?"

"You can see Thestrals too?" She inquired, casting her a sideways glance.

Natty looked away at the question. "I witnessed death when I was nine. Saw my first Thestral shortly thereafter. I found comfort it in. I still do. I think those of us who have witnessed death deserve some comfort."

"I'm sorry you experienced something like that at so young an age." Adelaide murmured.

This seemed to give Natty the courage to speak more. "I was with my father when he died. My mother was away and I felt quite helpless." She paused, looking around. "It was a long time ago in some ways, but in other ways it seems like it was only yesterday. I still see him so clearly."

"You must miss him." Adelaide also missed her own father. And although it seemed like the girl beside her was opening up, Adelaide had no intention to. She was fine with having a small circle.

Natty nodded enthusiastically. "My father was a wonderful man." Her voice seemed to catch as she fought tears. "Let us keep moving. We must find Archie."

Adelaide saw a small encampment coming up that was full of Ashwinders. She nudged Natty, casting the Disillusionment charm. Natty nodded in agreement, quickly following the Slytherin's lead.

As they walked closer, she heard one of the Ashwinder Scout rambling. "Taking in children now, are we?! Better not be expected to feed him."

She knew Natty had some combat experience, but easily not as much as she had. She walked up behind the Scout and whispered "Petrificus Totalus."

Unfortunately, he tumbled over some crates and alerted the other occupants of their arrival. The Scout and Soldiers were rather easy to defeat. And being able to call upon her ancient magic really settled the score. She felt power flowing through her and she fought the urge to smile. She needed to focus on finding Archie.

Adelaide walked into the only tent, assuming they'd find him tied up quickly. But the tent was enchanted and it was incredibly large on the inside.

"I did not expect this tent to be so large on the inside. That complicates things a little." Natty took the words right out of her mouth.

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Shorter chapter, but I'll upload another one tonight.

Thank you for reading and please leave a comment!

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