Fire and Ice (Book 2)

Chapter 10 - Wrong

ROSE'S POV-

Waiting is a boring, tedious thing that absolutely tears you apart. The future is undetermined and that's enough to make anyone lose their mind. Waiting for Al and Alice was the hardest and most painful thing I've ever endured. When Scorpius and I first got back from the Ministry of Magic I was optimistic. "Maybe they just apparated to the wrong place." I told myself. But the hours ticked by and the hope ran out. I didn't eat, sleep, or do anything really. I just stayed curled up next to Scorpius waiting. And as I've already said, waiting is awful.

The first few hours were the most bearable. We talked and tried to distract ourselves from what was really going on. By the fourth hour I remembered something. In the Department of Mysteries I grabbed the inventory list! "I completely forgot!" I cried as I pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of my pocket. "You got it?" Said a shocked Scorpius. "Yeah, I did. I guess I just forgot about it." I said as I trailed off. "Well, open it!" Said Scorpius. "It wouldn't feel right without Al and Alice." I said feeling guilty. "They'd understand. Just do it." He commanded. Sighing I unfolded the inventory list and scanned the page. When I realized what was marked missing I almost threw up. The reality started to settle in and fear took over. I knew what Lucius was going to do. It was obvious. If we don't stop him he has the power to ruin everything.

"What is it? What did Lucius steal?" Scorpius asked eagerly. When I stayed silent he snatched the paper out of my hands. His eyes widened and he put his arm around me. "How are we going to beat this?" I asked. "I don't know. But we'll figure it out." He said. I took a deep breath. "A bloody time turner. If he uses it to go to far back then we could cease to exist." I cried. "I just don't know how he got a hold of one. As far as I know they were all destroyed." Scorpius said. "I thought so too." I said.

We lay together not speaking for hours. My brain was going into overdrive. If not to turn back time then why steal a time turner? After learning my mother used one in her third year, I did my fair share of research. I don't know how far back in time Lucius is planning on traveling but as far as I know the farthest you can go back without harming yourself is 5 hours. I'm predicting Lucius wants to go back to when Voldemort was alive. After all he was his master. The battle of Hogwarts was about 26 years ago. It's impossible to go that far back. Well, I'm sure it's not impossible, but it would be hard to do without killing yourself. Of course, this is all guesswork. For all I know, Lucius could only want to go back to yesterday to save the piece of cake he dropped on the floor. But the chances of that being the case are slim to nothing.

I tried to sleep but couldn't. Like any other human, in bad situations I tend to come up with the worst possible scenarios. Al and Alice's dead bodies seemed to have painted themselves onto the insides of my eyelids. Every time I close my eyes I see them bloodied and mangled. So I stopped trying to sleep. It was pointless. And I waited to feel hungry but I just couldn't eat knowing my two best friends could be dead.

Around the eleventh hour it started to rain. But it wasn't just a drizzle. It was a full on thunder storm. The lights began to flicker and the walls started to shake. Scorpius pulled me closer to him and kissed the top of my head. "What do you think happened to them?" I asked. "I don't know. They're probably fine." He assured me. It didn't really sound like he believed himself. "We should go back to the Ministry. What if they got captured by aurors!" I cried. "I highly doubt that. And even if that did happen they have the visiting passes. We'll get the Daily Prophet in a few hours and then we'll see what they're saying about the break in. We left a lot of damage behind so it's not like they can keep it a secret." He said.

3 hours later I heard a peck on the window. I opened it up and an owl flew in. It dropped the Daily Prophet on the table and left. After closing the window I grabbed the newspaper and went to go wake up a sleeping Scorpius. He had fallen asleep about an hour ago while I was reading. He awoke after I gently shook him. "What happened." He slurred sleepily. "Nothing. But the Prophet just came and I thought you'd want to read it with me." I said. He rubbed the sleep out of his  eyes and sat up. "What's it say?" He asked. I unfolded it and scanned the front page.