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Chapter Four: The Awakening

Chapter Four: The Awakening

October 2nd, 2017

It took a while for her to open her eyes, almost as if someone was pressing her eyelids down, forcing her to stay asleep. After a few minutes of this, she managed to wake up properly, and look around her surroundings.

The first thing that hit her was how cold it was. She had no way of actually knowing what day it was, or month, but Rose knew that she was absolutely freezing. She was shivering, hunched over, her teeth literally chattering. Curling her arms around her in an effort to conserve body heat, she allowed her long red hair to cover most of her face, hoping to provide herself with an extra layer of insulation. It didn’t work.

She lay there for a while, huddled and shivering, before a voice broke through her daydreams and asked, “Are you alright?”

Jumping in her skin in surprise, Rose turned around, ready to try and take on whoever was there, before spotting a petite girl who was also in the same predicament as she was. She was holding out a few blankets, similar to the ones that were swathing her body, too.

"Not really, no. It's freezing, and I have no idea where I am." Rose replied, taking the blanket and wrapping it around her. "Is there any way to get warm here?"

"Well, there is, but it's dangerous." The younger girl said, looking around to see if anyone had heard her.

"What is it?" Rose asked, looking at the girl.

"Magic." She replied. "I can do magic. But it's dangerous. You could get hurt. I get hurt."

Not really what she wanted on her hands. A hurt child. “Well, don’t do that, obviously.” Rose said, slightly alarmed. ‘How about we just try and stay warm with these blankets?”

The girl nodded, and wrapped hers around her tighter. “What’s your name?”

“Rose. Rose Weasley. What’s yours?” Rose asked, looking at her.

“Freya. Freya Parkinson.” The girl whispered softly.

Parkinson. The name rang a bell, but Rose couldn’t quite recall where she had heard it from. A distant conversation from when she was a toddler and Hermione was pregnant with Hugo, when her parents were whispering about someone called... Pansy? And a person called Draco?

She was positive that she knew the name, but as she thought long and hard, the memory kept slipping through her fingers, vanishing the moment she was about to catch hold of it.

"How old are you, Freya?" Rose asked.

"Nine." Freya replied. "Ten in August."

"Well then, Freya, where are we?" Rose asked, looking around at her dismal surroundings.

"Some place in the countryside. The door is always locked, but they open it to being food in. When they do, you can catch a glimpse out of the window opposite. It looks like fields and countryside and stuff." Freya said slowly.

"Who are they?" Rose asked, curious now.

Freya hesitated, before replying, "The men and CC."

Freya was obviously scared, and Rose leaned closer, awkwardly giving her a hug. "Shh, it's alright." She soothed, noticing the girl was crying. "What's wrong?"

"They - they take you." Freya sobbed. "I don't know why, or how, but you vanish - and I'm all alone!"

"I'm here now, though." Rose said, a slightly bemused smile on her face. "And I'm not going anywhere. That's a promise."

"You won't leave me here alone?" Freya asked, looking up at Rose. "You'll stay with me?"

"Of course." Rose promised. "Always."

Looking at her watch, she was shocked to see that it was half eleven at night. She appeared to have been sleeping for days, judging by the state of her hair. Despite this, she still felt exhausted, as if her body had run a marathon while she was asleep.

"Just close your eyes." Rose said, helping the exhausted girl over to the small bed by the window. "It's time to sleep. You take the bed, and I'll have the floor."

"Are you sure? It's so cold, though." Freya replied, looking over at Rose.

"Don't worry." Rose assured her, settling down with her blanket. "I can look after you here. When it's morning, we'll swap over for a bit, to make it fair."

"Goodnight, Rose."

"Night, Freya."

~*~*~*~

Rose couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, fatigue refused to overcome her. Checking to her side, she spotted Freya was asleep. It still wasn't much warmer.

Even when she was a child, Rose was able to perform magic without a wand. Much to her father's dismay, her first sign of magic was when she set his hair on fire with blue flames when she was five. Her mother had been delighted, rewarding her with several sweets, which were normally prohibited, while Ron moaned about the damage to his hair. Even today, she could still perform the spell without a wand.

This was precisely what she was about to do. Conjuring the flames, she let them float around in the air, providing a warm light for the room. The effect was instantaneous. The small room felt much warmer, and Rose settled back, watching as the flames flickered and made patterns in the light. They weren't okay - no where near - but the fire helped, and Rose felt a little more assured of her safety. In the back of her head, she could hear someone singing a lullaby. The words were faint, but they soothed her, and she found herself drifting off to sleep.