Extinguished 🩵 Harry Potter [2]

xi ⟶ More Light And Light

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xi. More Light And Light
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THE SECOND HER feet land on the ground, a piercing shriek cleaves though her already dizzy head. She's exhausted, starving and her mouth is as dry as sand as her heart rate picks up again, and feels as though it rattles through her entire body.

She looks at the Three Broomsticks, light and warm in the otherwise-dark street, and horror fills her as a dozen Death Eaters, hidden by cloaks and hoods pour out, one of them waving their wand to bring the alarm to a halt.

Thea gives Ron a look as though to say don't be so utterly stupid when he pulls his wand out, presumably to Stun them, and Harry grabs his wrist to stop him.

"Accio Cloak!"

Her fear melts a little when the Summoning Charm doesn't work on their only protection.

"Not under your wrapper then, Potter? Spread out. He's here."

The four of them back away as the Death Eaters move from their tight cluster towards them.

"Let's just leave! Disapparate now!"

"Great idea," Ron replies to Hermione.

Thea shakes her head frantically, about to tell them that they need to get into Hogwarts tonight, or they're just delaying the impossible if they run away, but a sharp voice cuts over her.

"We know you're here, Potter, and there's no getting away! We'll find you! What about Dementors?"

"We're going to have to try and Disapparate, Harry!" Hermione whispers frantically.

But Thea tunes out from Hermione's voice. Every millimetre of her body fills with a cold hopelessness, bleeding out across her chest and plaguing her head with a hazy, black tar, as her thoughts slow down and turn gloomy, and become a tangled web of darkness ready to trap her. She feels someone grab her hand, and she's dragged around in a circle as they turn to Disapparate, but they don't move. They stay firmly in Hogsmeade, as though they've been tied to the hourglass, watching the sand trickle into its underbelly with nothing to do but watch.

She stumbles over the others as they fumble down the dark streets, and it's then that she sees them, the cloaked, rattling figures gliding over them. The strength drains from her, and the thoughts are about to stop altogether, when Harry's voice breaks through, tiny and whispering.

"Expecto patronum!"

Light explodes from his wand, twisting and gliding into a stag. It prances before them, taking out the Dementors like bowling pins. If Thea wasn't so slow and clogged up, she'd be bursting with pride.

"It's him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!"

Thea's ready to swear under her breath, fully convinced that they're utterly screwed, as she hears a creak of metal bolts and a door opens.

A low, gruff voice speaks to them.

"Potter, in here, quick!"

Thea hasn't a clue why they're trusting this guy; they can't even see him! She realises, however, that there's no time to argue, so she follows blindly, not letting go of Harry's hand as she does.

"Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, keep quiet!"

Thea hears the person leave, shutting the door loudly and leaving them alone. She recognises the place almost straight away, jolting back to her fifth year, when she and Dean had come into Hogsmeade for the DA meeting at the Hog's Head. She smiles a little, her heart swelling with nostalgia, the amount of time that has passed since then lingering like a heavy fog within her.