Call Me Vengeful

Embry, Understanding?

Chapter Twenty-Six: Embry, Understanding?
***Bill's POV***

Just a few days. That was how long it had been since Harry and the others had apparated to Shell Cottage with the help of a house elf. After months of no one truly knowing where he, Ron, Hermione, or Embry were it was more than a relief to see them all in alright shape. That is, except for Embry.

Just as she had limped into the small cottage that Fleur and I had been hiding in since shortly after the wedding I could tell that she was in the worst shape. Over the past few years I had grown to know Embry as though she were a second younger sister to me. I had seen her in her happiness that first Christmas she spent with us at the Burrow, in the heartbreak following Cedric Diggory and Sirius' deaths, the brokenness of the summer after the Triwizard Tournament, and in the pure determination she had when she'd showed up at Private Drive in disguise to help move Harry. None of that truly seemed to match the pain that was evident in the way she was limping, though she kept her expression a neutral mask to try and hide her pain from everyone around her.

She was tough and that was why Hermione had followed behind me when I had taken her up to lay down the afternoon they'd arrived. She had casted a sleeping charm to try and ease her and in the days since then she has continued using the charm to, in a way, sedate Embry. Fleur and I kept listening to Hermione's reasoning that it was for the Embry not to feel too much pain, but we knew there was more. This was only confirmed when we woke up early this morning to find the golden trio and Griphook getting ready to apparate away from the cottage, without Embry in tow.

"'Vat are you 'our doing?" Fleur questioned them before they could apparate in front of us. At hearing my wife's sharp questioning voice they all looked over at us with wide eyes. It faintly reminded me of Mum's reaction when she'd seen the twins' O.W.L's.

"We were...going out for a stroll?" Ron tried, and failed miserably, to give us a decent lie.

"Try again." I crossed my arms over my chest, raising a brow at the four.

"We need to leave...there are things that we need to do." Hermione seemed to struggle to find the right words as she glanced between Ron and Harry.

"What about Embry?" I asked.

"Look, Embry's been a lot of help but she's hurt." Harry spoke up with a guilty look on his face. "We can't wait for her leg and back to heal and we're not letting her hurt herself even more by coming with us."

"Yeah, Mum would kill us if we did." Ron muttered. I couldn't help but crack a smile at my little brother's comment, knowing full well that it was true. Though they weren't her children by blood our Mum loved and cared for Harry, Hermione, and Embry as if she had given birth to them herself.

"'Vat are ve zuppozed to tell 'er ven she vakes up?" Fleur asked all of them. "Zhe von't be 'appy to know you left."

"We left a note in her room," Hermione informed us. "She'll be upset but she'll know why we left. She'll understand."

"Yes, because Embry's always been known for being understanding." I scoffed. "Do you three not remember the whole year that she went with barely saying a word to George after he was rude to Cedric?"

"Bill, Fleur, do either of you honestly want Embry coming back out there with us?" Hermione asked. I glanced at my wife at the same moment she glanced at me and I could see my own weariness being reflected in her eyes.

"Ve don't vant any of you to," Fleur answered her honestly. "Ve don't vant any of you to get 'urt."

"We'll be safe," Ron promised, though we all knew it was a hollow one. With everything that was going on in the wizarding world right now there was no such thing as safety and we all knew it. I crossed the room and pulled my younger brother into a hug, clearly catching him off guard.

"Be careful," I muttered to him as I pulled back and looked at all three of them, Griphook just stood off to the side awkwardly. "Mum will have my arse if something happens to any of you."

"Tell Embry that we're sorry." Hermione had a guilty look in her eyes as they all took each other's hands and I stepped back so I was by Fleur again. We only nodded and watched as they vanished before us with a loud 'crack'.

A/N: Short chapter but I've been busy with midterms and college applications. Sorry!!!!