Voltaic Falling

38

She did not know where she was flying, but her powers thrummed inside of her, leading to an opening at a forest. She struck the ground and immediately fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. 

Fenrir Greyback. Bellatrix Lestrange. Both the persons, no matter how wretched they were, still persons, she took the life out of their eyes. She was no better than them. 

She was a cold-blooded killer. How could she be so morally grey that she did not even doubt on killing them both? Sobs racked the forest until rapid footsteps followed. She crawled into a ball, launching a protective dome around her. 

"Blimey, that's Beatrice, Harry! She's hurt! She's bleeding! Get Ron!", a frantic Hermione Granger tried to talk through the currents. 

"Beatrice. Listen to me. You are safe. We are in the forest of dean. You blasted through our charms and barriers. We are here. You found us, please stop your currents! We need to help you! Beatrice Listen!"

Soon, her domes came crashing down and Hermione ran to her, inspecting the damage. Her wrists. Merlin, even in her years of trouble, Hermione hadn't seen such carnage. Her wrists were slit open with the shape of the manacles still in them. The wound gushed blood as Hermione reached to put pressure. 

Beatrice couldn't feel anything. She felt numb. 

Soon, a blanket was draped on her, and Harry took her face, saying something. Everything sounded like gibberish to her. She couldn't even make out anything coming out from her brother's mouth. 

"Ron, bring me my bag, I may have stashed more of her potion! Please, Ron, go!", Hermione continued. 

"Beatrice, look at me! How are you here? What happened to you? you were missing for almost a month! Blimey, Mione, her wrists", a Harry Potter said with tears evident in his eyes. 

Never would he imagine the strongest person he knew at this point. There was a fire in her eyes, but it seemed to be so far away. He was scared for his sister. He knew that the bruises around her body held proof enough. She had been tortured. 

Ron barged into the clearing with the potion in hand. He gently lifted the woman's trembling body into his lap. He had to force-feed her the potion. Hermione had to get up and run into a tree, kneeling to take a breath. She had seen too much. It all felt like too much. 

Just moments before, Ron had splinched and they were arguing until they felt their magical barriers come down and blinding light. 

Ron had to lift the small bruised body of Beatrice Black and carry her to the tent into his bed. She had to take care of her, he owed her that for protecting them at Hogwarts, but he still needed Bill to be happy. 

He couldn't imagine Bill if Beatrice were to die right here. He couldn't imagine his lively brother being a shell of himself. If he lost Tris, a part of him would die with her too. The golden trio hoped the girl made it through the night. 

"We should have had taken her with us, or at least fought for her. We owed her that much. We let her get tortured by bloody Voldemort and his people. What did she have to endure there? This is our fault. Beatrice should have been here with us. She would have figured everything out. We were cowards. We left her there", Harry seethed as he paced. 

Hermione still had her hands on her head, sobbing. The woman she looked up to seemed so broken, all because they impatiently left. They left her behind. 

Ron pushed through the flaps of the tent, exhausted. He held his wand tightly. Salazar Slytherin's locket in full view. 

"All right, I'll spit it out. Don't expect me to skip up and down because now there's some other damn thing we've got to find. Look at Beatrice! She might as well be dead for tomorrow. She won't last the night, even with her potion", Ron said seething his words with venom.