the wrong choice // d.l.m.

fifty eight

"i want to go see xenophilius lovegood."

"sorry?"

hermione opened up a book and showed it to harry, "see this? it's a letter dumbledore wrote to grindelwald. look at the signature. it's the mark again. it keeps cropping up. in beedle the bard, in the graveyard in godric's hollow."

y/n looked at hermione curiously as harry said, "it was there, too. outside gregorovitch's wand shop."

"what does it mean?" y/n asked as she didn't quite understand.

"listen, we don't know where the next horcrux is. but this, this means something. i'm sure of it." hermione said as she looked between the three.

"yeah, hermione's right." ron said making y/n gently roll her eyes, "we ought to see lovegood. let's vote on it. those in favor?"

y/n raised an eyebrow at ron as he held up his hand awkwardly, "we're not voting, you dimwit. i think it's a good idea and if it gets us closer to another horcrux then i reckon we leave as soon as possible."

~

"you're not still mad at him, are you?" y/n asked through a smile as she walked next to hermione.

hermione chuckled, "i'm always mad at him."

the four stood in a large open field, staring out at a house in the distance. they finally approached the door and hermione knocked loudly before stepping back.

a blonde man opened the door and stared at them, "what is it? who are you? what do you want?"

"hello, mr. lovegood. i'm harry potter. we met a few months ago." harry said as he walked up towards the open door, "could we come in?"

the man nodded and led them inside cautiously, offering them cups of tea. y/n accepted grateful, just happy to have something warm to drink.

they sat around the man as he played with his cup. "where is luna?" hermione asked after an awkward silence.

"luna?" xenophilius asked as if he didn't understand, "she'll be along. so, how can i help you, mr. potter?"

harry sat his cup down and y/n eyed the mysterious man wearily. she had wanted to leave as soon as she stepped inside of the house, something felt tremendously off.

"well, actually, it was about something you were wearing around your neck at the wedding. a symbol." harry said as the man lifted a necklace from his chest.

"you mean this?"

"yes." harry said as he touched the necklace gently, "that exactly. what we've wondered is, what is it?"

"what is it? wells, it's the sign of the deathly hallows, of course."

y/n's eyes went wide as she heard those words. her father used to tell her stories about the hallows when she was younger, but as she grew older she forgot about them quickly.

"the what?" harry and hermione asked.

"the deathly hallows." y/n repeated as all eyes turned towards her.

xenophilius nodded, "yes, yes. i assume you're all familiar with "the tale of the three brother", right?"

y/n, ron and hermione said yes whilst harry said no. hermione grabbed her bag before reaching inside, "i have it in here."

she grabbed the book before beginning to read along to the pages. y/n didn't pay attention to the words hermione read, she was too focused on watching the man that sat in front of them. he was jittery and looked as if he were waiting for something.

after hermione finished, xenophilius then excused himself as he walked down the stairs, claiming that he was going to make fresh tea. y/n gathered the others and led them down as well, she knew that they needed to leave.

"thank you, sir." hermione said, "we really should be going."

y/n jumped as the man threw down dishes and screamed, "no, you can't!" he ran towards the door and blocked it with his body.

"mr. lovegood?" y/n said as she watched him.

"you're my only hope." the blonde man cried, "they were angry, you see, about what i'd been writing. so they took her. they took my luna! my luna. but it's really you they want."

"who took her, sir?" harry asked.

xenophilius was silent for a moment before spitting, "voldemort."

just after those words, black trails of smoke flew towards the house, throwing out spells and curses. y/n and the others dropped to the ground as they tried to take cover. hermione crawled towards the others and held out her hand. everyone grabbed it and she quickly apparated them away.

"that treacherous little bleeder." ron said as he stood up, "is there no one we can trust?"

y/n stood up as well, dusting away dirt and leaves from her hair and clothes, "they took his daughter."

ron sighed, "i'll do the enchantments."

y/n walked with hermione before coming to a stop. a death eater stood in front of them. "hello, beautiful." the man said as he looked at both of them.

y/n pulled hermione's arm to turn her away but stopped as she noticed a dozen more death eaters. they were outnumbered and fighting them didn't seem like an option.

the four turned and ran in the opposite direction, running as fast as they possibly could. y/n pulled out her wand from her pocket as she ran, sending spells out to snatchers that were behind her.

before she knew it, a chain was wrapped around her body and she fell to the ground harshly, slicing her cheek on a stick. she winced in pain and watched as a man walked up next to her.

"well, well, well. what do we have here?" the man asked through a wicked smile.

"you bloody, dirty, twisted twat!" y/n yelled as she felt blood run down her cheek.

the man laughed and leaned down, wiping some blood away with his thumb. y/n's chest heaved up at his touch and she quickly whipped her head away.

the man released the chains and held onto her tightly, walking her back over towards the others.

"what's your name?" scabior asked as he looked at harry.

"dudley. vernon dudley." harry said. y/n noticed his face had been morphed and she sighed in contentment, knowing that now he was hardly recognizable.

"and you, gorgeous? what do they call you?" the man asked as he approached y/n.

"josephine frost." she said as she stared angrily into his eyes.

the man was pulled away as another spoke up, "there's no vernon dudley on here."

scabior approached harry and used his wand to move some hair away from his forehead, "change of plan. we're not taking this lot to the ministry. we're taking them to the manor."