The Heart Of A Lion (A Charlie Weasley Love Story)

14. Romania

"Mom! She's not here!"

"What are you on about, George? Where would she have gone?"

"Tonks and I have an idea of where she might be..."

"She didn't go after Charlie, did she? She wouldn't do that, right?"

"She absolutely would, Mom. And she has."

***

At that exact moment, as the Weasleys now had two family members missing, Imogen was sat in a train in Romania. She had Apparated to Sibiu and was now on her way to Anina, where the poachers' head quarters was rumoured to be located – and where she was hoping to find Charlie. She felt terrible about having left the Burrow without telling anyone, but she needed to find him and make sure he was alright.

Imogen had no clue what she was going to do once the train arrived in Anina; she had not really planned the whole thing through. She could vaguely remember the motel's name that Charlie had spoken about, but it was another thing to find it in a completely new city. But what choice did she have?

Two hours later, the train finally arrived at its destination. Imogen jumped onto the platform and looked around for some sort of map. She clutched onto her small purse as a stream of people walked by, and then spotted a help desk with a pile of maps on a rack. She walked over and grabbed one, then headed out of the platform and to the streets of Anina.

It was beautiful: there were small streets, cute houses and gorgeous mountains – she could definitely see why a dragon crime organization would want to build their head quarters there.

Imogen looked down at her map – it had all of the hotels and motels marked on it, as well as some cafes, restaurants and historical monuments. She scanned the map with her eyes, trying to figure out which of the motels was the one Charlie had spoken about. 

And then she spotted it – there it was, only a few streets away from her, Appleby Bed & Breakfast. According to Charlie, the place was kept by a British wizard called Gregory Appleby. Imogen rolled up the map and headed down the street to the motel.

***

Meanwhile at the Burrow, the Weasley family and Tonks were sat in the living room, an awkward silence floating around them. Mrs. Weasley was crestfallen and mumbled something to herself on the couch while Mr. Weasley paced around the room. The children were sat on the floor or on the sofas, unsure about what they should do. The silence was broken by the sound of the front door shutting. Mrs. Weasley looked up and rushed to the kitchen, followed by Mr. Weasley, Bill and Tonks.

"Imogen?" Mrs. Weasley breathed as she stepped into the kitchen. She gasped when she saw Charlie stood in the door frame; she ran up to him and hugged him tight, the boy looking beyond perplexed.

"Where's Imogen?" he rushed to ask, his eyes darting between Tonks and Bill.

"She went after you", Bill breathed, bemused as well: "Left at night, didn't say anything. Where were you?"

Charlie looked like he'd been hit in the head with a broomstick. "Diagon Alley. Where did she go?" He had already put his jacket back on, ready to head straight back out the door.

"We don't know", Tonks said, but gave him a meaningful look and nodded her head back. Charlie and Bill followed her out of the room, and they stopped at the top of the stairs.

"You didn't tell them?" Charlie whispered to Tonks, then cast an uncertain glance at Bill: "Does he know?"

"I do, and I must say, you two are crazy", he replied, shaking his head: "We think she went to Romania – she was crushed when she found out you where gone... she thought you'd left without her."