Weasley Charm | Fred Weasley

Chapter 7-9: Xenophilius Lovegood

It didn't take much convincing for Ron to follow the Patronus and the orb. He was just about as desperate as Delaney to find Harry and Hermione again, if not more. They started their travels by leaving Bill and Fleur a quick note and apparating to where the orb brought them. It brought them to a forest, which was to be expected. Harry and Hermione tried their hardest to keep out of town with the bounty put on Harry's head.

They had been following the orb and Fred's Patronus for a day and a half now. Of course, they took time to eat and sleep when needed. Ron's anxiety, however, seemed to get worse as time went on. It was clear he was worried about both of them, however, he expressed more worry for Hermione.

"Delaney, be honest, do you think we'll be able to find them?" Ron asked, who was walking sluggishly behind Delaney.

"I think if we keep following the orb, it will lead us to them," Delaney nodded. She just hoped that it wouldn't take as long as Ron was anticipating it would.

"I think I just might go mad if we spend another day walking through this forest," Ron whined.

"Ron, if you want to find them, then we have to keep going," Delaney turned to face him. By this time in the day, the sky had darkened, and the temperature had dropped below freezing.

"Okay, well, can we at least set up camp for tonight?" Ron asked.

Delaney looked around at the empty, snow-filled forest. It wouldn't hurt for them to go ahead and get set for the night. "Fine, we can set up camp."

"Oh, thank god. I haven't been able to feel my feet for hours," Ron sighed in relief.

"Hey, where's the orb going?" Delaney asked, pointing to the blue orb that began floating away. Usually, the orb would only move when they started moving. Ron and Delaney looked at each other with the same confused expression on their face before Delaney began following it.

"Delaney, are you barking mad?" Ron asked, slinging his bag back on his back before he began following her.

"Ron, it's obviously trying to show us something," Delaney said back to him.

"What could it possibly be-" Ron began but was cut off by the thrashing of water ahead of them. Delaney abruptly stopped walking. The orb hovered over the opening of the small pond before completely disappearing. Someone was clearly struggling just beneath the ice.

Delaney's eyes began surveying the scene before they locked on a pile of clothes and a familiar wand.

"Ron, that's Harry's clothes," Delaney said in a panicked voice. She only knew because that was Harry's favorite shirt. He wore it any chance he could. That's why the orb disappeared because they found them. Suddenly the thrashing stopped all together sending panic through Delaney.

"Bloody hell, what has he gotten himself into this time?" Ron asked sarcastically, quickly kicking his shoes off before jumping into the icy water. Within seconds, Ron returned to the surface with Harry unconscious in his arms. "Delaney, help me get him out of the water. There's something else down here."

Delaney hurried onto the ice, careful not to slip, as she pulled Harry from Ron's arms. Luckily, Harry was quite scrawny, which made it easier for Delaney to pull him out of the water and onto the snowbank.

"Harry? Harry! Wake up!" Delaney shouted, slapping his cheeks in hopes of getting any reaction from him. Ron quickly dived back down in the water to retrieve whatever else he saw in the water. Delaney had resulted in doing CPR, occasionally giving mouth to mouth to allow fresh oxygen into Harry's lungs. "Harry, if you wake up I'm going to personally murder you for putting me into this distress."