The Secret Cousin

Chapter 23: Five Steps Backwards

George was beginning to wonder where his brother was. It had been over two hours since Fred and Emalia went off together, and no one had seen them since. George shook his head and decided to go look for him. Just as he stepped out of the portrait, when he found his twin wandering aimlessly with a look of pure confusion on his face.

'Fred?'

Fred looked at him, his eyes only briefly focusing on him, before they unfocused again. George grabbed his brother and pulled him into the common room and sat him down in one of the armchairs. 'Mate.... What happened?' George asked concern all over his face.

Fred managed to focus on his brother and sighed 'She cast a spell on me.'

George sat down opposite his twin 'Emalia?' Fred nodded absentmindedly.

'But why? Why would she do that?' Fred's eyes unfocused again. George was worried, he turned around and spotted his older brother. 'Charlie! Oi Charlie, come here!'

Charlie sighed and got up from the pile of books surrounding his seat at the table, he was stressed about his upcoming NEWTs.

'What's up George?' Charlie looked at his brother, and then to his other brother. A smile broke out on his face and he began to chuckle.

'What are you laughing at Charlie? Something is wrong with Fred!' huffed George. 

Charlie laughed 'He's been confunded, he must have annoyed someone. He'll be fine in a few hours, just don't let him do anything stupid. It's probably best if you put him to bed George.'

George sighed. He got up and took a hold of his twin's arm and led him to his dorm and put him into bed. He had to move some furniture around so Fred wouldn't send it flying if he decided to walkabout, not that he had to worry about that; Fred stayed staring at the ceiling his eyes constantly going in and out of focus. George left the dormitory and went back down to the Common Room to wait to confront Emalia about this.

Hours later Emalia woke up in the Forbidden Forest, disoriented and momentarily scared because of the darkness and unfamiliar surroundings. Yet she felt safe. It was strange. Until she looked around, she was faintly glowing and was moments away from freaking out until she noticed that she was not alone.

Lying beside her was a small herd of unicorns. They had encased her almost, protecting her from the darkness and keeping her warm. She sat up slowly, one of the unicorns nuzzled her gently and she dissolved into tears. Her sobs becoming louder and louder. The familiarity of the pain she was now beginning to associate with feeling, began to encase her, and she slowly shifted into the harpy like creature once more. The small unicorn herd nuzzled against her, projecting her not just from what was outside them, but from herself.

This time she did not pass out, and minutes after she got a hold of her emotions, she turned back to her own human self. She felt better, emotionally at least. When she stood up a wave of tiredness hit her, as if sensing that Emalia was not feeling totally herself, the unicorns banded around her urging her forwards. By the time she reached the edge of the forest, she had gained more strength, she turned to those who helped her and pet them gently.

'Thank you' she whispered. 

They whinnied, turned their backs on her and disappeared into the dark depths of the forest. Emalia inhaled deeply and braced herself for the walk back to the castle. She was unsure of the time but judging by the darkness that surrounded her she was sure it was definitely past curfew.

By some stroke of luck, she managed to evade any prefects or teachers who were on patrol that night. She arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was less than pleased to be woken up. 'Hippogriff' whispered Emalia hurriedly, looking around to make sure no one was around.