Enemies - Fred Weasley X OC

Run

~Zephyra~

My voice was gone now. Whenever the curse hit me all I could do was open my mouth in a silent wail. My arm hurt, I'd broken it I think, but how or when I'm not sure. I wanted it to be over. I didn't care how, just for it to stop. 

People all merged into one. I was unsure of who everyone was, as my eyes swam in and out of focus and I felt perpetually light headed.

The worst was the shaking. It made my whole body scream in pain but I couldn't stop it. It made it hard to move. Hard to sleep. How long does it take to die from exhaustion?

Someone was touching my arm, whispering to me. It hurt when they touched me, but I don't think the person was trying to cause me pain. What were they saying? I focussed as much as I could on the voice.

" - you have to run. Drink this it will help." And a vial of something was put in my mouth. I knew that voice - it was my mothers, so I didn't fight her and drank whatever it was. It tasted familiar, like a mixture of pain potion and pepper-up. I did feel better, almost immediately, so for the first time in a long while I opened my swollen eyes.

The blurry face of my mother broke into a relieved smile. She looked worse than I remember ever seeing her, dark bags under her eyes and her hair falling dishevelled around her.

"Zephyra, you must stand and leave," she said firmly, "the front doors are unlocked, you just need to get far enough away from the house to disapparate. It will be hard to focus but you have to try - please don't splinch yourself. Do you have your wand?"

"Mum," I tried to say but nothing came out. She seemed to know what I was trying to say though, as she took my cheek and continued to whisper.

"Go somewhere safe. Draco's sending a letter to your Weasley's, they'll be expecting you. I'll take Draco away for the rest of the Summer so we wont be here either. I'll train him at Occlumency - no one will ever know we helped you, just that a house elf didn't lock the doors behind them. Do you have your wand?"

I reached to my side and the corset I was still wearing. I felt along it and felt the familiar ridge of my wand. I nodded haphazardly, body aching despite the pain potion.

"Good. You should be able to apparate then. Come on, Zephy, get up."

I stood, mum helping me. It hurt. Everything hurt. I'm sure I'd have screamed if I had any voice left.

My legs trembled and threatened to give out below me but they held. She helped me to the door and opened them. Outside there was a downpour, the ground looked sodden, the wind caught my hair. It must've been the middle of the night.

"I love you, Zephy."

An overwhelming dread filled me for a moment. What would happen to her? Would my family be alright if I left now, or would the Dark Lord hurt them too? 

I took in her face. The dark, scared eyes and the messy hair. She was already hurting - and it hurt to think more than that. I had to trust that she wouldn't be putting herself or Draco or father in danger by doing this, but even in my delirious state I struggled to believe it.

"I love you too," I mouthed.

And it was only because of what she'd said about taking Draco away that I was able to push myself from her grip. I swayed for a moment but then stood tall. For the first time, I was thankful for that damned corset, as it seemed to be helping me keep my back upright.

With a last glance, the light from the house vanished, as mother closed the doors. I put all my effort into walking. Just one foot in front of the other.