Marooned - Fred Weasley

Chapter 74: Forest of Dean

AN

I suggest getting cozy and pressing play on "O Children" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds for this one, setting it on a loop to get soaked in the ambiance.

I've always loved the dancing scene between Harry and Hermione in the movies. I remember watching it as a kid and thinking "That's the kind of friendship I want." It was such a special moment, a simple fragment of peace. The Harry Potter universe has always been my safe place and getting to mentally enter it for this specific moment, and write out the scene with my own character incorporated is deeply personal and just...it meant a lot. I could see it so clearly in my head, hopefully I wrote it well enough for you to go through it, too.

As always, lots of love,

s

__

"THAT WAS MENTAL!" yelled Selena the second her feet hit the ground. "Mental! We just got attacked by bloody giant snake!"

Selena didn't like snakes. Her friends and George knew that, which is why when she stormed off into the forest while cringing, they gave her a minute to calm down.

"I reckon you'd be the same if we encountered an acromantula," Fred told Sarah, squeezing her shoulder and smiled when he felt her shudder at the word.

The whole landscape was white. There was snow everywhere, Sarah felt her the corner of her mouth curl up. It was beautiful, peaceful, never minding the fact they just escaped another attack meant to kill them. It was becoming routine at this point.

Harry wandered off by the lake next to them, the wind carrying the freezing water downstream. He was still shook from what he just went through, and Hermione had curled up against a tree, clutching a book and staring blankly at the ground.

"Let's set up the tent, Georgie," offered Fred, eyeing the group.

A lot of it was done in silence. In a short space of time, Fred lifted the tent poles with a wand movement and George took care of staking the tent into the ground, most likely charmed the spikes so they stay in place because the ground was frozen.

Afterwards, they knew the drill. They had to change and dress warmly for the night. With the time spent packing up and Godric's Hollow, they hadn't ate much today. Sarah thought regretfully of Ron, who would have reminded them of that constantly. She wouldn't have heard the end of it for letting them all starve today.

She was worried for him, out there, all alone. She hoped he'd found his way back to his family somehow, just like he wanted and he was safe.

Having experienced first hand the effects of the locket, she knew in his mind everything he said was bitter, partly true, and she knew he was right about Fred, George and Selena getting caught up in all this without meaning to. They should be with the Order right now, not with her and two other teenagers, achieving the spectacular, which would be not to be killed.

It wasn't fair, a lot, if anything, wasn't fair right now, she knew that.

As soon as they could walk inside the tent, she took out the small pot and pointed her wand at it.

"Aguamenti," water shot out of Sarah's wand, still a grim and sinking feeling in her chest. Hermione made her way towards her and Selena, disclosing of some information from a book she picked out of that house, something about a certain Grindelwald.

"It is really tragic for the real Bathilda. No one was there for her, she died alone, and now she's still alone..." Sarah pursed her lips thoughtfully, her two friends mirrored her desolated look, knowing there wasn't much they could do.