The War | The Sister Book #4 | Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter Fifteen

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"Shit,"

Wherever we are, it's not raining. It's raining where they are. I open my mouth to yell at him but I don't know what to say. I just shake my head. I can't believe he- And now we're both-

"What are we going to do? And if you say apparate back I've got some news for you..." I snap, taking a step towards him and cursing as I stumble onto my knees, pain spraying up my leg and into my hip, along my scar. 

"Your brother is going to kill me..." Ron mutters, walking over to me and looping an arm under mine, pulling me to my feet. 

"You should have let him!"

Ron sighs, taking off his bag and passing it to me. "I'll do the protection charms."

"We're just going to camp here?!"

"Do you have any better ideas, Clara?!" Ron snaps, and I sigh. He nods. "Now sit down and don't make your leg any worse." 

I scowl, looking away from him and into the darkness around us. I drop Ron's bag to my side, limping around the clearing we've landed in and collecting fallen branches to make a fire. We have to stay warm. Despite how dry the ground is, it's cold, and every now and then a gust of wind rushes through me, making me shiver. 

I put my collection of firewood in a small pile, scraping the dry leaves away from the edges so the fire can't spread so easily, and piling them on top. I take out my wand, glancing up to see Ron approaching through the shadows, and he sighs, seeing what I've collected. I roll my eyes,

"Incendio," I whisper, watching as small, meek flames start to curl around the twigs and leaves, bathing our faces in golden light. 

Ron sits down opposite me, warming his hands over the fire and eyeing the woodland around us with a look of suspicion. I reach over to his back, pushing it off my book and picking it up. I open it to the page I was up to, the one I was reading back in the tent. I pause,

"It was the locket, Ron, that made you say those things, wasn't it?"

He clears his throat, looking over at me, "Yes." He groans, putting his face in his hands, "I'm a bloody idiot, and now look what I've done, I-"

"Go to sleep, we'll talk in the morning," I say, my voice level. I would love to punch him in the gut for what he did, but I know he's sorry. Punching him will just slow us both down. 

Ron folds a shirt to use as a pillow, lying down and closing his eyes. I sigh, opening The Fellowship Of The Ring again, and beginning to read. I squint in the dim, flickering light of the campfire, but the words wash over me, and the fear and anger start to numb. We'll be okay. We'll find our way back. 

xxx

I wake up next to the remainder of a fire, my clothing slightly damp, curled into a ball around a book. A dim blue light is illuminating the woodland now, from a rising sun. I blink in the cold morning air, pushing myself up, blinking at the landscape around us. The slope we fell down stretches upwards behind Ron, a mess of shrubs and brown and grey autumn leaves. I glance down at the book I'm cradling, wondering for a moment, am I near him? How far away is he now? Where on earth are we?

I can't apparate, we discovered, as I end up either exactly where I started or only a few metres away. I can't go to locations, I can't picture them, so we gave up and decided Hermione was the one for the job. Ron is alright, but it can be messy, he's hurt himself a few times, and we don't know where they are, or where we are. 

I sigh, biting my lip and shivering as a gust of icy air hits me, going straight through my clothes, my very skin, chilling my very core. I close my eyes, listening to the rushing of the wind through the leaves, the sound of the trees creaking, of the snapping of branches- 

I frown, a strange, muffled sound coming from the distance. A voice. Low, male, accompanied by the sound of leaves underfoot. I stand, walking around the fire to where Ron lies and hitting him lightly with the book as the voices grow closer. He frowns, sitting up, just as one of the men say something particularly loud. He glances up at me with wide eyes, standing quickly.

I pass him his bag, and he fumbles, stuffing his shirt in, and as he throws the rucksack over his shoulder I shove my book in on top, doing up the buckle that holds it closed. The voices are closer now, I can make out bits of conversation. Ron and I hesitate, unsure as to whether to stay put or move on. 

If we stay, there's a chance Ron's protective spells didn't work, and judging by how clear their voices are, I think it's there's a pretty good chance. If we move, and the spells did work, all of a sudden we're out in the open. 

I slowly take out my wand, grabbing Ron's wrist and backing away from where the voices are approaching from. I walk slowly, eyeing the slope and waiting for them to appear. Just as I see three dark figures appear at the top, Ron grabs my hand, pulling me back, down through the woodland where the ground slopes downwards towards what sounds like a river. I grab him and pull him behind a large, low tree, lying low on the ground. 

"What're this here then?" One of the men, the tallest says, walking over to what's left of our campfire and I frown, I swear I've seen them before...

A man with shaggy brown hair sneers at it, his eyes flashing with excitement, "Is it warm?" 

I can hear Ron's hurried breathing, and I know he's blaming himself for this because his enchantments didn't work. My eyes widen when I realise where I've seen the three before; That night a few weeks ago, when I had been searching for firewood. I'd seen them, carrying a kid. They're snatchers. 

They kick at the ground where we slept, eyeing the surrounding treeline. 

One of them stops, their eyes widening, and I realise they've seen us.

"There you are," He growls,

Ron grabs my arm, yanking me backwards and we kick off at a run. 

xxx

Yeet idk how long this upload streak will last but I'm back again