|Red ➼ Fred Weasley|

➼chapter 7; figures and fires

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Magnolia cursed under her breath as she watched Serena get swallowed up by the thick crowd. Both her and Iyla wanted to go back for them, but Magnolia knew they'd only get lost, or possibly separated themselves. So she pulled Iyla along and ran toward the edge of the forest.

Serena ran as fast as her legs could carry her through the swarm of people. No one parted for her, painfully banging into her shoulders. 'I'm so going to be bruised tomorrow.' Serena thought as she surged forward, unwilling to stop until she reached her friend.

She caught a glimpse of a familiar figure laying on the ground a foot away. Finally reaching the edge of the crowd, Serena's foot got caught on someone's ankle, causing her to fall. She collided with the ground, arm cut open on a shard of glass sticking up in the mud. Even though she was bleeding, Serena didn't waste a minute, abruptly standing up and racing toward the person on the ground.

Kneeling in front of an abandoned tent, Serena finally found her best friend, teeth gritted in pain as silent tears poured down her face. "Mona! Are you alright?" A look of horror reached her face. "Oh my gosh, did you hit your head again?!"

The latter took in a sharp breath before pointing at the right leg she was tightly holding onto. Serena followed her gaze; Ramona's ankle was twisted to the left, bruising purple and swelling fast. "How did that happen?" Serena gasped, then shook her head. "We've got to get out of here."

Keeping a firm arm underneath Ramona's shoulder, she helped lift the girl onto her working leg. Looking behind her, she saw the group of Death Eaters no less than ten feet away. Both could feel the heat radiating from the burning tents, compelling both to move faster.

"Okay, this isn't going to work." Serena huffed. "You have to get on my back. Seeing as you can barely walk, let alone run." Though regrettably, Ramona nodded as she grabbed Serena's rucksack, throwing it onto her shoulder with her own. Jumping onto her back, the pair took off not a second later.

The tent they were just beside had burst into flames, the debris slamming into the pair as Serena kept moving.

Being a fast flyer on the Quidditch field, it was no surprise Serena was a fast runner, but carrying someone else on her back, despite being very light, proved to be difficult. Especially when she was too busy looking behind her to see how much distance there was between her and the Death Eaters. It wasn't much.

The Death Eaters began shouting hexes and jinxes at the crowd, a curse hitting Serena's leg while another struck Ramona in the shoulder. Neither of them felt it; the fear-induced adrenaline coursing through them was the only thing stopping the pain from reaching their minds.

Finally, the pair reached the edge of the woods. Ramona lifted her wand, muttering, "Lumos." A bright, white light illuminated the path for Serena, who didn't stop moving through the thick trees and bushes until she could no longer hear the rushed footsteps of anyone else around them.

Coming to a stop, Serena gently placed Ramona on the ground. Collapsing beside her, the girl leaned her head back on the trunk of a tree as the two caught their breath, attempting to stop shaking from fright.

Ramona was the first the break the silence. She spoke quietly, regret filling every word. "I'm so sorry, Serena."

Serena whipped her head toward her friend, staring incredulously. "For what?"

"For making you come back for me. You should have just left me. If only I had held on tighter-" Ramona buried her face in her hands. "You could have gotten killed, Serena! I-I don't know what I would do if something happened to you because of me. My parents always saw me as a burden, a mistake... and they couldn't have been more right."

Serena turned to face Ramona, gently pulling her hands down so she could look at her. "Don't you dare say that. Your parents were wrong to isolate you just because you have something they could only dream of: magic. You are not a burden, you're my best friend." Serena had a fire burning in her eyes. "I would come back for you again in a heart beat. For you, Magnolia, Iyla, Mum. I couldn't care less about what happens to me." Serena laughed. "Besides, if I left you, who would remind me to do my schoolwork?"

Ramona lightly chucked, wiping her tears away. "You've always had a way with words, Rena."

Leaning back on the tree, Serena smiled. "It's a gift."

They were silent once more, except for the occasional gasps of pain from Ramona. So Serena let her friend rest on her shoulder, using a spare tree branch to elevate her broken ankle. "Serena..." Ramona began uncertainly. "I have to tell you something. I had a dream about this whole thing, right before those masked people showed up. It was so fast that it was more like a vision, or really just flashing scenes in my mind than a dream... but it was the exact same."

Serena furrowed her eyebrows. "You had a vision of this before it happened?"

Ramona nodded but thoroughly regretted it when she bit hard on her lip to keep her distracted from the pain in her leg. "I-It's probably just something called Déjà vu in the Muggle world, the feeling you've seen something occur before... it happens to me all the time."

Serena, not fully believing her, didn't question it as Ramona spoke again. "But those people in the black cloaks... who were they?"

Serena's eyes darkened, a scowl on her face as she tried to keep her anger at bay. "Death Eaters, supporters of You-Know-Who. Well, the ones that aren't locked up in Azkaban, I assume." Before Ramona could question what an Azkaban was, Serena added, "The wizarding prison."

"Why in the world would they storm through here and light everything on fire? Levitating Muggles in the air like that... why?"

"Why?" Serena let out a humourless laugh. "That's their idea of fun. Torturing people, killing people... Exactly what they did to my dad."

Ramona grabbed Serena's hand, holding it tight. Just her being there meant the world to Serena. "I'm so sorry."

"What if... what if they got my Mum as well? And Iyla?" Serena swallowed thickly. "Or Magnolia? I... I can't lose the rest of my family."

Now it was Ramona's turn to look Serena in the eye. "No, don't think like that. You won't lose them, Serena. Your Mum is an incredible Auror, and Iyla is strong. I'm sure they're just fine." Ramona assured her, to which Serena took in a deep breath and nodded.

At that exact moment, they heard the crunch of a tree branch in the distance.

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Author's note:

Hi lovelies! First of all, Thank you for nearly 300 reads!! Second, I have a few notes to add, so please read :)

-There's a lil bit of foreshadowing in this chapter !

-As much as I would love to continue writing long chapters, I think I'm going to start shortening them so I have more chapters to update at a consist time, in case I cannot write because of school work. :)
   {Sorry si_ni_sm_i_ta I know you prefer longer chapters 🥺}

-The support means a whole lot! It's what motivates me to keep on writing! So thank you once again~

With chocolate frogs filled with love, (goldenhoursssxyz )

~Lena