Ch. 6: Into the Dark

Song For Chapter: I Will Follow You Into The Dark -- Death Cab For Cutie

dedicated to @_Aly_Cat20 for being a dedicated fan. thank you.

The night was dark as I peered out the window, staring at the dark hills blanketed in night's cover. They had been gone for a while, and I was beginning to worry.

Ginny watched me with a small frown, pouring the both of us another cup of tea. For a moment, I watched the tea stems bubble to the bottom of our mugs, settling on the bottom of the glass.

"Drink up," Ginny instructed, pushing the tea closer to my cold hands. "I want to practice my Divination skills on you."

I was yanked from my useless worrying to spare Ginny a small glance. "You? Divination?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just never thought you were the kind of person to take an interest in that class," I told her, chuckling a little under my breath. Then again, I too had a secret appreciation for Divination. Maybe it was because Hermione was always ranting about it when others brought up the subject. I wasn't sure.

After taking a few large gulps of the steaming liquid, much to the protesting of my throat, I slid the mug back to Ginny with a scowl, once again brought back to my state of irritation. "I can't believe they left without us. I thought you'd be more . . . I don't know, annoyed?"

"Oh, Elle," Ginny glared down at the bottom of my mug, but I could see the fury burning in her eyes. "If I could be any where right now, I'd be beside my brothers. I hate that my Mum thinks I am too young to be of any use. But, there's nothing we can do now but wait."

Her voice was thick with agitation, but she kept herself composed. Instead, Ginny simply took a deep breath and picked up my cup, turning it over delicately in the palms of her hands, channeling her inner aura.

"Hey, gingie," I teased, pulling her out of her 'trance', "drink up too, you think I'm going to let you see my future without seeing yours?" As I said that, I motioned towards her half-full cup with one hand, making a sipping motion with the other.

"Gingie?" Ginny rolled her eyes at the name, but took her mug into her hands, quickly swishing down the rest of the liquid with a cringe.

Hot tea was never fun to scarf down. However, it's said that if a person seeks a true interpretation of their future, they must first endure pain. The pain is a sacrifice for knowledge. As any rule of magic: one can't get something from nothing.

"Aahh, bloody Godric's son of a--" Ginny hissed out, voice thick as tears prickled the corners of her eyes. "That better be an amazing future," her voice was strained as she muttered, pushing the cup to my waiting hands. "I go first."

"All right then, you first," I smirked stretching my arms out above my head, as if channeling my inner Eye. Clearing my throat, I delicately picked up the mug and glared down at the clumps of black and green leaves, trying to decipher the blobs of shapes.

"Clear your mind," Ginny offered with a guarded chuckle. "Step into your inner aura."

"Shhhh," I swatted a hand at her, "you're ruining the clear-ness of my mind's eye."

Ginny put her hands up in the air with a suggestive smile and flopped back against her chair. Taking a deep breath, I focused all my energy on the mush in the cup, eyes burning against the grains, willing them to offer up some information.

The longer I stared, the more the cup began to swirl in front of my eyes. Sighing, I glanced up at Gin to meet her gaze with a coy smile. In her hands, Gin was fiddling with her wand, a frown on her brow as she glared into my own cup.

I shifted in my chair.

Rolling my neck, I tried to ignore the quiet tick-tick-ticking of the Weasley clock. I let my eyes travel to the face of it, reading the names of the Weasleys, all hands pointing to Mortal Danger. It was even more ominous now than before.

Back to the cup, I found that the tea leaves had dried out a bit more, clumping together to form more definitive blobs. Pressing two fingers against my temple, I squinted down at the leaf bits and watched as one of the globs began to dry together. I was sure of this one.

"You're pregnant."

Ginny dropped her wand onto the table with a clatter, face ashen. "W-What? "

"That's what it says, Gin," I mused, keeping my eyes on the tea. "Look at that baby bump. What have you been doing? --Or, should I say whom?" I ignored the way Ginny's mouth heaved open and shut, floundering for words.

"I'm going to be pregnant . . . ?"

I twisted the cup in my hands, looking at the spot from a different angle, trying not to laugh as Ginny continued to mutter about how furious Molly would be, and how she was going to ruin her Quidditch career. "Oh . . . wait, no. That's not a baby symbol. My bad."

Ginny's eye twitched.

"Don't worry though," I soothed my voice, speaking calmly, "it's a good one! It's a heart. So: yay for love!" I tossed my hands in the air, jazzing my fingers and sporting an ecstatic, gaping grin.

Ginevra, despite how she tried to fight it, smiled at my stupid face and let her shoulders sag a bit. "You're deplorable, you know that?"

"Deplorable, huh? Have you been talking with Hermione?" I rested my head on my hands, trying to ignore the fleeting memory of the fact that none of the party has returned yet. It was an alarming thought and I quickly pulled my mind from it, nodding to Ginny. "Okay, lay mine on me."

"It's nothing," Ginny shrugged, showing me the cup. "See?"

Frowning, I took the cup from Ginny and glared down into the bowels of the glass. Nothing, literally, N-O-T-H-I-N-G was written in the tea leaves. "That's cruel!" I pouted, glancing up at a snickering Ginny. "When did you do that?!"

"Me?" Ginny cupped a hand over her heart, acting wounded, "I would never."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I rested back in my seat. "Hmph. Fine. I guess I should never trust a Weasley from now on."

"That's rich," Ginny laughed bluntly, pouring the both of us a new glass of tea. "Being that you're going to be one some day very soon."

Shaking my head, I smirked at my soon-to-be little sister, "you should be nicer to me. I'm going to be your older sister one day soon. And, sisters are very temperamental."

"You should try having half a dozen older brothers."

"Touché, Ginevra."

There was a knocking on the door, and Ginny grabbed her wand, eyes sharp. From the other room, we could hear Molly gently rise from the couch and tip-toe her way to the front door.

I spared Ginny and small, worried glance and armed myself with her, the both of us rounding the corner to stare at the front door -- ready to defend Molly, if needed.

There was a moment of anxiety laced anticipation as Mrs. Weasley pulled open the latch of the peep-hole, peering through to see the visitor on the doorstep of the Weasleys. But, as she did, Molly's mood seemed to change entirely and she allowed her shoulders to droop as she flung open the latches and ushered the visitors in.

"Blancora, dear," Mrs. Weasley heaved out a sigh, "I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow, and you have brought another?"

Ginny and I frowned at each other. 'Blancora?' I mouthed. What kind of weirdo name was that -- it was ridiculous. It was terrible. And, as the visitor pulled down the cloak hood covering her head, I realized something else: it was Blake.

The other visitor beside Blake pushed the hood from their head, allowing long tendrils of fire hair to escape, and shot Ginny and I a wicked grin. "Did you miss m--- Elle, what the fuck?!"

✧

"Blancora?"

"Engaged?"

"Bla-ncora?"

"En-gaged?"

Blake scratched the back of her neck and watched as Lana and I shot single words back and forth. "Elle, I'm sitting right here -- you could ask me, not Lana."

Turning in my seat at the Weasley's dining table, I shot Blake a small frown. "Blancora?!"

"It's just Blake, honestly, don't even worry about it!" Blake sighed, pushing her black curls away from her tired eyes, pulling her loose hair into a messy bun. "I never asked for my parents to name me it. Honestly, Elle, you'd think my parents -- people with 'ancient blood' -- would name their daughter: Blake? It's like you don't know the trait of pureblooded loonies!"

"I'd never thought about it," I muttered, "I feel lied to. I feel betrayed."

Lana cut me off with a pointer finger to my forehead. "You feel betrayed?! You have a giant rock on your finger, and you feel betrayed?!"

"Woah, calm your tits," Blake whispered to Lana, making a motion for her to take 'deep breaths'. "In, out, in, out."

I took this moment of silence to really look at my two friends. Blake, whom I hadn't seen in a really long while, seemed tired and worn thin. Her shiny blue eyes had a dull gleam to them, and she had a mild case of dark circles sprouting from under them. The long hours at St. Mungo's must have been a lot worse than I had imagined.

I tried not to think about all the atrocities Blake must have faced in her time at Mungo's.

And, Lana seemed a bit different as well: healthier, but different. Her usually shoulder-length hair has grown past her chest and know hung in loose waves that reminded me of Fleur's hair type. I always forgot that she charmed her hair to be pin-straight. But, I was happy to see that she was still dying it fire-engine red. I couldn't imagine her without it.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked, trying to avoid the question of what Blake had been through these days. Lana's eyes sharpened, but she swallowed an insult as Molly entered the room with two spare mugs of tea for the visitors.

Blake smiled and thanked Molly for her tea, taking a sip before responding. "Well, I was invited to come a bit early. Molly said she didn't mind, and I couldn't really stand to go home right now . . . not with everything going on with my family." She caught the confusion on my face and glowered as she set her mug down on the table, crossing her arms over her chest, causing her cardigan to bunch up around her. "My family is under investigation for being associated with You-Know-Who. It's a load of bullocks. We may be a proud, old Slytherin family, but that doesn't make us evil."

Lana sighed into her cup and leant forward, resting her elbows on the table as the rest of us waited in silence. "I'm part of the wedding party. I have to be here. Not that I mind, of course." She chuckled, meeting my eyes. "I just didn't expect a surprise."

"I didn't exactly expect this either, you know," I admitted, absent-mindedly twirling the ring on my finger. "I was going to tell you."

Lana snickered, "I bet you haven't even told Jenna yet. She's going to implode when you do. Oh," she cackled a little, tossing her head back, "she's going to be so pissed. You know how she hates being the last to know anything."

"Oh God, " I moaned, sinking into the palms over my hands. I didn't really want to deal with this right now. All I could think about was the fact that no one had returned yet. It was late. And, I was truly beginning to worry.

The way Molly kept glancing towards the clock on the far wall told me that she too was fearful as well. I hoped that everything would be all right. And, I also hope that my hoping wasn't blatant wishful thinking.

The sound of something falling from the sky altered Molly and she grabbed her wand. Ginny and I both jumped from the table and rushed to the door, Blancora and Lana following close behind. "It's Hagrid," Ginny squeaked, face pale was she watched to see who would emerge with the half-giant.

We found ourselves outside in the cold night air, squinting against the blackness to see as the two figures approached. The boy next to Hagrid was the real Harry Potter and he seemed to be coated in the layer of water, probably freezing his ass off.

Ginny sighed a breath of relief, and I felt happy to see that he was okay as well, but a dark part of my mind wished that he was Fred. Quickly, I shook off that thinking. Fred was going to be fine, and then we could make more plans about how to survive.

Molly approached the both of them, and I suddenly realized the cuts and bruises on their faces. "What's happened? Where are the others?"

Lana stepped up beside me as Harry seemed confused and glanced at all of our faces. "What do you mean? Is no one else back?" Harry tried not to meet my eyes when he said this, but it was enough to pierce through my skin. Blake clutched my arm, and I remembered that I wasn't the only one with a loved-one out there. We all were missing someone important.

Molly and Gin especially.

Hagrid swallowed and turned to Molly with sad eyes. "They were on us from the start, Molly. Didn' stand a chance. The Death Eaters wer' waiting for us; it was an ambush."

I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip, keeping it from quivering. I could feel Lana's eyes on me, but I stayed strong. Freaking out would do nothing now, and it was still too soon to feel as if something was terribly wrong.

Standing on the side lines, I watched the skies as Ginny and Harry talked in hushed tones while Molly ushered Hagrid inside. A flash of light appeared across from us, and two people Apparated out of thin air. Lupin was struggling under the weight of the other person, and it seemed to me that they had a serious head injury, along with various others.

Fred? My heart shuttered. Hermione?

My pulse thudded in my chest with every step closer Lupin took.

Lupin was carting a Harry look-alike, and yelling as he came closer into sight. "HERE! QUICK!" Harry was at the look-alike's side then, helping Lupin with the person. Beside me, Blake's breath caught in her throat as the boy began to grow, sprouting into one of the twins. "Into the house."

"George," she gasped, eyes wide as she let go of my arm.

Hot on Blake's trail, I followed the men into the Burrow, watching as they delicately put George on the couch. Blake grabbed a towel from the kitchen and her wand while Mrs. Weasley assessed him. "He's missing his ear," she cried.

"Don't worry, Molly," Blake cleared her throat, kneeling beside George's unconscious body. I was surprised to find a stern look on her face and not even a single tear in her eye. This was a new Blake. This was Healer Hall. Blake tightened the messy bun she had put her hair into and elevated George's head with a couple pillows. "I'll take care of him, please I need some room in here."

Gnawing on my thumb, I took Blake's advice and stepped back outside, where Lana was still standing in the cold, a frown on her lips as she waited for new arrivals. Inside, I could hear some shouting from the man named Lupin and Harry; however, I chose to ignore it.

Biting off a hangnail, I watched as my thumb began to bleed. Restlessly, I nursed the wound before sticking my hand into my jacket pocket, fidgeting was only hurting me.

Another flash of Apparation took place and, suddenly, a man I had never seen before was standing in front of me, a wand pointed at my face. "Who are you?!" He demanded, while Hermione stood behind him, telling him to wait.

Lupin, Molly, and Harry raced out into the fields to join us, and he too pointed a wand at the man. "What are the last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?"

While they were distracted, I raced to Hermione and pulled her into a hug. "Hermione, Godric, this is bloody insane!" My breath was hot as I whispered quickly, watching the chaos around us. "What the hell happened out there?! Where . . . where is Fred?"

A winged beast flapped down to the ground, and I recognized Bill and Fleur on the back of it. As soon as Fleur laid her eyes on Lana, a watery grin spread on her face. "Lana, I am zo happy you have made it! Ezpecting you, we were not unzil tomorrow."

Lana and Fleur hugged for a few moments, and when they pulled away, Lana shot Fleur a glare, and they began arguing in fast French. I could pick up a few of the snippets of Lana's words, and I could tell that she was asking why Fleur had been so stupid to go do something like this before her wedding.

Fleur argued back just as aggressively, and someone said something about someone else's mother and there was a sow involved, and then Lana started laughing and the two of them hugged once more. It was a curious sight.

Hermione offered the scene a breathy laugh, but paled as another couple appeared. This time it was Tonks along side another Harry Potter. I listened as my sister's breath caught in her throat and watched anxiously as she tackled the Harry doppelgänger into a tight hug.

Ron began to take shape under Hermione's arm and I noticed the way the two of them murmured at one another. However, I couldn't focus on any thing.

My breath was coming in shallow waves, and my head was beginning to swim. A few minutes passed, and there was nothing. People began to move inside, talking about what happened and plans for the future.

I couldn't move.

And then, there was another Apparation.

My shoulders slumped limply as all the weight I had been carrying for the past few hours seemed to leap away. And, I felt my heart sink low into my chest, finally resting from it's ceaseless pounding. Fred's dark eyes met my own and then, as if I had pulled him in with my mind, I was in his arms.

I felt exhausted, and I couldn't imagine how he felt -- he, who just came back from a battle. Resting my head on Fred's shoulder, I simply inhaled him in. Breathing in the familiar scent of oak wood, musk, and honey. There were other, foreign stenches that clung to his sport's coat: sulfur, fire powder, atmosphere.

Fred trailed his fingers up the back of my neck, entangling them in the hair that limply hung down my shoulders, holding me tightly as if he too needed reassurance that I was all right. He pulled away to kiss my forehead with a gleaming, excited aura in his eyes.

"Where's Georgie?" He asked, words cutting my wounds open.

I knew as soon as Fred peered into my eyes, he could see everything that happened. I knew the panic in his face well. Lightly unwrapping my arms from around his waist, I offered Fred a reassuring nod. "Go ahead, he's just inside."

Fred spared me a nod before running into the Burrow. Watching him go, I felt something heavy weighing on my heart once more. And, it hurt me to be unable to understand what the feeling was. I felt weak, and scared. And, this wasn't the behavior of a Gryffindor.

Lana stepped up beside me, followed by Fleur and Bill. "Are you all right, Elle?" She asked, tucking some hair behind her ear as we walked to the front door of the Burrow.

"I'm not, Lana." I frowned and kept my hard gaze on the grasses beneath our feet. "I'm . . . I've never been more scared. This feeling, the feeling that I could have lost Fred tonight, that . . . that I could still lose him. Why does it feel this way? I mean, I've been scared before, but this -- this is different."

There was a laugh from the right of us, and Fleur rolled her eyes at me, pulling her blonde hair from an elastic tie. "Elle, you cannot be zerious," her lips formed a pleased grin, flickering at the corners of her mouth with disbelief. "It iz l'amour vrai. True love, oui? Let me tell you somezing about it: it is painful." Fleur nodded towards her cousin and I while Bill grinned and tucked an arm around her, pulling his bride-to-be against his side. "And, it is worz it."

The Burrow was warm as the whole group of people gathered inside, crowded around the couch where Blake was at work, healing George. Fred hovered over her shoulder as she finally stood up, wiping her brow with the back of her hand.

"The ear has been cursed with dark magic," Blake quietly told Molly, biting her lip as she watched her rousing boyfriend. "It . . . I can't fix it."

Fred crouched down beside his brother, face ashen but a forcing a smile as George blinked slowly up at him. "How you feelin', Georgie?"

George's voice was grainy, but I could hear it from my spot near the back of the crowd. "S...saint-like."

"Come again?"

Blake reached out a soft hand and brushed away a clump of blood-caked hair away from George's forehead before grabbing a damp towel to begin removing the blood from George's ear. I was impressed at how strong Blake's face was as she worked, not even seeming to be fazed by the wound.

"Saint-like," George's voice was stronger now, "I'm holey. I'm holey, Fred . . . Get it?"

Fred shook his head and tossed a glance to me from his spot in front of the couch before looking back at his brother. "A whole wide world of ear related humor, and you chose to go with 'I'm holey'? Blake, I think you may need to check your boyfriend's brain as well."

"Reckon I'm still . . . better looking than you."

Blake grinned at this, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Of course you are."

Smiling softly at the scene, I was distracted as a light hand gripped my shoulder. Hermione turned to me, whispering lowly in my ear. "Elle, can we talk upstairs?"

Even though part of me could already guess what Hermione wanted to talk with me about, I still agreed, wanting to give the Weasley family some privacy during this time. George didn't need so many people crowding around him, as if he was on his death bed. Blake wouldn't let that happen.

Hermione led the two of us to Ginny's room, and lightly shut the door behind us before speaking. I watched the way she shifted on her feet, cradling an elbow in her hand as her gaze slowly found mine. "Elle . . . I know you don't want to hear this, but, I don't think you should come with Harry, Ron, and I."

"What?"

Hermione held up a hand, as if to stop my argument before it started. "It's going to be a tough time, and, I just want you to be safe. It's hard enough to stay under the radar as a party of two, let alone four. I think three may be a bit much, but I honestly feel that you would have a better chance here, at the Burrow."

"Bullshit."

"Bullshit?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling a firm glare on my brow. "Hermione, you have already tried this with me. You told me to go back to America last time, and now you want me to hide out here? Putting the Weasleys in danger? I don't want to put my life on anyone else's hands but my own."

Hermione shook her head. "Elle, you are engaged. Your life isn't simply yours to hold any more. Don't you know what marriage is? Marriage is making two people one. It's joining together a couple forever as one -- you think Fred will simply let you disappear into the unknown, for weeks -- maybe even months?!"

"I expect him to do that for me because I would do it for him!" I hissed back, feeling anger flare up against my cheeks, staining them red. "Bloody idiots, the lot of you! Why do all of the people I love think I need to be coddled and kept safe?! I'm perfectly adequate at survival; I've done just fine all this time. You can't expect me to just sit idly by while the world burns!"

"Elle, it's not that simple. Just, just think about this. All right?"

I balked at her words, scoffing. "Hermione . . . I'll think about it," I could tell by the guarded look in her eyes that she was unsure of the truth in my words, "but, don't expect me to change my mind. I'm coming. I've got to do something. Even if it means following Harry Potter into the dark."

________

I'm so sorry for the long wait. It's been a rough few weeks. I'm just... lost on inspiration. So, will you readers do me a favor?

Comment what makes you keep reading this story.

Why do you like the series?

Why do you like Elle?

Who's your favorite character?

I'm not asking for a boost in numbers, but a boost in confidence. I don't know what I see in my writing any more. And, I would love to hear from you -- my readers.