Enchanted

Arwen sat next to Alex, holding her cold hand. Their night had gone from good to horrible in less than a minute and it seemed as though they would be left reeling from this attack for some time.

“I can’t believe this is happening to us.”

She closed her eyes and the vision of what had happened came into her mind, making her shudder and shed a few tears at the thought. Fred came up behind her, and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“It’s going to be okay. I promise.” he whispered and kissed her ear.

**Alex looked up and saw his wand pointed at Charlie. She struggled to stand before her fiancé was killed.

“Avada Kedavra!”

The next thing they knew, Charlie was on the ground, Alex’s body on top of him. The Death Eater was less than pleased but it seemed that they were retreating, and disapparated.

Charlie looked at Alex, but realized her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t responding. “Alex.” No answer. “Alex.” Silence. “Alexandra.” She was still. “No!”**

Charlie walked into the small bedroom, and his brother and friend turned to look at him. Fred gave him a solemn look, and Arwen, he could tell, had been crying. He walked over to the other side of her bed and grabbed her hand. He felt it tighten around his fingers and sighed. She was injured from being tortured, but at least she was alive.

Arwen and Fred left the room quietly, and as the door shut her head turned towards him. He gave her a small smile and brushed her cheek with his finger. “Why did you do that? Why did you jump on me?”

She sighed. “I couldn’t let you die.”

He nodded, not wanting her to continue. When he saw the wand pointed at him, he knew his time was up. He just prayed that Alex had the strength to go on without him. Then he was on the ground, and it took him a moment to realize that she had pushed him out of the way. Even in terrible pain, she managed to struggle through and keep him safe. If he hadn’t seen it before, he was reassured in that moment that she really did love him.

It was nearly dark outside of Shell Cottage, where they had returned after the attack, and he knew that he should get some sleep.

He slowly slid in next to her, taking care not to hurt her as he did so. He fell asleep almost immediately, hoping that everything would be better in the morning.

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“Alexandra.”

Alex looked around and saw that she was no longer at Shell Cottage or the Burrow. The room she was in was big, and poorly lit. It seemed like the room was empty, yet she had nowhere to run. Noticing that she was on the ground, she slowly stood, her wand at the ready.

“Alexandra.”

She quickly whipped her head around, trying to figure out where this voice came from. “Who’s there?”

There was no answer.

“Show yourself!” she demanded.

She heard laughter and suddenly a woman was standing in front of her.

Alex, wand held tightly in her hand, got a fighting stance. “Demetria.”

She smirked evilly at the young woman. “Alexandra Potter. How I would so love to meet you.”

“I will kill you.” Alex snarled at her.

She cackled in response and then sighed. “Stupid girl. You can only try. If you don’t show, however, your death will only be worse.”

Suddenly she was gone and Alex was alone again. She looked around, desperately trying to find out where she was. She walked around, but as much as she walked, she didn’t leave the room.

“Dammit!” she paused. “Why the bloody hell can I not figure out where I am?”

As if someone heard her, things started to fade and the last thing she saw before the walls caved in, gave her the answer to her question.

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Alex sat up in bed, sweat covering her forehead, and winced as the sudden movement put more pain in her chest. She carefully climbed out of bed, and dressed quickly. Grabbing her robe and her wand, she glanced at Charlie.

Although she had just had a nightmare, she knew what it meant. She knew where Demetria was, and she had to kill her--now. A single tear slid down her cheek and she did nothing to wipe it away. She crept over to her fiancé, and kissed his head gently. Then she slipped from the room, down the stairs and from the house just as quickly.

She walked down the beach a ways, putting distance between her and the house. Finally deciding that it was okay to stop, she glanced back at the distance, the tiny, yet beautiful, cottage standing peacefully in the early morning. With the sun rising behind her, she took a deep breath.

She closed her eyes. “To the Ministry.”

Then there was a pop, and the beach was deserted once again.