Into Forever

For the third time this week, I had been woken up before six am. Irritably, I sat up on the cot, rubbing my eyes wearily. There was a loud scuffling noise coming from downstairs that sounded oddly like the sound of someone rummaging through the pantry. As my blanket slipped down off of me, I shivered and immediately pulled the blanket back up to my chin.

The place we were broadcasting PotterWatch from was doubling as our living quarters. It had become too much of a hassle to keep traveling back and forth from the flat above the joke shop to this muggle vacation home in southern Wales. Though it was easier to crash here and practice for our broadcasts, it was bloody freezing.

All of the furniture in the house was old and most of the beds and chairs weren’t safe to sleep on, and none of us knew any spells to create a bed out of thin air. Being a girl actually hadn’t been enough to qualify me for the only useable cot, but being pregnant and moody sure did. All I needed was my constantly toasty-warm blanket from Dumbledore, and I was good to go.

The boys had chosen to make a nest-like bed in one corner of the bedroom using all the blankets and most of the pillows (reluctantly leaving me one), and they had to curl up together at night to keep warm. We’d all agreed that what happened in the house stayed in the house.

Glancing over to the pile of boys, I couldn’t tell where one arm ended and another began. It was hard to tell if all three of them were curled up, but I was pretty sure one of them (my guess was Fred) was the reason behind the scuffling noise downstairs.

Swinging my legs off the cot, I shuddered as they met the icy wood. I pulled my blanket tighter around me; it fell to the floor, enveloping my feet into the warmth as well. Sleepily, I shuffled towards the stairs, preparing a vicious rant to give to whomever had woken me up.

The stairs creaked beneath my feet, but the scuffling was louder. Seriously, how loud did someone (I was still assuming it was Fred) have to be while making a snack?? As I reached the landing and turned towards the kitchen, I became sickeningly aware that the scuffling noise wasn’t coming from the kitchen; it was, in fact, coming from the front door.

Turning slowly, I felt my breath catch in my throat as I began to make out noises.

“I know they’re in there!”

“If you’re wrong again, Wallace, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

That was Yaxley’s voice! Death Eaters were right outside our door!

“I know they’re here! Brasken said he saw the blonde girl returning here last night!”

“But if we’re wrong, then-“

I didn’t stand around to hear the rest of the chatter. Spinning around, I tore up the stairs as fast as a 26-week-pregnant girl was able to. Nearly tripping halfway up on a loose board, I caught myself at the top and began to hiss,

“Wake up! Wake up! We’ve been found! WAKE UP!”

Thankfully the boys had heard me and were already up and armed with their wands; just as I stumbled through the door to the bedroom, the front door downstairs was blasted open.

“We need to get the transmitter, or we won’t be able to broadcast again!” Lee hissed to us as Fred pulled me to his side, slanting himself to be between me and the door.

“I’ll go for the transmitter,” George decided. Before Fred could object, he said, “You need to stay with Kelsey and make sure she doesn’t get hurt. Lee, you can either go-“

“I’m comin’ with you, mate,” Lee said, clapping a hand on George’s back as footsteps began to head up the stairs. Life would have been so much easier if I could have disapparated; just a few days ago, we’d checked in with a local doctor (wizard, of course) and he’d informed me that I had a high chance of loosing the baby if I traveled by Floo or disapparation.

Our only choice for escape was by Fred’s broom, which was currently resting against the wall in the living room downstairs.

“Kelsey, stay behind Fred and try to keep out of the line of fire, okay?” George ordered as footsteps began to head up the stairs. “Lee and I will make a path down to the living room, and then you two are on your own. We’ll meet at Lee’s parents old house, you remember where that is, right Fred?”

“Right,” Fred said, giving my arm a squeeze.

“Let’s do this,” Lee said, nodding with George as the two of them rushed from the room. Spells began exploding left and right, ricocheting off the walls and bouncing dangerously overhead. George and Lee shot spell after spell at the mix of snatchers and death eaters that swarmed us. Fred and I followed, taking out the few stragglers who slipped past our first defense.

As we started down the stairs, things got a little more hectic; it was hard to balance on the narrow steps while the killing curse was flying just inches past our faces.

Yaxley shot a well-aimed killing curse at me that only missed because I tripped over the same loose board from before. Luckily Fred caught me, and we both exchanged a relieved glance; that had been too close.

“Fred! Kels! Get ready to go,” George hollered over the commotion; before we could shout back, George threw himself into the group of Death Eaters blocking our route down the stairs. George and the death eaters toppled down the stairs and landed in a writing heap at the bottom.

The coast was clear! Fred wrapped an arm around my waist and towed me over the bodies, pausing only to make sure George was okay, which he was. Lee was already helping him up, and they took off in the opposite direction to grab the transmitter.

Fred and I skid into the living room, and immediately ran for his broom. Just as Fred’s hand closed around the broom handle, another hand closed around my wrist and yanked me from his grasp.

I was spun around violently, only to come face to face with Dolohav; all my hatred and anger spun through me. Before he could even lift his wand, I pulled my hand back and snapped my fist into his face. His nose made a sickening crunch as blood spurted from his face. As he dropped to the ground and released my arm, I lifted my wand.

“We’re a little pressed for time, love,” Fred said as he shot past me on his broom, pulling me up onto the broom in front of him. Though I really wanted to give Dolohov a taste of what he’d done to my father, my punch had kept him on the ground and out of our way, and that would have to be good enough for now.

Fred rocketed out of the house faster than we’d ever flown; we were tearing through the night sky, the snow pelting my face painfully as we rushed to our meeting place. I kept an eye behind us the entire way, but no one was trailing us. After nearly two hours of chilly flying (during which I was very grateful that I’d managed to hang onto my blanket) we finally landed gently in an old field. Ahead of us was a small, run-down house, with an old shed to one side and a broken down tractor to the other.

As we got off the broom, Fred took my hand in his, and we trekked across the field towards the small house. At first, we walked in tense silence; we were both worried out of our minds about our best friends. We’d had an easier time escaping, and it had taken us longer to get here. If George and Lee weren’t back yet, it would mean something was definitely wrong.

The house was completely silent as Fred opened the door, stepping in ahead of me just incase there was someone or something inside waiting for us. Whispering ‘lumos’, Fred held out his wand to look around.

“About bloody time you two showed up,” a voice said from beside us in the dark. I let out a startled squeal; Fred screamed even louder than me as he spun around and shone the light onto Lee and George, who were both in hysterics over Fred’s girly scream.

“We worry over you two pricks for hours, and you greet us like that?!” I cried in disbelief, giving George a good smack on the arm.

“Couldn’t resist!” Lee snorted, wiping tears from his eyes.

As we waited for Lee and George to compose themselves, Fred and I wandered around the house to check things out. Though it was more run down, there was a king sized bed in good shape, a sturdy cot, and a rather comfortable looking couch.

“If I didn’t miss sleeping with you,” I told Fred, leaning into him. “I’d make myself at home on the couch and leave the bed to you and George.”

“You know he hogs the covers,” Fred complained, holding the bedroom door open for me. “You’d be a monster to make me snuggle with him.”

Laughing, I crawled onto the bed and curled up into a little ball, pulling my blanket tighter around me. Fred sat on the edge of the bed, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” I asked him as he got to his feet.

“I’m gonna help George and Lee set up the protective enchantments, and then I’ll come to bed. I promise.”

“I love you,” I told him, feeling my eyelids growing heavier.

“I love you more,” he said, slowly shutting the door.

Rain pelted my face as I slowly peeled open my eyes. No longer was I in the warm, dry bedroom; I was lying on my back on a muddy hill, soaked to the bone. Overhead, red and green spells were clashing in the night sky, sending spars raining down onto me.

Terrified, I scrambled to my feet; I wasn’t pregnant. I was my old slender self, which made it loads easier to gain my balance on the slippery hill. My wand was on the ground a few feet from me, and I raced to grab it. Just over the howl of the wind, I could hear a wailing cry. Just as my fingers locked around my wand, I realized it was a baby crying.

Puzzled, I turned towards the sound. Though he was several hundred yards away from me, I could make out the small, terrified face of a little boy sitting in the mud, crying desperately.

He had gorgeous blue eyes and a tuft of bright orange hair; my stomach turned. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that was my son. My poor little boy, alone in the cold and rain amidst a violent battle.

Immediately, I began to run towards the little boy. I needed to save him. I couldn’t let him get hurt. I wasn’t the only one running for him, though. Across from me, a tall, cloaked figure was rushing towards the baby. He shot a spell, and a burst of green light rocketed towars the baby.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” I cried; my spell intercepted the killing curse just moments before it hit the little boy. The noise of the spells clashing upset the baby, and he began to cry harder. His little chubby hands reached out for me as he cried.

I reached the baby first, and immediately I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him up out of the mud. I lost my balance and fell backwards, clutching the baby to my chest to protect him. The cloaked figure was only a hundred feet away. He lifted his wand towards me; I went to lift my wand, only to discover I’d dropped it when I grabbed the baby.

With nothing else left, I curled my body around the baby, keeping a brave face as the cloaked figure opened his mouth to shout the killing curse.

From the side, a blur of red hair caught my eye just as Fred skid to a stop between me and the figure. Glancing over his shoulder, his blue eyes locked onto mine as he mouthed ‘I love you’ just as the jet of green caught him square in the chest. He crumpled to the ground, lifeless, just as a flash of lightening illuminated the sky.

I jerked out of the dream so violently I nearly tumbled out of bed. My heart was racing and I was coated in sweat; I clutched my chest as I gasped for breath. My skin was crawling with the sensation of being watched. But as I looked around, I realized I was in the bed at Lee’s parents house, not in a muddy field. I couldn’t have been asleep for more than half an hour. Fred’s voice drifted into the bedroom from the kitchen. The bedroom was silent, and I was safe.

My hands dropped down to my stomach and I began to rub my belly, images of the red headed baby in my mind. I was okay. I was alright. My baby was fine. I was safe at the house, warm in the bed.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. My skin crawled as I slowly got out of bed, shivering as I tossed my blanket aside. Shuffling slowly to the window, I pulled the curtains aside. It must have started raining while I was sleping. The rain drizzled lightly to the ground outside, and every now and then a flash of lightning illuminated the sky. The field around the house was empty. No one was watching me. I was safe and-

With another flash of lightning, the field was illuminated again, and standing not but a hundred feet away was the same cloaked figure from my dream. My blood turned cold as he began to walk towards the house, his head facing me. I began to back up from the window, trying to get my voice back to call for Fred. The lightning faded and the scene outside the window was dark again. But with another flash of lightning, I saw the cloaked figure was only thirty feet from my window, his hand reached out towards me.

The lightning faded, and just as I opened my mouth to scream for Fred, the lightning flashed, and the figure was gone.