Someone to save me | Harry Potter

Chapter Fifty-Eight

My snow drenched knees sunk further into the dirt, my shivering fingers shook as they hovered above the barely flickering flame. I could hear the sounds of wildlife surrounding my camp, and I took a moment of peace from the stillness of the nighttime air. There were no clouds on this particular evening, and so the moon shined brightly from above.

With the stillness came the calm, and with the calm came the everlasting loneliness that enveloped my being every moment of every day. I didn't expect it to be easy to find Harry, I had no clue if he was even still in Great Britain, but I knew for certain I would never stop trying to find him. I wished Draco had agreed to come with me, it's been two months on my own and I was starting to talk to the birds.

In every village I checked, in every estuary I searched, and in every valley I wandered. I never found a sign that would point me in any particular direction, I never found clues that would help in my hunt. But I soldiered on, and walked my feet bloody, and apperated myself sick to every corner of the county.

I had been lucky I hadn't come across any snatchers or death eaters in my travels, but at this point in my loneliness I would really take anything. 

I yawned quietly and pulled my sweater around me tightly. I peered over my shoulder at the sad tent I had been sleeping in before standing and avoiding letting my boots crunch over the fallen leaves. I knew I was in snatcher territory, and my protective spells weren't always the best. 

As I put out the fire and turned around to head inside to sleep for a couple of hours, I could barely make out a floating patronus not far in the distance. I pulled my wand out not exactly sure what to expect. When I got closer however, I knew exactly who's patronus this was. 

"Dad?" I whispered, my eyed wide  as I looked out at the lion patronus. I had never met someone with a patronus of a lion besides my father. The glowing animal looked up at me in intrigue before dissipating into thin air, and when I looked up I met the large doe brown eyes of my father. 

I wasted no time in rushing into his arms, no longer caring about the safety of the area. "Are you okay?" He grumbled into my ear as his arms held me tight against him. I could tell he had been wandering around as much as I had. His clothes stunk terribly, he was thinner, and his beard was a new addition I had never seen on him before. 

"Where have you been?" I cried, completely ignoring his question. "Draco told me you were at his house and then —" 

"It's not what you think." He mumbled, pulling me away from him and giving me a once over. He sighed and pulled me back into him before kissing the top of my still pale blonde hair as I was still in disguise. 

"You look like Andi." He whispered, pulling at a lock of my hair. "Are your sisters and Damian okay?" 

I shrugged before guiding him in the direction of my camp. "I don't know. Last I knew the twins were living at the Weasley's and I haven't seen Damian since I left school." 

Smoke was still visible from the once burning twigs and my father dropped the bag I just noticed he was carrying before plopping down onto the log I was once sitting on and sighing. He looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. My proud father who would do anything for those he cared about, had been reduced to something I clearly didn't recognize. 

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." He mumbled, his eyes still closed. I sunk to the log beside him and let my arm link around his and I leaned my head against his shoulder. 

"I did." I whispered. "I had a million questions I wanted to ask you when Draco told me you were sitting there with the Dark Lord. Now I'm just glad to see you alive." 

"It's true, what Draco said. But I wasn't there because I wanted to. When I was working at the Ministry I could sense allegiances were changing, that the Dark Lord was worming his way in and placing death eaters where he thought we wouldn't notice. I had tried to play both sides, to infiltrate myself in his good graces to gain information. 

It didn't work once the Minister died and I had to take over. I was brought in for questioning and that's when Draco saw me. First chance I could, I ran."

"Did you know Mom was there too?" I asked him, waving my hand and lighting the fire once more in front of us. His head whipped in my direction and his eyes widened. 

"Is she—"

I sniffled, my eyes watering before I closed them and the image of her bloody body popped back into my head. "I'm surprised he didn't play that bargaining chip with you. He must have been saving her to dangle in front of me like a toy." 

My father stayed silent, the air still with only the echo of chirping that could be heard in the distance. Until my father let out the loudest, most guttural cry I had ever heard. He stood up so fast I fell over the log, and he turned and punched the nearest tree. 

"No, Anna." He cried out and fell to his knees. "Not my Anna." 

My heart broke as I watched my father fall into the dirt with his heart broken. I slowly made my way over to him and sank down into the dirt beside him. I wrapped an arm around his side and tried my best to comfort him, I knew I was failing as nobody had ever really comforted me about her death either. 

"I tried to save her, I did everything he asked of me." 

My father  whipped his head over to me before violently shaking his head. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this!" He growled "We're in the middle of a damn war, and the Dark Lord is using all of us like pieces on a chess board." 

"Well I'm not a damn pawn." I argued, I leaned back on my heels and looked down at my fathers damaged hand. I took it in my grasp before letting my hand hover just above to begin the healing process. 

"Where the hell did you learn that?" He asked me, his eyes wide. 

I shrugged and finished healing his mangled hand, placing it back onto his lap. "I told you I'm not a pawn. I'm not some disposable piece waiting to be tossed aside." 

"You never have been, sweetheart." He said. He reached over and took my sweater clad arm in his before slowly sliding the sleeve upwards. I knew what he was thinking, he didn't even have to say the words.  Where my dark mark once resided, was now replaced with an ugly scar. His fingers softly traced the ugly line before covering it back up. He looked to me with such sadness, such regret that I knew there was nothing to do or say that would make him feel better. 

"I cut it off. I thought it might work. It has so far." I whispered, rubbing my left arm through my sweater. 

"I never should have brought us here. I never should have taken that job, we would all still be safe and happy in America." He grumbled. He turned around and leaned against the tree, his arm open allowing me to crawl beside him and accept his warmth. 

"This war would still be doing on, Dad." I answered. "And they need our help. Even with all the terrible things that have happened to us, I don't regret coming here." 

"When did you get so grown up, kid?" He asked, the tone of his voice gave away that he was still crying, yet the way he hid his face from me told me he didn't want me to see. 

"Either when I rode a dragon or fought a death eater, take your pick." I attempted to joke. 

"Not funny." He snorted. 

The air was cold, the wind was calm and we could just barely make out the orange hue in the distance that signaled the rising sun. We grew silent as we sat beneath the tree wrapped in each others arms. Neither of us quite sure where we were headed or where our future was going to take us. But after spending so much time alone, I was glad I finally had someone else with me.