✔️ 𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 → 𝑐.𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

22 | H E R O I C

   CHARLIE WEASLEY WAS soaring high over the battlefield on the back of one of the most dangerous dragon breed he ever had to deal with in his career, but his eyes were unable to leave those long strawberry blonde hair floating with the wind. Ana had turned her back on him, while she watched Voldemort's men and creatures returning to the forest.

   "What are you doing?", Charlie immediately asked when all of a sudden he realised that Ana was steering Rosie towards the woods as well. "Haven't you heard him? We need to go back to the castle!"

   "Are you kidding?", she asked, her voice mightier than the wind rushing past them. "You want to let them get away?"

   "They aren't running away, they're preparing for the final strike, and I need to return to the castle, helping the Order to prepare our defense!"

   "You wouldn't need a defense, if I just burn the damn forest and all those in there down", Ana yelled, circling the treetops.

   "No!", Charlie shouted. "Ana, there aren't just You-Know-Who and his fellows in there! Think about all the creatures! You risked everything to save Rosie, you can't just let millions of creatures die at your hand now!"

   Ana paused, but still Rosie was soaring over the Forbidden Forest in circles, and Charlie was well aware that the Ironbelly had the power to wipe out everything and everyone under the cover of those trees.

   So had Ana.

   "Return to the castle with me, Ana, and I swear you will have your revenge", he said, trying his hardest to make it sound like an offer, not like a plead. "None of the Death Eaters will dare to run from this war."

   "You won't allow me revenge", Ana said. "You only will grant me to capture those fools, so your ministry can deal with them. My thoughts of revenge look a bit different, Charles. A tad more bloody, a tiny bit more cruel."

   "They will get punished", Charlie retorted, swallowing thickly, before he added, "and I won't be the one to tell you to hold back your anger. But for now", he said, hope welling up inside him, as Ana watched him out of the corners of her eyes, "I need you to return to the castle with me."

   To his greatest relief, Rosie turned and changed her direction, now floating towards what was left of the castle. Flames enlightened the parts of a night sky that thick smoke didn't swallow.

   The ruins of Hogwarts lay still and soundless when they landed in the courtyard, sliding off Rosie's back. A creepy silence followed them on their way through the corridors; parts of the walls lay crumbled to their feet. The Entrance Hall's floor was covered in dust, debris and colourful gemstones that had spilled out of the shattered house hourglasses. Through the portal that lead into the Great Hall, whispers and whimpers hallowed, and Charlie's guts twisted in fear about what he might find in there. He hadn't seen his family since he had taken the floo network to Aberforth's pub, and his chest ached by the thought he might wouldn't see them alive and healthy ever again.

   Ana watched his shoulders tensing and a strange feeling overwhelmed her as she did, paired with another sensation she couldn't quite catch, while she thought about the way people would react to her appearance. The surprise, however, that she cared about stuff like that at all, was a feeling she was perfectly aware of.

   Charlie entered the Great Hall, but Ana remained standing in the doorway, hesitating. It was a devastating picture that hit her: people crying over lifeless bodies, other trying to fix the injured, others running around searching for their loved ones. Two men passed her by, carrying another body; a young boy, no older than sixteen, his eyes staring at the ceiling above them, reflecting stars and smoke and a cold crescent moon ...

   Her hand was taken and automatically, Ana flinched away from this touch, just to look up and see Charlie Weasley's warm brown eyes examining her startled face.

   "Come with me", he said, his hand still outstretched, and another jolt of surprise shook her as took it, letting the handsome dragon tamer lead her over to a small crowd of red heads.

   Two of them, Ana knew all too well, and they didn't seem to have forgotten about her, too.

   "Charlie!", an elder woman exclaimed, and his hand left Ana's, as he hugged what had to be his mother; the same warm eyes, the same dimples as she smiled in relief. "Thank goodness! We had no idea where you are!"

   "I was the safest I could be", Charlie replied, and as he let go of his mother, he took a step back, placing his hand on the small of Ana's back. "This is Ana", he said. "Anastasia Voinescu."

   The reactions came as Ana had predicted them: Mrs. Weasley pressed her lips together to a thin line; the elder man next to her - presumably her husband - raised an eyebrow, looking concerned; their children flinched by the sound of her name — all of them but one.

   The guy she had saved from the crumbling walls grinned wildly at her, taking a step forward, stretching out his hand.

   "I hadn't the chance to thank you earlier this night", he said, and startled, Ana took his hand, eyes flickering to the young man to his left, who looked like an exact copy of him, if one of his ears wasn't missing. "You saved me. You saved all of us."

   "She did?", Mrs. Weasley asked, sounding as surprised as Ana felt about all of this happening.

   "She did", confirmed the other man, the one with thick framed glasses and a dust covered face. "We got attacked, but she saved us. We could be dead."

   "What a wicked thing to tell my children one day, that Anastasia Voinescu saved my arse", the other guy now laughed, letting go of Ana's hand, but Charlie's remained on the small of her back, and his eyes never left her as well.

   Ana shrugged. "Told you you're making me weak", she quietly spoke, and he smiled, as if he enjoyed her frailty.

   Bloody bastard ...