Beautiful Misbehaviour | George Weasley

Chapter 14

Artemis was barely cognizant but managed to raise her wand to deflect a jet of red light. Then, Lee was dragging her to her feet, and the four of them were running through the dark trees. Leaves and branches whipped at their faces, nipping at her flesh. 

The forest was filled with yells and explosions and heavy breathing. 

Lee's hand fell from her arm as his body tumbled to the ground. A hoarse scream tore from his lips, and his limbs twitched in the faint moonlight. 

Without a second thought, Artemis skidded to a stop and reached down to drag at him. She managed to move him all of an inch before a slew of spells were racing towards her. She blocked a few but was hit with a Crucio so painful she saw red. 

The world warped around her, but she struggled against the pain, remembering her time sat in the chair facing the Carrows. She wouldn't allow herself to be picked apart by some heinous arsehole. She blinked hard and shook off the rhythmic jolts of white-hot pain. 

"Protego!" She screamed, sending a white shield flying at their pursuers. The wall of white light knocked a dark figure off of his feet entirely, but most shook off the spell like it was a breeze. 

But it didn't matter. It gave her time to drag Lee from the line of fire, where they could safely Apparate.

They fell in a heap on the dusty, cracked marble floor of the entryway of the hotel. Artemis had never been the most accurate with her Apparition. She couldn't summon the will to care. There were dozens of eyes on her from the refugees who were set up in the corners of the room, but they stayed silent. 

Lee squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, a rough cough escaping his lungs, "Fuck, that was the worst."

Artemis slapped his shoulder gently and clambered up onto her knees before standing on wobbly legs, "Come on, Jordan."

She stalked through the hall in the direction of the impromptu medical ward. The room was a flurry of motion, more crazed than it had been when she'd left. She realized it was because there were dozens of Order members and allies crowding around those who lay prone on the cots. 

They had pulled back, she realized. 

"Find a bed and sit on it before you fall down, Lee," she called over her shoulder, shouldering past a crying witch. It wasn't hard to find Andromeda in her blood-stained parchment robes. Her eyes were bloodshot, but other than that, she appeared all right. 

When Andromeda saw her, fresh tears glistened in her eyes, and her hand flew to her chest. 

"What happened?" Artemis looked around, but couldn't see much through the flurry of moving bodies, "is there anyone who — "

Andromeda wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug, "When you didn't immediately follow Kingsley, we thought ... we thought — "

"Snatchers," Artemis managed, "or Death Eaters. I don't know; it was dark. We're fine. Are Fred and George here?" 

"Fred!" Molly Weasley's voice was shrill and broke through the cacophony of the crowd. 

Artemis removed herself from Andromeda's arms and followed the witch's voice. 

Fred and George were crushed against their mother's sides. It would have been a comical sight if the mood wasn't so frantic and sombre. They stood nearly a foot over her plump frame. 

When Artemis saw they were both all right, she blew out a breath and turned to find her brother. 

Apollo was pale but awake when she found him. He laid on a cot with an expression pinched by pain. Eddie Carmichael was still gripping his hand, but the boy had somehow fallen asleep against the side of the cot despite the noise.