Against the dark Hearts

Chapter 39

I whispered "Episkey" on Sebastian's leg as we finally reached safety. The cabin where we had taken refuge reeked of mold and the walls were covered in patches of fungus. What was once a bed lay broken in the corner, surrounded by all sorts of fabric scraps and rags.

The roof was rotting and almost completely destroyed, we huddled together in the only spot that was not getting wet. After tending to my companion's leg, we cast a Disillusionment Charm to avoid being seen. We remained silent as we heard footsteps and voices outside.

"That can't be true, you lost them, and they're just students?" a female voice shouted at her followers. My blood froze in my veins when I heard her voice.

It was her.

I had been searching for Margaret Grimward for two months since discovering that she was responsible for my mother's death. She was one of the last remaining trusted confidants of Viktor Rookwood, and to my absolute regret, she seemed to know everything about the secret beneath Hogwarts.

After spending a few days in Feldcroft planning, she had simply shown up, the only thing we could do was run away. We had nothing but my bag and our wands with us.

They had lost track of us then, and we had been on the run ever since. We hadn't dared to stay anywhere for longer than a day, taking turns sleeping and eating whatever we could find.

We listened carefully, praying that she wouldn't come near us, but the house was so dilapidated that it appeared as though not even rats could live there.

They had only found us because we had returned to Feldcroft after Sebastian received a distraught Ominis owl, announcing that the Sallows' house had burned down. This was the last thing Ominis needed after Evangeline had broken their agreement.

We were just children who had stumbled into the wrong disaster.

The voices outside argued and came closer, "Search everywhere, they can't be far!" Margaret Grimward ordered. I felt myself begin to tremble, and a warm hand closed around mine. I intertwined my fingers with Ominis, who tried to reassure me.

We can't be discovered, we're invisible

In that moment, I wished so much to be a Demiguise.

"Margaret, I beg you, they're gone. They can Apparate, we learned that in sixth year," someone said.

"Dammit," she shouted, and suddenly everything was quiet.

We huddled under the broken roof for a few more minutes, but it seemed as though no one was around anymore.

"I don't hear anything," Omini whispered and extricated himself from the huddle we had made to protect ourselves from the rain. I also pulled away from Sebastian, who groaned.

"Does your leg still hurt?" I whispered, looking at him with concern.

"No, it's fine now. Thanks," he said, crawling out of the broken-down hut, and we followed him.

It was pouring outside.

"We need to find a safe place to hide," Ominis said, and we nodded in agreement.

"We could go to Hogsmeade, Sirona will have something for us," I suggested, but Ominis shook his head.

"No, not nearby. We need to hide somewhere they won't find us until we can get to Hogwarts. Then we won't need to worry anymore."

Omini's face was etched with shadows, like mine and Sebastian's. We were exhausted and needed to rest.

"My family has enough houses, we can hide in one that nobody cares about anyway," suggested the Slytherin heir, and I could see from his face that these words tasted like shards.