The Thorns of Hogwarts | Cedric Diggory [2]

Chapter Six: Reunion

 The lamps that had lit the path to the stadium had long since been extinguished, leaving the forest in total darkness. Still, the group pushed on, George's hand still firmly grasping Oriane's arm. And she was immensely grateful for him dragging her along. Her legs felt too heavy to run properly, and she couldn't tell if it was from her exhaustion or from the anxiety gripping her chest.

"C'mon," George urged.

And so she did. She forced her legs to move, despite how much they protested. She kept telling herself that she was not going to be the reason they got caught by a band of Death Eaters.

Things were a terrible mess. Screaming echoed everywhere around them, and they were narrowly dodging the trees they were sprinting past. A part of her wanted to stop and help some lost child they ran by, but she couldn't. All she could do was run, and she told herself she'd continue to do so until her legs gave out.

"Wait!" she heard a voice shout from in front of them.

It was Ginny, and she was violently tugging on Fred's arm, trying to get them to stop. Once Oriane and George caught up, the four of them came to a complete stop in the middle of the woods. Several other bodies continued to fly at them as more and more people fled deeper into the woods.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked, eyes anxiously darting around them.

"Where's Ron?" she asked, looking behind them.

All four children turned back towards the campsite. A strong bright light illuminated parts of the forest as the fires only grew. Children screamed around them as parents carried them through the woods, and people could be heard shouting for their loved ones. Yet, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were nowhere to be found.

Then Oriane found her mind wandering to Cedric. She hadn't seen him at all when they had originally started running. Had he joined the others? Or had he and his father run off before the others were even made aware of the situation? Even worse, was he on his own? Too much was going on, too many loved ones separated from one another, hardly having the time to ensure their safety when trying to run for their lives.

"They were right behind us!" George shouted, exasperated.

"We have to go back for them," Oriane said, pulling against George's grip.

This only made him hold onto her even stronger. "What are you doing? We can't fight against those wizards! Leave that to the Ministry!"

"They're Death Eaters! They're going after Muggles!" she cried. "We might be safe from their wrath, but Hermione isn't!"

Even in the dim lighting it was easy to make out how the color drained from their faces. There was an internal battle both of the twins seemed to be having, and Oriane could read it on their faces. Save each other? Their younger sister? Or go back and hope to find the others before the Death Eaters do.

"You saw what they were doing to that family. Please, we have to go back," Oriane pleaded.

The twins shared a stern look with each other. It was odd to see them acting so serious. Even back at the campsite they had taken initiative to save her and Ginny by pulling them along with the others. Despite being well known to be pranksters, Oriane sometimes forgot just what house they had been sorted into.

"Wands out," Fred ordered, revealing his own. "We'll go back for them. But the moment we run into trouble, we turn back. We're not going to be much use to them if we get hurt."

George nodded, and Oriane took out her wand, which she had shoved into the pocket of Cedric's jacket. She had never used any offensive, or really much defensive magic, in her entire life. Most of what she had been taught was in her previous year by Remus, but that had mostly been against dark creatures, not wizards and life or death situations.