Maledictus

Ch.5 - Unexpected Visitors.

And with a slight creek, she slipped out and stood at the top of the stairs, listening and waiting for something she hoped would never come.

One step.
One step.
Stop.
Listen and wait.

One step.
One step.
Stop.
Listen and wait.

This is how Alice did it.
Slow and steady wins the race, or prevents you from getting killed, whichever one works.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she tiptoed into the sitting room, thinking that's where they would be.

But they weren't.
That made Alice's stomach do a flip.

She checked behind the couch, chair, curtains and anywhere else she thought they may be hiding.

But what she didn't know was that they heard her, and as quietly as possible, they snuck into the sitting room.

"What do you think you're doing?!" one asked, his wand raised, a vein pumping with anger.

Alice swung around and squeaked in fear, holding a pillow up to her face.

The man walked towards her, anger wanting out and ready to explode.
He pulled the pillow out of her weak grip and grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing in our house?!" he shouted, making her sit on the nearest chair.

The man had his wand raised as Alice covered her head ready for the pain.

"Please" she whimpered. " Please, don't hurt me"

The man grew madder at the sight of her cowering like a lonely horse.

"Bill, calm down, she is only a leetle girl" said the woman with a strong French accent.

" Fleur, it still doesn't explain why she is in my family's house" he hissed, still holding his wand tightly.

The woman gave up and heaved a sigh.

"Fine, do want you want"

Bill walked closer, glaring at the girl in the same dirty t-shirt, and tangled black hair.

"You tell me what you are doing here, and we will leave you be"

Alice looked up at the man with red hair, and clean clothes.
The lady had a gorgeous blue dress with a lovely hat.

When Alice noticed this, she knew it was hardly possible for them to be death eaters.

And they weren't.
It was Bill and Fleur.

Bill Weasley was Ron's older brother who works for Gringotts in Egypt, and Fleur is a French girl, who came to England and competed in the Triwizard Tournament.

They were ready to surprise the Weasleys, but Alice was caught, and Bill wasn't told that Ms. Weasley brought her in.

"Why are you here?" Bill asked again, trying to contain his temper.

Alice didn't answer.
She was still trembling from head to toe and was trying her hardest not to cry, she couldn't show weakness.

However, Bill was getting impatient and needed to know an answer.
He had no problem using force, but he would never hurt her.

"ANSWER ME!"

Alice squeaked and fell of the couch with a thump and crawled under the nearest table, huddling up into a tiny ball.

"What's all this noise?" asked Ms. Weasley, rushing down the stairs. "Bill! What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd surprise you!" he exclaimed, standing in front of the table, blocking Alice, but it didn't stop Ms. Weasley from seeing.

"Alice, what on earth are you doing under the table"

Alice looked up to see the kind face of the loving mother of the Weasleys and gave her a look of confusion.

"Alice why don't you come out?" she asked kindly and she shook her head. "Why not?"

Alice only pointed to Bill, her face lost all colour when he made a quick glare towards her.

"Bill, would you like to tell me what happened?" she asked, standing back up, folding her arms.

Bill's face became red with embarrassment, and looked at Fleur for help.

"Don't look at me, I told you not to do it!" she protested, taking Molly's side.

"Bill what did you do?"

"First tell me who this, Alice is"

With the help of Ron - who heard the commotion and headed down - Ms. Weasley, explained all they knew about Alice.
But thankfully, Ron didn't mention a single thing about her brother.

Bill felt terrible.
He just assumed she was some intruder of some sort and he freaked out.

"I don't know what you did, and neither do I want to know. But I do want you to apologise and make sure she's out from under that bloody table!"

Ms. Weasley, turned on her heal to show Fleur her room, and tell Ron to get into bed or else he'll get no breakfast in the morning.

"Alice? That's what your name was, wasn't it?"

Alice nodded before covering her head again.

"I wasn't going to hurt you"

Alice didn't move.
She was scared.

She obviously knew this man was a Weasley, and that he probably would never hurt her, but that didn't stop the terror from subsiding.

"Can you talk?" he asked, quite rudely.

"Yes" she answered simply, still not looking at him. "And I would like you to leave"

"Alice-"

"Leave"

Defeated, Bill left heading upstairs still feeling horrible about what he did to Alice.

After she was sure he was gone, she let out the breath she hadn't even realised she was holding.

She began to play with her long black hair as a distraction, but she didn't feel hair.

She felt black, silky scales.