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Fred Weasley
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"You drew stars around my scars
But now I'm bleedin'
'Cause I knew you
Steppin' on the last train
Marked me like a bloodstain
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
We'd apparated to Luna's house.
We'd managed to get inside once the hostile and slightly fearful Xenophilius Lovegood let us. He'd hidden behind the door, questioning who we were and what we wanted. It was all rather strange but I didn't question strange when it came to the Lovegood's.
Nezz had been quite excited to see Luna again, I knew they were good friends and I hadn't even thought whether Nezz had missed seeing her.
The Lovegood's house was quaint, nice but quite cluttered. It was very dark too, it kind of reminded me of the state Grimmauld Place was in after Sirius died. Looking at Luna's dad, his appearance reflected the state of the house; he seemed drained and jumpy-like every time we moved it was to hurt him.
Nezz had sensed this straight away and I watched her as her eyes flashed a scarlet colour before she'd laid a gentle hand on him. She'd told him that everything was okay and that we weren't there to hurt him or Luna. He visibly calmed but I guessed it was because Nezz had made him relax with her powers.
We now all sat upstairs on the sofa, drinking tea that did not have any water in.
"Where is Luna?" Harry asked the jittery man before us, his bleached hair in ragged crimps.
"Luna?" He said her name wistfully as if it was foreign to him.
Nezz narrowed her eyes and she rocked forward-she was suspicious of him and I wanted to know why.
I always trusted her instinct. She was so rarely wrong when it came to people's intentions, she had an intuition due to her powers.
"She'll be along. So how can I help you, Mr. Potter?" He cleared his throat, tilting his head to the side.
"Well, actually, it was about something you were wearing round your neck at the wedding. A symbol." Harry explained.
"You mean this?" Xenophilius held up the symbol in his hand, attached with a silver chain that hung round his neck.
"Yes! That exactly. What we've wondered is, what is it?" Hermione questioned, her thirst for knowledge getting the better of her as she almost yelled her question.
"What is it? Well, it's the sign of the Deathly Hallows, of course. I assume you're all familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers." We all nodded, I remembered mum reading George and I that story when we were younger.
"I'm sorry, sir. I still don't quite understand" Nezz said, her hands clasping together.
"Where's that pen I had?" Luna's dad patted his clothing until he grabbed a pen and paper to begin drawing, "The Elder Wand." He stated after drawing a line, "The most powerful wand ever made. The Resurrection Stone." He said, drawing a circle in the middle of the line, "The Cloak of Invisibility." He drew a triangle, "Together, they make the Deathly Hallows."
The symbol had been drawn before our eyes.
"That mark was on a grave in Godric's Hollow" Harry remarked, nodding to the drawing but mostly talking to Hermione since the rest of us weren't there.
"Uh, Mr. Lovegood, does the Peverell Family have anything to do with the Deathly Hallows?" Hermione prodded uneasily, the mans movements seemed more restless, his fleeting tapping against the floor relentlessly.
"Ignotus-Excuse me" he paused, breathing in deeply, "and his brothers, Cadmus and Antioch are thought to be the original owners of the Hallows and therefore the inspiration for the story" he informed us.
Nezz shuffled forward so that she was perching just on the end of the sofa. She reached out to touch Xenophilius's hand, her fingers grazed his knuckle but she flinched back as he'd burnt her.
I craned my neck to gage Nezz's reaction; her eyes were wide and glittering, her lips parted.
"But your tea's gone cold!" Luna's Dad stuttered, jumping up and scampering downstairs.
"Nerezza" Harry breathed, "what is it?" He said, shaking her hand a little.
"I felt..." Nezz swallowed, "guilt. Too much" she whispered.
"Let's go down there" I suggested, helping Nezz to stand and making sure she wasn't light headed after the sudden rush of emotions she felt from the jumpy man.
"Let's get out of here more like" Ron corrected, tugging at his jumper collar. "I'm not drinking any more of that stuff, hot or cold" he puffed.
We all made our way downstairs to see Xenophilius in the kitchen area, clattering around with teacups and staring off into space...just letting the water run until the pot over spilled in the sink. This was fucking strange.
Harry rubbed his hands on his jeans nervously as he glanced back at us all before speaking to Mr. Lovegood again.
"Thank you, sir." Harry tapped his shoulder and he sprang back around, eyes bulging out of fear, "We really should be going" Harry smiled softly at the panicked man.
Harry headed toward the door but Lovegood threw himself in front of the piece of wood, his arms almost hugging it. I grabbed Harry by the back of his jacket and I pulled him back to Nezz, Ron, Hermione and I, protectively.
"No, you can't!" He barked.
"Sir?" Hermione uttered.
"You're my only hope." Mr. Lovegood whimpered, his body sagging lifelessly with a tone of desperation lacing his cries. "They were angry, you see, about what I'd been writing. So they took her. They took my Luna" he confessed in a broken sob.
Nezz clamped a hand over her mouth in shock. Harry clenched his fists angrily at the admission that the sweet, unique yet kind Luna had been taken from her home. From her father.
I could feel Nezz's hand grip my arm which was by my side, if Luna wasn't here then why had he lied?
"Luna" Nezz fretted.
"But it's really you two they want" Mr. Lovegood nodded to Harry and Nezz.
I could feel my muscles tense as soon as the words left his cracked lips.
"Who took her, sir?" I asked tentatively.
"Voldemort." He replied grimly.
"GET DOWN!" Nezz shrieked.
The window smashed open and I yanked Nezz down to the floor.
Hermione let out a yelp as she and Ron hit the floor and shimmied under a table, Harry crouched on the floor with his hands covering his head.
Flashes of white lights caused plates and cups to the ground, the pieces shattering and flying off in different directions. A shard of pottery flew and scratched my cheek, drawing blood that dripped onto my fingers. I could hear Mr. Lovegood outside screaming about how he'd caught us and that he wanted his Luna back.
Streaks of black mist soared into the house, shaking the foundations and breaking furniture like it weighed nothing.
The five of us crawled across the floor, various pots and plates falling onto our heads. Nezz held her palm up in the air and created a red shield over us so the shards of pottery and glass bounced off it.
"Join hands!" Hermione urged.
The five of us grappled our hands together and disapparated.
Several thuds sounded as we landed on yet another forest floor. This was starting to get repetitive. My eyes scanned the surroundings for Nezz and I breathed a sigh of relief when she slipped her hand into mine and we pulled each other up.
"That treacherous little bleeder! Is there no one we can trust?" Ron groused as he helped Hermione up from the ground.
"They kidnapped her because he supported Nezz and I" Harry argued, "He was just desperate." Ron didnt seem too convinced because he let out a scoff of disbelief.
"Desperate people do awful things Ron, trust me" Nezz countered sadly, her tone slipping off at the end as if she was thinking of a specific memory in her life.
I frowned, pulling her into my side and kissing the side of her head.
Nezz had a cut just below her scar that had just begun to stop bleeding, her lip was bleeding too but I was just to grateful that we all made it out alive. Harry spied Nezz's injuries and he stepped over a long to peck her cheek comfortingly.
"I'll do the enchantments" Hermione said, still catching her breath from the earlier shock.
She turned around but stopped dead in her tracks for some reason which we didn't know why until we heard the voice.
"Hello, beautiful."
A snatcher.
He leaned against a tree casually, fiddling with a frayed piece of his fingerless gloves, his black hair was clumped in dirty strands and it hung in a half up-do. His face was patched in dirt and sweat.
"Run! Go!" Harry cautioned loudly. We all took off in a sprint away from the snatchers, "Nerezza, come on!" Harry growled as she slowed down.
"You go! I can stay and fight them off!" She ordered.
"Hell no" I dismissed, grabbing her arm and trying to shove her in front of me.
Nezz held up her hands and forced us all forward with a wall of scarlet.
I belted a cry of frustration as it sunk in that I'd left her alone to fight off the snatchers; Hermione slung curses behind her blindly hoping she'd hit one of them.
For a few minutes, we couldn't see the snatchers behind us and I hoped that that meant that Nezz had stopped them.
That was until green was fired at us, hitting a nearby tree. Ron ducked just in time and that was our cue to keep running.
My heart was thumping in my chest as we all continued to run, twigs and leaves crunching under our heavy footsteps. Red and green streaks scorched the ground below us, causing the grass to smoke.
Suddenly, I heard Ron groan as his body collided with the floor, rope tied around his ankles from a spell. I skidded to a halt, running towards my brother and desperately fumbling with the rope to free him. However, I knew it was no use, two snatchers surrounded us with their wands drawn warningly.
I held my hands up in a begrudging surrender.
The two snatchers hoisted Ron and I up and lead us a little further into the woods where Hermione and...Harry? What the hell was wrong with his face? It was puffed up and swollen, like he'd been stung by loads of bees. Hermione was held by a snatcher as was Harry but Nezz wasn't here...oh god. No. No. She couldn't be.
"Where is she!" I bellowed at a snatcher, lunging forward with a sinking feeling settling in my stomach.
"The pretty Kenesis witch?" He cackled a laugh, "why, here she is now!" He jeered as if he was entertained by our capture and distress.
We all whipped our heads in the direction on where he'd looked.
There she was. Her hands cuffed by a red, shiny metal. The cuffs were linked with a silver chain and that's when I saw the same cuff round her neck...she was chained like some sort of fucking animal.
Wait a minute...I recognised that metal.
"Mercury Metal" the the lead snatcher smirked evilly, "quite effective on shutting this one up" he chuckled, rubbing Nezz's scar with his thumb.
Nezz was noticeably weakened. Her body was slumped, only held up by the chains which were controlled by another snatcher.
"LET HER GO!" I roared as I charged at the lead snatcher.
I was dragged back by the snatcher holding me hostage.
That horrible feeling of helplessness was twisting a knot in my stomach, Nezz was moaning in pain and I could hear the metal sizzling her skin.
"Quite a beauty this one is, aside from that fuckin werewolf scar" the lead snatcher curled his lip and pushed Nezz's head away from his face.
The snatcher moved on from Nezz and leered near Hermione.
Nezz collapsed to her knees and a strangled cry escaped my lips. I hated this. I hated seeing her constrained as if she was some type of feral animal; as if she were nothing.
"Don't touch her!" Ron groused, attempting to run forward to Hermione.
In retaliation, a snatcher punched him straight in the gut and a oof sound followed with Ron cradling his stomach in pain. He staggered to the floor, rolling over in pain. Hermione yelled out for him with horror.
"Your boyfriend will get worse than that if he doesn't learn to behave himself" the lead snatcher threatened, flashing his grimy teeth at us in a twisted smile. "What happened to you, ugly?" He said to Harry.
Both the disfigured Harry and the snatcher holding him turned to look at the lead snatcher.
"No, not you" he dismissed, "What's your name?"
"Dudley. Vernon Dudley." Harry lied expertly.
"And you two, you look related" he commented, wagging his finger between Ron and I. "What do they call you both?"
"Albert and Atlas Thornton" I answered quickly for my brother, "we're brothers, he's younger" I told them, hoping my poker face was more than convincing enough.
"I'm Penelope Clearwater, half-blood" Hermione said after me, her nose flaring in revulsion as the snatchers sniffed around her hair.
"An you, my lovely" the lead snatcher chuckled, sauntering over to my Nezz, "we already know you. The last remaining Kenesis Witch. Sirius Black's daughter" he coughed with a grin.
"There's no Vernon Dudley on here." Another snatcher blurted, holding his list.
"Did you hear that, ugly? The list says you're lying!" The lead snatcher turned his attentions back to Harry who was darting his glances around at us all, his eyes lingered on Nezz who hadn't said a word yet. "How come you don't want us to know who you are? Who are they to you?" He pressed, lifting up Nezz's sagging head by her hair.
"Go fuck yourself" she spat, her eyes glassing over with scarlet rage.
"Change of plan." The lead snatcher said, "We're not taking this lot to the Ministry."