SIX DAYS. CEDRIC THOUGHT to himself. six days since anyone had seen or heard from harlow. he sat in his dorm room, alone. most of the school, including anthony and zach, had gone home for christmas. only the unlucky few still wandered the halls. cedric was supposed to leave hogwarts for the break and go to his parents house, but he refused to leave until he knew where harlow was.
he paced around his room, they were no closer to finding harlow then they were when she first disappeared. he remembered something that he'd learned in one of his classes, a tracking spell. he felt idiotic for not remembering it before. he recalled what he needed for the spell.
he rushed out of his dorm room and walked through the vacant halls to get to the library. the library was quiet and empty, not even the librarian was in there. he walked towards the back and found a map. cedric walked out of the library and towards the slytherin common room.
the common room was cold, the fire had burnt out and was nothing but embers and ash. he went towards the fire and took a handful of ashes. he turned around and made his way into harlow's dorm room. it was just as empty as everything else. it was just the way harlow left it. her bed was still made, the makeup from the dance still laid out on her vanity.
as he walked closer to harlow's side he smelt her familiar scent of strawberries. he ignored it and walked up to her vanity. he shoved the makeup off of it and took out the map, laying it on the vanity. he took the handful of ashes and dropped them onto the map. cedric pulled open the drawers and found her hairbrush, he placed it gently onto the map.
cedric took his wand out and took a deep breath, "requiro invenio." he muttered, nothing happened. "requiro invenio!" he repeated. the ashes began to come together and formed a line. "requiro invenio!" he commanded one last time.
the vanity was shaking, the ashes struggling spread forward. the ashes came to a stop. "no, no."
he threw the map off of the vanity, sending the ashes scattering throughout the air. he took a deep breath and looked back at the vanity. cedric moved closer and realized a picture frame, he picked it up, in it was a picture of her and cedric from his first game last year. he had gotten it for her for christmas last year, cedric remembered the way she had smiled when she opened it.
he missed that smile of hers. he knew even if they did get her back, he wasn't sure if he would see that smile ever again.
he took and deep breath and stared at the moving photo, "where the hell are you lo."
ϟ
harlow let out a scream, as the dagger was shoved into her thigh. her arms and legs were chained up to the ceiling and floor. the sharp feeling of a dagger become familiar to her, almost feeling used to the pain. she was still in the same clothes from the night they took her, only her dress was now a dark red mixed with blood and dirt. they drew it out suddenly, harlow gasped seeing her blood spill out of her and onto the floor.
one of the men raised his wand, "vulnera sanentur" he commanded boredly.
"what part of 'i don't know' haven't you gotten?" harlow spat.
"you must know something," he said frustrated, "and i will find out what that something is."
she rolled her eyes, "we're gonna be here for a really long time then."
"i suppose we are." he agreed, plunging the knife into her once more causing her to scream.
ϟ
cedric slammed the door to dumbledore's office open. snape and dumbledore, who were holding a map, looked up at him, snape rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the map. in his office sat harry, patiently who jumped at cedric's sudden entrance.
"so? anything?" cedric inquiered.
"he certainly has a flare for the dramatic." muttered professor snape to dumbledore, who shot him a dirty look.
"no," he shook his head, "we've tried everything, where ever she is, whoever has her doesn't want her to be found."
cedric nodded, "i know, i tried a different sort of tracking spell today and still nothing."
snape eyed him, "be careful cedric, i know you want to find her but don't do anything rash or stupid."
"it's not like you're doing anything." cedric scoffed, "you guys have practically given up."
"no we haven't." harry spoke up, "we're arranging another search party for later tonight."
"a search party tonight?" cedric tried to stop his laughter, "no ones going to go, especially tonight."
harry sighed, "i know, i just figured if all went well and we found her tonight, she'd be home for christmas, at least the end of it anyways."
cedric snickered, "well considering christmas has come and is just about to pass, that's rather optimistic."
he gave him a side eye, "i guess."
dumbledore spoke up and moved closer towards the boys, "we cant lose hope, she'll be okay and we'll get her back. wherever she is."
ϟ
harlow's aching body hit the cold cement as one of the men threw her to the ground of her cell. he threw a brown paper bag at her and came into the cell. harlow attempted to sit up when he kicked her in the stomach. he took one of harlow's hands and put it in a chain that was bolted into the floor.
"what's in the bag?" harlow asked him in a raspy voice.
"figured since today's special perhaps we were to give you a gift." the man told her.
harlow grabbed the bag and opened it, she took out what was inside of it. "bottled water, tooth paste, and a toothbrush. wow it must really be christmas."
"i can just as easily take it away." he spat.
"no, no, please." she begged, "a better gift would be to let me go."
"i can't do that." he walked out of the cell, another figure approached him.
the figure spoke, "we need to talk, send someone to guard the girl."
the man turned from harlow and nodded at the figure. he locked the cell, and turned back to harlow, "and don't try anything, those chains are-"
"indestructible, i know." she rolled her eyes.
the man nodded before following the figure up the stairs, she heard him talk to one of the other men and saw a man come down and sit by her cell. harlow took out the toothbrush and took toothpaste out of the bag. she put the toothpaste on the brush and began brushing her teeth.
the man gave her a look, harlow spit the toothpaste out into the old sink in the cell. "what?"
he shook his head and look away again. harlow took a drink of her water when she heard talking above her.
"you cant keep doing this." a woman's voice said.
harlow looked around, seeing where it was coming from, she realized the vent in the ceiling of the cell. it led directly to a room upstairs.
"i have to, do you know what he will do to us if we don't." a mans voice snapped back.
she realized that it was the figure who came to get the man. they were talking about something or someone, they were talking about her.
"he's not here is he?" the woman replied. "she's just a girl, she's our son's age."
"cissy," he said in a kind voice, "i know, but if we don't do this think about what he could do to our son, our boy."
cissy. harlow thought. who the hell is cissy. harlow didn't care what she had to do, she was going to escape and find out who had taken her. harlow sat on the floor of the cell. she picked up her toothbrush and got an idea.
ϟ
cedric laced up his shoes as he finished getting ready. he got up from his bed and walked over to the door. he began walking out of the hufflepuff common room. it was completely empty, not a person in sight. only few had stayed behind, those who did were spending christmas with their friends in their dorms.
cedric wandered out into the hallway, searching for harry. he finally found him leaving the hufflepuff common room with a familiar looking redhead, ron cedric recalled. cedric approached them.
"are you two ready?" cedric asked.
the two of them nodded and they walked to each other towards dumbledores office. once there, dumbledore and professor snape guided them to the entrance of hogwarts.
"is anyone else coming?" asked harry.
"no, i don't think so." dumbledore replied.
"i'll go north with harry and ron, you and cedric can go south." snape directed.
"professor dumbledore and i should split up, cover more ground." suggested cedric.
"you're still a minor." professor snape reminded him.
"i've got my wand." cedric told him.
snape and dumbledore looked at each other, then nodded reluctantly, dumbledore spoke up, "i'll take east, you can take south."
cedric nodded and went on his way, determined to find harlow.
ϟ
harlow examined the toothbrush, it's end now sharpened to a point. she looked at the sink, more specifically it's pipes. the chains are indestructible. she thought to herself.
"hey." harlow called out to the guard
the guard turned around, "what?"
she picked up the empty water bottle and the brown paper bag, "can you throw this out for me? i hate clutter."
the man raised an eyebrow and took it reluctantly but nodded, he looked around to see a trash can but there was none. he looked at the chains then turned around and left the room.
harlow turned her attention to the old pipes attached to the sink. she took a deep breath and kicked the pipes, they were rickety, a few more kicks and it would give out. she kicked it again and again, it came free and fell to the floor. she picked it up, hastily.
she looked at the pipe then looked at her hand, "i can do this." she muttered.
she took a deep breath and hit her hand with the pipe at full force. she caught a scream in her mouth, she took another deep breath and hit her hand again and again. she let out an almost silent sob, she looked at her hand, now broken. she closed her eyes and slid her hand out of the chains and picked up the toothbrush into her unbroken hand.
the guard came back and sat in a chair outside of her cell, not noticing anything had changed. she moved closer to him slowly and crept up behind him. she dug the sharpened end of the toothbrush into his neck and pulled it out. blood rushed out of his neck and onto the floor, he let out a choking sound. harlow dropped the toothbrush on the floor.
"alohomora!" she commanded and the cell door flew open.
harlow rushed up the stairs and found herself in a hallway. there were people wandering around, presumably guarding each area of the place. she tried her best to move forward and ignore the devastating pain in her hand. she found her way to a set of large doors, the exit. as she reached for the door knob, she heard a noise behind her.
there were three men with the hoods of their robes over their faces, they held out their wands to her, "crucia-"
harlow cut them off, "somnium."
the three of the men fell to the ground. harlow opened the door and rushed out of the manor. it was the dead of night. the snow fell from the sky, added to the already covered ground. harlow heard more noise behind her and began to run.
ϟ
the sun was coming up, as cedric continued his search. he had spent all night searching for her and had found nothing. he drudged through the thick snow, his shoes becoming heavier with each step.
he saw a figure far ahead, walking through the snow. they were coming closer to him. he ventured closer to them and began to recognize the figure. he felt like a weight was lifted off of his chest and he sighed in relief.
"harlow!" he called out to the figure, with a smile plastered on his face.
the figure turned its attention to him, she smiled at him and began to run towards him. he sped up and ran towards her. he took her in his arms and held her tight. he pulled apart from her and stared at her.
he moved his face closer to hers. his lips met hers as he pulled her into a kiss. one of his hands met her waist while the other held her face gently. he was intoxicated by her. she pulled away slowly, her lips slightly parted.
"cedric..." she began.
cedric's warm smile fell, "harlow you're freezing." he tried to grab her hand, she cringed in pain. for the first time he looked at her and realized her bloody and bruised body. "what did they do to you."
harlow took a deep breath and began to answer him. she went limp in his body. her eyes closed shut.
"lo?" he called out, "harlow!"