"I must admit, I thought Violet would be with you, along with Andrew," Mrs. Hamilton told them as she took the lead to the safe house. "Do any of you know where they are?"
"No," Jacob answered. "Your house was vacant and just about destroyed when I went over there last week. What happened?"
"Death Eaters is exactly what happened," the older woman replied. "They came out of nowhere and invaded the entire house. Violet and Andrew were separated from us when it happened."
"So you have no idea where they went?" Eliza asked.
She shook her head. "No idea. We haven't heard from them, either, which worries the rest of us."
As they continued to tread through the streets, everyone became more cautious of their surroundings. Mrs. Hamilton took them farther away from the busy city, where it was getting more quiet.
"How did you know we were in the Leaky Cauldron," Jacob spoke up once again.
"By chance. I saw you four looked like you were about to get into some trouble with the wrong person, so I stepped in." She paused, turning her head a bit towards Mary. "I don't think I've ever seen you before. What's your name, sweetheart?"
"It's Mary," the girl answered. "I transferred to Hogwarts last year."
Mrs. Hamilton nodded her head. "You're American. The boy that was killed almost a month ago was American as well, from what I read in the Daily Prophet."
"Yes, he was my brother," Mary said, her breath getting a bit shaky.
The woman's face fell. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard that must've been."
Mary nodded. "Thank you. It has been hard, but I'm getting through it."
So Mrs. Hamilton shifted her head back around and kept on walking. After a few more minutes, she stopped, signaling they arrived at the safe house. She took her wand out of her pocket and waved it, the buildings in front of them moving a part until one appeared in between them. With a small smile, she crossed the street with the others and went to the front door, letting them enter inside.
Just by setting foot in the foyer, everyone felt more at ease. On the right was a living room area, with a couch and a couple of chairs placed in a circle, along with a few bookshelves that were not completely filled up. Down the hall was the kitchen, where a light was already on, and right in front of them was a staircase, in which Mrs. Hamilton was the one to lead them up the steps.
"Jacob and Oliver, your room is this first door on the right," she explained, pointing to the door. "Eliza and Mary, your room is this one on the left." She motioned her fingers towards their door.
"Are Ruth and Annabel here as well?" Jacob asked.
"Yes, their room is down the hall, but they won't be bothering any of you." The woman sighed, then turned around. "Well, I'll let you all get settled in, then you can come back downstairs and we can discuss getting some food in your stomachs before more members from the Order show up. Some have been coming in and out, so I need to get more rooms prepared." With that, she headed back downstairs.
So the four split up and went into their respective rooms. Eliza didn't give Mary the chance to pick a bed by the way she threw her rucksack on the one closest to the door. Mary headed to the other bed and merely sat down, staring at the window in front of her.
Neither of them said a word to each other for a moment. But once Mary saw Eliza was finished with unpacking, she broke the silence. "Do you have any idea how long we'll be here?"
Eliza shrugged. "No, I don't." She plopped on her bed. "Hopefully, it won't be long at all."
"Yeah, maybe it won't." But only time will tell, she thought.
So the two girls headed back out to the hallway, where Eliza went across the hall and knocked on the door, hearing them talking on the other side. She opened the door and went into their room, followed by Mary, finding the boys sitting down on one bed.
"This is cozy," Jacob stated.
Eliza snorted, sitting down on the opposite bed, along with Mary. "Yeah, I guess. It doesn't change the fact that Andy and Vi are still out there in potential danger, though."
"I'm sure they're fine," Oliver spoke up. "Maybe it's a good thing Mrs. Hamilton found us. It gives us time to come up with an actual plan once we leave this safe house."
"We'll need some kind of elaborate plan, then," Mary added. "Especially since we have no idea where to start."
"Which we need to figure out first," Jacob said.
"Yeah, figuring out where to go next is the first step," Oliver added.
Mary noticed the way Jacob only eyed her briefly before quickly turning away. She saw the way his hands clamped together and the way his legs began to shake. She began to wonder if it was her that caused him to do that. If so, had he always done that and she never noticed?
Before anyone else could utter another word, someone cleared their throat from behind them. There stood two girls at the door, both grinning as they leaned against the frame.
"When did you all get here?" the older one questioned.
"Just a few minutes ago, Ruth," Eliza responded.
"We've missed you, Jacob," the younger one added.
Jacob smiled. "I've missed you, too, Annabel," he told her.
"Have any of you heard from Violet?" Ruth asked, sounding almost desperate.
"No, nothing as of now," Oliver admitted. "Believe me, we're worried about her as much as you two are."
Ruth nodded. "Well, wherever she is, let's hope she's safe, along with Andrew." The girl nudged her younger sister, signaling her to leave the four alone. "We'll see you later."
Annabel waved goodbye as she followed her sister away from the bedroom.
Once they were gone, the four went back to their conversation. It was then Mary felt something rise in her, words coming out of her mouth that she had been meaning to say for a while to Jacob and Eliza...
"I'm sorry," she blurted out.
The three looked at her in confusion.
"What?" Oliver asked.
Mary took a deep breath, trying to come up with more words to explain. Once she had a clear idea of what to say next, she continued. "Look, what I did this past year, it was horrible. We all know that, and I also know that I hurt you deeply with what I did, especially to you, Jac-- William." She shot him a sad look. "I messed up. I messed up big time, but I realized that I'm not like the Death Eaters, nor do I share the same beliefs with them." She paused, sighing. "Honestly, I didn't think I was up to becoming one of them. I was only doing it to make my parents happy."
When she stopped rambling on, Jacob and Eliza turned to Oliver, who nodded his head with an empathetic expression on his face. Then, they turned towards each other for a brief moment before one of them decided to say something.
That person was Jacob. "I'll be honest, I was ready to find any reason to abandon you. Yes, you're right, you did hurt me, and you also hurt my friends and girlfriend at that." He let his posture relax a bit. "But leaving the Death Eaters and switching to the good side...I must say, that takes a lot of guts." He paused. "I've thought about what you did a lot, and while we can't forget what you did, we can certainly move on from it. Thank you for your apology, Mary. I do appreciate it."
Eliza was next, biting her lip. "Yeah, thank you for that. I stand with Jacob as well."
When no more words were being exchanged, the four stood up and headed out of the room.
Before they hit the stairs, Jacob turned around and faced Mary. "You can call me Jacob, by the way. I prefer that over William." He gave her a small smile before descending the stairs.
Just like that, Mary felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
A/N: Song above is A New Beginning by Alexandre Desplat.
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-A