REACHING FOR YOU
Draco
✩
More days had gone by and still, we were walking through complete darkness with not a clue where we were going or what lied in our path.
Each day, the Marauders were growing tenser. Their hushed conversations and frantic whisper-yelling with the headmaster and professors were being noticed by everyone. The rest of the students were growing wearier and wearier, some even deciding to take the rest of the year off because they were growing afraid of how extreme the situation was seeming to be.
"Well-what the hell would you suggest, dimbleton?" George snapped at Ron. "I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas!"
"As if you've had any!" Ron retorted, shoving his brother away.
"Shut up, would you?" Fred ran a hand down his face, groaning. "Complaining and yelling at each other isn't going to get us anywhere, is it?"
The lot of us were gathered in the astronomy late at night, finding time to discuss possible plans without anyone overhearing. We were working behind the backs of the elders who didn't want us to get involved-they wanted us to believe they had it under control, keep ourselves away from a dangerous situation.
"Stop it!" Hermione's yell made everyone fall silent. "If you have nothing of use to say, just shut up!"
Pansy, Blaise, Luna and Cedric had discovered we were up to something-something to get Elysia back. They were going to help. They wouldn't have taken no for answer even if that's what it would have been.
Frankly, we were swimming through foreign waters with not a clue what to do. We could use all the help we could get.
"What about-what about the summoning charm?" Pansy spoke up.
Hermione sighed deeply, shaking her head. "It wouldn't work. You can't summon living things."
"You can summon objects," Blaise piped.
"Elysia's not an object, is she, Zabini?" Potter rolled his eyes bitterly.
Blaise clenched his jaw. "You can summon things she's wearing. That's an object. It could work," Blaise explained calmly.
"I know what she's wearing." Everyone turned towards Fred who spoke slowly, in thought, as if he were speaking more to himself. "The night of the party-that's when she was taken. I ran into her in the hallways when she was going to her room. She was in my sweater. The one mum knit me last Christmas."
Ginny grimaced. "But-the further the object is from the caster, the harder it is to summon them. We have not a clue where she is."
Hermione shook her head firmly. "Actually-it does not matter how far away the object is, so long as the caster has it clear in their mind."
"I reckon Fred would see the sweater clearer than anyone," George shrugged lightly, tilting his head towards his brother. "He'd be best at the spell."
I didn't think this would work. It was too-too far fetched. Summoning a sweater? Merlin's beard, just hearing the idea made me want to punch all these idiots in the face.
However, I found myself praying to a higher power that this would work.
It has to.
Please, please work.
Seeing as it was the only idea we had, we tried. We had to. We needed to-we needed to do something. Desperately. We were all losing hope. If we didn't find something to do, soon, that hope would dim further until we would all find ourselves lost.
For Elysia's sake, we couldn't let that happen. We had to hold onto that last string of hope like it were the only thing keeping us breathing.
For all we know, it may very well be the only thing keeping Elysia breathing.
Fred stepped to the centre, inhaling deeply as he closed his eyes. He took a long moment to focus his thoughts, solely thinking of the sweater. The object had to be clear in his mind for this to work.
This will work. It has to.
With shaking hands, he pulled out his wand. "Accio."
He muttered the incantation, his eyes remaining closed.
We all waited.
And then we heard it.
The wind swooshed loudly, blowing in all our faces as the object came speeding through the air. It was so fast, you could hardly see it coming. Fred's sweater came hurtling towards him, soaring into the enclosure. It stopped dead in mid-air in front of him, then fell to the ground in front of his feet.
My heart was racing so tremendously, I could hear it in my ears.
Fred's breath hitched as he grabbed the sweater. He scrambled as he opened up the sweater, holding it up.
"Is that-" Hermione gaped, stepping back slowly with horror on her eyes.
"What the fuck?" I snatched the sweater from Fred's hands.
It worked.
But not the way we had anticipated. The sweater was here without Elysia in it.
My heart fell to the pit of my stomach.
The sweater was cut, gaping with holes, dirt smudges over the fabric. There was blood. So much blood.
My stomach churned.
One of the arms of the sweater was nearly shredded to bits, blood soaking the entire sleeve. You couldn't see the colour of yarn underneath from how much blood there was.
"No. No. No." I shook my head frantically, staring at the demolished sweater.
"That's-that's her blood." Pansy slowly took the sweater from my hands that were now trembling. She analyzed it carefully, as if confirming for herself that she were seeing the same thing.
"She was wearing it," Fred exasperated, his face falling. "She was wearing it. It should have worked. We should have tried this spell sooner. Maybe it could have worked. We-"
"Freddie, don't do that to yourself." Hermione bit back the urge to cry as she wrapped her arms around Fred who looked absolutely crestfallen.
I stared at the sweater. The blood. The shredded fabric.
My blood ran cold, shivers running through my entire body.
Everything seemed to grow clear, for all of us, in this moment.
Elysia wasn't just being held hostage-she was being hurt. Tortured. Merlin knows what else.
We could have assumed as much but we all refused to think such a thing.
Pansy dropped the sweater, slowly backing away. "We can't-we need to-" she exhaled sharply, unable to form thoughts. She looked as though she had seen a ghost.
"Come on," Blaise wrapped an arm around Pansy's shoulders. "It's late. We should-get some sleep and come back with clearer heads. We'll think of something better."
We sure as hell better think of something better.
I'm so sorry, Elysia.