Sebastian's point of view:
Garreth and I ran into the woods. After a while he seemed to have picked up a scent. I followed him and when I saw a deer in the distance I started sprinting. I jumped openmouthed at the deer, which escaped me at the last second. I roared with rage. Shit, that's where our dinner runs away.
Garreth seemed to be trying to sniff something out again and I slowly followed him.
Again I saw a deer in the distance. It was even bigger than the one before. This time I snuck up and only sprinted just before I got there. I jumped onto the deer again, mouth open, as my teeth dug into its neck.
After two more solid bites, the deer was dead. Garreth bit one leg and helped me carry it. He was significantly gentler than me.
Together we ran back to the house with our loot. When we got there, we transformed back and I started cutting up the deer.
Caelie seemed to be inside. She had built an adorable grill just waiting to be lit. Garreth checked his potion and then went into the house. After a few minutes he returned.
He was standing in the doorway, looking concerned. "Have you seen Caelie? I thought she was in the house, but it's empty." he asked me. I shook my head as I was elbow-deep in the deer's guts.
Garreth walked out of the house and looked around. "She was in the barn, apparently trying to put up a chimney. But she's nowhere around," he said, looking even more worried than before.
"Maybe she went shopping?" I asked. "Her broom is in the house," Garreth answered quietly.I put the deer on the ground and wiped the blood off my arm. Garreth transformed and started sniffing. In the barn, he stopped. "There's no lead here," he said as he transformed back.
I walked over to him and we looked at the barn. No sign of a fight or anything else. "Maybe she Apparated? We can all Apparate." I interjected, but Garreth's worried lines didn't go away. "Caelie never leaves without writing a note. Even at my parents' house, she always left a note with the info where she is.", he said with a trembling voice, "I have a really bad feeling."
I took his hand. "Everything will be fine. Don't worry. Caelie is really strong." I said softly and hugged him, "Come on, we'll wait another hour, and if she's still not here, then we'll look for her. Okay?"
He just nodded. I had no doubt about Garreth's feelings for me, but I also knew that his love for Caelie was on a whole different level.
I've never seen anyone love someone so deeply before. Probably all the feelings I had for Garreth and Caelie weren't even close enough to compare with Garreth's feelings for Caelie.
And I've never felt so much love as I do for these two. But I actually worried less. I knew Caelie was a great witch and she could always fight back. But if Imperio has been applied? I asked myself.
He sat down next to the deer and continued gutting it, his leg shaking incessantly. He was dreadfully nervous. His nervousness infected me.
I went into the house and looked for a piece of parchment. I wrote a note for Caelie.
"If you're reading this, we're on the lookout for you. Please stay here, or leave a note where you're going. We'll come to the house regularly and check if you're here. Love, Sebastian."
I went outside again. Garreth's wobble had intensified even more.
"Come on, let's search now." I said. He nodded relieved, got up and went into the house. When he came out again he went to his cauldron, took probably fifteen vials and filled them in a hurry.
He tossed one thing more into the vials and stowed it all away in his bag.
I got our broomsticks, gave Garreth Caelie's broomstick to put in his bag, and then we took off. We decided to look at the Weasleys first.
We knocked, and Garreth hurried through the house without saying a word. "What's going on?" Gwen asked me confused. "Caelie's gone and she didn't leave any info for us," I said. "Okay, that's really unusual. Do you have any idea where she might be?" she asked me.
I shook my head as I heard Garreth calling her upstairs. He sounded panicky. Where could she be? "I'm just Apparating back to the house. I'll be right back." I said and Apparated back to our house. No Caelie.
A moment later, I was standing in front of the Weasleys' house again. Garreth was coming down the stairs, his face flushed. Apparently he had been crying a little upstairs.
He rushed out of the house and flew straight off again. I said goodbye and followed him. I've never seen him so broken up.
He flew near the ground and constantly looked around and called to her. "Where are we flying to now?" I asked. "Ottery St. Catchpole," he answered me curtly.
We searched the village on foot. Again, no Caelie. I Apparated home again. No Caelie.
"Where could she be?" Garreth asked while a few tears ran down his cheeks. I put my arms around him again and Apparated us to Feldcroft. It pained me to stand here. Next to the house I saw a fairly fresh grave.
Garreth looked around and rushed over to Solomon's house and banged on the door. Anne opened it. She looked terrible. Her face was even more sunken than before, and the emotional pain was also clearly visible. I stopped in the middle of the village.
"Is Caelie here?" Garreth asked, panicking. Ominis also came to the door. Garreth told them what was going on and that Caelie was nowhere. Anne just shook her head and I could read from her lips that she said "I'm sorry". Garreth seemed to say goodbye and came over to me.
We flew in the direction of Hogwarts. It was already dawning. We flew over the deserted compound. Summer holidays were the only time of year when the entire castle was closed. Garreth stopped in front of each of the innumerable doors and tried to open them. Still panicking, he kept calling her. I had a feeling we wouldn't find her here.
When we flew away from Hogwarts it was already dark. We flew in the direction of Hogsmeade. Garreth now seemed exhausted, but still panicked.
"Garreth, we should take a room at Sirona's. We won't find Caelie tonight," I said calmly. But Garreth stopped abruptly and gave me an angry look. "Are you fucking serious, Sebastian? My fiancee has disappeared! Do you really think that I can lie down calmly and fuck a bit in a relaxed manner? Maybe Caelie is badly wounded or dead. Have you ever thought about that?" he yelled at me while beginning to cry bitterly.
"Garreth, she's also my fiancé. And do you think I'm not worried at all? But flying around in a panic won't do anything. Try to think logically. Caelie doesn't have a broom with her. She certainly won't be wandering around the Highlands alone at night," I said calmly. I understood him. With Caelie, he lost all touch with reality. He's been like that since we met in first year.
"But what if she's just dying? Like me earlier this year. I couldn't forgive myself if I lost someone again because of my carelessness." He said, still crying. Again? I would have liked to know who he meant, but this wasn't the time for big, emotional conversations.
"Garreth, we're going to search Hogsmeade now and then we'll Apparate home and sleep. As soon as it's light we'll continue our search." I said, wiping the tears from his face. He nodded.
We flew to Hogsmeade and searched there. We told Sirona that if she sees Caelie to send her home. Most of the shops were already closed at this time, so our search ended early.
We Apparated home and she still wasn't there. Garreth dug into his pocket for a vial and sat down on the sofa. I sat next to him. He drank half of the vial, leaned into me and fell asleep.
I carried him to bed and lay down with him. I was also agitated inside and couldn't sleep for a long time. I drank the rest of Garreth's vial and found myself tiring quickly. Garreth had snuggled up to me while he was sleeping. And when I laid my head at his, I finally fell asleep.
The next morning broke and I was alone in bed. I walked out of the bedroom and saw a plate of food and a note. "I'll search again in the area. As soon as I'm back, we'll continue to search together. Bon appetit."
I looked into the kitchen. There was already a dirty plate there. I checked to see if the plate was from today, and yes. He had already eaten, which calmed me immensely.
I ate and just before I was done, Garreth returned. His face was still quite red.
"Where do you want to look?" I asked. "Inverness. You said that's where the Lewis house was. Maybe that's where she is," Garreth replied. I nodded and off we went.
We Apparated right in front of the Lewis house. We sneaked in and called Caelie. No Answer. We looked around, maybe she was sleeping. But no. She wasn't here either.
We walked to Orla's house. Orla opened the door. "Orla, have you seen Caelie?" Garreth asked directly. "No, why?" "Because she disappeared since yesterday," I said quietly. "I'm sorry, but no, she wasn't here. If she turns up here, I'll send her to your house, yes?" she said. We nodded and said our goodbyes.
"Oh, of course, that I didn't think of it sooner! Maybe she's with her family!" I said happily. It seemed the most logical to me.
We took the Floo Powder Chimney to Ottery St. Catchpole and attempted to use the link to the Lewis Chimney. We did everything exactly as Edvin showed us and a moment later we were in the basement of their house.
Garreth looked more reassured for a moment. We went upstairs and called for Edvin and Fayette, but Ellie was standing in front of us, beaming.
"Did you miss me?" she asked joyfully. "Ellie, where are your parents?" I asked calmly.
"So dad is at work and mum is shopping.", she said and I saw that she was looking where Caelie is, "Where did you leave Caelie?", she asked irritated.
"Caelie had a stomach ache and that's why she stayed at home.", Garreth said unexpectedly relaxed, "Would you like to play a game of football?" he asked her. I saw that he put his wand away. Had he used Relaxia on himself non-verbally?
Garreth was the only one of us who was that good at non-verbal magic. We went into the garden and the two of them played football, supposedly relaxed.
After a while, Fayette came back and smiled at us. She greeted me and asked where Caelie is. "Caelie's gone. That's why we're here. So she's not with you either. Shit," I said softly so Ellie couldn't hear me. Fayette looked shocked.
"Okay, I'll just pack our things and then we'll search together." She said quietly. "And what about Ellie?" I asked confused. "We're taking her to my parents'," Garreth interjected when he came over to us.
Fayette nodded, "Make up an excuse while I pack," she said, hurrying into the house.
"What's wrong with mom?" Ellie asked confused. "We, my dear little Ellie, are going to England together today. Your parents and we have to do very boring grown-up things like tax returns and stuff like that. It's so boring. That's why you're going to meet my family! My little sister is only a few years older than you. And my brother and my cousin are younger than me too. You can play a lot together there!" Garreth said enthusiastically and nudged her nose.
I looked into his beautiful eyes. Even though he was laughing, I saw that his gaze was completely blank. There was no happiness or anything else than fear. He continued to look at Ellie and I felt tears welling up in his eyes.
Ellie really did look confusingly like the younger Caelie. I grabbed Ellie and ran across the yard with her while she was sitting on my back. I wanted to give Garreth a chance to calm down.
Fayette came out with several bags. She gave Ellie her backpack, picked up her broom, and Apparated us into town. She walked into Edvin's store alone. After a short time, Edvin came out too. It was easy to see that he was upset.
"Dad, what's going on?" Ellie asked worried and before Edvin could answer, I said: "Your dad hates tax returns. But you have to do it, right, Edvin?
He had to laugh a little at this stupid excuse, "Yeah, tax returns really suck and they always take so long."
We Apparated back to the house and took advantage of the fireplace. We sat on our broomsticks and took off. Ellie sat on Edvin's broomstick and held onto him.