Chapter 6
"We have to go back! We have to save her! We have to go back!" I screamed, fighting against Cameron's strong grasp on me.
"Charlotte, please" he begged, the devastation dripping off his words.
I shook and screamed and fought against him, trying to get him to let me go. "What are you doing?! We can't leave her!" I screamed louder.
"They have her Char! They have her and if we go back, they'll get you too" Roze cried, tears streaking her face and she grasped my shoulders so tightly it would have hurt if I could feel it.
"Please" I sobbed, losing all the strength to fight and just falling into Cameron. He let us drop to the dirt at our feet.
"I want to save her too. God, I want to go back to her too, Charlotte. But they'll just kill us, and take you to him. We can't. We can't do that. He'll kill every single person we love. Every person we know" Cam shuddered, his arms still around me so I felt every shake.
I sobbed, squeezing my eyes shut as hot tears blurred my vision. "They'll kill her" I whispered, shaking my head. "It's my fault".
Roze's small, cold hands found my cheeks. "No Char, because of you, they'll keep her alive. We can get her back. They'll keep her alive so they can get to you. We'll just be smarter than them" Roze said strongly. I looked up at her, in that instant, I could see the Weasley fire in her eyes.
"We'll get her back" she whispered, leaning her forehead against mine.
My breaths were loud and laboured, a million thoughts running through my mind as I stared at the girl in front of me. She was right. Of course she was, but my heart felt like it was breaking with one long, slow crack straight down the middle at the thought of leaving her. I lost Ari to them, and it was my fault.
But we will get her back. I will get her back.
I nodded slowly, before finally looking around us. "Where are we?" I asked, my voice cracking. Roze leaned back on her heals while looking around.
"I don't know Char, you apparated us here" she sighed. My eyes searched the area surrounding us. The grass we sat in was knee high, and in the distance were the lights of suburban houses, but here, we sat in the dark.
Realisation dawned on me then. "We're near Harry's house" I gasped, knowing that one of those little houses in the distance was 4 Privet Drive.
"You've been to Harry's house?" Cam asked, momentarily distracted from everything that just happened.
"Um, technically. I flown near his house. Fred, George, Ron and I took Mr Weasley's car in fourth year, got Harry out of the house because his Aunt and Uncle were being really horrible to him. They'd barred his windows and everything" I explained.
"You were there?!" Roze exclaimed. I looked at her and bit my lip.
"Um, yes. Sorry I didn't tell you, but Fred and George didn't want me to get in trouble with your mum. You know how she can be. So they dropped me off back at my house before Aunt Sophie realised I was gone" I smiled slightly, but it was wiped off my face in seconds when the thought of what the death eaters could be doing to Ari crossed my mind.
"Right, we need to get somewhere safer" I voiced, standing up and using my sleeves to wipe my eyes.
Cam didn't move for a moment, staring off into nothingness. I knelt in front of him, grasping his hands. His sad eyes met mine. "We will get her back, Cam. Trust me" I whispered. He sighed, nodding. I stood, grasping his hands and pulling him up with me.
"Where to?" I asked.
"I know a place" Cam said quietly.
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Cam sat with his feet up on the couch, nose deep in a book about the English coastline. I have no idea why his parents kept a book like that in their hidden cottage on the England/Scotland border, but they also had books about cupcake origins, Whale mating and the complete works of T.S Eliot.
I knew it was hard for Cam to be here. He hadn't been here since his parents were killed by him. That and the fact we were all still reeling from losing Ari to the death eaters, it had been a quiet, sad few days of searching for these supposed 'cliffs'.
So far, we'd found absolutely nothing.
"Char!" Roze called loudly through the cottage. I jumped up and followed the sound of her voice to the sun room, where the only walls were made of glass, casting a healthy glow across Roze's pale skin. She almost looked as if she'd star shining herself.
"Did you find something?" I asked quickly, a spark of hope igniting in my chest.
"Do you remember in History of Magic, when we were doing one of those boring old theory lessons with Professor Binns-"
"They were all boring Roze" Cameron interrupts. She glares at him, and in the first time in days, I saw a little smile.
"He mentioned this library. The super-secret one, then freaked out he mentioned it. Do you remember that?" she asked, continuing despite Cameron.
I thought back to that one specific lesson, and nodded at Roze. "Yeah, so?"
"He said it was in Edinburgh, and I'm pretty sure I know where. Dad was talking about it once when'd he'd had too much eggnog at Christmas. He was telling me all about the muggle information they have there, but he did mention it has the largest information sources on magical places in all of the world" she said excitedly. "It'd have to have information on any magical caves, right?"
"Brilliant Roze" I grinned, pulling her into a hug.
"Alright, let's get going then" Cameron exclaimed, jumping up and immediately pulling his backpack on. There was a glimmer in his eyes, I'd guess it was the fact we finally had a direction instead of just sitting here, thinking about Ari...
"Yeah, of course. One thing though" Roze said, also pulling on her backpack, and getting the handle stuck on her fuzzy jumper with a pink 'R' on the front. I reached over and unhooked her, and she shot me a quick smile before explaining, "These wizards that run this place, they may seem like entitled librarian's, but they are seriously dangerous. And they have all sorts of security from what Dad said. He told me they couldn't apparate to the grounds, they used a port key only known to the those who work there. It's moved so often, dad joked the librarians would have to forget where they put it sometimes" she laughed at her dad's joke.
"So, what do we do?" Cam asked, all geared and ready to go. For a moment, no one said anything.
"Well, we fly of course" I smiled.
Cameron's instant light of recognition meant he knew exactly what I was talking about, and swung his pack around before reaching inside and retrieving his two tiny broomsticks. A short whispered incantation later, and they grew amazingly to their rightful size.
"Whoa" Roze whispered.
"We all know you're, uh, limitations with flying Roze, so you better stick with me" Cam smiled, flinching when Roze stepped forward.
"I am not that bad!" she pouted, crossing her arms. Cam just shrugged.
"We're flying for over two hours, Roze. Come on" I smiled at my best friend. She just harrumphed and walked out onto the balcony of Cam's little cottage. Cam and I shared a smile, and followed her out.
"Are we sure this will go undetected? If they can detect apparation, why not flying?" Cam asked, hovering just a few feet off the ground with Roze holding his waist tightly. I sorted my pack so if need be, I could reach Harry's invisibility cloak in a moment's notice.
"Should be" Roze replied. "Broomsticks are the oldest form of transportation in wizarding history. None of us have The Trace anymore. Once we get a few miles out, we'll walk." I thought over the plan one more time, and threw my leg over my broom. Rising into the air next to Cam, I looked at the two of them.
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be" Roze nodded.
"Come on Char, I was born ready" Cam laughed,and shot off into the sky. With a chuckle, I followed.