My heart stopped. People began to panic, especially the children. I let go of Fred’s hand and looked across the crowd for two other blondes and spotted them pretty quickly. Fred called out and reached for me, but I was too fast. I was out of his reach and across the dance floor before I could really even think about what I was doing.
“Courtney!”
I turned and saw Ron coming towards me. What was he doing? He should’ve been finding Hermione and Harry, not me. I stopped, out of breath, just to tell him that, but I didn’t get the chance to. As soon as he was close to me, he pulled me close and put his lips on mine. I pulled from him fairly quickly to see that Hermione was standing beside us with a look of shock on her face.
“There’s Hermione!” I shouted and pushed Ron over in her direction. “He was just looking for you,” I said to her before turning and spotting Astoria and Kamrynn behind me.
“It’s about time you got down here,” Astoria smirked and held up my little beaded bag that Hermione had given me. “We need to go. Now.”
I nodded. “Of course,” and reached out my hand for hers.
“Astoria!”
My head turned just to see Fred latching onto her before the whole wedding party disappeared. Before I even knew what was happening, I was rolling in some grass with someone on top of me. I rolled over to find that it was Fred, who hurriedly scrambled off of me before offering a hand. I took it and got up. Looking around, I didn’t see Astoria or Kamrynn.
“Asotria?!” Fred yelled, walking away from me.
“Kamrynn!” I yelled, walking in the opposite direction.
I then spotted her lying on the ground, breathing heavily. I ran over and kneeled beside her to find that her leg was bleeding. Poor Kam. What had happened before we apparated? Or was she splinched from disapparating so quickly?
“Court,” Kam gasped. “We weren’t quick enough.”
I cupped the side of her face in my hand, “What do you mean, Kam?”
“I mean,” she paused, “that they had arrived right before we disapparated. You weren’t looking, but I was. The Death Eaters arrived, throwing spells around. I have no idea what I was hit by. I just saw a blue light before we left.”
I looked down at the cut on her leg, which was still bleeding freely. I pulled my want out of the back of my dress and reduced the flow of blood to see that the cut was all the way down to the bone. My hands flew to my mouth when I realized that she had been hit with a dark spell. All I could do was clear the blood. What I needed was Essence of Dittany to staunch the blood flow, but I didn’t have any. Not even in my bloody beaded bag, which Astoria had. I stood up and walked in the direction I came from.
“Courtney!” Kam called breathlessly. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back,” I called, tears stinging my eyes. “I promise.”
I didn’t see any sign of Fred or Astoria. I called for them and looked for them, but I didn’t find them. I didn’t even know where Astoria had apparated us so I could get Kam to the closest town. Nothing looked familiar. It was just trees, trees, and more trees. I decided to head back to Kam before I wondered too far away.
“Where did you go?” Kam asked, looking weak and pale.
I bit my lip. “I went to find Fred and Astoria, but I couldn’t-“
“Courtney!”
I turned to see Fred and Astoria rushing towards us. “I am so glad to see you guys. Kam got cut by a dark spell. It can’t be healed with a wand. We need Essence of Dittany, but we don’t have any. I didn’t think to pack it in my-“
“We so do have it,” Astoria said, opening the beaded bag that was hanging at her side and, sure enough, she pulled out exactly what I had asked for.
I plucked it out of her hand and rushed over to Kam to apply it. As soon as the liquid touch Kam’s cut, she started to shake really bad. I waved my wand to remove any blood to see that it was healed. She would have a scar, but at least she wouldn’t bleed to death. I stood and turned to Astoria.
“We need to set up camp for the night. I have a tent in there that I packed from my parents’ house before I left. Fred,” I looked over at him, “set it up. Astoria,” I said, my attention back on her, “could you take care of Kam. Change her and get rid of her bloody clothes.”
I began to walk the perimeter with my wand out, doing protection spells. We needed to keep out muggles or anyone that would remark on us in any form. It wasn’t safe out here, and every one of us knew it. When I was finished, I turned to see that Fred had just finished setting up the tent, and Astoria was starting a fire.
“Guys, we need to talk,” I said, sitting next to Astoria. “First of all, where are we?”
“We’re on the outskirts of Paris,” Astoria smiled. “In that letter, the girl that I recognized lives in Paris. It will be nice to see Paris again.”
I nodded. “Alright, so, Fred,” I looked over at him, “we’ll figure out a way to get you back in the morning.”
“What?” Fred looked at me like I was crazy. “I know that I have no idea what is going on here, but I can’t leave you girls defenseless. If you guys are going, so aren’t I.”
I shook my head. “It could be too dangerous for you to be here. I could never live with myself if you got hurt because of a mission that I have to fulfill.”
“I couldn’t live with myself if this mission was too dangerous for all of you girls and one of you got hurt,” he then put his hand in Astoria’s. “I’m here for the long haul. I might’ve gotten here by accident, but I want to be here. You guys need some protection.”
“We can take care of ourselves,” Astoria said with an amused smile on her face.
Fred smiled back. “Yes, you’re all very smart, but you’re still girls. Girls should be traveling alone, if you know what I mean.”
I sighed. He was so determined to accompany us, probably only to make sure the girl that he loved wouldn’t be hurt. It made me think of Draco. How we couldn’t be together because of the war. We were on different sides. I pulled out the promise ring from inside my dress. We were so in love when he gave me his mother’s ring. I still loved him, but Ron was confusing me. Perhaps I don’t belong with Draco if Ron could make me weak in the knees with his kisses. Then I realized that what Ron and I had was mostly physical. I couldn’t recall a time that we had actually talked. Draco and I talked loads. We talked about everything just about. I knew him inside and out, despite the years where we acted like we hated each other.
“Court.”
I looked up to see the Astoria was talking to me, but Fred had gone inside the tent.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she sighed. “You’re confused about who you really love. All I’m going to tell you is to follow your heart. Do what you think is right. If Draco is who you’re feeling pulled to, follow that pull. Even if it’s Ron, follow it. Although,” she smirked at me as she pulled her hand way from my arm, “I would be pretty pissed if it was Ron. I mean, I didn’t risk my neck for Draco not to be happy in life.”
“So, you think that I belong with Draco?” I asked, looking back down at the ring.
She nodded. “You are his happily ever after, the only one. I just hope that he is yours as well.”
With that said she got up and went into the tent as well. I took the chain off my neck and looked at the ring. I remembered everything about the day that Draco had given it to me. I was the happiest I had ever been in my whole life when he promised to marry me one day. I slipped the ring off the chain and onto the finger it was meant for. It felt right. It felt complete.
It was a sign. It was a sign that I shouldn’t give up on us. Draco and I, we might have our ups and downs. We might be separated for God knows how long, but I’m on this mission for a reason. We found each other again for a reason. I shouldn’t just fall into Ron’s arms because it’s convenient, because I know that he’ll always be there because we’re on the same side. Draco and I have something special, and I would be stupid to let that go. So, I got up and headed inside the tent myself for the first full night’s sleep that I had had all summer long.
A/N: I’m so sorry about the long wait. It’s been over a month since I updated this story. It’s just that I haven’t been feeling it since college was getting harder and then I was having boy problems. Everything is okay now, or as okay as it can get. At least I got my inspiration back! That’s the important thing. I love you all for being so patient. You are truly the best fans a girl could ask for.
Hugs and butterfly kisses,
Courtney