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"HE'S MISSING?" Albany echoed, eyes widening. She felt her stomach drop. "What do you mean?"
"We were in the Great Hall," Fred explained, wiping his palms on his robes nervously. "You know, snacking before dinner. Next thing he says he feels sick, and just gets up and takes off."
Albany frowned, eyebrows furrowing. "Did you check the bathroom?"
"I've checked like half the castle," Fred replied, and she felt her insides twist at his expression. "Carly's helping me, I was coming back to meet her here."
"Where would he go?" Albany wondered, swallowing the rising nausea in her throat.
"I don't — I don't know," Fred answered quietly. "And Albany — this isn't a prank, just in case.... He looked really pale, I'm worried about him."
Albany nodded seriously, laying her hand on the taller boy's shoulder in comfort. "I believe you, Fred. Don't worry, we're going to find him."
Carly came rushing over then, curls bouncing as she ran, panting lightly as she stopped next to them.
"Any sign of him?" Fred asked hopefully.
Carly shook her head, and then had to adjust her glasses. "No, sorry."
Fred nodded, jaw tight. "I'm probably just overreacting, right?" he sighed, rubbing at his eyes. "He's never done anything like this before, I'm just...."
"You're not overreacting," Albany assured him. "But I'm sure it's nothing serious."
"Did anything happen when you were in the Great Hall?" Carly asked, glancing back to the room in question.
Fred shook his head, but then paused, reconsidering. "Well, one thing happened, but I don't think it was anything weird." He glanced at Albany.
"What?" she prompted him, concerned.
Fred almost chuckled. "He got asked to the ball," he explained, and was hasty to continue at Albany's expression. "Said no, obviously. Poor girl just stormed off."
Albany flexed her fingers, trying to prevent her fists from clenching. Don't be stupid. Of course other people were going to ask George to the ball — why wouldn't they? He was the ideal date, really; sweet, kind, funny, handsome....
"Earth to Allie," Fred called, waving a hand in front of her face. He was smirking. "Something wrong?"
"No," Albany replied quickly, shaking her head.
"You're not jealous?" Fred teased.
"No!" she snapped, glaring at him. "I'm not — why would I be—?"
"Oh, so you don't like George?" Fred's smile was horribly smug.
Albany folded her arms. "I really don't think that's important right now—"
Fred shrugged. "That's a pity, because he was going to ask you to the ball."
Albany's breath hitched in her throat. "What?"
The Weasley boy grinned. "Don't tell me you're surprised!"
Albany's insides had filled with a swarm of butterflies, so fluttery and overwhelming she was struggling to contain them. Her heart was beating a little faster in her chest, her cheeks warming. He was going to ask me...? "I...." She shook her head then, glaring at Fred. "You idiot, this really isn't the time for that!"
Fred nodded, smile dropping. "I know, sorry. I was just trying to lighten the situation."
"It's okay," she mumbled, trying to quiet the noise in her mind. He was going to ask me to the ball.
Like a date?
"Where will we look for him?" Carly piped up, glancing between the two.
"I haven't checked the grounds yet, but it's freezing outside, I doubt he would've gone out there," said Fred, frowning. "I didn't search the northern side of the castle, either. Or the upper two floors on this side."
"Should we split up?" Albany suggested. "We'll cover more ground faster that way."
Carly nodded, glancing to Fred. "I agree."
"Good plan," Fred agreed with a nod. "Meet back here for dinner? That gives us an hour and a bit."
"That should be enough," Albany said, and swallowed her nerves. Realistically, she thought, it couldn't be anything too serious — though the school didn't have the best record for safety, what with Sirius Black on the loose, and the petrified Muggleborns in her fourth year.
"Right," Fred said decisively. "Carly and I will divide the northern side between the two of us, if you can take the upper floors here."
"Got it," Albany agreed. "See you two soon?"
"Hopefully with George," Fred chuckled weakly.
"We will find him," Carly assured the boy. She nodded to Albany. "Good luck."
"You too."
Albany watched the two leave with a pang in her heart. If this was some elaborate joke on George's behalf, she was going to murder him.
"Albany."
She whipped around upon recognising Merlin's voice, serious in its greeting.
"Merlin," she responded, a little tense. "You heard all that?"
He nodded, and Arthur arrived behind him, face grim. "Yes. Sounds like you have a problem."
"You could say that," she sighed. "I'm sure it's nothing too bad, but seeing Fred like that makes me nervous."
Merlin shrugged. "To be fair, Hogwarts doesn't have the best track record."
"Way to comfort her, Merlin," Arthur remarked sarcastically, stepping forward.
Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Let's see you do better."
"Why did you two show up?" Albany asked them, holding her books tight to her chest. She was a little frustrated that they were holding her back from her search. "Keep me company?"
"Well, yes," Merlin admitted, shrugging his shoulders, "and no. We think we might be able to help you find him."
Albany narrowed her eyes at him. "You think?"
He pursed his lips. "Well, chances of it working are pretty slim."
She sighed. "I'll take what I can get. What is it?"
Merlin nodded, exchanging a quick glance with Arthur. "If George is your soulmate—"
"Oh, here we go again...."
"—and you manage to tap into your connection with him, you might be able to catch a glimpse of his location," Merlin finished.
"That's a lot of 'if's," Albany groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Plus the castle looks all the same anyway. A glimpse won't do much."
"I did say slim chances," Merlin pointed out. "Listen, you don't have to, but I thought it might help."
She sighed, considering it for a moment. He obviously thought it important enough that he had appeared to her in a situation of emergency to ask her to pause and give it a try; as keen as she was to get going with her search, it wouldn't hurt too much to entertain him. "Alright. How do I do it?"
"It's difficult," Merlin admitted, frowning. "Like speaking to dragons, you have to tap into your connection. Only this time...."
"This time we don't know if that connection even exists," Albany finished, lips pressed into a firm line.
Merlin nodded with a frown. "Like I said, you don't have to—"
"No, no, I'll try," Albany sighed. "Just tell me what to do."
"It might be easier if you close your eyes," Merlin instructed, and Albany did so. "Try block out the world around you, and picture a physical connection with George."
She raised her eyebrows at his phrasing, though took a deep breath, trying to quieten her mind and zone out of the conversations of students around her. She let their voices fall quiet, focusing hard on one thought; George. Yet visualising a connection with him proved exceptionally difficult, because she couldn't picture where he was to bridge their minds.
George, where are you? she thought, imagining desperately the different rooms of the castle in the hopes that one of them would magically contain the redhead. Here, soulmate...
In the midst of her imaginary search of the school, she swore for a second she saw — if she remembered correctly from her Muggle Studies class she'd once taken — a television, though brushed it off, for George hadn't been in the picture. She tuned back into the present with a sigh of defeat.
"Anything?" Merlin asked hopefully.
She shook her head. "Nothing."
He nodded in understanding. "Don't worry about it, it's difficult magic even if you were sure of your soulmate."
Albany nodded, crestfallen. She nodded vaguely in the direction of the stairs. "I should probably just start searching for him the normal way, right?"
Merlin's smile was sympathetic. "Don't beat yourself up over it."
She smiled weakly at him. "Thanks," she murmured, but then an idea hit her so hard it felt like she'd physically been slapped. "Wait!"
The ghosts appeared alarmed. "What?"
She grinned, pulling her wand from her robes. "Carly's spell — the guiding light one. You don't think it would...?"
Merlin's eyebrows had risen, impressed. "Definitely worth a go."
Albany took a sharp inhale, holding her books in her left hand as she focused hard on her magic. She'd practiced a million times before the first task.
"Lumine guidante."
A grin of relief crossed her features as she stepped back, admiring the small ball of light her wand had produced. It floated in the air ahead of her like a glowing bubble, before it slowly drifted towards the stairs....
And then, rather than going up, it went down.
Albany blinked. "The dungeons?"
"You haven't put your books away," Arthur pointed out, gesturing to the Charms textbooks she was still holding onto.
Albany chuckled. "Oh right. Should probably put them back in the dorm first."
"We'll catch up with you soon," Merlin assured her, and at her nod of acknowledgement, the two ghosts disappeared.
The guiding light had faded by the time Albany caught up with it, jogging down the steps into the cold and dark underground floors of the castle. She didn't mind the common room being in the dungeons, because it was a comfortable distance from the bustle of the rest of the school, though it was always a little chillier, and the dim, flickering light from the torches was slightly ominous. Regardless, it was home for the Slytherins, and she hurried down the corridors to the common room so she could resume her searching book-free.
She didn't quite make it to the common room, caught off guard by a familiar voice groaning in pain from one of the dungeon cells to the side.
"George?!" she called, dropping her books in a panic to find the boy.
She faltered when she did, cold fear striking her straight through the chest as she came across him.
George lay sprawled on the ground in one of the cells, hidden from the main hallway; his eyes were rolling in his head and his expression was screwed up in obvious discomfort. He didn't acknowledge Albany's presence as she rushed to his side, simply uttering another low moan.
"George?! George, can you hear me?!" she shouted, hands trembling as she reached for his shoulder, shaking him gently. Her eyes darted over his body rapidly; there were no clear signs of injury, though he was barely conscious. His face was ashen and clammy with sweat. "What happened?!"
The boy blinked a few times in rapid succession, head tilting back as he managed to focus his eyes on her face. "Albany...?"
"George?! Are you okay?! I mean obviously you're not okay but what happened to you? Are you sick? What—?"
He shushed her gently, a lopsided smile gracing his lips as he gazed up at her. She stared down at him in horror, heart pounding in her chest.
"George...?"
"I told her no..." he mumbled, words so slurred they were nearly incoherent. His eyes rolled back, then, and his head flopped.
Albany's heart seized in her chest; she instinctively went to call for help, hoping someone would hear her, but her voice failed the moment she opened her mouth. She wiped angrily at her eyes as frustrated and terrified tears began to form; she couldn't afford to lose it, not when George needed help. With deep breaths, she confirmed that he had a pulse and was breathing, and then got to her feet, legs trembling.
"Merlin," she called quietly, voice hoarse, and the ghost was with her in an instant. She continued before he could get in a word, his eyes widening to the size of golfballs. "I need to get him to the Hospital Wing."
"Don't try to carry him, Albany, you won't be able to," Merlin intervened quickly, voice steady and expression calm despite the panic in his eyes. "And if he has sustained any head or neck trauma, moving him could be dangerous."
"I can't leave him," Albany argued tearfully, her voice breaking.
"Only for a second," Merlin assured her. "The Great Hall is just up the stairs. Find a professor, and they will see he gets medical attention."
Albany took a deep breath in attempt to calm herself. It would only take a minute, provided the professors had actually returned to the Great Hall after their classes had ended.
"Will you watch him?" she asked the wizard, voice a bare whisper.
Merlin appeared sorrowful. "I can't," he murmured sympathetically. "I can only be present in your world if I am with you."
Albany gave a shaky nod, and he offered her a small smile of comfort.
"He'll be alright," Merlin assured her. "The sooner you get him help, the better."
"Right," she agreed, and with a distressed glance in George's direction, she broke into a wobbly sprint.
She'd never felt so clumsy as she scrambled up the stairs, though pushed herself onwards, faster than she'd ever ran in her life. She hadn't felt so scared since the first task, countless theories and terrifying thoughts clouding up her head. Was he going to die? Had he been poisoned? Would she make it on time?
The Great Hall was slowly filling as students arrived early for dinner, though the staff table, to her great dismay, was entirely empty. There wasn't a single adult in the entire bloody room, and she had to bite her cheek to ground herself and hold it together as she triple-checked the crowd.
"Fuck," she hissed, blinking hard.
"I'd watch your language if I were you, Bronwen," said a gruff voice.
Albany whipped around and found herself staring straight up at the intimidating figure of Alastor Moody. Her breath hitched; she was still holding on to their unnerving encounter in the dungeons earlier in the year. His magical eye whizzed around in his head, and reminded of George, she took a sharp inhale and spoke.
"Professor, my friend needs help," she stated, voice steadier and firmer than it had been so far. "He's unconscious in the dungeons and he needs to go to the Hospital Wing but I can't carry him."
The stare Moody regarded her with unsettled her to her core. He raised an eyebrow at her predicament, normal eye gleaming with suspicion. "Is that so?"
Albany felt a hot flash of rage, and glared right at him, fists clenched. "Yes, it is so, and unless you're looking to lose your job by Christmas for abandonment of a student in need of medical aid, I suggest you fucking help him."
"I suggest you watch your tongue, Bronwen, you're speaking to a professor," Moody snapped, and his tongue darted out for a split second before he nodded brusquely. "Bring me to him."