Dark Fascination 7 - With a Whisper

Before she knew it Scarlet was running as fast as she could down the cobbled street, her heart was pounding frantically, fiercely against her chest. Barty was just ahead of her, maintaining a surprisingly fast speed despite the fact his head darted around every other second searching for their pursuers. Her eyes however, were fixed on the quickly approaching fog, before they briefly met his as Barty glanced behind him. They didn’t speak, the fear each found in the other’s eyes had spoken volumes. The pavement eventually diminished to nothing more than a haphazard pathway, which lead onto the fields which stretched before them, eventually directing itself back past Scarlet’s home. Her only thoughts were that if they could reach it then they would be safe. This wasn’t strictly true, it was unlikely they would find solace there. They would probably find the place swarming with Dementors instead.

Barty threw himself over the gate at the edge of the field, landing remarkably nimbly. He paused and looked around, his eyebrows furrowed perceptibly. As she reached him he helped her over the gate, Scarlet became acutely aware she was managing this with nowhere near the same sort of grace, practically falling into his arms on landing.
“Nearly there.” she breathed, the brief faraway look in his eyes sent an icy shiver down her spine. Feeling awkward, Scarlet glanced away.
“But what will we find when we get there…?”
“I‘m not sure, but it seems like we’ve lost them… For the meantime.” she frowned, looking behind her worriedly, but seeing nothing of the force that threatened them. Even the air seemed warmer.
Barty nodded, “Not that that makes me feel any better… It should have been easy for them to catch us. Everything about this just feels like a trap.”

“Well then, it seems like you‘re going to need this.” Scarlet replied, holding out his wand in her open palm.
He stared at her wide-eyed, “You’re… You’re giving it me back?”
Scarlet nodded, “Desperate times and all that.”
He reached forward gingerly, extricating the wand from her fingers, “Thanks.”
“Not that that means I trust you.” she said breezily, the smile that tugged at her lips suggested otherwise.
“Of course not.” he replied grinning gratefully.
“I suppose we better get going.”
Nodding, Barty reached out his hand to take hers, before changing his mind with a frown, “Come on then.”

Slowly but resolutely they followed the path, high spirits forgotten. Scarlet stayed a couple of paces behind, keeping watch on the trail at their rear, wand at the ready. Suddenly, Barty stopped abruptly in front of her. A little too abruptly as Scarlet walked straight into him.
“Sorry - What is it?” she whispered.
“That.” he replied, looking grim as he pointed towards the sky.
In the distance, above her house (which had just come into view) the Dark Mark was scrawled across the sky, the inky blackness stood out against the cold, grey fog. Twisted and contorted, the clouds around it had turned dark as though infected by the evil which seemed to emanate from it.
“Oh no.”

Barty rested a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
“No, no, no. It’s not possible,” she murmured softly, “how did they find us?”
“They have their ways.” Barty replied darkly, “Scarlet, it might be best if we apparate out of here, there’s nothing we can do.
“Are you kidding? That’s my home! I have to see what happened… I have to.” Scarlet was adamant, fixing him with a steely look.
“You can’t seriously be thinking of going back there!”
She ignored Barty, and instead paced back and forth in front of him, twisting her fingers in her hands, “This doesn’t make sense, why would they put a mark above the house if they didn’t find us there?”
“Look, I don’t know. It’s probably a ruse, they’re trying to trick us. We have to go.” his voice rose angrily as he attempted to disregard the strong impulse he felt, which was to flee.

“I know, but there’s something weird about this. It just doesn’t seem right. I would have known if someone has passed through my wards. I’m sure of it.” Scarlet frowned as she tried to decipher the answer to the question, to find the key that fitted the lock, “Unless.”
“Unless what?” he asked, implementing every measure of self control he had to ensure he didn’t loose his temper. Barty didn’t like where this was going.
“Unless someone the wards recognise took them down. Even if it was for only a second, the Death Eaters could have gotten in… And there’s only one other person who would have been able to do it…”
Scarlet stopped, her face suddenly white.
“What?” Barty looked at her anxiously, “Scarlet what is it?”
“Redric.“ she whispered. Without stopping for an explanation she dashed off in the direction of her house, praying her assumptions were wrong.

*
Barty’s stomach took an agonizing lurch as he sprinted after her. They were coming ever closer to danger, and Barty felt responsible. He had put Scarlet at risk by even associating himself with her, and he had been a fool to believe otherwise.
As Scarlet climbed over the low fence he saw her drop down the other side, but she didn’t reappear. Following quietly he jumped down beside her, “Scarlet, this is crazy.”
“You’re staying then?” Scarlet asked, surprised.
“Well, I can’t just leave you can I?”
He refrained from mentioning that he hadn’t the slightest idea where he’d go.
Scarlet smiled at him fondly, “Thanks.”
Suddenly self-conscious, Barty avoided her gaze, “Well, it’s my fault you’re in this mess anyway.”
She shook her head, and motioned for him to follow her. Slowly, they crept forward through the dense bushes and close trees. In this position they were hidden from any prying eyes which looked on from the house, or the road.

Scarlet gasped, and on closer inspection of the sight before them, Barty could see why. Smoke billowed from the windows of the cottage, the acrid smell of burning filling his nostrils and making his eyes stream. In the front garden stood a number of hooded figures, swathed on black, their wands all pointed at a man slumped on the ground. Over the crackle of fire, Barty could hear harsh voices, none of which he could recognise from this distance.
In that split second, Scarlet made a decision, “Wait here.”
Lurching forward she made for the Death Eaters. Deftly, Barty caught hold of her arm and pulled her back.
“I have to do this.” she said, firmly. When he didn’t loosen his grip, her voice raised an octave in panic, “Barty, he’s my brother!”
“I know, it‘s alright.” Barty answered in an attempt to placate her, “I’ll go and… Well, try and get to him somehow.”
“If they see you, they’ll know you were here for sure, for all we know they only suspect it.” Scarlet replied sensibly.

“Well how are you going to take on three, maybe more, Death Eaters on your own?”
“I’ll think of something, I can’t just sit here and do nothing.” she looked him straight in the eyes, and he could see the desperation within them.
Already half giving in, he groaned. “And where will we go?”
“My father’s. He can protect us until we can figure out what to do.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’ll welcome me with open arms.” Barty replied, flippantly.
“Well, do you have any better suggestions!?” Scarlet cried, fixing him with a frustrated glare.
“Scarlet, they’re going to find me out sooner or later. It may as well be sooner, and on our terms.”
“I suppose…” she shook her head to try and clear it, torn between protecting her brother or her friend, “But, if they get the chance, they‘ll kill you.”
Barty shrugged, “It’s nothing more than I deserve.”
Taking no notice of this, she carried on speaking, “The best chance we’ve got is to disarm them, and then disapparate.”
He nodded, “Sounds like the only chance we’ve got.”

There was a pause, as neither knew what to say to the other. This silence was broken however, as the cruel voices began again in the background, and they both realised the need for haste.
“I’ll go first, then you come out from behind the house. They’ll be distracted.” grasping her arms, he muttered this hastily thrown together plan in her ear. Before darting off purposefully to towards the Death Eaters. Every muscle in his body was tense, and his senses seemed erratic. Everything seemed brighter, louder, clearer, despite being hazy at the same time. The adrenaline in his body rushed at the thought of being able to actually face what he had been running away from for so long.
“Just be careful.” Scarlet called after him, as she heaved a particularly hollow sigh.

*

Almost an hour earlier, Redric had appeared at his sister’s front door.
Stifling a yawn, he knocked on it, tapping his foot impatiently to the rhythm of an inescapably cheery muggle song that he had heard, and now found impossible to get out of his head. After waiting a further minute, dropped his suitcase onto the ground and rooted inside his pockets until he eventually found his key. He turned it in the lock and stepped inside. Redric’s appearance was met by a long, languid meow, and a huge set of amber eyes staring up at him balefully.
“You’re in a fine mood I see.” he chuckled, reaching down and stroking the cat before returning to the doorway to drag his suitcase through it. Dumping it in the hallway he wandered into the kitchen, unintentionally trudging the dirt from his boots into the carpet. Searching through the cupboards he finally found what he was looking for, pulling out the bottle of Firewhisky he took a swig, not bothering to find a glass despite the fact he knew his sister would kill him if she found out. Which was why he wouldn’t tell her.

Redric leant against the table with a satisfied sigh, contemplating what he would do with all his spare time. He had a whole week of work-free bliss before he would have to leave, once again, for Romania. True, he probably enjoyed his job far more than your average wizard was supposed to, but he couldn’t help feeling a little homesick very time he left.

Yawning, he stared into the kitchen mirror lazily as he ran a hand through his dark hair, his father’s hair; the only real resemblance he bore to either of his parents.
Unlike his sister, who looked so painfully like his mother. However, both he and his sister shared their mother’s eyes, eyes so deep and profound and unnervingly blue.
Perhaps that was why his father found it so hard to look at them, the two imperfect imitations who were all he had left of his beloved wife. Not that his father meant it in any vindictive sense, he just couldn’t help it.
“Quite the Narcissus aren’t we?”
Redric flinched, the voice had come from nowhere. Looking upwards he saw the clock, not knowing whether to be relieved or offended and wondering how on earth Scarlet put up with it. Looking back in the mirror, he sighed, his train of thought lost.

His solace was to be once again interrupted however, as there was a great thud at the window. He turned to see a dazed looking owl career of the glass and into the garden. Perturbed, he ran to the window and opened it, allowing the disgruntled looking bird to fly in (rather haphazardly) and settle on the counter. Untying the letter from it’s leg, he opened it hastily, recognising the neat, elegant handwriting immediately. As he read through it, his pale skin flushed from pink to crimson, but he didn’t notice, so intent were his eyes on the letter. He finished reading with a grin, before searching the kitchen for something to write with. Eventually he was forced to use magical means, and with a flick of his wand, a piece of parchment and a quill came zooming towards him. Scribbling across the parchment with handwriting the recipient of the letter would argue was illegible, he wrote his reply.

Nate,

We’ll have to make it tomorrow, I have boring things like unpacking to do today. Say half 12 at the Leaky Cauldron?
Can’t wait,
Redric

P.S. No more arguments, I’m buying you a new owl. That bag of feathers hasn’t yet grasped the concept of windows, and it doesn’t look like he ever will.

Attaching the letter to the tired owl’s leg, he looked at it apologetically, patting it’s feathers. With a flutter it flew back out of the window, fortunately without mishap. Fairly pleased with himself, Redric took another gulp of Firewhisky and sat down, closing his weary eyes. However, it seemed fate was determined to interrupt his relaxation, as there was a loud knock at the door. With a groan, he pulled himself to his feet, and went to answer it. On reaching it, he made to lift the catch, at the same time lifting the magical wards with a whisper of wandless magic. Before he knew what was happening there was an almighty crash, as the door was blasted off it’s hinges. Redric was knocked off his feet by the small explosion, landing rather uncomfortably on the bare floorboards. Coughing and spluttering he rolled to onto his side, peering through the dust as it cleared.
Two wizards strolled in through the small cottage door, simultaneously pointing their wands at Redric’s chest. One of them turned to the other as they hauled Redric to his feet, “I told you. Death Eater’s don’t bloody knock!”