Run || Harry Potter FF

xiv || twins

It wasn't long until we arrived at the village. The heavy vegetation cleared as we step out onto a sidewalk. "See, it's deserted. Let's go back," I pleaded when I noticed how utterly empty the streets and shops were.

"Wait," he said, sticking his arm out in front of me. "Look, there's an antique shop right there. Didn't you say you got your gun from an antique shop? You could probably find some more bullets..."

"I don't know, George..."

"C'mon, Layla. You don't want to run out." He began walking towards the shop. 

"George!" I called. When he kept walking, I proceeded to follow despite my qualms. This was not a good idea. I could feel it in my bones. 

But, letting my intuition take a backseat, I followed George into a shop called, Antiques 'n Things. When I crossed the threshold, George was already browsing the shelf behind the counter where the guns were normally kept behind locked cases. He had clearly used his wand to unlock them because the glass doors were wide open.

I strided up to the cases and immediately found the bullets I needed. Slipping the box into my bag, I heard a scream--a blood-curdling scream. I ran to the doorway and took my pistol out of my satchel. "Did you hear that?" I whispered, peering out of the doorway.

Another scream hurtled through the air and I was pushed into action. With both hands on my gun, I ran down the street towards the general area where the scream came from. I could faintly hear George's frantic footsteps behind me when I finally reached the edge of the block. Peeking around the corner, I gasped.

An waning line of people stood outside a shop while Death Eaters pushed them in one by one. Tears streamed down the faces of the hostages while despair and fear filled the air around them. "They must be taking them somewhere. Probably through the floo network." 

"What's the floo network?"

"It's a system of travel through fireplaces...," he mumbled distractedly. I was wondering what he was occupied with when he attempted to step in front of me into the street that the Death Eaters were on. 

"George, no!" I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. "If you get caught, I get caught. We'll both be dead. Is that what you want?"

He looked at me with intensity. "I want to stop the Death Eaters. That's it."

I was taken aback by his reaction. He seemed to have no regard for his, or anyone else's safety. He was hell-bent on revenge and only revenge. George was reckless and dangerous.

"No! Stop!" I heard from behind us. I spun around. There were two Death Eaters coming out of a shop a few doors down from where we were standing. They had two girls around our age, both with the same vibrant red hair. They were crying.

While I couldn't allow George to throw himself into the path of dozens of Death Eaters, two could be managed. He and I wordlessly agreed to pursue the pair Voldemort's puppets as we slinked down the wall towards them. The sky above us was starting to darken so it was easier to slip down the wall unseen.

While I waited for them to get closer, George stepped out into the street with a wicked smile on his face, pointing his wand in their direction. "Expellarimus," someone yelled. Immediately I realized that it wasn't George's voice as his wand fell from his hand. Springing into action before something disastrous took place, I took a deep breath and pointed my gun at the Death Eater holding the girl who had his wand pointed at George. Just as a new set of words was leaving his mouth, I pulled the trigger, praying it would reach him instead of the girl.

Without checking that she was safe, I turned to the second Death Eater who was looking at me with wide eyes. My finger nudged the trigger enough to release the bullet which shot straight through his skull. A blanket of blood splattered on the bricks behind him as he sank to the ground. His eyes were open but unseeing. The world around me seemed to slow down and become dull as my hands weakened. The gun fell to the ground with a deafening thud. My back collided with something and I realized I must have been moving. The scene replayed in my head again. A collision and then a paint splatter of scarlett blood. My fault.

"Come on, Layla," George screamed, grabbing my hand frantically and pulling me out of my haze. I ran with him, vaguely noticing the fact that the two girls had run off in the opposite direction. When we reached the forest, I couldn't feel the scratches that the branches were leaving on me, but I knew they were there.

Somehow I had enough reason left to ask myself why I cared so much. I had shot others before him. They might have died. Why did this one matter so much? But I knew the answer to that. Ignorance is bliss and mine was shattered. I saw the life leave his eyes--as quick and final as the path of the bullet.

The tent came into view but my mind was still alive with what I had done. So I hardly noticed George pacing in front of me. "You killed them, Layla. That was amazing. Did you see the blood?" His mouth was wide with a genuine smile. My stomach churned.

"Those girls," I said, remembering them. "I wonder where they went. I think they were twins."

George stopped in his tracks. He had forgotten them too. "I'm sure they'll be fine." His voice was suddenly monotone, his eyes were on me but far away and glazed over. 

"George...are you okay?" I asked. 

Slowly his vision focused on me again. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just gonna go inside."

But he wasn't fooling me. The twins reminded him of his brother. And he was hurting.