Chapter Twenty: Waiting

It wasn’t as eventful as I thought it would be, sitting in the lair of the enemy. Voldemort just remained silent while he paced, rolling his wand between his fingers. The giants cast shadows over some of the circle, and I knew those were the Death Eaters watching me. Bellatrix was entranced by Voldemort, nearly forgetting about me and Fenrir Greyback was posted in front of me to keep me in line.

Wha’ are yeh doin’ here, Alicia?

Having a picnic, what’s it look like? I retorted, throwing an eye-roll in Hagrid’s direction and catching the unimpressed look he was giving me in response.

I’ll try again… Wha’ are yeh doin’ HERE, Alicia?

Bellatrix killed Tonks, then chased me into the trees and brought me here as you saw.

And yeh didn’ figh’ her?

Of course I did! I fought her off and managed to escape! Then, because I was totally bored, I decided to let her catch me again and bring me here… I left my bow in the Forest when she killed Tonks, and didn’t think of fighting back.

“Are you comfortable, my little Seer? ” Voldemort said quietly, his voice travelling through the clearing. I glared up at him as the gag was ripped away.

“I wish you’d stopped calling me that, you know” I said in an overly fake cheerful tone. “And I hope you’re prepared to be disappointed, because Harry would never hand himself over to you”

“That’s where you’re wrong, yet again” Voldemort said, stepping closer and taking hold of my chin lightly with his frigid fingers. “You see, he will hate that those he love are dying around him, for him, and he will come to stop that” I caught sight of Hagrid’s sharp head shake and bit my tongue against the reply I’d come up with.

“We’ll see” Was my witty comeback instead, causing Voldemort to grip my chin harder.

“Yes, we shall” He let me go and stepped back. “No, leave her as she is” He ordered as a Death Eater stepped forwards to gag me again. I gave a large smile to both of them and then continued to stare at the tree opposite me, as I’d done for the past half hour.

Yet more time passed, and the only thing of interest to me was the brave little squirrel that was perched in the tree I was staring at, his head cocked to the side as he took in the scene below. He glanced behind him and then turned to look at me with dark round eyes as a sound echoed from the shadows.

The two Death Eaters that Voldemort had sent to patrol the area around the Hollow returned, and announced that they hadn’t seen Harry, which made my heart lift slightly. If the fighting continued, then Jamie or Ron or Hermione would realise I was missing and come find me- hopefully with adult backup, including Firenze.

“I told you s-” My witty remark was cut short as Harry appeared in my eyesight- under the Cloak. That explained why the guards couldn’t see him.

‘NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TURN AROUND BEFORE THEY SEE YOU! ’ I screamed into his head, but he just blinked at me slowly and calmly. ‘HARRY, PLEASE! JUST TURN AROUND! IF THEY FIND OUT YOU’RE HERE, THEY’LL KILL YOU!’ My warnings were ignored and I watched with horror as Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of himself and stepped forwards into the circle of light.

Everything seemed to be a mix of colours and roaring sounds around me as I watched on without realising. The only thing that caught my attention was the little squirrel. He watched on until the blinding flash of emerald green light filled the Hollow and then scampered away as my vision blurred from my tears.

“Harry… Harry” I whispered, drawing attention to myself which wasn’t exactly a good thing. Bellatrix’s cackle washed over me and my eyes started to itch as they dried. Blinking slowly, I managed to pull my eyes from Harry, who wasn’t moving, to the witch, who was slowly saundering her way towards me.

“No. If Hagrid will carry the boy, the girl will walk beside them. Let them all see their precious Chosen One is gone forever and that their Seer is no longer theirs” I heard Voldemort’s words as if they were far away. The ropes were cut away from me and I fell onto my knees, my legs unable to take my weight.

“Harry…” I whispered again, my head bowed to the leafy ground.