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EIGHTEEN GRINDELWALD'S MARK

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       "YOU — COMPLETE — ARSE!"

       Ron covers his head with his hands as Hermione continues to hit him.

       "You — crawl — back — here — after — weeks — and — weeks — oh, where's my wand?"

       She turns back at Harry, but before she can, he says, "Protego!" and a shield divides Ron and Hermione from each other. Hermione looks like she's going to kill Harry, just for stopping her, and he begins, "Hermione! Calm—!"

       "I will not calm down!" she screams. "Give me back my wand! Give it back to me!"

       "Hermione, will you please—"

       "Don't you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!"

       Holly looks at Ron. "So it's nice you're back."

       Ron nods back at her, looking concerned for his own safety.

       "You do sorta deserve this, though," she adds.

       Ron looks as if he agrees.

       "Give me back my wand! Give it back to me! And YOU!"

       Hermione turns back to Ron, who's eyes widen, and he steps backwards.

       "I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back!"

       "I know," he says. "Hermione, I'm sorry, I'm really—"

       "Oh, you're sorry!" says Hermione, and she lets out a horrid laugh. Holly pulls a face. "You come back after weeks — weeks — and you think it's all going to be all right if you just say sorry?"

       "Well, what else can I say?" he shouts back.

       "Oh, I don't know! Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds—"

       "Hermione," Harry tries. "He just saved my—"

       Holly's head spins. "What—?"

       "I don't care!" shouts Hermione. "I don't care what he's done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for all he knew—"

       "Woah, woah, woah!" says Holly, fed up of standing around. She moves in between the two of them, raising her hands. "Look, he did something wrong, but how many times has he done that?" Ron looks at her oddly. "How many times have you done something wrong — or Harry's done something wrong? You were stuck together for weeks on end with no idea what was happening to your family members, and having to wear a Horcrux — obviously you're going to have a massive argument! But you've been friends for so long, and, at the end of the day, you're always going to be friends, and you know that. So stop shouting at each other and talk about this, properly!"

       "I knew you weren't dead," says Ron, quick to get his word in. Holly steps away from the middle of the tent, hoping she's done something. They're not shouting anymore, which is a positive? "Harry's all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they're looking for you everywhere, all these rumours and mental stories, I knew I'd hear straight off if you were dead, you don't know what it's been like—"

       "What it's been like for you?"

       Hermione looked like she wanted to start shouting again.

       "I wanted to come back the minute I'd Disapparated, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn't go anywhere!"

       "A gang of what?" says Harry.

       Holly crosses her arms, frowning.

       "Snatchers," says Ron. "They're everywhere — gangs trying to earn gold by rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors, there's a reward from the Ministry for everyone captured. I was on my own and I look like I might be school age; they got really excited, thought I was a Muggle-born in hiding. I had to talk fast to get out of being dragged to the Ministry."

       "What did you say to them?"

       "Told them I was Stan Shunpike. First person I could think of."

       "And they believed that?"

       "They weren't the brightest. One of them was definitely part troll, the smell off him..."

       He looks at Ron, hoping the comment would make her smile. It doesn't.

       "Anyway, they had a row about whether I was Stan or not. It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were still five of them and only one of me and they'd taken my wand. Then two of them got into a fight and while the others were distracted I managed to hit the one holding me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, Disarmed the bloke holding mine, and Disapparated. I didn't do it so well, Splinched myself again, and I came out miles from where you were. By the time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we'd been... you'd gone."

       "Gosh, what a gripping story," says Hermione. "You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile we went to Godric's Hollow and, let's think, what happened there? Oh, yes, You-Know-Who's snake turned up, it nearly killed Holly—"

       "I'm going for a record of how many times I can die," she says. "It's at three right now."

       Hermione gives her a look.

       Holly winces. "Might be four soon."

       "And anyway," says Hermione. "You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by about a second."

       "What?"

       "Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?"

       "Hermione," says Harry. "Ron just saved my life." 

       "What happene—?"

       "One thing I would like to know, though," says Hermione, and Holly gives her a look. "How exactly did you find us? That's important. Once we know, we'll be able to make sure we're not visited by anyone else we don't want to see."

       Ron takes a small silver object out from his pocket. "This."

       "The Deluminator?"

       "It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," says Ron. "I don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I've been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard... I heard you."

       "You heard me on the radio?"

        "No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice came out of this."

       "And what exactly did I say?"

       "My name. And you said... something about a wand... So I took it out, and it didn't seem different or anything, but I was sure I'd heard you. So I clicked it. And the light went out in my room, but another light appeared right outside the window... It was a ball of light, kind of pulsing, and bluish, like that light you get around a Portkey, you know?" They all nod. "I knew this was it. I grabbed my stuff and packed it, then I put on my rucksack and went out into the garden. The little ball of light was hovering there, waiting for me, and when I came out it bobbed along a bit and I followed it behind the shed and then it... well, it went inside me."

       "Sorry?"

       "It sort of floated toward me, right to my chest, and then — it just went straight through. It was here," he touched a point close to his heart, "I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me I knew what I was supposed to do, I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So I Disapparated and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere..."

       "We were there," says Harry, nodding. "We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!"

       "Yeah, well, that would've been me. Your protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn't see you and I couldn't hear you. I was sure you were around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you'd have to show yourselves when you packed up the tent."

       "No, actually," says Hermione. "We've been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra precaution. And we left really early, because, as Harry says, we'd heard somebody blundering around."

       "Well, I stayed on that hill all day," says Ron. "I kept hoping you'd appear. But when it started to get dark I knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods. I still couldn't see you, so I just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in the end — and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously."

       "You saw the what?"

       "I saw a silver doe, sort of like a Patronus, and it led me to this lake, where the sword of Gryffindor was at the bottom. I went in to get it," he explains. Holly looks at him like he's mad. "Ron pulled me back out, and we managed to destroy the locket."

       "Well that's good?" says Holly.

       "I suppose," says Hermione, giving Ron a nasty look.

✧

       "IT MAKES NO SENSE," says Hermione, frowning at the copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Holly holds the framed portrait of the thief in her hands, her brows furrowed. He looks familiar... She can't put her finger on it, but she recognises him from somewhere. He reminds her of Durmstrang, for some reason, but she doesn't know why... "Why would Grindelwald's mark be in the book?"

       Holly shrugs, resting her head on the table. "I don't even know."

       She sighs.

       "The Tale of the Three Brothers..."

       "That's the one about the Deathly Hallows, isn't it?"

       "The what?"

       Holly raises her head. "We learnt about them at Durmstrang," she explains. "You know that the three brothers get those gifts from Death? Supposedly the wand, cloak, and stone are all real..." Holly and Hermione's eyes meet. "Wait."

       "Did Grindelwald have any interest in them?"

       "I don't know... But he wanted power, and with those three objects together, you become the master of death..."

       "Oh my God."

       "Grindelwald's mark is the Deathly Hallows!"

✧

      IT TOOK A WHILE to fully convince Ron and Harry, but eventually they did it. If anything, they were more concerned they were missing out on the new radio show, Potter Watch, designed to keep 'rebels' up to date with everything going on. Holly leaves them just as Fred's alias begins to explain that Voldemort has been seen abroad, spotting Harry look up at the mention of Voldemort, his mind still on the idea that there could be an all-powerful wand somewhere in the world.

       Holly holds onto her necklace, summoning Susannah as she walks through the forest, hidden underneath the Invisibility Cloak. It's her turn to get some food, so she steps out of the tent, and pictures the town nearby, and Apparates to a smaller street, leading towards the high street, where the supermarket is. She spends less than an hour getting what they need, leaving some money at one of the tills on her way out, waiting at the automatic door for someone visible to walk through them, and for her to tail them. Holly knows that the Death Eaters won't be watching automatic doors at an ASDA opening by themselves, but she knows what it's like to sneak around at Durmstrang — you can take all precautions, because you never know. A shred of bad luck for you could become good luck for someone else.

       They're almost back at the tent, when Susannah halts. Holly pauses, frowning; although Susannah can't see her, just floating slow enough that it matches Holly's pace, Susannah tells her, "Some... group has surrounded your friends." Holly almost speaks, but she stops herself, and luckily, Susannah continues. "The ginger one — he said something about a Shell Cottage, didn't he? You leave — if they're caught by the bad people, what good are you gonna do right now? You're outnumbered... Go."

       Holly doesn't respond, but hopes that the crack following her Apparating does the trick. She appears next to the seaside, no house in sight. Her first thought is to check the mirror, to see if she's gotten the right place, but then she realises, I left it in the tent. What is she meant to do now? She should've remembered, fuck, she should've remembered the last person who had it was Ron, because he was showing this fucking cottage to them. How could she be so fucking stupid?

       She looks around, frowns, and sits down on the grass. Holly doesn't know what to do now. She doesn't have her friends, she doesn't have the mirror, all she has is her wand and some grass to sit on... And Susannah, but she always has her.

       Holly racks her brain for anything else Ron said about Shell Cottage. Her brows furrow and she looks ahead at the sky, already pitch-black. Part of her thinks he mentioned that the cottage is under the Fidelius Charm, which might makes things easier for her? She still doesn't know... What if she walks into a trap?

       She looks around again. She looks down at her wand.

       Fuck it.

       "Lumos," she whispers, poking the wand out of the Invisibility Cloak so that the light can be seen nearby. She whispers, "Nox," to switch the light off. And she does it again, turning the light on, then off. On, off, on, off. Maybe if Ron's brother's nearby, he'll notice a light turning on and off.

       Holly sighs, and continues. On, off, on, off, on, off...

✧

       "WHO'S THERE?"

       Holly jumps, and turns around, the voice coming from behind her. The Invisibility Cloak falls off her slightly and her arm becomes visible, for the second it takes for her to pull the cloak back into place. Opposite her stands a tall man holding his wand, and she spots the ginger hair. It's a Weasley, it's cool, it's cool.

       "Holly," she says, hesitantly taking off the cloak. "Um, no offence, but which one are you?"

       "Which one—?"

       "There are, like, so many Weasleys. No offence."

       He looks at her oddly. "How do I know you're Holly?"

       "How do I know you're—?"

       Holly thinks, how is this gonna work? They both look at each other for a moment, not sure what to do, before she thinks, I went to Durmstrang, I've got Susannah, and an Invisibility Cloak... I'll be fine if this backfires.

       "Harry was Barney at the wedding," she says.

       "My wedding," he says quietly.

       "You're Bill!"

       "I am... Where are the others?"

       "I went to get food, and the tent was surrounded. Ron told us about this place, so I came here... I don't know what to do."

       Bill looks at her oddly, before gesturing towards her, as if to make her follow. "We'll figure it out inside," he says. Holly nods, and begins to follow. He glances across at her. "I could've sworn we met, at the end of the Triwizard Tournament..."

       "Ohhh, we did!" she says. "A lot's happened since then... And, uh, thanks for the wedding invite, even if I forgot what you looked like..."

       "It's fine," says Bill. "Harry didn't think you'd go, anyway."

       "Yeah, uh," she stops herself. She doesn't know what to say. All she can think about is her cousin, her step-dad, her mother's throat as it— "It was a bad summer for me."

       Bill smiles sympathetically. "Not your fault."

       "Yeah..."

       As they approach a clearing, a cottage begins to fade into Holly's vision; a pretty little house with shells decorating the outside walls comes into views, a windchime whistling as she walks past it, following Bill into the house. The warmth from a fireplace hits her immediately, and Holly can't help but smile softly.

       Fleur walks into the hallway, and she frowns at Holly. "What are you—?"

       Bill explains what happened, and Fleur nods. She looks at Holly worriedly. "Have you eaten anything?" she asks.

       "Not since this morning," says Holly.

       Fleur frowns. "We've got some soup leftover... You can stay here, until the others..."

       Holly nods. She sits down at the kitchen table, and she thinks to herself, how the fuck am I here, when my friends could be dead? What if they killed them, because they're wanted? What if... what if Harry's dead?

       A bowl of soup is placed in front of her. Holly's made herself sick, the image sticking to her brain. What if they've killed them, killed him, what if whilst she's been here, they've been tortured, or murdered? She's got to go out and get them, she can't rest until she knows they're alive...

       "There's a spare room upstairs, I can show it to you if you'd like," says Fleur. Holly nods, and feels awful, because she's grateful for this, but she can't help but think, how does she deserve this, when her friends could be dead? The truth is she doesn't, she doesn't, she deserves to be suffering like they could be — no, she should have it worse, because she's the one that ran, she should've tried to stop those men, then and there, she prides herself on being a champion and she can't even save her friends— "Are you OK?"

       "Yeah," she lies.

       I'll be fine when I know they are.

✧

       IT'S MORNING WHEN HOLLY wakes up, realising that she fell asleep at the kitchen table, having told Fleur that she wanted to stay up, just in case. She looks out of the window and spots a group of people outside; she looks closely, and she sees Bill running towards someone else with ginger hair — Ron! — holding onto Hermione. Holly feels her stomach drop. She gets to her feet, just as Fleur appears downstairs. Holly sees them move quickly towards the house, and she thinks, where's Harry?

       The door opens. Bill immediately calls out, "Hermione's injured—"

       "What? What happened—?"

       Holly looks at Ron with panic.

       "The Snatchers got us," he says. Holly feels her stomach twist into knots. "They took us to Malfoy Manor... Bellatrix tortured Hermione..."

       "I'm so sorry," says Holly, her voice weak. "I should've realised that, they're my family—"

       "It's fine, Hol, it's better that you weren't there," says Ron.

       Holly looks over at Hermione, who's still unconscious, being carried by Bill up the stairs to one of the bedrooms. She turns to Ron. "Are you OK?" she asks, and he nods. Her brows furrow. "Where's Harry?"

       "He was meant to follow us," he says.

       Holly steps back into the kitchen, to look outside. She sees someone appear, finally, holding something small... She frowns at Ron, who's already gone to make sure that Hermione's all right. Holly grabs her wand and walks straight out the front door. She spots a mop of black hair and she rushes towards him, trying to run up the hill, through the long strings of grass.

       Harry hugs her before she can think twice, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She hears him say, "I didn't know what had happened to you — I thought they might've—"

       "I'm fine, I'm fine," she says. "What happened? Ron said Hermione was—"

       "I'll explain it when we're inside," he says, and he lets go of her to turn around. "Dobby, are you—" Harry stops. "Dobby?"

       Holly looks down. A knife sits in Dobby's chest, blooding staining his skin. Harry's eyes widen and Holly begins to panic. Before she can say keep the knife in, the knife's already been taken out, and Harry lies Dobby on the floor, mumbling, "Don't die, don't die—"

       She falls to her knees, forcing open Hermione's purse. "Accio healing potion," she tries, but nothing appears. She looks up at Harry. "There's none left — what — what do we—?"

       She cuts herself off, noticing Dobby's eyelids begin to droop. The house-elf looks up at Harry, as he says, "Harry... Potter..."

       And he goes still.

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well this was not fun nor fresh

ALSO holly was gonna go to malfoy manor and i wrote the whole thing but i hated it with every fibre of my being and her reunion with her cousin was not done justice and the whole thing felt...... wrong,,,, for holly to be a part of,, so suze stepped in lol