October 1st, 1978
Who: Emmeline Vance and Caradoc Dearborn and then Frank Longbottom and James Potter
What: Caradoc needs a cape!
Where: as James put it, 'Bumblefuck, Greenland'
The death eater had come back to let off a little more steam.
Emmeline had come to realize, even if it wasn't very hard to figure out, that the death eater was pissed off at her. Haaa. The only thing she could think of was that it was the same one from the Selwyn manor during the summer, but his voice was different, and his spells were more...they were intricate, they were difficult, and Emmeline was trying to keep track of them all. It was hard, though, as her mind was far from normal and she was finding it was hard to keep track of what had happened five minutes ago.
No, wait. Silence. She'd been alone for a long time.
Her knee was throbbing and swollen, but she'd pulled herself up and made her way around the room, attempting to find some way to escape, but the door seemed only to be able to be opened magically. Her wand. Emmeline let out a low groan as she remembered her wand was nowhere in sight, and that brought her to tears more than the thought of the death eater coming back for more. She was completely helpless, but at least with her wand she could put up a fight.
She'd been in her school uniform on the train, but after the fever spell, well, after she'd woken up from being passed out, she'd pulled off her vest and the stockings (that had been painful), and was now sitting rather pathetically in her dress shirt and skirt, not even with a hair tie to pull her hair back. Fucking perfect.
"Fuck," she muttered when the door opened, and Emmeline pulled into herself; maybe she could disappear into the corner, into the darkness.
They really did make Caradoc's job easy for him--- well, as easy as traveling to a fucking polar icecap for a rescue mission could be. One would think that with such an intelligent (so to speak) leader that the Death Eaters would catch on about the whole 'don't spread every single detail about every single plan invented to everyone' idea. But no no, that hadn't dawned on them yet, luckily for Caradoc. It had been rather easy to link Evan's recent smug smirks to Emmeline Vance's whereabouts. He knew about everything; Evan had mentioned things, and then with Dumbldore's new patronus, everything had clicked quiet quickly.
Caradoc watched the door slowly creak open (that was most definitely an Evan-added effect), eyes landing on Emmeline crumpled up body as fast as they could. This would be easy to cover up and make it look like she had escaped on her own. In one of her withdrawn moments, the girl had finally reached a violent twist in her own thoughts and subconsciously, like a child showing her fist sign of magic, blasted the door off its hinges from the inside. Right on cue, the door shut and he walked to her.
"Shush," he whispered sharply, crouching down to Emmeline's level to get a good look at her and hook one of his hands under one of her arms to pull her up. It wasn't obvious what kind of state she was in, and it didn't particularly matter. She just had to be conscious, that's all Caradoc cared about. He wasn't in the mood anyway; exhaustion was already setting in.
"Caradoc," but it was just barely over a croak, and Emmeline shut her mouth as things started to clear up (listening to him, haa--)
It wasn't the death eater, it was Caradoc, Caradoc Dearborn, Caaaaradoc. She'd always fancied him a little, well, maybe a lot---she and Juliet had spend a lot of time together when they were younger, and Caradoc was rather handsome, and here he was, saving her---again. Oh, he was her hero, that's what he was--
"Ah--" she groaned, when he'd finally lifted her up, the shock of pain shooting up from her busted knee knocking her out of the ridiculous mental ramble she'd been on. Emmeline's arms swung around his neck and she cringed deeply, trying to bite back tears. Fuck it all, she couldn't cry in front of Caradoc, he'd tear the mickey out of her for the rest of their days. "My knee--sorry."
Ohhh, hell. Was he just going to walk them out? How had the Order found out, ohhh---"Where's Frank--- " Because it must have been Frank who'd figured things out.
He would allow her still-talking self to talk, because was it her fault she was obviously loopy out of her right mind? Well, technically speaking yes, if she wasn't so much of a target, or obviously evident of her political standing--- being related to Longbottom didn't exactly help either. He should really get on that; it wasn't exactly responsible to just leave people unprotected like that. Caradoc's thoughts were interrupted, however, once Emmeline's weight shifted to around his neck, feeling as if she was half choking him. Unable to hold it back, he spit out a tight, awkward choking noise before tightening his grip on her. Holy crap, for someone who looked so beat up, Emmeline still had some death grip. Plus, it didn't exactly help that he was drained from the trip over here already.
"Not here," Caradoc answer in a curt, annoyed tone once oxygen was flowing through his lungs again. Longbottom, was she fucking serious? He was probably why she was here, like this, in the first place. Actually, he was almost one hundred percent sure that that was the reason. Frowning, it took him a good about of time to dislodge his wand from within his pocket.
"Confringo…… you went crazy and blasted the door off."
Emmeline pressed her face into Caradoc's shoulder at the explosion, looking over at was once a doorway, and was now loose limbs of wood creaking and barely hanging on to the edge of the frame. He was causing quite a scene, wasn't he worried he was going to draw attention? Where were they? There weren't any guards---did they really just leave her to die?
Ergh.
"I…went crazy." Because that made sense. Emmeline nodded dumbly against him and put some pressure on her busted leg, holding back another cry of pain. She pulled her arms away from Caradoc and forced herself to stand, even if that meant she felt like getting sick over how much it hurt. If anything, her being up on her own two feet could help something, right?
Wrong. They really didn't have time for this new need of her's to walk mind-numbingly slow on her own. Nor did he really have the patience for it. Estimating whether or not Evan had gone through the trouble to put up wards around this place (which he most likely had), they wouldn't have too long until someone would know what was happening Perhaps he should have thought about this more but, ah, he couldn't think as clearly at that point.
"Mm, yeah--- no," Caradoc drawled out, wondering why exactly she was doing this; it wasn't necessary. If he was going to save her arse, then she should at least let him do it right. Her face was getting creepily white, and as easy as it would be to handle her unconscious, he would rather she not be. Pocketing his wand (fuck you, Moody), he took a wide step forward to catch her.
"Don't be stupid," he warned in a low tone, and without waiting for Emmeline's response, hooked his arm around her waist to lift her off the ground.
"I'm not stupid," she mumbled, but she didn't argue any further as the room started to spin. Emmeline found it lucky for the first and most likely last time that Caradoc was being stubborn, because she was about to drop to the floor with the wave of nausea that hit, and allowed him to pick her up without struggle. It was an oddly familiar feeling, and Emmeline's head lolled onto his shoulder, eyes squinting up at him as they moved through wherever the hell they were.
She would feel horrendously bad if Caradoc died rescuing her. But that would mean that she would probably be dead too, but in the slight chance that she wasn't, she would feel bad. She'd feel bad if anyone died for her, and that led her thoughts to Anna Marie, who'd been pulling her through the aisles of the bookcase like a good big sister would---not that Emmeline would ever really know, but Anna Marie had been the closest thing to that, and quite suddenly she was fighting back tears. Ohhh, fuck, she couldn't cry in front of Caradoc, he would never let her forget it because most of the time he was an ass.
"I'm not crying---!" again, her brain filter wasn't working, and Emmeline pressed her face into his shoulder.
Caradoc responded only by quickening his steps. He wanted to leave now, and she needed to stay awake, at least until they were outside the cottage and he was able to disapparate. It would help that Emmeline was at least a little bit focused to help him go all the way from Greenland to Wales. Yes, Greenland. But he couldn't dwell on that yet--- getting outside was first on the list. Finally at the front door, Caradoc shifted Emmeline to kick open with his foot. Even though he had been expecting it, the freezing rush of air that met their faces still made him cringe and swear.
Fucking Greenland what the fuck? Honestly, what the fuck Evan; why fucking Greenland where everything was fucking ice and fucking blizzards? Was it really necessary, really, there were millions of other places he could choose, but no the land of the fucking seals was the place to be. Not taking the chance of slipping on the same ice twice, Caradoc stood his ground. Focus, focus, focus, focus--- they weren't in Greenland, there was no need to get distracted, he wasn't tired, tiredness would only make him lose his focus---- just a few moments later, there was a loud crack and the both of them were gone.
A few seconds later, both Emmeline and Caradoc reappeared in the middle of the living room in his parent's house--- his house--- though, right now that didn't matter. Incapable of holding back the exhaustion that had suddenly taken over him, Caradoc slipped down to the ground ungracefully, carrying Emmeline down with him. He had never felt--- this was like nothing--- Unable to utter any words, Caradoc let out inaudible sounds, eventually just giving up and focusing on breathing.
Why was it so cold, holy fuck---Emmeline barely had a chance to pull her head away from Caradoc to take a look at her surroundings before she felt the familiar squeezing feeling of apparation. That was a good sign, right? Except now they were falling, and her arm flailed out slightly as they fell to the ground. Oh fuck, she was ready to pass out from that, it felt like she’d been apparating for a bloody year, and now she was sitting up in the middle of an elaborate living room, one she vaguely recognized but couldn’t put her finger on---and there was Caradoc, looking like he was ready to die.
“What—where---” The panic that she had barely allowed herself to fall into during the entire ordeal was now overflowing and she wanted to help him up and call for help but she could barely move or see because she was fucking crying again, and the thundering sound of what sounded like footsteps, a stairwell, was scaring the daylights out of her. No, no, they were coming back again, they were going to kill them, they couldn’t, not after Caradoc had come and saved her! She put her arms up, even though in the back of her mind she knew it was a futile cause. “GET AWAY FROM HIM!”
“EMMELINE!” a familiar voice shouted, and she let out a gasp, wiping at her eyes.
“Frank! Frank---I—“
She blinked furiously a few times as a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders, and when her vision was finally clear, she saw that it wasn’t Frank, but it was James Potter, and Emmeline’s face screwed up again with tears.
“Hey, hey, I need you to calm down; I need you to lie down for me, okay?” James said in a soothing voice, which had to be the one he’d perfected in St. Mungo’s, “We’re all here, you’re safe---“
“Where’s Frank—“
“He’s right here, he’s helping Caradoc---Frank, go help Caradoc!” James looked over to where Frank was presumably helping Caradoc, and Emmeline tried to twist out of the man’s grip, she needed to see Frank now. “Stop, hold on, just lie back!”
Holy---fucking---- every sing breath he took felt painstakingly unattainable. Cardaoc had never felt this much pain--- well, no, there were other times, but this moment right now unquestionably won in the self-afflicting category. This was not--- he could feel it, he could feel the nauseous unconscious sensation trying to rip through him, but he couldn't, he wouldn't let it happen. Caradoc blinked furiously, finding his eye sight becoming blurrier by the second, and people were screaming what the fuck was going on? How--- how hard was it to---to---
He couldn't breath, he was choking, choking on some liquid and it tasted disgusting beyond belief what the fuck was this, this hadn't been part of the plan, who was feeding him potion? It was, it was--- despite Caradoc's greater will, he felt his body begin to shut down and his eyes lull into instant drowsiness. Frank made sure to not let Caradoc hit the floor hard as he slid down to the ground, fast asleep. Not that it really mattered, that potion would keep Caradoc out of commission for at least… however long a whole bottle would take. James had said only a fourth of it would suffice, but…
"The whole thing won't poison him, right?" Oh, he could really care less about Dearborn; he would be fine--- somewhat. All Frank was focusing on right then was that Emmeline that far away from him, and James was very much in the way of him getting to her. Anticipating James' reaction, Frank stood up quickly to swoop in once his friend went to check on Caradoc.
“THE WHOLE THING---FRANK----” if he hadn’t already propped Emmeline up against the couch, James would’ve let her drop to the ground as he jumped to his feet and over a coffee table to get to Caradoc. “HE’LL BE OUT FOR A FUCKING WEEK---FRANK!”
Emmeline watched James stumble over to Caradoc’s unconscious form. She could see him under the table, had Frank actually poisoned him---Frank! His appeared almost as soon as James left her side and Emmeline’s face broke out into a smile for the first time in what felt like a millennia. She didn’t know what to say, or do, though, and simply put her hands up even if it took a lot of effort. Most of her wanted to just pass out from exhaustion, but now that Frank was here, she was eager to talk to him, tell him what she knew, that she was okay (mostly) and just revel in the fact that she was able to see him again.
“Did you really poison Caradoc?” she asked softly, smiling lightly, not wanting Frank to get even more panicked over her than she already knew he was. It was done and over with, she was back and safe, there was no more reason for worry. She had to keep telling herself that to stop from freaking out herself which was a smart plan, in her mind.
Frank wasn't even paying attention to whatever James was trying to yell at him about. All he could focus on was his little cousin (ha, he hardly called her that anymore) and how drained and beat up she looked. What the hell had happened, who did--- actually, he knew those answers, even though he wished he didn't. It was no surprise and-- ugh, he should have thought that something like this would have been coming, but not so soon. He would just have to be---- this would never happen again, Frank would make very sure of that. He didn't know what he would do without Emmeline, he honestly didn't. The same thing had been running through his head since early this morning, how, how--- but everything was better now, she was here and mostly alright. Everything else would just have to wait--- reevaluating things and--- yes.
"Eh, he'll be fine," Frank replied, a small smile twitching onto his face. Dearborn would be fine; it was fairly simple to make sure that that much potion wouldn't actually hurt him. He just would be out… for a very long time, that was all. Technically speaking, from an Auror's point of view, what Frank had done was for the 'greater good of the victim.' Now, Dearborn would be everything but mentally and physically drained when he finally did come around to the idea of waking up. It seemed like a very good idea to Frank.
He shifted on his feet to sit beside her instead of crouching in front of her, also using the back of the couch for support. A calming sigh escaped his lips as he turned to Emmeline, finally fully acknowledging for the first time in over twelve hours that she was truly safe. "They took a vote, and everyone decided that you're not allowed to be kidnapped again. Apparently, I'm unbearable to deal with when your whereabouts are unknown to me."
“I think I can deal with that,” Emmeline said, dropping her head back on the couch with a short laugh. She watched James look over Caradoc for a moment before looking back at Frank, letting out a long breath. She was glad he wasn’t fretting, that was the last thing she needed to be honest, and was glad that Frank had gotten to her first. There wasn’t anyone else in the Order that would really be worried about her, save Remus and…Ben, but that was a different kind of worried, she thought.
Frank was the only family she cared about, the only family---person, really, that she knew she couldn’t live without, and it sitting beside him that made her temporarily forget the pain she was in, because her mind was so overwhelmed with the fact that she got to see him again. Hours ago, or however long she’d been taken, the terrible thought of never talking to Frank again had hurt her almost as much as the torture, and it was almost like she was sticking it to the death eater, seeing him again.
She let out a long breath through her nose; no matter how happy she was to see Frank, she didn’t have the energy for it, and dropped her head to his shoulder, letting out another breath. Another laugh coursed through her as James levitated Caradoc, glaring at Frank for a moment before taking him out of the room. Emmeline rolled her eyes because Frank said he’d be fine, and that was all she needed to believe it.
“Caradoc is going to kill you when he wakes up.”
