The pair walked down the streets of the ghost town, wands drawn and sticking close together. They were the only sign of movement and life on the streets, boots making soft splashing noises in the puddles they tread through. Nervously the shorter figure, the girl, stopped and looked up at her companion.
"We shouldn't be here, Jonathon."
"Our patrol shift is almost over. I want to see if my family is alright. Don't you?"
"Olivia is with mum and dad who are with the Death Eaters. You know that."
The boy sighed softly, then tapped the girl softly on the nose. He could sense her nervousness at being in a familiar place that was so inactive -- it was written clearly on her face, shown through the way her hands shook slightly and her fingers kept curling up around her wand.
"We'll check the houses to see if there's anything here we might need at camp, and then we'll leave right away, alright?"
His voice took on a pleading tone, and the girl looked indecisive for a moment. Finally, she nodded and they moved on through the streets. Neither spoke, both sensing the uneasiness in the other. Though everything seemed empty and lifeless, something about it just screamed wrong, wrong, WRONG. They turned onto a driveway, intending to search Jonathon's old home for things to bring back but
Everything went to hell with multiple POPS.
Three Death Eaters with their wands pulled surrounded them and in unison, the companions turned their bodies so they could fight back to back. Jonathon took on two of the Death Eaters, Anna taking on the single one and giving help when she could. Despite it being two against three, they were beginning to tire out their opponents. But in a stroke of horrid bad luck (though it was only a matter of time before it happened) Anna's wand backfired, hitting Jonathon in the backlash. Caught off guard, he stumbled, and a Death Eater took their chance.
Anna reached forward, grabbing Jonathon's hand up in hers and spinning on the spot. With a loud pop they were gone, but a bright green flash still illuminated the scene.
When everything came back into focus, Anna was blinking up into the stormy gray sky. Raindrops fell down, hitting the girl and streaking down her skin. For a while, she laid there, making sure that she was intact. But then she laughed, disturbing a sleeping bird in the tree above her.
"Shit, Jonathon. That was close."
No response. Curious, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, surveying the area. Her friend was there, but he was still laying still on the ground, faced away from her. Maybe he had ended up being knocked unconscious? Or maybe he was just playing one of his stupid pranks like he always did. Yeah, that had to be it.
Her heart and her head wouldn't let her believe that, though. So she pushed herself up onto her knees and crawled over to him, tugging on his shirt so he would be on his back. No movement, not even a little twitch. Anna frowned. "Jonathon, stop being stupid."
Still nothing. Her heart began to beat wildly and for a moment, she hardly breathed. In a moment of panic, she shook him, trying desperately to make him stop whatever prank he was doing. "Wake up. This isn't funny!"
It's strange how human nature makes us thing we can simply shake the life back into people.
For what felt like forever but only lasted a few seconds, she tried to shake him awake, growing more hysteric the longer she did. But he stayed as he was, and she gave up, heart sinking with each moment that passed. Nervously, she hovered her shaking hands over his chest, choking out, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I can fix this, I can fix this I promise."
Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes, trailing down her cheeks and making clear spots in the mud. Oh Christ, she hadn't cried in the longest time but no amount of tears would bring back her friend, no amount of apologies would make it alright. Because it was her fault, or her stupid backfiring wand's. It should have been her, not him. And it was her fault, her fault, hers.
"Please, please don't go please I need you I love you please."
But Jonathon was gone, well past the point where he would be able to hear the girls multiple pleas.
The air tasted like guilt. Christ, she had to get away, had to tells the others. Oh Merlin she was going to be sick. With one last sob, Anna shot back, barely making it to her feet before she spun, apparating away. She didn't want to leave him, but she had to. A second longer and she would never be able to leave.
By the time she had made it back to the camp, she had composed herself entirely, no sign of distress on her face. If she covered up everything, if she ignored it had happened at all, maybe it wouldn't hurt as badly.