Stumble - A Fred Weasley Fanfiction

Chapter 29: 183 Days Before

It was hard to find people who didn't want to be found, especially when those people had the ability to conceal themselves with magic. The morning after their talk with Gabe, Fred, Addie, and George had apparated to Fort William, and began their search of the mountain, looking for any sign of wizard activity.

It was past midnight when they finally stopped their search and set up their tent for the night. The two brothers entered the tent, but Addie stayed outside, looking around at the surrounding hills and wondering where Charlotte could be hiding. A small voice in the back of her mind whispered that she might be long gone by now, in another country for all they knew. Addie shoved the voice away, refusing to believe it. Because if it was true, if Charlotte wasn't here, all those months spent searching would mean nothing. 

She turned back to the tent, eyeing it with distaste. Addie had never seen a wizard tent before, but she had assumed it would be bigger. Its height reached up to her shoulders, its width large enough to squeeze in two small people. She wasn't sure how Fred and George were both inside, but they had seemed to enter without issue. Addie reluctantly lifted the flap of the tent and went inside.

Her mouth dropped as she walked into the spacious inside, large enough to fit a full-sized living room, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and two separate bedrooms with ease. George was lounging on the couch while Fred rummaged through a small refrigerator, pulling out an apple and chucking it across the room to George. Addie stood in the entrance, taking it all in, until a second apple went sailing through the air towards her head and she was forced to duck out of the way. "Hey!" she shouted at Fred, picking the apple up off the ground and chucking it back. She missed, instead hitting a pot hung on the wall, which crashed to the floor with a loud clang.

Everyone's mouths shut and their eyes went wide. Three heads swiveled towards the entrance to the tent, 5 ears straining to hear if anything had moved outside. "Maybe we should set up those protective charms now," Addie suggested quietly, and the three immediately went to work.

Half an hour later, they were back in the tent, now feeling safe in their circle of Protego and Muffliato Charms. Addie was nestled into the couch with a blanket and Fred's arm around her, the fire from the cook stove only adding to her comfort. Her eyes felt heavy, and she knew it would be easy to slip away into oblivion.

They were all more relaxed, their tensions lessened now that they had a lead. They had spent so long knowing nothing, had wandered around the country with no plan other than to keep wandering, to keep listening. To finally have the beginnings of an idea, to have a starting point on where to look, was such a relief.

"When this whole thing is over," George said, "we should go to Romania and try to see Charlie. I don't think the Ministry would be watching him as closely as mum and dad."

"We could get him to send a message to mum," Fred added . "Let her know we're alright." He turned to Addie. "Have you met Charlie yet?"

"Briefly," Addie replied, remembering the scarred and burned man she had met at the Burrow. It seemed so long ago. "Although, it was shortly after you saved me, so I wasn't in the most talkative mood."

Fred gave Addie's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He liked the reminder of her six months under the Imperius Curse as much as she did. "You're going to bring Charlotte to Romania with us?" Fred asked, changing the subject.

George smiled at the thought. "I know she'd love to come. I brought up Charlie working at the Sanctuary before...well, before everything happened...and she was really excited. She said she's loved dragons since she was little and had always wanted to see one."