Charlotte Dearborn has an answer to everything (brokenvows) wrote in throwingstones, @ 2010-06-13 00:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! complete, [june 1979], alice longbottom, charlotte dearborn |
Who: Charlotte Dearborn and Alice Longbottom
When: Saturday 12th June, afternoon.
Where: Somewhere in the English channel
Rating: PG-13 for swearing
Status: Completed log
No matter what everyone would no doubt tell her the day after, Charlotte didn't believe she was being reckless in following Bellatrix's co-ordinates. It was simple: Bellatrix was a Death Eater and it was her job to catch Death Eaters, not that she would know what to do with a Death Eater any more, after the Azkaban incident. Aside from loathing the pureblooded bitch throughout the entire seven years they shared a dorm, her decision to take the bait wasn't based on a grudge. Pure and simple, she wanted to see her locked away again, or better yet, dead. But she wasn't stupid; she wanted the support of her partner and whilst she hadn't exactly asked for Gawain's go ahead on the matter, she had at the very least informed him of where they would be going. So rather, she wasn't that stupid. She quickly changed her mind as she disapparated alongside Alice. The first thing was aware of was the cold - it snatched her breath straight out of her lungs, squeezing them tight and forcing her to inhale sharply. The next thing she was aware of was that she couldn't breath, her lungs instead filling with water. Eyes wide open and burning from the salt, she couldn't see anything - not the surface, nor if Alice had followed her, nor even her own robes swirling up around her head. Alice disapproved of this. She always disapproved of things that were not thought out, and like so many of her husband's 'plans', Charlotte's wasn't thought out either. But she knew there wasn't enough time or energy to convince Charlotte otherwise, and so she'd reluctantly agreed, if only because she knew that plan or no, going up against Bellatrix was better with two rather than alone. Besides, if the bitch actually showed up (which was somewhat unlikely), her oaf of a husband would be there, and what sort of friend and partner would Alice be if she let Charlotte go through that alone? Idly, she wondered if she'd go so readily if Frank ever asked, or if she'd waste time convincing him of what a bad idea this actually was, but she knew the answer; she'd go, because agree with him or not, he was her husband, and she wanted to fight beside him. Still, the likelihood of that happening was slim, so there was little point in wasting thought on that either. She'd sent Shacklebolt and Dobbs over to Derry and instructed them to keep watch, and remain conspicuous until she and Charlotte got there. But they were almost official aurors, they knew what to do. Running down to Charlotte, Alice disapparated beside her to the coordinates, affirming that going along was the right thing to do, and she believed it until she landed. Immediately, everything was cold and it felt as though her heart stopped. Out of instinct, her hands clutched at her wand and held on for dear life; she would not lose it, no matter where she was. As her eyes opened they burned with salt and she could feel her robes swirl both above and below her, pulling her down. Water. She was in water. Her arms flapped helplessly as she tried to remain calm and keep hold of her wand, knowing in the back of her mind that flailing would do no good, but she could help it. Still, she flapped and flapped and kicked her legs until finally she felt her head break through the boundary and reach the surface. Immediately, she started coughing, still somewhat choking on the water that had filled her lungs, but she had to stay afloat. Her wand was quickly stuffed into her shirt so that she could have free use of her hands to try and stay above the water. Her freed hands ran over her wet head, pushing her hair back, and then rubbed at her eyes before they helped tread the water. "CHARLOTTE!" She called loudly before bursting into another coughing fit. "CHAR?" Had she apparated to the wrong coordinates? "CHARLOTTE DAMNIT WHERE ARE YOU?" Seized by the cold and weighed down by her saturated clothes, Charlotte fought against her robes, pulling them off and letting them drift away. Lungs positively burning, she struck out for the surface, kicking and dragging herself up. She needed air so badly, but everything was so heavy, her movements so slow. And then she broke through the surface, coughing and heaving to get the water out of her lungs. Urgently drawing breath before she slipped underneath the surface again, she kicked out with a fresh determination, co-ordinating her movements to bring her back up again. Spluttering and spitting water out, she wiped her eyes and began treading water, looking desperately around for her partner. "Alice?" she yelled, turning around and seeing Alice a short way away, struck out towards her, furiously kicking at the water. "Alice, shit, are you okay?" she demanded, plastering her hair back and spitting out a mouthful of water as she failed to bob in time with the waves. Through blurry and stinging eyes, Alice caught sight and sound of Charlotte. Despite the robes weighing her down, she attempted to tread towards her partner as best she could. She was capable of swimming, but swimming in robes was not happening. "I'm fine." She called before coughing some more, her body desperately trying to free itself of the water in her lungs. She tread closer, but it was proving to be more difficult than Alice would have liked. "Are you alright? Where the fuck--" she struggled against the sleeves of her robes and grunted temperamentally. "Oh fuck it." Frustratedly, she stopped treading with her hands and grabbed at the panels at the front of her robes. Although her arms stuck to the fabric, Alice pushed and finally removed them, sending the red sheets down to the ocean floor, leaving her in trousers and a blouse. Her shoes came next and were quickly kicked off, because like the robes, she'd buy another pair, or else she'd drown. Now much less clothed, she managed to swim to Charlotte, though it was still a difficult feat. "That fucking bitch. I hate her so fucking much." Kicking rhythmically to keep her head above the choppy waves, she spat out another mouthful of sea water. "Where the fuck--" she began, struggling out of her pencil skirt so she could move her legs properly and hastily taking a deep breath as she dipped under for a minute. Wriggling out of her skirt, she struck out with her hands, pushing herself above the water line again. Strands of hair stuck against her cheeks, her mascara had completely run, and her sodden blouse was doing nothing to keep out the chill of the deep sea, goosebumps raising on her arms as she began to shiver uncontrollably. "Where the fuck are we?" she finished breathlessly, looking around as though a landmark might jump out of the vast watery landscape. Alice was freezing. Her body was shaking and she couldn't seem to warm her body on her own fast enough. She reached into her bra where she'd stuffed her wand and quickly removed it and cast a warming charm on both her and Charlotte's bodies. She didn't know how long it would last, but it was better than nothing. If she stopped shaking and shivering, she could think. "I don't have a fucking clue." Alice spat angrily as she looked around. There was water as far as she could see on every single side of them. "But it doesn't matter, we have to get back. Fucking hell, I'm going to kill that fucking bitch and ugh!" The groan of frustration was for the sleeves of her shirt that pulled her against the waves. She slapped at it as though that might help, but of course it did nothing. "We're getting out of here. I think I can apparate us back." Her shivering subsided as Alice's spell took effect, the all encompassing numbing cold replaced with a pleasant warmth. If they weren't stranded in the middle of the goddamn ocean, Charlotte might have enjoyed the sensation. "You sure?" she checked, looking at her friend with undisguised hesitance, but moving closer all the same to wrap her arm around Alice's waist, kicking all the harder to keep herself afloat. "If you splinch us--" "I'm sure just, don't distract me." Alice took a breath and closed her eyes. The water wasn't cold anymore, but she knew that wasn't going to last long. She needed to do this and do this now. She breathed deeply once, twice, three times and focused on the Ministry of Magic. |