chapter thirteen

                                    

                                          
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Clara stood over her bed looking down at her packed bag. Reality seemed like a distant dream to her, because this couldn't really be her life. Could it?
A knock on the open door brought Clara's mind back down from the clouds. Ron waved from the doorway, his bag slung over his shoulder. "You ready?"
The two said their thanks and goodbyes to Fleur and Bill and walked out the door. Clara took in a breath of fresh air and made a silent prayer to whoever was out there that everything would be alright. Ron walked by her side, a wide smile on his face as he looked at the beach around them.
"So how exactly do we get to them?" asked Clara, "They're not going to be in the same spot."
"I think I know how," said Ron, holding out the deluminator, "You're just going to have to trust me on this one."
Ron held out his hand and Clara grabbed it. Seconds later they were spinning through the air, whipping around at speeds that made Clara's stomach lurch no matter how many times she experienced it. 
The pair landed in the woods somewhere. They looked around for a moment. All around them were tall trees, shrubs, and a few dead leaves scattering the forest floor. Clara looked at Ron and raised her eyebrows. He sighed and looked down at the deluminator, studying it for any clues of use. Ron flipped it on and a ball of light flew out, as always. Clara turned away. This was pointless. Harry and Hermione were nowhere to be found.
"Clara!" said Ron. She whipped her head around. The tiny ball of light was now floating forward, away from her and Ron. It stopped its moment and spun in a circle as if to say, are you coming?  Ron bounded forward, following the light through trees and down tiny paths. Clara stayed right behind him. They followed the light for ten minutes, twenty... "Ron, stop!" whispered Clara, pulling him behind a large tree they had just come around. 
"There's something there," she whispered, pulling out her wand. The light had stopped near another source of light. "Pull it back."
Ron obeyed and opened the deluminator. The ball of light came whizzing back towards them and vanished into the device. Clara poked her head out from behind the tree again and looked at the small pond in front of them. "There's a wand..." she said, "and a crack in the ice, and clothes, why would..." she trailed off. Then she saw it: a jumper she'd worn too many times before not to recognize it. "Harry!"
Clara ran out from behind the tree and Ron followed her. The pair stopped just short of the pond, which was surprisingly deep for how small it was. They looked into the hole that had been punctured in the frozen surface and Clara's stomach dropped. Harry kicked out wildly, trying to push himself back to the surface, but merely propelled himself into the rocky side of the pool.
"Something's wrong," said Clara. Harry was pulling frantically at his neck. "We've got to get him out." And before she could convince herself not to, Clara jumped into the pond. 
The water froze her limbs. If she hadn't had so much determination, she probably would've gone down in shock. Instead Clara opened her eyes, straining against the shiver it sent down her back, and swam next to Harry. He was pulling at the Horcrux, which seemed to be trying to strangle him. It seemed to be winning the fight too; Harry's eyes were completely closed and each tug he gave was weaker than the last. Clara pushed her fingers under the string of the locket and tried to swim up. Her body somehow felt a thousand pounds heavier, and it wasn't because she was trying to pull Harry up with her.
She could feel herself falling downwards with Harry. She kicked harder, but all it seemed to do was keep them where they were. Clara's heart was sinking even faster than she was. She was losing steam, losing breath, losing... everything.