He felt the burning cold and shivered. He felt rough, but soft material under his chin. The crackling of something behind him. It was warm. He supposed it was a fire. He shivered harder. So...cold. He still couldn't move. So. Frozen. As he watched, teeth chattering away, the man turned to another. This one had long brown, even wavy hair and a scraggly beard. With a sneer in his calm voice, greasy hair said.
"Should you want to be..useful...for once, Black, you might want to change that bandage on his neck in a hour."
'Bandage?' he thought.
He watched as both men glared at one another. Then the one called Black folded his arms, nodded, and looked down slightly with a frown on his face.
Greasy hair then stood and walked off at a brisk pace. Out of his sight, but by the table. He flicked his golden eyes to the group of people huddled around that same table. A woman with red hair stood up and rushed over to him. Tears in her eyes. She reached, to run a hand through his hair, but he managed to flinch his head away inspite of his shivering, and shot her his glare, too.
She got the message, and lowered her hand slowly, hurt clearly in her eyes. She sniffed.
"What's your name, sweetheart?"
He blinked, and flicked his eyes to the group behind her. He saw mostly suspicion filled eyes. Interrogation? He glanced down at himself. Saw what was on him...Patchwork...quilts. An ungodly amount of blankets piled one on top of another and covering him like a cocoon.
'Not a prisoner, then?' He thought.
He heard another sniff. He softened his glare and looked to the woman again.
"Edvard. Edvard Elric." His voice barely a croak through chattering teeth.
"Hello. Edward. We have questions for you." A voice from the table said. He flicked his eyes towards it. It looked like the dark skinned one had spoken.
"V-vhere....am I?" He managed between chattering teeth.
"Someplace safe." The redhead woman sniffed, she raised her hand again. Reaching. He looked at her and blinked a slow blink. He had serious doubts about the truth of that statement. He specifically doubted it was safe for him, especially since he was taken here without his consent. He flinched his head away once more from her hand.
"Where're your parents so that we can...?"
"D-dead." he said, tone flat.
The woman took a breath. Before she could say a thing, he met the woman's eyes. Focusing, trying to get the chattering to stop...it wasn't working.
"N-need...v-vater. B-bags..of varm...v-vater..."
"Bags...?"
He managed a shaky nod.
"Too..C-cold....V-vater..." He paused, trying to think of the right word. Damn english. "Q-quicker?" He nodded to himself. It sounded like the right one. "Quicker...than f-fire."
That started some whispering at the table. He heard a word he'd never heard before. "Muggle"? He filed that away in his mind to ask about later. One of the people at the table waved a stick in the air. He flinched, fully expecting a blow of some sort to hit him.
"Shhh..shhh. It's alright. He's just getting what you asked for." The woman said.
He nodded his understanding.
'Stick waving must be a signal or some...' he thought, then widened his eyes as something floated in, by itself, to the woman's side. 'How...?' He blinked. It was a bag. Made of butcher paper. Filled to the brim with steaming water. And it was soon followed by several others.
Harry was with the others gathered at the top of the stairs, trying to hear what was going on in the meeting below. He flinched when he heard a familiar voice loudly croak out:
"MAGIC!!!?"
"That him mate?" The redhead next to him smirked. Harry looked at his best friend, Ron, and smirked himself, nodding. He caught a glimpse of the tall red-headed twins, Fred and George, on either side grinning wolfishly at their younger brother. Ginny, Ron's redheaded younger sister, standing across from him, rolled her eyes.
"Shh." Harry said, as he leaned into the extendible ear and listened to the grumbling that followed.
"Hear that?"
He handed the ear to Hermione, the girl with long brown, and bushy hair.
"What language's that? German?" She said.
Harry shrugged."No idea. He..."
"Oh-oh. Quick!" Fred-or-George grabbed the ear, and started to pull up the long, pink, string that lead to the other end. The other twin helping, rolling the string quickly. There was a loud crack, and Fred and George were gone.
Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry rushed back to the room, and flopped into fabricated, but hopefully natural looking positions about the room. Harry glanced up, and waved his wand, closing the door. A few moments later, he heard two sets of footsteps. And as they approached close to the door, he could hear the distinctive sound of chattering teeth, as well as that odd buzzing sound from the trip over.
:::
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