never let me go, never let me go [adelaide]

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He could hear her. He could hear her, and he wasn’t sure whether she was there or if he had finally cracked, if his poor brain had finally started summoning hallucinations to replace the awful reality. He could hear her, and he was certain that he still would have heard her even if he had been a thousand miles away. Royal was certain that his father had heard her, too, and he was dead. All she had said was his name, but it was enough. It was enough of a reason to draw another breath into his love-scarred lungs, enough of a reason to have just the slightest bit of hope. All she had said was his name, and all he could think of to say was hers.

“Adelaide.” They were the three most important syllables in the world at that moment. He could find her in the crowd of people in the same way that he had been able to hear her; she was his everything, for these small hours. Walking towards her was the easiest decision he had ever made in his life. Even if she was no more than a mirage, he would know when he reached out to touch her. He extended his hand, palm up, and reached for her, praying to any god that would listen that she would not fade away.

@adelaide

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Addie saw Royal's lips form her name. He hadn't seen her yet, but he seemed to have heard her. He was searching. She walked a little closer, still unsure. Maybe she was asleep. Maybe she was dead. Either way, she wanted to be closer to her brother. Her feet dragged along the ground as she trudged toward her brother. She caught a few sympathetic glances from the Aurors but they were all busy with students in worse shape than her. But mostly she kept her eyes trained on Royal.

She finally reached him, staring up at him with haunted eyes. She wanted this to be real. She needed it to be real. She fell into her brother's arms, her body wracked with sobs. But she shed no tears. Her face buried against Royal's chest, she breathed in his scent. This couldn't be a dream. He was too warm, too real, too alive. Addie's convulsions soon subsided into gentle trembling and she held on to her brother for dear life, not wanting the moment to fade away.

@royal

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Have you seen my sister? Yes, I saw your sister. She is right there. She is in your arms. She is alive. The conversation happened in Royal’s head, taking no longer than the blink of an eye from start to finish. It was the small conversations like those that kept Royal from tipping over into insanity, because they meant that he wasn’t hallucinating. Adelaide was real. Adelaide was alive. His nightmare was being pulled apart at the seams by the girl in his arms. She was not his father. She had not been killed by some faceless villain in the middle of the night. She would leave this place, and he would rather die than have her ever come back.

The scene reminded him of a lullaby, though he wasn't sure why. He was never much good at singing. He hummed instead, a faltering rhythm that could have been about half the lullabies on the earth. That didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. “Are you alright?” If she wasn’t, there would be hell to pay. No one messed with his little sister. No one took him from her and lived to tell the tale. No one.

@adelaide

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Adelaide couldn't find the words to say when Royal asked how she was. The obligatory answer was "I'm okay. I'm fine." But she wasn't okay. She certainly wasn't fine. She was scared, and she was positive she would be haunted by the events for the rest of her life. She was constantly looking over her shoulder, half expecting the masked men to come after them and throw them all back into their little dungeon. There would be no rescue then.

Back to Royal's question. "I don't know," she finally said, and her voice was shaky and low. She had always been the quiet twin - Abby had enough outspokenness for the both of them - but even she was somewhat alarmed by how weak and timid her voice sounded. She hadn't talked much during captivity. It showed now. "I'm just so glad you're here," she whispered, hugging him tighter.

@royal

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She didn’t know if she was alright, and that broke Royal’s heart. Adelaide wasn’t supposed to feel like this – no one was ever supposed to feel like that, but especially not his sister. All he could do was stand there and hold her until she knew how she felt. He could do that. He could hold her forever. “I’m glad I’m here, too.” Royal murmured into his sister’s hair, enjoying the squeeze of his ribs as she hugged him even tighter. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to save you.” He whispered. He knew that she didn’t need saving, per se, but if he had been there, they wouldn’t need this reunion at all. He would have rather been taken than see her have to suffer like she did. “My job is to protect you, and I failed.” He swallowed hard, and tried to bury himself in the sensation of hugging Adelaide. “Forgive me?” Royal didn’t know what he would do if she refused his plea, and he knew it was selfish to make it about him, but Royal was only human.

@adelaide

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Addie shook her head slowly, letting her face brush against the fabric of Royal's shirt. She didn't need him to apologize. There was no way he could have predicted the attack on the castle, let alone done anything to stop it on his own. Besides that, she was now - at least physically - safe. The aurors would protect them. There was no need for apologies. Everything would go back to relatively normal. "Of course I forgive you," she murmured into his chest. But there was one thing she had to be certain about before she could even begin to forgive herself. "Royal?" she asked hesitantly, again cringing at the feebleness of her own voice, "is Abby okay? I lost her in the castle. Is she...is she-?" She couldn't finish the question. Instead, she just looked hopefully up at Royal.

@royal

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Royal breathed deeply when Adelaide said that she forgave him. He was her protector, and protectors couldn’t be weighted down with trivial things like guilt. He was also her brother, not that he had done that great of a job of that, either. There was so much he still needed to tell her, so much he still needed to ask her. They weren’t ready to let go of each other, in any sense of the word. In the swirl of emotions, Royal had forgotten that a world existed outside the two of them. He took a second to comprehend the question, but after it registered, he was worried his hesitation would be misinterpreted.

“Abigail is fine.” Royal assured his sister. “She and I found each other right after you and Theo were taken.” He explained. “We stayed together.” He licked his lips, trying his best not to sound cliché. “Dad would have been so proud, Addie. Of all of us.” He would have probably been proudest of Addie, who walked through the storm with her chin held high, unwilling to be shaken. “I should tell mom and Abigail you’re safe.” He reminded himself. He drew his wand, glancing down at his sister. He didn’t need to think of anything to create the Patronus. All he needed was Adelaide. The lynx leaped from his wand, off to wherever his mother was, and then to Abigail. Their worries were over.

@adelaide

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Addie felt her knees go weak with relief, and she clung to Royal to hold herself up. Abby was okay. She was safe. That made everything okay. She wouldn't wish her torture on her worst enemy, but she would endure it all over again to be reassured that Abby was alive and well. She and her sister hadn't been extremely close since their first year, but Addie would do everything she could to reconcile with her twin. Even if it meant tolerating Theo's existence.

She watched with tear-filled eyes as Royal's lynx materialized and disappeared into the night. She thought of her own patronus, a beautiful, lumbering badger. Despite her aptitude for spells, she had struggled with the Patronus Charm. All of her best memories involved Abby, and since starting school at Hogwarts, those good memories had been mired by their separation. The loss of her father had also made learning the charm difficult. Now, as she looked over her shoulder toward the dungeon that had been her home for several weeks, she wondered if she would ever see her precious badger again.

Fatigue and anxiety finally overwhelming her, Addie let her head rest on Royal's shoulder and murmured, "Can we go home now?"

@royal

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Adelaide clung to him, and Royal wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her up. She would not fall, not if he had anything to do with it. He understood the relief Addie felt – Royal had felt the same way when he had seen his sister in the Hogwarts halls. Adelaide’s head rested on his shoulder, and Royal tipped his chin up so it was on top of her head. “Yes, Addie.” He whispered. “We can go home now.” They could deal with Hogwarts and taking Adelaide back after she had recovered from the trauma of what had happened to her. If anyone wanted to yell at her for not returning, then they’d have to go through him first. No one was taking his sister anywhere other than where she wanted to go, and she wanted to go home.

His arms around her were already tight enough around his sister that he didn’t need any adjustments to Apparate safely and comfortably to their house. Royal sucked both of them into the void, and appeared at the edge of their family’s property, where the anti-Apparition wards stopped. He stepped through, half-carrying Addie across the threshold. They were home, and he was never going to let her go.

@adelaide