The somber sky doesn't give an opportunity to see the sun for a few weeks already. After the death of Potter, the magic world fell into eternal mourning. It became difficult to see someone on the streets. A huge desert of sorrow. People refused to accept this news. Fear enveloped every house, every family. Fatal hopelessness of muggleborn families and those people, who had helped the boy, who couldn't survive once again, have swallowed the wizards. A friend is an enemy now. A casual passer is an enemy. A relative is a foreigner. To trust somebody seems real madness. Harried and desperate people have decided to hide, for the sake of their children, parents, future…
News about murders of muggleborn wizards became ordinariness, it praised and printed on the first pages of newspapers. Brutal bullying discussed in pubs and on the streets. People stopped to opine. They didn't have the right to object or think otherwise (than they should)
Ginny woke up early. Going down to the kitchen, she saw her mother reading the newspaper. The girl instantly jumped to the table and snatched the "Daily Prophet" from her mothers' hands . After reading the headline, her eyes filled with tears, she closed her mouth with her palm, allowing the newspaper to fall out of sweaty hands. A huge headline:
"The magical world is getting better every day. The next dirty family was eliminated. Granger paid for Potter. "
Ginny had not seen Hermione for months, Granger had shared with her that she would return to the Muggle world and never use the magic again. Gryffindor girl broke her magic wand as soon as she learned of Harry's death, and the wizard inside her broke down with a wand. The girl did not tell anyone exactly where she was going and Ginny assured herself that Granger trusted her. But why did not she say anything? Now it was already unimportant. She sat down on the stool and took back the hateful newspaper, starting to run over such a vast text quickly, until she caught on another familiar name:
"Malfoy, Jr. is the personification of a new life. The accomplice of the Dark Lord himself saves our world from an infection which was carried by fools. Once he studied at the same school as Hermione Granger. We can imagine how much he was waiting for the moment to save the world from her and her like. Glory to the Dark Lord. "
Ginny squeezed the newspaper, tears became difficult to control. She vowed not to cry after Harry's death, but it happens anyway.
Impossible emptiness makes him remain chained to a chair and drink his firewhisky. He has been sitting for several hours, the waitress tried to pass by his table as little as possible. The blond's gaze does not pay attention to anyone, his eyes are empty - ice inserts. The girl is covered with shivers of panic when his look touches her back, and then falls back onto the glass. He does not care.
Sip by sip. Everything burns inside and he has not eaten anything for several days, it seems, he simply forgot that food is an essential element, allowing at least for a short while to feel like something alive. The burning was not at all from drinking, the last thing that did not turn into ice was a clearly beating heart that did not want to give up. What is it? Self-pity? SELF-PITY?! Damn thoughts, your crappy head, Malfoy. The guy rubbed the bridge of his nose, expecting that this is how you can turn off the mechanism called "think." The glass was empty again.
If he could change everything, would he? No. His faithful companion is a rational mind, today it is not that rational. What does he want from himself, why is he sitting here like he owes something to someone?!
Covering his eyes, he makes three quiet breaths: one, her silhouette re-absorbed into his vision; two, the glass is compressed with cold fingers; three, a woman's cry makes the heart freeze. This is already knocking out of balance, and the glass flies into the wall. The waitress, crying out, barely has time to bounce off the next table, and the coffee tray lands on the floor, to smithereens. Like him now, it splits into a thousand particles, smithereens ... so symbolic.
The room is dull and very cool, she shakes. She doubts that it's from a cold. In the head she has a picture of her home: a sunny morning, which was the last one. Mom prepares breakfast, the father reads the newspaper and slowly switches channels. She is in the bathroom, puts her hair to go to work. A new life is quite to her liking. Doorbell. She hears her father mutters something, turns off the sound of the TV and goes to meet uninvited guests. A moment, and the girl is ready to jump out of the bathroom. She is sure, this is her friend came to give her a ride to work. Smile does not come off the face.
A step, one more step. The ladder is too long, and the heels are so uncomfortable. Turning to the hallway, she sees her father steps aside and shields her mother. Inside, something jumped, Hermione looked at the door and squinted from the sun. In the doorway was absolutely familiar and so disgusting Malfoy. For a moment it seemed that he was surprised, but soon the look became as prickly as ever. The girl looked at his wand, and then back in the face. It was the end. A thought flashed through her mind to fall to her knees in front of him and beg, beg, be humiliated. But it was too late.
The last thing that was deposited in memory is quick steps in her direction, a hard blow to the solar plexus, and mother's cry.
She did not see their death, did not see what else Malfoy did, but she understood everything without it. Her heart contracted, and her eyes can see only darkness. The stupid armband pulled her hair and prevented her from recognizing the location. Hands are tied with a strong rope, it seems she's been here a long time. The body was traitorously numb and did not want to obey. The girl involuntarily caught herself thinking of complete regret that she was still alive. Kill her Malfoy, she would not have time to understand anything, feel that now there will never be happiness. Such as this sunny morning, nothing of ill omen was apparent.