White Lips, Pale Face
Breathing in Snowflakes
Ron hardly recognized the woman in front of him. If he hadn't been terrified of her for the six years he was at Hogwarts he probably would have never cast her a second glance. The woman before him was hardly a shell of the girl he had feared. The pallor of her skin and the lack of meat on her bones was something he never wanted to see. It was lucky for Ron that he was in Knockturn Alley on Wheezes business rather than on Ministry business. He knew that George would understand the delay in his return far more than Kingsley would.
He approached her much the same way he had approached the doe in the Forest of Dean. Gently and quietly he moved towards her. When he was about eight feet away he finally spoke her name, "Millicent Bulstrode? Is that really you Millicent?"
Startled she finally looked up from the ground. "Why do you care Weasley?" she spat, attempting the venom of her youth.
Ron knew then, from the failed attempt at hatred, that she really was as broken as she looked. "Come with me," he spoke gently yet firmly.
Millicent scoffed, looked at his ringed finger, and said, "Don't think that Granger will appreciate you spending your time with a woman of the night."
Ron proceeded, nonplussed, "I don't plan on sleeping with you. I am going to take you to eat and then we will get you cleaned up."
Millicent shrugged in a why not fashion, " You're paying though Weasley. And I will tell you that you don't have to romance me to get me in your bed."
Burnt Lungs, Sour Taste
They went to the Leaky Cauldron where Millicent and Ron each had a bowl of pea soup and tea.
"It doesn't taste the same to me as it did before," Millicent reflected sadly.
"I never had it before the war," Ron offered, guessing that before meant before the war. "In fact, I only came here a handful of times before the war. The most memorable to me is when we came here the summer before third year. All of Diagon Alley was up in arms about Sirius Black escaping Azkaban."
"Mum brought me here all the time. She loved to shop and spent as much time as she could trying to turn me into a perfect little pure-blood socialite."
Lights gone, Days end
Struggling to pay rent
Long nights, strange men
"Come on Millicent," Ron said after paying for their food.
In the moon-lit night Millicent followed Ron to the Floo at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Once there Ron told Millicent the address of his floo and send her first to make sure she went there. He followed swiftly after her knowing that if he didn't she may try to run from his help. Once at home he showed her to the Bathroom so she could clean up. Aided by a set of clean, if below normal Bulstrode standards, robes and the promise of privacy he was finally able to get Millicent to stay.
A quickly written note to Hermione was sent with Pig.
Hermione,
met Millicent Bulstrode while shopping for George. She is down on her luck and has resorted to prostitution. Bought her and meal and brought her home to clean up.
Love you, Ron
Millicent emerged from the bathroom before any reply from Hermione came. "Thanks for the food and clean clothes Weasley. I'll be off now. Gotta work so I can keep my room."
Try as Ron might he could not get Millicent to stay. Money, it seemed, was her driving force.
And they say
she's in the class A Team
stuck in her daydream
been that way since eighteen
but lately her face seems
slowly sinking, wasting
crumbling like pastries
and they scream
the worst things in life come free to us
cause we're just under the upper-hand
go mad for a couple grams
and she don't want to go outside tonight
and in a pipe she flies to the motherland
or sells love to another man
its too cold outside
for angels to fly
angels to fly
Hermione arrived home no more than three minutes after Millicent had left. Immediately she asked, "Is Millicent still here?"
When Ron's negative reply came Hermione lost some of her happiness. This took Ron by surprise.
"I was elated when Pig arrived with your note. You know how I work with Zabini. Well recently he and I have become friendlier than I ever thought possible at school. Anyway, Blaise was telling me about some of our Slytherin classmates just the other day. Draco is engaged to Astoria Greengrass, was the most notable to me. But he also told me that he is one of the only people who has had any contact with Millicent since after the war. Turns out that she left home hours after the final battle and cut contact with most everyone, the only known exceptions were Blaise and Draco until tonight, and even with that Blaise said that he hasn't spoken to her in ages and Draco in even longer. She hadn't touched anything that her family owned since she left. Also, and the reason I didn't write you a reply, she fell into drugs hardcore, with her choice being the muggle drug crystal meth, and prostitution to support it. I wanted to get home just as quickly as possible so I could talk to her. I really want to help her out Ron," The speed which Hermione said this would have set many people dizzy but Ron was so used to his wife that he understood the compassion verbally flowing from her.
"Oh god, Hermione, I knew that she was no where near the Millicent that you tried to polyjuice into in second year. I just didn't realize that she was into things like that. I tried as hard as I could to get her to stay but she is an adult and there was only so much I could do. I just didn't, and still don't feel right about any of our classmates working the Alley, no matter how much I disliked them in school."
"I know Ron. You did the best that you could do and even with further knowledge I don't think that there was anything more you could do. We will just both be on the look out for her when we are in London because we know that is where she last was."
Millicent had retreated to her room in the Alley, as she liked to call Knockturn Alley, to prepare herself for the night. She didn't want to go out, but she knew that she needed the money to keep the room the next night. While preparing her clothing, makeup, and hair she also prepared herself mentally. She pulled her pipe out from the hidden compartment in the floor that she had put in by loosening a floorboard. She added a bit of meth and lit up while doing her hair. It was the only way she could go through being with the Johns.
Once she was put together she made her way to the busiest corner she could find. Her night started out with a fresh-faced kid who couldn't be a year out of Hogwarts. With the pay he offered Millicent was just going to call it a night after him but as she was leaving the by the hour motel that he had sprung for she was spotted by one of her regulars. He walked over to her and offered his normal pay but when she declined he pushed further. She finally gave in when he offered half again his normal pay. Unlike the youth that she had been with first this John just took her to a nook between questionable shops to have his service. Rough and hard was how he liked it and it did her body no favors. When he was done he left her in the nook and carried himself like the pompous politician that he was. An hour after the politician John left Millicent she was back in the room she had. She lit her pipe again and lost herself to the drugs.
Ripped Gloves, Raincoat
Tried to Swim, stay afloat
Dry house, Wet clothes
Loose change, bank notes
weary-eyed, dry throat
call girl, no phone
Millicent was hitting her pipe harder lately. Since she saw Weasley, Ron, reality came crashing back more quickly. The numbness wasn't lasting as long so the habit was more expensive. If she had money that wouldn't have been an issue, but as it was it meant that she had also been "working" more. Fewer and fewer of the John's paid her any heed as a person and more and more of them saw her as an object to serve them however they wanted and then to be thrown away.
The weather had been foul and Ron and Hermione had had no luck with finding Millicent again. No one had seen her on Knockturn Alley, or if they had they weren't confessing to it. 3 months came and went without anything. Another weekend of working for George had completely taken Ron's mind off of anything else. At the end of the day George asked Ron to get him a number of ingredients so the next day they could replenish the back stock of Wonder Witch products. The list had him return to where Ron had seen Millicent and brought the memory back. On a whim he went into the store next to where Millicent had been standing to ask after her. The owner knew who he as talking about an said that he had not seen her in a few days.
Ron relaid his discovery to Hermione that night over dinner. "The man said that he hadn't seen her since Wednesday. He seemed a little bit worried about her because normally she is out there everyday. He isn't fond of prostitutes hanging around outside of his establishment but Millicent never flaunted her profession like some of the girls on the Alley do."
"Well, I am going to the apothecary tomorrow so I may poke around down in there and look for her," Hermione stated.
And they say
She's in the class A team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since 18
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries
And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
Cos we're just under the upper-hand
And go mad for a couple grams
And she don't want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the motherland
Or sells love to another man
It's too cold outside
For angels to fly
An angel will die
Covered in white
Closed eyed
And hoping for a better life
This time, we'll fade out tonight
straight down the line
Hermione held to her word. After buying her things at the apothecary she went to Knockturn Alley to look for Millicent. After a few hours and no sighting of her Hermione went to Wheezes to talk to Ron.
Ron was in the back mixing up the daydream potion for the Wonder Witch line when Hermione arrived. George told her to go on back and make sure that Ron wasn't about to explode the shop.
"Ron I have looked for her for hours and haven't found her. I went to the shop that you told me you saw her in front of but the owner told me that he still hasn't seen her. He is hoping that she has pulled herself out of the lifestyle but didn't seem too optimistic"
"Okay 'Mione," Ron said while stirring the potion, "I am gonna look for her after I get done here. Thank you for looking, but I know you need to get to the Ministry for your meeting. I will let you know if I find her. I love you Hermione."
Hermione left through the private floo in the lab and went to her office to prepare for her meeting. Ron finished the potion and set it to the side to rest. He went out to the main floor where George was talking to the last remaining customers and his assistant was ringing up a couple.
"George, the potion is resting. You need anything else from me before I leave?"
"Nope little brother I think we have it under control. Go home and make your wife a hot dinner or something."
Or something was far more accurate than George would know. Ron walked quickly towards Knockturn Alley when he heard s slight moan. The moan made him stop in his tracks. He heard it again and knew that he could not ignore it. Finding Millicent was important but the moan sounded like someone in pain, someone who needed help. Once more the moan sounded and Ron was able to tell that it was coming from his left. He walked that way slowly, with his ears straining to hear it again. The next time he heard it he was much closer. An exit lane between two of the shops was just ahead and clearly the location of the moaning. Ron approached carefully, fearful of danger lurking.
"Hello, are you okay?" Ron asked just loudly enough for his voice to carry a bit.
No response came, not even an answering moan, so Ron crept in the lane. Looking for any sign of movement he walked slowly and carefully. Approximately 10 feet into the lane Ron caught sight of an out of place heap of newspapers. The Prophet on the top was from the previous Tuesday. Ron squatted down to move the papers as one could clearly tell that there was something under them. Under six layers of papers Ron saw an arm. This development sent Ron into overdrive. He began digging the person out with top speed. When the head came into view he was slammed with the knowledge that this was the woman that he had been looking for for months.
Months of looking for Millicent with Hermione had just ended. Sadly the ending was nothing like he had envisioned. He found her too late. The moaning had stopped because her body was stopping. Ron found Millicent as she died. With nothing left to do to help her Ron did the thing which he had wished that he had been able to do for Fred. He sat on the ground, pulled her into his lap, and help her through her last moments. For 45 minutes he sat there holding Millicent. She had died after no more than 15 minutes but he couldn't bear to let her go. The last time he had let her leave it had allowed her to arrive at this point and he had to start coming to terms with that.
As he was holding Millicent's lifeless body he sent a message to Hermione via patronus. A skill he hadn't used but Hermione had insisted that they all learn after he had found Harry in the lake trying to retrieve the sword of Gryffindor. He was barely able to conjure his as he was so torn up over the death of the woman in his lap.
Hermione received the message as she was leaving the office to head home. Instead of going home as she had planned she went back to Diagon Alley to find her husband. Once she passed WWW it only took her a few minutes to locate him. She sat down next to her husband and offered her strength.
Hermione made the decision, after Ron had calmed, to go to the post office and owl Millicent's family. Even though she had died without making peace with her past her family still deserved the right to make peace with her death.
And they say
She's in the class A team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since 18
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries
They scream
The worst things in life come free to us
And we're all under the upper-hand
And go mad for a couple grams
And we don't want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe we fly to the motherland
Or sell love to another man
It's too cold outside
For angels to fly
Angels to fly
To fly, fly
Angels to fly
To fly, fly
For angels to die