30 Drabbles In 30 Days
Drabble 1: Sapphires
"Anything else, Miss Ravenclaw?" Asked the wizard behind the counter. I didn't know him, but he knew my name. He didn't know me. He thought he knew me because he knew my name, and because unimportant things about my family were forever featured in the Daily Prophet.
"No, thank you." I gave him a small nod, before turning on my heel and striding away. My cloak whipped round the door, and the tiny bell tinkled, to mock me.
"I hope you will return soon, Miss!" He yelled after me, and I laughed quietly. He would not be seeing me again soon. Neither him nor the world. I had everything I needed now. Except... except for the final ingredient. It would be easy to obtain.
I walked down the cobbled street, and when I reached the end let myself through a door. It said "staff only". It was posing as a back door for a shabby, black market pub. I hurriedly shut the door behind me. Instead, I saw the familiar circular room, with fireplaces around the walls; tiny pots of floo powder placed on the floor beside all of them. I decided to apparate, instead.
"Dear Helena. Home so soon?" I had wandered into my mother's study. It was square, with flagstones on the floor, a roaring fire, and midnight blue walls. She was scribbling on a piece of parchment, failing to pay attention to me. She always worked by candlelight. Even when the sun was shining.
"Yes... I am. I didn't have much business in town." I said simply. I had not yet taken off my cloak. "But, I am going to Leicester for a few days. To see some old friends from school." She looked up at me, and smiled slightly.
"I'm ever so glad that you choose to keep these connections, Helena. They will serve you strongly in life. You never know when you could need their help." I wanted to hit her. She assumed that there was no such thing as true friendship. She only believed in friendship for gain. She was intelligent, but too ambitious to be genuine. Too likened to her sociopath of a friend, Professor Slytherin.
"I'm leaving now. There's no point hanging around... I have more to do there than here." I said, turning.
"I'll see you when you come home, then?" My mother asked.
"Oh no," I said, my voice dripping in sarcasm, "you'll never see me again." Through the sarcasm I smiled to myself. I knew that my words should never be taken in jest. "Goodbye, mother."
"I love you." She said, and I turned to look at her. I stared blankly at her, before turning once more, and leaving the room. I closed the door behind me. I closed the door on my mother. I closed the door on our relations.
I knew what I had to do. I apparated, right next to her door. She would think I had gone. Instead, I apparated to the bottom of our west wing tower. I climbed the stairs, trying to remain silent. I reached the top, and unbolted the door, while casting some complex spells. The door creaked open. 'Muffliato', I mumbled. I went inside. And there it was. As easy as that. Sitting on a dusty cushion upon a pedestal. The diadem. I walked towards it. Yes. It was real. I touched it. A heat surged through the air. Hundreds of tiny sapphires. Thousands of tiny diamonds. It was not just a tiara. It was my mother's diadem.
I took it in my cloak.
I apparated.
I appeared in a forest. A thick, overgrown forest. It was somewhere in Albania. I didn't much care for the details. This diadem had caused me so much pain. So much to live up to. It was time to end this legacy of destruction. I hollowed a tree, and sealed the diadem inside. Suddenly, the branches started to glow, and then grow a few inches. The leaves became greener. The air around the tree was a warm breeze. I ran. I ran in a directionless direction. I did not want to apparate. Just find somewhere else in this forest.
"Helena. I thought I could find you." I swivelled. Trysk Baron was 2 metres from me. He had a wild smile.
"Trysk, now is not the time. I have said no to you before, and I have not changed my mind." I said, distractedly.
"But I want you, Helena. We could be amazing. We could be the best couple the wizarding world ever saw. No-one will doubt us. We'll have power beyond our dreams. Don't pretend you don't have the diadem. I know you do. We could use it. People will treat us like Gods."
"Don't you see it, Trysk? I don't want that. I just don't want other people to have it. Other people are too dangerous with the power that has been bestowed upon them. If I can't have it and use it responsibly, then who can?" I turned and walked away, hoping that this ordeal was over.
"Well. If I you won't love me, then I'll make sure that you can never love anyone else." His voice had turned angry, yet pained. I felt him move closer to me, and something metallic glinted in the afternoon sunlight.
Then I died.