All recognisable charatcers, places and events belong to J.K Rowling.
I hope you enjoy my fanfic about Mudbloods in the Second Wizarding War, any feedback is appreciated!
"Excuse me."
The fair haired boy shoved his shoulders in front of Fawn in the line.
"Um. I'm sorry...there's a line. I think you might have, uh..." Fawn stammered. It was hot, she was tired and desperate for cool ice cream from Fortescues.
"Oh!" The boy turned to face her, his sneer colder than the sorbets. He was about 16, as Fawn would turn tomorrow, with slicked over dark brown hair and thin brown eyes. Fawn recognised him from school, although she couldn't give him a name. She wavered, intimidated by the glare he gave her.
"Is the little mudblood trying to tell me what to do?" He said incredulously. The boy turned back around, blanking Fawn as she stood rooted to the blue tile as though she'd been stupified.
"I..uh.."
"Thought as much." said the boy with another icy sneer as he turned back around to give his order.
Fawn couldn't believe the words that had been hurled at her so cruelly. All she wanted was an ice cream. Fawn very nearly turned, to give up on the treat and go back to her hotel, her family could catch up with her later. But, she bit her lip and blinked back the fiery tears. A sharp, hot pain pierced her hand and she looked down with surprise to see that her fists had been clenched so tightly that her nails had drawn deep red blood. It was happening more and more often recently, from pure-bloods especially. Those that knew her would often call her out with cries of 'mudblood' in the street, but she did her best to ignore it. Today it was getting to be all too much.
She was hot, sweaty and the stress had worn her down so much that she wanted to break down in the middle of the shop. Fawn looked up, realising the boy had moved away (thank god) and stepped forward to the counter. Fortescue leaned over the counter, to speak softly to her
"I saw what happened. It's OK. It's happening all the time now. But what can you do? It's the bigoted pure bloods that are the problem not you. Look, the gelatos' on me - what would you like?"
Fawn gave her a watery smile. "Chilly Imp, please."
Fortescue scooped two large scoops of ice cream, stuck a fudge finger in the top and handed the ice cream over to Fawn.
"There we go. Now, forget about him. He's an idiot."
"Thank you, thank you so much." Fawn said to him as she walked back out into the stifling heat. Fawn would have preferred to stay inside, where it was at least a little cooler than the August air outside, but she couldn't bear to stay there any longer, in case the bastard attacked her again. Fawn was the quiet type, and she did not enjoy arguments - in fact, she did her best to avoid them. The street was crowded, as busy shoppers bustled down the cobble stones, searching for new school equipment they might need for the new year. A happy buzz filled the air, but there was sour feeling in Fawns' gut. Fawn had let her parents take Louise, her little sister, off to shop for anything she might need. New books, ingredients, wand etc. It was Louises' first year at Hogwarts, whereas it was Fawns' sixth. Fawn almost as excited as she was, although she doubted that they'd be in the same house. Fawn was a Ravenclaw (although the hat had considered Hufflepuff deeply)- dreamy, distracted but creative (but a perfectionist, who struggled to be confident in her work) and kept her thoughts and feelings tight to her chest. Louise, on the other hand, was her polar opposite, despite how well they got on. Louise was clever too, but she was much more open, focused and hard working. All their relatives said they were like "chalk and cheese" but the sisters were still very close and Fawn loved going to school with her. They had wondered if Louise would be magic, as neither of their parents were, and their bloodline contained no other direct links. But, her Hogwarts letter had arrived with Fawns, much to their joy and she had been bursting to come to Diagon Alley to buy her own things this time, instead of watching her older sister prepare for school. Fawn looked around the crowded street, finally spotting a free bench outside Sugarplum's Sweet Shop. She made her way over to the metal bench, the seat hot from the burning sun. She curled her legs up underneath her and licked her ice cream, glad of the refreshing flavour of chocolate and chilli.
"Mum! Mum, can I have some liquorice wands?"
Fawns' head jerked up at the sound of her little sisters voice.
"Oh...well...yes, OK. As a special treat though!"
Fawn smiled as she called out "Hey! Guys, over here!"
"Fawn!" Louise yelled, as she ran over to her, shoving her many bags into their mums' hands. Louise flung her arms round Fawns' neck, throwing a barrage of words at her as she told her their day.
"OhFawnI'veGotNewIngredientsAndLockHartsBooksevenThoughYouSaidThey'reRubbishAndMumBOughtMeNewShoesAndTheyreS hinyAndNow-"
"Hey, hey, slow down buddy." Fawn chuckled, kissing her sisters flushed cheek.
"Hey, sweetheart." their Mum said. "I said Louise could have Liquorice Wands, would you like some?"
"Sure, we'll go to Sugarplums." Fawn finished off her icy treat in a few bites and asked "Where's Dad?"
"Oh, we left him in the Leaky Cauldron. He's fallen in love with Peachtree Fizzing Tea." Louise replied happily. Fawn wondered what he was up to. She hoped he wasn't talking to anyone like the boy in the ice cream parlour, or the Malfoys.
The family pushed open the heavy wooden door of the shop and were greeted by the sickeningly sweet smell of the candy the shop held.
"Ooh, Droobles - Mum! Mum!"
Fawn browsed the shops shelves the bright colour, smells and occasionally loud noises from the many varieties of candy. The treacle fudge smelled sickly sweet and Fawn turned away. She still felt sick from the boy in the leaky cauldron. The sweets just made her feel worse. Sighing, Fawn nipped out the shop again, leaving her family to make their purchases. She began to wearily head over to her previous bench, but realised with frustration that a wizard had slumped down on it, his many paper bags spilling out around him. Fawn could feel the annoyance bubbling inside her. It was unlike her to get angry - in fact, she rarely did. But she was so exhausted, humiliated and just plain tired that it felt as though every little thing was a huge deal. She just wanted a place to sit, free from abuse and stress.
One. Two. Three.
Fawn closed her eyes, in the middle of Diagon Alley, and tried to count to ten.
Her shoulders jostled with the movement of the crowd.
"Move out of the way!"
"What are you doing?!"
"idiot."
Grumbling, Fawn carried on counting, and moved to the side of the street, leaning her back against the brown bricked wall next to a long alleyway, probably making her pink denim jacket grubby from the dirt.
"You can't hide for ever." Fawn was surprised to hear a gruff, mans voice behind her.
"I know."
"Well then. Don't you think it's time you bloody answered?"
"Not now. If I answer now then I'm done for!"
"Jesus! You're done for whatever - there's no way he'll ever let you just walk away. You're a marked man, Igor."
Fawn held her breath. The exchange she'd overheard made every hair on her body stand straight up, her grey eyes staring straight out in front of her. Igor...Igor...Karkaroff! Fawns' memory clicked into gear as she remembered the headmaster of the Bulgarian school, Durmstrang, who had shown plainly his favouritism to Krum. Fawn shuddered at the memory of her 4th year at Hogwarts. In some places, the earlier parts, it had been great - set to be the best year, in fact. She'd had her first boyfriend and the excitement of the Tournament was infectious. She'd rooted for both their champions (although Diggory a little more, perhaps, as Hufflepuff was a house she was close to) and celebrated their victories. But, 1995 had also been her worst year at Hogwarts, so far. Her best friend, Maggie, hadn't spoken to her for weeks after they had an argument over the badges and a particularly nice boy from Beauxbatons. The very worst part of the year though (perhaps the worst of her life), was seeing Cedric's cold body dead on the grass. The way the clapping and music turned to screams and sobs as everyone realised what had truly happened. There had been no winner of that Tournament. It was the beginning of the end. Not straight away, but a few months later, the hatred had begun to seep its poisonous ink throughout the school - throughout the Wizarding World. Skeeter had published the article about Potter and Dumbledore, how they were mad. Maggie had begun to believe it, and Fawn worried that perhaps it was true. Everyone else appeared to think so. It wasn't long though, before the support for Harry and their headmaster and grown, and Fawns faith was reaffirmed. Fawn had spoken to Ginny Weasley (a Gryffindor girl in her year) and Luna (a kind Ravenclaw girl in the year above. often, and they had told her all about the DA. Fawn had wanted to join, she'd definitely been tempted. However, the thought of joining Harry, Hermione, Ron and their group was just too intimidating, and to her embarrassment, she'd bottled out of joining - although she was kept updated via Ginny (whom she became closer friends with over the year).
Now it was time to go back to Hogwarts, with the promise that Umbridge would not be returning (Thank God).
"You're a marked man." The other man repeated.
"I know that. I've told you! Was that the only reason you brought me here?" Karkaroff's voice ripped the silence, gruff and accented. Fawn shuddered. She wasn't in any danger, surely? It had nothing to do with her. so why was she so afraid?
"No. I don't want to see you die, Igor. OK? Master wants us to cause a bit of...trouble with the mudbloods." He said mudbloods with such revulsion that Fawn gave a sharp intake of breath as the word stabbed her in the gut. She squeezed her eyes tight shut, praying they hadn't heard her.
Silence.
The men seemed to have decided that they weren't being eavesdropped on.
"Really? He told you to cause a scene in Diagon Alley, did he?"
"Well. No, alright. But He'll be pleased! And if you join us, perhaps I can persuade him to let you rejoin us."
"Maybe I don't. want. to. rejoin. you." Karkaroff hissed.
"Tough-"
"Uh!"
There was a noise of a minor struggle, and Fawn tentatively poked her head around the side of the alley.
A dark black tattoo, with a skull in the centre was burning on the Igors' arm. Fawn knew that sign.
"The Dark Mark" she whispered, as she pulled her head back.
"He's calling you, Igor." The larger man said. "It burns, doesn't it?"
"OK, yes. Fine. It does."
"Re-join us Igor. You have powerful friends, in powerful places. This could save your life. Repent what you have done."
There was a pause, as though Igor Karkaroff was considering the offer. Fawn knew she should move away, but her feet were rooted to the spot, unable to turn away.
"I'm a traitor. They'll never take me back."
"What other choice do you have? We will only find and murder you. Why not raise a little hell in his name?"
"Alright. Fine." Karkaroff said, after a pause.
"Follow me."
Fawn froze tighter. She had to move, now.
BANG. Green sparks shot like emeralds into the darkening, 6pm sky.
BANG. A great, green symbol began to glow above Fawns head. The Dark Mark.
A cacophony of screams and shouts filled the air, and Fawn began to try to dodge throughout the bodies, parting as Igor and the other man, masks on their faces, moved through the crowd, their wands raised in the air like slender guns.
Soon, fawn was screaming too, as more and more masked and cloaked figures emerged from the back alleys and side streets of Diagon alley.
The joyful yells of the Death Eaters merged with the screams and cries of the witches, wizards, and muggle parents around them.
Fawn knew she had to find her family. Who knew what had happened to them? Her dad could have been talking to a Death Eater. He could be dead. Her Mum would stand out too, of course neither of her parents wore robes, and while it was expected that children would wear muggle clothes, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that Louise was, at the least, a half blood.
Fawn looked up, realising, with horror, that the shapes in the sky that she had blanked for the past few moments as she weaved her way through the crowds were not birds, or even objects. They were people. Fawn tried not to look, to focus on finding her family, but she couldn't help herself. She recognised a few faces from school, with revulsion. Colin Creevey, she recognised, floating and screaming with fear. More and more faces rose to the air at the commands of the vicious Death Eaters, but once Fawn had confirmed that none of them were her parents, or Louise, she had to look away. She knew she could't do anything, not now. What could she do? Yell some Stunning Spells wildly? She'd only hit civilians.
"Louise!" She shouted. "Louise!" Anything could've happened. The crowd moved so violently that the slip of a girl could've fallen, been crushed, murdered. Anything. Fawn bit back tears.
Suddenly the sight of the back of a blonde head caught Fawns' eye.
"LOUISE!" She yelled as she shoved people out of her way, blinded by the thought of getting to her little sister.
"LOUISE!" Fawn was almost up to her now, reaching out to grab her - wait.
The blonde head had disappeared.
"LOUISEEE!" She screamed again, almost in tears at the thought of her sister, possibly being crushed underfoot.
"Fawn!" Looking down for the source of the plea, Fawn spotted her sister, half bent over against the side of 2nd Hand Brooms. Fawn flung her arms around her sister, kissing her head.
"Fawn!" another cry from behind her, a hand on her shoulder. Spinning round, she saw Maggie, who must've been shopping, like them, and her mother, Maggie already in tears.
"Oh, Fawn, what's going on?" her mother said, on the verge of crying as she held them both to her. Fawn kept a tight hold of Maggie's hand, there was no way she was letting go now, not running the risk of Maggie being carried away from her.
"It's the Death eaters-"
"What?"
"I'll explain later. Where's dad, we have to get out of here - now!"
"Still in the Cauldron, as far as I know."
"Oh God. Come on, this way!"
Under normal circumstances, Fawn would've taken a back route to The leaky Cauldron, but this time they couldn't run the risk of being snatched away by a stray Death Eater. Instead, they ran as fast as they could to the door of the pub. It seemed as though everyone else was trying to do the same thing, and it was a struggle keeping all four of them together.
As Fawns' mother and Maggie disappeared through the door, Fawn felt Louises soft, sweaty hand wrenched from her palm. She spun around with fear and saw, to her horror, Louise being lifted into the air.
"NO!" She screamed. "LOUISE!" her eyes scanned the street, searching for the culprit. Louise rose steadily, bouncing up and down like a sick yo yo with the other vcitims. Fawn wanted to throw up at the sight of the cruelty. Finally, her eyes wrested on a masked wizard with his wand pointed directly at Louise as she began to rise higher into the air.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" She shouted, in a panic, the first spell to come to her mind.
The wizard was knocked backwards, luckily, as Fawns' spell had been weak in her moment of terror. Louise dropped to the floor, and Fawn caught her best she could.
"Come on." She shouted "We've got to get out of here!"
They scrambled through the door, Fawn practically carrying Louise. The crowd pushed against them, but there was no way Fawn was risking losing Louise again. Fawn could just spy her parents and Maggie pressed against the wall that faced Muggle London, waiting for them. They collapsed into them with the force of the jostling crowd, escaped into the hot air of busy London.