Silence

Evelyn O'Brien walked to the store by the sandy street, in pursuit of a loaf of bread and a carton of milk, of which her mother sent her out to get. The warm summer day was approaching evening, and the purple sky above twinkled with the first stars. Her slender form was tan from her activities outdoors, and her hair had grown considerably from when the summer began, cascading down her back in unruly and frizzy ebony curls. Her brown eyes squinted from the light of the setting sun, as she approached her destination.

The soft ding from the bell as she pushed the door opened alerted the woman behind the counter that a new customer had entered. She smiled at her and asked "do you need any help finding anything?"

" no thank you ma'am, I'll be fine." Evelyn replied, and set off to find what she needed. The store was cool, a great relief from the heat, and she took her time.

After she found everything she was searching for and paid the woman, she set out to head home. Well, technically it was not in fact home, she was staying at a cottage at grays beach, right next to the cottage that her grandmother stayed in year round. She was having so much fun that she dreaded going back to school, though thinking twice, this was the first time she ever had. She loved Hogwarts like it was her second home.

Yes, Evelyn O'Brien was indeed a witch, a witch out of few witches in her family, in fact she was the first witch to be in the family for generations. And she was indeed proud. So were her parents. Her mother was overjoyed to send her to Hogwarts, she was always afraid Evelyn wouldn't fit in as a witch, but being with people of her own kind stopped her mother from worrying. And her father was proud as ever, he always teased about him fearing Evelyn turning him into a frog, and she would humor him by pulling out her wand and pretending to cast a curse. At the end of the day he would always say "im proud of you, my little witch."

Her Dad didn't live with Evelyn any longer, but he would visit as much as possible, as Evelyn was his only child. And he would always give her a bear hug the moment he saw her and the moment they said goodbye. She knew that he would probably be here today; it was her 18th birthday.

She was awakened from her thoughts by shouting, a high pitched scream, blinding green lights, and silence. Dead silence. In a panic, she looked at her surrounding, trying to find the source of those terrified screams.

Evelyn felt her heart jump to her throat as an ominous green skull, with a snake protruding out of its mouth rose above her house, and the tell tale popping of death eaters disappearating was heard.

"No..."she groaned, dropping her grocery bag in the sand and sprinting to her home, wand at the ready. Tears were fogging her vision as she ran up the steps and flung open the door, expecting the worst, yet not quite ready for what lay before her.

Every one, every single person in her family was there. Everyone she knew and loved dearly, dead on the floor. Some still with the look of shock and fright on their faces. She saw her nana, in a spread eagle, blank eyes staring back into hers, she saw her cousin, still clinging to her fiancé in death, she saw her littlest cousin Maggie, only a year old, her green eyes glazed and cold.

Shock and disbelief took control of her movements, as she stepped over bodies strewn out on the floor, almost in a trance. And then, she got out to the living room.

Evelyns mothers body lay on the ground, a pool of blood lay under her, her eyes were closed, and her face showed only pain. And yet, Evelyn still couldn't understand what lay before her.

Her fathers limp form lay not too far from her mothers, twisted and mangled. The look on his face, and the angle of which he lay motionless implied that he died fighting. Just as he would want to go.

It all hit her then, in a whirlwind of pain and grief, as she stood staring at her fathers body. She suddenly realized she was very much alone, she had no where to go.

All the anger, the hatred, the overwhelming pain and sorrow flew out of her in an ear piercing scream. She screamed till she lost all the air in her lungs, she screamed till it hurt. And then she dropped to the floor, between her mother and father, and she sobbed and wailed.

"WHY! WHY ME? WHY ALL OF THIS!...why...?" she shouted desperately. Only to hear the silence of the room.

"It c-cant be true... n-no..." she sobbed. And for the first time in her life, there was no one there to comfort her. Just the silence.