I.B
Rain thudded against the dusty window, obscuring the contents of what was inside. Ida Blackwood did her best to survey the shop quietly, though it hardly mattered. No one else was in Knockturn Alley, not at this hour, and even if they were, the terrible thunder and pouring rain would have provided her with excellent cover.
Drawing her hood high over her blonde head with one hand, she used her other to reach into the pocket of her cloak. Slowly, she removed a withered and crumpled photograph.
The man in the photogrpah had blone hair not unlike hers, but it was swept back and pristine, highlighting his more authoritative features, which included cold, gray eyes. This was the man that had taken so much from her...
There was a flash of lighting, and she instinctively looked upwards, the words on the sign above illuminated just long enough for her to read them for the hundreth time.
Borgin & Burkes
She again peered through the window, just barely able to make out an almost indiscerbile shape behind the counter. There was a variety of odd objects throughout the dark shop, but she knew that what she truly sought was sitting behind thatcounter.
San's words rang through her ears in a single, unpredictable second.
If you attack someone that Potter has protected, he will storm headquarters. And Warren will blame you.
But she didn't care anymore, none of that mattered now. Whatever immunity Potter had granted the Malfoy family could not stop them from getting what was coming to them. There was no point in protecting WAR now, they were as good as finished. With monsters like that "Red War" catching fifty former Death Eaters a week, it was only a matter of time before Wands and Redemption became obsolete. No, what she was going to do tonight had nothing to do with redemption. This was about revenge. San's warnings no longer applied.
San.
With a pang in her gut, she wondered vaguely where he was now. Had he finally worked up the courage to find that floozy? Had they already, perhaps, failed once more in their attempts at creating a life? She smirked at the thought, then immediately felt sick with herself. Nothing was San's fault right now. This was about her, and Lucius Malfoy. And soon, Malfoy's son. Who, if her information was correct, was sitting inside this dingy shop right now, oblivious to the recompense that his family was about to be administered.
She tucked the photograph away inside her robes, then straightened her face confidently. It was time to shelve all other things in her mind. It was time to focus on the task at hand.
She opened the door lightly, stepping through onto the dry ground and pulling her hood back as she did so; she'd take the appearance of a regular customer at first. She heard a small bell ring to signal her entrance, and she inexplicably jumped. Why was she so nervous?
The shop screamed dark arts. There was all manners of the disgusting and the dicrepit, from a skull with emeralds in the eye sockets to what looked like actual human flesh hanging on the wall furthest from her, glowing ominously. She tried to maintain her composure as she walked by the first item in the shop, a golden plate that sat behind glass, strange symbols drawn on it an inky black.
The man behind the counter looked up upon her entrance, and she almost gasped. His hair was not grown back or drawn out like his father's, but the face was the same. Pale, with pointed features. An expression that somehow managed to give off a feeling of both smugness and unconcern. Cold, gray eyes.
"Can I help you?" the man said, his voice an eerie drawl that matched his disposition perfectly.
She looked up, taken aback at being addressed. She spoke just as a clap of thunder sounded behind her.
"N-no. Just looking" she whispered.
Malfoy's son shrugged and turned his head away, though he remained firmly behind the counter, looking extremely bored. Careful not to arouse suspicion, she dipped around different items that were repugnant in nature, pretending to examine them carefully each time. She almost vomited upon seeing a preserved "thestral heart", which looked like a slimy, enlarged piece of coal.
She noticed that she was shaking, almost in tune to the sound of the rain outside. She'd need to compose herself. She had killed before, this was nothing new. But still, she'd never been able to do it in the way that Zydrunas could. Or the way that San could. Though then again, San would have nothing to do with this anyway. As far as she knew, he'd never killed someone innocent before.
Innocent. The word reverberated around her head, and she sneered. This man was probably far from innocent, and besides, it was not his actions that he was paying for anyway; it was his father's. Today, it would be his father that really felt pain, the pain that she knew all too well. The pain of losing a loved one.
"Are you okay?"
The vacant sounding voice jolted her back into awareness. She quickly turned her attention back to Malfoy, nodding her head quickly. Clearing her throat, she inched herself towards the counter. She felt her heart beat quicken.
Malfoy eyed her placidly as she approached, clearly not understanding the imminence of his death. She dug her hand into her cloak nonchalantly as she strode towards him, gripping her wand as she walked. Intent on maintaing her unsuspicious nature all the way up until the deed was done, she avoided his gaze and stared absent-mindedly at the items behind his head. Her eyes fell upon a decayed, shrivelled hand.
Malfoy turned to see what she was looking out.
"The Hand of Glory" he said, his voice smooth and business like. There was another clap of thunder. "When holding a candle it gives light only to the holder-an excellent item for thieves and plunderers. Exceedingly rare as well, possibly even as much as Cursed Chimaera Claws or Invisibility Cloaks. I'm actually the only person I know of who owns one."
She continued to stare at the Hand, desperate to not make eye contact. For some reason, eye contact didn't feel right. Not preceding what she was going to do.
"This one, is of course, for sale" Malfoy continued, waving his hand towards it.
"It's lovely" she breathed, gripping her wand even tighter and positioning herself so that she was facing him directly, the wooden counter the only thing stopping bodily contact. Now was the time.
"I'm sorry" he said quickly, and she raised her eyebrows. "But I'm going to have to ask you to select an item very soon. I'm closing down a little earlier tonight-"
She blinked at his abrupt stop away and went to pull out her wand-
"- it's my son's birthday tomorrow and I need to wrap his presents. I will be here early in the morning however, so if you like I can set something aside-"
"Your son?" she cut him off, her eyes widening. She stopped her arm in the middle of its movement. It was still concealed.
Malfoy smiled at her, an unusual look. His face seemed to suggest that he was more of snarling type.
"Yes, my son" he repeated, and she felt her heartbeat, if possible, quicken even more. She watched as Malfoy opened up a drawer, removing a small photograph from it and holding it up at once. He beamed at it as he spoke. "Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy" he announced cheerfully, and for the first time, his tone suggested something other than utter boredom.
What started as a glance manipulated itself into a stare. The boy in the picture was not very old, but he still had the uncanny resemblence to his father. His cheeks were fuller, but stll pale, with a pink twinge. He was wearing overalls, and was waving his hand back in forth as if greeting someone. He looked happy...like how she had been before she'd lost her parents. Her expression remained transfixed while thoughts flooded through her head. Malfoy pulled the photogrpah away however, and then made to stash it back in the drawer.
"Anyway, like I was saying, if you'd like to select an item now that you might be interested in, I could-hey-excuse me, miss!"
She had already turned around, storming away so quickly that her robe had fluttered, nearly knocking over a malevelonent looking urn.
"Miss, where-"
She exited the shop, the bell noise accompanied by yet another thrash of thunder. She began walking as fast as she could, uncaring as to the direction. It was still raining ferociously, the drops now dampening her long hair and spilling over her face, concealing her tears while the splashing noises on the ground masked her sobs.
Hello readers! Vekin87 here, just to give you guys a bit of info. I have not yet started writing Book 6, but planning is underway I hope to begin writing in mid-June, and to use my lengthly summer break to get really cracking on updating. I may work over the summer (hopefully) but this shouldn't effect it at all.
That being said though, I figured I'd wet some appetites for book 6 by handing out a couple scenes that, though not terribly necessary to my overall series, give some good details as to the personalities of some of my OC's. How often I'll be doing this I can not say, but I cna tell you I already have about 3 more planned, and they don't really take long at all to write down. Reveiews are, as always, completely unnecessary, but I am curious as to what you guys think, so if you have some criticisms, or some recommendations for qhich characters to do next or soon, I'd love to hear them!
Also, I've mentioned it once before but I'd might as well throw it out there again. Last year my girlfriend made something of a tongue and cheek facebook page for me. Though humurous in nature, I "liked it" and realized that people can have discussions on it. So for those of you who want to theorize or discuss my stories with other readers, and if you have a facebook, feel free to like it and chat away. Simply typing "Vekin87 fan page" into the search bar should do it. That being said however, those of you who don't like it won't be missing out at all-there will be no extra content of any kind, and unless I see something get out of hand (like someone claiming to be me-I've been plagarized before) I probably won't be an active member myself. Just a suggestion for you guys out there that want to keep the these stories on your mind while Book 6 is in the works.
As always, thank you for all of the support and loyal readership! I wish I could do more than post thse one shots every once in a while, but fear not-Book 6 is coming, and it's going to be big.
Hoping that all of my readers and their loved ones are doing well,
-Kevin
