The noise emanating from the small house echoed throughout the dimly lit neighborhood, alerting the neighbors that something was wrong. Those noises were unlike any they'd ever heard before and they served to unnerve them. As the noises penetrated their consciousness, they debated as to whether or not contacting the authorities would be the best course of action. But as much as they wanted to pick up their phones, they couldn't. The neighbors were afraid that contacting their local Auror office would upset the homes owner, Gwyneth Reynolds, whom was a high profile Auror at the Department of Magic. She was a leading Auror at the national level and they thought that maybe just maybe the noises were due to a high profile mission. And if that were the case, it was better for them to not be involved.
Although her neighbors refused to get involved, there was one person – an outsider to the community – that was standing on the front porch, contemplating whether or not they should kick the door in. That person was Adelaide Thirlby and she was absolutely livid. Gwen had bailed on their plans for the evening without bothering to send an Owl explaining why or a phone call to cancel. Adelaide had waited at the bar they were supposed to meet up at, for an hour and after getting a few drinks, as well as a quick snack, she apparated to the house in Virginia to tell her friend off for bailing.
"I know you're in there!" she bellowed as she pounded on the door. "I can hear you from outside so open the fucking door before I kick it down!" her lips pressed tightly against one another, waiting for a response. "Gwen! I'm not messing around! I'll kick this door down, don't think I won't!"
She honestly thought that would make Gwen open the door, but seeing as how it didn't open, Adelaide took a few steps back. Her eyes firmly fixed on the door's center. Maybe if she kicked it just hard enough, it would open. There was nothing to it. At least, that's what she thought.
"Alright, I can do this," she whispered to herself. "It's just a door. Doors are kicked down all the time. It always happens on the teli. If it's easy on the teli, it'll be a breeze in real life."
With that lie repeating in her mind, Adelaide felt confident enough to send her right foot crashing against the door. What happened next was to be expected. The door didn't budge. It remained as closed as ever and Adelaide was left cursing at the top of her lungs as she clutched her foot tightly.
"Fucking bullshit!" she bellowed into the night, her dark hair falling into her face. "Ah! That's it. No more trying to do this the muggle way." Adelaide composed herself and drew her wand. "Confringo!"
The door didn't stand a chance against the blasting curse.
"Hah!" Adelaide cried in triumph. "I hope you know I blasted your door for being such a horrible . . . and you can turn off the radio! I know you're pretending that . . . What the –" her hold on the wand tightened when she saw the state of the house. "G-Gwen?" she called to her friend. "Gwen, are you alright?"
Adelaide was tempted to fetch her older brother, an Auror that worked in Los Angeles, to check the place out. She wasn't particularly skilled in the art of dueling. Sure, Gwen had been giving her lessons on how to defend herself, but Adelaide wasn't one for magical combat. She worked at the Office of International Magical Cooperation. She was a diplomat that spent her days at meetings with foreign officials or with her nose in a book. That was her world. That was where she was comfortable and walking into a house that looked like it'd been ransacked, threw her way out of her comfort zone, but she still went in.
She walked through the living room, maneuvering her way through the misplaced furniture and broken appliances. Her stomach flipped when she saw the state the kitchen was in. It looked like someone had thrown up in there and the stench coming from it was appalling. Those foods weren't meant to share an opened space. She walked all throughout the house and it wasn't until she ventured into the room that functioned as a library, that she found Gwen.
At first she didn't believe the wild haired figure was Gwen. She looked so savage and animalistic that there was no way it could be her friend, but the closer she got, the clearer it became that it was indeed her, and when their eyes made contact, Adelaide stumbled backwards. The pain in Gwen's eyes was too much. It shot through Adelaide, leaving her clutching her chest for breath.
"What's wrong?" Adelaide managed to croak out.
Her copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray fell from her right hand. "My mum's dead," she whispered in a moment of vulnerability.
Adelaide cast her wand aside, not bothering to see where it landed, and ran towards Gwen. She took her friend in her arms, holding her tightly as if that simple embrace could make everything better. Gwen was never one to be comforted. She preferred to suffer in silence, but the pain coursing through her was much too great to endure on her own. So she sobbed. She sobbed wildly into Adelaide's dark brown hair, drenching the curls with her salty tears.
"It's my fault, you know." Gwen managed to say. "My mum knew her life was in danger . . . she asked me to go back to England with her, but I said no. I said no."
"Shh, it's not your fault." Adelaide tenderly rubbed her back.
"But it is!" Gwen spoke more forcefully. "If I'd have been there, she wouldn't be dead. He'd be dead. Not my mum!" she pulled away, her tear stained face contorting into one of agonizing pain. "I would've killed him" she muttered darkly. "I would've killed the bastard with my hand and strung him up somewhere for all to see."
Her words terrified Adelaide. She'd never seen Gwen so worked up over anything and the darkness in her eyes combined with the venom in her words, caused Adelaide to think that her friend had lost her mind.
"Who are you talking about?" she asked softly, trying not to startle Gwen with her words.
"That bastard!" cried Gwen.
"Yes." Adelaide took in a deep breath. "But who is that bastard?"
"Voldemort," she answered.
Gwen didn't have to elaborate on the name. Adelaide was very well aware of who Voldemort was. She'd written several papers on him during her time at the Office of International Magical Cooperation. He was a fiend that every diplomat was well acquainted with. He was a fiend that the Office wanted dead, because if he took control of England, there was no telling what he might accomplish throughout the rest of the world.
There were countries teetering on the brink of destruction. If he went in and promised the magical communities that he would help them take power from muggles, there was little doubt in Adelaide's mind that most countries would take his offer. People want to feel safe. They want to make sure that their children have better lives and sometimes good people will do bad things in hopes that the future will be better for their loved ones. And if that were to happen, if those countries were to fall, then war would be unleashed.
"But I'm gonna kill him for that." Gwen wiped away the tears. "I'll have him begging for mercy. I will."
"Maybe you should sit down for a bit. Why don't you take a seat somewhere and I'll get you a draught?" Adelaide proposed. "Something to take the edge off and while you rest, I'll get this place in order."
"Don't want any draught."
"You have to take something." Adelaide argued.
Gwen shook her head. "I'm not going to numb myself from the pain. This is what I get for turning my back on my mum when she needed me. This is my punishment and I just . . . I suppose, I'll just have to deal with it."
"I'm not going to change your mind on that. Am I?"
"No."
"Right then," Adelaide reached into her jacket and pulled out her glasses. "If you're not going to take the draught, then there's nothing I can do about that, but please sit down so I can tidy up. You can't live in this mess."
"Not gonna live here anymore," she told Adelaide. "I'm moving back to England."
"You're what?"
"Moving back," Gwen repeated. "My dad, needs taking care of and let's face it, I've got a score to settle."
"You're serious about this."
"Yeah," Gwen took a seat. "I can't stay here after all that's happened. I know it might not make sense for me to go, but I have to. And I know that I'll get shit for it, but I honestly don't give the slightest fuck. I'm just hoping that come Monday, I'll be able to get everything handled."
"I can handle all the paperwork for you." Adelaide offered. "I've been called into work tomorrow and I can pick up the forms, fill them out and then give them to you to sign. That way you don't have to worry over that."
"Can't ask you to do that for me," Gwen spoke.
Adelaide chuckled lightly. "You didn't ask me. I offered and I'm good at paperwork. It's almost all we diplomats do, so it'll be alright. And I'm pretty sure I'll do a better job than you at it."
"You sure?" she felt uncomfortable having her friend do her work for her.
"Positive."
"Thanks, this really means a lot to me."
Adelaide smiled in response.
"So what'd you end up doing tonight?" Gwen asked.
"Had a few drinks at the bar. Then I came here to tell you off, but that clearly didn't happen." Adelaide turned a table right side up and began placing books on it. "When are you going back?"
"Tonight." She replied. "Told my dad I was going to be here for a few hours to get things together, but I was lying. I just wanted to get this out of me."
"There's nothing like a bit of destruction. I always prefer to destroy my waist by hitting a buffet but this destruction's just as good. Oh look. You've ruined a perfectly good bottle of vodka!" she picked up the broken bottle. "This wasn't even opened when you broke it."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I'm the one that opens all the bottles," Adelaide replied. "Well. Think you should probably go pack a bag or something since you're going back. I'll clean this up while you do that."
Gwen clamored up the stairs, leaving Adelaide to tidy up the place. If she'd been a muggle or not very skilled at household spells, she would've taken ages to clean up, but thankfully for Adelaide, she'd taken a course on household spells and by the time Gwen returned, the entire house was as it had been before Gwen destroyed it.
"How'd you do that so fast?" inquired Gwen, incredulously.
"If you'd bothered to take the household spell class with me last spring, you'd be able to clean up just as fast."
"Well, I didn't think it'd be all that helpful. I mean, its household spells, there's nothing grand to that."
"Course there is! What if you have kids one day and they've made a mess of things and you're expecting company in five minutes and can't tidy up normally? You've got to think about those things."
"You're mad," Gwen muttered.
"No, no, no. I'm practical. And if I don't have kids, then I'll at least be able to avoid physically cleaning for the rest of my life. Not to shabby, if I do say so myself."
"Still say you're mad."
Their conversation didn't last much longer. Had the circumstances been different they would've spent the entire night smoking and watching films, drinking an occasional drink. But this was no time for merriment. It was no time for company. As strong as their friendship was, Gwen wasn't the sort that wanted people to see her suffering. That was just how Gwen was. She didn't care for being comforted. Made her feel weak and as an Auror, she wanted – needed to seem in control at all times. Adelaide respected that. She respected the fact that her friend needed space.
So instead of pestering her to say a little longer like she would've to another friend, she wished her farewell and went her own way. She thought about going back to the bar for a few more drinks. The bartender, a woman by the name of Erica, was a favorite of hers. They'd known each other for years and although Erica was a muggle, they hung out from time to time. But Adelaide didn't feel like waiting for Erica to finish her shift. She felt like going home to her small cottage like house in Montpelier, Vermont.
And that was exactly what she did, she apparated to her home that was situated beside Winooski River. The house wasn't large. In fact, the opposite rang true. It was small, very small for being two stories. There were three bedrooms; one of which was spacious, a proper size for a room and the other two looked like oversized closets, which was the reason why one of them was converted into a personal library and the other remained a guest room.
Downstairs there was a living room, which took up nearly half of the downstairs area. The kitchen took up the other half. There'd been a dining room when she first bought the property, but her desire for a large kitchen led to her getting rid of the dining room and now all that's left is a small two person table that's pushed against a corner in the kitchen. There was also a basement that was piled high with her belongings. It was the only space in the house that wasn't neatly put in order.
Had a family lived there, the house wouldn't have met their needs. There would've been a severe lack of space and privacy, but it was perfect for Adelaide. She had no romantic partner of any sort and no children. Wait. That's not true. Adelaide did have a son, except instead of being a person; he was a little Chihuahua by the name of Theodore. And when she went home, she found Theodore fast asleep in her bed, curled up atop the large body pillow that was his favorite and tucked underneath a warm baby blanket. The sight was enough to make a tender smile play across her lips and after a quick shower, Adelaide slipped into her pajamas and climbed into bed beside him.
It'd been a long day. There'd been an issue with the Bolivian Ministry of Magic, something about wanting to reclaim land that American corporations had taken. As one of the members of the Latin American division, Adelaide was obligated to be present at the meeting. It was her that took the notes, her that made sense of the rhetoric being spouted by both sides. She loved her job, really she did, but sometimes the stress of it all got to her and all she wanted to do was unwind with a friend. That was what she'd planned to do with Gwen.
They were going to forget the world around them and just be normal twenty something year olds for a night. They'd drink, smoke and flirt shamelessly with muggles that caught their attention. It was supposed to be a great night, but the night never began. And as she lay there, peering into the darkness, she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, their days of idleness were behind them. The world had changed. The repercussions of Voldemort's decisions would be felt globally. And if his reign of terror were to continue, it would be up to the diplomats and Aurors across the world to band together to end his tyranny.
"History . . ." she whispered to herself. "This is history in the making."