"I still can't believe it!" Holly practically squealed with excitement.
"Everyone else can," May said as Jason chuckled.
The group was walking up the stairs back onto the streets of New York. Wolfric was still determined not to get angry, not yet anyway. His parents missed the entire award ceremony and still hadn't shown up. What the heck could they be doing? But Wolfric wouldn't let that interrupt Holly's triumph.
The friends arrived at a large restaurant a few blocks away. Wolfric let the other three in first, then stood back a bit and dialed his dad's phone number again. This time, it went straight to voicemail, indicating the phone was off. Wolfric left a message letting them know the ceremony was over and they were at the restaurant, thens shoved his phone into his pocket. Taking a deep breath and letting go his anger, Wolfric stepped back towards the group just as they were called for their reservation. The host lead them up two flights of stairs to a table with a fantastic view of Time's Square.
After a wonderful dinner and more than a few glasses of wine, the friends made their way downstairs (with Wolfric catching Holly before she teetered and fell a couple times).
"I don't think I should be apparating right now," Holly giggled.
"Agreed," the other three said in unison. They all laughed as they left the restaurant.
"How do you want to get back then?" asked May.
"How about a taxi? I've always wondered what it was like to ride in one of those," suggested Holly. They all agreed and Wolfric waved one down. Jason took the shotgun seat with Holly, May, and Wolfric in the back.
They were almost there when Holly jumped a little in her seat and whispered urgently.
"Wait, don't we need No-Maj money for this?"
"Don't worry, I've got some," Wolfric assured her. The taxi pulled to a stop and Wolfric handed a wad of cash to the driver before pushing open the door.
Jason got out as well and immediately felt something was wrong. Nobody else seemed to notice it. Jason walked towards Wolfric's parents' house, gripping his wand tightly inside his coat pocket.
He arrived at the front door first and saw the first clear sign. A wooden plank was hanging from the door knocker with a strange symbol carved onto it. Jason recognized it immediately from his Auror training: the Dark Mark. Jason opened the unlocked door and charged into the house. Sprawled on the living room floor were the bloody corpses of Wolfric's parents.
