QLFC - Round 9

Seeker prompt: Ravens, Crows, or Magpies (Choose one - I chose ravens.)

Beta's: CupCakeyyy, VanillaAshes, S.L. Blake

Summary: In Greek mythology, ravens are associated with Apollo, the God of prophecy. They are said to be a symbol of bad luck, and were the God's messengers in the mortal world. According to the mythological narration, Apollo sent a white raven, or crow in some versions to spy on his lover, Coronis. But what does this have to do with Mary? Well…

A/N: In this story, Mary MacDonald is a Halfblood. Involves character death.

In her last year at Hogwarts, Mary MacDonald grew more and more paranoid. At the beginning of the year, Mulciber had attacked her with dark magic and she had never fully recovered from it. Every shadow gave her a hiding spot, every flash of light was a curse against her, every sudden sound was an explosion in her ears. She became very jumpy and always remained on high alert.

Her friends, well, they got used to her new behaviour eventually. They really didn't have a choice in the matter. Instead of laughing at Sirius's jokes, she hid behind her book. And after every prank they pulled, Mary made sure she was nowhere near the Slytherins. The dark magic, what she had gone through… it was something she didn't want anyone else to have to go through. But how could she protect others if she had failed at protecting herself?

One night, she chose to stay in her dormitory instead of partying in the common room. Gryffindor had won the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff this afternoon and most of her classmates were celebrating. However, she was not in the mood for drinking. The vulnerability of being drunk, even if it was just with her friends, frightened her. She didn't want to feel useless, she didn't want to be unaware and defenceless. And that's how she often felt whenever she let her guard down.

So, when Marlene had invited her to go to the party, Mary had declined the offer, pretending that she was too tired to join in. The lie had worked, and she didn't feel bad about that. She was sitting on the windowsill, red curtains surrounding her. She covered her hands in her Gryffindor jumper, pulling down its soft sleeves, shivering slightly. The night air coming in from the window was making her cold, but she didn't mind too much, and sat with her book, which was open on her lap. She could be there for hours.

Taking a break from reading for the first time since she'd sat down, Mary looked onto the Hogwarts grounds, and sighed heavily. Resting her head against the cold stone wall, she frowned slightly, eyes narrowing. What she saw sent a shiver down her spine. Every hair on her arms rose, standing up straight, as she stared out into the night. A dark shadowy bird sat hunched in the nearby tree, eyes glowing. But it wasn't just one, Mary realised, gulping. She saw a group huddled together, and she bit her bottom lip nervously, not daring to take her eyes off of those creatures.

It wasn't the first time she had seen those birds.

Everytime, whenever she looked out onto the grounds, she saw them. She had no idea what it meant, if it meant anything at all. But it was making her all the more paranoid. She breathed out, and closed her eyes, trying to calm her thoughts. The last thing Mary needed was another panic attack.

Opening her eyes again, she let out a nervous laugh after a few moments of calm silence. Running her hand through her curly hair, she looked away from the window and closed the book.

"It's fine," she muttered to herself as she forced her thoughts away from the offsetting discovery outside her window. "They're just owls. Turn off the light and go to bed, already, you're turning into a lunatic."

Mary tried to forget about the birds as she got ready for bed. It took her a while to realise she didn't have long before she was due to leave Hogwarts. For good. Perhaps… she should be less, well, paranoid in her last month at school? Act as if everything was alright. If she put on an act and made her friends think the old Mary had returned, then maybe, just maybe, she'd be okay? The birds would leave her alone? It was worth a try. She had reached a point in her anxiety that she was willing to just give it a try. It might have been an ignorant, almost childish thought - to think that just by acting a certain way, her problems would just vanish - but she would give it the benefit of the doubt.

When she made herself talk to Lily the next day, her friend waved away her worries. Maybe it was something she needed to do more - open up to her friends. But she had always been more closed off than the others.

"It's nothing," Lily had told her, patting her shoulder supportively, with her calm voice and friendly smile that always made Mary relax. "You're just overworked. I think all you need is to get through the exams next week and enjoy your well-deserved holiday."

And that's what Mary did.

While she was studying during late nights in the library with her friends, she didn't even look out of the windows, her head buried in her books. At bedtime, shuffling through the dark dormitory, she was too exhausted to even think about looking outside. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was sound asleep. Over the exam period, she managed to forget about the shadowy birds with glowing eyes.

Everything seemed fine, normal.

Until she got home.

After a day of travelling, and her family asking all different types of questions about school, Mary retired to bed earlier than usual, exhausted. She wanted to read her favourite Muggle book, 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'. A break from everything, letting her imagination run free, seemed like a great way to relax. Mary wrapped herself in a blanket and sat up in her bed by her huge bedroom window, and sighed in contentment.

That was until she heard fluttering outside. Mary froze, her book on her lap, unopened. It was the same flutter she'd heard at Hogwarts time and time again, she would recognise that sound anywhere. Holding her breath, Mary turned her head and glanced out of her window. The full moon was shining brightly, and she didn't see anything at first. Then, the shadowy bird she'd seen a few weeks ago flew past her window and sat on a tree branch in her garden.

Memories came flooding back and she paled drastically. She remembered the conversation she had had with Lily, but it didn't help. This couldn't be a coincidence. She was in Ireland, a different country, and the bird had somehow managed to follow her? She should have done research, done something else. Right? She shouldn't have forgotten about it. Why had she forgotten about it? Now, that simple moment of ignorance seemed utterly stupid and naive.

Just as she was about to open the window to scare the bird off, Mary heard the most terrible scream coming from downstairs. Without needing to think about her actions, Mary spun around and sprinted down the stairs. She had her wand in her hand, ready to defend her Muggle father and brother, who was too young to fight. Her mother should be able to defend them, but she was in hospital, as she had been for the last year after being diagnosed with stage four cancer. So, she was the only one able to protect her family, and boy, she wasn't going to let anyone hurt them.

Mary entered the sitting room first and stopped dead in her tracks. A scream left her lips before she could cover her mouth at the sight that presented itself before her. She was too late. Her father was on the floor, pale and unconscious. She didn't want to think the worst. Her brother was being held by a dark-cloaked figure, who had their hood up so she couldn't see their face.

"You should have paid attention to the ravens."

The voice was cold and sent shivers down her spine. The man didn't even utter the incantation before an all too familiar green light shot out of his wand.

"Henry!" Mary cried out in unbearable pain as her brother fell to the floor, in the same state as her father. She heard the fluttering again, and as she blinked a few times she saw a raven land on the figure's shoulder. She dropped to her knees and her tears were uncontrollable as they rolled down her cheeks, her eyes became blurred as the figure walked towards her.

Mary didn't want to fight.

What was the point in living, when the ones she cared about most in the world were dead?

The last thing Mary MacDonald heard was "Avada Kedvara."

In a hide-out in England at the same time, a group dressed in black cloaks were finishing a meeting. It had been a successful night, as they had gotten away with twenty Muggle and Muggle-born attacks, all ending in death. With the death mark over the bodies. The light, the Ministry, and Muggle prime minister were all overwhelmed by these attacks. There had been no sign, well, not any that they cared to take notice of.

One boy, freshout of Hogwarts, known as Mulciber, smirked as he gloated to his friends, "It was my idea to use the ravens. They've been keeping a watchful eye on a few Mudbloods for me. And none of those Mudbloods even noticed. Talk about being inferior."