The Prompt for this one is "amethyst".
Glory and Ashes
Purple sky
They know they are too late when they get there. The sky above the old house is a sickly shade of purple and the Dark Mark curls, green and menacing, above the roof. Sirius and Peter lower their wands and Moody frowns at them and growls, "Constant vigilance! We don't know they're not still in there!"
Sirius and Peter exchange a look, but say nothing as they raise their wands once more and follow Moody up the path to the house. Emmeline Vance brings up the rear. At the front door, Moody sends Emmeline around the side of the house with a jerk of his head and motions the two younger men to stand back.
Peter can feel his heart beating far too fast, and his mouth is dry. There had been relief mixed with the horror and disappointment of seeing the Dark Mark – he had thought the danger was past. But now, Moody's "constant vigilance" and expectation of trouble has him as nervous as he was earlier.
Moody crashes the front door open with a curse, and Peter and Sirius follow him into the darkened hallway. They can hear breaking glass as Emmeline comes in through the back. Moody nods his head at the stairs, and Sirius and Peter head up them, wands at the ready. There is no question of not being vigilant now: Moody's caution has infected them.
Peter finds them – mother, father and three children, one only a baby – huddled together in the corner of the smallest bedroom. Killed for the crime of having Muggle parents or grandparents. There is no sign of any of their enemies. They arrived too late.
The Dark Mark has faded as they Disapparate away, but the sky is still amethyst-toned, subtly wrong.
There are too many days like this one.