Chapter 11: Muggle World
The darkness of the abandoned library that Edenia landed in was less scary than Bellatrix's anger-filled eyes. She saw how the dark witch wanted to jinx the girl but was too slow. She saw the wish to kill in those black orbs. And was scared, so scared that Bellatrix could follow her. Not knowing if there was any possible way to find out about the latest destination of the flee-network, she quickly ran out of the rotten building and through the dark park that would lead her away. Edenia had nowhere else to stay; she had to return to the Muggle world. She wanted to go after Blaise, stopping him from killing Ginny but whenever Edenia tried to make things okay, they just turned out worse. Maybe Draco was right and she was one of the reasons why everything was the way it is right now. She did not want to be a threat for Ginny nor anyone else for that matter. She did not want to make things worse yet again. So all the girl now tried was to make sure to forget her past as a witch and hope that a living in the muggle world would not be all too painful.
She ran faster and faster, her black dress was flying in the wind, her shoes in her hands as she speeded up yet again and saw it; home. Storming up, she rang the doorbell like a maniac, knocking and knocking over again until the light turned on and Edenia could take a glimpse through the white door's window.
"Nia?! What are you doing here?!" Gasped a tall, handsome man with dark fringy hair and light eyes once the door opened. He frowned greatly when Edenia collapsed into his arms and sobbed, crying her heart out while being dragged inside.
"Oh god! Shhh! Shhh! What happened? Nia you scare me! What happened?!"
"What's the noise? Oi!" Another guy with a messy mid-brown hairdo and green eyes walked into the living room, smoking a cigarette. He let it drop on an instant when he spotted Edenia.
"What happened?! Tyle?!" He rushed forward and knelt down to Edenia next to them. Both men were trying to comfort their friend but it was to no use. Edenia didn't know where to start, all the pictures and horrible things came into her mind the second she entered the house. Tyle pulled her up into his lap and rocked her backwards and forwards a little, like a baby, trying to comfort her to the best of his abilities.
"Alex...Go fix some tea, will you...and then wake Emily." Alex did so after picking up the cigarette that started to burn a hole into the dark blue carpet, washed his hands and while the tea cooked, walked off. Edenia whimpered, clung to Tyle and cried bitterly, just less audible than before.
"Oh Nia...what did they do to you..." He asked and rubbed a hand through her hair but she ripped her head away. "Don't! Don't! They always did that! She always did that! He! All of them! My hair! Always...whenever I didn't do things right! Always my hair, ripped it! Touched my head! Always..." She whimpered and cried, wanting to go on but Tyle just pushed her against his firm chest. "Shhh. They will never hurt you again. I promise."
He smiled assuringly and looked over to the heavy blonde female that panicky walked inside the room. She gasped and ran over to Edenia.
"Nia...it's me. Are you okay? Please talk to us..." She reached out to pat Edenia's head but Tyle shook his head hastily and mouthed "don't".
It took the lot about three hours before they got their friend to finally talk about everything. And Edenia did, not leaving out a single information.
"What a crazy bitch! What a fucking crazy bitch!" Yelled Emily in fury, shaking her head.
"Would love to meet that punk ass idiot Blaise. You talked about him once, right, Nia?" Asked Alex and lightened up another cigarette, the sixth ever since Edenia started with the unnerving story, before saying. "Will kick his ass when I see that bastard."
"And Draco...what had gotten into him. You always got along..." Said Tyle and sighed softly.
"But of course. Voldemort...he becomes a real threat..."
"Ah come on! He's far away in whatever world. He will come here with that and people will laugh at him! And shoot him on an instant!" Chuckled Alex but nobody else seemed amused. Emily stretched out her arms and hugged Edenia gently.
"Do you want to sleep? Sleep in my bed. You must be tired." Upon everyone thinking Edenia would refuse to sleep, she got up and walked on ahead and Emily followed, tucking her friend into the bed and wishing her a good night.
It must have been almost a full day but nobody saw Edenia for a very long time. She did not eat and barely drank anything. She would sometimes wake up and cry and somebody had to comfort her again before going back to sleep. The three friends sat in the living room for hours and hours and talked about how they could help Edenia but nothing enlightened their mind.
"Em! Can't you hurry? I'm starving right here..." Whined Alex as he laid down a card. "Hah. Got your ass." He grinned at Tyle who kept quiet and put down another card that turned Alex's smile upside down.
"I'm already trying, okay?" Sighed Emily and glanced at the poker game, giggling slightly.
"Hey! Don't you laugh! Tend to the food!" Huffed Alex yet again and Emily just laughed harder while adding spaghetti into boiling water. She glanced over towards a distinctive door every now and then, eyes filled with worry.
"She will have to eat now. She didn't eat a single thing since she came back."
"I'll check on her." Said Tyle and got up. Alex grumbled lowly when he saw he lost the game anyway once he could take a glimpse into Tyle's cards and watched his friend reaching towards the door but just when Tyle was about to walk inside the room, it opened and Edenia stepped out weakly with messy hair and dark shadows under her eyes.
"We were about to come and get you." Smiled Tyle and rubbed her shoulders gently. Edenia walked on over to the fridge, got herself something to drink and wanted to walk back again but Alex was having none of that.
"No. You will eat something, Nia. Think! Your health!" He frowned and lit up his fifth cigarette in a row. Emily raised an eyebrow sarcastically at him but turned to Edenia and said. "I made pasta with spinach and cheese. It's my first attempt. Will you try it and tell me, on a scale one to ten how much I failed?" She chuckled and Edenia's mouth twitched slightly in a halfway smile. She opened her mouth and Emily shoved in some of the food and saw how Edenia held up a ten with eyes widened when her taste buds recognized the flavour.
"Ten! I'm such a beast, Whoo-yeah!" Emily cheered, put down plates for everyone and Alex was the first one to jump up from the couch and walk over to the table but he did not sit down until he saw Edenia coming, too. Tyle held out his hand to her and she took it carefully and sat down as well.
"Ten she said? This deserves a seven at best. Would be a lot better with some steak. And...less pasta." Grinned Alex and Emily rolled her eyes.
"It's your turn to cook tomorrow! Can't wait to rate it a zero."
"Oh you will not rate my food a zero!"
"Will do!" Emily cheered and Tyle just sighed softly but with a faint smile as he rubbed Edenia's shoulder gently.
She glanced around everyone and for some moments, felt like there was no better place on earth to be.
When Edenia woke up the other day, she noticed some wrapped up packages next to her nightstand. She smiled softly and remembered, of course, Christmas-time was not over. It felt so warm, even when she had no idea what everyone had gotten for her but she didn't care, just the mere thought of knowing they wanted to make her smile indeed made her smile. She sat up and rubbed her eyes gently, yawned and stared at three packages. Even by the way they were wrapped she could tell who they were from. She pulled out the pink box with a black bow and giggled softly when she opened it, inside were earmuffs with a panda face on each side and Edenia downright loved it. Emily always knew how to make her smile. She then grabbed the next one, a rather small package that was a little damaged. The paper was slightly ripped but plastered together with duct tape and needless to say it was from Alex. Edenia laughed when she stared at it and couldn't stop laughing for the next two minutes, unable to open it but she finally managed to get a grip on herself and pull out a necklace that had a Nintendo-charm dangling from it. Edenia loved playing games and the necklace was cooler than any necklace she ever had. She giggled softly at it and took the next package that was wrapped up neatly in dark blue paper and no other embellishment. Tyle was always very elegant. She opened it carefully and pulled out a very wide and silky black scarf that looked like Edenia's newest fashion-must-have. With her heart all warm and fuzzy, she jumped up and walked on out into the open kitchen/living room/dining room area and smiled at her friends that were enjoying some tea.
"Thank you all" She walked over to them and hugged everyone but sighed softly.
"I got your presents at Hogwarts…" She lowered her head a little but they all shook their heads.
"Our present is here with us." Said Tyle and Edenia's eyes filled with tears of joy.
The days passed and New Year's Eve was up. The friends sat outside on a hill, Edenia's head on Tyle's shoulder while Alex tried to rest on Emily's shoulder but the latter pushed him away with a laugh. They all held hands together when the year turned and Edenia knew all the bad things were now in the past; the future was ahead of them, of her. With a smile, she sipped on her tea and felt content about herself and the world and every living being in it. She inhaled the fresh air of change and was sure good times would be coming. With a gentle movement she saw a blanket draped around her; Tyle threw it over themselves and pulled her just a tad closer.
They walked back inside after a couple of minutes and Alex was preparing the Raclette grill while Emily put down all the tiny bits of food to fill the small pans with, and of course lots of cheese for Edenia. They ate together while good music played in the background and the conversations shared were funny and light. Edenia noticed how much she missed it. Everything was simply harmonic and nothing could have changed her mind on that - until the door flung open and Edenia jumped up and screamed loudly, causing everyone to gasp and do the same.
"For god's sake! Nia!" Coughed Alex, almost suffocating on the half-chewed food that stuck in his throat.
"It's only Patty." Said Tyle and chuckled when a dark skinned woman with short black hair held up her hands and laughed. "Now what was that supposed to be, eh?"
"Sorry..." Squeaked Edenia and rubbed her forearm slightly while Emily took over rubbing her shoulder and whispered that it was okay and that Patty just wanted to check on everyone.
Patty, actually Patricia, but always called Patty was the social worker for this community-sharing-apartment and she of course had a key to enter the house. She sat down with everyone and rubbed her head. "I thought you were staying at school during Christmas and New Year?"
"I changed my mind." Smiled Edenia lightly. She didn't want to discuss the matter with Patty, however, and averted her attention to the food. Patty nodded and smiled but got up again.
"Alright just wanted to check on you lot and wish you a happy new yeeeaaar. And! Don't do stupid things, hear me? Alex! Could you please look at me when I'm saying this?" She sighed and put her hands to her hips while Alex laughed.
"Do you not want to stay and have something to eat, too?" Asked Emily and Patty shook her head. "No, no I'm all stuffed. I'll be going home now sweethearts. See you all next week!" She smiled heartily and everyone waved. Edenia, however, sighed heavily when the door closed but Alex wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer in a buddy-like way.
"Don't worry. You are a bit jumpy after all of those things. But we are here to protect you! Nothing will happen. Besides. They don't even know where you live. Do they?"
Edenia shook her head. "I don't think they do." And she forced a smile but giggled when Alex ruffled through her hair and made it all messy.
Another hour of monopoly-gaming passed and everyone started to feel tired. Emily was the first one to get up and wish them a good night, followed by Alex. Tyle was the next one; he looked at Edenia and declared.
"I'm going to bed Nia. Come on, you should rest, too." But Edenia shook her head with a gentle smile. "No, go ahead. I'll clean up."
"We can all do that tomorrow, together. We-"
"It helps distracting me..." She confessed and lowered her head slightly. He walked over to her and looked down to the smaller figure, pulled her into a hug and said "give the wounds time to heal". Edenia nodded and wiped away some tears that sneaked out of her eyes without being noticed and slightly angry about it, she let go of Tyle and started scrubbing the plates. He sighed softly but he knew, right now, that she needed to be to herself and herself only for a bit, and he let her.