Chapter - 5
"Do you remember when I told you I had a cousin?"
He looked at her with inquisitive eyes and Ginny briefly flashed back to their earlier conversation, she nodded, curious as to where this would go.
"Well, my cousin is Draco Malfoy, his father Lucius Malfoy is my maternal uncle."
Ginny's mouth gaped a little and she let out an unsatisfactory snort while breathing the cold air in, she bristled at the thought.
"Bloody Hell."
Wilhelm chuckled in a sardonic way.
"I should have expected that reaction."
His hands brushed the dark strands away that were obscuring his face. Ginny looked at him and played a silent game of 'spot the difference' in her head.
His hair was dark and ebony tinged, very unlike the stark platinum blonde that crowned Malfoy's head. Where Malfoy's bone structure was sharp and pointy, Wilhelm's was more broad but sharp. They both had the same high bridged noses she gathered, but the comparisons drew to a still there.
Wilhelm's eyes were warmer and his aura that she had felt so far before, was always welcoming and relaxed.
Relatives were a tricky subject, she had to reason that maybe it wasn't a stretch that they were related, and if they were it wasn't an indication that their personalities would be the same. After all she too had been told by her Aunt Muriel that she was a dead-on replica of the bristly old hag in her younger hey-days.
But her thoughts halted, it still didn't explain why he was with the robed men.
"Why were you with that group of men?" she quizzed, "Even if Malfoy is your cousin that doesn't explain why you stood with them."
Wilhelm's face twisted in grimace, he looked down and heaved a sigh.
"Right, that takes me to the next part – my uncle had warned my mother prior to the match - to stay away from the festivities afterwards. So, my mother convinced my father that we had to leave, but my father has never really been fond of the Malfoy's, so we stayed back stubbornly."
At this point he had a look of regret, as if he knew it was a bad decision.
"Next thing you know this riot breaks off and while fleeing, I lost sight of my parents. I was engulfed in this mob, and then this hand on my shoulder jolted me and I look up and hear my uncle who's dressed in a black cloak and mask, and he just told me to remain with him until I found my parents."
Wilhelm was out of breath after his lengthy retelling, his hands were shaking and they had stopped moving after he had used them to rapidly explain his story. He seemed to shiver once the excitement of the night had worn down.
Ginny didn't want to take his words at face value, but she decided to trust him. She didn't know if this decision would be one she looked back with regret, but she also knew that not trusting him would be betraying the optimist in her.
"What did you tell your uncle before you came and chased me like a badger?" She joked, in an effort to break the uneasiness brewing between them,
Wilhelm laughed and sported his same good-natured grin. "In my defence, you sprinted fast like a harpy."
"But yeah – I told my uncle that I caught sight of my parents, and I don't think my uncle would've wanted to face his sister, dressed like that. Don't worry they won't come this way."
Ginny grinned at his ribbing, and she nodded. They both set off walking at a brisk pace, hoping to reach somewhere safe. She was scared that the men would come over again, and as she took in his words - it sounded odd that Lucius Malfoy wouldn't want to let his sister see him 'that way'.
"Why not, why wouldn't your uncle want to be seen by your mum?" she asked while walking and attempting not to trip and fall on the thicket of shrubs and branches strewn.
The forest was dark and misty and there was no real way to see ahead, but she decided that moving away was far better than being static and entrenched in unknown dangers. There was a chance that she'd see the twins or maybe encounter a known face.
"Umm, well – it's something we don't talk about much but my mother doesn't support the views that my uncle holds."
"You mean your mum doesn't hate muggles." She said as bluntly as possible. Her legs were wearing out, but she tried to match Wilhelm's pace, who seemed to walk as if he were fuelled by an engine.
"That's one way of putting it." He smirked, "She went to Beauxbatons for her schooling, and I think her going out and getting a respite from the Pureblood circles in England helped her change her views. She was exposed to people from different backgrounds and she found that the views her parents held were old and archaic."
Ginny could agree with that almost entirely, all except for one caveat.
"Also, your mum did think that your grandparent's views were discriminatory, right. Like sure they're old and archaic but they're also plain wrong."
Wilhelm seized up a bit, he slowed down his pace and turned to look at Ginny. His feet seemed to crinkle heavily against the dried leaves as he shifted around.
"I mean calling them plain wrong is a bit of a stretch, I don't agree with all of my grandparent's and Uncle's views, but I do understand where they're coming from."
Her heart seemed to take a tumultuous drop, and she looked up at Wilhelm in disbelief.
"Understand where they're coming from? So you understand why muggles get tortured and killed by Wizards on a frequent basis, purely because they don't hold magic or their lineage isn't 'magic' enough?"
Wilhelm looked miffed and his mouth curled up.
"Ginny, that's an extreme example. Not everyone does that. You have to admit that the influx of muggles in the Wizarding World will come as a shock for those of us who have only been exposed to a certain culture. It's a whole change of one's world view. Suddenly all the things that were familiar are now foreign and distant, only because of a certain group of people who have only recently entered our world. Because of that the rest of us are being forced to cater to them."
Ginny felt like her eyebrows could be raised no further and if they did - she might have ended up resembling a comical character. She huffed and turned back to him.
"That doesn't justify the hatred you lot hold over muggles though, they're as magic as us. In fact, they're even more talented and gifted. Hermione that girl you met earlier – she's a muggle, and she's one of the brightest witches I have ever come across, second to my mum maybe."
His eyes brightened at the mention of Hermione, and he agreed nodding his head rapidly.
"I know! I don't disagree with you, they're brilliant at magic. But magic isn't their first language, it's not something they've known as intimately as we do. When we get in trouble what's our first instinct – magic! What do you think a muggle's first instinct is going to be?"
Ginny stared ahead, and tried to rack her brain desperately for an answer, she stared at him crossly and he took it as a sign to go ahead.
"We're from different cultures. We understand magic differently. While they wield magic like a sword, we breathe it in day in and day out. It's not about who's blood is superior. It's about who's more familiar with magic, and with that familiarity comes our traditions and customs that they simply can't embrace!"
She heard his rambling with a steadfast face, and while he made a point, his last line also summoned a knell, killing any ounce of acknowledgement she would have given him.
Before she could retort, a green hue fell over every place her eyes could reach. Wilhelm noticed the same and they both looked up at the sky. The sky which was previously stormy, dark and grey, foggy with clouds had now cleared, giving way to a levitating green and grotesque symbol.
A skull made of fog was emblazoned boldly across and out emerged a serpent made of the same medium.
"The Dark – The Dark mark, it can't be." Wilhelm whispered.
Ginny caught his musings, and pivoted to meet his eyes. They were dark and black, and all indications of warmth were discarded. She felt herself inching away at the now very serious and very still boy in front of her.
He shot up and took her hand, grasping it firmly.
"We need to find your family, it's not safe." He said rigidly.
He pulled her across and they briskly ran across the forest. Ginny was too puzzled and quite honestly – scared. She let herself be pulled, and she wondered what made the boy with her seize up so much. She had never encountered that symbol before. But judging from what Wilhelm had let out – she felt like anything labelled 'Dark' couldn't be all that good.
They walked and walked in silence, and kept changing their pace.
She briefly wondered whether the 'Dark mark' had anything to do with the Dark Lord. As soon as she reminded herself of the Dark Lords, she internally admonished herself. Memories of slashing chickens, slathering blood on walls, her vaguely registering what was happening kept entering. She stilled and panic flooded in her.
Her second year was a long-drawn nightmare, one where she couldn't remember the images or places, the only thing she could remember was the horrible, unsettling emotions that came after. Her memories were jagged and distorted. She shut her eyes close and blocked them all away. She couldn't hear anything, but the blankness. She noticed her body was shaking and Wilhelm who was in a hurried pace, had stopped and was looking at her, moving his mouth.
On seeing him, her hearing slowly came back.
"Ginny, are you ok? Did you hear what I was saying."
She weakly shook her head, and her eyes followed his hand pointing towards a clearing in the forest. Ahead in the embrace of a halo of light, was a multitude of figures standing, and she saw two familiar gangly ones towering over the rest, frantically calling out her name, and searching in worry.
"Those are my brothers!" she said. Pointing excitedly, she felt like going and collapsing in the arms of one of them, smelling their now usual odour of peruvian powder or whatever substance they used to concoct their brilliant products.
She was no longer lost in the dark labyrinth forest which held creatures and people of ambiguous intentions. Her current companion included.
"That's what I was saying." He said in a tone reserved to some bothersome critter clinging on to him.
Breaking out of her stupor, she looked at him and decided that shan't waste more words. She assembled herself and managed to say in the most contrived polite tone as possible: "Thank you for sticking with me in the forest, but I shall take your leave now."
Saying so, she bounded towards her brothers, leaving Wilhelm only enough time to reply to the wisps of her flowing crimson hair.
"No problem." He sighed, looking back at her fading address lettered onto his arm.
A/N: Hehe we break down a bit of pureblood supremacist views here. As much as I love how the pureblood supremacy concept works as an analogy for racism, I also feel like it's less nuanced (?) Like I do agree with the fact that the more radical purebloods in HP are more or less Nazi-like. But I feel like we didn't see many strong arguments as to why Pureblood Wizards detested Muggle influences. I view everything as shades of grey, and just labelling something as 'light' or 'dark' is too binary.
I feel like viewing Purebloods hating on muggles would be more or less akin to how certain countries treat immigrants, especially refugees. Anyways that's my two cents. Do comment what your views are on Pureblood supremacy. Also, I love how I had scenes of the twins confronting Ginny while they walked from and to the Portkey. ^-^ Hope you enjoyed reading! And as usual feel free to leave a kudos, review or anything really!
