it all ends with us: ruins

029

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

"Seven billion people on this planet and the only one I want is you."

There was a buzz of chatter going around the great hall the next morning. Atlas sat in her usual spot the next morning. The first half an hour she spent apologising to the boys for her actions the night prior and explaining to the girls what had happened. Draco wasn't there that morning so she decided to apologise to him in potions. The group currently sat staring at the latest Daily Prophet in shock.

"The rise of you know who." Kiera says in shock.

Atlas held the paper in her shaky hands. She read the full article twice before she passed it back to Ren. It had been centred about the rise of the death eaters who seemed to be regrouping which left everyone slightly terrified. Voldemort hadn't been seen in forever so why would his army need to be rising again? It made absolutely no sense to anyone.

"I thought Harry defeated him?" Atlas mutters. "At the Triwizard Tournament?"

"No he defeated Peter Pettigrew before he could murder Cedric. You know who disappeared before anyone could figure out what happened and no one believed Harry or Cedric on who they had seen." Ren explains.

"Does this mean he's back?" Kiera questions.

"Maybe they're going to continue what he started." Pansy mutters, terrified of what was going to come.

"I'm going to go find Luna." Atlas announces.

"Sugar wait." Lorenzo started but Atlas had already walked away.

Atlas glances over the Ravenclaw table before finding the younger girl. She sat alone and looked like she was in the middle of a daydream. Atlas walks over and convinces the other fourth year to move over so she can take a seat next to the girl.

"Luna." She whispers.

"Oh hello Atlas, how can I help you?" Luna smiles.

"Your dad writes for the Daily Prophet right?" Atlas asks.

"No, he's an editor." Luna answers politely.

"So he wouldn't know if the rumours are true?" Atlas inquires and Luna shakes her head.

"Well thanks anyway Luna."

"It's okay," She says, staring at the apple pie in front of her.

"I'll see you later." Atlas waves goodbye before making her way back to the Slytherin table.

"No luck?" Ren asks and Atlas replies with a no.

"It's just a rumour Atlas. Don't stress." Apollo tells his sister.

This day had just kept getting worse. Not only was Atlas running on three hours of sleep and a guilty conscience. There were now rumours that a famous mass murderer and his fans were on the rise again which unsettled the young girl. She couldn't believe that Dumbledore hadn't done anything to stop him considering he was one of the most powerful wizards in the world and the wizard who had defeated Grindewald.

Atlas bid goodbye to her friends and walked with Lorenzo and Theo to potions. The two joked around about Atlas being the worthy one which made her chuckle. They walked into the classroom and Atlas made her way to her seat. Draco had arrived before her and moved his chair as far as he could and Atlas didn't blame him. She takes a seat and looks over at him before nudging him slightly.

"Draco." She whispers, trying to get his attention.

"What?" He whispers harshly.

She spots his bruised wrist and reaches into her pocket. She grabs a vial out and pushes it closer to him. He looks at it hesitantly but she ignores his looks and pushes it closer.