dursley [h. g.]

••dursley•• || anger

Kendra felt numb. The next few days had been riddled with nothing but waking up in cold sweats from nightmares, sitting with Mrs. Weasley in healing sessions, though they did nothing to heal her heart, which felt as though it had been shattered into pieces. The days felt long, the nights too short. Despite all of it, she was glad to be surrounded by her girlfriend, her cousin, and even Ron, who she had come to call a friend.

However, she knew she could not wallow forever. She could mourn Sirius' death and feel the empty ache in her lungs without halting her own life. She had enough interruption already, and the world would not stop for her. Sirius would not want her to wallow, she knew that for sure. Besides, he was with Harry's parents and his brother, no longer confined within the walls of Number 12 Grimmuald Place. Kendra started to force the smile back onto her face and eventually it seemed to stick.

Harry and Hermione did not berate her too much while she was obviously still in the throes of her grief. Morgana, too had gone silent after her brief reappearance, wanting to give Kendra some space. And as she forced herself to move on and be happy once more, the questions began.

"What happened?" Hermione was the first to ask, softly and gently, not wanting to push Kendra.

"I got separated from and caught, they kept me because they thought I would be good bait for Harry," Kendra sighed, using her hand to push her hair out of her face. It had gotten long over the past year, far past her signature shoulder length that she usually maintained. "They weren't really interested in hurting me, not really." Kendra didn't sound as though she could even convince herself in that moment. Hermione stared at her incredulously.

"Bollocks," Harry swore quietly under his breath. "I'm really sorry Kendra, I should have been more careful. I should have made you stay back, or something."

"I already told you, Harry, you couldn't have if you tried. Besides, if it hadn't been me, it could've been you, and that would be worse. I'm alive, I'm heathy-"

"You're not," Harry interjected. Kendra rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, don't beat yourself up about it. You've had a hard enough life without putting a couple of my scars on your conscience as well," Kendra said with finality. Harry sighed.

"You can talk to us, Kendra," Hermione said, looking at Kendra, deeply concerned. "I know whatever happened to you was awful, and you shouldn't bottle it all up. We're here for you."

"Thanks," Kendra said shortly. She loved Hermione very much, but she very much felt as though she couldn't talk to her girlfriend about what had happened, at least not at the moment. There was an awkward pause and Kendra could sense Hermione getting frustrated with her. "I'm going to take a nap now."

"Sleep well," Hermione replied with a sigh, a jumble of emotions written across her face. Harry waved awkwardly and they both left the room, though Kendra could hear their quiet voices for a few moments as they talked about the short conversation in the hall.

Kendra sank into her pillows, angry, though she couldn't say why. She knew that talking with her support system wasn't a bad thing at all, but even the thought of it made anger brew inside her stomach.

'That's natural, Kendra, you went through a traumatic experience,' Morgana said, attempting to comfort the teen, though it was the last thing Kendra wanted to hear.

'No thanks to you,' Kendra replied, her tone marred with bitterness.

'I told you dear, I couldn't let you die, even though you might think you ought to have. I'm too sentimental. Besides, you had a bigger part to play than a tragic death at 15,' Morgana argued. Her voice just made Kendra angrier, and she wondered briefly if this was what Draco Malfoy felt like. It was gone as soon as she thought it.

'Couldn't you have protected me? Made it so they didn't hurt me or something?' Kendra retorted. In that moment, she felt every ounce of pain that the Death Eaters had ever inflicted upon her again, all weighing down on her already heavy heart. She turned onto her side in the afternoon sunlit room, a moist spot forming on her pillow.

'My dear, I did. I know it hurts to hear, but what happened to you was the best case scenario. And mark my words, when it is time for your revenge, you will see how much I will fight for you.' For the first time, Morgana sounded angry, her tone dark and foreboding. Kendra knew it should have scared her, but it comforted her to know that she had Morgana's power at her disposal. As much as she didn't want to, she had forgiven the witch already. 'Now, no more tantruming, and listen to your girlfriend when she asks things of you, my dear. I would rather die than see the two of you fight.'

'I don't need your help getting revenge,' Kendra replied, though she began to smile into her pillow at the thought of it. 'But that doesn't mean I don't want it.'

'That's the spirit love,' Morgana cooed. 'Now, get your rest, heal your wounds. Your story begins soon.'

With new purpose, Kendra rolled over again and smiled up at the ceiling, the promise of revenge and destiny quelling her aching lungs, if just for one breath.

a/n: i am honestly so proud it took me that long to not update every day. anyways i finished school last week (that's why I was gone, lots of papers to turn in) so i am now free from the bonds of education (until I start uni in the fall 🤫)  which means that I can continue to keep updating. in other news, this was the 69th part of this book, which is both funny and also seems really long to me even though I know people with way longer stories than that.

aight it's the meme now