✓ WE NEVER SLEEP, draco malfoy

T W E N T Y - E I G H T

"A forest in autumn taught me the secret of all secrets. Complete surrender, death, and rebirth."

— Anna de Noailles, tr. by Jethro Bithell, from Poems; "A Forest In Autumn"

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"You know, when I said we should do something sisterly together, I didn't mean this," mumbled Rowan as she kept a leisurely pace with Florence. Her sister had come to her the night prior and told her to meet her in Hogsmeade the next day. 

Rowan, thinking nothing of it, agreed.

She just didn't realize the pair were going to be traveling by Apparition immediately once they snuck off. It seemed that Florence had an idea at killing Dumbledore, which she explained as they crept through one of the old passages into Hogsmeade, and Rowan felt as if she were crawling into a cupboard to hide like they did as children.

"One...two...three..."

"Ready or not, here I come!"

Florence kept Rowan close, which she was thankful for. She had never gone into Knockturn Alley before, not properly at least. Of course, she'd been inside Borgin and Burkes, but that was it. She'd caught glimpses of the narrow sidewalks, the eerie groups of witches and wizards who tended to linger for far too long. 

But, it seemed, Florence was familiar with it all.

She walked with her head held high, her eyes narrowed like a snakes. She had insisted the pair wear the cloaks their mother had gotten them two Christmases ago, and Florence wore hers with her hood drawn over her head and Rowan pictured her like one of the witches she'd seen in a film with Hermione two summer's ago. 

The duo entered Borgin and Burkes, silently. The bell above the door barely making a noise as they stepped inside. Florence pushed her hood from her face but had told Rowan to keep hers drawn, just in case.

"Ah, Ms. Greer," Borgin cooed as he crept out from behind the rows of dusty artifacts behind the front desk. "Looking for anything specific today-?" His voice cut off short, as if startled, and he said swiftly, "Oh! I didn't know you had a guest with you, and who might this be?"

"A friend," replied Florence in a tone that said drop it, old man.

"Right," he said, slowly, his eyes not leaving Rowan as she drifted to admire the vanishing cabinet. It was the exact twin of the one in Hogwarts and she reached out, running her fingers over the old wood. 

From behind her, she heard Florence say, "I'm here to pick up the necklace."

Rowan didn't Borgin move and she glanced over her shoulder and snapped, "She said the necklace, now." It was better to make a presence, to show him they were serious. This wasn't some ploy to expose him for the dark artifacts he had lying around that could kill someone ten times over. 

"Yes, yes," he murmured and watched as he turned and walked into the back. She heard the rustle of boxes, things being moved, before he finally returned with a small necklace box. 

Rowan approached the counter as he opened the little velvet box, revealing the necklace. Brilliant blue, the opals glistened and Florence's fingers flexed. She, too, was tempted to touch it. 

"It's killed nineteen muggles so far," Borgin whispered, as if he were presenting it to them so it could kill a few more. 

Rowan looked up and met his eyes past her hood and smiled. "How much for it?"