dursley [h. g.]

••dursley•• || non-confrontational

Draco was where he always was nowadays. The tweeting of an invisible bird led Kendra right to where he was. And when he saw her, guilt immediately spread across his face.

"Whatever you have to say, Nott probably already said it," Draco said dejectedly. 

"And I'm sure he gave you an earful about Katie Bell?" Kendra asked dryly, sitting down on the sofa. 

"Can we not talk about it?" he muttered. 

"Listen, I don't like fighting, but just because you have to kill one man does not mean you can put innocent people at risk," Kendra said firmly. "You can't just give someone a cursed object and hope that Dumbledore gets it!"

"It's not my fault she touched it!" Draco retorted. "And what else am I supposed to do, walk up to him and use the killing curse? I don't think I can do that."

"It's not your fault she touched it, sure, but if she died, do you think you would be able to live with that? Knowing it was the necklace you bought that killed her? That if you hadn't been involved, she would have been okay?" Kendra asked, her tone rising slightly. 

"You don't need to guilt-trip me," Draco said flatly. He paused for a moment. "How do you know I bought the necklace?"

"It's a long story," Kendra replied shortly. "And I don't think you would believe it if I told you. Besides, even if I didn't know, it really wouldn't have been that hard to figure it out."

"Potter doesn't know, does he?" Draco asked, finally sounding remorseful, though his guilt was singed with fear. 

"Harry's got a pretty good idea- I didn't tell him shit, that little prick has just decided to be Detective Potter all of a sudden," Kendra grumbled. "He thinks you bought the necklace and gave it to Katie to give to Dumbledore. Ron and Hermione are trying their best to talk him off the ledge because they think it's crazy, and I've been covering for you when I can. But you can't play chess with people's lives, especially not innocent students."

"I know," Draco replied shortly. He said nothing else, only turning back to the cabinet, muttering words under his breath- the same words that Kendra had found in the library the week before. Suddenly there was silence, and though Kendra didn't feel as though he had really had the retribution for his carelessness, she knew Snape would speak to him. She turned to look at the cabinet.

"It worked," she said softly, slightly bemused. 

"You don't know that yet," Draco replied, his tone still slightly cold from their previous argument. Kendra sighed. She hated confrontation. Her father had always responded to every problem and minor inconvenience with a full-on shouting match. She was sure that somewhere, it had traumatized her, and every time she argued with someone, it always felt as though she were tiptoeing around a lit fuse that she was just waiting to explode. Her fear of people and their raised voices had never really subsided, though she had found as she got older, she cared enough about certain things to fight back. 

"I mean, it's not here," she pointed out with a shrug, now trying to diffuse whatever lingering tension she could. "That's better off than you were a few weeks back. Should you try and bring it back?"

"I suppose," he said, his tone less biting than it had been. He closed his eyes, the tips of his fingers barely brushing up against the intricate mahogany, before dropping. He raised his wand, repeating the spell under his breath with feverish hope. If there was any change in the room, it was nothing more to the two in it than raised hairs on the back of their necks. With bated breath, Draco lowered his wand, his hands trembling.

They were both silent, waiting for the return in birdsong, for the piercing silence to be cut through with a chirp by the bird. Hesitating, Draco's hand rose to the cabinet handle. Kendra didn't know what he would find in there, but she knew it could not be good. She felt sick already, just in anticipation to find out whether it had worked or not. 

The cabinet opened, and inside, lay the bird, dead. It looked as though it had aged several years in the process of transporting between the cabinets. Clearly, it had not been fixed. Slowly, Kendra stood, sensing Draco's cacophony of emotions. She stood next to him, taking his hand in her own with care. They stood there for another moment, storms brewing inside each of them, staring at the bird, a shadow of what it had been before it had been sent through. 

"I'm sorry," Kendra said, not sure if she was reassuring Draco or the bird.

"Me too," he replied, not taking his eyes off of the bird. He seemed to break from his trance. "It didn't deserve that. Neither did Bell."

"She'll be okay, eventually," Kendra said, hopefully. "Do you want to bury the bird?"

He didn't say anything and just nodded. He pulled a handkerchief out from the breast pocket of the suit jacket he wore and wrapped the bird in it. Something stirred in Kendra, though she didn't recognize the feeling. All she knew was that later, she was going to find Hermione, and wonder if her tears would erode the marble statue that was her girlfriend. And if it was not her tears, then would it be the news of Morgana that Kendra had put off telling Hermione for far too long now.

It felt as though the day was setting on Kendra's life and all of her moments full of light would be faded into nothing more than bright memories to keep with her as the world was engulfed in the twilight. She wondered if the memories would be enough to light up the night that was going to swallow her whole.

a/n: hello my dears- first things first I PUBLISHED THE PANSY STORY AAAH :D its called angels and demons, it's on my profile (if u can't find it there's a link on my message board) the first chapter is published right now (and maybe the second too because I'm already in love with this story). 

anyways as usual I hope you enjoyed the chapter- if you couldn't tell by my decreasing sanity in the author's notes, i had like four exams this week but I'M FREE NOW BITCHES ( until midterms in like three weeks :| i love tests) um so hopefully i will not actually be relying on my final brain cell to write but knowing me.... unlikely seeing as i only had one to begin with (this is what i get for trying to go into healthcare) 

whew i really need a good meme now

this is not to shit on james bc i am in fact a james stan but this is so true