freya mckinnon may share the same face as her aunt marlene, but she was more than just the niece of a war heroine, though no one seemed to see that. no one but george weasley, her rival on the quidditch pitch who quickly became so much more.
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: FOREST OF DEAN
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DRACO THOUGHT HE WAS going to be sick. It was a foreign feeling, this swooping sensation that tugged at his gut like a fish hook yanking at the lip of the slimy animal’s mouth. It reminded him of Quidditch; that grand drop from Heaven back to Earth, chasing the flash of gold just out of his reach, pushing himself quicker; his body and mind seemed to separate into two warring entities.
Staring at the human body in the corner of his living room, it hit him like the slap of his father’s hand against his cheek. The skin was pale; if he were to touch the outstretched arm stained in blood that was not quite dry, his fingertips would come back frozen from the cold. He knew who it was without a doubt. She was older than him by two years. The girlfriend of one of those Weasley twins (remind him why he hated them again…) Her dark braids were pulled up high in a way he had long since gotten used to overlooking in passing each day. She wore a long satin dress that was ripped carelessly at the hem.
Dressed up to celebrate, now presentable for death.
Solana Thomas was gone from this world and onto the next one, and she was on his living room floor, and Draco wasn’t remotely prepared for the crushing, suffocating ache of sorrow that twisted his heart. He resented the stinging prick of tears behind his eyes, blinked them away until he saw stars. He hated her and the lot of them, but he’d barely lived yet and neither had Solana. Now she never would, and her brother (who was Draco’s age) would grow up with a ghost for a sister.
Draco’s mind was plagued by Dean Thomas, by Freya McKinnon and Fred Weasley, and everyone else he’d seen in Solana’s orbit.
Did they know? Had they seen it happen?
Would they hold him accountable for the horrible mistreatment of their sister, their friend, their girlfriend?
Maybe Draco would hold himself accountable. Silent as a mouse, he was. Willingly biting his tongue and averting his eyes. Ever since that night in the Astronomy Tower, something deep within him had shifted. This -- everything -- was wrong. But he wasn’t fighting. He was on the wicked side of history, yet he’d made himself too comfortable to change now… right?
Yes, that was it.
“Just get rid of her,” his father said at last. His lips were pulled back in a sneer of disgust. He glanced over Solana with disinterest; then, under his breath so only his wife and son would hear him, he muttered, “Fools, the lot of them. She would’ve died immediately. Why they even bothered to bring her here…”
