𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 | 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻

The start of Cherry's summer break leaves her feeling odd. After years of being a disappointment, feeling her parents' love and approval is something she's unused to. They're now pleased with her, and after constantly associating her parents' pleasure with her own discomfort... seeing their happiness directed toward her is certainly an experience. It was for that reason that, when Cherry' parents announced that she would have to be home alone for a week, she was glad.

She became a little less glad when one week became two.

When two became three, Cherry grew concerned. That her brother, Rowan, refused to mention anything in her desperate owls to him only made it worse.

It is as three weeks became four that Cherry grows desperate. When she feels her Lord's summons, an excruciating pain on her arm, tugging her towards him, she does not hesitate to Apparate there. The sight awaiting her is unexpected, however.

"M— My Lord..." she trails off, in utter shock, staring dumbly at the clearly lifeless bodies of her parents at the Dark Lord's feet.

"Good, Cherry, Rowan, you have not betrayed me yet," says the Dark Lord, his voice tinged with cruel amusement.

Cherry startles, having not noticed her elder brother standing next to her.

"What happened to them?" her brother asks, clearly much braver than she was.

"This, my dear children, is a warning," the Dark Lord hisses, his eyes suddenly steely. "Your parents have failed me. This is their consequence. The both of you have, as of now, also been failing to complete your missions. We wouldn't want to hear of the death of the entire Parkinson Main Branch, now would we? It would pain me so, to have to spill such beautiful, pure blood, but needs must, you understand?"

"Yes, my Lord," Cherry whispers, not quite trembling, but a near thing.

"Rowan?" the Dark Lord snaps.

"I understand, my Lord," her brother breathes, still staring at their parents with shock.

"Now, leave. I don't need you sullying my air with your presence any longer," the Dark Lord says, as if shooing away a mere annoyance.

Immediately, Cherry Apparates back to the Parkinson Residence, walking up to the home and into her room as if in a trance. Her parents were not good people, nor were they good parents. It would be a stretch to even call them kind. But they're—they were her's.

And now they are gone.

•——————•°•✿•°•——————•

With such an introduction to the month of August, it is no wonder that the whole month continues in the same vein—a sort of hell on Earth for Cherry. Her brother is home for once, but with the stormy aura he lets off at all hours of the day, Cherry almost wishes he wasn't.

The still silence of the Parkinson Residence that was only truly there in the darkness of night made itself present at all hours of the day. It was only ever broken by her brother's footsteps—Cherry has long-since had any kind of noise trained out of her. Rowan's footsteps, something that used to never be there, are a constant reminder of the burden he carried, a burden that now seemed to extend its shadow over her as well. She feels it in the way he looked at her, in the expectations that linger unsaid but palpable in the air between them. She knows what was expected of her, and it makes her chest tighten with a mix of dread and anticipation.

Cherry begins to plan. She does not know what the Dark Lord is asking of her brother, but her task? It is doable, and Cherry knows that all that is stopping her is her own fear. But her self-imposed target is just Pettigrew. The boy constantly ranked lowest in all their classes. What could he do to her? What chance did he stand against the Dark Lord?