Suffocating In Darkness

An immense chimney, relic of a disused mill, reared up, shadowy and ominous. There was no sound apart from the whisper of the black water and no sign of life apart from a scrawny fox that had slunk down the bank to nose hopefully at some old fish-and-chip wrappings in the tall grass.

But then, with a very faint pop, two slim, hooded figures appeared out of thin air on the edge of the river. The fox froze, wary eyes fixed upon this strange new phenomenon. The figure seemed to take its bearings for a few moments, then set off with light, quick strides, its long cloak rustling over the grass.

With a second and louder pop, another hooded figure materialized.

"Wait!"

The harsh cry startled the fox, now crouching almost flat in the undergrowth. It leapt from its hiding place and up the bank. There was a flash of green light, a yelp, and the fox fell back to the ground, dead.

The second figure turned over the animal with its toe.

"Just a fox," said a woman's voice dismissively from under the hood. "I thought perhaps an Auror--Cissy, Ana, wait!"

But her quarry, who had paused and looked back at the flash of light, was already scrambling up the bank the fox had just fallen down.

"Cissy, Ana--Narcissa, Georgiana--listen to me--"

The third woman caught the first and seized her arm, but the other wrenched it away.

"Go back, Bella!"

"You must listen to me!"

"We've listened already. We've made our decision. Leave us alone!" The second woman hissed.

The women named Narcissa and Georgiana gained the top of the bank, where a line of old railings separated the river from a narrow, cobbled street. The other woman, Bella, followed at once. Side by side they stood looking across the road at the rows and rows of dilapidated brick houses, their windows dull and blind in the darkness.

"He lives here?" asked Bella in a voice of contempt. "Here? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first of our kind ever to set foot--"

But Narcissa and Georgiana were not listening; they had slipped through a gap in the rusty railings and was already hurrying across the road.

"Cissy, Ana, wait!"

Bella followed, her cloak streaming behind, and saw Narcissa and Georgiana darting through an alley between the houses into a second, almost identical street. Some of the streetlamps were broken; the three women were running between patches of light and deep darkness. The pursuer caught up with her prey just as she turned another corner, this time succeeding in catching hold of their arms and swinging then around so that they faced each other.

"Cissy, Ana you must not do this, you can't trust him--"

"The Dark Lord trusts him, doesn't he?"

"The Dark Lord is... I believe... mistaken," Bella panted, and her eyes gleamed momentarily under her hood as she looked around to check that they were indeed alone. "In any case, we were told not to speak of the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark Lord's--"

"Let go, Bella!" snarled Georgiana, and she drew a wand from beneath her cloak, holding it threateningly in the other's face. Bella merely laughed.

"Ana, your own sister? You wouldn't--"

"There is nothing we wouldn't do anymore!" Narcissa breathed, a note of hysteria in her voice, and as Ana brought down the wand like a knife, there was another flash of light. Bella let go of her sister's arm as though burned.