Crucio ⇢ D.M

chapter twelve

A Death Eater Christmas
word count: 7428

Arden truly didn't realise just how disconnected she had become from Harry's life until she was told through Cedric that he had been seeing things through the eyes of Lord Voldemort, such as Arthur Weasley being nearly killed by the Dark Lord himself. On top of the fresh wounds from their breakup, Hermione had sent an owl describing just how often Voldemort would invade Harry's mind along with Harry's other struggles with his emotions, which acted as the icing on top of the cake baked with Arden's guilt; she realised just how poor of a person she was for not being around to support Harry, and felt even worse knowing Harry didn't feel that Arden was someone he could talk to in times of need.

"He broke up with you right before Christmas, I'm not going over there," Cedric argued. Ron had invited Arden and Cedric to have dinner with his family along with Hermione and Harry. While Arden normally would see the Weasleys on school holidays (with Cedric occasionally tagging along), she felt it would be too awkward with Harry present. It hurt that she now had to avoid Harry when trying to spend time with Ron or Hermione as they were her friends also, but would be virtually impossible as those three were joined at the hips.

"They're your friends too Ced, don't cut your time with them just because of me," Arden argued.

"I'd hardly consider them friends. They're lovely people, but it's not the end of the world if I miss a dinner with them to spend time with my only sister," Cedric said, nudging Arden with his elbow slightly with a grin on his face. His grin fell when he noticed not even a hint of a smile was evident on Arden's face. He sighed, not entirely knowing how to make Arden feel better. He had already attempted telling her many of his horrible puns, but her normal reaction of an eye roll and stifled laughter was replaced with utter silence. He even pulled the protective older brother spiel, vowing to give Harry a nasty talking to the next time he saw him, but Arden shut down that plan quicker than turning on a light, which Cedric was subtly thankful for, as such aggression and provoking wasn't behaviour he was fond of. 

The two sat in silence, only the sounds of steaming milk and soft chatter of the Muggle cafe they were in filled the air. Cedric looked over at Arden's hot chocolate, the heavy mountain of whipped cream was beginning to melt, and the thickened hot chocolate was now slowly starting to rise and drop over the edge of the mug due to Arden not taking one single sip.

"Are you not going to drink that?" Cedric asked, pointing at Arden's mug. Arden looked down at her drink that she had entirely forgotten as her mind was occupied by feelings of guilt. She lifted the mug to her lips, tilting it back ever so slightly and took several large gulps in a row. The hot chocolate had cooled down, making it able to run down her throat with ease, the flavours completely bypassing Arden's taste buds. Arden then set down the mug, the ceramic making an unpleasant 'clink' sound as it made contact with the wooden table. She wiped her lips with one of the napkins on the table, then pushed the mug further away from her along the table.