Vengeance| Harry Potter

six. blue eyes

-CHAPTER SIX-
~blue eyes~

THE SUN WAS STILL absent from the sky when Bartholomew woke Viola up after only a few hours of restless sleep. A still, eerie haze blanketed the silent campsite; the residue of the smoke from the fires that had burned during the march.

They walked in utter silence—their footsteps sounding extra loud—to the Portkey, and didn't even speak when they reached Ridge Forest, nor on the way back to their house.

Despite it being early afternoon when they reached their own front door, the sun was nowhere to be seen. A congregation of pale grey clouds was obscuring it, refusing to admit any of its warm, comforting rays. It was sort of fitting, really, after everything that had happened. Viola was still quite shaken and, on top of that, she was worried that Harry, Ron and Hermione would be suspicious of her because of the whole situation with her father turning up in the forest.

Even though his story had added up, he had seemed a little bit sceptical, even to Viola, so she could only imagine what they must be thinking.

Both Alexandra and Edwin were in the sitting room, waiting for Viola and Bartholomew to return. As soon as Bartholomew entered the room, he and his wife shared a solemn look and they both hurried out to the kitchen to talk, Alexandra muttering a quick hello to Viola as she passed.

"It is a shame that you didn't get trampled."

Viola clenched her fists at the sound of her little brother's voice. "And it is a shame that you were born," she said, mimicking his tone. "Yet here we are."

"Is it true that the Mark showed up?" he asked eagerly, ignoring her retort. "I saw a bit of the newspaper, but mother snatched it away before I could get a proper look at it."

Viola hesitated. "Yes... the Mark was there."

Edwin's eyes widened as he sucked in a breath. "Does that mean he was there, too?"

Viola shushed him, glancing out into the kitchen—seemingly, her parents hadn't noticed, they were too engrossed in their own urgent whispering. "Don't be daft, Edwin," she whispered, "of course he wasn't."

"But then why was his sign there? Viola, you don't... you don't think he's coming back, do you?"

With an impatient sigh, Viola grabbed Edwin's arm and dragged him upstairs into her room. Her parents' whispering ceased as they passed, but once they reached the hall, it continued, though no words could be made out. She shoved Edwin onto her bed and shut the door.

"What do you know about him, Edwin?"

"What do you me—?"

"You know what I mean! He Who Must Not Be Named! What do you know about him?"

A small frown tugged at Edwin's lips. "Only that mother and father used to work for him and that he was a bad wizard."

"Edwin—I know it's scary with everything strange that's been happening recently, but... he's gone, okay? He Who Must Not Be Named can't return, he's been gone for about thirteen years now and he's not coming back. And mentioning him where mother or father could hear you is a very stupid idea," she said, and then sighed. "Now get out of my room, I wanna go to sleep."