The Numb

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*Trigger warning: Violence towards the end of the chapter* 

Victoria's eyes slowly fluttered open. She stared up into a celling of a dimly lit room that she recognized almost immediately as Ron's. She made to sit up, but her head said otherwise. It was pounding and she felt like a thousand pounds was pressing onto her temples.

So instead of trying to sit up, she turned her head to the left. There she saw Ron and Hermione both sound asleep. Victoria smiled slightly to herself at the sight of Hermione leaning on Ron's shoulder. She then turned to her left to see Harry, staring out the star filled window.

At the sight of him the memories of the horrific night that had just occurred came speeding back to Victoria. Mad eye was dead. Draco had been there, and he had helped her escape. She thought about what it all would mean to everyone in the room and really everyone in the Order. Maybe they already knew about Mad eye, but would they care that Draco had saved her? Did this mean he was not evil? She never thought him to be evil and with what had just happened, she was even more sure.

She felt a tear roll down her cheek at the thought of Draco.

As if sensing her emotion, Harry turned to look at her, concern instantly filled his eyes when he saw her crying.

"Hey love. Don't cry, it's alright. You're safe," Harry spoke in a soft and soothing voice. He smoothed her hair back as he spoke. His voice was like music to her ears. While she had been scared when her and Mad eye were attacked, she had been more worried about Harry's safety than her own, so it came as relief to see him kneeling in beside her.

"I – I'm so glad to see you," Victoria managed to whisper out. Her voice box acted as if it didn't want to work due the emotions swelling inside of her. "Mad eye, Harry. Mad eye, he's dead."

She couldn't help it, more tears started to flow as she said the words. Realization was crashing over her like the waves in the ocean. It was all too real now.

Harry stared at her for a moment and leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before saying, "Okay, I'll make sure everyone knows. Get some rest we can talk about it tomorrow."

Victoria just nodded and let her heavy eyes fall back shut.

By the time Victoria woke up the next morning she knew the whole house was aware that Mad eye was gone. However, she also knew that they would all have hundreds of questions for her about what happened. Some might even began to see her as untrustworthy again.

She knew that she did nothing wrong, but that didn't stop the feeling of nausea she had going down to breakfast the next morning. She tried to reassure herself that the uneasiness she was experiencing was from the concussion but deep down she knew the real reason. They would all want to know how and why she was able to get away and not Mad eye. After all, wasn't Mad eye the beyond skilled Auror who had escaped death a countless number of times? 

Mustering up all the Gryffindor courage she could, she slowly walked downstairs and into the kitchen which was already filled to the max with Order members. It was if the room had frozen upon her entering. Nobody spoke or moved, they all just turned to look at her.

To her surprise, Harry wasn't the first to run up and greet her, Fleur was.

"My dear are you alright? Come and sit, you shouldn't be standing on your own like dis," Fleur spoke in a frantic and motherly sort of tone. She ushered Victoria to an open seat at the table.

"I'm okay, Fleur," Victoria said with a small smile. "Really, I feel okay." That was definitely a lie. Because as she looked around, her worst fears seemed to be confirmed. Some of the Order members were eyeing her as if she was on trial for taking the dark mark herself. 

Fleur hurried quickly to grab her a plate, leaving Victoria feeling strangely vulnerable in a room full of people who were supposed to be her friends. She made eye contact with each of them as they went back to what they were doing before she walked in. To her relief Kingsley, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, the twins, and Hermione all returned her small smiles and nods. However, Ron did not. In fact, he looked away so quickly, she could've sworn her had a concussion like her now.

Victoria glanced at Hermione who turned a shade of red. She decided now wasn't the time to pry. Fleur leaned down and whispered, "Ne vous inquiétez pas maintenant. juste manger." She felt a rush of gratitude to Fleur. The two girls often spoke in French towards each other, it reminded both of them of home and this was Fleur's way of telling her not to worry and to just eat.

Before obeying Fleur's instructions, Victoria glanced over towards Harry who was talking in depth with Kingsley and Lupin. None of them noticed her watching them and she could hardly hear what they were discussing. She knew that it was probably for the best she couldn't hear.

Hermione sat next to her started talking to her, snapping her out of the trance she was in trying to hear what the three were discussing.

"I moved your stuff with mine in the drawing room," Hermione said. "I wanted to make sure we had plenty of room to read and get everything ready."

She said the last piece in a quieter voice. The only person who would have been able to hear her besides Victoria was Ron who had just taken a seat on her other side. The seat was right across from Victoria's, and she glanced up at him to find him glowering at her.

"She's not going or helping get anything ready," Ron growled.

They sat in blissful silence for a moment, all just finishing their food. In all honesty, Victoria would have liked to talk to Hermione, but she couldn't find the words to say. She also could still feel Ron watching her as she poked at the food in front of her.

Victoria continued to hold his gaze, not wanting to back down. The kitchen was beginning to clear out now with only the twins, Ron, Hermione and Victoria left.

"Ronald don't do this now. We said we would sort all of this out later. You know Victoria is our friend. She wouldn't-"

Hermione didn't get to finish her sentence. As if a firework went off, Ron sprang up out of his chair. The sudden burst caused the whole kitchen table to flip over in is warpath.


As if she knew this was coming, Victoria began to back up until her back hit the kitchen wall behind her. The sudden jolt caused a sharp stabbing pain to come throb uncontrollably in her temples. Before anyone could react, Ron charged at her and started yelling.

"You untrustworthy bitch! You're the reason he's dead! Of course, you got away unharmed!" He pushed her shoulders against the wall and pointed his wand at her throat as he continued to yell.

In a flash Fred and George had jumped over the pile of broken dishes and food on the floor and grabbed Ron to push him back.

"I-I'm sorry," Victoria whispered. She knew nobody heard her through the continued yelling form Ron, the twins and Hermione. But she felt like she needed to apologize. She didn't know why and to who she was apologizing, but the life she had just been accepted into was crashing around her. That's why she was sorry.

Somehow Ron had managed to escape the twins grasped. He charged back at Victoria again. This time she didn't move. She let him point his wand at her. She let him yell "Flipendo". She let the jinx hit her in the chest causing her to fly against the nearest wall and fall into the mess of a destroyed kitchen table. She let him. She let him take it out on her.

Victoria sat back on her knees from the heap she had been in on the ground. She felt blood trickling down her arms and legs where the kitchen plates had cut her. None of the pain mattered as much as seeing Ron hate her.

With all the commotion she had not even noticed everyone running back in the kitchen to see what was going on. She felt numb to Mr. Weasley and Bill holding Harry back from beating Ron. She didn't even object to Fleur and Tonks ushering her into the living room to be bandaged up.

All she felt was numbness. She had just lost one of her best friends. Not because of a duel or a battle, but because of a war.  

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