𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐭 {𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲}

| 𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐒 | 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 (*TW)

"Your turn, Rosier," he said as they both turned to me. Tears began to prick at my eyes, and I tightened my hold on Nutmeg.

"N- no."

"Go on, Morie," Erebus urged. "It isn't that hard once you've done it. I promise." I recoiled at that. "Are you even hearing yourself, Erebus?" I said, hoarse with disbelief. A dozen emotions flowed in my veins. Anger. Betrayal. Horror. Anxiety.

"They're just rabbits, Morie. They don't have feelings," he protested in earnest. Then, leaning closer to my ear - "would you rather get us both killed?"

Would I? They were just animals, after all. They would not even see what was coming. The Killing Curse was painless. They would be dead in an instant. One second was all it would take me, one tick of a clock's hand.

They were looking at me patiently. I could not breathe. It was as if a great stone had been placed on my chest.

"No," I said once more. Erebus pulled back in disappointment, and Lucius sighed. A long, drawn-out breath. "It looks like we'll have a lot to discuss, Rosier." He stretched an arm towards me. "Alright. Let's put her back."

I clutched at Nutmeg, unwilling to let go. He beckoned with his fingers silently. It's alright. I had chosen to let Nutmeg live, and I would bear the consequences, whatever they were.

Slowly, I placed her carefully back into Lucius hand. He took her from me, then clamping his other on Nutmeg's head, he twisted. Every vessel in my body froze, and my scream echoed around the silence of the garden. Nutmeg's limp body hung from the leathered cage of Lucius' hands.

"Those who are small and weak cannot fight back," said Lucius, his tone hard and unfeeling. "You must understand this now, Amora. Those who do not fight back are the easiest to conquer. That's how you will kill the baby." 

My knees crumpled, and I sank onto the ground helplessly. Lucius stalked off, his black cloak brushing me as he passed. Erebus stood behind me for a few moments in uncertainty before he, too, walked away, leaving me staring at the two dead bunnies in soundless grief.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

I dropped to my knees by her bed, almost in sorrowful worship, weeping into the thin sheets as quietly as I could.

The image was burned into my mind - the loud snap, the ugly angle of Nutmeg's broken neck, the feeling of their hardened still-warm flesh in mine as I dug the hole in tears to bury them in. They had been nothing but babies still.

Those who are small and weak cannot fight back. You must understand this now, Amora. Those who do not fight back are the easiest to conquer.

I thought of the time when Angel would give birth. I would be there to coax the child from her, pat it so that it screamed, so I knew it was alive. And then, just as I had brought it into the world, I would take it out, whichever way I wanted. Lucius had said it as though it was a great privilege to choose the method of which to murder.

If I defied him, what then? He would leave me behind in the new world he sought to create. He would give me up to the Ministry officials. I would be trialed. There was no chance I would be allowed back at Hogwarts ever again. My life would disappear, forever. The only way I could ever be a somebody was to follow through with the plan and pray we win.

And how quickly Erebus had turned on his words. He did not mean a single word of anything he had told me at all. He was a liar. He was a monster. And I was stupid enough to fall for it - all of it. His comforting words and golden hair and sky-coloured eyes.

Angel had sat up in surprise. Her arm draped over my silently, but I could not bear to look at her. I was ashamed. Minutes passed, and eventually the sobs wore out my body. She was still looking at me. I was transparent, made of water and air.