Pros & Cons

12. The Loss

"Miss Gardner, please, sit" McGonagall ushered me into a large chair by Dumbledore's desk and once I had sat they all just stared at me. Completely silent.

"Lemon sherbet?" Dumbledore raised a bowl of the yellow sweets to my face.

"No thank you, Professor. What's going on? I was told it was urgent"

McGonagall rested her hand on my shoulder and looked between her colleagues before finally resting her gaze back on me.

"I have some bad news..."

Shit.

"It's about your mother..."

No.

"She's- She, well, I'm so sorry Violet but your mother has..."

No.

"Been killed"

That was it. That was the moment my heart dropped so low I was sure the merpeople of the Black Lake could've seen it. That was the moment the world seemed to turn that little bit darker - and I would forever feel a little bit colder. I felt like I could trace the exact moment my veins started to turn to ice.

Normally I would try and hide my feelings, I don't want to trouble others with my problems. This time I had no control. I had barely realised I had lost feeling in my fingertips and toes before my whole body was numb. And the tears, they were uncontrollable. Once they started flowing from my eyes they couldn't stop; it was like they were taunting me - taunting me because I couldn't even control my own emotions.

The tears were a catalyst for the rest of my body. It felt like someone had reached into my lungs and ripped all of the air from them; my body was shaking, and all I could hear was the blood rushing to my ears. I was sure all three people were trying to speak to me - I could see their lips moving after all, but they were in slow motion and they were blurring more and more by the second.

I clasped my eyes shut, overwhelmed by the reaction of my body. I kept them shut for a while and took a few shaky deep breaths in and when I felt like I could take in air without fainting I opened my eyes.

"W-what happened to her?" I choked.

McGonagall couldn't answer right away, she was clearly thinking about her response. She once again looked at her colleagues.

Why isn't she looking at me?

"What happened to my mum!" I exploded "If you know you have to tell me" I looked between the three adults, waiting for one of them to say something. Anything.

"Well Violet" McGonagall started "It seems that the... the Death Eaters were informed of her location-"

"How."

McGonagall was slightly startled by my interruption.

"We don't know"

"Well how do you know they were informed of her location?"

"Professor Snape got word that they knew. He came right here to tell us-"

"To tell you. He came here to tell you. Why the fuck didn't he inform the Order or the Ministry to go and protect her!" I burst up from my seat. I was shouting at all three individuals - I wasn't sure why. Snape was the one I was furious at.

"Violet, please. Calm down" Dumbledore waved his hand in front of me to guide me back to the chair.

I whipped my head around to stare at him, my eyes reduced to slits "Calm down? My mum is dead. Dead. Gone. Not coming back. No you'll tell me why you didn't do everything in your power to save her" I pointed my shaky finger straight at Dumbledore. My entire body was trembling with rage and furious hot tears were non-consensually flowing down my cheeks.