𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧 𝐠𝐨 → 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺

→ chapter ninety seven

; ♡⋆.ೃ࿔*

Chaerin was dragged out of the darkness roughly, a tight hand gripping the dirty old shirt she'd been given to wear. Confusion swam throughout her brown eyes, her eyebrows furrowing tensely, lips pouted slightly as she tried to figure why she was once again pulled from her slumber.

Her head turned rapidly to look back at Luna who held a frightened look on her face, and Olivander would not look at her. Had something happened? Was she finally going to greet death? Would her endless torture finally stop?

Or was it just Lord Voldemort trying to use her gift again? The Dark Lord had drained Chaerin mentally and physically, the bruises on her skin were worse than they had ever been, cuts littered her body as if they were simply freckles, and a stab wound on her arm would reopen with a simple nudge.

The girl from the summer was gone, only to be replaced with the shattered pieces of who she once was. Chaerin hadn't seen her reflection in a while, looking in a mirror was something she had once treasured due to the long battle she'd face in loving herself. It felt as if all her hard work had been undone, now she dreaded to even take a glimpse at her reflection because she knew deep down that she would not recognise herself.

She had lost herself to the wolves that hunted her mercilessly, it was a pain like no other to not recognise one's self. Looking at your reflection to see that you no longer knew where to find yourself, it was like having your identity ripped from you, stripping you down to nothing but a broken and bruised body. A soul that had disappeared from it's home, leaving nothing but an empty carcass behind.

Chaerin Chang felt dead inside.

"I'd like to double-check," sneered Lucius, causing Chaerin to realise she was back in the living quarters of Malfoy Manor.

Things looked as if they usually did, but the usual intense atmosphere had been ruptured, replacing it with a rumpled kink that shot feelings of disorientation throughout the room. Chae could barely open her half-lidded eyes when she felt herself being pushed into the middle of the room, suddenly, she felt as if she were nothing but a freak in a circus who was now center stage as all the wondering eyes stared at her.

"If this is Harry Potter, the girl will be able to tell us for sure, I want to make no mistakes," drawled Lucius Malfoy, placing a large hand on Chaerin's shoulder.

The mention of the boy caused Chae's eyes to snap open widely, a tiny gasp leaving her mouth that she tried to cover up with a cough the moment she realised Harry was stood in front of her. The three faces of her friends stared back at her, they were all here; Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and for a fraction of a second Chaerin felt as if she had a glimmer of hope.

A distorted version of Harry's face met her eyes, she recognised the jinx that had been used on him instantly, his face was swollen, pink, and puffy if Chae hadn't spent the last six years of her life with the boy she would have no clue whether this really was the boy who lived.