two rings and bad things

53_ cruciatus curse

Even though it broke her heart, Ed followed through with leaving her family.

That morning when she placed the false memories, she stayed in her house just a moment long enough to happen to hear her Leo say how much he missed her. Ed held back tears at this—she loved her little brother so much, but knew she had a place in the upcoming war.

She had been thinking about her reoccurring dream lately, and if it was actually another vision, she had to warn others about everything she saw.

That day Ed left, she had to decide the best place to stay. She thought about going to the Weasley's, but knew they would never let her stay, especially because she was a Slytherin.

So, Ed decided to go to Malorie's house. She knew she wouldn't see her best friend, since she moved to Marsaille to her grandma's, but at least it would be in tact and have magical protections.

When she arrived in the fireplace using the floo powder that she kept on hand, she noticed how everything was exactly how she remembered it.

She had a lot of good memories from this house, all the way back to second year when Malorie taught her how to make scrambled eggs. Ed still remembered that day vividly—they were the best scrambled eggs in the entire world.

She smiled to herself thinking of this, the Blight family was always so welcoming to her; she hoped the best for them.

Ed soon wandered around the rest of the house, making sure it was safe and seeing if there was anything she could eat. She brought food along in a small bag with an undetectable extension charm, but needed to stock up just in case.

Finally, she made her way to Malorie's bedroom. It was more empty than the rest of the house, but Ed assumed that was because Malorie took more with her, probably from impulsively packing items.

But there was one item that caught her eye, one that Ed knew her best friend would never purposely leave behind.

It was the matching friendship bracelet she gave to Ed for Christmas first year.

Ed picked up the worn pieces of pink and blue string from the desk when she suddenly realized why the furniture was perfectly in place, why it looked as though the family never left—the Blights never made it to Marsaille.

_______________

September came soon enough, and Ed was relieved to be going back to Hogwarts.

It was hard living on her own. She went into the muggle side of London occasionally, but it was lonely and unproductive. She wondered at times if staying was a mistake, if she should have just gone to the United States and been the obedient daughter she always was, but it was too late now.

She arrived very early at King's Cross station, and was one of the first students on the train. However, when she went to go to the prefect's carriage, she couldn't find it. She assumed with Dumbledore gone, this was one of the new rules.

Disappointed, she found a carriage towards the back and set her bag down, waiting for her friends to arrive. Sure enough, a little while later, Lance McCoy and Theodore Nott entered the compartment.

"Ed! I didn't know you were coming to school! I thought your parents took you away," Lance said as he sat down next to her.

"Hey, Ed!" Nott greeted her and sat across from them.