A Tale of Two Brothers

Chapter 2

Jason remained silent as the reports of the attack flew around the table.

Some were shouting angrily, faces flushed with fury. Others looked ill and green, not able to take their mind off from what they had just been forced to witness.

Jason was among the latter.

A man's eyes were gouged out and pushed back in the other's empty socket, while they screamed in agony as McNair and Yaxley crucioed them mercilessly.

Jason closed his eyes, trying to focus his mind on something else, off those cursed visions.

He could hear the hushed whispers of the conversation between his parents, the creaking of the doors as people silently walked in and out of the room. Somewhere just outside the door, a house-elf was cleaning the dingy old broom closet which hadn't been opened once in the last decade. People were vomiting in the toilets. Some were crying hysterically. There was a person in a room on the same foyer, breaking things angrily. The smell of cigarettes and alcohol filled the entire floor.

Kingsley was speaking to Ron and Hermione about what happened at the village. Jason could feel his eyes on him.

He could feel everyone's eyes on him.

"I think I will go now." He announced and stood up, leaving the staff room, ignoring everyone who was glancing at him. He ignored the drunk ramblings and the hysteria of those in the hallway.

"Goodnight, Mr. Potter!" A young boy shouted loudly as Jason reached the end of the corridor. He tried to respond in the direction of the voice, but he was sure all he achieved was a stilted hand gesture.

As soon as he crossed the corner, Jason ran towards his room.

Once inside, he mechanically stripped himself of the clothes he was wearing, choosing the cleanest ones he could find. Though both Ron and Hermione had shot quick cleaning charms at him before apparating back, Jason could still feel the blood and guts on his body.

They went through the heaps of the muggle bodies, both the.... unharmed ones and the body parts, to search for someone who had survived. Jason knew that it was futile. They'd watched every person being murdered. The Death Eaters had made sure of that.

The screams of the muggles still echoed in his mind as he burrowed himself beneath the covers. The slightest sounds coming from the grounds made him flinch. The silence only brought back the memories of the terror.

Hours went by.

The Dreamless Potions did nothing. Neither did the muggle pills.

He tried listening to music, but the guilt for hearing it after experiencing something so terrible made him blanch and nauseous. He counted the numbers as far as he could, even going back sometimes to start over again. Jason tried getting out of the bed to do something else, but the sheer terror he felt made him freeze mid-way.

He fell back and closed his eyes. Jason could not sleep. The screams only became louder as the time passed by.

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Hours ago....

The moment the Order arrived; Jason realised that an unfamiliar ward was surrounding the entire muggle town. This was not new. Recently, the Death Eaters had started developing wards, each more complex than the previous ones. From what they'd gathered, this new fixation on research with the help of the Unspeakables, all in the name of development, had started a decade after the fall of the Ministry. Nothing good ever came out of the depths of the Ministry, just more gore and violence. On a nice day, Remus and Bill were able to take them down in minutes after their arrival. During the bad ones, it took twice the time. The worst they had ever encountered was during an attack on a town in Sussex, which took the two of them, along with several others decent ward masters, over an hour to take them down.