𝐶𝑂𝑆𝑀𝑂𝑆 | 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐘 [DISCONTINUED]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

𝐀 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐔𝐓𝐄
"𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑔𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒."
—𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟒𝟔𝟎𝟐

⋆⋆⋆✧⋆⋆⋆

𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 out and onto the landing. They headed towards the stairs when Ron suddenly halted and held up a hand that caused the others to stop in their tracks.

"Hold it!" Ron whispered urgently. "They're still in the hall, we might be able to hear something—"

The four of them looked over the railing, making sure that they weren't visible to the ones below as they did so. Although the hallway below them was dimly lit, they could still make out all the different witches and wizards that crowded around.

Liliana recognized a few of them and crinkled her nose when she saw Professor Snape. That was the sole professor she didn't like, and seeing him outside of school was worse than inside.

She continued to peer down at them, hoping to identify a few more of them before realizing that a flesh-coloured string was hovering in front of her. She and the other three looked up to the landing just above them, to see that Fred and George were attempting to use their Extendable Ear.

Unluckily for them, the witches and wizards then chose that moment to exit through the front door, leaving nothing for the twins to listen in on.

"Dammit," Fred whispered, his voice barely discernible from the height he was at.

"Snape never eats here," Ron murmured to them. "Thank God. C'mon."

"And don't forget to keep your voice down in the hall, Harry," Liliana warned. She had earned her fair share of consequence from the time she had visited.

Quietly, they crept down the stairs, avoiding looking at the house-elf heads that were mounted on the wall. It wasn't long until they could see Mrs. Weasley, Remus, and Tonks at the front door, the three of them using their wands to lock the door.

"We're eating down in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley said in a hushed voice as they got to the bottom of the stairs. "Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall, it's through this door here—"

Mrs. Weasley was then cut off by a loud crash.

"Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she whipped around.

"I'm sorry!" Tonks cried out, now on the floor. A large leg that seemed to belong to a troll lay right next to her, seeming to be the cause of the harsh noise. "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over—"

But her apologies soon were inaudible as a loud screech echoed through the home. The portrait of Mrs. Black wailed, the velvet curtains that had been hiding her now drawn apart. The screaming from the pale woman woke the other portraits that were near, and they only joined in on the howling.

"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, be gone from this place! How dare you be foul the house of my fathers—"

As Tonks continued to apologize, and Mrs. Weasley had begun to stun the screaming portraits, a man dashed through the door. His long, black hair shielded his face from view as he marched up to the woman's portrait with fury painted across his face.

"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut up!"

The woman's already pale face became whiter in colour as she noticed the man and she wailed, "Yoooou! Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"