Year/Job
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor
I had been lost to you, sunlight. And flew like a moth to you, sunlight. |
Animagus
|
Post by Iola Walker on Jan 24, 2024 21:04:12 GMT -8
The wooden door creaked ominously as it was pushed ajar by a rather striking brunette. The room was dark and musty, with a thin layer of dust settled on the furniture. A Slytherin banner hung on the wall, the curtains were pulled shut and the bed was made. Iola stepped inside, flipping on the light to find the bulb had burned out. Probably long ago, Valerian didn’t like muggle contraptions. With a flick of her wand, the curtains pulled themselves open, washing the room in dim sunlight. It was enough to see, at least. She moved further into the room, her hand brushing along the wood of the dresser. Annie said he’d already searched for Val, and came up empty handed. She knew it would be foolish to try and hunt him down, but she couldn’t take it anymore - she needed to know for sure.
Starting with the drawers, she rifled through them looking for something, anything, that would explain all of this. There was nothing but old clothes and knick-knacks in here. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she moved to the other dresser and continued searching. There had to be something. He didn’t just come back before the attack for tea and biscuits. Perhaps he hid something in here for the family to find, some kind of warning or maybe a letter stating where he was going. Though she knew it was unlikely, part of her was still holding out hope that he wasn’t the monster who betrayed his family.
He betrayed her, too. Spent so long trying to stop her from getting that bloody tattoo and for what? To protect her, save her from his fate? Or was it because he didn’t want to share in the glory of being connected to Lord Voldemort? Iola stood in the middle of the room, her chest heaving as she breathed in the stale air. A band tightened almost painfully around her heart, squeezing with each passing moment. If he were trying to protect his family, then why? Why stay with them? After everything that happened? Her gut twisted and white hot anger bubbled up inside her. How could he?
Taking in a shuddering breath, she moved to the other side of the room to keep searching. She aimed to ask him herself when she found him. Iola searched the cushions on the loveseat, nothing. She searched under the bed, nothing. The dresser again, the desk, behind the bed, behind the loveseat, behind the fucking curtains. Nothing. There was no trace of him. Her hand gripped the curtain, pulling it further back so she could look outside. There she saw Annie, wand raised as he reinforced the protective charms and barriers around the estate. She thought of the night he told her - Valerian had remained a Death Eater, actively, while she ran. As soon as she heard what had happened here, she ran as far as her feet could carry her. But he didn’t. He stayed where he was.
She ran for years before trying to settle down, assuming the Death Eaters had lost interest in one runaway. How wrong she’d turn out to be. They never forgot and they never forgave. Not only had they found her, but they murdered a muggle who claimed her heart as his. More lives lost because of her. Because of them. And he stayed with them… for months after their entire family was destroyed. Tears flooded her eyes, blurring her vision.
Then there was Lilith and the battle where she nearly lost her life. Her identity exposed, her animagus form discovered and her pride wounded. Out of all the Death Eaters, Lilith had to be the one. The witch will never stop hunting her. More lives she’s put at risk, all for her family.
All this pain she went through, the suffering, the death, the running, all of it she went through for her family. Her real family. The Bakkes were nothing but a dying name. It didn’t even matter to her anymore. None of it did. Why she even thought she needed to become some Death Eater to find her place in the world is beyond her. Everything that mattered to her was here in these walls. But that obviously didn’t matter to Valerian anymore.
That white hot anger returned with a vengeance, burning her up from the inside out. All those years of agony came flooding back and with a shriek she tore down the curtains, the rod breaking under the force of her pull. Iola stood there a moment, huffing with tears streaming down her face but it wasn’t enough. It only stoked the flames of fury inside her and they wouldn’t be cooled until she tore the room down to the last fucking nail. With another shout she swiped the books, the letters, the trinkets all of it off the desk and they clattered on the floor, the noise ringing in her ears. It still wasn’t enough. She pulled out the drawers, throwing them across the room one by one, crashing on the wall. “YOU FUCKING COWARD!” She screamed, that gaping hole inside her aching unbearably. Hot tears poured from her eyes and she didn’t bother wiping them away.
Striding over to the dresser, Iola began to pull and throw more drawers, clothes flying everywhere and covering the floor. Dust kicked up with her efforts, but she didn’t care - she already couldn’t breathe. With no more drawers to throw, she turned around, her chest still heaving before a flash of green caught her eye. The Slytherin banner was before her, staring back at her tauntingly. Years ago she was proud to call herself Slytherin; felt it was her birthright as a Bakke to be part of such a prestigious house. Back when she desperately wanted to be a Death Eater, before she truly knew herself. Her jaw set and fists clenched, Iola moved to tear the bloody thing off the wall, throwing it on the ground and stomping on it.
By this time, Annie had already made it to the room after hearing her scream. His bright eyes took in the damage to the room before landing on Iola, standing over the banner, surrounded by chaos with tears streaming steadily down her face. They gazed at each other for a brief moment before Iola’s knees buckled and she fell to the floor. Lividity turned to sadness in the blink of an eye and she felt empty. It was then that Iola began to cry in earnest, sobs racking her body and Annie moved to sit beside her. She clung to him as soon as he sat down, her howling filling the silence. “There’s nothing,” she got out in between her tears. “There’s nothing…” He held her against his chest, hand trailing up and down her back as she wept on his shoulder. Annie didn’t speak, but he didn’t need to. He never did, not when it came to Iola. Instead he sat there with his arm around her in silent solidarity as she let go of all the pain and anger inside her. Valerian was gone, but Annie was right here with her. This family may never be whole again, but they were still together. That’s the one thing keeping her from losing her mind. That and the comforting feeling of her brother’s arm around her. As long as she had him, she’d be alright.
|
|