Tag, You're It

The little white cloud that cried

He told me he was very lonesome

And no one cared if he lived or died

“Traitor! Filth! You are not worthy to bear the name of Black!” Walburga heard the voice of her mother echoing through the hallway “You disgrace our bloodline! You consort with faggots and mudbloods!”

Walburga reached up to cover her ears. She was sitting at the staircase because she had been on the way to leave for Diagon Alley with her family but yet another thing she had been looking forward to was interrupted by her family’s constant fighting.

“You are nothing but a bitter, old bitch, clinging to your outdated beliefs. This family is dead to me!” Even through her covered ears she could hear her brother shouting at their mother.

 Silence. There was no shouting anymore so she slowly lifted her hands from her ears. A terrible mistake.

“Crucio!” she could hear the pure hatred in her mother’s voice and pure pain in her brother’s scream a moment later. She couldn’t only hear the Pain; she could feel it. Oh, how many times her mother had used that curse on her. And how many times had Alphard helped her. A tear ran down her cheek. She couldn’t do the same for him right now. She was too scared.

A few moments later the screams stopped. Alphard stepped out of the room, he got tortured in and Walburga let out a breath she didn’t knew she held in. Her brother didn’t say anything, he just looked at her for a little longer than usual before he left the house. Deep down she knew that he wouldn’t come back but she didn’t dare to let these thoughts come to the surface. Without him she was practically dead. He was the only one in this family who cared about her. Who protected her. Merlin, she was grateful to finally go to Hogwarts soon. Away from this house.

She heard footsteps and looked downstairs into the hallway where she met her mother’s eyes. Walburga immediately wiped away her tears. One of the things her mother had painfully planted into her head was to never show emotions.

“Hurry up. Your father and Cygnus are already waiting”, her mother spoke in a sharp tone, acting like nothing has happened.

Walburga nodded and jumped up, going to the fireplace in the dining hall where her father and her younger brother were standing. Her father looked already impatient so she immediately put on her coat and watched as her father left the house through the floo system. She walked into the fireplace after her brother.

“Diagon Alley” Walburga threw the powder to the ground and seconds later she found herself in a lively Alley next to her brother and father, her mother arrived shortly after.

Walburga’s gaze wandered over the long street, filled with all kinds of wizards and witches and multiple stores. From the background she already heard her mother complaining about the mudblood’s being allowed to be here.

They spend the next hour buying everything that was on the list that came with her Hogwarts letter. Of course, they bought the most expensive stuff from everything but the only thing she really cared about was her wand.  11”, Walnut, Dragon Heartstring. Dark wood but it got lighter at the handle and ended with a small button. It was held simple but she immediately fell in love with it or more with the thought that this wand was the only thing that could help her when she got tortured by her parents now that Alphard was gone.

“We have to pay Burgin and Burkes a visit. Your father has ordered something”, her mother explained to Walburga and Cygnus.

Walburga immediately felt a chill running down her spine. She knew that Burgin and Barkes was in Knockturn Alley. Alphard had told her many horror stories about this place and about all the dark creatures you could meet there. Werewolves, Vampires and mostly Dark Wizards and Witches. Cygnus next to her looked more excited about the whole thing. He was always the one that met their parents’ expectations the most. What a pity for her family that he wasn’t the oldest.

They all walked further down until there was a turn to the left with a sign saying ‘Knockturn Alley’ . After a short walk they ended up in a street, structured similar like the Diagon Alley but Walburga could immediately sense that there is something dark about it. The people running around here looked either evil or insane. Walburga did her best to keep her gaze down but she accidentally made eye contact with a witch who showed her a row of yellow rotten teeth as she grinned at her. She quickly caught up with her parents and Cygnus.

The visit in Burgin & Burkes didn’t take all too long. Her father bought an ancient ring, probably something cursed. Walburga was just glad that she could finally leave this shop and this Alley but as she walked out of that door she bumped into a young boy. He had light brown, messy hair and his clothes looked like he had bought them from a second-hand shop. Next to him a girl, same age, dark brown eyes and curly hair.

“S-Sorry”, the boy mumbled. He seemed even more out of place here than Walburga herself, not as much as the girl though. They both seemed like they were the same age as her so she assumed they would be in the same year in Hogwarts.

Walburga was just about to reply to his apology as she got dragged away by her mother.

“I recognise a Lupin and a Braithewaite when I see them. Keep away from this filth. Both a disgrace for us purebloods.” Her mother’s grip was hard and firm.

“Yes, mother”, she managed to free herself.

Walburga’s mind still kept wandering to that strange encounter. If they are blood traitors then what by Merlin’s beard were they doing in Knockturn Alley, especially without their parents.

“Maybe these ones at least try to make up for their family’s mistakes. I mean, Knockturn Alley is a great start”, her father said with a low laugh.

“Pollux, these families are hopeless”, Irma Black, her mother, replied.

Walburga hated how disgusted they spoke about other families. Like they were perfect and nothing could ever come close to the House of Black.