The fact became quickly evident to the group as they made their way around the mansion, leaving Scorpius tied to the chair and Rose trailing reluctantly in their wake.
They checked all the fireplaces. At each mantle, the small dish that normally contained the silvery powder had been magically emptied. Not a pinch remained.
They asked each other if they had brought any in their luggage, but no one had. The Floos were only supposed to be local ones to other parts of the mostly uninhabited island, so no one had bothered to pack any. At one point, Hugo had even tried Apparating, just to make sure it wouldn’t work.
“There’s always the chance that there is a boat down at the dock,” Lysander suggested to the group as they stood around the sitting room fireplace hopelessly.
He heard a murmur of agreement, even an excited “Yeah” from Hugo, who was trying harder than all the others to remain optimistic.
“Well,” Teddy practically groaned, rubbing his face tiredly with his hands,”it’s definitely worth looking into, but I don’t think we should go looking in the middle of the night. Let’s wait for daybreak.”
“What do we do until then?” Dominique asked from where she sat on the sofa next to Victoire.
“I say…we try and get some sleep. We’ll put up some defensive spells around the room, and Hugo, Dex, and I will take turns at keeping watch,” Teddy explained.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Victoire sighed, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.
“Yeah,” Dom seconded, “I just hope I can sleep.” Dom shook her head. Everytime she blinked, she was haunted by the images of Molly and the scenes of horror she had seen that day; she had a hard time imagining any kind of sleep considering her level of anxiety at the moment. But her body screamed at her to rest. Sleep was, at least, worth a shot.
There was more murmuring, and Dom had the distinct impression that she wasnt the only one who felt that way.
Rose looked toward the doorway, that Hugo was currently enchanting to instantly repair itself. “What about Scorpius?” she inquired timidly. He was still locked into the dining room.
Everyone paused, and looked at anything except Rose and Teddy.
Teddy sighed. “If were all still alive in the morning, then we think about what to do with Malfoy.”
“And what if he isn’t alive in the morning?” Rose pressed on, her breath hitching in her throat. With as tired as she was, the thought of Scorpius left tied up and vulnerable made her dizzy and she felt about ready to collapse.
Like before, Teddy made no response except to stare icily before turning away to help Hugo put up defensive spells.
Rose couldn’t stop herself as she quietly began to sob, he legs giving out from under her as she slowly lowered herself to the rug. Everytime Teddy looked or spoke to her, Rose felt like she was a criminal—condemned for loving the wrong person. It didn’t matter what argument she made; this wasn’t kind, patient Teddy who she had always admired, but Teddy the Auror. He was the law, and she was the outcast. And at the moment, Rose no longer had the strength to fight back against her entire family.
What was she supposed to think anyway?
She wanted Scorpius to be let free, but that would mean harm would have to come to one of her remaining family members while he sat tied up in the other room. And if no one died during the night, then that would prove to the others that Scorpius was the murderer, even as highly implausible as it was. No, Rose didn’t know what to think. She didn’t want harm to come to her family as much as she wanted Scorpius’s innoncence to be proven. Left with no options and far too tired to deal with any of the horrific things she had seen that day, Rose simply chose to lay still upon the rug and weep.
“Rose,” Hugo called quietly to his sister. Gently, he reached down and shook her shoulder.
She looked up at him through bleary, swollen eyes.
“Come on,” Hugo whispered, “there’s a sofa over there.”
Dominique watched as Hugo helped his sister to her feet and over to the sofa, sitting down on the floor next to her, life a dutiful sentinel. Rose talked to him quietly, though Hugo’s head began to nod, giving Dominique the distinct impression that Hugo was too exhausted to listen to Rose no matter how he tried.
Dom wondered briefly what Rose was saying to Hugo before her blue eyes scanned the room, taking in the silouhettes of her companions. Dex sat with his back against the wall as he attempted to sleep, but ended up watching Lysander pacing nervously around the room. They had placed a still unconscious Albus on the sofa that she and Victoire had made their bed of conjured blankets under. Victoire lay on her side facing away from her sister, hey eyes fast on Teddy, who sat rigidly in a chair facing the door.
“Vic,” Dom called out to her.
“Hmm,” was the reply.
“Do you really think it’s Scorpius whose doing this?” She asked in French.
“Teddy thinks so.”
“But, do you?” Dominique pressed critically.
Victoire sighed and rolled over onto her back, still not making eye contact with her sister. “It makes more sense to suspect Scorpius,” she began, carefully articulating her French to make up for the low volume of her voice, “than to think its one of us or Dexter doing this.”
Dominique contemplated her sister’s statement quietly. “Ceci n'a pas de sens.”
None of this makes sense.
“That’s for sure,” Victoire sighed heavily in English before falling quiet once again. Dominique had just began to think her sister had fallen asleep when she spoke again in their mother’s language. “I’m worried about Louis,” Victoire stated, her voice choked with anxiety. “I’m supposed to be getting married in the morning, and instead of stressing over tablecloths or something, I’m worried that more of my family will be murdered as we sleep—that my baby brother may already be dead, that me or my fiance or you, Dom, could be next. And I’m worried, because I don’t know how well I can trust anybody anymore—except for Teddy—because just a few hours ago, I learned that my little sister is a murderer. So, yes…absolutely yes…none of this makes any sense at all.”
Victoire’s words hung in the air surrounding Dom and sank into her consciousness. She bit back the urge to cry.
“I’m so sorry for what happ—for what I did to Molly, and how that must make you feel, Vic. And I know I don’t deserve your—”
“T'es ma soeur, Dominique,” Victoire stated bluntly, the crisp words ringing with finality.
You’re my sister.
Victoire ended the conversation and rolled back onto her side, presumably to sleep, though Dom had the distinct impression Victoire was watching Teddy again.
Dominique stayed awake mulling over the conversation with her sister late into the night. She watched the shadows inch across the walls, as her mind faught against the exhaustion that tugged on her body.
Murderer.
The word bounced around inside her head, and seemed to be cast upon the walls in shadow, in blood…Molly’s blood, Molly’s shadow. Molly’s shadow creeped across the walls and floors. It fell over Dom’s companions and consumed them. And, it was coming for her next. Molly was coming, with sopping red hair that fell in clumps from her gray, withered flesh. And she smiled from behind sunken eyes as she reached out towards Dominique and croaked the name of her murderer, her best friend and her cousin…
“Hugo.”
Teddy’s hushed voice cut through the silent room, causing Dominique to jerk awake and erasing all signs of Molly. She must have been having a nightmare.
“Hugo,” Teddy repeated, shaking the younger man awake. “It’s your watch.”
“Wha—” Hugo replied groggily, rubbing his eyes. “Oh, right.”
Dominique heard her cousin shuffle to his post before she fell back into a dreamless sleep.
“Vic?”
Hugo shifted in his sleep, turning his face away from the sunlight that filtered in through the windows.
“Vic!”
His eyes flew open as the voice that was speaking rose to a panicked cry, and other voices began to groggily ask what was happening. He noticed he was still sitting in the chair facing the doorway.
“Victoire!” Dominique shrieked, thrashing around at the blankets that she had shared with her sister, as though Victoire had shrunk and disappeared within them.
“Dom! Dom!” Hugo heard Teddy shout, “Where is she?”
“I-I don’t know! She was here,” Dominique sobbed, “She was just here when we went to sleep.”
“Hugo!”
Suddenly, a stricken Teddy was right in front of Hugo, his face pulled in anguish as he shouted at Hugo. “Did you see anything? Anyone?”
Hugo shrunk back into his seat as the full realization of what he had done and what he had allowed to happen hit him.
“No-no…I must have fallen asleep.”
Teddy’s eyes very nearly bugged from his head as fury, disappointment, and worry paralyzed him. To Hugo, it looked as though the older man was on the verge of breaking down as he pulled at his hair and groaned, “Oh my god!”
Hugo would have given anything to keep that look from having ever crossed Teddy’s face. He leaned forward in his chair with a futile apology on his lips, but was stopped by the crunch of paper in his pocket. Looking down, Hugo saw a letter, like those they had received earlier, sticking out of his trouser pocket. Astonished, he pulled it out slowly.
“What’s that?” Teddy gaped, snatching the paper out of Hugo’s hand and tearing open the seal.
“Another letter!” Dom shouted as she scrambled to her feet and joined Lysander and Dex as they rushed towards Teddy. “What does it say?” She asked frantically.
Teddy’s brow furrowed as he read the one word aloud.
“Oblivious.”
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! What's going on with Victoire?
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