WHEN WE WERE YOUNG : marauders era

37. mr. sallington

The chandelier hung from the ceiling, silver entwined into intricate designs, shining in the dark and illuminating the huge but empty living room.

The fireplace bare and the ability to provide warmth long gone, the place appeared damp and cold. Christmas was approaching, no doubt, and yet no movement could be sensed within the Vasilios Mansion.

Silence conquered every part of the mansion, except a room to the left from where voices travelled out of a tiny gap in the door.

"How is she doing, Mr. Sallington?" Mr. Vasilios asked anxiously, too afraid to hear the answer.

The healer from St. Mungo's, a young man with tidy blonde hair, gave it some thought before answering-

"Ethan, I'll be completely honest with yeh. She seems ter be okay fer now, but tha' doesn't necessarily mean she's goin' ter survive. Her condition's still the same as before, if not worse, an' it's only a matter o' time..." he trailed off, shaking his head.

Healers in wizard society were not used to saying things like this. Of course, there were illnesses such as the dragon pox that they didn't have the cure for yet.

But they had never before encountered a sickness caused by the cruciatus curse.

It had been a bad time for the Vasilios family. A terrible time.

And although fortunately, the use of the cruciatus curse hadn't been excessively prolonged, due to which there was no mental damage, Mrs. Vasilios' body had been terribly weakened.

So weakened in fact - and the healers presumed it may also additionally be due to earlier physical weakness - that now even about a year after the attack, she lay in bed, under the covers battling with her life.

Mareena and Juliana remained on either side of their mother, holding each of her hands as her breaths came in quick gasps.

"H-how much time does she have left?" Ethan finally asked the question he'd been dreading for a long time.

The healer looked at the sick woman and replied with a sigh, "No idea. It's pretty unpredictable, yeh see."

The two girls looked at each other over their mother's body and then back at their father, who was now pacing the room in frustration.

The healer soon left after giving them a couple more potions to help their mother sleep peacefully.

"E-Ethan," their mother's weak voice took them out of their reverie and their father stopped pacing immediately and hurried towards her. Mareena quickly got off from her chair to allow her father to sit beside their mother.

"Honey," she spoke again, her voice weakened as she took her husband's hand. "I'm - I'm still here. Don't lose hope just yet."

Their father swallowed hard and kissed her hand, unable to say anything.

Juliana stared at her mother with tear-filled eyes as she thought about the possibility of losing her. Her mother looked at her and smiled weakly, as she wiped away her tears with a gentle touch.

Mareena, meanwhile, stayed by the window, staring out at their garden where butterflies and birds fluttered without a care in the world. Her heart ached with every passing second.

Their mother had always been optimistic about everything. No matter how much hardship she had to endure, at work or at home, she always had a smile on her face. She was a ray of sunshine to everyone who knew her.

"I think I'd like a nap now," their mother stated with a smile, trying to brighten the mood. "I guess it's potion-time?"

Mareena nodded and headed quickly to the table in the corner of the room and poured out a goblet of blood-red potion the healer had left.

Ever since they had been discharged from St. Mungo's, Mareena had taken it upon herself to manage everything for her mother, from giving her the right amount of potion at the right time to bringing and feeding her food.

Curtis and Juliana had insisted on helping her; in fact Curtis was almost furious as he believed it was his duty as the family butler. But she had declined it, saying she enjoyed doing it and it was a very simple job anyway.

But deep down, she knew it was more than that.

She had been very young when the attack had happened, but she had still learned a few good enough spells from her father to have been able to defend herself that day.

But she had failed.

She knew it was a silly reason; after all no one could expect a small child to stand a chance against trained dark witches and wizards.

But she had never been able to shake off that lingering guilt.

She felt responsible for everything her mother was going through and often wished it had been her who had been tortured more. That way her mother might have been safe.

Her mother soon drifted off to sleep as the potion began doing its job.

The two girls had sent their friends a letter earlier that morning, explaining their sudden departure and wishing them a happy Christmas in advance, seeing as they may not be able to meet until classes started again.

The two girls stayed by their mother's side all day, leaving only when Curtis called for dinner.

It was difficult to watch their mother suffer so much; she would wake up several times during the day, coughing up blood and losing her breath. Her health had surely worsened since the last time they had seen her.

But they knew they must have hope as that was what their mother would have done. It was the only way they could survive this hell.

* * *

As the healer crossed the walls of the mansion, he headed towards the woods where he was joined by a hooded-figure.

"It's been a while," it said in a low voice. "How's the plan going?"

"Quite successful, I should say," the healer replied with a smirk. "They'll probably be feeding her the potion at this very moment."

The hooded man patted the healer on the shoulder as he let out a husky laugh. "Great. Who'd have known that all this time, the potion was the real reason behind the painful suffering of the Great Ethan Vasilios' wife?"

The healer laughed along. Except, he wasn't the healer anymore. He now resembled a tall man with dark matted black hair and droopy eyes.

"The potion's worn off," the hooded man pointed out.

"About time."

"Well," the hooded man continued as he leaned on the bark of a tree. "It serves them right," he said bitterly. "After sending our brothers and sister to Azkaban, did they really believe we'd leave them in peace?! SCREW THEIR WHOLE FAMILY!"

"Woah! Calm down brother. The time's approaching. Poor Mr. Vasilios will soon get a taste of his own medicine."

"Right."