𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐓| 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲

𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍|𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘

 
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  THEY WERE ON THE RUN. They were always on the run. Seven often wondered if she'd been born running. Her impermanence was permanent.
  Seven couldn't imagine a life settled in one place, she didn't even know where she would stay if she could — the Lust District maybe?

At this point they'd been travelling for three days, on foot to the Greed/Gluttony border, where they'd caught a ride across the barren farming district in the back of a truck carrying more spices than Seven even knew existed. The two refugees had had to hide amongst the burlap sacks as they'd crossed the border from Gluttony into Greed, not wanting to risk being caught — but much to their luck the truck was stopped and ID'd by the Crawlers but not searched.

  Seven closed her eyes, pretending that brief flashes of light from the flickering oil lamp was the blaring of scarlet strobe lights from her favourite bar in Lust. If she closed her eyes hard enough, she could almost taste the liquor on her tongue amidst the overbearing scent of spice.

When she opened her eyes again Draco was staring at her. "What?" She scowled and he smirked, "Nothing."

The truck slowed to a halt, Draco stood at once, "Time to go Sleeping Beauty — grab your stuff."

The truck doors swung open, and Seven instinctively shielded her eyes from the harsh glare of the streetlights as she snapped back, "I wasn't sleeping."

Seven grabbed her bag and jumped out after Draco. For a brief moment his hand brushed hers as they both turned in unison to shut the doors.

Draco jerked away as if scolded by her touch but recovered it quickly as he handed a bag of golden galleons to the driver with a mutual nod before turning back to her, "Yeah, yeah — whatever you say Princess."

The nickname made Seven's chest tighten. "Don't call me that." Then something caught her eye; the greying horizon. " — Where exactly are we?"

The spice truck roared to life, taking off down the road and clattering as it collided with the potholes. The scent of smoke burned their lungs and Draco held out an arm as if inviting her forwards. "Welcome to the Sloth District."

  The sky was dark but not black; instead grey and miserable. Seven could not tell the time through the thick smog that cloaked the air, as there was no sun to be seen.

  She'd been to the Sloth District many times, even lived there for a short period not long after the war. Though she'd never been to this end before. Sloth had been where almost all the rebels had gone to hide, due to its dense population and vast cityscape. Nobody would ever be found here, and there in lay Seven's issue.

  Reaching into her back, she pulled out the now heavily crumpled poster she'd taken from the Lust District weeks ago, and attempted to smooth out some of the wrinkles against her thigh before holding it up for Draco to see.

  A pale faced boy stared back at them through watery-blue eyes, red hair appearing faded by time in the dim light of the poster.

  "Ronald Billius Weasley." Seven read aloud before looking up at her partner. "So where do we find him?"

  She watched Draco's throat bob as he swallowed before saying, "I think I know where to start."

  They walked for what seemed like hours before they reached what had originally caught Seven's eye on the skyline.

Huge factory columns stretched from the ugly square buildings, expelling billows of black smoke into the sky. The closer they got the more Seven felt the urge to cover her nose with her sleeve to escape the overwhelming scent of fumes.