˗ˋ 05

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by hvgwcrts

by hvgwcrts

CHAPTER FIVE
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-: the vengeance :-

── IN WHICH THE KILLER
STRIKES AGAIN

. . .

TINA PERKINS DIDN'T GET SCARED. People almost always thought it was weird, seeing as she had been through the Battle of Hogwarts and seen Voldemort in the flesh. That would be enough to scar anyone for life, but Tina just found that she was glad she had seen Voldemort alive, because then she watched him die.

And now, she didn't get scared by anything. Not when she heard a twig crack behind her whilst she was walking through the woods, or when it was dark at night and it seemed like the person behind her was following her until they crossed the roads. She wasn't afraid of heights, she wasn't afraid when a blaze had burnt down her family home, and she wasn't afraid when she found out her parents had died because of it.

That had left her more sad than anything, but not once had she been afraid. It sounded bad, but now her parents had passed away, it allowed her to move on. They had always been protective - but in a more extreme way that she had thought to be normal until she spoke to her friends at Hogwarts.

That school was where she really was allowed to be herself without her parents breathing down her back, and now they couldn't control her every move - in fact they were a little scared of her. Which seemed to be the case with many other muggle-born students whose parents just couldn't understand that their child's magical capabilities wasn't a curse, but a blessing.

And now with her parents dead, Tina could immerse herself further into the wizarding world. She had moved in with her long-term boyfriend, Marcus Flint and his parents, who were all much more welcoming than anyone had expected them to be.

She knew that it had been controversial when their relationship came out in Marcus's last year. He was a Slytherin, the captain on the Quidditch Team and honestly, a bit of an idiot. But considering he had been able to get over his taught prejudice about her blood, he couldn't have been that bad.

Whilst his father wasn't so bothered about her being a muggle-born, his mother ended up being, but Edward and Acnes Flint loved their son, and as soon as the war was over, she was accepted into his family.

At least on Edward and Marcus's behalf. Both parents had been Death Eaters, and Tina knew that was unforgivable - but they had seen the error of their ways, and since then her and Marcus had been living side by side with them, teaching them about the life they had been taught to hate.

Even if Marcus couldn't see it, Tina always had something in the back of her mind reminding her of what they had done. Of the awful things they had committed during the two times that Voldemort had reigned terror - she was so aware with them every second she was in the same house of them, could feel her heart rate speeding up a little when she sat by them on the sofa.

But Tina always wanted to give others a second chance, and whilst she couldn't forget about it, she could always try her hardest to help them become a better person. And that had all started with family dinners on a Friday night.

She was in charge of it that time, and so Tina had decided to go a recipe that her mother used to cook her. And as bitter as her family memories were, she did love Toad in the Hole. Only problem was - Edward and Acnes didn't have half of the ingredients necessary.

Tina hummed to herself as she parked the car, stepping out of the driver's side and heading towards the boot, opening it and extracting the two plastic shopping bags, a muggle brand plastered over the front. Closing it behind her, she clicked the lock on the keys twice and checked the door one last time before moving to push open the front gate.

She made sure the latch was closed behind her before turning towards the front door.

And stopping in her tracks.

It was open - just the slightest crack, but still wide enough to let a long, thin strip of yellow laid out on the flagstones of the front path. Perhaps they had just forgotten to close it - that must have been it, because she could hear the music playing through the door way, a soft classical tune flooding through Tina's senses.

She hurried towards the door, needed to put the bags down as quickly as possible before they split everywhere (muggles really didn't have any sense of how to make a strong bag at all), pulling the small crack open further.

"Hello - I'm home!" Tina called. "You forgot to close the door again Edward, but it's no worries, I've just closed it now." She placed the bags down and turned towards the door, making sure to push it closed for certain, locking the hatch behind it.

Silence echoed in her ears.

"Hello?" Tina repeared, forgetting all about the shopping as she stepped forward. Perhaps the music was too loud for them to hear - it was unlikely, but that was the best bet.

Tina Perkins didn't get scared, but as she turned the corner into the living room and saw the usually pristine carpet stained with red, and the two slumped bodies by the fire place, she felt her heart thunder in her ears as she stared down at them.

Somehow, this was more horrifying than anything she had ever been before, and feeling sick rising in her stomach, Tina ran forward, hands instantly soaked in the deep red liquid as she tried to find a pulse, moving from neck to neck, down to her wrist and then his.

There was none, but she would desperately search for one.

Above her, a figure clad in black clung to the ceiling, landing nimbly on her feet as Tina remained distracted. With a single, gloved finger she wrote a message in a blood, just three letters.

And then, she left through the front door.

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