dursley [h. g.]

••dursley•• || the burrow

It had been a long time since Kendra had spent Christmas with her family. Even before she went to Hogwarts, she was far too often too sick to be included in whatever her family did. She always spent whatever time and energy she had making sure that Harry wasn't being treated like vermin by her parents and brother. But for the past two years, she had spent Christmas with the Weasleys, and though the circumstances were a little different the last time, it was one of the best experiences of her life.

Mrs. Weasley gave her a nearly bone-splintering hug as soon as she saw Kendra. "Oh, Kendra dear, you're as thin as a stick," Mrs. Weasley assessed as she pulled away. She looked Kendra up and down with narrowed eyes before the back of her hand rested on Kendra's forehead, as though she was checking for a fever. "Have you been taking care of yourself?"

Kendra shrugged slightly, embarrassed by Mrs. Weasley's mollycoddling. "As much as I can Mrs. Weasley," she said politely. Mrs. Weasley did not buy that answer at all but moved on to berate Harry for having grown another half-inch while they were away at school. Kendra stepped away, moving further into the house.

Remus was sitting in one of the chairs in the living room, looking more worn and tired than Kendra had ever seen him. Tentatively, she took a seat next to him. He offered her a tired smile. "Hello, Kendra. Have you had a good year so far?" He asked, taking a sip from the drink in his hand. Kendra shrugged again, not really sure how to answer the question.

"It's been hard to focus on school with everything going on, you know?" she sighed, settling into the chair. She had never been particularly close with Remus, but he was also all she had left of Sirius, in many ways. "Not to mention it's never quiet with that one around." Kendra jerked her head in Harry's direction. Remus nodded, not needing any more explanation to understand.

"I can see how that would happen," Remus said dryly. Kendra chuckled under her breath. A moment of silence passed between the two as Kendra's thoughts settled.

"Say, Remus, that hypothetically, you knew someone who was an idiotic, self-sacrificial, heroic kind of person that was planning to do something stupid to keep someone safe. How... how would you stop them?" Kendra asked, not sure who exactly she was asking for. She knew too many idiotic, self-sacrificial, heroic people who would do stupid things to protect the people they loved. Not to mention that some people would probably fit her into that category if they knew what she was going to do.

Remus' eyes turned sad and he took another sip of his drink as he struggled to put the thoughts into words. "I don't know that I'm the right person to ask that sort of thing."

Kendra bit her lip slightly. "I don't know who else to ask... I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Remus sighed. "I knew a lot of people like that," he said wistfully, his eyes far away from the Burrow's living room. "James was like that, especially with his family. Even though he was in hiding when he died, he still managed to try and stops Voldemort without a wand."

Kendra had to swallow the lump in her throat. "Do you ever wonder if they can be stopped?"

A shadow passed over Remus' face. "If I knew the answer to that, I don't think Sirius would be dead."

Kendra felt sick to her stomach and she regretted asking it. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

Remus shook his head. "My whole life, I ran away from things. From being a werewolf, from the less than great decisions I made with my friends, from what I felt for Sirius. It took me almost 20 years to admit that I was in love with him, to stop running away from him. He wouldn't want me to run away from his death, either," Remus sighed heavily. He looked ten years older in that moment. His facial expression changed as Harry moved his conversation with Mr. Weasley to the sofa next to Remus and Kendra. Kendra offered Remus a tired smile, leaving the conversation. She didn't want to fight Harry about Draco Malfoy right now.

It was dark outside in what had seemed like moments. In reality, hours had passed, filled with eating and lighthearted discussion, the topic of the war almost entirely avoided. Kendra was full, and tired, ready to go to sleep after a long day. However, that was not what fate intended.

She smelled the smoke before she saw the flames. The smell of burning, dry grass burned her throat and eyes. Panic welled in her chest as her eyes turned to the window and she saw the amber flames circling the house.

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley' voice snapped Kendra out of her daze and she was rushing outside of the house, beaten outside by only Harry.

That was when she saw the black trails of smoke, too perfect to come from the fire, landing amongst the field. There was no mistake who had caused the fire. This was an attack by Death Eaters.

A familiar cackle rang out through the field. Kendra froze as Harry ran off into the tall grass, searching for Bellatrix Lestrange. But Kendra was no longer in the field. She was in the basement once more, and it was not the house burning, it was her. The laugh echoed through the field again.

"I killed Sirius Black!" Bellatrix taunted. Suddenly, it was not fear bubbling in Kendra.

It was anger. It washed over her like a cold bucket of ice and the burning was no longer pain, it was the fire that was fueling her anger. Kendra pulled her wand out. She was not going to run away from her fear anymore, her past. She was going to fight it, head on.

'Not alone, you won't.' Morgana's voice had always been so motherly, teasing, occasionally annoying to Kendra. In that moment, she was reminded of who Morgana really was, and what kind of power she really held.

'Not alone,' Kendra echoed back, and satisfaction bubbled in her stomach, a smile spreading across her face as she charged into the grass fields.

Together, they were going to get her revenge.

a/n: pls ignore that I haven't posted in like 2 weeks October decided that it was going to hate me 😀 but I am so excited for the next few chapters in this book (and also the next book like oh my god I love my idea for Deathly Hallows so much)

im probably gonna update again soon because we need the Kendra+morgana battle duo that has been being built up to for literally so long

ok meme (by me once more) now I'll shut up and get back to writing

if I've used this meme before ♥️ no I didn't