EXIT

17. NIGHT BLACK

17. NIGHT BLACK

The days leading up to Ginny's birthday party flow by in a stream of good and bad news, as well as scenes that are both enthralling and disturbing.

The Resistance manages to capture two more Exit candidates. Ultimately, Adrian Pucey is the first Death Eater to fall victim to the procedure while in rebel custody. When Potter informs me that Lovegood failed to remove Pucey's Dark Mark, I realize I don't feel sorry for him, but rather for her.

At some point I give in to the inner urge and visit Lovegood in the trauma room. She's pale and looks like she hasn't slept in days. I try to encourage her, reminding her of the advice I gave her a few weeks ago and even bringing myself to put a hand on her shoulder, but she remains silent, thoughtful, and so bloody sad that I leave her alone after a few minutes of useless monologue.

It annoys me that Lovegood, of all good people, was chosen for the task. And once again, I feel the fist of guilt clench around my heart, after all I was instrumental in putting her in this predicament in the first place. I wish I could somehow lift the burden from her shoulders.

The second person (who surrendered almost ruefully, as Blaise confides to me over lunch) is Daphne Greengrass. This is fantastic news for a change because, unlike Adrian Pucey, Daphne survived the Exit.

I'm relieved for three reasons.

Firstly, because Daphne has always had excellent contacts within the Dark Lord's inner circle thanks to her arranged marriage to Mulciber Junior, which will surely benefit us when we interrogate her. Secondly, because, as I also know from Blaise, Daphne will be reunited with her sister after the interrogations, which actually warms my little, black heart. And thirdly, because Daphne's quasi-staggering straight into the arms of a Resistance fighter makes me suspect that rumors about the possibility of defection are slowly but surely spreading among the Death Eaters.

The latter is a substantial progress. Once they understand that as long as they surrender to the Resistance with good intentions, they have to fear neither torture nor death, we will no longer need to capture test subjects. With a bit of luck, they'll soon come voluntarily.

My guess is that Daphne just had nothing left to lose, after all Blaise killed Mulciber Junior during our attack on the Sheffield safe house. Without her husband and especially her sister, there was probably no reason for her to stay with the Death Eaters any longer. She, too, did not have the opportunity to choose her side at the beginning of this war, so she did not serve the Dark Lord out of conviction either. It seems that the prospect of seeing her sister alive was the main reason Daphne allowed herself to be captured without putting up a fight.

Ergo, we have to hope there are more Daphnes out there.

And maybe I was wrong. Maybe the fact that my cover was blown isn't the worst thing that could have happened to us after all.

I should tell Potter to show the other surviving Exit candidates on the frontline as well, once he's confident he can trust them. That would be an excellent message; a bold move the Dark Lord certainly doesn't expect.

***

The equally enthralling and disturbing scenes befall a day later, on Wednesday, and thus two days before Ginny's party.

Blaise is on watch duty, so I make my way to the workout room in the company of a constantly babbling Creevey. Ever since he heard there was a birthday party coming up, he's been so bubbly I can't decide if I still find him amusing or just plain exhausting.

"May I ask you something?" his voice rings out as we enter the workout room one after the other.

He's excitedly jumping up and down.