Squib - In the Noble House of Black

24- Want Her Back

July 19th, 1978

Violet never made it to lunch the next day. In fact she didn't make it the next day.

Maia had fallen asleep during the time spent in her bed after her discussion with Iola. The incident had happened only an hour after the sun went down. Remus was the one on the phone telling her where to meet them.

Them happened to be Remus, Marlene and Kingsley. Kingsley was the head auror on the case, but Remus and Marlene had been order members nearby called onto the case. The street was closed when Maia got there, and there were surprisingly few people around. She guessed it was due to the muggle repelling charms they must have put up to keep prying eyes away.

"Maia!" She heard Remus call, "Kingsley and Marlene are over here, apparently there was a murder."

"Murder?"

"A muggle, I haven't seen it yet, but be prepared."

The two of them walked to where they saw their two friends. Kingsley held his wand up casting what appeared to be an obscuring spell. Marlene looked up to catch Maia and Remus' eyes. Her face was grave with heavy eyes. She nodded to them once, before turning back.

Kingsley was the first to speak when they approached. "The spell I cast, obscures the sight from the muggles outside. We'll enter, we will gather details, and I'll report back to Dumbledore. Understood?"

The three new order of the phoenix members nodded. When they joined, they knew they were getting into a war. Remus had seen people die and Maia had injured death eaters to the point they couldn't apparate. Maia didn't know what Marlene had seen.

They stepped into the bubble and the incident appeared.

The sight was not for the faint of heart. There was one girl, the muggle, slumped up against a car in the middle of the road. The car was dented, likely from the impact of her body against it. Crimson blood pooled around her body like she was bathing in it. The back of her head was split open to where there was not only liquid oozing, but parts of her brain spilled down the side. Most of the blood was dried and crusted to her body, matting her hair. Her eyes were still open, mouth gaped and face in a final look of shock and fear permanently sketched.

That face. Maia knows that face. She knew it intimately, and now she was staring at the dead body of the girl she once loved.

Violet. Violet was supposed to meet her at the bakery tomorrow. She wasn't supposed to be here, brains spilling out onto the road.

Dead. She was dead and there was nothing Maia could do. Nothing she did had saved her, she was doomed the moment they had an attachment.

Those were her three thoughts, one after another. She must've said something because Marlene was at her side, practically holding her up. Kingsley was trying to talk to her and from the corner of her eye, she saw Remus looking at the opposite of the scene.

"Violet," Was the first word ripped from her throat.

"You know her?!" Marlene said, shocked.

"Violet?" Kingsley cocked his head to the side. He'd been there, he knew her too. He was after all the one to erase her memories. "The girl, at the cafe..." He trailed off and turned back, the realisation hitting him.

There was a blur of motion, and Maia found herself being dragged away from the crime scene by Marlene. She didn't fight back, just let herself be pulled away. There was no way she wanted to see that sight again. It was still ingrained in her brain, and it would likely never leave. Maia clutched onto Marlene's robes until they sat down on the pavement. They sat side by side with Maia resting her head on Marlene's shoulder.

She didn't know how much time passed. Time was irrelevant. No one knew how much time they had to live, but everyone seemed to live life like they had forever. But the reality was there wasn't much time, nobody would ever have enough time. Violet definitely didn't. She had plans for the future, she was going to graduate from Cambridge University with a classics degree, probably go for a masters, she was a genius really. Maia never could've done that much schooling. Time didn't allow that though. Time stopped, her heart stopped, and she ceased to be alive.

Maia gained focus again when Marlene tilted her face to her own. Her mouth was moving and it took a moment to realise Marlene was talking.

"-Hear me?" was all she caught.

"Hmm?" Maia questioned.

"Hey, is there anything you want right now? Anything I can do?" She asked. Marlene didn't seem the type to comfort another when they were hurting. In their few interactions, she was loud with a sharp tongue, and a great laugh. But now, Maia could look at her and see her own pain reflected. Marlene held her face up with her palm, soft skin and soft deep brown eyes. Maia had never been this close to her, but now she noticed her unevenly cut blond hair with brown roots peeking out at the top of her head. She had a small scatter of freckles that could only be seen up close, a septum piercing and thin rosy lips.

"I just want her back." Maia whispered. "But I can't- she's- she." She's dead.

"How did you know her?" Marlene blurts out, "Sorry, you don't have to answer." She said when she realised that questions like those may not be comforting.

"My ex-girlfriend." Maia ignored the rise of Marlene's eyebrows. "We broke up about three years ago, but she-. She was my first love. I haven't loved someone like her since. We broke on fairly good terms, I guess. She didn't have the full truth though." At this point Maia couldn't stop. She just wanted to talk about Violet. Because it was Violet and Violet used to be the one Maia could prattle about anything and she would listen. Now Violet deserved someone to talk about her.

"She learned about magic, we were attacked one day, Kingsley and Benjy showed up and they erased her memories. I told them to do it. I couldn't let her get hurt by this world, but it did anyways. We were going to meet this afternoon, after my shift at the bakery. She was my first regular, a croissant to eat with a slice of apple pie and a loaf of bread to bring home for her parents." Maia let out a sob sound at the thought of that memory. It'd been years but she could still remember every detail. "We liked to explore London, especially since it was back when I was still fairly new 'round here. We would take rides on my motorbike and she would take pictures, I still have them."

"She seems like a wonderful girl." Marlene said.

"She was." Was. "I need to stand up. Can we walk around?"

Marlene immediately moved to stand and offered her hand to Maia, guiding her up off the ground. Wordlessly they walked around, not too far from the scene, but not making any move to go back there.

Kingsley and Remus found them, about an hour later. Most of Maia's shock had worn off and she was thinking of revenge. It was a solid thought to be able to cling onto. That one day Maia would be able to get revenge for Violet and against her parents and anyone who harmed the people she cared about. Kingsley walked toward them in his natural, straight back, authoritative stride, and Maia wondered how he always kept himself so composed. Remus on the other hand... she couldn't read.

"You're all free to leave now. Maia, perhaps you can get me Violet's family's contact information, unless you would like to be the one to let them know." Kingsley said.

Maia doubted she would be able to look either of Violet's parents in the eyes right now. So instead she just responded with a small nod.

"There is one more thing though." Kingsley nodded to Remus for him to speak.

"I believe the perpetrators of the attack were werewolves." He looked at his trainers as he spoke. "The force used for the kill could not have been just human and we found relatively little magic residue. The full is tomorrow so it's highly likely."

They mauled her. The werewolves brutally murdered Violet, they had ruined Remus' life. But not just werewolves in general. Greyback. Fenrir Greyback was going to pay.