Aionios

Chapter 35

Elite Eight Headquarters

The house of the Elite Eight Squadron of Aurors was full and calm, a rare occurrence nowadays given the current situation of the country.

Their usual routine of guarding Azkaban and recruiting members for the Order resulted in an always empty household. However, since Kingsley announced yesterday that the duties of recruitment and sentry duty will now be handed over to the Takahashi Three, Crease Siblings, Veronica, Nebula, Thomas, and Elizabeth, the Elite Eight Headquarters was now full of still-slumbering teen Aurors.

As usual, the first to wake up among them was Isabelle, bolting straight up from her bed as sweat drenched her tank top, her chest rising and falling rapidly in panic. The redhead looked around her room, squinting slightly when a ray of sunlight peeked from behind her closed curtains, casting a calm orange glow on half of her face.

Just like every other night after her encounter with that nasty boggart, her nightmares only seem to be getting worse as each day passed.

It was always the same dream. She would see herself, but it wasn't her at all, because that other Isabelle's eyes were soulless and her smile was filled with malice. The Isabelle in her nightmares would laugh like nails on a chalkboard before murdering someone brutally.

The victims were always different. At first, it was just Death Eaters. However, as the nights progressed, it became the people that she held most dear. She would see herself murdering them one by one, and it drove her mad with fear and denial.

Jumping out of her bed, she walked hastily toward her bathroom, turning on the sink and desperately trying to wash away the blood on her hands.

"It won't come off", she cried, breaths short and quick as she washed her hands over and over again just to cleanse herself of a crime she didn't even commit.

But there was no blood.

It was just her mind playing cruel tricks on her, driving her to the point of insanity.

Once her heart and mind calmed down and she realized that her hands had been clean all along, she slowly turned the faucet off, leaning against the sink and staring at her exhausted reflection in the mirror.

The Girl Who Lived exhaled sharply, shaking her head at her own silliness as she tied her hair up into a messy bun and brushed her teeth. Slowly and quietly, she trudged out of her room, walking down the long hallway toward the stairs. From inside the rows of closed doors, she could still hear the peaceful snores of her teammates, feeling slightly envious that they weren't experiencing the same nightly terrors as her.

As she entered the kitchen, she saw the large clock above the refrigerator that read 4:00AM, and her shoulders slumped at how early it still was. Figuring that her teammates wouldn't wake up for another three hours, she decided to prepare them a hefty breakfast for the meantime.

Taking an apron out from one of the cabinets above the sink, she securely tied it around her waist and neck before getting to work. Since she still had so much time on her hands, Isabelle decided to cook food the muggle way, taking out pots, pans, and other kitchenware she'll be using for the task.

When a shirtless and sleepy Ace came wandering into the kitchen two hours later to get a glass of water, the amazing smell of cooking food immediately jolted him awake.