Davina | hp. ✓

10 | The Peverell Manor

THREE YEARS WAS a long time for Davina to figure things out about herself and the happenings of her world. Although she was locked away from the rest of the world, she knew more than most about what went on in the shadows. Her slumber was plagued with horrible visions of death and near-death experiences. She felt the exact moment when Peter Pettigrew's killing cruse struck Cedric Diggory dead -- felt it like she had been struck by lightning, paralyzed to dwell in the pain of a death that was not hers. She witnessed the souls murdered by the Dark Lord's wand blur the barrier between the living and the dead to help Harry Potter escape death yet again in her mind's eye. Worst of all, she witnessed the death of every single person her father killed. It was a curse -- a horrible, wretched curse of death -- and she wanted to be rid of it. However, she knew better than anyone that such a curse was not a mere affliction that could be cured. Her only hope was to learn to control it.

That's why she found herself on the doorstep of the Peverell Manor. 

It had been three weeks since she faced her mother in Malfoy Manor and the Ministry was on high alert for her after Lucius made the bold move of informing them of her escape. He was getting desperate. He figured that he would have found her by now -- a young, naive, even half-mad teenager on the streets of London. She found great pleasure in the fact that he had no fucking idea of what she had truly become. It would make stabbing him in the back all the more satisfying. 

She rapped the brass doorknocker three times and as she waited, she admired the symbol carved into the front of the door: a line within a circle that was bordered by a triangle. Before she could scrutinize it any further, the door swung open and Gideon, William's teenage son, stood in the doorway.

Gideon raised one of his perfectly shaped eyebrows as he surveyed the girl with wild hair on his doorstep. He was a tall young man, but he was also pretty lean -- his muscle bulged out of the black shirt he was wearing as he held the heavy oak door open. Davina admired the tattoo on his bicep that she hadn't noticed before in their fleeting meeting: it was the same symbol as the one etched into the door.

"Oh. Hey. It's Davina, right?" He greeted her politely, though he made no effort to hide his confusion. "I saw you at the meeting."

"Yes, you did. I apologize for not formally introducing myself to you that night." She grinned sheepishly, raking a hand through her hair to clear it from her face. " I was...well, frankly I was dealing with quite a lot of shit."

"So I've been told." He nodded, but upon seeing her confused look, he added, "I'm an Auror with your cousin, Tonks. Well, I'm two years behind her, but we're pretty good friends. She told me the gist of your story, and my father filled me in on the rest. I hope that was alright?"

Davina offered him a smile. "I suppose so. I guess it's not exactly a secret."

He bit the inside of his cheek, clearly realizing that he divulged a little too much information. When he realized that they were just lingering in the doorway, he mentally berated himself and stepped aside to let her in. 

"Sorry. You'd think I'd learn to be more discreet with this shit, right?" He bowed out. "Come on in."

She stepped into the antechamber. Just like the manor itself, there was a dark elegance to it. The walls were all a dark satin green and the floor was made of dark, shining wood that led Davina to believe they had house-elves working constantly to upkeep the massive home. Gideon ran a hand through his dark blonde hair, messing it up, and shoved his other hand into the back pocket of his black khakis. 

Davina bit the inside of her cheek as she looked at him. "I was hoping that William was home?" 

He seemed a little disappointed as if he had thought that she came for him, but quickly hid it as he nodded and beckoned for her to follow him. "Oh, my dad? Oh, yeah. He's in the study. C'mon, I'll take you to him. Does he know you're coming?"

"This was sort of a spontaneous visit."