Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 185

Around a week had passed from the devastating news of the McKinnons' deaths, which was now all around the Daily Prophet. Although what the Wizarding World didn't know was that Travers and Rosier were being rewarded by the Dark Lord at that very moment.

On that horrible night, an Order member had gone to check up on the McKinnons under Dumbledore's to check up on them along with the other families to make sure they were all right, only to find their bodies.

Jenna was forced to go back to her normal cold self for the sake of her mission, even though she wanted to burst into tears and scream her lungs out every second of everyday.

But the other Order members were in grief, just like her. The shock was so devastating for them all that it was hard to tell who was suffering more at the sudden horrifying news.

Sirius had almost lost control over his life as he kept drinking from day to night in his longing of seeing Jenna again. He used to be better before Dumbledore's warning a few months back and his orders to stay inside their house for as long as possible. But hearing about Marlene and her family's death was his breaking point.

Just like any other day, he was sitting around the kitchen table with a bottle of Fire Whiskey in his hand as always, dark circles beneath his eyes.

But then his head shot up when he heard the sound of wings fluttering outside the living room's window. So getting up from his seat, he went and opened the window to let the owl in.

Sirius took the letter from the owl and the next moment it flew out of the window and so he closed it, staring down at the letter. But his stomach lurched when he realized that it was from Lily.

So he immediately opened the envelope and took out the letter promptly, reading through,

Dear Padfoot,

Thank you, thank you, for Harry's birthday present! It was his favorite by far. One year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased with himself, I'm enclosing a picture so you can see.

You know it only rises about two feet off the ground, but he nearly killed the cat and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no complaints there).

Of course, James thought it was so funny, says he's going to be a great Quidditch player, but we've had to pack away all the ornaments and make sure we don't take our eyes off him when he gets going.

We had a very quiet birthday tea, just us and old Bathilda, who has always been sweet to us and who dotes on Harry. We were so sorry you couldn't come, but the Order's got to come first, and Harry's not old enough to know it's his birthday anyway!

James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to show it but I can tell — also, Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak, so no chance of little excursions. If you could visit, it would cheer him up so much.

Wormy was here last weekend, I thought he seemed down, but that was probably the news about the McKinnons; I cried for days when I heard.

Bathilda drops in most days, she's a fascinating old thing with the most amazing stories about Dumbledore, I'm not sure he'd be pleased if he knew! I don't know how much to believe, actually, because it seems incredible that Dumbledore could ever have been friends with Gellert Grindelwald. I think her mind's going, personally!

Lots of love,
Lily

After finishing the letter, Sirius sat down on the couch, rereading it over and over again, wishing to himself that he could turn back the time to their days at Hogwarts, when all that mattered was to have fun and live their lives to the fullest.

***

It didn't take trolls to notice that Jenna was acting oddly in Alecto's form. It was especially hard to act natural around Amycus, who was sure something was off with her sister.

      The night that Jenna heard of Marlene's death at the Malfoy Manor and ran out all of a sudden, everyone obviously started to question her the next morning, to which she had to lie and say she wad feeling sick and had to throw up. This immediately managed to shut them up.

       But there was two people who still felt like something was going on. Other than Amycus who was now keeping a close eye on her, Avery seemed just as suspicious.

Even though months had passed since that night and they were now at the beginning of October, Avery still kept asking her questions in the meetings, yet Jenna always somehow managed to come up with a witty and smart answer to keep him at bay.

      But she knew that it was only a matter of time until she was going to face a bigger trouble, and unfortunately, her hunch turned out to be right.

      Jenna was staying at the Malfoy Manor that evening. On such days when the Death Eaters were staying at their house, Narcissa Malfoy always tried to keep his son up in his room, even though he was just one year old.

      As Jenna was walking down the long corridors of their enormous manor, she suddenly jerked around when she heard rushed footsteps approaching her from behind. And when she did, she saw Avery walking toward her.

      "Oh... it's you," Jenna said in Alecto's cold voice. "What do you want?"

       But Avery only stood a few feet before her, smirking.

      "If you've got nothing to say, then stop wasting my time and don't follow me," Jenna snarled before turning on her heels to leave quickly.

      But she stopped in her tracks when she heard Avery say, "What's the rush, Miss Potter?"