the seven devils [completed]

chapter twenty-four

    NOTE: This was a double update, so make sure you read the last chapter as well. Enjoy!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Her limbs were shivering from the brisk December blow as she stepped outside of the Beauchamp residence, Della's mother telling them to be back before sundown. The girls bobbed their heads eagerly, berets plopped on their heads and old-fashioned cloaks wrapped around them, then headed down the London roads. Varya Petrov's spirit was charged with some unexplainable burden as she passed collapsed neighborhoods, ravaged streets, and outrooted trees, her eyes lingering on each dreary face that she saw across the street.

They were headed to Diagon Alley, as the girl had managed to convince the Beauchamp women that the two scholars needed to refill their supplies, and with half-a-heart, Annie had accepted. Varya's pocket burned with the weight of the address Maxwell Nott had given her, and her brain devised how to get away from Della so that she could fulfill her mission, eager to see what Caractacus Burke knew about her predicament.

She reminisced back to the night in the Forbidden Forest when she had mercilessly killed the innocent Therestral, and her skin covered in goosebumps. It had been soul-splitting, almost as if she had felt the creature's torment, suffering, and melancholy that Varya had never endured before, and she knew it was strange. It had been almost as if she had connected with it, and while Varya was aware that her training at Scholomance had given her incredible inclinations with creatures, she knew there was more to it.

They turned the corner before Diagon Alley, and Varya watched Della knock on the bricks in the same manner Dumbledore had, waiting for them to part and let them enter the wizarding world. As soon as the bricks moved, Varya was surrounded by the sense of familiarity, and the giddiness she had felt on her first visit was still there.

The block was filled with hurried sorcerers, and the magic droned in the wind as the two Hogwarts students strolled around the shops, pointing to random windows and marveling at the mystic objects that were on display.

"We ought to stop by Rosa Lea Teabag, they produce the most divine brews," wheezed Della, facing one of the dainty shops by the end of the road, but Varya's stomach churned at the thought of tea herbs. She had not savored their sweetness in a few weeks, too fearful of trusting they had not been meddled with.

"The shop's fragrance makes me squeamish, how about we get our supplies from the Apothecary, and then you go without me while I visit the nearby market?" offered Varya, and her friend nodded at the idea, although reluctant to separate.

They headed to the Apothecary, and when they opened the scabby door, the two girls instantly stifled at the rancid odor of the store, something between stale eggs and putrid herbs. Even so, the stinging scent of composture was no match for the endless shelves of potion ingredients, varied in commonness, and Varya found herself mesmerized by the newfangled objects arranged behind some of the glass cases. One of them seemed to have some kind of refrigerated eggs behind it, and as she tapped against the glass, she saw it budge slightly.