Chapter 3 - The Break of the Unspoken

[DarkChild]

*Chapter Three*

The Break of the Unspoken

‘’Wake up everyone! Breakfast is almost ready!’’ Hermione called. Will’s eyes opened. The neon green light flashed: 9:00 AM over the sea of bedraggled children.

‘’Breakfast?’’ Will yawned in astonishment. ‘’You mean I get fed here?’’

‘’Yeah, breakfast.’’ Said a girl’s voice. Will turned to the bed next to him, as he was undoing his blanket from his legs. The girl had curly, dark red hair and dark blue eyes; her face was pink with tiredness.

‘’Don’t you get breakfast?’’ the girl inquired. ‘’I mean from your mum and dad?’’ Will said nothing. The girl didn’t acknowledge Will after that.

Seeing as he fell asleep in his clothes, which were ragged and three times too big for his body, Will just pulled on his sneakers, which he had fell out of earlier. As he sat up, he became aware of a pounding pain on the side of his head, then realized that he had bled on the bedspread all night and now a great portion of his pillow was stained a bluish-black. His baggy, dark gray T-shirt was even darker than its natural color. His silvery-blonde hair was disheveled, but he didn’t care. His T-shirt was also ripped in two along the back in a jagged, displeasing line, exposing his bruised and scarred back. Without a word, as the other children were pulling off their nightclothes, he left the room, and began his descent along the serpentine staircase. He was soon joined by the girl who slept in the bed beside him.

‘’Hi!’’ she said cheerfully, bouncing alongside Will, brushing her hair as she talked.

‘’Hullo.’’ Said Will dully, not wanting to talk much.

‘’My name’s Ashley.’’ She went on, oblivious to Will’s withdrawn attitude. ‘’Ashley Weasley. People call me Ash.’’

‘’Are you related to Ron?’’ Will asked, feigning an interest as not to talk about his own family.

‘’Yeah.’’ Said Ash, as they made their way down a section of the serpentine staircase where the walls were plastered in Daily Prophet clippings, some yellowing with immense age, and crumbling at the sides. ‘’He’s my father.’’

‘’Must be nice.’’ Will murmured, as they clambered closer to the main lobby where a hard gale was pounding forcefully against the mullioned windows. Odd bronze lanterns were lit and slowly floating around the room.

‘’What?’’ Ash asked, as she leapt from the third to last stair.

‘’Nothing.’’ Will said quickly, grateful for the sudden rush of the haggard children from the Sleeping Quarters.

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There were about 10 haggard children who arose from their beds after Will and Ash. Despite their slim number, the children wove into a knot. The knot traveled through the lobby, their tired eyes resting softly upon the gale as if it were calming their tortured souls, then it weaved through a doorframe where the knot broke ranks. When the last tousle-haired head left the front of Will, he could see that they had entered a terribly disorganized kitchen. There was a fairly long wooden table with several mismatched chairs haphazardly clustered around it near a group of the same mullioned windows. There was wooden paneling along the ceiling that seemed to trap the off-white paint that crept around the walls. There was a small dark granite countertop that held a steel basin in which dishes were cleaning themselves. A group of cabinets snaked along the top of the kitchen as well as the bottom. There was commotion of sharp banging coming from the cabinet below the sink. The copper pots that had not been used were restless and venting their energy by making as much noise as possible. In front of every mismatched chair lay an either chipped or tarnished plate.

‘’C’mon.’’ Ash said. She grabbed Will’s arm and dragged him over to the mullioned windows, and sat down.

‘’I forgot.’’ Ash said, brushing her curls out of her eyes. ‘’You never told me your name.’’ she dragged out the word ‘’your’’.

‘’Oh. Will.’’ He said dully. Ash laughed.

‘’What?’’ she said. ‘’You don’t have a last name?’’

‘’Er-yeah.’’ Said Will offhandedly. ‘’I-er-don’t.’’

‘’But everyone has a last name.’’ Ash persisted.

‘’Some people don’t.’’ Will argued as scrambled eggs appeared on the plates and milk filled their glasses by magic. He immediately began eat. He never knew just how hungry he was. He was about to take a sip of his milk, before Hermione walked towards him. She handed him two metal cups. Tears rested on her eyes, and Will knew why.

‘’Here, drink these.’’ Hermione said, somewhat motherly, as she wrung her hands.

‘’What are they-er-Mrs. Weasley?’’

‘’Blood Replenishing P-Potion and Healing Potion dear.’’ Hermione said softly. Then she scurried away before she could say anything. Ash stained her neck and stared as Hermione moved through the kitchen with prominent eyes.

‘’I wonder why my mum is crying.’’ Ash murmured. Will stared at his scrambled eggs for a moment, unnoticeably twirling the fork between his fingers.

‘’She probably was near onions or something.’’ Will said quickly, downing his potions, then shoving a particularly large forkful of egg into his mouth to mask the taste and prolong his silence.

‘’Just tell me, Will.’’ Ash persisted again, once the knot was formed, then quickly broke ranks again in the lobby.

‘’No.’’ Will murmured. He walked to the wooden bench that wrapped it way around the room underneath the mullioned windows where a forceful gale was still pounding.

‘’Why?’’ Ash said, joining him on the bench.

‘’Because-‘’ Will paused, trying to word what he was going to say. ‘’Because-friends, don’t hurt friends.’’

‘’How could a name possibly hurt someone?’’ Ash asked him.

‘’Trust me, names can.’’ Will murmured.

‘’Just tell me.’’ Ash repeated.

‘’No, Ash.’’ Will retorted furiously, standing up from the bench, his fists clenched.

‘’ASHLEY GINEVRA WEASLEY!’’ The two of them spun around at the sound of a voice that quieted the entire lobby.

‘’Geoffrey.’’ Ash whispered. ‘’My brother.’’ The voice belonged to a 15-year-old boy with flaming red hair, freckles, and blue eyes. He had big hands, a big nose, and big feet. He looked livid.

‘’What in the name of Merlin are you on about?’’ he yelled, swiping her by the arm away from Will.

‘’What’s your problem, Geoffrey?’’ Ash yelled, her ears scarlet.

‘’Do you know who he is?’’ Geoffrey yelled, his voice getting hoarse.

‘’Yes I do!’’ Ash yelled. ‘’His name is Will and he’s more torn at the seams than we will ever be!’’

‘’Do you know who his father is?’’ Geoffrey shouted.

‘’No! But how would that matter?’’ Ash retorted.

‘’Trust me! With this bastard being your ‘friend’ it would matter!’’ Geoffrey yelled. ‘’Honestly, Ash, I’m only trying to protect you!’’

‘’Protect me?’’ Ash yelled. ‘’From what? Blokes now, Geoff! What’s next, mum and dad?’’

‘’And that’s another thing!’’ Geoffrey yelled. ‘’RON AND HERMIONE ARE NOT OUR PARENTS! OUR REAL PARENTS WERE KILLED BY DRACO MALFOY WHEN YOU WERE ONLY TWO!’’

A terrible silence rang in the lobby. The silence screamed in Will’s ears, as Ash turned towards him, then her eyes swimming with tears ran up the staircase.

The hours passed slowly. No one spoke to Will, or acknowledged him. As soon as the sun set, the gale still pounding against the blackness of the windows, Will walked up the staircase to the sleeping quarters. He heard nothing, but the muffled sobs of Ash. He walked over to her bed. Her face was buried in her pillow. The parquet creaked, but Ash didn’t look up.

‘’Ash.’’ Will said softly. He sat on his bed, and sighed. He touched her shoulder. ‘’Ash.’’ He repeated. Ash rose from her pillow. Her face was red and tear-strained, her eyes were puffy from crying.

‘’Ash, I am so sorry. I-I honestly didn’t know. I-‘’

‘’I knew all along.’’ Ash murmured.

‘’Knew what?’’ Will asked, surprised she was talking to him.

‘’Knew who you were. I knew your last name. I was awake too.’’ She told him. Will stared.

‘’Then why’d you-‘’

‘’The only reason I did that was to see if you would tell me straight out, but you didn’t. And what you said earlier- friends, don’t hurt friends, proved to me that, it’s not always like-father-like-son. It proved to me that, a Malfoy and a Weasley could be friends.’’ Ash smiled at him. Will gave a half-smile and put his arm around her shoulder.