Hazel found herself biting down on her lip to try and contain her grin while also suppressing her laughter. “It’s not that late, is it? I guess it’s because I always used to get up so early, I’m catching up on those missed hours of sleep.” Another laugh slipped past her lips. “So, what time do you normally get up?” She asked curiously. The smile soon dropped from her face at the male’s reply. The young squib didn’t know what it was like to have a friend die. She’d never had a friend before, not before Reg anyway. She guessed she was lucky to have not experienced such pain. The brunette found herself thinking back to the night of the attack and how she’d watched the male who’d hurt her kill the female accompanying her right in front of her eyes. It was horrible. She’d been so traumatised and she hardly knew the girl. God only knows how the male was feeling. “I’m sorry. I can only imagine how hard that must be.”  

“No I suppose it isn’t.” He teased smirking as he watched her expression, curious to see how she would react to the time he made a habit of getting up. “About six. Unless I decide to have a lie in and then it’s about seven.” He admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. He found himself suddenly feeling awkward and not sure how to feel or react to the conversation. “I uh, I guess it is what it is. The tragedy of war and the times we are in.” He tried to explain and be rational about it all.

The brunette gave him a smile as she fell silent again not really knowing to say, she had no other knowledge of the stars to compare - this place was the first time she actually had the chance to look at them in person. She shook her head, joining in with his laughter. “No, I don’t rise until about nine.” She gave another chuckle, though the smile soon fell from her face. “Did you want to talk about it?” 

“Nine? Really?” He couldn’t help the shocked look that crossed his face at hearing the time that she woke up. With all things considered, it wasn’t exactly like she slept the day away but in comparison to his time of day that he arose, it was a bit of a difference. “I just uh, lost someone that was close to me.” He replied sadly.

Astrid was speechless to say the least as her brother practically ran into her arms. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed their bond until he did so, but the action also had her worried. It must have been something awful to have him react in such a way. The brunette wrapped her arms around him, placing a kiss to his forehead. “Shhh, it’s okay.” She replied softly. The witch had heard rumours about one of the order members being killed but she didn’t know much about it and she didn’t know her brother had a connection with that said person. “It’s not your fault Fee, you can’t blame yourself.”  

Now in his sister’s arms, he couldn’t hold back the tears and it was almost as if his emotional floodgates had just opened. It was as if all the history between the two of them had disappeared and he had his big sister there to protect him and make everything better. Though there wasn’t anything she could actually do to make things better. “She was pregnant, Ri. They still attacked her even though she was pregnant. How can someone do that?” He sobbed tearfully, not understanding the minds of his enemies. 

Hazel nodded agreeing with the male. “Definitely. I could just watch the starts all night.” She mused with a smile. “I’m still yet to catch the sunrise.” The young squib admitted biting down on her lip as she pictured what it would look like in her mind. She’d never been outside long enough before to see it, and now she was finally free and able to go outside whenever she wanted well, she always found herself oversleeping - but she was determined to see if eventually. Hazel nodded, not wanting to push him into telling her why. “Has it helped?” 

“They definitely are something. They seem so much brighter here, the sky clearer.” He agreed with a smile, which soon turned to laughter as she finished her sentence. “Not one for mornings, huh?” He teased with a smirk, glancing back at her. A smile didn’t seem to stay on his face for long though as he contemplated her question. “No, I guess not.”

A light laugh fell from her lips at the male’s reaction to her finally speaking.”Occasionally.” She replied with a small smile. The brunette gave a shrug. “I like being outside.” It probably had something to do with all those years she’d spent trapped inside, she wanted to make the most of her freedom in case it was snapped from her grasp again. It didn’t really explain why she was alone, but she wasn’t about to tell the male she hardly had any friends to accompany her. She was used to her own company anyway. “What about you?” 

Hearing her laugh only caused his own smile to grow bigger, glad to see a smile on her face rather than the previous sadness that lingered in her eyes. He couldn’t help but think that she had a pretty smile as his eyes softened from the usual straight-faced look he wore. “Can’t say I blame you, it’s better than being kept in a stuffy room all day. It’s more peaceful out here.” He agreed, letting out a sigh and glancing up at the sky. “Me? Oh, I just needed to get out for a bit.” Honestly, he was still finding normality difficult since he’d learnt of his friend’s death.  

She gave another nod before forcing a small smile. “Yeah I’m fine thank you. It’s fine, you didn’t do it on a purpose.” 

Theo gasped playfully as he heard her voice, a smile pulled at his lips as he watched her. “So she talks.” His words were only teasing, an attempt to get a smile from her. “How come you’re out here all on your own?”

“Theo?” She called out as she saw the male sitting on the floor. “Hey… Hey, what’s wrong?” The brunette suddenly rushed over as soon as she saw the tears. 

It was as if the years had suddenly reversed and he had regressed in age once more at the sight of his sister. He just wanted her to make it better and forget what was going on. As soon as he led eyes on her and saw her get closer he was pushing himself to his feet and flinging himself at her in a hug. “She’s dead.” He sobbed into her shoulder. “I should have helped her. It’s our job. My job. And we weren’t there.”

Hazel looked up at the male who had bumped into her wide eyed. She had always been quiet but ever since the attack she was even more so. The brunette had also struggled being around strangers due to her anxiety getting the better of her which explained her current silence. She stepped back away from the male before giving a meek nod while tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

“You sure you’re okay? I didn’t mean to nearly send you flying.”

“Whoa, sorry I didn’t see you there. Are you okay?”

The brunette looked down at the floor not being able to make eye contact with her brother. She couldn’t deal with the look in his eyes. The anger, the disappointment… The hurt. Taking a deep breath, she blinked away her tears knowing they were doing neither of them any good. She forced a blank expression on her face, rebuilding the wall around herself. “You’re right, it’s not. Nothing can change that anymore. It’s too late. We’re both different people now.” Her voice faltered slightly but she kept the detached tone. Astrid bit down on her lip trying not to think about their family home or their parents as he mentioned them having to leave to go into hiding. It was the safest place for them really. She just wished her brother had left with them. “There’s no plan Theo. I’m going to go back, there’s obviously nothing here for me anymore. Just…just look after yourself okay?”

“The Astrid I used to know would never give up so easily. You don’t make any sense, you’re so quick and stubborn to get revenge or fight back against the order but when it comes to trying to make things right? You give up and walk away? What makes him so special that you’re willing to fight for him, especially when he’s dead but you’re not willing to fight for those that really care about you.” Theo rambled, having to take a deep breath once he’d finished. He couldn’t tell what he was feeling anymore. “You know what, just forget it. You’re right. Like you said look after yourself. I’ll worry about myself like I have for the past couple years.”

He had her there. She couldn’t deny it, she wasn’t even going to say. Instead she closed her eyes at the thought not even wanting to think about it. “I don’t know what you want me to say.” There was nothing she could say. She couldn’t justify that, hell, she didn’t want to justify it. Astrid knew it was wrong but what was she supposed to do? “I know., I know I did and if I could change it I would.” It was probably the first time she’d admitted that she’d made a mistake by following Ben to the Death Eaters. “I KNOW!” She shouted getting frustrated with herself as the tears began to fall freely. “Merlin, I know Theo. I made a mistake, okay? But it’s too late, I can’t change that now. I have to live with what I did, and it’s not easy okay? I wish things were different, I really do. I miss you all. I’d love to come home but I can’t. Fuck. I probably wouldn’t even be welcome anymore.” She ran a hand through her hair before wiping her tears away angrily - not at him but at herself. “I hate myself for it. I know I’m a shitty person, and I know I’m on the wrong side but it’s too late to change. I don’t know what more you want me to say.”

“Nothing. I want you to say nothing. What’s the point it’s not going to change anything. It’s not going to bring back my sister. It’s not going to bring back the time we lost together.” Even he could hear the change in his tone of voice, he was losing all the fight he had in him. The anger was still there, he wasn’t completely sure that was ever going to go, but he just didn’t have it in him to fight her any more. What made it worse was seeing her cry, it brought back the memories of how he used to do anything to stop her tears, even with her being the oldest. “Home? Astrid, there is no home now. Our parents have had to go into hiding.” He shook his head, unable to look at her any longer. “What’s your plan then Astrid? What are you going to do exactly?”

“What are you on about? I’d never harm a child.” She looked at her brother shocked, did he really think that lowly of her? Astrid stood there listening to her younger brother not really knowing what to say. Was there anything to say? She stepped forward wanting to offer him some comfort as she saw his eyes water, but flinched away after hearing the anger in his voice. “Theo, please…” Her voice trailed off breaking slightly as she tried to control her emotions, though her watery eyes proved she wasn’t managing it so well. The brunette opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when no words came out. “I don’t know what to say to make this better.” Though her tears soon dried up at the male’s next statement. “An unfortunate accident? Spilling a glass of wine is an unfortunate accident, that was murder. They used the killing curse on him Theo - that is no accident.” This time it was her voice laced with anger and disgust. 

“You may not but what about those that you’re so quick to sign your life away to? That you follow blindly? Don’t say that they wouldn’t because I’ve watched them do it. A seven year old girl lying lifeless on the floor.” He sniffed angrily trying to control his emotions, and not let any tears fall. He watched her move closer and if it were a couple years ago then he’d have done anything to have her hug him but now he didn’t want her anywhere near him. “There’s nothing you can say. You left. You left mom and dad. Me. Everyone that was closest to you and for what?” He couldn’t even look at her now, especially while she was so close to crying. “And what was he doing at the time Astrid? Who was he hurting? If it wasn’t him then look at the people he was with, what were they doing? You judge the whole of us for one mistake where as you’re still willing to follow those that use the same curse day in and day out, intentionally.”

“You’re my little brother, despite what you may think of me, I would never hurt you - not intentionally.” She lowered her wand before gesturing with her head for the order member to leave “You’re so called friends brought this on themselves. They killed Ben, you can’t honestly expect me to sit back and do nothing.”

“But a small muggle child is no problem? You hurting my friends, is hurting me. Watching you follow them like a dog, is hurting me. You continue to hurt me every day since the day you left me behind without looking back.” A cruel laugh fell from his lips as he stood there, eyes filling with angry tears.“Are you serious? Do you actually hear your self right now Astrid? Brought this on ourselves?!” He spat angrily. “The only reason any of this started is because your kind started hurting and killing muggleborns. Ben was a really unfortunate accident. Hundreds of muggles, muggleborns or so called blood traitors on the other hand..” He shook his head in disgust. “What’s your justification on that?” 

Astrid froze, tearing her gaze from the order member in front of her to turn and face the voice she knew all too well. “Theo.” She stated, shock evident in her voice. Her wand lowered slightly, not willing to fight her own brother. “My fight isn’t with you brother.” 

“Why not?” He spat out at her. “You fight against those that I call friends, those that have taken me in. Protected me. Looked out for me when you didn’t. What makes me so different?” The person standing in front of him wasn’t his sister, she was no longer the one who he used to idolize and turn to for advice. The person in front of him was a stranger. “You fight against them, you fight against me.”

Mary turned around shocked after hearing a crash of bodies fall to the ground. The brunette had been unaware of the male death eater who had his wand aimed at her, if it wasn’t for the other male she probably would have been hit. Running over to help, she kicked the death eaters wand away. “Shit. Are you okay? Thank you so much.” 

Once the Death Eater was finally taken care of and unconscious, he muttered the words Incarcerous as ropes shot out of his wand to bind the man. Now that he could change the direction of his attention, he turned to face the girl and dusted himself off wincing as he did so. “Are you okay?”