I woke, the grey light of dawn shining in my eyes and, unaccustomed to the brightness, I blinked blearily. My dark hair was coarse and unkempt straggled around my shoulders, and my blue gaze was clouded with exhaustion, something I learnt by peering into a cow's water pail in a nearby paddock. I was terribly cold, and huddled my cloak around me, shivering. Hunger growled within my stomach but I pushed it away. Sorrow threatened tears but this too I was determined not to let overwhelm me, so, standing a little straighter and holding my head higher, I decided where to go.
Almost automatically I turned in the direction of home. My eyes filled. The house was a wreck, and looked similar to that of a place that had been uninhabited for years. I stumbled forward but then sharply halted, hesitant. Were the Death Eaters still there? But then my nervousness was replaced with worry - Mum... and Dad...
I hastened forward, my heart pounding in my chest. I came to the front door, which hung off its hinges. I entered. The front hall was a mess. The furniture was all broken and some of the roof had crumbled down. With some difficulty, I proceeded into the hallway, and edged cautiously down it. I peered into the kitchen on the way, which was in a similar state to that of the front hall, and deemed it empty. Then I reached the living room. No one there either. I reached my room, and looked in. There was my posters of Puddlemere United stuck on the wall, though not spotless like the way I had used to have them, but ripped and tattered. My bed had been flipped over, and the dresser lay on the floor along with the shelf. I stepped in, knelt down and picked up one of the scattered books. Turning the bent and torn pages, I ran my hand along the spine and peered at the cover. It was Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them. My favourite book. Then I noticed something else. A printed photo, framed and lying face upward. I looked at the people displayed. Me, the younger Julia Adams. Suddenly she seemed so far away, even though she was the person looking at the image in her hands. Beside me there was Isabella, her blonde hair tied back tidily in a ponytail and her green eyes sparkling mischievously. We both wore Hogwarts robes. Both Hufflepuffs. That was at the end of fourth year. Now I was sixteen, and it was nearing September. But I might never be going back.
But then I remembered Mum and Dad, and abruptly dropped the photograph. Hurrying out I ran desperately to their bedroom. It was not as I remembered it, when the bed was always neatly made and zinnias sat in a vase on the window sill. No. The furniture was shattered, pictures on the walls were broken on the floor, and the bedposts had crumbled presumably under the hand of cruel spells. They were not there.
I dropped down, covering my face with my hands as I sobbed. They were gone. Forever.
I don't know how long I was there, but eventually I ran out of tears and staggered to my feet, my knuckles white as I clutched my wand. Now anger was furious within me, and, without my doing, sparks shot out of my wand. I watched them fade into the air, landing upon a book discarded on the floor, its pages tattered.
I frowned. Crouching down, I picked up the book and stared at the page that had caught my attention. Then I gasped. For there, scribbled in a hand that, despite its hastiness, I recognised immediately as my mother's hand. We will be at a Death Eater's house, Malfoy Manor, imprisoned. It's north of here. Love you always.
I stared at it, and tears dropped onto the page. I pressed the book against my chest.
"Always," I murmured.
But then I knew I couldn't afford to waste time. I needed to go. Leave to find my parents, and bring them back. And then, I thought grimly, get revenge on those Death Eaters.