Who: Katie Bell When: Friday the 14th, mid morning. Where: Katie’s flat, Finchley, London. What: Katie wakes up and remembers being branded Rating: Adult for potentially disturbing images Status: Complete
Katie woke quickly in the dark, choking on her own fear as she bolted upright in the dimly lit room. Blinking back her fear she began to realise that the darkness wasn’t cloying and the familiar sounds of Muggle London in late morning brought her heartbeat down to a dull hammer in her chest.
She was naked, having crawled wet, sore and weeping from the shower into the familiar comfort of her bed hours after she was released from the Minstry and as she rose to pull on a shirt and shorts, her skin which was rubbed red protested angrily as she ran her hands through her hair. As the bed dipped beneath her weight she realised she was numb through and had been since the door had swung shut behind the unfamiliar Ministry worker.
Every moment of her sleep had been haunted by the memory of sitting in that room and watching the line of people go in and out of the room at the end of the hall. Sometimes their faces were blank with shock, purple in anger and rage or just resigned to this new fate. Despite asking no one had ever been able to give her a solid answer as to why she’d been brought in and with the hard edge of the seat digging into her thigh, Katie had watched in dull acceptance as the line got smaller and smaller.
Her heart had stopped when she’d recognised the halo of gold being forced into a room by Percy. Their eyes had met across the room and there had been that same sinking feeling in her stomach that she’d had the instant she’d touched that necklace. It had taken three to hold her back as she’d raged until her voice was hoarse and the chill of the straps seeped through to rival the chill in her blood as she’d been restrained in the chair.
She’d been prepared for it to happen – or so she’d thought until the heat from the brand sent a wave of goosepimples across her skin before it was pressed to her forearm and she’d screamed in shock, pain and the dull acceptance in the eyes of the man standing beside the door. It was far from the first time he’d seen something like this. As the smell of burning flesh turned her stomach, Katie baulked as somewhere on the edge of her mind was the knowledge that the smell was her flesh burning.
Her dreams had been fitful, tinged with memories of the necklace and the same bleary acceptance of what had happened. She had to move – clean the vomit from her toilet, empty the fridge and make Ang find Al. Moving with purpose she picked her wand up, wincing slightly at the bend of her elbow and cast the spell to make her bed. What she wanted was the familiar embrace of her friend but with the change in her status couldn’t – wouldn’t – risk bringing more trouble to Ang or Al’s door. The reserve was where she was headed