Who. Tabitha Roberts (and Thom Noble, briefly) What. After the stakes are raised for Camelot, Tabitha makes a very difficult decision Where. Her parent's home in London, England When. Friday night, November 18th 2011 Warnings. None.
"... What?"
Tabitha blinked up from the tea saucer clutched tightly in her hands on her lap, right into the smiling faces of her parents. "Sorry, I was just... thinking."
Thinking about how much I'm going to regret this.
It had been a long time coming. Ever since she joined Camelot, in the back of her mind Tabitha always knew this day would come. She'd tried to hold off as long as she could, but now she knew that had been selfish. She wanted to keep her parents in her life, but at what cost? Their lives? She couldn't get them killed and live with it. Not after everything. If there was one person who understood that, it was Hermione.
She'd almost backed out. She was ten steps away from her parent's front door and she'd nearly turned around and went back home. Her chest rose and fell in steady breaths, miraculously in time with her foot steps up the paved walk way but inside she felt numb. Hermione told her that was normal, that it was how she'd felt when she'd had to do it, but that did nothing to comfort Tabitha now. How could she do this to them? After tonight she'd be little more than a complete stranger to them, her own parents. It wasn't fair. None of it was.
You need to do it, Tabitha. For them. Not for yourself. It's what's best, and you know it.
Tabitha did know it, but that didn't make Hermione's forceful encouragement any less disheartening. If things had already come down to this, what was next? Was she going to lose Thom next too? She already very nearly did, and that was what had woken her up from her own personal wallowing over the course of the last couple months. Val had been killed, so had Mickey. She'd been grieving for them steadily with every day that passed since then, but the very second she'd gotten the news that Thom had been captured, her world had shifted. Nothing mattered anymore, not even Val or Mickey's death, all she could think about was getting Thom back. He was her rock, her best mate, the only one she could count on now and besides her parents the one person she'd ever truly loved in this world. If she lost him? She would lose herself entirely. And now that she had him back, she needed to take drastic measures.
She couldn't lose them either, but if she was going to lose them, it would be by her hand and no one else.
"Sweetheart, would you go upstairs and get your dad's glasses? He's too stubborn to get them himself but he can't even read the bloody subtitles!"
Tabitha looked at her mother and smiled, inwardly feeling guilty that these were her last few moments with them and she wasn't even paying attention, too absorbed in her own self pity. She couldn't think, she couldn't concentrate. She hadn't even really noticed that they'd been watching a movie. They'd only just put it on, but Tabitha hadn't been planning to stay. She'd only dropped by to get it over with, but they didn't know that.
"Sure, mum. I'll be right back."
Tabitha's voice sounded a million miles away to her, and her body felt like lead as she got to her feet. It was now or never. By the time she reached the stairs her legs were shaking, but she managed to climb them to the top by leaning heavily on the bannister. Every second thought she could possibly have ran through her head from the time it took her to cross the hallway into her parent's bedroom, grab her dad's glasses off the bedside table and make her way back down the stairs. But she didn't falter. Not once.
By the time she got to the bottom of the stairs her wand had been drawn from her coat pocket and just outside the door frame leading into the living room, Tabitha raised Hermione's wand level in front of her and aimed for her parent's heads. She wanted to close her eyes but she didn't, willing herself to stay trained on the scene in front of her and whispered that one dreaded word.
"Obliviate."
She watched her life flash before her eyes, but instead of a recollection of fond memories, it was like watching herself being erased from time itself. Every family photograph in the room, every image of herself suddenly ceased to exist, just like it had for Hermione. Her parents were completely oblivious to what was happening, for all appearances completely engrossed in the movie playing on the television in front of them. It was enough to make Tabitha weep, but she couldn't. Not yet. She was frozen, stuck watching herself fade away right in front of her own eyes. This was how it felt to really disappear.
It's the only way to keep them safe, she told herself as she re-pocketed her wand and left the room as quietly as possible once it was over. This was the only way to ensure that the Resistance would never come after her family, by removing herself from their lives. They never had a daughter. They never had any children. They'd tried, but never been blessed, and next week they'd be making the spontaneous decision to pack up and move to a beautiful house in the French countryside like they'd always wanted to but could never afford with a child to support.
Tabitha Roberts set her father's glasses down on the table by the door and grazed them with her finger tips. Her heart had never felt heavier, but she found the courage to pick up her feet and carry herself to the door, opening it silently and sparing one last glance behind her. "Bye mum. Bye dad."
The door shut with a click. A husband and wife looked at each other before looking towards the door, as if desperately trying to remember something that they used to know. At the same time a girl without any parents made her way down the stone steps, breaking into a dead run into the person's arms waiting for her on the sidewalk where they just held each other for a long time.
"Everything's going to change now, isn't it?" He looked at her sadly, but neither of them had to answer her question. They both knew it already had.
That night Thom and Tabitha found their way back home together safely, and hopefully not for the last time.