This may be the end

Penny had begun to hyperventilate. Her little gaggle of Slytherin girls had absolutely panicked. It was funny - it was almost as if they had cared for her, the way they had flocked around her and called her name. These were the girls who taunted her behind her back, who poked and prodded at her insecurities, who sent her as their errands girl and their canary into the mines of the social trenches of Hogwarts. They had been the same old girls this morning. They strolled outside to take in a bit of the chilly air, cardigan and sweater clad, the girls made there way out onto the grounds and languished atop benches, leaving Penny to sit on the cold ground, her stocking-clad legs folded under her thighs. She plucked uncomfortably at her Slytherin sweater sleeves, ignoring the gossip and laughter of her friends, until a newspaper was thrown to her. And that was when she read the article.

"Penelope, calm down!"

"It wasn't like you didn't know. It was going to happen anyway. What difference does it make now or later?"

She stood to her feet, breathing heavily. The girls all released her and she took off running for the front gates. The girls shrieked after her but Penny kept running, breathing hard and heavy, her eyes wide. She escaped the campus and slipped and sloshed down the muddy trail, mud splattering onto her stockings. The first thing she spotted was the Garden of Solace. She tripped as she swerved towards the garden, scrambling towards. She burst into the clearing and began to slow as she approached the gazebo. As she entered the gazebo she sunk to her knees.

For a moment, all she could hear were her gasps of breaths, her lungs expanding and collapsing. Suddenly, she became aware that her whole body was shaking. And tears were bursting from her eyes. And then she buried her face in her arms, sobbing loudly and without reserve.

Her life was coming to a close.

The black coffee steamed from Robin's cup, it's strong oder wafting to his nose and warming him inside and out. Today was the first day that the air had really felt like autumn - crisp and clean - and the fresh air made him long to take to the skies on his broom. Robin was meandering down the Main Street in Hogsmede, for once taking in the pleasantness of the atmosphere.

Robin needed this brief calmness desperately. He had spent last night in the Moscow home and 24 hours of his family had been more than enough to stress him out. The boys had gone back to school (Caspian traveling to Hogwarts for the first time, while Pollux remained at Durmstrang) and their absence made the house all the more unbearable. Without the young ones to fuss over, his mother had been in quite a flurry, writing letters to her friends and planning the upcoming dinner party.

His father, though much less talkative, was more conserving. Robin wouldn't lie, Roland had looked even worse than before, his skin pale and movements strained. It was getting worse and Robin wondered if he should disobey his fathers wishes and summon a healer to take another look at him. The elder had called his son into his office and they had a long 'chat'. Misha hated it when Robin had the privilege of a private conference with their father but there was nothing the younger son hated more.

Robin was on his way to a late lunch with Keiran who had the day off in Hogsmede with the kids. His friend had saved him from a lunch with middle aged housewives and Robin had jumped at the excuse to leave, distancing himself from the house much quicker than was really needed. To kill the extra time he now moved through the town that was bustling with young Hogwarts students.

When he reached a small garden Robin caught sight of a small figured in black robes, hunched over in a position that Robin couldn't imagine was comfortable. When he moved closer he heard echoing sobs emitting from the girl and he stopped for a moment. Elijah had always been the one who could comfort crying girls. Robin on the other hand, had been more uncomfortable with the sensitivity required in such a delicate situation. It was only when he moved even closer, into the gazebo in fact, that he recognized her.

Caspian's girl.

"Penelope?" Robin asked, his voice raised over her tears. "What-?" He hadn't seen the brunette since the clear blue waters of the Caribbean. He couldn't lie, she had slipped almost completely out of his mind in their time apart. But as his future sister-in-law Robin knew he needed to stay and speak to her. For Caspians sake. Besides, in the short amount of time they had spent together he had enjoyed her company. She was a sweet girl and he hated to see her this upset.

Penny was almost wholly consumed in her grief, when she heard a voice and immediately, violently, panicked. Her voice caught in her throat, letting out a strangled little noise as she sat up straight, her hair flying back and falling against her back. Penny already struggled to be the perfect pureblood girl that she was expected to be, and here she was, further marring it in front of - in front of someone very high up on the pureblood social chain. Penny felt the pink flush of shame and humiliation crawl into her cheeks, persuading another tear to leak out of her eye and silently roll down her round cheeks, her lip trembling.

Robin had been nice to her on their family vacation, but she also had no idea how deep his blood ran for pureblood supremacy. It was already bad enough that she had been caught - the girl only wished to go unrecognized, and here she was gaining attention (intimate attention) that she would have rather shirked for the rest of her life. But it was the brother of her betrothed. She did not know if he would remain as such with this new law, but seeing Robin's face was enough to remind her how hopeless her situation was. This law didn't change anything, it just made it more permanent and more imminent. It reminded her that she really had no control over her life. Did anyone? Why the hell were they caring so much about these lives that they had no say in?

Her chin wobbled and she covered her eyes with her hands, choking back a sob and whispering, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just... I'm sorry. Ignore me."

(Sorry. My brain isn't working)