Ed trudged up the front steps of the new house that he and Gilly were currently residing. He and his wife had just finished decorating and putting everything where they thought it ought to be, and any other day, he would've spend a good few minutes admiring their good work. Now, however, he might as well have stumbled into a shack - he was blind to it all today.
Marlie McKinnon, Matt McKinnon, Deidra McKinnon, Melinda McKinnon, Olivia Whitehorn-McKinnon, and Marco McKinnon were dead. His cousin, his aunt and uncle, and a cousin-in-law. He had been close to all of them, especially Marlie. They had been chosen to be invited in the resistance group, the Order, they had gone to school together. To him, she was another sister, another sister that irritated and teased him, yet she had been as close as a friend. He had loved her, but really, who didn't love her? She was one of the bravest, loving souls he had known. His emotions tore him apart, when he had heard, he had initially refused to believe it. Marlie was an actress, a perfect cover for an Order member. Yet that didn't save her, as they had targeted the entire family. When he learned that the news was indeed true, he had broken down, sobbing. Who would he patrol with? Who would tease him or dare him into silly pranks just as if they were back at Hogwarts?
His throat tightened; he was done with tears. Everyone had grouped at the Order house to console each other, but no one really knew what to say; everyone had the same expression of their face - of mingled shock, rage, and deep sadness. He hadn't visited his sister or brother - Mia, he knew, would be especially torn up. Melinda had been her best friend. And Vinny - he had been Marlie's fiance. He couldn't even imagine what he was going through right now.
In all his life, he couldn't recall feeling this kind of helplessness, this kind of pain. He wanted to see the fucker who had killed his family dead. No, a simple Avada Kedevra would be too easy. He knew Travers in school - he had known that he and Marlie always had an animosity throughout school, but for him to kill the entire McKinnon family? No, Ed wanted to see him get what he deserved. He wanted him to feel what Marlie, Deidra, Matt, Melinda, Auntie Olivia, and Uncle Marco had probably felt during their last hours. Silently shutting the front door behind him, he cradled his hurt hand briefly. The hour after he had learned the news of the McKinnons had passed in a blur - he remembered punching the wall in the front corridor. The hole was still there.
"Gilly?" he called out hoarsely. Jonathan had taken her earlier, but now he desperately needed to see her. "Gilly, where are you?"
depressed