Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ When the Spirit Breaks, When Does the Body Follow? ❯ Existence: Drabbles XIII-XV ( Chapter 4 )

Drabble XIII: Bitter Almonds

Eileen hated admitting weakness. Worse, she hated admitting she was wrong. This was how she ended up friendless, and she knew that. As she lied in bed, staring at the dim outlines of the coffered ceiling, she missed her girlfriends.

They were right, she was wrong. Vernon trapped her here, with two children, no money, and a promise to find her wherever she went. That promise held the scent of bitter almonds, of putrefaction.

Vernon curled into her side, and she raised her chin, not wanting his hair to touch the raw scrapes on her face. She ached enough already.

Drabble XIV: Scapegoat

Life narrowed down to toeing the line. The problem was, Vernon redrew the line so often and so randomly that it was impossible to gauge when she went over it, save for when he left her doubled over and gasping for breath on the floor.

This wasn’t supposed to be the totality of her existence. Surely she had a higher purpose to serve than that of scapegoat for her husband’s disappointments.

On rare occasions after he finished battering her, Vernon expressed regret for “getting carried away.” More often, though, he blamed her. Not nearly as much as she blamed herself.

Drabble XV: A Cracked Dam

Eileen had not been terribly proficient at creating potions and charms, especially those of the medical variety. However, Junior’s stay at hospital (following his “accidental” fall down the stairs) provided her the necessary motivation to learn. She began checking out books at the library on herbs, homemade poultices, and tinctures, and even how to splint wrist and ankle injuries.

With what Eileen could recall from her school days, she cobbled together three healing charms: one for setting bones, another for mending superficial wounds, and the last for clotting blood.

They were finger-plasters on a cracked dam, but better than nothing.