Next chapter at 95 votes! Dedicated to nicolemalfoyy7
  — TWs for graphic murder, blood & dead bodies

  SEVEN AND DRACO stared at one another. Seven, unsure of what to say, and Draco looking like he had never meant to make the admission to begin with.

  Reprieve came however, slicing through the tense air with the sudden and deafening sound of static. It roared from behind the door in which Seamus, Navy, George and Bill stood, supposedly discussing strategy.

  The sound of a television blaring followed a few seconds later before returning to static. Draco and Seven exchanged glances, before following the sound, whilst the rest of the bar was left only to watch and wonder.

  "Close the damn door!" Seamus yelled the moment the two reentered, "N' behave yerselves if yer gonna be in 'ere."

Navy's face was grim, her lips pressed into a thin line, not even glancing towards the two newcomers. All eyes were on the small television screen as it lurched to life.

  Seven recognised the scene, one she'd seen screened all too many times. The Great Hall, rubble and fallen beams still gathered at the edges of the colossal room, yet still, by either magic or miracle, the arched ceilings held.
  Two bodies hung by their necks from the rafters, their half-rotted faces mellowed by time and death. One man, one woman. Seven was grateful she didn't recognise either of them.
  Their hands, gnarled and bloodless were intertwined, holding one another even in death. Seven wondered wether they had both died that way, clinging desperately to one another as they hung, or if one had gone first, and the other had soon followed, clutching the cold, lifeless hand of their lover.
  Seven could never imagine dying for anyone. If she were to hang, her hands would reach for nothing but her own neck — fighting against that bittersweet goodnight.

  Chains clinked and jingled as a prisoner was brought forwards by two thick-bodied Crawlers.

  "Is this live?" The youngest remaining Weasley asked, and for once, his voice was flat; devoid of his favoured mirth.

"No." Navy said, looking ill.

"How can you tell?" Asked Seven.

Navy did not tear her eyes from the screen as she spoke, none of them did. "They've been altering the same prerecorded tapes and airing them for weeks. Look, there at the bottom of the screen — in a moment the Crawlers will gather to watch," As if on queue a crowd began to congregate at the mouth of the stage that hilted the Great Hall. "You see that man there, the one with the grey hair," She pointed and their eyes followed, "He's going to turn to whisper to the witch next to him." Seconds passed, then the man turned his head, speaking inaudibly to the woman beside him.

  The crowd fell into stark silence as the Death Eaters entered to stand solemnly at the front of the crowd, heads bowed and fronted in ivory masks that glinted pale as bone beneath their black hoods.
  All bowed their necks in respect as the Dark Lord entered, and beside him strode Wrath. Though his cloak did not differ from those of the Death Eaters, it was easy to tell who was who. Wrath towered above those cowardly men, his steps confident and collected. Even besides the Dark Lord himself, it was Wrath that demanded attention.

  "Why does the Dark Lord not kill anymore?" Seven thought aloud, "It always seems to be Wrath doing the executions."

  "Perhaps he can't, he was weaker after the war anyways, what with six out of his seven Horcrux's destroyed. Yes he made more, but at least two, possibly three are gone again — with you two partly to thank, making and remaking all those has got to drain him somehow." Bill's face was just as ashen as the rest, did he recognise the bodies? "And even if he could still kill, why would he? It's easier to have Wrath as his weapon. It's not like anyone would stand against him anyways," He mellowed, fingers bracing against Seamus's oak desk, "We all saw what he did to Harry..."

  They had all seen what the Dark Lord had done to the Chosen One. The room fell quiet after that, watching as the prisoner, another woman Seven didn't know, was forced to her knees before the crowd. Her hair was a sable mess of blood and tears, her face bruised beyond any hope of recognition.
  The hooded figure of Wrath loomed behind her, his cloak so black it looked as if it could've been born of the night itself; only no stars dared defy his darkness.

  "Ascel Sadem, you are sentenced to death for your conspiracy against the Sins. If you have any final words, let them now be heard." Said the foremost of the Death Eaters, whilst the Dark Lord sat back and watched in satisfied silence, his boney fingers clasped around the notched length of the elder wand.
  The others continued to stare transfixed at the screen but Seven felt her stomach drop. Ascel Sadem —she knew that name, she'd used it. For the past year and half she had been Ascel Sadem, at least, on paper. Though she hadn't used the alias in a while. When was the last time she had been Ascel? Was it entering Lust's mansion with the invite she'd stolen from the real Ascel Sadem's letter box? Or was it signing into the Siren's Rest with Draco in Greed?

  The woman, the real Ascel, cried out suddenly, and Seven knew the silencing spell on her had been lifted, "It wasn't me!" She wailed; horrifically honest in her admission, for she was innocent, her crimes were not her own, they were Seven's.
"I know nothing of any plot against anyone! — Please! Let me —," Her voice tore apart with the horrid slashing motion of Wrath's dagger. For a moment, only great gargling breaths escaped her, the floor sprayed with her blood. Then she fell, toppling forwards from the stage and landing dead in a heap at the feet of the Death Eaters.

  A whimper fled Seven's traitor tongue. "Oh my god..."
  The woman had been innocent, if only a victim of Seven's murderous duplicity. But it wasn't just that... If they had hunted and killed Ascel Sadem because they thought her to be Seven then that meant that they were after her.
  Did they know that the Ascel they had just slaughtered was not the woman they sought? If so, this was all just one big show — a message for Seven that screamed louder than words ever could — and it said, we know what you did.

  "This," Draco hissed, grey eyes burning into her as if he knew all along that this would happen, "This was why I kept you in the dark."

***
QOTD- What do you think this means for Seven?