Work Text:
A green-eyed raven-haired lady pushed through a gushing crowd, her thick braid whipping out behind her, swatting many a passerby in the arm.
People seemed to part unconsciously around her.
Maybe it was the eyes, the look of fierce determination shining in them, and her not insignificant arm strength. More likely, it was the aura of uncontained magic hovering, pushing people subtly to the sides. Wild, yet precise.
The crowd was pulsing. Angry faces, scared faces, observant faces, expressionless faces. A disproportionate number of those angry faces were women.
Wands were held high above the crowd, levitating boards and banners. The lady stopped to stare at a collection of middle-aged women, working class most likely, who were shouting their slogans out loud.
One of their banners said, "Speed up clinical trials before more children are lost!"
Most of the banner was taken up by an animated drawing of a man spinning two toddlers around, while a woman looked on smiling, a hand resting on her swollen belly. Three children.
"The cure belongs to all people! Not just those who can pay for it!"
That surprisingly loud voice came from a lady shrouded in a brown shawl and loose robes. Though the green-eyed lady suspected it belonged to a certain runaway squib wife of a pureblood lord.
But her steps quickened with renewed fervor when she spotted someone lingering at a seemingly less turbulent part of the bustling crowd.
There were faces, other familiar faces, a few paces away from him in every direction, forming a perfect circle around him. Nobody else had noticed that specific configuration.
When she reached him, his hand was waiting, turned backwards towards her. A smile played at the corners of her lips. He'd probably sensed her coming from five metres away.
Slipping her hand into his and weaving their fingers together produced the minutest of relaxations in his tense posture. He pulled her closer, bent down, and whispered,
"Ready, lass?"
The green-eyed lady gave a decisive nod in response.