Chapter 11
Scorpius screamed when the dragon stage of the firework swooped towards the crowds, soiling himself in the process and allowing Hugo to escape. The gryffindor grabbed the opportuinty with both hands and sprinted through the motionless crowd, not stopping until he reached his common room. His nose was sore and in need of attention but he ignored it to write a letter to his dad; asking for advice.
Albus took a moment to come to his senses and retreat from the roof. He had only asked for a lion and snake in combat. Uncle George was going to get ignored over the holiday, Albus decided. Lost in thoughts about christmas, Albus forgot he was still well above ground level and slipped; his arms flailing as he fought to regain balance and tried to find something to grab on to. A half-demolished gargoyle was several metres away but he was desperate to avoid it. Too late he realised he could not miss it, his eyes closed in anticipation of the collision but he could not prevent the agonised scream as his exposed groin hit the gargoyle, stopping his descent completely. Deep breaths to fill his suddenly empty lungs felt like a losing battle as he tried to ignore the pain. His wide eyes threatening to spill tears as he slowly recovered from the shock of impact.
After several agonising minutes he resumed his journey, careful to keep his steps to an absolute minimum after a few experimental steps had shot lances of pain through his groin.
Hermione caught up with Ginny just before the younger witch entered the Leaky Cauldron, "Ginny, honestly, Ron was there. I didn't even know Harry was coming until he turned up. Though I'm not sure which of the pair wanted to reach the table first; they both looked uncomfortable." Ginny looked at Hermione for the first time since leaving the restaurant, her friend had sounded so earnest that Ginny could not help but believe her.
"Why that dress though?" Ginny could not believe Ron woud ever have bought it.
"Ron and I were planning to have a long, romantic weekend. Starting with lunch today, the dress was a treat for him."
A flicker of pain crossed Ginny's face and she felt an overwhelming need to be with Harry. Guessing what Ginny was thinking, Hermione wrapped her arms around the smaller woman, comforting as Ginny broke down. Guiding Ginny into the pub, Hermione offered a sympathic ear as Ginny began to complain about the past few days and how what James had done was tearing the family apart.
A refreshed and well fed Harry returned to his office to find chaos - reports of mass goblin sightings near Glastonbury, a memo detailling the deaths of twenty missing wizards and the department of mysteries wanted to know if Harry had seen Teddy Lupin in the last couple of days.
Sighing, he sent his last obliviator team to Glastonbury and began reading the file attached to the memo, his face frowning ever deeper with every passing detail. It certainly explained why there was no trace of 'death boy' near Hogsmeade.
The blue sky in his offfice window was not helping his mood - it represented a cheerfulness he had not felt for a while. Grabbing his wand, Harry conjured a dark blue blanket to cover the window, plunging the room into darkness. Only the muted glow of the automatically lit torch at the far end of his office provided the light he now read in.
Madam Pomfrey was as uncompromising as ever in her final check up of her charges, eyeing the two girls suspiciously as if determined to prove they were faking their good health. She eventually let Lily and Rose return to the common room to join in with the Gryffindor celebrations.
The two girls thanked her and set off at a run, eager to celebrate with Albus and Hugo before leaving the school the following morning.
"Ah, Miss Weasley, glad I caught you. Your brother is upset about something." The fat lady remarked as they neared the portrait.
"Probably missing Cei, ma'am," Rose could not think of any other reason.
"Ah, yes, a pity about him. I knew his Great-great-great-great-great-great Grandfather." Her eyes glistened (Glistened? Lily was sure she was seeing things) as she remembered Cei's ancestor. "Such a wonderful man. Very much unlike his latest descendant"
Before the fat lady could talk about a dead aquaintence in more detail, Rose blurted the password, (hinkypuff) and ran into the common room before the hole was completely revealed. Lily followed at a slower pace, making sure to close the hole behind her.
Both girls greeted their housemates with enthusiasm, relishing in the win and being out of the hospital wing. They did not notice Hugo or Albus' absence at all as they were plied with butterbeer, gossip and the attentions of several boys.
Having started his letter, Hugo was distracted by the sight of a few centaurs on the edge of the forbidden forrest -it had only been brief, but it had reminded him that he had never seen a female centaur before. He began to sketch what he imagined they would look like - adding progressively softer features to the face of a male centaur before moving down; slim graceful shoulders and. Hugo started as if coming out of an intense daydream; guiltily checking his surrounds iin case someone was watching him - in his teenage mind, he pictured them with bare breasts but did not want to draw them in case the parchment fell into the wrong hands - he would be teased mercilessly. Perhaps the subject of female centaurs was better discussed with his mother. On reflection, he thought, maybe Aunt Ginny would be easier to talk to about it - he did not want to discuss something with his mother that could also have embarrassing consequences. Hugo stuffed the parchment into his trunk and went to bed, struggling to ignore the weird thoughts circulating his head.
The young wizard blinked as light returned to his eyes, he felt like he had slept comtinuously for more than forty eight hours, his limbs were stiff and the growl from his stomach was deafening. Before he could get up, a hand appeared above him and dropped the familiar blood red cloak on to him.
"Are you aware that your little stunt nearly exposed our operation?" the unmistakeable tone was Shaman Krull, "go back to the boy's house. There must be more information about the sword there."
The older wizard hauled him to his feet, "you are lucky the goblins were nearby. I would have happily let you bleed to death. Come on!" The last command was reinforced by an abrupt push, causing the younger wizard to stumble, ripping his robes across his knees before he was forced into side-along apparition.
Several hours had passed since Harry had reduced the amount of light in his office, he had begun to doze off when the ethereal form of Hermione's patronus interrupted his thoughts, he'd been dreaming of Ginny and unaware of the smile that crossed his face when Hermione's message arrived. "Go home, Harry, and show your wife what she means to you."
Like a lovestruck teenager, Harry dropped everything and sprinted out of the office; Hermione's message telling him that Ginny was not mad at him anymore.
Bouncing through his front door, Harry remained unaware of Ginny's presence until he noticed the smell coming from the kitchen - his favourite meal was being cooked. Silently, he crept into the kitchen, a bouquet of roses in each hand. still silent, he wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed the top of her head, whispering "I love you" as he held her.
Ginny took a deep breath taking in the smell of the roses and her man. revelling in being back 'where she belonged.' How could she ever have doubted him?
Breaking apart after an eternity, they apologised, giggling as they talked over each other.*Ginny conjured some vases for the roses, setting them down on the kitchen worktop before pulling Harry into another embrace and kissing him fiercely.
An hour later, the dinner was a forgotten, burnt mess. Harry and Ginny were snuggling in bed, enjoying their reunion, neither looking foward to the morning and having to get the house ready for four teenagers.
After comforting Ginny and sending her home, Hermione finished her drink and apparated to her own house, running to the bedroom in the expectation Ron had decorated it in such a way as to make up for skipping lunch. Annoyed at his absence, Hermione ran herself a hot bath, lighting lavender-scented candles and putting Greig's Peer Gynt on at a non-intrusive volume, she settled down with a book hovering out of reach from splashes. The text concerned the cause and effects of Goblin Rebellions.
Ron involuntarily shivered, the dark surroundings and overwhelming sense of evil he felt from them was beginning to crush his spirit. Every few feet he could make out the features of serpent-esque carvings, there was something different to the ones he had seen in the Chamber of secrets but he did not want to risk increasing the chances of being detected - he felt like he was being followed but could not tell where the stalker was, if there was one. He could not even summon the will to examine the broken pottery and scroll fragments that littered the floor
Ahead, a torch with a green flame lit the entrance to a stairwell. The shadows of the serpents near it seemed to come alive as the flame moved. The laughter had long gone, replaced by murmuring voices that were always close but too far away to understand.
Ron stumbled on a cracked flagstone and before he could stop himself, swore loudly. Before he could recover from the shock of hearing his own voice, wind assaulted his senses and he saw two robed, hooded figures in front of him. One, more comfortable in the eerie surroundings than the other, quickly bound Ron and hauled him from the floor, the conjured ropes hanging him from the ceiling and cutting into his skin.
"Hello, Uncle."
Chapter 10 Chapter 12