Proof of Life

Unsettled Soil



They worked throughout the morning and afternoon, stopping to take a few breaks. In the late afternoon they walked back to Hogsmeade, catching the owner of High Grounds fifteen minutes before she was about to close the shop, and convinced her to stay open for another hour. The woman protested slightly, but Ginny made it worth her while with a stack of galleons. The hostess relented and cooked up a storm to feed them all.



They walked back and resumed the search, redoubling their efforts. However, when the sun finally set they had plowed through what seemed like five thousand square meters of the Forbidden Forest without any success.



“We should head back to Hogsmeade,” Marietta said, casting a cautious look at Severus. “Have dinner and get some rest. We\'ll start again tomorrow morning.”



“All right,” Harry said reluctantly, standing up and wiping his hands on the legs of his trousers. He fought hard to conceal his disappointment. Pansy and Hermione could talk all they wanted to about soil shifting, but the truth was, the farther they went from Aragog\'s lair, the less likely it was that they\'d actually find the Stone.



They began to hike back to Hogsmeade. Luna was yawning tiredly, and Daphne was leaning on Blaise for support. Next to Harry, Severus looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet.



“You must be hungry,” Harry said, and his own stomach grumbled loudly. “I know I am.”



They reached the pub and knocked. Rosmerta opened the door and smiled when she saw Harry and Ginny. However, her smile faded instantly when her gaze fell on the Slytherins. In absolute silence she scanned the faces and her eyes hardened when she stared at Draco.



“I was told it\'d be members of Dumbledore\'s Army. You didn\'t mention Slytherins or him,” she said, her chin pointing at Draco.



Half hiding behind Pansy, Blaise and Daphne, Draco looked like he was ready for the earth to swallow him whole. He avoided looking at anyone and was simply staring at his boots, shifting slightly under Rosmerta\'s harsh gaze. Suddenly, he seemed more like a scared teenager again, and Harry felt a sudden surge of compassion for his former rival.



Draco finally took a deep breath. “I\'m sorry—”



“Sorry?” Rosmerta cut him off in a rather unforgiving way. “Don\'t you think it\'s a little late for sorries, Mr. Malfoy?”



Draco didn\'t seem inclined to argue. “I suppose it is … Look, if you can just let me use your Floo to get home...”



“You aren\'t setting your foot into my pub ever again,” Rosmerta said bluntly, in a rather final way. “In fact, if you don\'t leave now, I\'m going to have you charged with trespassing.” She glanced at Harry and Ginny with clear disapproval. “Honestly, you two. I never thought you\'d be keeping company with the likes of him.”



Harry opened his mouth to try and reason with her, but quite unexpectedly Ginny cut in, spitting out the words furiously, “You know what, Rosmerta? You aren\'t the only one who got hurt in the war. For the record, I\'m quite all right with the present company. And if you can\'t see past a mistake someone made seven years ago, then you can keep your opinions to yourself, and you can be certain that none of us will ever set foot in your pub for as long as you live. We wouldn\'t stay here if this were the last guest house on the face of the earth. So fuck off and have yourself a good night.”



The door slammed in their faces, leaving the group outside. Tense silence ensued, until finally, Pansy issued a choked, nervous laugh, and Luna said with absolute seriousness, “That was very brave, Ginny. The way you just yelled at the old lady.”



“Sod off,” Ginny spat, sounding more annoyed than angry.



“Well, er, Ginevra, it\'s not that we aren\'t touched,” Blaise said sardonically, “but you realize, that we\'re now stranded in Hogsmeade for the night, without a place to sleep, and without a way of getting back until morning?”



“Zabini is right,” Cho said quietly. “All the shops are closed, and the Three Broomsticks is the only place with a Floo that\'s still open.”



“Shit,” Ginny whispered. “I really didn\'t think that one through.”



“Well. You could go back in and apologize,” George said flippantly.



“Fuck her! I\'m not apologizing!” Ginny snapped. “We don\'t need her stupid guest house.”



“I\'m hungry,” Luna said in a small voice.



“Me too,” Cho added.



“Shut up!” Lee snapped. “Stop whining! Everybody\'s hungry! Fuck!”



“Calm down, everybody!” Hermione said sternly, pointing to her little charmed knapsack. “I brought extra food. Enough to feed you all. Nobody is going to starve to death.”



“You didn\'t bring tents, did you?” Harry joked, eyeing Hermione\'s knapsack longingly.



“Afraid not, I wasn\'t counting on your wife making us homeless,” Hermione muttered, giving Ginny a very sharp look.



“Fuck you,” Ginny said almost pleasantly.



“I\'m sleepy,” Daphne muttered. “Whatever we do, we should decide now.”



“Well, what\'s there to do?” Harry said. “We\'ll find a suitable spot and camp out. We can use Transfiguration to make tents, and warming spells, and set up a warded perimeter...”



“That\'s another good hour of work,” Daphne lamented. “We should have brought a Portkey with us to use to get back!”



“Or brooms,” Draco said wistfully.



“Or my dad\'s flying car,” George said. “I could have shuttled all of us back to the Apparition limits...”



“Well, we didn\'t think of that, did we?” Harry snapped, irritated by the multiple should haves flying at him from every direction. “No point complaining about it now. Let\'s set up camp and go to sleep.”



They began to walk towards the outskirts of Hogsmeade.



Harry and Ron selected a location that was far enough from the main road so as not to attract undue attention to the group. The two of them then circled the area setting up a warded perimeter around the campsite, while Luna and Marietta cast warming charms on the entire area. The others proceeded to break into small groups and chat animatedly, some remembering the Quidditch World Cup a decade ago; others the years of the war, and the time spent in the tents. Aside from everyone else, Draco and Hermione worked together, casting Transfiguration spells to erect a large tent.



“I don\'t understand why you\'re refusing to make a proper cabin,” Draco muttered, obviously disgruntled.



“The idea is to attract less attention, remember?” Hermione said.



“There\'s always the Disillusionment Charm,” Draco continued to argue, but it seemed that he was simply arguing out of habit.



“There\'s always the option for you to stop bitching too,” Hermione said teasingly, and Draco snorted under his breath.



When they were done with securing the campsite perimeter, Ron departed to help with the tent and Hermione began to distribute the food rations, which turned out to be just Pot Noodle snacks. As if she didn\'t trust anyone to do so on their own, Hermione conjured a kettle and proceeded to add boiling water to the plastic cup with the dehydrated noodle mix. Harry rolled his eyes at her, but took two cups and made his way to Severus, who was standing slightly aside from everyone else, hugging his body with his arms and appearing to be slightly lost amidst the flurry of activity.



Even though his posture suggested he was too cold in spite of the warming charms, Severus looked surprisingly untroubled, seemingly taking the misadventures of the evening in his stride.



“Hey,” Harry said, handing him the plastic cup with the noodle mix.



Severus accepted the food offered to him and they sat down on the ground together. For a few minutes they ate quietly, with Harry casting quick glances at Severus, hoping he wasn\'t being too obvious about it. He probably should have just minded his own meal, Harry thought, but he couldn\'t help looking. In fact, looking at Severus was quickly becoming a semi-guilty pleasure of Harry\'s, and every time he paused to do that it felt like a small miracle.



Severus was not dead, not lost. Severus was alive, safe, and on the mend. Not everything was lost. However slowly or painfully, the mistakes of the past were being fixed.



Harry was startled to see Severus intercepting and holding his gaze.



“You\'re staring at me,” Severus pointed out, but not in a contentious tone of voice.



Not wanting to give voice to his sentimental ruminations, Harry just smiled. “Sorry.”



“It\'s fine,” Severus said guardedly, setting the empty plastic cup on the ground.



“What? You aren\'t going to comment on my lack of social skills?” Harry teased cautiously.



To his delight, Severus\' lips twisted into a smirk. “I don\'t see the need to point out the obvious.”



Harry chuckled a little and glanced at the large tent that was standing tall, the pale canvas contrasting against the darkening sky.



“Are you going to be all right for the night?” Harry asked. “It\'ll be weird to fall asleep and wake up sharing the tent with so many others...”



“I\'ll be fine, Harry,” Severus said in a quiet voice. “I\'m always fine when I wake up next to you.”



Harry found himself blushing more than slightly, although he wasn\'t exactly sure why. Severus must have noticed the change in his expression, because he offered hesitantly, “My apologies. I suppose that didn\'t come out right.”



“No, it\'s fine,” Harry quickly said , eager to get past the awkward moment. “Though mind you, this wasn\'t a part of the plan. Rosmerta surprised me, I guess. I\'ve never known her to be such a nasty bint.”



Severus nodded slightly. “She felt threatened, I imagine. Draco did cast an Unforgivable on her, and … that sort of thing isn\'t easily forgotten. To see him show up at her doorstep in the middle of the night, accompanied by more than a dozen others...”



Harry bowed his head. “I didn\'t think of it like that,” he admitted reluctantly. “Maybe we do owe her an apology.”



“I wouldn\'t go that far,” Severus said dryly, causing Harry to chuckle again.



“Well, on that cheerful note, let\'s go get some sleep,” Harry said.



They entered the tent and proceeded to claim the floor space. As inhospitably as it looked, it felt utterly comfortable thanks to the warning spells and cushioning charms. Severus made his way towards one of the tent walls and stretched himself out on the floor next to it, with his face turned away from Harry and the rest of the group.



Harry lowered himself to the floor next to him. Quiet conversations began to die out as others entered the tent and dropped to the floor in exhaustion. Ginny was the last to enter, worming her way between Harry and Luna.



He mumbled a quick welcome to her and patted her shoulder sleepily.



“You all right, Harry?” she asked softly.



“Fine. You?”



“All right,” she said. “Though I wish we\'d found the Stone.”



“We\'ll find it tomorrow,” Harry said with a confidence he no longer felt. The dreadful feeling of failure began to set in, and he had the distinct impression that the next day was going to be just as fruitless.



“I hope so,” she whispered quietly.



Next to him, Severus stirred in his sleep and issued a quiet, alarmed gasp. Harry reached for him and gave him a tiny shake on his shoulder. Severus didn\'t wake, but his body relaxed slightly at Harry\'s touch and he turned over in his sleep, resting his head against Harry\'s arm. In the darkness of the tent, Ginny sighed sleepily and curled up next to Harry, with her back resting against Harry\'s side.



He probably shouldn\'t have felt this much contentment at having both of them near him at the same time, but all Harry could do was shut his eyes and enjoy the feeling, listening to the sounds of quiet, measured breathing, Severus\' and hers.



“Hey, Ginny,” Harry teased her lightheartedly, “you know your worst fear just came true.”



“And what would that be?”



“All three of us are sleeping in one big pile,” Harry pointed out, barely able to keep his voice from laughter.



Ginny snickered quietly and her snicker converted into a yawn.



“You\'re silly,” she said. “Get some sleep. We\'ve got a big day tomorrow.”



To Be Continued...