A Dark Time For The Light

24

The six weeks work on the Manor was finished and Joe called the boys to him. “Well, lads, you’ve done great work for me and you’ve both proved yourselves. We have a gap of two weeks, but then the team has continuous work until well into the new year. I’d like to take you both on as all of these jobs are bigger than we’ve done before and two extra pairs of hands would give me the perfect sized team”.

Harry accepted with alacrity. He’d enjoyed the work and seemed to get on all right with the lads. Ron turned the offer down gently. He had his passport now, most of his wages saved and his bank account. He was off to meet his little girl.

Harry spoke up, “I know someone, Joe, he’s got a job at the moment, but he hates it, and if you’d be prepared to try him out like you did us, I know this’d be right up his street. At the moment he works in a grotty fast-food place for minimum wage, but he’s a good lad and a good friend of mine. He also wants to stay around London”.

Joe thought a moment, “How much notice does the lad have to give?”. “A week, I think”. He looked at Harry shrewdly. He was undoubtedly a hard worker as were Dean and Ron. He made a decision. “All right, then, I’ll give him a tryout. All of you be ready at the usual spot on.....”, he gave the date. They all celebrated that night.

The lads piled into the Bunker and grabbed Seamus and the girls after a quick shower and some food, then they were all going out. They had a brilliant night out, a little awed by the cost of everything, but managed a few pints in several pubs, then an interesting sounding club, that was a straights-friendly gay establishment, and got sweaty and flushed dancing the night away and ordered a mini-bus taxi to take them to a populated area, then they walked the rest of the way.

They passed a run-down kebab shop open 24 hours and piled in ordering a bit of everything, then messily shared each other’s food as they staggered back. None of them had ever walked back to the Bunker this late at night before and an eerie silence descended as they left the noise and bustle for the quiet under the maze of railway bridges and tunnels. No traffic save the odd high-speed taxi.

Somebody howled into the echoing space, then all of them took it up in between roaring with laughter, making high yips and ghost-y noises, owl hoots. A crusty old gentleman appeared from under an arch, still clutching newspapers around him and shouted at them, “Clear off, ya noisy bastards. Fuckin’ students. Get to bed!! Do your mam’s know you’re out this late. Bugger off, the lot o’ yer!!”. Draco ran across the road the man and pressed a tenner into his filthy hand, “I do apologise for disturbing your rest, sir, please accept breakfast on us and we’ll go and howl somewhere else”, in his most ‘Malfoy’ tones.

They all laughed and set off. They turned the corner. The bridges were older here, there were fewer streetlights. Draco pressed Harry into the dark shadows and kissed him. He felt his back bump the wall as Draco devoured his mouth, hot hands all over him, a gentle squeeze to his crotch. Harry pushed into that hand and moaned around Draco’s tongue. A long thigh pushed between his own and Harry parted his legs willingly. Draco leaned in and pressed them together, rolling his hips, Harry’s hand on Draco’s arse pulling them closer, the other meshed in his hair as they made a meal of each other’s mouth.

In an instant, Harry gave a cry of pain, pushing at Draco, before clutching at his head and sinking to the ground, “Whoa, everyone”, Draco called out. The others had meandered on a way, but turned and ran back. Draco lifted Harry against him, supporting his weight. Harry was shaking and panting, fighting down the urge to heave.

“My scar”, he ground out hissing in pain, “Dark magic...Death Eaters....near”. Ron didn’t think twice. “Come on, we’ll have to use one of the other entrances to the system”. Except for a little fuzziness at the edges, everyone’s mind cleared instantly. Ron turned them back and they took a tiny alley that was easily missed in the dark unless you knew the area. They were between two sets of bridges. Ron located the steps and whispered, “Watch yourselves, these stairs are a bit knackered, there’s a gate to climb over at the top”.

Dean and Seamus led and Ron brought up the rear. They helped each other over the gate, which wobbled a lot. Dean had thrown his jacket over the barbed wire along the top and sighed as he retrieved it, full of small holes down the back. Harry grinned at him, “We’ll buy you a new one. It was for the good of the cause”.

Ron called them into a group, “Now we have to be dead careful here, there’s a nightwatchman with a dog, so keep down, keep quiet and follow me”. They were in an abandoned railway siding and had to tread carefully. The ground was littered with holes and debris. Ron led them through the shadows at the base of the buildings until they faced a wide open space where rail tracks had been removed. In the centre of the space stood a tiny man-height building. There was a louvred panel in the wall and a door.

“This is usually unlocked”, Ron cocked his head in the building’s direction, “But no-one’s used it in yonks. I’ll just go and check it out. Back in a minute. Stay here”. He cast a cautious glance around and set off at a low run. He was back in moments, “Bollocks!!! It’s locked. There’s a fucking great padlock on the door. Great! Now what?!!”

Hermione took a deep breath, “Well, we can either go back and wait it out, or everyone turn your pockets and bags out, I need small sharp pointy things, hairclip, badge pin, penknife, tailcomb, anything like that. Ron, describe the lock to me”. Hermione had her problem-solving face on. Ron scratched his head, “Dunno, ‘Mione, just a fucking big lock”. She glanced at him sternly, “Come on Ronnie-boy, you can do better than that”.

“Okay, it’s like a big fancy thing, a muggle padlock”. Hermione nodded, “Does the key go in the front or into the base”. “No, it’s one of those with a sliding door thing on the front that you swing aside”. She grinned, “Nice one, Ron. Right, then, what have we got?”. She reached up and unhooked one of her earrings and straightened the wire, then took down her hair and straightened the kirby grip, she bit off the little plastic knob. Ginny gave up her tailcomb, Seamus his tiny pocket knife. She gathered up the tools and checking all was clear, she sprinted away.

In moments she had the door open and beckoned them over. The building was nothing more than a brick-built cover for the steps leading down. One by one they ran across the ground and started carefully down the spiral stairway. Ron pulled the door closed and they were in complete darkness. A low male voice said, “O! For a Lumos spell now”, to assorted chuckles. The stairs wound down and down.

Ron gathered them all at the bottom of the steps, “Now we must all be really quiet. Until we can get down to our own level, we have to go down on this line for a couple of stops. These two stations are often used by a group of homeless folk. They’re not bad people, they just want to defend their space, so stay quiet and keep walking. They may shout and catcall a bit, but just ignore them”. He led them to the door onto the line and stopped. “Bollocks!, This one’s locked as well!”.

Hermione grinned, “’S probably why the one up top was locked too, to keep these folk out. But no-one stops a determined Gryffindor burglar!”. She reached into her bag and withdrew a lighter. She flicked it and peered at the shiny new padlock. She handed it to the nearest person, Draco. “Here, hold this for me and everyone be quiet. I have to listen here”. She swiftly pulled out her makeshift tools again and set to work.

Draco held the lighter still. It cast quite a lot of light and he peered, fascinated at what Hermione was doing. With a look of total concentration on her face, she carefully wiggled first the thicker things and then finer and finer wires into the lock aperture, listening intently as she eased the lock tumblers aside, then with a satisfying ‘snap’, the lock sprang open. Draco was impressed and showed it in his face, “Wow, you didn’t learn that at Hogwart’s did you?”. Hermione was glad the light was low to spare her blushes as she undid the hasp.

Ron silenced them all. Draco handed Hermione back her rather hot lighter and they all descended to the line. As quietly as possible they marched in single file. The trains had long since stopped on this line, but they were wary of hostile folk or possible maintenance crews who often worked through the night. As the tunnel opened out around them, they crept as quietly as they could past the platform. Harry carefully did a low level dowse of the place, he was sure that the station was empty of all but themselves.

The next station appeared equally deserted and they were nearly back in the tunnel when a tell-tale whine along the track made the girls yell, “Train!!. Onto the platform. NOW!!!”.

They jumped and hauled each other up. Ron’s left foot on the platform just as the train came whistling through the station. They all stood shakily, their hearts hammering in their chests, “Is everyone okay?”. A chorus of ‘aye’s and yesses. Ron flicked a scared glance around but this station was empty. He breathed a sigh of relief, then led them all back into the tunnel.

About half-way along, between two niches stood a low door, mercifully unlocked, then began another descent, bringing them down to their own line. The boys climbed onto the platform and the girls continued to the other station after wishing them all goodnight.

The boys brewed tea before bed and sat around a table. “You know, I was bloody impressed by Hermione’s lock-picking skills. She had that thing open in under two minutes. Wonder where she learned that....?”, Draco mused. Ron shot him a look, amazed at his naivete. “It was while she was a junkie, idiot. She used to break into places, houses, chemist’s shops, remember. Still it got us out of a tight spot, though”, he sighed. They finished their tea, rinsed the cups and said their goodnights.