A Dark Time For The Light

67

Harry and Draco hosted the New Year festivities. Harry knocked together a huge curry to feed everyone with and guests started to arrive. The House were the first, then they were a roving party anyway, with Dean bringing Belinda, and Colin, his new boyfriend, an amusing raconteur called Jonathan, who was as camp as ninepence when he chose, but he could keep a room in stitches with his stories. Of Draco’s colleagues, Marcus and Bronwen turned up, Jacinta came for a short while, but was expected elsewhere later, and Caroline arrived a little after 9. Of Harry’s workmates, Steffie turned up with Alice and Tony in tow. Matt had a late shift and said he and Michael would turn up later. Cellan and Alan showed along with Joe, who had been dowsed and passed as a demi-magique and was fascinated to be with so many of his, now, ‘own kind’.

Remus and Severus turned up about 9:30 looking taut and strained. Hermione bagged Severus and asked him how it was going, “We’ve been referred to the Hospital. He has an appointment on the 4th”. She smiled, “At least you got him to go, Sev. Now relax and enjoy the night. I think Alice has some more of those naughty snortables that she had at the housewarming”, she giggled, and Severus started to unwind. He sat in a corner and the three were in a huddle. Remus shyly thanked Hermione for her help. “Did you get in touch with Poppy?”. The mood immediately dropped again. She frowned. “Sorry Hermione, it’s just the tale she told”, Severus sighed. “It was her and Filch and two House-elves, Dobby and Winky. Who buried everyone at Hogwarts. She never wanted to be part of the Wizarding world ever again after such a carnage. Not only did she heal the war-torn, but the poor woman helped bury the fatalities. It took some persuasion, but she still has her Magical texts and she is cognisant of Remus’ situation. She has agreed to help”. At that, Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently as he mastered himself, then stood up and left in search of another drink. After that piece of news, she needed one.

She tapped on the bedroom door, hearing music and popped her head round. Harry and Tony were sitting cross-legged on the bed with Steve on the floor. All were tuning to each other. Draco was laid out beside Harry, stroking his back and Alice was bent over a mirror chopping coke. “Mind if I use the ‘puter for a minute, guys?”. Draco drawled, “Sure. Why?”. Hermione’s shoulders slumped, “I just heard something that needs to be posted to the site”. She sat cross-legged in front of the low table on which the laptop sat in it’s docking station and fired it up.

Draco slid off the bed and sat beside her as she opened up the site. He read over her shoulder and gasped in horror at the tale as she typed it. That their respected Matron, their hated Caretaker and two house elves had buried over four hundred people. The elves had carved the headstones after the humans had run.

He regarded her a moment, “’Mione, why did we need to get in touch with Madam Pomfrey again?”. She leaned in and whispered, “Remus isn’t well and, what with him being a werewolf, we needed to be in touch with a Magical practitioner. He’s been a bit tired lately”. Draco nodded, “Sev told us. He sounded a bit worried”. Hermione smiled, “He’ll be fine. He’s going to be treated by Mundanes, but we need her input. Not all Mundane medicine is bad, after all, it fixed Harry’s eyes”. Draco looked thoughtful as Hermione closed down the machine, “When Harry was in the hospital after his accident, I watched his doctor examine him with a bunch of his students. I must admit, I was impressed”. She smiled at him, then his attention was diverted by it being his turn at the mirror.

Alice then held the twenty towards Hermione, who stepped up to the mirror coiling up her hair and tucking it into the neck of her t-shirt, she saw the tram-lines and raised a questioning brow. Alice grinned, “One up each side, dear” and the girl’s head started to dip. She pulled up again, “Would you like a, erm, donation?”. Alice smiled at the girl’s etiquette, “Thank you for asking, but tonight is my treat. I like a girl with manners as well as a girl who properly respects books”. Hermione blushed at the compliment and dipped her head again, expertly hoovering a generous line up each nostril, then tipping her head back and flicking the note so any spare grains ended up in her nose. She ripped a portion of the cigarette-paper wrapping away from the note and handed it back, thanking the woman.

“You’ve learnt all this elsewhere, haven’t you?. Your friends don’t know the etiquette like you do”, the woman puzzled. Hermione blushed, then folded her sleeve back a bit to expose the old scars. Alice hissed a breath in through her teeth, “Ah. I see”. Her expression held disgust. “Don’t think less of me, Alice. I don’t do it anymore and it helped me cope at a difficult time, but I got my beloved back and I haven’t touched it ever again. Nor will I. My friend Josie was in the same boat with me. When I was rescued, she thought I’d been killed and that was enough to get her to straighten out. Harry told me of your embargo against junkies and minors and I don’t blame you, but please don’t judge me from a bunch of old scars”. Alice smiled then, and cupped Hermione’s jaw in her hand, forcing the girl to look in the woman’s eyes. She had a jolt as she realised the woman was a natural Legilimens as her mind was sorted through.

As she realised what she’d done, Alice drew back suddenly and released Hermione’s face, blushing beet red, “Fuck! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen at all. I’m actually not sure what did happen, to be honest with you, but suddenly my mind was flooded. Your parents built you a special extension on their house to give you your own flat for your sixteenth birthday, you slept with Harry in your fifth year, not a satisfactory encounter for either of you although there is laughter in there. Shit. What have I seen?”

Hermione’s eyes were round and horrified, “You just read my mind”, she announced as Severus and Remus entered the room. In seconds, Severus was quizzing the two women. “I need to test your abilities, Alice and I am the only one who can do so, not only can you block people lightning fast, an ability, I may say, that takes mature Magicals many years to master, but now it would seem as if you are a Legilimens, too”. She held the black-haired man’s eyes for a moment and he felt the churning in his head that was the untrained Witch sorting through his upper mind like so much garbage. He could keep her out of deeper places by dint of much practice, but she caught the worry about his mate and the spate of recent worries that had beset him. He blushed as she withdrew.

“I couldn’t keep you out. How did you do this?”. Alice shrugged, her own round eyes staring at Severus. “I’ve absolutely no frigging idea. You’re the Magicals. You tell me”. He just shook his head and bent towards the mirror. Alice leaned forward and caught up the man’s hair before he sent the coke flying, “Whoops, sorry”, he grinned and snorted a line. Alice pulled him up gently by the hair, “You have two nostrils. Use them”, and he bent his head again.

She presided over the mirror as others came for a hit. Several of the older set offered her money and she was secretly pleased at these folks’ manners, even as she gracefully declined. As her best friend expertly snorted, Alice said, “These people have lovely manners, I’ve been offered contributions from all over”. Steffie grinned at her best friend, “The housewarming. I was broke. I had to ask for donations and they probably think it’s part of the protocol. It’s quite sweet, really”. Alice chuckled as she took another two, “I love these people, they really are babes in the wood. I suspect this Dark Lord character is a bit scary, but, well, you know”, she shrugged eloquently at her best friend.

Seamus was just a bit amazed as he overheard this snippet, but shrugged it off and leaned over the mirror. Dean and Belinda were next. The young Mundane woman reached into her bag and tipped another eighth of an ounce onto the mirror. “Happy New Year”, and she laughingly introduced herself, dimples appearing as she smiled. Alice hugged her and thanked her. “This lot are real party animals, aren’t they?”. Belinda grinned at her conspiratorially as the older woman chopped more lines, “Yeah, but real pussies. I don’t mean that in a bad way or anything”, the girl qualified, but Alice and Belinda shared a look. They understood each other perfectly.

Once again, at some point in the proceedings, Harry laid his guitar down and asked Alice if he could prepare the next lines, “Steffie let me last time”, he grinned eagerly. She nodded, then pointed the tip of the blade at the pile, “Make thirty”, she commanded. Then watched as Harry was going to take all night, his boyfriend adding comments like, “That pile’s too big”, then Alice took back the mirror and swiftly divided it into thirty two lines, “There’s always one, who said no and means yes”, then she snorted the two biggest, shamelessly and the next round started. As Harry watched, he realised why the woman took such pleasure from presiding over the mirror, she got to talk to everyone at the party on a one-to-one basis several times throughout the night. In that moment, he knew why she was a good dealer, she could literally handle anybody and had conversation for everyone that took the twenty up. He was impressed.

Eventually the shout went out, “It’s nearly midnight”. The TV was turned on for the chimes of Big Ben at midnight. Draco and Harry made sure their guests had drinks. The TV was turned up loud. The Mundanes counted down with the rest of the crowd out there in London then shrieked “Happy New Yearrrrrrr”, then a round of kisses started. “Mundane custom”, Hermione murmured as she kissed her two ex-teachers after she gave a kiss to her Girlie that would have melted glass. She glanced at her best friend, snogging his beloved blond for Britain before pulling away and doing the rounds. Everyone joined in the kiss-fest fuelled with weed, beer and coke. The night felt deliciously decadent as Harry led his lover into the middle of the living room floor and they danced locked together. In short order, others joined them and the large rug in front of the fire was filled with dancers.

Severus stood and pulled Remus up with him, “Dance with me, love, move against me”, and captured his lover’s mouth in a searing kiss as they moved and gently ground together. Severus murmured against his lover’s temple, “I wonder if the boys will let us use the spare room for a while. What do you say?. I lead you away to a darkened room and fuck you senseless”, Remus was having a hard time standing at this request and allowed himself to be led away from the dancefloor like any other hormonal teen, into a dark room, then was laid out and comprehensively fucked by the man who meant more to him than living itself. They didn’t rejoin the party and had staked their claim to the spare room. Severus had had too much to drink to drive in any case. They brought each other down off the coke jitters and both were asleep before two.

The rest of the party heated, assisted by the large lines Alice was laying out. It was a little thing of hers. Watching everyone get so out of it and retaining her control. However off it people got, she always had the biggest lines and always the last two, then cleaned the mirror, at least another two lines from the residue, then the swipe with a finger over the mirror, then over her top gum, rubbing it in. The coke was gone.

About an hour later and the party broke up. Cabs were a bit slower in coming, but all agreed it had been a great new year’s party. Harry and Draco saw their guests out and collapsed together at the bottom of the stairs. Harry held his beloved tight. “Happy New Year, my sweet Draconis. Let’s go to bed. We’ll assess the damage in the morning”. He stood, holding Draco against him. They kissed, long and sweet. Harry put his guitar away and they tumbled into bed. Draco sniggered as they sank towards sleep. Harry called him on it. “Definition of a ‘relationship’. The first time you go to bed and don’t shag”. They both chuckled as sleep claimed them, too wired and tired to do anything else but wish each other a happy new year.