A Dark Time For The Light

85

The following weekend, Alice invited Severus and Remus, Harry and Draco plus Hermione and Ginny to a little barbecue in her back yard. The small party split two taxis and Harry brought his guitar. Ginny was deeply impressed by Alice’s blooming pots of plants and Alice took great delight in advising the budding gardener. Hermione she let loose in her library with an, “Enjoy yourself”.

Tony, Severus and Harry were deep in conversation about bikes, guitars and hi-fi, which piqued Severus’ interest no end, especially as Tony was free with his knowledge and offered to help Severus to build his own system. Severus grinned, at last, someone who knew about hi-fi’s intricacies and Tony had a willing pupil as he showed off his own system. Alice and Remus were talking about his changes and all sorts of other things. He had to admit, he felt like Alice was a real friend.

Draco relaxed on the bench in the yard sipping beer and let all of the talk swirl around him. He didn’t mind not being part of any conversation and he was glad that Alice wasn’t one of these impulsive hostess types that had to keep everyone talking. So long as no-one looked actually left out, she was quite content to let Draco zone out for a bit, which he did, staring at the sky through a cloud of late clematis blooms, listening to the tinkle of the water feature and lazily accepting blunts as they were passed his way, totally content.

Tony lit the barbecue and all coughed at first while the smoke was thick then Tony brought out the food to be cooked. Whole trout and marinaded chicken breasts. Peri-peri marinated wheels of corn on the cob as a starter. Bowls of cous-cous mixed with pumpkin seeds and crunchy peppers and tomato and salad leaves in home-made vinaigrette dressing, hunks of feta cheese and olives in an olive oil dressing. As dinner was served around the table the talk turned serious. Harry gave the list over to Alice who popped on her glasses to peruse it. She peered at the boys over the tops of her specs, “These are the folk you want? Just seventy-odd?”. Draco smiled, “We haven’t asked for volunteers yet, that number will certainly grow if and when we do”.

Alice clicked her tongue as she scanned, “But these are the ones you know and trust?”, she enquired of the group at large. They all nodded, “The others are relatively unknown to us as people”, Hermione piped up, “Although they will be trustworthy, they are all on our side, after all”. Alice shot back, “Yes, yes, but as they are unknowns, then they should be in the back-up lines only. Have you paid some mind to getting in and getting out?”. Remus grinned, “You seem to be the one planning this”. Alice looked shocked, “No way!!. This is Harry’s show. How would I know how to plan a raid like this?”, and with that sentence, she gave herself away. She pulled herself up short and blushed, “Okay, okay. I have given it considerable thought”.

“Just like we did in Diagon Alley. A full-on raid, but no Magic to be used until we are in there. A shock troop of about forty, all over the house and we take down whoever we find there. Draco, I must admit that I am reluctant to have you along to this scenario. We will almost certainly have to kill your Father”. Draco’s gaze was steely, “Get me in, get me close to him and I’ll take the bastard out myself”. Alice did a quick mind riffle and saw the truth. Draco’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped, “What did you just do?”, he whispered. He looked round to see the smirk on Severus’ and Harry’s face. Harry flung his arm around his beloved, “Whoops, did she just rifle your thoughts like sorting rubbish for the recycler?”.

Alice leaned over the table and placed her hand over Draco’s for a moment, squeezed and let go, “You really do hate him. I was afraid that you still might feel some residual attachment to him and if it came to pass, I’d hate to lose you because you faltered at the last moment. We cannot have that. This is battle and people die. You have already lost many of your old friends and it will almost certainly cost lives, but my plan is for stealth and surprise, particularly as he has become lax according to Alastor. Before we do this, it wouldn’t hurt to have him re-dowse the place for new wards. Hermione?”, she got the attention of the brown-eyed girl, “I believe you are a bit of a demon at picking locks?”. Hermione blushed and lowered her head, “I am, but Ginny doesn’t like me doing it”. Alice glanced at Ginny, “Well you’d better approve, love, this is a matter of life and death”, then turned back to Hermione. “How fast can you get into seven-lever Mortices?”. Hermione replied honestly, “About half an hour”. Alice nodded and grinned, “Practice. We need you to be faster than that. Thanks for all the schematics, by the way, very thoroughly done, a true burglar. You probably have enough skill in those two hands to pull a major heist. I salute you, in fact, I would like you to do some weapons training with Harry”.

Hermione’s voice was small, even while she reddened furiously at Alice’s compliments, “Weapons?”, she squeaked. Alice grinned widely, No-one had let her secret out. She took a deep breath and told the girls who she was. Hermione was gobsmacked, “The ancient Nutter family?”, she breathed, “The Pendle witches. Merlin!! That family is older than yours, Draco”, then Alice revealed her scar to the girls and told them of the guns she had. “I have contacts. We could all be armed in this way. I know where to get more guns if we need them and I suggest the front line go armed. And we all need to be wired”. Tony spoke up, “I could help with that. We need walkie-talkies rather than phones”. Harry put in, “If they use radio waves, then they won’t be any use as some wards deflect them, but mobile signals get through to Magical spaces with no problem and no drop-out”. Tony nodded and took this on board, sinking into thought.

Alice cleared the table of detritus after everyone had finished eating. As she opened the back door, her cats all tipped into the yard. When she returned to the yard with fresh beers for everyone, she found various folk trying to attract the animals’ attentions. George leapt up on Hermione’s lap, much to her delight, “I had a long-hair myself, he was my familiar, called Crookshanks. He fled during the Final Debacle. What’s he called?”Alice grinned and told her. Tillie leapt into Remus’ lap, remembering his ministrations from his previous visit, maybe, or just liked the challenge of someone who smelled faintly of canine. Then a huge tabby tom wandered out, talking to anyone who would listen with his chirrups. He leapt, over a stone in weight, into Draco’s lap. Then Harry squeaked in surprise, “Who’s this one then?”, as a young kitten bounded into the yard. He bent over the edge of the bench and scooped her up to “Awww”s from the gathered company. Tony grinned, “She’s one of Matt’s kittens. She came to us on Tuesday. She’s not quite nine weeks old. Her name’s Minnie”.

The cats definitely broke the ice and relaxed everyone again not to mention the huge shisha pipe that Alice placed in the middle of the table. Her husband produced a small metal bowl and made a mix of grass and hash then loaded the pipe bowl and lit it, his wife getting the thing going properly, having the superior lung capacity, then passed the long flexible pipe to her left, to Ginny, who took small cautious sips. Alice guffawed, “Come on, girl, deep breaths, you don’t even smoke fags”. Ginny tried again, taking a deep draw, passing the tube on, holding the smoke then letting it out through her nostrils slowly. Her mind raced, ‘Don’t throw a whitey’, kept hammering in her brain, but as the mixture hit her, she just grinned and hugged the little tabby cat in her lap and laughed.

After the coughing, then the hit and all the less experienced smokers had the rush at more or less the same time. Tony went in to sort out the music. As the piece started to play, he caught hold of Severus returning from the loo, sitting him in the sweet spot between his speakers, and with, “The speakers have warmed up now”, left his guest to fully enjoy hi-fi at it’s best with a wink and a grin. Severus was pinned to the wall. This was the kind of sound he wanted.

As Tony sat back down outside, his wife enquired, “What have you done with Sev?”. The man shrugged, “Just turning him on to hi-fi, babe”. Alice laughed. A short while later, Remus went in search of his husband and found him slumped against the wall, his head thrown back, his eyes closed and tears escaping from his closed lids, totally lost in the music. He settled himself beside him and they listened together. Now he knew why Sev was so fussy about his sounds, this system was quite unlike anything he had heard before, the sound deep and rich, many-layered. It gave him goose-bumps. He ran his hand up Sev’s arm and realised his beloved was having the same visceral reaction.

Severus opened his eyes into molten light brown and laughed, “I want this, or something like it”, then they kissed, letting the music enter in and flood their senses as their tongues met and tangled around each other. They came up for air and Remus laughed, “We’re snogging like a couple of randy teenagers”. Severus opened his mouth over his beloved’s again, “I know. They don’t mind. Come here”, in that low voice that Remus simply couldn’t resist. Harry grinned at the oblivious two as he passed on his way upstairs, as did Alice a few minutes later, winking as she crossed Harry in her lounge and they were still locked together.

Then pulled apart as she regarded them, her head cocked to one side. Severus collected himself and apologised. Alice grinned, a big stoned grin, “Never apologise for being in love, Sev”. The man thought for a moment, “Someone else once said that to me”. Ginny was on her way to the bathroom and giggled as she heard this exchange, “It was me, at Christmas”, then continued on. They were alone again and Severus couldn’t resist another clinch with his husband, “It’s not as if we aren’t respectably married after all”, then claimed his Wolf’s mouth again but resisted running his hands everywhere, keeping it clean, but losing themselves in each other’s eyes. They had Alice order them a cab soon afterwards. She kissed and hugged them both and wished them goodnight as she waved at them as they drew away.

After the men left, Alice cheekily suggested a little hit, “I didn’t want to suggest it while Remus was about, ‘cos I know he likes a snort, but I believe it buggers around with his medicine, so I thought it wise not to offer, but if anyone fancies one....?”. She had her young guests giggling and nodding. The night was stiflingly still so she brought everything outside. She had one of those giant cantilevered parasols which hid their activities from nosy neighbours, and she expertly chopped out twelve lines and proffered tissues so everyone could clear the airways. Tony threw his arms around his wife in a drunken gesture, “That’s what I love about her, she never does anything by halves”. Everyone took one up each side. Two of the cats tried to leap onto the table to join in, but Alice grabbed George and the kitten, Minnie, and despatched them without further ado. Harry gathered the kitten onto his lap after his snorts and fussed her and George leapt into Draco’s lap then promptly turned onto his back to have his belly scratched. Draco laughed and complied.

As the night deepened around them, Alice chopped more lines and happily listened to loosened tongues telling tales of the Magical world, lapping them up. Tony knew this about his missus, she was a quick study and absorbed new knowledge like a sponge. He watched her as she hung on to every word, filing it all away in that prodigious brain.

They saw their guests into taxis as the cool of the pre-dawn hit them. All thanking them for a great night. Harry hugged both of his hosts to be followed by the other three. Alice tried not to hang onto Draco as he kissed her on both cheeks, European style. She gave nothing away as they all parted amiably in the dawn, then sagged as Tony closed the front door. He caught his tired wife in his arms, “Whassup Al?”. She chewed her lip and reddened, she knew she could tell her husband anything. “Okay, I think Draco’s hot, okay?”. Her husband grinned, “ I think the little burglar is kind of cute”, and Alice shrieked, “Hermione!!!. I’d kill for her skills and brains”. Her husband nuzzled her neck as he led her bed-wards, “You probably already have them, you have your own ‘picks after all”. The rest was lost in the lust-filled haze that accompanied them to bed.