A Dark Time For The Light

9

Very early the next morning and Ginny and Hermione entered a virtually empty canteen, carrying bundles of dirty bedding and clothes. If this was the only opportunity they had to do washing then they would take it. There was a lone figure at one of the tables. Colin Creevey taking on board calories for the coming day. Ginny greeted him shyly, to feel two long arms around her. They talked as he ate. He had an early shoot. He finished, glancing at his watch, pecked Ginny on the cheek and left.

He had to nudge Tonks awake to let him out. She blinked and grinned at him, “The night shift’s a bugger, but I have to be here in case Moody brings anyone”. He nodded and headed out into early morning, laughing.

Hermione set about lighting the range and boiling water. Under the double sink she found washing powder. Ginny made them some tea which they sipped as the huge pans heated. Between them they tipped hot water into the large sink and steeped the bedclothes. Hermione took an inventory of the kitchen, finding a long length of wire. She took the torch and scooted down to the platform. In an adjacent store she found ladders and fixed up a rudimentary washing line. She looked exceedingly pleased with herself as they hung their washing out. She could feel herself come back to life.

She grinned at Ginny as they made their way back to the canteen. Half way up the steps, Ginny stopped Hermione and pulled the girl to her flicking off the torch. They kissed until one of them moaned, then wended their way back kissing and touching, then Hermione laid her Girlie out over one of the canteen tables and was just gazing into her beautiful eyes deciding how to take her, when a polite cough brought them both round.

They scrambled to their feet, pink and embarrassed. Two guilty pairs of eyes met Severus’ and Remus’, looking for an early breakfast. They had to get on the road before the traffic became impossible to steer through. Remus grinned, “Sorry, ladies”.

Hermione, to cover her confusion, dived behind the counter, and in moments had bacon and eggs sizzling on the stove. As if the aroma alerted others, various of the workers started drifting in. Hurrah!. Not porridge today. Hermione wasn’t to know, but the cooked breakfast was generally a weekend thing. Before long they had found tomatoes, beans and mushrooms and the breakfast was a proper plateful.

At some point Ron came barreling in, “No!”, he shouted. “Cooked brekkie is for weekends only”, he let himself in behind the counter then stopped. The girls were doing just great, and if it meant porridge on Saturday, then so be it. He saw the animation in Hermione’s face as she served. Ginny glancing at her lover as she turned strips of bacon at the griddle and cracked eggs.

As the workers left, the rest drifted in to a fine breakfast. Eventually the girls loaded plates and came over to sit with Harry, Draco and Ron. They ate ravenously and as they cleared their palettes with drinks of tea, Harry cleared his throat, “I think it’s about time we heard each other’s stories, don’t you?”, he addressed the table at large. All looked a bit awkward and Ginny glanced at her still-husband.

Hermione broke the silence first. “Well, you all know I was admitted to a top class University?”. The table nodded as one. “Well, I either ran off the rails or had a breakdown, depending on who you believe”, she sighed, raking a hand through her hair, Ginny snuggled closer, placing a cautious arm around her. Hermione leaned into the touch.

“There was a girl at College with me, Josie. She was smarter than me, but she felt inferior. She’d been brought up on a Council estate in Leeds. We got together, the class misfits. There was so much I didn’t know. Brain of Hogwart’s or not. She also. She was street-wise in a way I’ll never be. She turned me on to smack. The first time I had a hit, it was if all my troubles were at a remove, like looking down the wrong end of a telescope. For a while I could forget. Being magical. Losing my lover. Being me”, her eyes teared. Ginny tightened her hold and Harry grasped Hermione’s spare hand.

She wept, “But then we realised we were too involved with the smack and suddenly our bank accounts were dry. She didn’t have much to start with, although her family were really proud of her. The first of them to ever enter University. There was a lot riding on her shoulders. As for myself, I pushed too hard and I burned out. There are no time-turners in this world, and smack took it all away for a while. Then there was no money and we both had to earn. Hooking seemed the easiest option. It all went downhill from then on”. By then she was weeping, “But then Dean found me. He paid a hundred quid for a whole night with me and didn’t touch me, even though I offered, then he brought me here”, her shoulders shook as Ginny held her.

“Ron?”, she asked tremulously. “Have you still got that tin box I gave you when I first arrived?”. Ron nodded, “Yes”. The table held it’s collective breath. She turned burning hazel eyes to his, “Get rid of it. Destroy it and it’s contents. Promise me?”. Ron nodded. “Consider it done”, and took her from his sister into a hug.

Harry was next. Admitting to the fear, the loneliness, the rent-boy. The monotonous job, the nice people he’d met. “It all sounds a bit tame compared to your tale, ‘Mione”. She glared at him through reddened eyes. “We all ran, Harry. We all hid. Some managed it better than others. You did well”.

Draco and Ginny told their heartbreaking tale next. Despite the luxury, living under an Imperius then producing a child that they’d had to leave behind. Hermione and Harry winced for their lovers, plainly missing their son.

Draco recounted the moment he was dragged, kicking and screaming from his Harry’s arms. Ginny recalled the time she was rounded up in the street, returning from a shopping trip, for that night’s dinner. Scooped off the street and borne away, not knowing what was happening as a Stunning spell was laid on her and she woke up over a year later to find herself married and a mother. Draco reached out a hand to her which she grasped and both mourned for the child that they would probably never see again.

Ron was last. He sunk into himself, then lifted eyes full of tears. “When mum and dad were carted off, I didn’t know if any of the rest of my family were alive or dead”. He hung his head. “Then I heard about Bill being killed. George seriously injured, then decided right then and there to form the Underground. A place we could all gather. After the Battle whoever was left of the DA got together and sort of planned this as quickly as possible. We had to be a place where Magicals could regroup. Though fuck knows what happens now. But we’re still gathering. In this cadre we’ve got kids as young as eleven and our oldest member is 76 and still working. The Glasgow group is mainly favoured by families with little kids”, he leaned his forehead on the table and howled his anguish.

In a heartbeat, Harry was beside him, his warm arms about him. Ron wept into his shoulder, all the while apologising, “Sorry, Harry, I’ve soaked your shoulder twice now”. Harry held him, “Don’t be daft, Ron, you’re one of my best mates, idiot”. Ron relaxed into the touches, laying his head on Harry’s chest. Draco’s heart constricted a little until Ginny caught his hand, “Come on, Draco, we’ve all got history. After all, you and I are married. Whether we want to be or not”. Draco subsided and quelled his pangs of jealousy, threading his arms around his wife, holding her briefly before relinquishing her to her partner. In time, his Harry leaned back in his arms. “Were you jealous, love of mine?”. Draco had to admit, “Yes. A bit”, then Harry turned in his arms and kissed him as if his life depended on it. “You’re mine, lover. I lost you for nearly two years and I sure as hell aren’t leaving you again”. Draco could do no more than revel in those touches, kisses and he submitted to his wonderful lover.

Somewhere during the course of events Ron handed Harry his phone back, biting his bottom lip. Harry caught the red face, the wide grin. He leaned in and whispered, “Did he, er, translate the letter?”. Ron looked extremely embarrassed, he hung his head and nodded. Harry looked at him sidelong, then reached and grasped his face. “Don’t ever be ashamed of loving, Ron. Sometimes it’s the only thing keeping you going. I know...”.

Ron cast his eyes around the table taking a deep breath. “That’s not all”, he sighed, chewing his lip. He turned to Harry, “When you caught me translating the letter, it wasn’t what you thought, although I appreciate the loan of the phone”. He braced his hands against the table and squared his shoulders. “Last year, before the Magic Embargo was passed into law, Blaise and I did a working together. It worked, although we didn’t know it until after he had gone home. I mean, we both come from large families. Sev did the ritual for us and, erm, Lavender was the donor before she buggered off to Glasgow”, his eyes were startled as he flicked a glance at each of them. Hermione covered her mouth in amazement, her eyes huge above her hands. “Ron!! You’re pregnant”, she squeaked. He shook his head, “Blaise neither”. He reached into his pocket and unfolded the letter, retrieving the Muggle Polaroid snap it wrapped and pushing it into the centre of the table, “This is our daughter the night she was born. She’s three weeks old now”, there was a catch in his voice.

In an instant Ginny had her arms around her big brother, cradling his head on her stomach. Words weren’t necessary. She felt the ache pouring through him, then tipped his head up, “Ironic, isn’t it?. I’m an auntie and you’re an uncle and you may never meet your nephew although I’m itching to meet my niece”, she cried into Ron’s hair as they clutched each other. Ron whispered, his eyes closed, “We’ll try and get him back, Ginny, if you want”. Too choked to speak, Ginny merely nodded.

Harry pulled the photo towards him. Blaise beamed towards the camera, his tiny daughter in his arms, Paler skin than his, a few deep red curls visible on her forehead. She was asleep. She was beautiful. Harry had a strange tugging sensation in his belly, a finger tentatively stroked the picture. Draco scrutinised his lover in silence, then glanced down. Harry’s finger was stroking the baby’s face, he was mesmerised.

Draco leaned in and whispered, “Harry?”. Harry’s head shot up, startled. He pushed the picture towards Hermione and said, “She’s beautiful, Ron. I, er, I’m sorry you weren’t there, you know, when she was born. Erm, Ron?”. The redhead grinned at him, “Yes”. “Just out of interest, what was the Ritual you used?”. Ron turned a pretty shade of red, “We used the Gravidas ritual. It’s pretty Dark, but if the intent is good and the body up for it, then even Magic such as this can be of the Light”, his face went all dreamy and his sister noticed, pulling him into a tighter hug. Her lover, however, was watching Harry.

Watching the play of emotions across his face, the look he and Draco shared. Draco’s eyebrow raising. Harry’s short nod, then the tenderness of the ensuing kiss. In an instant, she had divined the situation. Harry wanted a child with Draco.

And Draco had agreed.