A Dark Time For The Light

94

“I think we should all see this”, Hermione stood, sniffling, addressing a meeting in Bunker 7 of over 100 people. “We need to see it, where all of you new folk should have been educated. What we’re all fighting for”, she struggled for composure. Ginny was beside her distraught girlfriend in a heartbeat. She held her for a moment, then Hermione took a deep breath, continuing, “Will you come? We’ll hire coaches, take a day trip. It will be pretty emotional. The place is a mess”. The three Weasleys agreed at once. George was in tears, “I want to lay flowers on my twin’s grave”.

And so it was arranged. The coach from Liverpool drove across the Pennines and picked up the Leeds folk before heading north. The Mancunians needed two coaches to take the cadre and the demi’s who were attending classes there all curious as to their origins. The London crew hired three coaches and all were filled to capacity and there were several bearing the Kilmarcock cadre and all were meeting up a few miles outside of Hogsmeade. The coaches all pulled onto a desolate area of moorland and the passengers all elected to walk from there. The respective drivers were a bit puzzled but they didn’t really care as they loafed in the sunshine, playing cards and drinking soft drinks. They were being well paid for this.

Rather than all squeeze through the tiny side gate, Hermione picked the locks on the large main gate. It took several people to wrench the gates open, trapping swathes of long grass beneath them.

It was immediately obvious that large parts of the building just didn’t exist any more, where the finger of the Astronomy Tower usually poked upwards, now there was only sky. As they all drew nearer, the desolation of the place made many pause. Hermione stopped everyone on the front steps and climbed up a few to turn and address the crowd, “We only have three hours before we must leave again. Look around, show new Magicals around, say goodbye to old friends and loved ones. We will probably never see this place again. The picnic will be laid out on the Quidditch field at 2, then we must leave at 4 on the dot to get back to the coaches. Thank you”.

Alice stood uncertainly on the steps, chewing her lower lip, tears in her eyes until Remus claimed her, “Come on, I’ll show you round, Sev wants to sort through his paperwork scattered around his old lab and office to see if any of it is rescuable. I’ll give you the grand tour”. She smiled gratefully and accepted his arm.

As it happened, their little tour party swelled with the addition of Joe, Caroline and Veronica. George was with his siblings saying their goodbyes to Fred and Charlie. Remus was a patient and thoughtful guide answering as many questions as he could. They went all over the castle, including Dumbledore’s office. The entrance to the stairs was open and they could hear voices. Harry and Draco. They were rummaging about evidently searching for something whilst trying to disturb the room as little as possible. They were looking for the book of Registry but not finding it. Draco unearthed the Sorting Hat, though and Harry spotted the three-legged Sorting Stool.

They told the little party about being Sorted into Houses, “You just put the thing on and sit here on the stool and it tells you, though I doubt it can talk now”. Draco jammed the thing on his head, sitting on the stool and leapt up again as if he had just sat on a wasp. “Aaagh, it remembers me”, he whipped the battered thing off his head. Alice put out a trembling hand, “May I?”, Draco handed it to her. She stepped over to the small stool and sat down, eyes glancing upwards as she placed the Hat on her head and her eyes went round, “It’s talking to me!!”, she mouthed. Harry put a finger over his lips, “Ssshh, listen to it”.

Bravery worthy of a Griffindor
Brains the provenance of Ravenclaw
Cunning fitting for a Slytherin
Oh what house would I have put you in?

Actions daring and mostly illegal
A bearing noble and so regal
But even though your blood be pure
I’m Sorting you into GRYFFINDOR.

They all heard the last word, spoken clearly if croakily. Alice was in shock as Remus helped her to rise. She removed the Hat and handed it to him in a daze, “Well, now I know, I suppose”, tears streaked her face. Then Remus threw his arms around her and hugged her. The others all had to try, too. The Hat sorted Caroline into Ravenclaw and Joe and Veronica into Hufflepuff. Each was awed. Draco rolled his eyes, “Not a sneaky Slytherin amongst you”, he mock-scoffed until Alice recited what the Hat had said in full, her eyes wet but twinkling all the same.

Remus then took them to the dormitories that they would have lived in. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws billets were dusty and a mess, but not too damaged. They went to the other House dorms and Alice and Remus winced as they saw Harry and Draco’s old beds, ripped and hacked and chopped and the daubs on the walls. Alice insisted on viewing the Gryffindor girls’ dormitories, bouncing on one of the beds that afforded a nice view from the windows, “This is the one I’d have bagsied”, she declared.

They finished the tour in the great Hall, now just a derelict shadow of it’s former magnificence and Remus painted a wonderful picture of the way the Hall would be decorated for various feasts at different times of the year, of tiny Filius decorating the Christmas trees that Hagrid would drag single-handedly from the Forest, the food themed to the appropriate celebration.

They all trooped outside and Remus took them to the East field and the cemetery. Alice was quite overcome to see it. She searched about in the long grass finding a straight stout stick. She whipped out her large clasp knife and proceeded to make a point at one end of the stick. She then withdrew a rectangular piece of plywood, a small lump hammer, some nails and a black Magic Marker from her rucksack, wrote the name, Alicia Spinnet on the board and nailed it to the stake firmly then hammered the stake into the ground at the end of the first row of headstones, then sank down weeping beside it.

Several were curious to see her actions and investigated closer, then stopped when they saw what she had done. She felt someone drop to the ground behind her and thread arms around her shoulders, a head drop to her own shoulder. She clasped the hands, Harry. “That was thoughtful, Alice. Thank you”, he mumbled. Alice shrugged, “She was one of ours. She deserves to be memorialised here. I saw her die”, she said simply. After a moment’s grieving, she stood again, Remus had a hand under her arm to steady her and they all made their way to the Quidditch Pitch.

There was a simple but plentiful spread laid out on cloths with wine and beer provided plus a vat of home-made lemonade that had travelled well, a speciality of Ginny and Ron’s. They all ate and drank and toasted dead friends and loved ones and had a proper wake out in the open with the sun beaming down on them. Remus took his small tour party down to the lake after dinner describing the array of Magical creatures who had once lived in it’s depths, then a walk along the perimeter of the Forbidden Forest with further descriptions of the denizens therein. They all peered closely among the trees, but any Magical Creatures were staying hidden.

At four o’clock, the appointed whipper-in off each coach ensured his or her charges were all together and they trailed back to their coaches and folk hugged and kissed and climbed aboard to be whisked back to their cadres and homes. Remus sank into his seat beside Severus exhausted. He was still not back up to full strength yet and today had been taxing. Various people had kept souvenirs from the trip. Ron had the Quidditch shield. Harry had carefully excised the Fat Lady from her frame determined to have her restored. Alice had filched a dirty Gryffindor banner from the Great Hall. Draco had the Sorting Hat in a case, “In case we start a new Hogwarts, somewhere, you know?”. Harry leaned into Draco and kissed him. Severus had a sackful of parchment and books from his old lab and Remus had Dumbledore’s old Pensieve in a small burlap bag on the luggage rack above his head.

That day had seen over three hundred Magicals and Demi’s all in one place, the largest gathering since before the Final Debacle. Hermione had organised it all and Harry and Draco had paid for it all. Some hadn’t come, either due to pressures of work or simply lacking the desire to revisit old ground, but all who had been there felt a weight start to lift from them. Magic would prevail again of that no-one had any doubts and it buoyed the Magicals up no end to see such a large gathering once again. A sad but satisfactory day.

****

A few days later and it was Harry’s birthday. This year, despite it being his 21st, Harry decided to keep things low key. He and Draco took a few friends for a meal instead of having a big party, the group consisting of themselves, Severus and Remus, Ginny and Hermione, Ron and Blaise and Alice and Tony and Hagrid. They ate in a lively American style steak house, taking their meals on sizzling cast iron platters with a band playing on a make-shift stage. All of the party had remembered that this wasn’t just Harry’s birthday although Alice had made no mention of the fact that it was hers, too. She was still given presents by everyone and blushed furiously as she thanked them, “Merlin!, I don’t want to steal your thunder, Harry. This is your day after all. I’m just an old fart. This is your twenty-first”.

Remus leaned over to her and asked in a low voice, “Which makes you?”. She dipped her head and giggled, “Forty-seven. Christ!. I’m gettin’ old”. The table sang them both ‘Happy Birthday’, then Harry rang Neville up in Scotland to send many happy returns to his old schoolfriend. Alice quirked a brow, “We share a birthday with Neville?”. Harry grinned, “We thought the Prophecy might apply to either of us at first. We fulfilled all the criteria, both of us”, and Alice gave him a smirk, “So it was never just about you, then?”. He caught her smirk and reddened, “Well we thought it was, but now I’m not sure at all”. Alice grinned, “Then Neville needs to be in the front line with us all”, and Harry agreed.

Harry thought about inviting everyone back to the flat, but didn’t have the energy to play host, so Alice tentatively suggested that they all convene at her house instead. “I have beer and the usuals. Come on back to mine”. There was general consent to this and taxis were ordered. Alice rang Steffie and Matt to invite them along. They were in her house when the others arrived. Steffie had Alice’s spare key after all. She was laying out lines in the kitchen.

Alice found she had lots in common with the half-giant and engaged him in conversation about Hogwarts. The man didn’t feel so huge, Tony being only a foot shorter than himself, and having such a love of animals that her cats sensed, soon had a lapful of cats to fuss and stroke, this was bound to earn him brownie-points, not to mention a nose like the proverbial hoover that appreciated her crystalline goodies, although he had to keep the inquisitive little kitten from taking up residence in one of his capacious pockets which made everyone laugh. He also had a prodigious appetite for drink and Tony, hearing his Scottish burr, dug out the Glenfarclas and the ‘oldies’ all indulged, Severus was particularly fond of his single malts and fully appreciated the mature 21 year old drink. Alice poured one for the birthday boy, “This is as old as you are, you stripling, Happy birthday”, and handed the glass to Harry, who coughed and gasped at it’s mellow flavour and strength, She nudged Severus, “See, too young for the fine stuff. Wait ‘til we bring out the cask strength Islays and Island malts. If Scotch is your thing, then we have plenty to tickle the more refined palate. Tony is a fan of fine old Armagnacs, too”, she winked at her older guests.

Severus was once more sitting in their sofa nursing a glass and admiring the mellow sound from the truly amazing hi-fi. Tony plumped down next to the man, sensing his enjoyment and nudged him lightly, “C’mon, Sev, when are we going to put you a real sound system together?”. Severus turned to the man and grinned, “Let’s win this battle in front of us and we’ll order that kit from Germany. I really want a system like this, and I really fancy building it myself, although I know bugger all about electronics”. Tony grinned, “No probs there, mate, I’ll help. It’ll be a great project to work on. I haven’t built a system from the ground up, since Matt let me loose on his. As you can tell, I’m a bit nerdy about sounds, but if you’re a discerning listener, and I know you are, then nothing will satisfy until you have your own”. Severus nursed his now empty glass and his head reasted on the back of the sofa, his eyes closed, “You are so right”, was his only comment. Tony noticed the empty glasses of his guests, “Same again, chaps?”, as he took their glasses into the kitchen.

Severus stole a kiss from his lover as they were left alone on the sofa, “If anyone had told me that I would be such good friends with a Mundane five years ago, I would have hexed them into the middle of next week. I’m almost glad that all this shit has happened, it just serves to remind me what a closeted bunch we were in Slytherin, with all this pureblood crap. Life is definitely more varied and interesting now. Let’s hope we can despatch the bastard this time for good and all and let us all get on with our lives. I like this life. I like having real friends. I like being in love and being married to you. Oh, fuck, I’m rambling aren’t I?”. Remus caught his lover in another kiss, “Yes, babe, but I know just what you mean”. They looked up to see Tony with their recharged glasses, “Here you go, try these. Sev, this is an 18 year old Orkney Islands malt, cask strength, and Remus, a 25 year old French Armagnac from a tiny family-run distillery near Perpignan”. Both were highly appreciative, just sipping and savouring.

They wandered back into the kitchen as Alice put out the call for more lines. They entered to see Hermione bent over the solid polished granite tile that Alice used for chopping out on. Hagrid murmured to his ex-colleagues, “Where did you find her? Muggles aren’t such bad folk after all”. Severus grinned, “Alice is a pure-blood Witch from a family line longer than the Malfoys although she never had her training. Apparently you were sent to fetch her to school but her father sent you away. Her husband is a Mundane but knows his way around motorbikes, good hi-fi and excellent drinkables”. Hagrid lifted his glass in toast, “Aye, ye can say that again. Ah must admit, the woman intrigues me and her hubby’s a good sort. Excellent hosts. Good people. No ‘side’ on them at all. And if she was brought up in the south Manchester region, then, aye, I remember, not her, but that evil git of a father”. Remus chuckled, “The Sorting Hat put her in Gryffindor, too”. The three Magicals shared a laugh and took their turns at the tile, Hagrid enquiring, “D’you want a wee something towards all of this?, Money, like?”. Alice shook her head, “Thank you, but no. This is my party too”, she glanced at Severus and Remus, they obviously hadn’t said too much about her. She winked at them then bent her own head down and expertly snorted one up each side as was her wont.

The party broke up as dawn was starting to colour the sky, folk sharing taxis as they left. Matt, Michael and Steffie were staying over having arrived in their own cars and Alice relieved them of the keys so they would not be tempted to drive home intoxicated. Ron and Blaise had left earlier pleading a baby-sitter that they had to let get home. Alice hugged all the rest as they climbed into cabs and were spirited away into the early morning.

Harry curled up with Draco in their bed as the last of the coke left them as they lay, sated, in each other’s arms, “This was another excellent birthday. I love this life, Dragon. Let’s kill the bastard and carry on like this, shall we?”, to soft snores from the love of his life. He lifted Draco’s head and kissed him gently on the lips, “Love you, Draco, and I always will. Night night my love, my own”. In moments he had joined Draco in deep sleep.