Silent Light
Chapter Nine
"She is my sister. I cannot just leave her there, Sirius! She is my sister!"
"I bloody well know who she is, Andromeda, I've looked enough times at that bloody Family Tree to know by heart between whose names your little carbonised point is!"
"Sirius, we are all that's left from our family, we must help her!"
"What family are you talking about, Andie, for Merlin's sake! They are not family, not a single one of them! When have they cared about us? They've left us when we needed them, why in HEAVENS should we help them?"
"Because we were expelled for being better people than they are or were! Because WE help others! Because WE care about people other than ourselves! Because WE can help them now! She's the only sister I have left." Andromeda's voice went soft and Sirius felt his heart clench. Their family was never a happy topic to talk about, "She's everything we still have there." she made a pause and looked at him in the eye, speaking softly, "She's not Bella, Sirius."
"She's not you either." he replied feeling a little childish, but he did not want them there.
"She needs help, Sirius, she was desperate and I know you know enough of Narcissa to know she doesn't do desperate. She is afraid for hers and her son's life."
"The little death Eater." Sirius muttered, but Andie heard him anyway.
"He is Harry's age."
"Precisely. And he is a little Death Eater."
"Merlin, Sirius, stop acting like a sixteen year old! They need help, and I know we are supposed to stay away from our former… place but we still can do something for them! For him! He's just a kid! He is Harry's age, they both need help!"
"Don't you put my GODSON in the same place as that little snot. They never got along, Harry told me they were always fighting, how can you possibly expect…"
"That is up to Harry to decide, but, please, Sirius, let's just give them a chance. I know Harry is been through so much, too much for his age. His responsibilities, and everything he went through. I was there, Sirius, it was my daughter and her husband. It was my own husband. I know it wasn't a picnic, but if Harry needs a chance to heal, then so does my nephew. Let's just give them a chance."
"Shit, Andie, how can you expect me to just welcome Malfoys into our home?"
And that's when they heard a very curious voice ask from the hallway.
"Malfoys?"
They both stared at Harry wide eyed, like a couple of kids caught in the middle of a prank.
"Harry, we need to talk." said Andie and Sirius knew he had lost the argument. Harry was able to forgive just about anyone; the Malfoys wouldn't be any different.
Life was going to be hell.
.x.
Harry thought it was fun to meet new people but that didn't make him any less nervous about talking to them. They got their lunches and he was guided to a table at a side of the canteen, a fact Harry was glad for, he didn't like the place where Bella was sitting - too much attention.
He was then introduced to Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen, the last two siblings of the Cullen family, and he couldn't keep his eyes off Rosalie.
'She is most definitely related to a veela. I'll have to ask Sirius about this later.'
Edward was eyeing him strangely when he thought this, and he considered some of his astonishment must have shown on his face.
"So, Harry, what are you thinking about classes so far?" Jasper asked, and he smiled at the blond boy.
"I must confess I got a little lost at History. I mean, being British and all, most of it I never knew it happened, and at my old school I wasn't taking History…" 'not the muggle one, anyway', he thought and Edward thought about consulting a dictionary later to try and understand what the boy was thinking.
"I understand… What about others? What else did you have today?"
"I've had Chemistry and Politics, both of which I thought easy enough… Chemistry at my old school was way harder." 'And the teacher was way more awful too'. "After lunch I have Gym. Any of you take it?"
"No. It's a little boring…" Jasper trailed off, picking his food and playing with it, to give the impression he was eating, just like all of his other siblings. Harry didn't seem to notice anything was out of order.
"Where do you know Bella from, Harry?" Alice asked the question Edward had been itching to ask for long minutes now and he sent her a grateful smile.
"Oh, you know Isabella?" said Rosalie, in a voice full of disdain which made Harry think of Hermione, in her most disapproving moments.
"Er… yeah. My godfather gave me this jeep for my birthday, and we went to La Push to show it to the boy who fixed it, and Bella was there. She and Jacob were nice."
"Yes, Jacob tends to be very, very nice." Edward commented coolly and Harry looked at him strangely. There was something there he wasn't getting.
He looked at Edward and saw a little jealousy in his eyes, but also something else, something he couldn't quite understand. It was like Edward was reading him when their eyes locked together, like time had stopped or some other absurdly nonsense people used to describe a feeling like… like he knew Edward from somewhere he did not remember.
He hadn't noticed they had been staring at each other until Rosalie cleaned her throat and Emmett was laughing a little. Harry went red from embarrassment and looked away, chatting pointless things with Alice and Jasper.
Anything to avoid all the things he didn't understand and that were written all over Edward's eyes.
The rest of the day passed calmly enough, and soon it was time to go home. He was walking to his car when he heard someone calling his name. It was Edward.
"Harry… you mentioned you were having problems with History and I thought… maybe you would like some help? I could help you catch up to where we left today's class. If you let the contents accumulate, you'll never be able to understand the subject."
"That would be great! When could you help me?"
"I was thinking… now, after class? I mean, if you have nothing else to do, of course…"
"I don't. It would have to be at my house, though, my godfather is kinda freaking out today, he asked me to go home straight away… Would you mind? We could go now, and then I'll take you home…"
"It's perfect." Edward answered, and they climbed into Harry's car, without seeing the smug look Alice was giving them.
A match made in heaven indeed.
.x.
"What was with the staring contest, Edward?" Rosalie asked as soon as Harry left for his own classes, her voice was fast and sharp, but Edward ignored her tone and just shrugged.
"I don't know, Rose. He just feels… different. Didn't you notice? His scent… didn't you notice something different about it?"
Rosalie went silent, thinking about the boy and realized it was true. He didn't feel like food, he felt simply… strange.
"See? I'm just curious. I would like to know more about him…"
"Why don't you help him, then? He said he didn't get History, you could help him." Alice suggested innocently, and Edward nodded.
"You know, that's exactly what I'm going to do."
And that's how he now was in the car with Harry, talking about simple things and he felt absolutely fine with him. It wasn't the desperation Bella had caused him; it was a sense of peace, as if Harry… belonged there, by his side. The boy seemed to feel fine by his side too; nothing like the nervous boy that had been trying to bring himself to talk to Edward in class, but someone calm and nice and his eyes were shinning in such a way… They had to be the greenest eyes Edward had ever seen.
They were amazing.
When they parked in front of the comfortable looking house, Edward heard some kind of argument was going on in the inside and pretended he had lost his wallet, so that the couple would stop fighting before they went in.
"Merlin, Sirius, stop acting like a sixteen years old! They need help, and I know we are supposed to stay away from our former… place but we still can do something for them! For him! He's just a kid! He is Harry's age, they both need help!"
"Don't you put my GODSON in the same place as that little snot. They've never gotten along, Harry told me they were always fighting, how can you possibly expect…"
Edward frowned. Odd people these new ones were, that's for sure.
"That is up to Harry to decide, but, please, Sirius, let's just give them a chance. I know Harry is been through so much, too much for his age. His responsibilities, and everything he went through. I was there, Sirius, it was my daughter and her husband. It was my own husband. I know it wasn't a picnic, but if Harry needs a chance to heal, then so does my nephew. Let's just give them a chance."
Well, that certainly explained why the boy seemed older. But what could have happened in his past to make his godfather so overprotective, his cousin trust in his judgement so much? He was just a boy!
By now, he couldn't pretend anymore, and they made their way to the front door, Harry opening it while his godfather was speaking.
"Shit, Andie, how can you expect me to just welcome Malfoys into our home?"
"Malfoys?"
They both stared at Harry wide eyed, like a couple of kids caught in the middle of a prank. Edward could feel Harry tensing up beside him, like the name he heard was some kind of plague.
"Harry, we need to talk." Said the woman, and then she noticed Edward behind Harry, "Oh. I hadn't seen you had visitors. We'll talk about it later, ok, honey?"
"All right, Andie… Sirius?"
His godfather smiled, even if Edward could see how strained it was.
"Don't worry, cub, we'll tell you everything later, nothing to worry about. Who's your friend?" he added smiling. 'I'm glad Harry already made friends. With that prat here it's good he will have someone else at school but him'. Edward frowned. It was strange to see a grown man with such a grudge for a teenager.
"Yeah, this is Edward Cullen. This is Sirius, my godfather, and Andromeda, his cousin. Where's Teddy?" he asked her, and she smiled in response, and Edward could see a little baby boy in her thoughts.
"Taking a nap. Why don't you go up to your room? I'll just make some snacks and take it to you there, if that's alright?"
"Great idea, Andie, Harry needs to eat!" Sirius agreed and Edward chuckled at the look of exasperation Harry had on his face.
"I did eat, you know?"
"Of course you did, sweetie. Now up you go, I'll be there in a moment."
Harry looked like he was going to argue, but he just laughed and led the way to his room and just then Edward could identify something that was feeling slightly off to him.
It wasn't just Harry that didn't smell like food: it was all of them.
What kind of people were they?
.x.
"I'm not going. Not for anything in the world, mother."
Draco Malfoy was not a happy boy. Not a happy boy at all. It wasn't enough he had lost almost everything he cared for in the war, now his mother wanted to take him to live among muggles.
"It's not a choice, Draco, it's an order!" Draco looked enraged at his mother.
"How can you expect me to leave everything…"
"What everything, Draco? What? What faithful friends do we have here? What hopes and expectations? What do we have left? We have nothing! Our name is worth nothing. You dear father made sure of that when he rejoined that halfblooded bastard…"
"DON'T YOU DARE BLAME FATHER! He did what he thought was right for us!"
"And I am doing what I think is right for us now! Do you think even for a second that I'm enjoying it? To live with the scum the muggles are? To ask favours of the sister I haven't heard of in ages? Do you really believe I want to do it?"
"Then WHY are we doing it?"
Narcissa fell silent, and Draco could see tears in her baby blue eyes.
"Because it's our only option, my son. Our only and last chance."
"Don't be so overdramatic, mother." Draco whispered but he knew his mother had heard him, just as he knew she was right. The threats came every single day. People from the 'light' side who wanted them into Azkaban again, and people from the 'dark' side who wanted them dead for being out of jail, for having escaped with so little punishment, for having betrayed the Dark Lord.
The truth was they didn't have a place in that world anymore. It was a fact.
He covered his eyes with his hands and sighed. How he wished his father had made less stupid choices.
"Draco, it's not forever, son. Only… only a few years, and maybe we can come back, or at least move into a Magical Community away from here, where our names won't be recognized…" she trailed of, and he smiled sadly.
"We really don't belong here anymore, do we, mother?"
She went silent and sat by his side, hugging her son to her with everything she had.
"No, Draco. We don't."
And with that she knew she had won.
To Forks they would go.
