"Aftermath"
This year had been, completely, da-shiong bao-jah-shr duh la doo-tz, thought Mal, as he guided Serenity away from Beaumont, the extensive damage from the landing on Mr. Information's moon completely repaired.
Well, not quite.
The loss of Wash… of the Shepherd… of all the folks killed in the operative's mission. Some of them, Mal reflected, certainly deserved their fates, but plenty hadn't. The people of Haven, never deserving such slaughter, were first on his list.
Grief, to Mal, was damage-But in the war, and on Serenity, even damaged equipment was workable, so they put it to use. If it could go one more mile, shoot one more clip, fly one more trip, they made it do so. If they had to grind it into dust to get the job done, they did so. But every bullet, every gouge, every broken bone and every concussion left their mark, slowed you down by so small a degree you didn't notice, until enough had piled up.
"Don't let it drag you down," River spoke into his thoughts. He turned his head and looked over at the girl, sitting in the co-pilot's seat. "Serenity doesn't."
"Well, it shouldn't, since we're in space little albatross," Mal replied quietly, once more looking out into the black ahead. River smiled sadly.
"She grieves; for all that she has lost. Like we do. Only… different. Response times, thruster burns… All a bit off. She doesn't slow down, she just wobbles."
"Wobbles?"
"Wobbles," River confirmed. She ran a pale, graceful hand down the control panel before her. "It's her tears. But she knows she has someone waiting for her. She knows she is loved. And so she continues on."
Mal took in a deep breath, and sighed. His eyes closed, as he sought some kind of center.
"I'm just… So tired. And without the… The others… We ain't got nothing to work within. Chances are work'll be scarce for us anyway, after the wave."
"Serenity wants to fly… But she also feels tired. Weary. She needs time to heal. To grow and reach up once more." River turned to Mal, looking intent. "She needs her last family member to do it." Mal stared back at River, before turning to the navigational screen. He inputted the automatic course, and nodded to himself when Hogwart's Moon, still bearing an "UNINHABITED" marker, appeared.
Just like Miranda…
"Not Miranda. Life," River murmured, almost inaudibly. Mal nodded with a small smile.
"Life," he returned, as Serenity leapt ahead, eager to reclaim her last son.
"Embrace"
Harry walked, wearily, down the grand steps to the school's Great Hall. The sting in his arm from the basilisk had vanished, but even healed by phoenix tears the wound still felt numb and tingly.
"Harry?" He paused, and looked up from the ground. Hermione stood, looking a bit apprehensive. He smiled at her.
"Feeling better?" He asked. She'd been cured of her petrification only yesterday, along with Colin Creevy, Penelope Clearwater, and Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hermione frowned.
"Of course… But what's got you so down?" Harry blinked at her.
"Excuse me?"
"You've been acting like you've been expelled," Hermione explained. Harry worked his jaw and looked away.
"… I got a wave. It's… A long story. Short version is, well… Wash and Shepherd Book are dead." Harry took a deep breath. Hermione walked closer to him.
"Oh, Harry…" She tentatively hugged him, and while he stiffened at the contact initially, he returned it. He sighed thickly.
"I saved Ginny… And the other Mugglebornes… All here. But my family, the people who love me and trust me the most… I couldn't… I just…" Harry wrenched his face, trying to resist the tears. Hermione held him even closer.
"Harry… Harry, it's allright. Let it out, it's only going to hurt worse if you hold it in," she murmured. Harry snorted, still trying to hold it in… Before finally succumbing and crying messily into Hermione's shoulder. She continued to hold him tightly, rocking back and forth gently. And it was just those two, in the main hall…
Until dinner rolled around, five minutes later.
"Woah! Hermione Granger is making out with Harry Potter!"
"WHAT!"
"Let me see!"
"Ooh, neat!"
"Romance!"
"GAH!" Hermione and Harry broke apart from their perfectly innocent embrace, only to meet the excited questioning and heckling by the crowd.
"Remind me to bring handkerchiefs next time," Harry muttered awkwardly.
"Moving Day"
Serenity had landed near Hogsmeade before. It had been when the crew had come down to see Harry's Quidditch games, so the villagers paid them little mind. The mule, loaded up and zipping along at full speed towards the castle, that was new.
"Gorramit girl slow down!" Jayne squawked. River laughed, finding joy in the hover craft's acceleration and freedom. Next to her, Mal was caught between amusement and fear himself. The Mule whipped around a sharp corner, before racing up the path to the castle. River, seeing the train station, hopped the mule over a series of boulders, right up to the train platform, scattering dozens of screaming students.
"Am I going to have to get used to that?" Harry yelled out, grinning. He rushed up to the Mule and climbed aboard, hugging Mal and River at the same time, while Jayne shook his head muttering something vulgar in Mandarin. Mal couldn't help but grin, and hugged the boy back.
"So, what are you all doing here?" Harry asked, sitting on the "hood" of the Mule. Mal shrugged.
"Well, considering just how… Hectic, things are right now, we were thinkin' of taking, ya know… A little vacation. What do you say to sitting around here for the summer?" Harry grinned, before hugging Mal again.
"Jing tsai! That's great!" Harry then frowned, and leaned back once more.
"But… What about payment?" Mal smiled in a slightly devious manner.
"Oh, we'll conjure something up…"
"Living"
"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" Roared Cornelius Fudge, red-faced in fury. Dumbledore sat calmly behind his desk, twinkling as brightly as usual.
"I do wish you'd keep your voice down, Cornelius."
"I BLOODY WELL DON'T HAVE TO! This is going TOO FAR, Albus! Too far indeed! HIRING the crew of that-that gose hunk! For what, praytell!"
"With the recent increases in Deatheater sightings, and Reaver attacks, I felt it only prudent to begin some investigations," Dumbledore replied pleasantly. "I have been requesting a ship from the ministry for quite some time."
"YES, but YOU do not have the authority to-to-to start your own fleet!" Fudge spat. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.
"My own fleet? Really, Cornelius; Serenity is of no threat to anyone. She is not even armed. And Captain Reynolds and his crew have no interest in military action, or combat of any kind. They are merely couriers. And I assure you, all information we glean on the Deatheaters will be forwarded to your departments. Nothing held back, you have my wizard's oath on that." Fudge took deep breaths, clutching his bowler hat in his attempt to calm down. He nodded, his teeth still set on edge slightly.
"Very… Very well, Albus. I know better than to question your oath. You just… you do realize the difficult position I am in, correct? The recent chaos in the Muggle Alliance has seriously altered our working structure. Their entire government is undergoing a complete turnover and reconstruction-And Serenity is apparently the cause! I have no wish to see our own Ministry fall apart as well!"
"It won't fall apart, unless there is something you would prefer not get out into the public?" Dumbledore asked politely. "I sincerely doubt that the Ministry is involved in any sort of illegal operations such as the Alliance was. Operations that might lead to it's downfall. As long as this is the case, there is no fear of Serenity getting involved," Dumbledore spoke, calmly, reassuringly, but with a glint of warning. Fudge gulped, and nodded, replacing his hat.
"Of… Of course, Albus. Thank you for meeting me. Well… I'll be off now." And with that, Fudge turned and walked, stiffly, out the double doors. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, thoughtful.
"The Alliance and the Ministry were both involved with River Tam. Of that, I am sure," a cultured, masculine voice spoke into the stillness of the office. Dumbledore nodded.
"Tom's movements before his downfall clearly indicated something was going on… What, precisely, is unknown." Dumbledore turned, and faced his shadowy guest in the corner of his office.
"Captain Reynolds will not like your… Presence, on these errands he will be sent upon, but he will need you," Dumbledore continued. The man nodded.
"Miranda, alas, was only one piece, of a much larger puzzle. The entire picture is incomplete. The main image is not even hinted at. But, slowly, I have been able to find and push a few pieces into the right places."
"Harry Potter, for instance," the man surmised. Dumbledore nodded.
"Indeed. Ronald Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Dobby-These pieces moved, or were moved, to the right places, at the right times. Serenity was not moved by my hand, but in hindsight their involvement was for the better. Harry is now a soldier."
"But taught by a soldier using… Independence training. More accurately, a training that reflects late 20th century and early 21st century Earth-That-Was Western training," the man interjected. "Training that gave Malcolm Reynolds the edge he needed to win, to survive-To think and fight for himself. A dangerous ideology."
"In one sense, yes. I had originally intended for Harry to rely on me after coming to Hogwarts. I was to be his one, true anchor, to guide him and train him into the fight ahead," Dumbledore shook his head with a sad smile. "He does not trust me. Not completely, anyway. And I suppose it is difficult to blame him for that."
"You have not lied to him, nor forced him into anything," the man spoke. Dumbledore sighed.
"No, but I moved the pieces. The board was set for him. Only, he is not a pawn, but a knight. Less predictable."
"Much like Captain Reynolds," the man concluded. Dumbledore nodded.
"In the end, Harry is the only one. But Serenity is the key." Dumbledore turned to the man.
"The key cannot afford to be harmed, any more than it has. The family needs to stay together. Harry, needs them, to fulfill his destiny."
"But what if he turns away from his destiny?" The man asked, adjusting his spectacles. Dumbledore smiled wanly.
"Even I cannot know what that will mean…"
Dun du, dun dun da dunnnnn!
57 more to go… Stay tuned!
