Harry?"

"Hmm?"

He tried to smile.

Luna's brow creased, and she swiped at a stray curl, her skin flushed,

"You're staring. What's the matter?"

I'm memorizing your dear face because I shall never see it again,

"Nothing."

Grace fussed in her arms, but Luna waved off Cecily. Ginny smiled wanly and said to Harry,

"Your sister's such a dedicated mother. I hope it comes as naturally to me."

She worried a pleat on her full skirt between her fingers, the tight bodice of her yellow dress thrusting up her bosoms. Traces of dirt clung stubbornly to the dress's hem, although she'd tried to clean her slippers. She had to be unbearably hot.

"Mmm,"

He answered. He belatedly added,

"I'm sure you'll make a fine mother,"

And Ginny beamed. Guilt simmered in his gut.

Even in the shade of the house, which had lost most of the tiles from the roof and several windows, the afternoon heat blistered. Still, they dutifully sat at a round table. Neville had brought it out from one of the drawing rooms, since the previous garden set had been snapped into kindling.

The governor's house was inland and, on a rise, a view of the sea from the ruined garden stretching out in the distance to the east, away from the commotion of the harbour. From this vantage point, there was only twisted, tangled foliage, a sea of green giving way to blue.

They drank tea and ate day-old biscuits, pretending the island didn't lie in waste around them, that felled trees with gnarled roots didn't litter the property. That the remaining inhabitants of Godric's Hollow weren't fleeing, too many buildings blown asunder, the failing colony now clearly irrecoverable.

From a distance, the strident voices of Mr. Weasley and Albus reached them, the words too faint to make out. Ginny swallowed thickly and stirred another cube of sugar into her tea with rapid clanks of her spoon. Luna gave her a sympathetic smile, then raised her eyebrows at Harry.

Yet he couldn't muster any soothing words. Not when they were still pretending that Ginny and Harry would marry. The truth seethed on his tongue, eager to fly into the still air amid the cicadas' droning chorus.

I'm a sodomite, and the pirate king claimed me every way you could imagine… and some you likely can't even fathom. I'm going to rescue him and cleave to him if he'll have me. I want to live out my days at his side, because even if they are severely numbered, it will be truly living.

"Is it ever this hot in England?"

Ginny asked, her voice trembling as another echo of their fathers' fury reached what was left of the garden, even the grass beneath their feet churned to bits.

Luna and Harry looked to each other, and Luna leaned over to give Ginny's hand a kind squeeze.

"No. Summers are very pleasant there."

"We left when I was so young that I can't recall. I should like to visit one day. Although most of all I'd like to go home to Jamaica."

Harry said,

"I think you soon shall."

I hope you do, with all my heart.

Albus's voice rang out,

"If there will be no gallows built in time, then we'll hang him from a God-damned tree!"

Luna's mouth tightened, her sympathetic gaze too much to bear. Harry imagined Voldemort aboard the brig for the hundredth time, so close and still out of reach until nightfall. Was he injured? Fed? Had the privateers treated him fairly?

Bile surged into his throat at the thought of Voldemort suffering, and he gripped his teacup so tightly he might have shattered it if Luna hadn't covered his quivering hand with her own, guiding the cup back to its saucer.

"Are you well?"

Ginny asked, leaning toward him, then shaking her head,

"But of course, you aren't. It must distress you terribly, knowing that monster is so close at hand."

"It does,"

He agreed, struggling to keep his tone even.

Ginny sighed,

"I can't wait to leave this place."

"Nor can I,"

Harry added truthfully,

"I think soon we shall let nature reclaim Godric's Hollow."

On his feet, grimacing through a wave of pain in his belly, he gave Ginny a stiff bow, then leaned over Luna to kiss Grace's plump cheek, clenching his fingers to keep from trembling. Luna watched him intently, and hot tears pricked his eyes.

He kissed her forehead and tore himself away, counting the minutes as the day ticked away more slowly than any he could recall.

There were preparations to be made.