'To Sleep No More' Part 2
By Ginny :)
OK, here is part 2. I've done a little updating, once again, for various reasons... it's still 99% the same, though! For all you who didn't understand/ got confused about what I was going on about in Part 1, this is what's happened; There was a wizard/ wizard war, in which good [i.e.; everyone who wasn't on Voldemort's side] battled evil [Death Eaters and their supporters]. Thousands of witches and wizards ['Spacers'], and just as many Muggles, were killed. Most of England was destroyed, and London was completely bombed to the ground. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Draco Malfoy are the 4 last Spacers that they know of... others were either killed, or gone missing, presumed dead [This includes the rest of the Weasleys and the Grangers].
Magic was made illegal, and all Spacers were to be killed if found out. Unfortunately, Jacqueline Raoul found out about Harry and Co., and has been ordered to kill them...
I own Jacqueline. J. K. Rowling owns her characters. Richmal Crompton owns the 'dead cat for a dead cat' quote, and the bloke who wrote 'Blackadder' owns that. Some deluded person or other owns 'Annie'.
Ummm... hope that made sense!
Ginny :)
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Harry sat outside the dugout that he and his two remaining friends arrived back home.
Since when was it up to Hermione to let that Death Eater, Draco Malfoy, into their home? It wasn't fair. Didn't they understand?! Malfoy was an enemy... he'd fought against them in the War! How could he be on their side now, just because the war was over? Why should he get any of Harry's food? Why should he-
"Harry? Are you sure you're all right?" It was Ginny. He ignored her, "Harry... look, don't be like this. Come on, come inside."
"No." He refused her offer flatly.
She sighed and sat down next to him, on the rubble, "I don't like Malfoy either. But Hermione's right... if we're to stand any chance against the Muggles, we all have to pull together, you know that." She was watching his face. He was careful not to show any emotion at all.
"Harry, if you're really that bothered, you can have some of my food. I don't want it."
This was an obvious lie. Ginny was extremely thin, so that when she bent over, you got the feeling that she might snap in two. Harry, Hermione and Malfoy were in similar states. If the Muggles didn't kill them, the cold or lack of food would do. The war had taken it's toll on their magic. Without places for healthy plants to come from, they couldn't even magic it out of the air any more. It was now like that with almost everything else they needed.
"It's not about the food," Harry frowned.
"I didn't think so; it's Malfoy."
"Yes," Harry agreed, before continuing, "I mean, he comes here, stealing our food, and Hermione practically gives it to him!"
"Well, we have to stick together."
"He's a Death Eater! He can't join MRAMF! Aren't I leader, as well as Hermione?!"
"Harry... the other's would have wanted all us witches and wizards to stick together. Even ex- Death Eaters. Even Malfoy! It's what the others would have wanted, surely?"
"The others are dead, Ginny! D-E-A-D. Dead. So it doesn't matter what they'd think, does it? You're still acting as though they just, just, just went on holiday or something! Face it; they're not coming back. Ever!" He felt angry. He knew it wasn't fair to take it out on Ginny, but he didn't care at that moment.
She had stopped looking at him, and was staring at the ground in front of her. Harry could tell that she was trying not to cry.
It began to rain. Large droplets of water fell from the sky. Harry could remember Mrs. Weasley calling them 'pennies from Heaven'.
"Ginny... Look, Ginny, I'm sorry..." he'd been mean, and he knew it. Ginny was only trying to help. She wanted life to go back to the way it had been as much as he did. But that wasn't going to happen, he could see that, whereas Ginny... she seemed to wake up every morning, expecting the world to have put itself right. If only life were like that.
Hermione was a realist. She had her feet on the ground, and when she smiled, it was an empty smile. She knew that life was not going to get better. Ginny, on the other hand, always believed that tomorrow, everything would be all right. The problem with that was, that tomorrow was 'always a day away', like in the song that annoying red hared American kid used to sing. Ginny was only just becoming aware of this. And she hated it.
She rubbed her eyes furiously, angry with herself and him.
"I just want everything to be OK again," she sniffed, "like it used to be. I miss the others. It's not fair. I hate it here."
"I'm sorry... I miss them too. But we have to face up to the fact they're gone," he looked at her, but she avoided his eye, "Buck up, Ginny," he got to his feet, "and let's go inside."
As they stood up, Malfoy appeared at the door. He said nothing, but gave them a look of malice. He was too proud to admit that he had needed any of their food or help, although it was obvious that he did. Harry glared after him, in intense dislike.
Harry and Ginny disappeared into the remains of the hovel that they called home, unaware that their own private little world, their organisation, their homes, and the lives that they had just manage to sort out to get through the aftermath of the war, was about to collapse around them.
A shooting star fell, but blurred through the Pennies from Heaven. Somewhere, a feather was found indoors. But it was a peacock's feather. The person who found it tied the hair from their brush in a knot and threw it in the fire, but it would not burn. The salt got spilled, but to someone's left side.
The portents of evil battled against those of good. The two clashed. The future was uncertain.
Ginny stared at the room that she lived in most. A bed. A chair of sorts, with a mouldering book on it. A dented cabinet. Nothing much. There used to be so many people in MRAMF. Now there was only herself and 2 others. Everyone else was either dead or missing. She realised that she was crying. She hadn't cried properly since her family had been killed a couple of years ago, but she did now. Things weren't really going to get better. Why was she deluding herself?
She hung around for a while, chewing a piece of cold potato and staring at the damp- stained wall. Then she left.
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JAQULINE'S POV
Can't say I really knew where I was supposed to be looking. Can't say I'd know if I saw a witch or wizard without their wand, either, provided they weren't in their robes or whatever. They look just like normal people.
That Jonathan bloke from the government had managed to direct me to approximately where the MRAMF members would be. I'd have to look for that Draco Malfoy boy myself. England's a bloody big place, so how on Earth or in Heaven I was supposed to be able to find him was beyond me. Luckily, I have my sources.
The place was a waste- ground. The shells of old buildings were silhouetted against the sky. Glass, mud, rubbish and bits of brick littered the ground. It was a bleak place to live; even worse then my local area. And this is where MRAMF were, apparently. Urgh. It almost made you feel sorry for them.
A tripped over something. The body of a cat. It smelled rank. A line from a book I must have read somewhere came up in my mind; 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a dead cat for a dead cat'. You could live by that rule in times like these; a dead wizard for a dead Muggle.
I kept my hand ready to grab my gun if I needed it. People will kill for the clothes on your back, or the shoes on your feet, or even the flesh on your bones in places like this. You have to stay alert, if you want to survive.
The place was so still, it was impossible to believe that anything was alive. The rain fell in large drops, plastering my hair to my head. I stood there, watching for any movement. It was silent, save for the drumming of rain on mud.
It was then I noticed the outline of someone- it was definitely a human... Muggle or Spacer, I couldn't tell. They were racing across the rough ground, stumbling every few steps.
"Hello?!" I shouted. The figure glanced up for maybe a second, and I saw a thin face of a young man, framed by pale hair. I recognised that face. Draco Malfoy! Talk about bally luck! Then he ran on, with increased speed.
There was nothing else for it. I grabbed my gun and fired. 3 shots. The first two missed, but the third hit him in the back. I saw him twist in the air as he fell.
He fell to the ground.
He lay still.
Was he dead?
I pocketed my gun, and walked cautiously over to the body that lay motionless on the rubble. I stood just close enough to see if he was still breathing.
He was, but there was blood everywhere, and he was deathly pale. I felt almost sick, but I reminded myself what he and his kind had done, and the pity in me left.
"Can you hear me?" I asked him. I might as well make use of him whilst he was still alive, after all.
He nodded weekly.
"Good. So tell me, where are the members of MRAMF?"
"Why should I tell you, Muggle?" He choked, his voice scarcely more then a whisper.
"Because otherwise I will shoot you."
"I'll die anyway," I could see hatred in his eyes. I couldn't say that I could blame him for it. I mean, I'd just shot him in the back. Not very sporting. Still, a job's a job. I shrugged.
"So will we all, mister. Tell me, or I will do something worse then letting you die mercifully."
He lay helpless on the ground. I wouldn't really have done anything else to him, but he wouldn't know that.
"You wouldn't."
"I would. I'm sure I could think of thousands of things that I could do to a dirty Spacer like you..."
He shut his eyes, grimacing. I was mildly surprised as he answered.
"There's... there's a dugout... not far... three of them are there. You will not defeat us wizards, Muggle. The Ministry will get you."
"Oh, I assure you, they won't," shrugged off his threat.
He closed his eyes. I had no more time for him. I fired one more shot at him. I don't know if it was a hit or miss. I ran off to find the others.
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"What was that?!" Hermione's head came up sharply off her arm.
The friends exchanged frightened glances.
Some shouting, and another two shots could be heard, followed by a ghastly silence. Harry and Hermione stared at each other, not knowing what to do.
Hermione said something that Harry didn't catch. He knew that sound. Gunfire. But who was shooting? A woman... he could tell by the shouts... something about Spacers and Muggles... put two and two together, and you got one dead witch or wizard. But who had been shot? Where were the others?
He didn't care where Malfoy was, but what about Ginny? She'd come inside with him, wandered off on her own, and he hadn't seen her since. He could tell that Hermione was thinking the same thing. Another shot rang out. Harry decided to do something.
"Come on!" he pulled Hermione to her feet, and out of the room, "Where's Ginny?"
"I don't know! Somewhere!"
he made sure that his wand was in his pocket. Compared to a gun, it looked pretty useless. Like a stick or something. A phrase from a play came up in his mind, even though he knew this was not the time for it ; " 'Don't forget your pointed stick, George.' 'Oh, rather, sir! Wouldn't want to face enemy guns without that' !"
There were three rooms in the dugout. Ginny wasn't in any of them.
"Oh God," Hermione breathed, "do you know where she went?"
"No... Hermione, you leave. Run. Get away from here. It isn't safe. I'll stay and look for her."
"Harry, don't be an imbecile! I'm staying." Harry knew that face she was wearing. It was her 'This is for the best and you can't change my mind' face.
"Hermio-"
"Harry! I said I'm staying and I am. If we're not both staying, we're both going. Like it or lump it."
"Hermione, this is no time to arg-"
"Then shut up!"
He gave up trying to reason with her.
"Fine, come on! Have you got your wand?"
"Of course."
"So... we're going to look for Ginny..."
"Yes," but then Hermione's face softened, "but we don't know... oh, Harry... she might be, well... dead."
"She isn't. She can't be," Harry bit his lip, hoping he was right.
"Yes, well... quite. We're wasting time. Come on!"
They surfaced from the dugout. Harry could feel butterflies in his stomach, and Hermione looked peaky, too.
No one was in sight.
Everything was still, except for the rain that fell form the sky. The pennies from heaven.
A good omen.
They stood stock still, hoping for some signs of life.
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OK, the end of part 2! :)
Please could you take a little time to read & review?
Ginny :)
