Disclaimer: This story is written for the purposes of my own amusement and,
hopefully, that of my readers, and no profit of any kind is being generated by
it or by either of its prequels. All
characters and history belong to J.K. Rowling and to whosoever she has licensed
her creations at the present time. I
own the plot and the odd original character, nothing else.
Chapter Six: Gathering
The following morning found Harry and Ginny in a taxi cruising steadily out of the city centre. Ginny was still blinking the sleep out of her eyes, breakfast a mere memory of espresso and fresh-baked croissants.
"Harry," she began patiently. "I'm not completely agin the practice of early rising, but I do like
to have an idea as to why." Harry
ignored her, gazing intently out of the window and pointing abruptly.
"It's down here, isn't it?" he said suddenly to the taxi
driver. He was rewarded by an
incomprehensible flood of Cantonese. Harry listened for a moment then smiled ruefully, spreading his hands
wide.
"Okay, okay." He replied. "It's been a long time – more than five years. Buildings come and go in this place – so do streets! If you reckon you know where it is, I'll
just have to trust you." He sat back
heavily in the seat and fumbled for Ginny's hand.
"Harry?" Her voice was questioning, but he just shook his
head without looking at her. His face
was serious, his fingers crushing hers in a too-strong grip. Ginny merely took a deep breath and subsided
without teasing him any further. I'm
learning, she said to herself.
The taxi sped through street after street, junction after
junction. Gradually the traffic began
to thin out, along with the width of the road. Ginny could not help but notice that they were entering a less
prosperous area of town, whose architecture was at best functional and at worst
downright ugly. Small factories and
workshops with down-at-heel vehicles huddled close to ordinary dwelling houses,
blocks of apartments poked their blunt discoloured heads into the skyline,
stained and patchy concrete dominated. Ginny could keep quiet no longer.
"Harry," she whispered. "Since when were you fluent in Cantonese? And what business do we have in this place?" Harry patted her hand apologetically as he
released his death-grip. He shook his
head.
"Wait." Was all he would say.
The taxi took a right into a small side-street which at
first sight appeared to be no different from a dozen others they had left
behind. The vehicle drew in beside a
group of run-down workshops and Harry opened the door. A rush of heat and humidity made Ginny
flinch instinctively, but nevertheless she took his proffered hand and stepped
on to the pavement. Harry was now
conversing in halting but evidently intelligible Cantonese with the driver who,
amused beyond measure to find a European who could speak to him, agreed to wait
for one hour. Harry bid him farewell,
tucked Ginny's arm firmly through his own and strode purposefully across the
street, looking for all the world as though the place was a second home to him.
They walked in silence for a few yards, then Harry stopped,
wavered, and finally turned into a small, blind alley between two blocks of
flats. Ginny shivered, glancing from
side to side. This was not a
healthy-looking place: she was grateful Harry had chosen to make his visit
during daylight hours. As she examined
her surroundings, Harry walked towards the blank wall at the end of the alley
and started to count the bricks. Understanding began to dawn on Ginny and she stood passively watching
the process. Once Harry was satisfied,
he stepped back, drew his wand from its sleeve pocket and drew a careful circle
in the air a foot or so away from the wall.
"Retegoforis!" he muttered quietly. The circle glowed gold then moulded itself
sinuously into an arch fully six feet high. As though a giant invisible paintbrush were wielding Burnt Sienna, it
rapidly filled with colour, gaining solidity and becoming recognisable as a
door. It stood, unsupported and alone,
the insalubrious alley surrounding it on all four sides. Harry grasped the doorknob and pulled,
jerking his head at Ginny.
"Come on." He ordered. "We really don't want to hang about here for too long." And with that, he took her hand and drew her
through the door.
It opened on to a busy street, but such a one as had
probably never been seen in Singapore for several centuries. The buildings were old but in good repair
and decorated brightly with ceremonial dragons and flowers. The road was cobbled, the pavements were
made of stone flags and there were no cars to be seen. By the roadside were hawkers selling all
manner of goods the two wizards recognised – dried lacewings, beetles' eyes,
frog skins, asafoetida – as well as some rather more rare, and dangerous,
substances such as aconite (monkshood), boomslang skin and gillyweed. In addition to magical substances, there
were stalls cooking and selling hawker food –chicken feet in spicy sauce,
noodles, sticky fragrant riceballs, and hot and sour soup. The smells of the various delicacies made
Ginny's mouth water, and she would have been tempted to stop for a snack had
Harry not guided her through the throng at a businesslike pace. At once, Ginny stopped in her tracks. Her hand shot out, pointing.
"Oh, Harry - look! Pumpkin pasties!" The owner of
the stall grinned.
"Indeed they are." He told them in perfect, accented English. "Family recipe handed down from my great-great-grandmother who
learned her trade at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Ginny stared, dumbfounded. Harry, with great presence of mind, swept
two pasties from the tray and fumbled for the correct coins. He thrust one into Ginny's hand as he rushed
them away with a nod of thanks to the stallholder. Ginny ate her pasty on the run, but its succulent flavour was
bittersweet with memories of her schooldays' innocence. Unaccountably, her eyes filled with
tears. She brushed them away with
impatience, swallowing the lump in her throat along with the last of her
pasty. Harry was wiping crumbs from his
fingers on a handkerchief as he looked keenly at a row of cottages. Finally, he selected one and rapped smartly
on the door.
A small, timid-looking Chinese woman opened the door just a
crack and regarded them with an expression of puzzlement. She said a few words in Cantonese then her
eyes widened and so did the door.
"Harry?" she gasped. "Is it really you? Oh, Merlin be
praised! I thought never to see you
again. Come in, come in!" Sporting a huge grin, Harry stepped over the
threshold and into her arms. When she
finally released him, her eyes were full of tears.
"We thought you would never return after – well, after Cho
was killed." She told him shakily. "We
heard you had gone to America – as a teacher." Harry nodded.
"I did," he replied with a smile. "But the lure of England was too strong for me." He glanced meaningfully over to where Ginny
was standing hesitantly and took her hand.
"Yan-Ji, this is Ginny, my - partner." He said. "She's my best friend's sister – you
remember Ron Weasley?" Yan-Ji was
nodding vigorously.
"Oh, yes!" she replied. "We met Ron with you when we came to Cho's last open day at
Hogwarts. And this is his little
sister! How very beautiful you are, my
dear. Harry, you would have been
foolish to stay in America!" They all
laughed, Ginny a little uncertainly. The grey-haired witch reached out to grasp Ginny's hands in hers.
"Our home is your home." She told her formally. "Please, come in and take some refreshment." She drew the younger woman gently into the
house without relinquishing her hands.
The cottage was a good deal larger than it seemed from the
outside, as was true of many wizard dwellings, but nevertheless the number of
people they encountered in the main living area would have been cramped for
space in Westminster Abbey, or so it seemed to Ginny. It was as though the entire family was assembled in one small
area – four generations of it.
Harry was greeted by many of them as an old friend, and he spent
some time exchanging pleasantries while Ginny stood on the sidelines watching,
feeling something of a spare part.
"Please forgive us for keeping him from you." A gentle voice
said in her ear. "It has been too long
since we last saw Harry, and for some of us he brings memories that are both
sweet and painful." Ginny turned her
head to meet the gentle smile of a young man several years her junior. Her forehead creased in a brief frown before
she returned the smile and held out her hand in greeting: there was something
familiar about him – something in the way he moved, held his head … He introduced himself simply as Li and he
proceeded to converse gently with her on harmless, neutral topics as they
watched Harry being greeted by the family.
Harry, in turn, was trying hard not to rush this very
necessary and genuine ritual, but in truth he had a legitimate errand and was
anxious to discharge it before the morning was through. As Yan-Ji turned towards the kitchen to make
refreshments, her husband, Zhi-Hui, was taking his turn to pump Harry's hand
and slap his back heartily. Harry
seized his chance.
"Zhi-Hui, much as I would like it to be different, I am
afraid this is not entirely a social call." He began. The smaller man turned
shrewd, bright eyes in a wrinkled face towards him.
"I did not for one moment imagine that it was, Harry." he
replied softly. "I still take the Daily
Prophet – when I can get it – and I have long known how to read between its
lines. You are in difficulties?" Harry nodded seriously.
"I can't go into detail," he said. "But it involves a magical artefact, and time is very short
indeed. I urgently need to talk to Li
Bai." Zhi-Hui's face creased into a
frown and he shook his head.
"You know I will do anything I can to help you, Harry, but
you ask much." He began. "Li Bai is very old and weak now. The slightest shock – " He shook his head. Harry's expression became slightly desperate.
"Please, Zhi-Hui!" he begged. "I promise you, it's not what you think. This artefact is so mysterious that even we
don't know what we're looking for. And
our obtaining it is probably the only thing standing between us and certain
destruction by the Dark Side. I swear
I'm not looking for kudos or notoriety – not this time – but I really have to
speak with Li-Bai, and I have to speak with him now. Every day that goes by brings the Dark Side closer to
victory. I have to find that
artefact, and I believe Li-Bai's knowledge of history can shed a great deal of
light on this problem." Zhi-Hui was
still shaking his head.
"Harry," he told him seriously. "You are like a son to me. I will not turn my back on you when you need help so desperately, but
you forget how old my father is. He was
already spending much of the daylight sleeping in his chair when you last met
him. Now, although he has periods when
he can converse with one or other of us, most of the time he lives within his
own mind." Harry's face fell. He stared at the ground, bitterly
disappointed. Then he raised his head
once again.
"But you will let me try, won't you?" he pleaded. "I don't ask this lightly, but we have so
few sources of information and time is running out. Please." The older man
considered one last time, then finally, reluctantly, bowed his head in assent. Harry let out a shaky breath. Zhi-Hui took his arm and indicated a doorway
over the other side of the room. He
walked towards it, Harry in his wake.
Li broke off his gentle conversation with Ginny to track the
two men as they left the room. He
frowned faintly. Ginny followed his
gaze, then gave him a quizzical glance. The boy shrugged.
"They appear to be visiting my Grandfather – he's the only
one not down here at the moment." Ginny
was puzzled.
"Why would they do that?" Again the boy shrugged.
"Grandfather used to have great knowledge of the wizarding
world in Indonesia." He told her. "He's
a bit gaga now, so it's difficult to see what Harry Potter would want with
him." Ginny looked towards the door
again, biting her lip.
Ginny didn't see Harry again for a good half hour. When he returned, she had been served with
tea and what she had assumed was an early lunch, although Harry later told her
that the spread set before her was simply "hospitality". She was stunned to realise that something very
like this would be produced for any guest who happened to call, and at any time
of day! They took their leave as
quickly as they decently could, pleading the waiting taxi, but Harry made time
to exchange a few parting words with Yan-Ji before they rushed away.
"I regret that this visit is so fleeting," he said, holding
her hands and looking into her eyes apologetically. "I hope to return one day soon on a far happier quest. When events allow us to, we will come and
spend some time with you." She beamed
back at him.
"Thank you, Harry." she replied. "You and yours will always
be welcome in this house." In a
curiously courtly gesture, he pressed both her hands to his lips. Releasing her, he turned to where the gentle
young man, Li, was hovering.
"Li." He said, holding out a hand. "My thanks for looking after Ginny."
"The pleasure was all mine." The boy replied suavely taking
the proffered hand. He smiled broadly
and a sudden shock of recognition shot through Ginny with the speed of an arrow. Cho! She thought with utter certainty. Li is her brother! The young man turned back to the red-haired
girl.
"I didn't say before, Ginny," he told her, "But 'Hold That
Thought' was the best thing we've heard here for a long while – everybody
thought so. You're almost more of a
celebrity than Harry!" A chorus of
laughter greeted that statement, and Harry took the boy's hand, enveloping him
in a bear hug. Releasing him, he nodded
briefly, gave a silent wave of farewell to the rest of the family and left,
grasping Ginny's hand firmly in his own.
~oo0oo~
Harry was silent and brooding as the taxi drove back into
town. Ginny, bursting with questions,
was unable to give voice to any of them. First and foremost were Why didn't you tell me you were taking me to
visit Cho's family? Don't you think I
might have been happier with a little warning? Closely following those came What did we go there for in the
first place, and Did you get it? She sat in silence, waiting for Harry to notice her. Finally, he gave a great sigh, fumbled for
her hand and raised his eyes to hers. At last she felt he was really seeing her.
"Well?" she said gently, prompting. He sighed again, looking away and playing
with her fingers.
"I didn't tell you where we were going because I wasn't sure
how I was going to cope with it." He began without preamble. He looked back at her.
"I was intending to tell you last night, but we got
distracted. Then I was going to tell
you over breakfast, but we overslept." He looked out of the window.
"I needed to speak to Cho's grandfather – about the Syrinx."
He explained. "Li-Bai probably had the
most influence on my decision to spend my life studying ancient artefacts. He was a world-renowned expert. He taught me so much I can't even begin to
explain." Harry looked at the floor.
"I had hoped he might have some information to impart on our
present problem. However," he sighed
again. "He is indeed getting very
old. It was difficult to hold a
conversation with him."
"Did you learn anything at all?" Ginny asked. Harry gave a
wry smile.
"Do you know, I'm not entirely sure?" He confessed. "Most of the time, he rambled. He lives mainly in the past, you know, and
he mistook me for his former Ancient History Professor!" Harry scratched his head and his forehead
furrowed in puzzlement.
"If it had been anyone else, I would have dismissed it," he
began slowly. "And even now, I'm
tempted to take it at face value, but …" he trailed off, shaking his head.
"What is it?" prompted Ginny.
"He was railing on about the stupidity of his fellow
students," Harry told her. "When
suddenly, he looked at me as though for the first time – real clarity in his
eyes. 'Harry'. he said – he knew who I
was – "Harry, look for the Father, look for Pan.' Then the moment faded and he went back into his own mind." Ginny was puzzled.
"But we know about Pan and Syrinx," she replied. "Hermione told us the whole story when she
read the prophecy." Harry nodded.
"I know," he agreed. "But I can't help feeling that there was more to it. I'm sorry – I'm probably chasing my tail
here, I expect we all are on this ridiculous quest – but I felt he meant
something deeper than that." He ran a
hand through his hair in exasperation and looked at her despairingly.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I guess I'm so desperate for information I'll swallow anything if it
looks as though it'll fit. I've put you
through all that for nothing, Ginny." He swallowed and looked out of the window, blinking.
"The last time I was here, Cho and I announced our
engagement." Ginny froze.
"You and Cho – were engaged? I didn't know that." Harry was shaking his head.
"No one knew. Only
her family." He replied. "After she
died, it didn't exactly seem right to talk about it. After all, it wasn't as though we were even living together, let
alone married." He sighed and looked
out of the window. Ginny swallowed on a
dry throat, trying to process the information.
"You never thought to tell me?" she asked quietly. Harry shook his head.
"I couldn't seem to find the right time." He replied. "When you and I were in the early stages, we
were either fighting the Dark Side or being attacked by them in some way or
other. When I returned from that
debacle in Mexico, you were suffering from the after-effects of Malfoy's
enchantment, and dragging skeletons out of closets didn't seem to be what the
doctor ordered at that time. I really
wasn't trying to hide anything, Ginny. I guess this is the first real opportunity I've had to talk to you about
it." Ginny fell silent. Harry felt despair cover him like a damp
cloak of fog.
"Don't hold it against me." he pleaded, holding both her
hands in his. "Cho died. I don't hold a torch for her now, that faded
away long ago. It's you I love, you're
the one I want to spend my life with. Please don't let this drive a wedge between us." Ginny, abruptly roused from her fit of
abstraction, blinked then stared.
"Why should I want to do that?" she asked, surprised. Harry shrugged.
"I thought – well, you know, that you might – well – "
"Go off the deep end because you'd been keeping secrets from
me? Yes, I suppose I deserved
that." Smiling somewhat grimly, Ginny
leaned towards the man she was beginning to accept as her life partner.
"Harry," she began. "Yes, I do wish you'd warned me before this morning and no, I don't
think you deliberately kept anything from me. I think you were as unnerved by this visit as I was, and I don't think
you would have undertaken it without good reason. Yes, Harry, I know you love me. I believe you – and no, I'm not going to give you any grief over
this. Merlin knows, you've had enough
of that over the years." Harry blinked
owlishly behind his spectacles, and gave a brief, tentative smile of relief. He squeezed her hand in silent gratitude, but
his face quickly returned to its brooding expression.
"I remember falling for Cho when I was in my fourth year at
Hogwarts." He began reminiscently. Ginny swallowed an irrational pang of
jealousy and set herself to listen carefully. Whatever he says, however much you hate it, you can work through it
later. Not everything is about you. She leaned forward and ran a reassuring hand
through his unruly hair.
"Tell me." she said.
"It was a very childish crush." He continued, smiling
faintly. "I worshipped the ground she
walked on. Then Cedric was
killed." He paused to take a deep
breath. He looked at the floor.
"After that, I fell out of love with her." He didn't look up. "It sounds cruel, but I was very young and many things had
happened to me which should rightly only happen to someone fully mature and
able to cope with such affairs. I
stopped loving Cho because I felt responsible for Cedric's death. It seemed dirty and disgusting to even
consider moving in on his girlfriend after I had inadvertently got him involved
with Voldemort." He sighed and pulled
at his collar, even though the air conditioning in the taxi made the
temperature frigid.
"And then, in her final year, there was that ghastly mix-up
over the guest list for the Winter Ball." Their eyes met in mutual chagrin. Ginny closed her eyes: that was the one where she'd ended up partnering
Colin Creevey! Harry smiled and
continued.
"Cho didn't seem to mind being stuck with me," he said. "But I was absolutely mortified. I got so drunk on Butterbeer that she had to
hold my head over Moaning Myrtle's toilet for an hour straight. By morning, I was suicidal, but she made a
point of greeting me at breakfast as though nothing had happened. No one ever heard about the time Harry
Potter puked his guts up over a ghost – I don't know what Cho had on Myrtle,
but it worked!" Ginny laughed in
surprise and nodded.
"You're right." She told him. "Nothing of that ever reached me, and you can be sure I would
have heard about it – I was the president of your fan club, remember?"
"I certainly do!" he replied, giving her a brief smile. Then he sighed, returning to the past.
"That's how it all started between Cho and me." He continued, his eyes faraway. "While we were at school, things were pretty
– well, you know, adolescent. Quick
kisses behind curtains and statues, longer makeout sessions in empty classrooms
after hours – the Owlery was a good place, if you could stand the cold!" He laughed softly, shaking his head. Ginny's face was frozen in a stiff
smile. That could have been me,
her mind screamed, I could have been making out with Harry in the Charms
Room all those years ago. If only Cho … She shook her head almost
imperceptibly. This had very little to
do with Cho. If Cedric had still been
alive, it was likely that Harry and Cho would never had hooked up at all. If you need someone to blame, then choose
Voldemort!I She hung her head,
shamed.
"I loved her, but I never really knew her terribly well."
Harry's face was pensive. "She was – different, unlike me, somehow exotic. I remember how shocked I was the first time
she asked me to sleep with her." Ginny
bit her tongue. Yes, I knew Harry
was no innocent the first time he bedded me. Out of practice, yes, but not inexperienced. And he told me himself he'd been celibate since Cho's death –
Q.E.D . So why do I feel sick? Clenching her teeth, she murmured vague
nothings in what she hoped was an encouraging tone.
"We would have lived together." He continued, oblivious to
her discomfiture. "The plan was for me
to get a job with the Ministry in research once I graduated, and then move in
with her." Harry shook his head again
then raised his eyes to skewer Ginny with a gaze so intense that all her
emotional pain suddenly took a back seat.
"But I could never have gone through with the marriage, I
know that now," He said quietly and with dignity. "And neither would she. Cho liked the notoriety and the status that went with being Harry
Potter's girlfriend in those days, and she was sincerely fond of me and
physically attracted in the beginning, but the sheer nitty gritty of living
with my gods-awful destiny was beginning to tell. The most tragic thing about her death was that it was totally unnecessary
– our relationship was drawing to a natural close anyway."
"Nevertheless, you exiled yourself to L.A. out of a
misplaced sense of guilt." Ginny told him softly. "So despite his misreading of the situation, Voldemort still
succeeded."
"No he didn't!" Harry's voice was urgent and his hands
gripped her shoulders painfully.
"He never succeeded in crushing me, and neither will his
minions!" Harry's face was wild, but
his clear, green eyes burned into hers with total sanity.
"My destiny was never with Cho, always with you." He
whispered. "If only I could make you
believe that – make you really have faith in me."
"Harry." Her arms slid around his neck and she breathed his
name softly, desolately into his ear.
~oo0oo~
"Harry, where on earth are we going now? I thought I'd had enough surprises for one
day." Harry, having recovered his good
spirits, tucked her arm firmly into his.
"It's no secret." He grinned at her. "We're going to get some lunch." Harry had paid off the taxi not at their
hotel, but on a wide main road opposite a very large complex. He hurried her down a side street and into
an old-fashioned basement filled to the brim with stalls, cooking and selling
many different kinds of street food – soups, dumplings, fish, greens, some hot,
some sweet, all freshly cooked and mouth-watering.
Ginny frowned and wiped beads of sweat from her
forehead.
"Why didn't we have lunch back in the magical alley where
Cho's family live?" She demanded. She certainly had a point: the place was
small, rather grimy, absolutely packed with Singapore nationals and had no
air-conditioning – facts she quickly drew to Harry's attention. He shrugged.
"Fred recommended the dumplings," Was his succinct
reply. Ginny stared in disbelief and
blotted her face with a handkerchief.
Five minutes later, hot and extremely bothered, Ginny at
last secured two spaces at the end of a long, low table. She didn't know who to blame most for this
little fiasco, Harry or her interfering, infuriating brother. Ten minutes later, sampling a tray of
steaming hot food, she instantly forgave them both. Traditional rice dumplings (Tang-Yuan) are difficult to find in
Singapore and these were well worth the trouble. Stuffed with a delicious red bean or yam filling and served in a
sweet peanut soup, Ginny could have eaten double the quantity out of sheer
greed. Fortified by refreshing jasmine
tea, the two wizards almost forgot the stifling heat.
"Join you?" The man was wearing a baseball cap low enough to
shadow his eyes. Without waiting for a
reply, he slid his tray onto the table and swung his lean hips into a chair
with a peculiarly balanced grace. He
turned to Harry and tilted the brim of his hat to reveal a wide grin in a
mahogany-tanned face.
"Good to see you, Harry." He said, helping himself to some
sambal chilli. "And you, Ginny."
"Sirius?" said Ginny in a small voice, just about
maintaining a straight face. He leaned
across to kiss her cheek.
"The very same." He replied, pumping Harry's hand
warmly. "I was briefed to meet you in
Bali, but Fred suggested this rendez-vous. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think his antennae must have
been twitching again. Have you been
having problems, Harry?" The other man
shook his head.
"Nothing we can sort at present, no." He told his
godfather. "Lucius Malfoy is on the
move, I hear, and it's pretty certain that the Singapore Office has been
infiltrated." Sirius nodded, his smile
fading.
"Yes, I heard some information to that effect via Fred." He
replied. "Any idea as to who you're
dealing with?" Harry shook his head.
"Not a one," he replied. "But our contact seems to know what she's doing." Sirius's expression became grim.
"Your contact is in Intelligence?" Harry nodded.
"Are you sure of her?" Harry pursed his lips and took a long breath.
"As sure we can be at the moment." He replied. Ginny turned a shocked face towards him.
"You suspect Julie might be a double?" she gasped. "Oh, Harry! But she had all those proofs – how could she have come by the
parchment? And she knew Fred!" But Sirius had stiffened.
"Julie?" he asked, urgently. "Do you mean Julie Wu?" Harry nodded, surprised.
"Yes. Do you know
her?" Sirius broke into a wide grin and
relaxed back into his seat.
"I do indeed!" he told them, amused. "I knew Julie very well at one time."
"Oh?" Ginny raised her eyebrows. Sirius shook his head.
"No, nothing like that." he replied quickly. "More's the pity." He added, smiling
reminiscently. Ginny tapped the table.
"Mind on the job, Sirius." She reprimanded him. He smiled sheepishly.
"Three years ago, I was sent on a routine assignment here."
He told them. "It was a sinecure
really. I needed some R & R – I'd
been injured in a very tough mission and the wound was slow to heal. Julie squired me around the city for a
couple of weeks – and I assure you, it was that way round. That young lady knows her own mind!" Ginny's smile turned slightly wistful as she
thought of poor Oliver's forlorn hopes.
Harry began to speak to Sirius in low rapid tones: he and
Ginny would be leaving Singapore the following evening for Denpasar by plane,
arrangements courtesy of the Ministry. Sirius paused, crammed some noodles into his mouth, swallowed, then replied
thoughtfully.
"Do you really have to fly muggle-style?" Harry nodded with a grim smile.
"Yes, we do. Unfortunately, Ginny has attracted some unexpected – ah, attention
here. Apparently her band was very
popular and people recognise her. If we
Apparate or Port to Denpasar, we'll be spotted. That'll be as sure a way of advertising where we are as a flare
in the night sky." Sirius nodded
slowly, finishing his lunch.
"I'd better see about making tracks myself then." He told them, rising to his feet and picking
up his tray.
"I'll see you at the hotel," He told them. "But I'd better sweep it thoroughly before
you go anywhere near the place. For all
we know, Lucius Malfoy could have half the staff under Imperius and the place
festooned with hexes." His parting
smile was somewhat grim: it wasn't really a joke.
~oo0oo~
On arrival back at their hotel, Ginny and Harry were greeted
by a rather impatient Oliver Wood who rushed towards them as soon as they
entered the foyer.
"I've been waiting forever." he complained in injured
tones. "I've drunk so much coffee I
could swim in it!" Harry swiftly
directed him towards a quiet corned by means of a heavy hand between his
shoulderblades.
"You have news?" he asked in a low voice, sitting down on a
squashy sofa.
"Yes." Oliver told him tersely. "Julie sent a messenger to the Quidditch Ground." He seemed extremely aggrieved that she
hadn't come in person.
"She's set up a meeting with this priest person she
mentioned last night. His name is
Guru."
"Guru?" queried Ginny puzzled. "What an odd name. What does it mean?" Neither of the boys heard her quiet
interjection. Oliver handed Harry a
small slip of parchment.
"I wrote down the details here, but according to the
messenger, you'd better destroy that parchment as soon as you've read it. Julie is absolutely adamant that none of us
keeps anything in writing, if you know what she means. Which, quite frankly, I'm sure I
don't." Oliver ran an irritated hand
through his hair, reducing what had been reasonably tidy to an instant bird's
nest. Ginny laid a gentle hand on his
arm.
"Oliver?" she queried. "Is something wrong?" He
levelled a gaze of complete frustration at Ginny, then suddenly expelled a
pent-up breath and shook his head.
"Damned if I know." He replied then thumped a cushion hard
with a clenched fist.
"Why is nothing ever simple?" he demanded of no one in
particular. "Why can't I just meet a
nice girl who has a boring, run-of-the-mill day job, who isn't an intellectual
bombshell or, worse, some kind of female James Bond? What is it about me that I'm instantly attracted to hopeless
cases?" James Bond? thought
Ginny, puzzled.
"Eh? What was that,
Oliver?" said Harry, glancing up from perusing the piece of parchment. Ginny gave him a look, then turned to Oliver
consolingly.
"You've taken a liking to Julie?" she prompted. Oliver snorted indelicately.
"In a manner of speaking." He replied. Leaning back against the cushions, he sighed
with ill-disguised irritation.
"It's like this." He began, leaning forward again. "I knew she was Harry's contact and that was
why she had spoken to us in the first place, but I rather hoped she'd spilt
coffee on me rather than on Harry because – because – well, you know." He flushed a dull brick red. Ginny took pity on him.
"You thought she might have taken a liking to you too?"
"Stupid of me, eh?" Oliver made an exclamation of
annoyance. "In the taxi, we seemed to
be getting on like a house on fire. We
get to her flat, she invites me up for coffee. Well!" Ginny's eyebrows
threatened to meet her hairline.
"And did you go?"
"Like a shot. Couldn't get out of the taxi fast enough!" Oliver paused, leaning his chin in his hands gloomily.
"As soon as we got through the front door, she
straight-armed me into the living room. Flamel's Stone, I admit I wondered if I'd got in out of my depth for a
moment! Then she sits me down on a hard
chair and proceeds to give me instructions about how to be an efficient
go-between. A go-between!" He put a despairing hand to his forehead.
"In other words, any time I have with Julie will be spent
strenuously not doing what the Dark Side will assume comes
naturally." He sighed heavily. "Which, I must confess, does not exactly
fill me with boundless enthusiasm." Ginny gazed at him in helpless sympathy.
"Oh, Oliver!" she sighed. "You don't seem to have much luck with women, do you?"
"Tell me about it." He muttered, rising abruptly from the
sofa.
"And now, if you'll excuse me," he continued, still
frowning. "I will return to the Quidditch
Stadium – where, I might add, I have been expected for the past hour. A pity Julie didn't think to send a message
there too, but then," he shrugged in exaggerated sarcasm. "She leads such a
busy life." He swept out in high
dudgeon. Harry looked up from his
parchment as the light breeze occasioned by Oliver's abrupt departure ruffled
his hair.
"What?" he queried, glancing around. "Where's Oliver? Has he gone already? I
thought he'd stay for a cup of tea or a drink or something." Ginny gave him a despairing glance and rose
from the sofa.
"Right now, I think Oliver could do with several glasses of
Ogden's Old Firewhisky!" she told him. "And I for one could do with a long, cool bath and dinner in the
restaurant, followed by a good night's sleep. If we really have to travel muggle-style to Denpasar, I want to be
prepared!"
~oo0oo~
The journey had been hot, crowded and short of fluids, Harry
decided as they waited patiently for their luggage. Changi Airport in Singapore had been spacious, air-conditioned
and modern, full of glass and concrete, bristling with shops and stores. Denpasar Arrivals, on the other hand,
appeared to be little more than a disused aircraft hangar. He had been told with repeated frequency
that the airport was in the process of being renovated. He looked wearily at the brand, spanking new
complex across the tarmac and wondered what message the muggle designers were
trying to convey by rebuilding Departures first.
If he hadn't been so tired, he would have seen it coming. As it was, a flicker at the corner of his
eye as he bent to haul a suitcase from the carousel was enough to send him into
reflex action. Harry promptly dropped
his burden, spun quickly on one heel and dived to the floor behind the meagre
protection of an empty trolley. A
smoking hole the size of a soccer ball appeared in the side of his
suitcase. His wand slid smoothly from
his sleeve pocket into his right hand.
"Vestigio." He muttered, immediately alert for the
thin trail of silver which would show, to his eyes only, the whereabouts of his
would-be assassin. Sure enough, there
it was – snaking quickly through the air towards the back of the building. Harry sent a heat-seeking charm along the
trail, together with a spell for solidity in order to keep the trail
visible. His head jerked suddenly as a
thin cry of distress broke through the airport hubbub. He turned towards it only to see Ginny
struggling wildly against an obviously muggle adversary. Harry was torn: the unseen magical attacker
was by far the most dangerous, but hang it, Ginny was in trouble! As he paused in agonised indecision, he saw
a blur of movement and a trainer-shod foot connected with the muggle
assailant's jaw, swiftly followed by another in the gut and a solid roundhouse
punch to the chin. The muggle heavy
went down like a stone, but two more came forward, anxious to finish the job,
both thickset and stocky with unmistakeably oriental features. They growled menacingly at Ginny's
unexpected champion who was now braced for action in classic martial arts
stance. He was smiling, a wide, white
smile in a chocolate-coloured face and beckoning with all ten fingers.
"Mouse?" Ginny
choked out in astonishment. The lithe
black man nodded without turning and his grin spread even wider.
"Da man himself." His lazy drawl was quiet and confident. "Let's jus' see how these assholes deal with an expert." He raised his voice and gestured to his
assailants, his body language crude and insulting.
"You wanna piece of me?" He shouted derisively. "Well, come and get it! Come on!" He beckoned mockingly as the muggles hesitated, obviously phased by the
change of scenario.
"What's up wid'ja? Scared maybe?" Mouse sighed with
exaggerated patience and rolled his eyes, but his stance did not waver by a
millimetre.
"You jus' can't get good help these days!" He told them contemptuously. "Okay – I'll tell ya – if the guy who hired
you's short on a few heads after I've broken yours, jus' let him know my
grandpappy ain't busy for a couple weeks and could do with the extra
money. Just as soon as he finishes his
eightieth birthday celebrations – he wouldn't wanna miss them!"
With a roar, one of the heavies leaped at Mouse who neatly
sidestepped, tripping the guy in mid-air, depositing him neatly on the
floor. Harry caught a swift movement in
his right eye and turned just in time to see Ginny, now free, advance
determinedly on the other. Before the
man had time even to raise his hands, she had kicked him firmly in the kneecap,
paralysing his left leg and, while he was doubled up in agony, brought her own
knee under his chin with considerable force and devastating effect. Mouse turned to salute her.
"Dat's ma girl!" he crowed, flooring a further attacker with
an almost absent-minded kick in the solar plexus.
Harry tore his eyes away from the spectacle and focussed his
energies on the activities of the Tracking Charm. The thin trail had stabilised and turned red – Eureka! Harry felt like cheering. Carefully, and with great delicacy, he began
to construct a rather specialised hex he had learned in LA.
"Incendiofero!" he cried aloud, touching his wand to
the very end of the crimson line. It
burst into flame like a trail of gunpowder, and the magical Wildfire leaped up
the thin stream, gathering speed as it ran. It whipped between the crowds of unsuspecting muggles and disappeared to
the very back of the building. A faint
high screaming rang out above the noise of the crowd: Harry paid it no
attention. Feeling some movement behind
him, he turned sharply to see Ginny crawling quickly to his side followed
closely by Mouse. There seemed to be
some sort of riot going on.
"We better split." Mouse told him hastily. "Leave
you' stuff, you can get it later. Let's
just move!" Harry nodded.
"Not that there's much to retrieve." He muttered with a wry
look at the smouldering remains of his suitcase. Still on his hands and knees, he followed the others between the
legs of the crowd until they landed up under a table.
"Okay," whispered Mouse. "Get us outta here, Harry." But
Ginny was already performing the spell. Mussed hair, torn clothes and streaks of dirt down her face, her hands
were nevertheless sure and confident on the wand, and she cast the Everyday
charm swiftly and with skill. As the
three slid through the seething crowd, past panicking officials and under the
very noses of the Airport Police without eliciting so much as a raised eyebrow,
Harry gave a resigned sigh at the inevitable damage both to property and
reputations.
"Does Lucius Malfoy give a toss what he destroys in
his worthless crusade?" he wondered aloud. Ginny, caught up in the counterspell, failed to respond. A lone steward was somewhat startled by three
stray passengers suddenly stepping into the foreground, two of whom seemed
decidedly dishevelled, but his attention was somewhat distracted by the events
going on in Arrivals: the area seemed to have become a war zone.
"Dude, this place is getting' to be one ba-a-ad
neighbourhood!" Mouse exclaimed, as
they exited the building into what seemed to be a country road, scanning the
area for taxis. Harry turned to his
companion.
"Thanks, Mouse." He said sincerely. "You saved us back there, you know. Whoever orchestrated this was very
clever. They knew I would be occupied
in disabling our magical assailant and that Ginny could not use her magical
skills against muggles. Without your
vigilance, they might have succeeded in disabling us, perhaps worse." Mouse nodded, grinned hugely and spread his
hands.
"Hey, man!" he told him. "Whatcha pay me for, huh?" He then proceeded to relate, not
without humour, the sequence of events that had resulted in their unorthodox
departure from the airport buildings. There had been a number of muggle assailants, he explained, all of
whom appeared to be of local origin. He
had realised immediately that Harry was fighting a battle of his own with a
very different adversary, and he and Ginny quickly flattened three of the
ungodly within the first five minutes. However, several members of the public turned out to be fans of "Hold
that Thought" and had recognised Ginny immediately. Incensed that their heroine was being publicly attacked, they
waded in with gusto and pulverised the other four. Sadly after that, it became less clear who was friend and who
foe, and the situation deteriorated rapidly. It was then that Mouse had opted for discretion, ducked below eye level
and told Harry to get them the hell out of it. His smile faded and his face became serious.
"I guess my cover's not as good as it was now." He told them
ruefully. "I better not be seen much
more with you, Harry, or people will start thinking we're pickin' out curtains
or somethin'." He smiled briefly, then
returned to his former serious tone.
"Harry," he said earnestly. "Do you'self a big favour and guard you' butt. We jus' played one of our major backup cards, and we ain't even
got started." He raised his head and
looked straight at them.
"I been asking some questions in Downtown
Singapore." He said. "The brothers there don't know nothin' 'bout
who you are or what you do, but they know you's bein' watched. Someone gotta big interest in you,
man." Harry sighed.
"You
don't know the half of it, Mouse." There was a flash of white as Mouse grinned briefly.
"You wanna put money on that?" They exchanged a brief glance, then Harry's
mouth relaxed.
"I guess you're telling me to be careful,
huh?" Mouse nodded slowly and made a wry
face.
"I better find somewhere to stay." He said picking up the
backpack he had somehow managed to snag from the luggage carousel before war
was declared. "You won't see me, but
I'll be there – watchin' you' ass. Hope
I be surplus to requirements, but somehow I don' think so." He loped away from them, melting into the
background. Ginny smoothed her hair as
best she could and looked questioningly at Harry.
"Lucius Malfoy's men, d'you think?" Harry nodded.
"The wizard I barbecued could possibly have been Pettigrew."
He told her. "I hope so – oh, I really
hope so!" He sighed and looked into her
eyes.
"Whoever it was has to have been working on Lucius Malfoy's
orders." Harry scowled and continued in
a wry tone. "He's certainly come down
in the world. The old Lucius we knew and hated at school wouldn't have soiled
his hands with anything muggle. I guess
age and experience must have taught him their value as cannon-fodder, if
nothing else." His words were
bitter. He shook his head.
"Ginny, I hate that man." Harry said quietly, lines of anger
etching his face, making him look much older than his years. "I always thought that Draco was a chip off
the old block, but I never realised until recently how extraordinarily evil
that old block is!" Abruptly, he gestured
to a taxi. Ginny stroked his arm
silently, her thoughts chaotic. Is
Draco really that much like his father? She wondered. Lucius would have
ensorcelled me as soon as look at me. He'd have gone to it with a will and cast me aside like some used rag
once he'd finished with me! So why
didn't Draco? Despite the burning
heat, she shivered involuntarily.
~oo0oo~