Chapter two
Returning and visiting
/
Mrs Merill, Daria's grandmother, shuffled toward the main door, from which the doorbell kept ringing in the short, impatient intervals. She was ready to reprove her granddaughter properly.
Why Daria did not take the keys when she was coming back so late at night? Not to mention her wand… Even though she was not supposed to do any magic outside the school yet, it would be better for her to keep it at hand, if only for protecting herself.
With her own faithful wand, the lady of the house lazily turned on the light in the hall and unlocked the door. At first, she only opened them for a narrow cranny conspicuously, but then she recognized a pale face of Daria´s friend – Angela Rosier.
"Mrs Merill, at last!"
The retired witch opened the door completely and pulled the warm bathrobe up closer to her body.
"Angela, what's going on? And where´s Daria?"
"She's not home yet?" the girl swallowed hard in horror. Her last hope had just faded away.
"No," Mrs Merill shook her head. "How come she didn't come with you?" she asked then tensely.
"I…" Angela had no idea what to say to the elderly woman not to terrify her. "You know, we were at that disco and… we… we met a friend, and then…"
"Where is Daria?" Mrs Merill interrupted her urgently.
Angela's heart skipped a beat when a voice came from behind her: "Right here."
She turned and with huge relief, she recognized Daria's face in the light pouring from the hall. Mrs Merrill stood in the doorway confused, while Angela rushed over to her friend and tightly hugged her.
"Are you okay? You scared the hell out of me!"
"I'm… We're fine," Daria answered, when Angela pulled away from her. "You know what happened?"
The older girl nodded: "I saw the consequences and I didn´t know if you managed to run away in time…"
"We got out of there about ten minutes before the explosion. It was horrible…"
"I can imagine," Angela sighed. "Where's Draco?" she whispered questioningly.
"He accompanied me all the way here and vanished," Daria replied just as quietly.
"Good for him he did..."
"Can one of you explain to me what's going on?" Mrs Merill called out impatiently.
"I will, Grandma, I promise," Daria replied. "Just give us a minute, okay?" and with that, she pulled her friend further away from the door.
"Be careful what you say," Angela advised right in her ear then. „Otherwise, they won't let you go anywhere at all."
"I'll do my best, but still – it will be described catastrophically in the Prophet tomorrow," Daria assumed shaking her head and then hesitated. „And… Say hello to him."
A knowing smile spread Angela´s lips: "I will. How did you enjoy it?" she asked curiously, so that they could finally move away from the unpleasant subject.
"Well, before everything went to hell with that attack… It was great," Daria mused dreamily.
"Sweet dreams then," Angela laughed shortly, waved a short goodbye to Mrs Merill as well, and shortly after that the garden gate closed behind her.
"Come inside, Grandma," Daria urged her abashed grandmother then. „I'll tell you everything. You would have found it out from the newspaper anyway…"
/
Angela apparated nearby the white mansion of Malfoy family and wearily made her way toward the house. She just wanted to have some fun and relax a little, and how did it almost end?
I will think twice about where to go the next time, she thought gloomily.
Then, it occurred to her that if she had not been taking the anti-dream pills, she would have probably known about the attack. Nothing bad would have happened if she had alerted the Order of the Phoenix in advance.
However, the prophetic dreams took a heavy toll on her, so it was easier said than done. She had been struggling with this dilemma since the very beginning. It was not worth pondering it over and over and blaming herself for it.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her and slowed down. That someone somewhat slacked up as well. Swallowing hard, she sped up again and discreetly, she began to pull the wand out from her jacket pocket. When she sensed the stranger uncomfortably close behind her, she turned sharply with a lit wand in her hand.
Draco came to a halt and Angela took a breath.
"Hey, what are you doing?" he wondered.
"What am I doing? You're the one sneaking up on me like some thug!"
The young Malfoy had a lot to do not to burst out laughing.
"Did I scare you that much? Sorry then. I´ve been waiting for you. I saw you back at Daria's house."
"Simple ´sorry´ won´t make it right," Angela mumbled, hiding her wand.
Together they walked down the paved road toward the mansion.
"How did you get out of there?" the young witch wondered. "I forgot to ask Daria…"
"By the back exit," Draco replied. "…how does it look like there?"
Angela answered only after a pause. "None of those left inside could have survived. The building ended up in ruins and on fire."
"How did you even find out about the attack?" he asked suspiciously. "You left after all."
"I didn't want to go back right away. I was just walking around and I heard the explosion. I suspected it was at that disco and was worried about you. So, I went to check it."
"Ah, so," Draco responded curtly.
She glared at him, but preferred to ignore his incredulous tone. "Did any of them see you?"
"No," he responded after a moment. "Well, at least I think so…"
Angela stopped in front of the barred gate.
"You think?" she drawled.
Draco sighed and described how he had to stun two Death Eaters in order to get out.
Angela's jaw dropped. "You´re not serious."
He shrugged: "What else was I supposed to do?"
"Do you realize what could happen if they recognized you?"
"Of course I do, no need to lecture me about that," the young Malfoy frowned and opened the gate with his wand. "Thank Merlin, at least those annoying Aurors don't sniff around here anymore," he noted while passing through.
"Well, obviously, they have other things to worry about," the Rosier girl reacted darkly.
They both entered the Malfoy grounds and headed to the house.
"Do you think that… That your parents were in there, too?" Angela asked then blankly.
"My father for sure," Draco replied in the same tone.
"We should not run into him returning then," she pointed out carefully.
"Yeah, I hope we won´t..."
Fortunately, they reached the first floor without any problems. Before they parted for their rooms, Angela conveyed Daria´s greeting to Draco. He just smiled a little and crawled into his kingdom. And she, sighing a little, followed suit.
/
Harry nervously polished his glasses with the tip of T-shirt, trying to ignore one guard in the doorway and other two marching down the hall. On the kitchen table in front of him, in addition to a bowl of cookies and glasses of juice, there were Muggle newspapers. On their front page, a bold headline read ´Tragedy at the famous discotheque! 243 teenagers perished!´.
"And what are you going to do now, Aunt?" he asked without looking up from his task.
"I feel too alone here," Petunia reacted quietly, glaring at the Auror through the glass door. "Marge suggested I move in with her."
"That's a pretty good idea," Harry replied. Which I would not really appreciate, he added to only himself.
"Yes, it is," agreed his aunt. "I just hope I´ll be able to get used to her dogs..."
"What about this house?"
"I'll probably sell it," Petunia stated matter-of-factly. "What did you think?"
"Nothing," Harry shrugged. His glasses were already shining like diamonds. He finally put them on and looked at his aunt. "When do you want to move?"
"As soon as possible."
"Ah… So, this is probably the last time we see each other for… some time."
"I guess so," his aunt nodded. "It would be best if you took all your belongings with you."
"Of course, I'll go get them right away. It´s not going be much, I always take most of them with me to school."
His aunt looked as if something quite disgusting had appeared under her nose and did not answer. For a moment, there was deafening silence in the gleaming kitchen, which was surprisingly broken by Petunia.
"Why didn't you come with that nice girl?"
Harry's heart sank and he lifted his head in surprise. His aunt gave him a strange smile: "You're dating, aren't you?"
He had to clear his throat first. "We broke up," he mumbled as quickly as he could.
"Oh, I'm sorry…"
"Well, I'll go pack up," he decided, getting up from the table.
"All right, go then," Petunia urged him as she began to collect the empty glasses from the table.
At the same time, her gaze fell on the newspaper again. She sighed deeply. That event shook with all of England. She just knew it had something to do with those strange people. She glanced at the bodyguards outside the kitchen again, before rather turning away to the kitchen sink.
Harry just informed his escort why he was going upstairs and shook his head vigorously when Tonks offered to help him. He went into his old room, the smallest one in the house, and closed the door behind him. He pulled out a small, battered suitcase from under the bed and absentmindedly began tossing small items and some clothes that were still left in the wardrobe into it. In a moment, he was done with it and sat thoughtfully on the bed.
He had never felt at home at the Privet Drive and he was glad that he would never set foot in this house again. Yet, coming there to visit his aunt had reawakened his old remorse that uncle Vernon and Dudley had died because of him. Just like Sirius… And who knew who was next in line…
It was not just his relatives and friends who suffered, but countless of other people, wizards and Muggles alike. Like last night at that disco. Not to mention that Angela had been definitely there from what he heard yesterday. What if something happened to her too? No… He would not be able to bear it.
He had to put a stop to it, as soon as possible. However, how can an underage student at Hogwarts School stand up to the most terrifying wizard of all time?
From the moment Harry heard that cursed prophecy, the responsibility weighed on him like a huge boulder. He suspected that in time this burden would pull him down to the very dark bottom. Nevertheless, he was determined to fight for air to the very end. He could not give up so easily. Not for himself, but for everyone else.
/
Draco sat comfortably in his favourite armchair, threw his feet up on the table and began to fan himself with a thin book. Although he had the balcony door open, the evening air was suffocating and the room was still just as hot.
Bored, he was reading a book on poisons while sipping from a tall glass of ice water he had on hand. On the ground next to the table lay the Daily Prophet, which had been read several times. Rita Skeeter's article sent chills down the spine, and the entire issue reeked of fear as to what the Dark Lord might be up to next.
There was an unexpected, quick knock on the door. Draco guessed it was Angela.
"Come in," he called lazily.
The very one flew into his room like a whiff of fresh air with a big smile on her face.
"It's freaking hot today, isn't it?" she remarked enthusiastically as she leaned against Draco's bed in shorts and tank top.
"Yeah," he put the book down and stared at her blankly. "So, what's so great about that?"
"I finally persuaded her!" she replied excited.
He raised his eyebrows: "Whom and to what?"
"My mother! We´re moving into our house in two days!" she announced victoriously. "I'm finally getting out of here!"
Draco stared at her dumbfounded for a moment: "Is it really that terrible for you here?" he then spoke up a bit aggrieved.
"Well... No… And of course that I feel sorry for you for staying here," she responded not so happily anymore.
He snorted. "I'm home here, Rosier. Anyway, why didn't your mother want to go to that house so much?"
"No idea," Angela shrugged. "I haven't been there since I moved in with your family and I don't think she has either."
"Strange…" Draco remarked, taking a drink.
"Yeah," she agreed thoughtfully.
"Have you read the today's Prophet yet?" he changed the topic.
"Yes, I have," Angela replied and walked over to the open balcony. "Two hundred and forty three…" she remarked seemingly incoherently.
"Father looked extremely pleased this morning," Draco noted caustically.
"Only because he has no idea that he almost killed his own son," Angela responded quietly, her gaze fixed outside on the setting sun.
Draco said nothing to that.
"So, he wasn't acting weird?" she asked then, still with her back turned to him.
"No, it looks like those two didn't recognize me," he replied calmly.
She turned to him slowly: "You´ve got more luck than sense."
"It seems to me you´re even more skilful in that," Draco sneered at her.
/
The sun had already set as Petunia escorted her nephew to the fireplace in her living room, which was once again exceptionally connected to the Floo network.
Tonks already disappeared in the flames and Harry was supposed to follow her. He turned to his aunt for the last time. She watched him with a strange look. Two Aurors stood awkwardly nearby.
"I'm glad you came, Harry. Although you may not believe me," his aunt said quietly.
Harry said nothing and Petunia hesitantly approached him. He was already almost as tall as she was.
"I don't really understand your world, but I know that you´re in danger. Take care of yourself," said Petunia, and Harry widened his eyes surprised.
And it was not even all. He was completely taken aback, when his aunt hugged him gently and then looked into his eyes.
"I´ve always wanted to tell you that you have exactly the same eyes as your mother had. I always think of Lily when I see you."
Harry just smiled. He did not mean to spoil the moment by telling her that he had already heard the very same words several times before.
"Thank you, Auntie. Goodbye," he said and took some Floo powder from a bowl held by one of the Aurors. Just before he disappeared in the blazing flames, he saw an incredibly sad smile on his aunt's face.
/
When Harry finally found himself in the privacy of his room at Grimmauld Place, which was boiling with activity after the Death Eaters´ attack from the last night, his mind wandered to Angela again, as it did several times before that day. By showing up less than twenty-four hours ago, she completely messed with his head. He could not stop thinking about her.
At the end of the school year, it looked like he would not be seeing her until September, so he was not expecting it at all and it literally snapped him out of the lethargy he had fallen in the past few days. Instead, he kept pondering their situation endlessly, even though he knew it was worthless.
Why did it have to end like this between them? And how will they be able to handle it at school if they see each other every day?
"Damn…" Harry sighed loudly and threw himself onto the bed.
