Disclaimer- Yeah, like I'd be smart enough to think of Harry Potter but the
plot (cough cough) is actually mine.
Authors Note: Here's Ginny in this chapter though a little more Maria & Mark at the beginning. Can I just say how much it hurt me to make a nasty Draco- he usually all right in my other fics. *Sigh*- see! See how small that was!
I would like to point out something- I don't know if it's cos' my computer isn't American or what ever it's just that none of the bold/italics work. I can't even have more than one space in between paragraphs without them being mucked up. Does that happen with anyone else?
Chapter 10:
Harry sat nervously twiddling his thumbs on the seat; they had been waiting here for ages. Maria had drunk half her body weight in tea and now was pacing up and down the corridor muttering things like 'Idiot,' and 'Stupid sod,'
Mark had been in the medical ward for a couple of hours now while Harry and Maria were left of in the squeaky corridor. Even Maria, who was their superior, couldn't go in so they were stuck with no news and no Mark.
Harry and Maria had been in there to heal their superficial injuries but Harry had swatted them away wanting to know where Mark was. All that they had heard was that he had some concussion and he should he out in a few hours. That 'few' hours came and went and still they were left with no information.
The phrase no news is good news caused Maria to bite of a nurse's head.
Maria came and sat down next to him and leaned her head against the wall and sighed. She had the advantage of having some clean clothes in her locker down the hallway and was now dressed in Muggle jeans that had a worn off effect on the thighs and three quarter length blue top.
Harry, unfortunately, could only take off the black jacket and unfasten some buttons on his shirt to get more comfortable.
The corridor was anything but silent, there was people rushing about looking like they had just crawled out of bed- which, he reasoned, they probably had. People were apparating in and out of rooms and medical staff was rushing around coming in and out of the ward.
It looked like none of the Deatheaters were exactly healthy.
But there was nothing said between the two work colleagues for quite some time. The silence between them was comfortable but even without speaking, Harry could tell that his partner was worried. Something was still eating away at her,
"You know," she said suddenly, taking advantage of the fact that for the first time in a while there was no one on the corridor, "I nearly didn't bring those jackets,"
Harry nearly choked on his drink but still remained silent.
"What if."
"Don't," he interrupted, looking down at his now swirling coffee. He had been thinking exactly along the same lines, what if they had scoffed at these jackets like the head of department had? There would be one less Aura and Harry suspected that either he or Maria would have a nervous breakdown.
Harry raked his fingers through his still blonde hair, glanced down at his watch, it was 4:26 and he was thinking longingly of his bed.
He felt his eyelids dropping down,
"Caffeine, Redwood," someone barked at him, "Caffeine,"
Harry's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, his boss was here and of all the times Harry wanted to be seen this wasn't the place and definitely not the time. But he wasn't looking much better even if he did earn more a month then Harry in a year.
He had black pressed trousers and a smart set of robes. The only thing ruining the picture was the light blue pyjama top buttoned up wrongly which the robes didn't quite cover and half stuck out of his trousers.
His brown hair was tousled and he had stubble where he had forgotten to shave. The usually smart and calm Adam Smith was now seething with lack of sleep.
"Is there a problem Miss Edwards?" he snapped noticing that Maria was trying to keep a straight face,
"Um," she started, looking down at the floor her mouth still working furiously to stay neutral, "Absolutely nothing sir,"
Maria caught Harry's eye and mouthed 'Someone isn't a morning person,' Harry fought down a snigger that threaten to burst out.
They just stood there, looking anywhere but at each other and their boss until he snarled,
"Is anyone going to explain why I was dragged out of bed at this god forsaken hour?"
Now the humour had evaporated and they shifted their weight form foot to foot unwilling to say anything. Their boss just snorted and banged the hospital ward door open,
"In!"
~*~
He was just staring at what was left of Mark's jacket. According to Maria, Malfoy had used an unknown curse- a trademark of a new Dark Lord.
Maria was sitting down next to Marks bed describing the various ways she was going to kill him once he had his health back. Mark was looking pale and he had several stitches in his forehead but apart from that he were fine. And Smith had yelled at several nurses who had told them they shouldn't be here.
All of them had sent Harry off in search of coffee.
When Harry came back into the ward it looked like there was some conversation,
"I thought Dunst was sent as well,"
Mark was looking at Maria, who was avoiding him by looking at floor and he scratched the back of his head several times before he answered,
"He discovered alcho-pops sir,"
~*~
Harry apparated into a cubicle in the public toilets half a mile from where he lived, he couldn't Apparate into his house or even just outside because Deatheaters could trace him. Also Paige might be walking around the apartment and he didn't want to explain to her why he had just appeared at five o'clock in the morning.
So he was stuck apparating in some concealed location that was always too far from his house and as he had no money on him he had no choice but to walk the distance.
He trudged along the path, hands in pockets, and gazed up at all the Muggle's houses as he passed wondering if they knew what had happened at Trafalgar square. Wondering if they would ever know the real truth or just tut at the gas company for ANOTHER explosion.
Shivering slighting and not just because of the cold, he walked into the park using it as a shortcut and ignoring the feeling foreboding that was growing inside the pit of his stomach. He wasn't looking forward to his conversation with Paige.
As he came to his house he delved into his pockets to dig out his keys,
They weren't there.
"Oh shit," he swore realising that they were in his discarded back at the square, which was by now crawling with muggle policemen. It would look suspicious if someone came in search of their jacket, only noticing that it was missing five hours later.
He pulled the steamers of the door handle and risked taking his wand out,
"Alohomora," he whispered, tapping the door handle twice before it sprang open. He paused for a moment, half expecting Deatheaters to zoom in and take him out, before pushing the heavy door open and dragging his heavy feet up the stairs.
As he reached the top landing and came level with his door he knew better than to use magic again. He had been pushing his luck and breaking god knows how many rules using magic to open the main doors.
But the only alternative was to wake up Paige and he didn't know who'd he rather face- a Deatheater or a fuming roommate.
Not wanting to face the options he tried the door to see if for some reason it was opened already.
He just looked at the door handle. Paige wasn't stupid enough to leave the door almost wide open in the middle of the night- even Muggle's had criminals. It didn't look like it had been forced open, which only added to his already growing suspicion.
He took a deep breath to clear his foggy thoughts. The air here wasn't like it usually was- he sense magic.
Pulling his wand out, he slowly grasped the handle and pushed it open looking around for anything out of the ordinary.
Nothing.
Just Paige lying on the sofa, in her pyjama's, sleeping soundly- not even stirring at the noise of the floor boards creaking under Harry's feet as he made his way across to her. There was a cold mug of half drunk coffee and a piece of paper on the coffee table.
After her took of his shoes, he padded over to her and glanced at the paper, it read-
You might need these,
Weighing the paper down in the breeze from an open window were his keys.
Picking them up and smiling he made his way to the airing cupboard and pulled out slowly an old blanket Mrs. Weasley had given him when he moved in with Ron. He sniffed it. It still smelt like the Burrow and of his house in the suburbs and he swallowed dryly.
He had to see them soon- he had to.
Sighing longingly he made his way over to the curled up figure of Paige on the sofa, who was using a book as a pillow. He smiled at the sight of this, she kept reminding him of someone he knew- some one from his past.
He threw the cover over her and draped the dark red blanket over her shoulders gently and stood back still grinning. Tiredness suddenly enveloping him again, he yawned and looked in the direction of his room.
It was so dark in Harry's sleep ridden mind, and it looked so far away.
Yawning again, he collapsed on the end of the couch and lay his head back against the back of the sofa. He only stayed awake for a couple more seconds just staring at the ceiling and the patterns the moon cast against it.
~*~
He was vaguely aware that something beside him was stirring before it was FAR too early to worry about something like that. It was the time of morning he liked best- early enough for any troubles he had to stay at the back of his mind and late enough for him to fight off and nightmares that came his way.
This someone wiggled their toes and stretched out pressing him against the arm of the chair causing a rift of pain to jolt through his side.
"Oof," he mumbled sleepily wondering who it could be poking him in the back with their toes. Sleep was now dripping away and a name floating into his mind,
Paige
He was about to grab the blanket and settle back to sleep when a scream made his eyes snap open and stand up and almost trip up over the coffee table.
Trying to look around he realised that his eyes were bleary with sleep so after a couple of furious blinks he scanned the apartment then looked at Paige.
She was standing next to the window and rubbing her eyes frantically,
"What's the matter?" he asked worried but slightly irritated by the fact he had been woken up for what seemed like no reason. And now, after spending a night on the couch squashed up, his aches and pains were starting to arrive.
Paige mumbled something to herself,
"You've got blonde hair," she stated, running her finger through her messy black hair and taking some steadying breaths. Seeing the look on his face she decided to expand on this, "You reminded me of someone- from my past I mean,"
Harry nodded not quite sure which way to take it. He cursed himself for not taking the charm off- now he was stuck with light blonde hair until he dropped broad hints about him going to the hairdressers.
Yawning again, the shock now worn off, he started walking over to the kitchen to find something to eat when Paige spoke again,
"And, um," she yawned widely, "You've got blood splattered all over your face,"
~*~
"For God's sake Harry," she screeched, pinning him down on the seat with surprising strength "Quit squirming!"
He stopped immediately hoping he hadn't heard right,
"Did you just call me Harry?" he asked trying to keep his voice calm and steady. He could be just hearing wrong- he didn't really work well on five hours sleep. Paige let go of his shoulders like they were on fire and took a couple of steps backwards laughing nervously while scratching her arm,
"Did you?" he asked again trying to edge away from the ice pack she held in her hand, the look on her face not going unnoticed.
She shifted her weight and looked at the floor,
"Um," she said, talking a step forward and moving the chair that was blocking her from him out of the way, "Ex-boyfriend?" she offered weakly. Harry nodded unimpressed.
Moving suddenly, she caught him off guard and pushed the ice pack onto his swollen check where some shards of glass had got him. Yelping he was powerless to do anything expect shoot her with evil eyes.
She took a seat opposite him, ignoring the glares he was giving her, and asked not for the first time,
"Where did you go last night?"
Every time she asked him this, he gave her the same reply, but this time he snapped more than said,
"About,"
~*~
His cheek was really numb now.
Three hours, twenty minutes later they had gone through twelve ice packs and Harry no longer had any feeling in the side of his face. Paige still insisted on him keeping them there though her motives were to make him better or get revenge on him because of the night before.
He was tapping on the table slowly drumming an anonymous tune that he heard once.
Paige twitched.
"Stop it," she hissed, turning a page over on the magazine glaring at her she did so. Harry gave her a lopsided smile and went back to daydreaming.
Soon he was humming a theme tune of an advert he saw on the television once.
She placed the magazine on the table and took a deep breath a said slowly,
"Stop it now or you will not see the sun set,"
He frowned, which took a lot of effort considering that half of his face was frozen due to the ice pack strapped onto it,
"I've got nothing to do though," he slurred childishly, starting to tap again.
All she had to do that time was to look at him warningly before returning to her magazine.
Finally having enough of this Harry removed the ice pack and placed it on the mat that lay on the table- he would be lucky if he ever got feeling back into that cheek again. Paige raised an eyebrow,
"How come you sued to live on your own?"
He didn't really want to answer that one but she didn't notice,
"You seem like a nice guy," she continued not seeing his sardonic smile, "I would have thought you had friends,"
He had told her that he was a banker so this was going to be more than a little difficult to explain- he didn't have the energy to make up another story. There was already to many lies to keep track of.
"I used to live in the suburbs," he started not really knowing where he was going with it, "With my two friends from school,"
Paige put her magazine down interested and took a sip of the steaming drink that she held in her hands,
"Go on,"
Harry shifted his weight uneasily before carrying on,
"But something happened to one of their families," he said, remembering in painful detail what had happened to the Mr and Mrs Weasley and their only daughter, "And their mother and father were-"
"Killed?" she interjected her eyes reddened slightly,
"Yeah," he answered, wondering slightly how she had guessed, "And it was all my fault,"
She looked a little taken aback by this and placed the mug of coffee back onto its coaster slowly looking somewhat out of it.
"It was my job you see," he added temporality forgetting what he was supposed to be. She frowned,
"And you're a banker?" she asked smiling,
He swallowed dryly.
"Dangerous times are these," he replied darkly, avoiding the question as he stood up and filled the kettle.
~*~
"Ok, Ok- let me get this straight," Paige was sitting opposite him on the couch now on her knees, "You moved away to protect them and that was like- two years ago?"
Harry couldn't believe that it all had just come out. She just kept pestering on and on at about it until he finally broke down and told her most of the story. Minus the magic- and Ginny.
"Yeah," he replied tiredly, raking his fingers through his hair and rubbing his eyes to fight off the sleep. "Something along those lines."
She just pouted at this- he had the feeling she knew that he wasn't being completely honest. But it wasn't like he had to tell her.
He stood up and wandered over to the window that stood on the landing separating the doors for his and Paige's rooms.
Sighing at his memories, he gazed through the fire escape and at the skyline as the sun set over the trees in the park.
It was amazing here at this time of the evening- just as dusk was settling in. There were a couple of children in the street playing with a football, and an old man walking alone through the park with his dog. Apart from these people there was nothing else.
The only sounds were of the birds and animals and the far of, never ending hum of machines and traffic from the inner city.
"Beautiful isn't it?"
He jumped. He had become so absorbed in the sunset and the world outside the apartment that he hadn't heard here walking up behind him.
"Yeah," he replied pretending to be unimpressed, "I suppose,"
He dared a glace at her and found her smirking as she looked out of the window as well. For once she didn't have her glasses on and again her hair was up in that high ponytail it was all the time.
"Why don't you see them?" she asked innocently but he saw a twinkle of amusement through the reflection in her eyes, "Surely the danger has passed? I mean, wasn't that Russian economy crash a LONG time ago?"
Harry laughed out loud- a bittersweet laugh.
He had no idea why he hadn't seen them, he missed them a lot but anytime he came half way to convincing himself to go, he would remind himself why he went. He really wanted a roommate not for the money but for someone to laugh with, some one to talk to - some one to just to be there.
"I don't know," he said to stop his wandering thoughts in their tracks, "I guess I should,"
"You should,"
It had been too close the other night at the New Year fiasco- if he had gone with Maria or if she had gone alone they might not all be alive today. Maybe he ought to see them.
He gazed out of the window, his mind in more turmoil then it had been before, and he could almost see the suburbs he used to live in.
Tomorrow wasn't going to come fast enough.
Authors Note:
Yes, yes, I know you all want Harry/Ginny action but I have to do this for the rest of the plot to work ok?
Right, and I want more than eight reviews PERLEASE
Thank you
Hope you enjoyed!!!
Authors Note: Here's Ginny in this chapter though a little more Maria & Mark at the beginning. Can I just say how much it hurt me to make a nasty Draco- he usually all right in my other fics. *Sigh*- see! See how small that was!
I would like to point out something- I don't know if it's cos' my computer isn't American or what ever it's just that none of the bold/italics work. I can't even have more than one space in between paragraphs without them being mucked up. Does that happen with anyone else?
Chapter 10:
Harry sat nervously twiddling his thumbs on the seat; they had been waiting here for ages. Maria had drunk half her body weight in tea and now was pacing up and down the corridor muttering things like 'Idiot,' and 'Stupid sod,'
Mark had been in the medical ward for a couple of hours now while Harry and Maria were left of in the squeaky corridor. Even Maria, who was their superior, couldn't go in so they were stuck with no news and no Mark.
Harry and Maria had been in there to heal their superficial injuries but Harry had swatted them away wanting to know where Mark was. All that they had heard was that he had some concussion and he should he out in a few hours. That 'few' hours came and went and still they were left with no information.
The phrase no news is good news caused Maria to bite of a nurse's head.
Maria came and sat down next to him and leaned her head against the wall and sighed. She had the advantage of having some clean clothes in her locker down the hallway and was now dressed in Muggle jeans that had a worn off effect on the thighs and three quarter length blue top.
Harry, unfortunately, could only take off the black jacket and unfasten some buttons on his shirt to get more comfortable.
The corridor was anything but silent, there was people rushing about looking like they had just crawled out of bed- which, he reasoned, they probably had. People were apparating in and out of rooms and medical staff was rushing around coming in and out of the ward.
It looked like none of the Deatheaters were exactly healthy.
But there was nothing said between the two work colleagues for quite some time. The silence between them was comfortable but even without speaking, Harry could tell that his partner was worried. Something was still eating away at her,
"You know," she said suddenly, taking advantage of the fact that for the first time in a while there was no one on the corridor, "I nearly didn't bring those jackets,"
Harry nearly choked on his drink but still remained silent.
"What if."
"Don't," he interrupted, looking down at his now swirling coffee. He had been thinking exactly along the same lines, what if they had scoffed at these jackets like the head of department had? There would be one less Aura and Harry suspected that either he or Maria would have a nervous breakdown.
Harry raked his fingers through his still blonde hair, glanced down at his watch, it was 4:26 and he was thinking longingly of his bed.
He felt his eyelids dropping down,
"Caffeine, Redwood," someone barked at him, "Caffeine,"
Harry's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, his boss was here and of all the times Harry wanted to be seen this wasn't the place and definitely not the time. But he wasn't looking much better even if he did earn more a month then Harry in a year.
He had black pressed trousers and a smart set of robes. The only thing ruining the picture was the light blue pyjama top buttoned up wrongly which the robes didn't quite cover and half stuck out of his trousers.
His brown hair was tousled and he had stubble where he had forgotten to shave. The usually smart and calm Adam Smith was now seething with lack of sleep.
"Is there a problem Miss Edwards?" he snapped noticing that Maria was trying to keep a straight face,
"Um," she started, looking down at the floor her mouth still working furiously to stay neutral, "Absolutely nothing sir,"
Maria caught Harry's eye and mouthed 'Someone isn't a morning person,' Harry fought down a snigger that threaten to burst out.
They just stood there, looking anywhere but at each other and their boss until he snarled,
"Is anyone going to explain why I was dragged out of bed at this god forsaken hour?"
Now the humour had evaporated and they shifted their weight form foot to foot unwilling to say anything. Their boss just snorted and banged the hospital ward door open,
"In!"
~*~
He was just staring at what was left of Mark's jacket. According to Maria, Malfoy had used an unknown curse- a trademark of a new Dark Lord.
Maria was sitting down next to Marks bed describing the various ways she was going to kill him once he had his health back. Mark was looking pale and he had several stitches in his forehead but apart from that he were fine. And Smith had yelled at several nurses who had told them they shouldn't be here.
All of them had sent Harry off in search of coffee.
When Harry came back into the ward it looked like there was some conversation,
"I thought Dunst was sent as well,"
Mark was looking at Maria, who was avoiding him by looking at floor and he scratched the back of his head several times before he answered,
"He discovered alcho-pops sir,"
~*~
Harry apparated into a cubicle in the public toilets half a mile from where he lived, he couldn't Apparate into his house or even just outside because Deatheaters could trace him. Also Paige might be walking around the apartment and he didn't want to explain to her why he had just appeared at five o'clock in the morning.
So he was stuck apparating in some concealed location that was always too far from his house and as he had no money on him he had no choice but to walk the distance.
He trudged along the path, hands in pockets, and gazed up at all the Muggle's houses as he passed wondering if they knew what had happened at Trafalgar square. Wondering if they would ever know the real truth or just tut at the gas company for ANOTHER explosion.
Shivering slighting and not just because of the cold, he walked into the park using it as a shortcut and ignoring the feeling foreboding that was growing inside the pit of his stomach. He wasn't looking forward to his conversation with Paige.
As he came to his house he delved into his pockets to dig out his keys,
They weren't there.
"Oh shit," he swore realising that they were in his discarded back at the square, which was by now crawling with muggle policemen. It would look suspicious if someone came in search of their jacket, only noticing that it was missing five hours later.
He pulled the steamers of the door handle and risked taking his wand out,
"Alohomora," he whispered, tapping the door handle twice before it sprang open. He paused for a moment, half expecting Deatheaters to zoom in and take him out, before pushing the heavy door open and dragging his heavy feet up the stairs.
As he reached the top landing and came level with his door he knew better than to use magic again. He had been pushing his luck and breaking god knows how many rules using magic to open the main doors.
But the only alternative was to wake up Paige and he didn't know who'd he rather face- a Deatheater or a fuming roommate.
Not wanting to face the options he tried the door to see if for some reason it was opened already.
He just looked at the door handle. Paige wasn't stupid enough to leave the door almost wide open in the middle of the night- even Muggle's had criminals. It didn't look like it had been forced open, which only added to his already growing suspicion.
He took a deep breath to clear his foggy thoughts. The air here wasn't like it usually was- he sense magic.
Pulling his wand out, he slowly grasped the handle and pushed it open looking around for anything out of the ordinary.
Nothing.
Just Paige lying on the sofa, in her pyjama's, sleeping soundly- not even stirring at the noise of the floor boards creaking under Harry's feet as he made his way across to her. There was a cold mug of half drunk coffee and a piece of paper on the coffee table.
After her took of his shoes, he padded over to her and glanced at the paper, it read-
You might need these,
Weighing the paper down in the breeze from an open window were his keys.
Picking them up and smiling he made his way to the airing cupboard and pulled out slowly an old blanket Mrs. Weasley had given him when he moved in with Ron. He sniffed it. It still smelt like the Burrow and of his house in the suburbs and he swallowed dryly.
He had to see them soon- he had to.
Sighing longingly he made his way over to the curled up figure of Paige on the sofa, who was using a book as a pillow. He smiled at the sight of this, she kept reminding him of someone he knew- some one from his past.
He threw the cover over her and draped the dark red blanket over her shoulders gently and stood back still grinning. Tiredness suddenly enveloping him again, he yawned and looked in the direction of his room.
It was so dark in Harry's sleep ridden mind, and it looked so far away.
Yawning again, he collapsed on the end of the couch and lay his head back against the back of the sofa. He only stayed awake for a couple more seconds just staring at the ceiling and the patterns the moon cast against it.
~*~
He was vaguely aware that something beside him was stirring before it was FAR too early to worry about something like that. It was the time of morning he liked best- early enough for any troubles he had to stay at the back of his mind and late enough for him to fight off and nightmares that came his way.
This someone wiggled their toes and stretched out pressing him against the arm of the chair causing a rift of pain to jolt through his side.
"Oof," he mumbled sleepily wondering who it could be poking him in the back with their toes. Sleep was now dripping away and a name floating into his mind,
Paige
He was about to grab the blanket and settle back to sleep when a scream made his eyes snap open and stand up and almost trip up over the coffee table.
Trying to look around he realised that his eyes were bleary with sleep so after a couple of furious blinks he scanned the apartment then looked at Paige.
She was standing next to the window and rubbing her eyes frantically,
"What's the matter?" he asked worried but slightly irritated by the fact he had been woken up for what seemed like no reason. And now, after spending a night on the couch squashed up, his aches and pains were starting to arrive.
Paige mumbled something to herself,
"You've got blonde hair," she stated, running her finger through her messy black hair and taking some steadying breaths. Seeing the look on his face she decided to expand on this, "You reminded me of someone- from my past I mean,"
Harry nodded not quite sure which way to take it. He cursed himself for not taking the charm off- now he was stuck with light blonde hair until he dropped broad hints about him going to the hairdressers.
Yawning again, the shock now worn off, he started walking over to the kitchen to find something to eat when Paige spoke again,
"And, um," she yawned widely, "You've got blood splattered all over your face,"
~*~
"For God's sake Harry," she screeched, pinning him down on the seat with surprising strength "Quit squirming!"
He stopped immediately hoping he hadn't heard right,
"Did you just call me Harry?" he asked trying to keep his voice calm and steady. He could be just hearing wrong- he didn't really work well on five hours sleep. Paige let go of his shoulders like they were on fire and took a couple of steps backwards laughing nervously while scratching her arm,
"Did you?" he asked again trying to edge away from the ice pack she held in her hand, the look on her face not going unnoticed.
She shifted her weight and looked at the floor,
"Um," she said, talking a step forward and moving the chair that was blocking her from him out of the way, "Ex-boyfriend?" she offered weakly. Harry nodded unimpressed.
Moving suddenly, she caught him off guard and pushed the ice pack onto his swollen check where some shards of glass had got him. Yelping he was powerless to do anything expect shoot her with evil eyes.
She took a seat opposite him, ignoring the glares he was giving her, and asked not for the first time,
"Where did you go last night?"
Every time she asked him this, he gave her the same reply, but this time he snapped more than said,
"About,"
~*~
His cheek was really numb now.
Three hours, twenty minutes later they had gone through twelve ice packs and Harry no longer had any feeling in the side of his face. Paige still insisted on him keeping them there though her motives were to make him better or get revenge on him because of the night before.
He was tapping on the table slowly drumming an anonymous tune that he heard once.
Paige twitched.
"Stop it," she hissed, turning a page over on the magazine glaring at her she did so. Harry gave her a lopsided smile and went back to daydreaming.
Soon he was humming a theme tune of an advert he saw on the television once.
She placed the magazine on the table and took a deep breath a said slowly,
"Stop it now or you will not see the sun set,"
He frowned, which took a lot of effort considering that half of his face was frozen due to the ice pack strapped onto it,
"I've got nothing to do though," he slurred childishly, starting to tap again.
All she had to do that time was to look at him warningly before returning to her magazine.
Finally having enough of this Harry removed the ice pack and placed it on the mat that lay on the table- he would be lucky if he ever got feeling back into that cheek again. Paige raised an eyebrow,
"How come you sued to live on your own?"
He didn't really want to answer that one but she didn't notice,
"You seem like a nice guy," she continued not seeing his sardonic smile, "I would have thought you had friends,"
He had told her that he was a banker so this was going to be more than a little difficult to explain- he didn't have the energy to make up another story. There was already to many lies to keep track of.
"I used to live in the suburbs," he started not really knowing where he was going with it, "With my two friends from school,"
Paige put her magazine down interested and took a sip of the steaming drink that she held in her hands,
"Go on,"
Harry shifted his weight uneasily before carrying on,
"But something happened to one of their families," he said, remembering in painful detail what had happened to the Mr and Mrs Weasley and their only daughter, "And their mother and father were-"
"Killed?" she interjected her eyes reddened slightly,
"Yeah," he answered, wondering slightly how she had guessed, "And it was all my fault,"
She looked a little taken aback by this and placed the mug of coffee back onto its coaster slowly looking somewhat out of it.
"It was my job you see," he added temporality forgetting what he was supposed to be. She frowned,
"And you're a banker?" she asked smiling,
He swallowed dryly.
"Dangerous times are these," he replied darkly, avoiding the question as he stood up and filled the kettle.
~*~
"Ok, Ok- let me get this straight," Paige was sitting opposite him on the couch now on her knees, "You moved away to protect them and that was like- two years ago?"
Harry couldn't believe that it all had just come out. She just kept pestering on and on at about it until he finally broke down and told her most of the story. Minus the magic- and Ginny.
"Yeah," he replied tiredly, raking his fingers through his hair and rubbing his eyes to fight off the sleep. "Something along those lines."
She just pouted at this- he had the feeling she knew that he wasn't being completely honest. But it wasn't like he had to tell her.
He stood up and wandered over to the window that stood on the landing separating the doors for his and Paige's rooms.
Sighing at his memories, he gazed through the fire escape and at the skyline as the sun set over the trees in the park.
It was amazing here at this time of the evening- just as dusk was settling in. There were a couple of children in the street playing with a football, and an old man walking alone through the park with his dog. Apart from these people there was nothing else.
The only sounds were of the birds and animals and the far of, never ending hum of machines and traffic from the inner city.
"Beautiful isn't it?"
He jumped. He had become so absorbed in the sunset and the world outside the apartment that he hadn't heard here walking up behind him.
"Yeah," he replied pretending to be unimpressed, "I suppose,"
He dared a glace at her and found her smirking as she looked out of the window as well. For once she didn't have her glasses on and again her hair was up in that high ponytail it was all the time.
"Why don't you see them?" she asked innocently but he saw a twinkle of amusement through the reflection in her eyes, "Surely the danger has passed? I mean, wasn't that Russian economy crash a LONG time ago?"
Harry laughed out loud- a bittersweet laugh.
He had no idea why he hadn't seen them, he missed them a lot but anytime he came half way to convincing himself to go, he would remind himself why he went. He really wanted a roommate not for the money but for someone to laugh with, some one to talk to - some one to just to be there.
"I don't know," he said to stop his wandering thoughts in their tracks, "I guess I should,"
"You should,"
It had been too close the other night at the New Year fiasco- if he had gone with Maria or if she had gone alone they might not all be alive today. Maybe he ought to see them.
He gazed out of the window, his mind in more turmoil then it had been before, and he could almost see the suburbs he used to live in.
Tomorrow wasn't going to come fast enough.
Authors Note:
Yes, yes, I know you all want Harry/Ginny action but I have to do this for the rest of the plot to work ok?
Right, and I want more than eight reviews PERLEASE
Thank you
Hope you enjoyed!!!