As Strong As We Are United
Chapter 6 – A House Divided
With planning funerals and writing eulogies, those who had lost family and friends had kept busy in the days immediately following the Death Eater attacks. Now that the funerals were over, a tangible tension had fallen over 12 Grimmauld Place. Being trapped inside on long summer days, everyone was forced to reflect on the events that had occurred little more than a week ago, but felt like a lifetime ago. They were forced to face and try to come to terms with their own feelings of loss and the jumble of other emotions that surrounded that loss.
Neville had found his own way to deal with the loss of his grandmother. Willow accompanied him several times to St. Mungos. Neville found that after explaining the attack to his parents, a small weight had been lifted from his heavy heart. And so, he continued to visit them every few days. His parents generally sat quietly in their beds, their blank eyes staring out across the large room. But talking to them was therapeutic. So, Neville did just that.
A few days after the Weasley funeral, Neville was preparing to see his parents once again. Ginny wandered into the room that Neville had been sharing with Harry. (Ron had continued to spend every night with Hermione and never even noticed that Neville had taken over his old room.)
Ginny immediately noticed that Neville was preparing to leave. "Are you going to see your parents again?" she asked quietly. Neville nodded. "Doesn't it hurt to see them that way?" Ginny continued, unsure of herself. They had never talked about Neville's parents once since the day that Ginny had first discovered what had happened to them.
Neville smiled at his girlfriend. "It used to be painful to see them like that. But now it's different." Neville looked at Ginny to gage her reaction. She seemed receptive to hearing more, and so he continued. "When Gran died, I felt like I had to tell them what happened, even though they wouldn't understand. They just sat there silently listening. Even if they didn't understand, it made me feel better to be able to tell them how I was feeling without being judged. So, I keep going back."
"I'm glad that you have someone to talk to," said Ginny. "It's hard being here now. Everyone is so wrapped up in their own pain. I mean, they have every right to be. But, I'm afraid that if I talk about what I'm feeling, I'll just be adding to it. I tried to talk to Dawn and Shannon, since they lost parents not so recently. Dawn's been pretty nice about it, but she doesn't want to talk about how she dealt with it. Shannon simply refuses to talk about it at all."
Neville's heart went out to Ginny. He used to think that his parents were worse than dead. And now, he knew that losing them completely would be worse. He used to feel sorry for himself because his parents would never be able to take care of him like they should. And now, they were helping him in a way they did not even know. His mum and dad were helping him deal with his loss.
Neville spoke softly. "Would you like to go with me today to see my parents?"
Ginny looked into Neville's eyes. "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude."
"You won't be intruding," Neville replied. "I used to be embarrassed about them, but now I know how lucky I am that I have them at all – even if they don't know who I am." Neville smiled and blushed slightly. "Besides, I'm sure they would have wanted to meet the girl who has their son's heart."
Ginny stood and kissed Neville softly on the lips. "I would love to meet your parents," she whispered. Ginny practically dashed out of the room, calling over her shoulder. "Just let me get presentable to meet my boyfriend's parents." Neville chuckled softly and went back to his own preparations.
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Ginny entered her room to find Hermione sitting on her bed reading and Ron sitting beside her silently staring at the wall. The two of them had been like this all week – Hermione losing herself in her books, and Ron acting as her constant shadow. Neither of them had spoken about their parents since the funerals, and neither of them had yet to shed a tear. Ginny was worried about them, but felt that she needed to deal with her own feelings before she had any right to say anything to someone else.
Hermione looked up from her book, when Ginny entered. Hermione silently watched Ginny change into one of her best robes. "Are you going somewhere?" Hermione finally asked.
Ginny nodded. "Neville asked me to visit his parents with him."
"That's nice," commented Hermione, returning her attention to her book.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Ron. "We're supposed to be staying here for our own safety."
Ginny sighed in annoyance. It figured that the first thing her brother had said to her in days was to warn her off of the first thing she had looked forward to since that night everything changed. "I highly doubt that Death Eaters are going to attack the closed ward at St. Mungos," she huffed at her brother.
"But they could," insisted Ron.
Ginny lost it. "Look, Ron, if you want to spend the rest of your life being safe and staring at a wall, be my guest. I'm not looking to put myself at risk, but I'm not going to give up my life because I could get hurt. If I do that then Voldemort won." Ginny stormed out of the room, before Ron could reply.
"She does have a point," mused Hermione.
"What? I like spending time with you," Ron replied.
"You aren't spending time with me. You're acting like a bodyguard. We don't talk. We don't do things together. You just follow me everywhere I go." A week of the constant tension had finally gotten to Hermione, who had begun shouting without realizing it.
Ron immediately became defensive. "I promised your parents I would protect you," he spat at her.
"How? By smothering me?" Hermione shot back. "I can't take it anymore. Did you ever think that maybe I need some time alone to deal with everything that happened. You asking me if I'm okay every five minutes isn't going to make me okay. All it's going to do is to slowly drive me insane."
"I'm trying to help you." Ron was now pleading with her to tell him that she needed him.
"No," shouted Hermione, oblivious to Ron's tone. "You're avoiding dealing with your own pain. How can you help me, when you can't help yourself?"
"I'm fine," Ron stated matter-of-factly.
"No, you're not. Have you even cried yet?"
"Men don't cry," Ron stated.
Hermione stood, throwing her book down on the floor with a loud thud. "Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me," responded Hermione scathingly. "Stay away from me, you stupid macho moron." Hermione stomped out of the room, leaving Ron sitting in a shocked silence.
****************
Shannon bounded down the stairs and into the library on the first floor. She was at a loss as to what to do with herself. Harry had completely shut down in the past few days. She kept trying to get through to him, but he still refused to talk to her. She did not understand why he would not talk to her now. She had been the only one with whom he had shared his feelings about his parents, Sirius, and the prophecy the previous year. Why could he not talk to her about losing others?
Shannon had finally given up on Harry. She figured that he would talk to her, when he was ready, and that all the pushing in the world would not make that happen any sooner. Shannon began passing her time with Dawn and Draco. As the only other teens in the house who had not suffered a recent loss, they were the only ones that Shannon did not feel that she had to tiptoe around. However, Dawn and Draco did want to spend some alone time together, and so Shannon had to find something else to do. At night she could go on patrol with Buffy, but during the day Shannon had nothing to occupy her time. She almost wished that Dawn had not insisted that they finish their summer assignments back in Las Vegas.
Today Shannon had finally decided to look in the library. She had not been in there since they had first explored the house the previous summer. Shannon was surprised to find that the room was not empty. Willow was curled up on a sofa reading a book, and Luna was sitting at the desk diligently scribbling on a long piece of parchment.
"What's up?" Willow asked, when she noticed Shannon.
"Bored," replied Shannon, as she began scanning the shelves for something worthwhile to read. "What are you two doing?" she asked.
"I'm reading a new reference book that I'm going to use in my Research Skills class this term," explained Willow.
Luna looked up from her parchment, as if she had just realized that she was not alone in the room. She smiled at Shannon. "I'm writing a memorial to my father," she explained. "Elmira Pennyfoot suggested that it would be nice to publish a tribute to my father in the next issue of The Quibbler. I'm including a bunch of the stories that people told about him at his funeral."
"Wasn't that a bit presumptuous of her to ask?" commented Willow. "What if you weren't ready to deal with something like that."
Luna shrugged. "I could have said no. But it's rather therapeutic to write about good memories of my father. And with all this being published, I never have to worry that I will forget the good times." Luna turned her attention back to her work. She seemed to be handling it well, though every so often a tear would escape down her cheek. Luna would just wipe it away and keep writing.
Shannon gave Willow a quizzical look. "Everyone deals in their own way," mused Willow. "I suppose writing a tribute is much more productive than trying to end the world."
Shannon shook her head. She was shocked when she had first heard about Willow trying to end the world and thought it strange that the red-haired witch could mention it so casually. Shannon changed the topic. "Got any recommendations for good reading?" she asked Willow.
"There isn't much there that isn't about pureblood families." Willow rolled her eyes.
"It's amazing that people can be so proud about being inbred," commented Shannon, causing Willow to giggle loudly. Luna shot them an annoyed look, but quickly went back to her writing.
Willow put her hand over her mouth. When her giggles subsided, she pulled a book off the table at her side and handed it to Shannon. "The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts?" asked Shannon, reading the title.
"It has some detailed history of Voldemort's first rise," explained Willow. "I was hoping it would give me some key to his defeat. It didn't, but maybe you'll find something I missed."
"Doubtful," replied Shannon, "but at least it's something to do." Shannon sat in one of the armchairs opposite Willow, threw her legs over the armrest and began reading.
A few minutes later, Shannon looked up when Neville and Ginny came into the library to tell Willow that they were ready to go to St. Mungos. Willow put her book aside and walked out of the room with the two teens. Shannon went back to reading. The only sound in the background was the scratching of Luna's quill on parchment.
Several minutes later, the silence was broken by the slamming of a door and someone stomping down the stairs. Mrs. Black began to shriek from her portrait. "Filthy blood traitors defiling the house of my father." Shannon shook her head and placed the book aside. Something really needed to be done about that portrait, permanent sticking charm or not. As she walked out of the library to cover the portrait, she was struck by a sudden inspiration. She would have to talk to Xander about the possibility of removing the piece of wall that the portrait was stuck to and then rebuilding it.
Shannon was so busy thinking about her idea to rid the house of the shrieking portrait that she was not watching where she was going. She slammed into a very annoyed looking Hermione. Both girls fell backwards onto the floor. "Sorry about that," mumbled Shannon, as she stood and crossed to the portrait, pulling the curtains closed.
When Shannon turned back, she found Hermione still sitting on the floor. Her face was buried in her hands. "It's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going. I can't do this anymore." Hermione started to sob.
Shannon helped her up and dragged her back upstairs to the room that she and Dawn shared. They entered to find Draco and Dawn sitting on Dawn's bed kissing. Shannon grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him away from Dawn. "Go away now," Shannon stated.
Draco opened his mouth to argue, but then noticed Hermione. She had sunk down on the other bed still sobbing into her hands. Draco nodded at Shannon and left the room.
Dawn quickly crossed to the other bed and sat beside Hermione. Shannon sat on her other side. Both girls placed an arm around Hermione's shoulders, as she continued sobbing. "Just let it out," said Dawn soothingly.
"Dawn's right," added Shannon. "Holding it in will just make it worse."
Hermione continued to sob for a long time. When her tears had stopped, she looked at her two friends. "How did you two ever get through this. I feel like I'm drowning."
"I tried to bring my mom back," said Dawn quietly. Though she did not feel close enough to Ginny to admit this, she did feel that she could say almost anything to Shannon and Hermione. Both girls gave her quizzical looks. "I was being selfish and stupid. It was a bad idea. It wouldn't have really been her. I ended the spell before it went too far."
"But Buffy came back okay," said Shannon.
"That was different," explained Dawn. "That was a mystical death. My mom died of natural causes. I don't know if that made it better or worse to deal with. When Buffy died I could blame Glory or evil in general. With my mom, there was no one to blame."
Hermione's face lit up for a moment. "Wouldn't the Avada Kedavra be considered a mystical death?" she asked.
Dawn shook her head. "I don't know. But even if it was, you wouldn't want to bring your parents back. Buffy came back all messed up. She was in heaven. Got torn away from perfect peace and thrust back into a world of evil."
Hermione frowned; her shoulders slumped. "You're right," she mumbled. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "You know, I actually feel a little bit better. I just needed to get away from Ron and have a good cry, I guess."
Shannon smiled warmly. "How did you finally give him the slip? He's been like your shadow for days."
"We had a fight," said Hermione, though she did not seem too upset by it. "I told him that I needed time to grieve and so did he. And do you know what the moron said?" Dawn and Shannon shook their heads. "Men don't cry," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.
"That is the dumbest thing I ever heard," said Dawn. "Okay sure if a man cries over ever little thing there is something wrong with him. But this is big."
"Personally, I think that women who cry over every little thing have something wrong with them too," added Shannon. Dawn and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Men can be so stupid," stated Dawn.
"Yeah," agreed Hermione. "Ron needs to let himself cry, but he sure isn't going to listen to me about it. Hey, what if you get Harry to talk to him." Hermione suggested to Shannon.
Shannon shook her head. "Harry isn't talking to me – or anyone for that matter. I don't know what his problem is. All he wants to do is sit alone in his room. A few days ago, he even refused to come down to dinner." Shannon laughed. "Buffy told him he could come down on his own or she would make him. When he refused, she put him over her shoulder and walked down the stairs. By the time they got to the first floor hallway, he decided that it would be less embarrassing to come to meals on his own and just sit silently."
"Maybe he's another one who needs to cry," suggested Dawn.
Hermione shook her head. "I know Harry. He's feeling guilty. Whenever Voldemort has killed someone, Harry has blamed himself."
"Now that is stupid," stated Shannon. "Harry isn't responsible for Voldemort's actions; only Voldemort is."
"Try telling Harry that," replied Hermione. "You'll have about as much luck convincing him as convincing Ron that it's okay for him to cry."
"Maybe we aren't the right ones to tell either of them," commented Dawn. "Maybe when the whole Scooby gang is here for dinner next week, they can talk to Harry and Ron."
"That might not be a bad idea," agreed Hermione. "But in the meantime, I don't want to deal with Ron."
"We'll help you avoid him, if that's what you need," stated Shannon. Dawn nodded in agreement.
Hermione thanked them. "It's really nice having girlfriends who understand."
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Draco wandered around the first floor of the house while he waited for Dawn to finish comforting Hermione. He originally planned to sit in the library and read, but Luna looked annoyed when he walked in. Eventually he found himself in the drawing room, looking at the few remnants of the Black family that remained. He found the relics interesting because he did not know much about his mother's family other than they were purebloods and her sister was a Death Eater who had escaped Azkaban. Draco's father had only bothered to instill pride in his own family. As the Malfoy heir, Draco was only supposed to care about the Malfoy name.
Draco continued to wander around the room until he found himself standing in front of the Black family tree. His eyes wandered over the tiny gold writing on the black tapestry. "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black – Tojour Pur" he read. 'Glad to know that the only think they had going for them was their pureblood status,' Draco thought.
Draco knelt in front of the tapestry as he read the bottom lines. He was surprised to find his own name, linked to his parents, Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy. He looked at the names to the right of his parents, Bellatrix and Rodolfo Lestrange. To the right of his parents name was a cigar sized burn. Draco ran his finger over the small hole, wondering whose name had been there.
A voice interrupted Draco's thoughts. "Figures you would find that interesting." Draco looked up and saw Harry slouched against the doorframe.
Draco looked annoyed at the interruption. "I thought you weren't talking to anyone."
"Why do you care, Malfoy?"
"I don't," replied Draco. "But Shannon has been miserable about it."
"It's none of your business, so drop it," ordered Harry. Draco shrugged. Harry turned his attention back to the tapestry. "Sirius wanted to get rid of that thing but his mother put a permanent sticking charm on it."
"I'm glad he didn't," commented Draco. "It's interesting."
"To you," commented Harry.
"I'm sure you wouldn't be interested if you found things about a side of your family that you know almost nothing about."
"I thought you purebloods were all about lineage," commented Harry.
"Shows how much you know," replied Draco. "I was assured that my mother was a pureblood, but other than that I was only taught about the Malfoy family."
"You expect me to believe that you know nothing of your mother's family?" snorted Harry.
"Believe what you want, Potter. All I know is that she has a sister who is some crazed Death Eater who escaped from Azkaban."
"She has two sisters," said Harry, hoping to get a rise out of Draco. 'Typical Death Eater attitude to just disown someone,' Harry thought to himself.
"What do you mean she has two sisters?" asked Draco, his finger touching the burn mark once again.
"You really don't know?" asked Harry obviously surprised.
"No, who is she?"
"I would have thought with your mother on the side of good, she would have wanted to see her long lost sister, but then again maybe your mother is just playing both sides."
"Don't you dare say anything about my mother," spat Draco. "She helped save your life."
"Your mother was nothing but a lousy Death Eater, who came crawling to our side when the going got tough," spat Harry.
Draco had enough. It was as if they were back at Hogwarts in the days before Draco had joined the Scoobies to help fight Voldemort. Draco launched himself at Harry, both of them landing hard on the floor. As the two boys wrestled, occasionally taking a swing at each other, they managed to knock over an end table. The noise renewed Mrs. Black's shrieking, but neither boy noticed.
Cat came running down the stairs to close the drapes over the portrait, when she heard the scuffle in the drawing room. She walked in to see Harry and Draco rolling around on the floor.
Cat pulled her wand. "Separatus." The two boys flew apart, and Cat lit into them. "What the hell is wrong with the two of you?" Both boys stared at her but did not say a word. Cat was thoroughly annoyed. "I don't care what you two do, just stay away from each other if you can't act like civilized human beings."
"Fine," said Harry. "I'm going to my room." He left.
Cat glared at Draco. "Fine. I'm going too," he mumbled and left the room. Draco had a lot of questions on his mind, starting with his mother's second sister. He decided to go to his room and write a letter to his mother to ask her.
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Harry stomped up the stairs and slammed the door to his room on the renewed shrieking of Mrs. Black. He was surprised to see Ron sitting on Neville's bed. Ron looked up, when Harry entered. "Since when does Neville sleep in here?" Ron asked.
"Since you haven't left Hermione's side in more than a week, and Neville didn't want to stay in a room with Malfoy," replied Harry dryly, throwing himself down on his bed.
"Well Hermione tossed me out. So, where am I supposed to stay?" asked Ron.
"Why don't you go share a room with your new best friend Malfoy," replied Harry, still no emotion in his voice.
"What's your problem?" asked Ron.
"Right now, you are," replied Harry.
"Fine," said Ron, storming out of the room and down the hall to Draco's room.
Draco looked up from the letter he had begun writing, when Ron stormed into the room. "What's wrong?" Draco asked.
"Harry's being a prat," stated Ron.
"So, what else is new," commented Draco. "He started a fight with me a little while ago."
"Huh?"
"He insulted my mother – more than once," added Draco by way of explanation.
"Oh," said Ron, throwing himself on the empty bed. "I'm staying here, since Neville's staying with Harry."
Draco smirked. "I think Longbottom's still afraid of me." Ron did not comment. "So, why aren't you with Hermione? Shannon dragged her up to their room. Hermione was crying."
Ron looked up at Draco, who noticed the concern on his friend's face. "Is she okay?"
Draco shrugged. "Dunno. Dawn and Shannon were taking care of her though. Maybe it'll be easier for her to talk to other girls."
"Oh, so now you don't think she can talk to me either," spat Ron.
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" asked Draco.
"Never mind. Just drop it." Ron stood up. "I'm going to go find some food." He stormed back out of the room.
Draco shook his head, confused, before returning his attention to the letter he was writing.
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The next several days slowly passed. Harry was still not talking to anyone. Ron was still mad at everyone. Hermione spent most of her time with Dawn and Shannon, avoiding Ron. Since Dawn was busy with Hermione, Draco spent his time looking through old family papers and awaiting his mother's reply to his letter. Ginny and Neville came back from St. Mungos in relatively good spirits and had already begun planning their next visit. Luna continued to spend her days alone, working on her tribute to her father, and spent most of her nights with Andrew who would come to visit after work.
Buffy, Willow, Cat, and Charlie, as the only adults who were staying at Grimmauld Place, took notice of what was happening with the teens. The four adults shared their concerns with each other, but none were sure of the best course of action. They decided to leave things be and see if the teens could work out their own problems. If there was no improvement before the Scooby dinner the next week, they would intervene that night with the other adults there to help.