Chapter 2: Untold Secrets

Faith sat in the rocking chair by the window of her new baby's room. The breeze gently combed through her blonde hair as she gazed outside to the sunset. Ares' tiny body lay cradled in her arms, dreaming. Something was majestic about the way the sky looked that day. The rich colors of red, orange, and yellow chased across the sky. And near the top, the purple, and blue glided gently down with the sun and clouds. Faith wondered how much longer everything would stay calm. Her dreams weren't getting any easier for her to bear. The nightmares were relentless to leave her mind, but she wasn't sure they were only dreams.

The sun cast a shadow over Ares' blonde head. Shielding him in the darkness, as Faith looked down at him. She moved slightly to bring him into the light once more. She wasn't ready. I'll never be ready, she thought. The door crept open, as her husband quietly came in. Faith was lost in the face of her son, with thoughts of the future engulfing her mind.

"He won't go to sleep on his own if you always hold him," her husband commented, rubbing her shoulder.

"I'd rather that, so I'll know when he's only sleeping," Faith answered softly, running her finger down the small child's soft arm. She felt a squeeze on her shoulder that made her look up.

Fred Weasley smiled lightly at her, "He's only a baby, love. We have time." Faith stood carefully from the chair, and approached the crib watching Ares' chest rise and fall. Fred quietly closed the window and followed behind Faith. She placed him on the cushion and wrapped the blue blanket around his body tightly. When she had finished, she couldn't bring herself to leave him. Fred put his arm around her shoulders, "He'll be fine." Fred led Faith away from the crib and her son. Faith felt as though she could cry not to be separated from him. Faith knew she wasn't ready.

"What bleedin' git," mumbled Scarlet propping her boots up on the seat opposite her, only to have them smacked off by a passing conductor. The last few hours of the train ride was winding down and Scarlet was still frustrated with Fudge, as usual. Scarlet glared at the man and cursed under her breath.

"He can't just appoint another Minister of Magic, like that," answered Harry, as he tossed aside the Daily Prophet. More boring news and none of it was about the boring Dark Mark, or his plans. Of course, the majority of the wizarding world was relying on the Ministry to take care of everything animal, Voldemort, or vegetable. They were taking care of two of the three problems.

Scarlet scoffed at Harry, "Of course he can, and you know it."

Harry shrugged, "Yeah, but we're dealing with politics, not an evil wizard."

"Politics are the worst kind. Just look at America," Scarlet quipped glancing for a moment out of the window at the passing trees as she felt sick. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from the window.

"Do you think I should've just killed him? I mean, I had the chance," Scarlet questioned as Harry brushed his black hair out of his eyes. His same glasses propped on his nose.

Harry laughed lightly, "They'd probably put you in St. Mungo's instead of Azkaban."

Scarlet rolled her eyes, "There's a road we don't want to travel down again."

"Why did you go there, again?" asked Harry pushing his glasses up again.

Scarlet sighed, "That's when it started, remember? Voldemort rising to power and deciding he was going to use my mind to get into the Department of Mysteries so he could be free from his can. Then after you and all of England had followed me, Fudge-bar decided to put me away. Probably because he knew I had too much information and could get him out of office, which I have yet to do."

The train began to stop for their departure. "Scarlet, what happened to the stone?" Harry said as Scarlet pulled her pattered messenger bag from under her seat.

Scarlet shook her head, "I don't know. Someone stole it that night that Faith and I found it. And I'll give you once guess of who it was." Harry followed Scarlet off the train, his scar tingeing.

"How could he have gotten in?" Harry said, ignoring his scar. Scarlet faced Harry as she put her foot on the first step to exit the train.

"He probably used Polyjuice to disguise himself as Ron. He was acting much more twit-like than usual," Scarlet answered, smiling.