When Doves Cry
Chapter 6: Prospero's Speech
Disclaimer: Never have owed them; never will.
A/N: see below.
Draco sat in the meeting room waiting for everyone to arrive for the departure for the island. The group had taken several trips backs since the initial visit and things weren't going particularly well in Draco's opinion. They'd not found any evidence of recent Death Eater activity and the Dementors were still behaving oddly.
After the first visit Harry had come up with the idea of creating a sort of patronus-shield charm for each person to protect himself or herself with while still being able to work at the same time. The charm seemed to be working well. Well for everyone but Harry that was.
As if she were reading his mind, a female voice sounded beside Draco.
"Draco?" He looked up and found the sparkling eyes of Cho Chang.
"Yes?" he responded dully.
"I'm worried about Harry," she said.
"Potter's a big boy," he said despite his urge to discuss Harry's condition with someone.
"Cut the 'I don't give a shit about me or money,' act Malfoy. I know you're worried about him too. Do you have any idea why his shield might not be working? I mean well… that is the problem right? I don't really know. I just presumed. Harry hasn't told me anything."
"It's not working," Draco stated matter-of- factly.
"Did he tell you?"
"No, and he'll never going to tell anyone. Potter's never been one to know when to ask for help."
"Do you know why it's not working?" Cho repeated her earlier question.
"No," Draco admitted.
"Maybe…maybe Dementors are worse for Harry than other people. He's seen a lot of horrible things. Maybe the shield isn't strong enough to block them out."
"No, that's not it. Harry doesn't see the things you're thinking of anyway."
"Well then what is it? Draco we can't let Harry keep going like this. Have you been around him lately? He's exhausted, and moody! Sometimes he's acting so strangely I don't even think it's really Harry. Then all of a sudden he's the sweet guy that we all know and love."
Draco felt a feeling of guilt wash over him. He knew that Harry had been acting strangely. He'd noticed it. Also, ever since Ginny had come to visit him a little over a week ago he'd been sure to talk to her everyday. She'd confessed to him that Harry had been behaving oddly. Ginny: yet another contributor to the guilty feeling in his stomach. Though in the middle of a life crisis herself, she had dropped everything including the chance to spend time with her husband to come see him when she found out he'd split with Jen. Ever since she had befriended him Ginny had never once failed to fufill her best friend duties, yet Draco couldn't gather the balls to say "Fuck the system," and solve all of Ginny's problems for her by telling her why her husband wasn't being much of a husband to her.
"Well," Draco spoke to Cho, "Hopefully we'll all be done soon anyway and everything will be able to get back to normal on its own."
Cho nodded but the look on her face told Draco that she was skeptical. Truthfully, so was her.
"Harry you're not going in there by yourself. You can't," Cho told Harry as the entrance to a cavern on the south side of the island.
Harry scowled at her. 'Who she to tell you what to do?' he thought to himself. 'She's just concerned about your safety,' another voice told him. 'I can take care of myself thank you.'
"I can't?" he questioned. "Who's in charge here Chang?"
"You are Harry," she said quietly.
"Right. I am."
"I just think…"
"How about I do the thinking, you do the listening."
"Harry, are you okay?" Cho asked finally in an irritated yet concerned manner that reminded him a lot of Ginny.
Harry blinked. Had he really just spoken so harshly to his friend?
"Cho…I…I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me."
"It's okay Harry," she replied.
"I know it'd dangerous for me to go alone but I just want to make sure there's nothing alarming before I send everyone in. You stay here and I'll keep in communication with you."
"Alright," Cho agreed.
"Can you bring everyone else in when I give the okay?"
"Of course."
Harry smiled and turned to make his way into the cave. Using his wand to light the way, he carefully made his way deeper inside.
"See anything Harry?" he heard Cho's voice in his ear as she spoke to him through the communication channel.
"Nothing yet. I want to go in a little farther though."
Carefully turning a corner, Harry examined his surroundings. There didn't seem to be anything there. He was about to tell Cho to bring everyone else in when a dark figure stepped in front of him. He saw two glowing silver eyes in the darkness before he felt himself falling to the ground as everything went black.
When Harry opened his eyes he found that he was no longer in the caves. He was in room filled with people. Flowers were piled anywhere there seemed to be open space and intricate crosses adorned the wallpapered walls. Though all of the heavy dark red draperies were closed, Harry could see through a small crack that it was gray and stormy outside. A haunting, sad, melody played as the people in the room, each dressed in black milled about. At the very front of the room was a beautifully casket, surrounded by delicate white flowers. Harry was in a funeral parlor.
Harry immediately felt a sense of panic.
Was this real? Was it a glimpse into the future? The present? Or was it a dream?
Who had died?
The thought caused Harry to quickly scan the room, carefully evaluating the face of every person there. He knew everyone. Quickly Harry looked around again, trying to figure out who was missing.
Ginny. He scanned the room for a third time. Ginny wasn't there.
Telling himself to breathe Harry calmed himself. Several others weren't there as well. Ginny was probably off with James and Hope, who he didn't see with the clan of Weasley toddlers who were sitting in a corner.
Then Harry saw himself. He watched himself carefully as he stood over the casket, head down.
Swallowing, Harry stepped forward, starting towards the open casket where his vision self was mourning.
Standing before the casket, Harry reluctantly peered into it, only to be blinded by a flash of white light. Reflexively Harry shielded his eyes with his arm and saw the silver eyes once more before everything went black again.
Harry awoke to the sound of a very panicked Cho Chang hovering above him.
"Malfoy, he's passed out. What do I do?" Her voice was shaky.
Through his own connection to the communication channel Harry heard Malfoy reply quickly, calm as always.
"Use your port-key to take the two of you back to head-quarters. I'll meet you there."
"Ok," Cho replied, though she was clearly not as collected as Draco.
Harry saw her flinch in surprise when she looked down and saw him looking back up at her.
"Harry!" She exclaimed, kneeling down. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he assured her as he attempted to sit up.
"No! Don't move. I'll port-key you back to head quarters. Draco's meeting us there to figure out what happened. "
Harry nodded and Cho grabbed his hand before activating the port-key.
When they got there Cho quickly sat Harry down in a chair and began pacing.
"What happened? I was so scared! I was talking to you but you wouldn't respond. I didn't know what to do, so I decided to come after you. That's when I found you. You were laying there…I…I thought you were dead! But then you made a noise so that was a relief…"
Harry tried to suppress his on coming laughter but failed.
"Harry this isn't funny!"
"I thought you said he was unconscious," a new, slightly irritated voice entered the conversation.
"He was, Cho replied coolly. "He woke up after I stopped talking to you."
"Is he alright?"
"I'm fine," Harry said shooting Draco a dirty look, not appreciating being discussed as if he weren't there.
"Well what happened?"
Harry opened his mouth to tell them about the dementor, but shut it again after a moment of silence. When he finally answered he said, "I wasn't watching where I was going and I hit my head on one of the rocks."
"That's all?" Draco questioned. "Fine. Chang, he shouldn't apparate if he has a head injury. Grab hold of him tight and apparate the both of you to Diagon Alley-don't worry it's as dangerous as they tell you when you get a license-from there have him Floo home. Potter tell your wife that you took a bludger to the head; she'll take care of the rest. Now I have to get back to the island to round everyone up and call it a day. Really be more carefully next time Potter," Draco concluded before disapparating.
"Still the 'Everything about me is superior to you,' guy he was in school. He needs to find a woman who know how to put him in his place."
"Oh he has," Harry smiled. Cho raised an eyebrow and he added, "My wife."
Cho laughed. "Who would have though a Weasley would be the one to deflate Malfoy's ego?"
Harry laughed with her.
"Are you ready to go home?" Cho asked.
"More than ready," Harry said standing up.
"Alright well…I guess…" Cho stuttered awkwardly, as she stepped a little closer to Harry.
Harry smiled at her slightly endearing discomfort and decided to save her some embarrassment by taking her arms and placing them around his neck and then placing his own hands around her small waist. Cho blushed a little and tightened her grip.
"Hold on tight Harry. I don't know what I'd do if I splinched you."
They laughed before disapparting with a pop and reappearing in Diagon Alley.
Harry released Cho from the embrace and she did the same.
"Thanks Cho," he said sincerely.
"Anything for a friend Harry," she smiled back. "Are you sure you're okay? Because if you're not and you just didn't want to tell Malfoy or you…" she began rambling yet again.
Harry placed his hands on her shoulders and locked his eyes with hers.
"Cho," he stopped her. "I'm fine."
"Okay," she blushed.
"Thanks for caring so much though," he said before giving her a brotherly kiss on the cheek and stepping back. "I'll see you at work tomorrow."
"Bye Harry," she said and then disapparated as Harry headed into the Leaky Cauldron to use their fireplace. Both were unaware of the woman watching them from across the street.
Ginny sighed as she stood in line at the bookshop. Hope was wailing in her arms as James danced around her legs, showing her everything he saw in the shop. Ginny had been waiting for Harry to be home one afternoon or evening, so that she could come pick up the book she had ordered for Charlie by herself, but when it seemed as though such a time was never going to come Ginny had given up and brought the kids with her.
Finally Ginny got to the front of the line and picked up the book. As soon as she had paid Ginny quickly made her way out of the store. Once outside she began rummaging through her bag for a bottle to give Hope.
Just as she found it she heard James yell out, "Daddy!"
Ginny looked up straight ahead of her to find Harry coming out of an embrace with Cho Chang.
Ginny's jaw dropped as confusion flowed through her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw James start to run towards Harry. She reached out and grabbed him, restraining him as she watched Harry and Cho.
A pang of hurt hit her as she witnessed Harry kiss Cho on the cheek before they went their separate ways.
Ginny felt overwhelmingly confused. As far as she knew Harry hadn't spoken to Cho in years. As far as she knew Harry was supposed to be at practice. As far as Ginny knew Harry would never do something like that to her. But suddenly, as all of the confusion she had felt over her husband's peculiar behavior over the past month came a hilt, Ginny didn't feel like she knew much of anything.
A/N: Yeah. I know. It's been forever when I told you it probably wouldn't even be a week. See, I had written this before I even posted chapter five, but as I went to post it I realized I really needed to go back a reevaluate just how the rest of this story is going to go as this chapter is sort of a turning point in more than one way. Anyway, what I'm trying to say I guess is that I'm sorry, but that I the time it took me was necessary.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for all the reviews so far; they mean a lot. Next chapter? Not sure. I'd like to say two weeks, but you all know how that usually goes, and then I just feel guilty for missing deadlines which makes my writing feel more like a chore than something I enjoy. And I refuse to let my writing turn into a chore. It's far to important to me. And honestly, quality of writing definitely suffers when one isn't writing for enjoyment; so, chapter 7 sometime soon, but no specific time frame.
Talk to ya'll soon!
Love,
Bella