Harry's chest rose and fell with each angry huff. He stood in front of Mercy who still wore an expression of deepest ecstasy. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to pull you out of your day dream but-" he stopped himself as he sounded very much like Professor Snape. It didn't matter anyway, she was already looking up at him. Her eyes had turned from love to anger in an instant.
"Yes?" she questioned sharply. Harry looked around at his brothers-in-law standing around.
"May I have a word with my daughter alone?" he asked in a low voice. Ron gave a flip of his head and the Weasley men cleared out. Ginny remained, staring ruefully at Harry. He gave her a meaningful look and, with a glare, she exited the room. Harry turned to Mercy. "You gave us quite a scare today young-lady."
"Well, I am sorry. Perhaps, if you had been more accepting I wouldn't-"
"Listen, I'm the father, I don't have to be accepting." Mercy looked up at him, her eye glinting malevolently.
"Oh, I forgot." Harry looked at her questioningly. "Dad," she said, switching tactics. "What would you have done if Uncle Ron had said he didn't want you dating Mother?"
"He did."
"Well, see. You didn't accept their pronouncement because you loved her. How is it any differ-"
"I am not a Malfoy nor is she. That is the difference."
"But Dad Druce isn't like his father at all. You met him today! You saw him. He was polite and kind and, and, he loves me Dad. He loves me."
"Mercy, please try to understand. Any boy who doesn't love you is off his rocker. If he didn't love you it would be surprising. Him loving you is no reason to, to, you know…." Harry trailed off. What he was saying made absolutely no sense whatsoever. It was the gnawing feeling in his stomach that told him something was amuck. He didn't know what he would do if she was hurt, if he hurt her. He had learned over the years to trust his gnawing feeling and he didn't much feel like breaking the mold. Not to mention he sensed some evil afoot that transcended the little family feud. It felt more on the level of the Second Rise.
"You are making absolutely no sense."
"Mercy, what would you say if I told you that I just had a feeling that this wasn't right. I can't quite put it into words but my feelings are usually right." Mercy looked at him with her eyebrows raised.
"You would separate me from a boy who loves me and whom I love back because you have some stupid feeling." Harry nodded glumly.
"Mercy, just trust me."
"No."
"What?" Harry asked, he had thought they were finally getting somewhere. He thought maybe she would trust him and that would be that.
"I said no. I am not going to trust you feeling okay? I love Druce Malfoy and he loves me. I would like nothing more than to be Mrs. Malfoy-Potter." She had risen to her feet and was moving toward the door.
"I am afraid I can't let you do that Mercy," Harry replied miserably. "If you won't do as I tell you, if you won't trust me that this Malfoy kid is bad news, I will have to force you to keep away from him."
"And how, pray tell, will you do that?" Mercy asked, her anger, which had abated slightly as they were talking in normal tones, was again rising in her like steam out of a kettle.
"You will not venture out of the sight of me, your mother, your grandparents, Professor Lupin or one of your uncles or aunts. You will be in your room by 9:30 in the evening. If I catch you in any funny business like today even stricter restrictions will be put into practice. Got it?" Mercy looked at him for a moment as if she was hoping he would start laughing, saying "sike" with a grin on his face. When she realized he was completely serious she turned away.
"You will regret this" she muttered.
That night, safely back at the Potter house, Harry explained himself to Ginny. "Come on Gin." She turned from him to face the wall. He knew she was angry. "Ginny, I have to tell you something. It's really important, the reason I can not let Mercy date the Malfoy." With a stubborn look on her face she turned to him.
"Well?"
"Something's rising Ginny; I can feel it. I just, well, there's this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something's amuck with this boy and I don't want Mercy to find out first hand."
"Why didn't you tell Mercy that if it's really true?"
"She
doesn't get the difference between good guy and not bad guy. She
doesn't get that the only reason Malfoy was against Voldemort was
because Voldemort killed his mother."
"Harry, your daughter's
heart is dangerous ground to test your theory," Ginny warned. "I
know you're worried but I really don't get a bad vibe from Druce.
He is a Ravenclaw after all." Harry sighed exasperatedly. No one
seemed to understand him.
"Ginny, I rather have her upset with me than dead."
"As would I," Ginny hastened. "I just don't see those as your two choices Harry. Anyway, I'm tired." She turned from him again. Harry lay with his eyes on the ceiling. A tear trailed its way down his face. He needed advice from a parents. As he had many times before, he needed Sirius…. He was filled with the same emptiness that had been there since his fifth year.
Not far from Harry's room, another Potter wanted some understanding. It had been a long day. 'Harry had never understood her love of Druce' she reminded herself. He understood a lot of things but not her love life. She knew she loved him. She knew deep down why she felt such a large chasm in her breast at the moment. She had failed him yet again. She had fallen short of the expectations she knew he had of her. Yet, though she was ashamed, she knew she couldn't make him happy. She couldn't deny her love of Druce. She couldn't forget that he loved her and they loved each other just because her father didn't think it suitable. 'I have to get away' she realized with a sickening dread. She couldn't stand it anymore: her father's disapproval and disappointment.
She got up from her bed and crossed the room to her closet. She pulled out her trunk and set it in the middle of the floor. With precision she ordered her processions in with a swish of her wand. She was much better at this little trick than Nemo or Harry. In went her clothes and her books along with more useless little nick-nacks. By the end her room looked bare and dismal. She closed the trunk and it locked with a click. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a green blouse before donning her traveling cloak. She strapped her broom to her back with the special strap her father had given her the previous Christmas. Grabbing hold of her now weightless trunk, she disapperated.
She found herself in a shabby living room. Around the small chamber hung pictures, old pictures, new pictures, but most containing some member of the Potter family. With a sudden pang in her heart she saw a picture of herself and her father, his arm slung around her shoulders. They both grinned and waved; it had been taken at the Quidditch World Cup in Lithuania the previous summer.
"Who's there?" a tired voice questioned from the opposite room.
"It's me," Mercy replied in a croaky voice. The man rushed out, sensing the urgency and pain in her voice. "I-I-I just need to you give a message to Dad."
"Why, are you running away?" Mercy ignored him, knowing he'd never let her go.
"Tell him I'm sorry that I couldn't be the daughter he wanted me to be. Tell him I just-I just, tell him I'm in love." With a snap she was gone. She felt bad. Grandpa Remus had always been so nice. She knew Harry would be incensed and somehow blame the aged man.
Dread filled Remus's heart. Something was going on in the wizarding world and he had a feeling it was big. The last place Mercy needed to be was on the run. He immediately disapperated to the Potter's house. "HARRY! HARRY!" He bounded up the stairs to Harry's room ignoring the cries coming from the twin's room. Harry ran out, a look of worry on his face.
"Remus, Remus what is it?"
"Harry, it's Mercy; she's gone Harry. She's run away. She apparated to my house and gave me a message for you and before I could do anything she was gone."
"W-what was the message?" Harry stuttered.
"She said she was sorry that she couldn't be the daughter you wanted her to be or something like that. She also said," Remus wracked his brain. "She said she was in love. Then she was gone." Harry's face fell. "Harry, she could be in real danger. They'll know she's a perfect way to get to you."
"I know, I know," Harry murmured distractedly.
Author's Note- Well, are you proud of me? It hasn't been six months or even six weeks yet I have another chapter out! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and, well, review. I'll try to update soon.
