Amelia awoke after a long, deep sleep and couldn't quite believe the sight of Draco sleeping soundly beside her. The last few days felt like a whirlwind and for the ordeal to end with the two of them quietly occupying her little tent together felt like an impossible and wild fantasy.
With Draco's secure return to her heart, the future suddenly seemed full of endless possibility. That which days ago promised only a path of darkness, now was lit up with hope. Even a victory in war felt possible. If Draco had found his way back to her then surely anything could be done.
She swept his hair - floppy and golden - from his face and smiled as his sleeping state reacted gently to her touch. She couldn't flush out the images Narcissa had shown her; they existed in an unrelenting rotation inside her head. It overwhelmed her – the way he had lived for the last four years. The torture he had endured.
"I can feel you staring," Draco muttered with closed eyes, a lopsided smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Just making sure you are real," Amelia said, cupping his cheek and kissing him lightly.
He winced as he rolled onto his side, facing her. "Certainly feels real," he mumbled as he pressed a hand to the bandage across his side.
The day was slow and quiet as they continued to drift in and out of sleep, eventually transferring to the sofa where they held each other's gaze over the rim of teacups and spoke in gentle hums. Amelia felt like a schoolgirl again in his presence.
He was still weak from the blood loss – Amelia could tell from the heavy lifting of his limbs and the way he would rub at his eyes. His skin was even more pale than usual, and clammy to touch. Still though, his hand remained linked with hers throughout the day.
The sun had long since set when a voice roused them from their dazed bubble. Amelia pulled on a large knitted jumper, ignoring Draco's suggestion to tell whoever it was to 'sod off', and opened the door.
Henry stood there, his hands deep in his jacket pockets and a woolly hat atop his head. He beamed at the sight of Amelia.
"Bloody freezing out there," he said as a gust of wind followed him before Amelia could shut the door. "How are you both?" He sat on the sofa, lifting the hat off his head and running a hand through his hair.
Amelia sat next to Draco, noting the rolled parchment in Henry's pocket and understanding why he was there.
"Fine," Amelia offered with a smile. Draco nodded beside her.
"How's that healing up?" Henry asked with a nod towards Draco's wound.
"I've seen better days – but I'll survive," Draco said dryly as Henry chuckled lightly in understanding.
"Listen – I'm still exhausted from the other night so I know that you two must be completely shattered. But I'm not sure if we have much time on our hands," Henry said.
Draco sat forward, his elbows on his knees. His dazed and weak state seemed to instantly melt away. "What are you anticipating?"
"That we've well and truly pissed off You Know Who," Henry put simply. "They clearly don't like that we now have you on our side with all he knowledge you have, and I definitely don't think they would like that we managed to successfully infiltrate their quarters and steal back a hostage. I think they're going to come for us – with full force."
Amelia looked from Henry to Draco, who sat with a firm frown.
"I've been thinking the same," Draco eventually said slowly. Henry looked as if he was hoping for an impossibly different reply from the Slytherin.
"I'm sorry to ask – I know after all of this it's the last thing you want, but I need to ask you about everything at Malfoy Manor," Henry said, talking directly to Amelia who shifted on the sofa. "We can just chat here though, and it's just to me – I've told Harry I'll write everything down and pass it on to him so you don't need to keep reliving this."
Amelia looked from her brother to Draco. "It's fine – I can go to the meeting room. It's fine, really," Amelia said, noting the exchange of looks between Henry and Draco.
"I'll come," Draco said, pulling himself up and reaching for his walking stick with great effort.
Within minutes Henry had gone ahead to get Harry, and Amelia and Draco were walking towards the small meeting tent. The air was thin and icy, and a wispy fog hung low on the grass; Amelia wrapped the jumper tighter around her as they walked headlong into the windy night. Draco limped beside her, his breath laboured.
"You sure you're up for this?" He asked.
"Are you sure you are?" Amelia replied with raised eyebrows.
"Fair comment."
Perhaps it was the clear sense of urgency, or the slow pace she and Draco had walked at, but Henry and Harry were already in discussion inside the meeting tent when they arrived. They both sat; Harry gave Amelia a smile, and a stiff nod to Draco. Amelia suppressed a smile – the two of them were clearly still thawing out towards each other.
"Sorry to do this, Amelia," Harry said. "Unfortunately we're kind of anticipating some sort of attack though… We reckon the Death Eaters are going to try and stamp us out for good."
"How long do you estimate it will take them to discover the resistance?" Draco asked, immediately taking a small tin from his pocket and rolling a cigarette.
"We were going to ask you the same question," Henry said.
Draco sat back in his chair, lighting the cigarette as he considered this.
"With all their concentration on you? Maybe a week – if we're lucky. Like I've said before – they have a few bits on you lot, but not enough to confidently find you. Yet."
Henry and Harry exchanged a look which told Amelia that this is what they had hypothesised as well.
"We've doubled the people on watch since we got back from the Manor. As we speak Hermione's looking for any more protection charms we can put in place," Harry said.
"And no one will be leaving the perimeters of the protective charms," Henry added.
"Have we got enough supplies with us for that?" Amelia asked.
Harry shrugged. "We're going to have to."
Amelia felt her stomach tighten.
"What do you need to know?" She asked the two men as the sense of urgency set once more in the room.
It was difficult to relive the time she had spent in Malfoy Manor; brief as it was, it would haunt her for the rest of her life. The energy seemed to slowly leak out of her as she went through every detail, described every voice she heard, every corner of the Manor she had seen. She could feel Draco sit with balled fists next to her, could almost hear his grinding teeth as he sucked on cigarettes and cursed under his breath at some of what Amelia said.
She told them about Voldemort, how he had torn through her mind and memories, and all three boys stiffened at this.
"What did he see?" Harry pressed.
Amelia pinched between her eyes, trying her best to remember everything. The moment had been so excruciating that it was hard to pinpoint particular memories he had extracted from her. She felt Draco's hand on hers and it soothed her slightly.
"Random things – from all over the place… He was searching though, for something specific. It was Draco he wanted information on… I think he was trying to see if I somehow knew if Draco had killed Luscious."
She could feel Draco's guilt beside her and flashed him a look which she hoped absolved this somehow.
"Did he see anything from the resistance?" Harry asked.
Amelia paused, frowning as she kept her gaze to the ground, unable to look at any of them. "I – I think so. Just glimpses, perhaps… but yes."
She could feel them looking at each other as Henry wrote this down. Immense guilt rose up inside Amelia like acid bile.
"Can you remember exactly what he saw?" Henry asked. His voice was deliberate and steady in an attempt to hide any panic at this.
Amelia felt her hands become clammy and she rubbed them absently against her legs. "Just… I don't know… the surroundings? A few tents? I'm trying – I just can't really remember." She felt frustrated tears spark behind her eyes as an overwhelming feeling of having let down the entire resistance poured over her.
"You've had the Death Eaters take hostages from the resistance before, right?" Draco stepped in. "Surely The Dark Lord would've seen the exact images in their heads as they did in Amelia's. There can't have been any new information." He sounded combative and Amelia was quietly grateful for him.
"Perhaps – but Amelia's the only person who has come back alive from capture. There's no way to know," Harry said.
"I'm sorry," Amelia blurted out, her eyes darting between Harry and her brother. "I tried to keep him out – I really tried – but it was impossible."
Draco's hand squeezed hers.
"Amelia, it's fine – I've had the same curse before and I know how difficult it is; how impossible it feels to shut the intruder out," Harry said with a small smile. Henry was nodding sympathetically beside him.
"Voldemort surely would've performed Legilimency on you, Malfoy?" Harry said. Draco looked slightly startled at the direct nature of the question.
"There were occasions where he tried. It appears I have a natural gift for keeping my thoughts private though," he said. Harry looked genuinely impressed by this.
"Right – Draco. What do you know about past attacks the Death Eaters have launched on the resistance?" Henry asked, his quill poised.
They stayed in the tent for another two hours. They spoke about smaller resistances around the country and how they could possibly try to contact them and warn them that an attack may be imminent: "We can resurrect the pirate radio… and we have all those coins from Dumbledore's Army. Maybe some members around England still have those," Harry said. Draco divulged a lot of information that he had secretly gathered on the resistance from the Ministry's archives in the days that he himself had prepared to search for them, to prepare the resistance with what the Ministry already knew. They began drafting plans for an attack. They only halted when Draco could barely find the words he wanted to say.
"Right, I think that's enough for tonight. You're no good to us until you're fully recovered," Henry said to Draco in a friendly mocking tone.
Amelia squeezed his hand – she knew that he did not want to seem weak. He reluctantly succumbed though, with a frustrated sigh as he grabbed his walking stick. "I'll be back in the morning," he mumbled to the two men; Amelia knew full well that Harry and Henry would certainly not be resting and would instead continue to pore over the scattered parchments spread out on the table until the sun rose.
They walked back to Amelia's tent in silence, both consumed in their own thoughts. Every change of wind or snapping twig made Amelia flinch.
"I had hoped we'd have at least a few days to just enjoy this," Amelia said with a sigh as they came into the warm tent.
Draco kissed her forehead with a sad smile. "I know. This will be over one day soon though, and then we'll have the rest of our lives to enjoy."
Amelia looked up at him – there was a sparkling glint in his grey eyes. She wanted to believe him but it was hard to push the last three hours out of her mind.
"Amelia – I'm sorry for everything you went through. In the Manor…" Draco said in a pained expression. "If it weren't for me, none of that would've happened. In fact, none of any of this would be happening."
He paced away, leaning heavily on his walking stick and Amelia's heart ached. She blocked his path and grabbed his face with both hands.
"Draco – none of this is your fault. All the fault lies with the Death Eaters. Everything they've done to you – to us – to the resistance. No one blames you for anything, and certainly not me." Her jaw was set as she spoke and she hoped he understood her. His eyes looked far away as he nodded though.
Though it was the lead up to Christmas, which usually managed to be a jolly time even in the resistance, any cheer in the air had evaporated following Amelia's return from Malfoy Manor. When she and Draco went to the dining hall in the morning, a tense cloud hung above those who sat at the long wooden tables, talking in hushed and terse voices. People greeted Amelia and Draco warmly though, some jumping up to give her a hug and offering a handshake to Draco, and others flashing a warm smile. They sat together at the end of a long table.
George Weasley strolled in between the tables, an old fashioned rusted-coloured radio perched on his shoulder. He placed it ceremoniously atop the kitchen counter as people transferred their attention from their plate of food, to George.
"Time to reconnect the Potterwatch station," he said with pomp and circumstance to a curious small crowd. There were a couple of 'whoops' and exclaims from the room.
Draco looked quizzically at Amelia, who leaned over and whispered to him, "a radio frequency the resistance used just after the Battle of Hogwarts." Draco nodded in understanding and turned his attention to the radio, which George was now tinkering with.
A loud white noise filled the air as George fiddled with the dial. He slowly moved the dial to try and find the station: a flash of piano music, a fleeting moment of a Scottish accent speaking in a fast and high pitched voice, more white noise, and then a familiar name, spoken by a steady and dark voice.
"…A 5000 galleon reward for the capture of defected Death Eater and blood traitor Draco Malfoy – dead or alive. Malfoy has been listed as a High Level Threat to the harmony of the wizarding world and has been charged with the murder of his father, Luscious Malfoy…"
Amelia whipped around to look at Draco, who sat with a deep frown, staring blankly at the radio. She laced her hand through his; his hand felt clammy.
"… We are also offering a rich reward for the capture of Harry Potter, Amelia and Henry Collins, Ronald, Ginevra and George Weasley, Digby Jones and Hermione Granger who are all members of the highly dangerous and illegal resistance; a movement which operates to disrupt the peaceful lives of witches and wizards in the United Kingdom…"
A low hum of chatter broke out among the dining hall at this. George proudly exclaimed that he'd always wanted to be famous.
"… If you suspect anyone to be in support of any resistance in the country you must report them to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately. Snatchers and civilians are all encouraged to seek out suspected resistance members for prosecution and to capture them by any means or necessary force, and will be rewarded accordingly. Stay tuned for a full list of confirmed resistance members operating in England."
"They're trying to encourage riots – keep everyone divided," Draco mumbled – Amelia wasn't sure if it was to himself, or to her. But he was right.
The room was silent now. George was frantically looking behind the kitchen counter for parchment and a quill to write down the confirmed names.
"Let's hope we are well stocked on supplies then," Draco muttered dryly to Amelia, "doesn't look like anyone will be leaving the perimeters for a while."
Amelia nodded gravely. Her eyes scanned the worried looks on people's faces around the room as they all listened to the long list of names – a lot of whom lived inside of the resistance, but some who were presumably still scattered around the country, in hiding places of their own. Amelia often wondered about the other resistance movements – had they built a similar community to the one she was lucky to be a part of?
A couple of people had burst into tears at the mention of certain names: the Ministry's radio broadcast offered more than just anxiety amongst the resistance – it told them who else out there was still alive.
After the broadcast finished and an old classical record began to play, George looked out to the small crowd who were all still and silent, their breakfast and rapidly cooling coffees long forgotten.
"Right," George said, clearing his throat uncomfortably and cracking his knuckles as he brought his attention back to the radio. "Back to the task at hand…" he mumbled as he once again tweaked the dial and grabbed a small handheld microphone connected to the radio. He sat atop the kitchen counter as his expression dropped.
"This is Red Bludger – calling out to any brave witch or wizard who may still be moving the dials in the hope of reaching out to like-minded fighters out there. Please note: we anticipate a full scale attack. I repeat: prepare for a full scale attack. Friends, we advise you to reinforce protective charms and bunker down. Do not leave your place of hiding under any circumstances. The next broadcast will require a password to protect our safety and privacy. The password will be the full name of the other Red Bludger – formally known as Rapier on these airwaves. Please stay tuned. Long live the resistance."
Amelia looked up beyond where George sat, the microphone still in his hands as he looked expectantly at the radio. Bunches of holly were floating in the corners of the wooden pillars, placed there days ago to bring a Christmas cheer which had long since faded away.
