Interviews and Interior Decoration
Draco let Harry eat and relax for half an hour more before he mentioned that Rita Skeeter had accosted Head Bones and him, guessing that they were with Harry because someone had seen Harry in Diagon Alley earlier and notified her. Draco had agreed to ask Harry if he would consent to a short interview, if Skeeter didn't try to force the issue.
Harry didn't look convinced in the least. Astoria remembered how the press, and Skeeter in particular, had acted towards him in his childhood and youth, and how its readers even now condemned him, even if the press wasn't allowed to write anything inflammatory, and she couldn't help but understand. Unfortunately, she also knew how much just some words from Harry, no matter what kind of words, or at least almost no matter what kind of words, would help their cause of peace and reconciliation. Of rebuilding.
"Are you going to leave me alone with her?" Harry asked Draco after a while.
"If that is what you wish, then yes. If that is not what you wish; no," Draco said, and Harry nodded.
"Good. Then that is not what I wish for. I do actually like her articles lately, but I doubt I will like to be the … object of those articles."
"Then simply say no," Astoria interjected. He had been so happy and energetic, she had seldom if ever seen that side of him, and he deserved to have a good day. If they had to let a chance like this go past them to ensure it, so be it.
Harry only looked at her, before letting his gaze fall on Draco.
"She can bribe me with another one of these," he held up his coffee cup, "and she has until my cup is empty. Does that seem fair?"
"Absolutely." Draco got up, left the courtyard and came back shortly after.
Ten minutes later Rita Skeeter came through the gates and stared in understandable wonder at the courtyard and the open hallways, at the façade, columns and floors made of white marble. She froze before the group sitting there and just stared.
"I'm moving in here?" she whispered in the end, in obvious awe. She blinked rapidly. "Merlin and Morgana, I'm moving in here!"
No one said anything, but Astoria caught the badly hidden, self-satisfied grin in Draco's face. He had known.
"Here, you may have my seat, Miss Skeeter," Head Bones said and moved away.
Skeeter slowly found her way to Harry and the empty space. She shook herself and handed Harry the coffee cup. Astoria saw him cast at least two spells before he took the cup from the witch. Manners didn't mean anything if you were dead. No one as much as blinked at his actions, not even Skeeter.
"My apologies, Mr. Potter, I got a bit … blown away by the work that has been done here in such a short time."
"That's quite alright. And thanks," he toasted her with the cup and took a sip. "You are one of those that have been given an apartment here?"
"Yes, my daughter and I have been promised a three-room apartment before October. Earlier today I got an owl that told me that the work had begun and where the building would be. Before that, I only knew that it would be in Diagon Alley. I didn't actually realise that it was this building until the moment I came here." She still seemed kind of dazed to Astoria.
"Then, I would like one more thing in exchange for this interview, but only if you are amenable, of course, as it's a bit personal," Harry said, with some enthusiasm.
Head Bones rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Apparently, she had already guessed. Narcissa had too, judging by the sudden and uncharacteristic slump of her shoulders.
"What would that be, Mr. Potter?" Skeeter seemed a bit more on guard now.
Soon Astoria felt a bit dazed, too. What Harry wanted was a chance to finish an apartment completely. Including the colours on the walls, the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom and the like, and preferably the chance to transfigure the furniture to match the style they wanted. In other words; Harry Potter wanted to try himself as an interior decorator.
"While I give permission to mention this in your paper, if that is what you want, you may not quote anything that is said during that time …"
"You may not mention anything that isn't said during the actual interview, that hasn't begun yet," Draco said. "If there is anything you would like to quote outside the interview you have to ask specifically about the quote in question."
"Yeah, what he said. Thanks." Harry shot Draco a smile.
"Done, Mr. Potter," Skeeter said without hesitating. "I'm not a homemaker by any stretch of the word. If my daughter gets to choose the colours in her own room, I will be more than happy not to have to do anything myself, no matter how you want to make the place look, as long as it's habitable."
"Of course she gets to choose her own colours. She can choose the colours of the entire apartment; I just want to see one of them finished. May I ask what her name is?"
"In that case, I give a resounding yes to your offer, Mr. Potter, with my gratitude. And her name is Ava Anastasia Skeeter."
"Ava from the name Eve, which in short means 'to breathe', and Anastasia that in short means 'resurrection'." Harry looked at Skeeter for a long moment.
She stared back at him with a raised chin, defiance shone in her pale, green eyes. Then Harry nodded, as if to himself.
"War is Hell," he whispered and something in Skeeter relaxed as she gave a sharp nod. "Should we begin the interview?"
"Yes, please, Mr. Potter." Skeeter drew a quill and a notebook from her small purse. The cat on Harry's shoulder followed the movements of the green feathered quill with a swaying tail. "If I may ask, Mr. Potter, what are you doing here today, and why?"
"Today I'm helping with rebuilding Diagon Alley, as a part of a bigger team. My efforts have been purely on this building, and I believe we might get it done today. We need good and safe housing for everyone, and London's Magical District is one of the safe places where magicals may live now."
"I, personally, thank you for your effort, Mr. Potter. You mentioned that this is one of the places where magicals may live now. What would you say to those that miss the opportunity to live in other places, like the mixed villages that are … more or less gone now, or apartments and houses in the Muggle world? The new restrictions weigh heavily on many people."
Harry hesitated and looked at Draco with a raised brow, then he looked at her. None of them said anything, or as much as twitched. If they did, it would defeat the purpose of Harry saying the words. Harry knew as well as they did why this was necessary, after the past weeks where he followed meetings, read upcoming laws and regulations, read papers and discussed politics with Draco, herself and the Dark Lord. He knew that they didn't refuse people to live where they wanted out of spite. In truth, they didn't even do it because they disliked Muggles, because in all honesty, Astoria didn't dislike the non-magical population. She had been the main force behind the Dark Lord's ban on Muggle-hunting. No, keeping magicals and non-magicals separate was a matter of survival, now more than ever.
Their survival.
"Strictly speaking," Harry began, "anyone can live anywhere they want, if they use the wards necessary to keep themselves safe and the Muggles away. There will still be possible to live in out of the way places, if those wards are present. But the presence of the wards is absolutely non-negotiable, for a very good reason. Tell me, Miss Skeeter, what do you know of Muggle technology and warfare?"
"I … think you may assume I know nothing," Skeeter said.
Harry looked at Draco. "My answer will most likely terrify the general public with its … pessimism. Could you please stop me before I start another war or riots in the streets or something like that?"
"I might not know too much about Muggles, but I believe I now know the answer you will give," Draco said slowly. "I might choose to word it differently than you, but it would still be the same reasoning, Harry. But yes, if I think you come too close to unnecessary fearmongering, I will say so."
Harry nodded slowly and turned towards Skeeter again. Astoria felt a weight in her chest. Harry didn't look happy anymore. And no wonder, this subject was one of the heaviest there was. And one she knew Harry had viewed very differently at the beginning of the war, though, his change of heart had happened long before the war ended.
"Then let me inform you and your readers about both, although not in any extensive way. We don't have time for that," Harry began in a tone Astoria would classify as lecturing. "First off, Muggles are human. And humans, as a whole, never look favourably on anything they don't understand. Muggles will never understand magic. Some might be alright with it; some might be fascinated and more than ready to live side by side with magical people. Some, but not all; not even a particularly high percentage. So, what we have is a world where most of the population won't look favourably on magicals.
"And never forget, the non-magical population is immense; there is no way, now or ever, to eliminate them. It cannot be done. It is not a viable alternative, and I do not say that as one who fought for the Light the entire war. I say that as one of the few who has enough knowledge of non-magicals and their society to know it as a fact.
"We live in a world where most non-magicals will think that it's safest for them if magicals no longer exists, or at the very least is heavily controlled. Muggles have a history of war with people they don't trust, don't like and don't understand. That's history; that's fact. Their society may have evolved, but I will never be willing to trust that it has evolved past the fear of 'the others; those not like us'.
"Then there is their technology that will expose us if we aren't very, very careful. The technology that probably will expose us in the end, no matter how careful we are.
"In the past few years, their surveillance technology has become … scarily good, to be honest. There are cameras everywhere. Not the kind of camera that takes pictures one at a time, but a kind that can take hours and hours of moving pictures, of what you are doing, who you are meeting, where you are going and if you wave a wand around or not. Out in the non-magical world you may assume that someone always sees what you are doing. Always. That's just the stationary cameras out in the streets and in public buildings. Nowadays most Muggles have their own personal cameras, so even if you are inside in a private home, you may also assume someone can see what you are doing. And the worst part; if anyone catches magic on these kind of cameras, the proof will go around the world in a matter of seconds, if they so wish. There will be no time to confound or obliviate. The proof will be out there, and we will be done for. Not just us here in Britain, but all magicals everywhere.
"Luckily for us, with this kind of technology, also comes people who like to fool the technology or use it as entertainment. So even if someone catches magic on camera, it has to be completely indisputable to get people to believe it, and even then, some people will never believe it. So much can be faked with special effects and the like. That might very well be our saving grace for a while longer, but regrettably, not forever.
"Hermione Granger and I used quite a bit of time speculating about what exactly the Muggles could and would do to magicals, if they knew we existed. Right now, the most likely answer is eradication. They would see us as far too dangerous and uncontrollable, with our unfathomable magic and strange beast and beings. In a few years, say thirty to fifty, their technology might be good enough to both find and contain magic. Then we might simply be put in reservations that they decide we should stay in, without us getting a say at all."
Skeeter had become pale as a ghost, and she made a negating sound. She wasn't the only one that had reacted to Harry's words. Head Bones looked sick. Bandini was staring at Harry with big, black eyes. Narcissa's pale blue eyes were wet. The only reason that Astoria could remain stoic, was that she already knew all this, in detail. The same went for Draco.
"We have magic," Skeeter whispered.
Harry looked at Draco. "Am I still good to go?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Draco's voice was hoarse, but also hard. "This is something every magical should know and understand. Things might have been different, once upon a time, when the Muggles were fewer and their tech-no-logy was less refined, but the way things are going … We need to keep away from Muggles, to ensure our safety and survival."
"But we have magic!" Skeeter protested again.
"Muggles have guns, Miss Skeeter," Harry said, almost apologetically. "One single person with a gun - think a kind of tube that shoots metal projectiles with a terrible force and speed - could walk into Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade and kill most, if not all, the people there in a matter of minutes. They don't need a lot of training to use a gun well enough to do that, but even still, a lot of Muggles have a lot of training to use guns. Muggles have big armies, all of them capable of using guns. And then I haven't mentioned bombs yet. A few bombs, maybe a dozen, might eradicate whole of Hogsmeade with metal and flame in a matter of seconds."
"But … shields … wards … magic!" Skeeter sputtered and Astoria felt a pang of sadness for the shocked woman.
"I know 39 different shields, Miss Skeeter. 39, and that's a lot more than most people. All of them can stop different kinds of magic, but only nine can stop physical objects. Only two of those can stop a bullet or a bomb; none of them can stop an atomic bomb. That is the worst bomb the Muggles have ever made, as it poisons everything around the place it detonated for a very, very long time afterward. I do know three wards that will stop bullets and bombs, and probably atomic bombs too. All of those need very clear boundaries and a lot of space, they cannot be raised around a single house in a crowded village. Very few people can raise those wards and bind them to the ley lines they will draw power from. I know that two of those wards already are in use around Diagon Alley, and I guess around Hogsmeade too?"
Harry looked at Astoria and she nodded. The wards had been up for weeks by now, erected and bound to the ley lines by the Dark Lord himself.
Harry looked at Skeeter again. "Muggles might be good friends, they might be kind neighbours, I neither want nor need to deny that fact, but what they are, without any doubt, is different from us.
"And now, unfortunately, that means dangerous in a way they have never been before. Not even during the witch-hunts. We need to respect them as different and very possibly dangerous, and make sure to not be noticed by them. We have to keep ourselves safe. That is why no one can live in blended villages anymore and why one family no longer can choose to live in a Muggle apartment building or in a crowded Muggle neighbourhood. In a perfect world everyone would be able to make the choice of where to live with their families, and I wish they could, but now such a choice might very well impact, and possibly eradicate, the whole magical community, and that cannot be allowed."
Skeeter took some deep breaths before nodding. "Mr. Potter, could you possibly point me in the direction of more information on this subject. I believe … I believe a more in-depth article is necessary, or several. And I have next to no experience with finding information about the Muggle world."
Out of the corner of her eye, Astoria saw Severus turn to look questioningly at her. He was one of those here with most experience with moving in the Muggle world, not counting Harry, of course. She nodded at him, a bit surprised that he was willing to do this, but not at all adverse to it.
"I have both prior knowledge of the subject, and the means of moving around and finding information in and about the Muggle world," Severus said slowly, and Skeeter looked at him. "Because I agree that this knowledge should be distributed among the magical population, I would like to offer my expertise in this. I will send you an owl in the next week to set an appointment and decide on a plan."
"That sounds very good, thank you, Mr. Snape," Skeeter said, and Harry gave the man a nod.
"I realise that my time is probably up, but may I ask one more question, Mr. Potter?" Skeeter asked.
"One, then I'm going back to my task."
"This peace is possible because of you marrying the Dark Lord, and I know a lot of people are wondering; how is your marriage faring?"
"I should have expected that one, shouldn't I?" Harry stated wryly. "Well, Miss Skeeter, as it is a purely political marriage made between two previously warring parties with a river of blood between them … it goes quite well, thank you for asking."
There were stares all around the table. Head Bones made a sound and slapped her hand over her mouth, but her eyes were dancing with merriment. Narcissa blinked several times and Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and tried, and failed, to hold back a sigh. Beside her, Draco bit his lower lip. Astoria herself wanted to laugh. Harry was joking again. Or, she didn't think he meant the words as a joke, but his tone was light and cheerful, and he did admit that the marriage was going rather well, when the less than optimal starting point of the marriage was taken into account.
"I will not say it's perfect, because it's not," Harry continued. "But no one has died yet, so there is hope. Also, not even one Cruciatus Curse has been cast between us, which is a small wonder, in and for itself. The man can hold a conversation, he is a well of information, he does know when to shut up, and I'm beginning to suspect that he has a sense of humour, though, that might just be me that's driving him nutty. And he has the cutest familiar in existence, so he has quite a few things going for him, really."
The big, black cat on his shoulder hissed and he stroked her side.
"You aren't my familiar, so you can't really get offended, darling."
"Harry …" Draco almost whined. "I do not want to be the one to explain that mess of words to the Dark Lord."
Harry looked at him. "But … I'm being nice."
"You are being disrespectful, Mr. Potter," Severus said. "While the … message you want to convey is … commendable, your choice of words is regrettably lacking."
"You think that was disrespectful? Well then, you are never to be invited to any of our rainy-day-discussions. The disrespect would probably kill you. Wait, on second thought …"
This time Astoria was the one that had to muffle the sound of laughter behind her hand. She couldn't help it. She and Draco had almost fainted a couple of days ago when the Dark Lord and Harry got into an extremely heated discussion during tea. At one point Harry had called the Dark Lord stupid for clinging to outdated information, when newer information, that disproved his point, existed. Both had survived, and there hadn't been cast a single curse, Cruciatus or otherwise.
It had been horrifying and entertaining, as well as educational.
"Harry, please reconsider?" Draco asked.
"Alright, alright, for your peace of mind then. May I give you a new answer to that question, Miss Skeeter?"
Skeeter looked at him with big eyes, but nodded and turned a page in her notebook.
"Let's see. The first part was alright, I believe. My marriage goes quite well, considering it is a purely political marriage made between two previously warring parties with a river of blood between them. My expectations weren't high, to put it mildly. We had after all been at war for years, and he has tried to kill me countless times, beginning back when I was a fifteen month's old baby, so yeah, very low expectations.
"Getting to know one another as more than enemies takes time and work, and trust is hard to come by, with that kind of beginning. Given all that, it truly goes quite well. And no one is more surprised about that than I, I believe. Voldemort can be an interesting conversation partner; he knows a lot about a lot of different topics and thus can discuss almost anything. He also has the ability of knowing when silence is best suited, which I appreciate. And Nagini is the perfect cuddle bug and always has some remark about everything, and I mean everything, around her. She's a total brat, a tattletale, and a worrywart."
Skeeter wrote out the sentence. "Nothing about any sense of humour?"
"I suspect that was viewed as particularly disrespectful by the nay-sayers, so no. Ask me again in a couple of years; by then I will have badgered him into giving me leave to tell you, and then no one can deny me."
He would do it too, Astoria knew. Harry Potter would badger the Dark Lord into letting him admit to the press that he had a sense of humour. After the discussion that Harry already had mentioned, Astoria didn't doubt it for a moment.
She really wished she knew what had suddenly changed between them and made this familiarity possible. It was a complete mystery to her.
After that Skeeter promised to be back in about three hours, and left to pack all her possessions in the room she and her daughter rented.
Harry went on to work on the fourth floor of the building. He transfigured the floors into marble and hardwood and tile in the correct places, made the bay windows he obviously liked, put in whole kitchens and bathrooms, and formed beautiful fireplaces.
"I'm not complaining at all, Harry," Astoria began after watching him make yet another stunning fireplace. It was made in black marble shot through with grey and silver, with intricate carvings, columns on each side and a broad mantelpiece. Harry set it with a stasis charm that would keep it like that for a hundred years, at least. "But why do you make it so elaborate and detailed everywhere?"
Harry made another bay window and filled its seat with pillows in gold and silver, so it was ready to use.
"Most of these people, if not everyone, have lost everything they owned during the war," he said in a low voice while looking out the window. "That includes things like a feeling of safety and unassailingness that most people have. I would like to help them get back some of what they lost, even if it's just a sense of home and belonging. I use the time and effort to make these apartments beautiful and special, because of that. Also, I have never been able to choose where I live, myself, and I make these apartments into something, somewhere, I think I personally would like to live."
"Oh." There wasn't much Astoria could say to that. Her heart clenched at his words. Both at the words about wanting to give something back to those who had lost everything, and also his comment about never being able to choose his own home.
When working at Gringotts earlier that day, as her public relation mission, she had wanted to help, but it had been work, impersonal, something to just get done. Even if she also had revelled in being able to create and build, to repair and heal; it had still been more a job than anything else.
Not so for Harry.
She saw Narcissa close her eyes for a long moment and Head Bones bite her lip hard while her eyes teared up and Draco looked at the floor. Bandini looked away and both of the Auror's that had come with Head Bones were pale faced. Severus was stone-faced where he stood in the other room.
"One more apartment left, and then I think I will have a break while waiting for the Skeeters," Harry said, and either didn't notice the mood change around him, or chose to ignore it.
He was putting the finishing touches on the last apartment when Astoria felt her Lord's magic wash over the building. She stood facing Harry and thus could see the mischievous grin that filled the man's face when he noticed the magical signature of the Dark Lord. There was no fear there, at all, no apprehension, and no doubt. Neither were there any irritation or dissatisfaction because the Dark Lord showed up during Harry's second outing since he got married.
Again, Astoria wondered what had happened between them that made Harry lose so much of the nervousness that he had had around the Dark Lord for the first two months of their marriage. It hadn't changed completely overnight, but it hadn't been far from it either.
"Ah, you arrived just in time!" Harry turned towards the Dark Lord when the other man stopped in the doorway into the apartment. The hood of his black silk robe was up, and half hid the aristocratic features, casting shadows over pale skin. Red eyes gleamed from underneath the hood.
They looked at each other for a moment.
"I do try," the Dark Lord said dryly. "What, exactly, did I arrive just in time for?"
Astoria savoured the astonished looks around them. She had gotten to see this kind of display on several occasions now, as had Draco, but it would be news to most here. Even Severus and Narcissa.
"I need some power to decorate an apartment," Harry said, and the merriment turned to ash in Astoria's mouth.
Harry needed power? Harry? Needed power?
Of course, she knew that making this building took power, but not for a second had she imagined that the stupid, irresponsible, brash man used enough of his magic to need more.
The Dark Lord's red gaze landed on her and it took everything she had to not sink to her knees. If Harry had made himself that vulnerable, then that really was on her. It was just that she couldn't have imagined Harry doing something like this, putting himself in such a defenceless position, not in her wildest dreams.
The Dark Lord's magic scorched against her senses now. His anger burned on her tongue and in her eyes. She still couldn't help but revel in the feeling, but at the same time she had to fight not to flinch. She had failed in keeping Harry safe, if he was close enough to magical exhaustion to ask for help.
Someone moved and she realised Harry had stepped in front of her. Shielding her from her Lord, even though she rightly deserved his ire. She saw Draco's shoulders slump in relief when Harry got between her and the irritated Dark Lord.
"Notice my words, will you? I need some power to decorate an apartment," Harry said, sounding more exasperated than anything else. He certainly wasn't afraid at all.
"If you do not have enough magic to decorate, then you hardly have enough to defend yourself …" the Dark Lord began, and Harry snorted, interrupting him, and lowered his shields.
Harry's power flooded the apartment and then the building. He was nowhere near magical exhaustion. He had without a doubt used a lot of his power, probably two thirds of it, if not more, but he still had more power, much more, than most magicals did at their best.
"Then why do you need more power?" the Dark Lord asked, sounding perplexed.
"Because my protections get kind of annoying if my magical power level goes farther down than this, and I would like to concentrate fully on what I'm doing." Harry grabbed at something by his throat and Astoria heard metal clinking against metal. Talismans, she guessed, quite a few of them. "These buggers demand a certain power level to not make a nuisance of themselves, kind of like that new version of Finite I mentioned to you, but they have saved my life plenty of times, so I wasn't going to leave the Manor without them. Not after last time. This alone could probably do the job well enough, though …" Harry spread his open robe wide, and a flash of silver filled the room.
Astoria saw gold and silver runes flowing in the black fabric, for just a moment. So many runes, and so very, very powerful. The robe was warded, and heavily at that. The work, the time, the magic, the gold and silver that had to have gone into making that robe … Astoria swallowed hard. It was worth a King's ransom. She should have known there was a reason for Harry to throw on an outer robe like that, especially because the robe without a doubt was a duelling robe with tight sleeves and a high neck and was made to fit tight around the torso, while also being loose enough to have full range of motion.
There were several gasps and murmurs in the room. She wasn't the only one that was shocked by Harry's revelation.
"… but I try to act smart when I can," Harry concluded. "I am nowhere near exhaustion, and I am in absolutely no danger. So, will you help me decorate?"
The Dark Lord stood silent for several moments.
"Why would you like to?" he asked.
"It's for Miss Skeeter and her young daughter. They will be the first ones to move in here, and if I'm not entirely mistaken, this will be the girl's first proper home, with her own room. I want to make it the very best experience I possibly can. She is a war-child, one of many, she deserves good memories."
"Very well. Do lead the way."
As if summoned, they could hear a woman and a child talking down in the courtyard right then. Harry called down to them and ten minutes later, mother and daughter had decided on a corner apartment and the daughter would get the room with two windows.
"Alright, Ava," Harry squatted in front of the girl.
The girl was about six years old, Astoria guessed, and too thin and pale with eyes far too big and scared. That was why only she and Draco were in the apartment, in addition to the little family, Harry and the Dark Lord. The girl's hair was a dirty blonde, and her huge eyes were a pale green.
"If you could pick whatever you wanted, how would your room look?"
"Stars," the girls whispered. "Lots of stars."
"I see, that I can do. Anything else?"
"Purple?" she added hopefully.
"Purple it is. Do you want stars in your ceiling, or on the wall, or both?"
The girl bit her lip and looked at her mother.
"It's your choice, darling," Skeeter said with a smile.
"Ceiling, please?" Ava whispered.
"Alrighty then, I'm going to try something, and you will tell me if that is how you want it, alright?"
The girl nodded.
After talking a bit with the Dark Lord, Harry stood in the doorway into the room, with the Dark Lord's hand on his shoulder, and with some silent gestures with his wand, the walls turned purple. It was a very light mauve down by the floor, and it got deeper and deeper closer to the ceiling, before it turned almost black. Moments later the ceiling turned completely black and was littered with shining stars.
The girl squealed before hastily hiding against her mother's legs.
"What do you think, is this to your liking?" Harry asked the girl when she had calmed down a bit.
He got a very emphatic nod in return. "Yes, please."
"I believe you mean, yes, thank you, darling," Skeeter told her.
"Yes, thank you!" Ava said.
"Is there anything more you want to change?"
"The door? A black door with my name on it, because it's my room. Ava Anastasia."
"I believe I should do that, Harry, your penmanship is atrocious," the Dark Lord said.
Harry took a step back and made a gesture at the white door.
The moment after the door was black and slowly the girl's name was written onto the wood with beautiful silver calligraphy. The 'i' in her name had a winking star instead of a normal dot. Then, as an afterthought, the door became speckled with glowing silver stars.
"Thank you!" Ava said while staring fixedly at the door.
Astoria threw a glance at Skeeter and noticed that the mother's pale green eyes were gleaming with tears.
"What's next?" Harry asked.
The two bay windows in the room got purple pillows in a multitude of shades and heavy dark purple curtains. The simple and worn furniture that Skeeter unpacked from a trunk was transfigured into a black four poster bed with purple drapes in heavy velvet, but without a ceiling, so Ava could watch the stars. She also got a suitable bedside table and lamp, as well as a big, stuffed chair in the corner, with an ottoman, a small table and a bookcase and a big wardrobe for her clothes. The last furniture was a small desk with a chair and a lamp. Everything was in black or different shades of purple. Astoria noticed that stars snuck in here and there in the room. They glimmered in the bed drapes and the curtains by the window, shone on the purple lampshades by the desk and bed, and twinkled on the inside of the door.
Before her room was finished, the girl had warmed up completely to Harry and was more than happy to tell him how the rest of the apartment should look, including her mother's bedroom, that would double as her office.
For a small girl she had good taste, Astoria decided, and her taste was excellent where colours were concerned. The kitchen was made up in light wood with light green and brass for the details, it was light, warm and inviting. The bathroom became mostly black and a deep blue, while her mother's bedroom became black, Slytherin green and silver. Skeeter smiled at her girl when the girl let her see after the little working team was done with it.
"Thank you for remembering, my dear." Skeeter hugged her daughter. "It looks stunning!"
"I wish there was a Hogwarts House with purple colour," Ava said.
After finishing the living room, with big, stuffed chairs and a sofa, two tables and several bookcases, all in dark wood or a warm golden or purple colour, the apartment was finally done and ready to be lived in.
Then Harry talked to mother and daughter about the wards he had put in place on the apartment building, and all the apartments, in addition to the wards and shields that shielded London's Magical District. One of the wards he had added was mainly for protecting children. He didn't say so outright, but it was in case the child-murdering group should decide to target Diagon Alley. He had added the wards and bound them to the ley lines the District was placed on before Astoria joined them, just after raising the building, so she listened to him with just as much attentiveness as the little family.
"Right, so, what do you do if you get really scared while being home, with or without your Mum?" Harry asked. He sat on a chair across from mother and daughter on the sofa, green eyes on the child.
"I run to any place that shines in gold, because if I get really frightened, many places will shine in gold. They are safe places to help and protect me."
"What do you do when you are in a shining gold place?" Harry asked.
Astoria got the chilling impression that this wasn't the first time Harry had drilled a small child in safety measures.
"I scream!" Ava said with vigour. "The magic in the golden place will make my voice really, really loud and Mum will come and help me."
"Good! And then what?"
"I stay in the golden place till Mum comes, or someone else that I know very well, like my Uncle or Aunt or older Cousins, but I will say no to anyone else that wants me out of the safe place. It is a very safe place, and no one can make me leave it."
"Very good, well done. Now, you must try to remember this. Maybe you and your Mum can talk a bit about it every week, until you are absolutely certain that you will remember it always?" Harry looked at Skeeter.
"Yes, we can do that. Thank you so much, Mr. Potter, my Lord." Skeeter looked at them in turn.
"Yes, thank you so much for our pretty home! I have a room now! And it's all mine!"
They said their goodbyes and left. The next day the building would see a lot of its new tenants, if not all. The messages were already sent out by owls.
"Harry, what if Ava, or any other child, loses consciousness in one of those shining gold places?" Astoria asked, pensively, while slowly walking down the stairs.
"In that case, she will be portkeyed away to a safe place and returned to her mother when it's safe again," Harry said.
"Where is this safe place?" Astoria asked.
"It's a safe place for children, and they would never keep a child that has any other safe place to stay."
"Harry, where is this place? You cannot kidnap children like this …"
Harry turned slowly towards her, and she knew that her choice of words had been bad, exceedingly bad. His face was a suntanned stone mask and his green eyes glowed uncannily in the shadows. She swallowed hard. She had finally pushed him too far, and yet, not quite far enough.
"Ava, or any other child, will get back to their families as fast as possible?" she demanded, and met his green, glowing eyes head on.
"If they still have a family, then yes, as fast as possible."
"And if they don't have a family anymore?" she asked.
"Then they will be kept safe, happy, healthy and in a good environment, until the laws are such that it is … appropriate to let them be known."
"You are saying that there are places with magical children, out there, places that keep them safe until the laws of fostering and adoption are good enough to suit you?"
"Am I saying that?"
"Yes, you …" she stopped. No, he hadn't actually admitted that such a place already existed, just that such a place would exist if it was needed. There might be such a place, or several, with orphaned children, or there might just be people on stand-by, if they should be needed.
She frowned and knew with absolute certainty that she had no hope of making him admit to anything. It would be up to the Dark Lord to figure out the facts, if he so wished.
They stopped at the end of the stairs, and she turned and got her first proper look at the courtyard. It had been pretty and full of potential before. Now it was transformed, and all its potential had been realised.
Fairy lights made of magic hung in chains, crisscrossing the air above the courtyard. Other chains twined up all the columns around the courtyard, lighting the space in a soft, golden glow, now that the building completely blocked out the sun. Flowerbeds had been made around several of the columns and by the gate there were now two, young trees guarding the gate. There were two swings between two columns and a sandbox in a corner and a small, tinkling fountain in the middle of the courtyard with even more benches, tables, and chairs around. This was, without a doubt, a place for children, for relaxation, for fun and for socialisation.
"This is beautiful," Astoria whispered.
"And almost exactly how I wanted to make it, if I had time and power left after I was done with the apartments," Harry stated next to her, their discussion completely forgotten.
"Yes, well, we gathered as much, Mr. Potter," Narcissa said, coming up to them, "given how much care you gave the apartments. Some of us thought we should do something, too. We didn't want to fill the place too much, but also make it somewhere to meet and relax, and share a meal. Which Severus right now is out picking up for all of us."
"Perfect, I'm getting really hungry. Are there any open restaurants in the District right now?"
Narcissa hesitated and looked at the Dark Lord. "I believe he went out in the Muggle world to find a place, but as he is very knowledgeable about their world and should both be able to go unnoticed and remain safe, no one thought to protest."
"There are a lot of good take-away restaurants around here, I don't think he can go wrong," Harry said, obviously not worried. "And the man can pass for a taciturn Muggle if he so wishes, I'm sure he will be back in no time, hopefully with enough food. Do you think I should invite the Skeeters?"
"As Severus mentioned not knowing what children that age likes to eat, I'm certain that was a part of the plan," Narcissa said, still throwing short glances at the silent Dark Lord.
"I will go up and invite them," Draco said, the moment Harry turned toward the stairs.
Harry nodded at him in thanks, then looked at the Dark Lord and nodded at the long table that had been made of several tables. They went towards it and sat down on one of the benches. Less that fifteen minutes later, Severus was back, placing containers of food onto the table, with strange, white cutlery and some sticks of wood that Harry called chopsticks. The name of the dishes was written on the boxes, and everyone was able to find something that sounded good. Harry showed both her, Draco and the Dark Lord how to use the chopsticks to eat. He found a dish that made him grin in anticipation, but that he absolutely did not recommend to her, but rather to Draco, as her husband had found he liked spicy dishes when tasting it at Harry's birthday dinner.
Halfway through her dinner, a bit too pungent for her taste, but still good, Astoria looked up and around.
"Harry, where did the cat go?" She couldn't remember seeing it in quite a while. When had she last seen her? When they were on the fourth floor?
"I guess she had other business to attend to." Harry said with a smile. "I'm glad she stayed as long as she did. Fluffy furballs are excellent company."
A/N:
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