Chapter 16 - Two Angels, a Demon and a Parting Vow

The situation quickly went from hopeful, to bad, to worse, coming to rest on catastrophic in less than five minutes.

As soon as they had broken apart, the expression on her face made it quite clear that she knew he wasn't acting. It strangely wasn't a look of anger, but an appearance of apprehension, bordering one of fearful. She looked in the direction of where the Demon kid had been standing and then dragged him inside, without saying a word, once seeing that he had left.

She quickly questioned his motives after slamming the door behind them. He saw no point in lying and responded truthfully.

Whoever said honesty is the best policy had clearly not met Brooklyn Fletcher. She punched him right in the eye for it.

She had barely spoken a word to him since and was hexing him anytime he tried to talk to her.

The way she was avoiding him was becoming unbearable. He actually looked forward to the few occasions they would get cornered by the neighbors, even the Demon kid, and they had to act like a happy couple. Though, these instances were becoming few and far between.

Just about at his limit of patience, he sat across the table from her, saying that they needed to talk. Brooklyn thought otherwise and swiped his invisibility cloak. Harry wasn't exactly in the mood to play hide and seek like a child, but he was determined to get her to talk.

He decided to save himself some time and summoned his cloak. It came flying at him from the extra room, which was more the size of a closet, which contained all of their belongings that were not clothes. Just as he placed his hand on the doorknob to fully open the door, her voice sounded. She was pleading with him to leave her alone, begging him not to come in.

And he really would have listened if she didn't sound like she was on the verge of crying.

He opened the door the rest of the way and found her sitting up against his standing trunk. With what sounded like a whimper, she covered her face with her hands upon seeing him.

"You follow directions well." She said, her voice a bit shaky.
"I know." He said, sitting himself down next to her. He was actually surprised she hadn't hexed him yet. "Will you please talk to me?"
"And just what exactly are you looking for me to say?" She said, sounding impatient.
"I don't know." He said, bringing his knees closer to his chest so he could wrap his arms around them. "I guess you can start with why you haven't spoken to me for the past five days."
"We've spoken." She seemed to be quite interested in her nails suddenly.
"Only because we had to keep up our newlywed façade, so that doesn't count."
"It counts…"
"Please don't be difficult." She remained silent, which must have been her way of not being difficult. He sighed. "You haven't spoken to me since-"
"I know when I stopped speaking to you." She snapped irritably.
"But why?"
"Do you really enjoy being hexed that much?"
"Not particularly, but I'll risk it."
She groaned. "We've been over this…"
"Blatantly I still don't get it, so please explain it again."
"Do you actually think I enjoy this! Because let me assure you that it has done nothing but annoy and confuse me to no end! Ever since you came into my life, everything has gone from bad to worse! Why can't you just be like every other guy that's crossed my path, or person for that matter, and leave me alone!"

He stared at her for a minute, processing what she had just yelled at him. There had to be something he could do to convince her that her reasoning was completely irrational.

"Because I'm Harry Potter, and incase you haven't heard I'm a little different from most people."
"You…are the…" She began to rage.
"The only guy that's ever shown any sort of attention for you besides lust?" She was silent. "And that frightens you doesn't it?"
She mumbled something completely inaudible, besides the words 'no different'.
"I'm not trying to hurt you, that's the last thing I'd want to do."
"Then leave me alone."
"I don't see how that's going to solve anything." She looked at him hopelessly and then turned away. "Please don't shut me out."
"It's the only thing I know how to do."

He decided to brace himself for another hex and reached for her hand. He was surprised when she didn't go for her wand and instead gripped back. She had just begun to speak in a serious, yet pained, tone when the doorbell rang. They both stared at each other, neither of them moving to get it. He was hoping for whoever it was to leave, and by the look on her face she was thinking along the same lines.

The persistence of the ringing was not subsiding. With a sigh, Brooklyn stood up and exited the room. Harry could only bang the back of his head against his trunk. He had finally gotten somewhere with her, only to have it completely interrupted. Knowing her, she would probably act like nothing had happened and the breakthrough moment would be lost.

"Harry…" Brooklyn said lowly after sticking her head back in the room. "We have…problems in the living room."

He groaned. That could only mean one of two things. The Demon kid or overly nosy neighbors.

Unfortunately, it was a mixture of both, for in the living room stood the Demon kid and both of his parents. This was actually the first time either of them had seen the father, they had actually started to think that he was made up. In any case, his name was Angelo.

Angelo and Angelina. How similar, uniform, homogeneous. The list of adjectives could go on…

As if it wasn't bad enough to have them all standing in their living room, they had just invited them over for dinner. He immediately started rambling about their illusive business, Brooklyn only seconding the extent of their hectic, full schedule.

The two Angels, however, wouldn't hear any of it and they found themselves committed to an evening with disaster written all over it.

Just when Harry thought they were about to leave and he would be able to resume his conversation with Brooklyn, Angelina put in a request…

They watched the Angels walk out the front door, leaving them with the Demon for the afternoon.

Harry Potter, boy wonder, savior of the wizarding world, the list goes on…was babysitting. If he and Ron were still on speaking terms, he would surely take the mickey out of him.

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Harry was cherishing his 'break time'. He and Brooklyn decided that the best way to deal with their miserable situation was to entertain the Demon kid in shifts, switching when the other couldn't possibly deal with him any longer. Unfortunately for him, his breaks were shorter due to Brooklyn being unable to endure 'being undressed by the eyes of the devil's spawn'.

He groaned miserably. There was absolutely no way their conversation was ever going to take place now. She had started saying that after her time at Hogwarts she had done one too many things that she was not proud of, and near the top of the list were things that involved him. Right before the doorbell rang, she said that her dad would have been so disappointed in her if he knew half of the things that she had done.

He could only venture a guess as to where she was going with that, but now he probably would never know.

A tapping on the window sounded, breaking his musings. Looking quite frantic to get inside was a snowy, white owl.

"Hedwig!" He shouted excitedly, tripping over his own feet in his attempt to hurry to the window.

Hedwig flew in, almost knocking him to the floor for a second time. It looked as though she didn't know what to do with herself as she flew excitedly around him, darting from corner to corner of the room before finally coming to rest on his shoulder. He reached for the letter that was attached to her leg, but she wouldn't let him have it. She instead put her head in the way. Only after paying full attention to her did she finally let him have the letter.

Harry-

Well, I finally remembered what it was about. You were right, I was just so angry at the time I didn't want to see it. I owe both you and Brooklyn an apology and it needs to be done in person, but the Ministry has seemed to have 'misplaced' the details to your location. I just can't believe you actually went along with the idea, it sounds completely mental.

I found out that Ginny wrote you that letter about a Horcrux location. I say it's about time we resume our search. The faster we get rid of these things, the better. I say we meet at Grimmauld Place on Christmas Eve. That should give Hedwig enough time to find you. I had to steal her you know. They had her locked away in the Ministry, in the Minister of Magic's office no less. Let's just say her rescue was made possible by Fred and George. She wouldn't come out of the cage when we got to The Burrow though…that is until I said we were going to find you, then she almost knocked me over.

I hope you are doing okay, seeing as the last time I saw you was at the memorial service. I guess that's when I started to put things back into perspective. Seeing you that way made me feel like a complete git for treating you the way I have. Wherever they have happen to hide you, I'm glad that Brooklyn is there with you…she seems to be the only one able to get through to you these days. You know I wish I could, but now I'm just happy someone can.

Until then,
Ron

Christmas Eve. Guess it's as good as any time to go Horcrux hunting…

He decided that Hedwig deserved to be spoiled with some extravagant treats after being held captive at the Ministry for so long. Hedwig seemed to think the same and flew out the bedroom door before he even had a chance to exit the room himself.

This was not going to be good…

Sure enough, Brooklyn's ecstatic exclamation of the owl's name was followed by a fairly high-pitched shriek from the Demon. By the time he got to the living room, the Demon kid was crouched in a corner while Brooklyn was beaming about Hedwig's arrival.

"Please tell me she came bearing good news." She said so only he could hear.
"Well…" Her smile immediately began to fall by the tone of his voice. "Ron stole her and sent a letter."
"About…"
"Aren't you guys going to do something about this bird flying around!" The Demon shouted.
"Now is probably not the best time to discuss it." Harry said, completely ignoring the terrified kid in the corner.
"Don't tell me that thing's a pet!" The Demon said in response to Hedwig landing on Harry's shoulder.
"She's an owl and I wouldn't insult her." Harry said nonchalantly.
"You have a bloody owl as a pet!"

Hedwig apparently didn't like being called a 'bloody owl' and began to fly around the Demon kid, swooping down and batting him with her wings. It was simply hilarious.

Now normally Hedwig would stop after a few rounds, but the kid kept shouting insults at her and the poor snowy owl had to be stunned. The kid looked terrified.

"I didn't kill her! I swear!" The Demon pleaded.
"She's uh, just playing dead." Brooklyn said as Harry went to go retrieve his stunned owl.
"You taught her to play dead!" The kid sounded impressed.
"Yeah…something like that." Harry said, motioning to Brooklyn to follow him so she could lift the spell she had hit Hedwig with.

Harry set his poor, stunned owl onto the bed. He would've let Hedwig continue to torment the kid.

"So what did Ron say?" Brooklyn asked.
"He apologized for being a git and wants to start the search again."
"When?"
"He wants me to meet him on Christmas Eve."
"Oh…" She un-stunned Hedwig, who went and perched herself on the headboard of the bed, not looking too pleased.
"Whoa!"

That was the exclamation of the Demon kid. Brooklyn made a pathetic attempt to hide her wand behind her back, while Harry just stood there stuck somewhere between horrified that a muggle had just seen magic and irritated that the kid had followed them.

"What did you do! That was awesome! Do that again!" The words came so fast out of his mouth they were almost incomprehensible.
"W-what are you talking about?" Brooklyn was still pathetically trying to cover up the mishap, while Harry continued to stare, at a loss of what to do.
"I can just use a memory charm on him." Brooklyn said to the still shocked Harry.
He shook himself out of his state. "Yeah. Memory charm. Good." He looked in the Demon kid's direction. "Where did he go!"
"Come on, he couldn't have gone far. Whoever finds him first Obliviates him."

Both now armed with their wands, they started searching their humble abode. The kid couldn't have gone outside since they hadn't heard the door, so there weren't many hiding options. They turned as the door to the hallway closet opened, both ready to hit him with the spell as soon as they saw him.

"Gotcha!" The freak was now pointing something in their direction and a noise that sounded like a camera going off was heard.
"What the hell was that!" Harry said, completely confused.
"Oh no, that's one of those muggle phones that takes pictures." Brooklyn groaned.
"Well, get rid of the picture, I'll take care of the memory."
"And just exactly how good are you at performing memory charms?"
"I-uh, well…how hard can they be?"
"I'll do it, you'll leave the kid clueless. Take care of the picture."
"You know I don't have a clue how to do that!" Then something occurred to him. "You don't know either, do you!" She bit her lip. "Well this is just brilliant…"
"So, what else can you guys do with those sticks?" The Demon kid asked.

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Harry found himself being blackmailed by a thirteen year-old. He and Brooklyn had spent the remainder of the afternoon entertaining the Demon kid with cheap, theatrical, magic tricks. If they did not comply with the kid's requests, the pictures he had taken of them would be shown.

The kid didn't really comprehend how badly they could hurt him. The only reason either of them didn't hex him into oblivion is because his parents would probably notice his newly traumatized, disheveled state.

Brooklyn was the first one to spot the two very cruel Angels walking towards the front door.

She glared at the Demon, who smiled dreamily back at her. "Not a word to your parents, Damion."
"I told you I wouldn't!" The kid whined. "You just have to be extra nice to me." Brooklyn visibly shuddered at this. "And you have to extra nice too, Ryan…especially to Katelyn."

Little did the Demon know that his threat should have been the opposite way around, but there was no point in arguing semantics since the doorbell rang.

Clearing basking in some form of afterglow were his parents…sure, go off and leave the newlyweds with the burden of a child, they don't mind at all. In fact, his parents seemed to think that watching their adolescent horror would encourage them to have a child of their own.

Brooklyn had stated on numerous occasions that the Demon kid had ruined any future plans of children she might have had. As for Harry, at the rate he was going he wasn't expecting to make it much past the New Year, let alone live long enough to even contemplate having a child one day.

And as quickly as they found their house being invaded, they found themselves being led across the yards to another, much more unapproachable, house.

"I hope you like Haggis!" Angelina said in a sing-song voice from the kitchen.

Harry groaned inwardly. If there was one thing that didn't sound appetizing, it was Haggis and by the look on Brooklyn's face, he was quite certain that she felt the same way. To make matters even worse, there was going to be no alcohol provided. Something about the Angels not wanting to drink in front of the Demon. Upon learning this, Harry and Brooklyn both looked at each other with an expression that clearly stated that there was no way either of them would make it out with their sanity.

"I really don't fancy eating something made out of the lungs, heart and liver of a bloody sheep." Brooklyn muttered to him lowly.

Harry was about to be sick. He had heard Haggis was not especially pleasant, but he didn't know it was that unpleasant.

"And stewed tomatoes on the side!" Angelo added happily while setting the table. "A little spin on Scottish tradition."
"Know any spells to numb taste buds?" Harry asked Brooklyn miserably.
She appeared to be deep in thought before burying her face in her hands and shaking her head no.

The putrid smell of the Haggis only got worse when it reached the dining room table. Harry glanced at Brooklyn. She was staring at the massive chunk of meat in the center of the table, looking every bit the part of the pre-cliff-jumping, suicidal individual.

Then came the gargantuan bowl of stewed tomatoes. It looked like a bowl that would be filled with punch at a party, except for that fact that the contents looked like whatever the punch was spiked with had made it curdle and rot. Harry threw up in his mouth a little from the sight.

This was going to be sheer torture.

Angelina did the honors of filling everyone's plates and bowls with what was supposedly food. Unfortunately, she gave Harry the same portion size as Angelo, which was far larger than the non-existent portion he desired.

Not exactly sure how to go about eating what was in front of him, he started out by shifting the food with his fork. He soon noticed that he should probably use the knife to cut the now not so mystery meat into pieces. Very small pieces…very, very slowly.

Brooklyn, after doing the same, put a small piece in her mouth, took a swig of water and swallowed it whole. Harry followed suit, completely ignoring his bowl which contents made him physically ill. She was braver than him and went for the soup after being eyed by Angelo for not touching it yet. He heard her gag while the spoon was still in her mouth. There was no way he was touching the stuff now.

Surely Harry was imaging things, for Brooklyn had grabbed his leg to get his attention and then pointed down to her leg. There was the Demon kid's foot, jabbing into her own. Clearly this was the kid's first attempt at playing footsie with a female. Harry grabbed the underside of her chair and pulled it closer to his own so the Demon couldn't reach her.

Angelina sighed with contentment. Obviously she had taken his action against the Demon as some display of affection. Then the agonizing conversations began…

"It's so refreshing to have a nice, young couple around here." Angelina said happily. "Isn't it, dear?"
"Very much so." Angelo said. "Everyone else here is retired and about to die."
"They are not about to die! That's terrible to say!" She protested to her husband.
"Have you seen old man Turner lately?"
"Well, okay you have a point." Angelina admitted. "So tell me, how did you two meet?"

Harry almost laughed at the question, for the made-up version was a lame rendition of high school sweethearts. Brooklyn, however, seemed to have a lapse in brain functioning…

"At a wedding." Her sharp intake of breath following her statement could only mean that she knew she just completely messed up.
Angelina practically squealed with joy, which elicited an eye roll from Angelo. "How old were you?" She asked excitedly.
"Nineteen. A mutual friend introduced us." Harry said, not wanting to risk Brooklyn having anymore mishaps.

The Demon looked thoroughly bored with the conversation and was stabbing his meat with his fork, occasionally sending death glares in Harry's direction, most certainly for moving Brooklyn away from his roaming feet.

Angelina decided that Harry needed the 'you shouldn't wear glasses' lecture and was on the verge of begging to see him without them. Angelo told him to just concede otherwise she'd keep at it. The glasses immediately came off. He couldn't see what she was doing, but she kept fawning over how 'handsome' he looked without them and telling Brooklyn what a 'catch' he was.

"Ryan, you haven't touched the stewed tomatoes!" Angelo intervened, allowing Harry to put his glasses back on.

The urge to be sick was instantaneous as he got a clear image of the bowl in front of him. He looked to Brooklyn, who gave him a grim look. He picked up the spoon and failed to keep his hand steady as he dipped in into the bowl of curdling stew. He could feel the beginnings of a panic attack coming on as the spoon full of grotesque food approached his mouth.

His only hope now was for some phenomenological event to occur.

And an event he got…

Apparently they had a young border collie that had been locked away in a room while they were there. The dog had broken out and was now running in circles around the dining room table. While everyone was temporarily distracted, Harry took the opportunity to dump the contents of his bowl back into the larger one.

Unfortunately, seeing the movement of the stewed tomatoes sloshing against each other wasn't pleasing to neither his visual field, nor stomach.

And that's how the dinner from hell ended…

The two Angels chasing after a dog, the Demon attempting to move his chair closer to Brooklyn, who kept moving closer to Harry, who ran to the nearest trash bin to be sick in.

They tried to make a hasty exit, but Brooklyn barely made it out of the front door before the so-called food that was residing in her stomach ended up in the front yard.

Something told him that they wouldn't be invited over for dinner again anytime soon.

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After meticulously brushing their teeth, no argument was made as they each collapsed onto the bed, thoroughly exhausted from all of the mishaps of the day. Not wanting to move from his new found position to change, he threw his shirt and jeans to the floor and only hoped he wouldn't be banished to the closet for it. She must have been too tired to argue, for after she had changed she said nothing and turned on her side with her back facing him.

He sighed. Tomorrow he would be going to meet Ron to resume the search for the Horcruxes and he wasn't quite sure what would be worse…another agonizing attempt at trying to destroy one or having to be back in the graveyard that he tried so hard to forget.

Regardless, he needed a decent night's sleep for whatever was to come and he was far too comfortable at the moment to deprive himself of it.

"Harry?" He was on the verge of falling asleep and decided to not respond.
She called him again and he could barely hear her that time.

The space that was between them was diminished as she rolled over and wrapped her arm around him tightly. He could feel the skin of her cheek touching his as her head was now buried in chest. He draped his arm around her and placed a kiss on top of her head. And as she held him tighter in response, he let his conscious slip away, knowing that this could possibly be the last night he ever spent with her.

He had woken up with Brooklyn still attached to him and somehow managed to get up without waking her. After showering he found her attempting to open the closet. When it finally opened, she was sent to the ground with the surprise of the force. He helped her up and she thanked him. Those were the only words they had spoken and a profound silence was in the air as he readied himself for his departure.

He went into the bedroom to say goodbye to Hedwig. She was perched on the headboard on the side he usually slept on.

He sat on the bed and stroked the feathers behind her ears. "Hedwig, if something is to happen to me I want you to stay with Brooklyn...don't give me that look Hedwig she'd take excellent care of you. In fact, she'd probably make sure you ate before she ever did. You'll probably out live us both at this rate."

Hedwig made the short flight to his shoulder, nuzzling her head in his neck and nipping at his ear.

"Hopefully it won't come to that." He said to his affectionate owl. "I could always send you to Ron if you really don't want to stay with Brooklyn."

She looked at him reproachfully. He knew she'd see it his way. "I thought Pig might drive you mad."

After saying one last goodbye to his owl, he went to his top dresser drawer and pulled out a box and envelope. In the event that he was gone for longer than he anticipated, the gift he had gotten her would surely occupy her time. He set the box on top of the letter he had written that morning and left the room. In the event that he was not to return, he put everything on paper…just so she'd know.

It was just past noon when he finally broke the silence between them.

"Do you have something prepared to cover for my absence?" He asked, hoping that she did.
She looked at him despondently. "Not yet…I'll think of something. Something to do with business matters perhaps. Which I guess this is technically business matters…except you're more likely to get yourself killed this way rather than with the internet..."
"I'm not going to die." He didn't even believe himself when he said it.
"Maybe you should wait…you know, until someone from The Order finally comes to get us." She had this sad, hopeful look in her eyes.
"You know I can't wait."
She sighed. "I know…"
"I should get going. Ron's probably waiting for me."

He made his way toward the back door after she had not responded. She, however, stepped in front of him before he reached the door, her body blocking the doorknob.

"I can come with you." She spoke quickly.
"Not this time." He was firm in his response, hoping she wouldn't argue with him.

When he opened the back door, she grabbed onto his other arm. He turned and found her eyes filling with tears, her grip on his arm becoming tighter with each passing second.

"And as the world goes to hell, you expect me to just sit here and watch as a spectator!" She said as she let go of his arm, obviously trying to hold her voice steady.

He had a fleeting thought of Ginny, recalling how she had told him that he needed to stop being noble. It wasn't that he was being noble, he was being selfish. He wanted to have someone that he cared about to come back to. He didn't want to risk having this one factor that he could control taken away from him.

"Yes, you must!" He took hold of her shoulders, trying to emphasize his seriousness. "I can't bear to lose anyone else that I care about!"
"I wo-"
"Please Brooklyn!" He cut her off, his grasp tightening slightly. "I don't want you to be used by him as a pawn, because that's exactly what he'd do if you got caught and he found out what you mean to me! If you have any sort of inclination of feelings towards me, you will not follow me, you will stay hidden here where you will be safe!"
"Don't leave me here, Harry…" A deep-seeded fear of abandonment was evident in her voice.
"I will come back for you."
"But what if y-"
"I will come back for you…you have my word."

With that, he pulled her close and kissed her forehead. He turned quickly from her shaking form, knowing that he would second guess his decision if he looked into her eyes that were now sending tears down her face.

He did not know if that was enough to put her fears to rest, but it was enough for her to let him go. And as he walked deeper into the forest behind their house for an apparation spot, her figure faded from view.

He only hoped that he would be able to keep his promise.