Harry Potter and the Life After the Old
Chapter 8 – Arrival
"Harry?" Ginny said sleepily from her side of the bed.
"Yes, dear?" said Harry, equally sleepily from his side.
"Why the hell is the phone ringing?" she said in an innocent tone.
"That's what woke me up…if this is Ron up to his tricks again…" said Harry, swinging his legs over the side of the bed "3.30! What time does he call this in the morning?"
Harry struggled over to the still ringing phone, and answered it with a groggy "Hello?"
"Harry, you have to come. Quick. As in now" said Ron's voice, full of panic.
"What's wrong, Ron?" Harry said, getting worried.
"It's Hermione…she's gone into labour" Ron almost yelled back.
"Ok, let me get Ginny. She'll be able to help" said Harry, starting to panic as well.
"Get over here as soon as possible…we have to try and get her to hospital" Ron said "I have to go, she's calling me. Quickly now"
Click. The phone died, and Harry leapt into action. He ran back to the bedroom in the Potter's new cottage in Ottery St. Catchpole and went to shake Ginny awake again.
"What is it, Harry?" she moaned, rolling over to face him.
"It's Hermione…she's going into labour. Ron wants us to go round there pronto" Harry said, flinging out some clothes and changing as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, he ended up tripping over his trousers as he pulled them on, in his haste to try and find his glasses at the same time. He landed on top of Ginny, who had just risen out of the lying position.
"Oof" they both said together as they fell back on to the bed.
"Careful now, Harry. I thought we were dealing with Hermione's baby now" said Ginny slyly. Harry blushed, kissed her quickly on the cheek and whispered an apology, before rising off the bed.
"We are. Want something to eat?" he asked, finally pulling on the troublesome trousers.
"No, its ok. I'll grab something at Ron's" she said, leaping out of bed and dressing at breakneck speed, managing with more success than Harry.
"Why is it that women take so long in the bathroom, but when under pressure you can change in a perfectly reasonable time?" said Harry, noticing how quickly his wife dressed.
"We have to keep you boys waiting, only, this crisis is involving Hermione, so lets go! Move, move, move!" Ginny said, prodding him in the general direction of the fireplace.
"You'd better go first, Ginny. I'll see you there" Harry said, giving Ginny a kiss before she flooed to Ron's house. Harry looked around the house to check everything was still locked. Satisfied, he pulled out some green powder from the pot beside the fireplace, and said "34 Kenilworth Avenue" and was gone.
Silence settled over the small cottage once again, and only a light wind disturbed the trees that grew around the outside. In the background could be heard the crunching of leaves, and the snapping of a twig. A shadow of a man in full robes silhouetted itself against the wall of the living room. The man made his way around the house, stopping outside the back door. He tried to open it; it was locked. He tried a simple unlocking spell on the door, and still it did not move. The man backed slowly away from the door, and continued to walk around the house. Eventually determining that he was not going to get in with out a struggle, he took out the note that he had been given. Attaching it to a rock, with magical binding spell, he threw the rock through the front window of the house. A dark red light flashed, and the rock, and its attached note disappeared from view. Not quite sure whether it had been delivered, the man pulled out his wand once again. He whispered a spell under his breath, and there was a flash of green, and a ghostly green began to glow from the sky.
"Vengeance is ours, My Lord" the man whispered, looking up at the symbol that had not been seen for four years. The Dark Mark.
oOo
The night silence of Warwick was broken by the sound of siren, heading towards a residential area of the town. The sirens stopped, and the ambulance continued, blue lights still flashing. The ambulance slowed as it came towards the next junction, and turned down a small road called Kenilworth Avenue. They pulled up outside number 34 and walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. It was answered by a very tall, broad red-headed male who looked as panicked as ever.
"Hello, my name is Perry Dorian, Paramedic. This is Becky Wood, also a paramedic, but a specialist in maternity and such things" said the taller man, gesturing a woman beside him, who was also a red head.
"Right, right, come in. I'm Ron Weasley, by the way. My wife is Hermione" said Ron, opening the door to allow them in.
'Damn' Ron thought 'Harry and Ginny are going to appear in the fireplace any second.'
Sure enough, the two Paramedics received the shocks of their lives, as two people exited the fireplace. Ron knew this had happened from the surprised yell of the male paramedic. Ron sighed, and entered the living room. Had the circumstances been different, he would have laughed. The site that met his eyes were the female paramedic talking to Hermione, apparently ignoring what had just happened, and the male paramedic looking at Harry and Ginny with undisguised shock.
"What just happened?" asked Perry.
"Oh, sorry" said Ginny, looking embarrassed. She pulled out her wand, and performed a simple memory charm on him. Harry stepped forward to do the same to Becky, but she held up her hand.
"Don't bother, I know how the Floo system works. You've no idea how often people try and do that to me" said Becky, who stood back and pulled a wand out that was concealed up her sleeve.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realise…" said Ginny, putting her own wand back.
"I didn't expect you to. I'm working for the Ministry. When wizards call out the Muggle ambulances, I somehow get on the ambulance roster every time. Strange that." Becky said with a wink.
"What do you want to do then?" said Ron, taking his wife's hand.
"How about a hospital!" said Hermione breathing heavily.
"Good plan, good plan, one small flaw. In your state, you'll never be able to Apparate, and a Portkey is just out of the question. It's going to have to be a home birth I'm afraid." Said Becky, conjuring more cushions, and a cooling charm on Hermione.
"We'll just go and wait in the next room" said Ginny, tugging on Harry's hand, pulling him out of the room.
"But…" said Ron.
"Ron Weasley, you can cope with out Harry this once" said Hermione, looking a lot more calm.
Ron looked resigned, and returned Harry's thumbs up with a look of pure terror.
oOo
A crowd of people surrounded the house in the small village, wondering what on earth the strange green glow was that was emanating from the woods. A few recognised the green glow, and with dread, broke into a run towards the copse.
"Not good…" said one peculiarly dressed man to a woman with very strange looking hair.
"Not seen this for a long time, shame these Muggles have caught on"
"It's not a problem for now. It depends on the nature of the situation"
"The Potters…"
"Should be out, but its coming from the direction of their house"
"How do you know?"
"Remember Ron? He and Hermione are having their baby tonight"
"Aww cute!"
"Not the time, Tonks. Not the time."
The two rounded a corner on the path that they were jogging down, and stopped dead in their tracks: above the small white painted cottage hung the sickly green sight of the serpent and skull. The crowd following them caught up and slowed, and there was a collective gasp from around them.
Remus Lupin turned around to face the crowd.
"My name is Sergeant Lupin, and I am a police officer. Can we please disperse the crowd" he said calmly, flashing an identity card for the Muggle police, now a standard issue for all Aurors in case of dealing with Muggle situations.
"My colleague and I will handle the situation, I assure you that you will be informed shortly of what has happened."
Both Lupin and Tonks now were facing the crowd, who seemed unwilling to move. Eventually, the crowd gradually dispersed, leaving one figure left. He nodded to both Aurors, then Apparated into the night.
"Who do you think that was?" asked Tonks, now turning back towards the house, and cancelling the Dark Mark that floated in the sky above it.
"Only one person I know of that build. Tall and skinny? Who else?" said Lupin, magically sealing off the area.
"Why would he stick around, and then just nod at us?" asked Tonks, putting an anti-Apparition ward around the house.
"That's anybodies guess. Now, we need to let them know" said Remus, turning towards Tonks.
"We can't do that! Not on a day like this"
"What choice do we have? To be honest, they would be more annoyed if they weren't told straight away."
"How do we tell them, then?"
"We'll have to go straight to their house…do you know where it is?"
"Yes, on three?"
"Ready. One…Two…Three!"
There were two simultaneous pops, and the garden of the cottage fell silent once again. Only a light wind disturbed the tree tops, rustling the leaves.
oOo
The sounds that greeted Ginny when she opened the door into Ron and Hermione's living room was the sound of her brother laughing, and great breaths of relief from a very tired looking Hermione. Beside Hermione stood the Healer, Becky Wood, who was holding a very small bundle, wrapped in white cloths. She handed the bundle to Hermione, who took it, and looked tearful.
"Well, Ron. Shall we introduce her to Harry and your sister?" asked Hermione, beaming at Ginny.
"Drum roll, please" said Harry, smirking.
"May I introduce to you, the Right Honourable Isabelle Miranda Weasley. Named after my grandmother, and Hermione's mothers second name" said Ron.
"Congratulations to the both of you" said Becky, who stood back and packed up her bags. It's time I was going, things need to be done. I come back next week to give Isabelle a check up. In the mean time, the spell should prevent anything too drastic happening!"
"Thank you ever so much, for your help" said Hermione, making to get up.
"No, Hermione, I'll show her out" said Ron, patting Hermione's shoulder.
"This way" said Ron.
They both walked to the front door, and opened it to find Remus Lupin and Tonks standing there, Lupin with his arm raised, ready to knock.
"Remus? Tonks?" said Ron, looking surprised.
"I'll just be on my way, see you next week!" said Becky, squeezing passed them.
"Thank you!" said Ron, waving to her.
"We need to talk to Harry and Ginny. Now." Said Lupin.
"Of course, come in" said Ron, opening the door for them.
Back in the living room, Ginny was holding Isabelle while Hermione rested. Harry was in the kitchen making tea.
"Ginny?" said Lupin, entering the room.
"Remus? How are you?" she said, surprised to see him.
"I'm well thank you, Tonks and I must speak with you and Harry though, in private if possible" said Lupin.
"Harry's in the kitchen…Ron?" Ginny said, gesturing that he should take the baby. Ginny followed Lupin into the kitchen, where Harry stood talking to Tonks.
"What's happened?" Harry asked, looking suspiciously at Lupin.
"We were called out to your house about an hour ago. There was a Muggle disturbance reported at your address, so Tonks and I were assigned to investigate. I'm not going to beat around the bush, Harry. There was a Dark Mark floating above your house."
"Malfoy" said Harry immediately, anger showing on his face.
"Don't jump to conclusions, Harry. We don't think it was" said Tonks.
"When we asked the Muggle crowd to disperse, someone was left standing there. They nodded, and Apparated. He had the wrong build to be Malfoy." Said Lupin.
"He hasn't been seen in ten years. How do you know?" Harry demanded.
"I don't, I can just guess" said Lupin.
"Harry, don't get like this. He's just causing you trouble. You know what he's like" said Ginny.
"No Dark Mark has been seen in the country for five years! What do you think this is? An idle threat?" Harry said.
"Look, whatever it is, we can't ruin Ron and Hermione's day like this. Harry, pull yourself together, and if you dare to anything stupid, you'll be out of the house before you can say Quidditch" Ginny said, glaring at her husband, who slumped his shoulders in defeat.
"Lets go and say bye to Ron and Hermione and head for home" he said, walking out of the kitchen, forgetting the tea he had just made.
Harry and Ginny said their goodbyes, and left the house shortly afterwards. Tonks and Lupin stayed to talk to Ron and Hermione about what had been found, and explained that special wards were in place over any potential targets. They soon left, leaving Ron and Hermione on their own. They sat together on the sofa, little Isabelle asleep in a crib beside them. Ron got up and looked in the crib, hardly daring to believe that he had a daughter, with very brown hair.
"Taken after you in the hair department, anyway" said Ron.
"I hope she hasn't taken after you in the eating department…" said Hermione, sleepily, smiling at her husband.
Ron kissed Isabelle's forehead, and sat down with his wife once again. The crackling of the fire in the grate was the only sound that disturbed their evening peace and quiet. Despite the darkness nagging at the back of their minds, they were too happy to dwell on it for long.
Authors Note:
Here it is, the latest instalment. After a long break, I've had a big writers block which I have only just overcome. Read, review and enjoy!