HELLO, GOODBYE
Harry made but one jump.
- "DON'T FIRE! It's Al ! It's my son!"
- "You brought with you... a dragon?" gasped the scarred auror.
Harry ran a hand through his black hair, hardly surprised to feel it sticky with sweat.
- "All right. I know it must have come as quite a surprise", he said hoarsely. "But this is not the time to address this issue. We have company."
Ron opened and closed his mouth several times without ensuring a sound then seemed to regain control of his body. He moistened his lips.
- "Dean, Darren. Go check what's going on", he ordered. "The others, in position. Uh... er, Charlie, the d-dragon. I'll let you deal with it. Harry – with me."
The two Aurors he had designated jogged uphill towards the seaside. The others retreated cautiously, gaping at the quivering creature whose spade-shaped tail was furiously beating the air. Harry hesitated, then followed his brother-in-law. When everyone was gone, Charlie crouched and began to whistle quietly.
The dragon sniffed the smell of the sea, the camp, and then seemed to relax. He lifted a paw and snorted, annoyed to find it wet and muddy. He shook it, then put it down in a puddle. His ears perked up. He trotted up to the man and nuzzled his shoulder, making him lose his balance.
- "All right, mate", Charlie laughed, straightening up. "It's okay. Come on, come back now. You're too big to fit in the tent like this and we better know a bit more about the situation here, before you start acting up in Toothless mode."
He scratched the soft spot between the two golden split green eyes, grabbed the cooing dragon's black velvet jowls with both hands.
- "Al. Come on, boy…"
A whirl of golden sand billowed and the man smiled broadly: now he was pinching the cheeks of his nephew, who looked rather displeased, his sweater a little crooked on the neck. The boy quickly pushed back his uncle's hands and looked away.
- "I'm such a loser..."
Charlie gave him an affectionate shove.
- "Not at all. I reckon these bullies were the ones freaked out. That'll teach them not to believe only in what they see! Come on, let's go inside before your father has colonics."
Albus cast a glance behind him, following the man who was heading to the main tent.
"Are they here?
The Dragons…
Can you feel them?
Do you think they will…"
A few seagulls were hovering above the hill in the cold blue sky. The silhouettes of the two aurors gone to scout seemed tiny, high up, against the light. One of them cast a bright green spell which wheezed down and blossomed into a clover inside the camp.
- "This is not an attack", Ron said quietly, putting his hand on the shoulder of Albus who had remained at the entrance of the tent. "Question is, who's the harmless intruder who's got enough power to break through the wards surrounding the island..."
He pulled his nephew in and dropped the tarpaulin door.
oOoOoOo
When they were pushed inside the big top, it took them a few moments to get used to the orange darkness.
Wendy blinked, shaking against Terrence who was looking around with interest. Scorpius was breathing heavily, perhaps because of the weight of the elf in his arms, or perhaps because he too was impressed.
The main tent was bigger than it looked from the outside. The ground was covered with thick carpets caked in grass and mud. There were lanterns hanging on the pillars and onto the ropes webbing to the cone ceiling. On the right, a stack of stoneware bowls stood on a large rectangular table flanked by long benches. On the left, behind a screen you could see two bunk beds with blankets thrown across the pillows, as if they had been left in a hurry, and a large tin bathtub. A block of soap and a towel were waiting on a stool and a garment that looked like a black leather armor with steel pauldrons was hanging in an open large oak wardrobe.
In front of them, on a platform of planks, stood a large board covered with plans drawn by bewitched chalks and scrolls pinned by knives, next to a desk on which was sitting a tall man with his arms crossed, looking sarcastic. His hair and the bushy beard eating his hollow cheeks were of the same color as his autumn wool sweater adorned with a huge capital R. He was dressed in threadbare jeans and wellies, and was carelessly flipping his wand on his fingers.
- "Well, well, well. If I was expecting this", he sighed, rolling his eyes.
He looked about to sneer, but Wendy cut him off, suddenly letting go of Terrence's arm to pounce on Albus whom she had just discovered in a corner near the large table. She jumped in his arms, stifling a cry of relief.
- "Al! We did it! It really worked!"
Cheeks flushed, the boy gently pulled her away after exchanging a glance with his father and uncle.
- "What are you doing here?" Harry asked in an unfriendly voice.
- "I don't know what you imagined, but it is not the last trendy place to be", Ron snorted. "We're at war, kids. You have nothing to do here."
- "How did you passed through the magic wards?" added the Auror wearing a cloak, pushing back his hood and causing a fourfold horrified hiccup.
Half of his face was hideously swollen, plowed with brown spots and yellowish bubbles. His right eye disappeared into the folds of raw skin and his teeth could be seen where his burnt lips had curled up. His milky blue left orb had no eyelashes.
Charlie closed his eyes. He knew who could inflict this kind of injury.
Terrence's eyes widened. He tried to calm the wild pounding of his heart in his chest.
I'm not scared.
I'm not scared.
I'm not scared.
He swallowed hard, held up his chin when the taste of bile ascended in his esophagus and straightened up to face the Auror.
- "We apparated", he replied in a voice that barely trembled.
Wendy nodded, snuggled against Albus who was looking at her in awe.
- "One cannot apparate on Islay Island", Ron retorted, frowning. He played a bit with his wand, then got up and came down from the platform. "How did you do that?"
From the way his eyes had darkened, Harry guessed he was suspecting them of being subject to the Imperium – or perhaps to not be what they seemed.
He stepped forward to intervene before the hostility slowly engulfing the atmosphere would degenerate.
- "We really did apparate", Scorpius said at the same time, in an impatient voice. "The elf made it possible."
All heads turned to him. He chinned down to the old servant who was still inert.
- "Kreacher. T'was he who took us here."
- "Kreacher!" Harry repeated, stunned. "What... where... WHAT?"
Charlie made his way up to Scorpius, stepping in between Albus and Wendy.
- "The elf is in a bad shape", he said curtly. "We should treat him before asking more questions."
- "Put him on the table", Ron ordered, throwing a coat over the wooden surface with a flip of his wand.
Scorpius gently laid down the frail body and Charlie leaned over Kreacher.
- "He's very weak", he said, raising his head after checking on him.
His grim look drilled in each of the teenagers, focusing particularly on Terrence.
- "He will not last the night."
Scorpius stumbled back, as if he was suddenly struggling to stand up.
- "You mean that... he... we..."
Wendy's eyes welled up with tears.
- "We're sorry, we didn't mean to hurt him..."
- "The powers of the house elves are beyond our knowledge", Harry said in a dangerously quiet voice. "But surely you had to be quite a genius to guess that he could ignore the seemingly immutable laws of magic and apparate in a forbidden place - carrying three young people."
His frozen jade gaze was on Terrence.
- "I suppose you meant no harm, but you should never have done that. Neither come here, or ask an elf this old to pay with his life the price of your foolishness."
Terrence was shaking. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing.
- "I'm sorry", he finally uttered in an almost inaudible voice. "But we couldn't let Albus risk his own life ..."
Wendy was silently crying. Scorpius cleared his throat.
- "It's me", he said, very pale. "It was I who had this idea. I... I... I knew. What the elves can do. We had no other choice! I asked Fetloack and obviously he didn't want to, he's bond to the school and the teachers, and..."
He choked.
- "I... I'm sorry, but... he told us to ask the portrait of the elf who died during the war..."
- "Dobby", rasped Terrence, seeing the adults glance darkly at each other.
Scorpius was having difficulty finding his words. His gray eyes were full of tears.
- "And... uh... Do... Dobby went to another painting and suddenly he ... this... Kreacher. He showed up. He s-said he would take us to Islay Island..."
He snuffled, bit his lip.
- "He said he would help us... that he would do anything for Al..."
In the silence, Ron scratched his eyebrow.
- "And so he did", he shrugged, moving away from the table. "Stupid elf. He always has a terrible timing."
- "Ron!" Harry protested.
- "What?" retorted his best friend.
His eyes glowered, then his face turned weary.
- "Kreacher will die happy, he did what he wanted..."
He crossed his arms and leaned against the main pillar of the tent, sinking his very serious gaze in the eyes of the teenagers who were staring at him in shock, daring his brother and his brother-in-law.
- "You know who they got last week? Young Romulus Alastair, the trainee who always had his pockets full with fizwizbiz... Thirty-two years old."
He had a bitter laugh.
- "He had signed to become an Oubliator. He was getting married, Harry... they called him back to the front lines and dang, two days after... so an old elf who in twenty years has never been able to speak two words to me without adding "Weasley, traitor to his blood"… forgive me if I do not get sentimental."
Charlie lowered his head and said nothing. The disfigured Auror softly pulled up his hood.
- "I know", Harry simply said.
And he put a comforting hand on Scorpius' shoulder and another on Terrence's, in silence.
- "Dad?"
Wendy looked up and wiped her cheeks. Albus was coming to the table, pulling a piece of parchment from his pocket.
- "The elf. His name Kreacher, right?"
Harry nodded.
- "Is he your elf?"
His father hesitated. Ron was watching, slightly knitting his eyebrows.
- "He's an elf that I inherited. A long time ago. He lives in the house where I have my office."
Albus slowly unfolded the piece of parchment.
- "On my birthday, I received a letter from someone I didn't know", he explained shyly. "Someone called Kreacher. I thought it was an elf, seeing as he wrote, but... I couldn't figure how he knew me..."
Harry sighed.
- "I brought you to my office when you were just a baby. That's when he saw you."
Albus let the information sink in. He slowly tucked back the letter in his pocket, then leaned over the scrawny creature, gently taking the old bony hand.
- "Kreacher..." he called softly.
Charlie held his breath, like all the others.
The elf stirred. The shredded tips of his ears wiggled slightly. He licked his lips. A hoarse breath came off his hairy nostrils. His bulging eyes opened with difficulty and he met an emerald gaze.
- "Hello, Kreacher", said Albus fondly.
The flabby cheeks of the old elf quivered and the corners of his mouth curled up.
- "The young master..." he mumbled.
- "Thanks for your letter", the boy whispered with a smile. "Thank you for bringing my friends here..."
The elf coughed and his chest caved in beneath his dirty and frayed tunic. Under his bushy white eyebrows, his pale blue eyes were contemplating Albus.
- "Kreacher… Kreacher saw him again..."
He gasped and his eyes closed again. The boy squeezed the cold, gray and slender fingers. For a moment, they thought the old servant would lift his eyelids again, then his head slowly slid to the side.
Albus looked at him a moment in silence, then he closed his eyes and a tear rolled down his cheek as he bent to kiss the elf's forehead.
Ron looked away. Wendy did not realize who had put an arm on her shoulders and snuggled against the cloak of the disfigured Auror. Terrence and Scorpius had turned to stone.
Harry took a deep breath, then walked round the table.
- "Come, Al", he said softly. "It's over."
Charlie took off his sheepskin vest and covered the lifeless body of the elf.
- "Darren, take the children to the dormitory. They're exhausted, they need to sleep before they leave", ordered Ron.
The cloaked Auror simply nodded and piloted the dazed teens out of the tent. Harry followed them, hugging Albus.
- "What a mess", Ron uttered between his teeth, once they were gone.
He kicked a bench and only succeeded in hurting himself. He sat down heavily on the steps of the platform and rummaged angrily in his red hair.
Charlie sat beside him, hands joined, elbows on his thighs.
He said nothing, but his shoulder flicked against his brother's.
- "Tch", Ron growled.
And Charlie smiled.
oOoOoOo
The afternoon was well advanced, when the teenagers left the dormitory, woken up by the commotion. The sun was stretching its rays down on the mountain, shimmering on the boats' dump and growing long shadows on the damp soil.
The Aurors were gathered on the side of the camp facing the plain.
- "Here they are!" suddenly shouted an excited voice.
A pony was coming to them, galloping, crumbling off chips of mud and grass. The woman who was riding it pulled on the reins just before the arcade and mumbled inaudible words before going under the wooden beam that marked the entrance of the camp.
- "What news?"
- "Was the loot good?"
- "You'll never guess what happened while you were gone shopping!"
The joyful voices were mingling and Wendy felt her heart warm up for the first time since their disastrous arrival.
The woman was dressed a beige wool skirt, thick tights and mismatched rain boots. She was wearing a long old pink crochet vest that swept the ground and her hair was untidy, pinned up into a bushy bun. His undershot chin and straight nose would have stopped anyone from calling her pretty, but her determined brown eyes, bright with boundless love, really made her look beautiful.
She swiftly dismounted, got rid of her huge backpack and handed it to an Auror, then turned to Dean who was approaching. A young man wrapped in a blanket was nodding on the back of the pony, clinging to the saddle, only half conscious.
- "He's got a fever again", she stated worriedly. "The doctor said..."
- "Hermione!" Harry called, making his way through the crowd.
- "HARRY!" cried the woman whose face brightened. "Oh, Harry, you came!"
She hugged him tight, then pulled away, leaving her hand on the arm of the man who gently helped the patient off the pony with the help of Dean.
- "Teddy..."
Hermione nodded.
- "Yes. He was injured the day before yesterday. But Harry, how..."
She paused and stared at the teenagers standing a little apart from the group.
- "What... what are they..."
- "Long story", said Ron who had just joined them.
He rubbed his jaw, cast a side glance, then crossed his arms and cleared his throat.
- "Hum. Took you long to come home."
TBC
Next chapter: Then the drums fell silent