THE WOMAN CRYING IN THE DARK

"AND NOW TO SEE YOUR LOVE SET FREE,

YOU WILL NEED THE WITCH'S CABIN KEY.

FIND THE LADY OF THE LIGHT, GONE MAD IN THE NIGHT;

THAT'S HOW YOU RESHAPE DESTINY…"

-"The Poet and the Muse"

It was the same room. It was always the same room. Or what could barely be called a room. The same guttering candle perched in an alcove of the rocky wall, casting disturbing shapes around the cramped space, and providing next to no light. The same wooden posts tied together with leather that passed for a bed, covered by a ragged, moldy blanket. The walls were damp with moisture, water trickling down in slow but endless streams. A distant roaring sound that might have been a storm tossed ocean. Closer at hand, he heard the random shrieks and wails from beyond the room. And the cold…oh, the oppressive, omnipresent chill that seeped into your very bones, sucking any and all warmth out of your body, and perhaps out of your very soul.

The stench of the place was overwhelming, his hand moving without conscious thought to cover his nose and mouth as he fought down the gag building in his throat. Then there was the sadness! The prevailing sense of mind crushing depression that hung in the air like a living thing. And again, the thought came to his mind: "This…this must surely be Hell!"

Then the whispering and muttering and sobbing. That was always there, too. The frantic whisperings and mutterings, broken by heart wrenching sobs, farthest back in the corner and away from the light of the flickering candle. He could never see the person clearly; all he could make out was the vague, shadowy figure of someone curled up against the wall, their legs tucked up under their chin. The person rocked back and forth as they muttered and sobbed. From the pitch of the voice it sounded like a woman.

"They left me….he left me…so cold…so cold…where am I? Why am I here? They left me…they left me! Is this death? Am I dead? Why…why did he leave me? What time is it? Where are my sisters? They left me…he left me…it's so cold….where am I? I'm dead…I'm dead…"

Then the head of the person slowly turned. He saw a pair of eyes gleam in the dying candlelight as whoever it was looked right at him. The rocking stopped for a moment, and he heard a sharp intake of breath. One word in a barely heard whisper: "You?" He heard the longing, the desire, the earnest hope in that one word, and for some reason it broke his heart. But after staring at him for a moment, the eyes turned away, and the rocking resumed. "No!" The voice hissed. "No! Not you! You left me too! They took me away from you! You're not here…you're not here…it's just a dream, like always. Just a dream…"

Next moment there was an ear splitting scream that sounded as it if came from the Abyss itself, and William Greengrass bolted up in bed yelling, "NO!" The scream faded as his sleep-addled brain woke further, and as he glanced wildly around, his breath coming in rapid gasps, the familiar sights of his bedroom came into focus. The pounding of his heart slowed, and his breath evened out. He sighed deeply while his head sank into his hands.

There was a knock, and the door opened, letting in the light from the hallway outside. A house elf stood in the doorway casting a fearful look into the room. In a hesitant voice it asked, "Is…is Master alright? Can Lizzy get Master anything?"

William sighed once more. "I'm alright, Lizzy. But would you bring me some tea, please?"

"Is too early for Master's tea," the elf replied, concern evident in her voice. "Is only 3:30 in the morning."

"I know. But I would still like the tea, please, Lizzy." The elf bowed and disappeared.

William sighed yet again, and dragged himself out of bed. Wrapping a blanked around his shoulders, he pulled a chair in front of the fireplace and collapsed onto it, his eyes fixated by the dancing flames. He knew there would be no further sleep for him that night. It was the same, had been the same every night for going on six weeks now. The nightmare, that filthy room, the person rocking in the shadows. him waking with a yell, drenched in sweat. It was always the same. The only thing that changed was the random whisperings and mutterings of whoever the person in the shadows was.

Try as he might, he couldn't shake the irrational fear that he was witnessing his beloved wife suffering in hell. But no! If anyone on earth deserved to not go to hell, it was his Mary. A kinder, more gentle soul did not exist. There was no way that was a vision of Mary in hell. But then, who was it? Who could he have such a connection with that he would be forced to witness their everlasting torment?

Lizzy reappeared soon with a steaming cup of tea, and after thanking her, she disappeared again, a look of worry on her face. But William didn't notice. Sipping the tea, he again tried to make some sense out of it all as the hours ticked past unnoticed, while the darkness slipped away and dawn broke over the distant horizon…

When Daphne Greengrass and her sister Astoria made their way downstairs for breakfast several hours later, William had yet to make an appearance.

"Good morning, Lizzy!" Daphne greeted the elf with a smile.

"What's for breakfast, Lizzy?" Astoria asked as she plopped into a chair at the table in the kitchen. The family only used the dining room for parties and other more formal occasions, preferring to sit at the smaller kitchen table when it was just the three of them.

The two girls were in good spirits, as their return to school was only a week away, and their father had promised to take them shopping for their school items that afternoon. And this year would be different, as Daphne had started dating someone near the end of the last term. So she had even more reason to be excited about returning to Hogwarts.

"Breakfast is eggs and toast and bacon, Miss. But Master is not here yet." Daphne turned to the elf with a frown, noting the tone of worry in her voice. "What's the matter, Lizzy? Is something wrong with father?"

Lizzy was on the brink of tears and was tugging on her ears in misery. "Oh, Miss, Master has been having horrible dreams for weeks! Lizzy always checks on him and brings him tea after he yells."

Daphne and Astoria shot looks at each other. Astoria looked on the verge of panicking, and Daphne couldn't hide the frown that spread across her face at Lizzy's words.

"It's happening again!" Astoria whispered, running to her sister and burying her face in Daphne's shoulder. Daphne wrapped her arms around Astoria and shuddered. Astoria was just old enough to remember the horrific weeks and months after their mother died. Their father would lock himself away in his room or his office for days, and every night they'd hear him yelling in his sleep. Things had gotten so bad for a while that Andromeda Tonks, an old friend of their father from his school years, had come to stay and take care of the girls. Their father had never been mean or violent to them, but he had been so overcome with grief at the passing of their mother that he could barely function.

Astoria started to cry.

"Shhh, Tori. It will be okay." But Daphne wasn't certain that it would, in fact, be ok. She was trying to calm Astoria down, and reassure her. Indeed, she was trying to reassure herself as well. Their father had been fine for many years, once the acute pain of their mother's death had passed. And though she loved her father dearly, she was still angry with him for leaving the two of them to grieve on their own while his mind collapsed in on itself struggling with his depression.

She couldn't deal with it on her own, she knew that. And she would not leave her father in this state in an empty house once she and Astoria went back to school. Lizzy said their father had been having nightmares for weeks. Not a good sign. Daphne made a decision. Turning to Lizzy, she asked the elf to go upstairs and check on her father. Once the elf disappeared, Daphne grabbed a handful of powder from the mantle and tossed it into the fireplace. "Andromeda Tonks," she stated.

Lizzy appeared outside her master's bedroom and timidly opened the door, knocking on it as she did so. Sticking her head inside the room, she saw William slumped in his chair, the empty tea cup sitting on the floor beside him. A very soft snore escaped him.

"Master?" Lizzy called in a very soft voice. "Master, is you okay?"

Getting no response, she took a few hesitant steps into the room, cleared her throat, and tried again, a little louder this time. "Master? Is you okay?"

William snorted and jerked upright in the chair. He smacked his lips and mumbled something as he scratched his head. He noticed Lizzy peering at him with a look of worry on her face.

"Oh, Lizzy. Yes, what is it?"

"Is time for Master to be getting up, sir," Lizzy replied, still sounding worried and nervous.

"Hmm?" William mumbled. He glanced at the window, and noticed the sunlight shining around the edges of the thick curtains. "Oh, um, what time is it?" He frowned. "For that matter, what day is it?"

The look of concern and fear on Lizzy's face increased. "Oh, poor master is sick!" She wailed. "He doesn't know that it's Tuesday! You was promising to take the young Misses to the Alley today to be getting their school things!" She began pulling on her ears in dismay again.

"I did, didn't I?" He rubbed his face, leaning forward in his chair. "What time is it?" He asked again.

"Is almost Nine on the clock, Master. The Misses are waiting for Master at the table to eats breakfast."

He groaned. "Would you be so kind as to go make me some coffee, please, Lizzy?" A day of shopping with his daughters required him to be at one hundred percent efficiency. He had a tendency to spoil them, which Astoria was always keen to take advantage of. He did not look forward to spending hour after hour trudging through shops, but he knew that was what the day held in store for him. And he did love spending time with his daughters. He had a lot of lost time to make up for. Besides, soon they would be gone, and his life would be empty again.

"Yes, Master. Lizzy goes and makes coffee." With one last look of worry, she exited the room, closing the door behind her.

William sighed and stood up. "OW!" His neck was stiff and his back sore, and he frowned down at where'd he'd been sitting. "Serves me right for falling asleep in a chair. I'm getting old." He shook his head and got dressed.

Ten minutes later he staggered down the stairs, still half asleep. The aroma of fresh coffee guided him towards the kitchen. Upon entering the room, the smell of the coffee drew him to the stove. "Ahh, coffee," he muttered, smiling.

As he reached the table, he kissed the top of the blonde haired head. "Morning, sweetheart."

"Good morning, father," Daphne replied.

Taking a couple steps, William kissed the top of the dark-haired head. "Morning, sweetheart."

"Morning, daddy," Astoria replied.

Taking a couple more steps, he kissed the top of the brown-haired head. "Morning, sweetheart."

"Good morning ,William. Although my husband might take exception with you calling me 'sweetheart'."

William came to such a sudden stop that he nearly tripped over his own feet. He spun around and took a few steps back towards the table. He squinted his eyes and peered at the person smirking back at him. It was a few moments before recognition penetrated his still half asleep brain.

"Andi?! What in the world are you doing here?!"

Andromeda snorted a laugh. "Well, it's nice to see you, too, William!"

"Uhhh," the man ground out, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I apologize, Andi. That came out wrong. I just meant, why are you here so early? Did we have some sort of appointment? Oh, it's too early for me to think." He collapsed into the remaining empty chair at the head of the table, and gratefully accepted the cup of coffee that Lizzy handed to him.

Andromeda sighed. "No, William. We do not have an appointment today. Your daughters were…concerned about you, that's all."

Pausing to speak in the midst of gulping down the hot coffee, William asked, "What? Concerned about me? What on earth for?" Then he resumed gulping his coffee. Setting the cup down, his brain began to clear and he shot his daughters a quizzical glance.

The two girls shot their own glances at Andromeda, who smiled and sent them an encouraging nod of her head.

Astoria looked at her father. "We…" But her voice trailed off, and she looked down at her plate.

"We know about the dreams, father," Daphne said, her face tight with worry.

William frowned. "Dreams?"

Both girls nodded, Astoria still staring at her plate.

Realization dawned on William."You mean, you thought…you thought it was like before?"

His daughters both nodded again, and he was overcome with guilt.

"Oh, my darling girls, I am so sorry!" He stood and hurried around the table, taking them both in his arms as they each turned to face him. Astoria buried her face in his chest and sobbed. "Oh, Astoria, don't cry. I promise it's not that! I've probably just been working too hard. It's not like it was before."

Daphne hugged her father, squeezing her eyes shut to keep the tears from escaping. She believed him, to an extent. She knew her father would never allow himself to go back to the morbid depression he had fought his way through. Nor would he ever again neglect her or her sister. But she also knew he had never gotten over the loss of their mother.

Ever since Mary Greengrass had died, William was changed. Besides the obvious state of mind he had been in immediately after her passing. He was somewhat colder in demeanor; his voice had a harder edge to it and he was much more reclusive. Daphne could see in his eyes that something was missing. To his daughters, he had actually become warmer and more responsive, spending as much time with them as he could. But to others he had become much more distant. The balls and parties at the Greengrass estate had been the stuff of legends for generations, continuing right up to Daphne's lifetime. People from both sides of the political divide were invited. It was safe at the Greengrass home. But those days were long gone. They had died with her mother. There was no Lady Greengrass any longer. And Daphne believed there never would be, until she herself became Lady Greengrass.

Her family, though pureblood and thus holding to certain pureblood ideals (although not quite as fanatically as some of the darker families did), was famously neutral…almost infamously so. Her grandfather, after coming upon a small skirmish taking place on his lands during the last war, had killed everyone on both sides of the conflict, Death eaters and Aurors alike, thus firmly establishing the concept that the family's neutrality was not to be compromised.

Her grandfather was a just man, but deadly in combat. Very few had the courage, let alone ability, to stand up to him in a fight. And she knew her father had inherited the same skills in no small measure. He had become one of the leaders of what people called the "neutral block" in the Wizengamot, although he rarely attended meetings these days, leaving most of the work in that body to his lifelong friend Richard Davis, and only attende3d for the most important votes. He left the running of the family business to solicitors, preferring to spend most of his time with his children, or simply walking around the estate. Many times Daphne had found him sitting with his back against a large oak tree, tossing stones into the big pond at the back of their property.

Also, he spent a good deal of time in his study, with the door locked. Once, at the start of the summer holidays, when he had left on a rare errand, he had forgotten to lock the door, and Daphne had slipped inside to try and see what he was up to in there for so many long hours each week. What she found did little to allay her fears. His desk was covered with random pieces of parchment—some in a language she couldn't even begin to identify-along with many books. The titles of the books were what had concerned her: they were, almost exclusively, books dealing with various aspects of dark magic, both on the use of and defense against said magic.

She had not mentioned that detail to Astoria, as the girl was still quite young. But she had worked up the courage to speak to her father about it. At first, he was somewhat upset that she had entered the study without his permission. But when he realized she was concerned—and realized it had been his fault, after all, for not locking the door—he calmed down.

"That bastard Voldermortis back," he hissed, gritting his teeth, "despite what those Ministry sycophants at the Prophet say. And I'll be damned if I let another war spill into our family's life! You have to fight fire with fire, Daughter. That old fool headmaster of yours thinks pretty words and simple spells will win the day, but he's wrong. We have to be prepared. And we will be." An almost cruel smile spread across his face. "The filthy vermin won't know what hit them, if they try anything on our land," he muttered. "And neither will those stupid 'Phoenix Feathers', or whatever they call themselves."

Yes, Daphne was worried for her father. He used to actively participate in life whilst their mother was alive. Now…not so much. She was both glad and a bit surprised when he had declared that he would be accompanying them to Diagon Alley.

Her father seemed to echo her thoughts as he let go of his daughters and moved back to his chair. "Now, how about we have breakfast and get ready to go?" He smiled as Lizzy began serving the food.

Astoria's eyes lit up as the fear left them. "Yay! That's more like it! I can't wait for shopping!"

Her father did not seem to share the sentiment to the same extent, and muttered something about "every shop in Diagon Alley" into his refilled coffee cup as he picked up the copy of the Daily Prophet that Lizzy had brought him. Astoria, undeterred, turned to Andromeda. "Can you come too, Aunt Andromeda?" The girl asked, sending the woman in question a pleading look. Astoria knew her father very much disliked shopping."You can help us pick things out, and daddy can carry the bags."

Another unintelligible mutter escaped William as he glared over the top of the paper.

Andromeda hesitated. She loved spending time with the girls, and looked at them as almost daughters of her own. But she thought over the things she had to do that day, finally deciding she should decline the invitation.

"Now Astoria, I'm certain that Mrs. Tonks has things of her own to do," William cut in, interrupting her thoughts. Andromeda's head turned toward William, who must have noticed the movement because he looked up from the paper he was reading. Their gaze met across the table, and William noticed the brief flash of anger that flickered through Andromeda's eyes.

The two adults stared at one another for a long moment: William taking in the woman's face, whilst Andromeda studied the man's eyes. And in that moment, their thoughts were parallel ones. William was thinking, 'Merlin, she looks just like her sister!' While at the same time, Andromeda was thinking, 'He never got over my poor sister.'

William looked away first, realizing he was casting a longing glance at a married woman. Not that he was longing for Andromeda…they were close, but they'd never felt that way about one another. It was just that she looked so much like…

"Yes, Astoria, I think I will accompany you all on your shopping excursion," Andromeda announced, interrupting his thoughts. His eyes found hers again to see her smirking back at him. He frowned, slid down in his seat a bit, and buried his face in the paper once more. This was going to be an interesting, and long, day.

So yeah. This was an idea that popped into my head on the way to work one morning, and when I arrived at said place of employment, I wrote out an entire page of notes. I don't think it's going to be a very long story. And to all two of you who care, I've not given up on my other story. My Muse must have taken Christmas and New Year's off, because she came roaring back with this one. And when she's on a roll, I need to feed her to keep her going. So yeah…enjoy. Hopefully.