THE KILLING MOON - CHAPTER 11
They had arrived at The Leaky Cauldron, with Hagrid emphatically waving from a stool at the bar. Harry followed George, Ron, and Neville through the pub. Many faces from other customers followed Harry. He kept his gaze on the bar to avoid the stares. The Daily Prophet had already published his attack, and still, the paper was swimming with news of what had happened to him.
They hugged Hagrid in turn with hearty pleasantries, and then Hagrid's eyes fell on Harry. His eyes glassed over.
'I'm glad you're alright Harry,' he said heartily, giving Harry a familiar bone-crunching hug.
A wave of pain shot across Harry's healing chest wound, but he didn't mind, hoping silently that Hagrid wouldn't start crying about Harry's attack.
'Thanks, Hagrid,' he replied with clenched teeth.
Hagrid had ordered a round of fire whiskey for them all along with his favourite brandy in a large wooden tankard, and they headed to a corner table. Hagrid took up the head of the table to himself. Once they had settled themselves around the table, the talk quickly turned to how Ron was feeling.
'I'm not nervous,' he shrugged, 'but Hermione is starting to stress a bit,' he added.
'That's what Hermione does best,' Hagrid laughed. 'You wait for the day, Ron, you'll blink and miss it before you've even realised.'
Within the next half an hour, they were joined by Percy, Bill, and Charlie, all of whom gave Ron a quick hug before joining the group around the table.
'How are you feeling, Harry?' Bill asked.
Harry's head turned quickly, expecting the question to be directed at Ron, but instead, Harry nodded.
'Yeah, much better, thanks.'
'Have they caught the werewolf yet, or are they still tracking him?' Charlie asked from beside Bill.
'Not yet,' Harry replied shortly.
His eyes moved to Ron who was talking to Neville next to him. The last thing Harry wanted was for Ron's bachelor party, let alone his wedding, to be clouded with questions about Harry's attack. He knew he would have to work hard all evening to make sure the talk stayed on Ron rather than himself.
'Surely they have some leads?' Bill frowned.
Harry sipped at his fire whiskey, 'I haven't been back to the Ministry since I was released from St. Mungos but I'm curious about that as well.'
'Yeah, but, I suppose, if they're a well-known pack, it will be hard to trace them,' Bill nodded wisely.
'Yeah,' Harry agreed, 'I also think we should consider the fact that they could be working with a dark wizard, someone who could help them move from place to place quickly.'
Bill frowned, but his reply became lost in the following conversation. The group began discussing Harry's attack all together and stating where they were when they had found out.
'Mum told us,' Charlie said, indicating himself and Bill. 'Well, no Ginny told us, while mum was crying in the background of the Floo message, her voice was all high-pitched.'
Ron laughed but Harry felt awkward. He knew all eyes were on him, and he knew the question was on its way, but he didn't want Ron to feel uncomfortable.
'What happened then, Harry?' asked Hagrid, and Harry gulped at his butterbeer once more.
Twice Hermione had paced the carpet before replying to Ginny.
'Maybe he has a nasty case of Confungulus,' Luna suggested.
Ginny, sitting beside Luna on the sofa, smiled as Hermione stopped pacing. She had decided to tell the group all about Harry's behaviour when she had spoken to him the previous night. She knew Harry wouldn't have liked the idea of them all discussing it, but Ginny needed advice, and who better to ask than Hermione's wedding party? Herself, Hermione, Luna, Angelina, Fleur, and Penelope had enjoyed a meal at a diner on a side street of Diagon Alley which boasted it's mix of muggle traditional food and magical infusions. The talk over dinner had centered around the wedding, and everyone had expressed their excitement in the run-up to the day, but Hermione had explained everything in so much detail that they were all forced to wait for her to finish her meal.
Now, the group were requested around Hermione and Ron's living room, where they enjoyed cakes and desserts from Florean Forstescue's Ice Cream Palour. Ginny's conversation about Harry had been instigated by Angelina who casually asked how he was healing. This had been aimed at Hermione who quickly leapt into her many ideas about what could be happening to Harry, and why he had to be closely monitored since his release from St. Mungos.
'He could have imagined that it was a werewolf when it was a curse,' Luna shrugged.
'I'm not sure there are many curses that can change your behaviour,' Ginny said politely.
'It depends on the one who was cursed, I suppose,' Luna said airly.
'Either way,' Hermione said slowly, 'that doesn't explain why Harry's emotions are all over the place at the moment.'
Ginny had discussed the events of her talk with Harry the previous evening. Her tone had been serious, but it wasn't nearly as devastating as the look on Hermione's face.
'Was it like that for Bill?' Angelina asked from the armchair. She looked over to Fleur who was brushing through her silvery hair with a spell from her wand.
'No, ee seemed to be angry very quvickly, but notheenk felt wrong.'
Hermione, standing in front of her burning fireplace, crossed her arms.
'But Harry seems wrong.'
A culpable silence filled the room.
'Did he seem angry, when he spoke to you?' Angelina asked Ginny.
Ginny found all their eyes turned to her, but she couldn't lie, even though she didn't want to paint Harry in a negative light, she needed to tell anyone about what happened. She began explaining how the conversation had escalated so far that there had been a strange moment.
'What happened?' Hermione asked with wide eyes as Ginny paused in her story.
Hermione kneeled on the hearth-rug, captivated by the story.
'I'm not sure what happened, I felt his hand on me, but the moment was so heated that I couldn't tell you exactly what happened. It was so fast. But before I knew it, I fell to the floor.'
The room fell silent again.
'Did he push you?' Hermione asked.
'Like I said, I can't be certain, I might have lost my footing because I was trying to get back to the house. But I also can't say that he didn't when I'm not sure if that's the truth.'
'That proves it then,' Hermione said definitively. 'Harry would never do that, especially not to you.'
'Hermione is right,' came Luna's glistening voice. 'He still loves you.'
'What?' Ginny blanched.
Luna shrugged and without replying, began waving her wand over her plate of custard creams where their colour changed from pink to blue back to yellow.
Ginny sat up on the sofa with her legs underneath her.
'Why don't we change the subject, we should be enjoying ourselves, not talking about Harry's behaviour, this isn't about him. We should talk about Hermione,' she offered.
The others agreed in turn, but Hermione's eyes did not move from Ginny's face, and her expression was nothing but worried.
Harry's anxiety over retelling the story dissipated this time. It seemed that the more frequently he discussed it, the easier it was to relive.
'Ron, do you want to help me get the next round?' Harry beckoned.
After the number of fire whiskeys they had already drunk, Ron's face was slowly flushing, he looked at Harry and nodded.
'You enjoying your night?' Harry said as they wandered to the bar.
'Yeah,' Ron said, and his smile widened to the edges of his face.
'Can I get seven whiskeys and a large brandy for Hagrid?' Harry asked the younger barman who nodded.
'Listen,' Harry said and gazed at Ron, 'I'm trying not to talk about the attack. Tonight isn't about that; it's about you and Hermione. I'm sorry if you think everyone's talking about me.'
Ron frowned. 'I didn't think that,' Ron chuckled, 'no one has seen you much since it happened, they're gonna ask about it, it's fine.'
'You sure?' Harry squinted.
'Yeah,' Ron said with assurance. 'I wanted to talk to you actually.'
They were interrupted for a moment as the barman returned with a trayful of their drinks. Harry handed him his galleons but couldn't stop looking at Ron, wondering what could be on his mind.
'You know when you told Bill that the Aurors haven't caught the Alpha werewolf?'
'Yeah?'
'It's just,' Ron shifted his weight between his feet then leaned his arm on the top of the bar, dropping his voice. 'Hermione has been doing some research.'
'Of course she has,' Harry sighed, 'go on.'
'Well, the only known werewolves in the Scottish Highlands are a pack led by a very old werewolf known to Aurors. Hermione couldn't find the name; it's like the Alpha is a ghost. He's been around for so long that his name has been hidden by those who know him.'
'That's not very helpful,' Harry sighed deeply.
'I know,' Ron nodded. 'But then you said to Bill that you think a dark wizard is working with them.'
'Yeah, I couldn't figure out how they moved so quickly from the Highlands to get to where we were on the Irish coast.'
'Do you have any ideas who could be working with them?'
'I'm not sure,' Harry shrugged, 'I was going to look into it when I get back to work.'
Ron nodded, he pulled one of the glasses from the tray and sipped at the fire whiskey. He thanked Harry before his face scrunched against the strong taste.
'If they didn't use the Floo network or broomsticks, then what could it have been? Apparition?'
'Not likely,' Harry shook his head, 'it's too dangerous if you haven't passed the exam, they wouldn't risk their lives just to get the jump on a group of Aurors.'
Ron's ears had turned red, and his expressions became lively, similar to how he seemed on Auror missions, Harry noticed.
'Exactly, why would they jump a bunch of Aurors? They wouldn't risk themselves like that. What would be the point?'
'Okay,' Harry said slowly, sipping at a fire whiskey himself.
'Unless they knew that you were gonna be there. Think about it, this dark wizard is most likely connected to Voldemort, and the dark wizard could also convince a group of werewolves to jump a mission if they knew you were going to be there.'
'You think I was a target?' Harry asked.
'It seems right, you know. Why wouldn't they get rid of a senior Auror, why would they go after a junior.'
'Because juniors are the easiest to get the jump on, they're the least experienced,' Harry argued.
'Yeah, and that's true. But you're not just any junior Auror, Harry, we have to consider the fact that they knew exactly what they were doing when they attacked you and only you.'
Harry nodded, licking his lips which tasted bitter from the fire whiskey. He rubbed his forehead.
'And what about the move? How did they get there so fast?' Harry questioned.
'Well, I have a theory about that,' Ron said deathly.
Harry suddenly realised how invested Ron had been in Harry's attack, not only had he and Hermione been discussing it profusely, but Ron was almost starting to sound like Hermione himself.
'I think they could have used …'
Before he could finish his thought, Harry and Ron were interrupted with loud yells of excitement. Before they knew it, they were sequestered by Seamus and Dean who howled in joy. Ron was laughing his head off at their sudden appearance and Harry, joining in on the excitement, forgot about what Ron was about to say.
That was until the three of them moved over to their table in the corner. Harry lifted his glass of fire whiskey to his lips and swigged the entire contents. While wondering who would have targeted him and why, his stomach churned uncomfortably.
The next morning, with his stomach growling for food, Harry, rather than wishing to, followed Ginny into her room where she closed the door behind them.
'You realise that there is something wrong with you,' Ginny said with a hard frown.
Harry licked his gums; his heart was pounding. He was getting tired of being accused and rather wished that someone would just listen to him for once instead of applying their two knuts to the situation.
'I don't know what you're talking about,' he shrugged, trying to keep his voice calm but Ginny only frowned deeper.
'You need to go back to St. Mungos and tell them exactly what is happening to you. Don't you understand that we're all trying to help?'
She had moved closer, and Harry's head was swimming, he felt as though he were underwater, drowning and struggling to catch his breath.
'I don't need help; it all comes back to my injury. I'm still in pain, I'm still highly medicated, and I probably shouldn't have been drinking last night because now I'm reaping the consequences.'
Ginny did not look convinced.
'Please, Gin, tell me you haven't told anyone what you've been thinking?'
Ginny chewed her lips. 'No, I haven't, but I wish I had because you are making all the wrong choices.'
'In your opinion,' Harry said quietly and turned his face away from her.
He could feel it bubbling below the surface now, the anger that seemed to creep up on him so much easier since his attack.
'What are you so scared about?'
Harry ignored her and continued staring out of her bedroom window. There were soft white clouds lining the brilliant blue sky, and suddenly he seemed to have the anger under control as if it had dissipated as quickly as blinking.
'I thought you weren't scared of anything?' she asked.
Harry's head turned quickly; she had changed her tact.
'Do you really believe that?' he questioned.
He gave her that hard, blazing look.
'Harry Potter isn't scared of anything,' she told him as if it were the most obvious statement any could make.
Harry's stomach knotted. He took a step closer to her and met her eyes. 'I'm scared of everything, always have been.'
Ginny chuckled, thinking it was a joke.
'It's true. My entire life at Hogwarts was filled with scary moments, you don't think I still carry that with me. I was scared every time I faced Riddle, you don't think I still remember it all, it creeps back into my dreams and turns them into nightmares. Every moment I was close to death, I was terrified. Ever since I was young, I've been afraid of the dark, still am, can't stand it. But the point is, I am scared about what's happening to me, but I need to deal with it on my own, that's just how I am.'
Ginny's hand reached his shoulder, he felt his body relax.
'But you don't have to go through this on your own, that's what I've been trying to tell you.'
Harry relaxed his shoulders, and as if by an impulse, he pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her back and bringing his face to hers. There was no protest as he kissed her deeply. Ginny's arms wrapped around his shoulders, her hands roaming through his hair. He picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. The pair of them moved over to her bed where Harry placed her down and moved on top of her. Their lips parted, the pair of them catching their breath, and Harry, with his knees on either side of her waist, began to kiss her neck. Her legs wrapped around his lower back as she let out a soft groan.
But something felt wrong, Harry paused. His eyes were fixed on her neck, listening to her pulse and the beat it made across her skin. There was something so desirous for the sound and the blood pumping through her veins that Harry's lips parted, his teeth aching.
Before he knew it, Harry leaped from the bed and collapsed on all fours, panting for breath, and feeling a horrid sense of adrenaline running through his entire body. His head was pounding, and a vicious sense of wanting to hurt something was paralysing all his other senses.