|
Hollow Ash | ||||||
|
Category: Post-Hogwarts Characters:Harry/Ginny, Neville Longbottom, Other Genres: Drama Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 131 Summary: When a mysterious woman comes to the Auror office claiming to be the victim of a terrible crime, Theia and Harry want to do everything they can to help her. The problem is, she has no memory of what has happened. As they piece together the sinister events, their own troubles and traumas rise to the surface, causing them to question who they really are. Sequel to The Aurors. Hitcount: Story Total: 41639; Chapter Total: 1905 Awards: View Trophy Room |
Previous Next |
|
||||
|
As had been the case for the past few days, when he woke up it took Ben a few moments to remember where he was and why he was in a neutrally coloured spare room with dark wood beams running across the ceiling. He could already hear the bright haired little boy running up and down the creaky corridor on the other side of the door, shouting odd Latin-sounding words, and from the fields outside his window he could hear the distant sound of sheep bleating. He was mostly past the awkwardness of suddenly living with this strange family, but not yet comfortable enough to go downstairs in his pyjamas. As he opened his hastily packed suitcase, it occurred to him that he had not yet seen a washing machine in the cottage, and unless they had one hidden away in a cupboard somewhere he was going to run out of boxer shorts if he stayed just another night longer. He had to admit that though he was homesick for his own little flat above the opticians in Bowland, he was a little sad to leave this bizarre new world he had discovered. It was like something out of a film - this sort of thing just didn’t happen to people like him. They happened to dark haired, tall, muscular men, not blokes with slightly curly blond hair and silly dimples when they smiled. He brushed his teeth in the little en suite, no longer surprised that the mirror sternly told him to shave, and peered out the window. There, just the other side of a winding lane, was a little trout lake and beyond that the sheep he had heard bleating. Tiny specks of white bouncing over the grass suggested that lambing season was in full swing. He knew on the other side of the house was a steep bank covered in trees, merging into a forest. He had never been this far south before, barring school trips to France and the odd holiday in Spain. The Potters lived somewhere that he regarded as sickeningly English, without the slightly rough charm of his own Lancashire village. It was pretty, certainly, but he wondered why on earth they lived so far from other people, and what they did to fill their time. There wasn’t even a telly. If he had his way, he’d live in a big city. Manchester perhaps, or even London. But as he’d inherited the house from his mum and he earned a pittance, without a proper transfer he would never be able to afford city rents, or even the deposits to have the privilege of signing a lease. His applications to more exciting police jobs had been so far unsuccessful. There was no building up experience round where he was. He went downstairs, and found to his dismay that yet again the heavily pregnant woman had made him breakfast. ‘Are you sure I can’t do anything?’ he asked, his chivalrous pride rather hurt. Sometimes she gave him a task to do, perhaps because she recognised his feelings of helplessness, but they both knew that she could somehow just wave her stick and do what he could in about half a second. ‘You just sit down,’ she said cheerfully. ‘Not much today as you’ll be properly fed at my mum’s.’ Teddy was sitting at the table, swinging his legs while he munched on his toast and got crumbs everywhere. ‘Did you sleep well?’ he asked politely, and it was so precocious that Ben couldn’t help but laugh. ‘I did, and you?’ ‘A full night,’ Teddy replied, in a certain way that Ben was sure he had copied from an adult. He did not seem to go to school, and Ben wondered if that was the reason he was so at ease around him, a strange adult. Teddy looked up at Ginny, and started asking if various names would be there, to which the answer was invariably, ‘Yes, of course.’ ‘And are they all… You know, magical like you?’ Ben asked, still feeling ridiculous every time he said it. ‘Yes,’ she said kindly. ‘I’ve warned them all you’re coming so hopefully they’ll behave themselves, but be prepared for some enthusiastic questioning, especially from my dad.’ She considered for a moment. ‘If you can’t find me or Harry, look out for Hermione. You’ll know who she is, she has mad brown hair. Her parents were Muggles.’ ‘Oh,’ said Ben, blinking. ‘That can happen, can it?’ Ginny nodded with a smile, just as there was a rumbling from the stairs and Harry entered the kitchen. ‘Morning,’ he said brightly. ‘Sorry I’m late down, first lie in I’ve been able to have in weeks.’ Ben assured him it wasn’t a problem, and as they sat and ate and gave him a brief and confusing run down of the various characters that would be at lunch, he found himself asking, ‘will, er, your partner be there? Theia?’ They exchanged a glance and an irritatingly smug smile, and Harry said, ‘Unfortunately not. She’s looking after Marcy today.’ ‘Oh.’ He hoped the disappointment didn’t show on his face. ‘She must be disappointed not to see her own mother.’ ‘The three of us share something in common there,’ said Harry delicately. ‘Ah,’ said Ben, who got the impression that he should not press on the subject. When he had first arrived at the Potters’, confused and overwhelmed, in shock, more or less, he had somehow found himself telling Harry that he had no one. That his dad barely spoke to him and his mum died years ago. Harry had nodded and told him that his mother had died too, and then he had poured him more whiskey. Then, just as now, Ben knew that if Harry had wanted to explain the hows and whys, he would have done so. ‘I’m sure she’ll join you back up in the Loney though,’ said Ginny, a little slyly. ‘Who’s lonely?’ asked Teddy, sounding very concerned. ‘Your suitcase is,’ said Harry. ‘Because it’s not full of your clothes like I asked you.’ ‘I’m gonna,’ said Teddy. ‘Later.’ ‘Come on, mate, go do it now,’ said Harry. ‘Nana’s taking you straight back after lunch today.’ Teddy huffed, but Harry raised his eyebrows, and the little boy reluctantly shuffled off. ‘I better go and supervise,’ said Ginny. ‘He’ll only get distracted with toys otherwise.’ She briefly caressed Harry’s hair as she passed, and he turned to smile at her as she left the room. ‘Staying at his nan’s is he?’ asked Ben. ‘That’s where he lives,’ said Harry. ‘I only have him for a few days at a time every now and then.’ ‘Oh,’ said Ben. ‘I assumed he lived here all the time. I didn’t want to ask why.’ ‘His parents passed away not long after he was born,’ said Harry calmly. ‘I was a bit young to raise him full time, and couldn’t have done that to his grandmother anyway.’ ‘Bloody hell,’ said Ben. He frowned. ‘That’s you, Theia, and this poor kid that all don’t have mothers. High mortality rate comes with being able to do spells, does it?’ To his surprise, Harry laughed. ‘Sometimes. Depends who you are and the line of work you’re in. This must all be very odd for you, I’m sorry.’ Ben thought about brushing it off, but in the end settled on, ‘it’s fucking mad, mate.’ Harry laughed again, and then seemed to hesitate. ‘I only found out about it all when I was eleven, I wasn’t born into it like Ginny and Teddy. I know what it’s like for you.’ ‘Any advice?’ His smile seemed different now, almost wistful. ‘God, I don’t know. Don’t know what I would say to myself if I went back in time.’ ‘In a good way or bad way?’ asked Ben uneasily, who was still concerned that Harry had dodged his question about mortality rates. It was the first time Ben had seen Harry not looking incredibly serious, and he suddenly realised that they were probably similar in age. In fact, Harry looked like he might even be slightly younger. ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Harry. ‘Bit of both. I suppose I would encourage myself to really enjoy it all being new and impressive, but to be honest I think I still do that today.’ ‘No,’ disagreed Ben, ‘you don’t seem impressed at all when your cup of tea zooms across the room to you.’ ‘That’s true,’ said Harry with a frown. ‘I’ve got far too lazy with that kind of thing. But I’ll try and sit you near George and Ron today, they’ll show you the sort of thing that still impresses me… You don’t have a heart condition or anything do you?’ ‘No,’ replied Ben, alarmed. ‘Great,’ said Harry cheerfully. ‘Don’t eat anything they give you though.’ With that slightly concerning advice in mind, they began bundling on coats and boots shortly after twelve, Ben feeling rather intrusive. ‘Ted,’ Harry was saying impatiently. ‘Just put them on.’ ‘I can’t find the other one,’ Ted was whining. ‘Ginny, where are-’ ‘Ted, I put your wellies by the back door-’ ‘Only one was there,’ Teddy wailed. Harry was looking at a clock, which Ben had only just realised showed no numbers but various phrases, and multiple hands with faces on, most of which were bunched together. ‘Look, we’re late again, everyone’s there already.’ ‘Accio wellies,’ said Ginny, and from the back door and the cupboard under the stairs came a flurry of rubber boots in a variety of greens and blues. ‘It must be one of these ones, Ted, come and have a look.’ ‘Why do we have so many?’ asked Harry exasperated. ‘Where do they all come from?’ ‘Here!’ said Ted brightly, holding up a little green boot. ‘Shall I clean it first?’ ‘What?’ said Harry, baffled. ‘No, I told you, we’re late. Come on, let’s go.’ Ben, who hadn’t wanted to involve himself in the slightly stressful domestic scene, started heading towards the back door, but to his confusion, the entire family hurried into the living room. ‘Er... ?’ he called after them, following uneasily. Was there a second door he had never seen before? When he entered, they were stood in front of the fireplace. ‘Oh, we didn’t warn Ben about the floo,’ said Ginny. ‘Maybe you should apparate with him-?’ ‘He vomited last time,’ said Harry. He turned to Ben. ‘Are you scared of fire?’ ‘S-sorry?’ ‘I’ll show him,’ said Teddy loudly. He reached up and took a pinch of something from a pot Harry was holding, and stepped into the empty fireplace, kicking the remnants of a charred log out of the way. ‘The Burrow!’ he shouted, as he dropped whatever he was holding. Ben couldn’t help the scream - how could anyone, when watching a child catch fire? It was the most horrific thing he had ever witnessed. The flames were huge, and green, and they obscured the tiny little boy completely, before suddenly they were gone - and so was he. ‘All right?’ said Ginny brightly, turning to him. Ben had the feeling he was very pale. Harry and Ginny seemed remarkably unconcerned, but Harry placed a firm hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘Looks horrible, but it’s fine. As you’re a Muggle you can come along with me. More comfortable than apparating.’ Ben watched, slack-jawed, as Ginny took some of the glistening white powder Harry was holding, and copied the young boy. Within seconds she was gone too. ‘No…’ said Ben. ‘No, I’m sorry, I-I can’t…’ ‘Course you can,’ said Harry cheerfully. ‘I promise you, it’s perfectly safe.’ ‘I… The, the fire…’ ‘Would I have sent my godson and pregnant wife in there if there was any danger?’ He felt Harry’s firm hand guide him, and he found himself walking in a bit of a daze, ducking under the mantlepiece and standing upright in the vast chimney, staring at the soot stained walls. ‘I feel sick,’ he blurted out. ‘Not to worry,’ said Harry soothingly. ‘I’ve got a potion for that.’ He dropped the powder, shouted something, and suddenly Ben was in a whirl of colour and sound, Harry’s hand still firmly gripping hold of him, ash and soot filling his lungs, he could feel the flames though they caused him no pain- Suddenly, it was over. He was looking at more stone, and Harry had let go of him, ducking under to get out again. Ben followed, and stepped not into the beamed living room of the Potters’ home that he had become so familiar with, but somewhere else entirely. More old fashioned, cluttered with comfortable looking armchairs and sofas as if there was never enough room for all the guests. ‘Hello!’ cried a plump looking woman, hurrying forward. She seized Harry and pulled him down to kiss him on the cheeks - he embraced her back. ‘Happy mothers day,’ he said, and from under his cloak (he supposed they had been up his sleeve or something, that was what magicians did, wasn’t it?) he pulled out a bouquet of sweet peas, pink carnations and hydrangea. ‘Oh!’ cried the woman, patting his cheek and looking quite emotional as she took them. ‘Harry!’ Harry looked as though he were going to say something to her, but thought better of it, and turned to gesture to Ben. ‘This is-’ ‘Oh, yes!’ exclaimed the woman, hurrying forward. ‘I’ve heard all about you, Ben, welcome, welcome - I’m Molly, here-’ she produced a small brush, and started running it over his shoulders. Clouds of ash filled the air - Harry didn’t look untidy at all, but somehow Ben was. Suitably cleaned up, Molly stepped back and beamed at him. ‘I don’t think we’ve ever had a Muggle visit. My husband will be so thrilled.’ ‘Are Ron and Hermione here?’ asked Harry. ‘Yes, dear, they’re already outside.’ Harry left, and Molly took Ben by the arm and began to lead him out of the living room, placing the flowers in a vase (which immediately untied them and filled itself with water) as she went. ‘Now,’ she said reassuringly, ‘if it all gets too much, just give me the nod and I’ll make sure they all calm down.’ ‘What-?’ ‘And please don’t eat anything my son George gives you, he’s just trying to be funny, but not everyone gets it, I have told him.’ Harry and Ginny had described it as lunch, but Ben could see now that it was more like a good sized party. Though the day was a little overcast, a long table was set up on the lawn, a hodge-podge of chairs around it, and lanterns, presumably for warmth, hovering just above head height. Dozens of people, at least half with flaming red hair, were there already - their laughter and chatter filled the air, a few holding squirming babies, all of them wearing the long robes Ben had become used to seeing. A red-haired man in glasses spotted them, and made a beeline, holding out his hand several feet before he reached them. ‘Arthur Weasley,’ he said excitedly. ‘You must be Ben, delighted to have you here, really delighted. Won’t you come and sit by me-’ ‘Arthur,’ said Molly sharply. ‘Ginny said Ben needs to sit near them.’ ‘That’s all right, they can sit with us too, come on, Ben,’ he said, seizing Ben by the arm and tugging him over to the table. He saw Harry turn as they passed, and though he was in the middle of laughing over something with a red-haired man and a woman with bushy hair, he seemed to excuse himself and head over in their direction. ‘Everything OK?’ he asked Ben, but before he could answer, Arthur spoke up. ‘We’re fine,’ he said, sitting Ben down. ‘Now, I was hoping you could tell me about airplanes.’ ‘Er… Tell you what?’ asked Ben. ‘Well, how do they work? How do they stay up?’ ‘Haven’t a clue, mate,’ said Ben. ‘I suppose you’d have to be an engineer to know that sort of thing. Aerodynamics and what not.’ ‘And where can I get an aerodynamic?’ asked Arthur. People took their seats - Harry on one side of him, though currently talking with two of the red-haired men and a black woman, but Ginny was sitting across from him, with Arthur on the other side and Molly opposite of him. He could see Teddy sat at the far end of the table with an older looking woman he presumed was his nan, but after that he recognised no one. Some stuck out for their unique appearances. The woman with the mad hair Ginny had mentioned earlier was talking earnestly to a freckled man with only one ear. Another red-haired man had a horribly scarred face, and was bouncing a chubby, golden haired toddler on his lap. One woman was perhaps the most beautiful he had ever seen. Blonde, elegant, with delicate features and a willowy body, there was something so refined and graceful about her, he felt as though he were watching a ballet, he thought that perhaps- There was a kick to his shins, and he jolted, Ginny smiling at him in an oddly warning sort of way. ‘That’s my sister-in-law,’ she said. ‘Fleur. She has magic powers, so it’s not your fault you feel that way, but she is very happily married to my brother.’ She nodded to the horribly scarred man sitting next to her. ‘Bloody hell,’ said Ben quietly. ‘He’s been through the wars hasn’t he?’ Ginny’s smile vanished. ‘Yes.’ She took a breath and shuffled her glass, before turning to her side and saying, ‘this is my brother Ron,’ giving the man Harry was talking to a sharp elbow. ‘Ow! Oh- Hi. You must be Ben. Sorry about all this,’ he waved airily. ‘Must be weird.’ ‘A bit, yeah.’ Ron introduced him to Hermione, Angelina, and George, who leaned across Harry and held out a little brown bag. ‘Would you like a pre-dinner sweet? It’s wizarding tradition.’ ‘Shut up, George,’ said Ginny sharply. ‘Ben, don’t eat that.’ ‘No thank you,’ said Ben nervously. ‘Quite right,’ said Harry. ‘Be nice to Ben,’ he added to George. ‘I am!’ said George, who looked quite affronted. ‘How are you anyway, old boy? How’s my counter doing?’ ‘Pretty good, actually, it’s been 83 days.’ George gave a low whistle. ‘That is good for you.’ He looked at Ben. ‘I got him a counter that marks how many days it’s been since someone tried to kill him.’ ‘You’re not popular, then?’ asked Ben. ‘Harry’s the worst,’ said Ron. ‘No one likes him,’ said Angelina. ‘I try to kill him on a regular basis,’ said George. ‘Sweet, Harry?’ ‘No,’ said Harry with a mock exasperated sigh. ‘It comes with the job,’ he said to Ben. ‘Well,’ said Hermione placatingly. ‘That and the fact that you’ve done more than most. You’re a police officer, Ben, I’m sure you get that.’ ‘Haven’t taken down as many gangsters and drug barons as I imagined I would, to be honest,’ said Ben. ‘It’s quiet where I am.’ The ringing of a glass being tapped sounded, and they looked to the other end of the table where the heavily scarred man had risen. ‘Welcome, everyone. We have a few mothers and mothers-to-be here today, but I just wanted to say a few words about a very special one.’ ‘Very special!’ said a bespectacled ginger man loudly. Ben looked to Molly to see her as red as a tomato, smiling tearfully. ‘The number of people there are here today is testament to what an incredible mother she is, not only to her own children, of which there are many, but to all the strays she’s collected along the way. Thank you, mum, I don’t know where we’d be without you. To mum.’ Murmurs of ‘to mum’ or ‘to Molly’ rang out, and she promptly burst into tears. ‘Oh, Bill, all of you - it’s all I wanted, you all here!’ She dabbed at her eyes, and then seemed to remember something. ‘Please! Eat!’ She waved her wand, and dishes floated from the kitchen. Baskets of warm, crusty bread, expertly minted lamb, dishes of crispy roast potato, mounds of buttered cabbage and honeyed carrots, not to mention the boats of thick homemade gravy - it was the perfect Sunday roast. ‘You’d think by now she’d be used to it,’ muttered George, as the noise around the table rose again and cutlery was picked up with a clatter. ‘Instead of bursting into tears every year.’ ‘She’s always been like this,’ said Ron fairly. ‘Surely we’re the ones who should get used to it.’ ‘I brought her flowers this year,’ said Harry. ‘I thought the hug would crush me to death.’ ‘What did you do that for, you absolute kiss arse?’ asked George. ‘That’s the kind of behaviour I would expect from Percy,’ scolded Ron. ‘Yeah, makes scribbling my name at the bottom of the card look a bit weak,’ said Angelina. ‘Flowers, I ask you.’ ‘You can conjure them out of thin air,’ grinned Harry. ‘It’s not exactly much.’ ‘Is he this unbearable at home?’ George demanded of Ginny. She laughed, but said, ‘Stop it, you all gang up on him.’ ‘They were nice to me at school,’ said Harry. ‘But now I’m grown up doing well for myself, they think I need a bit more struggle in my life to keep me grounded.’ It was clear that he was fond of them, and Ben could see immediately that the teasing and ribbing meant more to Harry than perhaps any of them realised. ‘Did you all meet at school?’ asked Ben. ‘Yes,’ said Hermione politely. ‘I assume you’ve been told about Hogwarts?’ ‘I have. Makes the local comp I went to pretty dull sounding.’ ‘Did he tell you about the troll in the bathroom?’ asked Ron. ‘Oh, Ron, please…’ ‘It was Halloween of our first year… We were just kids back then, of course, and I’d been, well, a bit of a dick to Hermione here. We were enjoying the feast when a teacher came running in…’ Ben listened, enraptured, to tales from this extraordinary school, well beyond his wildest imaginations, often convinced that he was being taken the mickey out of, as they had teased Harry, until he saw that they could all corroborate with such detail and surety that it became clear that they went beyond script and were real memory. Not only trolls, but moving trees and corridors being turned into swamps, secret passageways to the nearby village, giant sea creatures in the lake, things called ‘hippogriffs’ scratching the school bully… He had heard briefly about Quidditch when Ginny had explained her job, but now he heard about their school team, the shared camaraderie and bizarre moments - ‘then he essentially swallowed it, the other team was furious, but it counted-’, the wins and losses, the strange injuries and feelings of glory - ‘spent the whole time thinking it was because of the potion, but it turns out I’m naturally brilliant.’ And the pets - it put his old family collie to shame. Harry had just finished reminiscing about his beautiful snowy owl when Ben shook his head in amazement and said to him, ‘what an wonderful childhood you had.’ They all burst out laughing. ‘I did,’ said Harry, grinning. They all laughed even harder. ‘What? I did! At times. It was just also terrible at other times! It was never boring, at least.’ ‘You should have seen him when I first met him,’ said Molly, who had apparently been listening fondly. ‘Tiny, skinny thing he was, ever so polite. So sweet. All of you were really. Even you, George.’ ‘How dare you, I was always a complete nightmare.’ Molly tutted. ‘Don’t fool yourself, I still remember you coming to me in tears that summer after your first year. You thought you had been so horrible to your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher that they had left forever.’ ‘I had been horrible to him, and he did leave forever,’ said George. ‘Poor old Professor Ely. It wasn’t his fault he was so dull.’ ‘Yes, but it was the curse, wasn’t it?’ said Molly, a little impatiently. ‘The Defence teachers never lasted back then.’ ‘There still had to be a reason, and it was me and Fred. Just like how there was a reason Lockhart left a few years later, and that was Ron’s fault. It was Harry’s fault the rest of them left, pretty much.’ ‘Either way, you were so full of guilt. Quite sweet really. I wish you’d learned something from it.’ They launched into a conversation about detentions, some of which sounded positively medieval to Ben, but Arthur tapped him gently on the arm and whispered, ‘Could you explain to me exactly how muggles “surf the web” and where I can find it to have a go myself?’ The meal was interrupted some time later, when they were tucking into bowls of bread and butter pudding, by a small owl landing in front of Harry, a small note in his beak. Ben had never seen an owl so close up before, but no one else seemed to be surprised, so he tried very hard to look casual. Harry scanned it quickly, frowning slightly, then gave a small sigh and put it into his pocket. ‘Don’t you dare,’ warned Ron. ‘Harry, you are not to get up from that seat,’ growled Ginny. ‘It’s fine, I’m not,’ said Harry. ‘Just a few things to keep me updated.’ ‘Well go on, then,’ said George. ‘We’re all waiting with bated breath.’ ‘If you must know, the rest of the suspects have been allowed home, but their wands are confiscated and they’re under house arrest.’ ‘I heard from Pete that it was all done and dusted,’ said Ron. ‘Well Pete shouldn’t have told you that; Pete should be focusing on keeping things confidential like I asked him.’ ‘Hearing gossip about the department is the only reason I invite Pete out for drinks,’ argued Ron. ‘Don’t ruin that for him, there’s not a lot else to his character.’ Harry ignored him, and poured more custard onto his pudding. ‘It was also the results of the blood magic work I ordered - like a DNA test,’ he added to Ben. ‘Ooh, and?’ asked Hermione. ‘I was going to ask you about that, it’s a very interesting new part of magical law.’ ‘It’s a little surprising,’ said Harry vaguely. ‘I need to speak to Theia first though, and probably Bessie.’ He handed a custard covered piece of bread to the owl, who took it gratefully and took off clumsily, knocking Ron’s glass of wine as it went. ‘Oh, Ron!’ cried Hermione huffily. ‘All over my new robes!’ ‘How is that my fault? It was the owl.’ ‘You put your glass there! Oh, I can never get wine stains out, I’ve never mastered it-’ She dabbed frantically at the stain on her white polka-dot robes. ‘It’s fine, Hermione,’ said Ginny. ‘Just run it through cold water first before you charm it-’ ‘No, no,’ said Molly, ‘that’s blood. For wine you need to put salt on first, leave it for a few moments, then do the charm.’ Harry was frowning again, looking carefully at the dark red patch spreading over Hermione’s arm. Ben saw him discreetly take out a notebook, scribble something down, and return it to the inside of his own robes. While they were still fussing over Hermione, Harry turned to Ben and said in a low voice, ‘It’s definitely not till tomorrow we can talk to Simon?’ ‘They won’t have even got on the plane yet,’ sad Ben. ‘Sorry, mate. Everything all right?’ ‘Yes,’ said Harry, still sounding vague. ‘How good are you at interrogations?’ ‘I don’t think I’ve ever interrogated anyone who wasn’t drunk, to be honest,’ said Ben, whose experience had mostly peaked at dangerous drivers and people that had stolen traffic cones. ‘Reckon you’ve heard enough to pretend to be a wizard?’ He gaped at him, but Harry looked entirely serious. ‘Why?’ ‘I don’t want to disturb Theia right now, not when she’s with Marcy. But I want to speak with someone as soon as possible. Will you help me? This evening.’ ‘I… Yes. I’ll give it a go.’ Harry smiled at him. ‘I’m more than bending the rules here, you know.’ Ben nodded. ‘I’ve been told that I’m not supposed to know anything. Muggles aren’t allowed.’ ‘Unless they marry a witch,’ said Harry casually. Ben was about to respond, but there was a shout and then a roar of laughter, and George was pulling his sweet bag away from the bespectacled man, whose head was now the size of an orange, though the rest of his body remained normal. ‘I’ve always told you to deflate your head, Perce,’ said George seriously. Ben couldn’t understand Percy’s angry, high pitched response, but as he looked around the loud, colourful table, he hoped very much that he would be allowed to continue knowing about this world for the rest of his life. |
| Reviews 131 |
Previous Next
|
