Chapter 94 — Home Sweet Home
Chapter 94: Home Sweet Home
In the end, no one modified Snape's memory. Instead, they simply extracted several Oaths from him, ones that would prevent him from passing on any of the information by any means whatsoever, or from revealing who possessed it. In short, they wrapped the greasy man in a few more binding vows.
Not that I particularly cared at that point. I hadn't told Dumbledore the whole truth regardless, though perhaps I should have, on the matter of the ring. In any other circumstances I might have done exactly that. But with the Convergence looming, a wizard like Dumbledore, fond of his schemes and his grand designs for the greater good as he was, would be more useful alive than not. To put it plainly: the problems Dumbledore was likely to cause did not outweigh the advantages of having him in the world. And the gains from his death were considerably less significant than the losses his death would bring.
Ha. I'm starting to reason like that particular spider.
I shook my head and settled back against the seat of the compartment, which I had already Expanded to accommodate our rather varied group.
"Hello."
Hermione came in and glanced at Daphne, who was making tea and sandwiches on the little folding table.
"And to you."
I nodded.
"Listen, is the offer of the flat still open?"
"Did they finally wear Dan down?"
"Yes."
Hermione nodded.
"The military have been tightening their grip significantly. It's looking like an outright dictatorship, and our chances of reaching any real position of influence within it,"
She shook her head.
"are essentially nil. On the other hand, I'm your friend, and there's hope that we might have certain advantages because of it."
"You won't."
I shook my head.
"The world that's coming isn't one where privileges get handed out for friendship, or for anything else along those lines."
"On the other hand, you're a clever witch, and you've kept up with the non-magical curriculum as well."
Hermione nodded.
"Which means you'll find your place regardless. Not necessarily on the combat side: there's production, research, any number of things."
"You might even teach."
"At Hogwarts?"
Hermione's eyes lit up.
"Possibly eventually, but I was thinking first of opening a preparatory school in my quarter, so that children arrive at Hogwarts already equipped with a solid basic foundation. And for that someone would need to put together..."
The door opened and several people piled in at once, among them Penny, who immediately settled in beside me, and Nymphadora, who took the seat opposite.
"A proper curriculum, have it approved by Hogwarts, and generally do a very great deal of work."
"What are we talking about?"
"Another future resident of my quarter."
I nodded towards Hermione.
"I'm telling her about the possibilities, assuming, of course, she doesn't decide to coast and let her studies slide, in which case she'd probably lose the flat as well, and the pinnacle of her ambitions would be the post of fifth deputy assistant to the third underscullery-maid of the seventh storage cupboard."
"Right."
We moved on from that topic soon enough, but I noticed that Hermione had heard me, and from the look on her face, she had no intention of coasting.
"For you, sir."
Daphne passed me a sandwich.
"And for you, my lady."
The next sandwich went to Penny, who gave Daphne a grateful nod, as did I. The others were left to help themselves, which nobody objected to, since Daphne had made considerably more than enough, and all one had to do was reach out and take one.
"Draco, do you think you might give The Quibbler an interview this summer?"
I glanced at Luna, who over the course of the year had shed some of her detachment and drifted into our group, and shrugged.
"Honestly, I don't know. My summer schedule is very full. Study, work, more study, and a great deal more work, and that's before family obligations and the quarter."
"So, no?"
"So, I don't know. Let's do it this way: I'll send you a letter with any windows of a couple of free hours I have, and my days off, and then you or your father can send me a proper request and we'll discuss the details from there."
"All right."
Luna gave me a sunny smile.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Just remember, you all have access to my quarter and are welcome there any time. That goes for all of you."
I looked at the rest of our group, who had just finished filling the compartment, and everyone gave a grateful nod.
"Come and go, meet up, talk, learn. And you..."
I looked at Ginny.
"...have a special assignment."
"Yes?"
"Keep an eye on our Luna. She shouldn't be left alone for long stretches. She's only just started finding her footing with people."
"Understood."
Ginny gave a serious nod.
The rest of the journey passed in conversation, occasionally drifting towards weightier topics, but for the most part it was simply easy, inconsequential talk about nothing in particular.
Then the train began to slow towards Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, and I noticed an unusually high number of Aurors standing on it. I had ample opportunity to study them, since we all chose to wait in the compartment rather than jostle with the rest of the students.
Only once the crowd had thinned did we leave the compartment and head off, exchanging goodbyes, to find our families. Dan and his wife were standing near my parents, and while Hermione's mother was simply overjoyed to see her daughter, her father was casting looks in my direction that were not particularly warm.
He said nothing, however, and raised no objections, and that was quite enough for me. I could endure his disapproval.
"So then, home?"
Cissy looked at me inquiringly.
"Yes."
I nodded.
"I want to see how things stand with the quarter, just to get a sense of where things are, and then starting tomorrow I'll be getting back to studying and working."
"Good. Come along then, you can ride in the car the Veela enchanted for us. They've been moving into the quarter."
I looked at Cissy with interest, then at Bella, but neither of them showed any inclination to elaborate, so there was nothing for it but to shrug and follow them. Hermione and her parents hung back slightly, since Hermione had already begun pouring out a torrent of information on them.
"Hello, hello!"
The moment we reached the car, Summer twisted around from the driver's seat to face us.
"Oh. That's unexpected."
"What's unexpected about it? Driving is easy enough, we had cars where I come from, so..."
"No, it's not that."
I shook my head.
"What's unexpected is that they let you out of the quarter."
"Oi! I'm not a prisoner!"
"Not a prisoner."
I shrugged and studied the girl, who was clearly more animated than before.
"But you are carrying some very important information. I'd go so far as to say vitally important information, so until they've extracted all of it from you..."
I left it at that, but the slight grimace that crossed her face told me I'd read the situation correctly.
"Exactly right. They didn't want to let her go. We've got an entire house in the quarter set aside for the temporary lodging of Aurors and Unspeakables, and they all kicked up an enormous fuss. It was only her threat to simply stop teaching altogether that made them agree, through gritted teeth."
"And some of them," Bella added, "were literally grinding their teeth."
"Yes, thank you. Anyway, she was given permission to go out for a bit of air."
"I see. Well, bear with it. I don't think it'll take you more than a year to not just provide a general summary, but actually train one or two groups to fight Grimm. After that, your situation will improve considerably."
"I know."
Summer nodded and turned back to face the road, and the car pulled away.
"I know, and I understand. It's just that..."
She shook her head.
"...I'm tired, is all."
"How well I understand that."
I sighed.
"If only the Convergence would just happen; then at least I could breathe a little easier."
"Do you think there'll be fewer worries after?"
Daphne asked with mild curiosity.
"Owing to the natural attrition of the people who supply them."
I said with a slight smile, then suggested we change the subject. Since Summer was with us, I also proposed we find a restaurant somewhere and simply sit down, eat, and talk for a while.
*** Some time later. Summer. ***
Summer stepped into the flat that had been set aside for her. It was in the house next to Draco's, and while the flat itself was only three rooms, she had been told it could be expanded to an almost limitless size without any difficulty. She had already mapped it all out in her head: a small wood to walk in, a training ground with everything she'd want on it, and a proper flat with five or seven rooms.
"Lucky me. And to think, if I hadn't listened to that instinct and insisted on negotiating with Draco directly..."
Summer shook her head, picturing what the Aurors and Unspeakables might have had in store for her otherwise. In the months since (she had been in this world just under half a year now), she had come to understand that nothing good would have awaited her. She had also worked out that back at the hospital, Draco had been acting in concert with the Unspeakables rather than simply issuing his own demands. But that didn't change the fact that without that arrangement, her situation would have been very grim indeed.
She wandered through the flat and stopped in the kitchen, staring into the open fridge. The light illuminated its contents in a way that seemed to quietly announce there was nothing to eat. Well, she didn't fancy dumplings. The lasagne from yesterday... no, it was perfectly good, but she wasn't in the right mood for it. Maybe make a quick soup? Or just put together some sandwiches?
She had got hungry again during their drive around the city after the restaurant.
"So much food and nothing to eat."
She shook her head.
"Right. I'll go and put the telly on. Maybe something useful will occur to me."
With that she went through to the sitting room, dropped onto the sofa, and clicked on the first channel that came up. And her thoughts kept drifting back to that unusual boy.
Draco Black.
Barely twelve years old (still a child, really) and already earnestly preparing for a catastrophe, not as someone's errand boy but as the person building one of the places that was meant to become a stronghold for the world that would follow. She wondered whether he would manage it.
Then again...
Remembering the look in that young boy's eyes, Summer had to admit that this one would manage it. And if anyone stood in his way, they would simply be torn apart to stop them obstructing him, and buried under the nearest tree as fertiliser.
"No. I definitely did the right thing."
Eyes half-closed, half-listening to some inane programme, Summer couldn't help but feel glad about her choice. Her daughters would certainly be safer here, near her and near this boy. And she would make sure his enterprise succeeded. After all, its success was now partly down to her as well.
"Yes... I think it's time to make myself a new weapon. Without Dust it won't be quite the same, of course, but there's magic here, and I can talk to Draco about it. Maybe there's some way to give a weapon some unusual properties."
She opened her eyes, got up from the sofa, turned off the television, and went through to the room that served as a study. She sat down at the desk, pulled out a sheaf of blank paper, and began to sketch. A first draft of her new weapon.
"And I need to ask about magic too. Maybe I have a chance of learning something? Nothing elaborate, just a couple of tricks..."
Working on the preliminary sketch, Summer lost all track of time and only realized it was two in the morning, with barely four hours until her wake-up call. Draco, as he had mentioned, was planning to be up at five, which meant three hours of sleep if she wanted to catch him... Though there was no reason they couldn't talk over breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
With those thoughts she made her way to the bedroom, collapsed onto the bed fully dressed, and was out immediately.
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