The Werewolf's Child

The Washing Up

Harry woke the next morning with the taste of old cigarettes in his mouth. He was on the floor, in one of the squashy purple sleeping bags in front of the cold grate. The carpet he lay on had a pattern of swirling roses in pinks, oranges and reds. When he rolled over onto his stomach a little puff of dust rose from the fibers.

He lay there and stared at the cold hearth, lost in thought, trying to understand all that he had seen in the pensieve the previous night. He felt incredibly weary, as if his brain could not hold any new information. The way ahead seemed as murky as ever. Three horcruxes to find and destroy, and he had no real idea where they were, or even what they were. Then there was the elder wand, the deathstick, the tantalizing promise of an invincible tool that might give him the edge he needed over Voldemort. But he had no idea where to look for it, or whether it was even real. Murky images flitted through his mind; Voldemort, traveling in a foreign land, searching for something. The blond laughing face of the young thief. They were both after the elder wand, Harry was more certain than ever.

He missed Ginny. He thought of her eyes, her bold look, her flowery smell. He wondered sadly, if he would survive all this to see her again.

There was an old grandfather clock in a corner, it's ticking loud in the quiet room. It wheezed out eight tired chimes. A few minutes later a rolled up sock came sailing across the room, landing squarely on Harry's head. He turned to see Ron, propped up on an elbow on the sofa where he had spent the time since they had been here, looking more lively than Harry had yet seen him. The awful pallor was gone from his face, and he looked almost back to his usual self. "Oi, Harry, you awake?"

"Yeah," said Harry, squinting at him, rubbing the back of his head, and reaching about for his glasses.

Hermione also stirred, in the easy chair that had been magicked into a cot for her. She ran her fingers through her curls, puffing them out so that they made a kind of halo around her head. She yawned and stretched hugely.

"Better?" asked Harry, hopefully.

"Much," she said. "What did professor Snape want with you last night?"

So Harry went over all of it for Ron and Hermione. He included the additional information he'd gleaned from his conversation with Malfoy. They sat there, flabbergasted and listened to his tale. When he had finished telling them the small room resounded with silence. The clock ticked loudly.

"Snape and.....your Mum?" said Ron at last.

Harry shuddered.

"I think it's kind of romantic," said Hermione, in a small voice.

Both boys looked at her with disbelief.

"Trust me, Hermione," said Harry. "It's not."

"And Professor Lupin is pregnant?"

Harry nodded glumly.

"I think that's kind of romantic, also," she said.

"No Hermione," said Ron fervently. "It isn't."

The door creaked open. Amanda entered the room, wearing a flowery apron that was noticeably too large for her, followed by Gavin who rang a large old fashioned dinner bell with gusto. Both children were pink cheeked. Amanda had flour on her nose. "Breakfast is ready," she announced. "It's pancakes."

                                                                                  ********

Severus left the warm kitchen at Spinner's End, filled with the laughter and chatter of the assembled children and teens, his belly full of pancakes and coffee, and he felt strangely lighthearted. He couldn't even begin to fathom why. He supposed it was a relief, getting all that off his chest, with Potter. He supposed he liked having them all there, tucked behind the wards at Spinner's End, safe, where he knew no one could get to them. He had spent months listening to Remus constantly fretting about the whereabouts of Harry, but Sev realized he himself had been anxious about the same thing, though he wouldn't have admitted it. Now, for today, Harry was safe, Draco was safe, Gavin and Amanda were safe, Remus and the baby were safe. He knew it wasn't going to last, but it was a momentary reprieve.