Things Fall Apart, But Then You Build Again

Chapter 4: An Important Missive

The next day Harry woke up feeling more refreshed and alert than he had in a long time. He had only been on the diet for less than two days, but it seemed to be working. Harry had so much energy that he wanted to jump out of bed, run into James’ room and rouse him, then tickle Albus awake, and lastly, blow a raspberry into Lily’s tummy. But they were with Ginny, he realised, and his good spirit threatened to evaporate. However, he shook himself and managed to not let that dampen his mood. He quickly got ready for the day. It was a Saturday, which meant no work, but Harry couldn’t stop thinking about last night and contemplating Hermione’s difficult situation.  Saturday or not, he had things to do today.

He skipped down the stairs to the kitchen, where he startled his house-elf with his loud morning greeting. Hermione was already sitting at the table and smiled at his antics. She had dark circles around her eyes and the fact that she was not trying to take over Dinky’s work was a testament to her exhaustion. Their special white flour-free, sugar-free sandwiches were placed before them, along with tea and sweeteners. As Harry was munching on his breakfast, he was glad that Dinky could bake the special bread; it was so delicious warm, and fresh. They also ate a small salad on the side which contained a few slices of crisp green apple.

“I thought we couldn’t eat fruits,” Harry said, remarking on the apple.

“Just not the ones with a high sugar content. Green apples are fine,” she answered and even smiled a little.

They both enjoyed their meal silently for a while, but the breakfast table was too quiet without any children around.

“Hermione, I’ve been thinking,” he began. “We should get you a solicitor, to help with the divorce and getting custody of Rose and Hugo.”

“Harry, you know I don’t have any money.”

“But I do.”

“Harry…”

“I’ve promised to help you.” Harry refused to hear her protests. “I have a lot of money, even with Ginny practically pouring it out the window on her trips. A lot of my money is invested in good, solid businesses that are making more money. Let me use it to help you.”

She nodded, reluctantly. She did not like taking his money, but there was no other way.

“I don’t know much about Wizarding Family Law myself,” he continued, “nor do I know any solicitors who are good in the field. But, I had an idea last night. I ran into Draco Malfoy yesterday.”

Hermione frowned at the name of the blond wizard.

“He was pissed off at Ron, because he brought him in for some questioning. You know how Ron is; he is always accusing the Malfoys of something. So maybe we could ask him for some advice. He must know some good solicitors.”

“You really think he would help?” she looked sceptical.

“Yeah. It would be like getting back at Ron.”

“But all the purebloods have been furious with me, telling me that I should go back to Ron. He is a pureblood too, Harry,” she pointed out.

“True, but he said something that got me thinking. Do you know the differences between Light and Dark Wizards?” he asked the question that had been bothering him for a while.

“Dark Wizards do evil magic, Light Wizards do good.” Hermione frowned.

“That’s what I thought. Then I realised that’s something we had learned from the Weasleys. So, I went to the bookstore and searched for anything on the subject. I found an old book in the used section and last night, I read a little of it. It’s about Dark Wizards,” he started to explain. “Apparently, the terminology doesn’t even refer to using a type of magic, rather it’s cultural. Light Wizard Culture has been dominant for several centuries. The author actually claims that she’s afraid Dark Wizards will die out and that all their traditions will be lost. She further explained that Dark Wizards are called such as they follow the path of the Goddess, who is symbolised by the moon, and because of that they mostly perform rituals at night. For them, women are very important and unlike Light wizards, Dark Wizards don’t rule over their wives.”