The Fire You Touch

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Chapter 4: Deceit and Discovery

Friday came and went; several weeks passed by quickly, and Aeryn couldn’t believe how much she looked forward to her bi-weekly meetings with Harry. She hadn’t seen the Dursleys at all since he came to visit, and she couldn’t say she was sorry at all. She had finally convinced him that he didn’t have to help her clean, and now he watched the television or played on Dudley’s computer while she put the house back in order. For some reason, it never took quite as long as usual to finish cleaning the house, and there was always time after she was finished to spend some time with Harry before it was time for her to go to her next job.

One day, she firmly promised herself, she was going to take that kid out for some fun. Listening to him talk, you wouldn’t think the Dursleys let him do anything. However, Aeryn wouldn’t put anything past them.

She only wished she could find a way to get him to talk about his school. He was so quiet about the subject, she assumed that the Dursleys had forbidden him to say anything about his magical powers to anyone. Although he considered her enough of a friend to enjoy her company, he obviously didn’t trust her enough not to run screaming to his aunt and uncle if he told her anything.

Not that Aeryn blamed him. She hadn’t been exactly straightforward with him, either.

When she got back from her weekly karate class on Wednesday night, there was a message on Aeryn’s machine. There was a very brief message from Petunia Dursley, telling her in a very clipped voice to call her back immediately, the moment she got back home. More than a little curious, Aeryn dialed up the Dursleys’ number.

Dudley answered the phone. "Hello?" he whined.

"Hi, Dudley, it’s Aeryn Blake."

"Who?"

Aeryn rolled her eyes. I sure haven’t missed that brat’s voice. "Your cleaning lady. Look, Dudley, your mom wanted me to call her back. Can I talk with her?"

"Muuum!"

Dudley screamed for his mother without bothering to take the phone away from his mouth. Aeryn shot the receiver away from her ear and winced. In a minute, Mrs. Dursley decided to pick up on the other end.

"Hello?" Goodness, she sounded out of sorts.

"Hi, Mrs. Dursley, it’s Aeryn Blake. How are you?"

"We’re leaving town tomorrow morning," Mrs. Dursley said shortly. "We’re going to holiday in Scotland for two weeks."

"Well, that sounds like—"

"While we’re gone, you’ll have to take care of these things for us." And without warning, Mrs. Dursley rattled off a list of things for Aeryn to clean, repair, and take care of. Aeryn began frantically scribbling the list down, but halfway through her eyes grew wide with aggravation and she interrupted Mrs. Dursley rather sharply just as she was explaining the correct way to polish Duddy-duddy’s Smelting stick, since it was his pride and joy and be sure to only use linseed oil and—

"Mrs. Dursley." Aeryn wasn’t sure whether to laugh or snarl. "I’m your cleaning lady. Not your repairman. I don’t fix washing machines, and I don’t weed the garden."

"I know that!" Mrs. Dursley snapped. "I told you, I want you to find someone to take care of those things. We’ll refund you whatever you have to pay them."

"But—"

"And make sure the house is in perfect condition before we return home. I promised Dudley a little early-birthday party with his friends when we get back, and I want the house to be spotless. That reminds me, I want you to buy some streamers and balloons, and call the zoo and reserve the party room for—"

"Mrs. Dursley." Aeryn cut through before she was handed another load of things to accomplish. "Will Harry be joining you on your vacation?"

The end of the line went dead. Aeryn almost hung up, but heard Dudley screaming about something in the background, and hung on to the line patiently.

When she resumed speaking, Mrs. Dursley’s voice was low and hoarse. "There will be a list on the table for you when you come in tomorrow," she said. There was a click, and then complete silence.

Aeryn replaced the receiver in the cradle, her head spinning. Two weeks! She was willing to bet the Dursleys weren’t taking Harry with them, but she also highly doubted they would leave him alone in the house while they were away. It was different when Aeryn came to clean, Harry had told her, because the person who usually looked after him while they were out always had bridge or poker or something at that time. Plus, they figured he wouldn’t wreck the house with someone else in it.

Poor kid, having to stay here while his rotten cousin got to run around Scotland…

Aeryn concentrated. What was the name of the lady Harry usually got stuck with? All she could remember at the moment was that she liked cats and her house smelled like cabbage. Cabbage, cats…finally, Aeryn remembered that the woman’s name was Mrs. Figg. She grabbed the phone book and flipped through it quickly, finally locating the woman’s address. She lived only two streets away from the Dursleys. Aeryn picked up the phone and dialed the number.

The phone rang five times before a quavery voice answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello…Mrs. Figg?"

"This is she."

"Hi, Mrs. Figg, my name is Aeryn Blake, and I work for—"

"Oh yes, hello Aeryn, I remember you."

Aeryn stopped, tongue-tied.

"You were on the boat with me in Calcutta. When we went to see the sheik."

"Oh…yes." The old biddy was off her rocker, Aeryn decided. Still, she decided to play along. "Mrs. Figg, I’m actually calling because of the Dursleys—I work for them—you’re taking care of Harry while they’re away, right?

"Harry, sweet boy. He doesn’t like cats much. Pity, isn’t it?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you like cats, my dear?"

"Of…course." All of a sudden, Aeryn felt even more sorry for Harry Potter. "Well, Mrs. Figg, I was wondering if you could do something for me…"

* * *

Aeryn had to rent a car and unexpectedly cancel Mrs. Malony’s cleaning on Thursday morning, with the promise she would be there first thing on Friday—the only house she cleaned Fridays was the Dursleys’—but it was worth all the hassle to see Harry’s look of amazement and happiness when she appeared on Mrs. Figg’s doorstep the next morning.

It had astonishingly easy to convince Mrs. Figg that the Dursleys actually wanted Aeryn to take care of Harry for the fortnight, although they would drop Harry off and pick him up at Mrs. Figg’s house since Aeryn’s flat was too far out of their way. Aeryn supposed the whole thing sort of made an odd, twisted sense to Mrs. Figg anyway.

Confusion crept into Harry’s face as Aeryn scooped up his duffel bag and Hedwig’s cage and stuffed them into her car. "Thanks a lot, Mrs. Figg," she said to the crooked old woman on the doorstep.

Mrs. Figg winked knowingly at Aeryn and tottered back into her house.

"Come on, Harry," Aeryn called to him, getting into the car and starting the engine.

"What’s this for?" Harry asked as Aeryn pulled out of Mrs. Figg’s driveway, narrowly missing several of her cats.

Aeryn grinned at him. "I thought I’d give you sort of a vacation. Didn’t seem fair that the Dursleys got to go off and leave you with mad old Mrs. Figg. I somehow got the impression you don’t like her house that much."

Harry grinned back, but his eyes were slightly stunned, and he turned and looked quietly out the window.

A flicker of alarm threaded through Aeryn. "Harry…I’m sorry, I should have asked you first, if you’d rather stay with Mrs. Figg…"

"No!" The words were instantaneous. "No, Miss Blake, I just…" He laughed slightly. "It’s just so nice of you. To do this for me." He smiled again, but this time it was genuine. "Why’re you doing this for me?"

Because I hate the Dursleys, too—because a kid like you is too young to have the same sadness in your eyes that I see when I look into a mirror—because you’re a wizard, Harry, and I would give anything to be in your shoes—because your owl is snowy white and has huge golden eyes—

but she couldn’t say those things to him. Not yet.

So, instead, she shrugged and pulled into the parking lot in front of her flat. "Just consider me your Good Samaritan," she said, putting the car in park. "Do you mind living with me for the next few weeks, or would you rather stay at your aunt and uncle’s house?"

Harry made a face. "It’s a mess over there right now. Dudley trashed the house before he left. No way I’m staying there for two weeks."

Aeryn groaned.

"Oh, that’s right, you have to clean it all…sorry about that…"

"Nah, don’t worry about it. That’s what they pay me for, after all." Aeryn got out of the car and popped the trunk. She smiled to herself as Harry took Hedwig’s cage from the back seat, his thin face more animated than Aeryn had ever seen it. "C’mon, I’m on the second floor—it’s not much, but it’s clean, and I’ve got cable and the Internet. And a Super Nintendo."

Harry glanced upward at the complex. "D’you have a balcony, too, Miss Blake?"

"Yep," Aeryn said. "If you want, we could probably even let Hedwig fly around a bit tonight—no one’ll think twice about an owl flying so close around here, since we’re so close to the woods anyway."

Aeryn didn’t know such a skinny kid could conjure up such a huge smile.

"And by the way," she added as they headed up the stairs, "call me Aeryn."

* * *

After a quick lunch, Aeryn had to run to her two cleaning jobs. She felt a bit guilty leaving Harry alone in her flat, but he assured her he would be fine. She finally got out the door, leaving about seven different telephone numbers and feeling distinctively like a mother.

When she returned around five, Harry was playing the Legend of Zelda on the Super Nintendo, his serious face screwed up in concentration and his tongue sticking out slightly from the corner of his mouth. Aeryn had never seen anything quite so cute.

Dinner wasn’t much—pizza, soda, and breadsticks—but Harry shoveled the food into his mouth as if it was going to disappear from his plate at any second. They checked the paper for any good movies that were playing, but none sounded interesting to either of them, so they baked chocolate-chip cookies from scratch, instead. Most of the dough seemed to get eaten before it got to the oven, but neither of them seemed to mind it much.

While the cookies baked, Harry took Hedwig out to the balcony and let her fly around. Aeryn declined to come out with them; she had to wash the cookie dishes, and she didn’t trust herself to keep her composure.

Hedwig finally came back to her cage, and Harry and Aeryn ended up the evening watching late night television on the foldout couch and stuffing their stomachs with microwave popcorn. By one in the morning, Harry had fallen asleep on the couch, and Aeryn could barely keep her eyes open. Harry woke up long enough to toddle to the guest bedroom while Aeryn stumbled into her own room and crashed on the bed, thoroughly exhausted.

* * *

Aeryn quietly unlocked her flat and crept into the darkened living room. She had gone to Mrs. Malony’s house that morning at seven to clean, and the woman had run her through the gambit of things to do, obviously displeased that Aeryn had canceled on her yesterday. Three hours later, Aeryn had informed Mrs. Malony that she was quitting, and walked out, leaving behind a sopping wet carpet and three loads of unfinished laundry.

Aeryn sipped at her jumbo-sized Diet Coke as she stepped over a plate of cookies and some scattered popcorn bags. Harry must still be asleep, she thought, opening the shades and letting the brilliant sunlight stream through the windows. It was a fantastically gorgeous day. Once Harry woke up, they could decide what they were going to do today—perhaps a trip to the zoo, or the swimming pool.

Right now, though, she was going to pick up this place while she had a little spare time. Aeryn picked up the cookies and the popcorn bags and wandered into the kitchen. All the dishes had been put into the dishwasher last night, so she turned on the machine and tossed the garbage away. She hoped Hedwig had found enough food last night—she wasn’t sure if she had any food fit for owls in her cupboard.

Still carrying her Diet Coke, Aeryn walked quietly into the living room and opened the coat closet, hanging her purse on the hook. There was a full-length mirror on the inside of the door, a forgotten remnant of a previous tenant, something Aeryn had never gotten around to removing. Her reflection glanced at her contemplatively.

Aeryn took a step back and looked at herself. She really wasn’t bad looking, she thought. Not exactly beautiful—her chin was too pert and her nose a shade too pixyish—but she was pretty, and had a way of carrying herself that made people stop and look twice. She had a good bone structure, and although she wasn’t skinny, she was well built. And voluptuous. That she had inherited from her mother, and it was ever so difficult to find clothes that fit. Her mahogany hair, glossy and cut just below her chin, was the same color her mother’s hair had been.

But her eyes were her father’s. Aeryn could still remember when he smiled how his tanned skin crinkled around slate-blue eyes until they were merely jeweled slits. A lump formed in her throat, and she shut the door more hastily than she intended to.

She turned and started to make up the couch, putting her drink on the floor next to her. She folded the bed up and tried to push it back into the seat, but the foldout had not been used for quite some time, and it got stuck halfway through its transformation. Aeryn threw her entire weight against it, and as it finally jerked down into place, her foot hooked her jumbo Diet Coke. The cup flew backwards, striking the television stand and exploding all over the carpet. All over her pale yellow carpet.

"Oh…God’s sake!" Aeryn wailed. The couch forgotten, she fell to her knees, looking beneath the television stand. The lid of the cup had come off when it smashed against the stand, and all the Diet Coke had leaked beneath it, right where Aeryn couldn’t reach. It was a disaster. Her television stand was made of wood and rested against a third of her wall. Besides the nineteen-inch television, the stand housed videos, assorted pictures, and a potted fern named Lenny. Of course, it didn’t sit directly on top of the floor; the stand had two-inch legs that kept a perfect collecting place for dust bunnies, crumbs, and spilled drinks. And it was heavy. Too heavy for Aeryn to move it by hand.

She sighed and sat up. As she watched the Diet Coke seep deeply into the carpet, a glimmer of memory crept into her mind. Her mother dropping something that had rolled under the stove…her father took his wand and made the stove rise up in the air, making the object instantly retrievable…

"Wingardium Leviosa," she whispered. That had been the spell. Not that it mattered—Aeryn could easily move the stand with telekinesis—but instead she quested towards her bedroom. A dusty trunk, buried deep beneath a pile of clothes, slithered out from her closet and popped open with only a slight squeak. Aeryn concentrated. A slender wand rose from a thinning black robe. She opened her hand, and an instant later, the wand flew through the corridor and landed in her palm with a snap.

Aeryn rose to her feet, holding the wand in her right hand.

"Say it loudly, like you mean business," her father said, putting a feather on the basement desk. Aeryn looked at him skeptically, holding his wand in one hand.

"I can’t do this, Daddy. We’ve tried it already."

He grinned at her. "You just haven’t gotten the hang of it yet. It took me a long time to get it right, too. Now, just concentrate, and say the words I taught you, okay?"

Aeryn’s brow furrowed, and she pointed her wand directly at the feather. Her eyes screwed up in concentration, and, drawing a deep breath …

…she focused on the television stand and murmured "Wingardium Leviosa."

Nothing happened. Her shoulders tensed, and her eyes narrowed as she brandished the wand. "Wingardium Leviosa," she said, this time a bit louder.

Nothing.

Her fingers turned white against the dark wood of the wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she yelled, bringing the wand down in a sharp slice.

The wand twisted in her fingers and spat a shower of orange sparks from its tip.

Aeryn jumped back, dropping the wand with a strangled curse. Her cheeks were burning, and her throat was tight. She drew a deep breath and dropped her face into her hands. Never again, she promised herself angrily, never again. What was the use of getting her hopes up when every time they were dashed to pieces?

She stomped into the kitchen, grabbed a handful of paper towels, and stalked back into the living room. With a jerk of her head, she lifted the television stand from the floor until it bobbed gently up near the ceiling. Even though she had done this often, and sometimes with larger objects, Aeryn was still amazed at the ease heavy objects could be lifted by her mind.

She scooted underneath the levitating television stand and began to scrub at the Diet Coke stain. Hopefully, she would be able to soak most of it out of the carpet, and she could try some of that new stain-spray she had just purchased a few days ago. It had worked well on Mrs. Malony’s white carpet, but Aeryn wasn’t sure how well it worked on colored carpets yet. She pressed a folded square of paper towel against the stain and stepped on it firmly.

An amazed gasp echoed suddenly through the still living room.

Aeryn’s head jerked up.

Harry Potter stood before her, his mouth gaping open as he stared at the floating television stand. His sleep-hazy eyes were huge as he looked from her, to the stand, and back to her.

"You…you’re a witch," he whispered.

Totally caught off guard, Aeryn opened her mouth to say something, anything—and promptly let go of the television stand.