Light and Shadow

Light and Shadow

Chapter 8 - The day after

Harry arrived early at the office, after quickly stopping by his house just to change clothes. He drove through the London's streets the entire night.

He even drove along a highway for awhile. He wanted to run, he needed to free himself of all of his rage. Now he was in Hermione's office, looking at some point on the wall. He didn't even realize when she arrived.

When Hermione arrived, she was surprised to see Harry, already there in the office. He had actually arrived early that day. And they had a lot of work to do. The first hearing would be at the end of the week, practically the entire defense had to be prepared and they hadn't even gone to the prison yet to talk to Hawkin. So she started talking about everything they still hadn't done, what they had to do. Harry didn't seem to be listening to a word.

"Potter?" Hermione called.

Nothing.

"Potter, did you hear what I said?"

Once again, nothing.

Hermione, before realizing, was getting worried. She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry," she said without realizing she was calling him by his first name. "Are you listening?"

Harry roused from his thoughts and looked at her confused. Did she seem... worried?

"No, Hermione. What were you saying again?"

"I said, we have a lot of work to do. The first hearing is at the end of the week."

"All right," he answered automatically, not really paying attention to what she was saying.

So she asked him something that, at first, seemed out of place

.

"What did you do to your eyes?" Mione asked looking at his eyes. The way she said that gave him a shiver. The intensity of her look... He'd forgotten that when she had that look, it seemed as if she could read his mind.

What do you mean?" he asked, averting his gaze.

"Well, until yesterday, they were green... Today they're brown," she said raising an eyebrow.

He was then in a bit of a panicked, after what she had said. He'd forgotten to destransfigurate the eyes. And if he knew Hermione, she was going to start asking questions, and would not stop until she got the answers that she wanted.

"Hmm... They're brown?" he asked, making a stupid face.

"Yes. Didn't you look in the mirror this morning?" She was still thinking that this was too weird.

"Yes... But I didn't pay attention to that particular detail."

"Why did you transfigurate yourself?" Hermione asked in an inquisitive tone that he knew too well. She was clever enough to figure out what had happened.

Somehow, the question annoyed Harry. Not because she asked it, but because it made him remember what had happened the night before. It made him remember that Ron was back.

"That is none of your business!" Harry said, his voice full of anger, and looking at her as if she was just a simple stranger.

With that, whatever level of friendship that was about to return, even if neither of them realized it, was gone in the wink of an eye, because of Harry's reaction.

"Well... If it's going to be that way, meet me in the conference room in ten minutes," Hermione said coldly, leaving the room and slamming the door.

Harry just sighed tiredly, put his elbows on the table and let his head fall in his hands. A whirl of thoughts went through his mind. He was tired of his life... It didn't seem to make any sense at all. Reluctantly, he stood up and went to talk to Hermione.

* * *

Ron should have left the hotel he was staying in to continue the investigation, but the events of the pervious night were absorbing his every thought.

He would never have imagined he would run into him at the party. It hadn't been hard to recognize him. There weren't many people that would look at him with such rage. He had seen that look before, when Harry found out he had been a Death Eater. And he would never forget the anger, the rage he saw in his friend's eyes.

Ron was still lying in the bed, hands behind his head. He had spent the whole night like that, thinking. He couldn't find a way to get his daughter back, Aimeé... And she must be suffering, since she was in the hands of Lucius Malfoy. Every time he thought of that he was caught by a deep foreboding, a desperation, a rage, that the only thing he could think was that Lucius would die in a very slow painful way. He even thought of joining the Death Eaters to get to Lucius, but this time he wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to fix his past mistakes, he wanted to have a clear conscience again, even if he had to die for that. And thinking of death really didn't seem painful to him. He knew he couldn't go home, because his wife would never take him back, and if he knew Marie, she wouldn't let him visit Aimeé either. He would lose his family. He would lose his reason to live.

Finally, he got up. He still had a lot to do.

* * *

Harry and Hermione were in his car, on their way to the prison. There was a deathly silence between them and she was reading the folder he'd gotten from Sirius.

"Did you read this?" she asked suddenly.

"No," he answered firmly, trying to make it as convincing a lie as possible.

"What do you mean 'no'? You brought it home a few days ago." Now she was looking straight at him.

"No, I didn't." He said again.

She didn't believe him.

"Is this why you're working among the muggles?"

He didn't answer.

"Who's Wendell?" she asked insistently.

Once again, silence.

"Potter, I'm waiting for an answer." She was now very irritated.

"I don't know," he simply answered, after a long silence.

"Of course you know." Now she was really mad. "It says here that he was killed by some kind of stick. A blond man who became redheaded. Don't ignore the evidences, Potter."

But he didn't make a sound and kept looking at the road ahead. That made Hermione explode. If she was edgy before, now she was even more. She hated to be made to look like a fool.

"All right, Potter. I was quietly working along in my job, moving on with my life. Then, one beautiful day you show up in my office and start working along with me. Even worst, you didn't give me any explanation. Now, could you at least answer the questions that I ask you?" She was practically yelling.

Harry kept silent, though. Actually, he wasn't even shocked by her outburst, and kept pretending she wasn't there. She realized that she was out of control. She took a deep breath and nothing else was said.

The conversation with Halkin hadn't helped, and Harry asked questions that had nothing to do with the case. Thinking about it, Hermione remembered the talk she had had with Draco.

"What's the name of the Department you work at, again?"

"The Department of Disaster Prevention."

"And what do you do there?" Hermione asked curious.

"Espionage," Draco simply answered.

They were already in the parking lot, in front of the car, when Mione suddenly asked:

"What have I done wrong?"

Harry was caught by surprise and looked at her confused.

"Excuse me?"

"What have I done wrong?" she repeated.

"Wrong? What do you mean?" What the hell is she talking about? he thought.

"Are you spying on me?" Mione decided to change the question.

"Hermione, what are you talking about?" Harry was irritated with the senseless questions she was asking.

"Are you here to spy on me? Did I do something wrong which is the cause for you working with me?" she decided to say it slowly, one word at a time, so that he would understand.

Harry leaned on the hood and couldn't avoid a smile. So that's what she's been thinking? That she had done something wrong? Impossible!

"No, Hermione, you did nothing wrong," he said still smiling.

"So, what are you doing working among the muggles?" She couldn't avoid asking the question.

He'd known Hermione would ask about it. And he also knew that she'd been holding herself back not to ask it sooner. But he didn't want her to know the real reason. Even if he tried his best, she would end up being involved, and he definitely didn't want anybody involved, especially her.

"Spying," he finally answered, looking at her.

"On who?"

"It's not you, you can relax," he answered in a tone that made it clear that the subject ended there.

"With so many people, why did you have to work with me? Why not just leave things how they were?" Her voice was almost a whisper, as if she was asking it of herself. If only he knew how it affected her... How it made her suffer....

"The choice wasn't mine. Actually, I... Actually I didn't want to be working here. I wanted to leave things how they were too."

It was the first time Harry wasn't cold, stupid or silly with Hermione. He was just being honest, was telling her the truth. He looked at her and for an instant, it seemed like they had never been separated from each other. Like they were back to old times.

* * *

Lucius was walking quickly through the corridors of his immense house, until he reached his office.

"So?" Lucius said with his superior voice.

"We lost contact, they were caught by the muggle police."

"They were caught? I can't believe it, now what?" Lucius asked, sitting in his armchair, in front of Boreman.

"Karkaroff is seeking other contacts, and..." But the man didn't finish, Lucius interrupted.

"Boreman. Be intelligent for once in your life. That idiot Karkaroff already found contacts, and they were arrested. Do you insist on letting him take care of this?"

"All right, all right. I'll take care of it, then."

Lucius made a face that said he didn't think the man was smart or intelligent enough.

"What do you intend to do now?" Boreman decided to ask.

"Well, since Weasley has made no attempt to come after his daughter, I have decided I'll take revenge on that bastard of a son of mine."

"What do you mean?"

"I won't do it now, logically. It'll call too much attention, but when I get stronger, I'll kidnap my grandson and my dearest daughter-in-law," Malfoy said with a disdainful smile.

"And why would you do such a thing?" Boreman asked without any real interest.

"Revenge! Nobody does what my stupid son did. Not to Lucius Malfoy."

"Well, the son is yours, the grandson is yours, and the daughter-in-law is yours, you do whatever you like," Boreman said, bored. "I want to know about Aimeé. Where is she? I want to see her."

"You won't see her," Lucius said dryly.

"May I know why?"

"Because, it wasn't me who had this stupid idea of kidnapping her. And YOU put her in my care, so, now, you do what I want."

"I want to see her, Malfoy. And now," Boreman said in such a lethal tone of voice, that anyone would be frighten. Except Lucius.

"I've already said you won't," Lucius said in the same tone.

"I want to know what you've been doing to her," Boreman said, his eyes full of rage.

"Be happy to know she's alive," Malfoy said, standing up, showing that the conversation was over.

"And you'd better keep her alive when all this is over, Malfoy," Boreman said giving the man in front of him a threatening look.

"That is, if I want to." Lucius returned the look.

Boreman didn't say anything. Just stood up, put on his overcoat and left the room.

Lucius sat down again and whispered:

"Idiot. Simply for your boldness today, I'll have my fun with little Aimeé."

* * *

Hermione and Harry were in her office, preparing Halkin's defence. But actually, It seemed like each was working on different cases, because there was no talking between them. Suddenly the phone rang and Mione answered. But didn't take long giving him the phone.

"It's for you," she said, getting back to work.

Harry stood up and went to the desk to take the call.

"Potter."

"Harry? It's me, Sirius. You have a cell phone, why don't you ever answer it?"

"I didn't bring it... I forget it, sometimes..."

"Forget? You shouldn't. We have a problem, Malfoy is still under arrest."

"What do you mean 'still under arrest'?" He thought Malfoy had been released a long time ago.

"Well, he just called saying he needs someone to go there to release him. You're a muggle lawyer, Harry, could you go there?"

"Release him? No. Why should I do such a thing?" Harry really didn't feel like releasing Draco at all.

"Harry, please, don't start. Just go and release him."

"All right," Harry said, sighing. "I'm going." And hung up the phone.

So, he turned to Hermione and said:

"I know you're probably going to freakout," Harry said with a superior expression, "but I'll have to leave early again today."

"And why?" Hermione asked with a moody expression. She didn't bother about the fact of him leaving early again, but only with what he said.

"Because Malfoy was arrested and I have to go release him," Harry said with an expression that clearly meant that, in his opinion, Malfoy should stay in jail forever.

"Arrested?! How?" Draco Malfoy arrested? Now she was surprised.

"Yesterday he was caught by the muggle police, at a party. Now I have to go and get him out."

"But how was he arrested?"

"Usually the cops come and put handcuffs on the person being arrested. Then, they read them their rights, and one of these right is to have a lawyer," Harry said as if she was a child who didn't know anything.

"I know how it works, Potter," she said with contempt. "I wanted... Never mind. Do what you want. I don't know why you say you work here anyway, since you're always late and leaving early," Hermione said, paying attention to the book in front of her.

"Great, we'll finish this tomorrow, then," he said, moving to his desk to organize his things.

"No, Potter, leave it with me, I'll finish it, and today, because you'll probably be late tomorrow, and will probably have to leave earlier..." Hermione said, sarcastically, looking at him.

Harry said nothing, just gave her a cold look and left.

* * *

Harry was standing in front of a cell, waiting for Malfoy to be brought out. He could see many jail doors being opened, giving Draco passage. He was still transfigured as a Latin.

"What took you so long?" Draco asked with his voice full of rage, for having had to spend so long in jail.

"Had problems during the night, Malfoy?" Harry said, sarcastically. "Did you have some difficulty with someone?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Potter."

"If you were among so many problem people, why didn't you just simply apparate home? Your big, cozy, comfortable home... you preferred to spend the night with a bunch of guys instead of Ginny? Have you changed your sexual preference, Malfoy?" Now Harry was being overly sarcastic.

Draco didn't say anything, just gave Harry a look of rage. They were out of the police station when Draco said:

"Could you lend me your wand?"

"What for? Where's yours?"

"They didn't give me it back. Probably thought it was some totally unimportant thing and threw it away, and I don't intent to look like this any longer."

Harry removed his wand from the inner pocket of his blazer and gave it to Draco, who quickly changed back to his Malfoy look of always.

"Did somebody tell Ginny what happened?" Draco asked worried.

"I don't know, maybe Sirius sent her an owl."

"And what did she say?" he asked anxiously.

I don't know. Are you worried, Malfoy?"

"No, Potter, but I'd like to know what she's thinking."

"Don't worry, she's probably not thinking anything. By the way, she didn't think much when she married you." They were in the car by then.

"Why? Are you jealous, Potter?" he asked with disdain.

He managed to keep himself from looking at Draco as if he thought he was totally worthless, and they went the whole drive without saying another word.

* * *

Sirius was anxiously waiting for his godson to arrive, and was worried about the news he had for him. He was seriously thinking about saying nothing at all, when a brunet with green eyes entered the room.

"Did you call me, Sirius?"

"Yes, Harry... I have some news, but first you'll have to promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

"I've never done anything that bad before, Sirius, so just tell me." Harry got irritated every time his godfather treated him like an irresponsible teenager.

"Well," Sirius said after a sigh, "We found Ron."