Hunting For The Sun

CHAPTER TWO

Lead Me

When Rae entered the chamber, the cleaners were hard at work. Apate, despite her eminence, was among them, golden hair in a spotted scarf. She scrubbed at the flagstones with a smile on her attractive face. Rae couldn´t be bothered to go all the way to her. The hurt and rage bubbling in her chest provoked laziness.

`Nike died,´ she announced. The chatter stopped. Rhea and Apate sat staring for a moment, mouths open, before standing up and jogging over to her.

`What?´ Apate asked, her face stricken.

`They killed Nike,´ Rae said. Then she collapsed. Apate caught her under her arms, and told Rhea to get everyone in there. She took Rae, swooning and with tears flooding down her face, and sat her down on a bench against the rough stone wall.

`Spider!´ Apate called. The scraggly old woman looked up. `Can you got me some water and a cloth?´

Spider nodded and stumped out, returning a minute later with a small pewter bowl and a rag.

Rae´s head felt like it was being crushed, and the heat inside her shell of tears was amazing. Nike had been a person. Nike was someone Rae knew. She wasn´t anyone particularly special, she wouldn´t be the one who killed Malfoy, if anyone did. She wasn´t anyone who could do anything special. But somehow Rae felt that their token of victory was stolen cruelly by three arrows. Nike was the one who had the name. She was named to help, if not by anything else then just by living. But now she was gone, and all the flaring hope in Rae´s chest faltered, as though dowsed with buckets of murdering water. She felt suddenly cold. She realised that someone was mopping her forehead with icy water, but this cold was deeper than her bones. Despair.

`She needs to work,´ Apate said to Rhea, still dabbing. `It´ll take her mind off things. Get her a scrubbing brush and set her to work on the floors.´

Rhea nodded, and pulled on Rae´s elbow. `Come on. The floor´s still dirty.´ Rhea´s eyes were a little wild. She had never really known Nike, but Rae´s reaction was high and above the normal mourning.

`Not as dirty as me,´ Rae sniffed, looking at her perfectly clean hands.

`You aren´t dirty,´ Rhea told her, puzzled, turning her hands over.

`Blood,´ Rae said, holding her hands up in Rhea´s face. Rhea gave her a lost look. She was quite scared. Rae wasn´t like this. She had been with others who died. Why was she all weird now?

`The blood isn´t on your hands.´ Rhea folded her friend´s fists closed and tucked them against the thin girl´s chest. `We should scrub the floor. The blood will go away if you clean up. When you get some water and a brush in your hands you´ll feel much better.´

`Clean?´ Rae asked deliriously.

`Clean,´ Rhea insisted. Rae nodded, and took up a brush, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. The two of them crossed the hall to where Rhea had been before. Rae set to work instantly on a tiny clod of mud. She picked at it with a fingernail, and plunged the brush into the bucket. She bent close to the floor, and concentrated frighteningly on the tiny little spot. Rhea stopped to watch her, unsure what she may do next. A tear dropped out of Rae´s eye onto the worn flagstones. She squeaked and pulled away from it.

`Bleeding!´ she yelped, slamming a hand to her eyes. `Bleeding!´

`It isn´t blood! Just water,´ Rhea cried, grabbing the girl around the shoulders to stop her rocking backwards and forwards.

`Tears?´ Rae said, peering out between her fingers.

`Tears. You´re very upset, but you didn´t kill her, and you aren´t dying. Don´t worry,´ Rhea said, patting her back.

`It´s not Nike that died,´ Rae said, in an odd moment of lucidity.

`Who did?´ Rhea asked, puzzled.

`No! Not "who". "What",´ Rae corrected, shaking her head, and sliding her hands down to press her palms together under her chin.

`Alright, what died?´ Rhea asked patiently.

`Hope,´ Rae said, looking up at the tiny storm drain, fifty feet above, which let light in. `Nike was victory. She was always hoping. Now no one has anything to base anything on.´

`No,´ Rhea said. `You´re wrong. We still have revenge.´

`Revenge,´ Rae growled, savouring it.

`Who´s guilty? Who ordered that all rebels should die?´

`Malfoy,´ Rae spat.

`Exactly!´ Rhea said happily, clapping twice. `And what do we do to him?´

`Kill him!´ Rae cried, punching the air.

They scrubbed a large area, and once they began to overlap others´ space they stood up. Rhea stretched her stiff arms, and screwed her eyes shut. The two of them went out of the hall and into the corridors.

`He´ll be here soon,´ Rhea said happily.

`I hope he doesn´t see the blood,´ Rae said, gazing at her hands. Rhea took her chin and lifted it up so that she couldn´t see her hands.

`There is no blood,´ she told her. `You didn´t do it. I thought we agreed on that!´

`Bloody,´ Rae insisted, wiping her hands on her skirt.

`I should get Tyger,´ Rhea muttered.

`Sunshine?´ Tyger said from a doorway, as though she had known.

`Tyger?´ Rae said, looking up. Rhea smiled in relief. Tyger could always take Rae´s mind off things.

`Happy?´ Tyger said.

`Sunshine´s quite sad, Tyger,´ Rhea told the girl. `She needs cheering up. Sorry, making happy.´

`Sunshine,´ Tyger said firmly. `Happy.´

`Happy Sunshine,´ Rae told her. `Happy Tyger?´

`Happy.´

`We have to put on happy clothes,´ Rae told the little child, taking her hand and starting toward the girls´ room. `The Leader is coming.´

`Happy?´ Tyger said, her little face lighting up through its scars.

`I hope so,´ Rae laughed, and Rhea smiled in relief. As she had never been foraging, she hadn´t known Nike. She couldn´t be sad, but she cared about Rae. Rae had to stay happy. It took about three people, who passed them then, to carry all the food Rae had brought back. That would feed lots of people. Rae had to stay as she was. If Rae went mad, like Tyger, then it wouldn´t be the same there anymore. There were only... Rhea ran over the names in her head. There were only eighty-nine people there now. She could name every single one of them. She knew who they really were, too. Many of them were coded, and had adopted their names to stop themselves getting found. Most of them were Hogwarts students from the beginning, twelve years ago. Of course, it had all closed then. Most of them were still at Hogwarts, but a few had fled. Apate was one of them.

Rae chattered to Tyger, blocking her sadness with caring for the little girl. She helped her put on her clean robes in black. Tyger marched around, nearly upright now. They had been working on that, and she was getting very good. She still curled automatically, but when she tried she could almost walked upright. Death Eaters´ blows to the spine rendered it almost impossible for her to ever walk properly again, but they could get close.

Rae pulled her own blue robes on, flicking dust off them. Rhea stood by, her red hair glowing against her greenish robes.

`Are you ready?´ she asked.

`Ready,´ Rae said. `Tyger?´

`Happy,´ Tyger said. She pulled on her sleeves to cover her hands, and Rae saw.

`Never be ashamed,´ she said firmly. `You - This, it´s proof of what we fight against. You are a really good banner for us, and we love you just how you are.´

`Sunshine?´ Tyger snuffled, shifting her broken hands. `Blood. No. Happy?´

`She´s saying that I shouldn´t be that way either, right?´ Rae asked sheepishly.

`It´s no more on your hands than Tyger broke her own hands,´ Rhea pressed.

`Maybe,´ Rae sighed. `Come on, I think I can hear something.´

The something turned out to be everyone falling silent and standing in lines. Rae, Tyger and Rhea joined on one end, and shuffled into silence.

Cloud and Bane tapped their spears sharply against the floor. Everyone looked over their shoulders, and saw Apate in her faded red robes walking up the middle of the hall, arm in arm with the Leader. When they reached the front she stood a little way before him, and addressed the crowd.

`Rebels of Diagon!´ she said, spreading her arms wide. `We are honoured today, as the Leader himself has come to address us!´

The Leader nodded, and cleared his throat. He stepped forward, and removed his glasses to polish them, casting twinkling green eyes over the gathered rebels.

`It´s wonderful to see that so many of you are still alive this close to the base,´ he said, replacing his glasses and flicking his black fringe. `I´m really glad that you haven´t gone over. You have a wonderful leader,´ he said, gesturing to Apate, who glowed. `And I know that we can make it between us. I may have to diminish your numbers later on, but apparently you have some people to present to me as being really great.´

He didn´t seem how he had always been made out. He was really normal. He wore red and gold robes over a white shirt and jeans, and his hair was all over the place.

`We have our best foragers, our best guards and a very special person to meet you,´ Apate said. `Foragers: Rae is our best, come here Rae,´ she said. Rae picked her way to the front, and gazed up into Harry Potter´s face. He gave her a small smile. `And we would have another to present you, but she died in service just today.´

Harry Potter bowed his head, then turned to Rae. `Thank you for your services to the cause. I´m sure many would be dead without what you have done.´ He shook her hand, and she tried to block against the cold wall of grief.

`Stay up here with us,´ Apate said. Rae nodded, and leaned against the wall, pressing her cheek to the cold stone. `Next, our best guards are Cloud and Dragon.´ Cloud came up from the entrance, and Dragon detached from a row near the back. Both of them looked awed and delighted, although they towered over Harry Potter.

`I´m so glad to meet you,´ Cloud said as he shook the Leader´s hand. Harry nodded, and Cloud leaned against the wall with Rae. He put an arm around her shoulders. `Buck up, Rae,´ he said, giving her shoulders a little squeeze.

`I don´t know if you heard about Tyger?´ Apate was saying to Harry.

`No, I don´t think so.´

`She was tortured to madness by the Death Eaters, then had her legs, arms, hands, fingers and feet broken. She was dropped in the river, but Rae found her,´ Apate explained. Harry cast a grateful glance at Rae.

`Tyger?´ Apate called. There was a soft chirruping, and Tyger stumbled out of the row.

She struggled to walk up the aisle, but would let no one help her. `Happy,´ she told them. She winced with every step, and a huge tear had formed by the time she got there. Harry rushed forward to help her, and the tear fell on his hand.

`Are you alright?´ he asked her, sitting her in Apate´s stone seat.

`Happy,´ Tyger nodded. She tried to wipe her face, but her wrists wouldn´t turn. She wailed, and tried again. Rae rushed forward automatically to wipe the tears away with her sleeve. `Sunshine?´ Tyger whimpered. `Hurt.´ She pointed at her leg.

`Hurt?´ Rae said. `Sunshine make it happy?´

`Happy,´ Tyger nodded.

`Why do you call her Sunshine?´ Harry said, addressing Tyger for once. Rae had noticed that no one else ever did.

`Happy,´ Tyger explained.

`She means that it´s a good name for me. A happy name,´ Rae translated. `I think it´s from Rae, ray, sunlight, Sunshine.´

Tyger nodded. `Happy.´

`Well, I´m happy too,´ Harry said, kneeling beside her. `Are you happy, Tyger?´

`Happy,´ Tyger insisted.

`I´m sorry I can´t stay longer but I want to go up into the city. Will you let some people who know the city come with me?´

`Take Rae,´ Apate said. `Where do you want to go?´

`I want to have a bit of a snoop around. We need to get an accurate idea of where the base is for when we come again.´

`You´ll never get close enough,´ Rae told him.

`We´ll be in disguise,´ he told her, winking.

`As Death Eaters? You know that´s punishable by death around here, right?´ Rae scorned. This man appeared to be incredibly stupid for a Leader.

`We can do it,´ he insisted.

`I´m not throwing a life of pain and hardship away to show you where a place is. You´ll die too. Especially you, they´ll torture you to death,´ Rae insisted, folding her arms.

`I´ll go alone, and get killed for being unsure where I am,´ Harry countered, and Rae found herself surprised. No one countered her death warning.

`Fine. I´ll go, but for when we die. I told you so,´ she hissed, eyes blazing.

`When we come back here perfectly safe, I ignored you so,´ Harry snapped.

Apate was looking totally scandalised. She was making `stop´ gestures wildly behind Harry´s back.

But Harry´s tanned face broke into a grin, and he took off his cloak, putting it around Rae´s shoulders. It was warm. She gasped slightly, as the heat burnt her skin.

`We have some clothes to get. We´re going outside, and I wouldn´t want you going out there in just those robes. It´s November.´ He offered her his arm, and they walked out of the hall. Once in the entrance he stopped her again. `I´ll just follow you. Try to stay out of the habit of creeping.´

Rae nodded, gulping down more death warnings. She knew she wouldn´t make it out of this side of today. This Potter guy would die too, and the rebellion would crumble into a bunch of thieves. They would all be caught and killed, and she would lose everyone she had ever loved, including herself.

Without a further word, she slipped into the sloping tunnel and pulled herself along the rungs of the ladder. She could hear Harry behind her, and resisted the urge to shout that he was stupid. She grabbed the grate under the bridge and used it to swing herself into the shallows, lifting the cloak out as she went. She went up into the soaking, frozen mud along the bridge wall. Harry was right behind her. For what he was, he seemed surprisingly unaffected. He tramped through the mud and joined her by the wall.

`Stay here until it appears,´ he told her, then ran out into the road over the bridge. He muttered something, and a huge purple bus appeared from nowhere. Harry beckoned her, and making the sign against evil she trotted up to it and got on. It was full of beds, but no people. Harry handed her a bundle of soft black robes, a hairbrush and some shoes. `There´s a basin on the top level, you can wash off a bit.´

She padded up the stairs, heart pounding and mouth wide. She washed herself clean in the warm scented water, then pulled on the robes with an odd detachment. The first layer was a gown of soft black cotton. She wormed her way into it, and turned around several times, trying to reach around and do it up. She gave up before long, and brushed her hair. It looked sort of shiny and nice when it had been washed. Realising she could stall no longer with the back of her gown, she reached around with both hands, but couldn´t even figure out how it was done up, let alone do it.

Suddenly she felt cold hands against her spine, and a tightening in the fabric around her waist, and then all the way up. She shifted it slightly, and turned to see whom it was, holding her stomach, which was now squashed into the gown. Harry grinned at her. She gave a little laugh, and tugged at the dress.

`It may be a little odd at first,´ he said thoughtfully. `Try the shoes now.´

They were sort of chunky and long. She pushed her feet into them, and squeaked at the feeling. It was all heavy on the ends of her legs. Harry knelt down and zipped the sides of the boots, as he called them. She whimpered and shrank, but he wouldn´t let her take them off. She pulled the Death Eater robes on, and a black cloak.

`Just two more things,´ Harry said. `Can I have your arm?´

Puzzled, she held out her arm to him. He turned it over, and pressed his hand against the white skin of her forearm. It tingled slightly, and when he took it away, there was an ugly mark emblazoned across it- a skull with a snake coming from its mouth. Rae jumped back, but it followed. She tried to scratch at it, but all that did was hurt. She began to cry. It was leering at her...

`Stop!´ Harry said, clutching her wrist. `It isn´t real!´

She looked like a cornered animal, and he was unwilling to get closer. Her arm was twitching angrily.

`It´s so we don´t die.´

She calmed a little. `Save us?´

`Yes,´ Harry said. `Now hold still.´ He held up a hand in front of her face, and she struggled with herself not to bolt. There was a flash of light, and she could feel something on her face. He stepped aside, and she could see in the mirror. She shouted out again. There was someone who was almost her, but not quite. This person had black lines around her eyes, and red lips. She reached up to pull this person off her face, but Harry grabbed her arms again. He looked angry this time.

`Stop that!´ he shouted. `This is the disguise, okay?´

She shook her head, but he stayed firm. In the end she nodded, and they walked down the stairs. Harry saluted the driver and they stepped down onto the road. The bus promptly vanished.

`Now, where is this place?´ Harry said.