Twilight to Dusk

Chapter Two: Contemplations

Listening to the soft voices coming from his daughter's room, Harry frowned. With Ari in the house, the intense silence was abnormal. Normal would be to hear bangs, shouts and laughter. To have to run up every five minutes acting like he was angry, telling the girls off. How much they had changed in an afternoon.

He sank down onto the couch and put his head in his hands. What had he done to deserve all this? His own troubled childhood ... then to have a daughter who, though she didn't know it yet, would have one just as troubled. Had he sinned horribly in a former life?

Then there was Ginny. She seemed so much more irritable lately. Overwork, Harry felt sure. But it worried him. She was working so much - leaving early in the morning and often not getting back home until past midnight. She was working on the case with Ema, the case with Ari, trying to collect enough evidence to get Ronnie out of Draco Malfoy's house. She does too much for Ema, Harry thought. Then he felt bad for thinking it.

He loved Ema, but he just didn't understand her. She was nothing like him, nothing like Ginny either. In personality she resembled Fred and George the most. Harry liked his brothers-in-law very much, but he wasn't sure how he felt about having a daughter who was so similar to them.

Then, of course, there was him - Harry. Maybe it was work that was getting to him, maybe his daughter. Maybe Ginny. But he felt tired and stressed.

He couldn't fool himself. He knew what it was. It was that he had thought that after killing Lord Voldemort, his adventures would be over. He would give anything for that to be the case ...

He who with the Dark one vied
Who cut bonds which once were tied,
Uncovered truth where once were lies,
The son of Potter will be trapped and die.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" asked Ari, looking at Ema.

Ema was lying flat on her back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. "I think there's a crack on the ceiling," she said, pointing.

Ari rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you can't bear to be serious under any circumstances, can you?"

"No," said Ema, using her most predictable response.

"Fine, I'll start, if you can't bear to," said Ari. She smiled as Ema sat up, seemingly unable to tolerate being second.

"Alright, alright," said Ema. "Putting it simply, something's up with Jamie and Sarah. I think it had to do with their eyes. Mr. Ollivander pulled a - well, an Ollivander, and gave Sarah a wand that he clearly knew was going to be hers. What's it all about?"

"Did you see the box?" asked Ari, feeling chills go down her spine thinking about it.

"Maybe," said Ema guardedly. "Or not," she admitted as Ari looked at her.

"It was green on one half, and blue on the other. On the green half there was a part of a bronze eagle, but it changed to a silver snake on the blue part. There. What do you make of that?" She fixed Ema with a piercing stare, and her blue eyes seemed to deepen.

Ema looked confused, then thoughtful. Then her eyes widened and she stared at Ari. "Slytherin," she said, "and Ravenclaw?"

Ari nodded. "I'm sure of it. Look at their eyes. One's green, the other's blue, right? Why do I feel there's another prophecy involved?"

"Damn, not another one," grumbled Ema.

Ari agreed. They had had enough prophecies over the previous school year alone to last them a lifetime.

"A dark lord," said Ema quietly.

So quietly, in fact, that even though she had heard it quite clearly, Ari wasn't sure if Ema had really said it. "Sorry?"

"A dark lord," said Ema more loudly. "It has to be, hasn't it?"

"I don't understand," said Ari. "Ema, even Ravenclaws need something to work off of, so could you please explain what you're on about?"

"It has to do with a dark lord," said Ema. "But I don't know which one. Gothy or Voldie, I mean."

"But Voldie's dead and gone," said Ari, still trying to figure out what Ema was trying to say.

"Yes, but ... it's weird, isn't it? All the prophecies we hear have something to do with one of them, but we never actually know which, do we? I mean, we call Gothy the Dark Lord, you know, capitalized and all. But my mum and dad call Voldie the Dark Lord, so, when you think about it, any prophecy that says The Dark Lord in it could mean either one. Am I making sense?"

"I get what you're saying;" said Ari slowly, "but I don't know why you're saying it."

"Well, what if Voldie's not really gone?" asked Ema. "What if there's a part of him still around? What if it's not Gothy who's after me at all? What if it's Voldie?"

Ari thought that sounded a bit far-fetched. Being incurably curious she had thoroughly researched Voldemort's downfall. She knew of the prophecy concerning him and Mr. Potter. "The prophecy about your dad, though, says that Voldie will be destroyed."

"Yes, but prophecies don't always come true completely," said Ema, displaying a look of thoughtfulness that Ari had never seen on her friend's face before.

For some reason this made Ari upset. She wanted to scream at Ema, to make the real Ema come back. The Ema who had helped her get revenge on her math teacher by putting frogs in her drawer, who had 'accidentally' broken her bedroom window when Ari was grounded, allowing her to get out of the house. Who had suffered through detention after detention with her. Her childhood friend since practically before she was born. She didn't want that to change, ever.

But she swallowed all this. "The prophecy says '... and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives,'" she said, having accidentally memorized it.

"But it also says, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord ... ' it doesn't say the one who will vanquish the Dark Lord. And besides -" a look of gloom crossed Ema's face "-which dark lord does it mean?"

And, finally, Ari understood. "You don't mean...?"

Ema nodded. "It's possible. Maybe he's going to either kill or be killed by Gothy, not Voldie."

"I don't know," said Ari, feeling confused. "Are you forgetting the Twin Prophecy? Are you forgetting the Twilight Prophecy? How about that verse about you? How you'll show us how to kill Goth - I mean, a dark lord?"

"Yes, but still. Which one? I need proof that it's Gothy. It honestly might be Voldie."

"What does this have to do with Jamie?"

Ema shrugged. "Nothing, really. It was a tangent, but it poses a lot of other problems for us."

Ari stared at the ground. She couldn't believe this could be happening. All she'd ever believed, ever knew, was crumbling beneath her. She was just getting to grips with having to go off killing Gothy. Somehow Voldemort, being the senior to Margothten, seemed a much bigger obstacle.

* * *

Alexa entered her daughter's room cautiously.

Ari was sitting at her desk, scribbling what looked like the thousandth copy of one letter. She looked up as Alexa cleared her throat.

"Um, hello, dear," said Alexa. She hated feeling so reluctant to talk to her own daughter. But the truth was, it was a risk going anywhere near Ari lately. Alexa couldn't blame her daughter for her attitude. She knew that she'd acted pretty idiotic. Why did she feel the need to throw herself at the first guy who came by?

"What?" asked Ari. Her voice was not sharp, but it was cool and reserved.

Alexa hated the indifference of the response. Ari wasn't looking at her, but she felt sure that the same apathy would be mirrored in her eyes.

She was wrong. Had she managed to look Ari in the face, she would have seen the pain there.

"I'm off to the doctor's," said Alexa, in what she hoped was a light voice. "Little Baby Parker is really kicking."

"Little Baby Parker, now, is it?" snapped Ari. "Yeah, this is a nice little family. There's beautiful Alexa Parker, Little Baby Parker, and then the oddball, Arwen DeLingues. And I wonder how Ari got her name. Maybe it's because of a father she's never heard about. Now Little Baby Parker is also fatherless, because beautiful Alexa Parker has no sensitivity."

"Look Ari," said Alexa. "I'm sorry, I really am. I know what I did was stupid, and I've blamed myself since January. I understand why you're angry at me, but can you please make an effort? There's no way you could understand how it feels to me."

"Yes," said Ari. "You know why? Because I'm a child, remember? Or at least, I was. How would you like it if someone took away your childhood? Because that's what you're doing to me."

"There's nothing I can do to stop you from thinking that," said Alexa, feeling very upset but trying not to show it. "But I'd like you to know that you're wrong."

* * *

"Dad? Can we talk?"

Harry jerked his head up from where he had been writing a report for the office. Ema was standing in the doorway in her silky blue pajamas, her hair as static as ever, green eyes looking tired and confused.

Looking into her eyes, Harry suddenly felt very self-conscious. He knew that those were his eyes, and wondered whether he looked that intense when he stared at other people.

"Sure, honey, shoot," he said, trying to be fatherly. He suddenly realized how long it had been since he'd talked to Ema. Really talked, not just meaningless conversations.

Ema sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands. "What's going on?" she asked finally.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Harry, knowing perfectly well what.

To his surprise, Ema did not glare at him, did not snap, whine, or badger him. But when she looked up, she looked older than he'd ever seen her.

"With me," she said, catching Harry by surprise. He'd been sure that this was about Jamie and her sister - what was her name? - Sarah.

"With you," he repeated, looking at her.

"Yes, with me. And with Ari. And with Jamie and Sarah. And with you." She stared right into his eyes. "I want to know. I have a right to know. They're my friends. And guess what? You're my father."

Harry knew she was right, but it didn't make it any easier to tell her. "We - we're not sure," he said, truthfully enough. "The Aurors are working on it, of course, but ... Ema, please try to understand. I don't want to tell you until Ginny gives me the okay. It's probably best if she tells you anyway. We don't want to tell you the wrong thing."

Ema nodded.

Again, Harry was shocked. This was not like Ema, not to poke and prod and annoy him endlessly until she was told all she wanted to know.

"Do you promise me you'll tell me when you find out?" asked Ema. Suddenly, she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. "I need to know."

And Harry was surprised at the sudden change that had come over his daughter. She went from seeming ten years her senior to about six years her junior. Tears were spilling out of her eyes and she rocked back and forth, looking like a six-year-old during a thunderstorm. Only the thunderstorm was so much more deadly.

* * *

Ema couldn't stop the tears that were pouring out of her eyes. She was so frightened. She didn't know what was happening, what could happen. If it was Margothten, not Voldemort, who the old prophecy spoke about, then her father could be in mortal peril. For some reason, this scared her more than the thought of her own death.

"I just don't know what's going on," she sobbed to her father.

"I know, I know," said Harry, getting up and putting an arm around her. "But hey, what's happened to Ema? All I see is a miserable girl."

Ema sniffed and leaned against him, grateful to have a father while ignoring the corniness. "Promise me," she said. "You have to promise that you'll tell me when you find out."

"Either your mother or I will tell you. I promise," he said.

"Good," said Ema, wiping her eyes and standing up. "Or I'd have to dismember you, put your limbs in a grinder and flush it all down the toilet, keeping only your brain which I would feed to -"

"Alright, silly," said Harry, looking relieved that she was sounding more like herself.

* * *

Ginny dragged her feet up the stairs to her house. She couldn't believe that she'd been away all night.

"A-alohomora," she yawned. The spell didn't work due to her lack of concentration. Grumbling, she pulled a key out of her pocket, and let herself in the long way.

"Ginny?"

She stopped in her tracks, squinting around. Harry was sitting on the couch in the living room, the light from the hall reflecting on his eyes making them look unnatural.

"Harry!" exclaimed Ginny. "What are you doing up? It's four in the morning."

"Couldn't sleep," said Harry, looking at her.

Ginny smiled coyly. "Missed me?" she asked, sitting down next to him and putting her arm over his shoulders. Seeing his lack of enthusiasm, she grew serious. "Or not."

"Of course I missed you," said Harry, smiling a bit. "But that's not why I couldn't sleep."

"Hey, Harry, I was only joking," said Ginny, feeling uncertain. "I'm not going to force you to make passionate love with me."

Harry grinned. "Nice try," he said, kissing her neck.

"Yes, yes," said Ginny nodding and giggling. "I'll never be rid of you, will I? But I've got to go to bed right now or risk sleeping right here."

"Right," said Harry. "I'll come up with you. Keep you company."

"A bit too eager, aren't you?" said Ginny, giggling and feeling much more awake. Somehow she didn't want to wake up anymore - she didn't want to know why Harry couldn't sleep. She pushed it out of her mind for now.

* * *

Ema knocked on Ari's door the next morning in a melancholy mood. There was too much for her to deal with right now.

"Ema!" cried Ari, opening the door and glancing at her watch. "What are you doing here? It's before midday. You're not due up for another three or four hours."

"Shut up, DeLingues," said Ema, smiling a bit. It felt good to see her friend. "Want to go for a walk?"

Ari raised her eyebrows, but nodded. "Sure," she said.

Ema waited while she scribbled a note to her mum.

"Not that she cares," said Ari bitterly.

"Want to go down to the pond?" asked Ema.

"Wow, something's definitely up," said Ari. "Sure, we'll go there."

The pond was Ema and Ari's special place; it was the place each had always associated with the other.

Ema followed Ari down the street, catching up in a couple skipping steps.

It was a beautiful day. The sky was a bright, clear, blue, the grass as green as Ema had ever seen it. There were flowers of all sorts blooming, adding splashes of every color imaginable to the green.

The pond looked as welcoming as ever as they approached. It had acquired a few more lily pads since the last time they had been by. Even without the lilies, however, the pond itself was green with algae. It sat in a ditch, surrounded by huge green trees.

It looked more magical than ever, in Ema's opinion. The bright sun shining through the green leaves caused a wonderful green-gold light, coupled with the patterns of the shadows of the leaves on the ground.

It was almost silent, except for the occasional chirp of a bird or croak of a frog.

Ari flopped down onto the grass and Ema lay down beside her.

"So?" asked Ari, seemingly unable to contain her curiosity. "What's up? Did you find anything else out?"

"No," said Ema. "I asked Dad, but he said they didn't know. The Aurors don't even know yet. They're working on it. He promised that he'd tell me when they found out. I just hope he keeps that promise."

"Did you ask your mum?" asked Ari.

"No, she got home late and she's still sleeping. So is Dad."

Ari sighed. "Well, there's no point worrying about it, then. Not until we know for sure."

Ema nodded. "In that case ... " She tackled Ari and they rolled laughing, right into the dirty pond.

* * *

"So, I'm awake now," said Ginny. "Tell me why you were up all night."

Harry seemed unsure how to explain his problem. "It's Ema," he said finally. "She came down last night ... "

He told Ginny the entire episode. "She looked so frightened. She's guessed something, and I don't know what. She didn't fight or anything when I told her that I wasn't telling her yet."

Ginny sighed. This was worse than she thought. "We can't tell her," she said slowly, "because we might not tell her the right thing. Yet, if she's guessing ... I don't know, Harry, we don't want her frightened, but ... "

"I know," said Harry. "That's what I told her. Well, sort of. I won't tell her, don't worry."

Ginny snuggled closer to Harry, who put his arm around her, making her feel the luckiest woman in the world.

At that moment, Ema and Ari came through the door, dripping wet. And not just with water. Ema had algae hanging from her ear and in her hair; Ari looked just as green, with lilies poking out of her socks.

"Um, hello?" said Ginny, breaking apart from Harry and looking at the girls with a stern frown, but secretly feeling very pleased that Ema was goofing off like she used to do. "Did we or did we not have a rule about that pond?"

Ema and Ari looked at each other and started to giggle. "Maybe?" said Ema.

"Possibly," said Ari.

They grinned at Harry and Ginny.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine," she said. "Ema, please go up and change. Ari, either change at home, or borrow some of Ema's stuff."

The girls trudged upstairs, laughing like maniacs.

"Well," said Harry, looking at Ginny.

"Honestly, those two," said Ginny exasperatedly.

"You can't pretend you're not glad to see Ema so happy," said Harry slyly.

"That's not fair," complained Ginny. "Of course I am. I would just prefer it if she was happy minus the rule-breaking."

"Well, I'm glad no matter what it involves," said Harry. "But I guess we should talk to her later," he added reluctantly.

"I suppose," said Ginny. She looked at Harry and suddenly they burst into laughter.

"We sound so much like parents!" said Ginny. "That's so funny."

"Very interesting. Should we write a script for how to scold her? I always thought that teachers did that."

"Now Ema, your despicable conduct was a disgraceful way of acting ..." Ginny giggled and kissed him, happier than she'd been in a while.

"Let's just forget about all this evil crap," said Harry. "I think that we should ... I don't know ... I'll take you out to dinner."

"Sure thing, lima bean," said Ginny, causing Harry to roll his eyes at the stupid little rhyme.

* * *

"Ema! Are you ready to go?"

Ema jumped up from her desk, feeling very confused. "Erm ... almost!" she lied, bounding to her closet and yanking a pair of jeans out.

"Have you showered?" her mother's voice came from downstairs.

"Um ... not exactly!" shouted Ema.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and Ginny appeared in the doorway. "Ema!" she snapped, exasperatedly. "I asked you to get ready half an hour ago."

"I know, I know!" said Ema desperately. "I fell asleep." It was true. She had told her mum that she would be ready to go to Ari's in half an hour, but had sat down at her desk to read the last half paragraph of her book and crashed on the cover of it.

"You fell asleep?" Ginny looked concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes," said Ema distractedly. "I don't know what happened. Listen, you go ahead. I'll shower and run over to Ari's."

"No," said Ginny. "We'll wait. I don't want you here alone."

"I'm twelve! I can look after myself," said Ema, looking frantic.

"I don't doubt it," said Ginny, laughing. "I doubt the state of the house if I leave you. Now go and shower. Hurry!" She aimed a playful smack at her daughter, who squealed and rushed to the bathroom.

Ema started the water and yanked her clothes off, practically diving into the tub and nearly killing herself. She got herself damp, dabbing a bit of soap on herself, pretending like she was actually getting clean, and poured nearly an entire bottle of shampoo on her head.

"Eek!" she squeaked as about three tablespoons of it got in her eyes.

Finally, she emerged, her hair sobbing and soaking her royal blue tee shirt. She rushed to her room, pulled on mismatching socks, ran a comb through her hair, grabbed her overnight bag, and dashed downstairs.

"Okay, ready," she panted. Then she started, staring at her parents. "Wow," she said, grinning.

"Shut up," said Ginny, though laughing herself.

Ema continued to stare. Ginny was wearing a slim cut navy blue set of robes that made her thick red hair stand out even more. She looked young and happy, looking at Harry with such love that Ema had to stop herself from pretending to puke, just to annoy them.

Harry was looking very smart in a set of dark, forest green robes. He had his arm around Ginny and was grinning like a little boy in love.

"Well," said Ema. "Have fun, kids! Don't be out too late. I think we might want to have a curfew ... I don't think eleven o'clock is at all unreasonable ... ack!"

She had been attacked by her father who was tickling her mercilessly. "Hee, hee! Stop ... stop! Oh ... eeek!"

"Alright, you little wart," said Harry, letting her go and laughing. "You're going to Ari's now. And no more cheek, please."

"Alright then," said Ema. "Kids."

Ginny gave her a playful kick in the behind, and they walked down the street to Ari's house.

* * *

If Ema had expected to meet an Ari who was as happy-go-lucky as she felt, she thought wrong. Ari was in a towering temper when they knocked on the door.

"Come on," she snapped at Ema, stomping up to her room.

Ema turned to Ginny and Harry and shrugged. "See you tomorrow," she said.

Ginny nodded. "Right." She kissed Ema's forehead.

"Yeah, see you," said Harry. He gave her a hug and whispered, "Be nice to Ari tonight, I have the feeling this has something to do with her mum."

* * *

"So ... what's up?" asked Ema cautiously.

Ari whirled around, tears in her eyes. "This is so unfair!" she yelled. "Nothing I think matters, it's all about her. She's gone and started writing to friends, asking if they can take me. Take me. As in keep me for a summer - next summer, that is - while she takes care of the baby."

"You're not serious," said Ema. "Why didn't she ask us?"

"Because," shouted Ari, "you're too close. She thinks it's best if I go somewhere farther away to get over it."

"I'm sorry," said Ema, not knowing what to think. She was upset that Ari might not be her neighbor for a summer, but she wondered whether Miss Parker might be right - that Ari might need to just get away.

"It's like this is my problem!" ranted Ari. "If she's going to sell someone off, why doesn't she sell Little Baby Parker? I've been here twelve years, and she can just siphon me off like a sack of potatoes." She started to cry.

"I really am sorry," said Ema, putting a bony arm around Ari's shoulders. "But is it such a bad thing? I mean, you've been pretty unhappy here, haven't you?"

"Yes, but - but -" Ari looked confused "- I'm angry at her, I am, but I'm not angry at the baby. I want to see it, I want to be able to be a sister. I don't want to be second to it and I don't want to leave and let it get all the attention. I know it sounds selfish but it's true. I can't take it."

Ema sighed. It looked like this was going to be a long night.

* * *

" ... so she's so upset, and I don't know what she's going to do." Ema finished telling her parents about her night.

Harry sighed. "I like Ari a lot," he said. "But her fiery spirit has got her in trouble this time. I don't blame her mother, really, for trying to find somewhere else for Ari. Think about it Em. Alexa - Miss Parker to you - hasn't been exactly happy about this either. And Ari - understandably, don't get me wrong - hasn't been exactly sensitive about it."

"I know," said Ema, surprising Harry yet again with her maturity. "I know. I sort of told her that. Except that I said that maybe it's better for her because she hasn't been happy here. I'm trying really hard, but I can't do it all."

Ginny gave her daughter a hug. "Hey, it's alright," she said. "You don't have to do it all. You certainly don't have to be the go between. Let Alexa and Ari work this out on their own. They will work it out, honey, just give it time."

Ema nodded. "I'm going upstairs," she said. "Get some more sleep."

When she was gone, Harry turned to Ginny. "She's dealing with too much," he said.

Ginny nodded. "I know," she sighed. "But it's not even close to what she will have to deal with later."