Harry Potter and the Last Goodnight

Chapter 38: At the Stroke of Midnight

Harry and Eva watched the black and white movie in silence. The theater had only a few other people in it. Clearly, it wasn't the activity of choice on a New Years Eve afternoon. Harry liked the quiet though, and he liked being close to Eva. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he could smell her hair and the herbal shampoo she'd used at the Weasleys. The popcorn between them had been long forgotten. She had barely touched it, and when Harry offered her some candy, she said she wasn't hungry. He tried not to feel overly concerned about it - after all, she'd been bitten by a werewolf a week ago. She couldn't be expected to bounce back too quickly.

At one point, Harry actually got interested in the movie. It was about a woman who immigrated to the United States from Serbia, and every time she felt any passionate emotions, she would turn into a leopard and kill people. She always had to control her emotions, just like Harry had learned to do through his Occlumency lessons. He turned to Eva, about to whisper some clever comment, but it was soon forgotten.

She had fallen asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. Her chest was rising evenly with every breath. Harry smiled in the darkness and kissed her forehead. He pulled his coat from the empty seat next to him, and draped it across her body, tucking it beneath her chin. She stirred, but snuggled closer to him. She deserved a nap. He couldn't see her making it past midnight to the New Year without one.

The movie ended poorly, but Harry didn't watch a lot of it. He had learned a few days ago that he could spend hours watching Eva sleep.

Life was going to be so different for her now. From what he knew about Remus's transformation, Eva would be out of commission for nearly a week every month. He wondered if she really realized the enormity of her situation. She had to be terrified. Harry was even afraid for her.

Perhaps he could do what the Marauders had done with Remus. He could train to be an Animagus. Then maybe he could be there with her, somehow, so she wouldn't have to be alone. But that was a big maybe.

She felt so warm against him and looked so peaceful. Harry wished he could stay in the dark movie theater with his arms around her forever. If only this one moment of normalcy could last. Suddenly, he remembered his Timepiece watch.

Careful not to rouse her, Harry reached around to his wrist that was behind Eva's shoulders, and pressed the button. "In memoria redire sensusus," he whispered.

Unfortunately, he didn't know what the watch did to capture the moment. There was a soft popping sound, like a pocket of air had been stepped on, and a sudden flash of light, as though someone had taken a picture with an old camera. He was afraid that the other people in the theater would turn around and look at him, or say something, but they didn't seem to notice.

When the lights in the theater turned back on, Eva woke up and quickly pulled away from him. He laughed. She looked bewildered. There was still sleep in her eyes as she squinted in the dim light. "Oops," she said hoarsely. She slipped his coat off and handed it to him. "I guess I passed out."

Harry grinned. "It's all right. It wasn't too boring."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to leave you alone in a bad movie."

"I wasn't alone." He stood up and stretched, throwing his coat on. He checked his watch. "I guess we'd better get going. Everyone will have a fit if we're late, and we've still got to take the Underground."

She nodded. He took Mrs. Weasley's heavy coat and held it open for Eva to slip her arms into. He reached around in front of her, closing each of the buttons slowly - deliberately. He could feel her breath quicken as his fingertips grazed her breasts. His hands trailed, somewhat clumsily, down to her waist, then below her hips, to where he buttoned the last button. By that time, he was glad there was no one left in the theater to see him blushing.

The two of them walked out silently of the theater, holding hands. They were greeted by the sunlight streaming through the streets of London. They both shaded their eyes until they adjusted to the bright afternoon. It was a clear day, yet crisp and cold. The kind of cold that cut right through to a person's bones.

"I have a confession to make," Harry said quietly.

"What's that?" Eva questioned, pulling her mittens on over her frigid fingers.

"I've never taken the Underground before."

"It's interesting," she replied. "Quite fun, actually." She gestured to a ramp leading to the subway below the streets. "Come on." She grinned up at him, her face still red. Whether it was from the cold or Harry's touch in the theater, he couldn't be sure.

Still linked, they quickly made their way to the Underground. Eva showed him where to buy a pass, and the two of them were on a car heading for Down Street Station in no time. It was nearly packed to capacity, with lone travelers on their way back to their careers after far too short of a holiday. Some were families, on their way to other parts of London. There were other couples, like Harry and Eva, who held each other close.

A seat opened up, and Harry motioned for her to sit down. She shook her head, and pushed him down in the hard plastic seat, then sat in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and clasped them tightly together. His fingers were cold - he'd forgotten his gloves at the Weasleys.

Riding the Underground proved to be the time Harry most felt like a normal Muggle. He blended in. He was anonymous. He was just a normal teenager riding the subway on a normal afternoon, with a normal girl in his lap. But he wasn't a normal teenager. He was a wizard, and not even a normal wizard at that.

But it was fun to pretend.

Down Street Station came along all too soon. Harry and Eva got off the car, then quickly made their way to the street above. Harry checked his watch. "We're right on schedule." He led her to the next block, then peered around the corner. "It's this way," Harry whispered. He could remember where Diagon Alley was from when Hagrid took him there before he started at Hogwarts. It was his first introduction to the wizarding world and all of the interesting characters in it.

He led her to a small, rundown inn on Charing Cross road. The Leaky Cauldron was between a bookstore and a record dealer, a link to the wizarding world from its Muggle counterpart. Harry pulled Eva inside the smoke-filled pub and squinted at the tables, searching for the Weasleys. After all, they shouldn't have been hard to find. Their heads of red hair were like beacons on a stormy night.

"Glad you made it on time." Harry turned around and saw Remus, Molly, Arthur, Nora, and Ginny sitting at a table behind them, near the back of the pub and closer to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief that they weren't the last ones there and took a seat at the table, after pulling a chair out for Eva to sit in, next to her sister. "Where's Tonks?" he asked.

"She had to go the New Years dinner at Hogwarts," Remus said quietly. "As Professor Leurre, of course. She's got to keep up appearances. She dropped your things off at the Burrow," he told Eva.

"Thank you, Remus," she added. "For everything."

He grinned. "No problem."

"You were lucky mum wasn't there," Ginny said. "I can't imagine her giving permission for you two to go out on your own. When Remus told her what he did, she nearly hopped on the next taxi to go find you."

Harry frowned. Was it really that serious? Were the anonymous streets of Muggle London so dangerous? Or was Molly simply overreacting?

* * *

After everyone had their fill of the finest cuisine Diagon Alley had to offer, everyone decided to split up, then meet outside of Flourish and Blotts to watch the twins' fireworks display. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Eva, and Nora decided to go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for desert.

They got up from their seats and Harry led the way out of the back door of the Leaky Cauldron to a brick wall. He tapped it, three up, two across, just as Hagrid had done years ago. The wall separated into an archway, revealing the entrance into Diagon Alley.

"Wow." Eva gasped in wonder at the long cobbles street that lay before them. There weren't tables with colorful umbrellas outside, as there had been during Harry's visit during the summer. And instead of the sidewalks merely being panked down with shopper's footsteps, like when he saw the twins' joke shop, the streets were neatly plowed and decorated for the New Year. There were snow statues and ice sculptures outside of every store, welcoming patrons with tidings of cheer and warm wishes for the New Year. "This is amazing. It's much bigger than Hogsmeade," Eva said.

Harry grinned. "Well, you've shown me London. It's only fair that I show you the wizarding side of it."

On the way to the parlor, they ran into some more people from Hogwarts. Part of Harry was relieved that Nora was with them so that Eva could be introduced as her sister and not as his girlfriend. Girlfriend-was it official yet? The title made his heart beat faster. He hadn't thought about what other people might think if they saw him with Eva. He was more anxious for her sake than his own. Ginny's words kept haunting him. Anyone who dates you is going to be famous too. Eva was still recovering from the attack; she didn't need the added stress of being in the public eye.

By the time they made it to the ice cream parlor, Neville, Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott of Hufflepuff had joined them. They chose a table in the back, where they were far away from the ears of any eavesdroppers. The parlor was bustling with excitement, so their small group would be overlooked. Many people had stopped in for a spot of hot cocoa or some Super Steaming Ice Cream, a substance that had the same consistency as ice cream, but was warm instead of cold.

"Listen, Harry," Ernie said quietly, "a few of us have been worried about D.A. You're not quitting, are you?"

Harry cleared his throat and glanced at Nora, who had overheard them. "It's okay," she said. "I know what it is."

"What what is?" Eva asked, trying to hide a yawn by covering her mouth with her hand. Her other hand was intertwined with Harry's, hidden discreetly in his lap.

"D.A. Dumbledore's army," she replied.

Shocked, Harry stared at the first-year in amazement. "How do you know?"

"Dennis told me," Nora said sheepishly. "And Seamus asked me if I'd be interested in joining."

"What?!"

"That's the thing, Harry," Ernie continued. "We've been recruiting a little." He glanced at Hannah. "We've got quite a few more people interested. Mostly first-years, a few older ones. And some others..."

Harry could tell from his uneasiness that he was hiding something. "Others?" Now, everyone at the table, including Ron and Ginny, exchanged fleeting looks. They all knew something he didn't. Clearly, he'd been kept in the dark about something. "What is it?"

Everyone looked at Ron, who didn't open his mouth until Ginny elbowed him in the side. "Well, we've got one... well, someone from Slytherin."

"What?!" Harry cried. "How did they even find out?"

All eyes suddenly focused on Neville, who turned red in the face. "When I was speaking to a select group of first-years about it, I didn't realize that one of those first-years was wearing green."

Harry tried to stifle the anger that rose into his chest. Neville could have ruined it for them all! If the Slytherins, especially Malfoy, found out about their group, they could be in some serious jeopardy.

"It's Benjamin Ross," Nora said quietly. "He's okay, really. I don't know why he's in Slytherin."

"I'm sure there's a reason," Harry muttered. "But it doesn't matter. We can't have first-years. They're too young. They don't know much about magic yet, especially the Dark Arts. It's too dangerous."

"But Harry, how do you expect us to be ready when the battle comes if we've only had a few years of lessons under our belt?" Nora questioned. "We need somebody to teach us."

He shook his head. He couldn't be responsible for a pack eleven-year-olds as well as his closest friends in D.A. He wasn't a teacher. He was only blindly trying to educate his friends for something that could save their lives in the future. "I'm sorry, Nora. It's just not going to happen. You can't be in D.A."

Nora pouted. Eva had been listening to the whole conversation about the war as if she knew what had been going on all along. Suddenly, she asked, "Just what exactly is Dumbledore's Army?"

Harry turned to face her. "Do you know about the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes we have to take?" She nodded. He guessed that Nora had probably written pages to her about it. "Well, it's almost like an extension of the class. We get together and practice it."

"We do more than that," Ron interrupted. "Harry does more than that. He teaches us new spells and how to use them. He teaches us what to do in the face of danger. He's teaching us how to defend ourselves in the future."

"And sometimes I get them all into trouble, too," Harry said bitterly, thinking back to the battle in the Department of Mysteries. "It's not all magic and spells and fun and games."

"Where can I sign up?" Eva asked. She gave him a small reassuring smile.

Harry, however, frowned. "You can't. You're just a Muggle."

His words hurt her more than he realized. She held Harry's gaze for a moment, and he thought he could see anger in her eyes. But she turned away before he could be sure. "I see," she said shortly. And was it just his imagination, or did her hand loosen a little from his grip?

"But we are still meeting, aren't we, Harry?" Ernie asked. "D.A. is still active?"

He looked away from Eva, troubled. "Yes, of course. I've just been distracted. But now, in the new term, we'll be meeting more often. I promise." He hoped that Eva didn't think he was saying that she was a distraction. She was, but she wasn't the reason there hadn't been any D.A. meetings. "It was just difficult, with Remedial Potions and Quidditch and a few detentions." He cleared his throat.

A clock chimed somewhere inside the parlor. Ron consulted his watch. "I've got to go. I promised Fred and George I'd help them set up the fireworks. I'll be lucky if I don't get a limb blown off," he muttered, standing up.

Hannah, Neville, and Ernie got up as well, saying they had to get back to their families. Nora wanted to go look at Fred and George's joke shop, and Ginny offered to take her off Eva's hands until midnight. Eva was grateful. She would have been content to sit around until the fireworks began.

"You look exhausted," Harry said simply, once everyone had left the table.

She yawned, this time not hiding it. "I am. Even after my nap." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Harry could still see that she was put off by his declaration of her Muggle status.

"Are you angry with me?" Harry questioned.

From the way she hesitated, he could see she was. "Do you really think that we Muggles are no good to you in fighting Voldemort?"

Harry had never heard her speak the Dark Lord's name before. It felt sinful coming from her mouth. He thought for a moment. "I think you need to fight fire with fire. Magic with magic. A Muggle just isn't going to cut it." It was what he truly believed. Muggles would only get in the way. They were weak and helpless in a magical fight. "Is this because I said you couldn't be in D.A.?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "Look, Eva, it's a bunch of us in a classroom doing spellwork late at night. Even if you did manage to get to Hogwarts for the meetings you couldn't do anything. You couldn't practice."

"But that's not the point," she replied. "I could just be there."

"It would be a waste of time," Harry continued. "I'm sorry, but really, you'd just get bored." And he certainly didn't want to put her into any kind of danger, especially the kind of danger that seemed to follow the members of Dumbledore's Army.

"I suppose you're right." But he could tell she didn't believe him. She scooted her chair closer to him, and leaned against his side. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I wish that when Remus bit me, I turned into a witch instead of a werewolf," she said sadly.

Because she felt cold and sounded so sad, he rubbed her opposite arm and kissed her forehead. "It's going to be okay. You'll see." He believed it. He had faith that things would work out. He didn't know why, when so many other things in his life had turned out so terribly. Maybe it was the faith he had in Eva herself.

"Ouch!" Eva cried. She quickly pulled away from Harry and grabbed her bare arm, rubbing it.

Harry quickly let go of her. "What happened?"

"I don't know." She stopped rubbing her arm and showed Harry. There was a deep red mark on forearm. He could see the imprint of his watch in her skin, as though it had been burned and branded. "It's from the timepiece."

Harry glanced at it. The impression on her arm matched the face of the timepiece. Why would it burn her?

"It's silver," Eva said quietly. "I forgot. Remus said it would start affecting me in a few days. 'Silver is poison,' he said. Now I won't be able to wear half my jewelry." She gave a small laugh, but Harry could see she was just trying to make light of the situation.

"I'll take it off," he said. He quickly unclasped it and slipped it into his pocket, then slipped his arm around her again.

They spent another half hour or so inside the ice cream parlor, with Florean giving them free refills on hot chocolate. Afterwards, he took her around shopping. Most of the stores were open after hours for the New Years celebration. After a tour of all the stores, they ended in Flourish and Blotts, looking at books to pass time while waiting to meet the others outside. He didn't realize what a book worm Eva really was. She studied the Muggle section closely, and even asked the clerk on duty about how they were selling. Harry tried to keep her away from the werewolf section, but with her exploration of the store from top to bottom, it was hopeless. She was browsing some of the titles, looking slightly fearful. Harry was just about to say that no one really bought into that kind of propaganda, when Cornelius Fudge came out between the stacks.

Harry couldn't help feeling that he looked a little guilty. Almost like he'd been caught doing something wrong. "Hullo, Mr. Fudge," Eva greeted brightly. She was strained, hoping that he wouldn't notice that she was in the werewolf section.

However, he barely took any notice of her. He was clearly preoccupied. "Hello, Miss Finnigan. Here for the ah... fireworks?" He glanced at one side of the room, then the other.

She nodded. "Yes, sir. With the Weasleys."

"Oh, is Arthur in here?" Fudge looked like he hoped he wasn't. Harry got the impression that even if Arthur had been stand two feet in front of him, Fudge was so distracted he wouldn't see him.

"No, I don't think so."

"She's here with me," Harry said, taking a step toward her protectively. There was something very off about Fudge. He didn't like it. He still didn't trust that man. He clutched onto Eva's hand.

"Oh, I see." Fudge cleared his throat. "Well, I'm afraid I really must be going. Nice to see you both. Happy New Year." He took one more look around the store and then quickly hobbled out of sight.

"That was strange," Harry said.

"That man is strange," Eva replied. "What do you think he was up to?"

Harry shrugged. Fudge was definitely hiding something. He looked incredibly nervous to be book shopping. But at least he hadn't noticed what section they were in. "I'm not sure, but I don't trust him much."

"Aye, nor do I." She paused. "We should probably go meet everyone outside. It's nearly midnight. Almost a new year."

Harry checked his watch. "You're right." He let go of her hand so that she could put her gloves on before heading outside. "You know, I'm really glad that we could be together today."

She grinned. "Me too. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with at the stroke of midnight."

He'd nearly forgotten what was supposed to happen then. Knowing what was to come, he playfully pulled her by the arm through Flourish and Blotts and to the street outside.

The street itself was crowded with all sorts of witches and wizards, as well as a few other creatures. Fred and George were standing on a platform, dressed in their best, and waving their wands. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were at the front of the crowd, along with Ginny and Nora. Ron was to the side of the stage, talking to Neville, whose grandmother was trying to get him away from the fireworks. Harry could pick out her voice in the crowd, telling Neville he was too close.

Harry couldn't help but laugh. So this was what a real family holiday felt like. He was almost sad to be returning to Hogwarts and a monotonous daily routine. But he knew that most of all, he was going to miss Eva. Now that she was living with the Weasleys, there would be no visits to her bedroom at night or secret rendezvous in the Hog's Head.

When the countdown began, he held her close to him, knowing he should take full advantage of every moment he had with her. Carpe diem.

And at the stroke of midnight, he leaned over, and kissed her, slipping his hands beneath her soft hair and onto the back of her warm neck. She shivered from the cold touch of his fingers, and moaned as it forced her closer to Harry and his lips. He heard the fireworks going off, but whether they were from kissing Eva or the twins' display, he couldn't be sure.

However, the whisper inside his being that had been haunting him ever since the first eerie dream was suddenly hushed. Dance? Harry thought.

I've finally learned how.