Neither Here Nor There: Chapter Seven

[author_by_night]

Title: Neither Here Nor There

Chapter: Seven

Fandom: Harry Potter

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: Kingsley/Hestia, Percy/Audrey. Established Harry/Ginny, past Remus/Tonks and Andromeda/Ted.

Summary: It's been six months since the war, and everyone's ready to try moving on. Lyall Lupin and Andromeda Tonks  are coming to terms with the death of their children, finding solace in one another - but how long can they stay close in the face of absence? Kingsley Shacklebot is trying to lead a country that has been left bitter by war, so distrustful many even doubt him. And Hestia Jones is trying to harbor all she holds dear, which is hard when there's secrets she's never had the heart to reveal.

Author's Note: Wow, it's been a while. You can view prior chapters in the tags. If it also helps, this is the same basic universe as a lot of the short fics and drabbles I've been writing lately.





The Christmas holidays seemed to spin by as fast as they'd arrived; it was strange how monotonous the first two weeks after always felt, as though no one knew quite what to do with themselves. There were no more presents to buy, no parties to go to, and Hestia kept writing "1998" instead of "1999."


"Oh for goodness sakes," Hestia spat as she closed The Quibbler in exasperation.


She was sitting in Kingsley's kitchen, eating a piece of toast. For some reason, she had decided The Quibbler would be a good read.


"What now?"


"This article claims that the next new year, January 1 2000, all magic wands may become defunct, and we will have to rely on wandless magic and cauldrons."


Kingsley sighed. "Well, I suppose people were growing tired of Ministry conspiracy theories."


"You'd think they would stick with stolen toads or something," Hestia muttered. "Well, Minister, I'm afraid it's time to go to work."


Kingsley laughed. "Why do you enjoy saying 'Minister' so much?"


"Because it's fun. And I have to at work..."


Their relationship wasn't exactly a secret; there were no rules, after all, saying the Minister for Magic couldn't be involved with another Ministry employee, unless he or she was an undersecretary of some sort. Given a good percentage of the wizarding population ended up working for the Ministry, it would be almost impossible to enforce such a rule. Still, it was best to let the news spread slowly, so they remained coy at work the few times they interacted. Once it reached The Daily Prophet, Hestia was sure there would be a lot of unwanted attention involved, and she wasn't ready for that just yet.


There was a knock at the door; Kingsley and Hestia exchanged puzzled looks, and Kingsley left to see who it was. Hestia was surprised to hear Percy and Audey's voices.


"What are you two doing here?" She asked as she stepped into the foyer.


"Looking for you," Audrey replied. "Nancy Clearwater sent me an owl - remember, I gave her one? She says we must come at once because there's something we should see."


"Should we get an Auror...?"


"You know how her family feels about the Ministry."


"We're Ministry."


Audrey shrugged. "Yeah, but we have brains. The other Ministry people they encountered didn't. That's why we exist in the first place, and I think they know that."


"I suppose I should... wait, then," Percy said.


"No, come - there's things you might be able to explain," Audrey told him softly.


Percy looked at Kingsley. "Do you mind?"


"Under the circumstances, it is perfectly understandable. Take the time you need."


"Thanks, Minister." Percy said "Minister" very distractedly.




Penelope's mother, or so Hestia assumed, had clearly been waiting by the door, for it flew open the moment the trio stepped onto the porch.


"I'm so glad you're here," she said; her face was pale and gaunt. "You two brought a friend?"


"In a... way," Audrey said. "Percy, this is Mrs. Clearwater. Mrs. Clearwater, this is-"


"-Percy." Mrs. Clearwater held onto the doorknob. "Percy.. Weasley? I should have recognized you."



"Uh - yes," Percy said carefully. "I don't know what Penelope told you-"


"Nothing at all except you were out of her life, which troubled me and still
does. Why are you here?"


"He might be able to give us a little insight," Hestia explained. "Seeing as they dated."


Mrs. Clearwater didn't look sure. "Were you two involved again when she disappeared?"


"No," Percy said firmly, and Hestia knew he was thinking of Audrey. "We were not, but we'd been in touch before her disappearance, and she was one of my closest friends long before we started dating. I think you know that." Mrs. Clearwater nodded. "Regardless of how things ended between us, I need to know what happened to her. I want to help, if you'll allow it."


Mrs. Clearwater hesitated, waved her hand in exasperation, and let them inside.


"Penny's father's gone for a walk," she said, shutting the door. "I don't think he wanted to be home for the investigation. I'll be downstairs, I'm expecting a call from Nora - Penny's eldest sister," Mrs. Clearwater elaborated. "But... first, let me show you."


Although Hestia had been in the Clearwater home before, she had never actually been in Penelope's room. She was sure, however, that it did not normally look as though a wild storm had blown through it.


The window was broken, though there was no broken glass to be seen. On the floor was a scattering of books, clothes, and pictures. A lamp was laying on the floor.


"Was Penelope here?" Hestia asked.


"I don't know... we found this yesterday, we'd been out of town. We don't know if it was her, if someone else was here... whoever it was took her yellow dress, her blue hat, and a book of poems. I know it's gone because she left it on her pillows. But if it were her, why wouldn't she stay? What if someone's trying to impersonate her?"


Hestia and Audrey exchanged a look; this was very possible.


"We'll figure out what we can," Audrey assured her. "Thanks for letting us know."


"Nora's supposed to be calling," Mrs. Clearwater reminded them. "I can't... I can't be here for this."

Mrs. Clearwater shut the door, and Audrey, Hestia and Percy began searching through the items. Nothing seemed to hold any obvious clues.


"She has a lot of brothers and sisters," Hestia observed as she picked up a picture of a younger Penelope - perhaps in her second or third year at Hogwarts - with about five others around her.


Percy smiled. "We commiserated about that a lot."


"Look," Audrey gasped, picking up a book. "A book of famous quotes, with entire pages ripped out... this might be worth looking into."


Hestia spotted something hidden under a cloth; on top of it was a piece of
parchment. Hestia walked over to it, and picked it up. Percy and Audrey read over her shoulder.


The secrets, the truths, the hollow midway point


The words of a girl lost, holding flowers


Her lord slain, her lover too far gone


The child tells you to look in the mirror


So you won't fade into the stone


Mirrors tell us who we aren't, though -


Not who we are


Mudbloods, they say, blood traitors, squibs


Love and blood, pure or not


In the end, it's all the same



Hestia's hands felt very cold. Percy was gaping in horror. Audrey was squinting at the poem.


"What do you think it means?" Audrey asked.


"I have... no idea," Hestia replied slowly.


"Lord... that sounds like You-Know-Who," Percy said. "His followers called him the Dark Lord..."


"There's other kinds of lords, though," Audrey pointed out. "Lord of a manor, God, a father figure..."


They all stared at the cloth.


"I'll lift it," Hestia volunteered. She slowly uncovered it; it was a music box, which immediately opened to a figurine of a Medieval woman playing Greensleeves on a flute.


"I gave that to her," Percy whispered.





They spend the rest of the morning at Audrey's flat - it was more private than the Ministry. There, they speculated until they decided on two possibilities - she was alive but unable or willing to approach anyone in person ("I fear someone's holding her, and she only has so much time she can get away or something," Percy said), or someone was playing a very cruel joke.


"What we really need to know is if anyone else has found anything sadistic," Hestia said. "Have either of you heard anything?"



Both Audrey and Percy shook their heads.



"Percy, did you two have mutual friends? Maybe one of them has received something," Audrey suggested.



"Maybe," Percy said thoughtfully. "But I think they would've told me. Or you. More likely you... Penelope and I didn't have the best break up, and we really only reconciled when she was going into hiding..."



Percy cleared his throat, checked his watch, and stood up. "I should get back to the office, pass this information onto Ron and Harry..."



Audrey watched Percy leave with a sad expression on her face.



"He'll be okay," Hestia told her.



"I know. It's just..." Audrey stopped. "I thought it would be easier to separate the two. I don't even think of Percy as my boyfriend at work. I just do my job, tell him what he needs to know or ask what I need to know, then we leave and do boyfriend and girlfriend things. But... it's not going to stay like that, is it? And what if we find Penelope?"


"Isn't that what we want?"


"Of course it is. But how am I going to tell her I'm in love with her ex-boyfriend?"


Hestia didn't know how to answer that; all she could come up with was, "well, it's not like you two were good friends, right?"


"No, but we still shared a dormitory for seven years. That counts for something."


Hestia wanted to tell Audrey that Penelope probably would've wanted - would want, whatever it was - Percy to be happy, and if it was with her, so be it. But she didn't know that.


"We should probably get back to the office too," Audrey said after a minute. "Penelope's not our only case."


Just the most complicated one, Hestia thought to herself.



Andromeda knew something was bothering Harry when he barely spoke the duration of his visit. He would fall into silence often - it couldn't be helped, considering what the boy - no, young man now - had gone through. But he'd been quiet all throughout dinner, as though something was on his mind. He'd even seemed distracted while playing with Teddy. Ginny was also quieter than usual.


"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Andromeda asked as she watched Harry examining his chicken as though it held the answers to every riddle known to man.


"Nothing," Harry said quickly.


"Harry, I like to think we're..." Andromeda hated saying something so sappy, but it had to be stated eventually. "Family. You remind me a lot of Sirius, you know."


"Do I?"


"Yes. And I always knew when Sirius had something on his mind."


"Just Auror stuff. Not sure you could help."


"I might be able to, actually. You learn a lot when you grow up with my family."
.


"Well... okay," Harry said. "There was this girl we went to Hogwarts with, who's been missing for some time."


"Penelope Clearwater, right? Hestia Jones is in charge of searching for her, I believe."


"Yes. This morning, they found a really strange note that may have been left by her. We're trying to figure out what it might mean."


Another strange note?


"I see," Andromeda said. "Do you have it?"


"Yeah." Harry handed it to her, and Andromeda read it carefully.




A chill ran down her spine, and she remembered the writing on Draco's floor... the painting she'd received...


It had to be connected.


"There's something I need you to see," Andromeda said, and she went into the kitchen, retrieved the drawing from the drawer, and sat back down at the table. Dreading the explanation that must follow, she handed it to Harry.


"What the hell is this?" Ginny gasped. Andromeda had forgotten how creepy it was, with the girl who was either dead or sleeping, a skull over her head...


"I don't know. I received it a few months ago, back in October. Narcissa got an identical drawing."


"Narcissa... Malfoy?"


"Yes."


"Why didn't you tell me?"


"Narcissa didn't want me to tell you."


Harry stared at her, and Andromeda stared back, more for lack of any other response than stubbornness.


"You followed orders from a Death Eater?"


"Technically, Narcissa wasn't an official Death Eater," Andromeda said. "And she saved your life, remember?"


"You withheld important information from me on the orders of Lucius Malfoy's wife."


Ginny was shaking her head at Harry and whispering, "calm down."



"Well, how was I to know it wasn't a random slight against us? Do you know how many people must hate us right now?"


"Exactly. What if it's a threat? What if they'd hurt Teddy? What if-"


"-it was five months ago, and he couldn't be healthier. Or safer."


"Tell me Lyall Lupin knows, at least."


"Lyall doesn't even know I still talk to Narcissa, remember? You do, so this shouldn't come as such a shock."


"You also promised me you'd report anything suspicious! Why are you protecting her?"


"Because she's my sister!" Andromeda exclaimed.


Not even Andromeda herself had expected that response.


"She's my sister," Andromeda repeated in a hollow voice. "I hate her. I blame her for so many things, not the least what happened to Sirius - and Harry, I know that's why you hate her so much, and that you spared her because she spared you, not because you had any feelings of good will towards her. I hate what she did to him, I hate that she didn't protect Dora like she protected Draco, as though her niece meant nothing to her... but she's my sister nonetheless. If I deny that bond, I'm just as bad as my father and Aunt Walburga. So yes, Harry, I respected her wish for it to remain secret. Apparently, this was a mistake."


Harry was shaking his head.


"You should also know... Draco had writing on his floor when he was attacked by the mop."



"What did the writing say?" Harry asked. He'd begun taking notes. "And why didn't you at least tell me that?"


"Same reasons. It said 'you'll be next, Purebloods.' Apparently it was similar to all of those weird things happening at Hogwarts back in 1992?"


The fork in Ginny's hand slipped, for some reason, and she looked alarmed.



"When the Chamber was opened, yes... except the word was something else. You can imagine." Harry was now holding Ginny's hand, and Andromeda wondered if the events had affected her in some way.


"This has to be related to her somehow," Ginny said. "Hold up, the mirror, that's what they found her with!"


"The Basilisk couldn't be attacking again, could it?" Andromeda asked.


Harry shook his head. "It's not the Basilisk. But it's got something to do with that. I have no idea what, though - you weren't involved... how does she even know who you are? You didn't meet by any chance, did you?"


"Not once, no."


"But if this is related, why haven't they attacked... the others?" Ginny asked.


"It may not be directly related. It appears whoever's doing this is targeting the Malfoys and their kin. And no one even knows the whole story except - right?"


"Luna and Neville know a bit," Ginny said, "but it obviously isn't them."


"We'll work it out, one way or another," Harry said. He stood up. "Well, guess this means it'll be an early day at the Auror office tomorrow. Thanks for everything, Andromeda." He still wasn't smiling.


"Harry-"


"-don't mention it. By that I mean, don't mention it. Clearly this is one area we'll always disagree on, and it's better we just leave it at that before either of us says things we'll regret. Just promise you'll tell me next time."


"I will."


Harry mussed Teddy's hair and left.



"He'll be okay," Ginny told her. "He just hates the Malfoys. And I hate to say it, but you really should've-"


"I know. It's complicated."


"For whatever it's worth," Ginny said, "I do understand keeping secrets. Sometimes you're just so scared of what it might mean..."


"Do you need to talk about something?" Andromeda asked. She wasn't one for advice and sweet talk, but something was clearly bothering Ginny, and Andromeda liked her.


"I've talked enough," Ginny said with a forced laugh. "No, what I need to do is kiss Teddy and call it a night."



Percy frantically knocked on the door to Penny's flat. He hoped she wasn't there, but hoped just as much that she was. If she wasn't, it meant she'd fled to safety - he would have heard if she'd been arrested. But if she was still there, it would mean he still had time.


Penny's head poked through the door. "Percy?"


"The wife of Odysseus."


"What?"


"That's our code, remember? What's mine?"


"Oh, right... catch an otter on a pole."


Penny let Percy in, and Percy knew he probably wasn't welcome except for the fact that he might have news.


"I always thought your pun about my name was stupid," Penny said dryly. It was supposed to be a joke, Percy thought, but it sounded forced. Her face was pale, and there were lines under her eyes. Clearly she hadn't had much sleep. Was that why she'd just let him in? Or was it something else?


"You still trust me, then," Percy said.


"Of course I do. You're a good person. That's why you sided with Fudge."


Percy raised his eyebrows. "You saw it differently two years ago when you called me a selfish berk."


"Oh, you were absolutely a selfish berk. Saying those horrible things to your family? Worse yet, expecting me to side with you when you told me what you said?"


"I regret all those things now."


"I'm willing to bet you've never apologized, though." Percy couldn't deny that, so he remained silent and let her go on. "But you were selfish in your approach, never your causes. You always wanted to do the right thing, no matter what. That's why I fell in love with you."


"Penny..."


"So yes, Percy, I trust you. I don't know that I'll ever forgive where you once directed your rights and wrongs, but I'd trust you with my life."


"Good," Percy said, "because right now, you need to. You know they'll come after you, and it could be anytime."

"Look around, Perce," Penny said dryly.


Percy realized there was a muggle suitcase, with a knapsack on top of it.


"Are you running, then?"


"Not running, no. I'll stay with my brother; he lives in the middle of nowhere, I doubt they'll find me."


"And if they do? Penny... you know that's not the safest way. Stay with me. I'll say you're a Prewett."


Penny laughed loudly. "Because the wizarding world's so large, those fake relation claims are going to work."


"They have for some people."


"And when the Ministry wasn't fooled, those people were arrested, as were their so-called 'co-conspirators.'"


"At least hide with me, then. I have space. Please. I'm begging you. I can protect you."


"I can take care of myself. I told you, I'll be with my brother."


"What can he do against a wizard?"


"Muggles aren't completely defenseless if they know what they're up against. Which is the other thing - he does, but his wife and kids don't. They wouldn't know to run if..." Penny shuddered.


"Then you can all hide with me!"


"With a top Ministry official? What could possibly go wrong?"


Percy grabbed her hands. "Please. Stay."


It had been so long since he'd touched her...


Penny drew away. "No. Our paths diverged a long time ago, and it's best for both of us - all of us - if it stays that way."