The Lewis House 103 страница

Penelope was horrified. "Oh God - he didn't - is she -"

"He tried." Bill looked like he was going to be sick. "Gabrielle won't say much about it except that he didn't succeed, and that's when she finally ran away. She says she's not sure how she got away from him - she thinks she remembers kicking him, and I'm sure she did. She's got excellent aim." Bill winced as though he knew something about it. "She ran and hid herself in the darkest place she could find, and it was a day or so before she realized she was on a Muggle ship. By the time she realized it, they were already too far out for her to come back. So she hid, she ate what she could, she…" Bill shook his head. "She's quite something."

"No wonder she ran from every adult who tried to help her," Penelope said angrily. "Filthy man - I hope she's telling the truth and that he didn't get to her."

"So do I."

"Who was he? Where was she?"

"She doesn't know," Bill said. "But she told her parents she remembered a castle on an island, so they'll be interrogating every known Death Eater from the area near Mont St. Michel."

"There can't be many. They'll find him."

"I hope they find him dead." Bill spoke harshly, with the same iron and bitterness that Penelope had felt many times.

"Yes," she said quietly, and looked out at the sea. It would have been fair for a man like that to die. But death had no opinions. Death did not assess personal worth. Death was final. Nothing more.

The sea rolled in and out, and Penelope felt as though she were going with it. It was so peaceful here, with nothing but the sea and the sand and her thoughts. And Leo. She gazed down at him and smiled. "I knew you were hungry," she murmured. He had already drained half the bottle. She rubbed his little tummy, and looked back up at Bill. "Does your mother know you're leaving England?"

"I told my parents yesterday." Bill sighed. "Mum's not thrilled, but she's so ecstatic to see me engaged that she didn't try to talk me out of it. And I'll stay here to help my dad until something can be done about the Dementors, so it might be months, or longer, before I can go anywhere."

"When will you get married?"

"Next summer. We all need time."

Penelope nodded. "Where?"

"I have no idea. Frankly, I don't care. I just want my family there - you included, of course - and Adam says that if he can't be in it, he'll have a fit." Bill raised an eyebrow. "I think he just wants to see Gabrielle in her dress robes."

Penelope gave a shocked laugh. "Isn't he a bit young?"

"Not to start noticing, no." Bill chuckled. "Thirteen's rough that way. All you're allowed to do is notice - there's no real action for years. Though I expect…"

"Hm?"

Bill shrugged. "Well, they've got a special situation, don't they? They write to each other every day - in each other's languages. The letters are crap, but that's not the point. They took care of each other for more than a year, and that's never going to go away between them." He shrugged again. "I almost wish Adam could come along with us and go to Beauxbatons - I know he misses her."

"Does he want to move away?"

"Oh yes." Bill smiled. "But I told him - in private, of course, didn't want to hurt Fleur's feelings or anything - that Hogwarts beats Beauxbatons any day of the year, and that he'll be sorry if he gives up the chance to go there." Bill's smile became a wayward grin. "And I told him he'll be the one man at school with a girlfriend abroad, which can't be a bad thing."

"Really, Bill!" But Penelope was laughing. "You're horrible."

Bill nodded. "I'm not the oldest for nothing. I've been dishing out bad advice for decades, I'm practically a professional."

"Oh, speaking of which -" Penelope adjusted her arm; Leo was getting heavy. "Will you stay with Gringotts? Work at the Paris branch?"

"For a while." Bill sifted sand in his fingers, examining it and letting it fall back onto the shore. "And you? Will you stay at the Ministry?"

Penelope's eyes traveled back to the sea. The truth was, she could not see herself returning to the Ministry of Magic. Her job there was done. Percy's task had been fulfilled. She felt… free. Alive. She wanted to keep working - to keep thinking and building and mapping magic - but she didn't know how to focus that. She didn't have Hermione's training. And she wouldn't have known what spells to build - the Imprisonment Enchantment had been Percy's need, not hers.

Of course, Hermione had said that the Ministry and other wizarding organizations usually made specific requests of Delia…

Penelope looked down at Leo again. His eyes were closed now, but he was still sucking. He was so young - he would never know it if they spent some time away from England. Away from everything. And the sunshine and the sea would be so good for him - and for her.

"I've thought," she said slowly, "of asking Hermione to introduce me to her friend Delia." She glanced at Bill to gauge his reaction. She hadn't told anyone yet.

"In Cortona?" Bill's eyes brightened. "That place sounds absolutely amazing - are you interested in Thinking, then?"

"I… think I am." Penelope cracked a grin at the unintended pun. "I know Hermione says it's difficult work, and that it doesn't come naturally to her, but I have the strangest feeling that it would to me."

Bill glanced at Leo. "You'll take him, obviously." He touched the fluff of baby-bright red hair, and Leo stirred in Penelope's arms.

"I know how much your mum will hate it," Penelope said. "But I… need to be away."

Bill was quiet for a minute. "That's fair," he said. "I can't say I don't know the feeling. And I think you should do what's best for you. You have a right to… move on." He looked as though the words were painful for him. "You might meet someone else. All of that."

"I'm not there yet," Penelope said at once. "Not even close."

"But eventually - what are you, twenty-three?"

The number sounded unimpressively small. Age was so deceptive; Penelope could hardly believe what she had already lived through. "Yes."

"You'll meet someone. Eventually."

It wasn't something she was ready to think about. She wanted no one to invade Percy's place in her heart just now. She wanted only an empty mind and an open soul and the crash of the sea. And Leo. And time. Time to be with herself and to do something useful that was all her own.

"Can I speak for all of us?" Bill asked abruptly.

Penelope looked at him - he seemed very intense about something. "All right," she said.

Bill turned to her in the sand, leaned his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands. "We all thought Percy was mad to get married when he did. You know that."

Penelope didn't need to answer.

"And it was worse, because we didn't really know you, and it didn't make much sense, and none of us ever really… understood Percy. We all thought he was siding with the wrong sort."

There was still no need for an answer, but Penelope found it hard not to let a flash of anger show through. None of them had ever really known Percy - save Molly, perhaps. Not like she had. His own brothers hadn't known him the way he had deserved to be known.

"I know," she said, with as little emotion as possible.

"So his marriage, I have to tell you, meant nothing to me."

Penelope wasn't sure why he was telling her this. It hurt. It made her want to slap him.

"Until I met you, and started working with you, and saw the sort of person you are. It made me…" Bill's eyes were getting bloodshot. "It made me rethink a few things. That's not to say I didn't grieve Percy like crazy straight away - I'm still grieving him. I love him. But at first I was grieving because I loved him when we were kids and because he was my brother - there wasn't much in it that was recently personal, because I didn't get to know him as an adult… am I making sense?"

Penelope nodded. A knot of tears was rising in her throat. She wanted to hug herself but she had to stay relaxed for Leo.

"But knowing you makes me feel like I knew him better," Bill went on. His voice was getting scratchy. "You must have meant the world to him - and don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes I find myself watching you and thinking what he must have seen in you, and thinking that if he was smart enough to see all that, then he was a better man than most of us, at a younger age. The way you handled it when Fleur started crying that day - the day we thought Gabrielle…"

Penelope swallowed hard. "I remember," she managed.

"And how you were with Ginny at Christmas - and how calm you are about your work, and how good you've been with my mother - just… Penny, if he had the sense to marry you, then I misjudged him."

Penelope stifled a sob. This wasn't fair. Percy should have heard all this.

"And I want you to know - and I know I speak for all of us - that you're part of this family and you always will be." Bill didn't seem capable of going on. For a minute he sat there and looked into the sand and Penelope could see him swallow several times. "I know… your family doesn't have much to do with the wizarding world. I know you don't have…"

"I don't have them." Penelope knew he wouldn't want to say it. "I had Percy."

"And now you have us. For as long as you want."

Penelope fought hard not to cry; she looked down and blinked hard and tried to stop her shoulders from shaking. Leo was asleep; he had let go of his bottle. It lolled half-in and half-out of his mouth, and Penelope busied herself with picking it up and putting it into her bag.

"And if you do meet someone -"

She shook her head vehemently.

"No, I know," Bill said gently. "But later… if you do… then he's welcome with us. Because we won't want to lose you and Leo. And we'll want to make sure he's… worthy of you. All right?"

Penelope nodded, and swiped at her eyes with one hand. "Th-thank you," she whispered. It was so strange to be included in such a family, in such a way. But she appreciated it with all her heart, and she knew that Percy, wherever he was, would have swelled with happiness to see her embraced like this. "Percy looked up to you so much, Bill," she managed, because now he deserved to hear it. "He really did. You have no idea."

Bill didn't answer, and Penelope didn't look over at him. She knew better than to interrupt what was probably his own private grief. Instead, she rocked Leo and watched the horizon and contemplated the Weasleys. They were an adoptive group - all of them. Never mind the fact that Molly had recently become her own orphanage - it wasn't just about children. The Weasleys simply had a gift for taking in the people who needed them most. She herself was an only child. Hermione was an only child - and Ron had brought Adam home, too. Harry was certainly an only child, and not only had Ginny taken to him, but the Weasleys as a unit had absorbed him from the very beginning. Only Fred had married a girl with siblings. But then, Fred and George never could do anything by patterns.

Penelope smiled a little. She really did know them. It made sense that she was part of them - even if it was very odd without Percy there to connect her. And she would miss them, when she went away. But she would come back to them, because Leo needed to know the people who had shaped his father's life. And because, much as she needed her own space, she needed them too.

"Bill?"

The shout came from somewhere down the beach, opposite from the direction of Culparrat. Both Penelope and Bill turned their heads and peered down the shoreline to see two girls, one with unruly brown hair and one with a Weasley-red ponytail, picking their way along the rocky shore and hurrying towards them.

"Hermione!" Penelope exclaimed. She hadn't expected to see her back for several days at least.

"Ginny?" Bill called at the same moment. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you'd be at St. Mungo's - both of you!" Penelope said.

Hermione and Ginny drew closer, breathing rather hard, and both of them grinned.

"Hi, Penny," Ginny said. She looked rather tired, but she was still smiling as she put out her hands to Bill. "Come and help me with something, would you? I need an escort."

Bill took her hands and was pulled to his feet. "Where are we going?"

"To talk to Draco Malfoy," Ginny said. "Come on."

Bill frowned. "Really?" he asked. "I don't know that it's a very good idea to talk to him - or if you'll even be allowed. I know you worked on him, Ginny, but he's Stunned and -"

"You would have known all about it if you'd been inside and anywhere near a fireplace," Ginny said. "Moody's waiting for us. It's for Ron - for the Ministry. I need to speak to him, come on."

Hermione dropped into the sand where Bill had been. "Good luck," she said. "Oh, and Ginny - do you know where to go?"

"I'll tell her," said Penelope. "You haven't been since we changed the entrance path, and it's not the same. There's less safe space - the charms are much more comprehensive now. See the guide ropes?" She pointed.

Both Ginny's and Hermione's gazes followed her finger to a path. It was lined by ropes that hung like magical banisters, and it led to the front doors of the prison.

"Keep between the ropes if you want to stay in one piece," Penelope advised. "Bill knows where everything is."

Ginny nodded and grabbed Bill's hand. "Come on," she said. "I don’t want to be late, I don't know what Moody would do."

"See you, " Bill called over his shoulder as Ginny dragged him off towards Culparrat.

Penelope watched them go with a strange, protective warmth in her heart. They weren't really her family. But… they sort of were. It felt like they were, in all the important ways.

"You look happy," Hermione said. "Is something going on?"

Penelope could have asked Hermione the same question - Hermione was pink-faced and still grinning. She looked like she had just been made queen of the universe as she flopped back in the sand and sighed. "It's a lovely day, isn't it?"

"It's about to rain," Penelope said dryly, not sure if she had ever seen Hermione behave with such abandon. But it made sense for Hermione to be out of her mind with happiness. She had just got her parents back, after all.

"Well, but the sea looks lovely in any weather. Hello, Leo," Hermione crooned, rolling towards Penelope and very softly kissing the top of Leo's head. "I don't want to wake him," she whispered, and rolled onto her back again. "Oh, it's nice here. If I had to be in prison, this would be the place."

Penelope laughed. "You're delirious."

"That's very true." Hermione sat up and squinted towards Culparrat. "Where are the elves?"

"Underground, setting up the kitchens. They don't need help, I already tried."

"Oh." Hermione looked a bit put out. "I suppose that's good."

"Yes." Penelope gave her a sidelong look. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Do you think you'll go back to train at Cortona?"

Hermione blinked at her. "Oh," she said. "I… no. Not now. I want to be with my mum and dad."

"And after that?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. There are other things I want to try. But it's possible. I might." She looked out at the rolling waves. "There are things I miss about it," she said, more quietly. "It was gorgeous there. And Delia was incredibly patient."

"Would you…" Penelope took a breath. "Would you mind introducing me to her?"

"Introducing?" Hermione gave her a swift, confused look. "Is she coming here, or - did I miss something while -"

"No, no." Penelope shook her head. "I'm thinking of… possibly going there."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh!" she said. "Really?"

Penelope nodded. "Would you write me a letter of recommendation, based on what we've done here?"

Hermione looked even more shocked. "Me?" she said, and then a smile split her face. "I've never written one!" she said. "Of course I will! That's going to be so much fun - do you want to apprentice as a Thinker? Is that why you're going? Is there anything you specifically want me to note, in the letter? When do you think you'd like to visit? Will Leo come on the first trip? Can I help you with anything - would you like me to draw up a list of the things I found helpful? You're going to love it - you're so much calmer than I am! You're going to be so much better - Delia's going to make so much more progress with you than she ever did with me -"

Penelope didn't try to stop Hermione as her tirade rambled on. It was a very nice tirade, and as it continued it contained within it several useful bits of information. And it obviously made Hermione happy to indulge in it… and Penelope didn't have anywhere to be, anyway. Leo was fast asleep and the prison was under very good regulation.

So she sat on the shore at Culparrat, holding her son in her arms and listening Hermione talk about magical theory and the beauty of island living. And she felt, for the first time in a long time, that life was going just as it was supposed to.

~*~

"Hurry up," Ginny said, pulling her hand out of Bill's as she led the way to the guide ropes. "I'll be late."

Culparrat loomed before them, strange and terrible, rising from the sea. It was not a welcoming sight, but at least the area surrounding it was mostly clean of emotion - probably because the prisoners within were still Stunned. Ginny hoped it wouldn't be too overwhelming when she went inside.

"No one's awake in there, are they?" she asked.

"Just the Aurors," Bill said. "No one else will be woken until all the charms are in place - that'll be a few days yet. They've all been moved to individual cells, though."

Ginny stopped at the guide ropes and pointed between them. "This path is all right?"

"As far as I know."

It wasn't a comforting answer, but Ginny forged ahead.

"I thought you'd be resting this week," Bill said, as he followed. "After what you did for the Grangers and everyth-"

Ginny stopped and turned to find Bill looking at her with admiration. "Who told you?" she demanded. It wasn't that she didn't want him to know, but she certainly hadn't had a chance to tell anyone.

"Remus told Mum and Dad," Bill answered. "Mum wanted to go straight over and see you in the middle of the night, but Remus said you were too tired to do much but sleep, and that you'd probably sleep for a day or so."

Ginny had a moment of pure panic at the thought of her mother coming over to see her and finding her in bed with Harry. She wondered if Remus had realized that Harry had been in there with her, and felt uncomfortably warm at the idea that he might have.

"He said you'd get in touch as soon as you were rested. But we all know already."

"All?"

"Dad told me straight away, and Mum told the twins - I told Charlie and Fleur and… well. We've practically told the world."

Ginny bit her lip. "Oh," she said happily, and turned back to continue walking. It was nice to know that she was being bragged about by everyone. She went confidently forward, the salt breeze pulling wisps of hair out of her ponytail. The wisps tickled her face and she slapped them back.

"What's all this about anyway?" Bill asked, as they picked their way over a rocky section of the shore. It was more difficult to stay between the guide ropes here - it was all Ginny could do to keep her balance. She stumbled forward, caught herself just before crashing through one of the ropes, and straightened up.

"That was close," she said, hoping her voice did not reveal what a scare she'd just had. She turned to follow the guide ropes sharply to the right.

"Wait a minute," Bill said. He grabbed her elbow and stopped her in her tracks. "Don't move."

Ginny froze, knowing that it was for her own good. He was a curse breaker, and probably knew how to tell when he was about to walk into something painful.

"Aperecium," Bill muttered.

The empty air into which Ginny had almost stepped glowed suddenly bright, revealing an ugly, impenetrable web of barbed, spidery red lines, several meters thick and forty feet high. The massive red tangle arched across the sky to touch the lowest parapet of the prison, a hundred feet away. Ginny's stomach dropped.

"OI! DON'T MOVE!" A young man raced up the path towards them, repositioning the guard ropes as he came forward. He was dressed in dark blue and wore a temporary Ministry identification badge, and Ginny knew he must have been on the Charms team. "I just finished that section a moment ago," he said hurriedly. "Haven't had a chance to move the -"

"We might have splinched," Bill said angrily.

"I'm sorry." The man looked sincerely shaken. "I wasn't warned that anyone was coming. This way - it's this way, that's it, Miss, watch your step…"

He ushered them in a safer direction and Ginny went forward more slowly than before, no longer minding that Bill's hand was tight around hers. She had no desire to be split in half. Both she and Bill were so intent on getting to the door in one piece that they didn't speak again until they were inside. They showed their identification to the Aurors and were led down a dank, torchlit corridor and through an archway, into a spiraling stairwell. They began to climb, following their guard.

Ginny knew she should have been curious about her strange surroundings - or at least disgusted by the fishy smell that had filled her nostrils - but now that they were inside her mind turned to Malfoy, and what she was here to do. She wondered if Ron was right, and it was just a waste of time.

"So," Bill said. "Is this about…" He trailed off, glanced up the stairs ahead of them at the guard, and continued more quietly. "About your gift?"

Ginny shook her head - then nodded. "Sort of. I'm not going to be using it now, or anything. I just - well, I can't tell you much. I'm sorry."

They came to a landing, turned, and continued to climb the stairs. Ginny's heart began to pound, and not out of nervousness over Malfoy - she hadn't had to climb so many stairs in a row since Hogwarts.

"Why do you want me here then?" Bill asked, his breath coming shorter. "Damn, it's like going to Divination, isn't it?"

Ginny shot him a grin. "Yeah. And I want you here because I need - someone outside the door in case - something goes wrong." She was getting out of breath.

"Why not an - Auror?" Bill asked, panting just as hard as they rounded onto another flight of steps. "I mean, I'm glad it's - me, but - wouldn't you rather -"

Ginny shook her head and concentrated on climbing for a moment. She began to use the banister for support.

When they turned again and continued to climb, Ginny blew out an aggravated breath. "How high up - is he?" she asked the Auror. Her legs were beginning to burn.

"Top floor," the Auror replied, not at all out of breath. "Order of Mr. Weasley."

"And which - Mr. Weasley - might that have been?" Ginny asked, though she knew full well which.

The Auror glanced over her shoulder, clearly surprised. "Mr. Ronald Weasley," she answered. "The more serious the crime, the higher up the criminal."

"But Malfoy's - not even - convicted yet."

The Auror shrugged. "I don't help decide these things. I'm just in training."

They began to climb yet another set of stairs, and Ginny made a mental note to put a Marathon Hex on Ron when she got home. She wanted to see him run a few miles.

"This is the last flight," said the Auror, as they turned once more and began to climb again. The stairs were so narrow here that they had to walk in single file, and so dark that all three of them had to light their wands. Ginny's legs were sore - it hurt to breathe - she had to distract herself.

"How did you - know to - pull me back?" she asked. "When I almost walked into the - splinch border?"

Bill gave a short, breathless laugh. "Instinct," he managed.

Ginny was alarmed. "You didn't - see some sort of - sign?"

"Nope."

"Do you - always go on - instinct when you're - in the desert and - stuff?"

Bill laughed again. "Yeah," he said. "But don't tell Mum."

Ginny didn't have the breath to giggle. They finally reached a corridor - a nice, flat corridor - and rested for a moment at the top of the stairs before following the Auror to the right, towards an arching iron door. From behind it there came a muffled voice. The voice was arrogant. Furious.

"Malfoy," Bill muttered. "You have to go in alone, I take it?"

Ginny nodded, clutching the stitch in her side, and followed the Auror towards the door. As she got closer, the voices behind it became easier to understand.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04