The Missing

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- That's it, Harry, that's it! - Astoria declared an hour and a half later, pulling him by the hair away from her breasts, which he was determined to kiss. - No more! It hurts here and there! Even my lips are on fire! I can't even kiss! That's it!

He raised himself up on his hands and looked at her carefully. A sly, crooked smile crept over his face.

- And you don't have to offer me your stupid experiments! - she blurted out.

- There," he pouted resentfully. - Is it written on my forehead again?

- In these letters, - she nodded. - That's it!

- All right," he agreed, kneeling down, rolling her over onto her stomach and sitting on top of her thighs.

- Harry! - She shrieked, trying to shake him off. - What are you up to!

He leaned down, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek gently.

- Be patient, love, it's going to feel good," he whispered.

Taking her shoulders, he began to gently knead them, gradually moving to her neck, kneading there a little and then moving down, massaging between her shoulder blades.

- Mm! - she exhaled. - A wizard!

- You got that right," he smiled.

- We've been doing nothing all day," she muttered. - That's a good place to start!

He continued to massage her along her spine, then moved to her waist and from there to her buttocks, which he kneaded lovingly and carefully.

- Don't get carried away," she asked. - Or my thoughts start to move in the wrong direction....

Sitting down beside her, I spread her legs to make it easier to massage her thighs, especially on the inside, then switched to her calves, holding her shins in one hand and kneading them with the other. The last was the foot and the little toes, which he finished by kissing them all in turn.

- That was wonderful," she squeezed out, struggling to keep from falling asleep. - I wish I had something to eat now, because my tummy's rumbling like a troll in there!

- Would you like an omelette? - He asked. - I can also make pancakes, I'm very good at them. Or do you want pancakes?

- I see," she said sceptically, rolling over onto her back. - Shall we come over? Mum would be pleased. And Dad's been wanting to win back the five hundred Galleons he lost at bridge a fortnight ago.

- I can't play bridge! - he exclaimed.

- Let's say you don't know how to play bridge," she agreed. - But bridge is a team game. You had a wonderful partner.

- Wasn't that you? - he asked suspiciously.

- How did you know? - She clapped her eyes modestly.

- I'm proud of you," he said. - Shall we just go to a restaurant?

- I think my parents will want to celebrate your... um... return,' she said. - Let's go!

- Let's go," he agreed easily.

Dinner went as he remembered their family dinners - in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. Mr Greengrass asked him politely, without too much insistence, about his work and his plans for the future. Naturally, for the future of Harry and Astoria together - he was primarily concerned with his daughter's happiness. Mrs Greengrass winked cheerfully at her daughter. It was all so familiar that he thought he could close his eyes and hear Daphne's merry trickle of laughter... Astoria kept him in a state of bliss, touching his arm unobtrusively or pressing her thigh against his. But his thoughts were drifting more and more in a certain direction, and she couldn't stop them, no matter how hard she tried - she couldn't even kiss him to distract him, she said.

- 'Thank you,' he said, when dinner was finished and Mr Greengrass beckoned to get up from the table. - It was delicious!

Certainly tastier than if he had dared to dine at home. Kreacher couldn't cook anything but porridge and pumpkin biscuits, and he'd learnt that while he'd been in the kitchen at Hogwarts, but Astoria had refused omelettes and pancakes.

- You're doing so well that the thought of having to leave you makes me regret it," he continued.

- You are quite welcome to stay," frowned Mr Greengrass. - 'We have lovely guest rooms.....

- Harry would be comfortable enough in mine! - declared Astoria.

- My dear, I think we should have some decorum," Mr Greengrass objected. - Or at least a semblance of them....

- Papa, I'm not a little girl! - she exclaimed, stomping her foot.

- Hush, hush," Harry put his arm round her. - 'Don't worry and don't get upset. I really have to go.

She cast a shrewd glance at him. She had probably guessed the reason for his hurry very accurately.

- If you have to, you have to," she agreed.

- I love you," he said.

- I love you, too," she said.

- Am I to understand, Harry, that you are going to ask me something? - Mr Greengrass stepped closer, who had listened with particular attention to their exchange of affection, and decided that it was time to propose.

- Only permission to kiss your beautiful wife," Harry bowed his head.

- Yes, of course," replied Mr Greengrass, "but...

Harry put his arm around Mrs Greengrass and kissed her cheek, to which she responded with feeling.

- 'We don't have to worry about you any more, do we? - she asked.

- 'It's fine,' he smiled, and gave his hand to the thoughtfully frowning Mr Greengrass, before squeezing Astoria in a hug.

- Thank you for a lovely evening," he said, pulling away from her regretfully. - See you tomorrow?

- That's a good plan," she agreed. - I'll find you!

He wasn't surprised to find himself at the familiar brown door. He'd come this way, of course, but on the way he wondered again what he'd say to her... if she'd talk to him... His feet had led him where he needed to go anyway. Now he was trying to figure out whether he should ring the doorbell or use the door hammer. He heard light footsteps and the rustle of a dress. He rejoiced, and his mouth stretched up to his ears on its own. Twenty seconds, thirty - nothing happened. She hadn't opened to him!

- Pansy," he called out.

- Potter," she answered after another half a minute.

- Open up, please," he asked.

- No," it came out barely audible.

- But why?! - he shouted angrily, fighting the urge to pound his fist on the door.

- You won't listen," she reproached.

- And I'm not going to! - he shouted. - I want to be with you! Let me go now!

This time he had to wait much longer-a few minutes-and he was ready to bang on the door.

- Go away," she said.

He splayed his hands and, shouting curses without a sound, raised his face to the sky, where the stars had long since fallen out. He sat upright on the porch and leaned his head against the door, behind which he heard the rustling again almost immediately. He tried to think how he could persuade the unhappy stubborn girl who had shut herself in her shell that she could trust him, that he would not leave her or forsake her... It didn't work very well. Half an hour or maybe even more passed. Suddenly he was jerked out of the slumber he'd fallen into, even though he was in an uncomfortable position.

- What?" he asked.

- Are you going to stay up all night? - she repeated.

Her voice sounded just below his ears, he thought. She seemed to be sitting down, too, but on the other side of the door.

- I'm going to sit here," he said angrily. - And tomorrow I'll come to work unshaven and sleep-deprived. And it'll be your fault!

- Blackmail," she replied lazily. - Shallow!

- Well, then don't ask," he shouted irritably. - What do you care?

The worst of it was that she had no intention of leaving him here at the door. So either he would leave, or she would spend the night sitting on the hard floor with her cheek leaning against the door. And he had no doubt that she was sitting with her cheek leaning against the door. Who was the blackmailer now? He thought he could feel her breathing behind the door. Here she moved, and he had the feeling that she had put her palm on the other side. It was silly, of course, but he raised his hand and did the same, trying to guess the place where her palm lay.

- Good night, Pansy," he said.

- Good night, Potter," she replied.

Regretfully, he thought.

It was certainly uncomfortable to doze in this position. Besides, he was practically sitting outside. Even though he'd shielded himself from the night city as much as possible with Repellum and Quietus, the headlights of the occasional car still shone into his eyes, and the faint gusts of April breeze stirred his skin out of slumber. When he woke up, he chastised her for her irrational intransigence and was angry at himself for his newly awakened stupid stubbornness that wouldn't let him get up and leave. He didn't even flinch when a small palm ruffled his hair.

- What are you doing here? - he asked in surprise.

- I told you," Astoria replied, sitting down in front of him, tucking a thick cushion under her and wrapping her knees in her coat. - I am with you now. In everything you do. If you're freezing under Pansy's door, I'll be too.

- Freezing? - He smiled, resting his chin on her shoulder.

- 'We're wizards,' she shook her head. - Freezing is stupid. But I'll be there for you, too. Where's Pansy?

- On the other side of the door," he sighed. - She's stubborn.

Astoria knocked softly on the door.

- Pansy, hello!" she said.

- 'Hello,' came the sleepy reply. - Tori?

- 'That's right, that's the one,' Astoria confirmed. - 'Aren't you going to let us in?

- Is Potter around? - Pansy asked.

- Yes," Astoria replied, giving him an affectionate glance.

- Let him go,' said Pansy. - 'And you can go through.

- 'Nope,' replied Astoria. - I'll go with him.

- Good night," Pansy said stubbornly.

- Good night," Astoria muttered dazedly.

He woke up, of course, at the crack of dawn. Almost at first light. Despite the pillow, his whole body was stiff, and he was dreading the moment when he would try to get up.

- Mm," she mumbled in her half-sleep. - Is it morning already?

- I think it is," he confirmed, yawning so that his jaw crunched painfully.

- I'm aching all over," she complained.

- Merlin, I'm so sleepy! - he moaned. - I'll write to the Aurorate that I'm ill....

- Your head hurts," Astoria said. - That's why everything else hurts.

There was a rustle and a groan from outside the door.

- Pansy," he called out. - Are you feeling all right?

- Potter," she sighed. - 'Disgusting.

- You should sleep in a bed," he said in an admonishing tone.

- I'm in my own house," she countered.

- Get up, honey," he said to Astoria.

She rose from his lap, and her legs responded with pain as the blood rushed happily into them. Shaking his head, he stood up, grunting like an ancient old man, and pressed his forehead against the door.

- I will come tonight," he said.

- As you wish," Pansy said quietly.

He splashed his hands again.

As it turned out, there was a good side to waking up early. At least one, but there was a good side. He and Astoria had the perfect opportunity to walk, hand in hand, through the waking city, where the sun was just rising, pushing the blue haze of morning twilight into the darkest and most secluded corners. They would be the first to arrive at the patisserie, take a table outside and look into each other's eyes, smiling, taking a bite of cake and drinking black coffee. It wasn't very far from Grimmo to Greengrasses, and he wanted to take her home.

- I'll stay at Grimmo," Astoria declared. - I need to figure out what to do in my new room.

When he finally got into the shower, it quickly became apparent that the twenty minutes he had left before he had to leave for work could be put to good use-especially since he could apparate, so the twenty minutes could be added to the ten minutes he'd saved by walking to the Ministry. The time allotted for shaving had been spent on a long kiss in the hallway that had almost ended in him skipping school.

- I love you," Astoria smiled, pulling away from him regretfully.

- Love you," he said, and then he was off.

Monday was surprisingly boring. Even the Muggles had grown lazy, and even if they continued to kill, rob, and rape each other, it was as if they'd been drained by the weekend, and Scotland Yard was doing just fine without the help of its wizarding colleagues. The head of the Aurorate had already taken advantage of his position at eleven in the morning and gone home, leaving him in charge. Harry immediately took advantage of this and asked the senior teams to have their subordinates appraised on the job description they were gradually implementing in the Aurorate. He sat down to file last week's incident reports. Michael, armed with a laptop computer, was reading some fascinating article on forensics with colourful pictures of dismemberment and blue corpses. Engrossed, he didn't notice how quiet it suddenly became. Finally realising that something was wrong, he looked up and froze. Standing on the doorstep of the study was Ron.

Harry silently leaned back in his chair, defiantly pulled his wand out of the pouch on his sleeve and tossed it to Michael, who had already opened the top drawer of his desk with the gun in it. No matter what happened next, and he wouldn't raise his wand at Ron.

- Not even that? - Shook his head crushingly at his old friend.

- How? - Harry asked tensely.

Ron took another step forward and spread his arms wide.

- Like this," he suggested. - How else?

Harry stood up and walked over to him and hugged him, and Ron embraced him happily, patting him enthusiastically on the back.

- I'm sorry, Harry," Ron said suddenly, pulling away.

- Sorry?! - he said, surprised. - Sorry?! Me?! You?!

- Bill had a grudge against you," Ron explained. - I knew he'd been mad for a long time. Fleur, of course, is a fool, too!

- Wait," Harry stopped him. - Let me get this straight. Michael," he turned to his assistant. - 'I think I should walk... I'll leave you alone... ruthlessly eradicate.

He held out his hand for his wand.

- There is ruthlessly eradicate," Michael replied phlegmatically.

Harry noticed that he didn't take his hands out of his desk drawer until he and Ron had left the office. Ron had put on more weight since the last time they'd met, which had been... Merlin remembered... a year ago, maybe more. He'd kept his potbelly concealed by a light-coloured jumper over his shirt, but he'd let go of the moustache, which was now sticking up thickly under his nose, hiding his upper lip and half his face. He hadn't had a moustache when he'd seen him a year ago, and he hadn't had a belly six months before that.

Harry took him under his arm and apparated outside... It was their favourite place from the days when they were thick as thieves... It worked out just right - they were in the stands, in a place where they had a good view of the pitch. Arsenal players were running around the pitch, practising shots and passes. A little longer and they would split in half and start chasing the ball around the pitch. You could even put a Confundus on the coach and play with them, just like in the old days. He looked at Ron.

- I remember what I said to you," he shook his head. - I'm sorry, Harry. I'll never call anyone a 'shitty Slytherin' again.

I'll also never call anyone a 'snake of the underbelly'. He and Ron had been seeing each other every six months ever since - when he'd said this at their wedding instead of congratulating the bride. He hadn't noticed it at first, and neither had Daphne, but it all came back to him the next day, when their first night had been postponed in such a terrible way....

- Even if I had married Pansy Parkinson? - He squinted at her.

- That one..." Ron blurted out, pursing his lip dismissively.

Harry pretended to stare intently at what was happening on the field.

- I don't even remember them," Ron shook his head in frustration. - Who's Pansy Parkinson? No, you can marry whoever you want. If you like snakes, marry snakes.

Ron paused at the look in his eyes, folded his hands on the back of the seat in front of him and rested his chin on them.

- It's my fault, Harry," he said. - It's all my fault. Mum helped too, of course... "Harry, give her a kiss soon, look, she's all worn out, poor thing!" - he mocked. - 'And me... I've longed for you to be a brother to me. That someone who would be kinder to me than George and... That I'd have a real brother. Ginny told me it was all rubbish and I kept telling her how cool and clever you were. And Mum kept making it up to me that you two should see each other more often. It's a status thing to have a Boy Wonder in the family that everyone knows about. You can show off to the ladies at the market. I'm sorry, Harry.

- We were married, so what's the use of reminiscing now," he said irritably. - You wanted what was best, didn't you? Didn't you?

Ron nodded silently.

- Look, mate, I understand," Harry said almost affectionately. - I, too, wish we could be two carefree tomboys who could spend all day beating around the bush in each other's company. But now we both realise that adulthood is different. Friendship isn't going anywhere, it's just that other things are more important now.

Romilda Vane, despite her childhood experiments with Amortentia, was a remarkably persistent girl - and even more in love - and had continued her methodical siege of Ron as soon as she'd left Hogwarts. For three whole years she'd been chasing him like a dog, or ignoring his few affairs and the fact that he kept pounding on Hermione's locked door in the middle of the night without hope. Ron had burst into Romilda's affections like an elephant into a china shop... but there he had run into a patient trainer, and Romilda, despite her impatience and long wait, had kept him literally at arm's length until the wedding, not allowing even too close an embrace, let alone more. As a result, he had already caught fire himself, abandoned his youthful nonsense, completely forgotten Hermione and was seemingly ready to bring the moon from the sky and maybe even finally sit down at his textbooks and pass his final exams at Hogwarts. And he certainly didn't care about spending whole evenings with Harry, daydreaming about girls and Quidditch.

- Then the miscarriage thing," Ron said. - I almost lost my mind myself...

- Don't be silly," Harry grumbled. - It was just as much my fault!

- Hermie said..." Ron muttered.

- Don't listen to her anymore! - Harry snapped at him. - Do you want me to tell you how she got to be so wise? Would you like that? It's easy. After Ginny was infected, Hermione locked herself in the library for three days and read all the books that mentioned magical fever. And only then went to explain to you how wrong you were. Not before, mind you, but after! That's it! When you came back from that trip, she was as blissfully ignorant as the rest of us. And the fact that the incubation period is three weeks and the chance of getting sick from contact is about one per cent, she doesn't care.

- Incu... - what? - Ron asked, turning his head towards him.

- The time it takes from the moment you're infected until you actually get sick," Harry explained.

- I see," Ron nodded. - Incu...

- Incubation period," Harry repeated patiently. - Forget it! I'm telling you, no one knew and no one could have known. We don't have a border or a single terminal for those coming from far away, so the Ministry can't create a quarantine. That's why Hogwarts are trying to cram survival lessons into us as fast as they can.

- But if it hadn't been for the miscarriage," Ron said.

- We'd all have had not even a spoonful, but a big ladleful," he interrupted. - You know, I had a little part in making this marriage happen, too. I wouldn't say I was much of a part of it-Molly was in charge, and she pushed Ginny and me into it. But in the end, of the three of us, Ginny, Molly and me, I'm the one who's supposed to have the balls.

- Sometimes I think all the Weasley eggs are stored in Mum's chest," Ron shrugged.

- Well the hell with your mum," Harry said calmly.

- The first time you went out, Mum said you weren't a gentleman," Ron shook his head. - Bill was the one who got the most excited.

- That's not what got him all worked up," Harry grinned.

- Did you believe that gossip about you and Fleur, too? - Ron wondered, turning round again.

- Of course I did," he shook his head. - Especially since it's true.

- Harry, yes..." Ron shrieked, and turned away, adding quietly, "You're no gentleman, Harry. Then she's doubly stupid!

- Double? - He was surprised.

- She didn't deny it - one! - Ron went on, "One! - She slept with you, two!

- Actually, that's not what's so stupid," Harry grinned. - The stupid thing is that she married a man she didn't love, shared a bed with him for five years, and even had two children with him.

- Fleur loved Bill! - Ron said angrily.

- In a heartbeat," Harry retorted. - That's not what I know. I have first-hand knowledge. And it's under the Oath.

- Yeah? Who's your favourite person? - Ron exclaimed.

- It doesn't matter now," Harry shrugged. - 'She's gone to France and we'll never see her again.

"Maybe," he added to himself.

Their last conversation had been shortly after Bill had found her cheating and demanded a divorce, and Harry had told her then that she would never be more than a mistress, an affair, to him. There had been a time, of course, when he would have fallen for her charms and even let himself be taken in... So she should have taken advantage of that, not fallen for Bill Weasley just to get closer to the man she loved! A fool, what can I say!

- She didn't back down, and Bill remembered that," Ron said. - You divorced Ginny and went after this...

- The most beautiful girl in the world," Harry interrupted him. - That's the only way to do it!

- Daphne," Ron corrected himself quickly, clearly not wanting to call her the most beautiful. - You started wooing Daphne, and Ginny kept crying and crying. I knew it was my fault, that's when I got angry!

- Let him have it! - Harry exclaimed. - Forget it!

- Ginny died, and Bill pointed the finger at you," Ron continued. - Said you had to answer for everything. I should have told you right away, but I didn't know Bill was capable of that.

- He wasn't," Harry countered. - Daphne would have swatted him down like a cockroach.

- How did he do it? - Ron wondered.

Harry cursed to himself, cursing his tongue. No one knew about the other one, and there was no need to know. He had no qualms about another dead body, but even the deputy head of the Aurorat didn't want any trouble with the law. Sometimes he was glad that the Aurors who had conducted the formal investigation - which could not have been anything but formal under the circumstances, especially with his actual confession - hadn't questioned him and certainly hadn't used Veritasserum.

- You're beating yourself up for nothing, Ron," he said, patting his friend on the shoulder. - You can't bring them back, not Ginny or Daphne. You should be concentrating on making the world a fairy tale for Romilda Weasley, and I...

He lifted his face to the sky, enjoying the sunshine and the light breeze.

- I won't call your Slytherin girls snakes anymore," Ron promised.

He didn't ask Ron about work - or rather, business. George would have come up in a conversation about the shop, and Ron would have blamed him again for the way he'd treated Angelina. No, he'd treated Angelina remarkably well - at least she'd been overjoyed. So much so that she'd decided to leave George for him, clearly hoping for something, and then she'd made a public scandal of her dirty laundry when Harry had pointed out to her that it was impossible for them to be happy together... Or, simply, sent her away. George, of course, had taken her back immediately, seemingly unconcerned by Harry's role in the story, but Ron was now breathing a righteous indignation every time George's name was mentioned in conversation. At least Audrey had done it quietly - she'd had enough of Percy's hopelessness, and the affair with Harry had only served to prompt the decision to change. As he said goodbye to Ron, he thought he was glad that he hadn't been married to Romilda three years ago, when he'd been on that bender - otherwise he would have slept with her, too, and buried any hope of reconciliation with his friend with his then-current desire to ruin the lives of everyone who'd pushed him to marry Ginny.

After he arrived at the Aurorate, he had a thought, which he pondered intensely for the next half hour until the senior teams arrived with their report. The results weren't very impressive - about two thirds of the aurors had passed the test at all, of which about half of them needed a clue. I couldn't believe that wizards, each of whom with a certain amount of luck could destroy a small town like Brighton, couldn't memorise an instruction half as long as the one easily given to a dumb bobby from Brighton.

- Dick, may I have a moment," he asked, after the meeting was over. - I'd like to clear up a few things about the department you're in charge of.

"The "agency" was now called Azkaban Correctional Facility. Richard Longsedge, a scrawny little wizard in his sixties and wearing exorbitantly long boots, was the Aurorate's overseer of Azkaban and was responsible for the custody and movement of convicts and candidates for settlement within the Aurorate.

- Yes, Harry, of course," he said briskly. - What did you want?

- Some details for starters," Harry said. - 'I need to find a person... or several, and I don't even know if he's alive... or she.....

- Why-" Dick asked.

- I'd like to believe that he or she is alive,' Harry interrupted. - 'In that case, Azkaban would be the most likely place...'

- Former Eaters? - Dick asked briefly.

- Maybe," he shrugged. - Almost one hundred per cent alumni... Slytherin alumni.

- I see," Dick nodded. - Date of disappearance, reason? - Noticing Harry shaking his head at every word he said, he finally guessed, "Last name?

- Parkinson," Harry breathed out.

- Hmm," Dick said. - Something familiar... May I ask why you... Unless it's a secret, of course.

- It's no secret," he shook his head. - I'm going to marry Pansy Parkinson. We're going to have a baby soon.

- Hmm," said Dick again. - Are you sure, son, that there's nothing to be done here without a spell potion? Of course, it's too late to feed her Veritaserum now that she's pregnant.

Was he sure? Harry wondered. In fact, that was roughly how Amortentia worked. Like he'd been told - wild passion, unbridled attraction, but no love. And he was certainly not in love with Pansy.

- It's all right, Dick," he answered. - But I need to find out if she has anyone left.

- If they went to Azkaban, it was before I started doing this," Dick said. - That is, before you defeated You-Know-Who. Eight years is a long time.

- What do you mean? - Harry didn't understand.

- After we finished the trials and executions, Azkaban had to be expanded, as it only had a capacity for fifty visitors. We've already released two convicts for two years and six for five. In eight years, we've put two more in jail. There are now thirty prisoners in Azkaban.

- I-still-don't-understand," Harry whispered, his chest freezing cold.

- If we assume a linear pattern of attrition among the prisoners, then half of the prisoners in Azkaban die in ten years," Michael, who had been sitting in the corner, tapping away at his computer, suddenly spoke up.

- That's about right," Dick agreed cautiously. - Do you still want me to know something?

- Yes," Harry nodded sadly. - 'And anyway...

- You want me to dig up what happened to them if-" Dick asked.

- No, I'll do it myself," Harry shook his head.

The mood, which had been so great just a short time ago, after spending the morning with Astoria and reconciling with Ron, was sliding downhill. He was beginning to feel the pain he would cause Pansy if he told her... Fool! Idiot! He should have asked her first - what if she already knew? What if they've just run off abroad and are crunching on a French roll while their beloved daughter is self-torturing? Slytherins are capable of more than that! And one could certainly ask Mr Greengrass if he hadn't once said, albeit on an entirely different occasion, that the Parkinsons were very close friends.

- When would anything be known? - Harry decided to ask, throwing on his cloak.

- It would be quickest if I went there and wrote from there," Dick replied. - If we leave now, we can try to be there by tomorrow night.

- Can I ask you to do that? - he asked.

- Of course," Dick agreed easily. - But it's worth getting a referral from the chief first.

- All right," Harry nodded. - Tomorrow morning, then? Will you have time to reprimand the men today?

- Tomorrow morning, then," agreed Dick. - Yes, I'll do it right away.

After all, job descriptions are like army regulations. You do something wrong, and then the whole department has to deal with it. It was true that the law of the magical world, living in the absence of a legal system other than the Wizengamot, usually favoured the isolation of a suspect in cases of doubtful evidence, but the fact that it had been possible to insist that the accused use Veritaserum in such cases made the chances of a more favourable outcome much better. If the same approach had been in place thirty years ago, Sirius would certainly have been acquitted. Nevertheless, the first order of business was to teach the aurors how to avoid losing necessary evidence or trampling on the trail. That's what Dick Longsedge's men would be working on for the rest of the week.

- Harry? - Peraspera said in surprise as she opened the door.

- Good afternoon," he bowed.

- Hello, Harry," she replied. - Where did you leave my daughter?

- Ah, don't worry," he said. - 'She's trying to dust off my house, so you won't see her for another couple of weeks.

Peraspera's eyes widened, and then she smiled and waved her palm at him in feigned anger.

- Tira-an! - she exclaimed. - So that's what you want our trusting daughter for! She thinks you are in love!

- What love can there be when my house is a mess! - He clutched his head.

Peraspera laughed out loud.

- Well, tell me, - she suggested. - What wind brought you here?

- I wanted to know something about the Parkinsons," he said, and she immediately froze with an anxious expression on her face.

- I was just about to ask you the same thing," she said with a confused flutter of her hands.

When she left the house, she led him to a bench near the entrance, where she sat down and gestured for him to join her.

- It's a nice day," she smiled.

- Don't you know anything? - He asked impatiently.

- Once they're gone, that's it," Peraspera sighed, fidgeting with her apron. - Daniel tried to ask questions, but he was immediately told that if he continued like that, he would be asked about himself later....

- Says who? - He asked with pressure.

- 'He was coping at the Aurorate and ended up talking to the then Deputy Chief,' she replied with doubt in her voice. - 'I don't remember the name...

- When was that? - he continued to inquire.

- In March of ninety-eight," she replied. - That's when they disappeared. In mid-April, Daniel tried to make enquiries....

- It must have been Zit Pimplenose," Harry said thoughtfully. - He was a real piece of work.

- Yeah, and his parents must have been big jokers," Peraspera nodded.

- No more jokers than the ones who named their daughter Pansy," he shook his head.

- She's actually Persephone," she prompted. - Remember, Persephone Aida Parkinson.

- It's getting better by the hour! - he marvelled. - The apple of the tree... And the two of them?

- Davus Peter and Demeter," she said. - Just Dave and Demi to their friends.

- Gee," he said. - Anything else?

- That's the thing, there's nothing," Peraspera said. - After we defeated the Dark Lord, we tried several times to find out... The answer was always the same: nothing is known, and they don't have the resources to look for a needle in a haystack. I guess no one just didn't want to get involved with the name "Parkinson".... As long as you ask to find a person, they smile sympathetically, ready to help, as soon as you call the name - immediately on the face of the indifferent mask.

- Shit," he said frustratedly.

- Shit," she agreed.

- Anything else? - he asked. - What kind of people were they? Eaters?

- Don't be daft! - Peraspera exclaimed angrily. - Dave had fought off offers from the Dark Lord's handmaidens to join the ranks of the half-breed freedom fighters until the very last moment. He was a high-ranking official in the Ministry, head of his own department, and Daniel was his deputy. And they were our friends. Dave was like a brother to me, and he'd always thought of me as his little sister, taking care of me... Why do you ask? I told you the story about how he'd rescued me and introduced me to Danny!

Oh, yeah, how could he forget? It was practically a Greengrass family legend - with a real villain, a knight-saviour and a Prince Charming at the end. Daphne retold it several times, except she never once added "Parkinson" after "Uncle Dave"!

- Why didn't either of you tell me about them? - he asked tensely. - Why didn't you tell me?

- Would you seek the truth for the sake of a stranger? - she answered sadly. - Would you help me if you heard "Parkinson's"?

- You have a good opinion of me! - he hissed through his teeth, jumping up. - What do you take me for?

Peraspera jumped up and lunged at him, taking him in her grasp.

- 'I'm sorry, darling,' she said. - 'Silly, isn't it?

- Stupid that you and Daniel gave your daughter to a man you didn't know at all," he blurted out irritably, but he felt himself cooling down. - It was doubly stupid of you to persist in trying to marry the other one.

- I'm sorry, Harry," she repeated in a pleading voice, and raised her head to look up into his face, "Will you try to find out?

- Where am I going to go now?" he asked. - he asked. - I will dig the earth!

- What are you doing here? - Mr Greengrass's surprised voice came over his ear.

It was a silly situation-not that they were hiding, but it was hardly a hiding-place, and the way Peraspera was hugging him so tightly made it look savoury. Especially in the eyes of a man who demanded to sleep in the guest room at the other end of the house from his very grown daughter's bedroom on the grounds of propriety.

- Are you going to tell him? - Harry was not confused. - 'No? All right, then, I will. Perry complained to me about what a tyrant and despot you are, begged me to kill you in a duel, and asked me to take you as a third wife in the harem. Am I confused?

Peraspera opened her eyes in surprise and didn't even know what to say.

- Go to the kitchen! - Daniel said angrily. - Her husband's hungry, and she's here hugging all sorts of scoundrels!

Peraspera immediately let go of Harry and hurriedly took a few steps back.

- I obey, my lord! - She said obediently, lowering her eyelashes.

- She's gone all loose these days! - grumbled Mr Greengrass.

- How nice! - Harry whistled enviously. - I've got a lot of work to do in that direction.

- Don't overdo it! - Mr Greengrass advised him in a fatherly way, winking cheerfully at him. - You might lose your most precious possession.

And he made a scissor pattern with his fingers, cutting something off.

- Harry was very upset when he found out we hadn't asked him to find Dave and Demi," Peraspera explained. - He was offended that we didn't know him at all. He was very upset.

Mr Greengrass stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Harry, patting him on the back.

- I'm sorry, son," he said. - I didn't mean it.

- It's okay, it's fine," Harry shrugged, releasing himself.

- Are you going in the house? - Peraspera asked.

- No, I'm going to Astoria's," he shook his head.

- Would you come in with her later? - Mr Greengrass suggested. - Come to dinner!

- She's mine now," Harry grinned. - Did you hand her over to me? Get used to it!

As soon as he stepped over the threshold of the Grimmo house, Astoria jumped on top of him and kissed him on the lips. A warm feeling swept over him-he had indeed come home. When she began to shake with impatience, he pulled her down to the floor, pulling her lips away from his with difficulty.

- Wait a bit," he asked. - I'm going to shower first. I'm dusty and hungry.

- I miss you," she said, taking his hand and running up the stairs to the bedroom.

It wasn't until late afternoon that they managed to eat dinner. While he was gone, Astoria bought groceries, loaded them on Kreacher, and started cooking. As a result, the dinner was delicious and plentiful. He thought of Pansy, who was definitely sitting alone right now, embroidering another of her paintings, and thought about it. Astoria didn't bother him, sipping her tea silently - she must have sensed his mood. It seemed to him that she could sense him very well, as if she had time to study him. He covered her hand with his palm and smiled dreamily, remembering how they had once gone to the sea together, with Daphne and Astoria, back when he had only been courting Daphne. Astoria had promised to go with a suitor, but in the end the suitor had disappeared. Or maybe he never existed.

- What are you up to now with that sly look on your face? - she asked.

- I remembered our trip to Malaga," he replied.

- When I even invented a boyfriend just to join you? - She looked down at him.

- Right," he nodded.

- You broke my heart," she sighed.

- When you proposed to Daphne? - he smiled.

- Silly me, I thought you were courting me, too," she complained.

- I've never seen anyone else in the whole world but her," he said.

- I've never seen anyone but you," she shrugged her shoulders.

He knew he was innocent and had nothing to apologise for. Astoria smiled at him as if she had caught his thoughts again.

- What's next, Harry? - She asked.

- Next? - he repeated.

- Yes, what's next? - she repeated.

That question bothered him, too. Maybe even more than her. What would he do when he had succeeded, when he had broken Pansy's stubbornness, and she had given him the key - no, not to her heart - to the picturesquely ivy-covered and therefore completely invisible wicket in the insurmountable wall she had surrounded herself with. What would happen when she let him into the utterly defenceless castle courtyard and became vulnerable to the utmost? That's what she fears, to be left unprotected in front of him.

- Can you tell me the contents of our marriage code? - he asked.

- Of course I can," she smiled. - But it would be easier for me if you told me what you're interested in beforehand.

- I'm interested in whether we can legally live together," he explained.

- And you don't even ask me? - she squinted. - Do I want to share you with someone else?

He looked at her carefully, walked around the table, still holding his hands up, and knelt down in front of her.

- 'Astoria,' he said. - Will you agree to make me happy forever and give me your hand?

She turned round to him and bent down, tickling his forehead with the strands of hair that had fallen out of her hair.

- What hand are you asking for? - she asked quietly. - The right or the left? Where will my place be beside you? Where will Pansy's place be? You'll still be sleeping with her, won't you? Even though you tell me you don't love her, you're not ashamed of your attraction, are you? I'm an idiot, aren't I?

- Are you happy, Tori? - he asked, looking into her eyes.

- Strangely enough, yes, I am," she sighed. - Of course, in my heart I'd want you for myself alone, but... You know, if everything that's going on now were happening without Pansy - I wouldn't be any happier than I am now. I'm happy around you, and everything else...

He kissed her hand and stood up.

- I have to go, Astoria," he said.

- You're going to Pansy's, aren't you? - She asked, rising too. - 'Then we must go.

- She won't let me in again, and I'll be sitting on the porch again, leaning against the door," he smiled.

- Then I'll sit next to you," she said. - The three of us will spend the night together, but instead of a soft bed, it'll be a cold porch.

- Don't forget to strap a pillow on your bottom," he advised.

We decided to make a pillow on the spot from improvised materials. After a dozen minutes of walking through the sleeping town, they stopped at the door of Pansy's house.

- Should I knock? - Astoria asked, noticing that he was obviously waiting for something.

- Wait," he asked.

And indeed, after a couple of minutes he felt that Pansy was already here.

- Pansy? - he called out.

- Potter," she sighed.

- 'I'm here too,' Astoria informed him.

- Tori," Pansy confirmed.

- Would you like a cup of tea? - he asked.

- Tori I can," she replied. - Not you.

- I've brought you something," he said.

Pansy said nothing, for he had not asked her a question. He could easily imagine her staring blankly through the door now, her hands folded on her tummy.

- I wish I could give you this sometime," he said. - Would you mind opening the door? I promise I won't come in without your permission.

The door wasn't locked, of course-at least, he didn't hear the lock clanking. And what was the point of locking it when he could use a spell at any moment, or even apparate straight into the hallway? She trusted him, after all, if she could ask him to stay outside and not disturb her. She opened it carefully, leaving a gap for his hand to pass through. He slipped in the bag he'd brought this afternoon, and the door closed again. Should he push it open and go in? No, then he would never get the key to the gate, and he would have to walk along the wall forever, searching for the passage. She rustled the package briefly, then fell silent. He pulled out his phone and dialled a number. It beeped outside the door.

- 'Yes,' came from the receiver.

- Pansy," he said.

- Potter," she answered. - Is that the phone?

- Yes, that's the phone," he confirmed. - It'll make it easier for us to talk.

- Why? - She asked.

- I want you to talk more," he explained. - If I can't sit next to you, at least this way.

He sat leaning against the door, and Astoria was eager to sit on his lap.

- What do you want to hear? - Pansy asked.

- 'Anything,' he answered. - Anything. Tell me about yourself. What you were like as a child, what you played at....

- Why? - she asked.

- Do me a favour, Pansy," he asked. - Please.

- Like everyone else," she replied perplexed. - The sandpit, the slide, the ball ...

- 'Pansy,' he reminded her. - Long sentences.

- Like all children," she repeated. - There was me when I was a child. I played in the sandpit when I was very young, and went down the slide, and climbed ladders, and played with the ball.

- And the cubes? - he asked. - Did you play dice?

- I liked puzzles," she replied. - Daddy and I used to spend evenings... building... building a palace out of cubes... a palace. The dragon... toy... ruined it. Riding on Daddy, playing hide-and-seek... playing.....

- Tell me about him," he asked. - About Dad, I mean.

- Why? - She didn't understand.

- I didn't have parents,' he reminded her. - Tell me what it's like.

She might not have known that, though.

- I'm sorry," she said after a long pause. - I didn't know. I'm sorry, really!

- Thank you," he said. - Will you tell me?

- He was so..." she hesitated, searching for words. - Big, just huge. A real giant!

- A giant? - He hesitated.

- A giant! - She confirmed it. - I was only a little over his knee at first. He would grab me in his huge hands and throw me high - all the way to the ceiling. And I'd laugh and ask for more, and he'd throw and throw, and Mum would stand there and laugh with us. It seemed to me that Daddy was so huge that he could throw the whole world up like that.

Her speech suddenly became smooth and rich, and quite unnoticeably she gradually began to talk. He complained to himself that at school he had not had the wisdom to see in her - or in anyone else, even in Lavender - that joyful girl with the giant father and laughing mother. It was all overshadowed by the stupid confrontation that had not only divided them into four camps, but had taken up so much time and energy that he hadn't even had time to get a good look at his own Gryffindors. The world was split into three islands of 'us', 'them', and 'those in the middle'. And that was it. No games, no compromise, just battle. And only two twins spit on the war going on with serious faces and threw stink bombs at the school.

- As the years went by, Daddy got smaller and smaller," she continued. - First I was about his waist, then about his chest, but still, no matter how much he shrank in size, he could pick me up, toss me in the air, and no matter how hurt or offended I was, I would start laughing at once. One day he said to me, "How beautiful you've grown, my daughter!" And that's when I realised that I'd really grown up.

- Your mum must be very beautiful," he suggested.

- Beautiful? - She was surprised. - Yes, I think so, but why do you think so?

- I think you must be like her," he shrugged his shoulders.

- You say that too! - she replied. - Why did you say that?

- I think you're beautiful, Pansy," he breathed out, and felt suddenly weak, as if he'd just jumped off a twenty metre cliff into the water, survived, and now his body was trying to recover from the adrenaline shock. - I like you.

Astoria giggled softly, but Pansy remained silent. He was beginning to think he'd scared her off and this conversation that had been going so well was about to end.

- Thank you," she said after a long pause of several minutes. - It's a pleasure.

- Did you have a... friend? - He asked cautiously and went cold again. - Or someone you cared about? After all, surely you must have liked boys...

Knowing that he was treading on shaky ground again, he couldn't help but ask the question. She had already admitted to him that he was the first... not just the first, but even the first to kiss her... But the thought that her heart might belong to someone she had fallen in love with ten years ago, and who she still couldn't forget, somehow made him uneasy. It was very much like jealousy - it would be if he loved her... Pansy made an indefinable sound - as if she were choking.

- When I turned ten," she said, "they had a birthday party at the Greengrasses' and invited some children we'd never met before. I met Roger Davier there... He was so grown up, so important - and he was already at Hogwarts! I couldn't stop staring at his mouth and following him around. We went to the garden with the other children and he climbed up into an apple tree and started teasing me. I jumped up as hard as I could and clung to the branch to climb up to him, but he stepped on my toes with both feet and started pushing. I cried, screamed, but I did not get off - it seemed to me that just a little bit more, and I could finally get to him... Already in the fourth year he came to me very embarrassed, blushed for a long time, and then apologised. He said that he really liked me then, and he did it all to make me pay attention to him. And it worked - I couldn't forget him for a long time after that incident! At school I fell in love with Marcus Flint, or Oliver Wood... I even have a portrait of Oliver on a broomstick and in a fluttering robe in my attic....

Whether it turned out that her reluctance to talk was partly psychological - left alone with a soulless piece of plastic, Pansy showed the ability to talk about herself for quite a long time.... Whether it was the conversation about her parents that had removed some invisible barrier, or whether she had followed his advice and trained herself to speak... He listened attentively, absorbing a bit of the soul she shared with him, while Astoria breathed sweetly on his neck, and apparently needed nothing else in the world. At some point Pansy's story began to fade away - the words became quieter, the pauses between them longer. It was like the sound of a gramophone in need of a wind-up. Then she fell silent altogether, and he knew from her measured breathing that she had fallen asleep.

- Good night, Pansy," he said, pressing the disconnect button and tucking the phone into his pocket.

Astoria stirred, lifted her face and found his lips.

- Good night, my love," she whispered.

- Good night, my joy," he kissed her back.