Chapter Fifty-Two: Halloween in the Camps
Halloween was not a good time for a Muggle to be seen out alone. Wind pushed the fallen leaves across the cobblestones, and the moon cast an eerie glow on the London camps. The Death Eaters, laughing wildly, ran with their wands extended, making things explode and killing strays who dared to make eye contact.
Because of this, she had to be extra careful as she crossed the camps that night. Dodging from alley to alley, she knew she was safer even if it took her slightly longer to reach her destination. Her apartment door was just ahead. She tightened her shawl around herself and made a run for it. If she could make it without being spotted”
“Where are you going, Muggle scum?” Her path was blocked by a short, squat Death Eater. His silver mask glimmered in the moonlight, and his large, protruding belly drew his robes tight.
“Home,” she said simply.
“Yeah?” The Death Eater drew his wand. No, she couldn’t die like this”seconds from safety, when she still had a husband and child who needed her. “And how do I know you weren’t going to go start a revolt?”
She spluttered. How did he know? Who tipped him off? “Halloween would be a foolish time to do that,” she said carefully.
“Foolish, but it’s happened before. Three years ago, remember?”
She remembered all too well. The blood, the fire, her husband coming home injured, her daughter running in to see everybody was safe… “I like to think of myself slightly cleverer than those who started that revolt,” she said honestly. “I just want to go home.” She pointed to the nearby stoop of her flat.
“And how do I know that’s your home, eh?” The Death Eater gave his wand a little twirl. “You filthy Muggles are known liars.”
“My husband is there.” She drew herself up straight and stared the Death Eater in the eye, a bold move for a Muggle, especially on a night like this.
“Husband, mm? No brats?”
“We had a daughter,” she said. She had grown adept at telling this lie. After so many years, sometimes she believed it herself. “She died. Killed by your people.”
“As she should’ve. You filth shouldn’t breed.”
She wanted desperately to tell him”to tell him that it was because of the Muggles having children that there was any sort of resistance”but that, she knew, would be a terrible idea. “Please, sir,” she said. “Can I just go home?”
“Show me.” The Death Eater flicked his wand and the door to her building flew open.
This was what she had been dreading. All she could hope for was that the code she and her husband derived years ago would still work. As long as he remembered, they would be safe. “You first,” said the Death Eater, prodding her in the square of her back with his wand.
She moved slowly. She hoped that the Death Eater’s clunky footfalls would be warning enough. On top of the stoop, the Death Eater muttered an incantation and lit his wand.
A few strangers had taken cover in the corridor of the building. This was certainly not uncommon. Those who didn’t have homes had to find shelter somehow. A man at the Death Eater’s feet had bandages wrapped sloppily around his head, so that only his eyes were visible. He only groaned as the Death Eater approached him, unable to do anything else.
“Scum,” hissed the Death Eater. There was a flash of green light, and the bandaged man fell down limp. The other Muggles scurried out of the way of the Death Eater now, crawling out of the reach of his wandlight and into the black shadows.
Her heart thudded in her throat. She could be killed just that easily any second”a flash of green light, and she would be gone. If he killed her husband like that… At least her daughter was safe. She stopped in front of her door and took a breath. Now was when she could really use some luck. If her husband didn’t remember the code, they were done for.
“Nathaniel,” she called, pounding on the door four times, just like they had discussed. “Nathaniel””
“Why don’t you just open it?” growled the Death Eater.
Her heart was going so fast now that she felt like she was going to vomit. If he wasn’t answering, he had probably already started the meeting, and then without a doubt, they would all be killed. “Haven’t”haven’t got a key,” she said.
The Death Eater waved his wand again. The door clicked open. This was something they had not been prepared for. The Death Eater pushed past her, into the one room flat, holding his wand aloft.
“Muggle scum,” the Death Eater called, “show your face. What’re you hiding for? Come out or else your wife will get it, and you’ll go the same way.”
The Death Eater spun around, casting his eerie white light around the entire flat. Something stirred in the corner, and her heart leapt to her throat.
“Who’s there?” called her husband’s voice. In the Death Eater’s wand light, his dark eyes grew dull. He approached the Death Eater and his wife wearily. He wore a dark grey dressing gown, and his hair was rumpled.
“I just found your wife,” said the Death Eater, putting a hand on her back and pushing her forward, “prowling in the streets.”
Her heart slowed. Nathaniel was the only one here. They wouldn’t get caught”at least, not today.
“Well thank you for bringing her back,” said Nathaniel. “Halloween is not a safe time for her to be about.”
The Death Eater glowered at the pair of them. “What’s your name, scum?”
“Nathaniel Rowe,” Nathaniel said. “And this is my wife, Posy. We were hoping to turn in early tonight, and avoid the trouble, but Posy went to check on a friend’s son who’s ill.”
“And you picked Halloween to do it?”
“I told her it wasn’t the best night, but””
“Let her talk.” The Death Eater’s wand pointed directly at Posy’s heart.
Posy took a breath. “My best friend’s son”he has some kind of illness”we don’t know what it is. But he’s been like a son to me ever since”ever since our daughter passed away.”
The Death Eater shifted his wand slightly, and glanced around the apparently empty flat. “Well then,” he said. “Be careful in the future.”
He spun around and left, slamming the door behind him. Posy didn’t dare speak at first”it was always possible that he was listening at the door. She and Nathaniel stood in silence for a few minutes, until they were almost sure that they were alone.
“That was close,” Posy breathed. “Where is everyone?”
Nathaniel pointed to the two bare mattresses in the corner. One had been Lottie’s, but they were not quite willing to give it up yet. “I don’t see anybody,” Posy said.
“Under,” was all Nathaniel whispered, before rushing to the table and picking up a match. “Give it a few.” He struck the match against a stone on the table and lit three long, dripping candles.
Posy twisted the corner of her shawl anxiously between her fingers. What Nathaniel had in mind was brave, almost foolish. After all, they still had a child, even if they only saw her once a year.
“Did you get anybody else?” Nathaniel asked.
“No.” Posy pulled off her shawl and dropped it over one of their three chairs. “Nobody seemed interested, and after that revolt three years ago…”
Nathaniel gave her a look that silenced her. “I think we’re safe to let everyone out now.” He rushed to the mattress and heaved one aside. Posy gasped.
Hidden in a shallow ditch with just enough room to breathe were two men. They lay flat on their backs, their eyes shut tight, as though still afraid the Death Eater would return. “It’s okay,” Nathaniel croaked. “Come out”we’re safe.”
The men pushed themselves up. Posy only recognized one of them, a man she had recruited herself. His small, beady eyes did not seem trustworthy, but when he confessed that he had lost two children to Death Eaters, Posy immediately let him join. She sympathized with him. Of course, she technically hadn’t lost Lottie to Death Eaters. As far as she knew, her daughter was alive and well, but it certainly felt like she had died. With one visit a year (if that), Lottie seemed to hardly take an active part in their lives anymore. Her presence, though, Posy felt in her heart every single day.
The other man was much larger than her recruit. Nathaniel was better at picking the more apt fighters”Posy always went for kindness.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the hiding place?” Posy asked, not hiding an edge in her voice.
Nathaniel bent down and pushed Lottie’s old bed aside. Two more people”a man and a girl”emerged. The girl, Posy realized, was barely Lottie’s age. “Posy,” Nathaniel said, “you know as well as I do that they can read minds. The fewer people know a secret, the safer it is.”
Posy grumbled and slumped into a chair. This had been Nathaniel’s idea”all his idea. He didn’t seem to care if they died or led others to their deaths. He didn’t seem to care that there was a movement of underage wizards, their daughter included, fighting for them so they didn’t have to do this.
“So, where to begin?” Nathaniel said, taking a seat next to Posy and surveying the four recruits.
“I dunno”you’re the one who brought us ‘ere, aren’t yeh?” asked the beady-eyed man, sitting down across from them.
Nathaniel glanced sideways at Posy, but continued. “Well,” he began, “my wife and I organized this meeting, but by no means does that mean we are the leaders. We’re all fighting for a common goal, aren’t we?”
Posy watched the other two men shift uncomfortably. It was a wise and noble stance Nathaniel was taking, but perhaps they would have been more comfortable just following orders.
“Well,” said the youngest girl, who had perched herself on Lottie’s old bed, “we have to do something cleverer than the last ones, don’t we? People in the past have made mistakes.”
“Grave mistakes,” Nathaniel agreed.
“They’ve been too obvious,” the girl said.
“Well how is one supposed to be subtle,” began the largest man whose voice was low and soft, “when you are trying to destroy Death Eaters?”
“One by one, of course,” said the girl. “You have to pick them off””
“But they’ll just have more time to get new ones.”
The only man who had not spoken yet sat in the shadows. He crossed and recrossed his fingers as he surveyed the floor. Posy thought he was a curious recruit. He was definitely large when she considered him, but the way he sat hunched over made him seem quite small. Posy frowned. “What do you think…erm”I’m sorry, I don’t know your name, yet,” she confessed.
“I think,” the man said in a surprisingly high voice, “that we should not exchange real names. If what you said is true”” he tilted his head toward Nathaniel “”then they could possibly read our minds. The less we know about each other, the better.”
“But you already know our names,” Nathaniel said, trying to hide the indignant tone in his voice. “Should we not trust you?”
“It is not a question of trust””
“Or do you think that I will divulge your secrets? May I remind you that I am risking everything””
“Nathaniel.” Posy placed a hand on her husband’s arm. “I think he meant no harm by it. He does raise a point”if one of us were caught off-guard, the less information we all have, the better. You have been very brave, but that does not mean we must risk everyone’s lives.”
Nathaniel seemed to deflate slightly at his wife’s words. “Yes”yes of course. All right. What would everybody like to be called?”
The hunched-over man considered this for a moment. “Birch,” he grunted.
“And you?” Nathaniel asked the soft-voiced man.
“Wasp,” he said.
The beady-eyed recruit of Posy’s piped up, “I want to be Crow.”
“Okay, we have Birch, Wasp and Crow… What do you want to be?” he asked the younger girl.
She frowned, thought for a moment, and said, “Live.”
“Well,” Nathaniel said, “that settles it. I think as Live said, we can’t be as obvious as the revolts of the past”no barricades for us. We will, however, need some new recruits. We can hardly change the world with six people.” He smiled weakly. This was clearly supposed to be a joke, but nobody laughed. “Now,” Nathaniel said, after a pause, “pick your recruits wisely”only pick those who you trust with your lives because, in all likelihood, you will be trusting them with your lives.”
“That still doesn’t settle what we’re going to do, though,” Birch said.
“Well as you so rightfully pointed out,” began Nathaniel, “we can’t spread our information too thin. I am not walking into this without a plan, I assure you.”
Posy grimaced. She loved her husband, but sometimes he became overcome by a cool sort of detachment, which she knew would certainly not help draw people into their cause.
Nobody else seemed to have anything else to say. Crow looked anxiously between each person, tapping his finger against his knee. “I suppose we’re done for the day,” said Posy. “Come back with recruits if you can. The next meeting is in two weeks and a day from today. At night.”
“Careful when leaving,” grunted Nathaniel. “One at a time, in case the Death Eaters are waiting for you outside.”
Everybody stirred slightly. Crow was the first to leave, glancing anxiously behind him. Birch followed after a five-minute interval, and Wasp after. Live waited nearly ten minutes, and still hadn’t even stood up when Posy turned around.
“I think it’s safe to go now, dear,” she said.
Live nodded, but didn’t stand. Her red hair had grown long and untamed. In the flickering candlelight, Posy could see a glimmer of somebody almost familiar. Although Live had grown to the size of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old, something reminded Posy of a lost, scared child.
“You don’t have anywhere else to go, do you?” Posy asked. Live shook her head. “Would you like to stay here for the night?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Posy could see Nathaniel glance at her. She knew he might not like it, but at least he wouldn’t say anything in front of their guest.
Live nodded silently. Posy couldn’t tell whether it was the glimmer of the candles, or whether it was tears brimming in her eyes that gave her such a strange sense of melancholy. “I knew her,” Live finally said. “Lottie, I mean.”
Nathaniel stood up suddenly and hurried to the larger mattress. He hardly ever talked about Lottie, preferring to just brush it off and change the subject. Somehow, in his eyes, the constant worrying, the ever-wondering was worse than the finality of death.
“D-did you?” said Posy weakly.
“Yeah. I don’t know why”it was so long ago”and I’ve lost other people too, but”it just seems so”unfair. I miss her.”
Posy thought she recognized this girl from somewhere. Now the red hair and bright eyes were all coming back to her, though she still couldn’t place a name. As a child, she had seemed upbeat and happy, but like so many others, she had grown sad and surly in the camps. “I’m sure,” Posy said, “that wherever Lottie is, she misses you too.”
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: Thanks to coolh5000 for being an awesome beta! This chapter is dedicated to my awesome cousin!