A hand squeezed hers, and she felt Chris' familiar warmth enshroud her. She hiccupped, a couple more tears spilling out, and he hugged her comfortingly. "That's enough, now, Daisy, it's all gonna be sorted out.”
"I don't want to go to Azkaban. I haven't done anything.”
"I know, sweetheart...” He trailed off, and looked away from her, taking deep breaths as he did so.
There was painful silence. Harry, Ron and Ginny, too, never spoke to each other as the boat went on. Finally, they reached the pier leading to the fortress and got off the boat. They then walked the length of the pier and down a small lane, till they reached an enormous door, with a huge man guarding it. Harry handed him a piece of paper and he nodded. Then Harry turned towards the rest of them. "Ron, you stay back with Chris. Only two people are allowed in.”
Ron nodded, and Harry and Daisy walked in, locked to each other by a Handcuff Charm. They were followed by Ginny.
The fortress was huge and labyrinthine. It smelled of the sea and the air was damp with salt. An eerie coldness circulated the air and silence pressed itself, occasionally punctuated with moans and sucks. Daisy hated to think of this place as home.
Finally, they reached a doorway, guarded by two towering Dementors. A guard Auror was sitting at a desk kept a foot away, with a Patronus circling him. Harry walked to him, pulling Daisy along with him. "Morning, Hardy.”
“Ay, Potter,” replied Hardy. "New prisoner, I see. What for?”
"Murder,” Harry said. "Serial killings.”
Hardy raised an eyebrow at Daisy and opened a notebook. He flipped a few pages. "Cell number one-one-three is empty. Chuck her in and fill the details.” He then bent down and handed Daisy three pairs of grey robes. "Here, girl, you will wear these while you are here.”
Daisy took them as Harry conjured his Patronus and led her through the doors. They walked a short row of cells full of prisoners, all of whom stared at Daisy. Finally, there was an empty cell, with a plaque where the number one-one-three was engraved. They went into it, and Daisy felt the Handcuff Charm lift. Harry backed away from her and went back to finish the formalities. Ginny came in and helped Daisy as she changed. The cell was small, with just a bed. A tiny window was placed high up and the first rays of sunlight fell through it.
Daisy looked around once and sank onto the bed, tears falling out of her eyes for the umpteenth time. Ginny sat beside her and patted her shoulder. "I'll get you out as soon as possible, okay?”
Daisy shrugged her hand away. "Go away from here.”
"Daisy...”
"Get lost. Just go. Harry is all yours, now, right? Go and enjoy yourself.”
"We have to tell your parents,” Ginny said, ignoring Daisy's statement.
"Please!” Daisy growled in frustration. "How many times do I to tell you that I can't call my parents here? Why can't you people just understand?”
"But Daisy, they have to know.”
"They're better off not knowing, thanks.”
"When will they come back?”
"Whenever Dad has sorted out his work.”
Daisy looked at the window as Ginny sat silently. In a few minutes, there were footsteps and Harry was back, this time followed by a burly man carrying a camera. The former gave Daisy a placard. "We're going to click a few pictures.”
Daisy looked at the placard, bearing her name and the number printed at the back of her robes and held it as the burly wizard clicked photos of hers from different angles. He gave Harry and Ginny a salute and walked away. Harry then held his hand out to Daisy. "Your wand.”
She took a last look at her wand before giving it to him. He pocketed it and turned around. "Come, Ginny.”
Ginny got up and walked out of the cell with him. He shut the door of the cell once she was out and cast a few charms with his wand. They then walked away, Ginny giving Daisy a last glance.
Daisy looked at the placard kept in the side.
263739
Daisy gawked at the number disbelievingly. She knew it too well.
Andrew and Daisy were sitting at their favourite café, examining the menu. Finally, Andrew beckoned to the waiter and placed their orders. He then smiled at Daisy. "So? Enjoying your new handset?”
"Sure,” Daisy replied. "I've sorta magicked the WWN into it. The only trouble comes when you text me instead of calling me. I absolutely hate messaging you from this phone.”
"Why?”
"It's such a pain! I hate pushing so many buttons so many times!”
Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Can I see your phone?”
Daisy handed it to him and he pushed a few buttons himself, before letting out a laugh. "What's funny?” she asked, making him laugh even more. She frowned. "Do I look like some kind of a clown over here?”
Andrew shook his head. "It's just that your reactions set me off even more. Anyway, messaging should be a tad easier for you, now. I've switched on the T9 dictionary.”
"The what?”
"It's a facility by which the phone recognises the word that you want to type. Like, my name can be spelled by just typing 263739.”
Daisy smirked. "I'll call you by that codename from now on, then, 263739.”
Daisy lifted the placard and held it to her chest, sobs racking her body. She had thought that she was alone, with no one to listen to her or comfort her in prison. But she was wrong. There was still one person who had promised to never leave her alone. And even now, he was keeping his promise. Daisy looked at the sunrays that were falling through the window.
Thank you for being there, Andrew, I knew that you'd never leave me. I miss you...
***
Harry had to practically chase away the reporters from the Daily Prophet when he reached the Ministry of Magic. They had already printed the news of Parvati's death that very morning and were waiting outside Harry's office for more. After giving a few brief statements about the case and the victims, Harry locked himself in his office and refused to divulge more. He then completed some more paperwork pertaining to the case and took it to Walanger's office.
Walanger offered his condolences to Harry before calling the other Aurors. Then he let Harry and Ron off on a week's break, after which they'd only have to report to office to complete the remaining of the paperwork. Ginny, Romilda and Irene were put on a new case related to some stolen object from the Department of Mysteries. Anthony was put on the chase of another Death Eater.
Naina was screaming in Hermione's arms when Harry reached the guest house. There were packed suitcases in the living room, as everyone was going back home. Parvati's body was still in the hospital for post-mortem and other things. Anthony, Romilda and Irene were preparing for Daisy's final interrogation.
Harry took Naina from Hermione and kept her close, kissing her forehead and patting her back. He went back to his room and settled on the bed with the child. She kept screaming for Parvati, refusing to listen to Harry at all. He calmly hugged her and tried to comfort her to no result.
Finally, Hermione came in with a bottle of warm milk for the child. "Here,” she said, handing the bottle to Harry. "She's hungry... This should calm her down for a while...”
Harry couldn't say anything. He just nodded and began to feed Naina. She refused to drink it for a second or two, but finally, her hunger overtook all her other senses. In a few minutes, Harry had her snoozing peacefully. He then laid her in her cradle and sat next to Hermione again. She kept a hand on his back. "Harry?”
He looked straight into her eyes. "We've put Daisy in prison, Hermione, Parvati has been avenged.” His eyes began to burn and he looked away. When he looked back at her again, tears were forming in his eyes. "Daisy took away my life from me...”
"Oh Harry,” Hermione threw her arms around him, tears streaming down her face, too. "I'm sorry. I wish you didn't have to go through this. But Naina is now your responsibility. You must be strong for her sake. You will have to learn how to raise her as a single parent... As will I, for my children.”
Harry looked at her curiously, but she gave him a reply before he could ask her the question. "I will have to take care of Jessica and Jake once Ron and I are divorced, Harry.”
"But Hermione...”
Hermione got up from the bed before he could ask her anything. "I think you'd better pack. We have to leave within a couple of hours.” She wiped her face and walked away, leaving Harry bewildered. He was dissolved in his own thoughts for a while, until he realised that he had work to do. He extracted Parvati's suitcase and put her clothes and accessories into it. Finally, when he kept the books, he realised that two were missing. Hastily, he searched a few shelves for them and ended up finding them in his own wardrobe. It was just a thesaurus and some novel by a Muggle author named Louisa something, whom Harry had heard of before he started to go to Hogwarts. He stuffed them into the bag thoughtlessly and did not notice the piece of parchment that fell out. He then packed his own things along with Naina's things in two other trunks. He cleared out all the waste paper and other rubbish, unknowingly throwing away the chit that Parvati had left for him, too. Little did he know that this single mistake of his would be the root of bigger disasters. Little did he know that Daisy's imprisonment was just the beginning of a big, dirty game that he'd be forced to play.
In the next two hours, the Aurors were all exchanging goodbyes at the gate of the guest house. Daisy's final interrogations and Parvati's post mortem reports were the only ones to be added to the case file. Harry strapped Naina to her seat in the car and started loading the boot with his things, when a voice called out to him. "Harry?”
Harry turned to see Ginny standing right behind him, a sympathetic look adorning her face. She looked at him for a second, and before he knew it, she was hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, but broke away quickly. She gave him the same old blazing look that he had admired years ago. “Mum has called you home, Harry.”
He shook his head. “I’ll manage. Don’t” don’t really worry about me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you if I require help with anything at all.”
She nodded and looked at Naina, who was looking at both of them curiously. She then bent over and kissed the child. “Bye, darling.”
Naina gave a million-dollar grin and waved her little hand. “Bye, Dinny.”
Harry frowned at her. “Naina, you aren’t supposed to call her like that. She’s your Aunty, sweetheart.”
“Let it be,” said Ginny. “I like it this way.” She gave Naina another kiss before smiling at Harry and walking over to Ron’s car. Ron and Hermione, too, spoke to Harry for a while and after much persuasion, they, along with Ginny, Romilda and Irene left. Anthony had the keys to the guest house with him”he began to lock the door of the house, just as Padma approached Harry.
Harry could have sworn that he had never realized how alike Parvati and Padma looked. Now, as she approached him, he wished bitterly that he were living in a dream; that Parvati wasn’t really dead. But something else distracted him from his thoughts. He could see something glinting in Padma’s hand, and he wondered what she was holding. But she gave him the answer at once. “Jeej, these were Parvati’s anklets when she was a child. She had given them over to the jeweler’s the other day, to get it cleaned. She wanted to give them to Naina this Christmas…” Tears were welling up Padma’s eyes as she opened her palm to Harry. A pair of tiny sized silver anklets sat there, and as Harry took them in his hands, the lovely chinking sound sent up a rush of warm air through him. He kept them in his pocket before saying goodbye to Anthony and Padma.
Finally, he was in his car and as he put the keys in the ignition, he realised that he had a whole, long life ahead of him without Parvati. The thought made him want to give up”to back out of the entire ordeal and run away, but then, as he shifted on his seat, the clink of the anklets made him want to go on. He would get through it. He would get out of it. He’d fight for all the people in his life who had never lived long enough for him.
***
Harry walked; the wooden bar feeling rather heavy on his shoulder. He was holding the bar with one hand and the other hand was free. He was barely aware of where they were heading, or what the men behind were saying. He just walked along into what seemed like nothingness.
Finally, the group, consisting of Parvati’s pier bearers” Harry, Ron, Mr. Patil and Anthony, the other Weasley men and some of Parvati’s other male relatives reached a stretch of barren land. There was a build-up of wooden logs in the middle of the crematoria. They walked towards the structure and lay Parvati’s bier on top. Harry backed away to the priest, Ron beside him and Anthony and Mr. Patil on the other side. The priest handed him a log of wood and instructed him to place it on his wife.
Harry took it and walked forward. He looked at Parvati one last time. She was wearing her wedding clothes and looked just like a beautiful bride, even at death. Tears blurring his vision, Harry placed the log on the corpse and went for the second one.
His white robes billowing around him, Harry placed the second log and then all other logs. Then, the priest lifted a smoking earthen urn and placed it on Harry’s shoulder. He told him to circle Parvati’s pyre with it. Holding its mouth tightly, Harry circled the pyre, the priest making holes on the vessel occasionally. Hot oil spilled from it and spattered on the bleak ground. Harry did not know how many rounds he had taken, before the priest told him to break the pot on the ground. After doing as the priest told, Harry was given a burning log of wood. Sniffles now escaping him freely, Harry burned Parvati’s pyre and threw the log in. He felt Ron’s arm around his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
The blazing flames roared, as the pyre began to be reduced to ashes. Harry watched his wife burn down and leave him alone with his daughter to take care of each other. But then, he had made sure that justice had won. The culprit was caught and he had found vengeance. Vengeance for Parvati. Vengeance for Naina. Vengeance for himself.
Everyone began to walk away to their homes. After a while, Harry, Anthony, Mr. Patil and Ron were the only ones before the pyre. The sky began to darken, and soon, Ron was pulling him away from the cemetery by his forearm. He got the sensation of being pulled through a rubber tube and then he was standing in the deserted alley behind his house. They walked a short distance and were at his doorstep in less than five minutes. The Weasley women, Padma, Mrs. Patil and some other ladies were waiting at his place. He walked straight to his bedroom and slumped onto his bed as tears fell out of his eyes again and again. He covered his face and tried to control the sobs that followed, but in a moment, he felt someone begin to stroke his back. He got a whiff of a flowery scent before Ginny hugged him. He could hear her weeping softly too, as she comforted him. Finally, when he was able to control himself, she spoke softly. “Naina is not well, Harry, she needs you.”
He wiped his eyes and looked at her, bewildered. “She was fine till we left, wasn’t she?”
Ginny shook her head. “She’s refusing to eat. And the last time Hermione managed to feed her a bit of milk, she threw it all up in a few minutes. She’s been crying for… Parvati…”
Harry took a deep breath. “Okay… I’ll see what I can do…is there any warm milk?”
“I just filled her bottle a few minutes ago. I’ll get it.” She got up and left, and Harry went to Hermione to take charge of Naina. The child refused to get into Harry’s arms, as she wailed for Parvati over and over again. He managed to get her to his room and lay her on his bed, as he tried to calm her down. Ginny arrived with the bottle and he tried to feed her the milk, but she refused to open her mouth.
“MUMMY!” she screamed, moving her face away from the bottle. Harry held her close and kissed her cheeks.
“Mummy is right here, sweetheart… she’ll always be here… right with us.” He could feel a lump form in his throat as he said this. Then he had an idea. He stood up and opened his wardrobe, where he had kept Parvati’s anklets. He drew them out and put them around Naina’s ankles. She stopped her struggle as the cold metal touched her skin. Harry smiled at her. “Aren’t they pretty, darling?”
“Pwetty!” she exclaimed, giving him a wet grin. She moved and shook her legs for a while, and while she was immersed in it, Harry tried to feed her some of the milk. But she moved her face away, again. “MUMMY!” she persisted, beginning to cry once more. Harry kept the bottle aside and tried to pacify the child without breaking down, himself. He patted her back for a few minutes, but it did nothing to calm her.
He was just trying to rock her, when Hermione arrived in the room. “Any luck?”
Harry and Ginny shook their heads. “She’s plainly not listening…” Harry rocked her for some more time, before whispering softly to the child. “Princess, it’s very important for you to have the milk. Please have it, sweetheart… just have it for Daddy.”
She sniffled and shook her head. “I want Mummy!” But then, suddenly, she stopped crying. Finally, she looked at Harry with big eyes and pointed at the space behind him. “Mummy taid I tould dwink it.” He smiled at her and kissed her forehead, beginning to feed her without further ado, and she fell asleep when he had made her burp.
He had just gotten up and laid her in her cot, when Hermione asked him a peculiar question. “Erm… Harry? Who exactly told her that she must have the milk…?”
Harry shrugged. “She probably saw Parvati’s photo. Why?”
“It’s just that… the wall she was facing has no photos of any sort.”