Chapter Thirteen

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“ Can we help you?” Hermione asked the two people standing opposite her. The woman stepped forward and offered her hand, which Hermione tentatively took.

“ We're sorry to intrude, we didn't mean to eavesdrop. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Amelia Logan, and this is my husband John. We thought we might be able to help you. We overheard most of your conversation, and gathered that you were witches and wizards. It that true?”

Hermione slowly nodded her head, moving her hand into position incase she needed to obliviate them. She was much relieved when Amelia smiled at her and gave an explanation.

“ Ah, that's good. Don't worry, we won't say anything. We're squibs, you see. Both from old wizarding families, but were disowned when we were found to have no magic. Will you let us help you?”

“ Why would you want to? Not meaning to be rude, but you don't even know us. We could be working for Grindelwald for all you know.”

Amelia gave Ron a kind smile before continuing.

“ I don't think you are. We noticed you when you first came in. At least, we noticed the Potters. We've met them a few times, being the only magical couple living nearby we went to them sometimes for information on what was happening in the wizarding world.”

“ You knew my parents?” Eustace piped up.

“ You must be young Eustace. We've heard about you. It's nice to meet you,” John said, holding out his hand for the young boy to shake.

“ Can we sit down? We should discuss this like civilised people,” Amelia added.

“ Of course, where are my manners. I'm Hermione Granger.”

“ I'm Harry Evans.”

“ Ronald Weston, and this is my sister Ginny.”

“ You already know me, I'm Eustace.”

“ And what is your name?” Amelia asked the shaking little girl nestled against Ginny's chest.

“ Minh-Minh-Lama, but you can call me Minh,” came the muffled voice.

“ So, what is your situation?” John asked after a moment. Hermione took on her lecturing voice and began to tell their story.

“ Well you see, Hogwarts was closed over the Christmas holidays as a result of the attack in October. Headmaster Dumbledore thought it would be a good time for the students to see their families. We were unable to stay with our families, so Eustace allowed us to stay with him. The Potters' house got bombed in the raid, so they brought us here. When they went to get tea, the ceiling caved in, and as far as we can tell they still haven't been uncovered. They're dead. We have few possessions and no money, nowhere to live and no guardians.”

“ Oh, my! That is bad news. You poor dears. I'll tell you what. When the raid is over, we'll go out and see if our house is still standing. If it is, you can stay with us until you can get back to Hogwarts. I'm assuming you have no way of getting there?”

“ No, we've been over this. We can't get there without wizarding money, and we can't apparate or make a portkey.”

“ Well, I'm afraid we can't help you there. We live in the Muggle world, so we have no wizarding money. We can't apparate or make portkeys, as we're squibs. Our house is connected to the floo network, but the raid might have knocked it out. It could take a while to get it started again. The thing is, Hogwarts is on an internal floo network, not an external one. You can floo within the school, but not in or out of it.”

“ That will be fine. I know a place we can go by floo to get to Hogwarts.”

Hermione, Ron and Ginny were looking at Harry in bewilderment. They didn't know what he was talking about. Harry just shook his head as if to tell them he would explain another time. The Logans were just nodding along in acceptance.

“ Then it's settled. When the bombs stop, we'll go to our home and take things from there.”

The students all nodded they heads. Although they didn't like the idea of going off with strangers, they didn't see what choice they had. They didn't have anywhere else to go, and they were sure they could defend themselves if the couple turned out to be dangerous. They didn't seem evil, though. Amelia reminded the time travellers a little of Molly Weasley. She had the same mothering instinct and kindness. Their thoughts were broken by another round of bombs exploding above them. Here we go again, they thought as they all gathered together in a group.

A little while later, the group was relieved to hear the siren signaling to them that it was safe to go home. They stood up as a group and headed over to where the Muggles were clearing the last of the rubble from the ceiling. The other family had already been uncovered, and was lined up near one wall, sheets spread across them from head to toe. Agnes' body was just being removed, where it was placed beside Charles'. The Logans held Minh and Eustace back so they couldn't see, as the other four made their way over and cast repelling charms around the bodies. It would keep the Muggles away long enough for then to deal with the cadavers. Waving their hands over them, they turned the corpses invisible and cast mobilicorpus on them, so they would unobtrusively follow them to the Logans' home. Before they set off, Harry waved his hand over each of them, casting a preservation charm to prevent decomposition.

Soon after, the students were following the adults through the crowded streets. The scene was worse than before they had entered the tunnel. There were very few buildings left standing, and rubble completely obscured the cobbled streets. Blood and dead people littered the streets, as distraught survivors tried to help the injured. Muggles everywhere were frantically trying to put out fires and secure walls ready to topple over. It took about twenty minutes to reach the Logans' home, and by that time each of the children was crying at the scene spread out before them. Whoever said war was glorious should be shot, Harry thought as he took in the carnage. It's terrible when civilians are hit like this. It's bad enough soldiers dying to defend their countries and their families, but this is way beyond wrong. I mean, what did those children in the tunnel ever do to anyone? Harry's thoughts became increasingly dark as they walked past more and more destruction. He had seen battles before, and participated in them, but this was having a profound effect on him. Luckily, before his thoughts could become too depressing, they reached a small pocket of relatively undamaged buildings.

“ We're here,” Amelia announced, “ At least the building still seems to be standing, although I can see some damage at the far side. We'll have to be careful when we go in. The structure might be unstable.”

“ I can cast strengthening charms when we get in,” Ginny offered, “ Harry did that to the station ceiling to stop it collapsing further. Once the Muggles can't see us, we will be able to use magic to secure it and make some repairs.”

“ Well, come in,” Agnes said as she reached into her pocket for the front door key, “ Welcome to our home. You can stay here for as long as you need, we have plenty of space.”

“ We can leave as soon as we can use the floo network. We wouldn't want to intrude longer than necessary. You're very kind to take us in.”

“ Nonsense, Harry! It's no trouble! We always wanted the house to be filled with children, which is why our home is so large for just the two of us. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.”

The students thought it was rather sad that Amelia had never had children, as she was a maternal sort of person. She would have made a good mother. Once the group was inside, Ginny started to cast strengthening wards to keep the building from collapsing. The four then started to rebuild some of the walls, using their wands so as not to make anyone suspicious. Once the inside was looking presentable, John took the six children upstairs and showed them their rooms. They had the whole of the third floor, which had a corridor with three rooms off each side. The girls took one side of the hall, and the boys the other. Nearest the stairs were Ginny and Ron, with Harry and Hermione in the middle. If trouble were to come in any form, it would have to go past the four stronger ones to get to Minh and Eustace. After a quiet dinner, the first years headed to bed. The time travellers placed the Potters in the cellar, covered in pure white sheets with several wards around them to keep them safe for burial. They headed upstairs soon after that, although none of them thought they would sleep after the day's events. They were wrong, though, as the exhaustion finally set in and they drifted into restless sleeps, their dreams filled with falling bombs and death.

At about two in the morning, Harry was pulled from his nightmare plagued sleep by the sound of sobbing. Sitting up in bed, he rubbed his eyes and looked around, listening intently to try and find out where the noise was coming from. After a few minutes, he realised it was coming from the room next to his, where Eustace was sleeping. Harry realised that he would be the only one to hear him, as his room was the only one sharing a wall. Getting out of his bed, he pulled on a robe he had managed to salvage and made his way next door.

As he entered the room, he could hear sniffling coming from the bed across the room. He walked over quietly, and sat down next to the distraught eleven year old. Placing his hand on Eustace's shoulder, he wasn't surprised when the crying was suddenly suppressed, as if the boy was ashamed to be showing weakness. The Boy-Who-Lived gently pulled the younger boy onto his back and looked him in the eyes.

“ It's alright, Eustace. You can cry. You're not being weak; in fact I think you've been incredibly brave. It's understandable you would be upset. You've just lost someone very close to you. I know how you feel…”

“ HOW COULD YOU KNOW?” the boy suddenly yelled, jerking away from Harry.

“ I do know. I've lost a lot of people in my life. My parents were murdered when I was a year old. I never knew them, but they were still important to me. Since I started to learn magic, I have done nothing but fight the forces that killed them, and all of those who would hurt others. In the process I have lost friends and family. I mean, just last October we all lost Percy. That was a shock to us. We lost people in the battle that shouldn't have died. I blame myself, you know. I mean, deep down I know there was nothing I could have done in most of these situations, but it doesn't stop me feeling guilty.”

“ I know what you mean,” Eustace said with a sniff, “ I keep thinking I should have been with them when the roof fell. I lived and they didn't. It isn't fair, they weren't meant to die.”

“ It's the same for me. My parents died to protect me. I feel guilty for surviving, but at the same time I know that as I was a baby there was nothing I could have done. It's called survivor's guilt, and no matter what we do, it will never go away. We will both have to live with it, and carry on with our lives.”

“ But you don't get it, Harry. I knew my parents for eleven years, you were only a baby. How much of them do you really remember?”

“ Nothing, really. But that doesn't mean I don't love them. I know you knew yours for longer, but I have also lost people I have known a lot longer. My girlfriend last year is dead now. She died too young, and I couldn't be there when she did. She had a son, you know? She was pregnant when I had to leave her, and I never got to know my son. He's dead now, and I never got to see him grow up.”

By this time, Harry was openly crying, thinking about all he had lost. His parents, Cedric, Percy, Ardwick, Christabel, Gallatea, Sirius to some extent, and the son he had never known, Glenadade Harold Potter. He wept for his lost love and the son he hadn't met. He hadn't been able to grow old with Gallatea, or be there when she died. He had missed his son's childhood, and seeing him turn into a fine man. He had never met his grandchildren or great grandchildren. What he had told Eustace was essentially the truth, missing out only the fact that it had been in the past. The stress of the day, and the fact that he was with someone who understood his loss, made Harry let go. He had been bottling up his emotions for months, putting his family to the back of his mind. It was made easier by his daily visits to Gallatea on the quidditch pitch, but the pain had never gone away. No matter what she said, he couldn't move on until he had healed emotionally. That couldn't happen until he dealt with the situation. Now was his chance. He looked over to Eustace, sitting up in bed, eyes puffy and bloodshot, with tears trailing down his cheeks. Harry reached out and pulled the younger boy to his chest, and they both sobbed for all they were worth, letting out the pain and starting on the path to healing.

“ Don't worry, Eustace, I'll make sure you're alright. I couldn't see my son grow up, but I'll do my best to help you.”

“ Don't leave me, Harry. I haven't got anyone now. Will you be my big brother? Keep me safe?”

“ I will. I will never let anything happen to you again.”