Our Corrupted Souls

Part XVII: The Search for Redemption.

"Oh, beloved, and there is nothing but shadows where you accompany me in your dreams and tell me the hour of light."

                            ~  Pablo Neruda

With all of the residents gone, the Greengrass household was like a reverted palace. Through the house, the only noise that dared disturb the silence were the clankings in the kitchen of pots and pans. Al was already preparing the food that would be provided to the residents for the day, not to mention his own and the other house-elves. The library was dim, but as the sun crepts from the patches the blankets of clouds had, little rays of light began to dance around the sleeping boy in the middle of the vast room. From time to time, his eyes twitched, his older self knowing he had outdated his stay, yet having the boy from this reality begging to have more time to nap.

Only when Nori reappeared in a soft pop did Harry know it really was late. The house elf hesitated slightly before proceeding to tap Harry's shoulder. "Master Potter... Sir... wake up," her voice, already soft to the ear, was barely above a whisper. If Harry had not already had the time to drift away from his slumber, Nori would have to resort to the bucket of water to wake him up. Harry's eyes fluttered open. With knowledge of the startling reaction she had the last time, Harry made sure he had acquired the power to mask the magic Death itself had reluctantly been forced to hand him. Instead of seeing the glow of the killing curse, like expected, Nori relaxed when a deep forest green met her eyes. Accompanied with the marbles of emerald was a warm smile she could not help but return.

Harry began to stretch out as he sat up, ruffling a couple of loose paper he had treated as blankets since he had not been bothered to light a fire to warm the freezing tile floor. When he stood up, the abrupt noise of pages upon pages being forced against each other echoed throughout the room. He closed each book but one and walked, painfully, to the shelves with only one book at a time. Luckily, a simple charm, and those shelves he could not reach, were met with a floating book that slid back into place smoothly.

"Master Potter."

Refusing to stop and stay much longer, Harry did not cease his movements but rather hummed in response. "Yes, Nori?" He sat on the floor, back to the house-elf as he began scrolling the long parchment that belonged in the second floor, where the Greengrass notes were kept. "You, don't have to call me 'master-'" Death already does so. "Just Harry, I don't take offense to it."

"Are you sure, Master Potter? Nori thinks that's unwise."

Harry shook his head and turned to face the small house-elf to reassure her in the form of a quirky comment, but his response came back short when he noticed what hovered just beside Nori. A tray with a bowl of strawberries, a wide mug Harry could only assume held steaming cocoa with two rice biscuits beside it and a plate of scrambled eggs, two strips of crunchy bacon and a slice of toast with cream cheese spread. Part of Harry wanted to scowl at the large meals - his eyebrows were beginning to form a thin line with discontent, for eating was something he preferred not to do until he truly could not bear it any longer - but he knew better than to be ungrateful to Nori, or Daria for the matter, who probably ordered the servant prepare him a meal.

"Nori thinks you should eat before you leave, Mister Potter," Nori muttered sheepishly. Maybe he had not hidden his dissatisfaction as well as he thought. "...At least a biscuit." With residement, Harry sighed. "Very well, leave it on the coffee table. Thank you, Nori." Upon hearing the boy appreciate not only her, but the other house-elves' meals and efforts, Nori's pointy ears perked up. She rapidly nodded, and with a snap from her fingers, the food moved to the coffee table placed in the center, between a right arm chaise lounge and a flared arm settee. A left arm chaise was blacked between both sofas, facing a window overlooking the gardens, to the stables. By now, the sun had hidden back between the grey clouds and thick droplets began to pour and obscure the reality through the glass of the enormous black framed window.