Chapter 4 - The Underground Tale
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling actually gets paid to write this stuff. I don't, so guess what? I don't own Harry Potter.
Author's note: I've been obsessed with this plot for a very long time, I'm glad I finally got it on paper. It's surely not one of my best works but I hope you'll like it.
This is set in the early 80s in a country (doesn't matter which one) which is having some political problems.
The plot is loosely based on actual happenings in my country in those times.
Dedicated to all those who in times of need stand up for what they believe in.
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So sorry it took this long to post this! Like I've said I've been very busy with my studies!!!
I've also wanted to thank all those who reviewed last time, when I opened the inbox and saw all those review alerts I almost fainted!!! Honestly!
Anyway, on with the story - unfortunately not a lot of h/hr stuff in this one but more on what's going on in the country.
Once again I apologize for any spelling mistakes....
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Hermione took a look around her as she walked through the narrow city streets, there were women discussing everyone's lives; men sitting on the doorsteps watching people pass by while smoking their favorite pipe; children playing with marbles on the floor without any worries of what could happen.
A poster on a wall caught her eye and she stopped to read it like other people were doing. It was a political poster. The message being short but effective leading people to think on what the government is doing in their country. She heard a woman say that it was time someone was doing something; she couldn't help but smile at this, a hint of satisfaction rushing through her.
She was after all partly responsible for all the posters in the city - you could find them everywhere: on the walls, on the floors, in the main square even in the toilets. That was the idea - spread the word as much as possible that the country must do something to stop all the injustices from happening. As she passed by two other people whispering about it she knew that it was working, her plan was working.
She turned the corner at the end of the road to arrive at a dead end; there she knocked three times on a door which seemed so small you had to be around 1m tall to pass from it. After a couple of seconds the door opened, the young man who opened the door nodded at Hermione and she crouched to pass through the door. Once inside she could see half a dozen people around a table who all turned to acknowledge her, she made a sign with her head for them to carry on discussing as she continued on her way deeper in the room. She arrived at the end of the corridor and entered the room on her left, the walls were covered with the same political posters covering the walls of the city and there was a small desk and chair, all filled with papers - notes; notes from the meetings of the underground association and ideas of what to do.
She then heard steps approaching and she turned to the door to see Ginny Weasley there.
"I heard that you came, so are we starting the meeting?" she asked Hermione.
"Yes, we'll start soon. I'm sorry I'm late Gin, I had a stroll around and lost track of time."
"It's OK, not everyone is here anyway."
They left the small room together to go back near the others, as she approached the table around which everyone was gathered she could see writings on the wall - Secret Resistance Team, Resistance Association, Team Undercover, Anti-Government and many similar titles. She chuckled silently as she remembered that particular meeting, they were trying to find a name for themselves but everyone seemed sillier than the one before so they had finally decided to not try and establish a name.
So it was not consciously that they had begun calling the group - The Underground - in fact it was by chance. When meeting outside they would say to each other "See you in the underground" referring to their meeting place so that others would not understand what they meant; the name remained. Now they were The Underground - a group of youths trying to open people's eyes so that they could see that the government was tricking them, using them.
This group was of course her idea, after her encounter with Mrs. McGonagall she had gone to the library and learnt what she could about political systems and read history books of how people stood up for their rights. She had come to the conclusion that the citizens should be made aware of what is going on so that they could unite together against the government.
Ginny had been the first to join her and with her entered her brothers Fred and George, they had then passed the word along and more people had joined in. She had been quite happy at the sight of all those members, so many people willing to actively do something that could make the difference. But then after the members joined in questions about how to go about this arose.
Because it was obviously easier said than done, how do you transmit a message to someone without them knowing who you are? They were afraid that something could happen to them if certain people found out what they were doing - Hermione would bet anything she had that if the Reds found out about them, they would try to shut them up - so they kept everything a secret. Still trying to find a way to reach their aims, Hermione had noticed some graffiti on a wall - no one knew who had wrote it but the message was clear for everyone to see. At that moment she knew what they had to do and they had begun producing the posters and sticking them by night when the streets where deserted.
The effect was immediate, people in the streets stopped to read them and then discussed about them. After just one day policemen were seen removing the posters - Fred (or George) said that this was a good sign since it meant that the message was also arriving in high places. So they doubled their efforts and every time a poster was removed, another two were hung up somewhere else. The officers quickly realized that it was impossible to keep up with them and didn't try to remove them anymore.
Ginny's voice woke her from her thoughts as she called everyone to gather up for the meeting to start. She then looked at Hermione, letting her know that she should start - they had took her as their leader so she was the one to start the meetings.
"Ok people, today we met to discuss what else we can do. The posters were a huge success but obviously they're not enough, so the question is: what do we do now?"
At this point Fred and George stood up and took the meeting in their hands.
"We have an idea. The posters have proven to be a very efficient medium so we thought that we could do something similar: Leaflets. We'll gather some facts about the injustices that have been occurring, write them on a piece of paper and then spread them out in the city."
"Exactly bro, nicely said. We should write stuff like 'You are not alone; this is not only happening to you; together we can stop this' and also 'The Potters and Malfoys are scum'"
"What?" Hermione asked them.
"What?" Fred or George replicated.
"We're going personal now? Do you think that's wise?" clarified Hermione.
"What I think is that we have to go straight to the point. This government sucks - and who is the government? The Potters and the Malfoys. This is the truth, they are the reason why we're in this mess. They are the ones who destroyed our sense of democracy and sense of freedom. Hermione, some of my friends can't even dare to say that they know me because they know that they will not be treated as all the others. I went for a job interview last month and they tried to figure out what party I support before seeing if I was good for the job or not! This has to stop."
"I know it has to stop! But we have to be careful, lets leave the insults for now."
Fred and George did not dare to contradict her, they knew that she was in a particular position because of her father; they knew she was afraid something would happen to her family if the wrong people found out about this.
They started to discuss logistics about the leaflet and what to write in it when Hermione's mind wandered again this time to something completely different - a guy, more specifically, Harry. Sometimes she couldn't stop thinking about him, he had something that attracted her to him so much. They were similar in many ways - both a bit shy, wanting to do the right thing but at the same time not knowing what this was, both wanting to show their parents that they could make them proud and both searching for that special someone in their lives.
After that first meeting they had met again a week later and she had found herself looking forward to seeing him again. She had felt so comfortable talking to him like she had known him for years instead of a week. They talked about loads of different things but never once approached politics. She didn't mind, actually she was glad, she was already hearing about politics at home and at The Underground so it was quite a relief.
This was a couple of weeks ago, and in less then 72 hours she was going to meet him again. Unconsciously a smile tugged her lips and she heard Ginny call her. She looked up at her to find her smirking. 'Oh oh, caught.' Ginny of course knew about Harry and was very happy for her friend - it was about time that she found someone who would make her smile just like she had found her someone.
"We're ready Hermione; but I'm sure you knew that." Ginny told her, smirking again.
"Yes, sorry. So we'll meet again when we have the leaflets in our hands?" Everyone nodded, "Ok, great. Off to bed people; remember groups of threes - Weasleys you first, Neville, Seamus and I will go last."
Hermione arrived home half an hour later finding her parents eating.
"Hi Mom, Dad."
"Hi honey, want to eat?" her mother asked her.
"Yeah sure. Thanks."
"Did you by any chance pass through Tower street coming home Hermione?" her father asked her.
"No Dad, why?"
"It's filled with those posters again." He said with a smile on his face. "Last week the special squad had brought them down but today it was filled with them. This is so good, someone has finally opened his eyes and actually doing something. I bet the Reds are angry."
She looked up at her father and saw satisfaction written all over his face. Ever since the posters had made their appearance in the city he couldn't stop talking about them. He was proud that the citizens had finally shown courage. But of course he didn't know he it was that was making them, he often said 'When I'll find out, I'll personally thank them - this is a huge risk they're taking', she wondered how he would react knowing that his own daughter was taking this risk.
She didn't have a lot of time to think about it when the phone rang suddenly, her father went to answer the it.
After a couple of minutes he returned with his face blank.
"Various clubs of our party were attacked and burnt. In the city they threw stones at the Finnigans' house, breaking the window and hitting Mary."
Her mother gasped, she knew Mary very well being one of the most active members of the women's section in the party.
"Why?" Hermione managed to ask.
"Because they want to frighten people, to stop them from talking."
Hermione couldn't help but think that this put them backwards - after weeks of putting out the posters this will surely frighten people again. How could someone order these things? Attacks! Is this what the country was reducing itself to? She knew that if this continues it could push the country to civil war.
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Meanwhile, in another part of the city…
The night was calm and only a few people were outside. Draco and himself were in the park talking about girls, he had told Draco about Hermione who was happy for him. Hermione… he couldn't stop thinking about her! How could someone have this effect on him? When he was with her he felt so at ease, like he could talk to her about anything! And in fact he did tell her things he never told anyone else; he felt like he could trust her with everything. He had to admit that it was a bit scary - to trust someone he had just met so much but he couldn't help it.
He looked at Draco as he spoke about his mystery girl - he never did tell him anything else about her. All Harry new was that this girl was amazing - which was good. Draco needed someone to understand him. Harry knew that Draco's relationship with his family was strange to say the least. They were not supportive of his decisions and it wasn't the first time that he heard Draco speaking in a negative way about his parents, especially his father. Mr. Malfoy was a person who likes to be in control, and one who likes to show that he is in control. It still surprises him to some extent that his own father chose to work with Mr. Malfoy.
At the thought of his father Harry felt saddened, they still were not talking to each other from last time. It's not like he really had the time anyway since his father seemed to spend more of his time at work on in his office on the phone. He always seemed distant and pensive so Harry just chose not to interrupt him again. He didn't even know what he'd tell him. He knew that their fight was mostly his fault - he had come to the conclusion that he had wanted so much to impress his parents that he chose to do things that he thought would make them proud. In the meantime he chose to ignore his wishes and sacrifice them for the greater good - so to speak. But it didn't mean that it was his parents' fault since he is or should be responsible enough to take his own decisions.
You would ask where did all this come from - he had spoke to Hermione about it and that's what she said. After lots of thinking time he realized that she was right. But he was still very proud and chose not to say anything to his parents' yet - when he finds the right time he will apologize but not yet.
Suddenly Harry heard a noise and looked up to see a guy running towards them, Draco had heard the noise too and his face darkened as he recognized the guy. The tall brown-haired guy came near them and in a breathless voice told Draco:
"Clubs of Blue party - attacked - stones thrown and houses burnt down."
Harry didn't make out the sense of that sentence but it seemed that Draco did as his eyes widened suddenly.
"Where?" he asked
"Some in the city, near the Finnigans' but mostly in other towns." Came the reply.
Draco swore, at this point Harry asked him what was happening exactly.
"Houses and clubs of people supporting the Blue Party were attacked!"
Harry frowned, some people really had nothing to do - going around vandalizing people's homes. It was crazy. Then it clicked in his mind that Draco had said that only houses of the Blue Party supporters had been affected and saw how badly it effected Draco.
"Draco, this is our fault. If there's someone going out burning places it's not our Party's fault! It's this person's!"
Draco turned to look at Harry and seemed to be thinking exactly what to tell him.
"Harry, go home and tell your father about it. Right now you may not understand its relevance but you'll understand soon enough. Go."
Harry did as told and went back home all the time thinking about what Draco had told him. He arrived home and found his mother on the sofa watching TV, he asked her for his father.
"Why? What happened?" she asked him.
James must have heard him enter because he came at that moment in the living room and asked what was going on. Harry told him what the brown-haired guy had told Draco and James immediately went in his office to make some phone calls. Harry turned to look at his mother who had a look of terror on her face, he asked her what was wrong but she told him that soon everything would be fixed.
He then went upstairs to sleep and couldn't shake that night's events from his head.
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Thanks for reading, I don't know when next chapter will be up but I can assure you that there will be more H/Hr stuff in it.
Thanks again,
marija