Work Text:
The fact they could see Mount Etna from their window was just a plus to this trip. For an active volcano it was a beautiful sight. It wasn’t lost on Lisa that the only reason she was able to see such sights was the fact her homeland was under siege. She never would have ventured this far into Italy if they hadn’t been looking for books to restock their library with to begin with.
Curling up in the deck chair, she relaxed back into it with her notebook. The once new notebook was battered and worn the longer they worked on the library. The fact Hermione had managed to create a never-ending notebook that never ran out of paper or space was a blessing. It enabled Lisa to keep all her notes in one place versus having them spread out over several notebooks.
She already had a hard enough time cataloging all they brought in as it was. Lately, it seemed they spent more time out of the country than in. It was wearing on her nerves, and her exhaustion seemed to be permeant in a way no amount of sleep could fix.
Yet she was alive, and she was helping, it was all she could ask for at this point. A noise from behind her reminded Lisa that she wasn’t as alone as she thought she was. Bill kept to himself more often than not, enabling Lisa to do her job while staying out of the limelight. Without Bill, she wouldn’t have gotten as far as she had with her project.
The library was coming along swimmingly, and it was all thanks to Bill. Without his help, she doubted she would have even gotten the project off the ground.
“What’s got you so lost in thought?” They were resting for the night before they jumped back in feet first the following day. It never seemed to end. Hermione requested books by the dozens on a near daily basis.
Whatever she was working on was huge.
“Wondering. Trying to figure out what Hermione’s up to.” Bill laughed as he settled into the chair next to Lisa.
“That’s a lost cause if I ever heard one. No one’s been able to figure out how that woman’s brain works in all the years I’ve known her.”
“There’s always a method to her madness.” Lisa wasn’t wrong. Half of what Hermione requested made sense to no one but her. Yet, Lisa found she trusted her implicitly. There was no doubt about that. Hermione had saved them more times than she could count. “Just wish I could understand her reasoning.”
“There’s a rumor she’s working on trying to find a way to destroy the virus that seems to be taking over.” The virus had popped up after Lord Voldemort had taken over. Some said it was from a lack of new blood, others said it was his curse due to nearly destroying the entire Wizarding World of England.
Whatever it was, it was wreaking havoc wherever it went.
“A rumor or first-hand knowledge?” Lisa turned so she was facing Bill more, raising an eyebrow in his direction. Sighing, he shook his head.
“I haven’t heard from her since before I was teamed up with you.” The silence that followed was heavy. That had been months ago. It made Lisa wonder.
“You don’t think…” Bill cut her off faster than he had ever done before.
“We’d know. They wouldn’t keep that quiet. Hermione’s been their biggest adversary since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has taken over. They’d be bragging left and right if they’d managed to find her.”
“Last I heard, Flint was with her.” Bill nodded, he had heard as much himself, but their spy network was slowly being thinned out. It was hard to tell what was true intelligence and what had been planted by Death Eaters.
They had been burned by that before.
“I’ve heard the same. If he is, it’s for the better. Last I heard he still had the Dark Lord’s ear.” That didn’t mean anything. Ever since the Dark Lord had found out about Astoria spying for them, he had tightened his ranks.
He was careful in a way he had never been before. It meant they were getting useless information or information that was weeks old. They couldn’t be sure anymore what was a true leak and what was being leaked on purpose.
It made their spy network near useless.
“We carry on like we always have. There’s no use getting upset over something we don’t know is true or not.” Lisa sighed, knowing Bill was correct. There was only so much they could do as individuals and the library was an enormous ask.
“I’m not losing hope. I’m tired. There’s a difference.” They’d been working around the clock for months now. Sleeping in shifts and doing their best to split the workload.
“Rest tonight, we can’t do much more until the sun rises anyway.” Lisa sighed, dropping her head into her hands before pushing her hair from her face.
“It’s not that kind of tired.”
“I know, but there’s not much we can do about that.” She knew his words rang true, but she found she didn’t have the energy to care. “We just have to find a way to keep going.” Lisa smiled before she turned her attention to braiding her hair for the evening.
Bill watched silently lit cigarette dangling from his mouth, as she plaited her hair. It was something Lisa never understood. He had watched her braid her hair a thousand times, but every time he seemed transfixed by the motions.
It was as if he was lost in a memory he couldn’t pull himself from. They never spoke of it. Or what had happened to his late fiancée, even though everyone knew Fleur had gone down fighting.
An honorable death if there ever was one.
The fact he hadn’t been there to save her haunted him. Lisa knew enough to know that much. They’d shared rooms long enough for her to know he had nightmares about it. The fact the man had learned to scream silently haunted Lisa.
“She would have liked you.” Lisa’s eyes cut to Bill’s face, his statement making her wonder if he was skilled at legilimency. He had ever come out and said as much, but the fact he was following her train of thought made her wonder. Lisa doubted that, last she had heard the French witch was known to be rather jealous, even after Bill had obtained his scars. Not knowing what to say, Lisa let the conversation trail off as she stared off into the setting sun. “Fleur would have loved to see the mountains. It was something she talked about a lot.”
Not knowing what to say, as Bill had never brought Fleur up with her before, Lisa chose to remain silent. It seemed he was stuck on a trip down memory lane. It wasn’t often he allowed himself to get nostalgic. There wasn’t time for nostalgia in a war; but she could allow him this.
If anyone deserved to remember happier times it was Bill. The war had taken so much from him, and yet he still kept fighting. He was determined to see it through. Even if that meant his death in the end.
Lisa only prayed that it didn’t.