Chapter Ten

Harry awoke in darkness, his light of having gone out long since, but the gentle humming of his mother, and the familiar warmth of having her near made him smile despite the dire straits he still knew he was in. He opened his eyes slowly, getting accustomed once again to the darkness all around them, not even lit by the luminescence of the crystal growths as the night side of the planet had been. "Mum?"

Lily's humming broke off quickly and she hovered in front of her son, glowing ethereally giving enough light for Harry to see. "How are you feeling Harry?" she asked solicitously.

"I'm all right," he lied then winced a little as she cocked her head her lips forming into a frown. "All right, I feel really weak. Not as weak as I was out there, the magics filling me up again I suppose, but…" he shrugged.

He watched while Lily bit her lip then asked, "Do you think you could apparate again?"

Harry felt his magical core inside himself for a moment before replying cautiously. "It, it would depend on how far."

"Not as far as you did to get in here, the small cave-in further down the air shaft isn't very thick. But if you can get to the other side of the rock, we might be able to steal some food."

"From who?" Harry asked.

Lily went into detail on what she had seen on the other side as the two of them moved through the tunnel, heading towards the end of it. Harry wasn't happy about the idea of stealing from a group that seemed so down on their luck as the squatters Lily described, but realized he really didn't have any choice, his body was close to giving out one him despite his magic's best efforts.

"We'll have to wait until it's night out there or whatever, the sleep cycle or something like on spaceships." Harry asked, shaking his head. His hunger and his bodies slow descent into shutting down was beginning to effect his mind, and he knew he wouldn't be able to wait very long before trying to teleport through the rock. If he did, he might lose the ability to concentrate enough to pull it off.

"I understand, but before we do that you'll have to figure out a way to hide you. I know you already know how to silence your footsteps, but I think you need to figure out a way to blend in." Lily could have taught him a charm to do this, but she was interested in what Harry would come up with alone or with just a little help anyway.

She also didn't want Harry to become dependent on her as the font of all magical knowledge. That was why she had taught him only the barest number of spells while out in the wild, letting him work out how to do a lot of other things for himself. It had worked so far, and she was certain it would this time too.

By the time it they had got into the rock at the end of the tunnel Harry had figured out how to create a chameleon effect coupled with a low powered 'boring' field as Harry put it, that even made it hard for Lily to concentrate on him as he walked along. Those spells coupled with his silencing himself would allow Harry to sneak around relatively unnoticed.

When they reached the rock Lily went through it while Harry waited, and then came back with a detailed description of what was on the other side. This was a really dangerous process, because normally apparition could not be accomplished except to a place the person in question had already been, but given the fact that Harry's survival relied on it, Lily was forced to try again and hope they did the impossible a second time.

Thankfully Harry was still able to concentrate enough to get through it, appearing on the other side still disillusioned and still silenced falling to his knees in the small open area between the two huts on either side. Lily zoomed through the rock quickly, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. "Well done Harry!" she whispered joyfully. "I'll be right back, I'll see if I can thought find where the food is."

She did so quickly, coming back and directing him into one of the huts on the right side of the tunnel. The hut's doorway wasn't a door at all, just a small very thin piece of cloth hung up to cover the entryway. Two of the locals were asleep inside, two of the older looking squatters. Lily quickly directed Harry where to go, still using the light of her body to light his way since she had proven on her earlier expedition that the locals couldn't see her.

They found the food quickly enough. Harry grabbed as much of it as he could hold in his hands before exiting the hut quickly, stuffing them into his pockets. From there Harry followed Lily down the corridor, then slightly out into the next corridor. Thankfully at this time of 'night it was empty.

Despite the smell of the food not being anything he had ever smelled before, his stomach seemed to understand that it was food! Indeed his stomach was beginning to growl at him by the time he left the watcher behind them so loudly Harry was afraid it would break through his silencing spell. With Lily moving back and forth down the corridor to watch out for other aliens coming up, Harry quickly began to scarf the food down, not even noticing the taste at first.

When he did he gagged a little but used to the meat of the animals on the night side as he had become, it wasn't actually that bad. The bread was a little spicy and far different in texture than normal bread, but still was easily the tastiest bit of the meal.

As soon as the food was in his stomach Harry immediately began to feel it doing his body a world of good, feeling some of his magic receding slightly while the rest of the magic that was so busy keeping him alive went to work sending the nutrients to where they needed to go far faster than they normally would ever have been able toHe was still starving after eating a little bit he had been able to take from the squatters, but even that little was enough to give him some more energy to work with now. With that in mind Harry moved after his mother in the direction of the main area, hoping that they could find some more food.

That first night was utterly centered on finding food and water, with the second being far harder to find than the first. There was no water fountains, no open pools, nothing of that nature. Eventually Harry found some containers that contain some kind of green liquid, which Lily said looked like alcohol of some kind. Harry transfigured it into water with relative ease and drank greedily, and for the first time in weeks was beginning to feel better.

He did have to dodge some of the aliens occasionally, but his chameleon, boring and silencing spells worked, allowing him to continue to explore. Eventually they found a small out-of-the-way alcove in one of the more well-to-do areas, and still covered in the dissolution spell Harry bedded down there, smiling faintly as his mother stood in front of him staring down into the cavern protecting him as he once again fell asleep.