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The Space Between | ||||||
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Category: Post-Hogwarts, Post-DH/AB, Post-DH/PM Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, General, Humor, Tragedy Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mental Abuse, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Rape, Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse Rating: R Reviews: 584 Summary: Harry and Ginny's lives have finally evened out. They've faced trauma, and loss, more than most have, but they've fought hard to find a normal. If only things could stay that way... Old enemies find new ways to seek revenge. This story is the sequel to Bound. It would be extremely helpful if you read that first. Warnings are to be safe. It's probably overkill. Please message me if you have any questions or concerns. Hitcount: Story Total: 353490; Chapter Total: 2109 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: |
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“Are you alright?” Al said as Nat came back through the portrait hole and glanced around at the empty common room. “How did you manage this?” she asked as she walked towards him. He’d wanted to wait for her in the Headmaster’s office but had been unceremoniously kicked out and assured she’d be walked back to the common room by a member of staff. Seeing her now, he wished he’d protested more. She was walking funny and as she came level to him he saw something was staining the front of her jeans. “Uh…” “I’ll explain in a bit,” she sighed as she went past him for the stairs. “I need to change.” She was down in less than five wearing loose cotton trousers and her Weasley jumper. She was carrying the jeans which she promptly tossed in the fire. “What?” Al said as she turned and practically stumbled towards him. “Are you okay?” he asked as he caught her and pulled her down next to him. “I’m just tired,” she sighed as she snuggled under his arm and rested her head on his chest. “I’m so tired of her and the ridiculous things she’s pulling. Now how did you get the common room empty at seven o’clock at night?” “Lily did it,” Al told her. “Still not sure how, but it was agreed I’d wait for you and she managed to get everyone else to head up to their dorms.” Nat yawned and pressed her nose further into his jumper. “Pretty Lily makes all the boys silly.” “Not me.” “Especially you,” Nat laughed. “Only with you it isn’t because she’s pretty.” He pondered that for a moment and then realized Nat was right. “Well, alright then. So… so…” he wanted to ask. He really wanted to ask but he just couldn’t. “You have a nephew.” Something in his heart broke, even as it swelled with so many feelings. “Is he okay? He’s really early.” “He’s okay now,” Nat promised quietly. She tilted her head up and whispered, so only he could hear, “I fixed things.” Relief flooded through him even though it was tempered by the knowledge that the bitch had messed with his brother. “The… you know.” He didn’t want to say ‘mum’ just in case someone happened to be listening to them with Extendable Ears. “She didn’t make it,” Nat admitted sadly. “I may have to see…” “No,” Al shook his head. “You’ve done enough already.” “No, I haven’t,” Nat argued back. “I can do more and I’ll be fine. I always am.” “Except you’re tired,” he pointed out. “Are you hungry?” She shook her head and snaked her arm around his waist which succeeded in short circuiting his brain enough to stop arguing with her. He opened his mouth to try to say something, anything, but her soft breaths told him she’d already fallen asleep and he couldn’t bring himself to wake her. He was only going to close his eyes for a minute. Just a minute, and then he’d wake her so she could go upstairs to bed. He awoke two hours later in a position he’d only dreamed about. He was lying on the couch with Nat cradled in his arms, her head on his chest and her arm still around him. He blinked slowly as he stared down at her and couldn’t help but wish this could be his life. Why couldn’t he have this all the time? Why didn’t he have it in him to simply tell her how he felt? Maybe she’d feel the same way. Maybe she would want this, too. Then he squashed that notion because just yesterday she’d told him that Millie Davis had been checking him out if he was interested. He wasn’t interested and he’d told her so. Al closed his eyes and didn’t move. He didn’t want this to end. He wanted to soak in the feel of her body pressed to his side and her breath tickling his neck so it could last him an entire lifetime. Everyone else was finding their someone. Well, not everyone, but it certainly felt like it. He knew Scorpius was seeing long-term with Lily and that was weird. It was just weird. His sister was still a baby, but Scorpius knew that and wasn’t pushing Lily for more. He simply saw the big picture and he wanted it. Al had no doubt Lily was going to be happy to go along with that when the time came. Then there was James who was married, which was still weird. It was all weird. Everything was flat out weird. But James was married to his true love or whatever people called it. It wasn’t perfect. They’d been saddled with a kid through some very shady circumstances. He didn’t even know if they were having sex, although they weren’t at Christmas when he’d gone to their house and went up to use the loo and saw Caroline still had her own room. They’d told Al and Nat about the risk of the baby then and told them they could tell Rose but Lily still didn’t know. They didn’t know how they were going to tell Lily. Even Scorpius knew because he’d known they’d need Scorpius to prepare Lily for whatever was coming. Nat let out a slow breath and shifted a bit against him, making him freeze up. He felt so many big things as the firelight danced along the light of her hair, making it look redder in the light. He wanted to stay here forever and never let go. But of course, that wasn’t going to happen because his sister was standing over them, her brow lifted in question. “Fell asleep,” Al muttered as he felt Nat start awake. She glanced up at him in confusion and then went pink as she practically fell to the floor to get away from him. Yeah, she was totally into him. “Hey,” Scorpius said as he came around the end of the couch and pulled her up. “Are you okay?” “Fine,” Nat muttered as she glanced anywhere but at Al. “What happened?” Lily asked them. “I told you, we fell asleep,” Al grumbled as he sat up and ran a hand through his horrible hair, which he knew looked worse than ever. “No, at home,” Lily clarified as she came around the couch to look at Nat. “You look terrible.” “I always look terrible,” Nat muttered darkly. “No, you don’t,” Lily sighed as she pulled her into a hug. “What happened?” “We can’t talk here,” Al told her. “Let’s go.” “It’s after curfew,” Lily pointed out as Rose walked into the room. “I checked the map,” she said as she held the Marauder’s Map and the invisibility cloak. “How did you get that?” Al wanted to know. “Nicked it from your dorm just now,” Rose told him. “Your mates up there loved it when I sauntered in to get it.” Scorpius let out a chuckle. “I’d have gotten it for you.” “Less fun that way,” she told him. “Anyway, I’m head girl. Let’s go.” They set off for the Room of Requirement where Al asked for a comfortable room to talk privately. They found a bunch of squashy armchairs. Nat sat alone in one and Al took to pacing around the room as Scorpius pulled Lily down to share one with him and Rose took another. “We should have asked Hugo to come,” Lily realized. “You can fill him and Honor in later,” Scorpius pointed out. She glanced at him and studied him. “You know what’s going on.” “I know what’s going on,” he confirmed as he kept an arm around her shoulder and took her fingers with his other hand, gently massaging them. “They wanted me to know in case it happened so we’d be able to deal with it. We didn’t want to upset you if nothing came of it.” Lily’s brow furrowed in concern as she turned back to her brother, who was still pacing. “What’s going on, Al?” “Nat has more details than I do,” Al told her as he finally fell into one of the seats. “I only heard a bit before she fell asleep.” Nat sat back in the seat and stared up at the ceiling, which made Al look up as well. It was a weird fresco with fat, practically naked cherubs. “I did not ask for that,” he told the room at large, but the naked babies stayed put. “Lily…” Nat licked her lips. “See… your mum has been having this dream about Caroline and James, even before she met Caroline. It was of seeing James’ wife and your dad handing her a baby with darker skin. He’s clearly James’ baby but not the woman’s and James isn’t in the dream. But a weird detail is the really big dog in the dream.” Lily shook her head. “That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Mum isn’t psychic or anything.” “She’s not,” Al agreed on a long sigh. “But she had this dream so often it stuck with her. Then James and Caroline suddenly eloped and…” he glanced to Scorpius who cleared his throat and took up the tale. “Your brother was attacked last summer,” he told Lily gently. Lily’s eyes went wide. “Attacked how?” “He was raped,” Rose said bluntly, and Al watched Lily shrink into Scorpius’ side. “Rose,” Al sighed heavily as he glanced to his cousin. “There is no nice way to put that, Albus,” Rose told him bluntly as she sat forward in her chair. Her brown curls were pulled back in a messy tail at the back of her head and one sprang free at that moment, causing her to bat it away. “It was horrible and Lily needs to know the truth. I’m not going to coddle her like you two are,” she said as she pointed to him and Scorpius. She turned to Lily and her expression softened. “He was drugged and raped while in Brazil.” “But… but…” Lily stuttered as her eyes filled. “The woman who was maybe with James,” Nat continued as she shot Rose a pointed look, “because we don’t know that they actually had sex. We just know she was impregnated, was then probably held prisoner until she gave birth and then she died.” “Oh, no!” Lily’s hands flew to her mouth as the words sunk in. “Well, damn,” Rose muttered as her head fell into her hands. “I was prepared to be mad at her forever for raping James and giving up her kid, but I can’t be mad if she’s dead. What happened?” “Embolism,” Nat explained. “It was a blood clot that killed her. She was a Muggle in a Muggle hospital and they couldn’t save her. She died quickly, but I am convinced she was given that same poisonous something that Isabella Crabbe has been working on for years and…” she paused and took a deep breath. “And tonight I pulled it out of Alex’s body.” “Alex?” Scorpius asked. “Is that his name?” Al wanted to know. Nat held up her hands. “Alex is the baby. He’s so tiny. He was so early, and his whole body was ravaged by this potion or something. It was like a brown goo in him. It… it hid his magic from me until it was gone. I thought he was a Squib!” “Merlin,” Al breathed out as he studied Nat’s face. She was wrecked by what she’d seen. It was no wonder she’d come back and fallen asleep. “I… I kept up a smile and a brave face,” she explained quietly. “I could see Caroline was upset and the baby wouldn’t calm. He had this horrible aura around him. It wasn’t right and the poor dogs have this energy that flows off of them. Both dogs were trying to calm the baby, but he wasn’t having it. I sat down with him in my lap and worked loose all the vile filth in that tiny body.” A silent tear rolled down her cheek and then another and Al found himself on his feet and striding over to sit with her, to put his arm around her. She closed her eyes and the tears forced their way out between her closed lids. “Then it was out and it felt horrible and wrong on my skin. I laughed it off like it was no big deal, but I couldn’t wait to burn my jeans.” She sniffed and opened her eyes. “He was calm as soon as the stuff was out of him and it was clear he is magical.” “She’s… she’s figured out how to make babies… to… so they lose their magic?” Scorpius asked in a horrified stutter. “It looks like that’s what all the experimenting was doing,” Nat confirmed. “It’s what I told your dad,” she told Al. “He was… he was alarmed but I can’t say he was surprised. I think if that potion had stayed in Alex longer, I might not have been able to clear it out. I might not have…” she turned her face into Al’s shoulder again and he understood viscerally why she’d turned to him earlier. “But you did heal him,” he reminded her. “I healed him!” she cried unhappily. “How many more will be infected that I won’t be able to save? She targeted James and I know she’s going to target you and Lily next.” Al glanced to his sister and saw Scorpius holding her on his lap, her arms around his neck. He didn’t think she was crying, but he couldn’t see her face. Scorpius’ hand was soothing a circling along her back as he held her. “We won’t let it happen,” he told Al. “We’ll protect Lily.” “What about you, though?” Rose asked Al. Her face was so pale she practically glowed. “If she’s gone after James, she’ll go after you.” “Maybe,” Al agreed uneasily. “But we have to wait and see. Having a child who is a Squib isn’t the end of the world, of course, but having one who is poisoned to cause it is terrible. But,” he said as he squeezed Nat’s shoulder. “We have Natalie, here, and she can see the problems.” “But that only helps us,” Nat pointed out miserably. “That crazy woman is hurting a lot of people!” Al didn’t know how to comfort her. He didn’t know how to make his sister feel better. He didn’t know how to take that look out of Rose’s eyes. “I haven’t told Andrew any of this,” Rose told Nat. “He doesn’t know about your power or anything–” “You can tell him,” Nat said instantly. “I know it’s serious with you two this time. I can see it. I know you really would like to have his support.” “I would,” Rose agreed quietly. “I’ll think about telling him, but I’ll tell him here in the Room of Requirement so no one else will know… I mean, if I tell him.” “Lily?” Scorpius asked softly as he ran a hand down her hair. “Sweetheart?” “I’m okay,” she said after a long moment. “I’m okay.” But she didn’t move from Scorpius’ embrace or turn to face any of them for a long, long time. When they finally made it back to the common room it was nearly midnight and Al was thankful his brother was okay and his nephew was safe, even as he felt a horrible guilt about the baby’s mother. He couldn’t do anything about Isabella Crabbe! But oh, he wished he could. Maybe someday. He’d barely managed to fall asleep when he heard the curtain rustle and felt someone climb into bed with him. Al glanced over to see his sister’s coppery hair. “Wha?” “I had a nightmare,” she whispered pitifully. Al grunted and scooted over; thankful she’d brought her own pillow since she was a pillow hog. Her small hand found his under the covers and she breathed out a sigh of relief. In moments he was back to sleep. He awoke to Scorpius standing over him as pale shafts of light seeped in through the gaps in the curtains. For a moment, he’d totally forgotten his sister. She used to do this to him a lot when they were little, but it had been quite a while since she’d come to sleep with him. She always said she liked his calm, whatever that meant. Al glanced over to see Lily was still asleep, still holding his hand. “Nightmare,” Al croaked out as he carefully pulled his hand from hers. “Must have been bad as she hasn’t done this since she was seven or eight.” Scorpius glanced back out of the curtain and a moment later the door to the dormitory closed. “They’re all gone now,” he said quietly. Lily let out a small sigh and rolled over, blinking her eyes open. “Lily?” Scorpius asked as he pushed open the curtains further. Tears filled Lily’s eyes and she scrambled up and over Al’s legs, not quite crushing them as he grumbled in annoyance. She threw herself into Scorpius’ arms and he kept her lifted off the ground, holding onto her. “I kept dreaming about her death! I kept s-seeing it! I kept hearing the baby cry in pain!” On and on it went as Scorpius eventually sat down on the side of the bed, holding her against him. “Shh, I have you,” Scorpius murmured tenderly as he held her. Al watched his best mate, the man he realized was someday going to be his brother-in-law, and felt… he felt a little nostalgic. It was no longer his job to comfort Lily. If she could have climbed into bed with Scorpius, she would have but of course if they were discovered there was significantly less to explain for her being with Al. It wasn’t his job anymore and Scorpius was doing as good a job as anyone could, probably better. “You could have woken me up,” Scorpius told her after a long moment. “We could have gone down to the common room to talk.” “We all needed to sleep,” Lily sniffled. “I wanted to get into bed with you but knew that we’d get in trouble.” Al let out a snort. Scorpius shot him a look. “I wouldn’t do anything with her, Al.” Al held up his hands. “I didn’t say otherwise. She’s just Lily and that was funny.” “You slept with Nat down on the couch,” Lily pointed out. “I didn’t mean to do that,” Al told her honestly and turned away. “Besides, it wasn’t the same thing since we’re just friends.” But he thought about Nat climbing into bed with him and even if he was on his best behavior, he knew he wouldn’t get any sleep if she was right there with him. Al cleared his throat. “But it’s best not to tempt things, yeah?” “No,” Lily agreed even though Al was completely certainly she had no idea the subtext of what he’d said. Scorpius understood, though. “I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.” “So,” Al said with a long sigh. “Cloak on, go sneak back up to your dorm and get ready for the day Lily-Lu. Anymore nightmares, go sleep with Rose.” “Rose isn’t calm like you are,” Lily sighed as she stood and went to fetch the cloak from his trunk. “But I suppose it isn’t worth the risk.” Scorpius opened the door for her, and she walked out, invisible to everyone. He closed the door quietly and leaned back against it, thunking his head against the solid door. “I’m glad it’s you, mate,” Al told him as he stood up and stretched. “She’s a lot of work.” “She’s worth it.” “Didn’t say otherwise,” Al pointed out as he pulled off his sleep shirt and rummaged around for a clean shirt. “Just glad I can hand her off to someone who gets her.” Scorpius was silent for a long moment. “You know Nat likes you back, right?” His heart skipped a beat just for a moment. “She tried to set me up with Millie Davis. She doesn’t like me back. Anyway,” he said groping for a way to change the subject. “Absolutely no sharing a bed with my sister before you’re married.” “I told you, I wouldn’t–” Al shook his head. “I trust you more than anyone with her, but…” he let the word trail off. “But,” Scorpius agreed as he ran his hands through his hair before scrubbing hard at his face. “The damnedest thing is she has no idea about that part. At all. Not at all.” And she didn’t because Scorpius never, ever pushed her, which was why Al knew that Scorpius was the one for Lily. He was exactly what she needed. “You’re going to have an interesting wedding night,” Al snorted and then wished he hadn’t given it any thought because this was his sister. Scorpius turned his eyes up to the ceiling and let out a long breath. “We have years yet before that happens. She’ll start to realize it eventually.” Al wasn’t entirely sure about that. “Let’s get breakfast.” ~*~ Harry waited silently while Nat examined the body of the young woman who had given birth to Alex just a few days before. He’d only just managed to get the body before it had been buried and getting her transported to England without a lot of questions being asked had been a monumental pain in the arse, but they’d managed it. She was a victim of Isabella Crabbe, which meant he needed to see the body. Healer Wallace had already examined her and had come to the same conclusion that she’d died from an embolism. Nat would tell him the full truth. She used one gloved hand to carefully open the woman’s mouth and gaze in. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she continued to study the body minutely. They waited silently for her conclusion. “I’ve seen what I need to,” Nat said wearily as she stepped down from the stool she’d stood on and pulled off her gloves. Her small face was lined as she shook her head. “It’s definitely Crabbe’s potion, the same one from the other women.” Wallace didn’t ask how she knew that and Harry didn’t offer to explain. He’d come to trust Wallace completely, even if he didn’t explain to Wallace what made Nat so special. “Alright.” Nat’s eyes were hollow as she looked up at Harry. “I don’t think she was even fifteen.” Harry’s heart stopped. “What?” “By her teeth, I think she was fourteen or fifteen years old.” Harry swore harshly under his breath as he turned away. The woman, no girl, had looked like a woman and he hadn’t questioned it. “Are you sure?” Healer Wallace asked her quietly. “I can’t be positive without x-rays of her teeth, but what I’m seeing puts her at younger than me,” Nat told them in disgust. “She looks older because she’s been living on the streets and living rough for a while now. It ages a person quickly.” Harry didn’t know how he was going to tell James and wondered briefly if he’d have to. Did James need to know? Sighing, he knew his son did need to know. “Nat…” Harry turned back to the young woman. “Thank you for your help.” “Sure,” Nat said as she pulled off the surgical gown she’d been wearing. “Will you be sending her body back to Brazil?” “She had no family there,” Harry told her. “We’ll bury her here with the other Potters.” Nat nodded silently and they made their way from the morgue towards Audrey’s office and the Floo so she could get back to school. Nat was in her final year and should have been studying a lot. Instead, Harry kept pulling her out of school to work for him. “Are your studies going alright?” “They’re fine,” Nat said flatly. “I am going to pass everything I need to pass except maybe the practical of Defense. I should have dropped that one.” “Al can tutor you.” “Al is tutoring me,” she laughed without much humor. “It’s no good. I’m hopeless at it.” “Well,” he said as they began to walk up the stairs, “you’re brilliant at other things so it all works out.” He went to see James and Caroline as soon as he had Nat safely back at Hogwarts. He came through the Floo at his son’s house and saw Caroline on the couch nursing the baby. “Sorry,” he said as he turned away even though he really couldn’t see anything. “It’s fine,” Caroline assured him. “I’m… I’m getting used to it. You can stay.” “I need to talk to James, actually,” he said as he turned around to study her face. She had circles under her eyes but that was to be expected with a week-old baby in the house. “Is Ginny still here?” “She is watching the girls right now so Victoire could get a small break,” Caroline explained as her fingers ran along the baby’s downy dark hair. “She’ll be back later. James took the dogs out back for some exercise.” “I’ll go speak to him, then,” Harry told her. “Do you need anything before I go?” “Can you hand me my water glass?” she asked and thanked him when he handed it to her. She really was making progress and it warmed something inside of him to know she wasn’t going to be ruined by her sick father. He wended through the kitchen and dining room and pushed open the door to the backyard where James was throwing a stick for the happy puppy. He turned and smiled at his dad. He, too, looked tired but very happy. “Hey,” he said as Steve came trotting back with the stick. “Rufus isn’t interested?” Harry asked as he closed the door so Caroline wouldn’t hear them. Rufus sat at James’ feet and watched the whole thing with old mild interest. “I think it’s beneath his dignity,” James chuckled. “He only tolerates it because he knows it’s good for Steve’s development.” “You’re a good dog,” Harry told Rufus as he scratched at the big dog’s ears. “You look troubled,” James said as he threw the stick again, showing off with his Chaser’s arm. “Is something wrong?” Harry didn’t want to tell him. He really didn’t want to tell him. But he was standing with his grown son and he knew he needed to. “Nat examined the girl, Alex’s mother.” “Oh.” It came out more as a breath rather than a word. “Was it Crabbe?” “It was, which wasn’t surprising. But there was another unpleasant surprise.” Harry pulled in a lungful of the cold air and told him. “Nat thinks she was fourteen or fifteen.” James sucked in a sharp breath and turned to face his father; his face gone white. “No.” Harry nodded sadly. “She was very young.” His son thrust his hands into his hair and pulled at it and he closed his eyes. “Oh, Merlin… no. Just a kid?” “This isn’t on you, James,” Harry reminded him. “You were drugged and unable to do anything.” “That’s no comfort.” Harry knew it would be. “I’m glad you’re the kind of man who cares about it.” James turned to look into the house, even though they couldn’t see Caroline through the sun’s reflection off the house. “What do I tell her?” “The truth, when you think she can handle it,” Harry said gently. “Just like I’m telling you the truth. Even if she willingly participated in whatever Crabbe asked of her, James, she was still a child and thus a victim in all of this. Caroline is going to understand that and she won’t blame you for it. You’re a victim, too.” James let out a long sigh as he moved towards the house and the dogs fell into step behind him. He pushed open the door and they found Caroline standing in the kitchen putting the kettle on with the baby on one shoulder. “Here,” James said as he took the tiny bundle from her and cradled his son under his chin. “Something is wrong,” Caroline said as she glanced between them. “What happened?” James sat on one of the stools and raised the baby up to kiss his sleeping cheek. His eyes never left his wife as he told Caroline the bad news. She took it as Harry had expected. She cried and James held her in one arm, the baby in the other. “That poor girl!” “It would have been terrible no matter what age she was,” James said sadly. “No one deserved to die that way, but for her to be a child still… it’s worse.” Harry finished making tea for them and then poured them each a cup while he held the sleeping baby. Alex was so small he could practically fit in one of Harry’s hands, but even after only a week, he could see the baby was getting bigger. “He’s growing already,” Harry noted. “He’s up almost half a pound,” James told him as he took Caroline’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “All thanks to you.” She smiled at him, but it was tempered by what they had learned. Harry didn’t tell them what the potion did. They weren’t ready to hear that part of the story yet. For now, he had to meet with the Minister and Hermione and fill them in on what was going on. “I have a meeting to get to,” Harry told them. He hated passing off his grandson so soon, but he had work to do. “I’ll come back for dinner so I can spend more time with him.” He said his goodbyes and made it back to the ministry just before the meeting. The Minister and Hermione were already in the Minister’s office waiting for him when he entered, shutting the door behind him. “Your summons was unexpected,” the Minister said carefully. “By the expression on your face, I don’t think I’m going to like what I’m about to hear.” “I don’t think you are, either,” he informed her as he sat in a seat opposite her and next to Hermione. Hermione knew about Alex and odd birth, as they’d warned her months before, but the Minister didn’t. He had a lot to fill her in on. It took him half an hour to fill her in on all the things that had happened up until that day. She asked a few questions along the way, but mostly she let him speak. “So, you have a grandson.” “He’s doing well, I just saw him,” Harry told her. “But he wasn’t well when he arrived in England. He was born sickly, but Natalie Parker fixed him.” “She did what?” Hermione asked quickly. “This is something I hadn’t told you about,” Harry admitted to his sister. “Nat’s powers have grown again. She can now undo magic, including potions.” They both stared at him, speechless. “That’s… that’s not possible,” Hermione said finally. “That’s not possible!” “And yet she does it,” Harry said as he shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve watched her do it. The potion Crabbe used on the poor girl was inside of my grandson and Nat pulled it out of him. It made a mess all over everything she and the baby were wearing.” Hermione shook her head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing!” “I haven’t either,” the Minister confessed. She considered him thoughtfully. “Why didn’t you tell us before?” “Honestly, I was waiting to see what would happen next,” he admitted. “But it seems this might be the limit, at least for now. She can undo old spells to a degree, but only if they’re still active. So, for example, she can’t un-mend a bone after it has been set, but an enchantment that’s active on a building can be undone. She doesn’t think she can remove potions if they’ve been in a body for a long time, but I imagine that will be something she learns to do if the potion is still active in the body. But here’s the sticky part of everything.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She said when she first looked at Alex, she thought he wasn’t magical.” “Alright,” the Minister said when he didn’t go on. “What does that mean?” “When… when she pulled the potion out of Alex, she saw his magical spark and knew he was.” Harry watched as the implications of what he said registered with them. “She’s trying to destroy the magic in families,” Hermione whispered in horror. “That’s my conclusion,” Harry agreed. “It took her a long time to figure out how to make sure the babies lived. It killed a lot of the mothers, too. I don’t know if Alex’s mother was meant to die or not, but she was young and a Muggle so it might have been part of why she didn’t make it.” “This is disastrous,” Minister Macmillan said as she shook her head. “We’re only barely getting back on our feet after two major wars. We can’t have something like this tearing the magical community apart.” “Right now, I think she’s going to target my family,” Harry told her, “but after that I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t go after everyone. Because it’s a potion, it’s not going to be impossible for her to infect a lot of people. I want to catch her,” Harry told her in frustration, “but she’s not in England and she’s hiding in countries where I can’t go to get her out.” “Harry…” Hermione put a hand on his arm. “This has all been a major shock for everyone. I don’t even know how to feel about this. My daughter is going to be of age to marry and have children soon. You’ve already been effected by this.” “But we have Natalie Parker.” “Allison,” Hermione shook her head at the minister’s words. “We can’t risk Nat helping everyone or we risk her being exposed. Someone that powerful is going to be a target for everyone in the entire world.” “Nat will want to help where she can and I have no objections if she can do it safely,” Harry told her. “But the fact is that girl can’t manage a shield charm to save her own life and she’s spent a lot of her young years very ill. We have to protect her.” “Of course,” the Minister agreed quickly. “But if she can help us and stay safe, we need to use her.” Harry couldn’t disagree. He knew Nat would agree and she was of age now. He had no call not to let her help. Even when she was fourteen, he still hadn’t managed to not have her help in horrible situations. Harry excused himself, checked in at the office and learned he didn’t have anything pressing and went to play with Emma. Grandchildren made everything better. ~*~ Caroline heard the baby cry and groaned as she rolled over in her bed. It felt like she hadn’t slept in several years. She breathed out a breath. “Okay, I’m coming baby,” she mumbled as she tried to fumble for her wand to set it to glow. “I have him,” James said as he stumbled into her room from the hall with his wand lit, setting it down on a bedside table. “Hey,” he said as he stopped at the small cot and picked the baby up, soothing his back. “Shh, it’s alright. I’ll get you changed and then Mummy can feed you.” She watched James move over to the changing table and change out the tiny soiled nappy for a new one, then fumble his way through trying to do up the snaps on the pajamas again. “Here we go,” he said as he brought the baby over to her and set him down at her breast. She lay on her side, as she often did since she was likely to fall asleep while Alex nursed. James climbed onto the bed behind her and spooned up to her back, kissing her neck before relaxing back into the pillows. In seconds all she heard was James’ soft breath as he fell asleep and the sucking of the baby. James hadn’t done this since that first day when he’d sat on the bed to watch her nurse and Caroline found herself wide awake at the feel of his arm around her waist and his breath on her neck. He was sleeping in her bed. With her. Okay, with Alex right there, as well. How did she feel about it? Good. She felt good. It felt right. It felt natural and normal in a situation which was so not normal there were few words to describe it. She studied the baby’s relaxed face as he nursed and knew this was what it was supposed to be. With this baby or babies in the future, James was supposed to be in bed with her. But being in bed with her meant other things. More babies in the future meant other things and she didn’t know how to go about that part. Did she just tell him she wanted to sleep with him? Did she kiss him until he understood? Would she have an utter meltdown if he tried to undress her? Would it be her father she saw instead of James? She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what to say. She felt James shift and press a kiss to her shoulder blade. “I’ll move when he’s done. So tired.” “It’s okay,” she mumbled softly. She was really tired as well. “I love you.” “I love you, too.” He fell back to sleep a moment later and Alex nursed on. Soon Caroline’s eyes drifted closed and she also fell back to sleep. She woke to a grunt from the baby and an arm gone numb from laying on it. She felt James behind her, felt his whole body pressed to hers and for a moment she wanted to panic because she felt everything and this couldn’t be right with the baby right there, but as she turned her head she saw in the dim light of morning that James was still asleep. He didn’t mean to be pressed up against her completely. It was just what happened. Alex grunted again and let out a long, wet fart. She turned back to the baby and smiled. “Your daddy gets that present.” “I get what?” James muttered as he shifted away from her and stretched out. He already recognized himself as daddy and it made Caroline’s insides ache with happiness. “The diaper he just filled.” “Hm,” he chuckled as he rolled over to press a kiss to her mouth and then leaned up further to examine the tiny baby who was staring up at them with wide eyes. “I guess it is my job, huh, little man?” The baby waved a very tiny fist up in the air and James held out his finger so the baby could catch it and hold on. She watched the love and tenderness on her husband’s face and decided that yes, it was time for them to be married in every sense of the word. Now she just had to figure out how to make that happen without chickening out. |
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