Disclaimers and notes: I own nothing. I get nothing for any of this. I'm just playing around in this world and appreciate that JK Rowling will let me.
This is a companion to "Lifeline" and "Devil's Own". (I do apologize if it sucks. I'm as postpartum as I can be, crying every ten seconds and, quite honestly, playing around with this set of stories is my only escape. So be nice 'cause I don't need more reasons to cry. I cried over fabric softener earlier. Seriously.)
He just went home.
When it all came down to it, he reverted to a hurting child and ran home to his parents.
If he had not been in so much pain, he would have, perhaps, been embarrassed. However, he wasn't capable of feeling anything beyond the pain right now so it was not an issue.
He could see his mother in the kitchen window and it made him feel somewhat grounded for a moment. His parents were there. It was still home.
His mother apparently saw him coming because the door opened and her outline appeared on the front step. As he got closer, he could see that she was still wearing dress robes and there was a concerned, confused look on her face.
"Charlie? Whatever is the matter?" she asked, coming down the steps toward him with his father right behind her.
"Should have asked me the questions." he said in a dull voice. "Still some of them out there."
"They wouldn't have gotten through the wards, son." Arthur said. "Bill redid them."
"Oh." Charlie nodded slowly.
"What is wrong?" Molly pressed, taking her son's hand and trying to lead him inside. She had never seen him this way. He was pale and shaking and his eyes were glassy.
"The ceremony tonight... you heard the speeches." he asked, allowing her to lead him toward the warmth of the kitchen.
"Of course we did." Molly replied. Her second eldest was still wearing his dress robes although they were mussed. "You disappeared right after the last one. What in the world is the matter?" She was scared now.
And really rather confused.
Arthur studied his son while his wife fussed. He knew his sons and had known something was wrong with Charlie for a long time. He had gone from laidback and happy to a living ghost almost overnight.
"What did Valentine Larkin say that upset you so much?" Arthur asked, a suspicion he had been trying to ignore coming to the front of his mind. He couldn't forget the sight of his eldest sons sitting in the orchard wearing dress robes, a bottle of whiskey empty in front of them and Bill completely sober. They had not said where they had been that day but had left early in the morning and come back late that evening. He had heard Charlie's sobs but had acquiesced to Bill's request that everyone just leave them be.
But if he was right, then he would not just leave his son be. Not anymore.
"Valentine Larkin?" Molly frowned. "Her speech was unusual, I admit, but what in the-" She stopped short, replaying the speech in her head. The look on her face told him that his wife of decades had just formed the same suspicion as Arthur.
***
Earlier that Evening Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
Most of the recipients of The Order of Merlin, 2nd Class accepted their awards, gave a quick, nervous acceptance speech and left the stage. Many of the names and faces were familiar but toward the end, names and faces that weren't so familiar were being called.
Charlie Weasley was seated with his family, many of whom had received awards, barely paying attention and wishing he could just go anywhere but here when a name was called that he should have expected but didn't.
"Mia Kelley. Posthumous Award accepted by her mother, Rikko Kelley." His head jerked up and he looked at the stage where a small woman with shoulder length black hair and pale, pale skin walked gracefully to the podium. Her features marked her as Japanese and her bearing was regal.
Charlie had seen that bearing in his dreams for years now.
He swallowed hard.
"My daughter would have disagreed that she deserved this." Rikko said the words softly but her voice carried. "My family and I thank-you for the honor that you give her." She walked away from the podium to the sound of applause.
Charlie watched the woman return to a table on the far side of the room where a somewhat familiar man with dark hair waited. The woman handed him the medal and looked away.
***
Dublin, Ireland October 27th, 1997
"Mum! Da! I'm home!"
Heavy bags thumped to the floor at her feet as she unwound her scarf. She looked around, wondering why her mother wasn't hurrying across the house to greet her. "Mum?" she called again, this time questioning. "Da?" She heard voices coming from the living room and she smiled in relief. "I'm home! Think I'm gonna be here for awhile. So put your pants back on!" She talked loudly as she walked, shrugging out of her coat as she went and draping it over her arm over her scarf. "And Da, why'd you send me your address on a piece of paper? I mean, I know I haven't come home in awhile and I'm sorry but really... like I'd forget your-" She pushed the door to the living room open and stopped short, her eyes getting wide. "address." She finished. "What the hell?"
"Mia! What are you doing here?!" Her mother straightened and stared at her in horror.
So did about three dozen people crowded into her parents' living room.
And then, there were wands pointed at her.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" snarled a woman with wild black hair and a bleeding cut on her cheek.
"I'm Mia Kelley! Who the bloody hell are you?!" Mia snarled right back, snapping her wrist down, releasing her wand from its holster into her palm. In a heartbeat, Mia's wand was pointed in the wild woman's face.
"Prove it!" The woman didn't flinch. "Rikko! Daniel! You know your daughter. Ask her questions."
Mia's father, Daniel came forward and carefully started easing between the two women. "Where'd you get the lizard?"
Mia's eyes narrowed. "Bangladesh. Still don't know what the hell a Welch Green Egg was doing there but whatever. He hatched a month later and I named him Puff. He used to cuddle with my panties." She arched an eyebrow. "His favorites were my green satin ones."
Several sets of eyebrows rose at that.
Daniel nodded. "It's my girl."
The woman lowered her wand and nodded sharply. All the other wands pointed at Mia lowered as well.
And that was when Mia noticed the guns point at her.
"Ask her one more. Satiate my paranoia." a gruff looked man holding an ancient revolver ordered.
"It's my daughter!" Daniel cried.
"I almost had my face blown off today." a blond girl said, her pistol never wavering. "Ask some questions."
Mia's mother looked at all the people holding guns and rolled her eyes. "Oh for... what's our guilty pleasure?"
"Cheap wine, expensive chocolate and watching something silly on the telly." Mia said impatiently. "What the hell is going on, Mum?"
The guns lowered at Rikko Kelley's nod.
"Sorry 'bout that." the blond girl said. "I'm Julie and I usually don't point guns at people."
"Good to know." Mia replied, holstering her wand. "Da? What's going on?"
"There's a war going on." Daniel said carefully.
"Yeah, Da. I noticed that when they made us evacuate the dragons, my boyfriend almost got blasted to hell at his brother's wedding and we were all warned to stay as far from England as possible." The trickle of blood running down the very wild looking woman's face was bothering her... a lot. She plucked a tissue from a side table and marched over, folding it as she went. She grabbed the woman's face and pressed the piece of tissue to it. She ignored the other woman when she batted at her with looks of irritation. "That doesn't answer my question."
Rikko sighed and rolled her eyes. "We're smuggling people out of England. Muggleborns, their families, people with prices on their heads, whoever needs and wants out. "
Mia nodded slowly, pulled out her wand and cast a quick healing spell on the woman's face. "Right then. That makes sense." She rolled her sleeves up. "What can I do?"
The wild woman smiled suddenly. "I like her."
Mia grinned back at her. "Mia Kelley." She held out her hand.
"Valentine Larkin." the woman replied, taking her hand. Mia smiled wider. Valentine had a pair of gloves on and it felt like her hands were misshapen. She also had one pale blue eye and one black. "Where'd you get that holster?"
"Special order." Mia replied, moving to help a little girl with a cut on her arm. "Helps when you're dealing with belligerent dragons." She glanced at the person she had decided she would be friends with. "And crazy paranoid Irish witches."
Valentine laughed merrily. "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
* * *
Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
Several more people were called, including Rikko Kelley again for her own award and the dark haired man, her husband, Daniel.
In this time, Charlie learned that these were some of the people responsible for the refugees in Ireland. They had smuggled them out of Britain and then either gotten them to different countries or hid them away.
At last, a name that was somewhat recognizable was called.
Valentine Larkin was not what Charlie had expected.
She was smaller.
Somehow, he had expected a 6 foot tall harridan with harsh features and perhaps a battle ax in her hand. Instead, a rather short, fae looking woman with long black curls and pale skin stepped to the podium. She had odd eyes. Charlie had only seen someone with eyes even remotely like hers once. Valentine Larkin's left eye was as black as ebony while her right eye was sky blue.
Charlie looked away. He couldn't stand to see her eyes. They reminded him of a different pair of eyes that he would never see again.
She took the award and studied it a moment, her face dispassionate. Charlie wasn't sure what it was but there was something wrong with her hands. She was wearing evening gloves but they just didn't look right. He wasn't sure why though. She was wearing black dress robes and gave off a sort of backhanded elegance. Like she wasn't trying to be elegant and would probably rather that she wasn't but just couldn't help it. This was a woman that commanded attention.
"Hmf." she said finally, tilting her head to the side. "Bit larger than I expected." Her accent was Irish and very strong. She sighed heavily and turned it over in her hand so that she could see the back. "Doesn't seem right to be getting this award. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered. Didn't think anyone would give me one of these when this all started. I really didn't do all that much, considering."
"Howler!" someone yelled from the back and there was laughter and applause. Valentine smiled a little.
"I'll never live that down, will I?" she asked to more good natured laughter. "Aye. I sent Voldemort a Howler. Or rather, I sent it to one of his little bitch boys. Didn't want the bugger to hurt one of the owls. That owl is safe at home, incidentally." Charlie's brother, Ron's girlfriend, Hermione smiled when she said that. Valentine snorted and shook her head slowly. "Voldemort... what a douche." Charlie saw several people, including his almost brother, Harry, choke at her very apt and unexpected description of the madman that had cost them all so much. Charlie grinned, thinking suddenly of Mia. She would have loved that. In fact, he was certain that she would have been on her feet applauding if she had been here. She also would have been giggling to see some people who were unfamiliar with what a douche was having the term explained to them by those that did... and the looks on their faces when they understood the reference. His own mother was blinking rapidly and seemed torn between her hatred of vulgarity and her agreement with the assessment.
And Valentine Larkin seemed oblivious to the fuss she had just caused.
"I lost my temper. I just got so bloody mad and one thing led to another and I sent the bloody Howler." She chuckled. "I was in so much trouble. Not from the Death Eaters, mind you. No. From my loved ones. They burned our house and business after that, you know. We had already cleared out but still." She shrugged. "Others lost more."
* * *
Dublin, Ireland January 2nd, 1998
"Are you out of your goddamned mind?!"
Everyone looked up at those words that were followed by slamming door.
Jack Larkin was angrier than anyone had ever seen him in known memory.
He was normally one of the most beautiful men most of them had ever seen but in this moment, his face was nearly purple and his brown eyes had none of their usual warmth and humor. At that moment, he seemed to be doing a basilisk impression.
His wife was not even slightly flustered.
Valentine shrugged one shoulder and placed her son, Ethan down on the floor. Mia reached over and pulled him to her. He snuggled against her and watched his parents with wide eyes. Bridget and Sylvia Larkin crept closer to where their parents were and then ducked against Mia as well. Only Lauren Larkin seemed as unconcerned as her mother and continued turning the pages in her picture book.
Everyone else in the room froze. Julie Green whistled low.
"Ah shit. What did she do?" she breathed. Mia just shook her head.
"What the fuck were you thinking, Valentine?!" Jack stormed over and grabbed his wife's shoulders. She yawned a little.
"I think many things throughout the day. You'll have to be more specific." she replied as though he was asking where his socks were.
He shook her. "You sent a Howler to Voldemort! What the hell were you thinking?!"
She finally reacted. She jerked away from him and pushed him back. "Don't you ever lay your hands on me in anger ever again, Jackson Larkin! If you do it again, you'll pull back a nub! Are we bloody well clear?!"
"She did what?!" Julie breathed, shocked.
"Shh!" Mia hissed.
"So you did do it." Jack seemed to deflate. "Val, what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that they went after our neighbors." Valentine drew herself up. "I was thinking that they killed Mrs. Kinnley that has lived next door since we bought the place and almost killed her three grandchildren that were staying with her! That's what I was thinking! His little bitch boys killed that sweet old grandmother! And I was thinking about every child I've seen without parents and I was thinking about every parent I've seen without their child! And I was thinking of every person that has passed through here! I was thinking of that poor boy that's lost his childhood and his family and now who we all expect to save us at his own expense! I was thinking about our children living in this place and I was thinking of every person here living in this place and I was mad! I was so mad I couldn't see! And I didn't send it to Voldemort, I sent it to Pettigrew! I just figured he was somewhere near that bald freak!"
There was total silence.
"They'll come after you in particular now, Val." Jack seemed deflated. "Baby, I can't do this without you."
Valentine's expression softened. "We're just two people in all of this, Jackie, it would keep going without me."
Jack shook his head. "I don't mean this." He waved his hand toward the room in general. "I meant living. I can't go on with that without you."
Valentine cupped his cheek in her hand. "Yes, you can."
He caught her hand and kissed her palm. "But I don't want to."
"You won't have to." Valentine smiled at him.
Half the room felt warm seeing their exchange. The other half felt mildly ill at what she had done. Lauren Larkin just continued to look at her book.
"This isn't over yet. We're talking about you and your temper later." Jack said seriously.
"I never thought for a second that we wouldn't."
* * *
Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
Valentine stared at a point on the far wall for a moment before speaking again.
"There is something I really want, you know. I have turned this over and over in my head and I can't figure it out. I just want someone to answer a question for me." She was past her time but no one was hurrying her. Everyone seemed more curious than anything. Valentine looked around the room and asked her question. "How?"
Silence met her question. A few people whispered to each other but that was it.
Finally, someone called to Valentine, "How what?"
"How did human beings turn like they did and do these things?" Valentine's eyes were troubled. "Through history, it happens and I just don't understand. How do you kill someone for how they were born? How do you hate someone because of their heritage? How do you kill innocent children because of the fact that they were born to parents that aren't exactly like you?"
No one answered her.
Valentine shook her head slowly and looked down at the medal in her hand. "I used to talk to a friend of mine about this. Her name was some hoity-toity name with half a dozen syllables but she just went by 'Green'. Well. I use the past tense because I don't know that she's still alive. I don't think she is. See, no one has seen Julie since two weeks after this all ended. She left her cat behind so we know she didn't go willingly. She loved that mangy thing. She must have loved it because it smells to high heaven and doesn't have any hair on its arse. Julie almost died saving the damned thing from an attack so there is no way she would leave it behind. We can't find her body though. We've all searched. I think her family has even looked. They won't take her cat though. I have that honor."
* * *
Dublin, Ireland April 30th, 1998
"Julie! No!" Mia screamed, reaching a hand out toward her friend. Julie ignored her, racing back into the inferno that had been, until a few moments earlier been a home.
Their home.
Fiona was screaming and clinging to Mia's shirt. Mia looked around wildly. Black robed figures moved in and out of the smoke while her friends and family and people she barely knew but had risked her life for disappeared with pops. And, to her horror, she saw bodies lying in heaps and knew that some of her friends and family would not be making it to the next safe place. She had to get out of here but she was supposed to take Julie with her when she left.
She saw Jack Larkin staggering from the inferno and ran toward him.
"Jack! Take Fiona!" she yelled, shoving the infant into his already crowded arms. His son, Ethan was crying frantically in his arms while his daughter, Sylvia clung to his leg, sobbing.
"What are you doing?" he yelled back.
"Julie ran back inside! I have to get her!" Jack nodded and she turned away as he disappeared with the children.
Mia pulled her hood over her head and ran toward the inferno. She met Julie in the flame filled front corridor. Julie was clutching a wiggling bundle in her arms. The smoke and heat were choking her but Mia managed to grab Julie, turn on the spot and disappear.
They joined the others in yet another safe house, far away from the last one.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Mia demanded once she could breathe again.
Julie looked up at her, her face streaked with soot. There was an angry burn on her cheek and in some places, her clothes had been burned away.
"I had to, Mia." she said, unwrapping her bundle. A plaintive "meow" greeted Mia as a disheveled, confused cat peered up at her. "Stanley was still in there."
"You just risked your life for a bloody cat?!" shrieked a witch named Naomi. Julie's head swiveled to face Naomi so fast that Mia almost thought that her neck would snap.
"My father gave him to me the last birthday that they loved me." she snarled. "Stanley never stopped loving me and never left me. I won't leave him!" She pulled the mangy, angry cat to her and pressed her face in his sooty, singed fur. "He's all I have."
Mia saw a crumpled photograph lying on the floor next to her friend like it had fallen from her pocket and picked it up. Three little girls, their arms around each other, beamed and waved at her. Mia looked up at her friend. Without anyone telling her, she knew that this was a picture of Julie and her sisters. She also knew that her sisters would cross to the other side of the street to avoid her now.
Valentine took the picture from Mia and smoothed it. She knelt beside the blond woman and put her arm around her.
"That's not true, Julie." she said gently. "You have us. Mia and I, we're your sisters now and we'll never stop loving you or leave you."
Mia knelt on her other side and put her arm around her. "Never ever." she promised.
* * *
Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
"Julie was a Squib, you see and she had a lot of time to think about all of this. She was from a pureblood family and had two siblings that came out witches. She had a lot of theories. I miss her. And not just because I want her to come get her cat." Valentine tilted her head again and looked thoughtful. "I don't know if she would have gotten one of these. She was a Squib, you know.
"Actually, a lot of our people wouldn't have gotten one of these. They haven't. They're Muggles but they knew and they helped. They faced off against Witches and Wizards and never backed down." Everyone was silent now, just watching her. Valentine looked around at the room.
"Jace McCoy, for instance. His brother was a wizard and would have been starting Hogwarts but Lee Jordan found them and got them to us. Jace was seventeen. Not even an adult in the Muggle World. He loved his brother. Used to call magic our 'Bibbity Bobbity Bullshit' but he was so proud of his brother. So damned proud." Valentine's chin wobbled. "He died for him. Got attacked while we were trying to move everyone. Our location leaked after our Secret Keeper died. Jace knocked his brother out of the way and kept those bastards distracted long enough for the group to get away. All he had was a board. A piece of a goddamned fence and he ran at them, yelling like a crazy man." A tear slid down Valentine's cheek.
"Seventeen goddamned years old! He was a baby! And they tore him to pieces like wild dogs! Like animals! No quick death. No! He dared to stand up for his family and for his right to live and for freedom and they destroyed him! And I want to know how!" She slammed her fists into the podium. Some people were crying without making a noise now. Charlie found himself nodding slowly. He wanted to know that, too.
"How could they kill the children? How? How could they look at innocent babies and then kill them?" Valentine was almost screaming now. "How could they kill Fiona?! She was a baby! She was only a few months old! How could they fucking kill her?! Someone tell me! Someone explain this to me because I have to know!"
Charlie heard a sharp sob and turned to see Rikko Kelley being held by her husband as she sobbed openly. He watched with a sort of sick fascination. All around him, people were crying or looking confused or looking horrified.
* * *
Dublin, Ireland 7: 46 PM, May 18th, 1998
The smell of burning wires and wood and all the other things that go into making a home wound its way through the streets. Sirens screamed through the night and the heat from the flames reached as far as the red glow did.
"Ah, God, no!" Valentine was running, clutching Ethan to her chest without even realizing it. She shoved past a man that was hurrying in the opposite direction, clutching something to his chest and bent slightly.
She slid to a stop across the street from what had once been a nice building but was now a raging inferno.
"No!" she breathed again.
"Mummy, where's Fifi and Mia?" Ethan tugged at her hair but she didn't answer. "Mummy!"
Valentine's wide, horrified eyes had looked above the inferno at the green mark that was slowly fading, the undulating snake becoming one with the smoke.
"No!" Her scream was lost in the dull roar as parts of the building began to collapse.
* * *
Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
"And they apologize now." Valentine choked out, disgust on her face. "They're whining about how they're sorry. Sorry." She spat the word like a curse. "Like one little word makes it all better. Well, I'm sorry, too, and that doesn't bring them back and that's all that would make it better. Maybe I'll feel more like hearing them whine and cry about how bloody sorry they are if Fiona is playing with my son again and Jace is explaining football to my husband and Julie and Mia are bickering and laughing in the kitchen and all the others are enjoying their lives and not scared and hiding anymore. I don't want revenge. I just want them to really be sorry and I want them to bloody well explain to me how in the hell they did what they did. How did they let go of all that made them human and how could they look an innocent child in the eyes and kill it? Just fucking explain to me how!"
* * *
The West Coast of Ireland April 14th, 1998
"Turn your wrist like this." Jace McCoy patiently turned his wrist. Five children, all eleven years old, obediently turned their wrists. "And then you pull your arm back like so," He demonstrated. All five children shadowed his actions. "And in one smooth motion, bring your arm around and toss the stone." His stone flew from his hand and skipped once, twice, three times across the water. Four of the children's stones skipped once but one little girl's stone immediately hit the water and sank with a dull "plop".
"I can't get it!" the little girl wailed.
"It's alright, Elena." Jace said patiently. "You can do it."
Three hours later, all five children had achieved the coveted triple skip. Elena squealed and threw her arms around Jace.
"You're the best!" she cried. "Thank-you!"
Jace smiled fondly at the little girl. "You did it, Elena. I just helped a bit. Now go on. Go practice your wand work with Hester."
He smiled as the children raced away.
"Good job there, Jace." Jack commented, strolling over with his hands in his pockets.
Jace turned and grinned. "Not bad for someone that can't use that Bibbity Bobbity Bullshit you lot use."
"Bibbity Bobbity Bullshit- you little brat!" Jack laughed and punched the younger man's arm. Jace laughed and punched back. As their playful punching turned into a laughter filled wrestling match, no one noticed Valentine taking photo after photo, laughing as she did.
* * *
Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
There was total silence after her words finished echoing through the hall, broken only by sobs from some people that must have lost someone and were wondering the same thing. Charlie was wondering it. It felt almost good to hear someone else saying what he was feeling. No tears came but he stared up at Valentine Larkin and nodded.
Valentine seemed to collect herself because she continued in a much quieter voice. "All these people. All these people that are dead now... Or 'missing'." she snorted. "Somewhere, Julie's body's rotting and no one cares that she worked herself half to death at a coffee shop to keep body and soul together and then came to us and tried to keep everyone's soul from shattering. No one cares that her family abandoned her into a world she didn't understand with a mangy cat and some money just because she wasn't good enough for them but she still kept getting up in the morning. No one cares that her favorite color was purple and that she liked vanilla in her coffee and wore perfume that smelled like apples. She used to sneak up behind me and poke me in the back and say 'My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.' because of my hands." She removed one glove and held up her hand. Charlie finally understood what was wrong with it when he saw the sixth finger. "That's a line from a movie called 'The Princess Bride' for those of you that don't follow cinema. I'm not explaining the joke. See the movie. It was silly and it was stupid but it was a funny joke and it always made me laugh. It was her favorite movie. We must've watched it a million times. So all of you go out and watch that movie and you think of a woman that held onto fairytales and laughter in the middle of hell."
* * *
Cork County, Ireland March 28th, 1998
"Make a wish!" Julie whirled, her eyes shining and her cheeks flushed with excitement.
"What?" Jace asked, frowning.
"A wish!" Julie giggled and pointed to the sky. "There was a shooting star! We all have to make a wish!"
Mia managed a smile. "Alright then."
"Wait!" Julie cried. "Everyone has to close their eyes and say 'Starlight' rhyme!"
Valentine chuckled but closed her eyes. When she did it, everyone else did as well.
Julie's voice was louder than everyone else's but the children. Bridget Larkin yelled along with Julie.
"Starlight, star bright!
"First star, I see tonight!
"I wish I may!
"I wish I might!
"Have this wish I wish tonight!"
Mia couldn't help it, she started laughing when she opened her eyes. Julie's eyes were scrunched closed, her lower lip clasped between her teeth, her hands in fists at her sides. Her eyes popped open and she beamed at them all. Then she threw her hands up and squealed. She grabbed Mia's hands in hers and began spinning them. Mia wiggled one hand free and seized Jace's hand. He laughed and grabbed Valentine's hand. On and on it went until the group was laughing and dancing in wild abandonment beneath the velvet sky.
* * *
Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
"Cody Larson raised dogs and thought everyone should be free. He was a dock worker in his life before and he spoke seven languages. He liked working at the docks because it was good, honest work and no one bothered him on his breaks when he would sit away from everyone and read. He didn't care what it was. He just liked to read.
"He had a daughter that made it to America but Cody said he would be damned if he would run away and leave families to be torn apart because of a madman. He seemed gruff and mean on the outside but the children all loved him. He would give the new ones pieces of candy and tell them stories to get their minds off what was happening.
"He was our Secret Keeper and when they caught him, he didn't break. They had him for a day and a half before we found where he was. And he didn't fold and he didn't break. He died in Mia's arms. Tried to comfort her while he died. Said that he had no regrets and would do it all again... except that he would have zigged instead of zagged so that they didn't catch him again. And that he never expected to have a pretty girl crying for him at the end. At least we knew where to send his daughter when she came to put flowers on his grave. That was more than we got most of the time. That was almost a relief because if they just weren't there, we could pretend that they made it out and they were living someplace safe and warm and we'd see them again someday." She choked out a laugh. "I guess Julie wasn't the only one clinging to fairytales."
* * *
Dublin, Ireland December 25th, 1997
There were stockings hanging in every available space. A Christmas Tree sparkled in the corner and gifts in bright, sparkling paper sat beneath it. Paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling and someone had found and hung a wreath from the door.
The room was filled with children and adults. Everyone was sitting total silence, listening as Cody read The Night Before Christmas to them. Mia propped her chin on the palm of her hand and closed her eyes.
Earlier in the week, several of the adults had gone out into the city for presents. Armed with muggle money, they had bought gifts for every child that was staying with them. Soon, when the children were all tucked away, safe in their beds, the adults would bring out the gifts so that when morning came, one little piece of normalcy would remain intact.
Someone touched her shoulder and Mia jumped. She blinked repeatedly, her eyes slowly focusing. It took her a moment to realize she had dozed off. Cody was smiling at her.
"Don't want you to fall over, lass." he said. She yawned and then blushed.
"Sorry, Cody." she mumbled.
He chuckled. "No need for apologies. You've a right to be tired." He sat down on the couch beside her. "A wonderful thing you lot did for the little ones."
She frowned, trying to figure out what he was talking about. They were all involved in saving them.
"The gifts, lass." he chuckled. "The gifts." He sighed and leaned back. "Awful thing, war. These poor children are caught in the middle of something that they don't understand and don't deserve. Easy for them to loose hope. Something so small as Father Christmas coming to visit them... well, that could give them something warm to hold onto."
It was as deep and caring as Mia had heard gruff, hard Cody become. She smiled. "Why Cody. I do believe that there is a fluff center under that crusty exterior."
"Cheeky." He snorted. "Don't know what the world's coming to when a person will give an old man such grief."
"You're not old, Cody." She kissed his cheek. "You're well aged. Like a wine."
"You mean hard and smelly like a cheese." he grinned at her.
"Only once in awhile." He chuckled as she curled up so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Cody."
"Merry Christmas, Mia." The two sat in the light of the fire, watching the lights sparkling on the tree as a dozen Father Christmases hurried to make at least one moment bright for the children.
* * *
Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
She named off several more people, some of them magical and some not. She told small things about them and Charlie felt ill as he waited for the name he knew.
"Mia... that time with Cody was the only time I saw her really cry. Oh, she cried. I know she cried but she was a tough little thing and didn't like for people to fuss over her. She cried when she was alone. She smiled when she was with us. She held on for all of us." Valentine's eyes were brimming with tears again and her chin was trembling. "Mia Kelley worked with dragons. She actually had one that she had raised from an egg. Named it Puff after a muggle song. She was funny and she was sarcastic and she believed things that no one else did. Her favorite song was 'Lucky Ones' by a muggle band. Bif Naked or something like that. I don't know. It's a new song, or it was. Her favorite color was red." Unbidden, Charlie saw her wearing nothing but a red, silk wrap around her slender body. Her hair was mussed and her lips red and swollen from kisses.
"She wandered into this, you know. She came home and literally walked into the organization since we were meeting in her parent's living room. She didn't hesitate. She just put her bag down, rolled up her sleeves and asked how she could help. Well. After she answered questions to prove who she was. I drew my wand on her and so did most of the people in our group. She drew hers right back. Quite a face-off we had. She didn't back down. Not even when the guns didn't lower." She paused. "To those of you that don't know, guns are muggle weapons. Right nasty they can be. When they finally lowered, she grabbed a tissue and shoved it against a cut on my face. We became friends that night. She ran our safe houses. She brought food. She brought clothes. She brought hope.
"She lived on hope, you see. She had to. All her dreams hinged on it." Valentine's chin wobbled. "All she wanted in her life was to live. To live with her man and their baby and her dragon. Just one happy family. Happily ever after." Charlie frowned, not understanding. What was Valentine talking about? Mia had wanted a child someday. But they didn't want their child to be an orphan so they hadn't tried for a baby.
"They should have been safe." Valentine's chin wobbled again. "The war was over. It was over! How could they die? Mia was a good person and Fiona was just a baby!" Charlie heard a sharp intake of breath from somewhere in his family and Fleur whispering in French. He didn't understand. What was she talking about? Who was Fiona? He shook his head slowly, looking toward his family. Bill looked horrified. Hermione was covering her mouth with her hand and Fleur looked ready to cry. Charlie looked back at Valentine. "She would say that when it was over, she just wanted to go home. We'd ask her where home was and she'd just smile and say home is where the heart is so her home was off finding support to end this damned war.
"I don't think that her man even knew he was a father and now..." Valentine's face was streaked with tears. "Now they're gone and he never even got to hold his daughter. But it was over! They should have been safe!" She slammed her fists into the podium. "Mia and her baby were murdered in their home and it was all over!"
* * *
Dublin, Ireland November 1st, 1997
"So does he know he's gonna be a father?" Valentine asked casually as she leaned against the doorframe, eating an apple while watching Mia fold towels.
Mia, to her credit, didn't falter in the folding. "No. He's involved in... some dangerous things. If I told him, he'd be here. If he stayed here, people would die. If I made him go back, he'd be distracted and he would die. So I keep my mouth shut, I stay alive, I keep our baby alive and when it's all over and done, we're a family." She finished the last towel and rested her hands on the stack. "I just have to make it through until then." Her eyes drifted down to her hands. "Just have to make it until then." she murmured like a prayer.
Valentine pushed away from the wall and sauntered to her friend. "Well... nothin's ever written in stone but we'll do our damnedest to keep you safe."
Mia managed a smile. "Thanks. How'd you know, by the way? I thought I was hiding it pretty well."
Valentine tossed her hair and laughed. "Love, I've a set of six year old twin girls, a four year old girl and a year and a half boy. By now, I recognize it no matter how many charms you set on yourself to hide it. Can't help but recognize it."
Mia blinked. "Four children?! But you look so... so..." She waved a hand.
Valentine crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. "You've seen my husband." Valentine's husband, Jack, was one of the most beautiful men that Mia had ever seen in her life. "I do the best cardio available on a nearly nightly basis."
"How do you find the time with four children?" Mia breathed. "How do you want to with four children?!"
Valentine grinned. "You've seen my husband. I make time." They shared a laugh. "Besides, Jack would be overjoyed to have a dozen kids. I'm the hold-out."
"I would think so!" Mia shook her head. "Twelve children..."
"I know." Valentine nodded, her face serious. "I told him, 'Jack, if you think I'm having more than ten children, you're out of your bloody mind!' but he keeps tryin' to convince me."
"Ten children?! You're having me on." Mia stared.
Valentine laughed but didn't answer. She picked up some of the laundry. "So, do you want a girl or a boy?"
Mia picked up the rest of the laundry. "I don't care. But Val, really? Ten children?"
Valentine's laughter was the only answer she got.
* * *
Order of Merlin Awards Ceremony
The denial and confusion that had been protecting him smashed away in that instant and Charlie suddenly understood.
A million memories slammed into him at once. Mia starting to tell him something but stopping so many times that he lost count. Mia shying from his touch. Mia crying that last night.
He was going to pass out. Darkness was closing in on him and he felt sick to his stomach. The blood was roaring in his ears. He gripped the edge of the table. He heard someone whispering urgently to him but didn't answer. He couldn't. He couldn't take his eyes off of Valentine Larkin. Her eyes had landed on him now and lingered. She knew who he was. He knew she did.
"I asked you all, how could they do what they did? How could they kill? How could they maim? How could they? But I have a different question, too. Those that died... they're done. Game's over. So that leaves all of us. All of us who loved and lost. All of us who saw it happen. All of us who couldn't stop it. All of us who fought and lost or fought and won. All of us that they left behind... how do we live now?" Her eyes moved slowly over everyone in the room. "How?"
No one answered her.
Valentine collected herself as Charlie sat there, unable to move or speak. She studied the medal in her hand.
"I didn't do anything to deserve this award." she said softly. "I only acted like a human being." She placed the medal down on the podium. "I appreciate this. I'm honored and I'm flattered but I can't accept your award. I respectfully decline. Give it to someone who really deserves it. Give it to Julie." She turned and walked away from the stage. There was total silence, broken only by the sound of her shoes on the hard floor and then the sound of the door opening and closing.
A moment after the door closed, her husband, Jack, walked to the stage.
"I respectfully decline this award on the grounds that I do not deserve it. Please give it to the family of Jace McCoy, Muggle." He put his award down and walked after his wife.
Immediately, there was another witch coming to the podium. "I respectfully decline. Please give this to the family of Andrea Douglas, Squib." She placed the award on top of the other two.
Rikko and Daniel Kelley walked to the podium. He spoke this time. "We respectfully decline our awards. Please give our awards to families of Megan Johnson and Justin Harris, muggles."
One by one, every member of the Irish Refugee Foundation walked to the stage, placed their awards on the podium, stated that they respectfully declined, suggested someone that should receive it and walked away. As the last witch's footsteps were fading, Charlie leapt to his feet and ran for the door.
* * *
Present The Burrow
"Charlie?" His mother's voice brought him back from his own mind. He looked up at her. "What was it that she said that has affected you so?"
"Which one of them did you know, Charlie?" Arthur asked. But he already knew that the one that his son had to have known was the girl that worked with dragons.
"Mia." It hurt to say her name. It hurt more than it should have. He had thought he was past pain now.
He had been wrong.
His mother seemed to freeze in place. She moistened her lips, blood draining from her face.
Before either of his parents could say or do anything else, the door opened and his youngest siblings and the two that had been adopted into his family walked in and stopped short.
Only Hermione didn't seem surprised to see him in this state.
"What's going on?" Ron asked dumbly.
"Oh, Charlie." Hermione whispered and her already red and swollen eyes filled with tears again.
"What have we missed?" Ginny whispered to her boyfriend. He shook his head, confused.
"Hermione?" Ron asked. The brunette shook her head and looked away.
"I didn't know what she was keeping secret." Charlie said to his mother as if the others weren't in the room at all. "I thought she was just scared. And the last night, I almost brought them straight to her. I knew that there was something she wanted to tell me. I just..." He shook his head slowly. "I should have gone and gotten her as soon as it was over. I should have been there. I could have kept her safe. I could have kept them safe."
The front door opened and George walked in, stopping short.
"What have I missed?" he asked his younger siblings.
The kitchen was starting to get crowded and was getting worse by the second. The front door opened and Bill, Fleur and Percy strode in.
"Oh thank God." Bill sagged in relief at the sight of his brother.
"I told you he was fine." Percy said, confusion on his face. "I still don't understand why we had to go running off to find him."
Fleur and Hermione exchanged a Look. A Look that was noted by the Weasley Siblings.
"Charlie, it is not your fault." Bill said firmly, pushing his way through to his brother. "Listen to me! It is not your fault!"
Charlie shook his head. "I should have known. I should have brought her home. She should have been here with our family. She should have been safe."
Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her to the corner farthest from the drama unfolding at the table. Ron, Harry, George and Percy followed them.
"Spill." Ginny ordered.
"And spill how it is that you know." Ron added.
Hermione nibbled her bottom lip and cast a look at the table before looking back.
"The woman that was killed two weeks after the end of the war that Valentine Larkin was talking about? The one that worked with dragons? She was Charlie's girlfriend." she whispered. "And tonight, he found out that she had a baby. I think it's pretty safe to assume that the baby was Charlie's."
"The baby." Harry breathed.
"Fiona." Percy added.
"Bill, Fleur and I were here the day that Charlie found out Mia was killed." Hermione continued. "It was... it was awful. He wouldn't believe it. He was..." Her words trailed off.
At the table, Charlie was reaching into his dress robes to pull out the pouch that he kept hanging around his neck. With trembling hands, he opened it and brought out a worn photograph. In it, a woman with short black hair and dual colored eyes laughed and blew a kiss.
"Mia." he said simply and held the picture out to his mother. Molly accepted the photograph and studied it.
"She was lovely, Charlie." Molly said, her voice thick.
"I caught up with Valentine Larkin." Charlie said, taking his photograph back and reverently placing it back into the pouch. "I had to know."
* * *
Earlier that Evening Diagon Alley
"Wait! Please! Wait!" Charlie ran down the sidewalk after the couple making their way through the crowd of paparazzi and people simply waiting to see celebrities. Valentine Larkin glanced back at him and then slowed to a stop just beyond the crowd. Her husband kept his arm around her and tensed. Charlie slowed to a stop.
"She never told me." Charlie blurted.
"Who didn't?" Jack asked, frowning.
Valentine's face was sad. "I know, love. She was afraid you would get distracted and get killed. Or you would stay out of the fight and resent her and the baby for it." She looked at her husband. "This is Mia's man, darlin'. Her dragon... not Puff."
Jack's face lost all signs of aggression. "Ah, lad. I'm so sorry."
"She should have told me. I would have kept her safe." Charlie mumbled.
Valentine and Jack exchanged looks over his head and then stepped so that they were on either side of him. They carefully steered him from the view of the crowd and toward a small coffee shop.
Jack ordered some coffee while Valentine steered Charlie to a table in the back.
"I'm sorry but I don't know your name. She showed me your picture though." Valentine said gently. "She was afraid to say your name because you could have been hurt. We didn't use names when we talked about our loved ones on the outside."
"Charlie Weasley." he told her.
"She loved you, Charlie." Valentine covered his hand with hers. "She loved you so much. And she took pictures of Fiona every single day. She said that if this damned war was going to keep you apart, at least you could see what was stolen. She wanted you and Fiona to have a close relationship." She hesitated before plunging on. "She didn't expect to live through the war, you see, and all she wanted was for you and Fiona to stay safe and be together. She made me promise to get Fiona to you if something happened." Her chin trembled. "She never dreamed... What kind of monster kills a baby?"
Charlie couldn't breathe. He was trying to, but he couldn't.
And in the next instant, his head was between his knees and someone was rubbing circles on his back.
"That's right. In through your nose. Out through your mouth. Just keep breathing." A soft voice was coaching him.
"It's alright. Just keep breathing." a male voice encouraged from the other side.
He slowly straightened. The Larkin's were watching him with concerned looks.
"Drink this." Jack shoved a cup into his hands. Charlie took a sip and choked again. There was more liquor than coffee in that cup.
He took a second sip and decided that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"Do you have a picture of her?" Charlie asked. "Of Fiona?"
Valentine nodded and reached into the small evening bag she's left on the table. "I was her godmother. I actually was the one that delivered her. We were pinned down, you see. Zigged when we should have zagged, as Cody would have said. Mia went into labor." She was digging through the purse and Charlie suspected it was a purse similar to Hermione's infamous beaded bag. "We'd only been out to get a few groceries. She was going stir crazy since we kept her so close to all of us by then. Didn't think there'd be any harm in a quick jaunt down to the shops. We were having nothing to do with smuggling but ran into someone we didn't want to run into. A few someone's. Snatchers that wandered a bit farther west than we thought that they would. Usually didn't like the reception they got from us, you see. The Irish, I mean. So Snatchers usually didn't come over.
"Mia went quick. No warning and no chance of getting somewhere else. We were lucky she didn't have Fiona in an alley next to a dumpster, actually. If there hadn't been an old warehouse, she would have. It was just me and Julie with her and Julie was more upset that Mia was. So I delivered Fiona. Couple of the others showed up in time to help clean up and such but Julie and I were there for the whole thing." She pulled a small album from her purse. "Here we are, then." She flipped through and removed a picture of a pretty baby with one black eyes, one grayish blue and black hair. Charlie gazed at her reverently as she yawned and stretched before her lips, Mia's lips, curved up into a smile.
"She had freckles on her nose." he said finally. Valentine smiled softly.
"I imagine those came from you." she said gently. "You keep that picture. I have more, if you'd like them." He nodded.
"Yes, please."
"Rikko and Daniel have the albums that Mia made." Valentine continued. "I'll call them tomorrow and see if they can get those to you." Charlie looked up at her. "They're yours. Mia made them for you."
Charlie nodded and looked back down at the baby in the picture and didn't speak again for a very long time.
* * *
Cork, Ireland January 31th, 1998
"No! You cannot do this now!" Julie made a shooing motion with her hands.
"So sorry to inconvenience you. Perhaps I should have made a reservation to go into labor early?" Mia ground out, glaring at her friend from where she sat with her back against the wall of an old warehouse. "I'll make note of that."
"I don't know anything about delivering babies! We have to take you to a hospital!" Julie looked at Valentine, her eyes wild. Valentine ducked back into the alley.
"No luck. They could still be out there looking for us." She bit her lip and looked around. "Right then. Okay. Let's get you out of the alley. We can handle this. I've sent word to the others to send help. Julie, pick up the bags. For God's sake, we did not just risk our lives for these bloody apples just to lose them now!"
Julie scrambled to get the bags at her feet. Mia ground her teeth again.
"Val, they're right on top of each other." she said, swallowing hard. Valentine nodded once, looked around, strode to an abandoned building at the end of the alley and kicked the door in. She looked around it quickly, cast a couple of cleaning spells and walked back out. She reached into her coat, pulled out a silver flask, popped it open, chugged some of what was inside, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, replaced the flask and nodded.
"Right. Okay. We can handle this." She put one arm around Mia and lifted the pregnant woman to her feet. "Come on, luvie. It's going to be alright."
"Have you ever done this before, Val?" Julie asked, her eyes wide.
Valentine shrugged. "I have four kids. I figure that I can handle it from the other side."
Twenty minutes and two silencing spells later, Valentine Larkin wrapped a squalling baby girl in her jacket and handed her to her mother. Julie was shaking and pale and hugging the duffle bags containing the apples to her chest while tears streaked down her cheeks.
"What will you name her?" Valentine asked, lifting the silencing spell from Mia. The baby was nuzzling her mother and had quieted.
"Fiona. Fiona Charlotte." Mia didn't even look up from her baby. "Oh, Val! She already makes a face just like her father!" She glanced up. "You'll be her godmother, yeah?"
Valentine nodded. "Yeah."
"And Julie, you're her auntie, right?" Julie couldn't manage to speak but managed to nod. Valentine put her arm around the woman, took a swig from her flask and pressed the flask into Julie's hand.
Julie drained the flask and then burped a bit.
Two minutes later, reinforcements finally arrived to the abandoned warehouse.
* * *
Present The Burrow
Tears were streaming down Molly's face as she stared at the picture Charlie had handed her. Arthur turned away, his shoulders shaking.
"I always knew that our daughter would look like Mia." Charlie said, staring at the table top. "Mia always told me that she'd only have one child. And her lifeline was short so she expected to die young. I told her she wouldn't but she'd only humor me. Tell me that she'd live her lifetime and that was long enough." He laughed but there was absolutely no humor in it. "Told her that she had little hands. That was why her lifeline was shorter than mine but it really was short. It just... just stopped. But there was more on the other side of the stop so I'd tell her that it didn't count. She just had a defective palm."
He laughed again but this time there was some humor. "She would have loved hearing Voldemort called a douche. She probably called him worse names. She had a filthy mouth sometimes. She taught me a few. Made me blush a couple of times, too, when she'd get really mad." He nodded slowly as if coming to a conclusion. "She would have fought to the death to keep Fiona safe." The name of the daughter he had never even met came easily. He had always liked that name and Mia knew it. "Valentine said that they found her wand across the room from- from her body. So she probably took whoever it was on with her bare hands. She was like that. She would have gone down fighting. That's how she was. A fighter." He looked at his mother. She was crying again. "You would have liked her, Mum. You really would have."
The next day, Valentine Larkin brought a stack of albums. She turned down the offer of tea and seemed uncomfortable. She had an old duffle bag slung over her shoulder. It was scorched in some places and there were some dark stains on it that, after some inspection, seemed to be blood.
No one commented on those, especially after Valentine explained what this bag was.
"It survived the fire. Don't know how but it did. She probably had a million and one charms on it." she said in a hesitant voice. Hesitancy was obviously not something this woman was used to. "She was- she was coming to you, Charlie. Said you needed her and she was not going to sit around waiting for an invitation when you needed her. Rikko wanted you to have this."
Charlie brushed his fingers over the bag, smiling at the patches and pins that covered it.
"This mark here... it didn't come from that fire." he said suddenly. Everyone looked at what he was indicating. "We were evacuating the dragons to Romania and one broke lose and came running at Puff. She was standing next to Puff at the time. She dodged but it burned off a chunk of her hair and scorched her clothes. She was so mad. That night, I was the one that got our room put together because she was trying to fix her hair. Kept asking if I'd still think she was pretty bald."
Valentine smiled. "Did she really plan on going on the run with Puff to keep the Death Eaters from getting him?"
Charlie nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, she sure did. Had this awful mental picture of her keeping him in her parents' garden. She'd have done it, too. She loved that dragon."
"She did." Valentine agreed, laughing. "God above she gushed about him like he was her eldest child! She missed him as much as she missed you, I swear!"
Charlie's eyes were sparkling as he did something he never expected to do: remembered Mia without pain. "First time I saw her, I thought she was about to be eaten by him! She was facedown in the mud and he was running at her. So I'm running forward, ready to be the hero when she sits up and throws a handful of mud at him and tells him off for knocking her in the mud."
They both laughed. "God, that girl." Valentine wiped her eye. "She was brilliant, she was. Always a good sport. This friend of ours, Brian, he would always be flirting with Julie. And Julie would flirt with him but when it all came down to it, neither had the self-esteem necessary to actually do something about it. So one day, she locked them in the bloody closet and yelled through the door that they could come out when there was no more unresolved sexual tension because she couldn't take it anymore."
"How long until she let them out?" Charlie asked.
"Three hours." Valentine laughed. "They were fit to be tied... but very happy together."
"Did you ever hear her sing?" Charlie asked. Valentine nodded thoughtfully.
"I could never decide if she was a good singer or a good performer or both." she told him.
"I had the same problem!" Charlie felt vindicated.
"She took over a few times as Ringmaster." Valentine smiled. "God, she could get the crowd in the palm of her hand. She was as amazing to watch as any of the acts. She got Julie to teach her to do the fire breathing thing and incorporated it into the act. She'd dance and breathe fire and sing and it was just... it was amazing. I have some pictures somewhere."
"Valentine, she said that her father had portraits done of all of them. Magical portraits." Charlie leaned close. "Did it survive? Her portrait, I mean?"
Valentine shook her head slowly. "I thought the same thing. It did survive but it hasn't woke up." Charlie frowned. "She's in the painting, she and Puff both but both of them are asleep. No one understands why." She sighed. "One thing I wish had survived were the letters she wrote."
"Letters?" Charlie asked. Valentine nodded once.
"Always writing letters. I wish I knew what they had said. I know she always kissed them when she sealed them so I imagine that they were for you." Valentine sighed. "I suppose that they didn't survive."
Charlie opened the bag and inhaled deeply. It smelled like Mia. Flowers and spice. He carefully removed the red silk kimono she loved so much and resisted the urge to bury his face in it. He carefully shifted through until, as he expected, he found a puzzle box. Everyone in the room pressed a bit closer when he removed it and blew lightly on it then smiled.
"She collected these." he commented idly, pressing a spot here and then a spot there. Then, he pressed his thumb into a carved lily. A hidden drawer slid out and he smiled.
"She showed me how her favorite one worked. This is her favorite." He reached in and removed a stack of letters that were tied with a deep red ribbon. The top one read "My Heart" in Romanian. He pulled it out of the stack and carefully opened it.
My Heart:
If you didn't already realize it, I am back in Ireland as I write this. I don't know where to start so I will start with the one thing that is constantly on my mind. I miss you as I would miss the air and the sun. I never said it before but I always believed that you knew already. I love you. I love you with every part of me. I never meant to. I never planned to but here we are. I love you and I will love you in this life and in the next and until the day my soul ceases to exist.
I sound like a damned greeting card but it's how I feel.
Charlie folded the letter back up and looked around.
"She wrote them to me." he said simply.
Valentine smiled and handed him another picture. It was of a beautiful boy with black hair sitting on a blanket beside Fiona. He was smiling down at her as he made a stuffed dragon "fly" for her. She watched with wide eyed wonder.
"My son, Ethan." she said. "He's a wild thing but always sat and played with Fiona. She would light up when he walked in the room and he would just sit and play with her and sing to her for hours."
The two sat at the table, sharing their memories as the others in the room listened. At one point, she glanced at Harry.
"You know that we had your people for a time, yeah?" she asked candidly.
"My... what?" he blinked.
"Pet, Duds and Fat Ass- I mean, Vernon." Valentine smiled sweetly. "Sorry. It slipped. As I was saying, we had your people for a time."
"I- uh, thank-you?" he asked.
"Well, you're bloody well welcome on that Vernon but the other two..." Valentine smiled. "And once we gave him a job, he wasn't so bad either. Although I will always treasure the memory of his face when he made a rude comment to Mia about- well, never mind what about. He was rude and Mia didn't stand for it. Told him off three ways from Sunday and then kicked him in the knee for good measure."
"I think I would have liked her." Molly murmured.
"Me, too." Harry said, blinking.
"But your Aunt... ah, that woman has some issues. So does the boy. But we all got along well enough. She and Julie butted heads a few times but they came to an understanding, I think. They worked well in the circus and I have to say that Pet kept things quite organized. I think she's still in contact with Naomi." She paused. "They were at the funeral. Your aunt was crying her eyes out." Harry was speechless at the thought of his family mourning a witch. Valentine patted his hand kindly. "War changes people and they aren't any different. As for your aunt crying, she wasn't just crying for Mia and Fiona, she was finally crying for her sister." She shook her head sadly and then perked up. "But there were some moments that were fun. Like when Mia got the idea that Dudley would work well with the animals. He did but I thought your aunt was going to wet herself the first time she saw her little boy walking into the ring with a pair of lions. I'll send you some pictures."
* * *
Athenry, Ireland February 24th, 1998
"They'll kill us, won't they?"
Mia looked up at the large blond boy that was standing over her. She sighed a little and looked back out at the moonlight night.
"Not at first." she said calmly. "And lower your voice; the baby's asleep."
He snorted. "She sleeps through the elephants."
"But she loves you." Mia smiled at the memory of Harry Potter's muggle cousin's face when her infant had cried until he picked her up and then cried every time he tried to put her down or hand her to someone else. "If she hears your voice, she'll go mad trying to get you to pay attention to her." Dudley, even as he tried to hide it, had been pleased that the infant had seemed to like him.
Dudley sat down. "What will happen if they find us?"
Mia sighed. "Duds, don't do this to yourself."
He stared at her. She sighed. "They'll torture you. Then they'll use you to lure your cousin out and then, they'll kill you. You'll want to be dead by the time they're done."
He swallowed hard. "Alright."
"You're safer this way." Mia told him. "Being on the move and hiding out in the circus. We're all safer this way. They won't find you, Duds."
"Why do you do this?" Dudley frowned. "You have a baby. Why don't you go somewhere else?"
"I don't have anywhere else to go, Duds." Mia said quietly. "This is my family. I can't go back to Romania and I don't know where Mia's father's family is and besides, they're in an even more perilous situation than we are. This is it for me. I don't know anything but the circus and the dragons so I can't go out and hide away. I'd never get a job because I don't have any viable skills beyond what I already said. I'd starve on the streets.
The two sat there in silence for a moment, staring out at the night.
"You did a good job tonight." Mia said finally. "You're a natural with the animals."
Dudley smiled but there was no humor in his face. "Dad's so proud."
Mia snorted. "No offence but your father is a putz."
"When I was little, I wanted to be just like him." Dudley said.
"And now?" Mia asked.
"I don't anymore." Dudley confessed. Mia nodded slowly.
"Be your own man, Duds." she advised him softly. "Just live your life in a way that you can look yourself in the eye when you look in the mirror."
He nodded slowly, processing her words. "Mia, what are you going to do when this is over?" he asked.
"Go home." she smiled.
"Where's home?"
"At the risk of sounding clichéd, home is where the heart is." She propped her chin on her knees. "And home is currently out there trying to find support to win this war. How about you? What do you want to do?"
He thought. "Apologize to my cousin."
She nodded. "Sounds like a good place to start the rest of your life."
"I want to be a good person."
Mia smiled at him. "Good. I think you'll do that really well." She tilted her head. "You're going to live a long life, Dudley Dursley. Make sure it counts."
"Are you a fortune teller?" he blinked.
"No, I leave that to Ingrid." She chuckled. "I just know." She reached out and patted his arm. "You'll be okay."
He smiled. "Thanks, Mia." He hesitated. "Mia?"
"Yeah, Duds?"
"When this is over, will you, I mean, can you..." he hesitated.
"Go on, Duds." she encouraged.
His flushed cheeks were clear even in the darkness. "Will you show me your dragon?"
She laughed softly. "For you, Duds, anything. When this is over, I'll introduce you to my Puff."
"And Mia?"
"Yeah, Duds?"
"Can you not tell my Dad?"
She just nodded as she laughed.
* * *
Present Day The Burrow
When she was finally preparing to leave, Valentine handed Molly a package wrapped in a scarf. Inside the scarf was a framed picture of Fiona cooing and smiling out at them.
"I thought you should have one, too." Valentine said quietly.
Late that night, long after her family was asleep, Molly stood in front of the fireplace, the picture in her hand, memorizing the baby's features.
When an arm went around her waist, she leaned into her husband's shoulder.
"She had Charlie's smile." Arthur commented.
Molly nodded. She had so many things to say but couldn't find the words for any of those things.
Arthur carefully took the picture from his wife and placed it on the mantel, next to a picture of their children taken when Ginny was two.
Molly managed a shaky, tearful smile. "Fred will take care of them."
Arthur nodded, unable to find words, either. He kissed the top of his wife's head.
The two of them stood there, gazing at their family until long after the fire had burned down and the room was dark.
* * *
Dublin, Ireland 7:40 PM, May 18th, 1998
The blood itched as it trickled from the corner of her mouth. Her world had blurred together into one of pain and fear.
She found herself staring across the room into Julie's slowly dulling gray-green eyes. For a moment, she was surrounded by gray-green grass as she lay on a blanket, her head on Charlie's shoulder. He was tracing circles on her upper arm while she closed her eyes in contentment.
She choked on blood and snapped back to the present. Fiona was screaming. Fiona needed her. She struggled to rise but her body wouldn't do as it was told.
The man was back. The man in the dark, dirty clothing with the scars on his face. There were deep scratch marks oozing blood on his cheeks now. Her nails had gouged those and she knew that they would scar. She felt a sort of satisfaction with that realization.
She recognized him now. She had seen him a few times at the park and had assumed he was one of the homeless. She had never really paid attention to him, to be honest.
He was holding her baby. Fiona's face was red and she was squalling to the point that she was just gasping, her tiny hands fisted and her back arched.
"My baby." she breathed, trying to reach for her. One of her arms was broken. She felt the broken bones grinding together and she almost threw up as a flash of white hot pain shot through her again.
The man looked horrified. There were tears streaking down his face, cutting lines through the blood and dust as he stared down at her. He started to touch her but didn't quite manage.
"Please don't hurt my baby." She was trying to speak loudly but all that came out was a whisper. Her mind drifted again. She was fifteen years old, seated at a rickety table in a dark tent. The air was heavy with herbs and smoke and an old woman gripped her hand, staring at it intently. The old woman's nails pressed hard into the flesh of her palm suddenly and she winced.
"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked.
The old woman looked up at her, her eyes rheumy and pale in her wrinkled face. "Your lifeline is interrupted. So soon it is interrupted."
"W-what?" Mia stammered.
"One child that shall come before the break in your lifeline." the old woman continued as if she hadn't spoken, her voice nearly unintelligible through her accent. "You will be a catalyst for good. Your sacrifice shall be great but the gifts you leave will echo long after you are gone.
"You will have great love and great hardship. Your love will give you strength and see you through the darkness. It will last when your lifeline breaks in a rush of fire, pain and blood."
"I'm going to die in a manner that involves fire, pain and blood?" Mia's eyes were wide and scared. "How can you tell me such a thing so calmly?! How long do I have?!" Tears welled in her eyes.
"You will have a lifetime, just like everyone else." The old woman looked up at the stricken teenager. "Find peace, child. It will be as Fate wills it to be."
She blinked and was on the floor of her flat again. She was cold now and the pain seemed so far away.
Julie had come early. Why had she come early? She was never early. Julie was always at least ten minutes late. Why today? Thank God that at least the Larkin's had not been early.
But Gods, what if they came soon? Oh Gods! They would have the children! Little Ethan had been looking forward to playing with Fiona! What would happen to them?
The man was standing over her, his wand out, muttering a spell she didn't know in a language she didn't understand. She rolled her eyes toward Julie and saw that her friend, her funny, laughing, lively, irrepressible friend's eyes were glazed now. She was gone.
For a moment, she was sitting between Julie and Valentine laughing at something that Jace said. Julie was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her cheeks and Mia couldn't breathe for laughing. Valentine lay her head on Mia's shoulder, choking and gasping. "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" she wailed through the laughter. "Ah, God! I can't breathe!"
Neither could Mia.
She looked back up past the man to her Fiona.
Her baby.
She was still crying, fat tears coursing down her reddened cheeks. Mia began mouthing a lullaby, hoping that her baby would have this one last song. Miraculously, her tears began to slow and she peered down at her mother, her chin still trembling. Mia tried to smile one last time at her baby.
And then, the man was leaning closer. She could smell the sweat and blood on him and then the sweet smell of baby powder from her baby. She felt Fiona's warm, wet cheek against hers for a moment.
She was with Charlie again. They were standing in the moonlight in Romania. Puff's tail curled around them as magic flowed, electrifying the night. He pressed his lips to hers and she was home.