A/N: Thanks for being so patient for the updates this winter! I realise I've been taking a long time and so I really appreciate that you're still reading this.
I had a question from the lovely RoseRed regarding how much longer this story will be. It is almost over. I have had part of the last chapter written since the beginning of January but I've been having trouble getting from Point A to Point B. I've had crazy amounts of work to do for school this year as well and often when I have time to write I just can't. But I assure you the story is almost over. Thanks for sticking around for so long and I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Also I hope you are loving the second half of season 4 as much as I am! I finally watched the new episode last night and I thought it was gorgeous. I hope you have a good weekend! xxx
It was just after 11:30 when the ending credits for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone began to roll up the screen. The unmistakable theme filled the room as Emma stretched and glanced around at the others. She herself was seated on one end of the couch beside Henry. David was in a chair beside the couch and like Emma and Henry, was still wide awake.
Snow had fallen asleep against Regina who was seated comfortably between Snow and Henry, although she too looked about ready to fall asleep. Her eyes kept fluttering shut and every once in a while she involuntarily began leaning towards Snow. At the last moment she would catch herself, jolting awake again. All the while Snow remained fast asleep.
Emma nudged Henry and gestured towards the two of them. He nodded, grinning. He had seen Snow slowly nodding off about an hour previously, and had heard his mother's quiet laugh when the younger woman had fallen asleep against her shoulder.
"I almost don't want to wake her up." Emma commented with a smile, leaning forwards to get a better look. Her mother actually looked quite comfortable.
David smiled. "Trust me if you don't wake her up now she'll be there all night."
Emma breathed a laugh. "Yeah you're probably right. I don't think Regina would appreciate having to be her pillow for the rest of the night."
"I don't know, Regina looks pretty far gone too."
"Hey Mom," Henry said to Regina, nudging her with his arm.
"What?" She mumbled.
"Maybe you should go to bed." He teased her.
Regina hummed sleepily, forcing her eyes open again. "I'm fine."
She sat up straighter in attempt to force herself to feel more awake, and in the process Snow fell further sideways.
The younger woman groaned in her sleep and shifted into a more comfortable position against her stepmother.
Regina smiled softly as Snow fell into a deeper sleep again, she almost couldn't resist the instinct to wrap an arm around her stepdaughter.
Regina settled deeper into the couch, blinking sleepily as she checked the clock on the wall.
"I wish I could go to Hogwarts." Henry said longingly as he switched the TV off.
"When I was a kid I used to think the same thing." Emma grinned. "I never thought I would actually learn how to use magic though. It's pretty crazy when you think about it."
"Yeah, it's awesome."
"I'm kind'a miffed I didn't get my visit to Ollivander's though."
Henry laughed. "So was it cool learning how to use your magic more in Neverland?"
"I guess. But under the circumstances I don't know if cool would be the right word for it. I think Regina was getting pretty tired of trying to teach me though. I'm not exactly the greatest student."
"If you'd only stopped doubting yourself and whining about it the whole time perhaps we could have covered a lot more ground." Regina retorted.
Emma rolled her eyes amiably.
"Have you kept practicing?" Henry asked.
Emma breathed out a laugh. "No."
"You should!"
She hit him playfully on the arm. "Come on give me a break, I have been pretty busy lately."
"Yeah..." Henry agreed. "But you're really lucky though, I wish I could use magic."
"Well be careful what you wish for Henry." Regina said gently. "It has its uses but it can just as easily be a burden."
Henry shrugged. "Still though, it would be cool."
Regina smiled, nodding. She rubbed his arm gently as she looked down at Snow who was still fast asleep. "Now what are we going to do about this one?"
She leaned closer to Henry hoping that the motion would wake Mary Margaret up, but Mary Margaret only went with her, still fast asleep.
Regina sat up straight again. She shook the younger woman's arm gently. "Mary Margaret? Dear it's time to wake up."
Snow murmured softly in her sleep and David got up from his chair. He moved to sit on the edge of the couch where everyone else was gathered.
"Mary Margaret, the movie's over." David said, squeezing her arm gently.
"Mmm." She murmured again.
"Come on let's go home, you can continue sleeping there."
Snow breathed out deeply. "I like the end."
"I'm sorry?" He asked.
"Can't leave til'iss over." She said groggily, eyes still closed.
David laughed. "Mary Margaret the movie ended already. I think it's time we all call it a night. What do you say?"
Snow murmured inaudibly. Her breathing started to come deeply once more.
"Looks like maybe we're gonna have to carry her out to the truck." Emma grinned.
"She doesn't always sleep like this does she?" Regina asked incredulously.
"No." Emma responded, amused. "Guess she had a long day."
"So it would seem."
Emma stood up, stretching again as Regina suppressed a yawn.
Emma folded her arms, grinning again as David continued trying to wake her mother.
About five minutes later Henry was coming back from the bathroom and found David putting on his coat.
When Henry followed David back into the living room he saw that Regina was placing a blanket over Mary Margaret.
Even after Regina had gotten up from the sofa a few minutes before, Snow had remained fast asleep. In the absence of her stepmother's support Snow had slumped somewhat awkwardly onto the sofa, but had quickly fallen back to sleep.
Once it became clear that waking her up would prove quite the challenge, David and Emma had manoeuvred her carefully so she was lying in a more comfortable position.
"Henry, Mary Margaret's going to stay here tonight." Regina informed him.
"Okay," he said, watching as David tucked a pillow under his wife's head.
"Sorry about this Regina." David said. "She must not have slept at all last night."
"No need to apologise." Regina insisted kindly. "It's no problem at all."
"Are you sure it's okay? She wouldn't want to impose."
"It's not an imposition. Really, it's fine."
"Thank you." David said gratefully.
Regina smiled, nodding her appreciation.
"So I guess we should head out then?" Emma asked David.
"I guess so."
"Hey can we go out for breakfast tomorrow?" Henry asked.
"Yeah... breakfast would be nice." Emma responded, looking to the others for confirmation. "Or maybe brunch? That way Mary Margaret will have some time to go home and get ready and whatever."
"Okay." Henry shrugged.
"Maybe we can pick a time in the morning?" David suggested.
"We'll keep in touch." Regina agreed.
David smiled, shooting a final glance at his sleeping wife before following his daughter into the main hallway.
"Thanks again for inviting us." He said, sharing a hug with Henry.
"Yeah, it was fun wasn't it?" Emma said as Henry hugged her next. "I forgot how good that movie actually is."
"There's seven more movies!" Henry reminded her. "We could have more movie nights so you can see them all!"
Emma laughed. "Sounds good kid. See you in the morning."
"See ya."
"Goodnight." Regina smiled as David and Emma stepped out into the chilly evening.
Once they had all shared a final wave goodbye, Regina locked the door behind David and Emma.
"Let me guess." Henry said as she turned around. "I have to go bed?"
Regina nodded. "It's way past your bedtime young man."
"I'm surprised you let us watch such a long movie." Henry said as Regina wrapped an arm around him and they made their way towards the stairs.
"Well after all that you've been through lately, you deserved a family movie night."
"Thanks Mom."
"You're very welcome Henry." She responded gently.
He glanced back in the direction to where Snow was still sleeping. "I can't believe how tired Mary Margaret was."
Regina laughed softly. "Yes well, she'll be in for quite the surprise tomorrow morning when she wakes up here instead of at the apartment."
Henry nodded, grinning. "It's cool of you to let her stay here."
"It's what anyone would do." Regina replied graciously.
"I guess." Henry responded, knowing very well that there was a time when his mother wouldn't have even wanted Mary Margaret to step foot in the house.
When they reached the top of the stairs they stopped in front of Henry's room.
Regina withdrew her arm from around him. "I'm going to go back down and leave some towels for Mary Margaret in case she wants them in the morning. Straight to bed for you okay? No reading tonight. It's late enough as it is."
"Okaaay." Henry replied.
Regina smiled warmly. "Goodnight Henry."
"Night Mom," he replied, sharing a hug with her.
"Sweet dreams." She said, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead.
Once Henry had retreated into his room, Regina took some fresh towels from the closet and found a new toothbrush and some other toiletries that Mary Margaret might need in the morning. She left them on a table in the living room and left a note on the coffee table for Mary Margaret. The note explained to her what had happened and told her that she was welcome to make herself at home if she was up before them.
Before Regina left the room to get ready for bed herself, she glanced back at Snow.
When Regina had first come to Storybrooke all those years ago, the last thing she had ever expected was to reconcile with her stepdaughter. She was glad they had been able to set aside their differences and become a family again.
Henry had fallen to sleep easily and was sleeping quite soundly for the first few hours of the night, but something woke him up around 2:00 in the morning.
He groggily opened his eyes. The feeling he was getting was similar to the one he'd had the previous night. He felt uneasy, and just like the night before, he felt as if someone were watching him.
Henry sat up and looked around the dark room, but again just like the previous night, nothing seemed out of place. He would have just lied down again but he knew at that point trying to fall back to sleep would be pointless. He switched on the bedside lamp which he had grown out of needing to keep on all night, and got out of bed.
The eleven year old treaded softly into the upstairs hallway and went towards the staircase. He held onto the banister as he listened down into the main floor. He could hear no movement from downstairs, which meant that Mary Margaret was probably still fast asleep on the sofa. Everything looked dark apart from one low light in the main hallway that Regina had left on in case Mary Margaret needed to get up in the night.
Henry turned around to go back into his room, but found himself hesitating. The strange feeling he had was only present when he was in there. Or perhaps that was the only time he paid full attention to it. Either way, he didn't want to go in. He shot a glance in the direction of his mother's room and saw that the door was left slightly ajar, just as she always left it at night.
He hadn't wanted to disturb her the night before because he thought it was too childish to wake her up over what was basically just a nightmare, but the fact that it had now happened twice was a bit creepy.
He took a few steps towards his own bedroom, but ultimately decided to go to his mother's room instead.
He pushed the door open gently.
"Mom?" He whispered into the dark room.
She remained fast asleep. Even from the doorway he could hear her deep breathing.
"Mom?" He asked a little louder.
"Mmm." She softly murmured, turning over onto her side and settling into a comfortable position.
"Mom?"
She took in a sharp breath as her eyes finally opened.
"Henry?" She asked sleepily. "What is it?"
Henry took a few steps into the room. "I'm not sure."
Sighing quietly, she sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. Her eyes squinted as they adjusted to the brightness.
"What's wrong Henry?" She asked in concern. "Did something happen?"
Henry moved forward slowly, slightly embarrassed. "I think there's something weird with my room."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know..."
"Did the spell not change everything back to normal?"
"No... it's not that."
"Then what is it?" She asked gently.
He stepped timidly forward, sitting on the edge of the bed in front of her.
"I feel like there's something... or I guess someone... watching me."
"Who do you think it was?"
Henry shrugged.
Regina smiled sympathetically. "Oh Henry I'm sure it was just a bad dream."
"I felt it last night too though."
Regina's eyes narrowed sadly. "You're probably just still anxious after what you went through in Neverland. You're still getting used to everything again. You were trapped there for quite some time, feeling this way is completely normal. But I promise, nothing is going to happen to you."
"Maybe..."
Regina took his hand, squeezing it gently. "Don't worry Henry. You're completely safe here. Pan's gone, Greg and Tamara can't hurt anyone anymore, and I placed a protection spell around the house after we got back from Neverland. Also don't forget, Mary Margaret's right downstairs. If someone broke in you can be sure they wouldn't get past her. Well unless of course she slept through it..."
Henry laughed a bit at that and it caused Regina's eyes to soften. "See? No one can hurt you here. And if anyone's ever stupid enough to try... they'll have me to deal with."
Henry squeezed her hand a little in return. "Thanks Mom."
She returned his smile, running her fingers through his hair.
"So what do you say? Do you want to try going back to bed now?" She asked gently.
Henry nodded.
"Would you like me to come tuck you in?"
Henry shrugged, and Regina knew that was his way of saying yes. She breathed a soft laugh and slid gracefully out of bed.
"I'm sorry I woke you up." Henry said sheepishly as she wrapped an arm around him.
"Don't be. I'd rather know that you're okay. You know you can always come to me with anything Henry." She reminded him gently.
Her heart warmed when she felt him wrap an arm around her waist in return.
"I know Mom."
When they reached Henry's room they each let go of each other and Henry went in first.
"Are you sure you're alright now?" Regina asked him as he got back into bed. "I don't mind staying up for a bit if you need me too."
"I'll be okay."
Regina smiled, sitting down on the bed in front of him. She looked around the room, examining it. "Well I don't sense any dark magic in here. But if you do think something's wrong, if you do get scared again, you come wake me okay?"
Henry nodded. As he laid down and pulled the blankets over himself she noticed the look in his eyes.
"Don't be ashamed of it. Like I said, it's completely understandable after what you just went through."
Henry gave her a small smile as she fixed the blankets around him.
"Do you still feel like you're being watched?" Regina asked.
Henry paused, thinking about it.
"No." He admitted.
"See? I'm sure it was just your imagination. I promise you're safe."
"Maybe you're right. Maybe it was nothing."
"Now, try to get some sleep. Goodnight Henry, I love you. "
"Love you too."