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This chapter contains a flashback to a point that we time skipped.

I have mentioned Al's nightmares A LOT,

I thought you might want to know about them.

Let's continue.

Chapter 46

Parental Consent

Albie POV

Al had been home for two days, when he woke up, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. His familiar and normal nightmare bringing him out of his sleep. He stifled his cry in his pillow and sat up, putting his feet on the floor and standing up. He panted for breath and he was shaking as he passed his private bathroom and pulled the door open that led into James' adjoining room. He stopped when he looked at the unslept in, perfectly made bed, and the clean floor. James was still at school. In his scared, sleep haze state he had forgotten his older brother wasn't here. He walked out of James' room and down the hall to the room where Everleigh always slept when she stayed over. He gently pulled the door open and walked in, letting it close behind him. The snap of the door woke her up, she opened her eyes sleepily and rolled to look at him. Seeing the panicked look on his face she wiggled over so she was close to the wall and he hurriedly walked to her bed and climbed under the covers, laying his head beside hers on the pillow, tears still fresh in his eyes.

"You know…it was a really long time ago." She whispered.

Albus nodded silently.

"And I am okay…and you are okay…no reason for bad dreams now." She said pulling the purple comforter around them and cuddling up against them.

"Yeah….I guess…" he said, not pointing out that she had yet to go swimming again since the incident that was prevalent in his mind.

Everleigh sighed and let her eyes close again. "Just go to sleep Albie." She said quietly, her breathing evening back out.

Albus lay there for a long time, listening to his best friend's breathing, and truly comforted that she was there. Normally he would have slept with James after a nightmare, but as he wasn't there, he was okay with staying with Ever. It wasn't like this was the first time they slept in one another's rooms. He tried to go back to sleep, he tried to calm down and forget, but the sound of water, and screaming was so loud in his head that he couldn't forget, so instead he let his mind wander over the memories that still plagued him.

-0-0-

They were little, he was 6 and she was 5 when both of their lives changed at the same moment. It was late at night, well after their bedtime in the beginning of August, when the pair had snuck out of Everleigh's bedroom and outside to the broom shed. Albus took her hand as he pulled open the heavy door.

"Er…which one?" he asked her.

Everleigh looked at the multiple broom choices, her father got new prototypes all of the time, and as a player they got the newest line every year. His broom shed was stocked full of options.

"Uhm….get a grown up one, but not one of the newest ones…they're too fast." She said.

Albus nodded and walked to the back of the shed. "Are we flying together or separate?" he asked her.

"Let's just go together." He said, pulling the old firebolt off the wall and dragging it to the door of the shed.

"We're going to get in trouble." Everleigh said, watching him. "We're not supposed to fly without permission." She said, a hint of worry seeping into her voice.

Albus stopped and looked at her. "We can go back inside if you want." He offered. "But we have to be careful not to wake up Zo." He said, rather logically for a 6 year old.

Everleigh shook her head. "No, I want to fly the big broom like daddy, I think we can do it." She said stubbornly. "Why do we need them to tell us we're allowed."

He shrugged and walked out of the shed. "Cause they like to tell us what to do. They think it's their real job." He said as he held the broom out and mounted it as he had been taught.

"Front or back?" Albus asked her, gripping the huge broom tightly in his grip and between his legs.

She thought about it for several minutes before sliding on behind him and wrapping her arms tightly around his small waist. "You can control it first, because you're better at it than me." She said, knowing it was the truth.

Albus smiled at the unintentional compliment and kicked off the ground. They flew that way for a long time, with him controlling the broom and flying around the garden.

"Go Higher!" Everleigh requested, giggling.

Albus obliged pulling the broom even higher into the air, though it was slightly wobbly now as the breeze was now stronger the higher they went and it buffeted them around slightly.

It got to the point that while Albus was holding them steady he wasn't successfully steering at all and they ended up far back on the Woods' property, the broom hovering rather high above the large and deep pond. As the wind picked up the broom rocked a bit and Everleigh slipped to the side, screaming as she did. Albus let the broom go and tried to grab her before she fell but by letting go he also lost control of the broom, and both of them flipped sideways off of the broom and fell into the center of the pond.

He could remember it like it was just happening. He could feel her slip out of his arms as they fell, both of their legs flailing and arms pin wheeling, as if they could somehow manage to fly without a broom. He could feel the way the cool water felt as it swallowed him whole, the way his chest burned while he struggle to paddle himself up to the top. He managed to swim to the side of the pond on his own, something he had just recently mastered while swimming with his father. He pulled himself out and was coughing and spluttering madly as he sat on the shore. Over his own spluttering he heard Everleigh's strangled screams that kept being cut off by water as she went back under. Albus turned to the pond and watched her struggling and started screaming as loud as he could for help, for ANYONE to help, even now if he thought too hard about it the memory of his and her screams in his head made his head hurt.

He couldn't remember fully what he was thinking when he jumped back in the water, he could barely swim well enough to save himself let alone Everleigh. And by the time he had managed to get half way to her she had stopped screaming and hadn't come back up. He remembered panicking when suddenly a loud pop sounded and her blood curdling screams could be heard from the shore instead of the pond.

He didn't manage to get back to shore before Oliver and Alicia made it outside, he vaguely remembered Oliver swimming out and getting him out of the water. But what he remembered with stark clarity was making it back to shore and Everleigh laying covered in blood and screaming in pain. In her fear she had performed accidental magic and accidentally apparated herself out of the lake, only, being 5 she had severely splinched herself in the process.

He remembered her screams and he remembered Oliver sitting him down and picking Everleigh up and running to the floo, to get her to the hospital. He remembered the stark bright hospital and how sleepy Zoe was. He remembered how clean the hospital smelt and the healer taking him from Alicia's arms and rushing him back to examine him too. He remembered his father and mother getting there and his mum screaming at the healer to let her through. He remembered them taking him and Zoe back to his house and then days later finally being permitted to see Everleigh in the hospital.

Now, that he was older and he had asked on several different occasions, he knew that she had nearly died that night. That for four days it was touch and go that she would even make it. He knew that while in his world he remembered that it was a few days before he saw her, it was actually nearly two weeks before they would let him see her. He still, even now, had nightmares about it. It always began from her giggling and laughing and ended with her laying at his feet covered in blood, his own scream always woke him up before anything else could happen.

Rationally, Al knew that neither of them should really blame themselves. They were only little kids, doing something stupid. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't swim fast enough to save her, and it wasn't her fault that she had splinched herself, it's not like a 5 year old knows how to apparate. Neither of them had been punished for the incident, both of their parents felt that they had been punished enough with the event. They had of course sat through multiple lectures, and for a while, Albus wouldn't fly…Everleigh had yet to ever swim again. Though, both of them could now rival James or Freddie either one on a broom already.

He looked down at her face as she slept and closed his eyes. He was so tired, but knew he would have the nightmare over again, James wasn't here to fix it. He lay there for a long time before finally, just as the sun came up Al gave in and fell asleep, his letter that he had written to his brother gripped in his hand.

O0o0o0o0o0o

Teddy POV

It was early Thursday morning while James sat at the table beside Teddy. For once, it was just the two of them there, as they both got there early. James was sitting there listening patiently to why Teddy was not going to add practices back to the schedule. Or, not so patiently.

"But Victoire isn't sick anymore." James whined.

Teddy yawned, his chin was propped up on his fist. James was right, Victoire was starting to do a lot better, as she got closer to her 9th week and the potions got into her system she seemed to get energy and she wasn't as sick as often.

"Jamie, I know…but I just…I don't have the time to add more practices right now." He said tiredly.

He had figured out a pretty good schedule, but really, it was still leaving little time for rest. On Mondays he had Classes until noon and then Heads duties until 3:30, quidditch from 4-6 and then dinner he did revision, essays, and homework until 8 when he had rounds with either Kirstie or another prefect until 11. Tuesday he had classes until 4 and then he generally took the time to stop by the seeker and beaters practice for an hour, then homework till 8 the rounds until 11. Wednesdays was a bit more hectic as he had classes till 11 did head's office duties till 1 had more classes till 3 he then did Head's duties homework and rounds until 6 when he ate then went to quidditch till 9. Saturday's he had quidditch from 8-1 and then he took all the head's duties that day and evening. He and Kirstie had figured the head's duties out so they were even, and she covered all of Friday, while prefects were split up and covered all of Sunday, giving both heads that day off unless an emergency occurred.

While those four days were insanely hectic and he generally walked into his room and passed out the other three days, he didn't have any duties or practices. All he had was homework, revision and essays and the rest of the time he was able to spend time with Victoire, whether it was just the two of them, or with their friends. It wasn't the perfect solution, and he was tired…even on his three off days he had classes, and homework and application stuff, but it was working. Victoire understood, well, he thought she did, at least they were actually spending time together and they weren't arguing over his schedule. And, while it was unintentional, it meant that he and Kirstie only had office duties together once a week, and rounds together usually once…meaning he saw Vic more than Kirstie, something that he knew had bugged Victoire before. So, all seemed okay for now.

"But you have Thursday, and Friday, and Sunday." James said, off on his fingers.

Teddy looked at his younger brother in exasperation. "JAMES!" he said, his voice harsher than he intended, making James jump slightly. "I have classes, and homework, and essays, and NEWTS, and I am headboy, quidditch captain, a chaser, and I have friends, and Vic, and you and our family. I am missing at least three to four meals a week. When I can't fit homework in during the day I do it in the middle of the night. I CAN'T do more practices, and we're good. We don't need any more. And the other teams have to practice too Jamie…They have the pitch booked already. Please, Stop asking." He said, his voice slowly softening.

James looked at him, frowning as he listened to him, his lip slightly pouted out. "Well…on what days do you go run?" he asked Teddy, knowing that the team was required to run 4 days a week.

Teddy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "James, I run from 5-7 on non quidditch days." He told him, and on Saturday before quidditch.

James nodded and continued to look at him. "Who runs with you?" he asked.

Teddy was a bit perplexed by the question and put his hand down as he looked into the hazel eyes that were looking up at him, Teddy's eyes naturally changed to match James'. "Ollie runs with me on Saturdays, other than that no one." He said. "Why?"

James chewed the inside of his cheek. "Can I run with you the other times? I'll change my times." He said.

"James…you usually run with Freddie." Teddy pointed out.

James thought about it. "Okay….I'll run with you on Thursday and Friday. And I'll still run with Freddie." He said with a smile.

"Why do you want to run 6 times a week James? Why do you keep trying to add stuff to do, quidditch, running, next you're going to ask for more classes." Teddy said, shaking his head at the 11 year old.

James frowned and looked down at his plate, poking his eggs with a fork. "I don't want more stuff to do." He corrected. "I want more to do with you." He said, very quietly.

Teddy stopped eating and looked down at the raven haired first year and smiled slightly. "Thursdays and Fridays it is." He said with a smile, "And, you know you can always come in and do homework in the head's office during my office hours. I don't mind…Louis does it all the time, Dom too, and Roxxy sometimes, though she does it less now." He said.

James smiled and leaned his shoulder against his older brother's as he took a piece of bacon from James' plate. "Thanks Teddy." He said quietly.

Teddy started to answer but as he did, Moonbeam swooped down and dropped a letter addressed both to Teddy and James in front of him. Teddy opened the envelope and pulled out three letters, two of them were titled to James. Teddy smiled and handed them over to James who quickly opened them to read while Teddy read his own letter.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Jamie,

Hey there champ. I am glad that you're going to try to stay out of trouble. I would ask that you try not to cause trouble though, rather than just not getting caught. And believe me, I know just how hard that can be in Hogwarts.

I know that with less practices you're getting bored but let up a bit on your brother will you? You know you're a great team and a great player, you don't need more practice. Besides, I am sure he has a lot going on. They don't pile too much on you in first year, but in 5th and 7th it gets worse, and you don't really have time to be bored then. You know you could just explore. There is a lot of the castle that you don't know yet I'm betting. Why don't you see if at some free point of Teddy's if he'll show you the room of requirement? I'm sure you could think of A LOT of fun and not boring things to turn it into. Just remember to try and not tell EVERYONE in the castle about it.

Your compromise came as a bit of a surprise to us. We weren't aware that you were proficient at compromise. Good job. Uncle George used a severing charm and cut the seat down the center so they could have Freddie's apology and we could have yours.

I want to tell you that I'm impressed with your charms work, so are your mum, uncles and aunts….even if we're not so impressed with when you choose to use the practical application of them. They are still really strong charms, and you did magnificently at them. When you teach Al, can you maybe lessen the dye charm to an hour? We have a busy holiday planned and I don't fancy taking tie-dyed children around with me everywhere, though, you know that I will do it. So I suggest for your benefit, that you make the color charm expire sooner. I have no issue letting a reporter take a picture of you multi colored and embarrassed about it.

You know I love you. Be nice to Teddy.

Love,

Dad

PS: Mum says that she loves you too, and that next time you send a toilet seat home she's using a permanent sticking charm and sticking it to your backside where it belongs….Just a warning.

PS- again: I found this letter with your brother while he was asleep in Everleigh's room. I needed to send mine off so I went ahead and sent his to you too, if it's not finished that's why.

O0o0o0o

Jamesy,

Heya. It's like…3 in morning, and I can't go back to sleep so I decided to write you a letter instead.

Do you remember that time we accidentally locked ourselves in the treehouse while we were playing with dad's wand. And to punish us mum summoned dad's wand, and they left us stuck up there overnight? That was so much fun. We should totally stay up there one day over holidays.

Are you going to stay home through the holiday, or will you be going off to friends' houses like Teddy usually does half the time? It doesn't matter much, I just want to know if I need to have plans or if you'll be here. You know mum won't let me go off if you're home.

Ever is here for a week or two, we're just hanging out. Man does she wiggle in her sleep. Like, she's all over the place. I do have to say though, at least she likes to sleep late, she doesn't get me up early, it reminds me of you. Letting Lily sleep with me is like having a personal alarm clock set for 6 AM. She's crazy.

I'm so sleepy, it's now…almost 5. I know this letter doesn't seem like it should be taking that long to write, but I'm so sleepy I can't remember what to write, and I keep writing it weird, and dosing off. Right…doesn't matter. So Lily wanted to sleep in my room for like three days before I left for the quidditch trip with Everleigh.

We had fun for the week and a half, and being allowed to miss school was GREAT! But now we're back here and mum and dad are making us go back to school. Lily says she's glad because being the only Potter there is no fun.

Speaking of Lily, she misses you. She misses you a lot. She can't wait to see you. Just, don't tell her that I told you that. She said

O0o0o0o0o0o0

James flipped his brother's letter over and over again, looking for the rest of it when it occurred to him that Albus had probably fallen asleep while writing it and that's where it was. That there was no more to find. He smiled slightly at the last few lines. "I miss you too Albie." He said softly looking down at the parchment and then at Teddy, who was looking at his letter worriedly. James didn't like that look on his face so he hopped up, deciding to go actually take the time to write his brother back.

"Hey Teddy, I'm gonna go." James said, tapping Teddy's shoulder to get his attention. "I'll see you tomorrow morning?" he asked hopefully as the great hall started to fill with its later breakfast partakers.

Teddy looked up briefly, his shaggy lime green hair falling into his eyes. "Yeah, Jamie, er be in my common room at 5 will you?" he said.

James smiled widely "I'll be there" he said quickly and pulled his hood from his hooded sweatshirt up over his head and jogged off for the common room to get ready for his classes that started at 8.

Teddy's classes didn't start until 10 on Thursdays so he always waited and sat through breakfast with Victoire and his friends too. He looked back down at his letter as it was still only 7:30 and they were all unlikely to be here for another 15 minutes or so.

O0o0o0o0o0o

Ted,

Hey there bud. I hope Jamie and Freddie's extravaganza of trouble last week didn't cause you too much extra work. I'm sure he's being a handful. Please don't strangle him, your mum and I love him you know….Al and Lily do too, as do the rest of the family. Even if he can get a little carried away sometimes.

Did you know they sent us duel apologies written on a toilet seat? Remind me to let you read it when you come home. In Freddie's he mentioned that you had been busy and that Victoire had been ill. I asked Bill about it, assuming Vic would have written them or that the nurse would have informed them of a visit. But Bill and Fleur didn't even know she was sick. Then he informed me that once you're 16 that a parent isn't notified of medical intervention unless you are unable to give your own consent. Who knew? I didn't exactly have any parents for them to ever notify and as it's Susan at the school, she always just lets us know either way. I remembered Ron's Mum and Dad being there in our 6th year, when he was poisoned and it occurred to me that he wasn't able to make a medical decision as he almost died….so.

Basically, what I am asking, because it's been since Monday since Bill sent a letter to Vic and she hasn't replied….Is she alright? We're worried about her and so are her mum and dad. So, yes, I am asking you to tell on your girlfriend. But only to tell us if she's actually okay, since Freddie was vague about what was going on.

We did ask Susan but she said she hadn't seen either of you. So, I figure she can't be too ill, or you would have forced her to go. I did tell them that…But Fleur and Bill are worried, so I promised I would try to get it out of you.

That aside…I hope you're doing well. I know 7th year is challenging, and you have A LOT on your plate, I hope it's not overwhelming you. And you know if you ever need help with any of it that all you have to do is ask, and I'm just an owl away.

Love you son,

Dad

0o0o0o0o0o0o

After rereading the letter several times Teddy jumped up and walked out of the great hall, forgetting to wait for his friends as a plan formed in his head.

0o0o

It was nearly 10 when Victoire came in from her prefect's rounds that night. Teddy looked up from his nearly finished essay and smiled at her. "Hey gorgeous." He said.

Victoire smiled tiredly. "I need to forewarn you." She said, plopping onto the couch next to him, leaning against his shoulder.

"Well that doesn't sound good." Teddy said worriedly as she chuckled. "Let me have it."

"When we get back, I am officially resigning as a prefect. I'll put it in writing now if you want, so you can pick someone new and have then ready." She told him.

Teddy let his quill drop and looked at her. "Er…huh?" he said, a bit caught off guard by the sudden decision.

"I'm dropping prefect." Victoire repeated.

"But…but you were so excited to be prefect, and you wanted to be head girl." He protested.

Victoire rolled her eyes. "I was and am…but….I'm so tired Teddy. And it's only going to get harder the farther along I am. And while I completely appreciate you and Kirstie rearranging the schedules and stuff so you have three nights with no practices or duties…I still have prefect rounds and I can't ask you to make sure they aren't on your days off, that's too much and you know it." She said, looking up at him.

"What if….what if I give up head boy? It means way less to me than prefect and head girl mean to you." Teddy said instantly, not wanting her to give up her dream, she had always wanted to be head girl.

Victoire just looked at him for a moment. "Teddy….I can't be head girl." She said slowly.

"Course you can be." Teddy said, as if there were no issues.

"No Ted…We'll have a baby. I'll be with you and baby, I can't be head girl when I am a mummy, I doubt…I don't think I'll even come back at all. I was thinking about taking my NEWTS through the ministry, and just not finishing 7th year….besides, if you give up head boy, you'll be giving up your private room, and unless you plan on moving us both into the Room of Requirement, I don't think that's a good idea. And head boy looks great on your application for the Department." She pointed out.

Teddy just stared at her as the repercussions of them actually having a baby started to show themselves. "I…I don't know." He said slowly.

Victoire just lifted a hand to his cheek and looked into his eyes. "I'm giving up prefect, my last official day will be the train ride home. I'm not asking you, I'm not talking to you about it or debating it. And I'm not saying this as your girlfriend. I'm telling you, prefect, to head boy….I am giving it up. Either you inform the head girl and McGonagall or I will inform the head girl, and she can handle it." She told him firmly.

After a few moments Teddy nodded a bit silently. "Right….okay." he said before gathering his thoughts.

"I found some things out today." He told her.

Victoire looked at him questioningly. "And what's that?" she asked.

"Well, first that your parents sent you a letter about your health and knowing you were sick and you didn't tell me." He said with a smirk to which she bit her lip and looked away.

"And second, that if you're 16 years old, you can give consent to a healer to be seen as long as you are emotionally, physically, and mentally able and because of patient privilege they can't inform your parents." He said with a slight grin.

Victoire nodded. "Yes, I know…I wanted to be a healer remember?" she said to him. "The problem is Susan is our parent's friend."

Teddy nodded. "You WANT to be a healer…and you will be." He said firmly before continuing, even though she looked skeptical. "Anyways, we have an appointment, on Saturday, which is the final Hogsmeade visit before Holiday, at the family healer's offices in town." He told her.

Victoire smiled at him before it faltered. "You have head's duties on Saturday." She pointed out.

Teddy shook his head. "It's Hogsmeade...Kirstie and I are both on call, and we have to oversee, departures to and from town, you know how it works, I am free during the visit unless there's an emergency. I'm seeing a prefect to the healer, that's my emergency." He grinned.

Victoire thought about it for a few minutes before smiling. "So…Saturday then?" she said, actually feeling a twinge of excitement.

Teddy grinned though he couldn't deny the nervous tension that had erupted or the anxious flipping of his own stomach. He nodded. "It's a date."