Author's Notes:
Here's Chapter 53.
I wanted to do something a little different this chapter by changing the POV from Hermione and Draco to somebody else. Tel me what you think and I might do more chapters from different people's POV.
As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
I dedicate this chapter to roon0, i lovedifferentmixesup, cutieno100,tmtcltb, TinySlippers, ClaraBragge-Ravenclaw, MrsGinPotter, Sherlock Harry Potter, purplehedgehog13, saroura92, unfittingpuzzlepieces, Hyper-Blossom Z, roni2010, KatOwl, Honoria Granger, Disney lovers 101, Blu3zClu3z, FanofFanFiction and IAmUpForNoGood.
Love Dumbledore's Wisdom.
P.S. Enjoy Xx
"This… this is all too much." David breathes heavily as he opens the back door behind him. "I need some air." He gasps breathlessly, running out the door into his garden, hoping Hermione doesn't follow him.
He stumbles over the grass, which is dire need of a cut, to his garden bench where he duly collapses, head in his hands. What is going on? He replays the past five minutes back in his head. He bursts out laughing, pushing his dark hair out of his face. Obviously, he's going crazy. He's hallucinating.
"This isn't real." He mutters to himself, shaking his head again. "It can't be.
He stands up, then sits back down. What if it is real? He can't deny the strange things Sophie's been doing recently. It wasn't even ladybird season when she apparently turned an m&m into one. Now he really is going crazy. He can't actually be considering the possibility that witches are real or that his daughter, niece and ex-girlfriend are one. No, that ladybird just came out of hibernation early. He makes his mind up with a stern nod as he stands up once more and makes his way back over to the back door. However, through the kitchen window, he can see Hermione stood next to the sink watching as a dinner plate washes itself with the sponge. David stares at it wide eyed for a prolonged moment.
Nope. This isn't happening. He swiftly turns on his heal, running away from the garden down the side path. He pulls his car door open glad that he never bothers to lock it. Unfortunately, he isn't stupid enough to leave the car keys inside but like riding a bike, you never forget how to hotwire a car. After a minute or so, he's reversing out of his driveway. As he puts the car into gear, he sees Hermione in his peripheral vision running towards him but he presses his foot down hard on the accelerator and speeds off down the street.
David's not sure how long he drives for before he pulls up outside of the park that he sometimes takes Sophie to after school. He doesn't get out of the car though. He just sits in the driver's seat, parked at the side of the road, with his hands gripping the steering so tight his knuckles are white. He stares straight ahead out of the windshield at the lights of cars in the distance as he tries to get his head around everything.
So, not only do witches and wizards exist but they apparently have their own school, government, prison and sport. For some reason, he finds it difficult to believe that they are enough magical people in the world for them to need schooling, governing and imprisoning. How many of them can there be? He scoffs to himself as he loosens his grip on the steering wheel but then suddenly tightens it. Is he actually believing this? Does he actually believe magic exists?
He quickly opens the car door, stumbling out onto the road. He slams the door shut before running through the nearest entrance to the park and just running as fast as he can. He doesn't stop until he can no longer breathe and has to lie down on the grass to catch his breath. Then, when he's breathing at a steadier rate, he just lies there on the grass, staring up at the white clouds in the sky and suddenly feeling so very small in the world. A world that apparently has magic in it now.
For David, it happened suddenly. One second he's staring up at the pink, late afternoon sky, then he blinks and the sky is pitch black with millions upon millions of stars twinkling down at him. He sits up slowly, glancing around the park. He can hear the bantering laughs of a group of teenagers probably sat in the playpark smoking and drinking, and the barks of a couple dogs somewhere nearby. He stands up, brushing some grass from his legs and heads for the nearest exit to the park, not wanting to stay in the dark, secluded area for very long in fear of being attacked. Unfortunately for him, the teenagers in the playpark decide it's time to make their leave at the same time and they meet under the streetlight near the exit. David tries to walk away but one of the teenagers calls after him.
"Hey, Mr Adair, what you doing roaming the park this time of night?" He asks.
David turns around. He already knows which one of his delightful students he's about to come face to face with.
"I could ask you the same thing, Sammy." He smiles at the sixteen-year-old boy.
"Take a wild guess, sir." Sammy laughs motioning to the cigarette in his hand and the bottle of cheap cider that one of his friends was holding.
"Well, I would hope you would be putting the finishing touches on your GCSE History coursework you need to hand in tomorrow," David mentions.
"Dream on, sir." He laughs and his friends join in.
"Didn't think so." David shakes his head disappointedly. "You're a smart lad, Sammy-"
"Thanks, sir." He jokes, interrupting him midsentence.
"I wasn't finished. You're a smart lad but you have no respect for anybody other than yourself. If you put your mind to it and actually tried, you could have gotten an A in my class and probably all your other classes too. You could have made something good of your life but to be honest, I'll be surprised if you don't end up in prison before your eighteenth birthday." He angrily snaps at the boy.
Sammy's face seems to have fallen slightly during his speech but he soon pulls his mask back up as he laughs.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, sir. Come on lads, let's get going. Don't want nobody to see us hanging around with the elderly." He glares at him before leading his friends across the road and down another street.
David knows that he probably shouldn't have done that. Sammy Jones will just make his life in class a living hell for the remaining five weeks of the school year but right now, he doesn't have time to think about school. He needs to get back to his car and decide what to do next.
David must have run halfway around the park because it takes him nearly twenty minutes to walk back to his car. He's surprised to still find his car parked at the side of the road since he left it unlocked and it had already been hotwired. He climbs inside and just sits in the driver's seat for a while wondering where he can go. He needs to talk to someone about this but who can he talk to who isn't going to think he's crazy.
"Of course!" He mutters to himself as he starts the car. "Sarah must know."
He pulls out in front of another car, earning himself a honk of their car horn but he doesn't care. He drives towards his sister's house at a much steadier speed than on the way to the park when his thoughts had been speeding around his head. Sarah only lives a few streets away from him so it shouldn't take him too long to get to her house. He just hopes it isn't too late. Since the clock on the dashboard wasn't working when he bought the car second-hand six years ago, he doesn't know what time it is.
David manages to find a parking space a few cars away from theirs. He slams his car door shut and a dog starts barking in a back garden nearby as he runs down the street towards the Granger's house. He stares up at the house when he reaches it. There are no lights on at the front of the house but he knows that's Hermione's bedroom and the bathroom. He walks up the short path to their front door and starts continuously knocking as he stares through the glass windows of the door.
After about thirty seconds of knocking the landing light at the top of the stairs turns on but he doesn't stop knocking until Chris reaches the bottom of the stairs and turns on the hallway light.
Chris frowns at him through the glass window as he fumbles around with his house keys and unlocks the front door.
"Do you know what bloody time it is, David?" He asks him once he's opened the front door. "The kids are awake now and crying." He scolds him.
"Who is it, Chris?" Sarah shouts down the stairs.
"It's David." He calls back.
"What does he want at half twelve at night?" She asks.
"What do you want?" Chris asks him.
"Hermione's a witch," David states simply, staring intently at his brother-in-law.
Chris's mouth drops open as he stares back at him for a long few seconds before swallowing and laughing. He shakes his head.
"What? No. What are you on about David? Witches aren't real. Have you been drinking too much?" He chuckles awkwardly.
"Hermione told me," David mentions and Chris's face falls.
"Oh," His face falls slightly. "Well, she's feeling quite emotional at the moment. Did she tell you she and Draco had an argument?" He tries to explain.
"She told me that Draco is a wizard and is actually her husband," David says.
Chris doesn't respond. He just stares at him, trying to come up with an excuse.
"It's true, isn't it?" He asks, his adrenaline levels suddenly dropping.
"Erm... Sarah!" He calls up the stairs. "I think you better come down here." He smiles awkwardly at David.
"What's is it?" Sarah asks as she joins them at the front door.
"Hermione's a witch." He states again.
Sarah's eyes widen as she looks very worriedly at her husband then back to her brother. "I don't know what you mean. Have you been drinking?" She asks.
David stares between Sarah and Chris, shaking his head. "I don't drink on a school night." He tells them.
"Well, where's all this witch nonsense coming from then?" She asks with an awkward laugh.
"For some reason, Hermione's told David that she's a witch and Draco's a wizard and they're married," Chris explains, eyes wide as if trying to convey a secret message to his wife.
Sarah's eyes flitter between her husband and her brother before landing cautiously on her husband's.
"Why would she tell him?" Sarah tries to whisper to Chris but David's only stood a foot or so away from them.
"Because she thinks Sophie's a witch." He states, earning him two shocked expressions.
"Sophie's a witch," Sarah mutters.
"According to Hermione." He nods but then he remembers the way Sophie was looking at him when the glass of milk exploded all over the table. "Oh God!" He mutters as the realisation hits him and he lowers himself to the ground before he collapses. "It's real, isn't it? All of it is real. Sophie's a witch. What am I going to do?" He cries into his hands.
He feels a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's all going to fine, David. I promise you that. We've been through it with Hermione so we'll help you and Hermione will be there to help Sophie through it all. Is Hermione still with Sophie now?" She asks.
"I hope so, I just left." He mumbles through his hands.
"I'll call your house and make sure they're alright," Chris announces, heading into their living room.
Sarah takes a seat on her doorstep, still rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. "I can't believe Sophie's a witch too." She chuckles. "From what Hermione's told us, it's very rare for two Muggleborns who aren't siblings to be born to the same bloodline."
David sighs in annoyance. "What's a Muggleborn?" He can already tell that asking for magic clarification is going to becoming commonplace in his life from now on.
"A magic person born to two non-magic parents." She explains.
"She's not a Muggleborn then." He admits, having almost forgotten that Hermione told him that Sophie's mother's also a witch. "Her mother's a witch."
"Gwen!" Sarah gasps as David represses the urge to snarl at her name. "How do you know?" She asks.
"Hermione said she's a famous sports person. I can't believe they have sports." He chuckles, feeling defeated all of a sudden.
"That'll be Quidditch. They fly around on broomsticks with balls. It's how Draco got that wound on his forehead." She explains.
Chris opens the front door and steps out into the cool night air to join his wife on the doorstep.
"Hermione said Sophie's in bed asleep but she was upset when she saw you leave. She said she'll look after Sophie until you get home and find somewhere else to spend the night unless you want to talk to her or ask her anything." Chris tells them.
David nods. He should go home. He needs to reassure Sophie that he didn't run away from her. He just needed time to think it all through. He still needs time to think it all through. He doesn't want to kick Hermione out either but if he goes home, she'll want to talk to him about everything and he doesn't think he's ready yet. He's not ready to go home. If Sophie's asleep then he can wait until morning. He can go somewhere and just think until morning. He quickly rubs his face dry from his tears and stands up abruptly.
"I need to go." He announces heading down their short garden path.
"David!" Sarah calls after him, making him stop and turns around to face her. "It's all going to be fine. Trust me. Being a part of the magical world, even as muggles, is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to us." His sister smiles at him which he forcefully returns before heading towards his car.
He starts his car and drives half an hour into London city centre, trying to find a carpark where he can leave his car for a few hours. He ends up find parking his car in the carpark of a pub and then decides that he might as well have a few drinks there as he sorts through everything he's learnt in the past couple of hours. He takes the twenty-pound note from the glove compartment that he keeps there for emergencies, then heads into the pub.
He orders a Coca-Cola then finds himself a secluded booth at the back of the bar where he can sit and think. His thoughts aren't any clear after an hour and another bottle of coke later so he decides to hell with not drinking on a school night and orders a pint of whatever's on tap. Over the hours, as the alcohol dulls his mind and his thoughts become less coherent, he understands more and starts to truly believe in everything.
At some point during the early morning hours, he stops returning to his booth and just sits on the bar stool at the end of the bar, muttering nonsense to himself and anyone else who cares to listen, which at five o'clock in the morning, is nobody. Not even the bartender is interested as he yawns deeply whilst drying glass after glass and piling them under the bar.
Just before Big Ben rings out six times for six o'clock, the pub door opens for the first time in a couple of hours and a man in his early twenties enters, shrugging out of his coat.
"How's the early shift treated you, Andy?" He asks as he makes his way behind the bar.
"Never again, Mike. I don't know how Joey puts up with it. I'm shattered and the punters are all alcoholics or crazies." He yawns, throwing the towel on the bar.
"What's this one?" Mike nods towards David sat staring at them both.
"Definitely a crazy. He's been here since half one this morning and has just started wittering on about his daughter who's a witch." He chuckles and Mike laughs alone. "Anyway, I'm out of here. I need to get myself some beauty sleep." He jokes as he grabs his own jacket.
"Maybe set the alarm clock a little longer this time." Mike jokes as he grabs an apron and wraps ties it around himself.
Andy laughs as he leaves the pub, letting the door swing shut behind him.
"Right mate, what's your name?" Mike glances at him as he washes his hands in a sink behind the bar.
"David." He mutters, staring down at his half empty pint.
"What do you want for breakfast, David?" He asks, drying his hands on his apron. "Full English?" He offers.
"I have £2." He states, rummaging around in his pocket and slamming two-pound coins on the bar.
Mike slides the coins towards him and places them in the till. "That'll pay for the coffee. Breakfast is on the house." He tells him, heading through a door behind the bar into what David assumes is the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, David's finished the rest of his pint and Mike returns with two plates of full English breakfasts, setting them both on the bar. Mike hands David his cutlery as he makes them both a fancy cup of coffee from the machine on the back wall behind the bar.
"So is your daughter in a play or something?" Mike asks him.
David looks at him suspiciously, wondering how he knew his daughter had been in a school play.
"Yeah, she was Nala." He tells him, eating some bacon.
"The Lion King?" He frowns. "I thought you said she was a witch."
"Oh," He realises what's happening but isn't sure if he should be telling anyone about magic. It's been kept a secret for God knows how many years. "Maybe I was just making it up." He shrugs, digging back into his breakfast.
Mike laughs, shaking his head. "What's your wife going to say when you get home?" He asks.
"I'm not married." He tells him. "Never have been."
"What about your girlfriend then?" He asks.
David frowns at him. "I don't have one."
"What about your daughter's mother?" Mike asks.
"Oh, she's a witch too. She left us years ago." He shrugs.
Mike laughs at him. "Are you making that up as well? Or are you insulting her because I have a few exes that are witches too."
"Calling her a witch is near the bottom of the list of words I'd like to call her," David admits, stabbing a sausage with his fork.
"How old is this daughter of yours then?" He asks.
"She's nearly seven." He smiles proudly.
"Who's looking after her?" Mike questions him sounding worried.
"My niece. She's nearly twenty." He explains. "I should be getting home soon." He admits but doesn't make a move to stand.
"I hope you're not planning on driving home." Mike stares at him pointedly.
"How else would I get home? I gave you my last £2 and it'll take me two hours to walk home." He tells him.
"I don't care. Give me your keys." He holds his hand out.
"I left them at home." He admits.
"How'd you drive her then?" Mike raises a questioning eyebrow, not believing him.
"I hotwired the car. I couldn't go back in the house to get them. I had to get away quick." He explained.
Mike's hand drops back down to his side. "Right," he sighs, going over to the till and taking a pound out. He gives it to David "Here, that'll get you the bus home. You can come back for the car. I'll keep an eye on it. Is it the silver one?" He turns a computer monitor around to show him the security video of the carpark.
"Yeah, that one." He points at his car.
"I'd recommend you staying here for at least another hour to sober up a bit more. I don't think they'll let you on the bus in your state." He smiles, taking their empty plates away to the kitchen. "Do you want a coffee refill?" He asks as he returns. "It'll sober you up quicker."
"Alright." David nods just as Big Ben rings on the half past. "Is that half six?" He questions.
"Yeah, why? You got somewhere to be?"
"I'm supposed to be at work in half an hour but that isn't going to happen." He sighs. He only has two lessons today. They'll sort something out.
"Where'd you work?" Mike asks, placing the refilled coffee cup in front of him.
"St Gordon's. I'm a history teacher." He answers.
"Woah, a teacher! You're not really setting a good example for them are you?"
"I can't find it within myself to care right now. I've got worse things on my mind." He mutters.
As the alcohol leaves his system and the coffee wakes up his mind, he's reminded of how easier it was to believe everything once drunk because right now, he's starting to doubt it again.
"Do you believe in magic, Mike?" He asks suddenly, making him pause in his wiping down of the bar.
"Like card tricks and sawing girls in half?" He questions.
"No, like turning one thing into another thing or waving a wand and fixing a broken glass."
"It's all sleight of hand, isn't it? Whilst you're focused on the wand waving, they're doing something else with their other hand that you don't notice." Mike explains.
David sighs to himself. That wasn't exactly what he meant. He sits up straight and sips his coffee. He's a historian. He needs to think about the facts.
He knows his daughter exploded a glass of milk. He watched as his niece fixed it with her wand. He watched as she made the dishes wash themselves.
Those are all things he knows. Things he witnessed himself.
Apparently, Sophie also turned a chocolate m&m into a ladybird. She made a cup fall from the top cupboard. Also, thinking back to a few months ago. Sophie had been convinced she'd put a hole in her wall after falling off her bed but it had disappeared the next morning. He'd told her it was a dream but now he wasn't so sure.
Those are all things he suspects. Things Sophie witnessed and told him about. A child isn't the most believable source but he knows his daughter and she rarely lies to him. She lies so little that when these strange things started happening, he thought she was going through a lying phase.
He also knows that a few hundred years ago, people did believe in witches and wizards and magic but then they stopped. The Catholic Church deemed magic impossible and of course, due to the religious belief of the majority of Europeans, they followed the churches belief. Who's to say that witches and wizards didn't have a say in that. Convinced the pope that magic is impossible to keep their world a secret and stop the persecution of their people. He doesn't know the extent to their magical abilities. There could be a spell to convince people to do their bidding. If so, what's stopped them from taking over the world? David can't deny that if witches and wizards are real, which he is starting to believe they are, that they would be a far more powerful race and it wouldn't take much for them to overtake the world if they so wish. What could non-magical people, or muggles as they apparently called them, do to stop them?
He remembers how Hermione had taken his voice away when she needed answers about Sophie's mother. His hand instinctively covers his throat, not that it would do any good if his niece were to take his voice away again. He wouldn't be able to do anything to stop her. None of the non-magical people would be able to do anything to stop them.
David shakes his head. Just because they're the far superior race and so much more powerful than muggles, doesn't mean they would use their magic for evil. Besides that one wizard Hermione had mentioned but she told him he was dead and his army were either dead as well or in prison.
He thinks about Hermione. She's always had magic and yet she's one of the most loving and caring people he knows. She's always willing to help other people with anything they ask. If anything, she's become a kinder and more understanding person since she went off to her magical boarding school.
He thinks about Sophie. She's always had magic too and according to Hermione, she's showing accidental magic which is something magical children do when they are angry, scared and confused. He can't even begin to understand how confused and scared she's been the past couple of months that she's been acting strangely. She's been angry at him too for not believing her but how was he supposed to believe her when logically speaking, magic didn't exist. Before all this happened, she was a cheerful child. Always happy. He hopes with this new understanding, she'll be able to go back to her old self.
He thinks about Gwen. She was twenty-three when he met her during the summer of 1991. She was a free spirit and very carefree. She was so beautiful, always in a rush to get nowhere, in particular, just loving the feeling of the wind in her hair as she ran through life. He thought himself so lucky that such a young, amazing woman would want to be with an old, history teacher. Then again, she never made him feel old. She made him feel as though anything was possible. Now, he supposes anything is possible and for the first time since she left him and Sophie alone all those years ago, he misses her.
He frowns at himself. No, he doesn't miss her. He misses the times he spent with her. He misses having that constant feeling of love surrounding him. He misses how spontaneous life felt back then but he doesn't miss her.
"Are you alright there, David?" Mike interrupts his thoughts. "You've been sat staring into space for about half an hour. I didn't want to interrupt you but you mentioned that you were supposed to be at work now. Do you want to call them and tell them you'll be late?" He offers the pubs phone to him.
"No, I've only got two classes today. They'll figure something out." He shrugs, sliding off the bar stool that he had been sitting on for the past three hours. "I should get going though, I'll come get the car later."
"I'm here until midday but I'll tell Kelly to keep an eye on your car if you come for it after twelve," Mike tells him.
David thanks him for breakfast and the coffees before stepping out onto the street. The early morning sun shines brightly in the sky, blinding him for a few seconds as his eyes adjust to the brightness. It takes him forty minutes to walk to his bus stop near St James's Park where he has to wait twenty minutes for a bus that will take another forty minutes to get him home. He sighs deeply as he sits down at the bus stop. By the time he gets home, Hermione will have already taken Sophie to school and he doesn't feel like sitting at home by himself until he needs to pick Sophie up at half past three.
Across the road, a London tour bus pulls up. Without much thought, David jumps up and weaves his way through the early morning traffic towards the bus. He climbs on through the back doors and sneaks upstairs to the top deck where he takes a seat at the front of the bus. He spends fifteen minutes staring at Westminster Abbey whilst the other passengers enter through the front door, flashing their tickets to the driver before finding a seat.
At St. Paul's Cathedral, ninety minutes later, a woman with three children ask if he would mind moving so her children can look out of the window whilst they travel to the London Eye. David gladly obliges, moving to the very back of the bus where he leans against the window, staring out over the River Thames.
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