Chapter 28: Dream Rune, Part 4: Til Death Do Us Part

Erik was content to let the conversation go with that, or at least realized that pushing it wasn't going to get him any closer to what he wanted. The discussion didn't alter things too drastically between Hildegard and Erik, although Narcissa noticed that Erik grew more relaxed in how he interacted with Dagmar. Hildegard liked seeing them together, especially when Erik read Dagmar's favourite books to her. He was an animated storyteller and spared nothing on the character voices. Dagmar went from squealing in glee as she listened, to stone quiet, to a mouth rounded with excitement hidden behind her hands.

It helped Dagmar relax before sleep. That wasn't an easy feat, considering Dagmar now realized her nightmares had become a permanent fixture in her life. Hildegard cuddled her before she'd drift off as well.

One night, Hildegard ran her fingers through Dagmar's hair. "Jenta mi?"

"Mhm."

"Do you like Erik?"

"Ja." Dagmar's eyes cracked open.

"You know how Astrid has her mamma and her pappa?"

Dagmar turned wary, but nodded.

"What would you think if Erik was your pappa?"

"Pappas are scary."

Hildegard pressed her lips together. Dagmar indeed showed some fear around Kristoffer, even though he was just as kind as Karin to Dagmar.

"Okay." Hildegard leaned up on her elbow. "What if Erik was your daddy?"

Dagmar blinked. "What's that mean?"

"It's a nice word that means a man who's like Erik. He protects you and makes you laugh and makes you snacks and tells you to pick up your toys."

"Oh." Dagmar's face lit up. "Ja, Erik's my daddy, then."

It didn't look like Hildegard explicitly meant for Dagmar to make that leap all on her own, which turned Hildegard nervous approaching Erik about it. She opted for the truth the next morning, keeping her voice low so that Dagmar couldn't hear their conversation in the living room. She was busy picking what shirt she wanted to wear for when they all went for a walk.

"I asked Dagmar last night what she would think if you were her dad," Hildegard said with an apologetic smile and folded arms. "I didn't really expect her to latch onto the conclusion that you were already that. Is that okay?"

Erik's soft expression already spoke for him. "Ja, it's fine."

"I don't know if she'll call you that." Hildegard relaxed. "If she does, it won't be Pappa. She used to call Magnus that, and now she thinks the word means something bad. She liked Daddy."

"English?" Erik chuckled. "If it makes her happy."

Mingled excitement and endearment followed them into their day. Erik had borrowed some equipment from the centre to start training Dagmar toward reaching their goal of going for a day hike up Fløya. Dagmar had new shoes more suitable to the activity, and Erik wore a backpack that she could ride in once she got tired. For now, they stuck to the beach along Tromsø's western shore. Their pace was slow—leisurely—and Dagmar was having fun looking at all the different birds. Hildegard didn't know what they were called, but Erik did. Dagmar started skipping Hildegard over to just ask him.

They stopped for lunch on a rocky outreach. Erik had shown Dagmar a pretty agate along the way, and now Dagmar preferred to look for her own rather than sit down to eat. She came back to where Hildegard and Erik sat when she ran out of cheese. Dagmar had dropped a piece of cracker as well. While initially upset, she watched with glee as a duck picked it up. Erik was certainly getting a lot of practice hearing Dagmar call him Daddy out of the day. Daddy, look. What's that, Daddy? Daddy, I want up. At some point on the way home, she fell asleep in the backpack. The front of it had a little pillow, which Dagmar's cheek squished up against. Her other cheek jiggled in time with Erik's steps.

Hildegard went back to work, time marching on. Dagmar and Astrid were drawing. Hildegard and Karin chatted while they worked, and it was hard to miss that Hildegard was glowing about life in general. She went into the back to check on the girls. Dagmar asked her how to write 'daddy' for the picture she was making, so Hildegard wrote it on a separate piece of parchment. When Dagmar was finished, she brought her drawing up behind the front counter to show Hildegard and Karin.

Karin sidled up closer to Hildegard when Dagmar, beaming with pride after receiving compliments on her hard work, returned to the back. "She calls Erik that?"

"Mhm."

"So. . ." A cheeky smile came up on Karin. "What's going on with you and him then? I thought you would've told me if that snowball had started rolling."

"We're not going together or anything." Hildegard paused. "Maybe we are."

"You don't know?"

"Should I?"

"Well, your daughter's calling him Daddy. That's pretty significant. Did I just miss something huge and Erik actually is her father?"

Hildegard shook her head. "It's. . .I don't know. We do like each other. It's just a little too soon for me yet, er—after Dagmar's dad."

"Not something you want to mess up when Dagmar latched right on, ja? Do you still pay for lodging?"

"Ja." Hildegard studied Karin. "Why, is that strange? Erik says he doesn't see me like a lodger, but I feel it's only right."

"I don't think it's strange." Karin reassured her with a smile. "Some people might. The Ramstads are pretty wealthy. You know that, right?"

"He told me."

"Money makes some people weird, is all. I know you well enough to know better, but others might not. Have you met his family yet?"

"Nei."

Hildegard's voice shrunk with that, and concern seemed to plague her moving forward. It was a different day that she went home with Dagmar after work and Erik must have returned from another tour. Dagmar let go of Hildegard's hand and jetted forward to give him a hug. She had more than just the one drawing to show Erik. Erik needed Dagmar's help picking which pictures would come off the ice box to make room for the new batch. There was a box in the living room where Erik kept the old ones. Dagmar helped Erik organize it after dinner.

Hildegard joined Erik on the deck after Dagmar had been put to bed. She asked about how his tour had gone. His enthusiasm was contagious, although Hildegard went a little quiet when Erik turned the question around about her week.

"Karin said something that made me start thinking." Hildegard sat sideways in her chair. Her one knee touched the side of Erik's thigh. Her other leg was crossed over that one and leaned against his knee. "You have family, right? In Oslo?"

Erik nodded. "My brother and sister live there, and most of my cousins and stuff. My grandfather bought property over in Britain, so my dad lives there to mind the estate. How come?"

"Have you told them about me and Dagmar?"

"I don't talk to them much." Erik drew from his pipe. "My sister's a bit of a busybody. Even though I'm twenty-one, I'm still the baby of the family. She thinks I need a second pair of eyes. She'd also convinced Mum and Dad of that, although Dad's backed off since Mum passed away."

"Karin said money makes people weird. Is it something to do with that? Since your family has a lot?"

"Erm. . .maybe." Erik grew hesitant.

"Are you going to tell them about us? What will you say?"

Hesitation turned to quiet contemplation. Erik idly chewed on the end of his pipe. "Not sure about me, but I have a good feeling what they'll say. They'll probably think it's strange we fell in together so fast. We didn't really, though. Well, we haven't, more accurately. It's still kind of a work in progress."

Hildegard smiled when Erik looked at her, although it slipped away. "What will they say?"

"Probably that I shouldn't be chasing after my lodger, for one. Or letting myself get so involved with your life when I'm still so young and you're a single mum. And that I shouldn't let your daughter get attached to me, let alone think I'm her father."

"Do you agree?"

Erik scoffed, his gaze fond. "Obviously not."

"But you probably have to tell them something, right?"

"Eventually, I guess."

"I was thinking. . ." Hildegard paused to chew on her bottom lip. "Do you remember the day we met, we were sorting out lodging stuff and you asked who you should contact about Dagmar if anything ever happened to me?"

Erik nodded.

"I really don't have anybody." Hildegard's voice trembled a little. "I was thinking, if it's not too much to ask—I mean, you're the only other person Dagmar knows like a parent."

While Hildegard's eyes misted, Erik remained serious. He took her hand, which Hildegard squeezed with a sniffle.

"I know it's a lot to ask," Hildegard said. "I really didn't mean when I came to you for all of this to happen. When I asked for a hand and a roof over my head, I didn't intend to sign you up for a lifetime commitment."

"I didn't intend for this either. Sometimes things just happen, don't they?"

Hildegard's cheeks bunching up when she smiled pushed a few tears loose. "Ja, they do."

She wiped her cheeks with her free hand. The other stayed in Erik's.

"What got me thinking about that was your family." Hildegard sniffled again, lighter this time. "Karin asked if she'd missed that you actually were Dagmar's father. Would it be easier with them just to say that you are?"

"Ja, it would." Erik studied her. "Are you sure that's all right, though? It's not exactly a bell I could unring."

"I don't know any other options." Hildegard shrugged. "And I think I'm kind of here to stay, aren't I?"

"Herregud, I hope so."

Erik's tone suggested a jest, but he didn't graduate beyond a smile when Hildegard snorted. She straightened herself out. "I hope so too."

"That settles that, then."

Erik turned more in his seat to face Hildegard. He ran his thumb over her fingers, which Hildegard idly watched with a softening gaze. Erik met her eye when she looked back up. His smile slackened when she budged up closer, and a certain vulnerability became very apparent there before Hildegard leaned in to kiss him. They were both so careful about it, even if it didn't last very long before Hildegard broke the contact with a soft smack of their lips.

"Been waiting for that," Erik said, which flooded Hildegard's cheeks red and dropped her forehead to his shoulder. Erik set his pipe aside so that he could put that hand on Hildegard's knee. "I guess that settles something else, too."

"Ja, forget fuzzy." Hildegard briefly grinned. "I've crossed over to mushy."

"I did quite some time ago."

More tentative affection between them graduated to a snog, which became commonplace as time went on again. The midnight sun was a fixture in the environment, and Narcissa was familiar with how it made summer feel like it could last forever. As true summer encroached on Tromsø, Hildegard and Erik continued to meld. Their lives certainly revolved around Dagmar. Dagmar had more birthday parties to go to, and fairs became commonplace. Dagmar came away from one with butterflies painted on her cheeks.

With summer also came wedding season. Hildegard went as Erik's plus-one to a couple of Erik's coworkers', which taught her how to dress for more formal occasions. Dagmar celebrated her third birthday with a handful of the little friends she'd made. All the while, Hildegard and Erik used their evenings to grow closer as a new couple. Snogging on the deck had the eventual outcome of them migrating through the sliding door to Erik's bedroom. Even though Hildegard had been with two men before Erik, and Erik at least one woman before her, what happened in there seemed fresh and exciting to both. Narcissa certainly hadn't seen Hildegard get so lost with the Dark Lord or Magnus.

And yet, they didn't share a bed beyond that. Hildegard would stay for a while as they talked, but eventually excused herself to shower and crawl in across the flat with Dagmar. Dagmar wasn't receptive to having her own room when Hildegard tried to float the idea. She and Erik just shared a shrug about it.

One day in the fall, Hildegard counted out twelve romer from her wallet before slipping it back into her purse. She came out of her bedroom and stood in front of the couch, where Erik was reading in the sunshine. "Here's rent."

Erik looked up at her, then at the bills in her hand. Rather than reach out for it, he hummed. "I think you should stop paying that."

Hildegard blinked.

"You're not a lodger anymore," Erik said. "It doesn't feel right to take your money. This space is yours."

Although Hildegard's hand fell a little bit, she didn't take her money back. "That doesn't feel right to me not to pay."

"You still do in other ways. What about food? You bring me home books all the time. What about things for Dagmar?"

"That's all. . ." Hildegard shrugged. "The books are gifts. You buy me things too."

"Thing is, it's costing you more to live here than it does me." Erik laid his book on the couch face-down. "I didn't buy this flat with money that I earned. My mum and dad put money in my bank account every birthday. It's just luck, luck that ought to be shared with my family."

Hildegard toyed with the bills.

"We'll find a way to make it fair," Erik said. "Don't worry."

"Could I treat you to dinner tonight, or something?"

The seasons changed. With it came snow. Narcissa recognized Halloween based on the baking, and Hildegard, Erik, and Dagmar put up a tree as Christmas neared. They celebrated it a little early since Erik intended to go down to Oslo for the actual holiday.

The twenty-first was hard for Hildegard, since it was supposed to be Bjorn's second birthday. It was fun for Hildegard and Dagmar to celebrate their own special days, but now it backfired as Hildegard had to keep excusing herself to the toilet so that she could cry without Dagmar asking why she was upset. Bjorn hadn't appeared in one of her drawings for a while now.

It made Erik hesitant to go to Oslo, but Hildegard insisted he do it. When he came home, it was at least with good news. Telling his family about her and Dagmar had gone over well. They'd believed that Erik was Dagmar's actual father without much fuss.

"Give them 'til Easter to absorb it," Erik told Hildegard as they sat out on the artificially warmed deck. "They'll be curious about you two by then."

"I might be too, about them." Hildegard still sounded nervous. "I guess that's the perk of having a kid. It's really easy to make conversation with other parents."

"And Dagmar should have fun with Agneta and Håkon's kids." Erik drew from his pipe, then smiled. "They're all about the same age. Påske turns four in March, and Flor and Viglaug are both five."

Easter came up quick. With it, Hildegard asked for time off from work, bought her and Dagmar some new clothes, and the two of them plus Erik flooed down to Bergen before hopping over to Oslo. Easter dinner was to take place at Agneta's house.

Hildegard looked around in awe at the size of it. She came back to herself when a woman with curled, blonde shoulder-length hair touched her arm. "Hei, you must be Hildegard."

"Oh—ja." Hildegard tried to smile, but it remained tight. She reached down to run her hand through Dagmar's hair. With so many new people around, Dagmar had turned shy enough to put an arm around Hildegard's thigh. "This is Dagmar."

"Hallo!" She beamed at Dagmar. "I'm your auntie Agneta."

Although Dagmar had her face turned into Hildegard's leg, she smiled a little. "Hei."

"I love your dress," Agneta told her. "Did you pick it all by yourself?"

Dagmar's eyes squinted the way they usually did when she was proud of herself. "Ja."

"I know somebody who would love to meet you and be your friend. Is that okay?"

Agneta's daughter Flor wasn't as shy as Dagmar, but Dagmar wasn't quite ready to part from Hildegard and Erik yet. She sat between them on the couch in the great room while all the adults chatted. Hildegard stayed just as quiet, similarly using Dagmar as a social crutch. Flor came by a few times to ask Dagmar if she wanted to play. Once Dagmar said yes, the room was left only with adults. Pretty much every head turned toward Hildegard, making her look like a kneazle in wandlight.

"So where are you from, Hildegard?" Agneta asked. "You can't have gone to Kapsferd. I feel like I would remember you."

"Erm, nei." Hildegard glanced at Erik, who encouraged her with a smile. They'd at least thought about what kind of questions might come her way, as well as how to handle them. "Hogwarts."

"Oh, you're British? Could've fooled me. Your and Dagmar's names alone. . .I assumed Danish?" Agneta kept on. "What's your surname?"

"My what?"

"Your surname," Agneta repeated.

"Er. . ."

Hildegard looked around at the room, where Agneta and her husband, Håkon and his wife, and Johannes—Erik's father—looked at her with increasing confusion. It shouldn't be a difficult question, but it was one Hildegard hadn't prepared for. Narcissa got the impression she realized at the same time as Hildegard and Erik that Hildegard hadn't even given that to Erik yet.

"Your family's name," Agneta's tone changed, bordering on suspicious. "Sorry, I don't know how to make that clearer."

"Right." Hildegard managed an embarrassed laugh. "Herregud, I'm so sorry. My Norwegian could be stronger. It's Frejasdottir."

"Frejasdottir," Johannes repeated with a thoughtful hum. "That's not a name I'm familiar with. You must be Muggle-born?"

Hildegard's nerves ramped right back up. "My parents are gone."

"Oh, really?" Agneta cut in again. "But you're so young."

Johannes looked at her over his glasses with his eyebrows raised. "Considering a war just ended over there, Agneta. . ."

"Right." That deflated Agneta. She smiled tightly at Hildegard. "Sorry."

That ended the questions directed toward Hildegard and allowed her to become more of a wallflower as the rest of the family visited. Erik had started to look very annoyed with Agneta while she poked at Hildegard. Now he'd relaxed and was more keen to tell everyone what life in Tromsø was like. Hildegard seemed a lot more comfortable talking about the present too. She liked her job, even if it wasn't as grand as Agneta's husband Mathias' position at an oil company. He worked with Muggles primarily, which was interesting. Erik's brother Håkon had a hobby job too, somewhat like Erik's but instead of mountaineering he preferred fishing. Agneta and Ella stayed at home with the kids for now. Mathias was gone two weeks at a time when he went out to the oil rigs and Håkon chartered for days at a time, so Ella and Agneta spent a lot of time together.

Their three kids were close as a result. They did a good job including Dagmar in their games, and she was happy to sit with her cousins at the little kids' table when Easter dinner was served. Dagmar floated between Hildegard and Erik's laps when oranges were put out afterward so that they could help her not get any of the juice on her dress.

For the most part through it all, Agneta had gone quiet. Hildegard noticed a few times that Agneta was watching her quite closely. Hildegard was bold enough to hold Agneta's gaze until she looked away, but it hardly put her off it. When Dagmar sat on Erik's knee and he had his chin on her shoulder while helping her peel an orange, Agneta's study was beyond obvious.

The kids went back to playing after dinner. They were quiet, so someone went to check on them more often than when they'd been rambunctious in the afternoon. When Erik went, Agneta excused herself. They returned together. Although Erik had a fairly straight face, it was quite clear to Hildegard that he was angry. His cheeks were warm and he didn't say much more before time came for them to head back up to Tromsø.

Dagmar was exhausted. She could hardly keep her eyes open through changing into her pyjamas and brushing her hair and teeth. Hildegard didn't have to stick around at all to see her off to sleep. Dagmar found her own way there immediately after her head hit the pillow.

Hildegard slipped out and headed across the living room. She lightly rapped her knuckles on Erik's door before slipping inside. He too was already in bed, reading by torchlight. He put his book down when Hildegard crawled in under the covers beside him.

"It went all right, ja?" she asked. "I don't think your sister likes me, though."

Erik pressed his lips together as Hildegard settled. "She can think whatever she wants. It doesn't change anything."

"She got on your nerves a bit, huh?"

"Ja."

Erik left the conversation there, and time moved on again. Hildegard went back to work after the holiday while Erik took advantage of his last bit of time before tourist season started again to check for where Magnus might have gone with Bjorn. There was a minor celebration to be had when Erik poked around Den Sultne Jotunn Inn in Bergen and discovered that Magnus had checked in the night he left Hildegard. His name was in the registration book, and the woman that worked there remembered him. He'd been cagey, and the little boy with him was very upset. The trail ran cold from there. Erik did similar poking around at other inns in major Scandinavian cities. Nothing in Oslo, Stockholm, Umeå, Göteborg, or Copenhagen came up.

A trip back to Trondheim came up with no Magnus. Erik tracked down Magnus' sister to see if she'd had any contact with him, but Magnus had lied to her about why he left town. It seemed promising that she might reach out to Erik if she heard from Magnus, but time kept going on. Hildegard was twenty-two now, the midnight sun set, Dagmar turned four, Christmas brought Bjorn's third birthday and another dinner at Agneta's in Oslo. . .

For Bjorn to have been gone longer than Hildegard had him was hard to face. She tried not to let it get her so down that it affected her life, but it verged on impossible.

Erik sat Hildegard down one night after Dagmar had been put to bed. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What's that?"

"I got an owl at work from someone I guided up Nállangáisi last summer," Erik said. "He didn't tell me at the time, but he runs the tourism office at the Norwegian Ministry. He said he really enjoyed me and I was his first thought when his department was discussing budgets at the end of the year. He offered me a job."

Hildegard furrowed her brow a little. "That's good, right? I mean, if you want to take it."

"We'd have to move." Erik rested a hand on Hildegard's knee, something that had become common for him to do. "The Ministry's in Bergen. Thing is, he said this job would entail a lot of travel. I'd be going all over Europe to see what other places have to offer tourists. The goal is to make Norway competitive but distinctive for visitors."

"So you wouldn't be home a lot?"

"It would be a good opportunity to look more seriously for Magnus, is what I was thinking," Erik continued. "And I might make an argument that it makes sense for you and Dagmar to go on those trips with me. If I only go by myself, I'll see things through the eyes of a single person. With a family, though. . .even if it's not in the budget, I wouldn't mind paying out of pocket."

Hildegard hummed. "Me going on trips like that would depend on if I can get time off work."

"We could see if you could get on doing the same thing. If not, well, just come with me anyway."

Hildegard looked tempted. Like any other time the two of them discussed anything remotely related to Bjorn, her eyes took on a little extra shine.

"Would you ask him about me?" Hildegard asked. "I don't know if I'm comfortable not contributing financially to the household, especially if you would be buying a place in Bergen."

"I'd be selling this one too." Erik shrugged. "The cost of living is about the same here and there, but I think we ought to consider upgrading. Dagmar's getting bigger, and two bedrooms won't cut it when we bring Bjorn home."

Hildegard pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth.

"Finding Bjorn would be priceless." Erik budged closer on the couch. "I hate to say it, but I don't think it's going to happen while we're here. We've looked in all the obvious places in Scandinavia. He might be further south, or maybe in Britain. I respect you don't want to report Bjorn missing to Welfare. That doesn't mean we can't find resources at the Ministry. We can just do it ourselves, instead."

That had been a fight regarding involving Welfare. Hildegard didn't want to draw attention to Bjorn on a governmental level. Erik didn't understand because Hildegard wasn't yet ready to explain where exactly Bjorn had come from. If the Ministry did find Magnus and were informed that Bjorn was the son of the Dark Lord, even the smallest chance Norway would hand Bjorn over to Britain—and Hildegard along with him—was too large of one to take.

Hildegard couldn't argue with Erik's reasoning about how involving the Ministry in such a passive way might help. Erik indeed asked Kjell, the man who'd contacted him, about how the job would work. The budget only allowed for one hire, but Kjell saw no problem in Hildegard and Dagmar accompanying Erik abroad. Although Hildegard struggled with the prospect of no longer contributing financially to the household, her will to find Bjorn won out. The way Erik put it, she would be contributing by helping to complete their family. Erik had heard enough about Bjorn and held Hildegard's hand through her grief that a sense of responsibility encompassed him as well.

That didn't make the move easy. Hildegard loved Tromsø as much as Erik did, and Dagmar was devastated to say goodbye to all of her friends. Their living situation changed quite a bit as well. Rather than a two-bedroom flat in the middle of the city, they now lived in a four-bedroom house up on one of the seven mountains surrounding Bergen. The start of Erik's job entailed training, which anchored him for now to his desk at the Ministry. That gave Hildegard time to get used to the new place. She took on the project of making Dagmar's new room uniquely hers by painting and rearranging it specifically to her liking.

Dagmar had made no strides to try having a bed to herself while in Tromsø. Living in a new house did her no favours on potential progress. Hildegard had hoped at one point to start sharing a bed with Erik rather than visiting his room solely for sex and adult conversation once Dagmar was down.

"Just be patient," Erik reassured Hildegard. "Dagmar will sleep by herself when she's ready."

"It's just frustrating." Hildegard sighed. "It's important to me for us being together that we have our own bed. I wonder what would happen if I stayed with her until she was asleep and then came over here. I do that anyway. I just wouldn't go back once I'm ready to drift off."

They tried, but it didn't go well. The first few nights were fine, but then Dagmar woke up from one of her nightmares. She wandered the house crying, unsure where Hildegard had gone. That more than the nightmare made for little sleep. Hildegard was annoyed to have to go back to the old way after having a taste of sharing Erik's bed like an adult. Guilt came next, because she knew it wasn't Dagmar's fault she was so scared. She cried to Erik about it, torn, and then cried for a whole other reason when Erik told her that Dagmar's need for comfort was the most important thing.

"Herregud, I love you." Hildegard sniffled against his shoulder. "I don't know what I did to deserve someone so patient."

Erik chuckled as he squeezed her. "It's not like we don't get some of the perks of sharing a bed. . ."

Laughter perked Hildegard back up. With that settled, life went on in Bergen. Dagmar was sad and lonely without getting to see Astrid everyday, so the first real order of business for Hildegard was arranging for her to make new friends. Erik met a lot of people at work that also had children, so they arranged playdates.

Hildegard was surprised that not only did Dagmar make friends, but she did as well. The upper class women of Bergen were a different breed than what Hildegard was accustomed to in Tromsø. Their culture among each other had a high degree of politesse, which Hildegard took great interest in learning. She, Erik, and Dagmar attended many social functions. Between Dagmar making friends with other Bergensere children and Hildegard having plenty to say about the trips she, Dagmar, and Erik took around Europe, Hildegard started to fit in the way that Narcissa recognized.

The trips around Europe came up mostly empty, as far as things went with Bjorn. There was a nibble in Paris at Le Pégase Noir Inn, where Magnus had registered as a guest in past. He'd only done that a few months after leaving Trondheim. It seemed promising that, maybe, the trail had picked back up.

What was unfortunate was that it had now been two and a half years since that night. The person that wrote Magnus' name in the guest register had seen far too many faces since to remember anything specific. He remembered Magnus when shown a picture that Erik had managed to procure through his Ministry job.

"Lots of bandages, that fellow," the innkeeper had told Erik in shaky English, which was relayed to Hildegard. "Moved carefully. Spoke French like I speak English. Either not often or not for very long, hah."

"Do you remember a boy?" Erik asked.

The man pursed his lips and squinted an eye as he thought harder on it. "Non. . .not to say there wasn't one, but I was more focused on what was going on here." The man touched his chest with a pointed finger. "He started bleeding while we were talking."

It all gave more possibilities for Hildegard and Erik to consider. Magnus learned Old Norse at Kapsferd as an elective, but that and Norwegian were the only two languages he spoke when Hildegard knew him. He didn't know French. If he did, Magnus had no motivation to hide it.

"If he's bothered to learn French, might be he's setting up to stay in Paris," Erik suggested. "Or maybe just France as a whole. Or Belgium. There's a few French-speaking places in Europe. This might be promising. How could a man hide when he'll stick out like Magnus does now, with that injury? You must know what happened to him? You lit up when it was mentioned."

Hildegard hedged on that now, shrugging hesitantly. "I saw a lot of blood when he left. Something had to happen."

Getting closer to Bjorn was also a figurative step toward the truth. Hildegard was clearly torn. On one hand, she was lying by omission to this man that had taken her in at her lowest point, treated her daughter like his own blood, and provided them with a life Hildegard otherwise would've never known was possible. Erik had centred his life around Hildegard and her attempt to find her lost son.

On the other hand, what about the past mattered at this time? The Dark Lord had disappeared nearly four years prior at that point, and had shown no signs of returning. He'd been reduced to less than a spirit. He hadn't sought Hildegard out, whether because he was too weak or just didn't know where she was.

Hildegard struggled with the idea of being honest with Erik. He was so different from Magnus. Maybe that was why Narcissa was being shown so much more about him, proportionately. However, Magnus had been a decent man too. It hadn't stopped him from taking Hildegard's son. In fact, it may have motivated him.

There was a Christmas tree up in their great room when time slowed again. It was close enough to the actual holiday that Hildegard had fallen into her usual slump about Bjorn's birthday. Dagmar was growing like a weed and smart as a little whip. Bjorn would be turning four years old. Watching Dagmar grow up was lovely, but it was also a reminder of just how much Hildegard missed with Bjorn. He'd taken his first steps and said his first word with her. Everything else belonged to Magnus—stolen.

The three of them sat together eating some sort of rice pudding, but Hildegard wasn't as interested in hers. Later on, after Dagmar had fallen asleep, Hildegard crawled in under the covers of Erik's bed and quietly held herself against his chest.

"I've been thinking about something," Erik said as he ran his nails lightly over Hildegard's scalp.

"What's that?"

"I understand if you're not in the mood to talk about it, but I'd like you to consider it." Erik kissed the top of her head. "Your thoughts on getting married?"

If Hildegard looked torn about telling Erik the truth about Bjorn, it was nothing on now. She clammed up and her eyes welled. It was enough to knock Erik's confidence.

"Ja, maybe not a good time," he quietly said. "It's okay. Or if that's just not something you're interested in."

"It's not that." Hildegard shifted up the bed so that they could better face each other. "I'd love to marry you."

Although Erik was relieved, his smile remained tight. "Would you rather talk about it another time, then?"

"Erm. . ." Hildegard was struggling hard with herself. "It's not really about this time of year being tough for me. There's just, erm. . ."

She trailed off, going from looking nervous to scared. Erik turned serious. He swallowed while Hildegard collected herself.

"We've been together a few years now, and I guess there's never really any good time to say I haven't been entirely truthful with you," Hildegard started. "I didn't mean for that. You have to understand. When I told Magnus about this, his reaction was to try and take my children away. I've made big mistakes in the past. I'm also not. . .well, Dagmar and I are only semi-human."

Erik studied Hildegard. "You're druids, aren't you?"

Hildegard's eyes widened like Dagmar's when she was busted earlier trying to sneak a glimpse at her presents under the tree. Erik just smiled apologetically.

"I've read about them," he said. "Nomadic, no family, no surname. . .I figured you'd talk about it when you were ready. I didn't want to press it, since clearly something bad happened. You'd have Bjorn if it didn't."

"I'm just so scared." Hildegard's face crumpling pushed tears out of her eyes and put her into a tremble. "I trust you. I do. I just can't lose Dagmar too, in case you think she needs to be as far away from as possible. I couldn't bear it."

"Why? I have years of first-hand experience that you're a good mum." Erik's expression softened. "Dagmar would be devastated if you two were separated. She can't even sleep without you."

"That's why it's so terrifying." Hildegard inhaled sharply. "I chose you for a reason when I said I wanted you to take care of Dagmar if anything happened to me. I guess if you took her like Magnus took Bjorn, it would only be right. Maybe I don't deserve her after what I've done. Maybe I forfeited my right to be her mum."

"People can make mistakes," Erik reassured Hildegard with a rub and squeeze of her upper arm. "It doesn't mean you deserve to have your children taken away, especially if Dagmar's not in harm's way. What could that girl possibly be hurting for, huh? She's got a damn good life."

"Ja." Hildegard certainly couldn't argue with that. As far as Narcissa saw from the few life cycles she'd witnessed of Dagmar's, she thrived most during this one. "She does."

"So what did you do that you think disqualifies you to be a mother?"

Hildegard chewed her bottom lip. "You really have to understand that I had no idea what I was getting myself into—who I was getting myself in with. I didn't realize until later. I lied to you when I said that Magnus was Bjorn's dad. Voldemort is."

Erik blinked. "Voldemort, as in. . .?"

"Ja." Hildegard's trembling worsened. "Herregud, I was such an idiot."

"Okay. . ." Erik said with deliberation, his gaze roaming the dim room as he absorbed that. "How—? I mean, how does something like that happen?"

To explain that, Hildegard had to go way back for context. She told Erik about Chelone, that she had once been essentially immortal, and that Dagmar (her soul, anyway) was just as old as Hildegard. Hildegard even told Erik that she was born a Ramstad in Roskilde. She'd confirmed their extremely distant relation with the family bible at Agneta's. Hildegard told Erik why and how she'd met Voldemort a decade ago, and how things went from there. Hildegard had no choice but to tell Erik that a fragment of Voldemort's soul remained inside of Dagmar.

Erik thought about it while Hildegard took a few moments to calm down. He kept on lightly scratching her arm. "Well, you certainly can't tell. Dagmar's as sweet as they come."

"I know." Hildegard still sniffled. "It hasn't changed who she is, thank god. It's just dormant. She's still her own person."

"What does it mean about the future, exactly?" Erik asked. "Surely if you and her have a part of Voldemort's soul, it means he's not dead."

"He's not alive, either," Hildegard replied. "The other part is basically stuck wandering. I think if he had the ability to find me, he would've by now. As only a partial soul, he can't even be a ghost. He's basically nothing."

"I see." Erik paused. "Really, you could say you had a hand in defeating him, then. If he tried to kill that Potter boy and was ejected from his body as a full soul, he might have still been able to command his Death Eaters. Who could hurt him as a ghost? It might have given him an advantage for things to happen that way. You made sure it didn't, whether you meant to or not."

"I didn't think about it like that." Hildegard budged up closer to Erik. "You see how other people might not, right? If Voldemort's not dead, they might want to destroy what remains. I can't run the risk that someone—anyone—might think something needs to be done with Dagmar."

"And you can't take it out, huh? You're positive?"

"I can't." Hildegard shook her head. "It's what it is."

"I guess it's a good thing then that it's dormant." Erik shrugged. "I see why you were so scared to tell me. That's really unnerving, the idea that someone might want to hurt a little girl to fix something that isn't even a problem anymore. If Bjorn's a genetic replica of Voldemort, do you think he'll grow up to be like him?"

"I want to say no because Bjorn was every bit as sweet as Dagmar." Hildegard wiped a beyond-irritated eye. "But who knows how everything that's happened since he was taken has affected him."

"If it's any consolation at all, I feel like Magnus would take steps to avoid that." Erik still grimaced to put Magnus in any form of positive light. "He took Bjorn because he thought it was in his best interest, right?"

Hildegard nodded.

"Makes me kind of wonder. . ." Erik narrowed an eye. "If Voldemort and Bjorn are genetically the same person, then it's the way they were raised that makes the difference. If Bjorn was a sweet boy, that means Voldemort at one point had the capacity for that. Makes me wonder what happened in his life that made him turn out the way he did."

"I never thought about that either," Hildegard said. "Bjorn's his own person, to me. Just like Dagmar."

"Ja, completely." Erik smiled, finally managing to break up the serious air between them. "Thank you for trusting me, Hilde."

"You don't want to run off with Dagmar, knowing that?" Hildegard sniffled. "Or just run off, period?"

"Nei. I want to marry you."