* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART FOUR

Brave New World

Chapter 77: Under Attack

"Good afternoon, recruits!" Sumner boomed.

They all narrowed their eyes at him. It was usually Sheppard who greeted them outside the simulation room on a Friday, not Sumner. Lilly was usually here as well, but she wasn't today.

Harry's eyes fell on the two large duffel bags at the Senior Aurors feet.

"As you might have guessed, this isn't your standard simulation. We're sending you off on a weekend mission, lucky you," He said sarcastically.

"All together?" Blanche asked.

"In two groups," Sumner replied, "You and Wood are going to be joining forces with Harper and Wilde. Potter and Longbottom, you two are with Black and Nott."

Theo opened his mouth to say something, but Sumner beat him to it, "Nott, if your wife goes into labour, we've got someone ready to pull you out and apparate you to St. Mungo's."

Theo smiled slightly, "Thank you, sir."

Sumner just bowed his head in response, "This is why we ask you for due dates."

"And she's having twins. They always come early, you know?" Blanche cut in rather unhelpfully.

"I think he's worried enough, Blanche," Draco said with a chuckle.

Sumner clapped his hands, "Right then. Each group grab a bag. This isn't a simulation; it's a real-world situation, so head on out to the apparition point, and Sheppard will give you coordinates."

"Is that all we get to know, sir?" Harry asked.

"And don't we get a Healer?" Neville added.

"Yes, Potter. That is all you get to know, and no, Longbottom, you don't get a Healer because if you ended up stranded in the arse end of nowhere in real life, it would be very unlikely for your girlfriend to be there to save your skin."

The others snickered at this.

"Apparition point in five minutes, go!" Sumner barked.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's a castle, dumbass," Neville said, looking at Theo in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know it's a castle, Neville," Theo retorted, "But why did Sheppard's coordinates lead us here?"

"Because our simulation involves a castle, probably," Harry snorted, "Draco, can you whack him around the head? He's slow on the uptake today."

Draco sniggered, and Theo glared at him.

"Right," Theo remarked, "What simulation could possibly involve a castle and where the hell are we?"

"Well, we're in Scotland," Neville said, "That's the easy part."

"And you know this, how?" Draco asked.

"Let me guess, you can tell by where the sun is or by the plants, or some Herbologist shit like that?" Theo asked.

"No, I can tell because of the group of angry guys in kilts behind you," Neville remarked, "Which makes me think that our job is to protect this castle against them. It's a defensive mission."

Theo turned around and saw said angry guys in kilts in the distance running towards them.

"Shit!"

"Yeah, I reckon we've got fifteen minutes until they get here, so let's move," Harry said quickly.

They dashed into the castle, which was more of a semi-ruined tower, to be honest, and climbed the stairs. Once they were standing on the ramparts, an owl swooped overhead and dropped a howler.

Harry opened it, and Sumner's voice said, "You are under attack. This is not a simulation; this is the real world. Your opponents are also Auror Trainees, so you cannot hurt them or kill them. You are under siege. How well can you defend yourselves? The mission ends when the opposition takes your fortress or at noon on Sunday."

Harry sprang into action and said, "Right, defensive wards."

"Yeah, you'll be good at them, won't you?" Neville asked his best friend, "From the war."

Harry grimaced, "Yeah, I didn't do that part. Hermione did."

"Anti-intruder jinx?"

"Hermione," Harry admitted.

"I'm noticing a recurring theme here," Draco said, shooting Harry an exasperated look.

"You even look like her when you do that!" Harry complained.

Neville snorted, "Anti-apparition wards?"

"I can do them," Harry admitted, "And Muggle repelling charms."

"I very much doubt the angry guys in kilts attacking us are Muggles," Theo muttered.

"They might be, so chuck them up anyway," Neville instructed, "Defensive wards then you two?"

"Yeah, we know a hell of a lot of them," Draco said dryly.

Neville frowned, "How?"

"Unlike you, we didn't spend the war in a magic room with a door that rematerialised in a different place for us every time we left," Theo muttered irritably, "We had to do all of the hard work ourselves."

"Right, sorry," Neville said sheepishly.

"Theo, did Sadie ever teach you that temporal charm that stops listening charms from working?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, she taught me all of her defensive spells, just in case anything happened to her," Theo said, a dark look passing across his face.

Draco nodded, "Work on that, then."

"Can you ward this place, like you did with the bathroom?" Theo asked.

"I had a whole day to ward the bathroom, not 15 minutes!" Draco exclaimed.

"Well then, I guess we're about to find out how good you are at working under pressure," Theo said, patting Draco on the back.

It took Harry five minutes to put up the only two wards that he knew. At that point, he looked at Neville and said, "Those guys are obviously better with defensive magic than we are. Do you think we should work on setting traps at every entrance to this castle? It will buy us a bit of time when they get here."

Neville nodded, and they got straight to work.

"Thanks for staying with me last night," Daphne said with a yawn.

Lilly sighed and rolled onto her side, "It's fine. I wouldn't have slept that well without Neville. It's creepy, isn't it? Being in a big old manor all by yourself?"

"Hmm," Daphne said, "It can be."

"Especially when the portraits talk to you and follow you around," Lilly shuddered, "I'll never get used to that. It's like you're never really alone."

"Okay, now you're just creeping me out," Daphne said, shooting her friend an amused smile as she got up, "I feel like I should shower, but if we're not doing anything today, what's the point?"

"Yeah," Lilly agreed, "How is Teddy not awake yet?"

"Because he's an angel, he tends to sleep in at the weekend," Daphne said as she turned the bathroom light on, "Which is normally great because Harry and I can wake up in style."

"Oh, so you do have sex in beds then?" Lilly joked as she pushed herself out of Daphne and Harry's massive bed and peered out the window.

"We're married now," Daphne joked, "It's not all about hot kitchen sex or shagging in the middle of a duelling platform."

Lilly snorted, "It's horrible out there, by the way. I think we should have a pyjama day. I can make cookies with Teddy."

"Good luck with that. He usually eats the cookie dough before I can bake it," Daphne said with a grin, "Right, I'm going for a shower. I'll meet you in the kitchen in half an hour for breakfast."

"Half an hour," Lilly muttered to herself as she grabbed her bag and headed into the bathroom across the hall, "Who the hell takes half an hour in the bloody shower?"

"What do you think of the name Luciana?"

Hermione set a cup of tea in front of Sadie, "It's nice. You can shorten it to Lucy."

"I hate it," Sadie said with a sigh, "And Theo likes it. Just like Theo hates Tristan, and I love it. He thinks it's a pretentious name."

"Are there any names you agree on?" Hermione asked curiously.

Sadie shook her head, "No. I swear Hermione, these kids are going to be called 'Baby One' and 'Baby Two'."

"I'm sure when they are born, a name will come to mind," Hermione assured her, "Do you want to come with me to the Burrow on Sunday?"

"No," Sadie sniffled tearfully, "Do you have to go? I don't want to be on my own."

"Alright," Hermione said, to prevent a full-blown meltdown, "I can stay here; it's fine. I'm sure Molly won't mind if I miss one week."

Sadie leant into Hermione and sniffled some more, "Hermione, what if the babies are identical?"

"What?"

"What if they are identical twins?" Sadie said tearfully, "What if I can't tell them apart?"

"Sadie-"

"What if I name them Almina and Aviana, then ten years down the line, they get switched, and I realise that I've been calling Almina Aviana for her whole life?" Sadie asked. She burst into tears, and Hermione rolled her eyes as she patted her friend on the back.

"Sadie, you're getting way ahead of yourself here."

"I'm going to be a terrible mother, I won't even be able to tell my own babies apart," Sadie wailed.

"For the love of the founders," Hermione whispered over Sadie's loud sobs, "Look, Sadie. Please try and get a grip. I love you, but you are being so irrational and hormonal right now. You're my best friend, but I've seriously thought about drugging you with a mild sleeping draught this weekend…more than once."

"Even my best friend doesn't love me anymore," Sadie sobbed.

"Oh no… I didn't… oh for fucks sake," Hermione muttered, "I didn't say that," she looked at the portrait of Thaddeus Nott that sat directly opposite her and mouthed, "What the fuck?"

The man in the portrait looked like an older, more rugged version of Theo. He just shrugged and smirked in response.

"I hate being besieged," Theo complained.

Harry and Neville shared a long-suffering look, "Do you think we're enjoying it?"

It was midday on Saturday, and so far, the defences were holding up well. The angry Scottish wizards were bombarding the wards, but Draco kept topping them up, and Theo was pretty good at patching them up. When they did fall temporarily, the opposition was tripped up by Harry and Neville's booby-traps. Harry had partly modelled them on traps in Egyptian tombs, but mostly on the traps in the Indiana Jones movies. They were less lethal, but they worked in repelling their opponents.

"We only need to last another day," Draco yawned, "We lasted much longer in the war."

"Well, you didn't," Theo muttered, "You buggered off to kiss Voldemort's arse the minute Pansy told you that she was pregnant."

"Sadie's pregnant," Draco said irritably, "So you know what it feels like. What would you have done?"

"I don't know, but I do know I would not have hugged old nose-less himself," Theo retorted.

"I didn't hug him by choice!"

"Nah, you just surrendered the minute it looked like you were on the losing side," Theo said coolly.

Harry and Neville shared a surprised look. It wasn't like Draco and Theo to argue, and especially not so bitterly.

"Is everything okay with you two?" Harry asked.

"You can talk freely if that golden ward thing of yours is working," Neville said, pointing above them, "It means that nobody can listen in on what we're saying, doesn't it?"

Draco and Theo both nodded.

"Is this because Sadie's due date is getting closer?" Neville asked knowingly. He looked at Draco, "Are you afraid that Sadie is going to have the babies then lock the door in the basement and not have anything to do with you?"

Draco glared at him, "Of course not, shut up, Neville."

"Yeah, Fatbottom," Theo said irritably, "That won't happen."

"No, it won't," Neville agreed, looking at Draco, "They are going to need you more than ever. Sadie's going to be struggling; Theo's going to be tired. If anything, it's going to make you all closer, not tear you apart, so stop being insecure Draco, it doesn't suit you."

Harry smirked.

Theo smiled in amusement, "Nev's right, Draco. We'll need you and Hermione more than ever, and you know that the door is always unlocked. That goes both ways; I'm not going to let you stop relying on me just because I've got kids."

"Thanks, Theo," Draco said, shooting a smile at his best friend.

Harry rolled his eyes, "You guys finished having your moment? Because the wards are dropping again, look."

The wards were cracking, and golden sparks began to rain down on their heads.

"Ah, fuck!"

"Ooh, Lil!" Daphne said excitedly as she pulled her head out of the fireplace, "I just got the best gossip from Astoria!"

Lilly raised an eyebrow at her and pressed a cup of coffee into her hands.

"Tiberius McLaggen, the head of the DMLE," Daphne said.

"What about him?"

"He has a lover," Daphne said with an amused smirk, "Belinda Zabini. What do you think about that?"

Lilly yawned, "I don't want to think about anything today. I like spending the weekend with you, but it's tiring when you aren't used to toddlers."

Daphne snorted, "I guess, but still. Aren't you a Ravenclaw? Isn't thinking your thing?"

Lilly snorted, "It's almost like, even though our overall traits put us in a certain house, we're still all complex individuals and are each different people who can't be put in a box."

"And there's the Ravenclaw in you," Daphne teased.

"Fuck you," Lilly whispered.

"Baise toi," Daphne countered with a grin.

"How long do you reckon we can get away with that for before Teddy learns French?" Lilly asked with a laugh.

"Oh, another two years at least," Daphne said. She sipped her coffee, "Are you okay, though? You do seem kind of down."

"It's stupid," Lilly admitted.

"It's not stupid if it's making you sad," Daphne said.

Lilly looked up at her and said, "You are such a mother hen."

"I know, it's a sin, right?" Daphne rolled her eyes, "I've become Molly Weasley."

"But hot," Lilly chuckled.

"Oh Godric, you're not going the full Ginny Weasley on me, are you?" Daphne teased.

"Nope, definitely still into that key appendage that males have," Lilly said, choosing her words very carefully because Teddy was nearby, "Anyway, speaking of you being the next Molly Weasley, you're not going to have seven kids, are you?"

"No, three more if Harry agrees," Daphne said, leaning against the kitchen counter, "I always wanted four. Anyway, we're going off-topic. Why are you sad?"

"Because this is the first weekend since I came home from France that Neville and I haven't spent together," Lilly said sheepishly, "And it's stupid, but that makes me sad."

Before Daphne could say anything, Padfoot came bounding into the room and made a beeline for Lilly.

The Ravenclaws eyes lit up as she picked the giant puppy up, "Hey Pads," she said as he yapped happily.

"He senses your sadness and wants to take it all away," Daphne said with a smile, "He's a good dog."

"He's adorable," Lilly said with a warm smile.

"It's not stupid, you know?" Daphne said, "It's cute."

"Don't call me cute," Lilly warned her, "That's worse than calling me sweetie."

Daphne grinned wickedly and turned away from her friend, "Teddy! Time to get ready for the Burrow, baby!"

"Are you sure Molly will be okay with me coming along?" Lilly asked as Daphne scooped up the little boy, "Oh yeah, it'll be fine."

When Daphne stepped into the kitchen of the Burrow with Lilly in tow, she smiled at Molly, "Hey Molly."

Molly smiled and kissed her on the cheek, "Hello, Daphne. Hi Teddy."

Teddy giggled in response, and Daphne said, "The boys are away on a training mission this weekend, so I brought Lilly along today. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Molly said with a wave of her hand, "It's lovely to meet you, dear. Neville talks about you all of the time, of course."

"Neville comes to Sunday lunches here?" Lilly asked in surprise.

"We dragged him along sometimes when you were in France," Daphne explained.

"Did you?"

Daphne nodded, "We basically treated him like a dog. We fed him, made sure he showered and took him out for walks."

Molly had to bite back a smile, and Lilly sniggered.

"Is Hermione here today?" Daphne asked curiously.

"No, she wanted to come, but she has to stay and look after Sadie with the boys being away," Molly answered, "Poor girl, I remember being pregnant with Fred and George. It's ever so hard being pregnant with twins, and she's so young as well."

Molly shook her head sympathetically. Daphne nodded, "She's struggling, that's true, but it's a good thing she has Hermione there to help her."

"Even if she's driving Hermione insane right now with her mood swings," Lilly chuckled.

"Oh, double the babies, double the mood swings," Molly laughed.

Daphne chuckled, "Do you need help with anything in here, Molly?" she asked, shifting Teddy on her hip.

"No, no, I've got it all under control. Just go through to the living room. All of the boys are there," Molly said.

"Is Gin here today?"

"Oh, yes. Blaise is busy at work, so she brought Blanche along. She's out in the shed with Arthur again, fascinated by those muggle gadgets that girl is," Molly said with a roll of her eyes.

Daphne laughed and said, "Come on, Lil. The living room is this way."

They stepped out into a long corridor and, halfway along it, bumped into Ginny.

"Bringing Blanche to family lunches again, I see?" Daphne said with a smirk, "What's that, three times now?"

"Blaise works weekends," Ginny retorted, "And she likes Dad's shed. Anyway, you can't talk. You've brought Lilly."

"Yes, but I'm not shagging Lilly," Daphne said in an undertone.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at her, "No, you just like snogging her, so I hear."

"Who did you hear that from?" Daphne asked in a surprised whisper.

Ginny smirked, "Neville."

"Neville?" Lilly scoffed, "That traitor!"

"He was asking for my advice, to be fair…."

"Hey, Gin. Sorry to bother you at home but do you have five minutes?"

Ginny nodded and stepped away from the door, "Blaise is at work anyway. Blanche is here though, is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's not work-related," Neville said, following Ginny into the kitchen, "Love the new house, by the way."

"This is Blaise's idea of a small cottage," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes, "Do you want a cup of tea or something?"

"Yeah, tea sounds great," Neville replied, "Hey Blanche," he added when he saw her at the kitchen table pouring over a book about Auror protocols.

"Hey, Neville," Blanche yawned, "What are you doing here?"

"He's after advice," Ginny said.

"Are you cool with me being here then?" Blanche asked, leaning back in her chair, "You're not going to tell Gin you're in love with your Auror partner or something?"

Neville scoffed, "No, I'm not going to do that, so you can stay if you want because your opinion might be useful."

"Okay," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow at him, "What's up?"

"Right," Neville said, "So here's the thing. Do you think Daphne's going to steal my fiancé? Like, do you think she likes girls more than guys?"

"No, she's 50/50," Ginny said offhandedly, "She likes girls and guys the same."

"So there's a possibility she could leave Harry for Lilly then?"

"Well, she married Harry and adopted a kid with him, so probably not," Blanche snorted.

"Why are you being insecure, Neville?" Ginny asked, "It's not a good look on you."

Neville snorted, "What look is good on me?"

"Well, it's always a good start when you wear a cardigan. That's you at your authoritative best."

"My authoritative best," Neville sniggered.

"She's serious," Blanche retorted, "She says the best sex she had with a guy was with you."

"Seriously?"

"Why did you have to tell him that, Blanche?" Ginny asked with a roll of her eyes.

"So I'm better than Harry?" Neville asked with a grin.

"Not that it's a competition, but yeah, Harry was a bit awkward," Ginny said with a shrug, "You just took control of the situation, you know?"

"Like Daphne did when she shoved you into a broom closet and made you realise how gay you are," Blanche said cheerfully.

"And now she's trying to steal Neville's fiancé, apparently," Ginny said, biting her lip in amusement.

"She kisses her, all the time," Neville said, "That's not normal behaviour, is it? Normal best friends don't kiss each other to end arguments or because they're drunk in Paris."

"Not everyone is Daphne Greengrass, though," Ginny said.

"Daphne Potter," Blanche corrected with a grin.

Neville looked between them, "So you think it's fine?"

"It's fine," Ginny said with an amused smile, "Daphne is bisexual, but I doubt Lilly is. It's like Draco and Theo, they aren't gay, but they're in love with each other. You can love your best friend, have a profound bond with them or whatever, you know? Sometimes that gets intimate. Unless you walk in on them having sex, I wouldn't worry."

"Right."

"You're thinking about them having sex now, aren't you?"

"No…"

"God, you're such a straight guy. Get out of our house."

"Blanche!" Ginny said through her laughter.

"He thinks I'm going to run off with Daphne?" Lilly snorted at the end of the anecdote.

"Yep. How often do you two kiss, exactly?"

"We don't kiss," Lilly said, shooting Daphne an amused look, "She just thinks it's the best way to win an argument."

"Oh no, I'm not getting all the blame. Paris was all you," Daphne said with a grin.

Ginny shook her head in amusement, and a cry sounded above them, "I need to go and pick up Hope. But you better keep quiet about Blanche and me in front of Mum."

"My lips are sealed," Daphne said in a sing-song voice as Ginny slipped past them and jogged up the stairs.

Without another word, Daphne stepped into the busy living room and shot Bill a smile, "Hey Bill, how are you doing?"

"I'm alright," Bill said with a smile as he bounced Victoire on his knee, "You know I love my weekends with my girl."

Daphne smiled and knelt down, "Bonjour, belle petite fille!"

Victoire giggled and clapped her hands.

Bill rolled his eyes, "Why?"

"She's half-French; it's her birthright," Daphne said, smirking at her boss, "And it annoys you."

"Desk duty tomorrow," Bill huffed.

"Oh hush, I'll bring you a cream cheese bagel for breakfast?"

"You can't spend the rest of your career bribing your boss with food, you know?"

"I know," Daphne said, "But for as long as my boss is you, it will work."

Lilly watched Daphne in surprise. She knew that she came to the Burrow for Sunday lunch virtually every week, but she hadn't realised quite how much she fitted in.

"Charlie," Daphne said in a scolding tone, "Don't have a 'working', flirty lunch with Belinda Zabini ever again, please. I had to endure 40 minutes of ranting from Astoria about it, and that is not how I want to spend my Sunday mornings."

"Wait till you find out what I had to endure," Charlie said in a suggestive tone.

"Yeah, I don't want to know about your very active sex life with my baby sister," Daphne said distastefully.

"See!" Ron exclaimed, "This was how I felt every time Harry, Dean, and Neville started sharing sex stories about Ginny in front of me! Like she's my sister, you know?"

George snorted, "Yeah, but to be fair, Ron, she did shag all your friends."

"Apart from Seamus," Daphne cut in, "Because she has standards."

"Still," Ron muttered, "Doesn't mean I wanted to listen to them all talking about how great a shag she was."

"Are you just jealous cause nobody has ever said that about you, Ronnikins?" George teased.

Ron shook his head irritably, "Lilly, I wasn't that bad, was I?"

Lilly laughed, "Well…you were better than Michael Corner."

"That's not a compliment," Ginny said as she stepped into the room with Hope.

"Is there anyone in Harry's year you haven't shagged?" Charlie asked in disbelief.

At that point, Ginny sent a bat-bogey hex at Charlie.

"Ow! Fuck!"

"Don't swear in front of the children!" Daphne chastised.

"She just bat-bogeyed me!"

"You deserved it," Lilly snorted.

"Why are you all defending her?" Charlie huffed as he managed to splutter out the counter-curse.

"Because I've been accused of sleeping around, and it's not nice," Daphne said, fixing Charlie with a stern look, "And you cannot judge anyone for playing the field too much. Is there anyone who worked on a dragon reserve in Romania, male or female, that you haven't shagged?"

Charlie thought about this for a moment, "Yes. I never shagged the health and safety advisor. I shagged my boss, but I thought that was a step too far. She was hot though…dark hair…red glasses…had that whole hot secretary look going on, you know?"

"Who did, Belinda Zabini?"

They all looked up as Astoria walked into the room in her casual clothes, which consisted of dark jeans and a red blouse, ironically enough.

"Are we not over that yet?"

"We will be over that when I say we are," Astoria said calmly, "What were you talking about anyway?"

"Just that the only person Charlie didn't shag at the reserve in Romania was the hot health and safety advisor," Bill snorted.

Astoria made a face, "So you slept with your boss? That awful woman with the wart on her nose?"

"She had blackmail on me; it wasn't fun," Charlie said distastefully.

Daphne covered Teddy's ears, "I don't feel like this conversation is tame for children's ears, so I'm just going to remove myself from it," she shot Astoria an exasperated look and sat down next to George, "How's the shop?"

"Great," George chirped, "Having the sister shop in Hogsmeade is great. Just when my profits start to dip, Ron starts raking it in."

"It's a good partnership," Ron agreed, "We're still trying to get Perce to join and do the admin for us, but he keeps saying no."

"He's a hotshot bounty hunter with a young, hot girlfriend now," Daphne joked.

"That's why he's not here. He's off somewhere doing something important," George said with an amused chuckle.

"Where's your better half?" Daphne asked George.

"Manning the shop," George answered, "I don't normally bother on a Sunday, but we've got a bunch of newbies in, and I don't trust them not to blow it up."

Ron snorted in amusement at the thought, "It was meant to be my weekend with Freddie, but Katie's got a date, and she's taking him along. She wanted to be open and clear from the get-go that she had a kid or something."

"Whose she on a date with?" Lilly asked curiously.

"Oliver Wood, they know each other from school," Ron shrugged.

"And you're okay with that?"

"He's fine with that since he developed a little crush on his new neighbour," George teased, elbowing his brother in the ribs.

"Ooh, do tell," Daphne grinned.

"I don't have a crush on her. She's just my friend," Ron muttered, his ears burning red, "She's called Felicity. She works at the Three Broomsticks across the road from the shop, so we talk sometimes. I uh…I go into the pub after work a lot, and sometimes I stick around to walk her to the apparition point."

"Right," Daphne smirked, "Because Hogsmeade is super dangerous at night, huh? All those school kids who could jump out and mug her?"

George cackled with laughter, "I love you, Daphne. I'm so glad Harry married you."

Ron glared at Daphne, "Oi, Hogsmeade can be dangerous. There were Dementors there!"

"Yeah, in the war, Ron!"

"Shut up, Daphne," Ron muttered.

"Dinner, everyone! Ginny, could you please go and retrieve your father and Blanche from the shed?" Molly shouted from the hall.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Who wants a baby?"

"I'll take her," Daphne said, "Grab, Ted, Lil."

Lilly picked Teddy up before he could run headlong into the wall, and Daphne eagerly nabbed Hope for baby cuddles.

"You are so at home here," Lilly whispered to her as they traipsed along the hall into the kitchen.

"Well, the Weasley's are basically my in-laws," Daphne shrugged, "So they just sort of welcomed me in, and I love it here."

"I can see why," Lilly said with a smile, "It's homely."

"It is," Daphne agreed. Lilly wrestled Teddy into a high chair, and Daphne rocked Hope until Ginny returned from the shed with Blanche and Arthur in tow.

"Come along next week, and I can show you how the washing machine works," Arthur said eagerly, "I'll have it running by then."

"Ooh, that sounds great, Arthur!"

Ginny rolled her eyes at Daphne and took Hope back, "Unbelievable, right?"

"Pretty funny, though," Daphne said, flashing Ginny a grin.

They all squeezed into seats around the table, then the backdoor opened again, and two men walked in, arguing.

"I can't believe he was that stupid!"

"I know! We got to 11.45! 11.45, Neville! 15 more minutes, and we would have passed, but no, those two idiots had to screw up 15 minutes before the end!"

"We've never failed a simulation or a mission, Harry."

"Well, we have now," Harry huffed, "Blanche! Next time you and Ophelia are coming with us, those two idiots are bloody useless!"

"Hate to break it to you, Harry, but I got home in the middle of the night on Friday. We didn't even last 24 hours," Blanche said with an amused smile.

"What did Draco and Theo do?" Daphne asked.

"And do you two want some food?"

"Oh please, Molly," Neville said longingly, "I'm so hungry. We've been besieged since Friday night, and Draco burnt the only food we had as rations."

"Yeah, Molly, we're starving," Harry agreed, "And Daph, I'll tell you the full, ridiculous story of what those two idiots did later."

"Oh, you poor boys," Molly said, conjuring up two more chairs and piling two plates with food for them.

The rest of the Weasley children rolled their eyes.

"Honestly, woman, you treat them better than you treat your own children!" Charlie objected.

"Shh, Charlie," Molly chastised.

Bill snorted and shot Charlie an amused look.

"Draco and Theo won't be getting this grand a homecoming," Daphne whispered.

"They'll know that. They've probably gone to Greengrove House because they know that Narcissa will always feed them," Lilly whispered back with an amused smile.

Meanwhile, at Greengrove House…

"Mum!"

Narcissa stepped out of the drawing-room and raised an eyebrow at her son, "What do you want, Draco?"

"Why do you assume that I want something?" Draco asked curiously.

"Because you called me 'Mum' rather than 'Mother' and you have just shown up here unannounced smelling like cow manure," Narcissa said as she wrinkled her nose up.

"Sorry," Draco said, glancing down at himself, "Scourgify."

"We had a mission this weekend, Narcissa," Theo said, "We were besieged in a castle, it was awful, and he burnt the only food that we had, so we're starving."

"And if we go home, our other halves will just be judgemental, and we can't deal with that on an empty stomach," Draco said with a roll of his eyes, "Hermione with her, why did you have to go on another mission at the weekend, Draco? I had plans, you know? We were meant to be going to the Burrow, and now I'll have to spend the weekend looking after Sadie because she's mentally unstable right now with hormones and babies and blah blah blah."

Narcissa failed to hide the look of amusement in her eyes as she watched her son.

Theo rolled his eyes too, "And Sadie will be all like, but Theo, I'm pregnant! I could give birth at any time, even though my due date is weeks away! You should be exempt from weekend missions, it's not fair, blah blah blah."

"Boys, when did you last sleep?"

"Thursday night, Mum," Draco yawned.

"That explains why you have reverted to ten-year-olds," Narcissa said, amusement lacing her voice, "Come on."

They followed her into the dining room, and she clicked her fingers. An elf appeared, and Narcissa asked it to send up any prepared food from the kitchen.

When a feast appeared before their eyes, Draco and Theo's eyes widened. Theo launched himself at Narcissa and burst into tears, "Thank you, Narcissa, you're like the mother I never had."

"Eat, you emotional idiot," Draco said, hitting his friend around the back of the head, "This is why we lost that bloody mission!"

"I can't do it anymore! I'm just so fucking hungry, and Sadie could have given birth, and I could be a Dad and not even know it! What if I've missed the birth of my beautiful babies? Oh, fuck, I'm the worst. I'm just going to jump off this godforsaken fucking tower!"

"Theo!" Draco grabbed him, "For fuck sake, you fucking idiot! What's wrong with you?"

Theo burst into tears, and his sobs became incoherent. As Draco tried to deal with him, and Harry and Neville watched on in disbelief, the wards broke down entirely, and they were all hit with stunners.

"Sorry," Theo said sheepishly.

"You know that Sumner's right, don't you?" Draco said, looking at his best friend, "You do need therapy."

"Yeah, well, I've got to go and talk to Lamb about it, haven't I?" Theo said with a sigh.

"Why is that, Theodore?" Narcissa asked.

"PTSD, Narcissa," Theo shrugged, "The Carrows locked me in a tower for a month during the war. They starved me, and I nearly died. I didn't realise how much it had affected me until we ended up trapped in that tower with no food over the weekend."

"Oh darling," Narcissa sighed, "That is awful. Eat as much as you want. You need to be in a fit state before you go home. Your wife needs you more than ever right now, but you must look after yourself too."

Draco looked at his mother in amusement and said, "I swear, he's your favourite son."

Narcissa chuckled and said, "I do not have favourites. However, I am going to floo Hermione and tell her that you two are having some food here because she has floo-ed me four times this weekend to ask if I think you are okay."

"Four times?" Draco and Theo echoed in disbelief.

After Sadie had gone to bed, Theo snuck out and made himself comfortable on the sofa in the drawing-room of number 11. He had only read a chapter of his book when he heard footsteps on the stairs. He knew who they belonged to before she stuck her head into the drawing-room.

"She's asleep, then?" Hermione said as she stepped into the room with a book under her arm, in leggings and an oversized Slytherin quidditch jumper that she had nabbed from Draco.

Theo nodded.

"Did she give you a hard time?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to Theo.

"Half an hour she ranted at me," Theo said half-heartedly, "It's like she thinks I had a fun boys weekend or something. Trust me, being stuck in a castle that was under attack was anything but fun."

"I know, Draco told me about your breakdown," Hermione admitted.

"You didn't give him too much of a hard time, did you?" Theo asked her.

Hermione shook her head, "No, I passive-aggressively made him a sandwich for supper then told him I was going next door to shag his best friend."

Theo snorted, "You didn't actually say that?"

Hermione grinned, "I did, but he called me out on it. He said, 'Nice try, but no you aren't because you wouldn't stoop so low as to sleep with your cousin and you clearly just want to go and rant to him about Sadie,' which is true."

"Was she hard work this weekend then?" Theo asked.

From behind them, a barking laugh sounded. Hermione turned around and pointed at Thaddeus's portrait, "Don't you even start, Thaddeus! You were useless. You just sat there and smirked."

"Affairs of the heart, my dear," Thaddeus said, "Those are not for men."

"Unless they are affairs of the heart with other men," Hermione muttered, making Theo snigger.

"Honestly, Theo," Hermione said, turning back to him, "I don't know how you put up with that all day, every day. She's impossible; she either got angry or cried every time I said something!"

"Yeah, it's hard work," Theo admitted, "Which is why I'm happy to go to work for a break sometimes, but that wasn't what this weekend was about."

"I know, and I'm sure in her rational brain, Sadie does too," Hermione said, grabbing Theo's hand, "Are you okay?"

Theo shrugged, "I don't know. I thought I was over what they did to me in the Dark Tower. It was a long time ago now, you know?"

"So was my torture at Malfoy Manor, but I don't feel completely over it yet," Hermione pointed out, "These things Theo, they leave mental scars which run far deeper than the physical ones."

Theo shook his head and leant back against the sofa. As he stared up at the roof, he said, "I got so hungry, and I was just right back in that tower. The first few days are the hardest, you know? While your body adjusts and then the hunger just becomes a-"

"-dull ache," Hermione finished, "I know."

Theo let out a shaky sigh, "I thought I was going to die in there, you know? At first, I had complete faith in Draco. I knew he'd get me out of there but then, as the days went on…I gave up. I gave up on life. The Carrows fed me enough to stop me from dying, and they gave me water, but the whole point was to keep me weak so that I couldn't escape. I wasn't stupid, though. I knew they were keeping me alive so they could kill me if the others stepped out of line."

"Like they did to Leanne," Hermione said quietly.

"They didn't mean to kill Leanne," Theo replied, "She had a heart problem, so when they tortured her, she had a heart attack. They just decided to make an example of her."

"It's sick, Theo," Hemione whispered.

Theo turned his head to look at her, "That whole year was sick, princess," he said softly, "Schoolkids forming rebellions, healing each other when teachers attacked them. Teachers were imprisoning children, torturing them, putting one of them under a nightmare curse. That whole year was a living nightmare, and it nearly split all of us up. I take part of the blame for that because of what happened between Pansy and me, but then there was Blaise and Daphne and the rift that caused. Merlin knows that I shoved Sadie away with my stupid behaviour that year. I honestly don't know why she waited for me to get my head in gear. She could have had any decent guy she wanted."

"But she wanted you, Theo," Hermione said, squeezing his hand, "And the heart wants what the heart wants."

Theo smiled sadly, "Is it okay if we just don't talk about it anymore? I'm going to have to spill my guts to a Mental Health Healer about it tomorrow, and I …I don't want to do it right now too."

"That's okay," Hermione said, letting go of his hand and lying on the sofa with her head in his lap, "We can just read quietly instead."

Theo smiled and kissed her on the forehead, "Thanks, princess. The company helps."

"I know," Hermione said simply, and without another word, they both got lost in their books.

* ~ TBC ~ *