This is an AU sequel to my canon compliant story, The Pink and Silver Lining. Prereading not necessary but feel free to do so.
Fair warning: This fic is non explicit (rated T) however it does contain adult/potentially upsetting themes and occasional strong language. It is next generation, set in a world where Remus and Tonks didn't die and where the events of The Cursed Child do not happen. I'm also fairly selective about what elements of Pottermore I take as canon.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise belongs to JK Rowling.
ARES
War
"Listen to me – LISTEN RON!"
"I wanna help - I wanna kill Death Eaters."
"Ron we're the only ones who can end it! Please - Ron - we need the snake, we've got to kill the snake!" Hermione was pleading with her friend, tears streaming down her cheeks, and Harry was trying to restrain him as well, but with a roar of fury, Ron pushed the two of them off him and dived out from behind the tapestry. Percy was now duelling Rookwood a few metres away.
The curse flew from Ron's wand as he snarled the deadly words, fuelled by grief, revenge and hatred. It hit the man square in the back. Rookwood crumpled within seconds.
"Ron, please," Hermione begged again, tugging at his arm. "Please! We'll need to fight our way out. You can do more fighting, you can take more people down, but please let's try and get the snake as well. Things will be even worse if we don't!"
Ron allowed himself to be dragged away, and Percy, released of his duel, went barrelling down a flight of stairs, firing spells left and right, flooring Death Eaters, blasting away dark creatures, every curse a tiny flare of revenge for his fallen brother.
How long he spent tearing through the crumbling corridors he didn't quite know, but eventually he reached the lower floor and burst out into the grounds, where several duels were happening in the courtyard. Percy stunned a man to his left, and then gave a bellow of warning towards a tall, thin man, who he recognised as his old teacher, Remus Lupin. A Death Eater who had previously been lying motionless on the floor was struggling to his feet and had fired a curse. Lupin, distracted by a wall crumbling to his right, had not seen it. At Percy's yell he whipped around and threw himself out of the way just in time, his wand flying out of his hand as he crashed to the ground.
Percy didn't hesitate. The jet of green light streamed from his own wand, just as it had done for his youngest brother. Agony over Fred's death, hatred of those who had brought it about, a desperate, burning desire to make up for all his months of lost time allowed him to cast the lethal curse for the first time in his life with ease. And against such rage and emotion, Antonin Dolohov didn't stand a chance.
"Here," Percy panted, retrieving the wand, which had landed near his feet, and handing it to his old professor. The older man was breathing heavily and looking shaken. There was no time for more than a quick exchange of thanks, before the realities of the battle swallowed them once more, each of them immersing themselves in a different duel.
O
Ten Years Later
2008
"Daddy!" The blue haired two-year-old came toddling over as her parents and brother made their appearance in the living room of Shell Cottage. Some of the older children had attended the memorial ceremony to mark ten years since the downfall of Lord Voldemort. Hope and Albus, however, had been deemed too young for such an event, and had been entrusted to George Weasley, who, still unable to bear the memories of that terrible night, had happily volunteered to stay behind and set up everything for Victoire's eighth birthday party.
"She hasn't been any trouble has she?" Tonks asked anxiously, as Remus swept his daughter up in his arms and Teddy gave his surrogate uncle a hug. He idolised George.
"None at all," George ruffled Teddy's hair and waved his wand so that balloons appeared in all corners of the room. "She and Al sat over there, good as gold, playing with those old toy dragons that Charlie gave to Victoire. Have barely had a peep from her."
"Really?" Tonks looked astonished. "That makes a first. Perhaps you can come and babysit for us more often then."
"I'd love to," George assured them. "Where are we now on the explosives, by the way?"
He managed a ghost of a smile, and Tonks and Remus were taken forcibly back to a time, many years ago, in this very house, where they had announced the arrival of their first child to their friends, and Fred and George had immediately offered to babysit, Tonks agreeing on sole proviso there were no explosives involved.
Fred and George had never had a chance to babysit together at all.
"I'll consider exploding snap in a year or two," Tonks said. George's facial expression did not change, but they could see the sadness clouding his eyes.
"So where's the birthday girl?" Remus asked, changing the subject.
"They got back about fifteen minutes ago. She's upstairs getting her party dress on." George grinned properly. "In her element as always, all sparkles and frills, doing her hair, stomping around trying to find the clothes that Dom's borrowed... I'm sure she'll waltz down here all glamorous in a minute. Then Fleur's sorting the rest of the food and Bill's getting the games ready. Should be fun."
An hour later, the party was in full swing. Victoire was indeed looking very pretty in an electric blue dress, her silvery hair, so like her mother's, cascading down past her shoulders. She and Teddy were giggling together about something on the far side of the room. Some of the younger children raced back and forwards in a hearty game of tag. The adults, unable to forget the memorial of that morning so easily, were a little more sombre.
"How are you doing?" Remus asked Ginny, as they approached the main table to help themselves to food. Much like George, she had fixed a cheerful expression on her face, but her eyes were still tinged with red and her face was pale.
"Oh, all right, you know," Ginny sighed. "It's never a great day, is it? And obviously today it was even more intense and I'm so emotional at the moment anyway with all the stupid hormones… But I'm glad Kingsley insisted on - hi Teddy!" she said brightly, as he approached the table with an empty plate.
Teddy gazed solemnly up at his godmother, put down his plate and gave her a hug, gently so as not to crush the bump that was very visible around her midriff. Ginny, touched, returned it, a genuine, unforced smile spreading over her freckled face.
Remus squeezed his son's shoulder as Teddy turned his attention back to piles of sausage rolls.
"Remus! Remus!"
The excited cry had come from Hermione as she hurried across the room, Harry following. They had clearly both come from work, Hermione clutching her briefcase she used for all her many case notes and Harry still in his Auror robes.
"We've got some news," Harry said. "Kingsley told us after you'd all left. He wanted to tell you in person Remus, but you'd already gone."
"Dora was fretting about what Hope might be putting George through in our absence," Remus laughed. "As if a Weasley couldn't handle a bit of mischief. What's going on?"
"All the anti-werewolf employment legislation has finally been repealed," Hermione burst out, before Harry could reply.
"All of it?" Remus's mouth fell open in shock.
"All of it," Hermione assured him. "Of course, the really awful stuff was pulled years ago, you know that, but there were still obscure clauses, buried in old laws, and there's always some idiot who rears their ugly head and contests their removal and slows down the whole process. But we've been working away at it, and we're sure now, the Minister confirmed today. Werewolves now have exactly the same employment rights as anyone else in our world."
She beamed up at her old professor, who was simply staring at her.
"You know this means you'll have so many options going forward," she babbled. "I mean, I know you don't mind what you're doing now, but it's not exactly what you wanted, is it? And you're so qualified, and now there are no legal loopholes that can get employers out of hiring you, you can practically do anything you want. If they don't want to hire you then they'll have to legally justify you not being the best person for the job, not just dismiss you for the sake of it."
"Let him breath, Hermione." Ron had appeared at his wife's shoulder. "Just heard mate," he said, shaking Remus's hand with enthusiasm. "It's bloody ridiculous that it's taken this long but let's hope it makes a difference."
O
2009
"Missing Teddy?" Tonks poked her head into her daughter's bedroom, the day after seeing her son off on the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Hope was sitting on her bed holding Fluffy, the soft toy dog that Teddy had slept with nearly every night since his first birthday, but that he had entrusted his sister to look after while he was away at school.
"No." Hope said at once, putting the stuffed animal back on her pillow. Tonks wasn't fooled.
"Your dad's still at work, but why don't we go for ice cream in Diagon Alley? Or a Magic Milkshake? They have those new flavours now."
Hope agreed somewhat reluctantly. Magic Milkshakes were her absolute favourite but they never normally went there without Teddy.
Diagon Alley was quiet, with the back to school rush now over. Hope had to admit that she enjoyed her milkshake, even if Teddy wasn't there to enjoy one with them.
As they walked back past Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Hope gave a squeal and pointed towards the window of the shop. "Mum! They have orange piggy puffs! Like I said I wanted. Oh Mum, can I get a piggy puff? Please, please, please?"
"They're called pygmy puffs, sweetheart," Tonks said, but she was smiling. "I don't see why not, as long as you take good care of it. Let's go and have a look at them."
The Wheeze was quiet too, although due to its popularity far from deserted. Ron waved at them as they walked in the door.
"Hello! Long time, no see."
"I know, it's been what? A whole two weeks." Tonks said, laughing up at him. "How's everything going?"
"Oh not bad thanks," Ron said, sweeping his hand through his red hair. There were a couple of grey flecks in it now, Tonks noticed. "Hugo's barely sleeping so Hermione's pretty tired, but we're doing OK. At least Rose is no problem. Just sits there with her little puzzles and picture books all day."
"And how are you?" Tonks said. The words were carefully inflected.
"I'm good," Ron insisted. "Honestly, doing so much better now. It was the right decision. One hundred percent."
"I'm glad," Tonks said sincerely. "We miss you, of course, but you had to do the best thing for you. And it's not like we won't see you around."
"Well, quite."
"Where's George?" Tonks added, looking around.
"Up in Hogsmeade, some issues with stock. I think he's pretty relieved I'm here permanently now to be honest." He lowered his voice. "Verity's lovely but not the person you want in charge all on their own." He caught sight of Verity herself coming out of the storeroom at the back and hurriedly changed the subject.
"So Teddy went off to school yesterday? What house is he in? I haven't heard yet."
"Hufflepuff." Tonks grinned at Ron's quickly disguised disappointment. "You can't get all the good wizards in Gryffindor, you know."
"Mum!" Hope, growing impatient with the adult talk, tugged at her mother's sleeve. "You said I could get a piggy puff."
"Ah! Spotted the orange ones, have we?" Ron twinkled at her. "Only put them on sale yesterday, you'll be the first one to get one."
They crossed over to the cage in the window and Hope gazed in delight as the tiny balls of fluff came clustering up to say hello. One of them, the brightest orange one, nibbled her finger through the bars and she shrieked with glee.
"I want that one. I'm going to call it Oompa."
"Oompa?" Ron repeated doubtfully.
She looked at him as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Like Oompa Loompas."
"Oh. Of course..." Ron said. "What are Oompa Loompas?" he muttered to Tonks.
"They're from a muggle children's book," she laughed. "We read it to Teddy when he was little and he's been reading it to Hope."
"Fair enough. Oompa it is. She's all yours." Ron flicked his wand and conjured a smaller, individual cage, and then reached inside to the main cage to pull out Oompa the pygmy puff. Hope bounced up and down on the balls of her feet as he handed the small cage to her.
"How much?" Tonks said, reaching in her bag, as they went back over to the sales desk. Ron waved a hand. "Nah, it's on me. Birthday present."
"You already gave her a birthday present the other week," Tonks reminded him.
"Well, you can't ever have too many presents, can you?" Ron winked at Hope and she giggled. "Free of charge," he said to Tonks, more seriously. "Honestly. Sales are off the charts after last week, and anyway," he looked a tad embarrassed. "You've done loads for me recently. And it really helped, that chat we had a few weeks ago. Helped me get my head straight."
"Least I could do," Tonks assured him. "What do you say, Hope?"
"Thank you, Ron," Hope said, not taking her eyes of her new pet.
"You are more than welcome," Ron said. "We'll see you soon, no doubt!"
o
"Dad! Dad! I got a Oompa! Look! Look!"
Remus reeled a little from the barrage of excitement that met him the second he walked in the door.
"Isn't she cute?" Hope was giggling in delight as the tiny ball of orange fluff bounced happily up her arm.
"She's recovered from Teddy leaving then," Remus muttered to his wife, kissing her hello.
"It would seem so."
"So you were in The Wheeze? How were George and Ron?" he asked, hanging up his cloak by the door.
"George wasn't there, but Ron seems much better. I feel awful that I didn't realise how down he'd been all this time, and it's so obvious, now that he's happier again, that he hasn't been himself for ages."
"I know," Remus said. "He did keep really quiet about it, remember. But that's great he's doing better. And he'll be so good in the shop. Especially with the younger kids."
"Absolutely. How was work, anyway?"
"Urgh, fine."
She raised a knowing eyebrow.
"It won't be forever," she said. "The right job is just around the corner. I'm sure of it."
O
2010
Remus started down at the letter, in total disbelief.
Dear Mr Lupin,
It is with great pleasure that we…
This was not how he was used to seeing letters starting, not when they were addressed to him. Even the last two years since the complete removal of the anti-werewolf legislation had been difficult. Organisations still appeared unwilling to hire him and although there would have been justification to challenge the refusal of appointment, this was hassle that Remus didn't want to go through. Not to mention that it seemed a tad presumptuous to assume that the rejections were based on what he was, not what he could do. So he had stuck with his old job. He did not love it, but nor did he hate it, and the flexible working hours came in very handy for the full moon, or for looking after Hope when Dora had difficult shifts. He had continued to apply for jobs that came up, occasionally getting as far as the interview stage, becoming accustomed to polite refusals but not allowing them to upset him as they may once have done.
And finally, here it was, in black and white. A job offer. A permanent job offer. And one he actually wanted.
"What's that?" Teddy, back from school for the Easter holidays, had appeared behind him. Hope - as was usual in the days after he came back from school, before she resumed her pretence that she hadn't missed him at all - was glued to his side. She stood on tiptoe to get a proper look at the paper in her father's hand.
"It's a job offer," Remus said. "For that interview I had last week."
Teddy's face lit up. "The Magizoology one?"
"That's right."
Hope was rather quiet after that, but Teddy was still buzzing around the kitchen when Tonks returned home an hour later.
"Dad's got a new job!" Teddy burst out excitedly, before she had even removed her cloak.
Tonks's face immediately lost its air of post-shift exhaustion. "Remus! Is it the one you wanted? The Magizoology one?"
Remus nodded and Tonks threw her arms around him in delight. "This calls for a celebration. Let's get something fun for dinner! How about a Whitby's?"
Teddy agreed at once, and even Hope brightened noticeably. Whitby's Wonderful Whirlpool Pizzas were a great favourite. But she was still deep in thought as they ate dinner together, and towards the end of the meal she blurted out:
"Luna does Magizoology."
"That's right," Tonks said, sounding impressed. "Well remembered!"
Hope had met Luna Lovegood only a few times in her life. She was cool and weird and beautiful and she travelled the world most of the time with her partner Rolf, who was equally cool and weird, although not quite as beautiful. But whenever they were back in the country, they always made the time to come and visit Luna's dearest friends, bringing with them exotic presents and extraordinary tales of the amazing creatures that they were hunting down.
Hope scurried up to her room as soon as they had finished eating, leaving Teddy chatting animatedly to his parents about the good news of the day. Later, however, after she'd heard him come upstairs, she shuffled across the hall. He was sitting at his desk, absorbed in some holiday homework, but he looked up and grinned when he saw her in the doorway.
"Hey Dopey."
No one else in the world was allowed to call her that. Not her friends. Not her surrogate family. Not her parents or her grandmother. Only Teddy.
Hope came right into the room and climbed onto his bed, picking up Fluffy.
"When will Dad start his new job?" She addressed the question to Fluffy's scratched little button eyes.
"Probably in a few weeks," Teddy said, flicking casually through a book to find a piece of information for his essay. "He has to give notice on his old one, and his references have to go through. But that shouldn't be a problem. Minister Shacklebolt himself is going to write one."
Hope pulled at the toy dog's matted ears, but gently, so as not to cause the poor animal more damage. He was already very threadbare.
"When will we see him again?"
Teddy looked round at his sister in confusion. "What do you mean, when will we see him again?"
"Like, when will he come back?"
"Come back? But he's not - Ohh..." his mouth opened slightly in dawning comprehension. "Hang on… did you think he was going to do what Luna does? Go round the world and hunt down new creatures?"
Hope didn't reply.
"Hope, that's not what Dad's job will be," Teddy said kindly, turning his chair round properly to face her. "He won't be going anywhere, except into work every day. And his will be in the daytime, he won't even have to do night shifts like Mum does. Sometimes he'll be able to work from home, if it's after the full moon or if no one else is around to look after you. And then the rest of the time he'll be working at the IMR in London, the Institute of Magizoology Research. He'll be doing case studies and collating research and publishing new findings and stuff like that."
Hope felt a great wave of relief wash over her, but she merely looked down at the stuffed animal in her hands.
"I know that," she said, in a small voice.
"Of course you do."
Teddy's mouth twitched in amusement as he returned to his homework.
O
2011
Hope was curled up in bed, still shell-shocked by what had happened. She had thought it would make her father happy. It made her so sad to think of him down on his own in the cellar every single month, and how often had he and her mother promised that he wasn't dangerous? If he wasn't dangerous then why shouldn't he have company? Maybe Mum didn't like to see him when he was in his changed form. And that was fine, but Hope didn't mind at all. And so, Hope had determinedly stayed awake until sunset, which, as it was the middle of summer, was long past her bedtime. Then she had tiptoed downstairs, unnoticed, and slipped into the cellar, hiding in the little cupboard in the corner, ready to surprise her father when he got down there himself.
She must have fallen asleep for a while, because when she came to, it was completely dark. She pushed open the cupboard door and could just make out, by the very dim light, the shape of an animal on the old bed in the corner. Hope padded over in her slippers and climbed up onto the bed. The wolf, sound asleep, didn't stir. Hope patted one of its ears – it was surprisingly soft.
Then, feeling pleased with herself, she curled up next to it and went back to sleep.
She had awoken to her father shaking her awake, roughly, his face paper white and his eyes furious. He had been angry. So angry. Dad never got angry. Mum did sometimes, but not Dad. And then her mother, coming down to see what all the fuss was about, had been shocked and appalled as well, and Hope had rushed upstairs, confused and upset, and collapsed, shaking, on her bed, her face buried in her pillow.
o
"Mum? Dad?"
Teddy stumbled into the kitchen where his father, looking very ill, was sitting on a chair, his wife talking to him consolingly.
"Hope's really upset."
Tonks gave her son a small smile. "I know. We'll go and see her in a minute."
Teddy didn't move.
"She didn't mean to do anything wrong!" he burst out. "She only wanted to keep Dad company. She didn't realise it might be dangerous – she didn't know that you never go down there in case the potion has gone wrong. I don't think she understands that it could go wrong."
"We know," his mother said again, while his father closed his eyes but nodded wearily as well. "We do know Teddy. We're going to go and have a proper chat with her. Please give us a second."
Teddy, his face still scrunched up with worry, left the kitchen.
o
"Are you guys OK?" Harry looked concerned as he regarded his two friends that afternoon, swinging by to brief Tonks on a couple of points before they set off on an Auror assignment together. They were still a little shaken from the events of the morning.
Tonks explained while Remus, still feeling ill at the thought of what could have happened – however remote the possibility - stared down at the table in silence.
Harry's face sobered, and he turned to Remus as Tonks finished explaining.
"Don't beat yourself up about it. I know you'll be torturing yourself with thoughts about what might have happened, especially you Remus. But it didn't happen. Wolfsbane hasn't let you down once in fifteen years, and it was fine as always and Hope's OK. I take it she didn't really understand what the danger might be, if it did go wrong?"
Remus shook his head. "We'd been taking it for granted that she knew already. But then… why should she know? We've always done our best to impress upon her that a werewolf taking wolfsbane wasn't dangerous, so that she wouldn't be frightened. It never occurred to me she would want to do something like this. But we've told her now. And I think she understands."
"Did you tell her about Greyback?" Harry asked.
"No," he sighed. "And maybe we should have done that too. But the thought of him makes me feel ill. How can I put that on a six-year-old? We didn't tell Teddy until we told him about everything else and even then he found it hard to take."
Harry stared at him with understanding. "Al asked me about Voldemort the other day. I did my best to explain a bit without frightening him, but it was so difficult."
Tonks ran a hand through her hair. "It's so hard to know what to tell them, and when," she said in despair. "I thought our rational was pretty solid. Answering any questions truthfully but not giving them full details about the war and everything until they are ready to start Hogwarts. But they find things out anyway, and there are always going to be details we miss out. And then something like this happens… How do we know if we're doing the right thing?"
"I know," Harry said. "I finally appreciate how hard it was for Dumbledore all those years ago- wish I'd cut him a bit of slack to be honest. But I think we are doing the right thing. If they actually ask something, then I answer them. What good did being kept in the dark ever do me? But at the same time…" he spread his hands helplessly. "We can't tell them everything the second they are old enough to talk, it would scar them for life. We just have to be as honest as we can be, and make sure they know as much as possible before they start school, and accept that there are going to be times when we feel like we've made the wrong choice."
Tonks sighed.
"Thanks Harry," she said. "You're right. And we'd better go, or we'll be late."
She kissed her husband and Harry gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm, and the two of them left.
Remus rested his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands, nausea still crashing over him in waves. He always felt queasy the day after the full moon but today was considerably worse.
"Daddy?"
He looked up. Hope was staring at him from the doorway to the dining room, eyes wide and still slightly swollen, her nose very pink.
"Hello my love." He made sure to keep his voice as gentle as possible.
"Are you still angry with me?"
He shook his head and beckoned her over. She approached warily and he hoisted her onto his lap.
"I'm not angry," he assured her, brushing a stray curl out of her eyes. "I wasn't ever angry with you. But you understand why I was upset don't you? You understand that it's because I want to protect you? That I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you?"
"I think so."
They sat in silence for a minute or two, Remus calmed by the warm weight of her as he held her tightly against him.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Did your dad attack you? Is that why you are a werewolf?"
Remus swallowed deeply, disturbed that she had asked the question that he desperately didn't want to have to answer until she was several years older. It was such a horrible thing to have to tell her, but misinformation could be deadly – this morning had proved that. Harry's recent words echoed in his ears.
What good did being kept in the dark ever do me?
He reached for a box of chocolates that sat on the corner of the table and gave one to Hope. Chocolate could never fail to help in this kind of situation. And then he explained to her. Explained about a terrible man called Fenrir Greyback, who was now in prison for his crimes during the war. How some werewolves were pure evil, and wanted to hurt others, and how he himself had fallen foul of this at four years old.
Hope looked frightened at the end of his tale. "Will he come and attack us again?"
"He's in Azkaban," Remus said, keeping his face impassive as his stomach lurched at the thought. "With a life sentence in a top security cell. He won't come and attack us, Hope."
"Do you promise?"
Remus hesitated for a fraction of a second. Promise was a big word, one he had always resolutely avoided using if there was no certain way of knowing that he'd be able to keep it. But Hope was small and scared in his arms and her eyes seemed to widen even more at his hesitation. He pulled her towards him again, his voice muffled against her bright hair.
"I promise."
O
2012
Hope came bounding into the kitchen in her new dress. Bill was standing in the kitchen, speaking to her parents. They all looked very smart, dressed in their best robes.
Tonks took one look at her daughter and sighed.
"Didn't we already talk about the hairstyle, Hope?"
"But Audrey's Irish!"
"I know, love, but she and Percy are quite conservative."
"But I don't know what that means."
"It just means I don't think they would really approve of the bright green hair on their wedding day. Please could change it to something more natural? Just this once?"
A sulk threatened for a few seconds, her eyes thunderous, but then she brightened.
"Then can I wear it red? Like Weasley red?"
"Yes. That you can definitely do." Hope beamed and Tonks glanced at Remus and Bill in relief. Crisis averted.
"We had some outfit drama too," Bill murmured to them, as Hope went through into the utility room off the kitchen to find her shoes. "We said no to that dress in the end, and I do feel bad. Dom was so upset. But it is Percy and Audrey, like you said. And Audrey's parents aren't exactly…" he made a face and didn't finish his sentence.
Remus and Tonks both grimaced sympathetically as well.
"Victoire doesn't help in the slightest," Bill added, sighing. "Prancing around, all twirls and frills, hair down to her waist." He stopped talking as Hope re-entered the room. "Anyway," he said, more loudly, "Just wanted to drop that by. We're going to head there now with those decorations Fleur made. Oh, and leave plenty of time to get there - we went to set a few things up for them yesterday and it was a nightmare navigating. I know you're not the best one for directions." He winked at Tonks and she rolled her eyes.
"Is Dom upset?" Hope asked her parents, as Bill left and Teddy entered the kitchen too, also in his best robes, his hair light brown and cropped short.
"Were you listening to our conversation?" Remus said sternly.
"It's not my fault I overheard," Hope protested. "I do have ears."
"Big ears," Teddy chipped in. She glared at him in mock outrage. "I'm only asking because I'm Dom's friend."
"I know," Remus said. "And you're a good friend. Dom will be fine, I'm sure. Now," he raised an eyebrow, "about that hair?"
Hope scowled but made no further protests, and two seconds later her hair curled down to her shoulders in reddish gold spirals.
o
Hope waved excitedly at Roxanne as they arrived at the venue. She knew she wasn't supposed to have favourites in the family – although maybe this was allowed when they weren't officially family – but Roxanne and Dom were definitely her favourite Weasley cousins.
Roxanne was as pretty as ever, in a long, yellow, floral dress, her black hair in waves down her back. Fred was dressed in navy dress robes and George, as one of Percy's groomsman, in a very smart waistcoat and bowtie. Angelina looked stunning, with her hair twisted into an elegant knot and wearing a halter neck dress that showed off her long neck and slender shoulders.
"See, Angelina's wearing green," Hope said indignantly.
"A green dress is not quite the same as green hair," Remus pointed out, as he hugged Roxanne hello and then kissed Angelina on the cheek. "Why don't you two go and find Dom. Bill and Fleur came ages ago."
Roxanne and Hope hurried up the steps to the hall. Percy was there at the entrance to great them, along with Ron, who was his best man.
"So good of you to come." He inclined his head towards them. Ron imitated both his gesture and his expression and then winked at them, and they stifled giggles as they went past. Hope knew that it was bad to make fun of Percy – how often had her parents told her off for it – and she did like him really. But there was no denying he was funny at times.
"There they are!" Hope exclaimed, after a quick scan of the room. There weren't many people there yet, but Dom and Louis were standing together in the corner, Louis as serious and well-behaved as always. Dom was looking very forlorn, but did perk up at the sight of Roxanne and Hope hurrying over towards them.
"Hello Dom," Roxanne put on a lofty, pompous, voice, imitated Percy's expression and sunk into an exaggerated bow. "So absolutely spiffing of you to come!" Her cousin's freckled face brightened at once and Hope looked on in amusement. Roxanne may get into trouble sometimes with her don't care attitude and sharp sense of humour, but she never failed to cheer people up.
O
2013
The doorbell rang and Hope went tearing up the hall to answer it. "Hi Grandad!"
"Hello dear."
She didn't call the other Weasleys by anything other than their names, even if they were all unofficial aunts and uncles, but Molly and Arthur were different. Molly and Arthur simply were grandparents, and she had called them Granny Molly and Grandad Weasley, like everyone else did, for as long as she could remember.
Teddy had randomly stopped calling them that a couple of years ago, although when Hope had asked him why that was, he had gone pink and changed the subject.
She looked past him to see Molly, her flyaway hair - still flame red with only a few streaks of grey, even after all these years and all these grandchildren - blowing in the early December wind, as she shut the car door.
"I'm really not sure I see what the fuss was about Arthur!" she called. "It didn't feel any different from the old one."
"Is that a new car?" Hope enquired.
"Yes!" Arthur said enthusiastically. "It's called a Buggle. No.. a Beatle. It's absolutely marvellous. You see-"
"It's just an ordinary car, dear," Molly sighed, cutting over her husband as she enveloped Hope in a massive hug. "Really nothing that exciting. And floo powder would have been far more efficient." Hope, very used to Molly's long speeches about how magical means of transport were much better than muggle ones, smiled placidly and stood aside to let them come in out of the cold.
"Are you going to make it fly?" she asked, and Molly pursed her lips, although the amused gleam in her eyes showed that she wasn't too annoyed.
"Err," Arthur looked shifty. "No Hope. Of course I'm not. I learnt my lesson there."
He winked at her as soon as his wife turned away.
"Do you need any help dear?" Molly asked Tonks, the second she entered the kitchen.
"I'm fine Molly, honestly-" but Molly was already at work chopping some vegetables.
Hope sidled round the table and gave her real, blood grandmother, who was round for lunch as she always was on a Sunday, an extra hug for good measure. As much as she loved Molly and Arthur, she loved Andromeda more, and it seemed important that she should never let Gran forget that. Especially when she and Teddy were the only grandchildren that Andromeda had. Molly and Arthur had eleven real grandchildren. And would soon have a twelfth. Andromeda returned the hug fiercely.
"How is Audrey getting on?" Remus enquired, once they had said their hellos.
"She seems to be doing great." Molly beamed. "Only a couple of months to go now."
"She'll have her work cut out," Tonks said. "I still can't believe she was pregnant again two months after Molly was born. I mean, I wouldn't even let-" she seemed to realise her present company and checked herself hurriedly. Remus's mouth twitched in silent amusement. "Eleven months between them," she pressed on. "That's going to be a busy few years!"
"These are Percy and Audrey's children, remember," Remus said, pouring out the drinks. "They'll probably be the picture of model behaviour."
"Even so..." Tonks said. "Two children under the age of two. Even if they are well-behaved. One was enough of a handful!"
"Is that why you waited so long to have me after Teddy?" Hope asked.
The question had been a casual one, but it was met with an odd, dense silence, and Hope knew she had said the wrong thing. She had never actually voiced that question aloud before, she realised, despite having wondered about it quite a bit. Arthur hastily moved over to help his wife with the vegetable preparations. Her father had tensed and a peculiar expression was twisting over her grandmother's face. But her mother looked quite calm, if a little sad.
"No," she said gently. "That wasn't the reason. I'll tell you about it later."
o
Any awkwardness was quickly forgotten and Sunday lunch passed in the usual chatter, much of it spent listening to Arthur talk about his new Eye-Pad, a muggle device that Mr Granger had given him when he himself bought a brand new one. Arthur was most excited about having one as his own, despite having no idea how it worked.
When Molly and Arthur had left that afternoon, Hope slunk out of the kitchen towards her bedroom, but her mother called her back.
"Hope, hang on a moment."
She retraced her steps.
"You asked about the age gap between you and Teddy."
"You don't have to say," Hope mumbled, unusually for her. She was normally one to wheedle and pester until she got the information she wanted, but the looks on everyone's faces, in particular her grandmother's, had scared her somewhat. "It's not even that long, seven years. I just.. wondered, that's all."
"You asked," Tonks said simply. "You know you're allowed to ask questions. And no, it's not an abnormally large age gap, but it is bigger than we originally planned. You see-"
She took a deep breath and Remus squeezed her hand gently.
"I was pregnant before. A couple of times. But the babies died. Before they got to full term."
Hope's mouth fell open in horror. She had never known.
"Sorry," she muttered, looking down at the table. It was not a word she used very often. She found those five little letters surprisingly difficult to say out loud. But the unexpected turn of the conversation had made her feel guilty and sad.
"It's OK," Tonks assured her. "It's not a secret. And we would have told you about it eventually. But that's what happened."
Hope tried to imagine a world in which she wasn't born, or where she was born as a different baby. The thought made her head spin.
"Why did it happen?" she said suddenly, looking up.
Again, she wished she hadn't spoken. The odd looks from earlier were back on Dad and Gran's faces. Almost frightening.
"It's something that can happen sometimes," Tonks replied softly. "It can't be helped. And we were very, very lucky and happy that we had you, a few years later. Some women can't get pregnant at all, or decide not to risk going through the pain of it again. We were lucky."
Hope couldn't help but feel there was more to it than that, if the expressions on her father and her grandmother's faces were anything to go by. She didn't ask any further questions, however, just gave all three of them a quick hug and went off up to her bedroom, still deep in thought.
O
2014
"So Louis's enjoying France?" Remus asked his friends, as they ate dinner together one autumn evening.
Fleur laughed. "He loves it," she said. "I think we will be sending him to Beauxbatons at this rate. His French is nearly as good as his English now."
"And how's Dom doing?"
Bill looked more serious. "I think she's OK. I am still worried about how the other students will be, especially when she's in her tower and Roxanne's not around. But she seems alright from her letters, and the teachers were mostly supportive when we had that meeting up at the school, apart from that God awful Babbling woman, and she won't have her until third year at least. Even then, I'd rather teach her the Runes myself than have her sit through classes with that old crone. She's almost as ancient as they are."
"She was already going round the twist when I taught there," Remus said. "She didn't like me, either. Although-"
He broke off as the doorbell rang and got up to answer it, looking a little surprised.
"I'll get it!" Hope came thudding down the stairs as he reached the hall.
"Hope, you're supposed to be in bed."
"But it's Charlie, I saw him from the window!"
"Charlie?"
"Charlie Weasley."
"Yes, love, I know who Charlie is. But it can't be him, he's in Romania."
But Charlie was, in fact, standing on their doorstep, dressed in his usual casual clothes with a rucksack on his back.
"Sorry to butt in," he said, as Remus greeted him warmly and the two men shook hands, "but there's no one at Shell Cottage and as you're down the road I wondered if I could intrude until they're back?"
"Intrude away." Remus stood back to let him inside. "And you're in luck. They're right here."
Bill and Fleur looked up in astonishment as Remus led Charlie through to the dining room and Tonks gave a cry of delight.
"Are you ever going to give us warning of when you're coming over?" Bill demanded, as Tonks leapt up and threw her arms round her old school friend.
"Where's the fun in that?" Charlie retorted, lifting Tonks off her feet with absurd ease. He seemed to get stronger with every visit. "It was a very last minute thing anyway. Had some time off and decided to come over for Mum's birthday. And," he paused. "I have some news."
"Oh yeah? Not another new dragon species for the Ministry to keep tabs on, I hope?"
"Not quite," Charlie said, sinking into a chair and taking the glass of wine Tonks offered him with a word of thanks. "But almost as exciting. Alex and I are engaged."
Tonks and Fleur let out joyful exclamations and Remus reached over to shake his hand again. Bill did too, although he was looking curious.
"We'll have to get married here," Charlie said, in response to his unasked question. "Romanian wizarding law wouldn't allow us to get married there, and the people we want to come are mostly in this country. But there is no rule against us living in Romania, once we are."
"So you'll stay out there?"
"For now," Charlie said. "It really is the best place for work and neither of us want to give that up. We'll have to play it by ear, though. It could get difficult."
"Well, congratulations," Bill said. "But I hope you're prepared for Mum to go into full frenzy mode. She thought her wedding planning days had ended with Percy."
There was a scuffle by the dining room door. The adults turned in time to see a bright head retreating quickly out of sight.
"Hope!" Tonks called. "What have we told you before about listening to conversations?"
"I couldn't help hearing," Hope protested, sticking her head back in and looking sheepish. "You were talking loudly. And it's a happy thing so I should be allowed to stay up and celebrate with you."
Charlie was grinning. He was very fond of Hope. "Ahh, I'm sure you can stay up just this once?" he said, looking from Remus to Tonks.
Hope came skipping over before they could say no. "Can I wear my hair green on your wedding?" she asked Charlie, as she jumped up onto a seat. "Or are you conservatories?"
"Conservatories?"
"Conservative," Remus correct her. "Like Audrey and Percy. We said they wouldn't approve of green hair at their wedding," he explained to Charlie.
"Although they've surprised me lately," Bill put in. "Not quite as conservative as we thought."
"Ah I see," Charlie laughed. "No, we are definitely not conservatories, Hope. You can wear your hair however you want."
Hope immediately started experimenting with colours and styles as Tonks conjured her a glass of juice.
"So," Charlie said, looking between Bill and Fleur. "Which of you is going to break it to Victoire that being the only Weasley offspring without a godmother is going to be permanent arrangement?"
"Not it," Bill said at once, grinning at Fleur, who rolled her eyes. Victoire adored Alex, but it hadn't stopped her occasionally expressing her disappointment that everyone else had a godmother, or at least a godfather who had a wife, and she didn't have either.
"She'll be the only one with two godfathers though," Tonks pointed out. "Can't say fairer than that!"
O
2015
It was the first time since Remus's seventh year at school that Christmas had fallen on the full moon, and with Tonks having been pressured into extra shifts at work, it was a very sober affair. Remus retired not long after sunset, and Teddy and Hope played some quiet games together before heading up to bed themselves. There was, at least, the traditional Weasley gathering to look forward to the next day.
Their mother didn't get home until ten o'clock the next morning, looking completely wiped out.
"I'm sorry Teddy, but I don't think I'll be able to make it today," she yawned, not long later, speaking to her son in the kitchen. "I'm so tired, and your Dad's really not that well. He never is after the mid-winter full moon – I think someone should stay with him in case. I'll let Angelina know, of course, but you don't mind taking Hope and going just the two of you, do you?"
"Of course not."
Teddy found his sister up in her room. She was dressed in jeans and her favourite jumper, the one with the penguin that waddled when you touched its beak, but her hair was unbrushed and she was sitting on the little chair in the corner of her room, not moving.
"You nearly ready?"
She looked up at him, uncharacteristically anxious. "Do we have to go?"
"What do you mean do we have to go? You love the Boxing Day meet up. It's your favourite Weasley gathering of all. And you've been looking forward to going to George and Angelina's house for weeks."
"Yeah, I know. But-" she didn't finish her sentence.
"Dad won't be on his own," Teddy said, eyeing her shrewdly. "Mum's going to stay here too, she's really tired. So it will just be me and you. And we don't have to stay that long, if you don't want to."
Hope did not appear convinced.
"Hope, Dad would want us to go and have fun," Teddy assured her. "He really would. He'd be sad to think that we missed out on the fun because of him."
Reluctantly, Hope went over to the dressing table and started to fix her hair.
o
Her enthusiasm did increase when they arrived. George and Angelina's house was her absolute favourite of all their friends', with its odd, quirky bedrooms and slanting ceilings, and two different staircases at either end of the house, so that you could go up one and come down the other, perfect for hide and seek. Dom, arriving around the same time, immediately dragged her upstairs where they were to help Roxanne decide what to wear.
Teddy went through to the kitchen, carrying the food that his mother had given him to bring over. Angelina was getting several stacks of plates out of the cupboard and smiled at him as he came in. "Hi Teddy. How are you doing?"
"Fine thanks!" He gave her a hug.
"I got your mum's message, are they OK?" she asked, but as Teddy was about to reply, George came into the room, looking irritable.
"What's up?"
"Roxanne," George said grimly.
"Oh for heaven's sake, what's she done now?"
"Nearly burned the house down, by the look of it!" George said. "Tried to use a Wheeze Firework Wand as a curling iron."
"Well, they were lying around everywhere and I did tell you to put them away."
Angelina sounded rather annoyed.
Teddy hovered awkwardly. He was well aware that George and Angelina argued a lot, although he hadn't ever witnessed more than the occasional bicker. They kept their full on arguments private, but Fred had told him before that his parents either got on fantastically well, the very best of friends, or else they were at each other's throats. There was no in between. Volatile, Teddy had once heard his mother use to describe them, which struck him as odd. George always seemed so outwardly calm and steady and jovial. But Teddy understood, and was understanding more and more as time went on, that however much their parents tried to be transparent and honest, some truths would always remain hidden, some stories untold, buried deep in a complicated past that his generation would never fully comprehend.
However, Angelina's comment did not provoke any sort of argument on this occasion, and George turned to Teddy, smiling. "Hey mate! Good Christmas? Are your mum and dad OK? Sounded like they weren't doing too well."
"They're fine," Teddy assured them. "Dad has a headache but he's better than he was this morning. And Mum's just exhausted."
"Savage is inhuman, making her work that many back to back shifts," Angelina said grimly. "Harry's shattered too - he's not coming today either. Just because the two of them are so invested in the department doesn't give Savage the right to abuse that. Still, she's got a few days off now, right?"
Teddy nodded.
"I saw Hope just now," George added. "She seemed a bit subdued. She's normally bouncing off the walls this time of year."
"She'll be fine once all the games start," Teddy said. "I think she's worried about Dad, although she doesn't like to admit it."
"God love her," George muttered. "We'll get the fun started soon, don't worry. Only waiting on Ron and Hermione - Ah!" he said, as there was a crash from the next room, followed by a fluid string of swearwords, an indignant reprimand and several childish giggles. "That would be them."
o
As much as she enjoyed the day, Hope was glad to get home. They returned via floo to find their parents on the sofa in the living room, both fast asleep.
"We'll leave them as they are," Teddy whispered. "They'll go upstairs when they wake up."
Hope mooched into her room and sat down on her bed. Teddy followed her, concerned.
"What's up?" he asked her. "You're not normally this quiet, even when Dad's not feeling well."
Hope would not have asked the question to anyone else. But she could ask Teddy. Teddy always looked out for her and always told her the truth and never, ever made fun of her. She looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Teddy, is Dad going to die?"
Teddy appeared taken aback. He blinked a little and stared at her.
"He will one day," he said, after a long pause. "We all die eventually. You know that."
"But – but," Hope twisted the wool of her jumper through her fingers. "But will he die soon?"
"Don't do that, you'll make a hole in it and it's your favourite." Teddy gently prised her hands away. "Hope, we can never know when people are going to die, but I hope that Dad won't die for a very long time. Or Mum. Or any of our friends and family for that matter."
Hope looked down at her shoes.
"What's brought this on?"
She shrugged.
"Come on, you're going to have to spit it out. I won't tell anyone. Swear!"
His eyes shone with affection, but she didn't look at him. She stared determinedly down at the floor.
"There was bit of an article, on that scrap paper Mum gave me to draw on. It was about werewolves and it said they had lower life exp- expentacy.."
"Expectancy," Teddy provided for her. He looked at her seriously.
"I read that article, I think. But it was just from one study Hope, and it wasn't conclusive at all. It's a complicated thing to measure because so many werewolves don't settle down and live a normal life like Dad did – they live out in the wild, often alone, with poor diet and poor health."
"That's so sad," Hope murmured, although then she thought of Greyback. She wouldn't mind if he lived alone with poor diet and poor health and died very, very soon.
"I know," Teddy said. "But things are much, much better for werewolves than they ever were before, and more and more of them are trying to live life the way Dad does. And Dad's fine most of the time. He does get ill sometimes, but he's always back to normal within a day or so, isn't he? It's been like that ever since he started taking his potion. Anyway, you probably only saw the first few lines of the article, didn't you? The end of it was quite positive. It said that taking Wolfsbane regularly over the years was definitely the key to werewolves living a longer, healthier life, and that if a permanent cure was ever found then it could change everything!"
Hope couldn't help but feel better. Teddy always knew how to cheer her up.
"And I'll tell you a secret," Teddy whispered. "But you have to not say anything either. Not yet anyway. Swear?"
She nodded eagerly.
"That's what I want to do after I leave school in the summer," Teddy said. "I want to go and do research at St Mungo's, and find a permanent cure for werewolves."
O
2016
"Hope," Tonks said, sitting down next to her daughter one summer morning. "Do you remember how we said that there are things we need to speak to you about, before September?"
Hope had been expecting this for a while now, ever since her Hogwarts letter had arrived mid-July. Oh, she knew plenty about the war, had heard snippets from her parents and from other friends and family, and quite a bit from Harry himself. But the full details, her parents had always insisted, would wait until she was about to go off to school.
"We need to warn you that it's not a nice story," Remus said, as she eyed them intently. "But you need to know, Hope. We were too involved in the war, as were Harry and all the Weasleys, for you to be able to go off to school without knowing the truthful version of what happened."
The two of them talked to her for a long time, telling her about Voldemort's rise, about the dangers involved in being members of the Order of the Phoenix, how they had lost friends, loved ones, family members. How they had had to spend months in hiding, most days not even leaving their home, the very house they still lived in now, although it was unrecognisable nowadays to how it had been back then. How Teddy had been born a few short weeks before Voldemort's final downfall. How her mother had had to choose between staying with her son and going off the final battle.
They told her about the final fight, how Fred Weasley, George's twin, had been killed. How other friends had died and so many more had nearly died.
The question fell bluntly from her lips when they had finished speaking.
"Did you nearly die?"
There was a small pause before either of them spoke.
"Anyone could have died in that battle," Tonks said. "We were lucky that we didn't lose more people, to be honest. We all had near misses, but yes, your Dad in particular."
"I was nearly hit by a curse," Remus explained. "If Percy hadn't given me warning then I would have been. Even a second later may have been too late. And he retrieved my wand as well."
"So…if it weren't for Percy…" Hope swallowed with difficulty. "You – you'd be…"
"I almost certainly wouldn't be here, Hope," Remus nodded, his voice soft. "And your mother turned up at that battle minutes after Percy brought Dolohov down. He may have killed her too."
Hope stared into their serious faces. She tried to imagine a world without her kind, gentle father, or without her cool, funny, fiercely principled mother. She couldn't. And of course, if they had died in that battle, then she wouldn't be here at all.
She thought guiltily of the times she had mocked Percy. Jokingly, of course, but she, Dom and Roxanne often laughed together about him behind his back. Even her parents' frequent reprimands had not been enough to stop her sniggering about him occasionally when he looked particularly pompous or spoke in his most self-important tones.
Suddenly, when faced with the prospect of her parents not being there at all if it weren't for him, it did not seem so funny.
She would have liked to apologise for what she had said about Percy in the past. But Hope still found it very difficult to say sorry. She often felt the remorse. Expressing it was another matter entirely.
"Are you OK?" Tonks said. "It's a lot to take in, Hope, we know that. If you want to ask more questions about it, or talk about it, go right ahead."
Hope hesitated, but shook her head.
"Sure?"
"Can I have some chocolate?" She'd dodged the question, but it was a reasonable request. Dad had a habit of giving out chocolate after difficult conversations.
Remus chuckled. "Go on then."
Hope got up from the sofa and went through to the kitchen. Her brother was sitting at the kitchen table, scribbling some notes down on an old bit of parchment.
"Hey Dopey!"
"Hi."
"You OK?" he said, noticing her pale face and wan expression.
"Uh-huh." Hope engrossed herself in the huge slab of Honeydukes chocolate she had pulled from the cupboard.
"Did Mum and Dad tell you about the war?" Teddy was looking sympathetic.
She nodded, but didn't speak.
"Pretty brutal, huh?"
Another nod.
"Want to talk about it?"
Shake of the head. She wasn't even sure she wanted to think about it right now. But something else was bothering her, and had been for while now.
"Teddy, will people think I'm weird? At school?"
Teddy laughed affectionately. "Course they will, you are weird, Dopey." But as she looked no less worried, he went on more seriously. "Do you mean because you're a metamorphmagus? I never had any problems. Most people think it's pretty neat, really. It's a bit annoying when people expect you to morph on command, but other than that..."
"But also… because of Dad being a werewolf, and because of everything Mum and Dad have just told me, about the war and everything. Will people be horrible about it?"
Teddy pondered this. "I wouldn't say horrible," he said. "You will get some comments. And questions. It's inevitable, really. With our connection to Harry Potter, and the Weasleys, with our parents having been in the Order and fought in the war – and Dad fought in both wars. But most people are nice, Dope, honest. Remember that everything they did is the reason we all live in peace today. And anyway, you won't have a single year when there isn't someone else in the family at school with you. Victoire and Fred and Dom and Roxanne will be there when you start. And James. Then Al and Rosie will be right after you. Then Lily and Hugo, and Louis, if he doesn't end up going to Beauxbatons. Having so many family members around will help. No one messes with the Weasleys."
"But they aren't really family," Hope said. "Not officially. I know they're as good as, and we all see them as family, but they aren't blood relatives."
Teddy shook his head, still smiling.
"That doesn't matter at all," he said. "Trust me."
He looked thoughtfully out of the kitchen window.
"This, sort of… bubble… we have – us and the Weasleys and the Potters, and Neville's family sometimes - it's a very strange thing," he said at last. "It's taken me a long time to realise how unusual it is, to be honest. Because when you're in it you don't see it as odd. You take it for granted that everyone is your family and your friend all rolled into one, and our parents are all godparents to each other's children, sometimes two or three times over, and that we all get on – stupid arguments aside, obviously - and we see each other all the time and we all have each other's backs."
Hope reflected on this.
"That's not weird though, is it?" she protested. "Aren't you supposed to be friends with your family? And stick up for them?"
"Well, I guess so," Teddy acknowledged. "But I think you will see what I mean at some point, Hope. It's not like any other group of friends or family that I know of. I have great school friends, and I hope I stay in touch with them, but I can't imagine ever having something like what we have with the Weasleys. And I've met plenty of students from giant wizarding families, but it's still not the same. Their families aren't like ours."
"Why not?"
Teddy mulled over this as well before replying.
"I think it's because they were all in the Order of the Phoenix, so they shared in the war together in a way that most people didn't. And maybe because the Weasleys had children quite young, long before any of their school friends did, and also because none of their partners have many relatives who live nearby, so they spend more time with the Weasley side of the family than anyone else. And it's also because even now they stick together, and consult each other on the decisions they make, and make sure the division that was part of their generation doesn't get passed on to us. It's something pretty unique, to be honest, but other people don't always understand it."
"So they will be horrible?"
"No, I don't think people will be mean. But it does cause a real mix of reactions. Some people don't notice or care. Some are reluctant to be too friendly, because they always feel a little apart from us. Some think we are too full of ourselves, although I hope that's not true. Others are resentful, or jealous, because they wish they had what we have. And some... think it's the coolest thing in the world."
Hope hadn't really followed everything her brother had said. He liked a ramble sometimes, did Teddy. But she grinned at that last sentence. She thought it was the coolest thing in the world too.
OOO
NB: Thank you for reading. This is my first attempt at AU and also at a story with an OC main character, so feedback very welcome!
I plan on going back over the chapters once the story is finished and doing a few edits, so thank you for bearing with any long winded/repetitive sentences and the occasional typo! I hope you still enjoy the story x