Rediscovering Her Wings, Chapter 16
Note: Sorry it's been so long since the last update! I do intend to finish this, though, and I now know how the rest of it goes, and how it ends!
A knock on the door startled Will out of his slumber early on Sunday morning. It was a sudden awakening that shocked Will.
For one thing, Will realized that he was holding the lovely Cho Chang while she slept next to him on the couch. The couch was wide for a couch but narrow compared to a bed; the thing only allowed him to sleep next to Cho because he'd kept his arms wrapped around her the entire time. That he held her as they slept didn't surprise him; he knew their connection went deep. Of course he'd want to hold her!
No, the thing that surprised him about their closeness was that Cho had LET him hold her so. She seemed happy enough dating him, but sometimes, he could feel her hesitation. Maybe she was hesitant because of her love for Delphi, and she was worried that he wouldn't want to take the both of them together.
No matter – he would convince her that he did want her, as well as the child. He would make sure she knew that he was open to the two of them taking care of Delphi and becoming a family.
The knock sounded again. Right – the door.
Being careful not to disturb Cho, Will got off the couch and tucked the blankets around her so she could sleep a little longer. He ran his hands over his unruly hair and the wrinkled T-shirt + jeans outfit he still had on from yesterday and got up to answer it. He noted, as he headed to the door, that the clock read 7am. Who the heck would come to call so early?
The person knocking was a witch (he could tell she was a witch because of her robes) with graying wavy brown hair and kind brown eyes. She seemed nice, so Will opened the door for her.
"Hi, good morning," he greeted her.
"I'm here to see Amos and Natalie Diggory and Cho Chang, and of course little Delphi. Who're you?" she asked him.
"I'm Will. Will Pendragon, Cho Chang's boyfriend. And Cho is a friend of the Diggorys, who are the ones who live here."
"Yes, I know that. I'm friends with the Diggorys and I know Cho Chang."
Will swallowed. "Ok, right. Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm Andromeda Tonks. Delphi Riddle's aunt. I hope you don't mind me coming so early, but I've been up half the night and I could barely restrain myself from coming over. So, I came as soon as I felt the hour of my arrival might be at least slightly civilized."
At this, a small boy of 5 or 6 years of age popped out from behind the skirt of the witch's robes. "Being civilized is boring – I wanna meet my cousin!" he all but shouted.
Will squatted down to the boy's level. He had hair that was half blue down one side and half sunshine yellow down the other – and it was styled in all kinds of strange spikes. Will would bet that the boy's hair was somehow magical, even if he couldn't say what the enchantment on it was. Will held out a hand as he squatted down to face the boy. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Will. What's your name?"
The boy took Will's hand and shook it vigorously, seeming quite proud to have mastered the art of handshaking so well. "I'm Teddy! Teddy Lupin!"
"My grandson," clarified Andromeda with a small smile. "Harry Potter, his godfather, would have my head for bringing him here with me, but once I let slip the news that he had a cousin, there was absolutely no restraining him."
Will smiled. "I can picture it."
"Where's my cousin?" asked Teddy, who was still holding Will's outstretched hand.
"Your cousin is asleep in the guest bedroom upstairs, so why don't we go wake her so you can introduce yourselves?"
"YESSSS!" Teddy demanded.
"There's just one thing, though – your cousin had a crazy busy day yesterday and she's probably still feeling tired. So why don't we give her a really nice wake up by bringing her some hot chocolate? Let's make some, so you can have some, too, ok?"
"Ok!" Teddy replied enthusiastically, and he followed Will into the kitchen.
Will turned around to face Andromeda again as they fixed the hot chocolate. "Is this ok by you?" he asked.
"Oh, of course! I hope you don't mind if I accompany you upstairs so I can meet my niece, too."
Will had a good feeling about this woman so he replied, "No problem! Oh, and since you're friends with the Diggories, do you know where I can find mugs and all the things to make hot chocolate in the first place?"
"Of course!" Andromeda replied, and summoned mugs, milk, chocolate, and pot that she levitated over a fire she'd conjured over the stove.
God, magic was so bloody cool to watch.
XXX
Cho Chang woke up to a clattering noise coming from the kitchen.
At first, she was confused. She was wrapped up in a blanket and sleeping on someone else's couch. What's more, there was an indent next to her, as though someone else had been sleeping with her for a while. She sniffed a little and smelled Will.
Right! The events of yesterday returned all at once to her tired brain: the Hollyhead Harpies vs. Tutshill Tornadoes match, showing Will and Delphi Quidditch, attending the Weasleys' party, the unexpected revelation of Delphi's Parseltongue abilities… and the way it'd all gone to Hell in a handbasket afterwards.
She was unspeakably grateful that Will managed to snatch Delphi and make off with her so quickly.
She was even more grateful that Will had seen fit to stay the night at the Diggorys' and stay with her while she slept. The experience had been brand new and intensely nostalgic all at once: the last man whose arms she'd slept in had been Cedric.
But there was no time to think about Cedric right now, what with all the noise coming from the Diggories' kitchen.
When she sat up, she found Will making crepes with Delphi and a blue-haired boy of the same age who had to be Teddy Tonks. The two children were chattering exceptionally and causing a lot of mess. Will was the only one getting anything done as far as cooking went, and he was somehow also managing to clean up the messes the two children made. Which was kind of a feat without magic.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the kitchen, Amos and Natalie Diggory were talking to Andromeda Tonks. It was no surprise that they were engrossed in conversation; the Diggories had become quite good friends with Andromeda after the war when the three of them had bonded over the way they'd tragically lost their children at the hands of Lord Voldemort.
"Watch this!" Teddy whispered to Delphi. He pointed his fingers at the bowl, flicked them, and the batter in the bowl promptly flew up and out and splattered all over the ceiling.
Delphi laughed hysterically, like she had on the morning when she'd exploded her pillows in front of Cho.
At last, Cho got up. Though her jeans and t-shirt were rumpled from being slept in and her hair was probably a mess, she still went to the kitchen, hands on hips, ready to give the children a good scolding.
"Just what do the two of you think you're doing?" she asked Teddy and Delphi.
"Uh, doing ceiling art with pancake batter?" said Teddy, putting on his best 'I'm-so-innocent' expression.
Will chose that moment to awkwardly chime in. "Yeah, that. They were doing ceiling art!"
Then, a great big gob of the batter fell in Will's hair and dribbled down his face and everyone present started laughing uproariously, especially Will.
"Ello? Andromeda?" a voice asked from the open door.
Everyone in the kitchen turned towards the door of Diggory Hollow to notice that Fleur Delacour, along with her husband Bill Weasley and their daughter Victoire had arrived.
"Oh, hello, Fleur, we were just… getting breakfast ready." That seemed to be the best explanation Cho could muster but fortunately, Fleur didn't seem to care.
"Vell, ve are 'ere because Victoire wanted to meet Teddy's new cousin, Delphi! Andromeda invited us, I 'ope that is all right!"
"Of course, come in! Welcome to chaos," said Cho as nonchalantly as she could manage. Cho had always struggled to maintain her composure around Fleur. The woman exuded beauty and sophistication. Men fall at her feet everywhere she went, while she tended to make women around her tongue-tied and nervous. It was always an effort of will for Cho to remind herself that Fleur was a kind-hearted person who just wanted to have a wonderful family and make friends like other people. Even though her Veela magic got in the way literally all the time.
Fortunately, Victoire was there to relieve Cho from her tongue-tied feeling. "I want to join the chaos!" the girl all but shouted. With her shimmering blonde hair and delicate features, combined with the adorable smattering of freckles on her face and her upturned nose, she was the perfect combination of both her parents. "Hi, Teddy!" she exclaimed as she went over to hug the boy, who hugged her right back.
"Victoire! I have a cousin! Come meet Delphi!" Teddy exclaimed in reply.
And just that quickly, Teddy was introducing Victoire to Delphi.
"Why don't you play in the living room until breakfast is ready?" Cho suggested. She knew the Diggories kept lots of toys in there for when Andromeda visited them and brought Teddy.
"Uh, I should wash up before I get breakfast the rest of the way ready," Will said sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it," said Cho. She stood on the tips of her toes to give him a quick kiss on the face before she waved her wand to get the batter out of his hair. She waved her wand one more time to clean the batter off the ceiling.
"Thanks." He replied.
"And I can cast a multiplying spell on the remains of the batter in the bowl, so you don't have to make more," Cho offered.
"Oh no, you don't!" interrupted Amos Diggory. "Cho, you're wonderful, but I will make the rest of the breakfast. We ought to give Will a break from cooking for now and I don't want you cooking at any time, because we don't want poison the company!"
"Don't be too insulted, dear," Natalie reassured Cho. "He says the same thing to me."
"Because it's the truth!" Amos shot back at his wife.
"Honestly, Amos, it's like you're asking for me to out Grindlylows in every drain and then make you get rid of all of them!"
"Uhhhh…" Amos hemmed and hawed. On the one hand, he didn't want to insult his wife or Cho for their terrible cooking, but on the other hand, he didn't want to poison the guests and then have to take them all to St. Mungo's for rehabilitation so early in the morning.
"Say, did anyone remember to scold Teddy for making a mess with the batter?" Andromeda asked.
All the adults went momentarily silent as they realized that everyone had quite forgotten to do that.
"Eet eez probably too late to do zat now," Fleur sighed.
Well. Cho herself thought it was nice to know that even super-elegant, super-talented Veela like Fleur could trip around over the many unpredictable challenges of child-rearing.
XXX
The rest of the day passed in a happy blur. The children played in the garden while the adults relaxed together. Cho and Will mostly took it upon themselves to devise games for the children, who were thoroughly entertained.
Then, they all shared lunch in the garden.
Fleur leaned over to whisper in Cho's ear: "I 'ave not seen you so happy since you were with Cedric!"
"Oh… thanks," Cho said half-heartedly
"Vat can be wrong? Will eez wonderful! 'E vill make a wonderful husband and father!"
"He, uh, doesn't know about Cedric," Cho whispered to Fleur.
But Fleur simply waved Cho off. "Eet does not matter. You vill tell 'im vat happened to you and 'e vill understand!"
Cho nodded and took another sip of her lemonade even though she didn't quite believe any of what Fleur was saying.
By later that afternoon, Victoire, Teddy, and Delphi had thoroughly tired themselves out and had retired to the sofa in the living room, where they lay snuggled up together.
Cho looked at the three children in awe. When was the last time she had felt the kind of unadulterated happiness she saw written on all three children's faces?
Seeming to get that she was feeling something intense, Will came up next to Cho and put an arm around her waist, inviting her to lean into him, while also letting her know that she didn't have to talk if she didn't wish to.
"How cute are they?" whispered Cho.
"Best friends forever," Will whispered back.
As they exchanged those simple comments, Cho took a moment to look up into Will's golden eyes. He looked on the children with such love. If only, Cho thought, she was in a place to be able to make him a father.
It was such a pity that she wasn't.
XXX
After dinner, Fleur and Bill had to take Victoire home and Andromeda had to do the same for Teddy, so the two families bade their goodbyes.
Cho went up to Natalie as Delphi was giving Teddy and Victoire goodbye hugs before the children could be side-along apparated home by their parents. "I should figure out if it's safe for me to take Delphi back to St. Mungo's," Cho whispered in the other woman's ear.
"Oh, let her stay the night here," Natalie said, waving Cho's concerns off as she walked Cho back into the living room for a more private conversation. "Amos and I like having Delphi around! As for your potential issues with St. Mungo's, I'm sure they'll keep until morning. Please, Cho, I can see that you're tired. Won't you rest here for the night? Your Will is welcome to stay over, too."
Cho nodded. "It's tiring. Finding Delphi and then being Will's girlfriend. I haven't actually, properly been anyone's girlfriend since-"
Since Cedric.
Since both women knew what Cho meant, the matter went unspoken for now.
"Do you like Will?" whispered Natalie as she escorted Cho away from the living room and into a hallway so the two could have even more privacy. "Are you attracted to him?"
Cho nodded. "I haven't been attracted to anyone since I was attracted to your son. He's the first person I've wanted to go out with, to kiss, to actually get to know on a deeper level. I never would've slept in his arms last night if I hadn't really, truly wanted to. But-"
Natalie raised a hand to stop her. "No. Don't go there. I'm glad for you, that you and my son could teach each other about true love during the last 6 months of his life. You mustn't think you're dishonoring his memory by finding someone new."
Cho shrugged. "Can't help it. Will and Cedric are so different from one another, but I still can't help feeling like I'm replacing Cedric."
Natalie reached her arms around Cho to embrace her. Cho couldn't help sniffing wistfully as she picked up notes of her Cedric's scent in the smell of his mother.
"Will told me that if you and Delphi stay with us, he wants to stay, too. Do you have it in you to spend another night with Will, or should we help you politely send him home?" Natalie asked.
The request was such a sweet and insightful one, it almost pained Cho to receive it. Cedric had clearly gotten his perceptive and considerate nature from his mother. He was always paying attention to how she felt, asking her what she needed, trying to make sure she was happy and comfortable in any situation. If she let herself wallow the very least bit in his mother's kindness, she was going to break down and cry.
Cho broke apart from the embrace before she answered. "I want Will to stay. I like him and I liked sleeping in his arms. I'll want some space from him later, but not until I have to leave for St. Mungo's in the morning."
Natalie nodded and led Cho back into the living room. "I really should've seen about fixing the couch up into a proper bed for the two of you to sleep on," she said, returning to a nonchalant tone. "How the two of you managed to sleep on it as a narrow couch is utterly beyond ME."
"I believe it's called we're getting old," said Amos drolly as he joined them in the living room.
"No such thing!" said Cho, waggling a finger in his direction. "And Natalie, I could've transformed the couch into a proper bed yesterday too, but I think we were all just too tired and preoccupied to think of it."
Natalie nodded.
Several minutes later, the Diggories, Will, and Cho had seen about tucking Delphi into bed before the Diggories went up to their bedroom to get some sleep themselves.
"Shall we?" Cho asked, motioning to the comfy bed she and Natalie had made in the living room.
"Are you sure you're ok for me to stay?" Will asked nervously. "Cho, I know you must be nervous and worn out and I don't have to be here if you don't want me. I could… use the floo network to go somewhere in London and get home from there?"
"Let me solve that problem for you, Will," Cho said reassuringly. "I want you here."
"PHEW!" Will sighed dramatically. Then, he sat on the bed, arranged Cho so she was straddling his lap, and pulled her in for a kiss.
Cho could feel, as she embraced his body and met his lips to hers, that he was a bit nervous and tense. The poor guy had been looking after magical children, conversing with wizards, and trying his darnedest to fit in all day. And yet, he'd been fun, congenial, and utterly lovely.
Cho would never mean to test him this way, would never push him to acclimate himself to her world all at once on purpose. And yet her circumstances had tested him anyway and he'd passed with flying colors. What a man. Truly, what a man. Fleur was right that he was a catch and he'd make a great father.
As she wrapped herself around him and kissed him tenderly, Cho could feel the tension leaving his body. It was strange, how they'd had so little time to get to know each other and yet already, she could read so many emotions in his eyes, feel the feelings coming from his body just by touching his skin.
Connections like this didn't come around every day. She, of all people, should know.
When she could feel that he was more relaxed, Cho brought him to lay on the bed, facing her as their arms were still loosely wrapped around one another. "You were so great today," she sighed. "I didn't mean to throw such a situation at you – three magical children and a bunch of wizards who were strangers to you – at you all at once. But you handled it so well. I'm really proud of you."
"Thanks, Cho," he said, sighing and planting a kiss on her forehead. "And hey, it wasn't too much. I get that you have a lot going on in your life right now."
"You'll tell me if it's too much though, right?" asked Cho.
"What if we both tell each other if it's too much and help each other through it? Because Cho, I want to be a part of your life. I worry it's too soon to say this, but I don't think I ever want to stop being a part of your life. And if Delphi is also going to be in the picture, if you want to keep helping raise her, or if you want to even adopt her, I want to be a part of that, too. I've grown awfully attached to that kid in the short time I've known her. So don't worry about it being too much for me, ok?"
"Really?" asked Cho.
"Really, really," said Will.
There was a lot more to be said between them – about feelings, about life plans, about a future together. But as Will's golden eyes looked into Cho's hazel ones in that moment, they seemed to come to a mutual understanding that they weren't ready to discuss their feelings or their future – just yet.
So they pulled one another closer and fell asleep in each other's arms.