"It is in these times of darkness, when it seems to always be night,
that bravery and courage are so fiercely needed. Your limits will be
challenged, but you must remain ever vigilant. You cannot be afraid of the
dark, though sometimes it is your enemy, it can also be your friend. It can
conceal you when you leave, and it can conceal you when you return, but
don't ever let it get too close. Darkness is impartial and it will cloak
your enemies as well." Seamus looks up from where he is talking to a group
of six or so hit recruits. "Alright people, you can go. Remember your exam
tomorrow. Except you Johnson. Don't even bother."
Johnson's bland face looks up at Seamus. He has a huge body and a very small head. "What sir? Did I do something wrong?"
"No. I just don't like you." Seamus replies, barely glancing up from the pile of papers he's shuffling through.
No one says anything in Johnsons defense as they shuffle out the door but I hear some of the conversations drifting by my ears. "Finnegan's so handsome!" A young girl whispers dreamily to her friend.
"I know," the other girl replies. "And he's so mysterious." They burst into giggles and duck out the door.
I smile as I walk up to Seamus' desk. "Your students are fond of you."
Seamus grins. "If you were as irrisistably attractive as I am they would like you too." He realises then that he's talking to me, Draco Malfoy and his face sobers up. "So what did you get?"
"Not much." I tell him. "They're planning on attacking Wimbledon though."
"Why?" Seamus mutters. "No one goes there."
"Muggles do."
"Like I said," Seamus replies irritably. "No one goes there."
"Your father is a Muggle." I say. He gives me a warning look with one eye and I shut up.
"So when are they planning to attack it?"
"Oh I don't know. Neither do they. They have a lot of vague plans that never get acomplished."
"Ah yes," Seamus says. "Vague plans. Like my plan to retire at twenty three, have 2.4 kids a wife and a dog. I think I smoked pipe tabacco and lived in St James Square in that plan too."
"You already have the patches on your elbows." I say. He glances at his elbows and sees the patches. He grins.
"They're cloth though. That's what you can get me for my twenty-third birthday Malfoy, since I won't be retiring I'd like leather patches for my robes." It's one of those moments that's only funny because of the circumstances. When we finish laughing Seamus looks at me. "If you were a woman this would be our cue to bang each other on my desk, but since you're not I'll settle for being seen in public with you."
"Thank god." I say grinning as we head out the door. We walk for several blocks before I look at Seamus. "Uh, where are we going?"
"Hermione's."
I sigh. "Do we have to?"
"I wouldn't be talking Malfoy. I woulda ripped the prenup up if I was her."
I say what happened wasn't my fault, I didn't want to leave. I loved Hermione, I couldn't let her get hurt. I couldn't let the same thing happen to her as happened to Seamus' wife.
Seamus shakes his head. "Am I getting this right? You're trying to make me look bad?"
"No. I am not trying to make you look bad. I'm just trying to explain to you why I would choose a different course of action than you did."
"You are so righteous it makes me sick." Seamus says. He pushes his hair out of his eyes and bangs on the door in front of us. Hermione opens it, she has a laundrey basket on one hip, a little girl wrapped around her leg, a plate of biscuits in her hand and the telephone resting between her ear and her shoulder ("No mum, I don't need any help. Stay in York. Mum! Don't come down he-MUM! Are you listening?") She hangs up on her mother and lets Seamus and I in the door.
"You don't want mummy to come down and help you with the little one's eh?" Seamus says.
Hermione rolls her eyes at him. I remember how she and her mother argued. "You need a haircut Seamus," She says fondly. "You look like one of your students."
Seamus grins and pushes the hair out of his eyes again. He kisses her cheek and swipes a biscuit from the plate. "KIKI! KIKI! COME DOWNSTAIRS!" He yells up at his daughter from the foor of the stairs. Hermione shakes her head. "CHRISTINA! OI! I'M GOING TO GO HOME WITHOUT YOU!" He yells.
"Okay!" Her tiny voice calls down. "I'll stay here."
Hermione bursts into laughter and Seamus turns to glare at her. He goes to take another biscuit off the plate but she slaps his hand. "Dinner's almost ready."
She calls upstairs for Kiki and her children. My children. They tudge down the stairs obediently and she smiles at Seamus who glares at her. I look at the little boy and girl that come down the stairs with Kiki. Jessica had been tall and chubby, with dark hair and eyes. These two were tiny, with honey couloured hair and light blue eyes. Did they know? I wondered. Did they know what had happened before they were even born? Did they know why I had left? Did they even know who I was?
"Go wash up you three, Harry and Ron will be here soon."
"Are they bringing the little ones?" Seamus asks, doging around Hermione's arm and grabbing a biscuit.
"No Seamus, they're going to leave them at home."
He shrugs. "Why not?"
Hermione rolls her eyes. "Because they have an once of sense unlike some people I know." She mutters under her breath as she walks by. I'm left standing in the hallway with Seamus, who's munching happily away on an Oreo.
"Well?" He says, "What are you waiting for?"
"What do you mean?"
"Go make your move and get your wife back. You can't live with me forever."
I look blankly at him. I hadn't considered the possibility that I would never go back to Jessica and Marta. I hadn't considered the possibility that I would go back to Hermione. I turna and ush open the door to the dining room. It swings forward and I go in before it can swing back and hit me in the forehead. Hermione is setting the table by hand, neatly laying every fork and knife and spoon exactly straight, exactly even. "Hi." I say awkwardly.
"Hi." She replies.
"Can I help?" I ask.
She points to the glasses lined up in a row. I put the blue glasses by the placemats that have dragons on them, I put the pink glasses by the placemats that have unicorns on them. I put the clear glasses by the plain placemats. "Thanks." Hermione says, not looking at me.
"I'm sorry." I tell her.
She sighs. "I know you are. I'm sorry too. But that won't get us six years back, and it won't change everything that's already happened."
"Can it change what's going to happen?" I ask her softly.
She opens her mouth but doesn't say anything. "I should go bring the food in." She doesn't look me in the eye.
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We are sitting at the table, Harry and Ron have arrived and everyone is eating. "I'm Martin Miggs, The Mad Muggle!" Hermione's son Simon proclaims loudly.
"You're mad alright." Hermione mutters. "Now sit downand eat your food."
"Who's him?" Harry's daughter asks, pointing at me.
"Who's he-" Harry's starts to correct her but Seamus breaks in. "Him's Draco. He's pretty ugly isn't he?"
"Why's he here?" Simon asks.
"Work." Hermione says. She wipes her mouth with a napkin and then suggests evetyone leave while she clears the table.
Seamus smiles softly across the table at her and she smiles tightly back. "Come on." He says loudly. "I suggest we return to the parlour for cocktails and cigars. Come on gentlemen, ladies too. Never to young to start smoking cigars." The little girls giggle and everyone stands up, myself included but Seamus pushes me back down. "Oh no my good man, I don't think oyu're done in here yet." He whispers in my ear. Then he takes Kiki's arm and they all walk out of the room.
I help Hermione clear the table and after the dishes are done I come back to the table with her and have a cup of coffee. "Is there something going on between you and Seamus?" I ask her, surprised that I'm feeling jealous of their easy banter.
"If you mean is there an arrangement for babysitting then yes, there is something going on but if you mean anything more than that, no. There hasn't been anything going on in this house for six years." I look at my hands, ashamed and Hermione sighs. "Seamus has been there for me Draco. He's looked after Simon and Kathleen when I needed a break and he helps me out with things around the house. So have Ron and Harry. You've been gone six years Draco, you can't expect me to be able to take care of everything on my own."
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"You're not even going to fight it out?"
I lookup at her surprised. "No, I know it was my fault, and I've done something wrong. I'm sorry. Can I ever fix this?"
Hermione bites her lip and looks at me. "We got older, Draco, but we're still young. We're young enough for everything to be okay eventually." She smiles at me, an honest, open smile and I ache with relief. She reaches into her pocket and puills something out. It's my wedding band. I left it on the table next to our bed the night I left. I took nothing with me, not even a momento. A reminder of what I used to have. She turns her hand over and it drops to the table in front of me. I look at it for a long moment, then slide Marta's ring of my finger and put the other one back on. It still fits perfect. Hermione calls for the kids and they come scrambling back into the room. "Daddy's home." She whispers softly. "He's really truly home."
Johnson's bland face looks up at Seamus. He has a huge body and a very small head. "What sir? Did I do something wrong?"
"No. I just don't like you." Seamus replies, barely glancing up from the pile of papers he's shuffling through.
No one says anything in Johnsons defense as they shuffle out the door but I hear some of the conversations drifting by my ears. "Finnegan's so handsome!" A young girl whispers dreamily to her friend.
"I know," the other girl replies. "And he's so mysterious." They burst into giggles and duck out the door.
I smile as I walk up to Seamus' desk. "Your students are fond of you."
Seamus grins. "If you were as irrisistably attractive as I am they would like you too." He realises then that he's talking to me, Draco Malfoy and his face sobers up. "So what did you get?"
"Not much." I tell him. "They're planning on attacking Wimbledon though."
"Why?" Seamus mutters. "No one goes there."
"Muggles do."
"Like I said," Seamus replies irritably. "No one goes there."
"Your father is a Muggle." I say. He gives me a warning look with one eye and I shut up.
"So when are they planning to attack it?"
"Oh I don't know. Neither do they. They have a lot of vague plans that never get acomplished."
"Ah yes," Seamus says. "Vague plans. Like my plan to retire at twenty three, have 2.4 kids a wife and a dog. I think I smoked pipe tabacco and lived in St James Square in that plan too."
"You already have the patches on your elbows." I say. He glances at his elbows and sees the patches. He grins.
"They're cloth though. That's what you can get me for my twenty-third birthday Malfoy, since I won't be retiring I'd like leather patches for my robes." It's one of those moments that's only funny because of the circumstances. When we finish laughing Seamus looks at me. "If you were a woman this would be our cue to bang each other on my desk, but since you're not I'll settle for being seen in public with you."
"Thank god." I say grinning as we head out the door. We walk for several blocks before I look at Seamus. "Uh, where are we going?"
"Hermione's."
I sigh. "Do we have to?"
"I wouldn't be talking Malfoy. I woulda ripped the prenup up if I was her."
I say what happened wasn't my fault, I didn't want to leave. I loved Hermione, I couldn't let her get hurt. I couldn't let the same thing happen to her as happened to Seamus' wife.
Seamus shakes his head. "Am I getting this right? You're trying to make me look bad?"
"No. I am not trying to make you look bad. I'm just trying to explain to you why I would choose a different course of action than you did."
"You are so righteous it makes me sick." Seamus says. He pushes his hair out of his eyes and bangs on the door in front of us. Hermione opens it, she has a laundrey basket on one hip, a little girl wrapped around her leg, a plate of biscuits in her hand and the telephone resting between her ear and her shoulder ("No mum, I don't need any help. Stay in York. Mum! Don't come down he-MUM! Are you listening?") She hangs up on her mother and lets Seamus and I in the door.
"You don't want mummy to come down and help you with the little one's eh?" Seamus says.
Hermione rolls her eyes at him. I remember how she and her mother argued. "You need a haircut Seamus," She says fondly. "You look like one of your students."
Seamus grins and pushes the hair out of his eyes again. He kisses her cheek and swipes a biscuit from the plate. "KIKI! KIKI! COME DOWNSTAIRS!" He yells up at his daughter from the foor of the stairs. Hermione shakes her head. "CHRISTINA! OI! I'M GOING TO GO HOME WITHOUT YOU!" He yells.
"Okay!" Her tiny voice calls down. "I'll stay here."
Hermione bursts into laughter and Seamus turns to glare at her. He goes to take another biscuit off the plate but she slaps his hand. "Dinner's almost ready."
She calls upstairs for Kiki and her children. My children. They tudge down the stairs obediently and she smiles at Seamus who glares at her. I look at the little boy and girl that come down the stairs with Kiki. Jessica had been tall and chubby, with dark hair and eyes. These two were tiny, with honey couloured hair and light blue eyes. Did they know? I wondered. Did they know what had happened before they were even born? Did they know why I had left? Did they even know who I was?
"Go wash up you three, Harry and Ron will be here soon."
"Are they bringing the little ones?" Seamus asks, doging around Hermione's arm and grabbing a biscuit.
"No Seamus, they're going to leave them at home."
He shrugs. "Why not?"
Hermione rolls her eyes. "Because they have an once of sense unlike some people I know." She mutters under her breath as she walks by. I'm left standing in the hallway with Seamus, who's munching happily away on an Oreo.
"Well?" He says, "What are you waiting for?"
"What do you mean?"
"Go make your move and get your wife back. You can't live with me forever."
I look blankly at him. I hadn't considered the possibility that I would never go back to Jessica and Marta. I hadn't considered the possibility that I would go back to Hermione. I turna and ush open the door to the dining room. It swings forward and I go in before it can swing back and hit me in the forehead. Hermione is setting the table by hand, neatly laying every fork and knife and spoon exactly straight, exactly even. "Hi." I say awkwardly.
"Hi." She replies.
"Can I help?" I ask.
She points to the glasses lined up in a row. I put the blue glasses by the placemats that have dragons on them, I put the pink glasses by the placemats that have unicorns on them. I put the clear glasses by the plain placemats. "Thanks." Hermione says, not looking at me.
"I'm sorry." I tell her.
She sighs. "I know you are. I'm sorry too. But that won't get us six years back, and it won't change everything that's already happened."
"Can it change what's going to happen?" I ask her softly.
She opens her mouth but doesn't say anything. "I should go bring the food in." She doesn't look me in the eye.
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We are sitting at the table, Harry and Ron have arrived and everyone is eating. "I'm Martin Miggs, The Mad Muggle!" Hermione's son Simon proclaims loudly.
"You're mad alright." Hermione mutters. "Now sit downand eat your food."
"Who's him?" Harry's daughter asks, pointing at me.
"Who's he-" Harry's starts to correct her but Seamus breaks in. "Him's Draco. He's pretty ugly isn't he?"
"Why's he here?" Simon asks.
"Work." Hermione says. She wipes her mouth with a napkin and then suggests evetyone leave while she clears the table.
Seamus smiles softly across the table at her and she smiles tightly back. "Come on." He says loudly. "I suggest we return to the parlour for cocktails and cigars. Come on gentlemen, ladies too. Never to young to start smoking cigars." The little girls giggle and everyone stands up, myself included but Seamus pushes me back down. "Oh no my good man, I don't think oyu're done in here yet." He whispers in my ear. Then he takes Kiki's arm and they all walk out of the room.
I help Hermione clear the table and after the dishes are done I come back to the table with her and have a cup of coffee. "Is there something going on between you and Seamus?" I ask her, surprised that I'm feeling jealous of their easy banter.
"If you mean is there an arrangement for babysitting then yes, there is something going on but if you mean anything more than that, no. There hasn't been anything going on in this house for six years." I look at my hands, ashamed and Hermione sighs. "Seamus has been there for me Draco. He's looked after Simon and Kathleen when I needed a break and he helps me out with things around the house. So have Ron and Harry. You've been gone six years Draco, you can't expect me to be able to take care of everything on my own."
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"You're not even going to fight it out?"
I lookup at her surprised. "No, I know it was my fault, and I've done something wrong. I'm sorry. Can I ever fix this?"
Hermione bites her lip and looks at me. "We got older, Draco, but we're still young. We're young enough for everything to be okay eventually." She smiles at me, an honest, open smile and I ache with relief. She reaches into her pocket and puills something out. It's my wedding band. I left it on the table next to our bed the night I left. I took nothing with me, not even a momento. A reminder of what I used to have. She turns her hand over and it drops to the table in front of me. I look at it for a long moment, then slide Marta's ring of my finger and put the other one back on. It still fits perfect. Hermione calls for the kids and they come scrambling back into the room. "Daddy's home." She whispers softly. "He's really truly home."