Chapter 23: Easter in Red

Dagmar returned to her bedroom's closet, the dress she wore unzipped but still hanging off her shoulders. Daphne lingered behind her.

"Try this." Dagmar handed her a dark blue maxi. "I think it'll look cute on you. It never really did suit me."

Daphne led them back out into the room. A pile of already-discarded ideas created a lump on the end of Dagmar's bed. Dagmar sat down next to it, turning giggly all over again with Daphne when she stumbled a little stepping out of the dress she still had on. With a flash of concern, Dagmar wondered if the non-alcoholic champagne they'd been sipping for the last hour had come from the wrong bottle. Playing around like this with Daphne always made them a bit silly, though.

"I'm probably getting too old now for bodycon dresses," Daphne mused as she stood in front of Dagmar in just her bra and knickers. "Not that they have an age-limit, more I've just realized they don't really suit my body type. Which is too bad, because I love them."

"Don't we all," Dagmar lamented, making Daphne giggle again. "Maybe you'll feel differently another day. You look good in them, but ja, there are definitely other styles that flatter you more. Things are changing right now too."

"Yeah."

A little bump—more like a protrusion—poked out from Daphne's lower abdomen. She was still only so far along that she looked more bloated than pregnant, although the mid-section of her stomach dipped back in flat underneath her breasts. Daphne had gone up a cup size in the last few weeks. Her skin glowed, but the downside of that led to the room's windows being open. Daphne still flapped a hand frequently at her face in attempt to cool off.

She pulled the top of the dress up over her shoulders. "Zip me?"

After she had, Dagmar looked over at her shadow-Auror for the day. Lydia—her first name much easier to remember than Siegenthaler—had fallen quiet where she sat on the couch with Heimdall. He draped over her lap as if he'd left his bones out in the garden.

"Can we borrow your magic again, Lydia?" Dagmar asked her.

"Ja, sure." She pulled out her wand. "Arms out."

Daphne migrated closer, waiting patiently while Lydia shrunk the dress down a few sizes. Dagmar thought it suited her, and Daphne agreed. Daphne hadn't said as much, but Dagmar suspected she had her heart stuck on the idea of a bodycon dress so that her baby bump would show more. It still did in something looser, especially since the material draped off it.

Dagmar pointing that out veered them both back into giggly territory as they kept playing in the closet. They only got worse once snacks arrived from the kitchen. Dagmar made sure Lydia knew she was welcome to them as part of trying to draw her into their fun. It might very well be working. Lydia had resigned to Heimdall's insistence her lap become his bed. Because she tried to ignore him for the past month out of professionalism, he'd become casually obsessed with her in that way only a cat could.

Lydia still wouldn't take any champagne when Dagmar tried to offer it again. The reminder that it had no alcohol, therefore not impairing her while she worked, was met with hesitation before another no. Dagmar backed off for a little bit until she started asking Lydia her opinion on how she looked in whatever she wore. Once Daphne caught on and started doing the same, a knowing smile—but a smile nonetheless—became a mainstay on Lydia's face. She humoured them, offering her opinions, although held back any suggestions she might follow up with.

"Do you ever dress up like this back home?" Daphne asked her. "Easter can't be much different in Switzerland, surely?"

"Not much different, no." Lydia shrugged, idly scratching Heimdall between his ears. "Easter in Britain is certainly lacking in chocolate bunnies, by comparison."

"Oh, you should've said!" Daphne lit up. "We could've gotten you one! I saw some in Diagon Alley yesterday."

"It's all right."

"Is it?" Dagmar asked. "You're stuck working through the holiday. Wouldn't you want just one creature comfort? That's why oranges are going to be on the table after dinner, for Mum and I. It's a Norwegian thing."

"It's kind enough that I'll get to plate up." Another ghost of a smile crinkled Lydia's brown eyes.

"Speaking of, I'd better pick something to wear that has extra room around the stomach," Dagmar said. "If I'm not disgusted with myself by the time I succumb to a food coma tonight, I'll be disappointed."

Daphne cracked with laughter, so exuberant that Lydia couldn't help but join in with her. That seemed to be the turning point of Lydia feeling comfortable enough to be involved with Dagmar and Daphne's fun. She started offering opinions, and her cheeks tinged red when she turned down finding something for herself to wear for the occasion.

Daphne was in the middle of wheedling Lydia to at least let her do her makeup ("Even if you take it off before dinner! Please?") when a knock came at the bedroom door. Dagmar let out a small scream before dashing to find the shirt she'd at some point ditched on her bed. Daphne just snickered, safe in the last dress she'd pulled on. She'd settled on the blue one from earlier, but had too much fun to stop playing around in Dagmar's clothes.

"It's just me," Dagmar's mum called through the door. "Are you two decent?"

"We are, but Lydia's gone wild." Dagmar righted her shirt.

Lydia snorted into a laugh. "Oh, come on."

Dagmar's mum peered over toward her when she stepped into the room with Dagmar's invitation. The room's mood seemed contagious, judging by the idle smile that graduated into something more genuine.

"I wanted to know what colour you were wearing tonight, so we don't match," her mum said.

Dagmar hummed. "I haven't really decided yet. Were you leaning any particular way?"

"Not really. That's why I thought I'd ask."

"Take a look through the pile we've made here." Dagmar took her mum by the wrist and led her over to the bed. "See if anything catches your eye."

"Yeah!" Daphne lit up anew. "Try something on, Mrs Ramstad. Go on."

Dagmar's mum laughed, a light noise that brought some colour into her cheeks. "Just Hildegard, Daphne."

She hesitated like Lydia to get swallowed up in the fun, still a little glum since Helka had gone home to Leidfall on Friday. Dagmar ended up lounging across the head of her bed while hangers clacked against each other in the closet. Daphne emerged with a pink dress.

"Ooh, this is pretty!" she said. "Dagmar, you should try it on."

Dagmar grinned in amusement. "I wore that to my seventeenth birthday dinner. I'd positively die of embarrassment if Narcissa recognized it."

"I liked that one." Dagmar's mum softened. "It looked wonderful on you."

"You try it on, then."

Her mum went slightly pink in the cheeks. "I wouldn't be able to wear it either, if it's too soon since your birthday."

Dagmar got off the bed. "Come on, Mum. We're just having fun. Give us a look."

With an exaggerated sigh of exasperation, her mum turned her back so that Dagmar could unzip the black one she currently wore.

"It looks really nice on you," Daphne told her after Dagmar had zipped her mum back in. "A little loose, but if Lydia would. . ."

"No need to ask," Lydia said from her spot.

She shrunk the dress down to the right size. Dagmar's mum approached the mirror on the wall beside the closet and smoothed it over her stomach. To see even just a smidgen of personal pride return to her mum, Dagmar thrilled enough in a rush of affection to put her arms around her from behind. She rested her chin on her mum's shoulder and returned her smile. Her mum became less rigid in Dagmar's embrace when Dagmar nuzzled her.

"I miss when you were happy," Dagmar whispered to her in Norwegian.

That tentative light in her mum's eyes faded along with her grin. Dagmar's expression similarly fell when her eyes shone instead. She hadn't meant to make her cry.

"Me too," her mum whispered back. "I think it'll happen again, jenta mi. It's just been hard."

"Ja." Since her mum seemed to have halted herself on shrivelling into an emotional mess, Dagmar tried to pull her the rest of the way out with a playful jostle before switching back to English. "You should let Daphne do your hair and makeup. She's really good at it."

Daphne's attention came their way at mention of her name. Her smile was nothing but warm when she looked at Dagmar's mum. "I'd be more than happy to."

"We could have some fun with it," Dagmar suggested. "I mean, we've still got plenty of time to kill until we have to get serious about dinner."

Daphne considered her with a tilt of the head. "What're you thinking?"

"Duplicate this dress." Dagmar tugged on the hip of the one her mum wore. "Make us twins."

"Ooh!"

Dagmar's mum turned hesitant in contrast to Daphne's excitement. "You don't mind?"

"Mind what?" Dagmar asked.

"Us being made to look alike like that."

"Herregud, Mum. We already do," Dagmar replied. "There's no escaping that. I might as well just embrace it. Besides, I always thought you were beautiful. This is nearly entirely selfish."

That her mum laughed was worth the idea all on its own. Daphne instructed the two of them to sit on the end of the bed so that she could pull the chair over from the desk. Her makeup kit came with it, and the three of them became giggly all over again. Maybe because Dagmar's mum could feel her watching her get her face painted, she kept lapsing into a laughing fit that forced Daphne to stop. Then Daphne would start and have to nip for the toilet again, which got Dagmar going.

"I thought that wasn't supposed to start until much later," Daphne said upon her latest return.

"Wait until after you've had the baby." Dagmar's mum told her. "You'll brace yourself for every sneeze."

"I'm only seventeen weeks along." Daphne picked up the liner she'd been using on Dagmar's eyes. "Could the baby really be that big yet?"

"Big enough," Dagmar replied. "Over half a foot. Eight inches, maybe."

Daphne's gaze softened in a way that made Dagmar reminiscent of her prenatal clinic. She'd nearly forgotten the rush that came with telling a parent-to-be something that invoked such a reaction.

"Already?" Daphne asked with a distinct lack of breath. "I guess it doesn't feel like I've been up the duff long enough for that. There was so much going on when I first missed my period, I didn't even notice. And I've barely started to show. . ."

"Ja, the first trimester is pretty much a write-off for that." Dagmar looked up toward the ceiling as Daphne pulled her bottom eyelid down with her thumb. "So much happens with the baby, but you don't see hardly anything on the outside. It's all going to happen really fast from here on out."

"What's all happened?" Daphne ended up letting off since her hand wasn't steady anymore. "What does the baby look like right now?"

Dagmar hummed. When she was doing her clinic every week, she'd nearly had the entire process from conception to birth committed to memory. She'd seen all stages of it well enough times with enough patients.

"The gender will be defined," Dagmar started with. "It's decided at the beginning, but you'd be able to physically tell. There's a face, heart, fingers and toes. . .I've felt fetuses sucking their thumbs earlier on than this. You should start feeling kicks soon."

Daphne made a strange noise in her throat. She swallowed, lips pressed. "It's so strange that there's something inside of me like that. I get used to the idea, and then I wonder if it can really be happening. Is it normal to wonder if you're really ready? I mean, I've always known it was something Theo and I would do. I didn't expect it this soon, is all. The last period I got was late November, so we know it happened sometime around when we thought you were gone. We were so cocked up between that, and Draco being in Azkaban, and Wes being gone, and Luca being home from school because of his mum, and You-Know-Who supposedly being dead, and we'd rushed back from Australia so we were all out of sorts with the different time zone. . .so it's not like we were trying, but we weren't not trying."

"It happens." Dagmar shrugged.

"When you started that clinic, I got really excited about what it would mean when Theo and I decided we were ready for a baby." Daphne gestured Dagmar closer so that she could get on again with her makeup. "I wanted to be able to know the things you were telling your patients. I have this little thing growing in me, but I don't know hardly anything about it. You know what I mean? Those things are knowable, though. It made my visit to St Mungo's really underwhelming. All I got was a yes, told to expect some cramping, fatigue, and nausea, and then sent on my way with a booklet."

"I wish I could tell you anymore than that right now," Dagmar said with a sigh, gaze on the ceiling again. "It's really not worth the risk, unfortunately."

"Yeah."

"I mean. . ." Dagmar's mum quietly said. "I could."

Dagmar jerked her head back to avoid potentially being jabbed in the eye. She looked at her mum too along with Daphne. It hadn't even occurred to her that her mum had the same abilities she did.

"I wouldn't know as much as Dagmar," she continued in just as hushed a tone. "I'd at least be able to tell you the gender, if that's something you were interested in knowing. And—actually, Dagmar, you could feel it under my touch. Even if Voldemort came around, he wouldn't be able to do anything while you're stymied."

Dagmar's mind raced for any sort of hole in that reasoning. Eventually, she nodded. "You're right."

"I'd love that." Daphne's voice had turned breathy again. "I'd want Theo there, though. It wouldn't be right to do it without him."

"Of course." Dagmar smiled, warm and excited. "When you're done my makeup, I'll hop over to Malfoy Manor and see if he and Draco are back yet."

"I'll go," Dagmar's mum offered, standing.

She came back soon enough, but alone. The boys hadn't returned from their fly over the countryside. Narcissa would send them along once they did. With that on the horizon, the three of them all got serious about getting properly ready for dinner—which just entailed more giggling. That hit its peak when Daphne had done Dagmar and her mum's faces up identically, pulled their hair back in a way that the difference in length wasn't obviously apparent, and then had Lydia duplicate the pink dress. Dagmar hopped into it, fell into a giggling fit when it had to be sized up, and then started laughing so hard she could hardly breathe when she and her mum looked at each other. It'd be eerie if it wasn't funny, so that's what Dagmar opted to go with. She had to be careful not to mess up her makeup as her eyes leaked from the force of it.

It got worse yet when the brief din of male voices preceded a knock on the bedroom door. Dagmar waved at Daphne, the only way she could tell her to get it. Her stomach and cheeks all ached from laughing too much, and she about hit the floor from it all when Draco and Theo looked dumbly between her and her mum. It didn't help when her mum put an arm around her neck, trying to use her to stay upright.

"Surely you must know which one's yours?" Daphne ribbed Draco.

Draco pointed at Dagmar. "I'll go with the one wearing the ring."

"Aw, cheater," Dagmar told him. "Admit it, you panicked for a second."

"Only a second." Draco still looked hard at Dagmar as she approached him, then softened with an arm around his middle. He kissed her cheek. "As if I wouldn't be able to pick you out."

Theo still looked windswept, his hair falling flat. "We were told to come over?"

"I can't believe I never thought of this, but I got my druidic abilities from my mum," Dagmar said. "She's offered to look in on your baby. Because I'm stymied too, Voldemort wouldn't be able to do anything should he come around at a bad time. Mum could help me see everything's going all right, and all that."

The same look of curious longing that Daphne had earlier came over Theo. While he looked at Daphne, them having a silent conversation about whether or not they ought take Dagmar's mum up on the offer, Draco put an arm around Dagmar's shoulders.

"Something to think about is that I'll know the gender before you'd have a chance to tell your parents or anything," Dagmar added. "If you'd rather everyone find out at once, my mum could tell you that much, let you feel the heartbeat, things like that. I could always take a more thorough look later."

"Yeah, maybe." Theo gravitated over to Daphne. "Tonight would be ideal to make any announcements since Henry, Clare, and Astoria are coming. You wouldn't be offended to wait?"

Dagmar shook her head. "Obviously I'd love to be the one to tell you what you're having, but first rights on that information are yours alone."

"That also depends on if you actually want to know what you're having," Dagmar's mum pitched in. "I don't have to tell you if you'd rather it be a surprise. I can just let you feel the heartbeat. That's easy. Only a surface probe."

Theo and Daphne locked eyes for another silent conversation. Dagmar nudged Draco toward the bedroom door. "How about we give you some space so you can decide?"

Lydia caught up with them and closed the door behind her. She carried Heimdall, who jumped down out of her arms with a loud and dramatic grunt. His tail twitched as if he couldn't believe his kip had been interrupted for something so silly. Dagmar touched his side with her foot, offending him further before he sauntered off down the stairs.

"How was your flight with Theo?" Dagmar asked Draco.

"Good. He whinged about trying my Firebolt, then nearly fell off when I let him." Draco leaned against the railing overlooking the foyer. His gaze traveled over Dagmar before his smile edged toward a smirk. "You look ready for tonight."

"Getting there." Dagmar hooked their fingers together. "Makeup and hair, I think are done. I've picked a red dress."

"This one's nice."

"It's the one I wore at my seventeenth birthday dinner."

Draco tilted his head a little as he looked at it anew. "Oh, I wondered if maybe I recognized it. Should I just shower at Malfoy Manor since you three were using the room? Or will you be done soon?"

"We could always just move over to the master when they're done in there."

Now that everyone's freedom had been settled, Dagmar and Draco were more comfortable taking space from the others. They'd moved their things from Draco's room at Malfoy Manor to Dagmar's here on Thursday afternoon while Lucius, Narcissa, and Wes all met with Madam Bones at the Ministry. Wes too had gone home afterward, with great hesitation. Theo and Daphne had grown used to having the house to themselves. It hadn't surprised Dagmar at all that Wes returned to Malfoy Manor on Friday, during which Dagmar heard he'd offered the master at home to the kids. He'd be moving his things into the downstairs guest suite. Dagmar didn't say as much, but she had a feeling it meant Wes didn't intend to spend much time there anymore.

It probably also meant that, should the relationship between Wes and Draco's parents remain solid, the Nott house would end up essentially a marital gift to Theo and Daphne. With a baby on the way, they needed their own space. They needed to start thinking about their own income too. Draco intended to go with Theo on Tuesday after Bellatrix's trial to help him apply for jobs in Diagon Alley.

Dagmar stood up straight when her bedroom door opened. Her mum had a look of quiet pride about her as she waved them in. Daphne still laid at the end of Dagmar's bed, her head and back braced upright with pillows. Theo sat beside her. Both of them wiped at their eyes, Daphne releasing a wet sigh.

"All right?" Dagmar asked as she sat down on Daphne's other side.

"Very," Theo answered. "That's really something else, isn't it?"

"It is."

Dagmar felt another pang for having lost her ability to do that for now—to bring this sort of joy to someone. Behind that, a more selfish form of jealousy trickled into existence as Theo and Daphne looked at each other with that sort of love that could only come after feeling their child's heartbeat. Now that Dagmar only needed to make rid of Voldemort before something like this became possible for her, the ticks of her biological clock started to become audible in the back of her mind. One look at Draco, and Dagmar could tell the exact same happened to him as he took in this moment.

"We know the gender," Theo said. "We're going to tell everyone at dinner tonight."

"Can't wait." Dagmar melted anew for them, her own eyes growing a little heavy at the same time that her heart swelled.

"I ought to run home and shower before that." Theo glanced at his watch.

Since Draco needed to wash up too, Dagmar ushered Daphne and Lydia out along with Theo. Dagmar's mum had no problem with them relocating to the master to finish up, although Dagmar retreated back across the landing once Daphne had redone her makeup to differentiate her from her mum. She'd changed into the off-the-shoulder red bodycon she'd picked, although left her flats by the bed.

Dagmar knocked before letting herself in. Draco was half-decent. He'd gotten as far as into trousers, and was buttoning his shirt next to the closet. His hair remained pushed back from the shower, not yet styled. Draco stopped working on dressing when Dagmar brought him into a hug. He seemed to understand, returning it just as tightly.

"Soon," he said. "Then it'll be us."

Dagmar nodded against his shoulder. "And of course I'm ovulating right now."

Draco snorted, and Dagmar joined in with the laughter to follow. She had to hold a strong line of logic against her heart and hormones. Even when Voldemort was gone, it wasn't like they could just throw their Natalise Potion away and have at it until Dagmar's belly started to swell like Daphne's was. Once this twinge of biology had passed, Dagmar would feel just as eager about things like being able to walk free, go home to Bergen, and return to work at Olaf Kyrre.

Dagmar gave Draco enough room to finish dressing. She lounged on the bed, watching, and sought out her flats when Draco headed into the bathroom to deal with his hair. It had grown too long for a proper quiff, but Draco went for one anyway. Some loose strands hung loose at the side. The laidback nature of it complemented the day's worth of stubble he'd left. As much as Dagmar liked it, she could already see Lucius' disapproving glance-over.

"You know what's funny?" Dagmar used her hands as a bolster between her back and the doorframe, bouncing slightly off it. "My first instinct every time you do your hair all proper is to ruin it."

"Oh, I've noticed." Draco glanced at her. "And you're restraining yourself right this second, aren't you?"

Dagmar squeezed her hands together. "Mhm."

"Come here."

Draco kept his voice low to stave off the bathroom's echo. That turned it husky, which sapped the placid smile off Dagmar's face. She swallowed back some excess saliva that cropped up, drawn in as much by his gaze as the hand he held out for her. Her heart picked up when her lower back ended up pressed against the vanity.

Dagmar touched the sides of Draco's waist before his mouth settled deliberately with hers. The silence broke only with an intake of breath before their lips quietly smacked. Colour seeped up into Dagmar's cheeks under the warmth of Draco's gaze. His pupils were slightly enlarged, although not enough for the black to completely encompass his grey irises. As they stood there, Dagmar started to feel as though every other woman on the planet ceased to exist.

"You're beautiful," Draco told her.

Dagmar grinned, her face warmer yet. "Thank you."

"And I am so glad you're mine."

Face glowing, Dagmar pulled him back in. She held his jaw to keep him from moving away again. Dagmar remembered before they got engaged how her left ring finger used to feel empty without something on there. She started to feel that way again, this time about Draco's. They really could get married at pretty much anytime. It would create no issues as far as Voldemort was concerned. There was no risk or anything like that. Like having kids though, this thought proved intrusive against logic. Dagmar and Draco had agreed to wait.

That didn't mean Dagmar had to be patient. When they'd broken apart again, their lips swollen and sensitive, Dagmar sought out Draco's left hand. She ran her fingertips over where his wedding band would go. She held Draco's gaze, watching as understanding quickly dawned over him. Dagmar grinned anew when Draco's forehead found her shoulder in familiar exasperation.

"Soon," Dagmar whispered into his ear.

He nodded. Dagmar brought him into a tighter embrace, holding him about the shoulders and running her fingers through the hair at the back of his head. She wished they had the time or opportunity to slink over toward the bed with each other, but they didn't. The sound of footsteps entering Dagmar's room emphasized that.

"Dagmar?" It was Daphne.

"In here," Dagmar called. She untangled herself from Draco with a swift kiss to his cheek. "Just harassing Draco while he tries to get ready."

"As one does with their fiancé," Daphne sagely replied when Dagmar stepped out of the bathroom.

They got giggly again on their way downstairs. Dagmar wanted to wait for Draco, so her mum and Daphne ended up lingering as well in the great room. Daphne had an entirely new glow about her, which seemed to grow every time she touched her stomach. The dress had been sized properly for the higher waistline to create an emphasizing drape off her bump. Whenever Daphne ran her hand along the bottom of it, the silky material hugged her stomach in a flattering manner. Dagmar's mum opted for green. Although Daphne had done their makeup differently to distinguish Dagmar and her mum as two distinct people, Dagmar's mum still looked like she'd lost about ten years in age. A fun, carefree afternoon had certainly helped.

Draco appeared on the landing above, so Dagmar's mum headed over to Malfoy Manor. Daphne followed her. Dagmar waited for Draco and squeezed his hand before stepping up to the fireplace. A crack sounded behind her at the same time the floo took her, and Lydia already stood in Malfoy Manor's great room when Dagmar arrived there.

It was bigger than when Dagmar last saw it. Narcissa had mentioned something about letting the house out a bit in prospect of hosting more company than they had been lately. It made for a bit of echo as everyone visited in small groups. Dagmar's mum already joined Narcissa where she stood with Clare Greengrass and Andie. Daphne had found Theo and Astoria. Dagmar headed toward them, forgetting to brace herself for Astoria to possibly give her a wary look because of Voldemort. She didn't, which was nice.

"Good to see you," Astoria said instead. "All right?"

"Oh, you should've come this afternoon!" Dagmar realized far too late that she could've extended the invitation beyond Daphne. "We had so much fun."

Astoria just shrugged, and then Draco caught up so the topic turned to Daphne and Theo's intention to announce their baby's gender once the older men returned from the terrace. Lucius, Wes, Henry, and Ted had barely made any progress on their cigars when Dagmar was close enough to the window to see them. Dagmar floated over to her mum's group to say hello. She asked Andie where Tonks was just as Tonks showed up through the fireplace.

Dagmar nudged her with an elbow when she came over. "You clean up pretty nicely."

Tonks twirled the skirt of her dress in an exaggerated manner. Andie clicked her tongue at Tonks before she and Dagmar headed back over to their age group. The terrace doors opened then, and the full smell of rich tobacco followed the four older men back inside. Daphne flushed from a combination of nerves and excitement, while Theo grounded himself by taking her hand. The room trended toward quiet as gazes kept flicking over toward the two of them.

Lucius dipped his head between theirs. "Shall I call for quiet?"

"We're ready, if you would," Theo replied.

Lucius didn't really need to. Him coming over seemed to be the sign everyone needed to fall into a hush. Daphne glowed red again, shifting under so much attention, although Theo seemed comfortable with it.

"Well, we found out what we're having," Theo said. He looked at Daphne, seeing if she wanted to say, but she nudged him on. "A girl."

A wave of grins passed through the room with a collective coo. Dagmar's chest swelled anew with happiness, doubling in intensity when Astoria hugged Daphne so tightly it might border on painful. Clare furtively wiped at her eyes, and Henry kissed the side of Daphne's head when he took her in his arms after Astoria let her go. Wes followed after he released Theo. While they all adjusted to the idea their grandchild was in fact going to be a granddaughter, Dagmar started thinking about a niece rather than nibling. She had a weird impulse to try and make herself toss, as if that was all that was necessary to get rid of Voldemort. She wanted him out. Dagmar would lose her mind a little if she couldn't hold the baby when she was born.

Dagmar ended up close to her mum as the room returned to its previous hubbub.

Her mum leaned close to her ear. "I see why you'd make a career out of that. It's fun."

"Not always." Dagmar thought about the women she'd had to break bad news to—that a pregnancy hadn't taken yet again, or had been lost, or wasn't viable. "These are definitely the highlights. Did the baby seem healthy?"

"As far as I can tell." Her mum shrugged. "I've only ever had healthy pregnancies, so I wouldn't know any different. It made me a little nostalgic. It's a little hard to believe I'll never carry again."

Dagmar softened as her mum's mouth twisted on that sentiment. She put an arm around hers. "You'll be a grandmum one day, though. Don't you think that'll be more exciting? No strops to deal with, and you can just hand the kid back to me or Draco if they start crying."

"It'll be different, that's for sure." Her mum studied her. "You and Draco have decided on kids, then?"

Dagmar's cheeks flushed a little as she nodded. She toyed with her flute of champagne—the real stuff, now. "We're not sure when. We had a timeline for maybe in three or four years. I wanted one by twenty-five, for sure. Now, it's hard to say. We're both hurting for one as soon as possible, but we don't know when that'll be either. I want to get on with my career, and that takes time with schooling. . ."

"I took for granted never having to make that decision before we came into the wizarding world." Her mum chuckled. "Even then, I didn't have to choose. It was nice. I just found work that accommodated my little one. Do you think Olaf Kyrre would do the same? Obviously they can't expect you'd never have a life outside of the hospital."

"No," Dagmar agreed, then paused. "I don't know, am I just thinking like this because of everything we've been through? Because Daphne has it? Because we can't right now, but it feels like otherwise we have nothing else going on to stop us?"

"I'm not the right person to ask that. I was younger than you are now when I had you."

Dagmar nodded slowly, for she had done the math before. If she had followed completely in her mum's footsteps, she would've become a mum around the time Bellatrix and Voldemort showed up in Bergen.

"What we are could have something to do with you feeling the want too," her mum mused after taking a sip of champagne. "It's been different for me, this life cycle. My body used to wind down, ready to go, but it's not now. Maybe yours is different too. I don't think you ever felt those sorts of biological urges before. I was always the mum, you my little girl."

"I'll always be your little girl."

Her mum softened. "Ja, you will be."

Dagmar migrated away from her mum with more yet on her mind. She hadn't factored the biology specific to her and her mum into the entire equation about her eventual motherhood. It left her feeling a little frazzled and unnerved, especially whenever she either stood too close to Draco or made eye contact with him from across the room. Maybe Dagmar had underestimated just how strong biology could be.

She certainly didn't right now. The first lick of arousal had passed through her while she and Draco were alone in their bathroom, and it only got worse. Dagmar wanted more than anything to ask Draco for a quick word in private so that she could snog him senseless.

Dagmar had to settle down when they all sat to eat in the dining room. Her mouth salivated again as the serving dishes along the table began to fill. Dagmar had tried to eat as little as possible today in anticipation for this meal. All sorts of eggs were available. Dagmar took a bit of each, heavy on the filled ones. The mashed potatoes were so creamy she considered skipping the carrots, beets, spinach, and every other vegetable on offer for more. She couldn't decide between lamb or ham, so dished both. She hardly had room on her plate for fresh buttered bread, but managed to find a spot.

Her eyes were certainly larger than her stomach. Dagmar's plate had barely gone below half-capacity when she started to slow. The glass of wine closest to her garnered some attention, and she rested her hand on top of Draco's while poking at her sides.

Draco chatted with Astoria across from him about Quidditch, and Dagmar's mum on her other side had turned away toward Narcissa. Since Daphne's head inclined toward Theo across the table, Dagmar decided to make a solid go at finishing at least her spinach.

She had a forkful halfway to her mouth when a blooming sensation flowered out from the back of her mind. Dagmar hesitated, unsure that it could really be Voldemort. When she tried to lift her head—or even her gaze to catch either Draco or Lydia's eye, she found she couldn't. The creamed spinach reached Dagmar's mouth regardless, but it was Voldemort who chewed it.

What's this? he asked inside Dagmar's mind. A little celebratory dinner?

Dagmar hesitated. Easter Sunday.

Ah.

Voldemort kept on as Dagmar had been, gaze down and idly eating. Her heart picked up a little as sidelong gazes took in the situation more fully. Dagmar started to grow nervous.

Nobody's missing, Voldemort said. Even Lucius avoided Azkaban? I'm impressed.

He basically traded his magic for it, Dagmar replied. Madam Bones is putting him to work. Whenever she finds a new Head of Magical Enforcement, Lucius will be acting as their consultant.

Ah, a good fit. He'll certainly offer some insight to how the Death Eaters functioned. That's the point, isn't it? It's not just my followers they've rooted out. They want the ideology gone too.

Naturally, Dagmar hesitated to confirm. She didn't know what Voldemort angled at by asking—or if he just wanted to keep up on the situation.

Have any of the Death Eaters been sentenced yet? Voldemort asked.

No. It starts with Bellatrix on Tuesday.

I see.

Voldemort went quiet with thought. Dagmar half-expected she might regain control of her body as he receded. A giddy feeling rose instead from Dagmar's chest. Voldemort pinched their cheeks against a smile, which was easier to hide when he chewed. Under the table, Draco's fingertips gravitated toward Dagmar's inner thigh. Voldemort glanced down at Draco's arm, then at the knife laid beside Dagmar's plate.

Don't you dare, Dagmar told him.

I don't much care to be touched like that, Voldemort replied with a note of humour.

Come on, Dagmar said. He doesn't realize it's you. Guarantee he would stop if he did. Either go away or make yourself known. This isn't a place for you.

Of course it isn't. I'd be at the head of the table, otherwise.

If Dagmar had control of her heart, it would be pounding nearly out of her chest. She would be sweating, and her breathing would've gone rapid. Instead, she felt Voldemort's glee as he mulled over the freedoms afforded to him in this moment. Dagmar wished she could close her eyes. Something was going to happen, she already knew it. Couldn't someone notice? Try to talk to her? Anything?

Voldemort poked a slice of ham with their fork and reached for the knife. After cutting a piece off, Voldemort set the fork down. He reached up then with their left hand and clutched Dagmar's mum's hair. He wrenched her head back and drove the knife as deep in as he could while running it across her neck.

Lucius gasped, Narcissa screamed, blood spurted across the table and food. Theo yelled and stood while Daphne's eyes widened. Her lips parted, then her face drained of colour when her gaze met Dagmar's. Astoria screamed next, Dagmar's mum made a horrible gurgling noise, Draco pulled his hand away from Dagmar, and then—finally—a burst of red light saved Dagmar from having to see anymore.