Chapter Two, The Problem
"You had a bad day,
You're taking one down.
You sing a sad song just to turn it around.
You say you don't know,
You tell me don't lie.
You work at a smile and you go for a ride.
You had a bad day,
The camera don't lie,
You're coming back down and you really don't mind.
You had a bad day..." -'Bad Day', Daniel Powter
Mia was scrubbing down the counters when Emma nonchalantly took her place on a bar stool. She smiled at the little girl. It was amazing how much like her father she was. Mia thought about how odd it was that an eleven year old girl could walk with such an air of nonchalance, such a casual nature - that's how Mia knew something was up. So she pulled a chair up behind the counter and sat across from the little girl, who had grown so much over the last year.
"May I help you?" Mia asked jokingly. Emma giggled and looked up at her with curious eyes.
"What's Hogwarts?" She asked casually. Mia looked at her with puzzled eyes - for a forty-something single mother who was supposed to know everthing, this one question threw her off a bit. "Is that where Mom and Dad came from?" Emma continued.
"Em, I'm sorry, babe, but I don't really know. All I know is that your Mom and Dad came from England."
"Why'd they leave?" Emma pressed, Mia shifted uncomfortably.
"Shouldn't you be asking them this?" She suggested, "I'm sure they know more about it than I do." --'Which is nothing', Mia finished in her head.
"Aunt Mia, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, sweetie, what is it?"
"What are Squibs?" Mia looked at her goddaughter in confusion.
"Squibs?" She repeated, confused. Emma just nodded enthusiastically,
"And Muggles?" She added. Mia looked at her as if she were crazy - Emma had never been one to make up words, imaginary friends - she was always the down-to-earth twin. Damon was the one you needed to watch for idealism.
"Where did you hear those words, Emma?" Mia asked. Emma just looked up at her innocently.
"Me and Damon...were talking and he said them." She said seriously. Mia took notice of her pause, and put her hands on her hips.
"Were you eavesdropping again?" Emma's eybrows shot up and she put her hand in the air, as if swearing on something.
"No! I promise!" She said.
"And if I ask your parents...?" Mia began, looking at the little girl sternly.
"Ask her parents what?" Came a voice from behind them both. Emma's face dropped and froze in mute horror, as Mia turned around to see a very unhappy blonde man staring at her. Mia looked at Emma's expression, but it had been wiped from her face, replaced with a sweet smile.
"Nothing, Dad." She chirped, jumping down from the bar stool and running out of the diner. "I'm going to find Damon!" She called behind her. Mia looked from the little girl to her father and back again, confused as to what was going on. Then she heard the bells on the door jingle as Ginny walked in.
"I just passed Emma, she was running away, saying something about Damon..." Ginny said confusedly.
"Yeah," Mia answered, "She said she was going to find him." Ginny nodded in understanding, but when Mia looked back at Draco, he looked very...unhappy.
"Ask her parents what?" He demanded.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked, coming up next to Mia. Mia sighed,
"She came in here asking about you two, and where you'd come from - mentioned something about...I dunno, I think she called it 'Hogwarts' or something." At that word, Ginny's eyes went wide and her face flushed. "Then she started asking about...I dunno, words I think she made up." Mia finished, shrugging.
"What words?" Draco demanded, obviously trying to control his temper. Ginny had moved next to him and was gripping his sleeve.
"Umm...'Squibs' and 'Muggles'." She said, and she may not have known what the two words meant, but her suspicions were confirmed - Emma had been eavesdropping. "I asked her if she'd been eavesdropping, and she said she hadn't."
"She lied." Draco said dryly, looking out the window in the direction the little girl had run off in.
"So she didn't make those words up?" Mia asked, now more confused than ever.
"Of course she did." Draco said stiffly.
"Draco..." Ginny chided softly. Mia gave him a dry look,
"Now who's the liar?"
"She gets it from him, I swear." Ginny said before turning back to him. "We might as well tell her."
"No." Draco said firmly.
"You're being ridiculous!" Ginny cried. Mia decided it was best she not intrude on this...squabble of sorts, so she busied herself with refills for everyone. She took a few orders, filled a few cups, and then saw Ginny setting up teacups at their table towards the back. There were three cups, so Mia just assumed she was invited.
"So what's going on?" She asked Ginny quietly as she sat down. Ginny looked tired, like she hadn't slept all night. "Gin, what happened?"
"Let's just...wait for Draco to get back..." They waited for a few minutes, but Draco didn't show up. "Prat." Ginny muttered, before turning to Mia.
"Are you alright?" Mia asked seriously.
"I suppose so...the kids...got their letters yesterday. From the same school Draco and I went to."
"I still think this is a bad idea." Came Draco's voice from the door to the kitchen, as he practically dropped the plate of breakfast foods on the table and sat down grumpily.
"Draco!" Ginny cried, "This is Mia for Pete's sake! She can help!"
"She doesn't understand!" He shot back. Mia just watched them go back and forth - she'd become accustomed to their bickering, but there was something deeper this time - a deeper level of bitterness and fear that just tensed up the atmosphere, making her feel like she didn't belong.
"She can understand, though, Draco. Come on! You still have your wand, just modify her memory if it doesn't work!" Ginny hissed under her breath. Mia couldn't help but chuckle, which earned her a glare from Draco, who propmtly turned back.
"Yeah. I haven't used it in twelve years, and the first thing you want me to do is modify her memory? That's a brilliant idea, Red, really. Have the Nobel people heard about you?" He sneered angrily.
"Alright, knock it off, the both of you." Mia said firmly, realizing that they needed a mediator. "What's going on here?" Both Draco and Ginny just sighed sadly, and stared into their now full cups of tea.
"Like I said," Ginny began softly, "Damon and Emma got their letters yesterday. For school."
"But don't you have to apply to get accepted into a boarding school?" Mia asked. Draco glowered, but Ginny just stirred her tea.
"Not...not this one..."
"I don't understand why this is such a big deal. If you don't want them to go there, then don't send them there. The middle schools here aren't too bad - look at Mike." Ginny put her head in her hands, and rubbed her forehead.
"That's where 'Muggles' comes in." She said quietly.
"Excuse me?" Mia was still convinced it was a made up word, but hearing Ginny use it made it seem...more real.
"Muggles are nonmagical people." Ginny said seriously, looking at her friend for a reaction. She got one out of her husband, though, who stood up and angrily pushed open the door to the kitchen. "You can be mad about it all you want, Draco Malfoy, but we need her help!" Ginny yelled just as angrily. Mia would have laughed if they weren't both so upset about this. Not even when Julia was born a month prematurely did they both seem so hopeless.
"Nonmagical people?" Mia asked confusedly, trying not to smile.
"Witches and wizards and magic...it's all real, Mia." Ginny said seriously. Mia couldn't help but laugh a little when Ginny said that, it was just too...ridiculous.
"Yeah right," she giggled. When she looked at Ginny, though, she saw sincere and sad eyes. When she finally sobered up and realized Ginny wasn't kidding, she continued. "Like, Glinda and Merlin sorts of witches and wizards?" Ginny smiled at the references.
"Actually...Merlin was real," she said, unsure of what else to do. Mia just looked at her like she was crazy.
"Right...and so Emma's a witch, and Damon's a wizard? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Mia said with a smile.
"Stop acting like this is so ridiculous." Draco snapped, causing both girls to realize he was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He strode back over to the table and sat down, staring Mia in the face. "If you don't want to believe us, that's fine, I don't care --"
"Knock it off." Mia spat seriously. She hated when Draco got on his self-righteous tirades. Turning bak to Ginny, she continued. "I still don't understand what's going on."
"Draco and I...we are from England, but...we're, well...from very well-known families." Draco sneered at her, "You stop it!" Ginny spat. "Stop it now! Just because you're a stupid Malfoy...that doesn't mean anything here! Nothing! Stop acting like your stupid father!" She yelled at him. Draco's eyes flashed furiously, and that was it. He stormed out of the diner, knocking his chair over as he stood up. As Ginny watched him, a tear rolled down her cheek. "God, he is such aprat sometimes!" She said, wiping the tear away. Mia was beyond confused at this point.
It took a few minutes, and a handful of deep breaths for Ginny to speak again. Mia was beginning to get really worried about her. She'd never seen Ginny act so...not in control. It was almost scary. Ginny was one of the most collected people Mia knew, even if she did lose her head sometimes, she never cried like this.
"He can be such a stupid prat..." She spat viciously.
"Hey, calm down now," Mia finally felt her interjections would be appropriate, and she did her best to quell the situation. "I don't understand..." Ginny took a deep breath and glared at her cup of tea.
After an hour of back and forth questions and answers, Mia finally understood, even almost believed Ginny. She knew that Ginny wouldn't lie about this, mostly because of Ginny's attitude and Draco's anger. He was starting to act like Holden again - the guy she'd met that day, twelve years ago, who'd thrown a hissy fit about Chicken Noodle Soup.
So now that she finally understood about the War, magical people, wizarding schools and an entire hidden world, she had to figure out what the problem was.
"So what's the problem?" she asked. Ginny sighed heavily.
"The problem is, twelve years ago, Draco and I disappeared. No one knew we were together...hell, no one knew we could even tolerate one another. No real goodbyes, and no way of finding us. We left our families, our homes, our entire world behind --"
"What made you do it?" Mia asked curiously. Ginny looked sadly out the window, as if she were trying not to look at Mia on purpose.
"It was...we were so young. So many people were dying...and he...I..." Ginny sighed and looked down at the table. "You remember how I told you my hair was naturally this way?" Ginny asked softly, twirling a long strand of white between her fingers. Mia nodded. "It's not."
"What?"
"My hair was never white. Not before that spring." Ginny said quietly, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I don't get it." Mia said honestly.
"There's a spell that tortures people..."
"You were...tortured?" Mia gasped softly.
"I was stupid, is what I was." Ginny stated matter-of-factly. "Anyway, that's how that came to be, and it caused a huge row between me and Draco, and then he disappeared..."
"Where'd he go?" Mia asked, almost on the edge of her seat.
"I don't know...he never told me. But he disappeared, and then when he came back he broke up with me...and then one day...he just...asked me to leave with him. The killing, the fighting, the...everything was just too much. So I did." Ginny paused and looked at Mia's enthralled face, and Mia tried to wrap her mind around all the new information she was getting. "So you see," Ginny continued, "Why it's a bit difficult for us to...go back there."
"Well, surely the War's over."
"Oh, it's got to be. It's just that...we left everything. We haven't been in contact with anyone in twelve years...I don't even think anyone knows we're together." Ginny emphasized.
"How could they not know you two are together?" Mia asked amusedly. She'd always found Ginny and Draco to be an oddly perfect couple. They had their fights, arguements, disagreements, but there was something about them that just fit. And it was almost painfully obvious.
"You don't understand," Ginny said seriously, "his father tried to kill me. Our families have been rivals since before I was born. He was rich and I was poor, he was a Slytherin and I was a Gryffindor, he was a Seeker and I was a Chaser - we had less than nothing in common." Mia decided to let the words she didn't know slide, she was too perplexed by the fact that apparently she was the first person in the world to find out about their relationship.
"That's so Romeo and Juliet," Mia sighed. Forbidden romance, lost love, dangerous undertakings to be with your true love...
The two women sat in silence for a few minutes.
"We could send them to school in Massachusettes, but...well, they'd hear about the War, and about...our families. My family. And...well, people would find out about them..." Ginny's voice was wavering, she apparently didn't realize what was obvious to Mia.
"Well you know what you have to do, right?" Mia prodded.
"No, Mia," Ginny huffed, almost angrily, "What do we have to do?"
"You have to go back." She said softly. Ginny visibly deflated and sunk back into her seat.
"I was afraid you'd say that." They sat there for a few more minutes before Mia heard someone else call her name, and she had to get up to go hand out refills and take more orders. As she stood up, she looked down at her friend.
"Gin, it'll be ok." Mia said softly. "I can't imagine what you're going through, or what they're going through, but Damon and Emma deserve this."
"I know, I know..." Ginny muttered.
"Just ease your mind, have a banana or two." Mia quoted with a cheeky smile.
"You know, I've known you for over a decade, and I still don't know what you're on about..." Ginny said confusedly. Mia just smiled and wandered off to help the other customers.
Ginny left a little while later, and Mia stuck around. She was trying to wrap her head around all the information she'd gotten, everything Ginny had told her.
It was ridiculous, is what it was. Utterly absurd. So then why was Gin so scared? Why was Draco so angry? They both had a tendency towards some sort of passionate response - anger, love, happiness - neither of them were indifferent people. But they were so scared under it all, it was difficult to grasp.
Draco came in a few hours later looking defeated. Mia had seen Draco look a lot of different ways, but 'defeated' was not ever one of them. It was a disconcerting experience...seeing him look like that. So Mia decided she should talk to him. Michael was probably still out with his old high school friends, or at Gin's, so she might as well not go home. That, and trusting customers to an angry Draco was like giving a snake a mouse and saying 'here, make friends and be happy'.
"So when are you guys going back?" Mia asked quietly. Draco's shoulders slumped.
"I don't know." He muttered.
"But you are going back?" She pushed.
"Look, Mia," he spat, looking at her viciously, "I really don't want to talk about this right now. It's a bad time and a bad subject. Drop it." She stood up straighter, and didn't back down.
"Damon and Emma deserve--"
"You." He started seriously, glaring at her in a way he'd never done before. She gulped and almost cowered. "Do not understand what you're talking about. Red. Does not understand what she's talking about. The kids. Do not. Understand. This is something I need to figure out." Mia got confused - surely Ginny understood the gravity of the situation.
"They at least deserve to know." Mia said quietly, scared of the murderous look in Draco's eyes.
"You don't get it, do you." He said nonchalantly, but seriously. "You don't understand what was happening back then, back there. I almost killed the Headmaster of the school, Mia, that was my job. To murder him." Mia could feel the color drain from her face as she gasped quietly. Draco just shook his head. "I didn't, but I was supposed to. Times were dark, times have changed, it's all well and good now," he said mockingly, "but old wounds don't always heal that easily. You can't. Understand. Where I'm coming from." Mia took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She wanted to say something, try and lighten the situation, but she didn't know what.
So she let him be. Ginny would bring him around, and if she couldn't...well, then it would be a hard summer, and an even harder fall for all of them.
After a few hours, Mia decided she'd close up. She entered the kitchen warily and approached Draco.
"You know I just want what's best for all of you, right?" She asked cautiously, hoping that he wouldn't blow up at her again. He sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"I know. And thank you." He turned to face her, and she saw the same defeated look she'd seen when he came, "You've been more than generous to us over the years,"
"It's the least I can do," Mia interjected. She knew she hadn't had to take Draco and Ginny in, but Gin had looked so scared and frail. Mia knew now that that wasn't like her at all, which made her all the more glad she'd gotten to know her that day. Draco just shook his head,
"It was too much, but it all worked out in the end --"
"All's well that ends well," she interrupted. He smiled tiredly and shook his head. She couldn't help it. She just couldn't - so she moved a few feet closer and gave him a hug. He hugged her back, and she just held on for a moment. She may be middle-aged, but she knew when someone needed a hug. When she pulled back, she looked him in the eye.
"You know what they say - Everything's ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end."