Night Thoughts
[1]
When Albus screamed, Ria was the one to enter his bedroom.
When she came back out, her husband wasn't in the master bedroom. Every time something like this happened, he took a guarded stroll around the house. He didn't say, but she thought he was worried Albus' dreams were possibly warnings of something else happening. This had nothing to do with horcruxes or scars or visions, but was something even more fundamental than that. He called them "telephone calls from nowhere."
She found him in the living room, peering through one of the windows. As she watched, he moved to another one, and peered through that too.
At first she thought he wasn't aware of her. Then: "Ria."
"Yes Harry?"
"Another nightmare?"
"Yeah. The third one this month"
He moved away from the door. "My turn next time."
"If you want." Ria said. "I don't mind doing it again."
He looked at her with false hurt. "You always let me have a turn."
She made a face at him. "Maybe I don't want to anymore. Maybe I've become a possessive shrew."
Harry puts his hands to his chest, as if struck with a bullet. "After all these years?"
She swept her hands dramatically. "I shall have all the kids. I shall have all the kittens. I shall have all the pies."
They shared light-hearted laughter and went back to bed. Once under the covers, they kissed, then snuggled.
"Delphi didn't mail us today." he said.
"She forgets, Harry."
"Well, she needs to remember." Harry said shortly. "Every Monday. That's what she promised."
"That's what you made her promise."
"I know." he said. He supposed something a comment like that would make other fathers feel guilty but not him. She was his firstborn.
"I know you worry about her." Ria said.
"Of course I do." he said. "Delphi's constantly getting into fights and I don't like that."
"She believes in equality. She's fighting bullies Harry. She's Hufflepuff. That's what they do."
"She needs to learn that it's not just up to her to fight bullies alone."
"I did that too, remember?"
"Yes, dear, I do. But Hogwarts was different back then. Nowadays calling someone a 'mudblood' is a month of detention. I talked to Minerva and made sure of that. But instead of telling a teacher or her headmaster, Delphi just takes matters into her own hands."
Ria frowned and said nothing.
[2]
When Ria walked into the headmistress' office, she was alone. Minerva McGonagall had wanted to speak with both parents; that way there would be no chance of anything being lost in translation from one ear to another. But Harry was away.
There were four ornate chairs in front of the large desk. McGonagall sat on the far side of it with a stack of papers in front of her.
The left seat was empty. Ria went to it and sat down without a word. She did spare a glance to the right. On the far seat was a plump and irate looking woman with a head of grey hair.
The third seat had a girl about her daughter's age, maybe a year or two older. She was Tracie Turngate. She had to be. She fit the description in Delphi's angry letters—at least the special ones that she sent to Ria: blonde hair, blue eyes, quite big for her age. Her uniform—they'd gotten rid of the robes and had more traditional school uniforms—had red trim and the lion on it. Uh-oh.
Ria's own daughter sat in the second seat. Delphi Potter had a relatively plain face that she wasn't very proud of. She timidly asked Harry one day if she could start wearing makeup. It was one of the few times Harry had seen her timid about anything. He hadn't gotten angry. Not even a little bit, which Ria had expected. He had just laughed at her, which Delphi told Ria was actually worse. Like she was an idiot. Her hair was as brown as her mother's, and as short and messy as her father's.
She had a swollen lip and a bandage on her. Some blood had gotten on a piece of the yellow trim and made it the color of puke. The badger was unblemished. Whether the blood was hers or Tracie's remained to be seen. Other than that she looked fine.
The same couldn't be said for this girl who was probably Tracie. She didn't know how much time Pomfrey had with her before McGonagall called her in, but it wasn't enough. Her nose had been broken and had a bandage around it to stop the bleeding. Both eyes were faded black and she had bruises all over her face and both lips were still noticeably swelled.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Potter." McGonagall said. "I take it you received my Howler."
"Yes headmistress."
It was funny to say that word, at least in association with McGonagall.
"I was hoping you would have notified Mr. Potter."
"My husband is on assignment in Ireland."
"Pity, that. I trust that you will inform him of your daughter's actions when he returns?"
"I will indeed." Ria turned to face her daughter, whom stared straight ahead. "And I can guarantee you he will not be pleased about this."
"Now to the matter at hand. Ms. Potter and Ms. Turngate had an altercation in near the lake and—"
"She beat the shit out of my precious angel!" the mother shrieked.
"Mrs. Turngate, I will ask that you do not use vulgarity in this office."
"I'll tell you how this so-called 'fight' started." Mrs. Turngate said through clenched teeth. "My angel was sitting down by that tree, minding her own damn business, when your little harpy came up to her and said that my daughter looks like Rita Skeeter...in a negative way."
"Who's Rita Skeeter?" Ria asked innocently.
"YOU KNOW WHO RITA SKEETER IS!"
"Sharon!" McGonagall yelled suddenly, making them all jump. "Control your volume or I have you removed from this office!"
Awkward silence.
After that Sharon Turngate gave the rest of her story...which was exactly that. The precious Tracie was frolicking daintily, eating her curds and whey, and Delphi the brat, took up a bat and smashed her right in the face.
Ria didn't think she'd be able to stomach it, but stomach it she did.
"Is that true?" she asked finally.
"No ma'am." Delphi said.
"Spare me the 'ma'am' crap Delphini."
"No, mom, it isn't true."
Sharon Turngate looked offended. She tensed up and Ria put her hand on her wand.
"What so I'm a liar now?! Is that it?! Is that what you're saying you little—"
"No." Delphi said, and somehow her calm voice cut right through Sharon's shrill ranting and could be heard clearly. "You aren't lying. But Tracie is."
Mrs. Turngate couldn't form words. Her mouth flexed uselessly.
"I...you...dare...what..."
Delphi's voice was rock steady: "And that's a real shame."
Then she sighed, as if show how shameful it was.
"Because a good daughter wouldn't lie to her mother."
At that Sharon Turngate stood up, her face strangely blank. Ria stood up. The former's wand came out. McGonagall wordlessly disarmed her. Ria was too slow on the draw, but it didn't matter, because she was disarmed too.
McGonagall let Mrs. Turngate know the Aurors would be notified of her drawing a wand on a child. Turngate sobbed loudly, making Ria roll her eyes.
When that was done Delphi gave her side of the story.
"What really happened?" Ria asked. They were outside now. "You've told me the whole truth?"
"It's like I said mom." Delphi said.
"It better be." Ria said quietly.
Delphi dropped her gaze.
"It is true. Tracie called Dayako a m-m...a mud—"
She couldn't finish the sentence. Nor should she have. Gryffindors like Tracie were supposed to know better.
"Then what did she do?"
She already knew the summary as McGonagall had already talked to kids who had witnessed it. But Ria wanted her daughter's words. All of them.
"She started beating Dayako up." Delphi's face was a miserable grimace. "Dayako was crying at first. Then she was screaming. And that fat bitch just kept doing it."
Tears ran down her daughter's face and Ria remarked at how young she looked when she cried. She was thirteen years old but now she seemed like an infant—innocent and unknowing, with tears and screaming as her only defense against an alien world.
"I fucking hate her." Delphi wiped her face.
"Watch your mouth." Ria said, glancing around to see if anyone had heard. It seemed like nobody had, so she really didn't care.
Delphi stared up at her, jaw clenched, nose flaring. Now her gaze didn't waver at all. It might have been a challenge. But it wasn't. It was expectation.
"This won't last forever." Ria said.
"You promise?" Delphi asked.
"Remember what I said?"
"The Muggle-borns..."
"Yes."
"They are the key to helping the Muggles."
"Yes."
"They are the bridge." Delphi said. Her sobbing had dried up.
"To what?"
"Magic for everyone."
A playful smile spread across Ria's face. "You mean not just the people of England? Or Sweden?"
Delphi shook her head.
Delphi shook her head. She was smirking faintly now.
"Or Narnia or Yuktobania or Silent Hill?"
"Nope!" Delphi said began to giggle. Ria thought there was no sight on the planet as lovely as her daughter smiling. "Everyone!"
"And why is that?" Ria asked.
"Because everyone can do magic!"
Ria hugged her.
[3]
Of course, she'd still had to tell Harry. Tell him how pissed off she was at Delphi's behavior. Ria had punished her accordingly, in front of Harry. But Delphi hadn't cried much at all during that. Ria was so proud of her.
Now in the bedroom Harry said: "I'm worried about James too. He's got a mean streak and I don't like that either."
"Your father had a mean streak too." Ria objected. "He got better."
"I know, and so did Draco and Blaise. But Goyle and Crabbe, they didn't."
"Their parents were complete assholes."
A soft sigh from Harry.
"What I'm trying to say, Ria, is we need to watch him. I sometimes wonder if that boy thinks he's better than other people just because he's James Potter. He isn't. He needs to figure that out sooner rather than later."
"I agree." Ria said, her voice suddenly cold. "He picks on Al a lot and I don't like that."
"That reminds me, what did Al dream about? Did he say?"
"No."
"He didn't say anything?"
"Nothing at all. He went right back to sleep. He probably doesn't even remember what it was about."
There was long pause. Much too long.
He didn't believe her.
After all this. Everything they'd been through. Everything they'd done for each other. After the dates. After ten years of marriage and three kids he still didn't believe her when she said something.
She wanted to jump from the bed, snatch her wand off the stand and start cursing him before he could even react.
Then her anger subsided, replaced by confusion and disgust.
This anger...
...where did it come from? Why was it always so close even after all these years with him?
Then, Harry's voice, a whisper: "I hope he gets better."
"He will."
"Night, Ria."
"Night, Harry."
"Love you."
"Love you too."
But she was just mouthing the words. He put his arms around her, as he always did when she wasn't sick—then she wouldn't let him—and that made her feel better, but not much. She felt guilty.
Time spun out away from her. She laid awake in the dark.
She was thinking of things.
(who are you what is this place)
She was thinking of a lot of things.
(you would never hurt daddy would you)
Eventually, she heard the light snoring of her husband. He unconsciously snuggled closer to her, and she felt a rush of warmth. Because she did love him. He was sweet and honest and cared about justice. That made keeping secrets from him so difficult. Because she cared about justice too.
Astoria Potter wondered how that experiment was going.
She would check tomorrow.
[4]
Delphi dreamed that night too. Hers was not as vivid, nor did she remember anything about it at all the next day. But as she slept, her hands shifted across her torso, her fists closing and opening; as if she was struggling against demons that had already seized her forever.
[5]
The Third Wizarding War was only four years away.
