* ~ The Eighth Year Universe ~ *
Love Wins
Politics & Prejudice
The chapter title is from the song:
Love Wins by Carrie Underwood.
The morning after the party was quiet in Blacknot Castle. Hermione's head was resting on the table, and Sadie was nursing a cup of coffee. Theo and Draco were sitting next to each other, both reading off the same page of the Prophet.
Almina walked in and yawned, "Morning, guys."
Hermione groaned in response.
Theo chuckled and looked up at Almina, "Some people can't handle their liquor as well as us pros, eh Draco?"
Draco shot Theo an amused look, "Some of us just don't know our limits."
"Shut up," Hermione and Sadie echoed.
Sadie looked over at Almina, "Is Teddy gone then?"
Almina, to her credit, lied well, "Teddy? He left late last night."
Hermione snorted and sat up, "Bullshit. The elves tell us everything. We know he stayed here last night."
Almina bit her lip, "Damn, I didn't think you'd notice."
"Well, we did," Theo said, narrowing his eyes at her, "And if you get knocked up before-"
"Oh no," Almina cut in, "Pops, you are not giving me the don't get knocked up before you get married speech."
"It's a valid speech, Almina," Draco said, looking up at their daughter.
Almina raised an eyebrow at Theo, "Weren't you 19 when you had Charlie and me?"
"Yes, but I was married," Theo objected.
"Barely," Sadie muttered under her breath.
Almina grinned, "Anyway, I'm the sensible daughter who doesn't want to have children before I hit 30. If you want to give anyone this talk, then you should go find Charlie."
"Did he come home at all last night?" Draco asked Theo.
Theo shook his head.
"He was probably at Victoire's beach shack all night long," Almina said in a sing-song voice, "And she's not even his girlfriend."
"She is. They're just trying to hide it," Hermione said as she sipped her coffee tentatively.
"Still," Almina said, "Do you really want Bill Weasley coming after you?"
Draco scoffed and nudged Theo in the side, "We could take Bill Weasley any day of the week, right?"
Theo raised an eyebrow, "He trained Daphne, and you know how scary she is."
Draco looked over at Hermione with a shrug, "We could take him though, right?"
Hermione smirked, "I could."
Theo chuckled, "Oh, she's been Minister for less than 24 hours, and she's already getting too big for her boots!"
Hermione threw a bit of toast at him, "Shut up, Theo," she said half-heartedly.
"Good morning!"
Harry looked up at his son with an amused smile playing on his lips, "Nice attempt to pretend you aren't doing the walk of shame."
Teddy frowned, "I don't know what you're talking about. I came home last night."
Daphne shot Harry an amused look, "He must think we're stupid or something."
"Hm," Harry agreed, "It's almost like I'm a paranoid old man who has the wards keyed in to alert me if my kids don't come home when they're supposed to."
"Shit," Teddy muttered, throwing himself into a seat opposite his father, "Where are Aunt Lil and Uncle Nev?"
"Nice subject change," Harry said with a snort, "And why did you expect them to be here anyway?"
"Cause you left within five minutes of each other last night," Teddy said, grinning at his parents, "And no offence Mum, but you were pretty drunk."
Daphne rolled her eyes, "Well, I wasn't that drunk. Uncle Nev had to get back to the castle because he had a class first thing. And Aunt Lilly is doing some volunteering in the Closes before she starts her shift at the hospital later."
"The joys of starting at 9 am every day," Harry said, grinning at his wife.
Daphne smirked, "The joys of being a business owner," she said, winking at him as she disappeared out of the kitchen.
When she was gone, Harry dropped the happy pretence and opened up the paper, "Look at this."
Teddy's eyes widened, "They assassinated the Italian Minister for Magic?"
Harry nodded and lowered his voice, "I don't want to worry anyone else with this, your mother included until I have to. But this is their first direct attack. They have killed Muggles with their cursed items, and the odd witch or wizard has gone missing, either recruited or killed by them, but this? It's big, and it's public."
Teddy nodded and scanned the article, "All because he said he wouldn't give in to their demands?"
Harry shut the paper, "He said he wouldn't stand for terrorism. It seems they didn't take too kindly to being called terrorists."
"But that's exactly what they are," Teddy objected. His eyes met his father's, "I mean, they are using violence and intimidation against Muggles to pursue their own political aims. That's terrorism."
"To us," Harry pointed out, "But they probably think they are on some crusade against the people who have kept them caged for so long. They want freedom, but they can't see that there are good reasons for us to stay hidden from the Muggles."
"It's for our protection," Teddy agreed.
"And the Muggles protection from us," Harry said darkly, "I'm going to call a meeting soon. I feel like Ben and I need to discuss this with Draco before we take it any higher."
Teddy nodded, "Okay. Good luck, Dad."
Lilly sighed and tapped her fingers against the morning newspaper, her other hand hovering over her coffee cup as she sat in her office. She ran the Maternity Centre, but she still worked as an active healer because a desk job just wasn't for her. She had an admin office who dealt with that side of things, but she held the press conferences and chaired the Annual General Meeting every year.
Reyna was her second in command – Reyna Gibbon, as she was now known. Azriel was still teaching at the Hermione Granger School, so he and Reyna had moved out of the Closes and gotten married. They had never had kids because Azriel already had three, and he didn't want to have any more, having nearly lost them once. Reyna was happy enough with the children she delivered and looked after in her line of work, and 15 years later, they were still happy together.
Caroline Sumner headed up the mental health ward of the centre. She was absolutely brilliant, and her team's research into Post Natal Depression and other birth-related disorders was ground-breaking. Her daughter, Edith, was being trained up by Caroline to be her replacement, eventually. Edith shared her mother's empathy and passion for helping people.
Lilly glanced over at the Order of Merlin that sat in a cabinet in her office. She still didn't think she deserved it, a second class award, just for opening a hospital that should have been opened years ago anyway. Still, it was there, and she didn't like to brag about it, unlike Daphne.
She constantly bragged about the Order of Merlin she had gotten for saving Howard Abbott (the Minister for Magic at that time) from a fatal curse.
"Admiring your awards?"
Lilly looked up and chuckled, "No. Definitely not."
The girl who had walked into the office was Delphini Black, otherwise known as Delphi. She had dark curly hair, which was currently pulled up into a bun, and her grey eyes were as sharp as they were concerned.
"You okay? You seem a bit off."
Lilly sighed, "More attacks from the Statute Saboteurs, that's all."
Realisation shone in Delphi's eyes, "You're worried about Harry."
"And Teddy," Lilly replied, "If this goes global, he'll be caught up in it too."
Delphi bit her lip, "Teddy's worried too. He told me over coffee the other day."
Lilly knew they were close friends, so she wasn't surprised by that, "What did he say?"
"Just that if things carry on like this, the British Ministry are going to have no choice but to get involved," Delphi replied.
"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about, Delphi."
Delphi cocked her head, "You know what, though? I like to go with Aunt Narcissa's outlook on life. It's best not to lose sleep over something until you have a reason to."
Lilly smiled slightly, "That is a good outlook. How are things over in the main hospital, by the way?"
"Good," Delphi replied, "I just came by with some reports from Clara."
Delphi was Clara's prodigy. She worked with her on the Janus Thickey Ward for permanent spell damage. When Delphi had left school, she had decided she wanted to help the kind of people her parents had hurt – those with permanent brain damage from torture curses and the like.
"How are Frank and Alice?" Lilly asked.
Delphi shook her head, "The same. Their organs are failing, Lilly. The kind thing to do would be to say goodbye and let them go peacefully."
Lilly sighed and rubbed her eyes, "I've been trying to find the right time to break it to Neville, but with Hermione's campaign and now this."
Lilly motioned at the paper, "There's never been a right time."
"There never will be a right time to tell someone their parents are dying," Delphi said softly.
Lilly cleared her throat and nodded, "You're right, I know."
She got to her feet and smiled sadly at Delphi, "You and Clara did all you could for them, so thank you."
Delphi nodded, and from the pained look in her eyes, Lilly could tell that she felt responsible.
"Hey," Lilly said, "What your parents did? That's not on you, okay?"
Delphi nodded and cast her eyes down.
"Lilly!" A voice called from outside the corridor, "Rounds?"
"I know, Nina, I'm coming," Lilly said, giving Delphi one last supportive smile before stepping out of the office.
Nina Frost was waiting for her, as professional as always. Her white-blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and her sharp blue eyes were surveying Lilly carefully.
"Everything okay?"
"No," Lilly answered honestly, "But we've got a job to do. Haven't we?"
"I delivered an adorable baby last night who needs her health check this morning," Nina said, smiling at Lilly, "Will that make you feel better?"
"That will definitely make me feel better," Lilly said, smiling at the kind girl she had taken under her wing, "Come on, let's go bring some babies into the world."
"Ugh. Why did it have to be an amputation?" Victoire complained as she stepped into the hospital with her colleague, "I'm so hungover. I thought I was going to barf on that guy."
"Don't come into work without taking a hangover potion then," Nevee Hall teased. She was Victoire's close friend, even though she had been a year above her in school. Both girls had been in Ravenclaw, and Nevee had dated Teddy, who Victoire had always been close with.
Nevee, who was really called Nevaeh but hated her name ("It's heaven backwards, it's such a Closes name. Like what was my mum thinking?"), was beautiful but had spent most of her Hogwarts life being bullied for her appearance. Despite her flawless skin, glossy dark hair, and defined features, her eyes always drew attention. She had been born with two blue eyes, but one stayed a very clear pale blue as she got older, while the other darkened into a deep grey-blue.
Most of the children of 'fallen women' could be identified in some way by a birth defect, likely caused by malnutrition or the like. In Nevee's case, it was just a genetic thing passed down from her father – Antonin Dolohov. But Nevee's younger half-sister had bright pink hair, which she hated because colourful hair like that, it was a sign a girl was from the Closes. If a child was conceived while their mother was using hair charms (like many women in the Closes had done), then chances were the child would be born with that hair colour.
"I did take a hangover potion," Victoire complained.
The two girls were trauma healers, and they had just come from an active crime scene.
"Why am I not surprised that Victoire is hungover?" Edith asked as she stepped into the corridor.
"Shut up, Edie."
"Someone took her bad boy back to the beach shack last night," Nevee smirked.
"Nevee, how could you throw me under the fucking bus like that?" Victoire muttered.
"You went home with Charlie Nott last night? If you let that boy knock you up, I swear, girl, I'll kill you," Edith said, falling into step with them.
"I am not going to let anyone knock me up," Victoire said firmly, "I'm not giving up this job for babies, ever."
"Good, your father will be glad to hear that."
Victoire spun around, "Lilly, please don't-"
"I'm not going to tell him anything," Lilly said as she grabbed a robe from a storage room and walked past them, smirking at Victoire, "But if you shag him on the desk at P&W again, he's gonna find out."
Victoire's cheeks flushed.
"You did him on your Dad's desk?" Nevee asked in disbelief.
"Hey, you do not get to judge me!" Victoire objected, "You and Teddy were at it all over the school in seventh year!"
"I didn't fuck him on his Dad's desk though," Nevee muttered under her breath.
Edith made a face, "So crude, Nevaeh."
"Such a prude, Edith," Nevee responded.
Victoire shook her head, "Girls, please. For my sake, pretend you like each other."
"For all of our sakes, tell Charlie you're in love with him, and you don't just want it to be sex," Edith retorted.
"Amen to that, sister," Nevee agreed.
"Also," Edith said, frowning at Victoire, "How does Lilly know about your sinful deeds?"
"Because her best friend is Daphne Potter," Nevee said, making a face, "Who works at P&W."
"So you got caught by Daphne Potter?" Edith asked, smirking at Victoire.
Victoire rolled her eyes, "Shut up. She doesn't just work at P&W, she's the co-owner, but you don't like her, so you left that part out."
"Why don't you like her?" Edith asked, grabbing a clipboard as they walked past the nurse's station.
"Because she thought I was beneath her precious son," Nevee said irritably.
"You were," Victoire said matter of factly, "Several times. Once in a potions classroom when Professor Greengrass was in her office."
Edith snorted, "Professor Greengrass? You mean Teddy's grandmother? Wow, classy, Nevaeh."
Nevee made a face, "Daphne Potter is a prude."
"And a bitch," Victoire added.
"I doubt you can accuse her of being prejudiced though," Edith said. She shrugged and looked at the two girls, "Who do you think funded the maternity centre and set up a trust for vulnerable women from the Closes?"
Nevee frowned.
"Daphne Potter did, with her Greengrass money," Edith said smarmily, "She did that to help people like your mother, Nevee. Then, she started another fund to help children from the Closes and Lupin House buy school supplies. So children who would have been home-schooled otherwise, like you and your sister, could go to Hogwarts for the first time."
Victoire shrugged, "So she's a bitch with a good heart?"
Nevee snorted and shot Victoire an amused look, "That sounds like someone I know."
Edith chuckled too, and the three women continued up the corridor.
Theo was having one of his better days. More often than not, he felt fine. But when he got hit with a minor illness, it struck him down like the plague. He was on a lot of potions to boost his immune system, and while they helped, they couldn't work miracles.
He had just given the morning assembly – an uplifting one, all about being strong through struggles. It had been aimed at a particular Muggle-born student who had lost his mother to cancer earlier in the month.
"Nice speech."
Theo leant on his cane and chuckled, "Shouldn't you be at work?"
"I am working," Draco said as he strolled up the corridor with his hands in his pockets, "I'm the Head of the DMLE, and I need to chat with my best consultant."
"Or, you're here to drink coffee in your boyfriend's office," Susan said as she walked past, depositing a file in Theo's hands.
Theo scoffed, "Boyfriend? Come on, husband, please. It's been 15 years."
Draco chuckled, and Susan grinned, "Review those before Friday for the new starts."
"Yes, darling!"
"Thanks, baby!"
Draco shook his head, "You two still do the pet name thing?"
Theo chuckled, "Yeah, it started as kind of a joke. After Percy died, she came back from sabbatical, and I told her she still had her work husband. So she called me baby for a joke, and it stuck."
Draco smiled slightly, "Is she doing okay?"
"She's doing fine," Theo answered, "She's still sad sometimes, but that's understandable, you know? I've tried to get her to go on a couple of dates and be happy again, but you know Susan."
"She dances to the beat of her own drum," Draco agreed.
Theo nodded, then opened the door to his office and was about to step in when a young girl walked past.
"Thanks for the assembly, Headmaster Nott. I don't feel so sad about my grammy dying now."
Theo smiled, "Glad to hear it, Sara."
Draco followed Theo into the office and said, "15 years later, and you're still a natural. Headmaster of Hogwarts isn't out of reach, you know?"
"I know," Theo said, "But I don't want it. Neville's doing a great job keeping that seat warm until Harry eventually decides to give up the Auror gig."
Draco helped himself to some coffee and chuckled, "How he's not worked out that's what Neville is doing yet is beyond me."
Theo smiled slightly, "He's Harry Potter; he's clueless. He's also obsessed with being an Auror."
Draco frowned and looked over at Theo, "I suppose I should have known that Harry would stick it out the longest out of the four of us but lately…it's like he wants to die with his boots on, like Jack did."
"I think the problem is that he just doesn't know what else to do," Theo mused, "He doesn't know what else he's good at, not like us. He didn't have a childhood, you know? He went from being household help to being the saviour of the world. There wasn't really any in-between. We joke about him being clueless, but in that sense, he is emotionally stunted."
"And we aren't?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow, "We never had a childhood either, not really."
"No, but we all grew up in this world," Theo said, "And we knew there was a life beyond the Aurors. I mean, Neville and I fell into the job because of you and Harry, and while you loved it, you're far better at working the political side of things."
Draco nodded, "It's the political side of things that brings me here. I didn't want to talk to you in the castle about what we read in the paper this morning. There's no need worrying Sadie, and if my gut instinct is right, I'm going to have to bring it up on more official terms with Hermione."
Theo nodded, "Head of the DMLE to Minister. Not concerned husband to his wife."
"Exactly," Draco said. He leant forward and looked Theo in the eye, "I'm scared, Theo."
Theo sighed and leant across the desk to take Draco's hand, "I am too. There's never been a worse time to get elected, especially not with her…political viewpoint."
"That's what worries me too," Draco confessed, "Cygnus has run the ministry with the outlook that it's not our responsibility to send anyone out to help with the Statute Saboteurs because nobody came to help us when we were fighting Voldemort."
"But Hermione hates that outlook," Theo said darkly, "Not wrongly, either. She's right, you know? If we don't step in and help now, this will spiral like it did with Grindelwald. It will become a global problem, not just a European one."
"I've warned her to pursue that angle quietly," Draco said, leaning back and taking his hand out of Theo's.
"The Wizengamot will never allow her to send Aurors out there anyway. But this is Hermione; she doesn't do much quietly."
"And if she's too loud, she's going to draw the wrong people's attention," Theo finished.
Draco nodded, his thumb running up the side of his coffee mug absentmindedly.
Hogwarts Castle
Ravenclaw Tower
"Ella? Are you okay?"
Ella was sitting against the stained glass window in the girls' dormitory. Her legs were pulled up tightly, and a copy of the Daily Prophet was discarded by her feet. She had been distant all day, then straight after dinner had come up here and put her pyjamas on.
Andrea sat down on the edge of her bed and looked at her best friend, "Elladora, earth to Elladora?"
Ella sighed and looked over at Andrea, "I'm worried, Andie."
Andrea frowned, "About what?"
"About my mum," Ella admitted, wiping her eyes hastily, "The Italian Minister for Magic got assassinated."
"Yeah," Andrea agreed slowly, "Because he was an idiot who bad-mouthed the Statute Saboteurs. Your mum is not stupid, Ells. She won't do that."
"She isn't stupid," Ella agreed, "But she was a Gryffindor. She can be rash and impulsive, especially when she feels very passionate about something, and I just…this feels like it's going to spiral into war. My mum will have to lead us through that. I'm scared for her."
Andrea sighed and held out her hand, "Come here."
Ella took it and let Andrea pull her into a hug.
"Noah's going to get fed up with all my emotional baggage and break up with me," Ella sniffled.
"If he does, then he's not worth your time," Andrea said firmly, "He survived meeting your family, which was a big test, let's be honest."
Ella laughed tearfully, "True."
"Also, as an aside," Andrea said. She cocked her head at her best friend, "I never understood why we use the term 'emotional baggage' when we could say 'griefcase'."
Ella burst out laughing, and Andrea smiled warmly.
Operation calm down her highly strung best friend? Complete.
Hogwarts Castle
Greenhouse Three
Theodora Potter was like her father in more ways than one. Some people called her mouthy, but she preferred 'sassy'. Some people said she was stubborn, but she would say that she wouldn't stand for bullshit.
Either way, it got her into trouble sometimes. Like right now in the 5th year Slytherin – Ravenclaw Herbology class.
Her Uncle Neville – who she had to refer to as Professor Longbottom at school, was asking them about homework.
"Have you all completed that essay I asked for?" He said as he pulled on a pair of dragonhide gloves.
Thea cursed internally. She had totally forgotten about homework. There had been Quidditch practice and then a big drama with Tyler and Taylor (the Zabini twins). Still, she couldn't tell her Uncle Neville that.
Everyone else handed in the essay, and Neville looked at Thea, raising an eyebrow, "Miss Potter?"
"Yeah," Thea said sheepishly, "I didn't do it."
Neville crossed his arms, "You didn't do it?"
Cas rolled his eyes and nudged her in the ribs, "He's gonna give you shit," he whispered.
But Thea smirked and said, "Yes, Professor Longbottom, I didn't do it. I mean, it's just a dumb Herbology essay. It's not that important."
Neville narrowed his eyes at Thea.
"If you seriously think you are going to get away with everything because of who your father is, you have another thing coming. That will not work with me."
"You're such a smarmy little shit Thea," Freya Flint muttered, "Just because your daddy is Harry Potter."
"Oh, sorry," Thea said sarcastically, "Was it your dad who defeated Voldemort?"
Neville cleared his throat, "Excuse me. Was it you who told Voldemort where to go and killed his snake with the sword of Gryffindor while your dad took a nap?"
Half the class laughed, and the other half (Thea included) looked at Neville in disbelief.
"Yeah, I didn't think so," Neville said firmly, "Do your damn homework, and that will be 20 points from Slytherin and a detention on Saturday afternoon."
Thea's eyes widened, "Uncle Neville, it's the Quidditch cup final on Saturday afternoon!"
"It's Professor Longbottom to you, and you should have thought about that before you mouthed off," Neville said, giving Thea a pointed look.
Cas sighed and said, "You're an idiot."
"Shut up and start helping me work out how to break out of this detention," Thea whispered.
"You would be better grovelling to Professor Longbottom," Cas whispered.
Thea snorted and glared at Neville, "Yeah, that is not happening."
The breakfast table in Blacknot Castle was a little tense because Draco subtly tried to suggest that Hermione should increase her personal guard.
She had shut him down, and the air was awkward until an owl flapped through the open window and dropped a letter in front of Sadie.
"Which one is it from?" Hermione asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"It looks like Dora's writing," Sadie answered as she opened the envelope and scanned the letter.
She chuckled and said, "Oh, it's Dora's writing, alright."
"Go on," Draco said, an amused smile finding its way onto his face, "What's she saying?"
"That Harry Longbottom is an arrogant arse who thinks he knows everything when really, he doesn't know the front end of a venomous tentacula from the back, and he's a Hufflepuff."
Sadie looked up and chuckled, "I'm paraphrasing."
Theo grinned, "What did I tell you when they first got talking in the playground at the HG school? I told you she was gonna end up having a crush on him."
Draco snorted, and Sadie looked at Theo in amusement, "How did you know?"
Theo smirked, "I could tell she liked him. She was meaner to him than the other kids, you know, like Hermione is to me."
Hermione threw a piece of bacon at Theo half-heartedly, and Theo grinned in response.
- TBC -
