* ~ The Eighth Year Universe ~ *
Love Wins
Tell Me Where the Good Men Go
The chapter title is from the song:
Heaven Knows – Five for Fighting.
"Good morning, Lillian," Harry chirped as he stepped into her office.
Lilly looked up and raised an eyebrow, "Good morning, Harold," she joked.
Harry grinned and sat down opposite her, "I brought you a bagel and an extra-strong coffee."
"God, I'm in love with you," Lilly said, grabbing the bag he had just deposited on the table.
"Yes, I'm fantastic, I know," Harry said, leaning back in his chair to survey her.
Lilly had a bite out of the bagel, "Yes, you are. But you're also being more bigheaded than usual, which means you have an idea. And you're here, bribing me with food, so whatever it is, you need my help with it."
"You either know me really well, or you're a mind reader," Harry chuckled.
"I know you really well," Lilly deadpanned, "What's your idea?"
"I'm resurrecting the Order of the Phoenix."
Lilly gave him a sceptical look, "You mean you want to start a resistance and give it the same name as the Order of the Phoenix, right? Cause most of the people in that organisation are dead."
"Wow, don't put too fine a point on that, Lil," Harry said dryly.
Lilly raised an eyebrow, "But it's true?"
"Not all of them are dead, but yes, the last war did do a number on the original Order of the Phoenix," Harry agreed.
"I'm talking about combining what's left of the Order with the DA."
Lilly narrowed her eyes, "Why? This isn't like last time, Harry. We don't have an incompetent Minister. Like her or loathe her at the moment, you know Hermione is nothing like Cornelius Fudge."
Harry scoffed, "Cornelius Fudge didn't mess with time, Lilly."
"Cornelius Fudge didn't do anything," Lilly argued, "For good, or for bad. He was too much of a coward to act when it mattered. Hermione is many things, but she is not a coward. She nearly died standing up for what she believes in and the values that matter to this country. She will take the fight to the Statute Saboteurs."
"No," Harry cut in, "She will give the ICW what they want. She'll pledge money to them, she'll send some Aurors over there, but that's not fighting, Lilly. It's playing a political game."
"And that's how the world works now, Harry," Lilly pointed out, "People don't form resistance groups and take the law into their own hands anymore because it blurs the lines of who is wrong and who is right. How different was the Order to the Death Eaters, really? The only difference was what they were fighting for."
"The Order was nothing like the Death Eaters," Harry scoffed.
"Then why did your father-in-law ban all resistance groups?" Lilly asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry.
"Because he was scared," Harry argued.
"No, because he is smart," Lilly said. She leant forward against her desk, "And he saw it the same way that I do. One country's freedom fighter is another country's terrorist and vice versa. Resistance groups are never a good idea; they just cause further segregation. What we need is to go into this war as a united nation, and with Hermione at the helm, I think that's going to happen."
Harry looked at her in disbelief, "So you're really taking Hermione's side here?"
"Harry," Lilly sighed, "We're not at school anymore; we're grown adults. We don't take sides, we just do what we think is right. We back the things we believe in."
"We used to fight for the things we believed in too," Harry said hotly, "You did. You helped Neville run the DA."
"When I was 17," Lilly snapped, "I'm not a teenager anymore, and growing up around purebloods, working in the Closes, seeing the carnage that was caused by the Death Eaters and their cultist way of life…it changed my opinion."
"As you get older, you learn things, and you evolve," Lilly continued, "None of us are the same people we were at 17, so stop trying to be."
Harry frowned, "What?"
Lilly scoffed and got to her feet, "All of this? This crusade to bring back the Order and smash the Statute Saboteurs? It screams of one last hurrah for Harry Potter, the youngest Head Auror ever with two Order of Merlins to his name!"
Harry got to his feet too, his hand twitching towards his wand holster.
"Just face the fact that you cannot cope with the civilian life. You can't head up this fight because you resigned," Lilly said hotly, "And now you're clutching at straws, trying to find a way to get that adrenaline rush you've craved since you were 11 years old."
"Is that what you think, Lilly?" Harry asked her in disbelief, "That I want to fight?"
"I think you don't know anything else," Lilly said, shoving a file into a cabinet behind the desk.
"You've bounced from one fight to the other since you were 11 years old, and we all learned to accept that a long time ago, Harry."
Harry frowned, his anger dissipating and his hand dropping to his side.
"You are never going to be the man who thinks before he acts," Lilly said quietly, "You are always going to rush in where angels fear to tread. If you can, you will always find a way to save the day, even if it's to the detriment of your own health."
Lilly shook her head and looked at him across the desk, "We talked about it years ago, Daphne, Neville and I, and we all came to the same conclusion."
Harry looked up, his eyes catching hers. She didn't look sad or angry, just resigned.
"You won't be the kindly old Defence Against the Dark Arts professor who dies after his hundredth birthday," Lilly said calmly.
"Because you can't sit still long enough to settle. You're the guy who dies with his boots on, just like Jack Sumner."
Harry shook his head and then opened his mouth to object.
But, before he could, Lilly sighed and flicked the office door open with her wand.
"Anyway, if you don't mind, I do have a lot of work to do," Lilly said offhandedly, "Wars don't stop babies from being born, after all."
Harry knew when he was being dismissed, and with Lilly, there was no use in fighting it. He nodded and got to his feet, casting one last glance at her as he hovered in the doorway.
"I don't want to die with my boots on," Harry said quietly, "I want to die surrounded by my family. Not alone and miserable like…Dumbledore."
Lilly looked up at him from the desk, and she saw tears shining in his emerald eyes.
"I don't want to end up like him, Lilly," Harry said, his voice breaking, "So if I have to go back to therapy to work things out, then I will."
Lilly gave him a slight nod, "Good."
Harry nodded and grabbed the door handle. He hesitated then said, "Thank you, for not pulling any punches."
"I never do," Lilly said, smiling slightly at him.
Angel was humming to herself as she worked away in the Love Chamber down in the Department of Mysteries. This was her speciality. She had spent the last 3 years working in this room, analysing the contents of the fountain that poured out the most potent love potion in the world.
Sometimes her experiments got a little out of hand, but there was also a method to her madness.
When someone walked into the room, she was in the middle of one of these experiments, holding a bow and pulling back a love potion laced arrow.
"Angel, what the hell are you doing?"
"Experimenting," Angel replied, closing one eye and focusing on her target.
"On what?"
She let the arrow go and watched it fly through the air to its target – a chimpanzee named Bonnie.
"How effective the 'Cupid' method is, and whether it creates true love or obsessive love," Angel replied, putting the bow down and turning to look at her supervisor.
"And how can you tell if love is true or obsessive when it is between two monkeys?" The supervisor asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Because Benjamin, if Bonnie starts being affectionate with Clyde and it builds into something real, then it's true love," Angel explained.
"But if she jumps his bones and they mate, it's obsessive."
Benjamin Gibbon, who was about 6 years older than Angel and her direct supervisor, smirked.
"Or they're just horny monkeys."
Angel snorted, "Are you here in an official capacity or to question my methods again? Because I submitted more successful research papers than anyone else last year, just FYI."
Benjamin was a handsome man coming up on 30. He looked a lot like his older sister Briar, who was coincidentally also an Unspeakable. He had dark hair, somewhere between blonde and silver, which was lightly curled, and his eyes were a vivid shade of blue.
"Your methods most certainly work, don't worry," Benjamin said with a smile.
"But you have done something wrong because the head of the department wants to see you for an infraction of department policy."
That made Angel frown, "What? Which infraction?"
"I don't know," Benjamin admitted, "It goes above my head, sorry."
"It's fine," Angel said. She brushed past Benjamin to place her hand on the door. The Love Chamber was locked at all times, and it could only be unlocked with the DNA of an Unspeakable.
The panel on the door pricked her finger, then it buzzed to signify that access was allowed.
"Keep an eye on Bonnie and Clyde for me!"
With a fond smile, Benjamin replied, "I will."
The door slid shut, and Angel headed in the direction of the Head's office. She felt like she was back at Hogwarts, being called in to discuss her lousy attitude or temper. But this time, as far as she knew anyway, she really hadn't done anything wrong.
Still, she felt nervous when she knocked on the door of the office.
"Come in!"
Angel stepped inside and looked at the woman sitting behind the desk. She seemed very business-like and more solemn than usual today, which was usually a bad thing.
Sadie looked up and motioned to the seat opposite the desk, "Sit down please, Miss Strang."
Angel raised an eyebrow and sat down, "Miss Strang? Guess I really am in trouble," she joked.
But Sadie didn't laugh. She fixed her gaze on Angel and said, "Yes, you are. This morning, I received an alert from the security system informing me that there was an infraction of rule 1."
Angel frowned, "By me?"
"Yes," Sadie said, studying her with her scrutinous blue eyes, "By you."
"But, I didn't talk about my work," Angel said in confusion.
Sadie glanced down at the parchment on her desk, "A conversation about fixed points in time isn't talking about your work, then?"
Angel frowned, "No…because I don't work in the Time Room?"
"You work in this Department," Sadie said pointedly.
"Yeah, and the time room is even more secure than the Love Chamber," Angel said in disbelief.
"You and I both know it's only accessible to Senior Unspeakables who have specialised in time magic, and it takes a retinal scan, blood sample and a fingerprint to get in there."
"And you know as well as I do that anyone who works in this department is responsible for keeping any secret discovered in this department," Sadie said coldly.
Angel scoffed, "Yes, and as I didn't divulge any of those secrets, I don't know why I'm getting dragged through all of this bullshit. I had a hypothetical conversation about fixed points in time."
"And we study fixed points in time, Miss Strang," Sadie ground out irritably.
"But other people still know they exist!" Angel exclaimed, "I mean, come on, Daphne Potter taught her son about how things are written in the stars. Magizoologists have written about it because the fixed points are all centaurs or seers can see. Had I talked about how everything else in time was fluid and how things are changing all of the time and nothing is really certain, then I can see why that would have worried the department. But what we discussed was common knowledge."
"It still warrants a suspension," Sadie said coldly, "As does your attitude."
Angel looked at her for a long moment, then shook her head, "Wow."
Sadie raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
"What I did is barely an infraction of policy," Angel retorted.
"I can agree that maybe I should have been brought in for a discussion about it or a slap on the wrist. But suspension?" Angel shook her head, "We're all here because we earned it. We're here because our brains work the right way, we're smart, and we're problem solvers. Most of the greatest minds in wizarding Britain are in this department, and do you know what? We used to get treated like that."
Sadie looked at Angel in disbelief.
"This isn't a school," Angel said irritably, "You're not a Headmistress. But suspending me for a minor infraction of policy? God, it just screams of desperation. It's not what I did at all. It's the fact I did it with your son. It's because I called you out on your bullshit to him, isn't it?"
Sadie looked furious, but before she could launch into a tirade, Angel got to her feet.
"So if you're going to try and call me out on my infraction, then maybe you should look at your own," She said scornfully.
"Because what you did is a huge infraction of not only department policy, but the law too. It doesn't matter if the Minister for Magic ordered you to do it. All that means is you are both liable."
Sadie hadn't become the Head of the Department of Mysteries without getting a good poker face.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Miss Strang, but your conduct-"
"Charlus is my best friend," Angel cut in, "He tells me everything. I know what you did, and if I should be suspended for the tiniest infraction of department policy, then you should be fired for what you did."
Sadie swallowed and narrowed her eyes at Angel.
"I will dismiss you with a verbal warning this time," Sadie conceded.
Angel got to her feet and gave Sadie a long look, "Of course you will because you don't want your little secret going around the department, do you?"
Sadie's eyes flashed, and Angel reached out for the door handle.
"If that's all?"
Sadie just nodded.
Angel paused with her hand on the door handle. Then she turned to look at Sadie, who still had a steely look in her eyes.
"And do you know something, Sadie?" She asked quietly, "When I first started in this department, I wanted to be just like you. I admired the hell out of you because I looked at you, and I saw a woman who had built a career and a family at the same time, something most people will tell an ambitious girl out of Slytherin that they can't do."
Sadie looked up at Angel, the steely look in her eyes gone.
"But you had done it," Angel said. She shook her head and looked down, "And you hadn't thrown anyone under the bus to get there either. You had done it on your own steam, with your integrity intact, and I was so in awe of you for that."
Sadie frowned and visibly swallowed.
"But now…" Angel scoffed, "I look at you, and I just see what too many years in this department do to you when you get a little bit of power at your fingertips."
Without waiting for Sadie to say anything else, Angel left the office and shut the door loudly behind her.
"Has Dad been in the house today?"
Ada looked up at her older sister and shook her head, "No, Pops has been in and out, but Dad had breakfast in the coach house then went to work, and he's not home yet."
Almina sighed and leaned in the kitchen doorway, "Where's your sister?"
"Upstairs sleeping," Ada replied. She rubbed her eyes, "She's not been sleeping great since everything happened. We've both been worried about our mums."
"You heard them fighting too, then?" Almina said.
Ada nodded, "Dora was more upset than me, but…they've never fought like this before, Mina."
"Not that you can remember," Almina said with a sad smile, "But when Charlie and I were younger, things were pretty bad. Cas was only a baby, and Ella was a toddler, but she doesn't remember it."
Ada frowned and leant forward, "What happened?"
"You know that we thought Pops had died and that Dad rescued him, right?" Almina asked as she poured out a cup of tea for herself.
Ada nodded, "Yeah, that's why Pops gets ill all the time."
"Exactly," Almina said. She pushed herself up onto the worktop and cradled her cup of tea in her hands, "But you won't know everything else about that. I know that you and Dora have only ever lived in the castle, but we used to live in houses in London."
"Grimmauld Place," Ada said with a nod, "I know. We go there sometimes in the summer."
"Yes, but we didn't all live there, Ada," Almina explained, "Mum and Dad lived in Grimmauld Place with Ella and Cas, and Charlie and I lived next door with Pops and Mama."
Ada's frown deepened, "We didn't always live together?"
Almina shook her head, "I was a kid at the time, so I didn't know exactly what was happening, but I filled in the gaps when I got a bit older. All I know is that after Pops came back, he wasn't the same. He was upset all the time, or angry, and everyone was fighting, just like they are now."
Ada sighed but didn't say anything.
"Then Pops and Dad made up, somehow, and we all moved into the castle together. About a year later, you and Dora were born, and that was when we became a family like the one you know."
"So if they made up before, they will again," Ada said hopefully, "Right?"
"Right," A new voice said.
Both girls turned to the doorway, where Theo was leaning on his cane.
"Hey, Pops," They echoed.
"Hey girls," Theo said as he clicked into the room.
"Cup of tea?" Almina asked.
With a smile, Theo said, "Please, Mina."
Almina poured one and put it on the table, "You should sit, Pops. You look kind of peaky."
"Last time I checked, you were an Auror, not a Healer," Theo joked.
Almina gave him an exasperated look, "I passed field healing last week."
Theo chuckled, "I know you did," he said as he sat down at the kitchen table.
"Stress always makes it worse," Almina said as she surveyed him, "And if you say you're not stressed right now, then you're lying."
Theo nodded and sipped his tea, "You're smart kids. I don't see any sense in trying to lie to you. I am a little stressed right now."
Ada looked at him with a vulnerability that Almina had lost a few years ago, around the time she entered into Auror training, in fact.
"You are going to split up, aren't you?" She asked.
Theo hated to see the pain written across her face. He sighed and shook his head, "No, baby, we aren't. Right now, we are fighting, but this family has been through so much together. We don't just give up when things get hard, okay? We come together, and we face everything head-on, together."
"We're hardly together as a family right now," Almina pointed out bluntly.
"Our mums are sleeping in separate rooms in the castle, and you and Dad are in the coach house. We're spread across the grounds of this estate, Pops. That's not a united front."
"No, I know it's not," Theo said softly, "But not every wound is the same, girls. Some wounds hurt at the time, then you realise it's only a flesh wound, and they heal pretty quickly. Others cut deep, and they take a long time to heal. Then, even when they do heal, they leave a scar, and you have to adapt and learn to live with that."
Almina frowned, "It's a nice analogy, Pops, but it doesn't exactly assure us that you aren't going to split up."
Theo sighed, "At the end of the day, we're all very different. We all have a different perspective, okay? In my opinion, I don't think anyone is going anywhere, and I think we will all come out of the other side in one piece. But I can't tell you if that's how your mums feel."
"It's definitely not how Dad feels," Ada said quietly.
"It's not," Theo admitted, "But your dad has always had a Gryffindor streak, even though he was in Slytherin. He's quick to anger, and he holds grudges. He's still angry right now, but I do think he will see things differently when he stops seeing red."
"I hope so," Almina said with a sigh.
"Me too," Ada echoed.
"Are you talking to either of them yet?" Almina asked curiously.
Theo sipped his tea, "I never stopped talking to anyone, Mina. Yes, things are a little icy, but I'm not really that mad with either of them. I do disagree with some of the decisions that were made, but I love your dad as much as they do, and I'm just glad that he's alive."
Almina opened her mouth to question him further. Then a door slammed loudly in the entrance hall.
Theo frowned and looked up, "Nobody should be home from work this early."
"Girls! Are any of you actually in at the moment?"
Theo's frown deepened when he heard Sadie's voice calling from above.
"Ada and I are in the kitchen!" Almina called back.
Sadie's heels began to click down the concrete staircase, and Almina whispered, "Why is she home so early?"
"I don't know, but I expect we're about to find out," Theo returned with a glance towards the doorway.
Sadie stopped in her tracks when she got to the archway into the kitchen. She had obviously come straight from work because she was dressed in formal black robes, her blonde bob was sitting perfectly, and her red lipstick was flawless.
"Theo," She said in surprise.
Theo smiled at her. It was a little bit of a front for the girls benefit, but he had meant what he said. He didn't hold grudges like Draco did, not when it came to the people he loved.
"What brings you home so early?"
Sadie nodded, "I…uh…I took a sabbatical. I think I need some time to…reflect."
Theo's eyes widened slightly. Still, he nodded, "That's fair enough, given all that's happened."
Sadie cleared her throat, and Theo caught her eye, "Do you want to talk about it in private?"
"Yes," Sadie said, her face flooding with relief, "I really do."
Theo shot the girls a smile, "See? Even if Mum and Dad fight it out for weeks, we always talk things over like the sensible Slytherins that we are."
Sadie smiled weakly and nodded. She looked a little frazzled, but then she remembered the important messages she needed to pass on to her daughters.
"Almina, a letter came for you this morning, but you had already left for your coffee date with Teddy, so I had the elves put it on your dresser."
Almina nodded, "Thanks," she said with a smile.
Sadie looked to her youngest daughter, "And Ada, Laurel has asked if you want to spend a week at Longbottom House. She misses you."
"Already?" Almina chuckled, "You've only been home a few days."
Ada smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, Mum, I'd like that. Is Dora invited too?"
"Of course she is," Sadie replied. She glanced around the kitchen but refused to meet Theo's eye.
"Where are the others?"
"Dora is sleeping; she wasn't feeling that well," Almina said because she didn't want to tell her the truth and make her feel guilty.
"Ella is out shopping with Aunt Daphne, and Cas is over at Potter Manor with Thea," Ada finished.
Sadie frowned, "Why is Ella shopping with Aunt Daphne?"
"Because she needs clothes for Egypt," Ada said offhandedly, "You know before she leaves next month, and Aunt Daphne has worked out there a lot, so she said she would take her shopping."
"Any excuse to go shopping," Sadie said with a roll of her eyes.
Theo chuckled, "You have met Daphne, haven't you?"
"Unfortunately," Sadie said, her eyes meeting Theo's and a smile coming to her lips.
"Right, if you two are just gonna give each other heart eyes, I'm out," Ada said, pushing herself off the stool and disappearing out of the kitchen.
"Heart eyes?" Theo asked.
"I'd have called it eyesex," Almina said with a shrug, "Either way, it's gross, but if you make up, then I don't really care."
Sadie laughed and watched Almina leave, then she looked back to Theo, "Are you okay? You look a little peaky."
Theo laughed and shook his head, "Like mother, like daughter – Almina just berated me for the same thing."
Sadie sat down opposite him, "But are you okay?" she reached out to feel his forehead, "You're a little hot."
"I think I'm coming down with a cold or something," Theo said offhandedly, "If I'm careful, I'll be able to sleep it off without a trip to St Mungo's. I don't really fancy hitting double figures before we even get into autumn."
Sadie sighed and reached across the table, "I've not really been sleeping since…the incident. I just can't stop thinking about everything that happened and all that was said…."
"Most of it by Draco," Theo pointed out.
"You weren't exactly thinking positively when you left the Ministry," Sadie reminded him, "And then you chose Draco that night."
"I was worried about Draco," Theo admitted, "He seems so strong, but he isn't. He's volatile, and…when he gave that speech to the kids, part of me thought he was going to do something stupid."
"But he didn't?"
Theo shook his head, "He didn't, but I did spend the night with him; you're right."
Sadie watched him for a moment.
"It wasn't like I was choosing him over you," Theo promised.
"I kind of thought you and Hermione had each other, and Draco obviously couldn't stand to be in the same room as either one of you, so I felt like I had to go with him."
"You couldn't have known Hermione, and I would argue," Sadie sighed, "It's not like us, after all."
"None of this is like you," Theo said quietly, "That's the problem. I'm not mad, not like Draco is, but I am confused. We've been together for years, and I thought I had a fairly good grasp on all of you. But…what you did, the lines you crossed, that's not the Sadie I know."
"Yeah, I know," Sadie said quietly, "That's what one of my juniors just told me."
Theo looked at her, concern shining in his eyes, "I'm glad someone else noticed because I'm worried about you, Sadie. But I'm your husband, I know my opinion is biased."
"It might be biased, but it's also the one that matters most," Sadie said. She swallowed and looked down at the table, "She was right. I broke the law, Theo. I…I did something illegal to save someone I love and…."
She shook her head, "I feel like I'm becoming my father."
Theo sighed and reached over to take her hand, "You're nothing like your father, Sadie," he promised.
Sadie laughed bitterly, "No? He designed a bomb for the Death Eaters because they threatened my life if he didn't. I broke the law, I tampered with time because someone I loved was threatened. How does that make me any different to him?"
"Because what you did saved someone we both love," Theo replied softly, "And what he did killed ten innocent people."
Sadie looked up at him, her eyes swimming with tears, "I think I needed to hear that."
Theo nodded and brushed her tears away with his cheek, "I know," he murmured.
Sadie cleared her throat and blinked her tears away.
"I think I still need this time to reconsider if working in the Department of Mysteries is what I want to keep doing because…I'm not sure I like the person I've become."
Theo cocked his head at her as Sadie took a deep breath.
"It should be me taking Ella out shopping," Sadie said quietly, "And don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that Daphne is doing it, but Theo, she didn't even ask Hermione or me."
"She mentioned it to me," Theo admitted, "And I didn't say anything because I didn't want to upset either of you, but she asked Daphne to take her because she figured you two would be too busy."
"Because we always are," Sadie said tearfully, "And when did I become that mother? The one that puts work first? Hermione has always been that way, and we love her despite it. But I never was, Theo. I worked to have time for myself, but my life revolved around my family."
"And then all six of your kids were at Hogwarts," Theo said softly, "It's easy to get sucked in when you're used to a bustling household and then all of a sudden, it's empty. Don't blame yourself for that, Sadie. You've done amazing things in that department, even if nobody knows that you did them."
Sadie smiled tearfully, "And I've loved doing them. I love working in that department, Theo, and I've made some great friends there over the years. But how can I sit there after what I did? In the same way that Draco feels he doesn't have the respect of the Aurors anymore, I know I don't deserve respect from any of the Unspeakables who work beneath me."
"In that case, if you stay, then you earn that respect back," Theo said confidently, "You've done it once, and you can do it again."
"And if I choose to leave?" Sadie asked, her eyes searching his.
"Then I'll back you, in whatever you choose to do," Theo promised, "Because yes, I don't agree with what you did, but you're my wife, and I love you. It would take a hell of a lot to make me stop loving you, Sadie."
"I condemned a man to death," Sadie whispered, "And Harry is right, he was a Death Eater and a murderer, but so was Draco."
"Draco was a kid," Theo corrected, "Misguided and forced into doing things he didn't want to do. That guy was an adult, he chose to inflict pain. There is a difference."
"You can't seriously condone what I did," Sadie said in disbelief.
"You condoned what I did," Theo said, his eyes meeting hers, "When I was forced to take the Dark Mark…when I fell apart and tried my hardest to ruin my life, you stood by me."
"You were my best friend, of course I did," Sadie said, frowning up at him.
"I told you that I murdered a man – a muggle who was dying anyway, yes, but I still did it," Theo said in a whisper, "And you didn't turn your back on me then, so I won't turn my back on you now."
Sadie nodded tearfully, and Theo pulled her into a hug. He could tell that she was crying from the way her body shook, but she didn't make a sound.
Theo sighed and kissed the top of her head, "If I'd known that you and Hermione were going to argue and that you'd spend the night alone, I wouldn't have stayed in the coach house all night."
"I know," Sadie said tearfully, "I didn't at the time, but Hermione did."
Theo frowned and pulled back, "What do you mean?"
Sadie wiped her eyes and shrugged, "It was kind of what we argued about – you and Draco because…there was this moment when I thought that maybe this was it. That the battle lines had been drawn, and it was you and Draco versus Hermione and me. She told me that I was being stupid, but you and Draco have this unconditional love to fall back on, and sometimes I think you would be just fine without Hermione and me."
Theo's face fell, and he leant forward to take Sadie's hands in his own, "Sadie, no. That is so far from the truth. I love Draco, I do. But I love you too. I love you just as much, if not more. And not because you brought me children or any other misogynistic bullshit. I love you because you accepted me and were there for me when no one else was, Draco included. You changed me, you changed my life, and you made me into a better person. There will never be a day when I walk away from that, no matter what you do."
Sadie nodded tearfully. Theo leant over, kissing her gently, then resting his forehead against hers, "I love you so much, and I'm sorry that I made you doubt that."
She pulled back and wiped her tears, then Sadie shook her head, "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. What I did was wrong, and like I said, it was also illegal. If anyone finds out, I wouldn't just be fired, I would go to Azkaban, and Hermione would lose her position as Minister."
"Nobody is going to let that happen," Theo promised, "Because no matter how angry Harry is with Hermione, he doesn't want her to go to prison."
Sadie nodded, "I know. But…do you think Draco is ever going to forgive either of us for this?"
Theo faltered, "I….honestly, I don't know. I want to believe that he will see past it because we are a family, and we always have been."
"He and Hermione are so volatile at the best of times though," Sadie said tearfully, "They fight, or they curse each other. They're at each other's throats, then they're having sex. It's always been like that, but…sometimes it feels like they're one bad day away from packing it all in."
"And that day was a very bad day," Theo said darkly.
Sadie nodded, "If they fall apart, I feel like we're going to crumble with them."
Theo shook his head and gripped her hand, "No, because just remember that in the alternate future where Harry killed himself, we were the last ones standing. Nobody else made it, but we did."
Sadie swallowed and looked him in the eye.
"Regardless of what happens, we will stick together," Theo promised, his eyes still on hers.
"You've stuck to the 'in sickness and in health' oath with the patience of a saint, so I'm giving the 'til death do us part' bit just as much devotion."
Sadie smiled tearfully and pushed herself up, brushing her lips against his in a salty kiss.
"Thank you," She murmured, "For everything."
Theo smiled and pressed his lips against hers.
"Ditto."
Draco was already there when Harry stepped into the Lion & Snake (a pub he and Draco had found in Lincoln while working a case with the muggle police). He was sitting at their usual table with a chessboard set up in front of him.
Harry smiled and walked over, "Hey," he said.
"Hey," Draco returned, "I ordered you sparkling water. Thought I would really push the boat out this week, I had them put a lime in it."
Harry snorted, "Real generous of you, Draco."
Draco shot him a smile and picked up his whiskey, "So, how's retirement?"
Harry raised an eyebrow, "I'm not retired, and it hasn't even been a week since I quit."
Draco chuckled, "If you thought I was letting you go without any shit, you were wrong."
"Oh, I didn't think you would let me off scot-free," Harry snorted as he settled into the seat opposite Draco.
"How are you planning on spending your retirement?" Draco asked with an air of jest.
"Well, I was going to resurrect a pseudo-vigilante group from our parents' days, but Lilly said the Order of the Phoenix wasn't really a thing anymore," Harry replied sarcastically.
"She's not wrong," Draco mused, "You would have been breaking the law if you did do that."
Harry sighed and looked over at Draco, "She thinks I need therapy."
"You've needed therapy for years," Draco drawled.
"I've been in and out of therapy for years," Harry added, "Between my meetings for my alcoholism and my PTSD, I feel like I'm never out of a damn therapy chair."
"You might as well just ask Madam Pomfrey if you can have that plaque from your bed in the hospital wing," Draco smirked, "Then you can shove it on the therapy chair in Caroline's office instead."
Harry rolled his eyes, "At least I went to therapy for my issues. You just carted your father off to Australia and pretended that made your daddy issues disappear."
"Touche," Draco remarked.
Harry looked over at him, "Look, I love Daphne, but she doesn't tend to tell things to me things straight. She tries to bring things up subtly, and I normally don't notice, then she loses her temper, we duel and have sex."
Draco leant back in his chair, "That's not too dissimilar to how Hermione and I tend to resolve arguments. Only, it goes more like – Hermione says something, I call her out on the fact it's bullshit, she curses me, we duel, we have sex, and then we don't talk for at least a week."
Harry didn't even have it in him to chuckle, "Do you ever wish you'd just married a Hufflepuff or something?"
Draco smiled sadly, "Sometimes, yeah. Or a Ravenclaw."
Harry shook his head, "Ravenclaws are too logical. They tell you things straight. I mean, Lilly's not like Daphne, she doesn't pull her punches….and she said I can't give up the adrenaline rush. She said I'll never grow old because I want to die with my boots on."
"The problem is that people like Daphne and Lilly don't understand that shift," Draco said with a shake of his head.
"You spend so long being on high alert, constant vigilance, you know? It's ingrained into us to always be watching, aware of our surroundings, and looking into every little detail. We spend years working like that, and when we leave the department, we can't just turn it off."
Harry nodded.
"Do you know after I got made Head of the DMLE, how many times I wanted to come out and help in a situation?" Draco asked with a sigh, "Because to begin with, it happened at least once a month. Every time I had to talk myself out of it. I had to remind myself that I couldn't help because it wasn't my job anymore. I had to tell myself that I was a politician now, a paper pusher, but I still craved the rush of solving a case."
He sipped his whiskey and finished, "I still do, sometimes, Harry."
"Yeah," Harry agreed, "There's a period of adjustment, you're right. But I think Lilly might be right too, Draco. I have been fighting for my entire life. It's not that it's just ingrained into me; it's like it's who I am. I don't know how to stop being this person. I don't know if I can."
"And the only way you're going to learn how to is by stopping, Harry," Draco said, grey eyes surveying him, "You draw a line in the sand, and once you have, you don't cross it. You don't bend the rules. You don't rush in where you aren't supposed to."
Harry frowned down at the chessboard.
"If we're being honest, I think we both know that you're going to get dragged back into this fight with the Statute Saboteuers somehow," Draco said with a shake of his head.
"But once they have been dealt with, you take a step back, and you stay there."
Harry nodded and moved a pawn to begin the chess game.
"I won't argue with you on that front," Harry promised.
"I realised when I was talking to Lilly about all of this that I'm becoming too much like Dumbledore for my own liking, and I never wanted that, Draco."
Draco nodded thoughtfully and moved one of his pawns.
"Out of interest, would you have told Hermione?" Harry asked curiously, "If I had brought back the Order?"
"Well, you would have been breaking the law," Draco mused, "And I'm the Head of the DMLE, so I would be obligated to tell the Minister for Magic."
"But?" Harry said, raising an eyebrow at his friend.
"But, I wouldn't have told her because that would have involved, you know, talking to her," Draco said with a wave of his hand, "It wouldn't have mattered anyway. You and Hermione have this weird little mental link; you can always tell when she's in danger, and she can always tell when you're about to do something stupid, which coincidentally is usually also illegal."
Harry rolled his eyes, "I hate it when you're right."
Draco chuckled and watched Harry make his move.
Once he had played, Harry looked up at Draco, "Speaking of your wife, have you actually spoken to her yet?"
"I spoke to her once to tell her that you had quit," Draco replied.
"I'm sure that was a pleasant conversation," Harry said sarcastically.
"Oh, yeah," Draco drawled, "Just swell."
Harry shot him an amused look, "If you haven't spoken to her since then, I guess that means you're not staying at the castle?"
"No," Draco sighed, "I'm sleeping in the coach house."
"With Theo?" Harry guessed.
"Yes," Draco drawled, "Where are you going with this, Harry?"
Harry shrugged, "Just getting the lay of the land. Have Theo and Sadie made up?"
"They've talked things over, yes. Those two don't stay mad at each other like Hermione, and I do," Draco replied.
"It's a Slytherin-Gryffindor thing," Harry assured Draco, "Is Theo talking to Hermione?"
"Probably. I expect he's forgiven her, and I know that Sadie has," Draco said with a shrug, "He splits his evenings between the coach house and the castle. And when he is in the castle, I suspect Hermione's probably with him and Sadie."
"I will never quite understand how your relationship works," Harry said with a shake of his head.
"Trust me, right now, neither do I," Draco said dryly.
Harry surveyed him, "Don't you think living in the coach house is a little unhealthy?"
Draco gave him a long-suffering look, "The last time I checked, you hadn't forgiven Hermione either."
"No, but she's not my wife," Harry pointed out.
Draco rolled his eyes.
"And we're angry at her for different reasons," Harry said perceptively, "I'm mad about the method she used to bring you back, but you're over that."
Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry, "Am I?"
"Uh-huh," Harry said, moving a pawn on the chessboard, "You're pissed that she sabotaged your career to save her own and that she hasn't apologised for that yet."
Draco moved a pawn and sighed, "I haven't actually given her much of a chance to apologise, to be fair."
"But I am right?"
Draco nodded, "Yes. There's no going back, not after what she said. I've worked so hard to get to where I am, Harry, and I love my job. But I loved being a respected head of the DMLE. I loved that I didn't have to fight to get things done, that the people under my command knew I was with them because I'd been through everything that they were going through."
"And now you feel that you've lost that," Harry realised.
"There's no doubt about it. I've definitely lost that," Draco said, shifting one of his knights, "They think I don't know about everything they say behind my back, but I've got ears everywhere. They think I'm a coward, and I've heard more people refer to me as Draco Malfoy in the last week than I have in the last year."
"To your face?" Harry asked in surprise.
Draco shook his head, "No, behind my back, which is somehow worse."
Harry nodded his agreement, "It's definitely worse, and it's also cowardly, which, you know, makes them hypocrites."
Draco smiled slightly, "If you're trying to make me feel better, it's not working."
Harry shot him an amused look and took one of his pawns with a bishop, "I'm pretty sure it is."
With a chuckle, Draco moved his knight and took Harry's bishop, "Bad move."
"Maybe I'm just playing the long game," Harry joked.
"Or you're distracted," Draco said, eyeing Harry with interest, "What's on your mind?"
"This entire situation with the Statute Saboteurs," Harry said. He used his knight to take Draco's bishop, "By the way, I've been one step ahead of you this entire time."
"And I was two steps ahead," Draco said, taking Harry's knight with his queen.
Harry cursed under his breath, "The whole thing makes me uneasy, Draco. I see so many parallels to the wars with Voldemort. These people could recruit anyone, and we would know nothing about it until it was too late. Just like with the Death Eaters, they wear masks when they do anything in public. I'm just…."
Draco nodded, "Uneasy. I know."
"You feel the same?" Harry asked, looking up at him in surprise.
"I didn't just see it happen before. I was a part of it, however unwillingly," Draco said with a shrug, "It is happening in much the same way, but then again, every rebellion does. What worries me is how this harks back to the war with Grindelwald."
"You still think Grindelwald was more of a threat than Voldemort?" Harry asked in surprise, "After everything Voldemort put you through?"
Draco looked up at Harry, "Voldemort was worse in this country, but when you look at what Grindelwald did in Europe…he was worse, Harry."
Harry didn't say anything for a moment, opting to study the chessboard instead.
"What's worse," Draco added, "Is how much the political situation right now mirrors the political situation back then. Grindelwald wanted to rid us of the 'Muggle' problem, but beneath that, he wanted freedom and equality for all wizards. He put wizards above Muggles, but he classed Muggle-borns and Half-bloods as just as worthy as Purebloods."
Harry frowned over at Draco.
"Which isn't that dissimilar to Hermione's thinking," Draco continued carefully, "She doesn't hate Muggles, but she does want to keep us separated from them. By having that viewpoint, she is putting wizardkind above Muggles, whether she realises it or not."
Harry sighed and glanced down.
"And you are her adversary," Draco continued, "Her former friend, lover even – just like Dumbledore was to Grindelwald."
Harry's eyes snapped up, "You're comparing Hermione and me to Grindelwald and Dumbledore?"
Draco raised an eyebrow, "There's no need to get quite so defensive about it, Harry. All I am saying is that the political situation does mirror that of the wars with Grindelwald. The difference this time, I hope, is that you and Hermione can see reason before you end up at war with each other."
Harry scoffed, "Well, we aren't spurned lovers for a start. Don't try and make it out like we are. You know that we've always thought of each other as family."
"And family doesn't cut each other off for one mistake," Draco said pointedly.
Harry looked at him in disbelief, "You can't lecture me for cutting her off when you're not even speaking to her, and she's your bloody wife. We're not Grindelwald and Dumbledore, and we want the same thing. I want to bring down the Statute Saboteurs, just like she does. Why would it ever be war?"
"Because if you did resurrect the Order of the Phoenix, you would be breaking the law, albeit for a good reason," Draco warned Harry.
"If you attack it from that angle while she sends out the Aurors to do so legally, you can see how it's going to look."
While Harry contemplated that, Draco made a move and took another of Harry's pawns.
"I'm not resurrecting the Order," Harry promised, "But I won't act like I'm over what Hermione did and pretend this is a united British front against the Statute Saboteurs."
Draco gave him a fond but exasperated smile, "I know you won't."
Harry sighed and said, "You put up a good defence, by the way. For the woman you aren't talking to, that is."
Draco looked up at him, "Seriously, Harry?" he asked dryly.
"I'm just saying," Harry said, holding his hands up, "Are you talking to anyone in your family right now?"
Draco gave him an irritated look, "I'm talking to Theo."
"Uh-huh," Harry said, "What about Sadie?"
Draco sighed, "It was her idea to say that the decoy was my idea. Hermione just agreed with it. I don't know whose more at fault, to be honest."
Harry shrugged, "Sadie's the more practical one. She could have been a Ravenclaw easily. Hermione, on the other hand, yes, she's smart, but she's also a Gryffindor. People forget that about her."
Draco looked up at his friend, "What do you mean?"
"She's fiery and passionate," Harry said with a shrug, "She cares too much. Naturally, she took Sadie's suggestion and rolled with it because she was still reeling from watching the love of her life die."
"Whose side are you on here?" Draco asked in disbelief, "You're not speaking to her, but you're urging me to make up with her."
"You're not speaking to her, but you're urging me to make up with her!" Harry echoed, "The difference is that she's your wife, and you're mad about a technicality. Not the fact she could have ripped a hole in the universe to save you."
"I have more faith in Sadie than you," Draco said with a sigh, "If she felt it was unsafe, she wouldn't have done it, no matter how much she loves me."
Harry looked down at the chessboard thoughtfully, "But you're still worried about the consequences, aren't you?"
Draco nodded, unable to meet Harry's eye, "My father was a cruel man, but he was smart. He didn't get into Voldemort's ranks by being a wallflower. He was close, with Augustus Rookwood, who became an Unspeakable and leaked secrets to Voldemort."
Harry looked up at Draco with a frown, but the other man kept his eyes down.
"He didn't caution me about many things, but one thing he always said has stuck with me," Draco admitted, finally looking up at Harry.
"He said time travel was against reason, that time was written by someone far greater than us, and we ought to abide by its laws if we knew what was good for us."
"You think he knew something?" Harry asked quietly.
Draco sighed and met Harry's eye, "I know there was a reason why he led the way into the Ministry in our fifth year. It wasn't because he was Voldemort's right-hand man. It was because he had an ulterior motive."
Harry's eyes flashed, "Which was?"
"You are not the only person who had a prophecy with their name on it in that hall," Draco said, his grey eyes stormier than usual.
Harry frowned, "What do you mean?"
"There was a prophecy pertaining to a male Malfoy," Draco explained, "My father wanted to know what it said, so he checked when he broke into the Department of Mysteries to come after you."
"Do you know what it said?" Harry asked, unsure why he was whispering because they were encased in a muffliato bubble.
Draco looked down once more as he uttered the fateful words, which would haunt Harry for years to come.
"With the last embers of summer, when darkness falls,
The consequences of meddling shall be revealed
Through the spirits door, where the breeze breaks
There fire shall fly from the raven girl,
Silver eyes will cry through the wind,
And the light shall fade from the golden one.
All that was un-done shall be remade,
And the sun will set to the harvest moon."
Harry frowned, "What does it mean?"
"I don't know," Draco said with a shake of his head, "I've never known, so I tried to put it out of my head. When the war ended, my mother worried about it. Still, nothing happened, so we assumed it would pass down to a future generation."
Harry's frown deepened as Draco continued.
"Then I realised that it had to be about me because I'm the last Malfoy. All of my children are Blacks or Notts."
"Do the others know?" Harry asked.
"Only Theo," Draco answered, moving a chess piece on the board.
"And what does he think?" Harry asked. The cogs in his brain whirred as he tried to make sense of it. He moved a piece on the board, not paying too much attention to what piece it was.
"He's worried," Draco said darkly, shifting a chess piece and sighing.
"Check-mate."
And Harry couldn't help but wonder if those words were foreshadowing.
- TBC –
The prophecy is derived from a poem;
Grail Poem by Susan Cooper.
