The Eighth Year Universe

Love Wins

You Took All My Secrets With You

The chapter title comes from the song:

Human Diary by Danielle Bradberry.


Trigger Warning: Implied underage sex, manipulative older man.


Shell Cottage

Devon

Bill felt awkward, standing in the kitchen while Fleur brewed the tea.

Bill shifted from one foot to the other and looked out at the beach. The sea was peaceful today. All that could be heard was the gentle lapping of waves brushing against the shore.

"I hear you offered them a place to stay?"

Bill looked up, "Uh, yeah. I gave them the flat above P&W. Charlus said he wanted to pay me something for it, but I would have given it to them for free."

"It is good that he wants to pay his own way," Fleur mused, "He must be the hardworking sort."

"He is," Bill agreed, "They'll move in together in a few weeks. After the big Potter-Wolfe wedding."

"Good," Fleur said airily.

She set the tea tray on the table, but Bill didn't move towards it to sit down.

"I…uh, I wanted to apologise to you, Fleur."

Fleur looked up at him, her eyes widening slightly in surprise, "What?"

"You don't need to sound so surprised," Bill said, his eyes on Fleur, "I owe you an apology for the way I treated you after the other night and….all the years before that."

A slight frown formed on Fleur's face, and she cocked her head at him slightly in a way he knew meant 'what do you mean?'

They had gotten good at reading each other's body language and facial expressions in those first few weeks when they were learning how to speak the others language.

Bill sighed and shook his head, "I gave up too soon, on our marriage. On you."

He looked down, "I gave up on our family, and then I married the rebound girl. It wasn't fair to Lara or to you. It wasn't fair on Victoire or Arthur."

Bill ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "If I could do it all over…I would have tried harder," he promised, "I would have fought for us."

"You were not the only one who stopped trying," Fleur promised.

Bill looked up and met her eyes. He saw the same pained look that he was sure had been in his own moments ago.

"After the war, things changed," Fleur admitted, "You were more distant, and I felt like I couldn't reach you anymore. When Victoire was born…I thought it might fix us, but we were just awful at the sleepless nights, and it felt like all we did was argue."

Bill nodded, "You don't realise that it's a blessing until they're all grown up though," he said sadly.

"I know," Fleur agreed with a tearful smile.

"You said it the other night," Fleur added, "Right person, wrong time."

Bill swallowed and looked her in the eye, "Then is it too bold of me to ask if now might be the right time?"

Fleur held his gaze and shook her head. She took a step towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"No," She said, her voice so quiet it was virtually a whisper.

"Because I was hoping that it might be too."

Bill smiled and ducked his head down to kiss her. When their lips met, it was like Bill was breathing fresh air for the first time in years, like he was finally seeing it all clearly.

He loved her, and she loved him.

And sometimes, that was enough.


Organised Crime Office

The Ministry of Magic

"I'm getting married in two weeks."

Almina dropped a pile of invites onto Owen's desk, "You're all invited if you can promise not to be judgemental prats."

"No promises," Kyle joked from across the room.

Owen picked up the invite, scanned it and smiled, "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Owen," Almina chirped.

Blaine picked his up, read it and laughed, "You seriously think I'm gonna judge? You know what the relationship dynamics in my family are like."

Almina chuckled. Blaine was a Zabini, so yes, she did know.

Kyle and Ezra picked theirs up at the same time. They both scanned the invites and had slightly different reactions.

"I'll be there," Ezra said with a smile, "Thank you for the invite."

Almina nodded and looked at Kyle. He grinned and said, "Almina Nott, the good little Ravenclaw girl. Fucking hell, it really is always the quiet ones."

"Ugh," Faye said from the other side of the room, "Uninvite him, please."

Kyle smirked over at Faye, who glared at him.

She hadn't even reached for her invite because she knew all about Almina's unconventional relationship. They had been paired up as Auror partners in the training centre, and it was coming up on four years now that they had been partners. Ironically enough, they had both been in Ravenclaw and in the same school year at Hogwarts, but they had never been close friends then. Almina had spent most of her first year being a bit of a loner in her own year but had friends like Victoire and Edith in the year above.

Then Addison had started the following year, and Almina had her best friend back. They had never let the fact they were in different houses bother them. Towards the end of school, Almina had probably spent more time in the Hufflepuff common room than the Ravenclaw one.

"So explain to me who exactly is marrying who?" Kyle asked with a grin.

"Everyone is marrying everyone, technically," Almina replied. She leaned against her desk and explained, "At a normal wedding, you have the magical bonding, right?"

The team all nodded.

"So the big difference is going to be when that happens because instead of two of us holding hands, all four of us will hold hands," Almina finished.

"Whoa," Ezra said, "Four people's magic bonding? Is that even possible?"

Owen snorted, "Yes, it is."

They all turned to look at him in surprise.

"How the hell do you know?" Blaine asked curiously.

"Yeah, how do you know?" Faye agreed nosily.

Owen laughed and said, "You didn't know my last boss."

They thought about that for a minute, then the penny dropped – the former Head Auror had been Harry Potter. He was all over the newspapers now for his scandalous relationship with Neville Longbottom and his wife.

"Ugh, don't compare us to them," Almina complained, "Because I'd be the Daphne Potter and let's face it, I'm not that materialistic or vain."

"Well…" Faye said, grinning at Almina.

Almina snorted, "Oh, shut up little miss 'we're all purebloods together'. My mum's a muggle-born, and I'm proud of it."


Child Protective Services [CPS]

Diagon Alley

The office was busy when Teddy and Nick came in together, just shy of 7 am. CPS had grown in recent years. The building had a back extension. They now operated on a team of six, like every other office in the Auror department did.

It was still run by Rob, but when Shep had decided to retire five years ago, Sorenson Cauldwell had asked to step out of Organised Crime into a slightly less field-based role. As time went on, the old burn scars began to pull more, and Sorenson found it affecting his vision on one side too.

Rob had been happy to bring him into CPS, and the two of them had become quite the team. Nick and Teddy were the two Aurors under their command, and last year, they had added Callie McCarthy and Karina Green to the team. The two girls were brilliant Aurors, but both perfect in CPS. Karina was from the squib Greengrass line, and she had been raised in the Closes until her dad died when she was four. Then she had gone to Lupin House with her 2-year brother, Monty.

Callie was another Lupin House kid. She had been raised in the Closes by her mother, who had been a woman of ill-repute. Her father was a waste of space who had never been in her life, so she had gone to Lupin House at 2 years old when her mother died, and her infant half-brother Alfie had gone there with her.

Because of their starts in life, they understood the job and were both as empathetic as possible.

"Good morning, all!"

Rob rolled his eyes, "Oh, here comes the announcement. I'm gonna have to split you two up, you know that, right?"

"Just partner one of us up with Kari and the other with Callie," Teddy said with a shrug, "Problem solved."

Karina looked up at them with amusement shining in her eyes, "You two are finally going to tell us you're shagging then?"

"Well, yeah," Nick said, dropping something onto her desk, "That and we're getting married in two weeks."

"Okay," Karina said, "That's…a little unexpected."

Sorenson frowned up at them, "Uh, yeah. Kid, aren't you marrying my niece?"

Teddy nodded and gave Sorenson an invite, "Yeah, we're all getting married."

Sorenson directed his frown downward to the invite, then he rolled his eyes, "Fucking Theodore Nott! No, it isn't going to damage the kids having four parents, Sorenson - I'll fucking kill him - "

Rob snorted and cut in, "Ronnie, we all know about your rather unsavoury opinion of your brother-in-law. But on this occasion, I don't think Almina having four parents has anything to do with it."

"He's right," Nick admitted, "Almina just got roped into it cause Teddy fell in love with her when he was already in love with me."

Teddy rolled his eyes, and Nick threw himself onto the chair behind his desk. "Funny how I'm at the centre of all this, huh?"

"Think you could be any vainer about it if you tried, Nick?" Callie asked from the desk she shared with Karina.

Nick opened his mouth, and Teddy clamped his hand over it before the other man could say anything.

"He could, but he won't be," Teddy said.

"So, you're really getting married in two weeks?" Karina asked, "That's not much notice, is it?"

"Ah, well, it is what it is," Teddy shrugged, "You all gonna be there?"

"Hm," Sorenson nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Callie promised.

Karina cocked her head at Teddy, "I suppose I can make it."

The two boys grinned, and Rob clapped Nick on the back, "And yes, I can partner you up with the girls to avoid the issue of you working in the same office. But what's going to happen with surnames, huh? You gonna swap or something?"

"No," Teddy said. He gave Rob an amused smile.

"We're going to double-barrel our surnames so that all four of us are Potter-Wolfe, but with three of us being Aurors, we're going to keep our original surnames for work purposes."

Sorenson looked at Teddy carefully, "You've actually thought this through, then?"

"Of course we have," Teddy replied.

"By which he means Almina was up half the night talking it through with her mums. While replying to Teddy's mother's constant Patronus messages about the menu and the invites and Merlin knows what else," Nick finished.

Sorenson chuckled, "That sounds more like it."

"Yeah, sounds about right," Rob agreed.

"Alright, starting from now, you two can't partner each other," He added, waving a finger between his son and Teddy.

"So Nick and Callie, I need you two on welfare calls in the Closes today. Teddy and Kari, it's inspection day at Lupin House."

He handed out the appropriate paperwork, and Teddy looked at him in surprise.

"Is that it?"

Sorenson snorted, "What were you expecting? A rainbow banner?"

"A cake with fucking rainbow sprinkles?" Rob added.

Teddy and Nick shared an exasperated look.

"You thought we were gonna just say fuck it, we'll have a day off?" Rob continued, "Just to drink tea and talk about your big wedding? Uh, no, we've got important work to do, so get on with it."

Karina laughed and said, "If you thought any of us were going to judge, then you don't know us that well."

Callie nodded, "You told me that judgemental people don't do well in this department," she said, smiling at Nick.

Nick smiled too, "Yeah, I know. I guess we just didn't realise quite how great you guys are."

"Yeah, we're fucking fantastic," Rob muttered under his breath.

"And we have work to do, so can you two shift your arses and do it before Christmas comes?" Sorenson added.

Teddy and Nick shared another grin then went their separate ways for the day, glad that nothing had really changed.


The Closes

Diagon Alley

Victoire had waited far too long to tell Nevaeh the truth. Her best friend knew that she was off work ill, but she had been dodging her floo-calls for the last week. Then again, Nevee hadn't been as persistent as usual, either.

Either way, Victoire had tried to floo her, and there had been no answer, but she knew it was Nevee's day off, so she went by her flat in the Closes to tell her the news.

She was keyed into the wards, so when nobody answered the door, Victoire pressed her hand against it. The wards allowed her access, so she stepped into the flat and noticed the bedroom door was ajar.

Nevee had always been a heavy sleeper, so Victoire figured the knocking hadn't woken her, and she stepped right into her bedroom. Five seconds later, when she saw her best friend tangled up with her other best friend, Victoire wished that she hadn't done that.

"Holy mother of Merlin!" Victoire shrieked, "When did that happen?"

Edith yanked the covers up over her and turned a shade of beetroot.

Nevee looked at Victoire, and whatever snarky comment had been on her lips was abandoned when she saw her very noticeable baby bump.

"When did that happen?" She retorted.

"That's why I'm here," Victoire muttered, "How long have you been sleeping with Edith for? And why didn't you tell me, you little bitch?"

"You're like mega fucking pregnant, and you didn't tell me!" Nevee exclaimed, "So who's the little bitch?"

"Oh my god," Edith muttered, "Girls, can we maybe just make a pot of tea and talk about this like adults?"

Victoire crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Edith, "Sure, Edie. You might want to put some clothes on first, though."

Nevaeh, being Nevaeh, smirked and got up stark naked, then threw on the robe hanging on the back of the door.

Edith groaned and pulled the covers over her face, "Nevee, this isn't the time to be so fucking dramatic," she muttered.

Victoire almost laughed at the comment.

Nevee smiled slightly, Victoire could have sworn it was fondly. Then she stepped past Victoire into the tiny kitchen in the little flat she had lived in since she left school.

Victoire shook her head and turned around, allowing Edith a little bit of modesty to get dressed. She cocked her head at Nevee, "This explains why you haven't been too concerned about my absence. You've been so busy with all the hot girl on girl sex."

Nevee snorted, "You can't talk about anyone else being too busy with sex, can you?"

Victoire sighed and leaned against the bedroom door, "It happened on New Year's Eve. I only found out a few weeks ago because of this rare condition where your magic tricks you into thinking you're not pregnant."

"Magical Cryptic Pregnancy?" Edith asked in surprise.

She had pyjamas on now, and she squeezed past Victoire into the kitchen.

"You have pyjamas here?" Victoire asked, raising an eyebrow at the redhead.

Edith shrugged and pushed herself up onto the work surface, "I have a drawer here."

Nevaeh gave Victoire an exasperated look, "Don't."

"A drawer," Victoire grinned, "That's commitment."

Nevee snorted, "No, that's commitment," she said, pointing at Victoire's stomach.

Victoire rolled her eyes, and Edith kicked Nevaeh playfully, "Nevee, Victoire is obviously going through something huge and scary right now. Maybe try to be more supportive and less sarcastic."

Nevaeh made a face, and Victoire looked up at Edith, "Thanks, Edie. You've heard of this condition then?"

"Yeah, it's super rare though," Edith said with a frown, "Most people don't know they're pregnant until they go into labour. My mum's only had one case involving it. The girl was about 14, she gave birth at home alone. She was…pretty badly traumatised."

Nevaeh cocked her head at Edith, "Is that your nice Mental Health Healer way of saying she killed herself?"

"No, but she did end up institutionalised," Edith admitted.

Victoire snorted, "Wow, thanks for the words of encouragement, Edie."

Nevaeh shot her an amused look, "You're not 14, and you haven't given birth alone."

Victoire nodded, "No, I wouldn't have found out if they hadn't run a load of bloods after the arrow to the chest incident, though."

Edith smiled sheepishly, and Nevee bit her lip, "Yeah…uh, thanks for that. I was kind of upset about it, and I bumped into Edith in the shower room and…" she trailed off with a grin.

"Oh, so I nearly died, and you two hooked up?" Victoire joked, a genuine smile making its way onto her face.

"It was an emotional time!" Nevaeh chuckled.

Victoire shook her head, "It's been coming for years, this thing between you two. I'm glad you finally got together, though."

Edith smiled over at Nevee, "Yeah, me too."

Nevee smiled back, and Victoire made a face, "You're sickeningly happy though. I might actually vomit."

Edith chortled, "How pregnant are you then?"

"Seven months, give or take," Victoire replied, "He's due to arrive in October."

"He?" The two girls echoed.

With a smile, Victoire nodded, "It's a boy, yeah. Charlie is…well, he's Charlie. He's fine with it, but he refused to marry me because of a baby, which is good because I don't want that either. And with his sister and her fiancés having their big gay wedding, I'm okay with us not doing that right now."

Nevaeh choked on her tea, "Who's big gay wedding?"

"Bugger," Victoire muttered when she realised they didn't know, and she may have let the cat out of the bag.

Edith handed her a cup of tea.

"You two haven't heard about this?" Victoire asked, glancing between them.

"No, because my gossipy best friend has been avoiding me cause she's knocked up!" Nevee said, nudging Victoire playfully, "Go on, what wedding?"

"Right," Victoire said, "This isn't common knowledge yet, so you can't tell anyone else. But Nina is pregnant, and Nick proposed to her. So some things happened, I don't know exactly what, and they decided to get married in two weeks. They're going to change their surnames to Potter-Wolfe, and I'm pretty sure Nina's baby might be Teddy's."

"Fucking hell," Nevee breathed, "Wait, your baby is Charlus's, right?"

"Of course it is!" Victoire exclaimed, "I wish people would stop asking me that. He's literally the only guy I've slept with in the last year, and now I'm having his bloody baby."

"Jeez, talk about unlucky," Nevee muttered.

"Nevaeh!" Edith scolded.

Victoire laughed despite herself, "You two are already like an old married couple."

Nevaeh snorted in amusement, "Are we invited to this big gay wedding then?"

"I only got my invite this morning, so you never know, you might be," Victoire shrugged.

"God, I hope we are," Edith said with a somewhat out of place smirk, "How ironic would that be? Teddy's big gay wedding and his ex shows up with her girlfriend."

Victoire and Nevaeh both laughed out loud at that, and Victoire grinned. Things felt exactly the same, an unexpected baby bump or not. She didn't know why she had worried that they wouldn't. She did have the best friends that she could ask for, after all.

"Have you told your parents about the baby?" Edith asked when she stopped laughing.

Victoire rolled her eyes, "Yeah, my dad was at the hospital when I found out, so I told him. Then my mum came back from France, and we filled her in. She got worried, obviously, so she did the typical French mother thing. She fussed over me and made me a home-cooked meal, which my dad tagged along for."

With a wave of her hand, Victoire finished, "Long story short, my dad cheated on his wife with my mum, and now my parents are fucking again."

"Wow," Edith uttered.

Nevaeh snorted, "It never rains, but it pours, huh?"

Victoire snorted too, "Tell me about it."

"This is too much to take in over one conversation," Nevaeh said with a shake of her head, "Promise you'll not avoid me for three weeks again?"

Victoire smiled at her best friend and nodded.

"Deal."


DMLE Holding Cells

Ministry of Magic

"Boss, you might wanna take this one before you head home."

Ben looked over at the Auror who had just spoken to him, "Why's that, Ronnie?"

Sorenson Cauldwell handed him an arrest file, "I brought him in ten minutes ago after a domestic call in the Closes."

Ben opened the file and sighed. He nodded and shut it again, "Thanks for bringing it straight to me, Sorenson. I'll deal with him."

"That better not mean you're gonna let him off," Sorenson said darkly.

Ben shook his head and headed into the holding cells, "Trust me, that's not what I meant."

The door shut behind him, and he made his way along to cell number 6.

The security wizard outside nodded at him, "Boss."

"Can you let me in with him, Johnny?"

Johnny, the security wizard, nodded and opened the cell door. Then he stepped back.

Ben stepped into the holding cell with a sigh and looked disdainfully at the 17-year-old in front of him.

"Fourth time since you left school," Ben said coolly, "Making a habit out of getting arrested for dumb shit, aren't you, Zach?"

Zachary Smith grinned at him.

"Hey, Uncle Ben."

Ben crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm not your Uncle Ben. I'm Head Auror Smith. And I know you're not the brightest wand in the shop, Zach, but even you know that this one is more serious than the last three – common assault, stupid to punch someone at a Quidditch game but not going to get you in serious trouble."

"Uncle - "

"I'm not done," Ben said calmly, "Drunk and disorderly, also stupid. Riding a broom under the influence, stupid and suicidal."

Ben glared at his nephew, "But sexual assault? That doesn't just go away, Zach, and it highlights a real problem in you as a person."

Zach scoffed, "It wasn't sexual assault. She was just playing hard to get."

Ben's jaw set as he struggled to maintain his calm composure.

"I don't need to go out and force girls to sleep with me," Zach said. He laughed and ran a hand through his platinum blonde hair, "I've fucked Thea Potter. I'm not some low life loser who can't get a girl in bed."

Ben froze and turned around for a moment. He faced the wall and took a breath to try and calm himself down.

It didn't work.

"Thea Potter is 15-years-old!" Ben hissed when he spun around to face Zach.

"She's a minor, and having sex with a minor is sexual assault, you absolute idiot!"

Zach's eyes widened, and Ben shook his head, "I'm not slapping you on the wrist, yelling at your dad and sending you home this time. Do you get that, Zach? You're going to go to bloody jail!"

"What?" Zach objected, "I…it wasn't assault! She wanted to have sex with me. She's desperate for attention, it's pathetic. She'll tell me anything just to get someone to listen to her. The stupid girl even told me all about the saboteurs and their safe house."

Ben paused in his pacing and turned around. He kept his face neutral when he looked at his nephew.

"Did you tell your father that?"

Zach shrugged, "Yeah. He's always asking about the Potters."

Ben swallowed and headed for the door.

"Uncle Ben, wait! Uncle Ben, I'm not really going to Azkaban, am I?"

Ben slammed the holding cell door shut without a reply.


Blacknot Castle

"Pops, it doesn't matter."

"Almina, trust me, it matters," Theo said calmly, "Right now, you might think, well, there's no difference between navy and black, really. But then, 20 years down the line, you'll look back on your wedding photographs and say – fucking hell, I look like a ponce from Beauxbatons."

Sadie gave him an irritated look, "You said you liked the colour scheme at the time!"

Theo rolled his eyes and looked at Almina, "Another lesson? Don't lie to your other half because it always comes back to bite you in the arse."

Hermione bit back a smile, and Draco shook his head in amusement.

Almina sighed, "Well, it doesn't make a difference. Navy and black are very similar, and nobody is going to look like a ponce from Beauxbatons because there will be no light blue silken robes, Pops."

Theo made a face, and then a house-elf stepped into the drawing-room with Ben Smith in tow. That made them all fall silent because the Head Auror didn't do house calls, not to anyone."

"A house call," Theo joked weakly, "Are we royalty now?"

Ben shook his head and looked at Draco, who had been on edge from the moment he saw the other man in his house.

"Sir," Almina said with a nod in her boss's direction.

Ben nodded back, "Sorry to interrupt, Almina."

Almina shook her head and looked between Ben and Draco, "It's fine. But I presume you're here for my dad, not me?"

With another nod, Ben looked at Draco, "Could we talk somewhere quiet and private?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at them, "If this concerns the Statute Saboteurs, then I think I should be kept in the loop, Ben."

"It doesn't, ma'am," Ben said honestly, "This is a personal matter."

That made Draco even warier. He rose to his feet and nodded, "Let's talk downstairs."

Although they watched on warily or suspiciously, the other three didn't say anything further.

Draco silently led Ben down a flight of stairs into the basement corridor. They stepped into the kitchen, and Draco looked Ben in the eye.

"Is this personal, really?"

"Half of it is," Ben confessed, "But the first part isn't."

Draco leaned against the table and nodded, "Go on."

"I found your leak, and it wasn't an Auror."

Draco frowned, "Then who?"

"Zach Smith, my nephew," Ben said darkly, "He told my brother who sold the story to the prophet, but the concerning part is where he got his information from."

Draco's frown deepened, "What do you mean?"

"Thea Potter told him," Ben said quietly, "And if we are to believe all his bragging, that's not all Thea Potter gave him."

Draco's expression distorted into disgust, "She's 15, Ben! That's…that's illegal."

Ben nodded, "I know. I'm going to have to press charges, and that means…."

"Informing her parents," Draco said. He swallowed and nodded, "About the charges and the leak…."

"I'm not asking you to do it. I just need you to have my back," Ben admitted.

"No," Draco cut in. He shook his head, "Harry was my Auror partner, and he's one of my closest friends. I'll tell him."

With a sigh, Draco ran a hand through his hair, "And it's the least I can do. I threatened your job, and I didn't take you at your word when you told me it wasn't an Auror."

"You were just doing your job," Ben pointed out.

Draco shook his head, "But not the way I wanted to. When I came in and spoke to you like that….I was a Head of the DMLE that my father would be proud of, and that's never what I wanted to be. So I'm sorry, Ben."

"Apology accepted, boss."


Potter Manor

"Harry - "

"Yes, I've taken all my potions. No, I don't feel queasy. Yes, I've drunk my water, so please go to your bloody bed, Lil!"

Lilly gave him an exasperated look, "You memorised my questions?"

"You ask the same three every night," Harry pointed out, "It's not like it's hard. You just came off a 12-hour-shift. Get some sleep."

"Alright, but if you get any aches – "

"I know where the potions cabinet is," Harry finished, "Goodnight."

Lilly caved. She leant down to kiss him on the cheek, "Night, Harry."

As she left the drawing-room, Daphne came in, and they said goodnight in the doorway.

Daphne then dropped something in front of Harry and said, "Two weeks to plan a wedding, honestly. I know I'm good, but I'm not that good."

"You seem to be doing okay," Harry pointed out, "It's been a week, and there can't be much left to sort out now."

"Hm, not too much, just the dresses," Daphne said, "Nina says a dress is a dress, and Almina says the dress isn't what's important. What is wrong with these people, Harry?"

"They're just not as materialistic as you," Harry said as he fought back a smile, "Or vain, for that matter."

Daphne whacked him around the head with one of the bits of paper, and Harry grinned.

A knock then sounded on the door, and they both looked up.

"Draco," Daphne said in surprise, "What brings you here? Is it about Dad's funeral?"

"No," Draco stopped her, "No, that's all sorted, Daphne. All you have to do is show up on Sunday and give the eulogy."

Harry had been able to read the expression on Draco's face right away, unlike Daphne. He had gotten used to knowing what all Draco's micro-expressions meant. He'd had to because they had worked together for a decade, and Draco had never gotten that good at talking about his feelings.

"This is work-related," Draco said, his eyes meeting Harry's, "So I need to talk to you alone, for a moment."

Harry began to rise to his feet, but Daphne stopped him by placing a hand on his arm, "Why can't you talk to both of us about it?"

"Because it's confidential," Draco replied, "And even though he is recovering, Harry is still the Assistant Head of the DMLE right now."

"He's right, Daph," Harry murmured, "There are some things we need to talk about alone."

Daphne dropped his arm and nodded, but it was clear she wasn't happy about the situation.

All the same, Harry headed downstairs into his little bar/room of requirement, which was sound-proof, ensuring that nobody would overhear their conversation.

Harry sat down on a barstool and looked at Draco carefully, "I can't think of many things you wouldn't want to discuss in front of Daphne. Is this about her mother's involvement with Lazarus?"

Draco shook his head, "No. Ben found the leak, and it wasn't an Auror."

"I did tell you it might not be," Harry said calmly, "Who was it?"

"Zacharias Smith leaked the story to the paper," Draco answered. "How he got a copy of the file containing the photographs, I don't know, but the information about the safehouse came from his son."

"Zachary Smith?" Harry frowned.

Draco nodded and caught Harry's eye.

"How did he find out?" Harry asked.

"Your daughter told him," Draco answered.

Harry's eyes darkened, "I know Andrea's opinion of Zachary Smith, and she's as politically smart as they come, I know she wouldn't talk about that. I never thought Thea was so naïve, though."

"She's 15, Harry," Draco said quietly. He sighed and looked down, "Kids are influenced pretty easily at that age."

Harry fixed Draco with an intense look, "What did she tell him?"

Draco couldn't meet Harry's eye, "She talked about the mission to Hungary and the Statute Saboteur safehouse. She told him so many things that are classified as secret or top secret."

Harry swallowed and shook his head, "Then you need to investigate her."

"No - "

"You do," Harry snapped, "She needs to learn that her actions have consequences, Draco!"

"Harry!" Draco cut in. He reached out and grabbed Harry's shoulders, "I won't interrogate her, and if you hear me out, I think you'll understand why."

His words, and the way he had spoken, made Harry's heart beat a little faster.

Draco kept his gaze on Harry and continued, "Ben found this out because Zach Smith got brought in for sexual assault. Sorenson and Rob responded to a domestic call out in the Closes, and they found him pressuring a girl he met in the Leaky earlier tonight into having sex with him."

Harry's calm expression flickered.

"He got mouthy," Draco continued, "About the things he's done with Thea and if they're true, Harry…he's facing a charge of sexual assault for sleeping with a minor."

"Son of a bitch!" Harry swore, turning around to throw a blasting curse at the wall behind him.

The room shuddered, and a voice from above yelled, "Harry, stop losing your temper!"

Harry ignored Neville's voice and turned to Draco, "She's 15, Draco."

"I know," Draco said quietly.

"How would you feel if this was your little girl?" Harry asked with a shake of his head.

"I'd want to kill the guy too," Draco promised, "But in this case, it's not going to help anyone. He didn't force Thea into anything, but - "

"But she's 15," Harry finished furiously, "And therefore not capable of making an informed decision, but he is. He's the same age as Al and Andie. He knows better!"

"Which is why he's in a holding cell at the ministry," Draco returned calmly, "He's being charged by his uncle as we speak."

The door opened, and Neville stepped into the basement.

"What's going on?"

Harry shook his head, silently fuming over the whole thing.

"Tell him," He said to Draco, "I…can't."

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Zach Smith's just been arrested. He made some pretty serious claims about Thea, and if they prove to be true, he'll be convicted with sexual assault for sleeping with a minor."

Neville's eyes widened, "Does that mean that he hurt her?"

"No, it means she's stupid," Harry said furiously, "Stupid to sleep with an idiot like him when she's still a goddamn kid!"

Draco opened his mouth to try to calm Harry down, but the basement door opened again. And this time, Lilly and Daphne stepped in.

"What happened to resting up?" Lilly asked furiously, "Whatever you just did made the whole house shake!"

"What the hell did you just tell him, Draco?" Daphne asked, fixing her icy stare on the blond man,

"What he just told me was that our youngest daughter has been sleeping with that idiot Smith's kid!" Harry snapped, "And as if it weren't bad enough that he will now be charged with sexual assault for that because she's a bloody kid! It also turns out that Thea's the leak. She told Zach Smith confidential things about the mission to Hungary and about the damn Statue Saboteurs!"

Lilly shook her head furiously, "That stupid girl! I spoke to her about this months ago, and she swore she wouldn't do anything so bloody stupid!"

"You knew about her and this kid?" Neville asked in surprise.

"I did too," Daphne said with a sigh, "But I didn't think she would stoop that low. She's a smart girl, and he's a complete fool."

"That's what we're worried about? That she's sleeping with an idiot?" Harry asked in disbelief, "Not someone three years older than her who is clearly using her?"

Draco cut in, "Look, I know this is a shock, and because of the law, it's seen as sexual assault. But she's not doing anything that we didn't do at her age; it's the age gap that's the problem."

Harry scoffed, "Well, I wasn't doing that at her age. No, I was too busy fighting a dark lord and watching my godfather die. But I suppose you two would understand."

He pointed between Draco and Daphne, "Because you were doing that with each other, while my life was falling apart and Voldemort was taking over my mind."

Neville sighed, "Harry, stop being so dramatic. You're taking it hard because she's your baby. This isn't Draco or Daphne's fault."

Harry shook his head and took a few steps away from the group, "Yeah, she is my baby and…I thought she was better than this."

Lilly stepped forward and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him around and bringing him into a hug.

"I wasn't that much older than her when I let Michael pressure me into having sex with him," She reminded Harry in a whisper, "But I'm not stupid, and neither is Thea."

She pulled back and looked him in the eye, "No matter what age a boy is, he can be manipulative, and some of them know just what to say to an insecure teenage girl. We don't know what's going on in her head, Harry."

Harry nodded. He took a breath and pulled away from Lilly. Then he walked across the basement and turned to look at Draco.

"Fine. She consented to it," Harry conceded, "She made the decision knowingly. She has to learn to face the consequences. So we bring her down here and let her pick the adult she wants to sit through an interrogation with, and Draco interrogates her like he would if this were anyone else."

"Harry, she's a kid - " Daphne began to say.

"She's old enough to decide she can have sex," Harry snapped, "So she's old enough to sit down and tell us why the hell she thought it was okay to tell some idiot Smith about top-secret missions. People could die because of what she's done, Daphne, innocent people."

Neville looked between their wives and voiced his opinion, "He's right. I hate to say it, but Thea is the only one of any of our kids who has ever tried to use who her parents are to get her places in life. She uses it to get out of things at school, she uses it to get into places she shouldn't be allowed into and…honestly, I think she needs to grow up."

"She needs a reality check, Daphne," Lilly agreed, "And a hard interrogation from the Head of the DMLE is exactly that."

Daphne sighed and lowered her head, "I know you're right. I just…don't want to believe it. I suppose I just kept hoping that she would grow up eventually, like the rest of them did. Teddy dated Nevee Hall to irritate me. Andrea went through a phase of calling me Daphne instead of Mum. Alastor only spoke to plants for six months. But they all came out of it and grew up. They didn't act like selfish little brats, and….that's on me."

"No, it's not," Harry said firmly, "It's on us. Everything went to shit when Thea was born, Daphne. I nearly killed myself; you and I nearly split up. When everything righted itself, I suppose we doted on her too much, and it hasn't done her any favours."

"Having three kids the same age is the best way to avoid that," Lilly joked weakly, "You've not got enough time for any of them, so they all grow up to be humble."

Draco smiled slightly, "In a way, I get it. Because we raised all six of ours the same way, but Cas is more like me than I'd care to admit. And I mean old me, Malfoy me. He's a good kid, but sometimes he needs humbling. It doesn't mean anyone failed as a parent. Sometimes it's just genetics."

Daphne rubbed her eyes, "All the same, you are right, Harry. She does need to realise the consequences of her actions."

Harry just nodded in return. The basement fell silent for a moment, then Daphne spoke again. When she did, she sounded tired.

"I'll bring her down."

- TBC -