Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my ideas. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Eleven: Not in the Mood

Meredith smelled the coffee.

She sat up immediately, opening her eyes too quickly for them to properly adjust to the brightness around her. She was on an uncomfortable mattress and knew that she wasn't at home.

"Morning." a familiar voice said.

She turned her head, finding Leo sitting on the windowsill next to the bed, holding out a mug of coffee.

"What?" she murmured, feeling her head immediately begin to pound.

"Don't worry. There's hangover cure potion mixed in there." Leo said.

"Thanks." she said hesitantly, taking it and taking a long sip.

She looked around, sitting up against the pillows of the bed. Meredith recognized the shabby room - it was the Leaky Cauldron. Except, she wasn't exactly sure why she was there. In a room with one bed. With Leo.

She found herself very happy that she was still wearing clothes.

"Don't worry, Mer. I slept on the floor." Leo sighed.

She nodded, still confused as to why she was there, but glad that nothing had happened between them. They really didn't need their relationship to be anymore complicated than it already was.

"What - uh - what happened?" she asked hesitantly.

Leo sighed, taking a sip from his own mug of coffee. She stared at him, knowing that his mug held way too much sugar. She remembered the taste of it from waking up with him all those mornings, tasting the coffee on his lips.

"Well, we got here - ready to finally talk - when you just started downing drinks like a maniac. After two, you refused to talk anymore. So, we just drank. Well - I didn't really drink. And I figured you didn't want to go home, so I got you a room here and just... stayed to keep an eye on you." Leo explained.

Meredith blushed, completely embarrassed. Now that he had prompted her, she did remember that. She actually had been going to talk to him about Ava and what had happened, but... then she hadn't been able to do it.

"Mer..." Leo whispered.

She looked up at him, finding his eyes suddenly shining. She held her breath, unsure of what was going to happen next. All she knew was that one look at Leo like that and she was ready to hold him and never let him go ever again.

"I've missed you so much. I haven't - I haven't been able to do this on my own. I don't know how to handle it." Leo admitted, his voice breaking.

Meredith felt her own eyes well up in tears and she sniffled immediately. "It's been hard."

"I know it's been hard. I lost... I lost both of you." Leo said, getting off the windowsill and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Well, so did I, Leo!" she yelled, suddenly angry - angry at everything.

It happened like that. Meredith would get sudden bursts of anger at everything and everyone - no matter who it was.

"You pushed me away, Meredith! Not the other way around!" Leo yelled back.

"I couldn't do it, okay? I couldn't see you everyday and be reminded of... of..." Meredith said, her words trailing off as she finally broke down into tears.

"You can't even say her name." Leo whispered.

She shakily moved her arm, trying to place the mug of coffee down on the bedside table, but she missed, letting it smash to the floor.

"Damn it!" she screamed.

She looked at Leo, who's tears were silent as they ran down his face. He placed his own mug down and looked down at the mess on the floor.

"Are you trying to pretend like she never existed?" he whispered, scooting closer to her.

Meredith let out another sob, closing her eyes. She had never wanted this. She had never planned for her life to turn out this way.

"I... I haven't meant to - I just - I thought it might be easier." she sputtered.

"Is it?" Leo asked.

"No." she choked out immediately.

"You still blame yourself."

She nodded, feeling Leo getting closer and closer to her, but afraid to open her eyes. She was shaking the entire bed with the sobs that were wracking her body.

"Don't you?" she gasped.

"Every day."

Meredith would always blame herself. She knew that technically it wasn't her fault - it wasn't Leo's fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. It had just happened. But that didn't matter to Meredith. She would blame herself for the rest of her life.

Ava.

She had been so innocent, so beautiful, so sweet.

"My... my sweet baby girl..." Meredith cried out, throwing herself into Leo's arms and clasping on for dear life

Ava.

Her daughter.

Her daughter who was dead.

. . .

James knew that Marley was already awake. He could feel her fingers running through his hair. He felt his face flush pink as he realized that dampness on her shirt from his tears.

He didn't like crying - not around people, not by himself, not at all. But yet, last night he had completely broken down. He had let the fear that his parents were splitting up get to him. He had let the truth come out of his mouth that he had been keeping inside for so long.

He had let Marley in.

James wrapped his arms around her waist and heard her chuckle lightly. He was almost too embarrassed with himself to sit up and look at her. He knew that his eyes were probably red and puffy.

Yet, he looked up anyways, finding Marley smiling at him softly.

"Hi sleepy." she whispered.

"Morning." he muttered.

He wondered if she was going to mention it - mention his breakdown. He had cried deep into the night, clutching her close for dear life.

"I don't know about you, but I need some coffee." Marley said after a minute.

He smiled at her. She knew exactly when and when not to say things. It was one of the things he loved most about her.

Love.

He didn't care that they had only gotten together - if they could even call it that - yesterday, but he knew that he loved her. He had always known that.

She was the love of his life.

"Coffee sounds good." he said.

The two untangled themselves from each other and got out of bed. When Marley reached the door first, he reached for her hand, pulling her back to him.

"What?" she asked.

He pushed her up against the wall, kissing her passionately - as passionately as he could without getting too into it. He didn't want to take her any further than she was ready, even though he was ready for everything with her.

When he pulled away, he found her staring at him with widened eyes as they panted for breath.

"Come on, then. Coffee." James said with a wink.

"Yeah, give me a minute to recover." she said.

He chuckled, kissing her forehead and pulling her out the door with him. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, they both stopped and stared at the scene in front of them.

Hermione was lying on the couch with his Father - his head resting on her chest and their arms wrapped around each other, not unlike him and Marley had been.

He looked at Marley who looked as shocked as he was. Marley's face was red and she just grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen.

. . .

Marley didn't know what to think about her mother and Harry lying on the couch.

She just prayed that her siblings hadn't seen it.

And her father.

When she got into the kitchen, she stopped short at the sight of her father, sipping calmly from a mug of coffee. She felt James clutch her hand tighter and she gave it a squeeze back.

"Morning, Dad." Marley said, walking over to the coffeemaker and pouring her and James each a cup.

Draco just nodded at them and Marley tossed a look at James, who looked extremely hesitant to even be in the kitchen.

"Alright, I'll say it. What's the deal with Mum and Uncle Harry?" Marley sighed, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Draco cleared his throat and finally looked at her. "Honestly, I don't know. He showed up really late last night and... yeah. I guess that's what happened."

Marley looked at James who was sitting in the seat next to her. Finding his eyes dark, she reached under the table and grabbed his hand again, squeezing it tightly.

"Him and Mum were probably fighting." James offered darkly.

"Yeah, I know. I think that's what it was..." Draco said, sitting down across from Marley.

Looking at her dad, she knew that he was hiding something from them.

"Dad, what is it?" Marley asked, not wanting to waste any time. "What were you lot talking about yesterday?"

Draco shook his head. "I... I think we need to talk to your sister before we talk to you, Marley."

Marley looked at James, who had put the pieces together just as she had.

"It's about Ron, isn't it?" Marley said.

Draco's head snapped to her, his eyes widened. She had almost forgotten that he didn't know that she knew who Ron was.

"What did you just say?" Draco asked.

"It's about Ron. The man who kidnapped Meredith. Aunt Ginny's brother and Mum and Uncle Harry's old friend. I'm right, aren't I?" Marley said.

Draco stood up from the seat and leaned back against the counter, eerily silent.

"Do not mention a word to your sister, alright?" Draco muttered darkly.

"Dad, I'm not going to. Just... what happened?" Marley asked.

"Just leave things be, Marley." Draco said.

. . .

Hermione opened her eyes at the sound of voices from the other room. She was about to sit up when she remembered that Harry was still leaning against her - and judging from the sounds of his breathing, he was still asleep.

"Harry." she whispered, wanting to get up before any of her kids - or Draco for that matter - saw her.

But, she realized that whoever was in the kitchen had definitely seen her and Harry.

"Harry, wake up." she whispered, gently touching his shoulder.

He groaned into her chest before sitting up slightly and leaning on her. She took in the sight of his reddened eyes, the hangover and evidence of tears clear on his face.

"Sit up, okay? Slowly." she said.

He did as she said so, allowing her to sit up as well. She looked at him apprehensively, trying to assess his mood before he spoke. She knew it wasn't good.

"Fuck." he muttered, putting his face into his hands.

"Yeah." she whispered.

She reached to him and placed a comforting hand on his back, rubbing it in small circles.

"Morning, Mum." Marley said, her voice loud.

Hermione looked up at the same time as Harry, finding her daughter, James and Draco standing at the entrance to the room.

"Dad, what's going on?" James said. "Why has Mum gone mental?"

Hermione then remembered that Ginny had been yelling at Marley - for apparently no reason whatsoever.

"She hasn't gone mental, James. She's just a bit stressed out, is all." Harry sighed.

"Yeah, a bit stressed out my arse, Dad. She's losing it." James said with a bitter laugh. "You saw her yesterday. My guess is she kicked you out for the night - again."

Hermione looked at Harry who was clearly struggling with what to say to his son. She looked at Marley who was just watching her with her lips pursed. She looked at Draco who's expression was entirely blank.

Never a good sign.

"Mum, Dad won't tell me what's going on. With Ron." Marley said.

Hermione's face fell pale at the mention of Ron. She had no idea that Marley even knew who Ron was - and now she wasn't sure how much her daughter knew.

"Where's your sister?" Hermione decided to ask. "Where's Meredith?"

"I don't bloody know. She's your kid." Marley snapped.

"Don't speak to your mother like that, Marley." Draco said.

"Fuck off, Dad." Marley said.

"Marley Marie! You will not speak to your Father that way, do you understand me?" Hermione yelled.

That quieted everybody down. Hermione hardly ever yelled at her children - she knew that was never the way to solve anything. Marley's eyes widened before narrowing again.

"Now, would you please go get your Uncle some coffee with a dash of Hangover Cure in it?" Hermione asked calmly.

Marley grabbed James's hand and headed in the direction of the kitchen, leaving the three adults alone.

"Nice sleep, Potter?" Draco snarled.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Draco, honestly."

She was so not in the mood.