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

Chapter Fourteen: The Truth

When Meredith awoke the next morning, her head hurt worse than it did when she was hungover. It was from all the crying she had done in the last 24 hours. She had stayed up deep into the night, crying continually. When she had finally been able to actually sleep, she would just wake up and cry even more.

Leo had been crying silently all night - she knew that. He was just trying to be strong for her.

Meredith was dreading getting up. She knew that she had to finally face everything with her family. She had to tell her parents. She had to come clean. And she honestly had no idea how her parents would react. She was considering having Ginny in the room when she told the story - but she wasn't sure how her parents would react when they knew that Ginny had known.

She would definitely have Teddy there. She wouldn't have gotten through any of it without him.

. . .

Meredith sat on the balcony of their hotel room in Italy. The sun was burning her pale skin - she knew that. But, she didn't care. She didn't care about anything anymore.

She had been traveling through Europe for four months now, and none of it had made the pain lessen whatsoever.

"Meredith?"

She turned her head to the door of the balcony finding Teddy coming out. He sat down on the chair next to hers. The balcony was small, just enough for two chairs.

"Yeah?" she asked dully.

Teddy reached forward and touched her cheek. She forced herself to meet his eyes, finding sadness in them. Without thinking anything further, her eyes welled up in tears and she let out a choked sob.

"Oh, Meredith." he whispered, pulling her to him.

Meredith buried her head into Teddy's shoulder, letting out all of the pain that she could. She knew that if she let herself, she could cry forever into Teddy's shoulder.

"I've got to ask you again." Teddy whispered.

"No, Teddy." Meredith said, lifting her head up to look at him. "We're not writing him."

Teddy had been on Meredith to write to Leo. She hadn't seen him - or spoken to him - since graduation. It was destroying her, but she knew it was for the best.

For now, anyways.

"He'll be able to help you, Meredith. He's the only one who can understand - truly."

"I can't, Teddy. I just can't do it." Meredith sobbed, resting her head on Teddy's shoulder again.

"Okay. Okay, what can I do?" he whispered.

"This."

"Okay."

. . .

Meredith knew that the minute she saw her parents, they would ask her. She had seen the worry in her mother's eyes last night.

Leo's arms were wrapped around her waist as she faced away from him. She remembered all those mornings waking up with Leo and how wonderful they had been. She remembered waking up for midnight feedings with Ava - waking up in this exact position.

She turned over to face him, finding his eyes already slightly open, squinty with sleep and red from tears.

"Hey." he whispered.

Meredith felt her heart race at just being this close to him. She took in a deep, shaky breath. She could not allow herself to feel the feelings she knew that she still harbored for Leo. The feelings she would always have for him.

"I don't know how to tell them, Leo. I really don't." Meredith whispered.

Leo reached forward and tucked her hair behind her ear. She could tell just from the look on his face that he was fighting off kissing her. She still remembered everything about him.

"You've just got to do it, love. That's all you can do." he whispered.

Love.

It had been so long since Leo had called her that, but it still made Meredith's heart beat quickly.

"D-do you want to tell your Aunt and Uncle as well?" Meredith asked.

Leo nodded. "I suppose I'd better."

"We could have them here. Do it together." Meredith suggested.

Leo had the kissing look again and Meredith sat up reluctantly. She just wasn't ready for that - despite how much she knew she wanted it.

"Okay." he whispered, leaning forward and kissing her forehead.

. . .

"Marley, I feel like something bad's about to happen, you know? D'you ever get that feeling?" James whispered in Marley's ear.

He felt her nod against him as she lifted her head off of his shoulder. She turned to look at him and he touched her cheek gently. The two were sitting on the love seat in Marley's living room, waiting for Meredith and Leo. Across from them in the couch were Draco and Hermione, who were sitting a noticeable distance apart - something that was rare.

Even James knew that Hermione and Draco were almost always touching - holding hands or sitting with their arms around each other. He looked back at Marley, sensing worry in her eyes.

"Even if it is, it's okay though. You've got me." he said, whispering to her again.

He really wanted to kiss her, but he wasn't sure about doing that in front of her parents. None of their parents knew, even though he was sure that it had to be quite obvious now.

"So do you." she whispered back, touching his nose with her finger and smiling gently at him.

He looked back at Hermione and Draco who were watching James and Marley, not saying a single word. Marley sighed loudly, loudly enough to get their attention.

"What is it, Marley?" Hermione sighed.

"Nothing, Mum. I didn't say anything." Marley groaned.

"Has your sister said anything to you?" Draco asked.

"No, Dad. I've already told you. I don't know what's up with her." Marley said.

"Draco, I really don't know how we can tell her what's going on after seeing her that way last night." Hermione said.

"Yeah, by the way, what is going on?" James asked.

"I think your parents better tell you that one, James." Draco sighed.

"No. They won't talk to me about it. Mum especially. They won't even talk to each other." James said.

He was angry with his parents. He couldn't even deny that. They weren't telling him anything. All they were doing was fighting.

. . .

Draco watched Marley and James. James's arm was thrown around Marley and she was snuggled up against his side in a way that was just slightly different than ever before. He knew they were together. They had to be.

And while he was happy about it - he was still apprehensive.

He also wasn't sure what was wrong with Meredith. Earlier that morning, when they had all been in the kitchen, she had asked if she could speak to Draco and Hermione privately. Her and Marley had exchanged a look and then decided that Marley could be included, as well as James.

That had been a few hours ago. Now, the four were waiting for Leo and Meredith to return from wherever the hell they had gone.

He had bickered with Hermione late into the night about how to tell Meredith and he knew that she was mad at him. He had reached for her hand when they sat down, and she had moved away.

She never did that.

"Look, James. After Meredith has discussed - whatever she's discussing - we'll talk about it, okay? Everyone together." Hermione said.

Draco sighed, rolling his eyes. "Hermione, don't say things if you don't know what's actually going to happen."

"Oh my God, you are insufferable, you know that?" Hermione said, almost shouting.

Draco quieted down. He knew that she was really angry at him. She never shouted at him in front of any of their kids, even the elder ones.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Draco whispered, looking down.

He decided to avoid all eye contact with everyone in the room - it was probably safest that way. He knew that he was taking stress out on Marley and James - just as he was certain Ginny was as well, and it wasn't fair.

"Your parents will be okay, James. I've seen them get through everything, alright?" Hermione said, ignoring Draco's words.

Draco felt bad at Hermione's words. He looked up at James, recognizing true fear in the boy's eyes. He had known James since the moment he was born - he knew the kid well.

"Hermione's right, James." Draco decided to add.

He caught eyes with Marley who nodded at him with slight gratitude.

At least he'd done something right today.

The flames in their fireplace lit up and out walked Ginny, Harry and Teddy. Draco raised his eyebrows, he hadn't known that they were coming to hear Meredith speak as well.

"Did Meredith ask you to come?" Hermione asked.

All three of them nodded. Draco tried to read their expressions - Ginny looked incredibly sad; Harry looked about as confused as Draco felt; and Teddy looked moderately terrified.

Before they could say anything, the flames lit up again. At first, Draco wasn't sure exactly who it was - but then he realized that it was Astoria Greengrass and Theo Nott.

"Um..." Hermione said.

"Hi." Astoria said quietly, looking around the room nervously.

"Teddy's asked us to come." Theo said, clearing his throat.

Draco looked at Hermione who was looking more and more panicked by the minute. He knew that she was still angry with him, but he didn't care anymore. He slid closer and took her head, squeezing it tightly when she tried to pull it away. He heard her sigh before squeezing it back and moving close to him.

"So... whatever this is... it's big. I mean... look at us all." Marley said.

. . .

Meredith took a deep breath. She could hear everyone making hushed conversation in the living room from her spot in the kitchen. She knew that none of them knew her and Leo were in there - but she just needed a minute to prepare herself.

Not that she'd ever be ready for this.

"Mer?" Leo whispered.

She looked up at him. He was standing on the other side of the kitchen table and staring at her as he wrung his hands nervously. She watched his nails dig into the backs of his hands and she sighed, making her way over to him. He always did that when he was nervous.

She took his hands and pulled them apart, intertwining them with her own. She may have more family members in the room - but this was just as hard for him as it was for her.

"I feel like they're going to be disappointed in me, you know?" Leo said quietly. "I mean... they raised me, Mer and I know that they'll be just..."

He trailed off and just shook his head. They both knew that he didn't need to finish his sentence. He looked at her and she decided to take a chance and pull him into her arms. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"We can do this." he whispered.

"Yeah, we can." she echoed.

"For... for Ava." he said, his voice barely audible.

Her eyes welled up in tears. "Yeah. For... Ava."

They let go of one another and Leo took Meredith's hand, squeezing it as they walked shakily together into the living room. Instantly, the room fell silent as all eyes watched them. Meredith took in a shallow breath, looking at Leo. His face was remaining in a mask, but his eyes showed just how terrified he really was.

Meredith took in the sight of everyone before them - all familiar faces in her world, with the exception of Astoria and Theo Nott. She felt Leo shake and she closed her eyes. She knew that there was nothing she could do to truly prepare herself for this. There was nothing she could say to herself to make it easier.

"Thank you for coming." Leo said.

Meredith knew she had to speak. They were in her house, and most of these were her people.

"There's something that I... that we've... been keeping from you." Meredith whispered. "For a long time now."

Meredith caught eyes with Teddy who nodded at her slowly, yet encouragingly. She saw the ghost of a smile on his lips, and it calmed her down ever so slightly. Then, she caught eyes with her mother.

Hermione looked absolutely terrified, even though her face was perfectly calm. Meredith could tell by her eyes.

"Just say it, sweetheart." Hermione whispered.

Leo squeezed her hand and pulled her closer to him. Meredith took a deep breath and began.

Author's Note: sorry it's been so long since I've posted! I've been super busy with exams and stuff. So, I'll try to post again as soon as I can. thanks for reading! please review! 3