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

Chapter Fifteen: The Truth, Part Two

Marley could feel her tears rushing down her face. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to do anything about them. She was so entranced with her sister's story that nothing else mattered. She couldn't believe it.

A baby.

Meredith had had a baby.

And now the baby was...

Marley thought back to her times at school. When Meredith had been in Seventh Year and had the baby, Marley had been in Third Year. She remembered her sister acting slightly off and very tired for the majority of the year, but...

She would never have guessed that this would have been the reason why.

"What was... what was her name?" Astoria Greengrass asked.

Marley looked at Leo's Aunt. She had been crying, just like everyone else in the room. It was only now occurring to Marley that Meredith and Leo had never said the name of the baby.

"Ava." Leo whispered, wrapping an arm around Meredith and pulling her closer. "Ava Daphne."

Marley knew that Daphne was Leo's mother's name. Her eyes just shed even more tears.

Ava.

. . .

Hermione felt sick.

She was horrified that she hadn't known - that her own daughter had been able to pull off having a child without her knowing. She was horrified about what had happened. Hermione remembered the months that Meredith had been missing, when she thought that she could have possibly been dead - she would never wish that feeling upon anyone.

Hermione really didn't know what to do. She wanted to comfort her daughter, who's incredibly distraught behaviour now made perfect sense. She just couldn't bring herself to get up. She felt paralyzed.

"Wh-why didn't you... why haven't you told us?" Hermione managed to squeak out.

"Because, Mum. I couldn't. I was too afraid. I know you always wanted me to..." Meredith started, her voice breaking.

Hermione found her footing and stood up, walking directly to Meredith and taking her free hand in her own.

"I know that you wanted me to have a life different from yours. You had me while you were really young and you raised me for the first couple years without Dad and... and I didn't want to disappoint you." Meredith whispered.

Hermione was full on crying now. She took a few deep breaths and caught Leo's eye who politely dropped Meredith's other hand and took a step back. Hermione pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly, tighter than she had in a long time.

"Meredith... you could never disappoint me." she whispered.

She felt Meredith begin to sob into her shoulder and Hermione rubbed her back, just as she used to when she was a child. Hermione looked up as she hugged her daughter, catching eyes with Leo again.

Leo had tears streaming down his face and Hermione felt her heart break for him, too. Throughout Meredith's story, Hermione had seen just how much it had affected Leo as well, not just Meredith. She could also see how much Leo loved Meredith - and vice versa, even if Meredith didn't realize it.

Meredith pulled away and wrapped her arms around herself. Hermione stared at her, unsure of what to do or say. She knew there really was nothing she could say. Even though this had happened two years ago, Hermione knew that time wouldn't heal this type of wound quickly. It would always be with Meredith and Leo.

She watched Leo step back to Meredith and place an arm around her, pulling her back to him. Hermione turned around and caught eyes with Ginny, who was in tears just like the rest of us. Except... she didn't look shocked.

It then occurred to Hermione that Ginny already knew.

That was why she had argued with Draco last night about letting Meredith go.

"You knew." Hermione whispered.

"Mum, d-don't be mad at her." Meredith called out weakly.

Hermione shook her head. "I'm not. I'm just... confused. Why?"

"Because...Teddy t-told me about her miscarriage and I just..." Meredith started before fully breaking down into tears.

Hermione couldn't help but feel hurt in her daughter's lack of trust in her - yet, her concern for Meredith completely overpowered her own feelings.

"I wish you would have told me. I would have been there for you, love." Hermione whispered.

. . .

Draco watched his wife try to calm down their daughter from his spot on the couch. He knew that he should try and do the same, but...

He couldn't.

He couldn't force himself to get up.

He was too in shock.

He couldn't believe it. His daughter - his little girl - had had her own child. He wanted to punch Leo for getting Meredith pregnant in the first place, but he knew he couldn't do that. Not when he could see the pain written all over the young man's face.

He kept hearing Meredith's words echo in his head.

"She died. She's dead."

Draco thought back to all those years ago when Ron had had Meredith - when Draco had let himself think for a moment that she was dead. He could not even cope with the pain. He honestly didn't know how his daughter was still standing - how she had put on a brave face for so long.

But of course, that was why she had seemed so distraught. And that was why she had been hiding away in Europe since she had graduated from Hogwarts.

"D-D-Daddy?"

Draco looked up at Meredith. She hadn't called him that since she was a little girl. He felt tears leak down his face at a rapid pace, and he had no idea what to do. Meredith had let go of Leo and was now standing in front of Draco, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Pl-please say something." she whispered.

Draco shook his head. He couldn't say something. He couldn't say anything. He knew whatever he said would be the wrong thing, and therefore, he needed to keep his mouth shut.

"I'm sorry." she said, crouching down in front of him.

Draco knew he was being selfish. He knew that he needed to be there for his daughter, when she was dealing with such an unimaginable pain.

"I don't... I don't know what to say." Draco managed to say.

Meredith stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, stepping farther away from Draco and turning around. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how. He felt like a disappointment - how did he not know that his daughter had had a child?

"Meredith, come here." Teddy said.

Draco watched as Teddy walked over to Meredith and pulled her into his arms, just like Draco wished that he had the strength to do. He looked up at Hermione. She was staring at Meredith as tears gushed from her eyes. He wished that he could comfort her, too.

But he couldn't.

He just sat there.

. . .

James felt ridiculously uncomfortable.

He watched as Teddy hugged Meredith tightly, petting her hair as she cried into his shoulder. He felt Marley shift next to him and he took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers and giving it a squeeze.

He looked at her, watching tears cascade down her face. He was certain that there was no one in the room with a dry eye - except for him. And even his eyes were misty.

He couldn't believe it. It was too incredibly horrible to imagine.

"Let me make you some tea, okay?" Teddy whispered.

James watched Meredith nod and let go of Teddy, holding her arms crossed tight over her chest once more. It looked as though she was trying to physically hold herself together. James brought Marley's hand to his lips and kissed it gently before setting it down gently.

He knew what he needed to do.

He stood up and made his way to Meredith. She smiled feebly at him for a moment before closing her eyes. His heart contracted painfully. This was Meredith - she had been like an older sister to him throughout his entire life. He knew that Marley idolized her, even if she would never admit it. That fact alone made it even more important for him to be there for her.

"Come here." James said, pulling Meredith into his arms.

"Oh, James." Meredith whispered, hugging him tighter. "Pl-please make sure that Marley isn't too angry with me for not telling her. Pl-pl-please help her understand."

"I'll try my best." he whispered back.

. . .

Meredith couldn't believe that she had come clean.

That she had told everyone important in her life about Ava.

She shook as James held her tightly. She felt pathetic sobbing all over her sister's boyfriend - she knew just by one glance that that was now who he was to Marley.

She also felt incredibly sad that James had moved to speak with her before her own father.

"Don't worry about Marley, okay?" James whispered, letting her go. "You know how she is. She might seem mad, but she won't be."

Meredith nodded, taking her eyes off of James to look at her sister. She was still sitting on the love seat, staring down at the floor with blank eyes as tears slid down her face. She looked around the rest of the room, taking in everyone's somber expressions. Most of them were just staring blatantly at either her or Leo - who was standing a few feet behind her.

She turned around to look at him. His fists were balled at his sides and he looked as though he was shaking. She knew she had to do something.

"Leo." she whispered.

He didn't look at her. He had been so strong throughout the entire story. When Meredith had lost the use of her voice - multiple times - he had taken her hand and carried on for her.

"Leo, look at me." she whispered again, stepping closer and touching his cheek gently.

He shook his head, taking a step back. "No."

"Leo, please." she begged.

"It's not fucking fair. She didn't deserve this. We didn't deserve this." he muttered.

Meredith took his face in her hands, gripping him tightly to force him to look up at her.

"Don't." she whispered, shaking her head. "Don't do that."

"Why fucking not? Don't tell me you don't think that everyday." Leo said, his voice continuing to rise.

"Of course I do! I think about her every second!" Meredith screamed, the tone of her voice surprising her.

Leo looked somewhat taken aback by her abruptly loud tone that he almost jumped. She dropped her hands from his face and shook her head.

"I told you, Mer. I lost both of you." he said.

"Well, so did I!"

"Yeah, but you're the one who left me! You didn't have to fucking do that! We could have gotten through it together! And now, we're both way more fucked up!" Leo yelled.

Meredith was shaking with her rage and sadness. Her tears were so strong that she could hardly see in front of her.

"I did what I had to do. I can't change it now!" she shouted.

"Meredith, for fuck's sake. You -" he started.

And suddenly, Teddy was in front of her. He reached behind him and put a protective hand on her shoulder.

"Leo. Back off. I understand where you're coming from, but this is not the time nor place to do this, okay?" Teddy said, his voice calm.

Meredith felt someone come up beside her and she turned her head to find Astoria and Theo Nott. Astoria stepped in front of Teddy and put her hand on Leo's cheek, forcing him to look at her.

"Leo. We're taking you home, okay?" she said

. "What? No, I -" he began to protest.

"Leo... just go." Meredith whispered, surprising herself.

Leo looked at her and Meredith had to force herself to look away. She was sending him away... again.

And then, she knew she had to get out of there as well. She grabbed Teddy's hand and pulled him to her. She knew that he would take her somewhere - somewhere where she could let out all her pain and anger.

"Please get me out of here." she whispered.

Before Teddy answered, Meredith heard the sound of Leo Disapparating with his Aunt and Uncle. Meredith let out a loud sob before feeling the sensation of Apparation taking her away as well.

Author's Note: thank you all so much for the reviews! Please keep them coming! xx