Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my ideas. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Author's Note: thank you so much to everybody who's actually stuck with this story between the looooonnnngg update breaks! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! xx
Chapter Twenty-Three: Night Time, My Time
Meredith downed her drink of champagne quickly.
She heard Teddy scoff immediately before pulling the empty glass out of her hands and shaking his head at her. She just shrugged, gazing around the room.
It was New Year's Eve, and her parents were throwing a party in honour of the night and Meredith's birthday. When the clock struck midnight, Meredith would officially be another year older. She couldn't believe it. The thought of starting another year without Ava hurt her more than anything else imaginable.
What worried her was that Leo wasn't there yet.
She had spent the rest of the day with him, talking and kissing in his bed before disapparating home. She hadn't seen him yesterday, nor had she heard from him today. Of course, her mind was going into overdrive as it always did. She was absolutely terrified to be with him.
"Stop freaking out. It's not like Leo's not going to come to your birthday party." Teddy sighed.
Meredith looked at him, unable to keep the concern off of her face. She couldn't help but be worried, no matter how irrational she knew she was being. Teddy rolled his eyes, but reached out and touched her shoulder.
"He's coming, Meredith." Teddy whispered.
Meredith scanned the room. Her whole family was there, as well as all the other people close to her in her life - apart from Leo. Her eyes fell on Marley and James, who were standing in the corner, their heads bowed together. She watched with a smile as James kissed Marley's forehead before smiling at her and kissing her firmly on the lips.
Meredith excused herself from Teddy and headed over to the two, unable to stop herself from smiling at them.
"James, would you mind if I borrowed my sister for a moment?" Meredith asked.
James nodded, leaning to Marley and kissing her again. "She's all yours."
He walked away and Meredith watched Marley's eyes follow him across the room as he made his way to Roxanne. Marley turned to her, looking with expectant eyes.
"Yes?" Marley asked.
"We haven't really had a chance to talk since the other day." Meredith said. "When we were with Ron."
Marley's face fell slightly as she nodded. "I guess we haven't."
"Mum told me that you slapped him." Meredith said.
Marley's face flushed as she nodded. Meredith just sighed, wishing that she had been there to stop her sister - yet cheer her on at the same time.
"I couldn't stand there and see him after I know what he's done to you and Mum." Marley whispered. "I couldn't stand it."
"He's not the same person he was when he did those things. I know that now. He was sick." Meredith said.
"But does that make it okay?" Marley asked, her eyes wide and shining.
Meredith shook her head slowly. "No, but... it means we can't blame him for what's happened. It was all out of his control. And I can't focus on that stuff anymore, you know? I can't focus on the past."
Marley nodded and surprised her sister by pulling her into a tight hug. Meredith hugged her back, petting her long brown hair and closing her eyes. It was moments like this that she had missed when she was escaping throughout Europe. She had missed her family more than anything. If she could do it all again, she would rely on them. She would lean on them when things got extra tough.
"I'm here for you, you know." Marley whispered, pulling away. "I'm not going anywhere. And I hope that you won't either."
"I can't live at home forever, Marley." Meredith said with a small laugh.
Marley shook her head and Meredith realized that she was surprisingly on the brink of tears. Then again, it wasn't all that surprising. It had been an overly emotional week for all of them.
"I just mean... please don't run away again." Marley said. "I've missed you so much."
Meredith pulled Marley back into her arms and hugged her tight, rubbing her back as she did so.
"I'm not running anymore." she whispered.
. . .
When they pulled away from the hug, Marley blinked her eyes quickly, trying to stop the tears from falling. She didn't understand why she felt like crying in the first place. Meredith had a sad smile on her face as she leaned forward and kissed Marley's forehead.
"Don't cry, Mar. It's my birthday." Meredith said, nudging her softly.
"Not yet." Marley said with a genuine grin.
Meredith laughed softly and pulled Marley back in for another hug. "Yeah, I suppose that's true."
"I've just missed you so much, Meredith." Marley whispered again. "Where are you thinking about living?"
"I don't know. All I know is that I promise we'll see each other more." Meredith said.
Marley nodded, wiping her eyes and attempting not to smudge her makeup. She looked around her and saw James laughing with Roxanne, causing her insides to warm happily.
"He really loves you, you know." Meredith observed.
Marley felt her face flush as she nodded slowly. "I know. I love him, too."
"You always have. God, I can't believe it took you two this long to get yourselves together." Meredith said.
Marley shrugged. She wished that her and James had come clean to one another about their feelings long ago, but she knew that it was good that they finally had. She wouldn't trade any of her time with him for anything in the world. She looked back at Meredith and now noticed the slight anxiety in her eyes.
"What are you worrying about?" Marley sighed.
Meredith looked down at her feet and wrung her hands together. "I just... Leo's not here yet."
Marley widened her eyes at her sister and smiled. "Leo, huh? Have you two worked things out?"
"I think so. You know, as much as we can with our situation. I... I went to him after meeting with Ron and we sort of... made up." Meredith explained.
Marley squealed and grabbed her sister's hands, squeezing them tightly. She knew exactly what her sister meant by that.
"That is exciting. I like you two together." Marley said. "He'll be here, Meredith."
"I hope so." Meredith sighed.
"You two are made for each other. And you'll always have Ava between you, you know that."
At her mention of Ava, Marley watched pain flash through Meredith's eyes. She almost regretted saying anything to her, but knew that they couldn't tiptoe around the subject.
"God, I miss her more and more everyday and I don't even know how that's possible." Meredith breathed. "She was so perfect, Marley. She was everything I ever wanted in the world."
Marley's eyes filled up with tears again as she listened to Meredith. She realized that this was the first time Meredith had actually truly spoke about Ava - apart from when she had told her family.
"It's still hard for me to accept that I'm not a Mum anymore." Meredith whispered, her voice breaking.
"Hey, you are still a Mum. You'll always be her Mum, Meredith. No matter what happened to her. She was yours. You made her. You are still her Mum." Marley said.
Meredith nodded slowly and wiped her eyes, shaking her head. "Happy subjects, okay? I have to get through this party without locking myself in my room."
Marley nodded, linking her arm through Meredith's. She pulled her towards Roxanne and James who were now also joined by Teddy. James immediately leaned in and kissed her cheek, but Marley turned her head and kissed his lips as well.
"Hi." she whispered.
"Hi." he whispered back.
"God, you two are nauseating." Roxanne groaned. "Seriously, I don't know if this is worse than watching you two flirt all the time, all the while being alarmingly oblivious about it."
Marley laughed and buried her head in James' shoulder.
. . .
Hermione watched across the room as Marley leaned into James. Teddy placed his arm around Meredith and she rested her head on his shoulder. Roxanne crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. She could only see the back of Meredith and Teddy, so she couldn't exactly tell how Meredith was feeling.
"Angel, if she wasn't doing well, I think we would know, okay?" Draco whispered.
Hermione turned back to him, taking a sip of her wine. She was standing with Draco, Ginny and Harry. Draco's arm was wrapped around her waist lightly, keeping her close to him and she was grateful. She couldn't stop her mind from buzzing with worry over Meredith, as well as still thinking of their meeting with Ron the other day.
Hermione had hardly been able to stop crying since then, and it was annoying her to no end. She noticed that Harry had been alarmingly quiet since then, as well. Just thinking of it again made her eyes well up in tears.
"No, no, no. You've just stopped crying." Draco sighed.
Hermione took a deep breath and blinked her eyes quickly. "I know, I'm sorry. Just... it's brought up a lot of stuff that I kept buried deep over the last sixteen years, you know?"
Draco nodded knowingly and kissed her temple. "I know, angel. I know."
Hermione looked up and locked eyes with Harry, who's lips were pressed together tightly. He was staring at the floor, his arm around Ginny who appeared just as lost in thought as Harry. Hermione looked up at Draco and found him staring at both of their friends in concern.
"Jesus, I feel like the most calm one between the lot of us, and that is saying something." Draco sighed.
Both Harry and Ginny looked up at them then and each forced a smile. Hermione wiped her eyes again and stepped away from Draco.
"Gin? Can we talk for a second?" Hermione asked.
Ginny nodded slowly and Hermione grabbed her hand, pulling her away from their husbands. Once they were out of earshot, Hermione stopped, dropping Ginny's hand and stepping in front of her.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked.
Ginny bit her lip and cocked her head to the side, staring at Hermione. Hermione could tell just by looking at her friend that it was something more than Ron, and something more than having known about Ava.
"Is there something else going on? You've been acting... very odd this holiday and I don't think it's just because of Ron." Hermione said slowly. "I mean, I heard you yelled at my daughter, Gin. That's not like you."
Ginny blushed and Hermione tried her best to remain calm. She needed to put past her that Ginny had lost her cool at Marley, especially when there were so many other things going on.
"You're right. It's not like me, and I feel horrible about that." Ginny whispered. "There is something, but... but I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it."
Hermione reached forward and grabbed her hands. "You can trust me, you know. I know that you brought up me and... me and Harry."
Ginny's face flushed and Hermione felt hers do the same. Even now, it was an incredibly awkward topic.
"You know that would never happen again, I swear to you. It shouldn't have happened back then, and I would take it back if I could, but I can't." Hermione said. "All I can do is explain to you that it won't happen again. Ever."
Ginny nodded knowingly. "I know. I know it wouldn't."
Hermione paused then, waiting for Ginny to continue. She saw tears brim in Ginny's eyes and then felt the same happen in her own - again.
"You must swear that you won't tell anyone. I haven't told Harry yet, okay? I haven't told anyone. I was going to but then... then everything with Meredith came out and it felt cruel." Ginny explained.
Meredith? What did Meredith and Ava have to do with this?
"What is it?" Hermione asked, stepping closer.
Ginny stepped next to Hermione and whispered in her ear. "I'm pregnant."
Hermione gasped, pulling back and covering her mouth with her hands. She had absolutely not been expecting that. But it would explain a lot - why Ginny had been acting so completely erratic and moody lately, more so than everybody else dealing with the same set of circumstances.
"Oh my god!" Hermione gasped.
"I know, I know." Ginny sighed. "It was a total accident. I mean, I'm 37!"
Hermione smiled widely at her and shook her head. "That's a fine age, Ginny."
"I know, I just... I really wasn't expecting it. I mean, three kids is all I ever wanted but..." Ginny continued, placing one hand on her stomach.
"But you love this one already." Hermione whispered.
"Of course I do." Ginny said, smiling softly.
"How long have you known for?" Hermione asked.
Ginny flushed deeply then, biting her lip. "Three weeks, I think. It was before Christmas. I just... I got so freaked out and then it was Christmas, and Ron and Meredith and... well, you know. I'm around three months along, though. So I can't keep hiding it much longer."
Hermione's eyes widened at the thought of Ginny already reaching the end of her first trimester. She could hardly believe it. She wiped leaking tears from her eyes that she knew were finally happy tears, much different than the tears from the last few days.
"I'm so happy for you, Ginny." Hermione said. "Harry's going to be so happy."
"You think so?" Ginny asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled, pulling Ginny into a hug. Every time Ginny had been pregnant, Harry had been absolutely over the moon. Hermione swore that she had never seen her best friend happier.
"You know he's going to be thrilled." Hermione said, holding her friend tightly.
Ginny hugged her right back for a moment before they both pulled away, laughing at each other as they were both now in tears. Ginny's news put a new feeling in Hermione's heart - one that she realized she had missed over the last little while. She felt hopeful again, like her world could finally calm down.
"I... I know it's early and I haven't even told Harry yet but..." Ginny started. "I was thinking about making Meredith godmother. Do you think she'd like that?"
Hermione covered her mouth with her hand and nodded quickly, letting out a happy sob.
"Oh Gin, she'd absolutely love it. Thank you for being so good to her." Hermione whispered.
Ginny reached forward and grabbed Hermione's hand squeezing it tightly.
"I love that girl so much. I wouldn't have it any other way."
. . .
"Are you alright?" Draco asked.
Harry looked up at him and nodded absentmindedly, giving Draco the impression that he most certainly was not alright. Draco rolled his eyes and sighed, clapping a hand on Draco's shoulder.
"You know you can talk to me." Draco sighed.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I know... is it weird that sixteen years later I still find that a bit odd?"
Draco barked out a laugh and shook his head. "No, because I still find it a bit odd as well."
He knew that Harry - apart from Hermione, of course - was his best mate. Before Hermione in his life, he never would have ever pictured that. Of course, Hermione was still closer with Harry than he was, but Draco really had come to like his former enemy over the years.
"It's just... all this stuff with Ron." Harry sighed, bringing them back to a serious tone. "Being with him and Hermione the other day... it just brings up a lot of stuff."
"Yeah, no kidding." Draco muttered.
"I mean, really, they were the first two friends I'd ever had. They helped me get to know the Wizarding World. They're the reason I became who I am - the both of them. For so long it was just us against the world." Harry explained, his voice low. "But then every time I think about that, I think about seeing Hermione all beat to shit in the hospital and seeing Ron beat her and finding Meredith on the train and -"
Harry broke off and Draco was glad. That was all he saw when he looked at Ron Weasley, but he understood why Hermione and Harry - and Ginny, of course - saw something else, too. There was good history there, intermingled with all the bad things that had occurred out of anybody's control.
"I know. And I know it must be rough as hell to try and sort through all that. I mean, I don't... when I look at Ron, or think of him, I just think about him hurting two of the most important people in my life. But when I look at Hermione, I know that she's thinking about all the other stuff too, no matter how hard she tries not to." Draco said. "She's got such a big heart - both of you do - and it's hard for her to focus on one side or the other."
As Harry took in his words, Draco turned his head to find his wife and Ginny locked in a tight hug, both with tears streaming down their cheeks. He could tell by the smile on Hermione's lips that they were happy tears - finally.
"She loves him." Draco said, turning back to Harry.
Harry's eyes widened at him. "Sorry?"
"Ron. Hermione loves him in a way that she can never stop. I think I've finally accepted that." Draco explained. "I remember when we first ran into each other again - at the Leaky Cauldron. She was in her wedding dress and she was crying so hard, because it was killing her to leave him."
"Draco, I -" Harry started.
But Draco wanted to continue. He shook his head, cutting him off. "No, I mean it. It's just like she loves you in a way that she'll never be able to stop. But, both of those ways are different than the way she loves me."
Draco thought back to Ginny's words to him about love at the Burrow and realized how he was finally accepting them. He looked at Hermione and Ginny, who were still talking quietly and smiling at one another and felt his heart warm, just as it had the very first time Draco had began to consider Hermione in a different way, all those years ago in the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts.
"I've been with Hermione through... well, everything and I know that she's never been happier than when she's been with you. Even when you two were together at Hogwarts, I remember her having a certain glow about her." Harry said.
Draco blushed slightly and grinned at Harry. It was almost peculiar for him to think back to his Hogwarts days, when him and Hermione had had to be together in secret.
"I never would've thought I'd end up saying this but, I'm glad she ended up with you." Harry said.
Draco barked out a laugh and clapped his friend on the shoulder, shaking his head.
"Me too." Draco smiled.
. . .
As James stood with his arm around Marley, he had to stop himself from kissing her senseless. She looked up at him with her wide, beautiful eyes and smiled widely.
"What?" she asked.
James sighed, leaning down and pressing a slow kiss on her lips. He would never tire of kissing Marley - he still couldn't believe they hadn't been doing this all along.
"God, would you two get a room?" Roxanne groaned.
"No, no. Keep my baby sister as innocent as possible for as long as possible." Meredith teased.
James looked at Meredith, noting the ever-present pain still in her eyes. He knew that she was trying her best to be happy that night, and that was all that really mattered. That she was trying.
They all were.
"Hey, I'm not the baby. Lyra is, okay?" Marley groaned.
Meredith snorted. "Still my baby sister."
"Yeah, yeah." Marley sighed.
James bent down and kissed the top of Marley's head, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair. He tightened his arms around her and she looked back up at him.
"What?" she asked again.
James shook his head. "Nothing, M&M."
Marley raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged, looking back at her sister, Roxanne and Teddy. After the two had confessed their love the other day, they had gotten very heated. Far more heated than ever before - which wasn't all that surprising, considering they had just gotten together hardly even a week ago.
But now, James couldn't stop thinking about touching her and holding her close. He wanted to be alone with her every moment of every day - he knew that it was just because it was fresh and new and they had so much of each other to explore, but he also knew it was because of how much he loved her.
"Christ, Mer. Stop freaking out." Teddy groaned.
James snapped his attention back to the group and looked at Teddy, who's arm was around Meredith's shoulders.
"I'm not." Meredith groaned.
"He'll be here. You know he will be." Teddy said. "He's just... running late, I guess."
James could tell that Meredith wasn't even listening to Teddy. James leaned down and kissed Marley again before letting go of his grip on her, stepping to Meredith and grabbing her hand to get her attention.
"Walk with me?" James asked.
Meredith nodded slowly, and James swung his arm over her shoulder. It amused him to no end just how much he towered over Meredith. She really was like an older sister to him, having been in his life from the moment he had been born.
"What's up?" Meredith asked, when they were far enough away from the group.
"You just looked like you needed some air." he said, directing them over to the back door and bringing her outside.
He shut the door behind him and dropped his arm from around Meredith's shoulders. He watched as she looked up at the stars in the night sky and he smiled fondly, remembering all the times Meredith had brought him and Marley out here as kids. Despite their differences in appearances - and behaviour - he could see Marley in her sister, and it made him smile.
"You're right. I did." she said.
"Stop worrying about Leo." he said softly. "This is your night, Mer. It's your birthday."
Meredith shook her head. "Not yet."
James groaned, and peered through the window of the backdoor, staring at the grandfather clock in the hallway.
"Well, it will be in two and a half hours." he said with a small smile. "So, enjoy it. You've been through hell your whole life and now that things have calmed down... you deserve to have a good night."
Meredith took in a shaky breath and looked back at him. He looked down at her, finding her eyes shining. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You know... sometimes I look up at the stars and wonder if my baby girl is out there." she admitted, a few tears leaking out from her eyes. "I like to imagine that she is, but... can she find me? Because I can't find her."
Meredith's words almost broke James' heart. All he could do was pull her into a tight hug, holding her tightly as she cried against him.
"She can find you. And if you give yourself time, you can find her, too." he decided to say gently. "I know that you will."
She stepped out of his arms and wiped her eyes quickly, nodding her head at him.
"I just... I finally opened myself up again to Leo and now... he's not here." she whispered.
"He's got to be on his way, right?" James offered.
Meredith shook her head. "I don't know. I told him to come by around eight and it's... now it's ten-thirty. Where is he?"
Before James could open his mouth and speak, the door opened behind them. He turned around finding Marley with frantic eyes and tears rushing down her cheeks. Immediately he dropped his arms from Meredith and stepped to her, his heart sinking at the expression on his girlfriend's face.
"M&M, what's wrong?" he asked.
But Marley wasn't looking at him. She just shook her head, staring at Meredith. James turned to look at Meredith too, noticing the pure fear in her eyes.
"Marley..." Meredith whispered.
"Come inside. Astoria's here and -" Marley began.
Before she could finish, Meredith was shoving past her. James grabbed Marley's shaking hand and pulled it to his lips, kissing it quickly before pulling her back inside the house as they raced after Meredith. They ran back into the party room, nearly crashing into both of their parents.
Meredith was a few steps away, standing with Astoria Greengrass who was looking the most disheveled James had ever seen her. Their was dark makeup dripping from her eyes down her cheeks, and she was practically shaking.
"Marley, what happened?" he whispered, bending his head to her yet never taking his eyes off of Meredith and Astoria.
Marley just shook her head, letting more tears leak from her eyes. Draco immediately stepped forward, putting an arm around Meredith's shoulders. James strained his hearing to listen in.
"Tori..." Draco said.
"Pl-pl-please come, Meredith. Please." Astoria whispered.
"I-I-I don't understand. What's happening?" Meredith asked, her voice breaking.
Astoria took in a deep, shaking breath. "It's Leo. I found him in his room, collapsed. He was hardly breathing, Meredith. He's at St. Mungo's... it doesn't l-l-look good."
James felt all his breath leave him as he watched Meredith fall sideways into her father's arms.
"Mer, hey. Come on, stay with me." Draco murmured.
Meredith stumbled back up, looking at Draco with wide eyes. She turned back to look at Marley and James. Hermione had stepped up to join Draco, Meredith and Astoria. He watched as Hermione placed an arm around Astoria. Surprising James, Astoria leaned into Hermione, even though Astoria was the taller of the two, and cried on her shoulder.
James knew this was bad. He knew it was really bad and absolutely the last thing Meredith needed.
"Come on. I'll take you there." Draco whispered.
He held out his hand to Hermione, while taking Meredith's with his other hand. Hermione grabbed ahold of Astoria and within a moment, the four were gone with a crack.
James looked back at Marley who was crying against him.
"Marley." he whispered.
She looked up at him, shaking her head. "I can't watch anything else bad happen to my sister. It isn't fair."
James wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. He didn't say anything - he knew there was nothing to say yet. And frankly, he was still in shock.
He closed his eyes, praying that everything would be okay.