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CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Confessions

Nymphadora slowly opened her eyes. She was in her bed in her dorm, with Bradley bending over her. Looking past him, she saw Beverley, Amanda and even her other dorm mate, Susan Green, were all there as well. "What are you doing here?"she asked.

"Chaperones,"Susan admitted.

Bradley nodded. "Your head of house said I could come in here as long as they were all here as well."

Nymphadora gave a rueful smile. "That sounds like Dad." She pulled herself into a sitting position, realising she was still fully dressed. "So, what happened?"

"You got thirty-three out of forty,"Amanda revealed, apparently thinking that was the most important thing. "I think you got penalised for fainting."

"You were checked out by mediwitches at the scene,"Beverley added. "They decided you were just exhausted and had you moved here."

Nymphadora nodded, understanding. "Anything else I should hear?"

Bradley thought for a moment. "The third task is scheduled for the last week of the year." He hesitated. "And I was very worried about you."

"I can vouch for that,"Beverley added. "He was shouting the whole time."

Nymphadora smiled at her boyfriend, then looked at the others. "Any chance our chaperones will leave us alone?"

"No way,"Susan replied. "Professor Potter's scary. And he left Madame Professor Potter watching the stairs."

That puzzled Nymphadora. "Why isn't he there himself?"

"I hear he's left the castle,"Amanda replied.

Beverley nodded. "I heard him tell your mum he had to do something."

Harry had apparated into the field surrounding the Burrow, choosing to take the long path up to the house. After all, the walk gave him a long time to think about what he was going to say. And it gave those in the house plenty of warning that he was coming, as he realised when Ron poked his head out the door as he approached. "Hi, Harry. Come in."

Harry did as he'd been invited to do and found Ron and Parvati were both there. Parvati gave him a smile. "Hi, Harry. Hermione not with you?"

"No, she's still at the castle. We thought it best that one of us keep an eye on things." Harry shot Ron an awkward look. "Sorry but…can we talk alone?"

Ron and Parvati took in the implications of the comment. "It's not a social call then?"Parvati asked.

"It is kind of,"Harry replied. "But it's…kind of personal."

"I'll be upstairs,"Parvati told Ron, giving him a quick kiss goodbye. She turned back to Harry. "Will you say goodbye before you go?"

"Yes, of course." Harry waited until she'd gone then took a deep breath. "Lily's cheating on Gordon."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Straight to the point. No wonder you never went into politics. Do I get to know who with?"

"Martin."

Ron nodded. "Bit messy. Our families are rather interlinked these days."

"I'm pretty sure she's going to leave Gordon for him."

Things clicked in Ron's mind. "And you thought you'd come and ask me advice on how to handle the break-up of a marriage?"

"Yes,"Harry answered bluntly.

"Well, no-one ever said you weren't brave." Ron tried to work out what he could say that was of any use. "I never tried to come between Rose and Hugo and Hermione, you know. Mum might have wanted to but I had a word."

"Yes, I know. We both appreciated that."

"Gordon might not be as reasonable and frankly there's no reason why he should be. I take it you're not planning on burning Lily off the family tree or anything?"

Harry gave a helpless shrug. "She's my daughter. And we both know I can't exactly judge."

"Right. Best thing I can suggest is you try to be a grandfather to Amy, you try not to take sides, you keep Gordon in the loop, and if this means Martin's sons are suddenly around more, you have to accept them as part of the family too. Kind of like we all did with Dora. Does that help?"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. The conversation could, after all, have gone a lot worse and had actually helped clarify a few things in his mind. "Yes. Thank you."

"Do you mind if I tell Parvati about all this?"

"I don't see why not. I've a feeling it'll be common knowledge soon."

Martin and Lily climbed the stairs to a flat that Martin was very familiar with. "Are you sure you want to do this?"Lily asked.

Martin shrugged. "Got to happen some time."

Lily wasn't quite sure about that. "Does it?"

Martin took her hand. "Yes,"he said definitively. They walked the few paces to the door together and he knocked.

Susannah opened the door and smiled at the sight of her husband. "Martin! I wasn't expecting you back from Hogwarts." She broke off as her eyes fell on the pair's linked hands, her whole demeanour changing. "What's going on?"

"Can we have a word?"Martin asked.

Susannah stepped aside and let them in. "Go on,"she prompted them.

Martin took a deep breath. "Lily and I are seeing each other."

Susannah struggled to process the simple but apparently inexplicable statement. "Seeing each other? As in, you're having an affair?"

Lily grasped Martin's arm tightly. "As in, we want to be together."

"Really? Well, that's funny. Because last time I checked, Martin and I were married and so were you." She turned back to her husband. "You're leaving me? Is that what you're saying?"

Martin swallowed hard. "Yes, I guess I am."

"Who else knows about this?"

"Some of my family,"Lily attempted.

"James?"Susannah checked.

"He didn't want to keep it from you,"Martin stressed. "He wanted us to tell you."

Susannah had taken out her wand and was toying with it. "I really feel like cursing you both right now. And I'm only not because it would probably be more than you deserved. I suppose you expect me to explain this to the boys?" Martin made to talk and she cut him off. "Don't bother explaining, just get out."

Martin and Lily left the flat and took a deep breath. "Could have gone worse,"Martin suggested.

Lily nodded. "Now all we need to worry about is my husband, your children, my little sister being in a dangerous competition and my little brother probably plotting to kill us all."