One of us summoned washcloths from the bathroom as well as our bedding from the bedroom, just creating a little nest on the floor of the sitting room. We were close enough to the fire that we could feel it but it wasn't too hot. Neither of us felt up to standing long enough for proper showers so we did the best we could with the washcloths before falling into our nest.
"The party was fun," I admitted. "Sans Ariella."
"It was." Theodore agreed, I rested my head on his chest and he toyed with a lock of my hair.
"Did you bite me?" I asked, looking at my shoulder, where there was definitely a bite mark still visible.
"Yes." He answered, sounding quite proud of himself. "You did this." He showed me his arm with the half moons marked into the skin.
"Good." I chirped.
"Animal."
"Says the man who bit me." I sat up, stretching my arms up over my head. Theodore frowned at me sitting up and propped himself up on his elbows.
"We don't have anything else to do today." He informed me as if that was why I moved.
"I'm aware." I crossed my legs and looked down at him. "have you heard back from the ministry yet? Any of the departments you applied for?"
"No, I don't expect to before Monday." He replied, flopping back down, his hands behind his head. My eyes slowly trailed down his body, the blanket up around his waist then back up to his face.
"How many did you send in?" I asked. A sheepish look crossed his features. "Theodore?"
"Just one." He admitted.
"One?" I knew there had been one he really wanted- but I assumed he had sent out multiple applications.
"It's the one I really wanted to work for the whole time- but my dad told me I would never get in." He was looking basically everywhere but at me, his eyes trailing from the ceiling to the bookcases to the fire.
"Which one is that?" I asked.
He remained silent. In that moment I wanted nothing more than to get up, go down to that stupid office that I had never actually seen the inside of, and strangle Rochester Nott with my bare hands.
"Theodore."
"The Department of International Magical Cooperation." He sighed. I stared at him a moment and I could actually see him turning in on himself.
"I think you can do it." He jerked his head up to look at me.
"Really?"
"Yes, why not? you got great grades in school. You did great work in your department before from what I was told."
"What you were told?"
"I might have asked around about you."
"yeah?" He asked, a smile replacing the look of insecurity.
"Yes," I admitted, just happy to have him back. "What does Rochester know anyway?" I asked. "What does he even do in that stupid office of his?"
Theodore gave me an odd look.
"Finances."
"What?"
"Finances, he's an accountant for a lot of high-ranking members of pure blood society and the ministry. It's how he kept out of Azkaban after the battle of Hogwarts. He knows their financial secrets."
I slapped my knee, the blanket muffling the sound.
"I knew it! I knew he wasn't actually slick enough to just not get caught!" The odd look grew deeper. "Don't worry about it." I dismissed. "The point is, he doesn't know anything. You've totally got the job."
"We will see on Monday I hope." He sighed.
"We will." I agreed, getting up finally.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"I need a shower, and these blankets better be washed before they go back on the bed," I warned. Theodore laughed, scrambling up to join me.
"Yes, love."
—
Monday came and went without any word from the Department of Theodore's dreams, which of course, went over well.
He said he would just apply to other departments, no big deal, but I could see that it was, in fact, a big deal.
I was trying to figure out how to help without him getting mad at me.
Between that and some big stories on Helene's plate, the week basically flew by, and the next thing I knew it was, blessedly, the weekend.
"What the hell is Boys Night?" I asked, sitting in Theodore's wardrobe as he changed.
"I really have to explain it to you? It's in the name." He deadpanned. I quirked an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes.
"Alistair wants us all to get together and hang out. Something about everyone being boring and depressed."
"I mean he's not entirely wrong but this feels sexist."
"It is." Theodore finished buttoning his shirt and tucked it into his dark jeans. "but how am I meant to talk shit about you if you're there?"
"You'd talk shit about me regardless."
"True." he agreed. "But you're still not invited." He slipped his watch on, clipping it and I stood, walking over to fix his collar.
"Rude. I'll probably go see my mother. I haven't seen her much since…." I trailed off, since the wedding, since moving into the Nott home. Since she gave me away like a rehomed puppy.
"Alright, have fun, I will either be home late or I'll sleep at the Mulcibers." He kissed me quickly and then apparated out.
I didn't like the feeling I got in my stomach at the idea of sleeping alone again after the past several weeks of having him in bed with me.
I walked over to my wardrobe, changing into something more appropriate for spending time with my mother. It was getting a little more chilly so I paired my slacks and sleeveless turtleneck with a sweater from Theodore's closet.
Then away I went.
I popped into our front hall and took a deep breath. Oh, this was better, this was so much better.
I walked through the halls, heading for the balcony where this whole mess started. It was at basically the halfway point between my mother's room and our rooms. Sure enough, I found her sitting at the table, with a glass of wine, and a plate of crackers and cheese for snacking.
"Perfect timing," I noted. It was chilly out, but thanks to magic, the balcony was always the perfect temperature.
"Coco, darling." My mother stood and opened her arms for a hug. She was already dressed in her robe, the deep blue silk bringing out her eyes.
"Where's Baz?" I asked, his seat was empty.
"Oh, he went out tonight, something about a boys' night."
They invited Bastian but not me? Rude.
"That's where Theodore went." I pouted, dropping into my seat. My mother waved her wand and a glass of wine appeared next to me. I happily picked it up and took a sip.
"So you decided to come visit me?" She asked curiously.
"Yes." To be fair I thought Baz would be here as well, but it seemed I was wrong about that one. I wasn't sure how I felt about him making friends with Theodore and his friends. I knew- technically- it was a good thing. But deep down there was always this little voice that screamed about how people liked him more- and how one day he would realize I was dragging him down with my attitude and he would abandon me.
"Eat." She nudged the plate towards me and I happily picked up a cracker, adding a slice of cheese. "How is married life?"
"A lot like unmarried life but more sex," I answered around a mouthful of cheese. I swallowed and took a small sip of wine. "And way too much Rochester. That man is a pain."
"He always has been. Even when we were in school." Genevieve shook her head. "There was a time when we thought we'd be betrothed, you know?"
"I'm sorry what?"
"Yes, It made sense, we were about the same age, his mother and mine were friends."
"So what blessed miracle happened that saved your life and mine?"
"My father." Genevieve laughed lightly. "William's father offered him a pile of business dealings if I married your father instead of Rochester. And My father, of course, wasn't about to pass that up. Usually, it was the father of the bride trying to dole out dowries. He knew that it all had to do with the stupid rivalry but what did he care? A couple of months later I was Mrs. William Selwyn. And less than a year later you and your brother were born." She reached over and wiped a crumb of cracker from my mouth.
"Why didn't you two have more kids?"
"We had our hands full with you two- well… I did." She picked up her wine and took a larger drink. "Your father was- a very hands-off parent."
"I remember." He'd wanted basically nothing to do with us unless it would make him look good. "Did you know he was stepping out?" I thought about Delilah Danworth, about how sweet she had been to me that day in the apothecary. I toyed with the sleeve of the sweater, running my thumb back and forth over the warm knitted fabric.
"I think- to some degree most women know when it's happening. Especially as brazenly as William did it." She pursed her lips. There was no way Delilah had any idea. She was far too sweet to me for that.
"I suppose." I lifted my feet up, placing them on the seat of my chair- scrunching into a ball.
"Maybe not. Maybe I just knew and assumed it was normal." Genevieve picked up her glass to take a sip
"I slept with a married man," I admitted.
My mother stopped, the glass half raised, then slowly put it down.
"Excuse me?"
"Not- not recently. Not like- I didn't cheat on Theodore." I amended. Her shoulders relaxed a fraction at that. I told her the story- the whole story. From sneaking out to go to the club, to the night at the hotel. I told her about the letters we shared and coming back.
By the time I told her about finding out about him being married and breaking everything off, I had tears running down my cheeks, soaking into the collar of Theodore's sweater.
I finished it off by telling her about burning all the letters after the thing with Theodore and she discreetly wiped her eyes.
"Oh, Cordelia." Her voice was slightly shaky and my heart sank. I had known, in my heart that she was going to be upset with me,
I heard the sounds of her standing up. I assumed she was going inside, that she couldn't look at me. I knew Theodore told me it wasn't my fault, that I had done nothing that I needed to feel bad about but that was so easy for him to say, he hadn't lived through it. He hadn't
My mother had.
I kept my eyes forward, looking at the view we had of the tops of the trees, shocked when I felt my mother's arms wrapping around me from behind. Her face buried into my hair.
"I'm sorry, my baby." her voice was muffled by my hair. The tears flowed harder and faster now, there was no stopping there.
I'm not entirely sure how long we stayed like that before She finally pulled her head back, taking a deep, shaking breath.
"You're sorry?" I asked.
"I'm so, so sorry." she wiped at her eyes again, smudging her mascara. "Let's- go inside." She sniffed and turned, heading into the house. I stood and followed, taking note of the fact that she had left the glass of wine out on the table- instead of taking it with her.
"Baz said you've cut back on drinking," I commented, closing the doors to the balcony behind me. Genevieve paused for only a moment.
"I have." She finally confirmed, opening the door to her bedroom suite. "I wish I had done so a little sooner."
I did too but I wasn't going to tell her that, not right now when she seemed like she really was trying. My mother lit a fire in her fireplace and gestured for me to sit. Her room actually had more seating in front of her fireplace than ours did. She had two accent chairs and a loveseat. I took one of the chairs and my mother opted for the love seat. She took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her eyes. Over the fireplace was a painting, It was one that had been done a few months ago, after Bastian and I finished school.
Genevieve was seated in an ornate chair, I was perched on the arm of the chair and Bastian stood behind me. Every year we got a new painting done, a tradition started only after my father's death. The others were moved to a long hallway as soon as the latest one was painted.
"I was pregnant with you two when I realized he was cheating on me."
I stripped off the tear-soaked sweater, holding it to my chest, my eyes focused on my mother.
"He came home late- which was normal for him, but I realized he smelled like another woman's perfume. I don't know if he just got tired of hiding it or- as you might someday find- pregnancy does wild things to your olfactory sense."
"Did you confront him?"
"No. Perhaps I should have, maybe it could have saved his life. But no, he went to the grave thinking he was the sneakiest man alive."
"I mean he died getting caught."
"True." Genevieve looked thoughtful for a moment then shrugged. "I was afraid to tell him I knew. I wasn't sure how he'd react. I knew he wouldn't stop. He snuck out far too often for me to think that he would stop simply because I knew the truth. For me, the best case scenario would be him saying 'deal with it' and going about his life as was."
"Really?"
"I was pregnant, Cordelia. With the way our society looks at women now- let alone nineteen years ago. They wouldn't care that he cheated, they'd see me, a divorced mother of two, and- At least as a widowed mother of two they don't say the hurtful things to my face, only behind my back."
I nodded, hugging the sweater tighter. I think I'd rather them say it to my face, personally but to each their own.
"So, I kept my mouth shut. I let him do what he wanted and I gave birth to two perfectly healthy babies. You know he was there for your birth and not your brothers?"
"What?" I frowned, it had been a two-minute difference how-
"We didn't know what we were having before you were born- I suspected twins but I didn't know without a doubt and I certainly didn't know what gender you'd be. You were born, the healer told us you were a girl and your father got so irrationally angry he stormed out. Thirty seconds later the healer realized you weren't alone and Bastian was born."
"Good." I shrugged. I was glad that my first act on earth had been to piss off a man and cause him to miss the birth of the son he wanted.
"He was still out when the healers got you two cleaned up and into my arms and it was truly a beautiful moment." My mother smiled, her eyes on the fire in front of her. "Then it really didn't matter to me what he did. I was busy raising you two. I suppose, had he been around when you two were at school I might have been more bothered, after all, I'd be all alone. But- Octavius took care of that problem for me."
"We should send him a thank you note."
"He sent me something," Genevieve admitted.
"He what?"
"Well, us. He said he didn't feel bad about what he did, but he wanted to make sure the other victims in this mess were taken care of. Us."
We talked for another few hours. About the past, memories I had from when I was a kid- finding out how many of those memories I had wrong.
"You were actually a spectacular baby, quiet and sweet. You'd happily lay where ever I put you babbling at your feet. Bastian was the troublemaker." That was something I would make sure to let him know and never forget.
"Oh goodness, look at the time." Genevieve gasped, finally seeing the clock above the mantle. "You should probably be getting home." I scoffed.
"That is not my home." I shook my head.
"I'm sorry?" my mother frowned
"That house. It isn't my home. This is my home. This place holds all my memories, it makes me feel warm and happy to be here. I feel safe in this home. Where I live now- it's nothing. It's cold and sad. I don't know everything about Theodore's childhood but there is nothing inviting about any space in that museum." I admitted.
My mother hmm'd and smoothed the quilt she had spread over her lap at some point during our chat.
"Then- it sounds to me- like perhaps you should fix that."
A/N - sorry for the break in posting. It's been a long week. But Hopefully it's all worked out and I will be back to posting regularly.