[A/N: Thank you to Calamity Owl for beta-reading this chapter!]
Harry staggered out of the floo into Hermione's waiting embrace. He thought about asking how she could possibly have known when he'd arrive but decided he simply didn't care. He just stood there, held her, and tried to focus on her breaths, her skin, her presence.
Her sobbing.
"Dobby told me he felt you back in Britain," Hermione said between sobs. "I've been waiting on the chesterfield here ever since."
"You didn't have to," he said, "and now you're all sooty."
"Of course I did," she replied, her tone gradually firming up as he held her. Without looking, she raised her wand and Scourgify'd each of them in turn. "Now sit down and let me hold you."
He dropped his backpack on the floor and allowed himself to be led over to the chesterfield. As soon as he took a seat, Hermione curled up in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Luna told me it was awful," she said. "How are you holding up?"
"Wait…Luna?" Harry asked.
"She floo'd the house yesterday, guessed the password, tricked and disarmed me, curled up in my lap while she tried to process the horrors you all saw, told me her father found the lost tomb of Genghis Khan while hiding from a tribe of Russian sasquatch, and left," Hermione said.
Harry sat there for a moment.
"Um…Harry?"
"I'm sorry," he said, "but I can't process all of that right now. I made it up to the part about curling up in your lap after disarming you and my brain gave up. Can you tell me that story again in a few days?"
"Of course I can," Hermione said. "I had to have a shot of tequila afterward."
"You drank?" Harry asked.
"It was necessary," she said. "I'll explain why when you're ready."
"Thank you," Harry said. "I just…can't right now. It's too much." He shook his head. "Can you get me some of that tequila?"
"Please don't," Hermione said.
"I don't want to remember this," Harry said. "I didn't sleep well before, and it's now so bad that I've needed Sue to put Silencing Charms on my bed for the last week."
"If you want tequila, you know I can't stop you," Hermione said. "I'm begging you not to, though. That won't really help you. It just deadens the pain for awhile and you end up needing more and more until it kills you."
"I just need a break," Harry said. "I need sleep, but I can't face my dreams. Sue and I have been casting Cheering Charms on each other to get to sleep, but they wear off after half an hour or so."
"You can do this without alcohol," Hermione told him. "You've done it before. How did you deal with the basilisk incident or the wendigo incident? Did the school have a counsellor to speak with?"
"You mean a solicitor?" Harry asked. "I didn't want to sue Hogwarts. I loved it there—most of the time—and besides, they needed as much money for their security budget as they could get."
Hermione took a deep breath. "You once told me the Wizarding World is one to two hundred years behind the rest of the world in a lot of ways, right?"
"Yes."
"So it hasn't caught up to mental health professionals, has it?" Hermione asked resignedly.
"What are those?" Harry said.
Hermione sighed and hugged him tighter. "I should have guessed, shouldn't I? Of course you would have a stack of traumatic incidents thick enough to write a whole series of books about and nobody at any point would suggest you see someone to talk through all of that trauma. No, that would be too simple. I'm surprised wizards even have vaccines."
"It's only been a few decades," Harry said. "My father's parents died of Dragon Pox not long after my parents got married. The vaccine wasn't developed until the early Seventies and they were too stubborn to get it. Apparently my Mum got into a huge fight with them about it and wasn't able to convince them."
"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "The stupidity of this world astounds me even more than the magic sometimes."
"I mean, they give eleven-year-olds deadly weapons and teach them how to make potions that can be explosive or poisonous if the instructions aren't followed exactly," Harry said. "And eleven-year-olds are notorious the world over for their ability to follow complex instructions and control their tempers. It's a wonder any of us even survived to adulthood." He paused and shook his head. "Merlin, Hermione, I've not been home ten minutes and you've already got me smiling a bit again. I've missed you so much."
"I missed you, too," she said. "I'm glad I can make you smile a bit, and I admit I've sometimes wondered how any of you survived to adulthood, too." She took a deep breath. "If you're willing, Harry, I planned out a schedule. How much time do you have off?"
"Of course you have a schedule." Harry chuckled a bit in spite of himself.
"I'm sorry." Hermione's voice was smaller now. "If you're not up to it—"
"It's alright," Harry said. "I like the idea. A schedule is just so you, though. Anyway, I've got one compensatory off-day for each day I was deployed. I was thinking of taking some later, but nobody's in a position to kick up a fuss if I take them now. They're expecting us to take at least a few days off."
"Good," Hermione said. "It's getting late today, so let me just put you to bed and give you a bit of Dreamless Sleep potion for tonight only."
"You got Dreamless Sleep?" Harry asked. "Thank you. I thought about getting some on my way home, but you can't purchase it while glamoured, it takes awhile to do the paperwork, and I didn't want to deal with the public today."
"I thought you might need some," Hermione said, "so I got Nev to pick some up for you and Sue."
"I haven't even been gone that long and I've already forgotten how brilliant you are," Harry said. "Thank you."
"Oh, Harry, it was nothing," Hermione said. "Anyway, I thought you could take some potion tonight to get you to bed, then over the next week you'll tell me about your time there day by day. Don't hold anything back. We'll start with one day per day, no more, and work up if you seem to be up to it."
"I'd rather not," Harry said. "I can't…you don't deserve to have to learn about what I saw. No one does."
"Of course I do," Hermione said. "I'm going to learn about them because you were involved. That's all the reason I need. I'm going to learn about them and we're going to hold each other and cry and face whatever nightmares come together, because you'd never let me face something like that alone and I won't let you do it, either."
Harry hugged her even tighter and wondered, as she hugged him back, if this was what love felt like.
Hermione listened to Harry's breathing become gradually slower and deeper for a full five minutes before rising from the bed. She shut the door behind her as she left the room and made her way all the way down to the floo room before summoning Dobby.
"Yes, Mistress My-knee?" Dobby asked as soon as he popped up. "How can Dobby help you and the Great Wizard Harry Potter?"
She smiled at his enthusiasm…and her own forethought in summoning him two floors below where Harry was sleeping. "Dobby, I have to go out for a bit to help Sue. Will you watch over Harry, silently and invisibly, and come to me immediately if he awakens? I want to be there for him, but Sue needs me, too."
"Of course!" The elf bounced from one foot to another, excited to have a task. "Dobby will be best sneaky watcher ever for Master and Mistress!"
"I know you will, Dobby. Thank you," Hermione said, and gave him a quick hug. He teared up a little, nodded, and popped away.
Hermione took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and threw a bit of floo powder into the fire. As soon as the flames turned green, she leaned in and said, "Longbottom Manor."
A few disorienting moments later found her staring out from the Longbottom Manor floo. Nev was sitting next to it on an armchair, with a book on a small table next to it.
"Good evening," she said. "Did you have any luck?"
He shook his head. "Not a bit. I told you this wouldn't work."
"Then it's my turn," Hermione said firmly. "Be ready to let us through in a few minutes."
"No force on Earth can make Sue do something she doesn't want to do," Nev said, "not even you."
Hermione smirked at him. "I know," she said, and leaned back to cut the floo connection.
She took another pinch of floo powder, tossed it into the flames, and said, "Bones Hall."
This time there was no one awaiting her in the floo room. Hermione had expected to wait, though, and settled in.
A few minutes later, Sue wandered into the room dressed in a loose robe she recognized as the sort of thing witches wore around the house. "What is it?" she asked, slurring the words a bit. "The damn bell kept going off. How long have you been there?"
"Several minutes," Hermione said. "May I come through?"
"I'm not really in the mood for company," Sue said. "Most people leave after the first minute or so, you know. It's considered rude to stay in the floo like that." She paused. "Was that not subtle enough or too subtle? I feel like I'm erring here, but I'm not sure in which direction."
"It was just right," Hermione said. "May I come through anyway? I want to make sure you're OK."
"I'm fine," Sue said. "Just peachy. I don't need you hovering around me like you do Harry. Wait, that probably came out mean. Don't stop hovering around Harry. That poor boy could use some hovering. Morgana knows I and everyone else in his life are shite at that sort of thing." She smiled hopefully. "Still friends?"
"Of course we are." Hermione hated taking advantage of a drunk person, but needs must. "Let's hug it out, as muggles say."
"Great idea!" Sue said, and enthusiastically tapped a rune with her finger. Hermione tumbled through the floo and ended up flat on her face, but managed to get herself back to her feet despite Sue's "help" and gave her poor hostess the hug she'd promised.
"You give the besssssttt hugs!" Sue said as Hermione released her. "Did anyone ever tell you that?"
"Luna mentioned something to that effect," Hermione replied.
"Oh, right, I got your note." Sue laughed, a jittery sound that turned genuine after a moment. "We were so happy to see her in Banda Aceh. I swear I don't know how she held it together, but I think she kept us from going mad with grief. It got to the point where I couldn't vanish any more children's toys that washed back onto the beach, even though I…I knew they wouldn't be needed again."
Sue's countenance faltered and she drew her wand. "Time for another—"
"Wait!" Hermione pulled Sue into another hug to forestall the Cheering Charm. "Luna asked me to check in on you, you know. That's why she broke into Harry's house."
"She did what?" Sue asked, thoroughly distracted by both the hug and the statement.
"Guessed Harry's password and interrupted one of my study sessions," Hermione said. "I have no idea how she did that and I'm afraid to ask."
The other girl bopped Hermione gently on the head with her wand. "Ooooh, you are a clever one, aren't you?" Sue said. "Very smart, not asking, because if you ask her, she'll answer you and you'll usually wish she hadn't."
"Kind of like Sirius," Hermione said without thinking.
Sue stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Oh, Morgana," Sue said after thirty solid seconds of laughter, "please let me be there when you tell Sirius you said that."
"I will," Hermione said. "In fact, are you busy tonight?"
"No, not at all," Sue said. "Auntie generally eats dinner at the office and works late."
"Perfect," Hermione said. She took Sue's arm and headed out of the room. "Let's get you packed."
"Wait, what?" Sue asked, but she didn't fight the tug on her arm.
"You'll run out of clothes otherwise," Hermione said. "Now, let's go."
"But I live here!" Sue said, finally refusing to move after they'd gotten about ten feet down the hallway.
"That doesn't mean you need to sleep here," Hermione said. "We're just going to get you some clothes and you'll sleep elsewhere for a bit."
"Why would I want to do that?" Sue asked. "I like it here."
"No, you don't," Hermione said. "Not right now. You hate it. You hate the silence and what you hear in it, and you're fighting it off with everything you have and it's not enough because nothing will ever be enough."
Sue stared at her. "How…how did you know?"
"What do you think I've been doing for the last few days?" Hermione asked. "No one deserves that. Now come on. Let's get you packed."
"I'm so sorry," Sue said. "I feel awful about calling Harry away from you."
"It's not your fault," Hermione said. "You and he both had a job to do. Your duty is done, though, and now it's our turn to help you."
"I don't need help," Sue said.
"Bollocks." Hermione ignored Sue's surprise at her language and soldiered on, hauling the woman toward her bedroom as she spoke. "No one could come through that unscathed, including you. You need to accept help now or you'll have to accept it later after we flush potions and alcohol out of the drunken wreck of your body."
"I don't need to do anything." A touch of petulance crept into Sue's voice.
"This isn't about you," Hermione said. "It's about how Harry's never going to forgive himself if anything happens to you while he's too emotionally exhausted to help you himself. It's about how I don't want to watch my best female friend in years fall apart and not be able to help her. It's about how, if you manage to hurt yourself like this, Nev's heart is going to fucking shatter."
Sue froze.
"Don't do this to him, please," Hermione said. Bathilda Bagshot, eat your heart out. This was manipulation. "Let him help you."
"I…no, I can't," Sue said. "Not like this."
"Nev won't care," Hermione said as she opened the door to Sue's bedroom. "He's worried about you."
"No, not like that," Sue said. "I can't see him when I'm like this. I'm…not strong enough."
"He would never take advantage of you!" Hermione said.
"I meant the opposite," Sue said. "I would proposition him, he'd turn me down, and I'd end up even more miserable."
Hermione arched her eyebrows. "You do realise the only reason he'd turn you down is because he's too much of a gentleman to touch you when you're in this condition, right? He's got it bad for you."
"But he…how do you know?" Sue asked.
"I've listened to him talk about you," Hermione said. "Trust me."
Sue sat down heavily onto her bed. "Are you sure? He's one of my best friends. He might just be a good friend."
"He's a good friend to Harry," Hermione said. "You, on the other hand, are the most important person in his world."
"If I choose, am I leaving Harry out in the cold?" Sue asked. "I…I did that once, and I've never forgiven myself. I don't ever want to do it again."
"You can still be friends with Harry after you're m…with Nev," Hermione said.
Sue stiffened at Hermione's slip of the tongue. "That's how this ends, isn't it? If I let myself fall for him, we're never going to stop falling." She fixed a forlorn gaze on Hermione. "I'm…scared. There's no going back from this."
Hermione took a deep breath before answering. "Harry told me once that he expected making a home with a woman and losing his heart to her would be big steps, but when it happened, it felt totally natural, like he couldn't imagine it any other way. I think it'll be that way for you, too."
"Oh, that ridiculous, wonderful boy." Sue's eyes were tearing up. "I hope you know what you have, Hermione, and that you take the best damn care of it you possibly can."
"I do, I promise you," Hermione said. "I remember what you've told me about becoming the witch he deserves and I've not stopped trying for even a minute."
"Good." Sue shivered. "Morgana, I'm scared now. Why am I scared? It's just Nev."
"You're thinking too much about the future," Hermione said. "Just focus on the present…no, scratch that, the present is awful. Focus on the next week. We're going to get you through the next week and then you can think about the future."
"I'll try." Sue drew her wand. As she waved it, clothes flew from her drawer and piled themselves on her bed. "There we go. That should be enough. I'm not really in the mood to bring any of my more interesting undergarments."
"That's completely understandable," Hermione said. "You can always ask Spriggy to go get them for you if you decide you need them."
"Ask Spriggy?" Sue's jaw dropped. "But then he'll know…I mean, that I want…"
Hermione shrugged. "They seem to be around all the time, anyway, and I'm sure they've seen it all before. Dobby was downright excited when I asked him to leave us alone for awhile."
"Oh, Morgana!" Sue stood up from the bed and hugged Hermione. "You poor dear. I just realised what it must have been like to have that little lunatic hovering around while you were trying to work up the nerve to finally shag Harry."
"It wasn't as bad as you'd think," Hermione said. "He seemed to realise what I wanted to do and was quite accommodating when I asked him for privacy."
"I'm glad," Sue said. "That gives me some hope." She sighed. "I guess I don't have any more excuses, do I?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Alright, then." Sue pulled out a briefcase and, before Hermione could ask how she intended to fit all of the clothes into it, began to throw them bottom of the suitcase appeared to be simple white cloth, at least until the first blouse hit it. At that point, the white cloth opened in the centre and sucked it in with a sound reminiscent of a vacuum turning on for just a second. Each additional piece of clothing went in the same way, with the smaller items making less noise. Toward the end of the pile, Sue paused and said, "Wait, no, that was a summer skirt." She reached her arm into the four-inch-wide suitcase all the way up to the shoulder, fished around, and pulled a skirt back out.
"How on Earth did it know which skirt you wanted?" Hermione asked.
"All magic is about intent," Sue said. "I pictured the skirt I wanted, stuck my arm in, and it gave it to me. I just had to be careful not to picture anything I was wearing at the time or it would have sucked it right off of me."
"That sounds fantastic and mildly disturbing," Hermione said, "which pretty much describes all of the best Wizarding inventions."
Sue laughed, a sound partially genuine and partially boosted by the remnants of her Cheering Charm. "That's a good way to put it."
Once Sue packed the last few items, she closed the still apparently-empty briefcase and hefted it easily.
"How?" was all Hermione could say.
Sue smiled. "Magic."
"I could make a portable library with that," Hermione said reverently.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"Never change." Sue shot a now-blushing Hermione a grin and led them back downstairs. Once they reached the floo, Hermione hugged Sue one last time and took a pinch of floo powder. "I'd best get back to Harry," she said. "It'll be OK. I promise."
"Thank you," Sue said. "Now go home to your wizard."
Hermione smirked at her. "Only because you're going home to yours," she said. Before Sue could respond (probably with a Stinging Hex), Hermione tossed the powder into the floo, shouted "Harry Potter's House," and dove in.
"Annoying witch," Sue huffed as the flames turned back from green to red. She took a pinch of powder herself, tossed it in, and said, "Longbottom Manor."
Nev's astonished face greeted Sue as she stepped out of the flames on his end of the floo. She had the sudden horrible concern that Hermione might not have told him she'd be coming, but before she could say anything, he spoke up.
"Hermione," Nev said, "is going to be positively unbearable about this."
"Tell me about it." Sue focused on the floor in front of her and hoped she wasn't blushing. "So you don't mind if I stay here for a bit?"
"Mind?" Nev rose to his feet and took her briefcase. "I insist. I spoke with Hermione about this at length despite my protestations that you would never actually take me up on it. I won't have you anywhere else."
He was close enough to her to embrace, so she did. "Thank you," she said. "I'll silence my room."
"Don't," Nev said. "I want to know when you need me."
"Harry and I have only managed to sleep these past two nights by hitting each other with Cheering Charms every hour or so. I don't want to put you through that." She didn't release the embrace, though.
"I don't care," Nev said. "I'll sleep in an armchair in your room if that's what you need."
Sue laughed in spite of herself. "Nev, you're a wizard. You can transfigure it into another bed."
"It's…um…the principle of the thing," Nev said.
"You don't need—"
"Ahem," came a sound from out in the hall and the two of them sprang apart as if caught doing something naughty. Sue wasn't even sure why she felt like they were being naughty, but somehow the simple throat-clearing seemed to impute naughtiness upon all listeners.
Sue sighed and turned to face the only person who could possibly have made that sound. "Good evening, Dowager Longbottom."
"Good evening, Lady Bones," Augusta said. "Isn't it late for a visit?"
"Sue has had a difficult time assisting with disaster recovery and will be our guest for at least the next week," Nev said. "I apologise for not letting you know sooner, but this only just came up."
Sue suspected Nev's scepticism of Hermione's ability to convince her to go also played into that delay. "And I apologise for any inconvenience," Sue added. "I appreciate Nev…er…Neville's hospitality."
"What?" Augusta's eyebrows shot up. "Where's your aunt, dear?"
"At the ministry, working late as usual," Sue said. "Why do you ask?"
Augusta ignored her and addressed her grandson. "Neville, you can't have a young lady stay over without her parent or guardian to chaperone. This is highly inappropriate."
"Sue shouldn't be alone right now," Nev said. "I've offered her a place to stay and I'm going to take care of her until she's well enough to be alone again."
"She looks well enough to me," Augusta said, "at least, as well as a woman who works full-time can after a shift, I suppose."
Sue did her best not to roll her eyes, glare, commit felony assault, or do anything else that would make Nev's life worse for the rest of the month.
Nev took a deep breath. "Gran, Sue's my friend. I can't just send her home."
"You can and you will," Augusta said. "She's Amelia's responsibility, not yours. If I let her stay here and someone found out, it could doom her marriage prospects."
"Marriage prospects?" Sue couldn't help but laugh. It probably came out higher-pitched and more desperate than she'd like, but she was past caring at that point. "I just spent the last week using advanced forensic magic to determine that eighty percent of the magicals in Banda Aceh are dead. You try telling two parents who managed to Bubble-Head themselves and their baby daughter that their three children at primary school are never coming home and see if you can still be arsed to care about your marriage prospects."
Augusta set her lips into a thin line. "I think it's best if you go home now, Susan. I'll be discussing this with Amelia tomorrow."
Sue turned to the floo and stopped when Nev caught her right hand in his left.
"Gran," Nev said calmly, "Sue is going to be our guest as long as she needs to be. Please help me make her feel comfortable."
"Nonsense!" Augusta said. "Neville, you need to ask your friend to leave or I'm going to do it for you."
"I'll go," Sue said. Nev neither responded nor even looked at her, but his grip on her wrist tightened.
"She's not going anywhere," Nev said. "She. Is. My. Guest."
"Very well." Augusta drew herself up and turned to Sue. "Susan, please remove your—"
"Silence!" Nev roared. "Spriggy!"
The house elf popped up next to him, took one look between Nev and Augusta, and flattened his ears to his head while crouching down. "Master called Spriggy?" he said.
"Neville, what—" was as far as Augusta got before Nev rode her down.
"Spriggy," Nev spoke so loudly he was practically shouting, "my grandmother has forgotten what friendship means. Please move her clothes and toiletries to the guest house, followed by her person. Obey no commands from her. You may come to me if she requests food and I'll approve it."
Augusta's jaw dropped.
"Is Master sure about that?" Spriggy asked. "Spriggy would rather n—"
"Do it." Nev's tone was cold enough to freeze the floo fire solid. "Do it or I'm going to do it myself and I don't trust my control right now."
"How dare you?" Augusta finally said. "Spriggy, don't listen—" she stopped when the elf disappeared, presumably to carry out his orders.
Nev responded by holding up his right hand, fist clenched and a lord's ring visible on his ring finger. "The Lord Longbottom doesn't 'dare,' Dowager. He does. Let me know when you understand what my friends mean to me and we can talk about your living arrangements."
Augusta opened her mouth to respond and popped away. Nev stared at the empty space for a moment before saying, "I need to grow something nice for Spriggy. His timing is amazing."
Sue stared at him in shock.
Nev turned to her. "Can I help…what's wrong?"
"You…you told off your grandmother and threw her out of the house!"
He nodded. "That's been a long time coming, I suppose. I didn't want this to happen, but maybe if I'd asserted myself more before she wouldn't have pushed so far tonight."
"I didn't want to get you in trouble like this," Sue said. "I'm so sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about," Nev said. "Not one thing. What's she going to do, be disappointed in me? She's been that for my entire life now and I've given up hoping for any changes on that front." He looked down at his feet. "I don't know where I'd have been without you and Harry. You two are the first ones who ever believed in me."
"Oh, Nev." Sue threw her free arm around his neck and hugged him, wondering in passing if Hermione was rubbing off on her. "You're an amazing wizard. I don't know why she ever doubted you."
"Probably because she had me use the wrong wand," Nev muttered as he hugged her back. "Anyway, don't pay any attention to Gran. You're welcome here as long as you want."
"Careful," Sue said as she released her embrace, "I'm a terrible cook, so I may linger if you're giving me free meals."
"That's a risk I'll have to take," Nev said drily. "Come on, I'll show you to your room. Once you've changed for bed, let me know if you want me to sleep in there with you or across the hall."
"The same room, please, if it's all the same to you." She hated how small her voice sounded in her ears. "I don't want to be alone."
"Then you won't be," Nev said, and she couldn't help but notice he didn't put an expiration date on that promise.
Amelia was just packing up her papers for the night when a screech outside of her office disrupted the after-hours quiet of the Ministry of Magic. Her wand was in her hand before she'd even processed that it was Augusta screaming her head off about something.
A quick wave of her wand flung open her office door—another instinct acquired during the Blood War. Unless the door happened to open in the direction of your off hand, manually opening a door while holding a wand at the ready could be awkward. Augusta was outside and demanding that Aurors Dawlish and Savage allow her in.
"It's fine," Amelia said. "What's my favourite colour, Gus?"
"Pink," she responded.
Amelia grinned. "Bollocks."
"There's no accounting for taste," Augusta said.
"It's her," Amelia said. "She can come in. We'll keep it quick, though, so you two can get home to your families."
They nodded and allowed Augusta into the office. Amelia's Polyjuice/Imperius protocol didn't depend on questions as such. She expected made-up answers, called people on them, and used their response to gauge who they were. In these times of peace it was probably unnecessary, but Alastor would sneak in and hex her if he thought she was getting sloppy.
As soon as Augusta closed the door, she spun around and glared at Amelia. "Do you know," she said accusingly, "where your niece is right now?"
"At home, last I checked," Amelia said. "She said she was going to take the week off and try to recover. That assignment hit the whole team pretty hard."
"Your niece," Augusta said, ignoring the opportunity to sit down, "is shacked up at Longbottom Manor right now. She said she didn't want to be alone and Neville allowed her to stay at the Manor. I pointed out how inappropriate that would be without your presence and insisted she go home, and my Neville actually threw me out of the Manor! He had Spriggy move me out to the guest house. Can you believe his nerve and your own niece's behaviour?"
Amelia rubbed her temples and wished she'd left the office ten minutes earlier that night. "Let me get this straight," she said. "My niece showed up at your house in some mental distress, your grandson offered to take care of her, you tried to throw her out, and Neville threw you out, instead?"
"That sums it up nicely," Augusta said. "Would you try to talk some sense into her?"
"Gus? Do you know how I've told you in the past I value your counsel and your forthrightness? Would you allow me to return the favour?"
"Of course, Amy," Augusta said.
"Good," Amelia said. "Because all I have to say on this matter is that it's about damn time. Now go home and keep your nose out of their business or so help me I'll hold you responsible for every additional year I'm without a grandniece or nephew."
Augusta's jaw dropped. "But…you mean…how could you want one like that?"
"Because they're already in their mid-twenties and I will take what I can get," Amelia said. "If you're smart, you would, too."
"But…the scandal…"
"Gus, the Bones line has nearly been extinguished thrice now but for Harry Potter. At this point, I would much rather have scandals and babies than none of either." Amelia sighed. "Go home to your lovely guest house, have some sherry, and reconsider your damn priorities, woman. I'm going home to bed."
Augusta harrumphed and stormed out of the office, leaving Amelia alone with the beginnings of a headache and more of a hope for her family's future than she'd had in years.
"Morgana's saggy tits," Amelia thought. "In for a scandal, in for a headache."
