Chapter Thirty Four
July- 2005
Hermione smiled over to where Viktor was spraying down the kitchen services once again, they were already perfectly clean, he'd cleaned them four times over the last day and a half but apparently they weren't yet clean enough.
Viktor glared at the water spots left in the sink from where Hermione had washed their coffee cups and breakfast bowls and scrubbed at them with a dry tea towel.
He moved over to where Hermione was sitting in the sitting room and fluffed up the couch cushions around her.
"I need you to sit forvard." Viktor told her, reaching behind her to fluff those cushions as well.
Hermione laughed, "I think the house is clean enough now sweetie."
"I just vant everything to be completely perfect." Viktor told her, knowing full well that she was correct.
The house was cleaner and tidier than it had ever been before. They'd decorated the guest bedroom, as well as adding a small fridge to the kitchen that was already filled with snacks and bottles of water and milk.
There was a large chest filled with toys in the sitting room, Hermione couldn't stop looking at it and every time she did she could feel tears of excitement and joy bursting in her eyes.
At exactly two o'clock there was a knock on the door.
Hermione jumped to her feet, Viktor pulling off the rubber gloves he'd been wearing while cleaning, and they both headed for the door.
"Hi, how are we today?" the wizard behind the door asked.
He was wearing a neat, and very new, Ministry uniformed set of robes. He had round glasses and was carrying a pink suitcase in one hand, the other holding onto a small girl's hand.
"We're ok… good in fact." Hermione smiled, "Please come on in."
Viktor and Hermione showed the gentleman and the young girl in and got them settled in the sitting room, bringing the wizard a large cup of coffee and a small apple juice pouch for the little girl.
"It's looking very… clean in here." the wizard chuckled to himself, "Oh don't worry, I completely understand the nerves. My wife cleaned everywhere from top to bottom when she was expecting."
Viktor smiled, "Thank you for coming over Mr Charmers."
The wizard waved his hand dismissively, "Oh you're very welcome. I should be thanking you really. I must say this has been the best job I've had at the Ministry. Your fostering and adoption service is a huge success. Constance," he said, turning to the little girl, "Do you remember Hermione and Viktor?"
The little girl nodded, shyly looking through her hair at the grown-ups in the room.
"Hi Constance." Hermione said, kneeling before her, "We got you a load of toys you can play with, do you want to come and have a look? And then we can maybe go and see your new room?"
Constance nodded, sliding off the sofa and following Hermione to the toy chest.
"It might well take her a little while to settle in." Mr Charmers told them, "It's a big change when you're so little. You remember that her birthday is November 12th?"
Viktor nodded, "Yes, of course. Ve are already planning a party for her."
Mr Charmers smiled, "Well, I have no doubt you are going to be wonderful parents. We have some paperwork that we need to go over. Constance, are you alright to play by yourself for a little while? I just need to talk to Hermione and Viktor."
Constance looked up from the pile of duplo blocks and nodded.
Hermione, Viktor and Mr Charmers moved over to dinning table, still able to watch Constance play, and started on the mountain of paperwork that they needed to complete.
Hermione's eyes flicked over to the diary Mr Charmers was looking through and saw Corvus and Thomas's names.
"You're heading over to Lestrange manor next?" she asked.
Mr Charmers looked awkwardly for a moment, "I'm not really allowed to tell you about other clients we're working with. But yes, my next meeting is at Lestrange Manor."
Hermione nodded, "Of course, sorry, I shouldn't be being nosy. I know that they're looking to adopt as well. And the house is amazing since they did it all up, have you seen it yet?"
"No." Mr Charmers said, handing her another form to look over and sign, "No, today will be my first visit."
"I have my fingers crossed for them." Viktor said, handing back his form.
Mr Charmers looked over everything, double checking that everything was complete, "I'll be back in a couple of days to check up on everything. Please do not hesitate to contact me or my office if you have any questions or worries. And for now, enjoy your new baby girl."
"Constance, do you vant to come and say goodbye to Mr Charmers?" Viktor asked, holding his hand out for his daughter.
Constance toddled over and took Viktor's hand, her small fingers feeling even smaller in his large hand. She waved goodbye to Mr Charmers, who reached down and shook the little girl's hand, smiling to himself.
"I wish you all the best." Mr Charmers told them, "I'll see you in a few days Constance."
Hermione closed the door behind Mr Charmers and smiled at Constance. They'd met her a few times at the Ministry but this was the first time they were alone together.
"Can go to room?" Constance whispered to them.
"Yes, yes of course." Viktor told her, "Come this vay."
He led Constance to what was once the guest room, Hermione following close behind. They'd decorated the door with glitter and stickers. In the middle was CONSTANCE written in bright purple letters.
Constance reached up and ran her hand over the letters.
"It says Constance." Hermione smiled, crouching down so she was at her level.
"Dat's me." Constance smiled, "Constance."
"That's right." Viktor beamed, "This is your room. Just for you."
The walls were painted pink, a four poster bed without legs so it sat directly on the floor sat by the huge bay window. There was a bookcase filled with books and several piles of soft animals.
Constance ran over to the bed, pulling herself up before burying herself in the blankets and pillows.
"Shall we see what's in your suitcase?" Hermione asked.
Constance popped her head out from the pile of bedding and nodded, pulling herself out.
She was wearing a simple dress that was slightly tatty around the hem. Inside her suitcase was a half filled colouring book, some broken crayons and a few other sets of clothing, all in need or replacing really.
They'd been warned that this would be that case and were planning on a shopping trip the next day. They has also been warned that children could get very attached to their clothes, and that they would need to be given the time to replace the items when they were ready.
Hermione helped Constance put her clothes away in the wardrobe and draws, and placed the colouring book and crayons on the small desk they'd gotten for her.
At the bottom of the suitcase was a teddy bear, dressed in a smart blue suit with a very chewed ear.
"Who's this?" Hermione asked, handing the bear to Constance.
"Ruppie." Constance said, hugging him closely.
"Shall be put Ruppie in the bed?" Viktor asked, "And then ve can read a story before having a nap?"
Constance nodded, "Pick book?"
"Yes sveetie, you can pick the book." Viktor told her, stroking her hair.
Constance ran over to the bookcase as thought for a few minutes before picking a book with a family of bears on the cover.
Hermione and Viktor got her snuggled down on the bed and read her a story, before all three of them falling asleep. Constance tucked up in her new bed, Hermione and Viktor cuddled on the floor next to her.
Corvus opened the door when there was a knock, he'd been getting worried that Mr Charmers had forgotten about their meeting.
Mr Charmers looked slightly flustered when he arrived, shortly before six, but smiled and greeted Thomas and Corvus warmly.
"Please do accept my apologies for being late." Mr Charmers told them, setting his briefcase down and taking the seat offered for him in the large, best drawing room in Lestrange Manor, "I must say, I don't think we can worry about space and children here. It is a marvellous house."
"Thank you." Thomas smiled, pouring them all a cup of tea.
"It was my home growing up, although we've done a huge amount of work to it since we took it over." Corvus explained, "I must admit it wasn't exactly a happy home when I was little, but I hope that the next generation has better luck." he smiled.
"I hope I can help that happen." Mr Charmers said honestly, "First things first, I need to inspect the house. Top to bottom. It also says here that you have three house elves? I'll need to talk to them all in private as well."
"Of course." Thomas said, "Shall we start with the kitchens and you can meet the house elves, we didn't name them… they're named Swine, Grub and Peep."
"Interesting names…" Mr Charmers said slowly.
"As Thomas said, they were named by my parents and grandparents." Corvus said, "They're all past now and all the better for it to be frank."
Mr Charmers nodded slowly, "Well, lets see the kitchens."
It was a long tour of the house, mostly as there were an awful lot of rooms. The house elves had nothing but glowing reports about Thomas and Corvus. They made a great point to Mr Charmers about how their lives had never been better.
A little over an hour later Mr Charmers, Corvus and Thomas were once again sitting in the drawing room sipping on fresh cups of tea.
Mr Charmers pulled out a file from his briefcase and looked over Thomas and Corvus before nodding to himself, "The reason I was late was because we have had an emergency admission. A young girl, she's almost a year, her birthday is the first of August. Her parents had been… struggling. The details are all here, anyway they failed to arrive for their meeting at the Ministry today so I went to do a check up and… I had to make the difficult decision to remove the child. I'm telling you this because you are the next family on the list for a placement and this was your last check, which I am pleased to say you have passed with flying colours."
"Are you saying that… that little girl could be part of our family?" Corvus asked, trying to force himself not to get his hopes up.
Mr Charmers nodded, "It's up to you, it will certainly be more rushed than we would like but it would be best for the little one to get settled in a new home as soon as possible, with as little disruption as we can manage."
"Of course." Thomas said, "We'll happily take her. When would she be arriving?"
"Tomorrow." Mr Charmers said, "She is spending the night at St Mungo's but should be checked out tomorrow afternoon. Would that be too soon for you?"
Thomas and Corvus looked at one another, "It is soon." Thomas said slowly, "But we can manage it, right?"
"Right. Yes, of course." Corvus said, nodding quickly, "We can get that all sorted for sure."
"You'll need to provide her with basically everything… we can give you a few days worth of clothes and nappies and milk of course. But you will need supplies as soon as possible."
"Grub can go and get things now." Grub said, poking his head around the door.
Thomas smiled, "Thank you Grub. We can all go tomorrow."
Grub nodded and scurried off back to the kitchens. Thomas and Corvus weren't sure what to say. They'd of course been expecting to adopt, that was the whole point, but they both felt as though their lives had changed very quickly.
"I will understand if this is too soon for you both." Mr Charmers said kindly, "And we can simply add you back on the list."
"No." Corvus said firmly, "No, she needs a home, and this is a home for anyone who needs it. What's her name?"
"Mary." Mr Charmers told them, "She's a sweet girl, from my few meetings with her. As I said there are more details in the file, I suggest you both read through it all this evening and then you will be up to date for tomorrow. And please feel free to contact me or my office if you have any questions or doubts. I still have several hours of work to do in order to process everything that's happened today so I will be available until late. And I shall see you tomorrow, at about one o'clock and then we can go to St Mungo's together."
"Is she hurt? Mary, is she hurt? Is that why she's in St Mungo's?" Corvus asked, his voice wobbling slightly as he remembered hiding from his own parents when they were in a mood.
"A little dehydrated and grubby but otherwise she's fine." Mr Charmers assured them, "It's more of a precaution than anything else."
"Thank you." Corvus nodded.
Mr Charmers stood and stretched, "I should be getting on my way. I shall see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." Thomas said, showing him to the door.
"So… tomorrow we become parents… scary." Corvus said with a nervous chuckle.
Thomas pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of my head, "Yep… Thomas, Corvus… and Mary."