Prophesied

Chapter 25

Endings

When I returned to my father's house, my daughter came running to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed with a strength I didn't know a child so small could possess. She was crying.

I stood and turned to my father. "I'm sorry I had to leave like that," I said.

He shook his head. "I am merely relieved that you have returned," he said, giving me a hug. "Is it over?" he asked. "The war?"

I nodded. "It's over," I sighed. "We're all fine."

At least, we're all as fine as can be expected.

"Lita," my father said as I relaxed in my daughter's arms. "You're about to have a visitor."

*****

I decided that I should tell Draco about Lita before she came back from America. The only problem was that I was sure that I was going to lose him. This time for good.

"What's wrong?" he asked me.

I sighed. "I need to tell you something," I said wearily. "You should sit down."

A look of dread appeared on his face as he sat across from me in the sitting room. Maybe with the table between us he wouldn't attack me....

"What is it?" he asked.

I looked down at my clasped hands, searching for the words. They yielded none. I looked back up at Draco and heaved a heavy sigh. "Lita's pregnant again," I said.

"Is it..." his voice broke. "Is it yours?" he asked.

I looked back at my hands and nodded.

He swore. "You have one week," he said with a shaking voice. "To get everything out of this house. I want you gone, understand?" he demanded. I felt tears burn at my eyes. "I don't ever want to see you again."

"Draco..." I said in a futile attempt to change his mind.

"No," he said strongly. "I have nothing left to say to you or Lita. It's too much, Harry."

"Don't do this," I pleaded, looking up at him at last. I may have said that nothing would keep me from her, but I can't leave him. "Draco, please, I love you..."

"NO!" he shouted, causing me to jump. "Don't say that."

I wanted to something--anything--to get him to change his mind, but when I looked up and I saw his face, I knew any attempt on my part would be futile. He had made his decision long before now. I hung my head, defeated.

*****

The doorbell to my father's house rang as I stood, my shaking daughter in my arms. I looked up at him confused. "Who is it?" I asked.

My father smiled slightly. "Serina," he said softly.

Serina didn't know about Lami.

I walked to the front door, not knowing what to do about Serina. How was I supposed to tell her that not only did I meet Harry, I dated him, had his first-born and was pregnant with his second and we weren't even married or Bound? How was I supposed to tell all of this to my best friend, who was the one person I told everything to?

I decided I'd start by answering the door.

"You're back?" she asked when I answered the door. "I thought you weren't coming back!"

I smiled slightly. "I'm not staying," I said softly.

"God, it's been like three or four years, hasn't it?" she asked.

I nodded as I stepped out onto the porch with her, my daughter still in my arms.

"Who's this?" she asked.

I sighed heavily. "I've got a lot to tell you," I said. "Sit down."

*****

The first night I sobbed. I was like a child. I had lost the love of my life and there was not a bloody thing I could do about it. I had a week to leave, and I spent the first night unable to do anything.

*****

"Whoa," Serina said softly once I'd finished my tale. "So that's what the last three and some odd years have been like for you.... Why didn't you ever tell me?"

I shrugged, my sleeping daughter in my arms. "There was so much going on," I said simply. "I was pregnant then married, I was patching up Harry and Draco's relationship, and then there was the war and raising Lamia. Then Hermione and Alex got married and Jeff committed suicide.... I've thought about writing you a thousand times," I said softly, "but actually finding the time to do it is another story."

"I can't believe Jeff is dead..."

I sighed heavily. "Neither can I," I confessed.

"So what is with you and Harry now?" she asked. "I mean, it's his kid, isn't it?" she asked. I nodded. "Well then what are you?"

I felt as though my heart had suddenly been shattered. I dropped the glass pan I was holding and swayed as it shattered on the floor at my feet. I clenched a hand at my heart and dropped to my knees, not feeling the few pieces of glass as they pierced my skin.

I recognized this feeling and knew it was not my own.

"Lita?" my father asked.

I began to sob with the feeling that was tearing me apart.

My father carefully knelt beside me. "What happened?" he asked.

I shook my head, unable to say anything.

***** (Draco)

I couldn't believe it. He had told me that they'd slept together, but I hadn't thought that this would happen. It was just far too much. It was worse, by far, than when she told us that she was pregnant the first time. At least that time, she and Harry had been together when they'd had sex. This time he'd been with me.

Merlin, I hate bisexuals.

*****

They've broken up again. I know it. I can feel it. It's as strong as the feeling I got when I met them the first time. I don't understand how I can feel it this time. I'm more than a thousand miles away....

"How much do you really know about the Elves, Lita?" my father asked me.

I looked up at him confused. "What do you mean?" I asked.

He sighed and sat down next to me. "Did you know that anyone with Elvin blood can have a child with only one person?" he asked me. "That is why you and Jeff never had a child together. You already had one with Harry. That is also why, after only one night with him, you are pregnant again."

"But I'd had sex before Harry," I confessed. "Why didn't I get pregnant before?"

"You had sex before Harry?" my father asked, his eyebrows raised. Apparently he never knew that I was...a little wild when I was younger.

I nodded. "Jeff was my first," I informed him. "Back at Stoneridge."

"Jeff obviously wasn't your One, then," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "My One? One what?"

"Mortals call them Soul Mates," my father said. "The Elves call them the One. It's the way our species is. There is only one man and one woman for each of us. Mine was your mother."

"But she was mortal," I said.

"I never said that that One had to be our kind," he said. "Elves fall in love with mortal men and women all the time. You're not the only half-elf out there, Arinlita. There are just so few of you that they are hard to find."

"And you're saying that Harry is my One?" I asked.

My father nodded. "How many times have you and he been together?" he asked.

"Twice," I answered immediately.

"And both times you end up pregnant?" he asked.

I nodded.

"I think I've just proven my point," he said simply.

"But Harry's in love with Draco," I said. "How can he be mine if his heart belongs to someone else?"

"Had his heart truly belonged to Draco, he would have never slept with you the first time," he said softly.

"He and Draco broke up," I revealed.

"How do you know this?"

"I can feel it."

"You've Bound yourself to him, haven't you?"

I nodded.

"Then I suggest that you return home," he said. "To England."

I nodded my understanding. This wasn't my home anymore. Where Harry was was my home now. I knew before I left that I would not be here again.

"I love you," I said. "And I thank you. For everything."

He nodded. "I know," he said.