Questions and Answers

little_bird

Story Summary:
What happens when the past collides with the present and threatens to cast the Potters' and Weasleys' lives into disarray...

Chapter 42 - End Of the World

Posted:
11/03/2010
Hits:
1,470


Daphne looked up from the pile of clothing she was sorting so she and Narcissa could make a list of what Scorpius might need to replace when they returned to England next week, a few days before September first. The loud knock repeated in a manner in which Daphne could only describe as imperious. The few people Narcissa knew in Nice didn't knock like that. She dropped one of Scorpius' ties into the laundry basket and walked to the front door of the villa to answer it. As the knock rang through the house again, Daphne muttered, 'I'm coming, all right? Get your knickers out of a twist...' She yanked open the door, and immediately she plastered a fake smile on her face. 'Pansy... How lovely to see you,' she murmured. She's probably not wearing any knickers to get in a twist in the first place, she thought snidely.

Pansy leaned forward, brushing air-kisses over each of Daphne's cheeks. 'Darling, it's been positively too long!' she exclaimed. She brushed past Daphne without waiting for an invitation to come inside.

Daphne's eyes closed and she took a deep breath. Dear God, I hope she doesn't stay for dinner... 'Do come inside,' she murmured politely. 'The terrace is this way, unless you prefer the sitting room...?'

'Sitting room, please, darling. How can you stand it here? Far too much sun! I have an image to maintain.'

Gritting her teeth, Daphne opened the doors that led to the cool shadows of the sitting room, and gestured for Pansy to precede her. 'Would you care for some tea?'

Pansy snorted. 'Tea?' She smirked. 'How... charming... Well, all right then.'

'I'll just go and bring it up.'

Pansy laughed in derision. 'Don't you have a house-elf here?'

Daphne drew herself up, gathering all the dignity she could salvage. 'This isn't my house. It belongs to my mother-in-law. She prefers not to employ one.' Daphne turned and stalked down to the kitchen.

She slammed the door open, making Narcissa squeak in surprise. Narcissa watched as her daughter-in-law threw open a cupboard and pulled out a tray, arranging cups and saucers on it, nearly slamming the china down to the tray. 'Something bothering you?' she asked mildly.

'Pansy's here,' Daphne said shortly, prying the lid off a tin of biscuits.

Narcissa frowned at the biscuits. She didn't remember making any of the spiced ones in recent memory. 'Daphne, how old are those biscuits?'

Daphne glanced down impatiently. 'Two Christmases ago. Scorpius' first year of school.'

'Those will be quite stale, won't they?' Narcissa picked up a biscuit and sniffed it cautiously.

Daphne filled the teakettle with water and tapped it with her wand. 'It's Pansy,' she huffed. 'Darling! I have a figure to maintain!' she mocked. 'She won't be having any.'

Narcissa poured the boiling water from the kettle into the teapot over the tea leaves she'd spooned into it. 'Would you like me to come up with you?'

'Would you mind terribly?' Daphne asked gratefully.

'Not at all.' Narcissa poured milk into the small creamer and flicked her wand toward the sugar bowl, making a neat pile of lumps appear. She gazed around the kitchen in dismay. 'Is she planning on staying for dinner?'

'Dear God, I hope not.' Daphne picked up the tray and backed through the swinging door. 'If she is, I'm not changing what we're having to suit Madame.' She paused as they walked down the corridor. 'She can bloody starve for all I care.' She followed Narcissa into the sitting room, smoothing her features into something she hoped was more neutral.

Narcissa greeted Pansy with measured politeness. 'Pansy, how nice to see you again.'

Pansy rose languidly and offered Narcissa her hand. 'I was on my way home to Paris from Florence, and I'd heard Draco was still here, so I thought I'd drop by and say hello.'

Narcissa's smile tightened a little. 'He's not here just now, but I can tell him you've asked after him.'

Pansy laughed gaily. 'Oh, that's all right. I don't have anything else planned. Blaise isn't due back in Paris for ages. Draco will be back later today, I suppose?'

Daphne unclenched her jaw long enough to mutter, 'Tea, Pansy?'

Pansy sighed dramatically. 'Well, if there isn't anything else... With lemon.'

Daphne refrained from spitting into Pansy's tea, and floated a paper-thin slice of lemon on the surface. 'Draco ought to be home by six,' she sighed.

'Lovely.' Pansy sipped her tea in seeming placidity. 'So,' she began, lowering her voice to a whisper, 'I hear that your son - Scorpius, is it? - is in Gryffindor. That's can't be true, can it?'

Daphne's fingers tightened on the handle of the pot, and it wavered slightly, spilling tea on the tray. 'It is.'

Pansy examined Daphne critically. 'Surely it must be something from your side of the family, darling. No disrespect, but you weren't exactly the epitome of a resident of Slytherin, were you?' A smile spread slowly over her face. 'Never could quite figure out what it was he saw in you to marry you.'

Daphne carefully set the pot back on the tray. 'At least I wasn't the type to -' She bit off the end of her angry retort. 'Scorpius is doing very well in school. Where he's been Sorted hardly matters.' She handed a cup of tea to Narcissa and poured one for herself. 'Did you come here to see Draco or are you in a strop about something and feel the need to take it out on my son?' she asked coolly.

Pansy laughed her brittle, tinkling laugh once more. 'Oh, darling! Please! I'm merely repeating the gossip that's going round our circle.'

Daphne set her cup on the tray and stood up. 'If you'll excuse me, I need to finish seeing to Scorpius' things.' She strode from the sitting room, knowing she was being rude, but unable to help herself. She couldn't stand Pansy's company longer than five minutes. She shoved the kitchen door open and picked up the abandoned laundry basket. 'I'd rather be an unconventional mother than a slag that bangs anything in trousers,' she muttered. From their fourth year to seventh, Pansy had systematically worked her way through every Slytherin boy fourth year or above. Well, every Slytherin boy that was interested in girls, that is.

'Mother?' Scorpius poked his head cautiously through the kitchen door. 'Who's that lady in the sitting room with Grandmother?'

Daphne held up a jumper against Scorpius, eyeing it to see if he could wear it for another year. 'Somebody we went to school with,' she said wearily. 'Something of a family friend.'

Scorpius clambered up to a tall stool by the heavy table in the middle that his mother and grandmother used to prepare meals. 'If she's a friend, then why did Grandmother shoo me away from the room?'

Daphne held out a pair of trousers to Scorpius. 'Hold these up to you. We'll need to see if we need to get you some new ones next week.' Scorpius obediently slid off the stool and held up the trousers with a raised eyebrow. He'd put on a good deal of height the past year. 'Guess not.' She took the trousers from him and replied, 'She's not really that much of a friend.'

'Oh.'

'If she stays for dinner, you don't have to eat with us. I'll bring you a tray in your room, if you want.'

Scorpius chewed his lip thoughtfully. If he had a tray in his room, it meant a long, solitary night without the promise of taking a nice walk through the city with his grandmother after dinner. However, he'd overheard the plummy tones of the visitor's voice and cringed at her cloyingly empty conversation. The prospect of spending the evening trapped with that voice turned his stomach. 'I'll eat in my room,' he decided.

'I wish I could join you,' Daphne said wryly.

XxXxXxX

Daphne rubbed her temples in the enveloping silence of the dining room. Pansy's inane chattering drawl had disappeared down the corridor with Draco. A soft thump made her look up. Narcissa had set a snifter of cognac on the table in front of her. 'How did you survive for seven years in the same dormitory with her?' she asked tiredly.

Daphne picked up the snifter and gently swirled it before taking a sip. 'I do not know.'

Narcissa picked up her own glass and studied Daphne's drawn face for a moment. 'How long?' she asked bluntly, well aware of Pansy's reputation.

'Most of our fifth year of school, and a good part of the sixth. At least through Christmas.' Daphne's lips stretched into a smirk. 'I can't say for certain, but I had heard talk they picked up a year after the war, and up to the day before our wedding.' She took a long sip of the brandy before continuing. 'I think he might have preferred her to me, but obviously, with her reputation...' Daphne's shoulders rose and fell in a delicate shrug. 'I was the one that looked good in public.' She sighed with a hint of resignation. 'Believe me, Narcissa; I'm under no illusions about my... marriage...'

Narcissa pushed her chair away from the table. 'Come on, then. We can leave this until later,' she said, indicating the remains of dinner on the table. She picked up her glass and led Daphne toward the terrace. 'Might as well enjoy the last of the summer.'

The sound of voices from Draco's study made Daphne stop. No... Not here... She took a few steps toward the partially open door and peered through the gap. Pansy had Draco backed up against his desk. Draco's hands were braced on the top of the desk behind him, and he gazed at Pansy with an odd sort of expression Daphne had never seen.

'Come on, Draco,' Pansy purred. 'It'll be like old times.' Draco remained silent, but his head cocked to one side. 'You can't tell me that pathetic weed actually satisfies you, can you? I'm sure she doesn't do for you what I will do.' She worked the flies of his trousers open and slid hand into them. Draco's breath caught slightly, but he gave no outward indication of whether or not he enjoyed her attentions, nor gave her any encouragement to continue.

The glass slipped from Daphne's nerveless fingers and shattered on the parquet floor at her feet. Draco's eyes turned toward the door and he saw Daphne standing open-mouthed in the corridor. 'Daphne...' he said harshly, pushing Pansy away. Daphne turned to the stairs and began to run up to her bedroom. 'Damn you, Daphne, wait!' His hand closed around her wrist in a crushing grip.

Daphne pulled at her wrist, unable to loosen Draco's hand. Her other one rose and flew through the air, landing with a resounding crack in the still house. Startled, Draco released her wrist and raised his hand to his stinging cheek. 'Next time, close the bloody door!' Daphne spat softly. 'We'll be leaving first thing in the morning,' she said over her shoulder as she stalked up the rest of the stairs.

Draco's shoulders slumped and he dropped to a riser of the stairs. Narcissa stood at the foot of the stairs, gazing at him in silent disapproval. 'Even your father didn't have the gall to do that while I was in the house,' she said quietly, with all the force of the blow Daphne had just laid on him.

XxXxXxX

Lily ran into Al's room, and bounced excitedly on the bed. 'Al, wake up! It's September first!' she yelled.

'Unh...?' Al's eyes opened slowly and he gazed with extreme distaste upon his baby sister. He glanced at the alarm clock next to his bed and glared at Lily. 'Lily. It. Is. Five. In. The. Morning.'

His ire was lost on Lily who continued to bounce on the foot of Al's bed. 'So?'

'So we don't have be up for at least another two hours,' Al grumbled, pulling the pillow from under his head and dropping it on his face. He picked up the pillow and looked more closely at Lily. 'Are you dressed in your uniform already?' he asked incredulously.

'Uh-huh.'

'I don't think even Rosie did that...' Al muttered. He sat up, blearily rubbing his eyes. 'Lils, unless you want to sit by yourself on the train, I suggest you let me go back to sleep. I don't care what you do, just let me have my two hours,' he begged.

'Fine,' Lily huffed, sliding off the end of James' bed. She left his room, and stood in the corridor, her hands on her hips. She had washed, dressed, made her bed, and, mindful of what her mother would say before the left for the station, checked to make sure all her things were in her trunk. She went downstairs and found her trunk in the scullery, next to Al's and opened it. 'Cloak, coat, jumpers, shoes, tights, skits, trousers, knickers, soap, shampoo, books, potions kit, telescope, cauldron, trainers... Oh!' She darted up the stairs, and ran into her room. Her wand lay in its box on her desk. She opened the lid and ran a reverent finger over the chestnut-hued wood. She hadn't understood the conversation that flew over her head when they'd gone to buy it, but she did know it was special. Unique. Ollivander said hers was the only one like it. She closed the lid and fastened the tiny brass clasp and carried it down into the scullery, tenderly placing it into her trunk.

Her small barn owl, Darcy, sat on the perch in his cage, watching her curiously. He sidled closer to the side of the cage and tilted his head toward her in an obvious ploy to be petted. She reached through the bars and obligingly scratched the top of his head, making Darcy's eyes drift shut in pleasure. If anything, Darcy reminded her of Teddy's owl, in that both of them shamelessly begged for attention. Last night, Harry had pronounced Darcy to be the most spoiled owl in Britain.

Ginny shuffled into the scullery, tying the belt of her dressing gown into a careless knot. 'Lily, do you know what time it is?'

'Um...' Lily looked around wildly. 'I don't know,' she said sheepishly.

'Try your watch.'

Lily glanced at her wrist. It was half-past five. 'But I don't want to be late.'

Ginny rubbed her hand over her face. 'All right. Give me fifteen minutes, all right? Let me go get washed, and you and I will have breakfast together. Just the two of us.' She walked back upstairs, chuckling softly, remembering how excited she had been to start Hogwarts her first year. She swiftly pinned up her hair and ducked into a hasty shower. When she pulled the curtain back, Harry stood in front of the toilet, squinting at it nearsightedly. 'Try lifting the lid, genius,' she told him.

'Oh, right...' He bent and lifted the lid. 'Which one is up already?'

'Take a guess,' Ginny said, pulling her clothes on.

'Lily?'

'Yep.'

'Why are you up?' Harry asked, blindly patting for the handle.

'I can't sleep, either,' Ginny confessed.

'Hm.' Harry flushed the toilet and sketchily washed his hands. 'You have no idea how incredible it feels to use both hands to have a slash,' he mumbled sleepily.

'Oh, that's just lovely,' Ginny groaned. 'Have you taught the boys to say that, too?'

'Not yet.' Harry tipped up Ginny's chin and he kissed her. 'Give me some time. By the time they finish school, they'll have heard every bad or off-color word and phrase I know.'

'Right. I'm just going to go back downstairs now...'

'I'll be down in a bit,' Harry yawned.

'Take your time,' Ginny said. 'The two of us are going to have a nice, quiet breakfast. Without boys.' Harry grunted and crawled back into the warmth of their bed. 'I'll wake you in an hour,' she told him.

'Okay...' Harry sighed and burrowed into the quilt.

Ginny stole back down the stairs and returned to the kitchen, where Lily was loading slices of bread into the toaster. 'What do you want besides toast?'

'I'm too excited to eat!' Lily whispered, wide-eyed.

'Oh, trust me, Lils; you'll want to eat something. It's a long trip up to Hogsmeade and unless you eat the lunch I've packed for you and your brothers, you won't get much of anything besides sweets until dinner. And that'll be oh... seven or seven-thirty.'

'Cereal is all right.'

'Are you sure? I'll make anything you want.'

Lily shook her head. 'Just cereal.'

Ginny took a box of cereal out of the pantry and handed it to Lily. 'I could barely eat breakfast my first day,' she commented. 'It was finally my turn, after watching Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron all go. When I was five, I tried to get Bill to sneak me on the train in his trunk.'

Lily poured cereal into a bowl and glanced up at Ginny. 'Did it work?'

Ginny set a bowl of grapes on the table. 'Sadly, no. He just laughed and patted me on the head,' she said with a slight scowl. She flicked her wand at a cupboard and a small pot landed on the table at her elbow. She poured milk into it, and with another flick, cocoa and sugar were added to it. She tapped her wand against the side of the pot and in seconds, warm chocolaty steam wafted from the spout. She poured a cup of hot chocolate for Lily. 'You're never going to have another first day of school like this...' she sighed wistfully.

Lily spooned a few mouthfuls of cereal into her mouth. 'I'll bet James and Al never did this...'

'What? Woke us all up at the crack of dawn?' Lily nodded. Ginny chortled over her cereal. 'The night before James left the first time, he slept in the scullery. On top of his trunk. He was sitting on it, hair in a shambles, when your father and I woke up.' She pulled a grape off the stem. 'Al... Let me see... Al was awake at six, and sitting in the car, waiting for the rest of us. He'd managed to drag his trunk out the door and next to the boot.' She reached over and smoothed Lily's hair from her face. 'You're not doing anything differently, sweetie.' Ginny's hand moved to cover her mouth as she yawned widely. 'You're the first one to wake up so early, though.'

XxXxXxX

'See? I told you we'd make it on time.' Harry loaded Lily's trunk onto a trolley with James and Al's trunks. 'Twenty minutes to spare.'

'You're lucky we weren't stopped by the police,' Ginny retorted, doling out owls to the children. 'International Quidditch-standard brooms aren't good enough for you?'

Harry merely smiled at her, and began to push the trolley through King's Cross. 'James, you go through first, then Al,' he called toward the two boys, who were racing through the station.

'Okay, Dad...' came James' faint reply.

By the time Harry, Ginny, and Lily made their way to the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, James and Al had already disappeared through it. 'You want to go through alone, or let Mum take you through?' Harry asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. 'I can go through, Dad. I've been doing it for four years.'

'Touché,' Harry murmured. 'Let your mum go through first.'

He watched as Ginny, then Lily casually leaned against the barrier, then pretended to dig through his pockets for something, and pushed the trolley through the barrier. He was immediately swarmed by children. Fred and James heaved James' trunk off the trolley and lugged it onto the train. Jacob helped Al drag his off the trolley and into one of the compartments.

'I'll get it.' Teddy reached down and hefted Lily's trunk into his arms. 'I'd swear they bewitched these at the shop, so the average fourteen-year old can drag it onto the train as fast as he can without being encumbered by parental units.'

'That's probably the general idea,' Harry agreed, gingerly massaging his still-tender left shoulder. He nudged Lily. 'Go show Teddy where you're going to sit,' he told her.

'She's sitting with us, Dad!' Al yelled from the train.

'Really?' Harry's eyebrows rose into his fringe. 'When did that happen?'

'No idea,' Ginny murmured. 'But who are we to question it?' she laughed.

'Hey,' Ron panted. 'How much time?' he gasped.

'Ten minutes,' Harry told him. 'Al and Lily are in the fifth compartment from the end.'

'Brilliant,' Ron rasped.

'Here, let me give you a hand with those,' George appeared through a gap in the crowd. He glanced at Harry. 'Still on limited activity?'

'Yeah.'

George grimaced. 'For how long?' He scanned the crowd for a moment. 'Oi! Fred, Jacob! Come here and grab your cousin's trunk, eh?'

'Okay, Dad!' Jacob's head poked through a window. 'Be just a mo! Sophie's bloody cat got out!'

'I hate that animal,' George sighed. 'I don't know what possessed Katie to agree to get Soph a cat for her birthday.'

'What's wrong with it?' Harry asked, baffled.

'It's psychotic,' George replied bluntly. 'Chases after invisible dust. Goes barmy when the wind changes direction. Oddly enough, it doesn't mind thunderstorms.'

Fred skidded to halt next to his father and two uncles, sporting a long scratch down the back of his hand. 'I hate that cat,' he grumbled. 'I swear Sophie picked the most insane cat in the shop.'

Al joined them, busily brushing cat hair from his shirt. 'That cat...' He grabbed a handle. 'Rosie and Hugo're going in with Lily and me.'

Teddy stood inside the train, his arms wrapped around Lily. 'Take care of yourself, pumpkin. And if you need anything, just let me know.'

'I will,' Lily promised.

'I'm going to miss you,' he told her. 'What am I going to do on Saturday nights when Vic has to study?'

'Read a book?' Lily suggested.

Teddy sighed exaggeratedly. 'I suppose. Guess if I want blue nail varnish, I'll have to do it myself...'

'I'll be home at Christmas,' Lily insisted.

'Help!' came a strangled voice from the door. Scorpius' red, sweaty face bobbed in the opening.

'When did you get back?' Teddy asked, tugging Scorpius' trunk into the train.

'Last week,' Scorpius said. 'Weren't supposed to come back until day before yesterday, but Mother woke me up at the crack of dawn one morning last week and said we were leaving in an hour. Would have sent an owl, but she left hers at Grandmother's, and I wasn't quite in the mood to go into the village and send one with one of the post owls.'

'Come on, we're in here,' Lily said, pulling Scorpius down the corridor to their compartment.

Ginny stood next to Hermione, their arms wound around each other's waists. 'So Ron forgot to set the alarm clock, and we were up late last night trying to get Rose and Hugo's things packed, and we just overslept.'

'That doesn't sound like you,' Ginny said with a frown.

Hermione shrugged. 'Been with Mum a lot last week,' she said quietly. 'She's been having a difficult time.'

'I'm sorry,' Ginny said, her arm tightening a little. 'If we can do anything...'

Hermione leaned into Ginny. 'You'll be the first ones I call.'

Lily barreled off the train and ran headlong into Ginny. Her arms wrapped around Ginny's waist. 'Bye, Mum.'

Ginny returned her daughter's embrace. 'Bye, Lils. Send an owl in the morning and let us know how you are.'

'Okay.' The engine's shrill whistle rent the crisp September morning.

'Go on, and get on the train.' Ginny sniffed and blinked several times. Lily ran back to the train, and clambered aboard. She reappeared at a window, her nose pressed to the glass. Ginny waved at Lily, feeling Harry's arm slide around her shoulders. The train disappeared around the bend, and Ginny felt the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes spill down her cheeks.

Harry pressed his lips to the top of her head. 'She'll be okay,' he told her, in a conscious echo of what she'd said to him the day Al left for school the first time.

'I know,' Ginny said shakily.

'You two have anywhere to be today?' Ron asked, his eyes still fixed on the path the train had taken, standing on the other side of Hermione, who was wiping tears away with a handkerchief Ron handed her.

'No.' Harry shook his head.

'Want to come to our flat and commiserate that all our babies are gone?' Ron muttered.

Harry took a deep breath. 'Yeah.'

XxXxXxX

A/N: 'Slash' is a British euphemism for urinate according to my research.