Questions and Answers

James let Lily slide off his back to the sofa and turned around to face her. 'Why did you do that?' he demanded.

'That's enough, James!' Al hissed. 'It's late, we're all tired, and yelling at Lily isn't going to change anything.'

'I-I-I-I just w-w-wanted to b-b-b-b-be alone f-f-f-f-for a b-b-b-b-bit.' Lily had begun to shiver as her body warmed. 'A-a-a-a-a-and th-th-th-there's no w-w-w-where to b-b-b-b-be alone here,' she wailed softly.

'That's a bad thing?' Scorpius had been silent to this point.

James exhaled strongly through his nose. 'Sometimes,' he muttered. 'You just want five minutes to yourself, and Merlin forbid you skip a meal or something. Four cousins will have written home to their parents by breakfast the next day, and the following breakfast, you get an anxious owl from home wondering why you're not eating...' He ran his hand through his hair, nearly yanking it in frustration. 'Let's just go to bed, then...' He speared Lily with a fierce look. 'You and I will have a word tomorrow about going off like that, you hear me?'

'You're not Dad,' Lily huffed.

'No, I'm not, but I'm still your older brother, and you're still an ickle firstie,' James retorted. 'After breakfast,' he promised, and made his way to the staircase that led to the boys' dormitories. 'Absolutely, completely, and utterly without the sense,' he grumbled as he stormed up the stairs. 'Bloody Pygmy Puff has more sense...'

'He's really angry, isn't he?' Lily asked timidly.

Al shook his head. 'Just worried about you. Not that he'd admit it in public,' he added. 'Go on up to bed. We'll see you tomorrow.'

Lily nodded and slid off the sofa. 'Night...' She wriggled off the sofa, still tightly wrapped in Scorpius' cloak, stumbling toward the spiraling stairs that would take her to her dormitory.

Al glanced at Scorpius. 'I'm sorry about the detention,' he said gruffly.

Scorpius shrugged. 'I knew it was a risk going out after curfew like that,' he retorted. 'It's just one night. Won't kill me.' He turned and went to the other staircase, Al following behind.

'Thanks...'

XxXxXxX

Harry's spoon scraped along the bottom of the bowl. 'Did you owl the kids?' he asked suddenly.

Ginny reached for the box of cereal on the table and added more to her bowl. 'Yeah. I sent Ariel out before lunch.'

'You don't think they...' Harry began. He shook his head. 'Nah...'

'What?' Ginny reached for the milk jug between them.

Harry munched a spoonful of cereal. 'Read it in the paper,' he snorted. 'The only part that exists for them is the Quidditch page. The rest of it might as well be white noise.'

Ginny chewed slowly, running through the list of their nieces and nephews at the school. 'I don't think any them have a subscription...' she said distractedly.

'Who?'

'Oh, Izzy or Maddie might... I don't think anyone younger than those two would take the paper. Maybe Parker would, but I'm not sure how often he would see James, Al, or Lily...' Ginny picked up her cup of tea and sipped it. 'I sent one to Neville, too,' she added. 'In case one them doesn't take it well...'

'You mean Lily,' Harry stated.

Ginny nodded. 'I think I should go up in the morning...'

Harry's spoon clattered in the bowl. 'Yeah, all right...'

'Are you going to go see Teddy?' Ginny prodded.

Harry sighed and pushed his empty bowl away. 'Probably,' he admitted. 'I need to apologize for yesterday... It wasn't his fault.'

Ginny jabbed her wand at Harry's empty bowl, sending it to the sink. 'Can I ask you something?'

'Sure,' Harry replied warily. He knew from years of experience, Ginny was about to force him to examine his motives. Not in a way that would cause him anguish, though - she knew better than to do that.

'Why does it bother you so much to have a row with Teddy? I mean, you argued with him when he was younger, and it bothered you then, too.'

Harry swirled the tea in his cup. 'He's not...' He inhaled deeply. 'He's not mine...' he said quietly, resisting the urge to squirm like a child.

'Have you lost your mind?' Ginny asked, with an edge of incredulity.

'I didn't mean it like that,' insisted Harry. He set the cup down and nudged it aside. 'He doesn't have to come back,' he explained. When Ginny continued to look at him askance, he added, 'If I get angry with James, it's not the end of the world. And I know he's always going to come home, no matter what happens. But Teddy...' He looked up at Ginny. 'Remember the first big row we had when he was a teenager?'

'Hmmm... After we found him with Vic...?'

'Yeah.' Harry picked up the cup and sipped the tea. 'I mean, I know he was angry, but he was standing in the back garden, his hands clenched into fists, hair blazing like it was on fire, and he yelled I wasn't his dad, and he didn't have to listen to me. He stalked off, and I worried that he wouldn't come back. Because deep down... he's right. I am not his father. He doesn't have to love me, or even like me.'

Ginny stared at Harry for a moment before she said, 'You're such a git.'

'What?'

'You're a git,' she repeated. 'He chooses to come back. Every single day. So much so, that can you honestly believe it's a something he even has to think about anymore?'

Harry blinked.

'He may not call you "dad", but in the end, it's just a word, isn't it? You know that. You've known that for thirty years, so why is it different today?'

'I never questioned him like that before. I've always trusted him, and I just outright accused him of bungling a case...'

'And he'll forgive you,' Ginny said. 'Both of you were preoccupied and both of you can be a little...'

'Stubborn?'

'I was going to say oblivious, but stubborn works. Both of you can get wrapped up in what you're doing in any given moment.' Ginny eyed him for a moment. 'Stop it,' she ordered.

'Stop what?'

'Feeling guilty for doing something that was, at the time, a perfectly natural reaction. All you have to do it explain. He'll understand.' Ginny rose from her perch on top of the table and turned to place her bowl in the sink. 'And Harry?'

'What?' he huffed, only slightly mulishly.

'What ever you might find at Teddy's... Just... Stay calm, all right?' Ginny lightly walked out of the kitchen.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Harry called after her. 'Ginny! What's that supposed to mean...?'

*****

Victoire's fingers drummed lightly against the top of the quilt. She'd been awake for some time. Teddy, on the other hand, could easily sleep until noon, if she let him. But she was hungry. Sure, she could have just gotten up, but that was easier said than done. Not for the first time, she cursed her long hair. Teddy was lying on it, effectively trapping Victoire in the bed. She didn't understand how on earth her mother dealt with it. But then again, Fleur always seemed to wake up looking like a figure in a painting. Victoire managed to turn her head to glance at Teddy. Maybe I ought to cut my hair after all, if it's going to be like this all the time... She heaved a sigh as her stomach rumbled audibly, picturing the row of white, waxy cartons lined up neatly in Teddy's otherwise empty refrigerator. Coming to a decision, Victoire began to insistently nudge Teddy in his ribs.

Teddy's hair flashed crimson in annoyance and he opened his eyes to slits. 'What?' he barked gruffly.

'I'm hungry,' Victoire told him primly.

'So go eat...' Teddy rolled over, burying his face in his pillow. His movements pulled her hair slightly.

'Ow... Geroff my hair...' she told him crossly. 'It's a little hard to get up, when you've got a person lying on your hair,' she said pointedly.

Teddy sat up slightly, releasing Victoire's hair. 'Better?'

'Much.'

Teddy flopped back into his pillow and gazed up at Victoire. 'You ought to think about cutting it,' he remarked.

'Why don't you think about staying on your side of the bed?' she retorted.

'I will when your hair stays on your side of the bed,' Teddy said smugly.

Victoire glared at him, then collapsed over his chest. 'I've got nothing,' she sighed.

Teddy threaded his hand through Victoire's hair, watching the weak light from the window spark through it. 'I remember Ginny cut hers... I was eight or so. It was before Al was born, I think. It was longer than yours, and one day...' He made scissoring motions with his fingers. 'It was gone. She'd cut it up to here.' Teddy swiped an index finger across the mid-point of his neck. 'I don't remember her letting it grow back out until Lily had started primary school.'

'I've been thinking about doing that,' Victoire admitted. 'Keeps coming undone when I'm working with patients.' She flicked a lock over her shoulder.

'Well, don't let me stop you,' quipped Teddy. He brushed Victoire's hair away from her face. 'Why haven't you ever cut it?'

'I dunno. Just never really thought about it.' Victoire lay quietly for a moment. 'I'm still hungry...'

'Guess I ought to feed you, eh? Can't have you pass out from hunger in the middle of my flat, can I?' He heaved himself out of bed, completely unconcerned about his decided lack of dress. Teddy rummaged through a small bureau and tossed a pair of boxers and an oversized t-shirt to the bed. 'Put that on...'

'I have a perfectly lovely nightie...' Victoire observed, pulling the t-shirt over her head.

Teddy grabbed a pair of boxers for himself and headed out of the bedroom toward the bathroom. 'I'm sure it's nice,' he called. 'But let's be comfortable, yeah?' Firm knocks on the front door reverberated through the small flat. 'Can you get that?'

'Sure...' Victoire slipped Teddy's boxers over her feet and pulled them up as she tripped out of the bedroom. She was sliding her hand under her hair, pulling it out of the collar of the shirt as she opened the door. She stared at the person in front of her. 'Uncle Harry...' she said weakly.

Harry's mouth dropped open, and remembering what Ginny had said to him last night, quickly snapped it shut. In the next seconds, he felt a slight smile curve his lips, replaying a scene that had occurred in this very flat, more than two decades ago. He tried to smile reassuringly at Victoire, determined not to act horribly parochial about it. 'Is Teddy here...?'

Teddy strode through the door, shirtless, dressed in only the boxers. 'What do you say we make it breakfast in...' His voice trailed off as he spied Harry standing on the landing. 'It's not what you think,' he blurted.

Harry eased through the door and closed it behind him. He glanced at Teddy, nervously shifting from foot to foot. 'Oh, for Merlin's sake, Ted, you're both of age. I'm not here to castigate you.' He eyed Teddy before adding, 'Could you at least put a shirt on, though?'

'Uh, sure...' Teddy darted into hid bedroom, leaving Victoire alone with Harry.

Harry gazed at her, then asked, 'Do your parents know you're here?'

Victoire nodded. 'Sort of,' she admitted. 'I mean, Mum knows, but I thought it would be best if Dad didn't hear it from me...'

'That's probably a wise decision,' Harry murmured.

'Dad can just be a little... unreasonable.' Victoire wound a lock of hair around her finger.

'Dads can be that way with their daughters,' Harry agreed, grateful Lily was still only eleven, and he didn't have to worry about that. Yet.

'What you want?' Teddy asked, returning to the sitting room, pulling a shirt over his head. He caught Harry's uncertain glance at Victoire. 'She knows...'

'I wanted to apologize for yesterday,' Harry began awkwardly.

'All right,' Teddy said diffidently, crossing his arms over his chest, ignoring the incredulous look Victoire was giving him.

'I wasn't trying to blame you for anything,' Harry continued. 'I hadn't slept, and I was upset about Kathleen. And it asking you about Joel Anderson came out the wrong way. I didn't mean it like that.'

'Fine.'

Harry heaved a sigh. This wasn't going as well as he'd hoped. 'I really am sorry, Ted.'

'Yeah, I know...' Teddy looked down at the floor.

'Right, well... The, uh, funeral's tomorrow. If you want to come,' Harry said quietly. 'Ten o'clock in Wigtown.'

'All right...'

Harry nodded once. 'I'll see you, then...' He turned and walked to the door and left.

Victoire turned to Teddy. 'You're being a wanker,' she stated calmly.

'What?'

'You. You're acting like a wanker. Uncle Harry came over here to apologize to you, and you were acting like a spoiled child,' Victoire chided.

Teddy sighed and spun around, walking toward the kitchen. 'I get it, all right? I mean, I know he didn't mean it, but the fact that still let himself question me like that still bothers me, okay?' He opened the refrigerator and began to remove the cartons of leftover takeaway. 'Can we just drop it for now...? Besides, I thought you were hungry.' He opened a drawer for a couple of forks and used his wand to Banish the cartons to the table in the sitting room.

'You know what happens when an Auror is hurt?' Victoire persisted. 'At the hospital?'

'Sort of...' Teddy mumbled, pouring water into glasses for them.

'They have their own set of rooms. They set up guards at the door. Not quite as elaborate as what they did for Uncle Harry last July, but it's still constant surveillance. The other Aurors keep an unofficial vigil over them. There aren't very many of them, you see.'

'I'm aware of that,' Teddy snapped.

'And if they don't survive, which does happen from time to time, the Healers that treated the patient and the Aurors have this horrible meeting. Where they dissect what went wrong and why.' Victoire plopped on the sofa and picked up a carton, stabbing a fork into it. 'They even do it for the serious injuries, too. The ones that take longer to heal than they ought. Like Uncle Harry's.' Victoire chewed the piece of chicken savagely. 'Healers... We pretty much accept there are things we can do and things we can't do. Yes, it's horrible to lose a patient, but you can't save everyone and you live with it, as long as you're secure in the knowledge that you've done everything you could do.' She poked the fork into the carton once again. 'But Aurors... And you should know this, because you've been raised by one... Aurors constantly blame themselves. They all have this... I dunno... Thing... Where they think, "If only I had done this, then my friend would be alive today..." Aurors leave that meeting, and they're still beating themselves up.'

'Vic, enough, all right?' Teddy moodily stared into his own carton of food.

'No, Teddy, it's not enough. You've worked with Kathleen... And you're not nearly as unaffected as you seem to be. If you can stop playing the wounded party here, and for two seconds think about what this must be doing to Uncle Harry...' Teddy's jaw worked, and Victoire knew he was grinding his teeth by the way the muscles were jumping. 'If you can do that, then you can understand why he was so upset yesterday...' she finished.

Teddy toyed with his food for a moment. 'You know, he just walked in here, announced she'd died, then tore into me. He didn't even let me process it...' He glanced at Victoire. 'That's what bothers me...' He poked a piece of broccoli into his mouth. 'So, yeah... I get it. It could have just as easily been an Obliviator. And this time, it was somebody I know, who was killed by a person I work with. Someone Iwent to school with.' He set his carton on the table and pushed it away moodily. 'I talked to him. About you. About Harry... And he's the one responsible for all this... So, now that you know, Vic, that it's not just about the row with Harry, can you leave me be?' He pushed himself off the sofa and headed for the bedroom. 'If I don't think about the other thing... If I just let myself think about the row with Harry, then I don't feel guilty because I don't have to think that I might be responsible for...' He trailed off, his hair flaring dark blue.

Teddy's eyes closed and his face grew slightly pained, as he struggled to gain control of his emotions, and by extension, his appearance. But to his annoyance, his hair steadfastly remained the deep blue of midnight.

XxXxXxX

Neville wound through the throng of students arriving in the Great Hall for breakfast, searching for James, Al, Lily, and Scorpius. They were sitting on one end of the Gryffindor table, looking the worse for wear, with dark circles under their eyes. Lily looked especially pale, and Neville suspected she was coming down with a cold. He handed them each a slip of parchment. 'The four of you. In Greenhouse Three at seven tomorrow night.'

'But Professor,' James began. 'Al and I, we've got Quidditch practice tomorrow!'

Neville frowned slightly. 'Then I suppose you'll miss it, won't you?' His expression softened slightly. 'I know you three meant well, but you should have gotten a prefect.' He went back to the staff table and James rounded on Lily, glaring.

Lily's lower lip began to tremble and she bolted from the table and ran from the room.

Al sighed and stood up. 'Laying it on a bit thick, don't you think?' he hissed to James, grabbing Lily's schoolbag, as well as his own, and followed her from the Great Hall.

James stolidly kept shoving eggs and potatoes into his mouth, avoiding Rose's censorious stare. 'Why do you have detention?' she demanded.

'Lily was out of bounds, and we went to find her,' James replied shortly, slapping jam onto a slice of toast. 'She could have gotten into even more trouble than she is now, and she could have gotten sick or hurt,' he pointed out to Rose.

'That doesn't give you the right to treat her like she's bubble gum on your shoe,' Isabella snorted. 'Keeping your baby sister at arm's length because she's your baby sister, well, that's normal. Treating her like she's got a virulent case of dragon pox...'

Maddie leaned in a little, muttering from the corner of her mouth. 'Don't make me write to Granddad,' she warned.

James paused in mid-sip. Pumpkin juice overflowed from the corners of his mouth and splashed down the front of his jumper. Spluttering, he set the goblet down. 'You wouldn't!' he breathed.

Maddie sat back. 'I would.'

James dabbed at the sticky mess and frowned. In the days before Al had started school, Arthur had pulled him aside and in a tone that brooked no arguments, all but ordered James to watch out for his younger siblings. James thought that Arthur would have cancelled Quidditch if he could, had James disobeyed him.

Isabella drained the tea in the cup in front of her. 'Bloody... I'm going to be late for Potions...' She started to pick up her schoolbag, and sent James a scathing look worthy of her mother. 'All we've got is each other here,' she reminded him. 'Yeah, we've got friends outside of the family, but still... Stop acting like you've never done anything stupid.'

XxXxXxX

Ginny trudged up the lane through the gates of Hogwarts, reveling in the relative silence. She wondered for a moment, if she was hovering. Hadn't her mother done the same thing after her first year? Molly had kept such a close eye on Ginny that summer that Ginny felt as if she couldn't breathe without Molly counting each breath. The summer after her third year, Molly wouldn't let them out of her sight hardly long enough to use the loo in private. She didn't even allow them to sit in the miniscule back garden of number twelve Grimmauld Place after dinner. The next summer, Molly had been somewhat distracted by the news of Bill's engagement to Fleur, but she still didn't allow them any further than the edge of the paddock without an adult with them. But with Arthur dividing his time between the Order and his job, and Molly trying to keep everything determinedly normal, they weren't able to get out much. And the summer after her fifth year, in between wedding preparations, Molly hovered. Checking in on Ginny like she hadn't since Ginny was eleven. It had been the summer after the war that Molly hovered. Trying to make them eat food they hadn't wanted, pressing cardigans on them when the temperature dropped even a little. Inquiring after their sleep.

What Ginny was doing wasn't any different, she realized. The children hadn't known anyone who had died before.

She made her way around the side of the castle and headed for the greenhouses. Neville was teaching his sixth year N.E.W.T. class to cultivate Muggle herbs. A seemingly mundane subject, but in order for them to be most effective in medicinal potions, certain conditions had to occur. Some had to be harvested during the full moon. Others during a solstice. Still, others had to be planted with dragon dung fertilizer. Some of the herbs and plants had to be grown in conditions that they wouldn't normally tolerate, like extremely acidic or alkaline soils. Ginny remembered Professor Sprout had made each class grow dittany her sixth year, when it was apparent the bullying and punishments from other students were going unchecked, then pressed cuttings surreptitiously into their hands wrapped in a dirty scrap of parchment with instructions on how to extract the essence. By December, most of the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors carried a small bottle in their cloak pockets. If they were pushed into the walls or statues, a quick dab of the dittany quickly took care of the resulting cut or gash.

She slipped into Greenhouse Eight, and stood in the humid warmth, breathing in the scents of dragon dung fertilizer, potting soil, and the pungent scents of herbs, redolent in the drowsy heat of the greenhouse. Neville waved a little, then turned back to a knot of students, pruning a bed of aconite, comparing it to cuttings from a bed of aconite grown in the ordinary way. He instructed them to come back during a free period to complete their research, then dismissed them.

He approached Ginny, wiping his hands on a small rag that he tucked into a pocket of his robes. 'What can I do for you, Gin?'

'I need to see the children,' she said. 'Just my three,' Ginny added quickly, seeing Neville's brows rise in slight alarm.

'Right.' Neville retrieved a thick file and ran his finger down the list of names. 'James has Defense next, Al has History of Magic, and Lily's going to Charms.' He closed the file and put it back into the rickety desk. 'I'll go fetch them, and send them down here.'

'Thanks, Nev,' Ginny said gratefully.

Neville casually waved his wand and four chairs appeared next to the desk. 'They'll be here shortly.'

Ginny sank into a chair and waited with what was a remarkable amount of patience for her. She waited a full two minutes before she began to tap her toes against the packed earth of the greenhouse.

'Mum!' Lily flew through the door and hurtled into Ginny's arms.

Ginny glanced at the boys and her heart sank a little. They were all pale with shadows ringing their eyes. 'I take it you know...'

'Iz gets the paper,' Al said. It was all he had to say.

'How are you?' Ginny asked quietly.

'All right, I guess,' James told her with a shrug. 'Just a little... Surprising.'

'I know.' Ginny laid the back of her hand against Lily's nearly too-warm face. Lily was shivering a little, but the greenhouse was quite warm. 'Are you cold, sweetie...?' Lily nodded miserably.

James opened his mouth, cut his eyes toward Al, then snapped it shut.

Ginny drew back a little and gazed at Lily. 'I think you might be coming down with something,' she said, giving James a questioning look. He shook his head and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers, his eyes fixed on the ground. 'Come on, then. Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey. She'll give you something to fix it right up.' She urged Lily off her lap and stood up, leading Lily back into the castle.

Al adjusted his scarf and settled his schoolbag on his shoulder, glancing sharply at James.

James kicked the ground with a foot. 'Don't say a word,' he growled, and stalked out of the greenhouse.

XxXxXxX

It was a typically grey autumn day in Scotland. Harry turned the collar of his coat up against the chilly drizzle that snaked down the back of his neck. Ginny stood next to him, her hand wound through his. She could feel the slight tremors that snaked down his arm. He hated speaking in public, but Iain had owled the night before, asking Harry to please say a few words. He couldn't refuse. Teddy stood on the edge of the small gathering, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his coat. His head jerked up when he heard the officiating wizard ask Harry to step forward and say a few words.

Harry squeezed Ginny's hand for a moment, then let go, and strode to the side of the coffin, bearing Kathleen's remains. He let one of his hands lightly brush over the top, as he cleared his throat. 'Kathleen...' he began, feeling his throat tighten around the word. He pushed a hand into his coat pocket, fingering the scrap of parchment inside, listening to the faint crackle. He'd written a formal, stilted speech before he'd gone to bed, but now, as his fingers closed around the parchment, it didn't feel right. 'The first time I met Kathleen, was when I went to Hogwarts to look over the seventh year students who were interested in becoming Aurors. In Kathleen's year, she stood out like an apple in Honeydukes': she was the only Slytherin that had ever applied to the program up to that point. We would try to simulate situations they might face, to weed out the truly serious from the merely curious.

'She utterly failed to complete the obstacle course the first try. Not many of them do, to be honest, but she was one of the first I had ever seen take it as a personal affront.' Harry heard Iain's knowing snicker on the end of a muffled sniffle and managed to catch Iain's eye. They had been in the same class together, and it was an event Iain remembered very well. 'That alone said volumes about her dedication to doing a job well.

'Kathleen wasn't the most sociable person, at first. Not that she wasn't friendly, once you got to know her, but if you could count yourself as one of her friends, it was something special.' Harry paused and met Ginny's gaze. 'I've had to bury a lot of people I've loved in my lifetime, and I've discovered the best thing to do is to remember their life. Take a moment and remember Kathleen as she lived.' He bit his lip and let his hand trail along the edge of the coffin before returning to Ginny.

XxXxXxX

Harry dropped to the sofa, loosening the tie around his neck. 'Ruddy, useless things...' he grumbled.

Teddy stood in the doorway between the kitchen and sitting room. 'Then why do you wear them?'

'Because they look nice,' Harry sighed. He looked up at Teddy, his head tilting to the side. 'Are you feeling all right?' he asked, his hand waving vaguely toward his hair.

'I'm fine,' Teddy stated.

Harry's eyes narrowed. 'How many times have you tried to change it today?'

Teddy's shoulders slumped and he rubbed his temples tiredly. 'Feels like every five minutes...' He ran his hand through the dull, dark strands and frowned. 'I can't stop thinking that I might have a hand in it...'

Harry took a deep breath. 'You didn't,' he said to Teddy. 'That kind of person is going to hurt who they want, and they don't care who else they bring down with them in the process. I didn't mean to make it out like you had anything at all to do with it...'

'Here.' Ginny levitated a large tray with tea, sandwiches, and biscuits into the sitting room.

Teddy inspected the biscuits cautiously. 'Those aren't chocolate, are they?' he asked, going slightly green around the edges.

'Of course they are,' Ginny huffed. 'Your favorite...' Teddy nudged the plate containing the biscuits a little further away from where he sat.

Light from a passing car's headlights flooded the room as it pulled to a stop in front of the house. The sound of a door slamming soon followed. 'Think someone's lost?' Harry wondered.

Someone began to pound on the door, and Ginny looked at Harry. 'Were you expecting someone?'

'No...' He warily went to the door and pulled it open.

Aaron stood on the doorstep, clutching Sarah to his chest. 'I went to pick up Sarah after work,' he stammered. 'And I couldn't go home...'