Golden Children and the Others

Neither of the Katz girls were very happy the rest of the week. Their parents were as puzzled as ever when Adalia came down for dinner angry and red-cheeked, and Faryn with tear tracks down her cheeks. Ava stayed in their guest room. She put on a fake cheery display for her aunt and uncle, but she, like her cousins, wouldn’t talk.

“Addy,” Faryn pleaded with her sister before they went downstairs. “Don’t tell mum and dad about the thing with Ava and Teddy. And their baby. Okay? it’s Ava’s business to tell if she wants to, not ours.” Adalia frowned.

“Why should we keep her secrets if she’s just going to leave us all behind?” Faryn felt fresh tears pulling at her eyes; her family was going to fall apart right before her eyes. 

Adalia couldn’t stand to see her sister so upset, so she sighed heavily and complied.
“Fine. But only for your sake, Faryn. Not her.” So dinner was filled with the Katz parents trying to make awkward conversation. Ava was the only one who answered, but the silence from the other two killed any conversation stone dead. Faryn couldn’t look at anyone, lest she start crying again, and Adalia only met Ava’s gaze to glare at her. 

The gloomy mood continued all week. Faryn was still wary of talking to her cousin, but they both tried to bring Addy out of her mood. 

“Look, Owl’s here,” Faryn observed.

“Oh, it’s our Hogwarts letters!” She handed Adalia her letter before ripping hers open. Adalia scanned her booklist before stuffing it into her pocket. Faryn pulled hers out of her envelope and felt her jaw drop as she heard something fall onto the table with a thud. The Hufflepuff picked it up and stared at it in wonder.

“Prefect. I made Prefect.” She whispered.

“Oh, congratulations, Faryn!” Ava said.

“And now that you’ve gotten your lists, we should get to Diagon Alley. We’ll meet the Weasleys and the Potters for our annual shopping trip,” She said.

“Everyone into the fireplace,” Adalia rolled her eyes.

“What a stupid idea, going shopping the moment you get your list.” She muttered. One by one the girls disappeared into the green flames. 

“James! I got Prefect!” Faryn shouted, running into the arms of her Gryffindor best friend.

“That’s great! So did I!” James replied, twirling her around. He gave her that special smile … .
“We can all go patrolling together,” Came Dawn Cain’s voice. Fifth year, Ravenclaw Prefect, and James Potter’s girlfriend. James set Faryn down and she smoother her hair back, a light blush spreading across her face.

“That’s great, Dawn,” She said, trying not to let the Ravenclaw’s presence ruin her mood.

“Yeah, go Faryn!” Fred called, clapping her on the back. “You, James, Ly, Dawn … that’s half the gang! I’m feeling all left out,” The Gryffindor boy feigned sadness.

“Hey, if you were a Prefect you couldn’t pull your mad pranks,” James commented. Fred perked up a bit.

“I still can’t get into the Prefect’s washroom though.” James laughed.

“I’ll share the password, mate.” Fred and James high-fived.

“Yes- I got connections to the school’s authority!” Faryn giggled and Lysander tried to hide his smile under a disapproving face. 

“By the way, Faryn, what’s up with Adalia?” James asked. “She looks down.”

Faryn nodded. “She’s just upset with Ava. She and Teddy had it out with each other after the Order meeting, about the baby and all, and Adalia feels like she’s going to get left behind.” A silence fell over them as the group, and Faryn, realized what she’d seen.

“Oh Merlin, I wasn’t supposed to say that.” She muttered, slapping a hand over her mouth and turning bright red. The look in James’ eyes said that he’s have to tell Harry. 

[x]

Adalia really didn’t understand what the fascination of getting your school lists and going directly to Diagon Alley was all about. Why not check, make sure you couldn’t get it from a sibling or something before running off willy-nilly?

 So she hung back, taking a few moments to gather herself and grab some Floo powder.
 The only good part was seeing the boys.

 A few moments after she stepped out of the fireplace, she was enveloped into two pairs of arms.

“Your sisters’ just squealed,” Scorpius whispered in her ear.

 “She told Jamesie about Ava being preggers,” Albus added.

 Pulling back slightly, Addy looked from one to the other and back again. “She what?”

 “Well, we saw you as soon as you Floo’ed in, but I caught James asking if you were alright. Since I hadn’t seen you proper yet, I listened to what Faryn said.”

 “And so did I,” Scor put in.

 “And she said something about Ava and Teddy fighting and the baby and it just went downhill. I think she’s trying to get some damage control in,” Albus explained.

 Adalia’s expression darkened. “So she gets on her high horse and tells me not to say anything, but she looks into James’ brown eyes and suddenly the rules change?”

 Both boys stayed silent, knowing not to interrupt her when she was like this. Not unless you wanted a well aimed Jellylegs Jinx.

 “That’s SO like her!” But before she could properly work herself into a rant, Adalia lost her steam. Tears pooled in her eyes, making the street in front of her shimmer.

 Scor saw it first. “Let’s go and gets some sweets, yeah? Al’s treat.”

 By then Albus had noticed the unshed tears as well, and looped an arm through Addy’s. “My treat, okay, love?”

 “S’pose.”

 After signaling to the greater group where they were going and why, the two boys went on either side of the girl they both loved. “Chin up, lamb chop,” Scorpius sing-songed. “Least you’ve got us, right?”

 “It just scares me, you know?” When neither said anything, she continued. “The last war, we almost lost everything. Everyone. We damn near lost all of our fathers, and then where would we be? And I’m just scared. It could happen all over again. And I don’t want it to tear my family apart.”

 Tears were making their journey down her face. Scorpius sat her down in the nearest bench, kneeling on the ground in front of her. Albus sat at her side.

“We will never leave you,” Scor promised, taking her hands in his as Al put his arm around her. “We swear on all Dumbledore’s grave, right Allie?”

 “Right. We’re always going to be here for you, Adalia. Always.”

 Sniffing, she tried to smile. “Thanks you two. What would I do without you?”

 “Fall off your broom.”

 “Fail History of Magic.”

 “And Potions.”

 “Not have any friends.”

 Laughing, she stood up, pulling them both with her. “Okay, okay! I get it!”

 The three headed to Florean Fortescue’s, which had been reopened since the last war. Florean himself had been found hiding in Nova Scotia, convinced the Dark Lord would kidnap him next.

 “What’re you going to get?” Addy asked the boys as they surveyed the choices.

 “Not sure,” Albus replied, “I’m looking at the pumpernickel or the passionberry. You?”

 “Lemon-lime-orange, as always!”

 Suddenly, there was a voice behind them. “I’ll treat you all.”

 Ava
.
[x]

Ava hated to buy back Adalia’s trust,  but it was better than feeling hated. She knew this mission with the Order wasn’t going to make her very popular with anyone. But who else would they send to infiltrate the Death Eaters? The men were needed for more dangerous tasks. Would they send Ginny? Luna? Hermione? Fleur? Women who all had families and children and husbands who couldn’t live without them? Ava was the perfect candidate. She didn’t have any ties. She wasn’t married, although she had Teddy and the baby.


Adalia thought Ava was abandoning the child, pushing it away for this mission. She was wrong. Ava was doing this so that her baby didn’t have to grow up the way Harry did. The way Teddy’s parents had. A world of fear and hate and death and destruction was no place to bring a child to life in. Ava would hate herself forever if she passed up this one opportunity to save her child. But no one understood. Not even Teddy- who should understand her more than everybody else. 



“There you go, kids,” Ava said as she handed over a few sickles for their ice cream. 



“Thanks, Ava,” Albus and Scorpius chimed together. They made quite a pair. Ava glanced at Adalia, who hadn’t spoken. It would take more than Florean Fortescue’s ice cream to get her cousin to trust her again. 



“Are you ready for Hogwarts?” She asked as she licked her own cone of chocolate frog ice cream. 



“Oh yeah, it’s been a pain in the arse not seeing everyone every day,” Albus said, elbowing Addy. The Ravenclaw couldn’t hide a smile.

Ava was about to speak again when another joined their party. 



“Hello, boys! Ava, Adalia,” he greeted them, walking over with a smile. 



“Hi, Dad,” the three said in unison, a smirk on Scorpius and Addy’s faces.



“Hey, Mr. Potter,” Ava smiled back.  “I didn’t think you’d be here.”

 Harry nodded.  “Neither did I. Ava, I need to talk to you privately.”

 She could see the three kids exchange a look. “Told you,” Albus murmured. “Knew it wouldn’t be long before he heard…”

 “You three run along and find the rest of your lot. I’ll be there in a tick,” Ava said, ushering them back in the direction of the rest of the Order. She knew this was nothing they needed to hear – they knew too much about her situation already, she bet. Adalia was a strong girl, but not strong enough to conceal that much pain around the two people who arguably knew her the best.

 Once the children were safely out of eyesight, Harry’s eye lost their usual mischievous gleam. They hardened, and his look made her remember once again the things he had gone through. The things that made him the leader of the Order. The hero of the Magical world. The write-in vote for Minister.

 “I hope you realize you’re an idiot. And irresponsible. And possibly a heart-breaker, if you ask my godson. Who, may it be said, has alternated between glooming around the house and raging since he last saw you.” Harry voice was gentle, but Ava could tell by tone alone that he was extremely disappointed in her.

 “I’m sorry…”

 “That’s not going to cut it this time, Ava. You’re not a little kid. This isn’t a prank gone awry. This is serious. You’re not only putting your own life at risk, which is more than I would ever want to have to ask you to do at such a young age, but the life of your child at risk. It’s foolish.”

 “And I understand that, Mr. Potter,” Ava responded, voice hardened, all business now. “But I am still going through with it. There is not a single other person in the Order that could do it. Florence, Alice and Victor can’t do it; they’ve not been trained as I have. They couldn’t do it and be convincing. The others are all parents already, of children that are old enough to know what’s going on. Everyone else is too conspicuous, too easily suspicious to the Death Eaters. Would you have them risk their lives? Would you rather I just dropped the mission, sat at home with Teddy and pretended we weren’t a part of this? I promise that I won’t endanger the child. I will conceal it just as I have been and make sure that, once it’s born, it’ll go straight to Teddy. I won’t keep a child in that den of filth.”

 The air was tension filled and silent. Passersby averted their eyes, seeing the normally approachable Harry Potter so black. He just looked tired. Like he had seen the horrors of this world and wanted nothing more to forget them. Which, knowing his story, wasn’t all that farfetched.

 After a few moments, he raised his head and looked into my eyes, searching. “There’s not a thing I can say to make you change your mind, is there?”

“Not really, sir, no.”

 “Then I suppose it’s done.”