Discovering You

Debbie baked when she was worried. That was why John knew something was wrong when he entered the kitchen to find the air thick with sugary steam, three plates of brownies, a Victoria Sponge and Debbie frantically icing a batch of cupcakes.

“Are we going to be able to eat all this?”

She whirled around, the icing bag clutched tightly in her hand, a smear of flour in her dark curls. “I don’t know. We’d better.” She seemed to truly take in the amount of food. “I have baked rather a lot, haven’t I?”

John grabbed a brownie and sat down at the table, taking a bite. “’S good.”

“Thank Granny Sedman,” said Debbie, finishing off the last cupcake with a swirl. “It’s her recipe.” She waved her wand, and a tray of chocolate biscuits flew out of the oven.

He wiped away of dollop of cake mixture and plopped his elbows on the table, his eyes serious as he looked at his wife. “What’s up?”

The icing bag emitted a long stream of creamy icing as Debbie whirled around. She didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, it’s the meeting today,” she said, her hands flying everywhere, through her hair, on her hips, across her mouth. “I hate it, I-“ She stopped suddenly with her hand over her mouth, her eyebrows creased into a worried line.

“Hey,” said John in his thick, comforting Scottish brogue. “I don’t mind, Debs. I expected a lot of them to be cautious of me.”

“Oh, I know.” She patted his arm, leaving a trail of flour. “They shouldn’t be so horrible to you and Sturgis. And Dumbledore agrees with me, but…I don’t know why they’re doing it, we, we should all work together.”

He cupped her cheek with his hand. “I don’t mind. You don’t need to stand up for me. Okay?”
Debbie shrugged. “But the way they…oh, it’s horrible! They ignore you, and always talk about spies…you can just tell they hate you! Hate us!” She corrected herself hastily, biting her lip. “And it’s not just that. It’s…”

“You’re worried about Cass.”

John watched as his wife sank down into the chair opposite him. “Of course I am,” she said, looking defeated as she clasped her hands together and shook her head. “I mean, what Dumbledore was saying makes sense, doesn’t it? Malik,” she paused, and corrected herself hastily. “Grimstone isn’t stupid, and neither is Bellatrix. They were there. All the Death Eaters were there in the summer, when, supposedly, the rift was healed. And most of them did it! Most of them did apologise, and I thought…”

Debbie shook her head and watched John as a slight frown furrowed his thick eyebrows. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? Their plan. Think about it, John! They had so much power when You-Know-Who…oh, damn it, Voldemort was in power. Healing the rift, that had power. They think that anyone with Founder blood in them has power. They’re not stupid.”

“Apart from Alecto Carrow. Maybe. From what I’ve seen of that guy, I’m surprised he can put his shoes on.”

“Oh don’t be like that!”

John hastily backtracked as his wife threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “Okay, okay, sorry, Debs. But I don’t know...”

“John. Listen to me.” Debbie’s dark eyes were serious. “The Death Eaters after Cassandra.”
John rubbed his chin. Stubble was growing where he hadn’t shaved this morning. “I know,” he said simply. “I know that. They said so in the meeting.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“Well, Hogwarts is-“

“Oh, don’t give me all that rubbish about ‘Hogwarts being the safest place there ever could be’!” mimicked Debbie, her fingers carving quotation marks in the air. “They got in last year!”

“Debbie, I just don’t see how the Founders can be that powerful? They lived years and years ago. They’re dead. Who says that their ancestors have some special power?”

“I didn’t say special power. I said that they have power. They can make great things happen, that’s what Albus said!”

John couldn’t help himself, he had to laugh. “Cass making great things happen…oh God, please don’t tell her that.”

“Yes! Healing the rift?”

“It isn’t fully healed.”

“She did something that night. You just weren’t in your right mind.”

“I was under the Imperius Curse!”

“Then why didn’t you fight it!”

John froze, shocked. Debbie’s eyes were wide and angry, her face flushed. He hadn't expected this.

“I was so scared, John. I was terrified for you, and it hurt that everyone was saying I couldn’t look for you, I couldn’t help you…I didn’t know what to do.”

“Debbie, I…I’m sorry…” What could he say? What words were there for this?

“And then you came back!” she screamed. “You came back, and you were under the curse still, and….” She pressed a hand to her mouth and John saw for the first time, how much pressure Debbie was under.

Last year had shocked her. Her husband had been cursed, and she thought she had lost the girl she considered her daughter. And now, in the Order, she was taking the blame for things he had done last year, they both were. He had expected it, knew that some members would be unsure that he wasn’t secretly a spy for Voldemort. What he hadn’t expected for most of the Order to purposefully ignore him and Debbie. And now…

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “You were under the Imperius Curse, and they had told you to come to me. You were…you were like yourself, you were normal, and it was so hard for me to remember that at that time you were a Death Eater, and I…I couldn’t trust you, or tell you anything.” She took John’s hands in his, and he last words were spoken with her head turned away, her voice so quiet he could hardly make out the words. But what he did hear hurt him so badly he thought it was impossible.

He forced himself to take a breath, turned his wife’s hand over in his and kissed the palm. “What were you saying about Cass?”

Debbie looked back at him, blinked, and smiled. “She’s in danger. The Death Eaters want her, because she’s that last living descendant of Gryffindor. They’re going to kidnap her, and I’ve got to stop it.”

“Debbie…” he whispered, because he saw where she was going now with this, and did not like it at all.

“Severus said he knows where Bellatrix and Malik are. I’m going to go there, and I’m going to stop them for once and for all. Cass deserves just a normal life.”

“She doesn’t want one.”

“She doesn’t want to get kidnapped and goodness knows what else! I can’t let that happen to her!” Debbie stood up, glaring at the pile of cupcakes. “I’m going to talk to Severus. Help yourself if you want anything.” She waved a hand at the stacks of cakes and left the room.
John sat there, listening to the sounds of a fire roaring in the next room, a sight hiss of Floo Powder and a crackling sound as Debbie left for Spinners End.

He couldn’t help but notice that she had failed to include him in her plan. Him, her husband, just as much Cassandra’s parent as her.

It was all to do with last year, and that curse.

His mind flew back to those words she had whispered. “Sometimes I don’t know if it’s gone. If I can trust you even now.”

No one trusted him anymore

John pressed the heel of his palm into his eyes and groaned out loud.