Casualty of Love: Turning Tables

Epilogue

11 Years Later

I sat on the steps, twirling my little girl's hair around my finger repeatedly. She was starting to become a little rebellious and hated when I did this normally, but today was different. She and her brother were leaving Draco and I for Hogwarts today.

I  couldn't help but go through all my memories on a day like this. The day they were born. The day she said her first words. The day he said his first words. The day they took their first steps. The day they lost their first tooth. The day Ara told me that she wanted to be called Emmy, after I told her about her namesake.

I looked out of the window directly in front of me. It was still dark outside. Leo and Scorpius were still in bed, as was Draco, but Emmy couldn't sleep. Neither could I. "Mum?"

"Yes?"

She turned her face toward me. Her grey eyes were on mine. She looked hesitant--worried. She pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "What if nobody talks to me?"

My heart fell. She was so stressed out, I just couldn't take it. "Trust me, everyone is going to want to talk to you. You and your brother are famous, sweetie. You guys are the twins that were born at the Battle of Hogwarts. And you'll have Teddy! But I can guarantee that you'll make all kinds of friends."

She nodded and turned back around but I could tell she was still nervous. "Connor and Tessa are coming over for breakfast this morning since it's your first day."

"I wish they were coming to Hogwarts too," she mumbled. I could tell she had her head propped up on her hand by the way it sounded.

"They'll be at Hogwarts in a couple years. By then you'll already think you're too good for them though," I said, laughing.

She gasped. "I would never say that, mum. That's mean!"

I smiled. "I know, Em."

I heard steps coming from the top of the stairs. Leo was coming down, rubbing his eyes. "Mum?"

"Yeah, Leo?"

"Is it time for school yet?" His chocolate hair stood up in a chaotic mess.

I laughed. Em and Leo were basically polar opposites. Em was worried sick about making friends and Leo had been excited about it for weeks. "Not yet, but I should probably start making breakfast. You guys wanna help?"

Sitting around the breakfast table were all my kids and Draco, Elijah, Lucille, and their son Connor, Nehemiah, Bianca, and their daughter Tessa. Draco had finally given in to being friends with Elijah and Nehemiah after the Battle of Hogwarts.

Leo sat next to Elijah, as always. He'd been obsessed with him since he found out that Elijah was a werewolf. And of course, Elijah loved it. Scorpius (yes, I did eventually give in to Draco's pleading about the name) and Tessa were inseparable. Everyone always joked that they would end up married one day. Scorpius hated it.

My stomach churned as I looked my food. I couldn't eat. "Why aren't you eating?" Draco whispered in my ear while Elijah told Leo in detail about the last full moon.

"I'm too nervous."

Draco laughed at me. Though I didn't find the situation funny, I could see why someone else would. "You're not nervous?"

He sighed. "Of course I am. But I'm positive that they'll have a much better time at Hogwarts than we did. And even though our school years weren't perfect, they were still amazing. So I'm not worried."

 "Are you gonna cry?" Elijah asked me through laughter.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm going to make you cry."

"Guys, not in front of the kids," Nehemiah intervened.

While glaring at Elijah and hearing Nehemiah give that one of a kind advice, I realized that nothing had changed. We were still the same people we were when we met, only closer.

I hadn't seen the Hogwarts Express since the beginning of my 7th year. The shiny red body still looked exactly the same. It felt like I was going back after all these years. 

Em tugged on my shirt behind me. "Mum, how long does it take to get to Hogwarts?"

I kneeled down so I could be at eye level. Leo joined us after hearing her question. I grasped their shoulders softly. "It doesn't take long. I want you two to share a compartment this time, okay? And don't worry about the older kids watching you during the sorting. Most of them don't pay attention anyway. Stay away from Peeves and most importantly, don't worry about which house you'll be sorted into. You'll make friends no matter what," I looked into both of their eyes interchangably. 

"I love you, mum," they both said in unison, wrapping their arms around me. I always found it crazy how in sync they could be.

"I love you too," I whispered, closing my eyes. I could feel tears stinging my eyes, trying to fight their way out of the enclosure that my lids created.

They let go too soon but Draco reminded us that it was almost time for the train to leave. Draco hugged and kissed them goodbye and they ran off to the train. Em turned around one last time to wave and then they were gone.

"I can't believe they're already starting school," I said through tears.

Draco put his arm around me. "They'll be fine, Allie. You've always been such a worrier." He kissed the top of my head tenderly.

I grabbed Scorpius's hand and looked down at him. "I'm never going to let you go to Hogwarts."

He puckered his bottom lip out and looked like he was about to sob. I laughed, running my hands through his white blonde hair. "I'm joking! Of course you're going to Hogwarts...in a few years."

A smile immediately replaced the frown. I loved how quickly a child could change their mind or emotion. Life is so simple to them, and now it was simple for me too.

I looked at Draco then. His grey eyes were left unchanged through the years as the rest of him grew from boyish to manly. It was easy to forget that we were adults with three kids when I looked into his eyes. In this moment, we were teenagers again, getting ready to go to Hogwarts for another year.

Sometimes I still regret the day that I met him. Not the first day, when he smirked at me and turned red when I told him I was in Gryffindor. No, I mean the time after that, when I looked into his eyes and realized I never wanted to let him go.

-----------------

Since posting this, I have also posted a third book in the Casualty of Love series based right after the Battle of Hogwarts called 'Casualty of Love: Raise the Dead' and a next generation based on their twins Em and Leo called 'Paper Hearts'. Love if you'd read them <3