Surviving in Harmony

Chapter Seventy-Five | Hester Grounds, May 2021

Chapter Seventy-Five

Hester Grounds, May 2021

          A fleck of white flitted through the forest, dotting the path to Ivy House. Maeve Bowen's long mane of curls caught the grey light, and she held a velvet cloak around her.

Entering the small clearing, she rushed up to the front door and knocked hard. "Aunt Sonia!" she called, jumping to keep warm. "It's Maeve, please!"

The door swung open, revealing a mussed Sonia. She had fallen asleep in her chair whilst reading, and half her hair was flat against her head while the other stood in wild curls, much like Maeve's own.

"Mae, what is it?"

"I need to tell you something." Maeve panted, cheeks rosy from running.

Stepping to the side, Sonia ushered her inside. "C'mon in then sweets."

Sonia snuggled back into her chair and flicked her wand so the teapot poured another cup. "What's up?" she yawned, pulling a blanket (no doubt knitted by Mrs. Weasley) over her lap.

"I don't know how to say this."

"That's not a reassuring way to start."

Maeve bit her lip and fidgeted in her chair; she looked like Andrew, back when he was young and had a secret. She could see Andrew in her, in Maeve's sunny curls and the thin slope of her nose and narrow face. The same narrow face the twins had inherited from Severus Snape.

"I've seen Nana Hazel." She blurted, grabbing the side of her chair as if the world might shake.

Sonia could not find the words to respond; instead she simply stared at her little niece.

"She visited Robin, too."

"She never..." Sonia swallowed painfully; her tears and her pride. She was so selfish, feeling angry that her mother had visited not her daughter, but her grandchildren. "When?"

"Robin two years ago, on the anniversary of the war." Maeve was rushing her words, trying to get it all out. "She visited me in March."

"Why?" was all Sonia could muster.

Maeve looked up through her lashes, sea glass eyes worried. "She said you had to open it, you can't wait anymore."

Sonia's gaze drifted from her niece to the small photograph of Hazel on the shelf. She was smiling at something behind the camera, and it was a bit blurry, so her scars weren't visible.

"The box, Aunt Sonia." Maeve whispered. "You know what I mean."

Nodding, Sonia closed her eyes. Her mother's face didn't disappear in her mind's eye. "I know, Mae. I know."

           Sonia and Andrew stared at each other from across the window seat. The music room was quiet other than the wind in the trees outside and their own breathing.

"I don't understand why she didn't come to us." He finally said.

"I know." Sonia picked at her nails. "I feel so selfish."

Andrew's breath was jittery, nervous. "She is our mother."

"I miss her, Andy." Looking up, Sonia searched for the brother she remembered from thirty years ago, more. Their forty-first birthday was just around the corner. "So much it hurts, all the time."

"I miss her, too." He rubbed her foot, recognizing the sock as a classic Mrs. Weasley. "But we have people who love us, here, among the living."

Sonia smiled fondly. "Winston, Mrs. Weasley."

Nodding, Andrew added onto the list. "Charlie and Amara, Nymphadora and Mr. Weasley and Kingsley in his own way."

"Harry, Ron and Hermione." Sonia recalled a day long, long ago at Grimmauld place, spent cleaning and listening to Muggle radio.

"We're loved," Andrew concluded. "But I still want to open the box."

"We should wait for – for something special, though." Sonia moved closer. "Our birthday?"

"That's perfect."

They smushed together, as they had in the womb, as children and teens; with babies in their arms and sorrow in their heart.

Sonia rested her head on his shoulder. "It's a deal then."

Andrew nodded, and they linked pinkies as they had as children. "It's a deal." 

A/N: Ohhh...we're getting close now...tying up all the loose strings...

Question: I think I already asked if you all wanted a Q&A about the series, but I'm asking again because I have a horrible memory. Leave a question below!

Rose