It has been over a year since the murder of his wife, Lily, and James Potter wishes every day that it is simply a nightmare that he will wake up from. Unfortunately, it isn't and in the wake of her death, James finds himself as a single parent to th...
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As soon as Alcina excused herself from the kitchen area to use the toilet, Renata made a mad dash for the back door leading into Adelmo's garden and hurled the contents of her stomach. She hadn't eaten anything that morning, in fear of what was taking place currently happening, which only left her with stomach acid burning her throat. Adelmo was right behind her, holding back her hair after closing the door behind them with the use of his wand. He had to admit that he was extremely proud of his little sister, the way she spoke against their mother, it had left him nearly suffering a heart attack, but at the same time, the way she defended him, it showed a lot of growth that he didn't initially expect.
Back home, Renata had followed the word of the parents for most of their childhood, never really questioning anything they ever told her. And if she did question something, she never dared to speak out against it, both of them rather sit in silence than speak what was on their minds. But Adelmo was a witness to it all, the way Renata had jumped to his defence, rather than just being the means of support. She had always been there for him, but she had never fought for him against their parents. It was impressive to see, but it left Adelmo also thinking that he was so weak in comparison to his little sister.
There she was, challenging their mother, standing by her job as Harry's nanny and willing to introduce Alcina to James, knowing very well that their mother would not approve of him. It didn't matter how nice James was, it didn't matter how well he treated Renata, or how well off he was financially. For Renata, their parents probably had a list of suitors back home that they approved of, which was probably another reason why they wanted her to come home. As much as Adelmo didn't want to admit it, their parents were control freaks and they wanted to make sure that every aspect of their children's lives was perfect.
They didn't know James, but they knew the men that had attended their school and they knew the families that the men came from as they were all longtime friends. They came from the same families that the women that they had picked out as suitors for Adelmo originated. Anything or anyone outside of the circle wasn't considered worthy and it didn't matter how polite James was or even if he happened to love Renata with all of his being, to the Abate parents, he was nothing.
He already saw how his mother reacted to just his flat alone, when Alcina figured out that Renata was, in fact, dating her boss, he knew all hell was going to break loose. But Renata seemed ready to take on the challenge, even if she was vomiting over the railing of his back stairs. It was better for her to get it out now than when she was introducing the two.
"Renata," he said as she stood up straight after a moment and placed her hands on her hips to collect herself, " you know you don't have to do this. You don't have to bring her over there-"
"But I do, Adelmo," she whispered to him, " don't you see? We have to show them that we can be happy, even if we didn't follow everything Mamma and Papà told us to do. They have guided us all throughout our childhood and we can be thankful for that, but we're adults now. We should have a say over what makes us happy. James makes me happy, Harry makes me happy, and Sirius makes you happy, they shouldn't have say over that."
