The kids got their ears pierced a few days after Christmas.
Elsie didn't. She didn't change her mind about it either. She absolutely hated needles.
A week into January and we said goodbye to Fred and Elsie at kings cross station.
I wasn't going back right now. I was on maternity leave for the time being. I was thirty-one weeks pregnant and only five weeks left until my due date.
As the train left the platform, I let go of George's hand and turned to Malcolm who was obviously drunk.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" I yelled, earning quite a few looks from people who walked by.
"Don't start with me, Dahlia..."
"You show up drunk to wave goodbye at your daughter? You fucking pig!"
He sighed and turned to look at me with a bored expression.
"This is it. I've had enough." I said. "George, we're going home."
"Yes, ma'am." He breathed and I grabbed his hand before dragging him with me towards the wall, and as we walked through, Malcolm came running.
He grabbed my arm and immediately George was there, pushing him back.
"Do not touch her." He said, awfully calm.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Malcolm asked. "Step away so I can have a chat with my ex-wife about our children."
Malcolm tried to shove George away but George grabbed him by the collar.
"Who do I think I am?" He laughed. "I'm her husband, she's currently seven months pregnant and with your past of getting violent when you've been drinking, I do not want you close to her, you understand me?"
Malcolm didn't respond, just stared up at George in anger.
"Do you understand me?!" George repeated, his time with his voice raised.
"George..." I said softly and reached out to grab his arm.
He calmed down and let go of Malcolm before stepping back.
"Dahlia, you can't..." Malcolm looked at me. "...c'mon... they're my girls. They're— you can't take them away from me."
"You're an alcoholic, Malcolm." I said. "And I know why. I know you've be through hell with your family, growing up and I know you couldn't find a way to handle it so instead you turned to alcohol but— I don't want Elsie and Leah to be in an environment like that. You're not seeing them until you're sober."
"That's not fucking fair!" He yelled. "What do you want me to do?!"
"Go to rehab!" I yelled back. "I don't know. Go find a fucking support group... do something to get sober instead of just drinking your problems and your life away! Now if you'll excuse me, George and I have somewhere to be."
I turned around and looked at George, motioning for him to come with me.
We had to go down to the ministry of magic so I could sign the last piece of paper that would finalise the adoption of Fred and Roxanne.
It sucks that it had to happen right after Fred and Elsie left for Hogwarts, minister Shacklebolt wasn't available until today at noon.
"You alright?" George checked in, and I nodded.
"I just have to go home and tell my youngest that her father is sick again so she won't be able to see him for a while." I said. "Because I can't exactly tell her that her dad is a raging alcoholic who'd rather drink and risk losing his girls then try and stay sober, and I know it's hard. I know addiction can be a bitch but it's the fact that he showed up here, drunk when he's supposed to say goodbye to his oldest daughter."
George reached for my hand as we walked and when I looked up at him, he offered me a smile of comfort.
"Your feelings are valid." He told me. "He may be fighting with addiction and you've tried your best, given him shot after shot and now he's crossed your line."
"He's crossed my line loads of time." I sighed. "But I saw the way Elsie looked at him when she smelled the alcohol and realised he was drunk. She was so disappointed."
George sighed, lacing his fingers with mine as we walked.
"I know... I saw."
"I am so scared that she'll grow up and feel like her dad likes alcohol better than he likes her." I said. "He's already doing so much to upset her and I hate it."
"Listen, all you can really do is try and protect her from that side of her and make it known to her that you love her to death."
I nodded and placed my other hand against his arm.
"Let's just go get those papers signed so we can go home to Roxi and Leah so that Bea doesn't have to babysit for ages."
Bea is our babysitter. An eighteen-year-old girl who just graduated from Hogwarts six months ago.
"It's a bit cold, don't you think?" George asked as we got outside.
"Babe, it's January."
I let go of his hand to walk over to the car that was parked just by the side of the road.
When I heard George chuckle to himself, I looked at him. I opened the door and smiled while he walked around the car.
"Why are you laughing?"
"You called me babe." He said, resting his hand on top of the car. "You don't do that often, but I like the sound of it."
He got into the car and I rolled my eyes at him before I sat on the edge of the seat and pulled my legs in.
Usually that's not how I get into cars but I'm pretty pregnant and I can't just step into it anymore.
I closed the door and sighed, pulling on my seatbelt.
"Oh fuck!" I cursed, causing George to look at me while he turned on the engine.
He scratched his jaw and cocked an eyebrow, waiting for me to explain my outburst.
"George, we've got an appointment today."
"I know..." he said slowly. "...we're on our way. Are you alright?"
"No, not with the minister you idiot. With Meg. We're supposed to meet up with the rest of the team again and go over the birth plan."
George shook his head.
"No... that was next week, on the eighth."
"It's today." I said. "On the first. Our appointment is at three and we nearly forgot."
"Well, we've got a lot of things going on." He said as he started driving. "We're still finalising the nursery, you still can't decide on a colour for the room—"
"Hey!"
"...which is okay." He chuckled. "You'll probably change the colour like a million times even after they're born."
I rolled my eyes.
"We had to get the oldest on the train, we have to be at the ministry in thirty-five minutes, Malcolm's being a dick like usual and now we apparently have an appointment with Meg." He said. "I've tried to make sure you weren't getting yourself too stressed out but I'm not doing good at that, am I?"
"Well, seeing as we basically spent my entire first trimester fighting over the smallest things..."
"Yeah alright." He chuckled, placing his hand on my thigh. "Let's get today over with, shall we?"
I laughed as I leaned my head back.
"You don't sound too excited."
"I mean..." he made a face. "...it's not that I don't want to go see Meg and the rest of the birth team, but c'mon... why do we need a weekly meet-up? That never happened when Angelina was pregnant with Fred or Roxanne."
"Yeah but wasn't that St. Mungos?"
George shrugged.
"Maybe."
"Exactly. And this is a muggle clinic. A private muggle clinic."
"Does that make a difference?"
I snorted.
"Well, I don't think they use potions to reveal pain at a muggle clinic." I said. "Or use magic to help the baby come out. It's still painful but it's smart. I wonder how muggles do it."