A/N: Everything, except the stuff you don’t recognize, belongs to JK Rowling and her utter genius.
The Potters
Medea crept back down the old staircase with her husband four hours later. This was always the hardest part…saying good-bye.
Patrick kissed her and held onto her as long as he could.
“Patrick, you’ve been job hunting for long time, you know,” she teased, trying to lighten the heavy mood that always fell around their parting.
“Yeah, but eventually I found the perfect position.” He wagged his dark eyebrows.
Medea laughed at his innuendo and rested her head on his chest. “Your family is probably getting suspicious. Most things are closed now.”
He just shrugged. “So I went flat hunting as well.” He chuckled at his own joke. “Here’s a thought: if your parents are okay with us, couldn’t we stay here? Until we have money for a house of our own?”
“I’m sure my parents would let us stay here,” she agreed. “If they knew we were married.”
“Medea, if we give our parents time to get used to us and then we can we have a real wedding with all of our friends and family,” he said whimsically.
“Patrick, our friends are our family, and the rest of our family hates each other for some reason. Do we really need a big wedding?” In all honesty, Medea was quite satisfied with the small, private ceremony they’d had.
“No, we don’t need it, per se, but don’t you want to share it with everyone?”
Medea sighed and snuggled up to him in the cool night air. “I guess, but you should go before I kidnap you.”
“Fine.” With a last lingering kiss he disappeared.
Medea didn’t immediately go back inside her house. She Apparated to the lake on the Malfoy estate and looked out over the water as it was illuminated by the moonlight. When she thought about the predicament she was in with Patrick, she couldn’t help but laugh. Her entire life she had followed every rule to a tee. Now she was lying to her parents about marrying her boyfriend, who was the son of one of the biggest celebrities in the Wizarding World, and apparently the sworn enemy of the Malfoys. No one would have ever expected it. Even though it was mildly thrilling, it was wearing her out.
When Medea walked through the front door after she’d walked back to the house Hermione poked her head out of the library door before she could get up the stairs. “Were you with Patrick?” she asked accusingly.
Medea closed her eyes to keep from saying something harsh. “Yes, mum.”
Hermione shook her head and passed Draco on her way back into the library. “Just wait until the Potters find out about this,” she muttered as she walked away.
At this, Medea turned from the stairs and walked down the hallway. “What does that mean?” she demanded of her father.
“Medea, you know why your mother and I don’t talk about the past. We’re happier when past stays where it belongs”in the past.”
Medea crossed her arms. “I realize that, but your past is affecting my future. I think I have a right to know.”
“Come here,” he said and pulled his daughter into a hug. “I’ll tell you sometime, Okay? Right now you should go to bed and have sweet dreams about your boyfriend.” He kissed her head and sent her on her way.
As far as Medea was concerned it was far from the end of it.
* * * *
Patrick nervously paced in his room. Medea was right, like she always was; he had to tell his parents and he had to do it tonight. Yet, the same question always haunted him: how?
He was brought out of his reverie by a knock on his door… followed by its immediate opening. “Oi, what’re you doing?” Hyatt asked and fell onto Patrick’s bed.
“I’m…thinking,” he said evasively. “Why are you here?”
He shrugged. “Mum and Dad are here for dinner, so I thought I’d tag along. You know, give you some support.”
Patrick turned and eyed him suspiciously with his green eyes. “Support for what?”
“Come on, Potter, you don’t honestly believe that you’re the only one that you-know-who writes to, do you?”
“Well…” He had thought so, but apparently not.
“The girl loves to write, man. She told me that you had to tell your parents tonight or you’d regret it,” he said.
“What?” Patrick practically yelled. “She didn’t!”
Hyatt’s dark face scrunched up in thought. “You’re right. She said if I didn’t get you to tell them then I’d regret it. That’s what it was.”
Patrick sat down next to his cousin and closest friend. “I want to tell them, but I just don’t know how.”
Hyatt sighed and looked serious for the first time. “Look at it this way, Rick. It doesn’t matter how you tell them. They’re going to react how they’re going to react. That’s why my parents and I are here. Medea is my friend too, and my parents love her.”
Patrick saw the first glimmer of hope. “Your parents know Medea?”
“Yeah, her mum runs the book shoppe in Hogsmeade, and my dad’s best friend Jordan sells his comic books there. See my dad is Jordan’s silent partner, I guess, so he goes to the store a lot and that’s how he met Medea. He’s always spoken nicely of her and, don’t get mad, but I told him what was going on and he supports you like we do. Alright?”
“Cheers,” Patrick sighed. “I guess tonight’s the night then.”
“Hey,” Hyatt said before Patrick got up. “You know I joke a lot man, but you’re real lucky. She loves you and you love her and that’s all that matters. Plus, whatever happens you have me and the girls. I know they feel the same way.”
“Thanks, mate, that means a lot,” Patrick said sincerely. “But let’s just keep this between us.”
“Right,” Hyatt agreed. “So what’s for dinner?”
“No idea, but I promise you drama.”
* * * *
The boys sauntered down the stairs side by side after Ginny called them down. They sat next to each other across the table from Hyatt’s parents, Fred and Angelina Weasley. Both adults smiled at their love-struck nephew and Patrick was inexpressibly glad to have their support. He almost believed that it would all work out.
“Are they here yet?” Harry asked his wife when he swept into the dinning room and kissed her cheek.
“No, it shouldn’t be too long though. You know how Gabrielle is.”
Patrick’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach. He would invite anyone in the world to be here when he told his parents… anyone except his Uncle Ron. He slowly looked around at the others at the table, coming lastly to Hyatt. He’d never looked so concerned.
Not a second later the door bell sounded through the house and Harry jogged off the get the door.
“Maybe I should wait,” Patrick whispered. “It’ll be even worse with Uncle Ron here. Blast!”
“You can’t wait, mate, you’ve got to do this. He’s gonna find out anyway. Now we’ll just tell them all.”
“We?”
“’Course, with any luck Odile is with them.”
As if on cue, Odile walked in ahead of her parents and quickly sat on Patrick’s other side. “I’m so sorry; I tried everything to get them not to come. I even put a spell so they would forget and your dad reminded them,” she spilled in one breath. “I still think you should do this, though.”
Patrick looked around. “How does everyone know?” he asked with wide eyes.
Everyone else entered and the discussion ended. Patrick could barely breathe as everyone sat down at the table. He knew this was the time to do it. They were going to yell and ruin his evening, so he couldn’t hold in the urge to ruin their dinner.
He cleared his throat, took a deep breath and stood up. “Before we all begin, I have an announcement to make. Er, this past year I’ve been seeing a girl from Hogwarts and it has become very serious. I want you all to know because I’m really happy.”
“Okay,” his mother laughed. “Well, who is she? When do we get to meet her?”
“You can meet her whenever you want.” He inhaled again; this was it. “Her name is Medea”Malfoy.”
A queer silence ensued while the news sank in and, as he had predicted, Ron was the first to speak. “What did you say?” he asked in a voice as eerie as the proceeding silence.
“It’s Medea Malfoy,” he repeated. “I’m dating her… I’m in love with her.”
Apparently that wasn’t the right thing to say. Three pairs of eyes stared at him and another looked around the party with almost scared eyes. “Who is Medea Malfoy?”
This wasn’t the right thing to ask either. Of the entire party, Gabrielle was the only one not intimately acquainted with the Malfoy/Granger debacle that had caused Ron so much heartache and hatred. Considering that Gabrielle was his wife of many, many years, he obviously never had and still didn’t talk about what had happened.
Then again, Patrick realized that he wasn’t all too sure what had happened that day either. All he knew was that the Malfoy clan was the sworn enemy of the Weasley/Potter clan. More than anything Patrick wanted to tell them that they had nothing to worry about, she was Medea Potter now. Only, he knew better. No one had spoken, no one who knew the past anyway, so it could take years before he could actually tell them the whole truth.
The silence dragged on. Eventually Hyatt stood up, followed by Odile, and everyone understood what they were tacitly saying: they knew and they would stand by their cousin no matter what. A new fire lit in his Uncle’s eyes and he stared, not at Patrick but at his daughter. This was hard for Odile, Patrick knew this. He wanted very much to hug her and thank her right then, but it had to wait. At least she, like Patrick, knew that she was not alone.