For once, students were not returning to Hogwarts on the 1st September, breaking a tradition that had been in place for as long as anyone could remember. The rebuilding of the school had been progressing well but with everything else that had to be taken care of, they hadn’t been able to finish in time and so the start date had been pushed back a month. Adrian didn’t mind, though, as it meant he got to be there for Samuel’s first day at Muggle secondary school.
Almost immediately after their return, Samuel had begun intensive Muggle tuition with one of his former teachers from the Institute and a Muggle teacher who knew of the wizarding world due to their magical cousin. Between them, they had spent two months teaching him as much as they possibly could so that he would be ready to start school when the new year began. There was still work to do and they had warned Samuel it could take up to a year before he really understood everything in his classes but he was desperate to start as soon as he could so they had agreed to let him try.
The school he would be going to was not far from their house - he would be able to walk there and back - and was supposed to be decent enough according to the Muggle teacher. The Muggle school system was similar to Hogwarts in some ways so Samuel should have been starting in second year at the school - or year eight as the Muggles called it - just like he would have been at Hogwarts. However, with so much ground to make up, it had been decided to start in the year below along with all the other pupils new to the school that year. He was going to be studying a lot of subjects, most of which sounded completely alien to Adrian who particularly couldn’t understand why there were so many English lessons.
–Do the Muggles not speak English in the same way as we do?†he asked after reading Samuel’s timetable.
Samuel laughed. –It’s not about learning to speak English, it’s learning about the history and meanings of words and studying the way books are written.â€
–And what on earth is Chemistry?â€
–It’s the way different things react with each other to make new things,†Samuel replied though he didn’t sound entirely sure himself.
–Like Potions, then?â€
–Yeah, I think so.â€
Adrian had no idea how his brother was ever going to learn this stuff but everyone had always said he was smart so he was sure he would get by. And at least for the first month, Adrian would be at home to make sure things were okay, especially with their parents.
He wasn’t sure yet if Samuel knew that his dad had been sleeping in the spare room since his return but Adrian was worried about what was going to happen once he had to leave to go back to Hogwarts. In some ways he was desperate to go back to school - it would have been five months by the time he went back and that was a long enough summer holiday for anyone - but he didn’t like the thought of leaving Samuel there alone while his parents were still struggling to even talk to each other.
His father had promised that it would be okay, that they were trying to sort things out and they were talking, but that these things just took time. Adrian didn’t know how much to believe. He thought, or perhaps hoped, that his mother seemed a little better than she had done, and that she was starting to smile again, but that was hardly enough to convince him that everything was back to how it was.
It was Edward who would be taking Samuel to school that morning; Theia was certainly not ready to encounter the Muggle world so directly. She had tried to object to the plans but as promised, Edward refused to let her stop Samuel following his dream and so gradually her objections had faded and while acceptance was still some way off, she seemed to at least be trying.
While his parents struggled to bridge the gap that had grown between them, Adrian was taking advantage of having his father home to properly talk to him about everything that had happened over the last year, and everything that had changed. The more they talked and the more he learnt, the more Adrian questioned whether he ever really knew him at all.
Edward had, it turned out, been working against the Ministry the entire time. Even as Adrian and his mother were celebrating the introduction of the Muggle-born laws, his father was plotting to have them overturned. He had confessed to Adrian that the reason the Ministry had shown so much interest in Samuel was most likely because they were starting to suspect Edward’s lack of support for the Ministry.
–We were a small group of staff from some of the core departments,†he had explained, –It was impossible to know who to trust and who might suddenly turn on you without any warning. But we did our best and we managed to slow things down, to provide misinformation or derail investigations. Petty things really, but it felt like we were at least doing something.â€
It had almost been good for Edward, the night Adrian had been summoned to the Ministry for questioning. It was the warning he had been waiting for and it had given him enough time to get out of the country before the net had closed around him.
–There were always contingency plans,†he told Adrian, when he asked. –I was always ready to leave if I had to. The fear was that you wouldn’t know they were coming for you until it was too late to do anything about it. As soon as I realised they were targeting Samuel, I knew it was time to go, that I was about to be discovered. Thank Merlin I already had the plans in place and we were able to leave as quickly as we did.â€
He also revealed that though he and Samuel had spent the time traveling and learning about the places they visited, there had been an ulterior motive. Through Edward’s network of Ministry contacts, he knew the details of most of the people who were believed to have fled and bit by bit he started tracking them down. It was difficult, but a few people had left limited contact details with trusted friends and though there was little time between his arrival in Europe and the day when they were summoned to return safely to Britain, he made good use of it, forming a chain of communication, making sure that the latest news was able to reach those in need of it. Once the war was over, it meant fewer long searches for family members. With the help of Edward’s colleagues still in the Ministry, they were kept fully informed and able to return within days of the end of the war. Edward’s delay had been caused by wanting to ensure the message reached as many people as possible as quickly as it could.
Though it was clear he didn’t want to try and overstate the things that he had done, they still sounded pretty impressive to Adrian. Indeed, in the long list of Ministry honours awarded after the final battle, Edward was awarded an Order of Merlin, Third Class, which in Adrian’s eyes showed the value of his father’s work.
Hearing quite how deeply his father had been involved in the resistance made him even more worried about the future of his parents’ relationship and on that morning of the first of September, once Samuel was safely at school and their mother was out shopping, Adrian finally plucked up the courage to ask the question he had been wondering.
–Dad, do you love Mum?†he asked awkwardly while they sat in the living room, both supposedly reading.
Edward looked up, surprise evident on his face. –Of course I do, Adrian.â€
–But how can you, when you believe such different things?â€
His father sighed. –It’s difficult to explain but please believe me that I do. I have loved your mother for many years, since we first met, when I was new in the Ministry, working for her father. I love her spirit, her loyalty to her family, especially her children. In fact, I was not at all surprised when you, her son, were placed in Hufflepuff. She may have been a Slytherin but to me it never quite fit. She was much kinder, much softer than the Slytherins I knew at school.
–I know you find that hard to believe, but you must understand that Samuel changed things for her, for us both. Not because she didn’t love him, but because she loves him, and you, more than anything in the world, and it caused her so much pain to think that Samuel couldn’t share in our world in the same way. I know Samuel is happy with how things are now, but you remember how it was when he was younger, and how sad he was at times. She blamed herself for a long time, and it hardened her. I think when the new laws came in, and things started to change, it gave her something to cling on to, someone else to blame. Even as things started to get out of hand, she couldn’t find the strength to accept that there is no reason to explain Samuel’s lack of magic.
–I’m not saying it’s right, but I think deep down, she knows herself that it wasn’t right. We just need to have patience with her, Adrian, to let her find the person she used to be, the person she really still is. It’s going to take time, and I can hardly pretend I am blameless in this situation. No matter what else, leaving with no warning was a big shock, and not really fair to her. But I am confident that we’ll be okay.â€
There was silence while Adrian digested this, and then finally his father spoke again.
–I don’t want you to worry too much about this, Adrian. We’re your parents and at the end of the day the most important thing is that we both love you very much. You shouldn’t dwell on our relationship or how things might have changed. It is not fair to burden you with our problems. I feel you deserved something of an explanation, but I hope you will understand that I do not wish to talk about it any further.
Adrian nodded. He had felt awkward enough asking the first question and his father’s words had done something to put his mind a little more at ease. He just wished the answer wasn’t patience - it was one of his least favourite things! Still, he thought back to how long it had taken him to finally accept that the Ministry had been wrong about Muggle-borns, and he knew that he had to give his mother time to come to the same conclusion herself.
The next month passed quickly. Each day, Samuel would come home and tell Adrian about his classes, until Adrian’s head was swimming with lots of Muggle words which meant very little to him, like algebra or photosynthesis. One thing was clear though, Samuel had never been happier, and as the weeks went on, their mother’s attitude seemed to soften and Adrian started to catch more and more glimpses of the woman his father had described.
At last the first of October rolled around, and it was Adrian’s turn to go back to school. He felt a lot better about leaving his family now things were starting to improve between his parents, and was looking forward to seeing his friends once again.
Still, much as he was looking forward to returning, he somehow thought that Hogwarts would be different this year, as if they couldn’t possibly go back to the way things had been before. He was surprised, therefore, at how normal it all seemed. In fact, it was a lot more normal that it had been the year before. The platform was once again crowded with people and a buzz of excited chatter filled the air. No sooner had he and his parents pushed through on to the platform then he caught sight of Dorian, and after giving his parents a quick hug goodbye, ran over to join him.
They boarded the train together and began pulling their trunks through the train looking for somewhere to sit.
–Adrian!â€
Distracted from their quest to find an empty carriage, Adrian turned to see who was calling him. At the sight of Bethany Jones - the now seventh-year Keeper from the Quidditch team, who he had poured his heart out to a few months ago - his face lit up. Telling Dorian he would catch him up, he turned back on himself to speak to her.
–Bethany! I’m so glad to see you back,†he said, relief overwhelming him. –I heard about some of the others, but no one knew what had happened to you.â€
–I made it out of Hogwarts with some cuts and bruises,†she replied. –It was a horrible battle but I am glad I stayed. It felt like the right thing to do. How about you? How’s your brother?â€
–He’s okay, better than okay in fact. He and my dad managed to escape the country and stay somewhere safe until everything quietened down. Since he’s come back, I’ve realised quite how much he’s changed - he’s going to a Muggle school now, just like he always wanted.â€
–I’m so happy for you, Adrian.â€
–What about your parents - are they okay?†Adrian asked, and Bethany’s face darkened.
–My mum, she didn’t come home from Azkaban,†she said quietly, tears shining in her eyes. –We don’t know what happened for sure, but some of the people who managed to get out of there told us that once the Death Eaters heard what was happening at Hogwarts, they tried to kill as many people left in the prison as they could. We’ll probably never know for sure - it’s not like they kept comprehensive lists of everyone they’d murdered each day - but from what we’ve been told it’s the best guess we have.â€
–Oh, Bethany, I’m so sorry,†Adrian said, painfully aware of how small and insignificant the words were compared to the horror that her family had experienced. The thought of how many families had gone through the same thing was just too awful to imagine.
–We’ll be okay,†Bethany replied, trying to sound positive but still not quite smiling. –And I’ve been made Quidditch Captain this year - Professor Sprout wrote to me a couple of weeks ago.â€
–Congratulations,†said Adrian, though they both knew that it was an honour tinged with sadness and it was obvious that she too was thinking of their captain from the previous year, who had been so close to leading them to victory but now never could. How many other people, Adrian wondered, were missing from the train that year? Suddenly he was painfully aware of how abnormal this year actually was, and how they wouldn’t just be able to forget the last twelve months so easily.
–We’ll win it for him,†Bethany said after a pause and he smiled.
–You should be proud. I can’t think of anyone better to follow on from him. He would have chosen you himself, I’m sure.â€
A glimmer of smile formed on her face and a tear rolled down her cheek.
–Thanks, Adrian. I’d better get back to my carriage, but it’s always good to speak to you.â€
–You too. I should probably catch up with the Dorian - he should have found us a carriage by now.â€
He hurried away, looking in each carriage for the rest of his friends. He was surprised at how much quicker his heart was suddenly beating following his conversation, but he dismissed it. She had been so good to him and she had been through so much - he was just relieved to see her again and know that while she may not be fully healed, she was at least still alive.
–There you are!†Dorian said, when Adrian found them at last. He was surprised to see Duncan and Hector in the carriage with Dorian who had also managed to track down Gemma, Rosa and Mark.
–Hope you don’t mind,†Duncan said, –but there seemed to be some space in here.â€
–Not at all,†replied Adrian, grinning. He couldn’t believe how good it felt to see all his friends in one place again. And while there had been so much sadness and there was still so much healing to be done, it felt like one day, they would get there.
He took one of the spare seats and it was only then that he made eye contact with Mark for the first time.
–Hi Mark,†he said and the other boy smiled. He had aged so much since the last time Adrian had seen him and was thin and a little pale but otherwise seemed unharmed. Adrian knew from Gemma that Mark hadn’t managed to make it out of the country but that one of his uncles, also a wizard, had taken him on the run in the UK and between them they had just about managed to stay hidden.
–Hi Adrian, how’s it going?â€
–Okay thanks. How about you, are you okay?â€
–Getting there. I guess you know about everything?â€
–Gemma filled me in. I…I don’t know how much she’s told you but I think I owe you an apology.â€
–It’s okay, let’s not talk about last year - it was a horrible time for us all. Let’s just look forward to the one that’s beginning instead.â€
Adrian nodded and let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. He had been more nervous than he had realised about seeing Mark again. In fact, it was only now that he noticed that Mark and Gemma were holding hands and looked as if they had been doing so for a while. He didn’t say anything of course, but as his thoughts gradually clicked in to place, there was a lot of stuff making sense. They stayed that way for most of the journey and at one point, Gemma nodded off and her head drooped to rest on Mark’s shoulder. Adrian caught Dorian’s eye when this happened and they both tried not to laugh. Still, awkward as it was, Adrian was happy for his friends.
The train ride passed with a surprising amount of normalcy. At one point, someone found a pack of exploding snap cards and later on, they gorged and spent far too much money on the snack trolley. There was still a lot of healing to be done - every now and then someone would make a comment and the mood would turn suddenly serious, or someone would laugh about something a Professor had said the previous year but then instantly stop themselves and look guiltily at Mark. Still, it was perhaps the best they could have hoped for. It would take time for everything to go back to how it was, if that was even possible, but sitting in that carriage, surrounded by friends, Adrian felt more at peace than he had done for long time.