Till Forever Falls Apart

Prologue: The Story of Another Age

June 28, 1985

"Are you ready dear?"

"Ready!" The young girl squealed as she shut her eyes tightly, wrapping her hands securely around the broom's handle. Her father wrapped a protective arm around her, settling both of them comfortably on the stick.

"Now, you must not let go. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Dad!" The young girl swung her feet impatiently. He chuckled and settled himself into position.

"Here we go!"

The young father and his child soared through the air, screaming merrily as the noise was drowned out by the rush of wind that brushed their faces and made their hair rise. The father steered, naturally inclined to swoop downwards and up again, veering in all sorts of directions. He smiled to himself, pleased to hear that his daughter's terrified screams had turned into light giggles as she demanded he do another flip in the air. He dived once more much to her liking and shot back towards the ground, both of their feet skimming over the pond, and graciously landing on the brilliant green summer grass.

"Again, Dad! Please?"

Her father brushed back a piece of hair that had landed flat against her face. He smiled endearingly, letting go of the broom and picking her up, carrying the girl on his hip as they made their way back to the cobblestone cottage.

The house was a sight, evergreen ivy wrapping around its sides, and a bundle of different colored flowers in every direction as one walked across the stone pavement to and from the house. The trees engulfed the home, surrounding it as if they were planted to protect it and its inhabitants, the holly trees swaying back and forth in the direction the soft breeze was blowing.

The young girl patted her father's shoulder, her plump cheeks a rosy red as he stopped and bent over, his daughter still balanced on his hip. She stretched out her tiny hand and wrapped it around a white lily, plucking it from the earth. She then grabbed another, and looked inquisitively at both, sticking her tongue out as if she was making a rather tough decision. When it seemed that she had made up her mind, she handed the one in her right fist to her father.

"This one's for you," she said sweetly.

"Aw," her father cooed, taking it and placing it right behind his ear. "That's very kind of you, love."

"Is that my daughter?" Another man leaning against the cottage called out. He was wearing a louis blue sweater and brown trousers, his hair a shade of fading tawny brown.

The young girl gasped and patted her father's shoulder once more, wanting to be let go. Her feet had barely touched the ground before she raced over to where her other father was standing.

"Dad! Look what I got you!" She jumped up and down with contagious excitement, holding out the other white lily as her father picked her up. Nestling her head into the crook of her father's shoulder comfortably, he planted a kiss on her head.

"For me?" He smiled coyly as he made his way back into the house. The other young man followed closely behind them, shutting the brass door and following his husband and child over to the sitting room.

"I thought I said she was too young to be going on that broom," the man holding their daughter said pointedly. The other young male smoothed back his dark wavy hair, fixing the tufts that had tangled near the base of his neck.

"She's got to get started somehow," he shrugged, taking off his shoes.

"I saw that flip you did upside down!"

"Well, yes, that was a bit of a stretch," the man with dark hair admitted. "But look at her! She enjoyed it!"

He was right - the evident flush in her cheeks and the gleam in her eyes was all they needed to see to know she was happy. Sitting on her father's lap, whose knee bobbed up and down, she clapped, again and again, the sound of her laugh warming both of their hearts as they continued the rest of their day as the happy family they would forever be.

As the night settled in and the palette of pleasant golds and pinks faded into indigos and purples, the two men carried their daughter up the mahogany-colored staircase, arriving at her room where they tucked her tightly underneath the covers. They fluffed her pillows, each planting a kiss on her forehead as they turned to make their way out.

"Dads? Can I ask you something?" She said quietly. They glanced at each other and sighed. It had become an almost daily routine where right before they would close her door, she would have a question to ask them, and she wouldn't be able to sleep unless they answered.

The taller man knelt by his daughter's bedside. "Of course love. What is it?"

"What's it like at Hogwarts?"

A sudden silence swept into the room as the other man sat on the edge of her bed. "Where did you get such a sudden interest in Hogwarts?"

"Harry was telling me the other day," she said innocently. "Aunt Lily and Uncle James were telling him all sorts of stories about the four of you. Aunt Marlene, and Mary, and Dorcas too."

The two men laughed, recalling the years of memories they shared together.

"Yes, darling, it's wonderful," the one in the sweater explained. The girl nodded eagerly, pulling at her covers as she sat up and begged him to go on.

"It's where your father and I met, and Aunt Lily, and Uncle James, and your aunts as well."

"It's where you go to learn magic," the man with lighter hair continued. "And you'll do all sorts of things, like meet new friends, play quidditch, use wands. It was the best time of our lives, that is until we had you."

The young girl smiled dreamily, her eyelids growing heavy as she snuggled back into her bed.

"But... you won't be there?" She pouted, turning to the father on the left, whose blue eyes glowed in the moonlight.

"No, dear. We already went to school there. But you will be doing so much, you will hardly miss us. You'll meet new people that will become your second family."

The young girl contemplated this for a moment, her unease vanishing slowly.

"Do you think I'll like it?"

"Oh yes," the one in the sweater said serenely. "You will love it."

They said good night to her once more, waving their wands and casting a bright spark, which transformed into a galaxy that suspended itself over the ceiling of her room. An "ooh" escaped from her lips as she watched the stars move, the couple smiling to themselves as they shut the door softly.

The two men wrapped an arm around each other, humming as they walked to their room.

"Before we know it, we'll be sending her off for her first day there."

"Oh, don't remind me," the taller one sniffed. The man with darker hair squeezed his hand tightly.

"I wonder what her time there will be like?"

"If it's anything like ours," the shorter man shook his head, "she's going to have the time of her life."