Elsie and Roxi were both very excited to get on the Hogwarts Express.
We arrived at Kings Cross station with ten minutes to spare and after loading their luggage onto the train, the two girls hurried on while George and I were left to say goodbye to Leah.
"Are you nervous?" I asked, handing Leah her bag that she wanted with her on the train.
"No."
"Okay." I smiled. "That's good. Do you have something to keep you occupied? It's a long ride."
"I'll be fine." She said and looked back as if looking for someone, then her face lit up and she dropped her bag before she set off in a run.
My eyes followed her until I saw Malcolm. I sighed, clenching my jaw as I stared at the action.
He opened his arms with a smile while Leah threw her arms around his back, hugging the life out of him.
He placed a hand against her head, his arm wrapped around her shoulders before his gaze met mine.
He was still sober but he looked angry. Nothing like when I came by his house to get Leah and Elsie's stuff.
"What the fuck is he doing..." George muttered under his breath so that only I could hear him.
"I don't know." I said, shaking my head while I folded my arms over my chest.
Leah let go of her dad and looked up at him, saying something before she grabbed his hand and led him over.
"Dahlia..." he greeted.
"Malcolm."
"I'm gonna be sorted into Slytherin." Leah said as she stared up at Malcolm.
"Yeah." He smiled, brushing his hand over her hair. "I don't doubt that."
Malcolm then looked at me and his eyes dropped to my bump which had grown a lot in the past few weeks.
"You're pregnant." He said. "Congratulations."
I didn't answer him, and his attention turned to Leah.
"I'll miss you kiddo." He said, bringing her in for a hug. "I'll fight for you. I promise you."
"Yeah?" She asked. "Can I come live with you then?"
"Of course."
"That's not happening." I said, earning the attention from them both.
Leah visibly rolled her eyes at me before she picked up her bag.
"By Christmas, I'll have custody. Don't you worry." Malcolm told her. "Now get on the train before it leaves."
The smile returned to Leah's face as she threw her bag over her shoulder.
"Bye dad."
"Bye darling."
Leah glared at me and completely ignored George as she got onto the train.
She didn't want to say goodbye.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked and looked at Malcolm. "Custody?"
"You'll be hearing from my lawyer this week." He said. "I've decided to fight you for custody."
He turned around to walk away but I hurried after him, grabbing his arm. He stopped walking and turned to look at me.
"We are not going through this again! You gave me full custody!"
"Because I felt guilty!" He raised his voice but quickly lowered it again for his next sentence. "Leah was molested on my watch by my brother. I felt like I couldn't keep them safe. I felt like you could, but we're both fucking unstable, Dahlia. I deserve a chance to prove myself."
"You have had plenty!"
"And I wasted them, I know." He nodded. "But you don't know how it is now. I have been sober since the start of July. Two months, Dahlia. I know that isn't a lot but I'm doing better. I've got therapy, I've got a sponsor that helps me through the tough days and I've got a lawyer who tells me I've got a good case on winning custody."
I laughed.
"This is ridiculous. They are not going to give you custody. You gave it away just like that. You are a drunk, and you are a violent drunk. What happens when you fall back in and Leah is there with you? What happens when she's got no one to protect her from you?"
"I'm not going to fall back in. Not this time." He said. "I know you don't believe in me, and once, neither did I but that's changed. I know I can do this. It may be too late to fix things with you or with Elsie, but it's not too late to fix my relationship to Leah. I'm not trying to take custody away from you. I want us to share, and it would be easier if you went along with it. Then we could avoid court."
I looked at him for a moment, then shook my head.
"You're right. I don't believe in you."
Malcolm just looked at me, then nodded before he turned around to leave the platform.
"Dia."
I inhaled sharply before I turned around to face George who had heard it all.
"We're right back where we started." I said. "He's threatening to sue for custody. This time I think he means it."
The train whistled, telling everyone that it was leaving and after waving goodbye to our children, George turned towards me once again.
"I'm so sorry, Dia." He sighed, wrapping an arm around me to hug me.
"I don't know why this is happening." I breathed. "Why Leah suddenly hates me so much."
"She doesn't hate you." He told me. "You're her mother, and you've been there for her through everything. She knows that."
"Apparently not." I shrugged, pulling away to look up at him. "Can we go? I want to go home and take a nap before I meet at work for tonight."
George and I left the station together, getting into the car.
The first part of the ride was quiet, until I looked at him and decided to share with him what was on my mind.
"The worst thing is that he actually seem sane." I said. "At the moment he does. He seems like a person who can be a good dad. He seems like he's capable of staying sober and once I believed it but he slipped in after three years."
George glanced at me, then placed a hand on my thigh for reassurance.
"I'll find you a lawyer." He promised me. "Someone who can look over all of this and tell us your chances of winning a case like this. Though I'm positive you have the best chance."
The more I thought about what Malcolm said, the more it got to me, and then I started silently crying in the car.
I leaned my head back, staring out of the window while the tears fell.
"Did you see the look on her face?" I cried. "When he told her she could live with him?"
"Dia..."
"She'd rather live with him."
"She loves him. I mean of course she does. He's her father and she can't see what he does wrong."
"No, but she can see what I do wrong."
"But Dia, love... you know why she's pushing you away, right? She knows you've been there. She knows how much you love her and meanwhile her dad keeps disappointing. It's easier to push people away than face the reality of something that's really going to hurt you."
"Yeah, I get that." I sighed, running my hands over my face.
"She's struggling." He added. "Plus, coping with us having a new baby. She didn't react well to that."
"That's where this whole thing started." I said. "She started acting up when we told her the news and she's been hating me ever since... and you for that matter."
George gave my thigh a small squeeze.
"We're getting through this." He told me. "I promise."
