If I May Be So Bold (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

23.

November 2034

JAMES

James sat on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table, head tipped back against the couch cushions. It was nearly ten PM on a Saturday and he'd fallen asleep, Elise next to him working on something. He'd tried to get her to put it away hours ago, but when she thought she was onto something, there was no reasoning with her.

A whoosh from the fireplace startled him back awake.

Piper stepped out and she just stood there in front of the fireplace, blinking hard. There were tears on her cheeks and her shoulders shook and she kept sniffling. Her arms hung at her sides.

"Pipe," he said, jumping up. "Pipe, what happened? What's wrong?"

"We broke up," she whispered. "He cheated on me."

James felt his whole body go cold.

"Oh honey," he said, pulling her into a hug. Piper just broke down.

What do I do? James mouthed at Elise, who was staring at them open-mouthed.

She shook her head and scooted over to one end of the couch.

"Come sit down, sweetheart," James said, leading her over to the couch.

She sat at the edge of the couch, pressed her mouth into one hand, and just cried and cried. She didn't seem able to answer any of their questions, so he gave up after a while and rubbed her back, wishing he knew what to say to help.

Raigan would have known.

And that was when he realized that Piper had come here instead of going to her mum.

"Pipe, does your mum know?"

"Are you crazy?" Piper asked, snapping her head up to look at him. "I can't tell her. She hates him." Her eyes were all red and puffy, and her words came out in between gasps of air. "She'll just say 'I told you so.'"

James wasn't the biggest fan of Rob either, but he'd never expected this. "Piper, no. Your mum loves you. She'd never do that."

"Yeah, well I thought he loved me, too," she said bitterly.

Elise put a hand on Piper's back. "Why don't you stay here tonight," she said. "You can stay in Ella's room. Get some sleep, and then we can think about how to talk to your mum in the morning. I don't think that's something you need to do right this second."

Piper squeezed her eyes shut as a new sob shook through her body.

"Let me go make you a cup of tea," said Elise, smoothing a hand down Piper's back as she stood up.

When she'd crossed into the kitchen, Piper slumped back against the couch cushions and crossed her arms tightly. "I feel so fucking stupid," she whispered. "How did I not see this coming?"

"Pipe, don't say that. Don't blame any of this on yourself. Not even for a second."

"It was like he wanted me to find out," she said, voice starting to rise. "I just walked into my bedroom and there they were. And then he had the fucking audacity to say that I wasn't supposed to be home yet. Like, oh god. So sorry I interrupted your plans. I didn't realize you were sleeping with other girls while I was out with my friends." She was getting angry now, and the anger was drying up her tears, but with it came a whole new onslaught of symptoms. He could actually see her shaking.

James was getting angry, too. Really angry. He had half a mind to head straight there and give fucking Rob a piece of his mind, but he didn't trust himself not to pull out his most powerful hexes and that would just cause a bigger issue. His own wife might have to arrest him.