The Marriage Decree

Chapter 155: Until Tomorrow

Benjamin doesn't know how to hold himself together for the entire walk back to Hermione and Draco's house. As soon as they enter, the different familial groups awkwardly split off with wishes for good nights. As he makes his way upstairs, he realises Blaise isn't following behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he finds Blaise and Draco's heads close as they mutter seriously. The two men seem to realise they're being watched as their eyes lock on Benjamin's.

"I'll be a minute," Blaise assures him.

Benjamin's eyes harden as his jaw sets, "Fine."

Inside the attic, where they would spend the night, Benjamin rushes into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it behind himself for good measure as hot, angry tears spill down his face. Collapsing onto the toilet lid, Benjamin feels every emotion he's held back all day overwhelm him at once, and his tears become eruptions of sobs.

"What the hell is going on?" he wonders as his mind goes over the past thirty minutes.

Out on the step of the community hall, he'd seen something he couldn't explain or understand. A dark, masked figure with a ball of brilliant white light. Benjamin has been busy the last couple of years with his travels and university degrees, so he couldn't keep up with popular culture. At first, he'd assumed this costume referenced a piece of media he'd missed. And that light, surely it was some sort of electronic or engineering feat; far too clever for Benjamin the linguistic.

Then Ginny barked for him to go back inside, and he knew something was wrong. The woman was terrified. She knew something Benjamin didn't. She recognised the costume, and by the way Draco grabbed his arm and dragged him back inside, he did, too. There was immediate panic within the hall, but they managed to get him out of the way, out of earshot.

Managing to calm himself down and leans back, resting his head against the back wall. His cheeks feel stiff from the dried tear tracks. Sighing deeply, he questions why he's still here and hasn't left? It's driving him insane, being in this place, surrounded by all these people who know something he isn't allowed to know.

A thought clicks in Benjamin's head. Maybe it wasn't Blaise's secret to tell. Perhaps it was a group secret, and as a group, they had agreed not to tell him. However, that doesn't explain why Draco's cousin's boyfriend knows; Damon is further removed from the main group than Benjamin. Then, he'd also overheard Draco and Hermione wishing Blaise would tell him what was happening.

Benjamin stands with a sudden gasp. Harry had taken charge in the community hall, and he'd noticed that Harry seemed to be the centre of most conversations. Perhaps Harry was in charge of the group, and it's his decision who can and cannot know the secret. It makes so much sense!

Although Ginny and Harry are married, so surely she'd know if Harry was banning Blaise from telling him, and Ginny had said, 'If Blaise wanted you to know, he would've told you'. Now he's back at square one, wondering what the hell could be so severe that Cara ended their marriage the day of their wedding, and now Blaise won't even entertain the thought of telling Benjamin.

The door opens as Blaise enters the living space of the attic. Benjamin imagines the other man rocking his daughter in his arms as he scans the room for him.

"Benni?" Pandora tiredly asks, breaking Benjamin's heart in the bathroom, but he can't face Blaise yet.

"Benji's busy. Do you want me to sing your lullaby tonight?"

"No, Daddy," Pandora replies.

Benjamin can imagine the toddler shaking her head, hands on her hips.

"Straight to bed, then," Blaise sighs.