Until We're Grey and Old

Four: Baby Steps

The first two months of school went by surprisingly well, despite the still-lingering air of mourning and fear around the castle between students and staff alike. Isabelle and Bill had both managed to settle into their new teaching positions and were happy to spend their free time and lunch together throughout the day. Despite Arithmancy being a decidedly boring class by a majority of the students, it seemed that those who were taking it enjoyed Bill's teaching, but it was nothing compared to the talk that she heard about Sirius in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The students, even many of the Slytherins who had been taught to call him a blood traitor for most of their lives, could hardly stop talking about how much they enjoyed the class, how fun it could be, and how entertaining Professor Black was. They also talked about how, when certain students did decide to be disrespectful, he handled the situations in a way that Professor McGonagall certainly would not approve of.

Now that the school year was in full swing, Eleanor spent most nights at Hogwarts, but she did still return home occasionally on the weekends to work with Fred and George at their joke shop. During those weekends, Bill and Isabelle would spend the time with their daughter, unless it was a weekend where they were visiting the Burrow, and then they would hardly get a few minutes with Lyra without another member of the Weasley family sweeping her away.

On one of those weekends where it was just the three of them, Isabelle had just finished putting Lyra down for a nap in her nursery while Bill put away groceries downstairs in the kitchen. Isabelle quietly closed the door and left for her own bedroom, where she decided she would go ahead and get into comfortable clothing for the rest of the day. Once she was finished changing, she heard footsteps behind her and the bedroom door closing, then felt strong arms wrap around her waist and Bill's face rest against her shoulder.

"Time for bed already?" he chuckled against the crook of her neck.

"No," Isabelle smiled, turning to face her husband. "You know I hate wearing real clothes around the house."

"You could just wear nothing," Bill joked, and she sent him a playful glare. His hands ran along her hips and under the hem of her t-shirt, making her shiver at the touch of his cold hands from the chill of autumn. "I think you're beautiful either way."

He leaned in for a deep kiss, pulling her closer against him. She moved her hands from his chest to rest against his jaw. When she went to pull away from their kiss, he brought her back in, until she pulled away from him just enough to take a shaky breath. He kissed the side of her face down toward her neck, pressing soft kisses in her favorite spot near her ear.

"Not right now," Isabelle said, "I'm so tired."

Between teaching classes during the week and taking care of quite a rambunctious ten-month-old daughter, they were beginning to feel the exhaustion that they had wrongfully thought would only be an issue during their time with a newborn. She was sleeping through the night and only required one or two naps during the day, but chasing after a small creature intent on learning how to walk could be tiring. The parents did everything that they could think of to keep the house, and the Burrow, safe enough for her to explore the newfound uses of her limbs, but eyes did need to be on her at all times when she wasn't in the arms of someone in the family. She wasn't able to walk on her own yet, but if she could reach anything to hold herself up on her feet, she would.

"How about you take a nap and I will go finish the chores for today," Bill suggested.

"You don't have to do it all yourself."

Bill pulled in his wife and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You do so much for everyone. Let me do something for you."

"How did I get so lucky?"