Blaze (Book 3 of the Light Series)

Chapter Seven: Tomorrow

"Hello, class." I swept into my classroom.

"Headmistress!" They all beamed.

"Am I to take it I was missed?" I grinned, leaning against the desk at the head of the class. They all chattered their agreements in response. It felt so good to be back with my students.

After settling in, Ron, Harry, and I had spent some time with everyone before they had decided to give us time to catch up on business. We each took our own time to unwind before heading to our offices to go over whatever we needed to. I had immediately answered any letters I had not handled while away. After that was sorted, I reviewed my lesson plan to see where my classes would be. By the time I retired to Harry and I's bedchambers, I was caught up and ready to spend the remainder of my night with my children.

Seeing Lily, James, and Albus warmed every inch of my body. It filled me with so much joy when James and Lily called out for me. When I picked them up, feeling their little arms wrap around my neck with all the strength they had, it was...., everything. Getting to kiss each of my babies and be there with them, it felt like I had been away for months instead of days. Harry and I spent as long as their little eyes would stay open just playing with them and talking to them and..., being in their presence. Even after they slept, we stood over them and watched them sleep. When we finally began to feel wary ourselves, Harry took my hand and lead me to our bedchambers to get settled. He held me while we slept and we were both up bright and early to get back to work.

"Alright." I put an end to their chatter. "I'm glad I was missed but we have a lesson to get to so let's get to it, shall we?" I picked up the textbook I used for the class and began teaching my lesson.

It took me a few moments to get back in the swing of things but, once that was out of the way, all my classes progressed smoothly. When I made it back to my office, I prepared myself for the remaining two days of my week then shifted my focus. After we had gotten Ginny off to bed and before the rest of the family left, we had discussed the ritual to break the bond. Though Harry was arguably the strongest of us, being such a great wizard and all, I was better at precision which is what the ritual called on.

After much insistence, everyone had agreed that I would be the one to perform the ritual. After that, Harry had left the room for a few moments in his own anger. He was worried, I knew that much. All the guardians had spoken of the extreme strain of the ritual. But I was confident in my magic, in my abilities. I just needed Harry and the rest of the lot to be as confident as I was.

Sitting at my desk, I unrolled the last item we had gotten and opened the scroll. I had read through the ritual earlier, during my down time, but I had skipped the scroll that gave me the final piece. As I read the scroll, my stomach dropped. I dropped the scroll on the desk and clasped my hands together, worrying with them. Dropping my head, I perched it up using my thumbs and giving all my head's weight to my arms, making them a stand for my head.

Running my threaded fingers back over my hair, I took a deep breath. The last step, the last ingredient, I sighed. Shaking my head, I threw everything back together and set it all away. I needed time to process what the ritual was asking of me. No longer able to stand staying in my own office, I set off to go see my children. Seeing them would calm the storm inside.

"Hello, Headmistress." One of the many house-elves around greeted me when I walked in to see my babies.

"Hello. And how are my children behaving today?" I grinned.

"Splendid, as always, Headmistress." The elf holding Albus answered, her eyes shinning up at me.

"I'm glad. So, will they be seeing you all tomorrow?" I asked as I prepared them to go.