Secrets Of The Heir

VI.Daughter

She was thirty but felt like she was sixty.

She was sitting on an old arm chair and knitting, there wasn't much to do in the cottage, the knitting helped as a distraction to calm down her thoughts.

It wasn't working very well though, all she could think about was her daughter.

For the first time in all her life she felt completely useless, she wanted to help, she wanted to protect her daughter, she wanted to learn the truth, but there was nothing she could do except sit.

A knock on the door brought her back from her thoughts. She walked ever so slowly towards the door, very carefully and asked, "Password?"

A faint voice replied, "Honeydukes" she opened the door and her husband walked in drenched from the storm outside.

"Did you find anything?"
"Yes, found a boy selling stolen bread, I've also got some beef if you're in the mood for steak."

"I meant, find anything about Rose?"

"Oh, no not really."

She shook her head and started chopping up the meat he had brought.

"Although, I did find the daily prophet from yesterday."

"Does it say anything about Rose"

"Oh yes, she's made front page."

He fished in his bag and pulled out the newspaper and placed it on the table.

"They've chosen a new minister, 'Zyphilus Rand' terrible downgrade to be honest, he won't last a week in the post, he was an auror, not a very good one though, dead scared of pixies. Laughing stock in the department."

"Then why'd they make him minister?"

"Good at communicating, right now they need people to know they're safe. They've gone twenty years peaceful. The ministry wants to keep it that way. They just needed a temporary face for the government right now hence Zyphilus. He'll probably make a daft decision and be forced to step down. Don't worry once this all is over, you'll be in that seat."

"Thanks"

' "She will be caught' "A seventeen-year old can't run from an army of dementors" "There is no reason for unrest" , says Zyphilus'

The headlines read.

"Has she been spotted anywhere?"

He began to read the article, as she continued cooking. She was lost again, in the memories of her and her daughter. She remembered the day she dropped her off at King's cross for the first time, and how excited she was when she found out she made the quidditch team in her first year and how excited she was to tell her everything that had happened when she came back for her first summer. She remembered the letter she wrote her when she faced her first boggart and how it gave her chills and she had to see the counsellor for weeks. Her husband even went to Hogwarts himself to help her feel better. He wasn't allowed in but it worked, she felt better knowing how much her father cared for her.

"Nope, hasn't been spotted" He said loudly and she was back. She had let it cook for too long and immediately turned the gas off.

"Oh, okay"

She sighed.

They've been trying to get to Rose for too long now, its been three weeks since she's escaped, two weeks since they've been stuck in this cottage in the middle of nowhere.

They had to find her before anyone else did.

She cut up the beef and served it, she gave it all to him, she didn't feel like eating, but he forced her to eat and she obliged.

Once he was done, he got up, washed his hands and stood near the window looking out at the beach.

She placed the plates in the sink and walked up behind him slowly. She placed a hand on his shoulder and caught a tear escape his eye. He quickly wiped it away.

"Ron, it's okay" she said.

"I'm trying to be tough, trying to be useful but I can't, I feel so bloody useless. I miss her so much." He pounded his fist at the window. "Our girl, she couldn't have done it, and there's no way I can prove that. She's just a kid, if they find her before we do.."

"They won't. She's smart, she's our child considering what we did at her age, she'll be safe, she'll take care of herself"

"But let's just say she gets caught, she goes to Azkaban for life. Hagrid went there for a few weeks and he still gets nightmares. I don't want her going through that. What's worse is I can't help but wonder if.."

He stops to take a breath.

"If what?"

"Maybe, she isn't as innocent as we think she is."

"I trust my daughter, she's innocent Ronald."

"I can't help but wonder Hermione."