Amelia burst into tears against his chest, and Edgar felt that very familiar, extremely protective big brother instinct emerge from deep in his head. He had always hated it when she cried, starting from the very first time he had heard her do so when they were just little toddlers. They were somewhat big teenagers now and that had never changed over the course of their lives. He held her tightly, not even the slightest bit concerned that she might be staining his very nice blue nightrobe with her tears. This was Amelia, and if thatâs what she needed to do, then he would allow her to of course. When their embrace ended, Edgar was certain that their dad needed to see this. Had Mum ever told Dad about the letter? She very well might have, and he could be disturbing them for no reason. But Edgar felt like he should trust his gut, and his gut was telling him to go and wake up his father right now. He inhaled sharply through his nose. He had to do this.Â
Edgar glanced down at his feet. They were bare, and his toes were cold against the castle floor. âLet me put on my slippers,â He said gently, stepping away from his sister. âIâll be right back, you stay here.â He turned and pushed back into the quiet darkness of his dorm room. Ludo was slumped diagonally across his bed now, his head hanging off one end and his feet hanging off of the other. Edgar only spared him a slight glance as he slipped in between their beds to grab his slippers. If he were thinking more clearly, he might have put on clothes. As it was, he had been asleep only in his boxers, and he was now wearing a robe, but being that it was wintertime, he ought to have worn something more warm. But he didnât think about that, and hurriedly left his room to return to his sister. âLetâs go.â He said, his voice full of the authority that the eldest child of every family possessed. He reached for Ameliaâs hand, both as a measure to make sure she stayed close, but also to comfort himself and her too. They were quiet slipping through the common room. It was empty except for a rather studious third year, who was surrounded by a mountain of books. She seemed suspicious over Amelia and Edgar exiting the common room so late at night, but seeing that the both of them were prefects, she didnât utter a word over it.
Edgar really hoped that they werenât stopped by a wandering professor, or a Slytherin prefect. He didnât want to explain himself more than he had to. He slipped through the castle, shivering slightly as the cool winter air replaced the gentle warmth of the common room. He took side corridors and a few passageways behind portraits and statues until he found himself on the fourth floor, near his parentâs quarters. âAlmost there,â He murmured to Amelia, trying to sound comforting. He froze for a moment when he thought he heard something, but when nothing else happened, he assumed that he had imagined it, and continued moving on. Finally, he thought when his parentâs door came into view, they were here. He glanced to Amelia one more time, before turning back to the door. With the letter tucked safely into the waistband of his boxers, Edgar knocked loudly on his parentâs door. The volume would probably scare them, but frankly Edgar didnât care. He was scared right now, so they could deal with a little bit of noise.
It was very difficult, getting alone time with her husband â especially when he was meant to be working. It was difficult because there were attacks happening here and there, students getting hurt, professors murmuring about what could possibly be done. Adeline Bones was tired, and as such, she was spending her night in bed, with a book, desperately making an attempt to ignore the world around her. She would patiently wait for Edward to return to her side, having her book as her only company.Â
Then came the knocking. Adeline made a face at the door, slowly shutting her book and putting it to the side. It was loud and abrupt. Edward wouldnât have startled her like that, and he would have opened the door straight after knocking â it would only have been done out of courtesy. Adeline rushed to put a robe on, covering her undergarments up. She slipped her hand into the pocket of her robe, casually bringing her wand between her fingers. Making her way to the door, she clutched the wand tighter, but let out a relieved sigh once it had opened â it was just Edgar. âYou scared me! What is it, whatâs the matter?â
Edward Bones was a tired man these days. Ever since the Acromantula attack, he had struggled with his stamina. He felt older than heâd ever felt before, and the worst of it was he was growing weary of his station at Hogwarts. Months of investigating and playing the part of security guard had done little to prevent the tragedies from unfolding at his beloved alma mater and he was becoming quite frustrated at it all. The team of Aurors were stumped to say the least and as Head of the Department, Edward took responsibility for that. It didnât help that Edward was growing tired of staying at the school as well. How many months now had it been since he slept in his own bed? How long since heâd last had a moment to spend with his wife? Even tonight, he had promised to be back at their quarters as soon as his rounds were complete but instead he found himself holed up in his office combing through what little evidence his team had collected and reviewing updates from his office at the Ministry. Before he knew it, the hours had flown by, hours heâd much rather have spent in Adelineâs arms. She would understand what had kept him, she always did, but Edward still found himself preparing an apology as he trudged back to their room.
As he rounded the corner of the corridor where his room was located, however, Edward found his steps quicken as he noticed figures collected in the doorway. He recognized his children immediately, he could spot them from a mile away, and knew that something was wrong. It wasnât like them to stop by their parentsâ room in the middle of the night for a chat, and they risked getting in quite a lot of trouble for being out of bed after hours. Even in the dark corridor, Edward could see the tension in their shoulders and the way Amelia was breathing unevenly, had she been crying? âEdgar? Mia, love, what is it? Whatâs happened?â He quickly closed the distance between himself and his children, dropping a hand on each of their shoulders and peering into their faces with concern. They were dressed for bed, what had gotten them up in the middle of the night? He glanced over at Adeline, wearing only a robe and clutching her wand tightly. It was clear she hadnât been expecting them either. âCome inside, all of you.â Edward said quickly, ushering his family inside and shutting the door tightly behind them. âIs everyone alright? Whatâs going on?â
The entire way up from Ravenclaw tower to the corridor where their parent's room had been housed, Amelia had run through every possible scenario in her mind and aimed to plan for each one. All of the planning in the world couldnât account for the knots that were starting to eat at her stomach the moment her mother had opened the door. In mere seconds, Ameliaâs mind had gone completely blank. âMum - â Amelia began, fighting the urge to apologize for waking up her mother and showing up at her door at this late hour and that this was nothing, absolutely nothing was wrong and that she and Edgar had nothing to say good night. She swallowed those words down, a feeling of dread rising in her gut. Amelia opened her mouth to speak again but was soon interrupted by the arrival of her father. The hand that had been placed on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her felt like a literal weight on her shoulder, a physical manifestation of the guilt that twisted inside of her.
Normally, when it came to matters like this that involved their parents, Amelia was the more silver-tongued of the two. By the time the two Bones siblings were caught committing any kind of mischief, Amelia would have prepared at least half a dozen different excuses, all depending on from how angry their parents were. Now, it felt as if someone had switched every thought, every word with air and Amelia found herself at a loss. Â She turned to her older brother, a brief look of concern crossing her features. It was a look that the two of them were both familiar with, that Amelia rarely employed, that said: âI need you to be my older brother right nowâ. Â She thought that she could confront her parents, that she could tell them of the letter, but the moment her mother had opened the door she was ready to retreat back into her bubble of fear and denial. How could she face her parents? Moreover, how could she face the inevitable disappointment they would feel? All her life, Amelia had wanted nothing more than to make her parents proud. Her slip-ups where thankfully rare and it was rarer still that they would come before her parents, but this-this was not a mere test grade or a lapse in judgment. This entire year, Amelia felt as if she was disappointing her parents - the masquerade ball, the amortentia fueled Halloween party, the choosing process for youth rep to the Wizengamot, and she could only imagine the blow this secret would be on her parents.
