Missed Opportunity
THE NEW NEIGHBOURS
Almost a year after the Toddlermancy event Dracaena had given birth to a bouncing baby girl, Lilly.
****
WEEK ONE
Monday - The Malfoy estate
Harry had been attempting to explain why they wanted to be leaving for just about a minute when Narcissa finally gave in and showed him some mercy.
“Harry, you’d like a house.”
“Yes, but ...”
“With your wife.”
“Yes.”
“And your daughter.”
He looked at Dracaena who was making absolutely no effort to assist him.
“You could join in.”
“You're doing beautifully.”
Narcissa settled Lilly against her shoulder and looked across the breakfast table at her husband.
“Apparently they're planning to live together.”
Lucius lowered his newspaper.
Harry was laughing at his own expense. Dracaena was propped up against his arm and a bit of the tension had clearly drained out of him.
He wanted to get this right. Lucius and Narcissa had given them a lot more than just comfortable accommodation after the war. Prior to Voldemort's defeat, when assisting Harry and Dracaena had meant risking it all, Lucius had passed on warnings through channels which he could never admit to in any public forum. Money had been passed on to people who needed to go under. Narcissa had delivered messages which to the uninitiated would have appeared perfectly innocuous. Between the two of them they'd provided Harry and Dracaena with information which they simply couldn't have got any other way.
They'd done it whilst Voldemort still thought the Malfoys were his.
Harry remembered that every time someone spoke of their assistance as if it had just been a convenient thing to do at the end.
The place had become home. There had been room for their marriage to get under way, for Dracaena to wake from bad dreams and not be alone, for Harry to find that Lucius's habit of leaving the library door ajar sometimes meant he was prepared to listen. More recently there had been room for Lilly Malfoy-Potter and the sheer amount of things that someone of her diminutive stature needed.
They were happy here. That's what made the conversation so difficult.
"We aren't unhappy," Harry said.
“We know,” Narcissa answered.
Dracaena reached across and took her mother's other hand.
"I want our own front door."
Narcissa's expression eased.
“Yes.”
"Our own kitchen. Somewhere we decide where things go and then argue because Harry's put them somewhere else."
"I move one mug," said Harry.
“Repeatedly.”
Lucius folded his newspaper.
"You could have the east wing altered."
“Father.”
"I am obliged to offer."
“You offered last month.”
“The obligation recurs.”
She smiled, but shook her head.
'I grew up here. I love it. I'd like to bring Lilly here to see you and stay for weekends and have Mother show her how to get everything she wants from you.'
“She seems to have that all figured out already,” Narcissa said.
Lucius offered the baby one finger. Lilly took it in her hand and his gaze was instantly back in the room.
Dracaena watched them.
"But when we go home I want somewhere that Harry and I picked together."
For a moment Lucius said nothing. Then he looked up at his daughter.
“Have you found it?”
“Not yet.”
“Then find it.”
Harry glanced at him.
Lucius gave a little shrug.
"You're entitled to be grateful to us and still go and buy a house, Harry."
Narcissa kissed Lilly's head.
“Preferably one with a comfortable chair for visiting grandmothers.”
"That can be arranged."
"Right. Now stop looking as if you've asked us for a divorce."
********
Tuesday evening - The Granger-Weasley home
Ron produced the details between the roast and the pudding.
He'd clearly been waiting.
“There.”
He laid the folded piece of parchment flat beside Harry's plate, snatched one corner free from the gravy and pointed past the kitchen window.
“That house.”
Harry looked at the drawing.
Then through the window.
“Next door?”
"Yes next door. Keep up."
The Granger-Weasley house was situated halfway between Percy and Audrey's and the empty plot at the far end of the row. There was already a gate between the two of the occupied gardens which Molly and Lucy would routinely use to get to the house to collect Rose, to borrow something or to check whether another family's dinner was any good at all.
The third garden had a neglected apple tree, a rather overgrown border and a patch of lawn which caught the afternoon sun.
Harry had spotted it previously. He'd never thought it might end up being theirs.
"Five bedrooms, proper kitchen, two sitting rooms, the roof's sound," Ron said. "Hermione asked."
"I asked the agent," Hermione explained. "You'd still have it surveyed."
Dracaena lifted Lilly higher up in her arm and leaned across to take a look at the floor plan.
"That room faces your garden."
“It does,” Hermione said.
"And the one beside it?"
“Also the garden.”
Percy reached across and turned the sheet of parchment a little.
"The front room would be a good study. The lane is quiet most of the day."
"Except when Ron can't find the cat," said Audrey.
"The cat knows where it is," Ron said. "That's the difficulty."
Harry was looking at the drawing as the conversation went on around him. He could hear the girls up above, clearly trying to get a rather large plush rabbit to stay in its seat for a wedding. Something was dropped and there was a short argument. Then Rose called down to ask if dragons can marry rabbits.
“We'll deal with it after pudding,” Hermione called back.
Dracaena looked at Harry.
He looked at her.
Ron saw the exchange and leaned forward.
"Come and see it. Seriously."
“We will,” Harry said.
“We'd like you here,” Percy added.
There was absolutely no joke in his speech.
Audrey rested her hand on his arm.
“Very much.”
Ron nodded towards the other side of the house.
"I've got my brother there. You could be over here. Put another gate through and the girls could just run round."
"Lilly may need a bit of practice first," Dracaena said.
“We'll allow her time.”
Harry just looked at the floor plan.
Under the table Dracaena's foot touched his.
*******
Wednesday afternoon - The empty house
They knew before the agent finished showing them upstairs.
The house needed paint, a few repairs, and somebody to persuade the kitchen cupboards to stop sticking. The garden had been left to itself too long. One bathroom tap complained in a high, offended voice when Harry turned it on.
Dracaena loved it.
She stood in the smaller back bedroom and looked across the hedge. Rose's little boots were on the Granger-Weasley step. Beyond that garden, Percy was visible through an upstairs window, reaching to close it before leaving for work again.
Ordinary things. Close enough to hear.
Harry came to stand next to her.
“Nursery?”
She nodded.
He slipped an arm around her waist.
“I think so too.”
They made their offer that afternoon.
Back at the estate, Narcissa listened to their description as Lilly slept in the crook of her arm. Lucius asked three practical questions, approved the survey arrangements, and recommended using a property company to make the purchase.
“The moment either of your names appears on a sale notice, somebody will decide the address is news.”
Dracaena nodded. They had both had enough experience with that.
The arrangement was simple. An existing company, Ashcombe Residential Holdings, would pass into their joint ownership and purchase the house. Lucius's solicitor could handle it. The property was vacant, the sellers wanted a quick sale, and Harry and Dracaena were ready to pay.
“Ashcombe Residential Holdings,” Dracaena repeated.
Harry knew that tone.
He turned toward her.
She was looking at the particulars again.
“We could wait to tell them.”
“Until we've bought it?”
“Until it's ready.”
Harry's smile began slowly.
“Just take them over and open the door?”
“Imagine Ron.”
He did.
Then he began laughing.
Narcissa looked from one to the other.
“What will you say when they ask about the sale?”
Dracaena considered.
“That we were interested.”
“You were.”
“And that we thought it would have been lovely to live there.”
“You do.”
Harry leaned back in his chair.
“They're going to kill us.”
“Possibly,” Dracaena said. “But we'll be conveniently close.”
Lucius picked up the particulars.
“If you intend to do this, remember that Ronald has a brother.”
“Percy won't be as bad,” Harry said.
Lucius looked at him over the parchment.
“An optimistic beginning.”
********
Friday evening - The Granger-Weasley home
By Friday, the survey was complete, the sale was agreed, and the agent had changed the sign.
Ron met them at the door looking furious.
“They've fucking sold it.”
Harry stopped on the step.
“Already?”
Dracaena, standing beside him with Lilly, looked past Ron toward the neighbouring house.
“Oh.”
It was a small sound. Perfectly judged.
Ron softened immediately.
“I know.”
He put a hand on Harry's shoulder and drew them inside.
“Come on. Hermione's got the kettle on.”
At the kitchen table, Percy had a sheet of parchment in front of him. His eyeglasses sat low on his nose, which usually meant somebody had written something he considered unnecessarily stupid.
“Ashcombe Residential Holdings,” he said.
Harry took off his jacket.
“What's that?”
“The purchaser.”
Percy tapped the notice.
“A property company. Its registered office is at a solicitor's address. The selling agent confirmed the name. Apparently they offered immediate payment.”
“Developers,” Ron said.
“Possibly,” Hermione answered.
“What else?”
“Someone buying through a company.”
“That's what developers do.”
Percy removed his eyeglasses.
“They certainly moved quickly enough.”
Dracaena sat down carefully. Harry pulled out the chair next to her.
“We should have acted sooner,” she said.
Harry looked at the notice.
“We only saw it on Wednesday.”
“You shouldn't have had to make a decision in five bloody minutes,” Ron said.
“Quite,” Percy agreed.
Hermione brought the tea. Audrey took Lilly so Dracaena could drink hers while it was hot.
For the next twenty minutes, their friends comforted them.
Hermione promised to ask the agent about similar properties. Audrey pointed out that they could still find somewhere within walking distance. Percy offered to check the lane beyond the village green, where an elderly couple had been considering a move.
Ron put a hand between Harry's shoulders.
“Sorry, mate. I shouldn't have got your hopes up.”
For one dangerous moment, Harry nearly confessed.
Then Dracaena's fingers clasped around his beneath the table.
He looked at her.
She looked genuinely disappointed.
It was an appalling performance.
“It would have been good,” Harry said.
Ron pulled him into a brief hug.
“We'll find something.”
Across the table, Percy picked up the sale notice again.
“Acquisitive little shits.”
Harry's tea went down the wrong way.
Audrey reached over and patted his back while Dracaena stared very hard at the sugar bowl.
Sunday evening - Percy and Audrey's home
They completed the purchase on Saturday morning. On Sunday, the first decorators arrived.
That evening, Percy hosted dinner and presented his conclusions with the potatoes.
“A bed-and-breakfast.”
Ron set down his fork.
“That's exactly what I said.”
“Five bedrooms. Two reception rooms. The village is convenient for visitors. They're replacing the front door fittings.”
“Rich assholes,” Ron said. “Bought the place to sell overpriced toast.”
“A family could replace door fittings,” Hermione pointed out.
“A family could have bought it,” Percy said. “That was rather the earliest intention.”
He glanced toward Harry and Dracaena, and his irritation sharpened.
“Instead, somebody with a company and a cheque book has decided our street would make an agreeable investment.”
“A bloody investment,” Ron echoed.
“I was allowing that to remain implicit.”
“Don't.”
Percy considered the advice.
“A bloody investment.”
Dracaena took her water.
Audrey watched the two brothers with growing fascination. They had disagreed about almost everything for most of their lives. Apparently, anonymous property ownership had supplied the missing common ground.
“We don't actually know what they're planning,” she said.
“Then they can tell us,” Percy replied. “People live here. We are entitled to ask.”
“We should write,” Ron said.
“We should.”
Harry looked up.
“Perhaps wait until you know a bit more.”
Both brothers turned toward him.
“You're being very decent about this,” Percy said.
Under the table, Dracaena put her heel against Harry's shoe.
“He is,” she agreed.
Harry spent the rest of dinner concentrating on his food.
WEEK TWO
Tuesday afternoon - Ashcombe Residential Holdings' only house
The work progressed quickly. Wizards who knew their trades could accomplish a great deal when the walls were sound, and nobody asked them to move a staircase.
Damaged plaster was repaired. Floorboards were cleaned and polished. The argumentative tap was silenced. The kitchen cupboards got new hinges, the bedrooms got paint, and the apple tree got more attention in two days than it had enjoyed in the previous two years.
Harry and Dracaena came while their friends were at work. Narcissa looked after Lilly, then joined them to inspect the nursery. Lucius brought the final paperwork and spent half an hour examining the garden wall with the tradesman who had repaired it.
He liked the house. Harry could tell because his suggestions had become increasingly minor.
Narcissa stood in the nursery doorway, watching Dracaena fold clothes into the drawers.
“You'll be happy here.”
Dracaena smoothed a tiny sleeve.
“I think so.”
“And you'll come for dinner.”
She looked up at her mother.
“Of course we will.”
“Your father has already instructed the kitchen to keep your favourite things available.”
“He knows we're moving a few miles away?”
“He has been informed.”
Harry appeared with Lilly and handed her to Narcissa before helping Dracaena move the rocking chair closer to the light.
Downstairs, two deliverymen carried in a bed frame.
Across the hedge, Ron, home for lunch, watched them through his kitchen window.
His look became thunderous.
Harry saw him through the opening in the curtains and stepped back.
Dracaena joined him.
They waited until Ron turned away.
“How many beds have arrived?” she spoke quietly.
“Three.”
“Oh, he's going to be awful.”
Harry looked at his wife.
“You're enjoying this far too much.”
She kissed him.
“You married me.”
Wednesday evening - The Granger-Weasley home
By Wednesday, Percy had drafted the letter.
He waited until the girls had gone upstairs with their toys before reading it aloud.
Ron was at the counter slicing bread with unnecessary force. Harry held Lilly against his shoulder. Dracaena sat beside him, watching a document addressed to her own company.
“We write as neighbouring residents,” Percy began, “to request clarification concerning the intended use of the recently acquired property-”
“Ask how many guests,” Ron said.
“That is in the third paragraph.”
“And parking.”
“Fourth.”
“And people coming through the gardens.”
“Nobody has come through the gardens,” Hermione said.
“Yet.”
Percy continued reading. The letter was measured, articulate, and increasingly cold. It asked about noise, deliveries, visitors, and the lane's character. It mentioned young children. It concluded by proposing that the owners meet their neighbours before committing to any commercial use.
“That's very good,” Harry said.
Dracaena looked down at the table.
Ron turned from the bread.
“It doesn't say they're greedy bastards.”
“It conveys our concerns but no making an allegation we cannot support,” Percy said.
“We can support it. They bought the fucking house.”
“Buying a house isn't an offence,” Hermione said.
“This one was.”
Audrey took the bread knife from him and finished the last two slices.
“Possibly we could eat before declaring war on breakfast.”
They sat down. Percy folded the letter beside his plate, but the conversation kept returning to the property.
The new curtains were evidently guest-room curtains. The stack of towels Ron had seen through the open doors of a delivery wagon could only mean commercial laundry. In his opinion, the small brass bell beside the front door was conclusive.
“Reception,” he said.
“It's a doorbell,” Hermione replied.
“An expensive doorbell.”
Dracaena remembered choosing it on Monday.
“Perhaps they like brass.”
“Perhaps they can shove it up their arses,” Percy said.
Quiet descended.
Audrey slowly put down her glass.
Ron looked at his brother with open admiration.
Harry lowered his face toward Lilly's hair.
Dracaena's shoulders moved once.
Hermione stared at Percy.
“I am tired,” he said, with considerable dignity, “of looking at that house and thinking who ought to be living in it.”
The giggle almost escaped Harry then. Instead, he closed his eyes and held his daughter a little closer.
That sentence would be coming back to them.
Every word of it.
Later, when Hermione mentioned another house farther away, Dracaena listened, asked two questions, then looked toward the neighbouring windows.
“It won't be the same.”
Ron reached across and squeezed her hand.
“I know.”
She squeezed back.
Harry watched his wife accept sympathy with the composure of a woman who had already chosen the curtains for the house she was mourning.
On the walk back to the Floo, he inclined close to her ear.
“You are a terrible woman.”
“Yes.”
“I love you.”
“I know that too.”
Friday - The Malfoy estate
Narcissa brought them Percy's letter at breakfast.
The solicitor had forwarded it unopened.
Lucius read it while Harry fed Lilly a bottle and Dracaena buttered toast, looking completely innocent.
“This is well written,” Lucius said.
“Percy,” Harry answered.
“Yes. That is apparent.”
He reached the last paragraph, then looked up.
“Did you encourage him?”
“We listened,” Dracaena said.
“Attentively?”
“Very.”
Narcissa sat down next to her.
“I believe you understand that a house next door puts you permanently within reach of retaliation.”
“Sunday,” Harry said. “We're telling them on Sunday.”
Lucius returned the letter.
“I suggest you provide a very good dinner.”
Sunday afternoon - The Granger-Weasley home
Curtains covered every window now. The workmen had gone. Through the front room, Ron could see the arm of a sofa and the corner of a bookcase.
He was explaining this to Percy when Harry and Dracaena arrived.
Harry carried Lilly. Dracaena had the baby bag, a folded blanket, and the solemn expression of someone preparing to commit an offence she would enjoy remembering for years.
Dracaena tucked the blanket into the bag, and Hermione took it from her at the door.
“Come through. We've just put the kettle on.”
Ron met them in the hall.
“Well. They're ready.”
Harry glanced toward the neighbouring house.
“It looks good.”
“It looks fucking expensive.”
Percy came out of the kitchen.
“No answer to the letter.”
“Perhaps it hasn't reached the right people,” Harry said.
“It has had ample time.”
Dracaena stopped beside the window. Beyond the hedge, the apple tree was visible, its lower branches newly cleared.
“They've done the garden.”
“Yes,” Hermione said calmly.
Dracaena looked back at Harry.
“We really did miss our chance.”
He met her eyes.
“Looks like it.”
Ron swore again.
Percy joined him more quietly, with finer precision.
Audrey arrived through the garden with Molly and Lucy, found the familiar expression on her husband's face, and sighed.
“The developers?”
“The developers,” Ron confirmed.
Dracaena took Lilly from Harry so he could remove his jacket. The baby looked at her mother, accepted a kiss, and tucked her face against her shoulder.
“Before tea,” Dracaena said, “why don't we go over?”
Hermione looked at her.
“To the house?”
“We could try meeting the owners. If they're there.”
Ron immediately straightened.
“Good.”
Percy reached for his letter on the sideboard.
Audrey watched him put it in his pocket.
“Try to begin with hello.”
“I am perfectly capable of being civil.”
Harry looked at the floor.
“You all right?” Ron asked.
“Fine.”
Harry collected the baby bag while Hermione fetched Rose. They put the kettle aside, gathered Molly and Lucy, and walked out into the lane.
At the neighbouring gate, Ron paused.
“Look at that bloody bell.”
“It's lovely,” Dracaena said.
“It was probably imported.”
“Almost certainly.”
Harry opened the gate and waited for everybody to come through. Then they went up the path together: Ron and Percy ahead, Hermione and Audrey behind them, the girls trying to see through the downstairs windows.
Dracaena stopped beside the door; Lilly settled comfortably against her.
Percy cleared his throat.
Ron glanced at him.
“I'll start.”
“I think I should.”
“It's right next to my house.”
“Which is right next to mine.”
Harry reached between them, pulled a key from his pocket, and inserted it into the lock.
Both brothers stopped talking.
The key turned.
Harry opened the door.
Dracaena stepped past them into the hall.
“Do come in,” she said. “We'd hate to keep the neighbours waiting.”
Nobody followed.
Ron looked at Harry's hand on the door.
Percy looked at the key.
Hermione looked through the entrance and saw a familiar green blanket over the sitting-room chair.
Audrey said, very softly, “Oh, you wicked little pair.”
Harry's expression finally gave way.
Ron pointed at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You bought it?”
“We did.”
Percy's head turned toward Dracaena.
“Ashcombe Residential Holdings.”
She smiled.
“Ours.”
A moment of absolute stillness followed.
Then Ron said, with immense feeling, “You absolute fucking bastards.”
Harry began laughing.
“Inside,” Audrey said, already laughing herself. “Before the entire lane comes out.”
Ron walked in because he needed room to be furious.
Percy followed because he had questions, and every answer he had worked out so far was making him angrier.
Hermione ushered the girls into the sitting room, where Rose discovered a basket of toys and announced that Lilly had acquired an excellent house.
Dracaena stayed in the hall with the baby. Harry shut the door, slipped the bag off his shoulder, and set it beside the stairs.
Ron rounded on both of them.
“You allow me hug you.”
“You give very good hugs,” Harry said.
“Don't you bloody start.”
Percy took out the letter.
He opened it with extraordinary care.
“When?”
“We viewed it on Wednesday,” Dracaena said. “After the first dinner.”
“And?”
“Made the offer that afternoon.”
Percy looked up.
“Before the Friday dinner.”
“Yes.”
“Before I told you who had bought it.”
“Yes.”
“Before you sat at Ronald's table and looked as though someone had drowned your puppy.”
Dracaena's composure broke.
She turned her face toward Lilly's hair and laughed.
“You lying little shits,” Percy said.
Audrey held the bannister.
Ron threw both hands up.
“I said I'd find you something else!”
“You did,” Harry admitted.
“Hermione looked at listings!”
“I did,” Hermione said. She returned to the hall and looked at Harry with a smile that foretold consequences of its own.
Percy tapped the letter.
“You said this was good.”
“It is good.”
“It's addressed to you!”
“We thought the concerns were very clearly expressed,” Dracaena said.
Percy stared at her.
Ron bent forward, put his hands on his knees, then straightened again because that position did not adequately convey the scale of his outrage.
“Two weeks.”
Harry nodded.
“Nearly.”
“Don't correct the duration of your own bloody crime.”
Lilly stirred at the raised voice. Dracaena moved her, murmuring against her forehead until the little fist at her shoulder relaxed.
Ron waited.
Then resumed in a fierce whisper.
“You sat there while we called you rich assholes.”
“Several times,” Harry said.
“And you let us.”
“You seemed very committed.”
Percy closed his eyes.
“The bell.”
Dracaena's mouth quivered.
“I chose it.”
“Of course you fucking did.”
Audrey gave up trying to remain upright against the bannister and sat on the bottom stair.
“Percy.”
“No. I shall be Percy again shortly. At present I am an aggrieved neighbour.”
Ron pointed through the sitting-room door.
“Three beds.”
“For bedrooms,” Harry said.
“The towels.”
“For drying,” Dracaena supplied.
“I know what fucking towels are for!”
Hermione covered her mouth with a hand.
Ron turned toward her.
“You didn't know?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Audrey?”
“Not a thing.”
Percy looked back at the owners.
“Who did?”
“Mother and Father,” Dracaena said. “The solicitor. The agent.”
“Your parents knew?” Ron demanded.
Harry nodded.
“Your father read my letter,” Percy said unexpectedly.
Dracaena looked at Harry.
That was sufficient.
Percy took a slow breath.
“Wonderful.”
“He thought it was well written,” Harry offered.
“I am delighted to have his approval.”
Ron put a hand on his brother's shoulder.
For several seconds, they stood side by side, looking at Harry and Dracaena with such united betrayal that Harry had to look away.
That made Ron angrier.
“Look at us when we're furious with you.”
Harry looked back.
“Sorry.”
“You aren't.”
He tried.
Failed.
“Not entirely.”
Dracaena reached for his hand with her free one.
“We wanted to surprise you. Then you both became so offended on our behalf that we kept going.”
“And enjoyed it,” Percy said.
“Immensely.”
“Thank you. At last, an honest statement.”
Ron looked around the hall again.
The shoes beside the stairs. The wedding photograph. The bag Harry had put down without asking where it belonged. Beyond the sitting room, he could hear Rose explaining the house to Molly as though she had been consulted throughout the purchase.
His anger had acquired an inconvenient companion.
He looked at Harry.
“You really bought it.”
Harry nodded.
“All of it?”
“All of it.”
“You're moving here.”
“We're here.”
Ron looked at Lilly.
“The three of you.”
“The three of us.”
Percy lowered the letter.
For the first time since the key had appeared, neither brother spoke.
Then Ron moved forward and hugged Harry hard enough to cut off his breath.
“You complete bastard,” he said into his shoulder.
Harry held him just as tightly.
“I know.”
“I am still absolutely fucking furious.”
“I know that too.”
Percy looked at Dracaena.
She smiled at him, quieter now.
“We did want to be next door.”
He glanced toward the sitting room, where their daughters were already making themselves comfortable.
“You might have mentioned it.”
“We did.”
His eyes returned to hers.
She bit her lip.
“Sorry.”
“You're both going to be insufferable to live near.”
“Probably.”
He came closer, kissed her cheek, and touched one finger gently to Lilly's hand.
“Welcome home,” he said.
Then he looked over her shoulder at Harry.
“I will be keeping the letter.”
The nursery was the room Dracaena had noticed from the floor plan.
Hermione stood close to the window and looked down at her own garden. Rose's boots were still beside the back step. Percy and Audrey's gate stood open on the other side.
Behind her, Narcissa's chosen rocking chair sat near Lilly's cot. Lucius had sent a small chest of drawers, far simpler than anything he would have bought for himself. On the shelf, somebody had placed a framed photograph of all six adults taken the previous summer.
Dracaena joined Hermione at the window.
“This was why.”
Hermione took her hand.
“You could have saved us a great deal of trouble.”
“I know.”
“I spent an evening comparing kitchens for you.”
“Did this one win?”
Hermione turned toward her.
Dracaena began laughing again.
“Yes,” Hermione admitted. “Damn you.”
Downstairs, Ron discovered the garden gate waiting in the shed.
He brought Percy to look at it.
Then Harry.
“You even bought this.”
“We hoped you'd want one.”
Ron examined the hinges, then the latch.
Percy looked toward the hedge.
“Beside the kitchen path.”
“That's what I thought,” Harry said.
“Nobody asked you,” Ron told him.
Harry folded his arms and waited.
The brothers discussed the position. Ron wanted enough space to carry a tray through. Percy wanted the latch high enough that the children would have to ask before wandering between gardens. They both agreed to make the opening that afternoon.
Harry fetched the tools.
An hour later, the gate hung, the girls tested it repeatedly under Audrey's supervision, and Ron went home through it to fetch the pudding Hermione had left in their kitchen.
Dinner was already waiting in the new house. Narcissa had made certain of that. There were chairs for everyone, including the plush rabbit whose wedding preparations had survived the upheaval.
Ron put down the pudding and looked at Percy.
Percy nodded.
Harry noticed.
“What?”
“We've discussed it,” Ron said.
Dracaena settled Lilly in the carrycot next to her chair.
“Should we be worried?”
“Sunday breakfast,” Percy said. “Here.”
“Every Sunday,” Ron added.
“For six months.”
“You bought a bed-and-breakfast,” Ron said. “You can bloody well operate one.”
Harry looked at his wife.
She looked at the crowded table, the open garden door, and the new gate beyond it.
“We can manage breakfast.”
“Good,” Percy said. “I shall put that in writing.”
Hermione laughed. Audrey reached for the potatoes. Rose began explaining that her dragon preferred toast without marmalade.
Ron pulled out the chair beside Harry and sat down.
“And don't think this means you've been forgiven.”
Harry passed him the bread.
“Wouldn't dream of it.”
