Confrontation

Hallie's eyes had shone upon her Father's encouragement that she could, one day, become a registered animagus. Perhaps, once she'd adjusted to the fact she now had a Father again, she'd put her mind to it because after all there only was one life she was going to get a shot at doing it.

As the conversation had continued Hallie soon began to realise, despite the doubt she'd momentarily held about her Father, she was more similar to him than she thought. The attitude towards education, the love for exploration over studying, the nack for landing herself into detention (mostly for being late or talking), it all came from her Father.

He might very well have loved you, my dear. That hit Hallie hard. If there was one feeling that was strongest in Hallie it was her ability to love. That had probably come through the fact she'd had two parents who'd loved her in different ways yet so equally at the same time. She'd seen how in love they was and going through the struggles Hallie had endured throughout her life had only made her more inclined to love and the idea of receiving that love in return pulled her heartstring. A feeling her chest the blonde couldn't explain. Although Theodore and her were over and ended on bad terms the auror was glad they happened and hoped that, one day, she'd get to spend time with the man she'd shared love with.

Hallie laughed.

'Well I'm pretty sure she was a nervous wreck inside but she always seemed composed. I guess she had to accept there was no way of stopping me and had to learn to deal with it.'

It was only in this moment did Hallie realise how much freedom Amelia had given her, especially after all the mess the young Cooper had gotten herself into. Never once did Amelia say no, never did she discourage Hallie from doing something. Once or twice she may have suggested an alternative but always, always, Amelia put Hallie first and she never wanted to turn her daughter into somebody that she wasn't.

Hallie smiled taking a step closer to the man she'd longed to see for so long.

'I'm glad you're here.' She said, a tear shimmering along her eyelid before being batted away by her eyelashes.

"Me too," he said, finally daring to kiss her forehead.  He began to consider, then, the house that Lupin had given him. It was a thatched cottage--just as if Lupin had been reading his list of dreams he thought he'd never had.  And this one was right next door to Tremaine.  So far, Rick hadn't even let himself look at it, except glances from Michael's backyard.  


The truth was that he didn't think he'd be accepted enough by his family to stay.  So, he hadn't allowed himself to dream of something he didn't think he'd ever be able to really have.  Maybe he could accept the cottage after all.  If Hallie were accepting him, then perhaps he could stay.


"Take a walk with me, would you?" he got brave enough to ask her.  He fished out the key to the cottage out of his pocket. "Something I need to check out."

He opened the front door and stepped out on the porch and looked over at the cottage.  It was made of sandstone, neatly laid ages ago, weathered over time.  The roof thatched with heather that was still green.  In summer, the roof would be in full lavender glory.  It was something he hoped to see.  More than that, he wanted, just one night, to sleep in the upper bedroom and fill his senses with the scent of blooming heather as he slept.  Just one time.


He had wanted to raise Hallie in a place like that. It hadn't happened. He hadnt had the money to afford it.  Maybe, though, he could still have the cottage.  Maybe.  


"Apparently I have a house," he said to Hallie. "That one. Haven't checked it out yet, but, I've got the key.  Shall we go and look at what sort of a fixer upper they've given me?" Lupin had thought perhaps there was still some furniture in the place, but he hadn't been sure. 


He walked over to the house and hesitated before he unlocked the door. Did he want to invite himself to take root? And how long before Lupin sent him off for another 13 years? Or would it be 20 this time?  


"I swear, Hallie," he said softly. "If I thought I could make this work..." he let his voice trail off. If he could make this work, a regular life, just a regular guy, with a maybe not so regular family, "It would be worth everything," he had spoken the words out loud without intending to.  But the truth was in them.  He'd leave his job if Lupin ever threatened to send him off again. He surely didn't need the money now. And he'd had enough adrenalin for awhile.  Maybe, if he had his family, he could give up the Gryffindor itch for adventure for them.


"Well, its bigger than a duffel bag anyway," he sighed.  He turned the key in the lock and opened the door, looking inside as if he were intruding.  It was dusty, unused.  Old.  Bare. Or nearly so. There was an old wooden harvest table in the living room instead of in the kitchen, and a straight back chair several feet away.  And an old wooden keg used as a trash barrel, shoved full of brown paper and other debris.


"Furnished, huh?" he sighed. "Fabulous."  The place needed a fresh coat of whitewash on the walls. The floors needed scrubbed to see if there was still any finish left on the hardwood. There were some tattered cornflower blue drapes left on the rods, but they looked like they'd been there since about 1942.  
It had good bones, that was for sure.  But that was about all it had.  And he didn't know crap about decorating.  He loved the house already. It had the potential to be the storybook existence he'd always wanted. But it sure needed one hell of a metamorphosis first.


"I'm guessing the kitchen is through there," he pointed towards the back of the house. He saw some stairs going up.  Bedrooms would be up there. He hoped the place at least had indoor plumbing someplace. 


"Oh, who am I kidding?" he sighed. "I can sweep and whitewash, but I have no talent to make it look like anything." He was actually wondering if he could pick up a few serviceable pieces that weren't too revolting at a thrift shop.  He doubted Tremaine would want a roommate forever.

"Perfectly dismal looking, isn't it?" he asked.

From the porch of Michael Tremain she saw her Father pointing towards the next cottage along. It was cute, a lot more picturesque than the cottage she'd grew up in in the Lake District. It had a lightly thatched roof and the windows were set within slabs of sandstone that gave fit in well with the Hogsmede feel. The grass in the front garden was slightly overgrown and as the pair walked up to the front door Hallie noticed there were weeds trying to creep through the cracks in the stone slabs. Clearly someone hadn't lived here for some time.

Watching Robert place the key into the door a burst of excitement gushed through Hallie. Already she seemed attached to the cottage, it felt like a new beginning a fresh page and if his showing the cottage to her mean't one thing to Hallie it was that he was hoping to start the next chapter of their lives together here. However... He paused.

"If I thought I could make this work it'd mean everything." Hallie wasn't too sure how to take this. It sounded as if her Dad was eager to try, thirsty to start their life together and make up for all the years he hadn't been around but there was doubt in his voice. If. That simply word had quickly deflated Hallie's oversized bubble. Perhaps it was ideal, a perfect situation. A time would come when Lupin would call upon his services again and that would mean saying goodbye once more.

Not saying anything Hallie simply smiled encouragingly before entering the cottage. It was what Hallie had expected from the outside. The person who'd lived here prior must have lived alone, or at least for the latter part of their life, most likely an widowed witch or wizard. It had a sad feel about the place. The lonely chair at the end of a table too big for it. The slightly moth eaten curtains that Hallie suspected probably had a doxy nest hidden behind. In spite of all that there was hope. Or maybe that was Hallie's optimism talking.

'It isn't anything great at the moment.' Hallie admitted. 'But we could turn it into something beautiful. I would be happy to take time off work and make it more homely plus it's close to Hogwarts for Mum. I know she's writing a book but she can't do that forever, I know she's eager to get back into teaching but-'

Hallie paused. What if Amelia didn't take to the idea? What if she, like Hallie was, angry confused and heartbroken at seeing the husband she'd believed to have died. Moreover she'd had a longer relationship with the man before her, would that make her feel more betrayed and less inclined to accept the man she loved back into her life with open arms?

'-But I guess you'd have to talk to her first.'

Maybe the Cooper family was broken beyond repair.

"Your relationship with me does not have to hinge on whether your mother likes it or not," he said quietly. "You are a beautiful, grown woman who can certainly make choices on her own.  Hopefully, your mother comes around and can deal with me.  I'll do whatever I can to try to make it easier for both of you. I don't want you to have to divide yourself, and I do hope she can accept that I'm at least in the same country.  But I don't think I could stand losing you again."


He walked into the living room and found himself inspecting the table. That was probably the most promising thing he'd seen so far. It was a strong, hearty, well used table.  Some cleaning and a bit of polish, and the thing would be worth a great deal of money. Rustic farm tables like this were highly desired, and this one was strong enough to hold many feasts yet.  If anything ever did happen to him, all Hallie would need to do was sell this darned table, and she'd be provided for for many years to come.


"We'll keep the table," he said.  He listened to her talk about helping him clean and decorate it. "I'd like that," he smiled. "You know, if you left me to just my own devices, it would be clean but tacky. Really tacky.  Probably would end up looking like I'd gotten it all bin diving.  


"You know, this is the sort of place I had always wanted for us. I don't know why, but I just sort of thought a thatched cottage in a little village was just the sort of place I wanted for my family.  When you were small, though, it wasn't in our budget. Now, I just want it to be whatever we all need it to be."  Well, that was only partly true.  He did want it to be what Amelia and Hallie needed it to be.  But he needed them to consider it some sort of home too. Some sort of sanctuary where they all felt welcome.


"I've got the money now to make this whatever we want it to be," he said to her. "I'll get to Gringotts and make sure you have access to one of my accounts there so we can buy whatever the heck this is going to need. I'm just going to leave it to you for colors and style and...well, whatever keeps it from looking like a mancave. 

"Okay, now for the difficult part.  Where can I find your mother these days? I want to see her and try to talk to her, but I don't want to scare the living daylights out of her either.  I did consider sending her an owl first so that she doesn't end up thinking she's seen a ghost or something."

Hallie smiled at her Father's dreams of one day living in a cottage in a village. At first thought that seemed a peculiar thing to say given the fact that she'd grown up in a cottage in a village, but upon a closer look Hallie soon noticed the differences. Ambleside was hardly a cute village. It was packed with muggle tourists during the summer and in the winter everywhere was so grey and stoney that it could sometimes be a rather gloomy village to live in even with access to the nearby lakes and woods.

'Thank you.' Hallie, who had been standing in the corner of the room deciding what she could do with the place, replied. Already she was thinking of a neutral style with chocolate brown cushions and curtains, maybe have the wooden beams running around the ceiling painted a dark brown to match. The fireplace could do with a tidy up, fix the tiles, polish the coal tongues but that seemed somewhat fine besides that. Yes. Browns and neutrals would work. It'd give it a homey feel, which would be perfect for the little cottage. It'd certainly be more homey than Cooper Cottage with it's patterned wallpaper so dated it could be considered an antique.

'She'll probably be at home in the study.' Hallie replied. 'She was in Spain for a while but moved back a couple of months ago. She's working on a book at the minute so doesn't really leave the house apart from shopping or heading to Flourish And Blotts to buy some other books for referencing or reading over other peoples ideas.'

'I could go with you?' Hallie proposed. 'I wouldn't have to stay I could just prepare her, call you in then I could-' She pointed a thumb behind her back '-fly right back out and leave you both to talk.'

"I should have suspected that," He smiled. "She was always a bit of a bookworm.  Or at least moreso than I was.  Your mother was always so smart.  I liked that about her.  I used to wish I had her patience for reading books by the hour like that and being so disciplined about her studies, but I always preferred to be living the adventures than reading about them. Maybe thats why I was in detention and she was in study hall." He smiled.


"You could go with me," he said, nodding. "I don't have a problem with that. I just don't want her to think you were holding out on her if you knew and she didn't."  He thought deeply for a moment.  "Wait a second." 


He saw Michael was out in the yard with the dogs--presumably considering steaming them himself.  He stepped outside for a moment.


"Oi!" he called to Michael. "Could I have one of those roses in your dining room?"


"Uh...sure," Michael called back, floating one of the long stemmed red roses out of the vase and over to Rick.  


"Thanks," Rick said, going back inside.  He peeled a piece of the brown paper from the wooden keg.  He took the paper and the rose to the table.  He began pulling petals off the rose.  He tried to explain it to Hallie.


"I tried to impress your mother one time. I thought she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen.  And I was sure she thought I was pretty lame.  So, I wanted to send a rose to her.  Thought I was being pretty clever with a charm I'd learned.  Tried to send her a rose in a piece of paper. It was a chalk drawing of a rose that was supposed to lift off the page and transfigure back into a real rose. But when my paper got to her, all she got was just one freaking little rose petal. That and a smudge. What a class act, wasn't I? Well, I don't think either of us ever forgot that. 


"I used to send her just one petal every year on our anniversary.  And then I'd bring the flowers home with me when I got home from work."  


He tucked 13 petals in a scrap of the brown paper, and took a pen from his pocket.  "IOU 13 smudges--and one lifetime," he wrote and folded the paper closed. 


"Here," he said. "If she doesn't believe you. She'll believe this. Nobody else would understand it or know about it. She'd know this. I'll just owe her the rest of the roses later." After all, thirteen dozen roses was a heck of a lot of roses. He handed her the folded paper.


"I've missed her so much," he said. "I don't remember ever noticing a girl before I noticed her.  And I never noticed one after her.  Sounds like more fairytale, I know. But its true. I almost didn't ask her out, though, because she was so perfect, and I was just me.  Whatever that was. Zonkos and pranks and mischief.  I was good at that. Being suave? Not so much."

Hallie smiled too watching her Father remensice about her Mother. It was something she had never often heard, mostly because the conversation she had had with her Father hadn't been about the past, sure he would have told her bedtime stories about his adventures but they'd never gotten around to what he had been attracted to in his Mother.

They were probably a good pairing being somewhat polar opposites. Amelia kept Rick grounded whilst he softened her sharper edges. Although it had worked for her parents the same couldn't have been said for her own romantic like for her inability to be tamed and know when not to get too involved had broken Theodore and her and as for her previous relationships? Hallie had always been somewhat attracted to the outgoing personality. Maybe she was still yet to find that Amelia to reign her in.

'I'm sure she'll found out I knew and didn't tell her at some point.' Hallie sighed as her Dad called out to Michael for the roses.

Hallie giggled as Rick recited the tale of his rose. Still she was rather impressed and I'm sure her Mother would appreciated the effort, in fact, his incomplete magic made the whole gesture more humble in Hallie's eyes. It showed his vulnerability and here he was doing the same thing again to prove that he loved her and was wanting to make a start.

Hallie took the folded paper, not wanting to intrude and see what he'd written, and placed it into her coat pocket.

'Do you want to come with me?' Hallie asked. 'We could go now. I'll let you in with me and you can hide in the hallway whilst I tell her? Then, if she still doesn't believe me you can make your grand return.'

'It'll be a lot more of a happy romantic-comedy ending than her spotting you in an elevator.' Hallie joked, her lips pressing together into a grin.

Rick suddenly felt like he was that schoolboy again at the mere thought of seeing Amelia.  He could remember her scent, her soft skin, the brush of her hair against his cheek, and the sweet taste of her kiss.  It was indelible.  He had carried it with him all the years he'd been gone.  All the days and nights alone, he had pulled on his memories of her when it felt like utter madness from being torn from everything would overtake him.  It had been memories of Amelia that had made the unbearable tolerable again.  To actually see her again? Even if she rejected him? He hadn't been even able to hope it.

"I'm not dressed to see her...." he heard himself say nervously.  For a second, he wondered what the heck do you wear to see your wife once she believes you're dead?  Tux? Too formal. Suit? Casual? Wait--this wasn't a date.  "What if she doesn't ever want to see me again?" He sighed and looked at her.


"Sorry.  I just sounded like I was 12, didn't I? She may never ever know this, and this isn't the best time to tell her, but, Hallie, there was never ever one moment I didn't love her, never one night I wouldn't have died just to be home again with her and with you. I don't want to tell her that now and come across like its a lot of greeting card promises made too late. However it turns out, I will always, always love her."  


He took a big breath, summoning up courage.  This took more than it did to go to any duel, to take his life in his hands on some late night Unspeakable task.  But then again, the stakes were higher. This meant more. Far more.  Hallie was right, though. He didn't want Amelia to catch a glimpse of him by accident the way Hallie had.


"Let's go now," he said, needing to go before he changed his mind.  "I'll wait outside.  I'll go in if I'm welcome. But I'm afraid we'll need to go together since Michael still has my wand. You don't mind, do you?"


He offered her his arm, but wasn't able to offer her any more than wandless magic at the moment.  He realized he was, for the first time, putting himself into her hands, his daughter's hands.  He hadn't gotten to watch her learn to develop her magical skills as she grew up. Still, if Lupin had chosen her as an auror, then she surely was capable of a simple apparate or a port. Trusting Hallie? That, for some reason, wasn't a problem. Seen or not, her skills were not something he doubted.


"You don't think I ought to change first, do you?" he found himself second guessing himself again and asking her, as if what he wore was going to make a difference in Amelia's eyes.

In spite of the happiness Hallie had felt since accepting her Father's return all of that was beginning to deflate watching her Father ponder over whether Amelia would want to see him. As much as Hallie wanted to confidently nod and shake his insecurities from his mind the truth was Hallie didn't have an answer. She'd known her Mother all her life but the part that loved Robert Cooper not so much. There was a part of Amelia locked away from Hallie, from the world and the blonde had no clue as to whether the witch was willing to set that part of her free.

Hallie bit back the tears that could have easily gushed down her cheeks as her Father confessed how much her Mother meant to him. It had been a cheesy line, one that you'd have found in a muggle rom com that had found its way into a formulae guaranteed to make every woman's heart melt. The difference being Hallie wasn't wishing she had a man to sweep her from her feet like in the movies. Hallie was touched in a way nobody could describe, in a way that cemented her reason for being here. It wasn't a soppy film-ending sort of love, it was unconditional love, a kind of love that couldn't be emulated in a story.

However, as quickly as Rick's insecurities had gone they were back wondering if he needed to change. Hallie, personally, always liked to make an effort. Any occasion and the blonde would make sure she looked her best, seeing your wife for the first time in thirteen years being an occasion where she would have done just that.

'You look great.' Hallie quickly replied ignoring the specs of soil on his clothes from where he'd been gardening. As much as he probably should have gotten changed Hallie had no time to wait. There was a woman somewhere in a study needed to feel again and the sooner this rose-petal bombshell was dropped upon her the better.

Without giving her Father any more chances to find reason to put off his meeting with Amelia Hallie called 'Goodbye' to Michael, grasped her Father's wrist and crack. The pair had gone.

(Ooc: I'll make the thread with Amelia shall I? Or do you want to continue it in here?)

ooc: I think we can continue here.  after all, it would be in amelia's house anyway, right?

Rick felt the familiar whoosh and the pull of apparating.  He was glad it had been a smooth spell. There were times when apparating was just generally rough traveling, but this hadn't been it. 

He found himself standing on the street outside the house that he had once called home.  He remembered when he and Amelia had been house hunting, when they'd bought this place.  He couldn't believe she still had it.  They had deserved better--his wife and daughter, and he hadn't been able to afford it. He could afford it now, but money didn't matter now that he had it.

His thoughts were interrupted by a splat on his face.  And then another, and another...He looked up to see dark clouds overhead.  The splats continued. Rain. Fabulous.  Just fabulous.  This wasn't a greeting card reunion whatsoever, was it?

Why wasn't he wearing a suit? Carrying roses? Under a starry sky?  Crap. He looked down at himself. Jeans. A plain blue shirt...and what was that on his knee? Peat moss. Oh great.  He should have changed after all. And he hadn't shaved.  Well, perhaps she'd just see him as having the fashionable rugged look.  Not just off on his shaving schedule.

He felt like he had on his first date with Amelia. He'd questioned himself then too. He had wanted to chicken out then just like now.  And the best excuse he had was the same one he'd had then. He hadn't liked what he'd worn that first date any more than he liked the jeans with the little smudge on the knee.

Well, if the rain were any omen, he'd have a shot at the rain rinsing away the smudge before Amelia actually saw him.

"I'll wait here," he told Hallie, staring at the house.  "You're going to need a few minutes.  And, well, she deserves better than for me to hear her kneejerk reaction to all this. And if she doesn't want to see me,..." The truth was that he hadn't entirely prepared for that.  Now he was just improvising his words.  Looking for something that made sense. "If she's not ready to see me, I'll know," he said.  He wasn't sure where that statement had come from, but at one time, he would have known. He would have known her well enough to just automatically know how she'd respond, and he had known it well enough to finish her sentences.  

"It'll be fine," he told Hallie. And he did believe that. However Amelia decided her life needed to be, Rick was resolving he would learn to be okay with that.  Nervously, he lit a cigarette, trying to decide where to perch himself while Hallie was gone. As the smoke comfortably filled his lungs, he rethought it. What was he doing? Maybe Amelia didn't like guys who smoked anymore. He pitched the cigarette and crushed it under his foot, deciding that didn't make him very gentlemanly. Minerva McGonegall was right. there were times when he was still such a boy.