Raspberries are in Season

Welling up within the stomach of Theodore Rookwood was an impending sense of doom unlike anything he’d ever felt before. Even stood before his grandfather, a teenager, errant in his many less than savoury ways with the prospect of fathering a child to a Mudblood hanging over him like a dark, brooding cloud did not scare him as much as the prospect of entering the Order of the Phoenix as, essentially, a spy. He had been a cocksure little sod then and it felt like a former life. He could only imagine the age of the child now, providing it survived infancy as few Rookwood children were wont to do. Three, maybe four?

The thought was a little more real in hindsight, in seeing his cousin’s children, in seeing Elijah’s, in knowing he was having his own, legitimate heir. If the child was alive, perhaps it was an ever so slightly more terrifying eventuality than the Order ever would be but whereas the child could only attempt to threaten whatever fortune Theodore could accumulate, the Order of the Phoenix threatened his life and his family for he risked trading on Death Eater secrets he was meant to know given his pedigree but not given his involvement with them – it was a measured amount. Katrina-Carlotta needed to be informed.

Swallowing another mouthful of beer, Theodore let the knowledge that he’d been right all along digest within him. The fact that Hallie had been putting herself in unnecessary danger this entire time was one that didn’t sit well with him, especially given that his continued involvement with the Death Eaters was principally because he wished to keep an eye on Henry Yewbeam. Never mind Hallie doing her darndest to undermine it. Theodore set the bottle down and began to nod slowly, trying to find the words he meant to say.

“The Death Eaters are still active then,” Theodore said after a moment, pursing his lips. “And you… you’ve been quite active in the Order?”

He knew the answers. He could see it in her face. Shaking his head, Theodore pushed away from the counter and brought his arms around his wife, kissing her softly on the lips. He reached up and combed her hair back behind her ear.

“I should be so livid,” he murmured. “But I’ll forgive you so long as we can establish some kind of discourse about this. I really hate the idea of you running around doing crazy things without me watching out for you. I don’t,” Theodore inhaled a shaky breath. “I don’t want you to have to bend the truth, I want things to be open between us.”

And oh, the hypocrisy – the things we do for misguided love.

There was a silence. For a moment Hallie felt nervous, unsure on how her husband was going to react. For a moment he had appeared interested in the order, asking what they do. Hallie had though he had been on the verge of joining up, declaring his allegiance and embarking upon missions together. Yet if that was his intentions surely he would have jumped at the chance straight away, wouldn't he? After a swig of beer the silence broken.

'Fairly.' Hallie replied, no longer wishing to go into detail about how close she had been to getting fired after her promotion. If her husband knew then he'd demand that she break ties, stay at home and enjoy pregnancy. Enjoy pregnancy, what was there to enjoy in that? Her ankles were starting to ache and her cravings came at the most inconvenient of times.

Feeling Theodore pull her in Hallie's thoughts had been right. I’ll forgive you so long as we can establish some kind of discourse about this.. He'll forgive her? What on earth was that supposed to mean? Like she couldn't do what she wanted whenever she wanted, like she had disobeyed him? Who was he to tell her what she could and couldn't do? He was being protective, as usual.

'Theo, you don't need to look after me.' Hallie said, pulling out of the hug. 'I can handle my own.' She added with a smile before walking towards the oven, opening it and placing on a pair of oven mittens. Her craving was catching her up. She now needed the lamb more than she needed Theodore to understand. Hallie wasn't going to step back, take a more sedate role in the Order she wanted to make a difference and her over-protective husband wasn't going to change that.

It was still difficult to beat out a hundred years of prejudice and patriarchy after a man who bore the entire history of it. The idea that his wife could look after herself was an impossible one for him, still. It wasn’t that he doubted her abilities it was just that when he still thought of a wife he thought of someone who would spend his money, go to parties and bear his children. In his mind that was the sum total of what she was meant to do because that was what his mother and aunts had always done, what his grandmother had done and what his great-grandmother had done. It had never been any different but he supposed that had something to do with the fact that he had married a Half-Blood unlike his uncles, father, grandfather and great-grandfather who had taken to Purebloods as a natural par for the course in their lives. Hallie was different. She always had been. Always would be, too, he was sure.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Theodore went and grabbed a couple of plates from the cupboard. He set them down on the side and took the tray from her when she got it out, dropping it on the side and brandishing one of the knives and the prong from the block. He slowly began to cut into it, watching as the lamb just fell away and he lifted it onto their plates before straying back to the hob where he’d been warming through the ratatouille he’d made up earlier. With that put onto their plates they were ready to go and he set warming charms on both before lifting them over to the table where he’d set up the woven mats and cutler for them. He put the plates down and went back to the fridge briefly to get himself another beer before taking a seat down opposite Hallie.

“I’m just funny about you going behind my back about these things, Hal,” he told her gently, tossing the cap onto the table. “I want you to stay safe but you like to jeopardise that which drives me crazy. I guess I can relax a little now I know a bit I spose…” He pursed his lips together and shook his head, taking a sip of the beer before setting it down, looking at the food. “Is it alright?” He asked.

After removing the lamb from the oven and handing it to Theodore Hallie sat herself down at the table, a seat across from where Theodore would soon be sitting. Sure enough he was sat down and both had their meal before them. The smell was overpowering. Hallie's craving was at the point of explosion as the scent of the slow-cooked lamb seduces her senses. However she didn't begin to eat, instead watched as Theodore took a sip of his beer and shook his head. He really was a tricky one.

'Oh, everything's fine.' Hallie replied distractedly picking up her knife and fork and pushing the lamb (ignoring everything else on the plate) onto her cutlery and landing it into her mouth. Oh Merlin. That was wonderful. For a moment she forgot where she was, who she was, time stood still and all that mattered in the world was the taste of the rich mint flavour as it danced within the steak along her tongue. Then, her eyes caught sight of Theodore.

'It's wonderful.' She said after swallowing. 'You know if you're that worried about me you should just join the Order. You can keep an eye on me then, Theo.' She added playfully before taking another bite of the lamb and, once again, ignoring the other food on her plate.

It was an easy process: eating. Cut here, stab here, chew there. It was easy. What Theodore Rookwood was walking into wasn’t easy. He had his priors. He had his loyalties. Yet here sat his wife. Proud as punch and not a woman who should be trifled with. Yet neither were the Death Eaters. Caught, he was penned in with no options left to play out. He could pursue it aggressively. He could betray her at every turn and feed them with as much as he wanted to. Or, he could do nothing. He could sit and let it play out and consider his cards and then come down on a side when it mattered. He wasn’t prepared to play the kind of game that he had wormed himself into. He wasn’t man enough for it. Yet, here he was.

Swallowing a mouthful of food, Theodore washed it down with a swig of his beer. He continued to pick at the meat, it no longer appealing to him so much, and he eyed Hallie carefully, wondering if it was wise to act at all. He sat back a little, twisting a bit of lamb on his fork before bringing it to his lips. Chew. Swallow. Rinse. Repeat. The nervousness was beginning to really eek into his bones and nothing had even happened yet. Instead he threw down his fork, looked at her and reached out, drawing his hands across her wrist, tapping his nails idly against her wrist.

“Can I convince you to come away with me somewhere?” He asked gently. “I could steal away the villa in Spain for a few weeks and we could get away for five minutes to think about something else, maybe. What do you think?”

It took Theodore a while to respond, too long if you asked Hallie. Granted she was occupied by readily consuming the lamb on her plate but it didn't stop her from noticing Theodore's apprehensiveness. The way he played with his food as opposed to ate it like a respectful Rookwood. Perhaps she had touched a nerve suggesting that he join the Order. Maybe she would just have to accept that he wasn't going to accept her invitation after all.

Then a thought struck her. Why? It's not as if he has anything to lose, nor as if he is preoccupied with anything. All he ever does is tend to the garden, take a trip to Fleurish every now and then for a new plant. Then there is the beer, the whiskey, the cigarettes. Here her husband sits, an incredible chef, who does nothing with his time but treat his body like utter crap.

Just as Hallie was about to point this out, point out the Order would be perfect for him, Theodore's hand found its way across the table meeting with Hallie's. Her response wasn't mirrored. It seemed her mood had changed completely. Poor Theodore.

Dropping her own knife and fork (the lamb had been devoured already) Hallie sighed.

'You know I can't do that.' She began gently, 'I've just been promoted to an auror. It will look well me suddenly flying off to Spain. I've had to pull a few strings to get just the weekend off for my Mum's wedding. Then what with my Order duties.'

She paused. Hoping not to touch another nerve at the mention of the Order. Already she had mentioned it far too much, getting the impression it was a conversation Theodore would rather stay clear from.

'I love you.' She added, 'But I can't go on a holiday, Theodore.' Regretfully. Hallie really would love a few weeks with Theodore alone. No work. No order. Nothing but the two of them. But work was manic, mostly doing marriage law enforcement, but the Blood Pack was still out there and Hallie really felt as though she was on a lead with Gideon Pierce. She simply couldn't afford to pack up her bags and vanish for two weeks. If Theodore was part of the Order he'd understand, he would know the death eaters could launch an attack any moment. If only he knew...

A small shadow of disappointment flirted its way across Theodore’s features. He nodded, bringing another mouthful of lamb to his lips. Chew, swallow, mouthful of beer, repeat. He smiled a little after a moment, setting down his fork as Hallie rattled off the reasons for not going away with him. The declaration of love somewhat softened the blow but he still felt a little bit dejected. He would have thought that was the best option. It always was for Rookwoods. Rookwoods ran away from problems and he was totally and completely up for doing that.

“Keep an open mind,” he challenged, wiggling his eyebrows at her as he brought the beer to his mouth again. “Malaga is arguably the best place to be this time of year. A few days in Barcelona – couple of football games in between – shopping in Madrid then down to the seaside.” He chuckled then, recognising the absurdity of it given the demands that had been placed upon them both. He didn’t know what he had signed up for but he was already beginning to feel his hair grow greasier and his nose hook a little bit more. Snape was his future, it seemed.

It would always be difficult to remember that he hadn’t married a witch with nothing to do than indulge him. It would be a struggle to concede that yeah, she was a worker and he was, well, still a Rookwood. He played in the shadows. He waited out opportunities to climb to the top of the pile and he would never, ever do an honest day in his life so long as he remained part of that family – and crucially also, he would never do an honest day until he usurped his brother. But alas, that was family politics.

“I have business out there I need to attend to eventually anyway,” he pointed out with another swig of beer. “So, book a weekend – at least. It would be dreadful if I was in Spain on a beach with the lapping sea and hot sunshine on my face without you, love.” He grinned and left it at that, electing to return to his meal. He was content now, at least. Having dangled it in front of her – played dirty as it were – he was going to win the war eventually, he was sure, even if the initial battle had been lost. He could be very persuasive after all.

The idea did seem appealing. A relaxing weekend away in Spain with Theodore, lying on a beach and... Lying on a beach with a beach ball belly. No thanks. That idea didn't settle with her at all. Sure she would love to walk in the waves for a couple of hours, just the two of them, but there would be no lying on the beach for Hallie Rookwood in her pregnant state.

The rest of the holiday seemed appealing. A football game she didn't care for would be a great atmosphere to soak up considering Barcelona were supposed to be a good team, right? Then when shopping in Madrid they could look at baby clothes, perhaps by an item or two. - No more than that of course, they were living on a bit of a budget still.

'Fine.' Hallie sighed shutting her eyelids exasperatedly. Yet a smile had formed on her face, once again her husband had won her over. 'But it can't be until we're in August. I need to stick around a bit longer first.'

She didn't say anymore, the blonde simply continued to eat her food.