Eagles Belong Where They Can Fly

Keiran wasn't sure if Peter's reply was a challenge or an insult, but either way his frown deepened, nearly to the point where it looked as though that expression would never disappear from his face. He had to actively stop himself from flinching when Peter addressed him as 'kid,' as the word was all too familiar and too tied up in unpleasant memories from Hogwarts. Keiran wasn't a child anymore, regardless of the years that his brother had on him. He just wanted to know when the terrifying news regarding his family would come to an end.

When it came to his choice, Keiran didn't really have any inkling of what he would do. He half wished the ball was not in his metaphorical court, because then he could have left it all up to Peter and that would have been quite nice, actually. But he no longer had that option. Before Keiran had actually turned his attention on the others in the room, they had moved, leaving him in the entryway.

Bridget sank into her chair, glancing over at Darcie where the little one was nestled safely on the couch, then looked over at her son when he turned to seek them out with his gaze. He looked lost all over again, though perhaps not as dreadfully or completely as he had been after Aiden had passed. But his mother could sense a sort of anxiety pouring off of him in waves, and something told her that she had missed part of the story. There must have been some trigger that led up to Peter coming back, and there must have been something to cause the change in Keiran's expression when Millie walked back in.

He seemed almost relieved, somehow, to see her come back. And he wasn't looking at the coffee she had made, either. Something in the way he was watching her made the moment feel private, even if Melissa was oblivious to it, so Bridget couldn't help turning her gaze away.

Keiran, for what it was worth, didn't realize he was acting any differently, either. So he just blinked and straightened up when Millie spoke, finally moving from the foyer to join them. A part of him wanted to sit next to his mother, but she was leaning on the arm of her chair, and he felt it would be better to give her the space to explain, rather than getting in her face about it.

"He wasn't well, when he was little," she began suddenly, surprising him as he moved to sit next to Millie. Keiran's arm settled across Millie's shoulders but he kept his attention on his mother. "He was at a hospital when you were born, Keiran. We took you to meet him, but found out soon after that... he was gone."

"Gone?" Keiran cut in, unable to help himself.

Bridget just nodded, saying, "missing. They never found him. We had no choice but to assume he was dead. We didn't want you to have that as part of your childhood - losing a brother before you could even recognize him."

Keiran tensed against his wife, looking down at the coffee she had made. Somehow, he was almost amused by the fact that she remembered what he preferred, but he knew he shouldn't have been. Still, it was better, he thought, to focus on that instead of the fact that Bridget had yet again hidden something from him. Was that why his father had been distant? Why Aiden had always been so busy? His dad didn't seem the type to hide something so important without being told he had to, so it wasn't too difficult for Keiran to start piecing together what he knew.

Bridget's choice had affected Aiden, and that in turn had affected his confidence when it came to understanding a family and being part of it. He couldn't begin to imagine why she would want this for her (not only, but youngest) son.

"Missie," he murmured, only feeling a little bit bad for not drinking any of the coffee she had made. "I think we should go check on Liam and Kelly."

He couldn't quite meet her eyes, but he hoped she understood how distraught he still felt. He had hoped to come back, pick up Darcie, and return to the school to tuck in the kids and to make absolutely sure that his wife was okay. Keiran lifted his gaze to Millie's finally, hoping he didn't look too impatient or pained, even though he did feel like he was both of those.

In a funny sort of way, Millie almost felt out of place in that moment. She sank down into whichever seat she found first and looked into the murky waters of her tea, grateful in that moment that she had used bags rather than brewing them with fresh leaves. She didn’t think she could bear what she would find at the bottom of her teacup that evening. Perhaps tomorrow she would check just to be certain there wasn’t a Grim in her future or anything of the like. Regardless of her own personal thread of life, there certainly seemed to be a spectre hanging over the Hayes’.

She felt Keiran sit down beside her and she immediately leaned back against him. Her spare hand fell down to settle on his thigh and she found her gaze drawn back towards Darcie. Her mind continued to spin as she attempted to work out which junctures in her interactions with Peter made the connection between him and Keiran obvious. She wanted to peel back through her memories – although it would mean a trip home-home in order to fetch the pensieve - and try and work it out. She wanted to know why she hadn’t seen it before. But then, what would she have done if she had known, really? She couldn’t have told Keiran. He would have thought she was mad. Err, madder.

She glanced at her husband as she felt him seize up beside her and she drew her hand over to his, her fingers threading through his. It was a silent ‘I’m here’ that she felt he might have needed. When his gaze found hers, she nodded immediately. His request could have been anything in that moment and with the look in his eyes she would have heeded it. Squeezing his hand, she got to her feet and took their cups away. She was in the kitchen a few minutes, long enough to get rid of the liquid and clean out the cups by hand, sourly remembering that she had declined to take her wand with her. She knew that it would mean a trip to Ollivander’s tomorrow. She wouldn’t last long without it. Gideon would no doubt have some choice words for her.

When she re-emerged she was wiping her hands on her jeans. Had she had her wand, she would have given Darcie to Keiran but she knew it would be impractical given that he had to have a hold of them both and be able to apparate. She leaned down, shooting Bridget an apologetic look as she did so, and carefully lifted their infant up into her arms, mindful of the fact that she was sleeping. Darcie shifted of her own accord, letting her head fall into the crook of her mother’s neck. Millie held her breath but their little one carried on sleeping. She released it slowly through her mouth and she then crossed back over to her husband, her stray hand coming down to take hold of his.

“Thank you, Bridget,” Millie murmured, offering her a small smile as she made the mental promise to visit her mother-in-law in the coming days when she had a free afternoon – even if it was only for a quick cup of tea and a natter. She felt absurd for just leaving like that.

When they left, it took only a moment before they materialised once more – this time in Scotland, in Hogwarts, where it was safe. Bean leapt up from where he was laid in his basket by the hearth and bounded towards them. He didn’t bark, blessedly, but he wagged his tail a mile-a-minute and Millie, absurdly, felt as though it was going to fly off and break the vase of flowers that she had put on the mantelpiece just the other day. Yeti, equally blessedly, was asleep in the arm chair beside Bean’s bed, the little elf curled up underneath a purple blanket.

The door to the twins’ room opened then and any fear that had begun to leak into Millie’s heart subsided when her gaze found a very weary looking Theodore holding an uncannily alert Kelly in his arms. Her face lit up when she spotted her parents and she immediately jutted her arms out for Keiran, leaning over dangerously in Theodore’s arms.

“Ah, Merlin. Think fast, dad,” he chuckled, hauling her back up before she toppled. Theodore then lifted her up under her arms and handed her over to Keiran. She smiled contentedly and let her head fall to his shoulder, her eyelids growing suddenly quite heavy.

“They’ve been bathed and fed,” Theo informed them, watching with a wry expression as Liam toddled out of the room, dragging a blanket behind him. “Although, they didn’t seem to have any intention of sleeping until you came in,” he said, addressing Millie as he leaned down to pick Liam up. He looked to his cousin and smiled a little.

“Glad to see you back at Hogwarts, mate. Now, I won’t keep you. You probably want to get the babies down to sleep and I’ve missed my baby’s bedtime so …” He set Liam down and immediately he reached for Millie’s leg, winding his arms around her. “Ahh, mummy’s boy,” Theo teased. Theo chuckled and leaned in to kiss her cheek before pressing kisses to his fingers and tapping each child gently on the cheek. “Right. Love you,” he enthused, mustering a smile for all of them.

Then, he took his leave, and as soon as the portrait door closed, it was just them – their little family together again.

“Are you okay?” Millie asked, her lips finding Keiran’s shoulder. “I guess he was in a hurry to leave. Can’t blame him,” she smiled a bit, knowing that if she was in Theo’s shoes she would have been antsy to get home to Mai and Esme, too. “Are you going to go to sleep, Lee, or are you staying up with us?” Liam looked up at his parents with a toothy grin, affirming what Millie already knew. The boy was wide-awake. His sisters, however, were not nearly so stubborn and Kelly was already half off into dreamland. “In our room then, you great lummox. You know the drill.”

Liam released Millie’s leg and gathered up his blanket before hurrying off through the open door that led into his parents’ room – although, since Millie had been back at Hogwarts it was really hers. She heard the flump of the bed moving as he dropped onto it having climbed up the duvet and she shook her head with a smile. That night would be a little different from what Liam and Kelly had gotten used to since being back at Hogwarts.

When one or both of them were refusing to sleep, Millie had her strategy. They’d get a bottle of milk and would get to go in her bed and they’d have cuddles and a movie and often they wouldn’t make it ten minutes in before they dropped off to sleep – and Millie was getting worse and worse at making sure that they ended up back in their room, whichever one it was on any given evening. She knew it had turned into a little bit of a game but in truth she didn’t mind – especially on the weekend when the three of them could be in there, snoring away – with even Bean at the foot of the bed and Narcissa curled up beside the dog. All that had been missing was Keiran. And now he was home. Millie almost couldn’t believe it.

“C’mon,” she murmured, reaching up to brush her lips against his cheek. “Let’s get these two snuggled down. Then we can see about getting the little man of the house to get his nap in, too.”

Oddly, Keiran didn't feel very bad about leaving so suddenly. He felt rather betrayed, honestly, so he was glad to return home to people that he felt, above others, he could trust. That was more or less up in the air sometimes, admittedly, but part of that was Keiran's own fault. He sent Theodore a grateful look, but wasn't entirely sure how to respond once he had Kelly safe with him. He ducked his chin to kiss the crown of Kelly's head, letting his nose settle in her hair as he would've done with Millie.

"Will be," Keiran replied quietly, hesitant to surprise Kelly and wake her up all the more now that she was finally starting to accept that it was bed time.

After Liam ran off, Keiran started towards the little nursery that was set up for the kids. He settled Kelly into her little bed, smiling a bit to himself when she clung onto his hand. Once she started to relax, he wiggled his fingers away gently, doing his best not to disturb her. Darcie, too, he wanted to avoid waking, so he let Millie settle her in while he went to check that Liam wasn't up to no good.

Entering the bedroom he hadn't slept in for a month now, he found the little boy on their mattress, bouncing and toying a bit with his own feet. Liam looked up as his father entered, doing his best to stand and reach out for the bed post in order to hold himself up. "Heya, mate," Keiran greeted. Liam smiled in return, and Keiran couldn't help but think, He's safe. He's alive. All of his children were. His wife was! It was almost amazing, somehow.

"I have an idea," Keiran said, crouching down enough to be at eye level with his son. "How about you hide on that side of the bed," he pointed to the side blocked from view for anyone coming in through the door, "and we'll surprise mum. Okay?"

It was probably Keiran's grin that convinced Liam to go with it, but the father wasn't quite sure. Either way, the boy nodded and Keiran helped him down, at which point he toddled around to the other side and sat himself down with a laugh. Gesturing for the little boy to be quiet, he turned around in time to look fairly casual when Millie walked in, likely intent on getting Liam to sleep as soon as possible. He didn't leave time for her to realize their little one was hiding, though. He crossed the room to meet her, one hand finding her hip while the other curled around her neck, and drew her into a thorough kiss. When he found himself desperate for air, he pulled back but caught her lower lip between his teeth briefly, as he used to.

"I'm so glad you're safe," he told her by way of explanation. "We all are. But Liam," he murmured between breaths, "is hiding behind the bed. If you pretend to be surprised, maybe we can just scoop him up and plop him on the bed."

There was a beautiful sort of silence to the rooms that belonged to the Divination professor. It was one that should have come with the crackling of a fire. It was the soundlessness of peace. It was exactly what their little home had needed. Since the new term had started, understandably the witch had struggled. It was part of the reason why Yeti had been so drawn to the trio. She had brought some order where there had been chaos. It was the only reason why the rooms were clean and why Millie hadn’t entirely gone grey prematurely. The witch had a lot on her plate for one person and she wasn’t quite old enough and wise enough to handle it all as deftly as her husband.

Having him home would give Yeti the break that the elf probably desperately needed. After all, there was only so much of a stressed diviner and two raucous children one elf could take. Having him home, too, was exactly what Millie knew she needed, too. Just having him there as part of the setting was already cheering the witch up. Even the dog understood how at a loss she was once the twins had been put to bed (on an evening when they were complying with bedtime regulations) and she’d finished or grown bored of marking the scripts. Just having the company would be enough to rouse her spirits – and stop her watching reality TV and discussing it with Narcissa and Bean.

Knowing her nursery, the proverbial nest, would be full again also set a little firecracker of happiness bouncing around within one of the chambers of her heart. As she laid Darcie down with the upmost of care and drew the sheets loosely about her daughter, Millie couldn’t help but feel that this was entirely the way it should have been. But she knew that it wasn’t for Darcie’s or Kelly’s or Liam’s sake that she felt that way. It was entirely her own. Knowing that they were all there for her to fret over, to laugh with and to love made her impossibly happy. She hadn’t wanted Keiran and Darcie to go simply because she needed them. Only, she’d never been able to say as much to him. Having them there, though, made it all very clear.

Once she had kissed both of their daughters, mindful not to be too firm and wake them, Millie flicked on the nightlight and retreated slowly from the nursery, bringing the door to but not quite closing it. She yawned as she padded into their bedroom, her desire to slip under the brightly coloured duvet of her bed now entirely overwhelming her. She didn’t think she would have the heart – or be awake long enough – to scoop Liam back up and take him into the nursery that evening. Sleep was going to be the best medicine for the kind of adventures they had been on.

When she entered the bedroom with the sole intention of grabbing her pyjamas and getting into bed, she nigh had the wind knocked out of her when Keiran kissed her. It took Millie only a few seconds and then she was wide awake once more, eagerly returning the kiss as she wound her arms around his neck. It was a proper sort of kiss, the one that stole her breath away and left her feeling dizzy and satisfied afterwards. She smiled up at him, dropping her arms down to his waist, and she leaned in, hugging him tightly for a few moments before lifting her head to go in search of their son.

“I love you,” she breathed.

Diligently having listened to his father, Liam was crouched waiting for his mum. Millie smirked at Keiran and then crept over towards the bed. Liam shifted a little, preparing to spring up on his mum. Millie’s grin only grew as she came closer. She glanced over her shoulder at Keiran, her eyes alight with mirth, and then she bounced onto the bed, half sort of vaulting the footboard.

“Where’s Liam?” She called out, a giggle in her voice. Liam covered his mouth to stifle his own laughter. “Where’s my baby gone, hm?”

“Boo!” Liam shot up into the air, throwing his arms up as he let go of his laughter and grinned at his mother.

Millie gave a quiet shriek and pulled the duvet over her head, pretending, herself, to hide. She felt the duvet pull a little bit as Liam endeavoured to climb and then she couldn’t help but smile at the little weight that settled on her back as he finished climbing Mummy Mountain. Millie drew out an arm and wound it around herself, patting around absently for Liam. When she found him and caught hold of some of his shirt she pulled him down off of her and threw the duvet back with a triumphant “ah-hah, gotcha!”

Millie flopped onto the mattress and tugged Liam into her arms, wrapping him up tightly, her lips finding the top of his head. He wriggled a bit in order to lift his head and Millie smiled at him, drawing some of his hair, which was in need of a cut again, back away from his eyes. He had quite the unruly mop, indeed. She kissed him again and released him, letting him settle on the mattress beside her. Millie then got to her feet and drew the duvet around their baby before wandering over to the tall chest of drawers to get a fresh set of pyjamas.

“Shirt or just boxers?” She asked, opening the drawer that still had some of Keiran’s pyjama-ish clothes inside. Well, they were technically in a sort-of-kind-of-way hers, too, because the pyjamas she had on her arm were composed by a pair of stripy shorts and one of his tops. Some things never changed.

Once they were both changed, they could set about getting their little wriggler to sleep, too. Liam was still wide awake, though noticeably content where he was snuggled. Millie pulled her hair out of its pony-tail and brushed it through with her fingers before hopping into bed, stealing back some of the duvet from their son. She shoved some of covers over to Keiran, the weighted duvet, well prepared for winter now, not quite as manoeuvrable as the summer one, and then pushed Liam in towards his father, snuggling up to Kieran and drawing her top arm around both her boys.

“Are you going to go to sleep now?” Millie asked, looking down at Liam who seemed very happy indeed given as he was in the middle of both of his parents’ cuddling embraces. He shook his head, even though the warmth of the bed was already giving him a dreamy expression. Millie laughed and lifted her head, leaning up to gently kiss Keiran. When she pulled away, she let her head drop next to his, in the slight dip between his pillow and her own and she reached up to skirt her fingers across his cheek.

“Thank you, Keiran,” she murmured, her gaze finding his. “For tonight, for being you, for loving me, for saving me, for everything. Tonight was terrifying and I really, really needed you and I don’t know how I could have done any of it and come out unscathed without you. I just … I want you to know that. I want you to know how much it meant to me. And, and … how much you mean to me.”

As Millie moved away to go along with his and Liam's game, the Slytherin grad leaned himself back against the wall of their bedroom, crossing his arms casually over his chest. A smile curved his lips, broadening very suddenly when Liam jumped out. A low chuckle escaped and he pushed off of the wall to sit himself on the mattress beside Liam when Millie got up. "Just," he replied lightly, half wondering what would have happened if Liam had gone to bed, or if they had gone to his instead. Not that he wished they had, of course, considering he preferred the knowledge that everyone was safe and within a few feet of his room or less. Or, well, of Millie's room.

Keiran wasn't sure if he still felt strange about that or not. There was something a little funny about it, of course, but they were both changing, and he needed to allow himself to move on.

It seemed like Liam was already nodding off by the time Millie drew his attention back to her. As she spoke, he inched closer, one arm gently settling across Liam so he could brush the tips of his fingers along her middle. He pressed his forehead against hers, lifting his chin a little so he could nudge her nose with his.

"What was I supposed to do?" Keiran asked, his voice quiet enough to mirror hers. "Just stand there and watch? You didn't know they would be there." Suddenly he pulled back a bit and furrowed his brow at her. The hand at her side curled properly over her hip as if to ground himself to her. "Missie, I... You know I wanted to come back, right? I just... the time apart, it was helpful, and I think that the flat will be useful now and then. So I don't want to sell it. It's got a lot of history, that place. But, I... It's a good place to work, but it's not home. And, I know that we have the house in Galway, which we haven't had a lot of time in. But it isn't really home yet. We need to.. to give it a name or something, and spend the summer there, and maybe Christmas, too, now that I'm not required to stay. But for now, I think that home is with you, and with the kids, and I just want to come back."

Keiran looked down at the top of Liam's head and sighed. "I'm glad that I went, because it changed things. But I don't want to be gone all the time anymore. Sometimes, for work, it wouldn't be too bad." His gaze flicked up to meet hers. "But I miss you."

“I know,” she murmured, lifting her lips into a sweet smile. “But it was worth a thank-you, I think. I thought they wouldn’t be there. I don’t know why they were. When everything was agreed, we didn’t think that we were being overheard. It was meant to happen without problems. I don’t know why it didn’t.”

It was a fact which would plague the witch in the next few days. She wanted to know why they had been found because she knew she no longer had Stephen on her tail. She wondered if Urien knew about it. It was inevitable that she and him were going to meet again. Now that the cat and mouse game had begun, they would eventually come together once more. She would keep that question amongst the other she had for him.

Keiran’s words stole Millie from the beginnings of her brooding over the subject. She would have all day tomorrow to consider it. She focused her eyes on him and she watched his face move as he spoke, his voice moving reverently over his words. She wanted to remember him like this, home, safe, in her bed with their son between them. She wanted to remember him in the low light of beside lamps and she wanted to remember this night, for all of the good it would bring.

“When people leave, they always seem to leave for good. They have done as long as I can remember and at the time I didn’t see why this would be any different. History hasn’t dictated that there are any exceptions to this rule so when you said about it I didn’t hear ‘temporary.’ It felt final and I just … I just panicked.” She looked down, a little bit of shame, colouring her cheeks.

“I’m glad you got to have that,” she told him, honesty thick in her voice as she lifted her head once more. “I don’t … I don’t really want you to go again, either, really. Not … not like you did. Sometimes for work would be okay,” she added the last bit absent-mindedly, an echo of what he had said more than anything else. It wasn’t really a permission-granting sentence. None of it was up to her. Not really.

“I missed you more,” she expressed with a widening smile. “I’m rather sick of the dog being my teammate. I need you back.”

At that moment, the bed dipped and onto the bottom half climbed the said dog. Millie lifted her head and watched as Bean settled down, laying over their feet on top of the duvet. He set his head down on his paws and Millie laughed a little, dropping her own onto the pillow once more. Liam shifted and turned, snuggling into Keiran who was, by far, the warmest of them all. There was also something deeply reassuring about his presence. Having him home was, and would always be, the best thing for them. They all knew it and even the dog wanted to be nearby.

“I think we should let our baby stay,” Millie murmured, drawing her fingers through his hair. “His bed will be too cold now.” She had a feeling that as soon as he was put in the cold crib, Liam would wake and fuss and there would be no getting them back to sleep unless he was with them. She was happier to have him there, too, in truth. Having her family home lightened her heart and that knowledge let her drift into a peaceful sleep, her arm draped over her husband’s.

(OOC: Move the thread to wherever you like, sweetpea!)

"I'm sorry, you want me to what?"

Oliver sat on one side of the square table located in Millie's (and now, again, Keiran's) rooms at Hogwarts. Across the surface of said table was a series of documents that Keiran had not-so-subtly demanded from the Ministry. Poor Carenza, of course, had been forced to actually deal with Keiran for once instead of getting his surprised but at least vaguely playful side. At the diagonal from Oliver's seat, Keiran was sat in his chair, but his posture was rather strange.

Although Keiran was clearly glad to be back with his family, there was something stiff and angry, especially in the way he sat up too straight, and in the lines of his face as he frowned deeply. Oliver couldn't help but return the expression, though, because he didn't fully understand why the dark-haired man in front of him felt that this was the best choice.

"Have you asked Millie about this?" he added, cutting Keiran off when he began to lay out his request once more.

Keiran's jaw clenched for a moment, and he looked away before replying with the obvious answer. "No. Not yet." Turning to look back at Oliver, though, he continued, "I wanted to make sure it was possible before worrying her with it."

Oliver sighed, but nodded. He could understand that feeling. He did know, however, that it had backfired spectacularly when he had tried to do so with Alice. "Listen, mate. With everything that's happened lately, especially because of what Swan caused," he ignored Keiran's guilty wince, "I don't know that I actually have the resources you think I do. Most of them don't even consider me to be in any sort of position of power." Oliver's hand came up to rub at the back of his neck, his disappointment plain.

"I thought you had a way to fix that," Keiran put in, surprising Oliver. Had he said that? Maybe during that poker game in Keiran's flat a little over a month earlier. Oliver couldn't recall.

Instead, he just shrugged and turned his attention down to the pages in front of him. Rap sheets, all of them. "Does Krum know you've done this?" he asked finally, his hands moving them around so he could look at each one individually.

"Yes, of course," came the reply. "But we have only interacted a few times outside of the deal with the school two years ago. At work, we each have our own office and, essentially, I don't know that he cares what the rest of us do."

Oliver couldn't tell if it was Keiran not wanting to be turned down when he asked for help, or if it was something else, but the tone in the other man's voice made him look up and pull his eyebrows together. "You know Millie won't be angry with you for needing help, right? Is that why we've met when she's teaching?"

Keiran's already dark gaze hardened, and Oliver knew he was right. Sighing, he went on before his friend could become too angry with him. "Listen, her class gets out in five minutes. I'll stop in and see how the kids' naps are going, but you need to write Elijah a letter. Now. And then when she gets here, you have to explain. You know what happened when I tried to go around Alice. Even though it was meant to help, it's never good to deal with her problems yourself. Especially if she doesn't know."

With that, Oliver stood and left Keiran sitting at his table. Although the author did intend to make sure that none of the Hayes children were having any sort of trouble, he kept his chin turned towards the kitchen. After a moment, the chair scratched its way across the floor and Oliver heard Keiran rummaging for a piece of parchment. Good. Oliver smiled to himself, glanced in the room one more time, then pulled the door nearly to, but not quite. When he returned to the kitchen, he found the Hayes patriarch writing a request for Eli's help. Next to that piece, there was a second blank one, confusing Oliver though he didn't ask.

Just before Millie came through the door, Keiran had sent off both letters. One to the Ministry, and one to his brother.

A rather confused first year passed the Divination professor in the hallway. He looked, his eyes bugging out of his head, and shook himself as he passed her, trying to convince himself that he was going a little bit mad. He did a double take but sure enough there was the Divination professor in yoga pants and a matching jumper, walking down the hallway as though nothing was amiss. It would bother the first year for the rest of the day until he overheard from a seventh year Divination student what had gone on that morning. And what was it? Well, yoga of course.

Millie Hayes’ usually rambunctious seventh years weren’t very perky when they came into her classroom that morning. One of them wearily explained that they were in the middle of Potions coursework which was unusually horrendous and all of them were suffering. Millie quickly deduced that the last thing they wanted was to do Divination that morning. She knew they were dedicated and so she rushed off to go and make copies of her notes which they would need to flesh out at a later date, although it would tide them over for a few weeks until the coursework was over. When she returned, she had the best de-stress method in mind.

Hence, she was wearing yoga pants. Although, they did show off her bum quite well! That’s always a plus.

It wasn’t her last class of the day by any means. She had third years for her last class but that wasn’t until late into the afternoon when tea leaves were the last things she really wanted to be arguing with them about. It wasn’t that they were badly behaved at all but when they were hardly the most cooperative of kids at the end of a long day. She couldn’t blame them, really. So, today she was going to take some biscuits and sit with them and try and get some life back into them. Maybe she’d take a whole tin of biscuits – and perhaps some cake.

She was still mulling over dessert ideas when she came back to the rooms. She let herself in and Bean immediately hopped up to greet her, excitedly wagging his tail.

“Hello you,” she grinned at him, scratching his head between his ears. “I’m back!” She sang, lifting her voice just loud enough for it to carry but not so loud that she would interrupt any naptimes.

Wandering away from the living room, she stepped into the kitchen with the dog on her heels, pleasantly surprised to find Ollie there.

“Ah, bonjour monsieur,” she laughed, making her way round to Keiran. “Aaaaaand, my French ends there. How’re you, Ol?”

She leaned down and pressed a kiss to Keiran’s cheek. “Hello, handsome. You look quite serious. Has something happened?”

She lifted her gaze, glancing over at Ollie, hesitance flashing over her features.

“Does, um… does anyone want anything to eat?” She offered half-heartedly, already beginning to turn her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Je voudrais bien se plaindre, mais je ne pense pas que cela aiderait tout le monde, ne serait-il?"

Keiran didn't even bother pretending to understand Oliver when he replied to Millie in rapid French, but it was almost funny how casual the younger man was being about it. His tone, though different innately when he spoke his native language, was more rushed than playful. Despite Oliver's lower voice and quick reply, it was clear that he was aiming to be polite to Keiran's wife and Alice's friend.

As for the Ministry man, he feigned casually resting his hand over the stack of papers in order to block them from view until he explained. When Millie approached, however, his free hand fell from the back of his chair so he could draw his arm about her waist. Keiran looked to Oliver at her next question, and neither of them seemed to want to take her up on the offer.

"We're fine, Mills," Oliver replied, this time in English. His smile was oddly apologetic when it was sent Millie's way, but he added on, "I can put something together for you, though, if you want?" Then he acted like he hadn't noticed Keiran's grateful expression before aiming for the cabinets in case she agreed.

Keiran used the arm around her side to give Millie a tug the blonde into his lap. He didn't even notice the uncomfortable look that flashed over Oliver's features because he was too busy trying to decide how best to explain what was happening. The arm that had curled across her back was now holding her to him as he sat his chin on her shoulder. "I asked Oliver to come by in hopes of convincing him to help me go after those men from the museum."

Keiran lifted his hand from the papers, gesturing towards them with a lift of his chin. "But he thinks we ought to enlist more help. So I'm waiting to see if anyone will show up. Sent a couple letters a few minutes ago." Lowering his voice, he continued with, "this is okay, right? I'm trying to make you feel safe and make sure our kids will be safe. I just want the problem to go away."

“Do I have to pay for subtitles?” Millie asked with a laugh as Oliver replied to her. It went entirely over her head. The only thing that kept her from being pitifully monolingual was her great-grandmother’s insistence in speaking to her in Irish Gaelic. French, however, was woefully beyond her. It had been just over a decade since she’d last learned any and she imagined that the only full sentence she could manage would be to tell Ollie that she had a dog called Bean. That wasn’t particularly appropriate, though.

“I’m a little bit peckish,” she admitted, adding quickly, “it’s okay, though, I can—“

Her words dropped off as Keiran pulled at her and a bright smile lifted the sides of the blonde witch’s lips as she slid into her husband’s lap. She dipped her head into his neck, inhaling his sweet and spicy scent as she brought her mouth in a kiss to his skin. She was not going to take for granted the ability to come home in the afternoon and find him there. Even though she could sense the tension, she was not going to let it get in the way of the fact that she had the ability to loop her arms loosely around his neck and lean her head against his if she so wanted. The fact that she could do it, that she could have him like this, saw butterflies multiply excitedly in her belly – and this was entirely platonic.

“Missed you,” she murmured to him, despite the absurdity of saying so. It had only been a few hours since she had, finally, extricated herself from him and from their bed.

In a funny sort of way, it didn’t surprise Millie that Keiran would want to make a beeline after Urien’s museum lackeys. It surprised her that he would choose to do so, so soon, though. Her eyebrows rose in a faint showing of that emotion but her face settled quickly into an appreciative smile. He certainly knew how to use his ministerial connections. True, she should have used her own, but it was a miracle to get the witch the consent to the few people who were already helping her, let alone asking Robert to get involved. It being at Keiran’s behest was easier for her to stomach, somehow. The fact that she wasn’t doing it on her own and that he had a game plan, settled all of the worry that had been lurking in the back of her head.

“Good thinking, Batman,” she approved, popping a kiss to his cheek before turning to look at the pages spread out on the table. She picked up one of the ones on the surface and smirked a little bit as she inspected the mugshot. “Phil could never take a good picture,” she commented idly, setting it down. She paused as a thought ran through her mind and she rifled through the pages before pulling another out of the pile, setting it down next to Phil’s sheet.

“Wesley,” Millie shook her head. “Mind these two. They’re not listed as brothers. Same father, different mothers. Grew up next door to each other, if you can even believe it. They do everything together but …” She frowned a little. “Wesley was there that night, in the museum. I don’t remember Phil being there, though.”

“That’s because Philip Davis is in my custody, and has been for some time now.”

Lifting her gaze, Millie stiffened in surprise at the sight of the Deputy Minister stood, clad in an expensive, grey suit, with his hands loose in his pockets. Beside him, incongruously dressed in red plaid and a pair of old, faded blue jeans and scuffed converse trainers, stood Peter, a man who, of all people, Millie had least been expecting to walk in through the door. In front of the two men was a hesitant looking Yeti, who had obviously answered the door.

“How did you manage to get Phil and not Wesley?” Peter asked, leaning against the doorframe, unconsciously echoing Millie’s thoughts.

“Well, Phil isn’t the clever one, is he?” Elijah commented with a wry smile. “I borrowed him. He’s on a drugs charge, anyway, and I wanted to get the supplier.”

Elijah came to sit down and popped open his blazer. His eyes strayed and he offered a nod to Oliver. Elijah’s history with the Order was a colourful one but he had nothing against the man whom the whispering grapevine had informed him was in charge. Peter stepped into the room, signalling Yeti’s retreat back into the living room, but didn’t move to sit, instead opting to hesitantly stand by the wayside.

“You have chosen an eclectic mix of people, Hayes,” Elijah commented idly. “Forgive me if I don’t understand why you’re here, though, Howard.” Elijah’s eyes flicked to Peter, who was currently being sniffed by Bean.

“No, I was wondering the same thing,” Peter admitted, dropping his arms to his sides. “Given everything.”