You could never be alone in the Wizarding World. Everyone was in everyone else’s business usually. But somehow, for eleven years Elijah and Jamie had managed to pass right by each other. It was a wonder that he’d managed not to see her at Diagon Alley. His family, the boys in particular, were never quiet when they arrived at Diagon Alley and a reporter from this, that and another was always interested in what he was up to for some strange reason. He was a Krum sure, but he kept his personal life close to him. It wasn’t left discarded somewhere for the tabloids to pick up. He’d grown up; he wasn’t as careless as he had been.
Perhaps that was why he was so calm and easy within his family. Sure he was hard on the boys but they deserved it 90% of the time. They were mischievous by heart and Elijah tolerated it but not in public. It was embarrassing for him and for his girls and their little fragile emotional states were the ones he paid the most attention to. The boys were too young to understand. Alice had lost her mother before she even knew her properly, Fauve lost the woman she was beginning to trust and the boys...well they came around long after Mira’s death. They helped fill the hole that Mira had made bigger but only with their mischief. It stopped Elijah from thinking about her – about the two of them.
A short gust of air left Elijah’s mouth and he looked down at his daughter. Her mercury eyes met his and flashes of Mira and Alice changed what he was seeing. Elijah put a hand to his temple and closed his eyes momentarily before picking his daughter up. She was a little bit big and she was probably embarrassed by him at times but she was a Krum. If she couldn’t bounce back then she’d have her brothers behind her. The boys had their hearts in the right place but they were awful to their sisters sometimes. Elijah was convinced that they’d decided that no one could torment their sisters but them and even if it was a bit backwards in logic, Elijah was glad for it.
“Oh, yeah,” Elijah felt his cheeks heat up slightly and he pushed some of Alice’s hair out of her eyes. The little girl blew a piece of hair up and it flopped back down onto the bridge of her nose. Eli chuckled and curled it behind her ear before gently putting her back down on her feet. “I guess I have a lot of time on my hands now so I guess apart from making sure Cepheus and Caelum don’t kill themselves I have nothing else to do but paint. Arnold is...very pleased.” Elijah wished he was as pleased with his progress as the art dealer was. Arnold was overjoyed that Elijah was turning something out regularly. Elijah was glad the man was happy but his art had taken a darker turn since Mira had died. Not that Arnold or anyone else had noticed. Elijah still used models so as far as they were concerned it was all the same. They didn’t look at the colours, they only saw the girls.
Cepheus and Caelum ran into the little circle that had been created and jumped in front of Elijah as if they were treading on hot coal. Except they weren’t in pain, they were grinning like idiots. A small smile lit up Elijah’s face and he raised an elegant eyebrow at the boys. “Fauve has a boyfriend!” Caelum burst first. That was different. The smile dropped from Elijah’s face and he swallowed. So his little girl really was growing up. “Dad? You okay?” Cepheus asked tentively, ever the more sensitive one. Elijah nodded once and took a few Galleons out of his pocket and handed them to the boys. The twins exchanged grins and Elijah ruffled their hair. “Keep it for the train, boys.” He joked, knowing that it was unlikely that they would. They’d spend it on something and then come back for more just before the train left.
The ebony-haired boys scuttled off, this time dragging Alice with them, saying something about her meeting their friends. Elijah rolled his eyes but he was infinitely glad the boys were around. They kept him sane even if they liked wearing holes in his bank account. It wasn’t as if those holes wouldn’t be filled again though with added extras at the end of each month, though. Maybe the idiots that bought his paintings weren’t as bad as he’d originally thought. They gave back what his mercenary sons took. Elijah looked sideways at the person who had spoken and realised that it was Keith. He’d changed, Elijah noted. But hadn’t they all?
“Indeed,” Elijah replied smoothly. “It is ironic that old friends are brought together again by children.” He said thoughtfully. Well, Keith hadn’t exactly been a friend...more of a face in the halls of Hogwarts that popped up every so often. Still, it was nice to see a familiar face.
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