Joining, once more, as one.

Everything was clicking into place, at least in Elijah’s mind. The thing he wanted the most currently was just to ground all of them down somewhere so they could work. Rob was right. To have something stable, to have a foundation to work from was the best way to begin. Chase seemed content to let him go nuts with it. It was a plot of land so far, surrounded by a large forest inhabited by all manner of creatures. He knew it was devoid of werewolves, vampires and anything else potentially sinister, though. One thing it did house that could possibly be problematic were Centaurs but Elijah felt the he could get on the right side of them.

One path led through the forest, winding down until it broke free and emerged onto luscious fields were livestock grazed. If you continued down there was a small Muggle village. It had everything someone would ever need. A butcher’s, a grocer’s and other attributes formed the village. It was simple town with an old style. It was one that they wouldn’t necessarily have to depend on. One thing that had made Elijah’s mind up was the chocolaterie. It was gorgeous. It was filled with chocolate, white, dark, milk – some filled with caramel others with nuts. Elijah had literally fallen in love with the place. He knew that the food shopping would never be done, not if he got within eight metres of the chocolaterie.

Elijah squeezed her hand. He released it from his grasp and edged closer to her. He wanted to play with her hair again, like he’d done before. His desire to get things as authentic as possible had caused this. Frankly though, he didn’t care. He was glad this had happened. It wasn’t ideal but it was a child, his child, another life. That was an accomplishment. Creating life was special. They’d done it, the potion being proof enough of that. It was an odd way of looking at it really. He’d done this, quite possibly ruined her life, and he was glad.

“It’ll be done,” He promised, smiling with her.

He listened to her three questions. They were pretty basic but the last one caught him off guard slightly. Magic, magic, magic, magic, magic. Hogwarts would be the only place he’d ever think of sending his children. Durmstrang....he’d rather slit his throat and Beauxbatons would be a bit weird. Thierry and Fauve would no doubt find it easier but he wanted them to learn magic not how to apply make-up and dance at the same time or whatever they taught there.

“Red.” He said automatically, as if it was obvious. Then Elijah found himself looking at Chase’s hair. It was beautiful. Elijah reached out and took a lock of it between his fingers. He smiled softly and tucked it behind Chase’s ear with the flower. “Definitely a new development,” He said with a smile. The second answer was as automatic as the first. “Chocolate,” He grinned widely. “Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate,” He sang happily. “Our child needs a name, Fen.” He smiled. “It and the child isn’t going to fly for long. Eventually it’ll clock we’re referring to him or her and he or she will be insulted. But Hogwarts is definitely the only place I’d think of sending our ... thing?” Elijah laughed. “This is insane. I vote for Blobby, myself. It’s a unisex name.”

Chase smiled as he said it would be done. And she suddenly felt like a load was being taken off of her shoulder. Something she hadn't even realized was pulling her down, a giant load of stress was gone. She would have a home... she wouldn't be homeless anymore. Ever since her parents died, she had gone from friend to friend, and suddenly, it was like she could feel her feet hitting the floor after a long lasting levitation spell. She had somewhere she could call her own. Somewhere that was just hers and Eli's for now.. and soon the baby's.. but besides that. She had a home. She felt her smile grow larger.

Red.. his favorite color was Red? Her hand went up to her hair, and she smiled carefully. He had a strand of her hair in his fingers, and she felt a small shiver crawl down her spine, she smiled at him and her hand found his again after he had tucked the strand behind her ear. Her smile grew even wider at his second answer. "Chocolate? Really? I love chocolate." she said with a laugh. "When I feel miserable, I go down to the kitchens, and just... get a ton of chocolate, it's not healthy, but I love it.. the house elves actually got me a thermos, and it has the best hot chocolate you will ever taste! I keep it in my room for when I'm..." she stopped and blushed. "For rainy days.." she said looking away from him for a second. "When I'm feeling sad.." She said carefully and her eyes found his again.

Chase nodded. "I agree, Hogwarts is the best place for our child.. but a name?" She suddenly laughed aloud when he recommended Blobby. "Blobby? Our child would be more insulted with being called a blob, then being called an it!" She said laughing. "What about Alex?" she said thoughtfully. "It's a unisex name.. and no matter what it is, Alex will fit, girl, Alexandra, boy, Alex.." She said looking at him carefully. "And it isn't like we have to keep that name, just use it for now.. until we find out the sex of the child." She said, still giggling lightly at the name Blobby.

The fire crackled in the hearth as a piece of wood broke off from the burning log and sparks flew creating a mini light show, one akin to those the Muggles made on Halloween. That was coming up soon, Elijah remembered. Idly he wondered whether Hogwarts would be hosting a ball or not. No doubt Jen would tell him that it was good idea to go with her to one of those shindigs that people like her went to during Halloween. He didn’t even know who “people like her” were and it was probably a good thing he didn’t. Frankly he didn’t want to know.

Chocolate was one of the many vices Elijah had right up there with sex, the drink and cigarettes. He didn’t really approve of her being sad. She was sad too much and too often. Although it seemed rational it really and truly wasn’t. She should have been happy. Elijah squeezed her hand and put his left hand on her thigh. “No more sadness. You’re not alone. Include me in your chocolate gorging escapades.” He grinned and took his fingers from hers. He made sure to leave the tips of their fingers touching and he raised his eyes to meet hers. “Watch,” he murmured.

Using a little bit of magic, the love knot on his right ring finger loosened itself. It slid along his finger, dipping slightly where it got lower and slid onto Chase’s, ironically her left ring finger. It worked its way down to the base of her finger and tightened, adjusting to the right size. The ring sparkled slightly in the light of the fire and Elijah smiled. He flexed his fingers, his thumb reaching under to feel the indent the ring had left after so many years.

He’d need something to replace it, he realised. Every other finger had a ring on it, on both hands. He was a highly decorated person. He prized jewellery and trinkets and other things. He also liked the irony of collars. He loved wearing them, especially ones with bells on them. It was amusing to see some of the teacher’s looks as the jingle announced his arrival. On occasion Elijah would play with different fabrics, tying bits here and there. He’d considered, as a final act of rebellion, to either get a tattoo or a piercing. Both had been shot down by Jen who’d told him firmly that he couldn’t. Oh well, he still had his pink jeans.

“I like Blobby.” Elijah pouted playfully. “But do we have to have Alex? It makes Blobby sound like some sort of homeless person!” Elijah then decided to ring off a few names, “Jordan, Kay, Kerry, Ollie, Sam, Rowan...err...” Elijah’s eyebrows knitted together as he wracked his brain for some more names. “Jesse.” He said after a moment. Elijah huffed, feigning irritation when really he wasn’t bothered. “Real names won’t work and who in their right mind would call their daughter Rowan?” Elijah made a face and shook his head. “What about a pet name...” He snickered at the thought he had. “Kitty, maybe?” Oh...the irony.

Chase looked at the fire for a long moment, watching the burning logs, her mind wandering. It was hard to imagine, that only a year ago, she had been excited, happy, and couldn't wait to get home for the Christmas break, ready to see her parents, her siblings, and get presents galore. Chase frowned and closed her eyes briefly. She wouldn't be going anywhere for Christmas this year... the first year without her family. The first holiday without her family was Halloween, not that she had seen them on that holiday, but it made her think of dressing up as a fairy, or a cat, and going down the road to the neighbors, who at that time, she hadn't known very well... going down to the neighbors, saying trick or treat, and getting candy galore from the rich people in her neighborhood. Skipping back to the car where her dad was waiting for her to take her to the next house on those chilly nights.

Chase closed her eyes and let the sadness wash over her, before she felt his hand squeeze hers. She looked at him and smiled slightly. That was right, she wasn't alone, she had a new family. She may have lost the only family she had in the world, but suddenly, she had her own family on the way. Elijah was with her, and she wasn't alone anymore. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek lightly, her eyes falling down to their hands as he said watch. Her eyes widened as she saw the ring loosen and slowly slide over his finger, and onto hers. It moved and fit snugly on her finger, and she stared at it in amazement. Her eyes were attracted to his hands again though.

So many rings. She stared at them all with awe. So many different kinds of rings decorated his fingers. Every single finger, she stared at them and slowly lifted his hand so she could see them better, the light catching on them, as they sparkled beautifully. "Wonderful." She whispered and her eyes moved up to look into his. There was so much about this man she didn't know. So much she wanted to know, but some things you could only learn from experience, only learn from time together. And.. that was what they were doing here, learning more about each other. Getting to know the future parent of the child growing in Chase's stomach. Chase smiled and shook her head lightly.

"Blobby just sounds wrong though." She said playfully hitting his arm, very lightly though. Chase froze when he started naming off names, the last one made her skin crawl, her mind whirl, and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Jesse? She closed her eyes and wondered how much Elijah knew about her. She couldn't really remember everything she had named off about her life when she had first met him, after running away from Andrew. Mostly about her recent life, about her family dying, and why she had done things. But he didn't know half of her life, he only knew the last year or so. Last year was so confusing... so.. completely messed up, she had no idea how much she could ever tell him.

Her eyes closed and she looked down at the ring on her finger now, it was shining in the light, and she smiled slightly. "I've always liked Antony." She whispered suddenly. "If it were a boy..." She slowly looked up at him and smiled. "Or Selene... as a girl name.." she looked back down at their intertwined hands, and suddenly felt her smile grow. "You love cats don't you?" She asked looking up at him. "Or.. what is your favorite animal? I mean, you have a kitten.. Twist.. and a snake.. I never learned it's name.." She bit her lip and then smiled, deciding he should get to know a bit more about her. "I used to have a dog... his name was Dragon... He died of cancer.. shortly after my family was killed." She said lightly, trying not to sound sad. "He was a good dog, lived a long life ya know?" She looked at him and smiled.

"I have a house elf..." She said suddenly, and she bit her lip, wondering what side he took on house elf rights. Andrew had been strongly against it, she didn't know what he was for. "She actually lives in the kitchens right now, until I can get a home.. I don't have one anymore ya know?" She glanced at him and then back at the fire. "Her name is Calla... she used to be my mothers, but she was left to me in their will, actually she was left to my brother, but seeing as.. you know." She kept her eyes on the fire as another log settled and made a small shower or sparks land on the hearth and die out.

"We used to go to the sea... and picnic.. or just drive.. my family and I.. we would take Calla along, and she would get to see so many places... She always loved France the most though, everything about it, the people, the food.. everything... my mom took her up to the Eiffel tower once. At first I was afraid she was going to puke, she looked so green..." Chase felt her voice cut out, and then she smiled. "Mom was always very kind to her.. even if.. towards the end there, I didn't see Calla much, and our family didn't go much of anywhere... my mom was angry at me a lot of the time, because she thought I was dating a Vampire.." Her eyes closed and then she looked at him smiling. "There is so much... that I'm willing to tell you.. because I think, maybe it might help you understand me better.. because if you understand me.." she bit her lip and then smiled more widely.

"If you understand me, you'll know why I love having this baby inside me, why I love having YOUR baby inside me.." She closed her eyes and turned her head to the side, resting it on his shoulder, her hand moving to gently touch his leg. "If you know me... then maybe.. maybe I might get to know you, even though you don't want to tell me right now, and it's fine, but, I would like to get to know you, the father of my child, I would like to... and maybe there might be something there.. maybe... we won't be together for the baby anymore... not just for the baby, but.. maybe we could be together, because we truly like each other.. I would like that." She said softly, and closed her eyes, going silent as she let the silence stretch, his heartbeat faint, but hearable from her position, and she listened to it's slow rhythm.

This talking thing...it was good, healthy even. They needed to sort things out before it was too late. Perhaps it was too early but it was better to have one good extreme than one bad extreme. Elijah wanted everything more or less perfect. Perfection was a long way off and they’d have a bumpy ride to go but it was going to be so worth it. He couldn’t wait to paint the baby’s room and do all the bizarre things he found exciting when there was a new addition to his home in a form of a child. Thierry’s room in the studio had long since been finished and he’d even spent time in the Chocolaterie painting his and Fauve’s rooms so they’d feel at home and so there would be a piece of Elijah there with them whether it be in his paintings, his scent on their belongings or the signature on the walls in the corners by the plug sockets.

“We’ll think of something.” He said soothingly, his voice gentle. “Kitten will do for now. It’s so bloody ironic it’s unbelievable almost. I’m sure Khaat and Jen will get a kick out of it when someone mentions it.” Elijah smiled and leaned back against the pillows. “Cats...cats...cats.” He smiled almost sleepily. “Although it’s not my choice. Have you ever seen me try to transfigure something? It might turn out right but don’t be deceived, the cup will sprout fur or start to purr or grow a tail. My magic is addicted to felines. The only thing I can successfully transfigure is people and I’m quite proficient with memory charms. Twist is a Death Eater...or...was..” Elijah grinned mischievously. “There was an attack at Madam Puddifoot’s last year...I think it was the only time I actually managed to keep them transfigured. Twist had a simple mind so he was quite content to be a cat...he makes a wonderful pet too.”

Elijah smiled a little from where he was leaning and sank further into the plush pillows. “House Elf, huh?” Elijah echoed. “If she is happy here then she’s free to remain here but she can leave and join us if that is what she wants. I know I’ll be liberating some of my mother’s house elves from Bulgaria at some point.” Elijah loved his House Elves dearly. He’d been terrified of them when he was a small child, not quite understanding what they were all about but when his Nanny explained to him he began to like them a little more.

Then one chilly night in December in the days before Christmas, Elijah was wandering through the house looking for a storage cupboard for extra blankets. A house elf that had been cleaning a statue squeaked and ran off to get him a blanket. Not even four minutes later, the elf had returned with a blanket that could cover his bed five times over. Since then the House Elves have doted on Elijah because the opportunity to do so had arisen. His caretaker hadn’t told them that they couldn’t so the young Elijah would play and those same House Elves taught him to cook. Elijah knew he’d probably only give them rooms. He didn’t need them to work, not really, but they could if they wanted to. “I do plan on liberating my mother’s house elves,” Elijah mentioned. “They’ll probably not have much to do now...”

Elijah continued to smile slightly as Chase described her experiences with the Eiffel Tower. Elijah always had a strong urge to throw himself off of the top when he went up the spire and it was interesting to feel yourself career forward, only to brace yourself against the railing. Elijah put one of his arms behind his head as he rested against the pillows and he looked at Chase thoughtfully. “I want to try but it’s difficult...it’s hard for me to really process all of it. I don’t even understand what happened half of the time and I don’t want to but one day soon, okay?” Elijah sat up and looked at her closely, studing her face and taking every part of her in. “What do I have to do to understand you?” He whispered.

Chase nodded slowly. "Kitten is nice, it's not to bad of a pet name anyway." She said with a small grin as she watched him carefully as he leaned against the pillows leisurely. He was so beautiful, sitting there, stretched out, and looking so comfortable, the firelight flickering over his body in such a way that made him appear almost chiseled in stone, as though he would be there forever, a perfect statue of Elijah Krum. She smiled slightly and kept her eyes on him, listening to his every word. But her eyes grew wide when he said that Twist was a Death Eater. "I guess that's one good use for them." She said with a small giggle.

She looked at Elijah, but realized she was having another flash back. Back to when she had woken up, right after she had seen the pale bodies surrounding her. A man in white had come up to her, told her about how the Death Eaters could help her. Could rid the world of the person who had taken away her parents. She had been so full of hate, so full of anger towards everyone... he had said something about a death eaters society, for students, there at the school. It was hard to imagine that even after all of the years since Voldemort had been destroyed, he still popped up in so many places. Let it be his 'faithful' followers, or just in Chase's daily life. Chase's eyes clouded over, but she was snapped back into awareness when he said something about House Elves from Bulgaria.

Chase felt a rush of relief wash over her. He would let her stay, or let her stay here.. and he didn't seem to care either way. "I think she would like to stay with me.." She said carefully. "She acted like a mom to me after my own died, and... we've grown fond of each other." She said smiling slightly. "For a while there... we only had each other..." She bit her lip and looked away from Eli, to stare at the fire for a long moment before turning back to him and frowning. It was a lot to process, it was hard to realize that he had a big past too... a big past, that she didn't know, and probably would never know. As big of a past as her maybe... maybe even bigger. Chase looked down and stared at the ring on her finger.

Her head snapped back up however when he asked a very simple question. “What do I have to do to understand you?” She realized he had leaned forward, and was staring at her almost as intensely as she had stared at him earlier, taking in every detail of his face, she smiled slightly. "I'm not very complicated.." She said, her eyes darting down to her hand again. "I'm kind of a... simple person... never been to difficult to figure out.. I just tend to make everyone's lives around me miserable... bad habit of mine." She said with a small giggle, but then she grew serious again, her eyes locking with his. "I just want to be liked Elijah.. that's all I ask for... maybe I'm not the nicest person.. and maybe I've only caused hell for everyone I know.. but.. I just want one person to look at me and say, 'she's nice...' and not sarcastically. I want one person to look at me and say, 'I like her for who she is, not for what she is carrying in her stomach.' I want..." She bit her lip and finally tore her eyes away from Elijah's, her cheeks going red, a strand of hair falling into her face.

She clasped her hands in front of her, her eyes staring at her interlaced fingers, catching the light on the ring he had just given her. A small smile played across her lips, and she finally looked back up at Elijah, the smile slowly falling away. "I guess.. I just want.. to be loved.." She said, her face going redder then it had before, her eyes staying on his this time, no looking away. She wanted him to know, that she was completely serious this time. She wanted him to know how she felt. "I want to be loved.. by someone, who I love with the same feeling.. I want to love and be loved, because... you know.. 'The greatest thing, you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return." Chase said and her eyes finally flickered down to her hands again, unsure of how he would respond.

The heat of the fire and the softness of the pillows were slowly but surely lulling Elijah to sleep. He could feel himself relaxing into the pillows, each part of his body screaming in satisfaction because it could finally rest. The Room of Requirement was odd. It was intelligent, that was clear, but it was also good at manipulation. It was as if the room had planned all of this. He could feel it brimming with satisfaction, the magic within the place wearing a grin that could be likened to the cat that got the cream.

As Elijah listened to Chase he realised that House Elves, despite all the shit they had to put up with from some of their masters, truly cared about the people they worked for. Elijah knew that had it not been for the House Elves or for Micah and Stelladora then he’d never have lived past the winter of 2014. He’d been borderline suicidal although he had been too young to really put that issue into full play. He’d never felt so ill in his life, for days he couldn’t move having been frozen in shock. He’d developed some kind of cold-related illness having been dropped into the snow so abruptly by their captors and just left there. He could remember crawling through the snow towards her, holding her to him and rocking them back and forth as the snow fell and her crimson blood mingled with the white. It had been the House Elves that had found them.

“You’re not alone anymore,” Elijah spoke the words for what felt like the hundredth time as he took Chase’s hands into his own. “And it’s not just because you’ve got a baby inside of you. It’s because you’ve got people around you that care about you, that want to look after you; that want to shelter you. People care about you, Jen and Khaat just to name two but most importantly Chase, I care about you.” Elijah said his eyes full of conviction. He lowered himself back down onto the pillows and pulled her with him, bringing her close to his body. “The most important thing is that you stop thinking about how you’ve supposedly ruined someone else’s life. Who cares, alright? Who really, honestly and truly cares? They’ll pick themselves up again, get over it and move on. No more tears, smile and think about yourself, look after number one for once and stop worrying about all the little stepping stones that, when it comes down to it, don’t really give a toss anyway.”

He continued to listen to Chase and he began to run his fingers through her hair as he thought about what she was saying. She had love, unconditional, irrevocable love from the child growing within her but Elijah couldn’t help but wonder whether her wish was someone directed at him. Perhaps he was being self-centred but it really made him wonder how he felt about her. She was everything to him now, like a little glass doll he had to protect and preserve. He wanted to look after her, he truly did and he didn’t think it was because of the baby. Of course the baby had a hand in that but it wasn’t just that. He cared about Chase a great deal. That had been proved to him as he’d held her in the rain that day.

They were connected even without the baby in the equation. To feel something familiar under his hands was fabulous. It was rare for Elijah to have familiarity, especially in partners. But feeling Chase was like something new every time. She was always changing and growing and would continue to as the pregnancy became apparent. She was beautiful and as he’d thought before, flawless. He did care about her and it was incredible to think that this was the woman that he was letting into his life, into his lopsided way of dealing with life. Elijah knew somewhere that this was a woman he wouldn’t ever want to let go. His subconscious decided that he would fight for her if anything came up against them. He wanted to be able to love her like she wanted to and what he didn’t realise was that he already did.

“You are loved, Chase,” Elijah whispered, kissing her hair. “By m- so many people,” He blinked a few times and kissed her hair once more before letting his head drop onto the pillows. His eyes slid shut and he sighed softly, rubbing her back. “In Sofia...where I grew up...the snow in the winter used to cover the land like a blanket; a thick unrelenting quilt that would not melt until April. I used to always play in the snow but it wouldn’t be until it was too late and the night wore in. When I was younger and my parents were always away...my Nanny and my tutor were my parents for all intents and purposes. As winter drew in and Christmas came closer, Nanny slept later, woke me up later and my tutor was usually left outside in the freezing cold.” Elijah smiled at the fond memory, remembering walking down the staircase to find his tutor standing on the doormat shivering, covered head to toe in cold.

Chase didn't know what was going on inside her head. A minute before, she could have sworn that Elijah was only with her because she had a baby inside her, because he felt it was in his duty to stay beside her, to watch over the baby with her. But now? Well something was changing in her head. It had been so slow at first that Chase hadn't even realized the change until it was so apparent it was hard not to. Her heart seemed to be swelling, to the point where it felt like it couldn't get any larger or it would pop, and she put her hand to her chest, as he pulled her into the soft pillows and she snuggled up beside him, her head resting in the crock of his arm, her knees gently touching his thigh.

The feeling was so warming, so.. beautiful, she didn't want it to end, it felt like it might shatter in a moment, and she held onto it for dear life. Elijah cared for her, and it was like the clouds had finally opened up, let the sunlight through after a very, VERY long absence. It was like that warmth, that love, it filled her to the brim, and it felt like... finally... that empty hole in her chest. The one she hadn't really been aware of all of the time, just when she was alone, she could feel it gaping in her chest, right across her heart, it was like that huge expanse, had finally filled up. And everything Elijah had taken it's place.

Her friends... who cared about them? How many times had someone looked at her and told her that she needed to think of herself for once. Think of what made HER happy. It was like Chase was so caught up in making everyone else happy, she couldn't think of herself, even when she needed to. Even when it was stupid not to. She got herself into a lot of problems that way. Jack? She was upset, sure, but sooner or later, she would forget about Chase, and twenty years from now? This would all be a fuzzy memory. Maybe not for Chase, because this would be her first pregnancy, in how many, Chase didn't know. But it was the first, and she would have this baby, this.. human to look at in years and years to come.

“You are loved, Chase,” Elijah whispered, kissing her hair. “By m- so many people,”

Chase found herself looking up at him, her eyes slightly wide. She hadn't imagined it, she couldn't have. Her mind was spinning, but oddly, not for what he had said. 'you are loved.' Elijah had said. She was loved by so many people, and she felt a smile cross her lips. When people thought of love, they thought of a married couple, of a child to it's parent, of family love, of friendly love. Chase, she didn't know where her love stood. She cared about so many people, she had her heart on he sleeve, ready to give it out to the first person who needed it. But as she turned her gaze to Elijah, him speaking out growing up in Sofia, she felt as though she knew exactly how she felt, but was to afraid to admit it to herself. But one thing was absolutely clear to Chase.

The sun was out, and it was out to stay.