Bon Nuit [Max/Ro]

[Max Kameren]

It was dusk in Godric's Hollow. In the spring the streets glowed pink at sunset, the windows of the homes reflecting orange shapes on the passersby on their evening walks. As the sun got lower lights would flicker on in those same spaces. Vignettes of life would begin to play out from the streetview; happy families, arguments, quiet dinners. One house at the end of the lane, usually lit into the late hours, was particularly quiet tonight. The family that lived there had absconded; two off to school, one to study abroad, one off this mortal coil. And the last one, the one who had felt stuck for so long, would finally be off in the wind. Once his plans were set. 

Tonight was the beginning. He was meeting a guest, but when she arrived, the door would be locked. The lights were out, and the house was quiet. No one was home. But as soon as she heard a stirring in the front lawn, Willow would bound up to one of her very favorite people and lean against her, begging for attention and nuzzling into her legs. When they found each other something would be rather glaringly amiss, wedged into the dog's collar.

A light switch. It had the plate attached but was otherwise disembodied, its clear plastic switch glowing ominously when removed from any electricity. Scrawled across the plate, in Max Kameren's wobbly three-fingered script, are three words: flip the switch.

[Rowena Jones]

Rowena hadn’t trusted herself to apparate after last time’s unfortunate result, so she’d taken the “tourist floo’ as she had long ago dubbed it. Godrics Hollow was still quite the popular hotspot for many witches and wizards, but luckily at this time of day, that crowd had dispersed and she’d emerged into an empty church.

Exiting St. Jeromes, she wondered if this would be the last time she’d walk this street. It was a bittersweet thought that she’d had more than once these past few weeks. There was so much history in many of the places she frequented, and while not all of it was bad, it was a weight that she was anxious to shed. Leaving was absolutely the right decision, but she still wasn’t quite sure how Max factored in with her plans. He hadn’t reacted how she’d thought he would. She certainly hadn’t expected a dinner invitation. Then again, she hadn’t been expecting the kissing either. She could still feel the heat of his touch from earlier and she smiled widely at the memory. Merlin, she could kiss that man forever.

Her cheeks were flushed, a mixture of joyful anticipation and cool spring air turning them pink. Rowena pulled her coat tightly around her to shield her from the cold as she walked down Church Lane towards a familiar house. Lights lit her path, and as she walked she heard the normal chatter of life spilling out from the houses on the way. The playful shriek of a young couple, a frustrated yell of a mother trying to get her children to bed, the drone of a TV, the flickering candlelight of a romantic dinner, the cry of a baby… such normalcy. Rowena could only hope that with time, that would be her own experience. She’d love nothing more than a peaceful, ordinary life with the man she was due to meet.

She reached the house and stopped. Rowena frowned, confusion marring her brow as she stared at the very empty looking house. He’d definitely told her to come here. She might have been high on the depth of the feelings that had coursed through her from his touch and his emotions but she’d not imagined his invitation. And damnit, she was hungry. After Max had left the hospital, she’d been summoned by the Board for some last minute edits to the agreement she’d arranged and as usual, the talking had lasted far longer than necessary. Merlin, was she glad to be leaving. It had been surprising to her to discover that bureaucracy was not something she enjoyed after all.

When she’d finally managed to extract herself, she’d been aghast at the time, having to settle for the hospital bathrooms and thankful that she’d always kept a change of clothes at work, though the outfit wouldn’t have been her first choice. Her stomach had protested loudly at the lack of lunch and she had been all the more grateful for Max’s invitation because she knew that there was a distinct lack of food at home.

So it was with profound concern that she stared at the empty looking house. Maybe she just needed to knock. Maybe Max had developed a taste for living in total darkness…. Rowena rolled her eyes at the thought but opened the front gate anyway.

She’d barely taken two steps when a familiar shape rocketed towards her. Max’s canine companion nuzzled herself against Rowena’s legs.

“Hello to you too Willow,” Rowena laughed at the dog’s enthusiasm. “I don’t suppose you know where Max is? He promised me food.”

She continued to look around, hoping that Max would perhaps magically appear behind his pet, her fingers absentmindedly scratching at Willow’s ears. As she was doing so, her fingers brushed up against something unexpected and her gaze was drawn to a light switch attached to Willow’s collar.
What? Once again confused, Rowena peered closer.

Flip the switch.

Rowena rolled her eyes even as her smile grew. What had he planned? And could he have dragged out the suspense any more? He’d refused to give her any more details earlier that day and now he was being all mysterious and leading her on some sort of treasure hunt. She supposed there was nothing else for it, and with an excited grin, she did as she was told and flipped the switch.

[Max Kameren]

Max may have grand plans, but the cottage did not yet live up to them. With Albert’s help he had cemented his plans, but the pace Max moved at was not how Ushant moved. His little cottage had been someone’s neglected vacation home in a past life, and was in need of repair; cracks were widening in the first floor’s stone walls, and though the wooden floors weren’t as old as the cottage’s foundation, they were still well-worn with time. The water ran, but the electricity was currently shut off to update the home’s wiring before its new inhabitants moved in. It would be a month before it was ready, just enough time for him to pack up his old life and prepare to start new.

When he portkeyed into town Max opened the cottage up without the caretaker; it was remote enough that no one would notice smoke from the chimney, and what Benoit didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Max started a fire in the living room’s massive fireplace to warm the building as he cleaned, polishing up the empty space to present it, hopefully, to its newest inhabitant. When the sun’s rays started to grow long through the cottage’s plate glass windows, Max portkeyed to London for one last errand. After he finished a few extra details, all he had to do was wait.

It wasn’t long, thankfully. Max had barely poured a glass of wine before the air in the cottage started to shift, the fire blowing back in the direction of the first-floor bedroom his ex was due to appear in. He smiled, pouring a second glass and stepping up to lean in the open stone doorway and watch for her. A pleasant chill went through him as he felt her aura pop into existence. The way his empathy attuned to her aura was something he could never quite get used to, it always felt new.

“Look at that, you’re early! A first for everything!” Max grinned as Rowena got her bearings, crossing into the empty bedroom’s threshold to kiss her and press a glass of wine into her hand. What was intended to be a peck on the lips turned into a deeper, longer kiss; Max wasn’t quite yet used enough to kissing Rowena again, every one still felt like he needed to make it last or he may not get the chance again. At their feet Willow huffed impatiently, shaking off the dizziness of their trip and pushing around the embracing couple to exit the room. Willow’s excitable whine from the kitchen was what snapped Max out of it, spinning on his heel to glance warily into the other room. “This way. The counter’s are at Willow’s height. Don’t want her to make off with our dinner…”

Max took Rowena by the hand and led her into the adjoining living room. The living room and kitchen beyond it were covered in candles, combining with the fireplace to give the room a warm glow even as the sunset started to fade from magenta to blue. In the middle of the living room, a blanket was laid out for a picnic with cutlery, more candles, and the bottle of wine Max had opened waiting for them. On the counter - and in Willow’s steady sights - was takeout from Andina London, the restaurant they’d had their first dinner, date, and fight at together. It felt like centuries ago, now.

“No,” Max ordered, nudging Willow away from their meal and directing her toward the dog bowls set up for her in the opposite corner. He shook his head at the grumbling beast, stepping back down into the living room and setting up their meal. He cocked his head in the direction of the fireplace, inviting Rowena to join him.

“I’m sure you have a million questions, and I want to answer all of them. But that might take a while, the food’s getting cold, and you look hungry, so… you eat, I’ll talk.” He watched on as she opened the containers and tore into their dinner; evidently she didn’t have a problem with this arrangement.

“Since I’ve been back I’ve felt boxed in. When we weren’t together there was no one to talk to about it; Eden was supportive, and I love her for it but she’s chaos incarnate. I couldn’t go back to Mungo’s, it wasn’t safe for the patients and I was too much of a distraction to be able to function as a PM anywhere else. The only places I could go and blend in were with the Aurors at the Ministry… or Hogwarts. It all started to feel too familiar.” Max took a generous sip of his wine glass, his green eyes straying to the fire to keep from shying away from the personal nature of the conversation under Rowena’s gaze. This exact feeling was why he was so afraid to talk about himself, he knew. This was why he needed to escape. “After the Demon Wars… it was what you were saying this afternoon. Dad rebuilt the house, married Ari, went back to Hogwarts, but the expectations never stopped. He was never home, always off solving some crisis that cropped up and needed his attention. Vi and Evie barely knew him, not like I did. He didn’t get to live his own life after. And he trained me like a soldier because he knew it would happen again, that they would eventually come calling.” Max sighed deeply, taking another sip of wine and shaking his head. “I don’t want to live that way. I don’t want to repeat the cycle that broke him. It will break me too, I know it.”

“So, I’ve been planning to leave.” Max bit his lip to keep back a smile as he glanced from the fire back to Rowena. The love of his life, sitting across from him at the same rock-bottom well of their lies in Wizarding London. With the same escape plan. “I found this house, on an island outside the country. Muggle, quiet. Peaceful. I’d made plans on how to keep in touch with my family, but the one thing keeping me in place was fear of losing you.”

Max couldn’t hold the grin back anymore as Rowena absorbed his message; their independent, lonely plans of escape fit perfectly when laid out together. He set down his wine and took Rowena’s hands in his, his emerald eyes shining with emotion. “I want to live a quiet, boring, unremarkable, blissfully happy life with you. I want to slowly drive you mad putting things slightly out of place in a home we make together and fill with a family that only makes the paper for boring, unremarkable, blissfully happy occasions.” He took a deep breath, nervous energy building in him at just the thought of what their future could be. “This isn’t a proposal because, well, you know how I am with those. But you have me, Rowena. Forever, or for as long as you like. Come with me. Let’s disappear together.”

[Rowena Jones]

She felt the all too familiar tug at her navel as she was transported and before she could focus on her new location, she heard a familiar voice.

“Look at that, you’re early! A first for everything!”

A glass was pressed into her hand and then he was kissing her before she could think of a witty retort to his teasing. She melted into the greeting with a content sigh, leaning into his embrace and it was like she’d never left. Kissing Max was instinctive, easy. Rowena forgot about her hunger, her curiousity as to where she was. Her mind was consumed with the thought of the man snogging the living daylights out of her and she was perfectly ok with that, until Max extracted himself. Rowena couldn’t help the quiet whine of disappointment as they parted until he mentioned dinner and her stomach growled impatiently.

Max took Rowena by the hand and led her into the adjoining living room. Candles covered the area and she took in every detail as Max led her to a blanket, gesturing her to sit while he plated their food. Rowena sipped at the glass of wine he’d given her, looking around, trying to make sense of where she was.

“I’m sure you have a million questions, and I want to answer all of them. But that might take a while, the food’s getting cold, and you look hungry, so… you eat, I’ll talk.”

He hadn’t even finished before she’d started to devour her food. Urgh, food tasted so good when you were starving. After a few bites, she forced herself to slow down, to actually savour the food that he’d chosen so specifically. She smiled at the memory of their first date, a lifetime ago. Things were so different now. They were so different. And yet, they’d never lost that connection, a connection that had brought them here… wherever here was, talking about a present that was unsustainable for the both of them. His words were such an eerie echo of her own feelings and she paused eating, letting her fork fall to her plate as she listened to Max. He couldn’t mean… she opened her mouth to speak, to question but he beat her to it.

“So, I’ve been planning to leave.”

She stared at him in disbelief. Her emotions were a whirlwind, her hand on her mouth, unconsciously stopping her from laughing or crying or whatever it was that she was feeling from escaping.

“I found this house, on an island outside the country…Muggle, quiet. Peaceful.”

Those were her words. Merlin. She’d… He’d… Rowena shook her head, eyes wide as she processed what he was saying. It had been strange to be part of a prophecy. It had often felt like her fate was out of her hands, that her life was mapped out and that she had little choice in any of it. It had left her feeling claustrophobic, encased and weighed down. But this, this impossible and yet in so many ways inevitable chain of events… this felt like flying. Her heart was thudding in her chest a thousand times a minute and her head was spinning and the warmth of her skin made her feel like she was on fire… but for once the heat didn’t scare her. It was the fire of renewal, the chance to grow and leave old pain behind and somehow she knew that those nightmares wouldn’t haunt her anymore.

She was soaring and only Max taking her hand in his kept her grounded as all their future possibilities exploded in her mind. All those scenes she’d experienced as she’d walked towards his family home, and suddenly she could see it, clear as day. Impromptu waterfights as she washed the dishes, splashing him in retaliation for some cheeky comment. His subsequent attack and the breakdown into playful shrieks and mayhem as they ran around the room until they collapsed onto the floor, happy and content. Lazy morning kisses, cozy evening cuddles. And maybe, just maybe, though she barely allowed herself to entertain the thought, the soft patter of smaller footsteps, the round faces with bright green eyes and messy dark hair calling her mum.

“I want to live a quiet, boring, unremarkable, blissfully happy life with you.” He was saying, and she was just staring because it was happening. That life that she’d barely let herself dream about.. it was happening. “This isn’t a proposal because, well, you know how I am with those. But you have me, Rowena. Forever, or for as long as you like. Come with me. Let’s disappear together.”

She was crying. The smile on her face was wide and beautiful and so full of love for the man currently spilling his heart to her and she couldn’t help the tears from coursing down her face because he was so perfect and she was so so so happy.

“Yes,” she said, launching herself at him. She kissed him then and it felt more than it ever had before because she knew she could do this forever. “Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.”

She was sure she would have never stopped kissing him if she hadn’t suddenly developed the hiccoughs and giggled, extracting herself, but still staying close unable to leave his touch now that she’d found him again. She hiccoughed again, and flushed. Way to ruin the mood, she thought to herself even as she welcomed the chance to talk.

“So I probably should have asked before I agreed… but where exactly are we?”

It wouldn’t matter, wouldn’t change a thing even if he said they were near the Pole. He was her home. It was why despite the numerous lodgings she’d had over the past few years, none had ever felt right unless he’d been there too. Wherever they were, she was right where she belonged as long as they were together.

[Max Kameren]

“Yes,” she said. A flood of relief rushed over Max that was quickly followed by Rowena herself. Max set his wine aside and gave into the thrill of her touch. The joy in her aura radiated against his, and for a moment the sparks of their auras together gave him a sense of how they used to be. “Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.”

Max laughed and Rowena hiccoughed. He paused to cup her face in his hands, a happy tear escaping his eye and streaming down his face in the firelight. He couldn’t believe it, they’d both been planning to leave each other behind just this morning, and here they were. A real, bright future ahead of them, for the first time in years. Rowena hiccoughed again and Max chuckled, wiping the tear tracts from her face and kissing her one more time.

“So I probably should have asked before I agreed… but where exactly are we?”

His secrets laid bare and invitations accepted, Max now took portions of their dinner for himself. At the sight of Max handling food Willow appeared again as if from nowhere, piercing their bubble to lie down inconspicuously between them and the fireplace. Max relented, tossing Willow a piece of beef to soothe her whines.

“We are in Ushant, France. Right at the base of the Channel.” Max shrugged. “Close enough that I can still check in on my family, but far enough away that no one will look for us here. What would the Shining Sun and Glowing God of the Shadowed Battle want with a muggle-world island in the north of France, anyway?” He winked.

With the rush of their auras quieting, it was now easier to hear the wind against the windowpanes and the ocean crashing down below. The cottage was on a small clifftop, crags of rocks spotting the landscape down the hill between them and the shore. “We can walk after dinner, if you’d like to see it.” Willow’s head perked up at the sound of her favorite word from her companion.

[Rowena Jones]

“We are in Ushant, France […] What would the Shining Sun and Glowing God of the Shadowed Battle want with a muggle-world island in the north of France, anyway?” He winked as she scowled at the reminder of the awful names they’d been given.

“Nope. If this is going to work, those names are forever banned from this moment. No Gods or Suns here thank you.” Rowena said decisively. She tried to think if she’d heard of their location before and drew a blank… which kind of meant it was perfect.

“We can walk after dinner, if you’d like to see it.”

Rowena laughed at Willow’s reaction to his suggestion. “I don’t think we have much choice now, but I’d love to.”

She was still happily riding the high his speech had given her but as her mind caught up with her heart she realized that the whole situation was a little bit crazy. Dinner provided the perfect opportunity to recollect and process and there was a moment of comfortable silence as they ate.

Less than 24 hours ago, they hadn’t even been together, let alone planning on spending the rest of their lives in blissful isolation together. Her brain was still trying to catch up with all the recent revelations; that he had also been planning on leaving, that he wanted to be with her, he loved her still.

Their separation had been muddled, in public they’d managed to make it clear they were not together but in the few occasions where they’d been alone together, those stubborn feelings had reared up. It was the reason she’d left without goodbye on the night of the doxy incident, knowing that they’d invariably crossed that unspoken boundary of their break up. It had been agreed, it was what they’d thought best, though now, with all this new information, Rowena realized how much she’d let her fear and her pain control her and once again she’d run away from the one person who understood her.

“Merlin, we were so stupid,” she finally said, still torn between laughing and crying at the actual ridiculousness of the situation. “To think we have both been feeling like this, that we both made all these plans separately… all that time avoiding you and missing you and…” she sighed before reaching for his hand and looking into his eyes steadily. “I promise that no matter how scared I might be, I will discuss it with you. No more deciding things for you without giving you the chance to tell me how you actually feel. No more running away. Not from you.”

She wrinkled her nose as she heard herself. She was getting a bit too sappy, even for such an occasion. “But I swear to Merlin, Max. If you put Shakespeare with Scamander one more time, I’m not being held accountable for my actions. You just don’t mix Muggle with Magical.”

Speaking of books, Rowena took a moment to look around the room, her head tilting to the side in consideration. She supposed they could always use some expansion charms to make sure there was enough space for her extensive collection of literature. Max would know better than to suggest she cull her collection. For some reason, it hadn’t quite sunk in that this was going to be her home until that moment. Her home with Max. And Willow. And Pumpkin and Yeti. The candles made it hard to picture a more everyday appearance, but she could already imagine evenings by the fire, books in hand surrounded by their animal companions. It would be cozy, but it would be everything she’d ever wanted or needed.

“When were you planning on leaving?” There were still a few technicalities to their departure to discuss. Despite the similarities in their plans, she was sure that there would also be a few differences and Rowena was determined that they would be better at communication this time.

[Max Kameren]

“We can walk after dinner, if you’d like to see it.”

Willow perked up at the mention of her favorite word and Rowena laughed. She had a musical laugh, yet another detail on the long list of things he missed whenever she wasn’t in his life. “I don’t think we have much choice now, but I’d love to.”

Max smiled and the couple settled into a comfortable silence enjoying dinner in each other’s presence. He still couldn’t quite believe it; this morning he was planning to escape on his own, a stranger on a muggle island with no plan for what he wanted from his life. In a matter of hours everything had changed.

It made sense to him now, in a way, how he was adjusting to this new reality so quickly. He had never stopped loving Rowena. Even when they would break up – even when it was his idea – what made it so impossible to move on was the fact that he couldn’t picture a future without her in it. Their circumstances changed often in the years since they dated, but his feelings never did. He would only try and push them away, but there was no denying it. Now he wouldn’t have to.

“Merlin, we were so stupid,” Rowena was evidently thinking the same thing. “To think we have both been feeling like this, that we both made all these plans separately… all that time avoiding you and missing you and…” she sighed before reaching for his hand and looking into his eyes steadily. “I promise that no matter how scared I might be, I will discuss it with you. No more deciding things for you without giving you the chance to tell me how you actually feel. No more running away. Not from you.”

He smiled, pulling Rowena’s entwined hand up to his lips. “And I promise from now on I will actually tell you how I feel. No more shutting you out.”

 “But I swear to Merlin, Max. If you put Shakespeare with Scamander one more time, I’m not being held accountable for my actions. You just don’t mix Muggle with Magical.”

Max chuckled. “That’s a promise I can’t make.”

His eyes followed hers on a tour of their surroundings, his brow furrowing anxiously at the machinations of her aura. It did look small in the flickering candlelight, but when the sunshine hit the sand-colored stone walls it was perfect. He gestured to the bookshelf to the left of the fireplace, an alcove built into the stone wall with sturdy wooden shelves spaced from floor to ceiling. “There’s another shelf opposite in the room you ‘keyed into, and the fireplace goes all the way through.” At the mention Max’s emerald eyes flashed to the fire, where the barren walls of the bedroom Rowena had appeared in could be seen between the licks of flame. “Figured that could be a study. There’s a newer addition on the second floor with two more bedrooms, and a big cellar underneath us we can transfigure if we need to.”

“When were you planning on leaving?” 

“Benoit needs a month.” He shrugged. “He was the caretaker, I’m sure you’ll meet him and his daughter Celeste at some point. The candles were more a necessity than ambiance, they’re updating the electricity. Didn’t really know how to explain I could fix it myself without coming up with some sort of elaborate handyman backstory.”

With their dinner finished, Max cleared the leftover takeout from the floor, storing it in the refrigerator away from Willow’s hungry gaze. She was easily distracted, though; with a casual wave of Max’s hand the back door opened and the sea breeze blew out a few of their candles. “Nearest town’s about fifteen minutes away over hills, so we shouldn’t have to worry about performing magic at home, either.” He cocked his head as a thought occurred to him. “Fifteen minutes by car. Can you drive? Dunno if that’s something they teach you in Batman’s house…” He grinned cheekily, holding the door open for Rowena and escorting her out into the early evening air.

The back of the cottage immediately overlooked the ocean, with only a few meters of space between the back of the house and the cliff the building stood on. On the other side of the house the craggy paths stretched on until rolling green hills consumed it, and the lights of a small village made the horizon softly glow. Far in the distance, on the other side of the island, a lighthouse blinked.

Max held out a hand for Rowena to take, starting them off on their path down the shoreline. Willow was already far ahead, leaping back to check on her leisurely companions whenever she found something new and exciting.

“Clearly Willow’s eager to move,” Max grinned, squeezing Rowena’s hand to try to ward off the spring cold from her fingers. “What else am I missing, any other questions?”

[Rowena Jones]

Max smiled, pulling Rowena’s entwined hand up to his lips. “And I promise from now on I will actually tell you how I feel. No more shutting you out.”

She grinned. “Deal. But I swear to Merlin, Max. If you put Shakespeare with Scamander one more time, I’m not being held accountable for my actions. You just don’t mix Muggle with Magical.”

“That’s a promise I can’t make.”

Rowena scowled, throwing a lime wedge at his face as he chuckled. “You suck,” she said lamely, even as part of her thrilled at the knowledge that Max would be in her life, there to frustrate her, challenge her and thrill her for the rest of her days.

In this house that they would make their home. She tried to see past the candles, imagining furniture and décor. Max obviously picked up on her train of thought and helpfully added his own vision for the cottage. As he spoke, she conjured up the imagery in her mind, they’d keep this area Muggle friendly, her collection of poetry could go on that shelf while over there on that wall, they could hang some pictures. To anyone passing by, they would just be an ordinary couple, living a slow life with a perhaps slightly obsessive love for reading. It was so much more than perfect that Rowena couldn’t wait to begin her life anew. And maybe, she thought as she cast the kitchen a look, maybe in this life she could cook. She hoped Max was prepared because she was determined that now that she wasn’t fighting the actual forces of darkness, or obsessing over her work, that now was the time to achieve culinary greatness.

“When were you planning on leaving?”

“Benoit needs a month […] Didn’t really know how to explain I could fix it myself without coming up with some sort of elaborate handyman backstory.”

Rowena hummed in acknowledgment as she finished her plate, placing the cutlery down as she tried to integrate Max’s plans into her own. A month was longer than she had. She’d planned to leave that very weekend; her position at Mungos officially ended at 5pm on Friday and her bags were packed. The cottage was already sold, it’s new inhabitants had moved in the previous week and the lease on the London flat was up on Saturday. Her nose crinkled in thought as she contemplated her options. She was about to mention her conundrum to Max, but he’d started to clear up the remains of their dinner and then Rowena was distracted by the fresh sea salt air that blew through the room as he opened the door. She stood, moving towards the opening. “Tell me more about Ushant,” she asked instead.

“Nearest town’s about fifteen minutes away over hills […] Fifteen minutes by car. Can you drive? Dunno if that’s something they teach you in Batman’s house…”

Rowena rolled her eyes at his teasing. “Well Batman didn’t teach me, but yeah. I passed the test… 10 years ago. In England. They drive on the wrong side of the road in France…” she said, contemplating the idea of driving. It had been one of those muggle skills she’d learnt… and then never really needed to use. Public transport was so easily available in London and anything further than that, she’d used portkey or apparition. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gotten behind the wheel… but surely it was like riding a bike. “I could do it,” she decided. “Didn’t you ever learn?” She didn’t know why, but she’d always assumed Max was as adept at Muggle life as she was, perhaps because he was so comfortable with Muggle inventions.

Her gaze scanned the small area outside the back of the cottage and unbidden the thought came to her that they’d have to put some fencing up to keep the children safe from the cliff edge. She flushed at the image. Baby steps Ro. 24 hours ago, you were never going to see him again, don’t get ahead of yourself. Truth was, she didn’t even know if he wanted kids. They’d never had that conversation, between the excitement of early love and then the life or death situations of War, they’d never had the chance to really discuss a normal life together. She did though, want kids. With Max.

She squeezed the hand that had just taken hers as she smiled at the thought, before returning to the present. They would talk about it and she knew that it would all work out. There was just a peace between them now, an understanding that this was it, finally, their well-deserved happily ever after. They walked around the house and down the coastal paths that surrounded the cottage, Willow bounding ahead of them.

“Clearly Willow’s eager to move,” Max grinned. “What else am I missing, any other questions?”

“Have you told anyone yet?” she asked. The goodbyes were the worst. “When I told Eoin about my plans… he said I was making a mistake. That there were some things you couldn’t walk away from. He didn’t even give me a chance to properly explain.” Rowena sighed at the memory of their fight, her mood plummeting. “Then he left… and I have to pack up the flat by myself before Saturday. And I guess I now need to figure out what I’m doing for the rest of the month…” Ok, so their plans hadn’t perfectly aligned.

[Max Kameren]

“Fifteen minutes by car. Can you drive? Dunno if that’s something they teach you in Batman’s house…”

Rowena rolled her eyes at his teasing. “Well Batman didn’t teach me, but yeah. I passed the test… 10 years ago. In England. They drive on the wrong side of the road in France…”

Max smiled up at Rowena from the glasses he was rinsing with a wry smile. With their dinner dealth with, Max took Rowena by the hands and the couple followed Willow out into the sea-salty evening air. “We’ve got lots of space to re-learn, if you need it.”

“I could do it,” she decided. “Didn’t you ever learn?”

“Yeah,” Max nodded, a smile pressing his lips as the memory Rowena evoked hit him, “the summer after Hogwarts my dad and I fixed up a car together. It’s still in the garage at Godric’s Hollow, actually, though we couldn’t bring it here.” That summer with his father had been the source of many of Max’s good memories of his father, after years of fighting during his school years they had found a common ground. No one else he knew in the Wizarding World could drive, it was a nice thing to share with Rowena. Who knew, maybe one day he could share the same activity with a son of his own.

But it was too soon to think about that sort of thing, he knew. To anchor his drifting imagination Max sought out Willow on the horizon, grinning at the lanky dog’s joyful spurts and stops in impatient wait for her companions. “Clearly Willow’s eager to move. What else am I missing, any other questions?”

“Have you told anyone yet?” she asked. “When I told Eoin about my plans… he said I was making a mistake. […] Then he left… and I have to pack up the flat by myself before Saturday. And I guess I now need to figure out what I’m doing for the rest of the month…”

Rowena’s aura shifted to a chill just as the cliffside winds did. Max relinquished her hand to instead wrap an arm around her shoulder, squeezing softly to comfort her. “He might come around, Ro. Eoin loves you like a sister. I’m sure he’s just afraid to lose you.” Merlin knew he had been. A thought occurred to him and his shrug squeezed at her shoulders once again. “Would Eoin want a switch? The light switches, like the one that brought you here. I’ve told my mum, the girls, and I’ve written Ari but I don’t know if she’s gotten the owl yet. I’ve made five of those light switches: Mine, Eden’s, Alex’s, the girls’, and, well… the last one was supposed to be for you. But if we’re living together, he should have it.”

“Speaking of living together…” Max let her go to take a step ahead of her and turn around to face her, arching a cheeky brow. “You know I’m living in an empty house right now, yeah? Stay with me. Ari won’t be back for three weeks, and Merlin knows they’ll all be thrilled when they find out. Violet’s going to scream.” He laughed, but the humor was only superficial before giving way to worry. “Eden, on the other hand… I don’t know how I’m going to tell her.”