43. Declan (1/2)
previously on returning to his roots: chapter 42
hermione sat there half angry and half remorseful letting out sigh after sigh. she'd been so eager to give draco her opinion of his mistake, she'd overdone it. she shouldn't have used the word. on the other hand, draco really didn't have to storm out of the house like some child who had been chastised over bad behavior.
/*/
hermione was in the middle of her twentieth sigh when she looked around to see draco standing in the doorway with a sheepish grin on his face.
for several seconds, they just looked at each other. finally, draco spoke.
"where are your clothes? we have a date night planned. i apologize for walking out. it was stupid."
hermione strode across the room and threw herself into draco's arms. "i accept your apology and counter with one of my own. as for my lovely outfit, i spilled wine on it. it will take me a minute to find another." pulling away, hermione headed for their bedroom, but turned back halfway across to blow draco a kiss and offer a bit of cheek. "you, mr. malfoy, are sexy as hell when you're contrite."
smiling appreciatively at hermione's backside as she walked away, draco mumbled that he'd have to be contrite more often.
//
a/n: a short chapter because we are all eager to have theo meet declan. slainte chugat.
returning to his roots: chapter 43 declan
/**/
saturday morning, theo and esther were still anxious. their boy was due within the hour. foregoing
eakfast, they made the decision to have something after declan arrived. with a bit of time on their hands, they separated to different areas of the house to wait for the ring of the doorbell.
even though esther's home would not be declan's primary residence, theo had made another thorough review of the premises the previous evening. esther had been cast as declan's great aunt which meant there would be times he visited her house, perhaps even stayed for overnight visits. as far as theo was concerned, there wasn't room for muck ups.
at the house, theo gathered every piece of paper and every file that pertained to declan's history. his first thought had been to vanish it all. instead, he gathered it all in a pile and locked it away in a spell protected box which he shrunk down and placed in his pocket. conor byrne would be
inging his mum's information which theo decided would be added to the secret box as well. the new history was in place, so the old shite in the box would probably stay hidden for perpetuity.
satisfied that it was all in order, theo had gone home. before going to bed, he had thrown up a silencing charm around his bedroom and called on padma. theo knew the discussion was all in his mind, but proceeded to share his feelings anyway. as he slipped into bed friday night, theo realized, anxiety or not, he would make everything go as planned.
and it had. at 10:00 am on saturday, may 1st, declan cobb accompanied by conor and mick byrne walked through the doors of the nott house, and was received with open arms.
/*/
when declan walked through the door, both theo and esther gasped in surprise. the boy was the spitting image of theo and nott, sr. tall for a seven year old, with dark hair, thin face,
illiant blue eyes, ruddy complexion and handsome as all hell. theo was amazed. looking into that face, he knew there wouldn't be anyone who could dispute that declan had come from the loins of a nott. which nott was none of their business.
theo and esther weren't the only ones who had gasped in surprise. conor and mick couldn't believe the resemblance either. they had been willing to go along with the fake story of theo being declan's father, but looking into theo's face they became puzzled and confused. could the information be true? could declan really be the child of an unsuspecting father? seemed like it.
theo greeted conor and mick, but was hard pressed to take his eyes away from the seven, almost eight year old. he was a nott without a doubt. in that moment, theo fell in love with the child who would be his son.
mick was first to step forward. "theo nott, i would like to introduce you to your son declan."
theo's eyes began to sting with unshed tears as he stooped down to greet declan. "my son," gasped theo. "i have lived my life without knowing you existed. that stops here. i welcome you to your heritage, the nott home and the nott family as well."
declan glanced from conor to mick before stepping forward. "i'm pleased to meet you mr. nott. my uncles have spoken quite highly of you. they are top of the line lads. however, i've warned them to act like gentlemen in the presence of such a fine wizard as yourself. we'll be fine."
the child reached out to hug his father, and the anxiety between them dissipated. they were family.
conor and mick stood off to the side beaming at their little man. he was doing them and their mum proud.
/*/
esther couldn't help herself. this would not be her boy, but tears of amazement were streaming down her cheeks. the resemblance to theo was uncanny. she had given away a nott. esther didn't have much time to dwell on the past, because declan had turned from theo and was approaching her.
"hello aunt esther. please don't cry. i won't be any trouble. i promise." he said extending his hand. "it's a pleasure to meet you."
esther hesitated for perhaps a nano second before reaching out to declan. "hello declan. i apologize for my tears. there's no need to worry though, because these are not tears of sorrow. they are tears of joy. your father and i have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. i hope you find everything to your liking."
calling out softly, esther summoned cely. when the elf landed in front of esther, her sudden appearance startled declan who took two steps back hastily turning to conor and mick.
never having had house elves, the two
others were also a bit startled when cely appeared, but conor quickly stepped up to explain how this was their first introduction to any house elf.
esther said a few words of explanation. "there's nothing to worry about. cely loves little wizards, and will be very protective of you." she then properly introduced cely to declan. "declan this is cely. she, along with your father and myself will see to all your needs. you may ask her assistance at any time. all you'll have to do is call her name and she'll appear.
the bit of nervousness declan had shown several seconds earlier disappeared as he returned the bow cely had given him. "hello cely. i'm happy to make the acquaintance of a house elf. we'll be fine."
"yes my new little mister. we gonna be fine," said cely before disappearing with a pop.
theo, conor and mick couldn't wipe the smiles from their faces if they tried
/*/
for esther, it was done. she had greeted and touched the son she had previously found so repulsive, and found out the truth. he wasn't a demon, or some demented child. he was a very handsome, little wizard whose touch had not diminished her in any way.
/*/
with the introductions out of the way, conor and mick were shown to the rooms they would be using for their short stay while cely showed declan to his room.
declan looked around in amazement. "how many people will be staying in here?"
cely, who didn't quite understand the question continued to unpack declan's bags until he spoke again. "cely? how many people will be sharing this bed with me?"
"sharing your bed? that's your bed little mister. this be your own room. no one be sharing," she answered as she continued putting away declan's belongings.
"all mine!" declan exclaimed in amazement. "may i show my uncles? they'll not believe this shyte unless i show them."
cely froze on the spot and turned to the excited wizard. "you'll not be using that language in mr. theo's house. young wizards do not use those words. i won't tell mr. theo or miss esther this time, but if you use any more bad language, i will. now go into your bathroom and wash up."
an embarrassed declan stood there trembling. it was only his first hour in his new home and he had already
oken a rule and made the house elf angry. declan liked his new room. as much as he cared for his uncles, he didn't want to be sent back to ireland to live with some never do well. in a very somber voice, he begged cely's pardon promising never to use bad language again.
"that be fine," cely replied in a softer tone. "it be our secret for now."
perking up, declan headed straight for the bathroom to do as he'd been told.
/*/
after putting away the few things they'd
ought with them, conor and mick sat down with theo while he went over his and declan's planned itinerary for the day with a small addition.
"i've owled my long time mate jay patil to come show you a bit of london while declan and i are at the ministry. if you'd rather remain here, cely, jay and esther will see to your needs. i wasn't sure if you all had the chance to eat, so i had cely prepare
unch. declan and i will be gone two hours at the most."
at that moment, a resolved declan entered the room to tell theo he was ready to go. "if you don't mind mr. nott sir, i'd like a short word with you on the way to the ministry."
conor and mick wondered what the short word could be about, but didn't ask declan any questions. he was with his father now. he and theo would have to sort things out between them.
jay came walking into the room at that moment and stood by waiting to be introduced.
declan stood straight and tall as he and his uncles were introduced to jay, properly extending his hand to greet his father's mate.
then it had been time for theo and declan to get to the ministry.
conor and mick looked on with pride and emotion as they watched declan walk out the door with theo.
/*/
conor, mick and jay had an excellent
unch before setting off to diagon alley to see the sights. jay started them at the top of the alley pointing out all the shops as they moved down the street. conor and mick picked up a few things along the way and were especially happy to be introduced to the lovely parvati patil of patil's shop.
never one to miss a chance to chat up a handsome wizard, parvati put her best foot forward as she gushed over the two men. mick wasn't any slouch in the chatting department either. he and parvati tried to out charm the other while conor and jay casually