The time that is given us   von Gepo
                          (How love can change lives)
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                         Kapitel 16: Sixteenth chapter
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“How much worth has a single life?” Edgar pondered Albus´ letter. “Is
every life equal? Are there more and less important lives?”
“Important questions.” Harry felt the other´s gaze upon him. “Are you
asking me?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I don´t think that I have answers. In war, many people died to keep me
alive. I was destined to kill someone, they needed me to be that killer.
Everyone of them would have answered you that there are more and less important
lives. They died because they believed in that truth.” Harry smiled
mirthlessly. “It later turned out that I wouldn´t have been able to die
anyway and that if the one I was destined to kill would have succeeded in
killing me, it would have made him mortal and therefore able to be killed by all
others. So if people hadn´t insisted on dying for me, maybe a lot of people
could have been saved. It turned out that I was actually the least important to
keep alive.” He turned to Edgar who had sat down on the study´s sofa. “It
also begs the question if being kept alive for a cause equals being of more
worth. Being useful and being worthy are two different things after all.”
“I wanted answer, not more question.”
“Believe me, presenting a question to a philosopher does not end in answers,
only in more questions.” Harry smiled and offered Edgar a glass of cognac.
“You have to find answers on your own.”
“How?”
“By living. Being alive means making new experiences and learning. As long as
you learn, you look for answers. It´s never good to be too stuck on something.
You might find answers along the way, then discard them again and look for new
ones.”
Edgar sighed deeply and leaned back against the cushions: “Your life sounds
exhausting.”
“Having children was nice. Changing nappies is a pretty mindless task. You
smile and wave and make annoying noises. There are no big questions when you
have a baby. You know that your whole life has only one focus: Caring for that
little one.”
“And making the world a place to be worth living it.”
“Yeah, that´s the harder part.” Harry closed his eyes for a moment. “Do
you think Grindelwald is ready for another visit?”
“No.” Edgar threw the letter onto the table. “I think he needs more than
Dumbledore. That man´s morality might be better than Grindelwald´s but it is
far from developed. He needs someone like you.”
“I am not sure about that. Love is important, I think so as well. I am not
sure I could explain … I could give examples but would they mean something to
someone that the feeling is unknown to?”
“Right … we need another rehabilitated dark Lord.”
Harry just laughed outright. “Ha … sure. I´ll use Twitter to find one.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. Insider joke.” Harry made a shooing motion with his hand.
“Sadly, I don´t have someone like that on hand.”
“Don´t you?” Edgar raised his eyebrows.
“Don´t I?” A moment of silence commenced. “You don´t mean … Tom?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“You want us to sit a seven-year-old in front of a mass murderer to explain
love and friendship to?” Harry snorted. “So rape is too much for him but
genocide is an okay topic?”
“I don´t know … it´s the best idea I have.”
“It could go spectacularly wrong.”
“Or it could help.” Edgar shrugged. “It´s worth a try, don´t you
think?”
“I think it´s a stupid and dangerous idea … which is why I am in favor of
it.”
Edgar grinned like a loon.
 
“Are you sure?,” Dumbledore asked for the third time, right as they entered
the corridor leading to Grindelwald´s sitting room.
“Is this man likely to kill me on sight?” Tom sounded rather exasperated.
“Wha- no!” The old man blinked.
“Then what is the problem?”
Dumbledore just looked at him, annoyance and confusion crossing his face.
“Do you fear he could morally corrupt a child?” Harry couldn´t ban the
smirk from his face.
“He can corrupt judges, so yes, I fear for a child this small.”
“We´re leaving if he does.” He looked to Edgar. “I am not even sure who
corrupts whom in this setting.”
Grindelwald stepped out of the room, clearly having listened in again, his gaze
trained on Tom. They walked the rest of the way until they were only a few feet
apart.
“You brought a child?”
“Yes, we did.” Harry simply stopped. “I´ll wait with the introduction.”
Grindelwald looked up, his arms crossed and his shoulders not exactly relaxed.
His gaze went to Edgar. The inkling of a smile of Grindelwald´s face drew no
reaction from the other man, so he took a deep breath and said: “I am sorry
about breaking into your mind.”
“Why?”
“Why?” Grindelwald blinked in confusion. “I … overstepped a boundary.”
“Why should you care about that?”
“Because I hurt you with it.”
“Really? I didn´t feel anything. I didn´t even understand what you did until
later. Why would it hurt me?”
“So … you don´t need me to apologize?” Grindelwald frowned.
“Oh, don´t worry, it did hurt in a way. The question is if you actually know
what you are apologizing for. Otherwise you´ll do it or something similar
again.”
“So it´s a quiz. Hm … it made you feel weak and powerless and instilled
fear in you?”
“That´s one part, yes, go on.” Edgar crossed his arms as well.
“You are unsure what I saw and if that might influence my actions to have me
act according to what you want to hear instead of actually getting what you want
me to believe in?”
“You don´t seem to have seen much if you do not know that I fully trust Gren
to pick out your lies anyway.” Edgar´s hand made a swirling motion. “Go
on.”
“You are embarrassed about what I might have seen?”
“Powerless, fearful, embarrassed. Any other emotions that come to mind?”
“Are you jealous of my powers?”
“A bit,” Edgar admitted. “That´s a rather small part though.”
“I would be very angry if someone broke into my mind.” Grindelwald seemed to
try to imagine the situation right now. “Actually, I would be furious. I would
doubt myself and my skills.”
“Self-doubt, anger, yes. A very personalized rage even.”
“I see.” Grindelwald´s nails bit into his flesh.
“Above all, I feel repulsed. Someone without manners, someone without common
sense and empathy, that is someone I would normally shun on principle. It´s a
character I would try to use as cannon fodder because he is nothing but a risk
in an army. Soldiers need detachment but not to the point of becoming
incalculable.”
The blue eyes were trained on Edgar like they were trying to solve a puzzle.
“Are we talking about mistrust?”
“Mistrust is too small a word, it´s revulsion.”
Grindelwald actually paled a bit. His gaze flittered to Harry but really, he
wasn´t the one to look out for.
“What did you do to Edgar?,” Tom barked at the man.
Grindelwald just opened and closed his mouth like a fish, obviously thrown by an
angered seven-year-old. “You … you don´t even know what happened.”
“I don´t care! Edgar is family and you hurt him.”
Harry placed a hand on Tom´s head to calm him down again. “I brought my son
because he has the best understanding of you out of all of us. I don´t think
that any of us could explain love to you. Tom might be able to.”
“Right now, I don´t understand at all,” Grindelwald admitted.
“What´s not to understand? You hurt Edgar! It makes you a bad man and I hate
you for it.”
Grindelwald just looked at Harry for a moment before nodding and turned to Tom:
“Don´t you think that is too simple a view? You don´t know the situation,
you don´t know my motivations, you simply act out your feelings.”
“I also don´t care.” Tom snorted. “I don´t know you, I don´t even know
your name. But Edgar is family and you hurt him. So I don´t care to listen to
your reasons, I want you to make it better. Your apology was worth shit.”
Harry didn´t correct him on that, he didn´t even feel the need to call him out
on his language.
Grindelwald seemed to check every word Tom said on Harry´s face. “Why?”
“You apologized because you had to, not because you meant it. That´s no
apology.” A lesson long learned by now. Painfully learned in Tom´s case.
“I meant it. I understood that I hurt him and I won´t do it again.”
“You don´t sound like you understand it, so you cannot be trusted.”
“But I did mean it!” Grindelwald looked about ready to snap. “Wasn´t I
able to answer his questions?”
“Barely.” Harry stepped in, tipping Tom on his shoulder. “May I?” After
Tom´s nod, he turned to Grindelwald. “Let me rephrase your apology for
you.” He waited a moment for his calm voice to have the other uncoil again.
“Edgar, I am sorry for breaking into your mind. I didn´t understand at that
time how it would make you feel. Since then, I reflected on my actions and I
understood that I made you feel unsafe in my presence. I made you feel powerless
and afraid by using powers you have no defence against. The worst of it was that
you were not even able to know that you had been wronged. I understand that that
made you feel helpless and enraged. You now know that there are people and
powers that can hurt you and you won´t even know about it. I humiliated and
shamed you with that. Knowing that someone can draw your most embarrassing
secrets from your head and use them against you, is terrifying. You have no idea
what I know about you now and you will have to fear that I use your secrets
against you when talking to you or when I talk about you with others. I
understand how that fills you with mistrust and even repulsion. So I swear
...?” Harry pointed a hand at Edgar while still looking at Grindelwald.
Grindelwald swallowed and turned to Edgar. “I swear to never read your
thoughts or memories without asking again. I swear to try my best not to use my
knowledge of your past against you in any way. I´ll … try to make it up to
you by being honest about what I know.”
Edgar smiled and nodded. “That´s a start.”
“You are much too nice, Edgar.” Tom still scowled. “You go harder on me
than on him and he claims to be an adult.”
“The difference is that you are allowed to go free and he is imprisoned here
for exactly that reason.” Harry shoved Tom back to the front. “Now be the
bigger man, let go of your anger and introduce yourself.”
Tom scoffed but unwrapped his arms, straightened and held out his right hand.
“My name is Tom Horten. Formerly Tom Vorlost Riddle, formerly Tom Vorlost
Gaunt.”
“Gaunt … the last of the Slytherin line. I met your grandfather once. A
truly unpleasant man, even as we shared the same beliefs. Are you Morfin´s or
Merope´s offspring?” He still shook the hand. “Gellert Grindelwald.”
“My mother was Merope Gaunt. She died in childbirth.”
“I am sorry to hear that.” He looked up for a moment. “Should we continue
to the sitting room?”
Harry turned to Edgar who nodded. Both of them looked at Dumbledore for
confirmation. He seemed pretty out of it though. So Edgar took Tom´s hand and
Harry grabbed Dumbledore´s arm to have him follow into the sitting room. He
steered Dumbledore to the sofa which made Edgar sit down in the armchair across
from Grindelwald with Tom on his lap. They were all served tea and Tom stared at
the dancing cups in awe.
By now, Grindelwald seemed resigned to the fact that they expected him to
converse with a little boy. “So why do they think you are best suited to
understanding me? Because we share the same magic? Have you killed before? Or do
they judge me as mentally developed as a child?”
“You shouldn´t underestimate children when it comes to stating the truth.
Adults have rather convoluted thoughts and tend to start overlooking the
painfully obvious.” Well, Tom had a knack for psychology.
“And what is the truth to my question, oh wise little sage?,” Grindelwald
mocked him.
“That you believe in neither love nor friendship nor even understand it. All
of them grew up with at least a sliver of it. I didn´t. I had to learn the
meaning of family just like you have to do it now. And while they could simply
adopt and show me, you are too old to learn it by any other means than having it
explained. You won´t be able to experience it.”
There was a moment of stunned pain openly visible on Grindelwald´s face before
he closed off again and rearranged his features.
“At least, that is what my father told me. Personally, I don´t think you are
even worth the explanation.”
“Tom-,” Edgar began to admonish him but stopped at Harry´s hand gesture.
“Why are you still so angry with me? I apologized and your … Edgar forgave
me.”
“That does not automatically include my forgiveness. He forgave you because
you are still learning and for now, he thinks it is enough. I don´t. I expect
better from you. If I was able to learn it, you should be able to do it too.
Papa tells me that I shouldn´t hold others to the same standards I set for
myself. Other people aren´t as intelligent, don´t have the same emotional and
financial support, they often have to care about their survival more than their
personal development. Okay, I get that. But you are intelligent, surrounded by
great people and basically sit in a castle the whole day. No one can tell me you
don´t have the necessary resources to be a bit faster than this.”
Grindelwald just blinked. “Your … father told you that?”
“No, that´s my personal opinion. I don´t like you.”
Grindelwald just looked at Harry, his eyes communicating disbelief and a hint of
desperation.
“Edgar proposed having you two meet.” Harry explained with a smile. “I
thought it a splendid idea. Tom is right that we are nice because we care about
Albus and offending you will hurt him. I am not sure if coming here won´t turn
out to be a monumental waste of time. I do it because I care for Albus. I also
believe in giving people a second chance. Tom is more judgmental than me and he
doesn´t care as much for Albus as I.”
“So he basically states your own opinion in plainer words?”
“I never told him what I think about you. I am not as opinionated and I trust
Edgar to fight his own battles, so I like you slightly more than Tom does. It
still comes down to a lot of mistrust.”
“You still trust me around your child though.”
“That´s because I trust my son.” Harry smirked and he knew it wasn´t
pretty. “I trust Albus from keeping you from casting on him. I trust myself
from recognizing harmful conversation. I trust Tom to know right from wrong
enough that he won´t take you as a role-model.”
“Basically … you hate me for how I am, how I think, but you indulge Albus by
coming here. You don´t think I can do this.” Grindelwald balled his fists.
“About ten percent of me believe you might be able to do this. A bit more are
unsure, most don´t believe in you. I don´t know if that is enough for you. It
is enough for me to come here and think about ways to up that chance.”
There was a long moment of silence. Dumbledore looked from Grindelwald to Harry
and seemed unsure if he should go over to his boyfriend. Finally, he stood and
placed a hand on the other man´s shoulder. “I believe in you.”
Grindelwald closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His eyes shimmered when he
opened them again. His gaze slowly turned onto his boyfriend, a mixture of
confusion and anguish. “Why?”
Dumbledore parted his lips but no sound left them. His eyes simply reflected the
same pain back at Grindelwald.
“Because he loves you,” Tom interrupted them.
Grindelwald blinked and looked back to the boy. “What does that even mean?”
“That he believes in you more than you yourself do.” Tom crossed his arms
again. “I was a little shit. I lied, I stole, I picked on others. I looked at
a man and only thought about how the get his wallet. Dad adopted me and I saw
myself living like a king, ordering around servants and lording over anyone
else. I thought myself invincible and our castle-like house my due. Dad always
believed I could be better than that. He taught me everything I know and he
always believed I could learn it. He never gave up on me, no matter how shitty I
behaved. He patiently explained why my behavior was wrong and what I could do
instead. He never belittled me, never once said that with my past, my ancestry,
my blood, my magic, my completely missing morals, I would never amount to more
than a street rat only worth dying.”
Edgar gasped and hugged Tom back to chest. “Who said that?”
“The ones that came before dad.”
Edgar just turned the boy in his arms and drew him close. “They obviously knew
shit.”
Ah … so that was where Tom learned such language. Harry smiled indulgently. He
watched Grindelwald stand and end up his Dumbledore´s arms as well. Hopefully,
Tom´s words had been enough to reach him. He closed his eyes and allowed
himself to remember Ginny for a moment.
She had been faithful in her unwavering belief in him.
Merlin, let her be safe and happy.
 
Dear Gren,
 
thank you. I don´t even know how to convey these words, to make them sound less
paltry. Thank you. The package includes a beginner potion´s kit and a toy wand.
It is a gift from Gellert to Tom. He said to convey the message that Tom could
accept the gift and continue hating him. He is not trying to buy affection. He
wants to thank Tom for teaching him about love. He never believed in it before
but now, he does.
 
Thank you, Albus
 
Tom was ecstatic. Both the wand and the potion´s kit had to be confiscated four
times before he started being responsible. For once, Harry nearly lost his
patience and it took both Edgar and him to keep each other from strangling the
little devil.
He actually had to call Dumbledore once to obliviate Margret, who had walked in
on Tom having smuggled potions ingredients from the study and mixing them in his
room. Finally, the rascal learned to follow the rules. It actually took the
first stock of ingredient to run out and having to ask Harry to buy more that he
remembered that pissing off his parents wouldn´t help.
It was astounding how someone so adept at words, so good at self-reflection,
could throw it all to the wind as soon as his self-interest was large enough.
Well, he would learn to temper that excitement. He was only seven after all.
Seven going on eight. It was autumn when Dumbledore wrote a letter, asking his
family to meet with the Malfoys on the topic of genetic heredity. Arcturus had
taken his sweet time reading the books that Dumbledore had given him, most
likely discussed it with a lot of other pure-bloods before deciding he would let
a Muggle and a Mudblood into his home. Harry couldn´t exactly blame him,
looking at the era they were living in. Discrimination was an identifying factor
of the well-bred in this time.
Now the important question: Should he take Tom or not? They might be met with
undiluted hatred. The boy would be linked to him, his behavior, his opinions. It
could make his start at Hogwarts a disaster. It could also give him his first
allies. Abraxas Malfoy would become an influential man and he was only slightly
older than Tom now. Already going to school, he would be a prefect when Tom
started. It could be his downfall as well as his salvation.
Harry wouldn´t be a Gryffindor if he didn´t take risks, so he accepted the
invitation on their behalf. Later, he invited both Edgar and Tom into his study
and explained his decision and what it would entail.
Tom just sighed really put upon.
Harry smiled indulgently and raised an eyebrow in question.
“Just … why are we even meeting with such people? This villain guy, okay,
you are friends with Dumbledore and he is headmaster at my future school, I get
that. Grindelwald is his lover. If he is better, Dumbledore is better, that´s
better for the school and my education. I also get that being friends with those
Malfoy people would be helpful … it just seems such a hassle. Can´t we meet
with people we like and that like us?”
“It actually reminds me – everyone thinks Grindelwald is dead. Keep that in
mind. Never breath a word of his existence.”
“Yes, dad.” Tom rolled his eyes.
“The Malfoys will be hard to bring around, but if we can bring them around,
they´ll bring others around. You´ll be met with acceptance in school. If we
don´t, they will hate you on the basis of your blood and ancestry.”
“I am quite used to that.”
“But isn´t elementary school a lot nicer than the orphanage? Do you want to
go back to a place that hates you for things you can´t control?”
Tom mumbled something but Harry refrained from asking about it. He was pretty
sure that Tom wasn´t keen on making the same experience again.
“So I play your model son, the most virtuous and well-behaved half-blood those
purebloods will ever see?” Tom´s voice dripped with sarcasm. It looked
strange on a seven-year-old but it had been even stranger on a five-year-old and
Harry had been able to weather that as well.
“Just don´t play villain turned anti-hero as with Grindelwald.”
“What´s an anti-hero?” Tom instantly turned curious.
“Someone who does good in evil ways. Someone evil that secretly supports the
good guys.”
“Huh … if this rehabilitation thing would work, Grindelwald would become an
anti-hero, right?”
“Pretty much, yes.”
Tom wrinkled his nose and finally pouted. “I don´t want to be in the same
category as him. I´ll try my best at being a good guy.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Harry smiled proudly. “So you´ll be my model son on
Sunday?”
“What do I get for it?” Tom turned up his nose.
“Maybe less tickles for being a total shit?” Edgar grabbed the boy and
started tickling him.
The next minutes were full of shrieks and tumbling.
 
Before Sunday came around though, another crisis tumbled into their household in
form of the local police. One would expect them to come knocking at a reasonable
time but no – it was just before midnight when Margret came to wake him.
Thankfully, he was still up, working on his biology books to get authors and
references right. Studying had never been his strong point but it would take a
few years for people to listen to Tom. So he had to be the Hermione of their
team this time.
None of that mattered in the slightest when Margret informed him that two
officers had been seated in the parlor and seemed pretty cross. Harry bade her
to make some tea for all of them and exchanged his evening gown for his normal
clothes again. When he came down, it was Brea that waited upon the officers.
“Brea dearest, you should be in bed,” he admonished her slightly before even
greeting the gentlemen.
“I am sorry, sir, the knocking woke me.”
“Thank you for your help, but please go back to bed. It is much too late for a
girl as yourself to be awake.” He lay a hand on her shoulder.
“Yes, sir.” She held up her serving tray in front of her upper body. “I am
sorry, I did not want to leave a bad impression. I was just anxious what these
officers are here about.”
“I am sure it does not concern your friends. I shall tell you all in the
morning. Surely, it is only a misunderstanding. The others may be young and
foolish, but certainly no one of us warrants the attention of nightly controls.
Now quell your fears and go back to sleep.”
She finally let out a small sigh and nodded. One day, she would be a lioness in
her own right, but as of now, she was a scared mother-hen. Margret brought in
the teapot and scolded Brea as well: “You should be in bed, young miss. Now
back to your quarters.”
“Yes, head maid.” Brea rolled her eyes but finally retreated.
“What a foolish young girl.” Margret shook her head.
“She means well.” Harry finally turned to the two men that had stood upon
his entry. “Good evening, sirs. Please take a seat. To what do I owe this late
visit?”
“Pardon us, sir Horten, this matter could not be delayed.” They shook hands
and exchanged names before everyone sat.
Margret served the tea, offering sugar, milk and even lemon juice before leaving
upon Harry´s nod.
“So which of my charges does this concern?”
“This is about a certain Richard, no last name given.”
“Ah, of course. Richard works in my factory and as our gardener. A quiet boy
who does not like fighting. Some of my girls are less peaceful than him. Except
for a foray into alcohol, I never had problems with him.”
“He was reported by a young men claiming that Richard had tried to kiss
him.”
“Kiss him? Forcefully and against his will?” Harry snorted. “It´s hard to
imagine.” The forceful part certainly was, but not the kissing part. Richard
was very much into men and Harry was aware of that. “Who was the boy that
reported this?”
“It was one of the Conner´s boys, the seventeen-year-old.”
“Conner? I can´t seem to recall the boy, but isn´t Mister Conner friends
with Mister Smith?”
Both police officers looked at one another before the slightly older one nodded.
“Aye, what does that have to do with this?”
“Just that Mister Smith and I have a tryst right now. He is hitting his wife
and kids overly much and some neighbors already complained about him. I added my
own complaint because he hit my son as well. Implicating one of my charges
through a friend of his seems like some form of payback. There have been rumors
in town about my assistant Edgar and me having an affair. Trying to fuel those
rumors by having a charge of mine convicted of homosexual acts seems in line
with trying to discredit me to save his own neck.”
Both officers blinked in surprise, again sharing a look. It was the younger one
that asked: “So you do not have an ounce of doubt this has to be untrue?”
“It would certainly be foolish and uncharacteristic. Richard is a gentle soul,
he is never forceful. He also knows that I am a retired army general. The army
has only one way of dealing with homosexuals, they shoot them in the head.”
The younger officer swallowed visibly, going a bit pale at that. The older one
drew a deep breath.
“Personally, I don´t think we need to be as strict with the public. If no one
comes to harm, I don´t care what people do behind closed doors. But if Richard
were to force himself upon someone, male or female, you can be sure my
punishment will not be light.”
“Mister Horten, he is of an age where such things are handled by the
police-”
“Of course, my apologies.” He held up his hands. “It´s just that Richard
knows my stand exactly. It seems hard to believe he did something criminal like
that. He might have done something though that could be misconstrued. I will
have to talk to him about it.”
“That is also police work.” They were really stubborn, it seemed.
“I just thought that an attempted kiss – if it even happened at all – is
beneath the attention of the police. You really don´t need to concern yourself
with such trivial matters when a lot more ghastly criminal acts are committed
out there. I see it as my responsibility to punish my charges on minor
infractions.”
“This is no minor infraction, Mister Horten-,” the younger officer exclaimed
but was stopped by a hand on his arm by his partner.
“It rather is.” The other officer nodded. “Still, now that it has come to
police attention, we need to investigate this.”
“Of course, I understand. At which time tomorrow should I bring Richard down
to the station?” Because he certainly would not drag him out of bed now like a
criminal.
“We would like to see him now,” the younger officer stubbornly insisted.
Harry turned to the older officer, knowing that this young one only dared to
speak like this because the other secretly supported him. He had done enough
good cop/bad cop scenarios himself. Obviously, it made no sense to argue with a
wand instead of the wizard. “So you want me to drag a fourteen-year-old, built
like a stick, doing needlework for a living, boy out of bed because you
sincerely believe he assaulted a sixteen-year-old, muscled, athletic boy with a
forceful kiss?” He let that question linger for a moment. “And you want me
to believe that by barging into my home in the middle of the night, you will
treat him fairly?” The unease he caused was a balm on his soul. “Believe me
when I say that I will get to the bottom of this. If he did assault someone, he
will confess to it tomorrow and accept your judgment. He will even do so gladly
because I am sure that our law will be less harsh than I would be. But if I
believe him to be used as a pawn against me and can find no blame with him, I
will fight tooth and nail against these wrong accusations. For that boy is my
charge and therefore his actions reflect upon me. All of these children are dear
to me and I don´t want harm to come to them, no matter what form it takes.”
There was a pause but he spoke before any tone left the officer´s mouth that
had slowly opened. “Now I wish you a pleasant night. I shall see you in the
morning, first thing after breakfast.”
The younger officer drew in breath to shout but his partner stopped him.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Mister Horten.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Officer Derbrow, Officer Kanderly.” He nodded
at them and stood, accompanying them to the door. With a smile, he shut it
behind them.
Deep breath.
Well … that had been bad. Had he really just threatened two police officers?
Not his smartest move. At least, he hadn´t been openly hostile. Thankfully, the
older one had not been as hot-blooded as his eager younger partner. That could
have gotten ugly fast.
Both Margret and Brea stood in front of him in a flash, Margret´s eyes wide
like a deer in head-lights, Brea´s hard as steel.
“I was so scared,” Margret whispered.
“Did he do it?,” Brea asked instead.
“I have no clue.” Harry sighed. “But in these matters, word against word
does not count for anything. People will show up that will have supposedly seen
something, convicting someone on rumor and hearsay. They first target Richard,
then Edgar and me. It would basically mean the end to all of us.”
“You should marry,” Brea immediately counseled.
“I will not tarnish my late wife´s me-”
“Would she want you in this danger?” The fifteen-year-old girl stood her
ground against him. “I know that you are a honorable, loyal man. You have
ideals that far surpass our times. But people believe what they want to see and
this threatens us. All of us. We all know that Edgar won´t marry, not even as
an alibi. But you could. Everyone expects you to. Every unmarried women in this
town is set on you and it drives the men crazy. Marry someone. It would protect
both Richard and Edgar. I know it´s unfair to ask of you, but this world just
isn´t fair!”
Harry just blinked. Okay. Not what he had expected. On the other hand, she was
right. He was vulnerable right now. Or not exactly, Richard and Edgar were. He
could help. He really could … but … “But what about the poor woman I am to
marry?”
“Every women in the world would be happy to be married to you! Just because
you won´t ever love her does not detract from the respect you have for
women.” She blinked, suddenly calming. With a deep breath, she straightened
her spine. “Actually … Mister Grenmore Horten, I hereby ask for your hand in
marriage.”
Err … what? Harry just blinked.
Margret still looked like a deer caught in headlights, just not in fear but in
shock.
“Was that a serious proposal?”
“Well, I don´t have a ring, but I am sure you have some family heirlooms
somewhere. The official age for marriage is sixteen, that´s still four months
off. Otherwise, I mean it.”
“But … why? Is this just about protecting everyone?”
“Not really.” Suddenly, she lowered her gaze. “I´d really like to study.
Also, I am so annoyed by all those boys chasing after me. Unmarried women
aren´t taken seriously. So I´d like to marry and go on to study and I really
don´t want a man breathing down my neck about domestic duties, children and why
I am throwing away my time with going to university.”
“So … money, security and freedom?”
“I know that you respect women enough to not bat an eyelash at that.” Even
though she said that, her voice trembled. Obviously, she wasn´t sure he would
stay true to his word.
“You are right about that.” Was he seriously considering this? “What would
you like to study?”
“Economy. I heard you talking with Edgar about the upcoming war. You´ll go
back to the army, right? Someone needs to take over the business.” She folded
her arms behind her back. “Please let me do this. This is my home too.” Her
eyes filled with tears, my throat closing up.
“Brea … you know that you don´t need to marry me for this, right? You can
study, I´ll support you.”
“Will it give me the right to rent a place? Will it secure me a spot in
university? Will it protect me from rape and abuse in a city all by myself? Will
it keep the other students from disregarding me because women only study to
marry an academic husband?” Her rage poured freely. “You respect women but
no one else does. Only a married women has rights in this world. So yes, I
really mean it. You would do me a great favor and I promise to never ask
anything of you that would dishonor your late wife.”
“You won´t have kids that way.” Dear heavens, she was only fifteen. Why did
a fifteen-year-old have to think about any of this?
“I am old enough to know you don´t exactly need a husband to have those.
Maybe I´ll madly fall in love and reconsider but even then, I am sure we can
talk and find a solution. I trust you, Mister Horten.”
“Gren.” He heaved a deep sigh. “My fiancee should not call me by title.
She also shouldn´t wait upon me.” His finger pointed at her uniform. “Most
of all, my fiancee needs her beauty sleep, so back to bed with you. Tomorrow,
buy some expensive cloth and sew yourself some dresses. A Misses Horten needs to
look the part.”
With a big smile, her face basically lit up. “How expensive? How many?”
“Well, you need at least three expensive dresses for dinners, operas, galas
and such, two for balls and five dresses for daily use as well as a marriage
dress. I´ll see that the factory´s workload is lowered after the next
shipment, so the others can help you. You´ll need all of that as soon as
possible. After you look the part, we can announce this.”
“Can I at least tell the others?” Brea looked more excited than at
Christmas.
“Let´s tell them in the morning. But I will not keep the real reason from
them. I promised I would never take advantage of any of you. Right now, I feel
like a lecherous geezer preying on a helpless maiden.”
“I train boxing with you, Mis-, I mean, Gren. I can defend myself.”
“Also, this is the second time I was proposed to. I seem to attract strong
women. At this rate, I´ll never ask someone to marry me.”
“Well, you can officially propose to me somewhere for the public eye. A
romantic setting, a great gesture, family heirloom rings, you know … every
girl´s dream.”
“Even yours?” Harry raised an eyebrow.
“No.” Her tone was flat. “But who cares about what any of us really think?
One day, people might. Right now, they don´t.” She gave him a nod.
“Goodnight, Gren.”
“Goodnight, Brea.” Harry sighed deeply.
So, fate gave him a child bride once again, aged far beyond her years. It was
Ginny all over again.

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