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Hestia Abbott ([info]eagleofdelphi) wrote in [info]all_roads,
@ 2008-01-18 21:40:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:*thread-completed, dominic abbott, ernie macmillan, hannah abbott, hestia jones

Fixing misunderstandings; Ministry & the Abbott's [DA, EM, HJ, HA]
WHO: Dominic, Ernie, Hestia, Hannah
WHERE: Dominic's office, the Ministry; the Abbott's
WHEN: Wednesday, 22 December, 1999; early-evening
SUMMARY: Dominic and Hestia get to the bottom of Ernie's accusation and Dominic confronts Hannah. COMPLETED THREAD.
RATING: PG-13

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[info]lost_ernie
2008-01-19 03:16 am UTC (link)
Dominic had stopped paperwork the moment Macmillan started to answer him in the journals, and after he learned the boy was coming, he spent more and more time snapping one quill after another and repairing them only to snap them again. To say that he was angry was the understatement of the century. He was beyond angry, that Macmillan would put words into his mouth and make up outrageous lies about Hananah and say that Hestia had witnessed it all and t...

A sharp knock on his door startled him back to reality. “Auror trainee Macmillan here to see you minister.” His secretary ushered Ernie in and shut the door.

The silence in the room was thick and oppressive, but it only lasted a moment. Rather than usher Ernie to a chair as he normally would have done with his trademarked Minister cordialness, instead Dominic rose to his feet, drawing his wand instantly. “Just what the hell has gotten into you, Macmillan?” he asked. “You come up with some fantastic fairy tale in which Hestia's the wicked step mother figure who listens idly while I say horrible things and Hannah is unloved, and you expect me to just figure hmmm, perhaps Hestia and I both just forgot?”

Stupidly Ernie drew his wand, rather than just reasoning with the minister. “Well if you don't want to believe your daughter, that sounds more like a personal problem to me, Minister Abbott. I've never known Hannah to lie myself and YOU have lied about a great many things, so I'm sure it will be a great surprise to see who I believe in all of this.”

“Idiot boy...” Dominic jammed his wand into Ernie's chest. “I never said my daughter was lying, I just want to know where YOU came up with such outrageous lies. I want to know where you get off implying that I don't love my daughter.”

“Implying?” Ernie laughted, ignoring the clear and eminent danger he was in. “Implying? Oh I didn't imply it, I said it, just the same way that you said. it.” He didn't wince as the wand jabbed harder into his chest, just moved his own so that it was poking into the minister's stomach. “You made her feel like your left over family...like she was less than nothing.”

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[info]eagleofdelphi
2008-01-19 03:34 am UTC (link)
Unaware for the moment of the disaster unfolding in Dominic's office, Hestia made her way through the Ministry to meet Dominic and Ernie. It hadn't occurred to her Ernie would beat her there, even if she had been at the training HQ and not the Ministry itself. Waving off Dominic's secretary with "he's expecting me" she opened the door... and promptly walked in to a war zone. Slamming the door shut before a contingent of Aurors filled the room, the stared at both of them and then rushed forward.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" she said, sliding between them with a determined force, knowing Dominic, despite his size advantage, would step back once a wand was near her, and knowing Ernie, who was shorter, could be taken down if necessary. "Hexing each other isn't about to solve a damned thing other than both of you ending up hurt and upsetting Hannah more than she apparently is."

That said in all reasonableness, much like normal for Hestia in 'job' situations, pregnancy hormones flared. "You!" She smacked Ernie, hard. "What is wrong with you, drawing a wand on the Minister in the bloody Ministry itself? Have you lost your mind?!" She smacked him again. "Are you trying to end up in Azkaban, lose your life, job and Hannah?!"

"And you!" She turned on Dominic. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you, drawing a wand on him? I thought we had discussed this kind of thing before and learned then it was a. Bad. Idea." Two smacks for him as well. "You want to get to the bottom of this, not upset Hannah more!"

She eyed both men, still not backing out form between them. "Now, we're going to get to the bottom of this. Ernie, I want you to tell me exactly what you know, down to the exact words Hannah said."

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[info]lost_ernie
2008-01-19 04:13 am UTC (link)
Ernie scowled at Hestia and then back at Dominic. She had a point, damn her. He could have been in major trouble for threatening the minister in general, and here...well that was just not a good idea to begin with, but what was he supposed to do when the man was pointing—indeed, jamming a wand into him?

Dominic was glaring right back at Ernie, though thankfully not at Hestia too. No, when it came to her, he wanted to pout, but he refused to pout in front of HIM. Why had Hestia smaked him around as though it were his fault, he had only been trying to get information out of the boy!

“I don't know how much I should tell you.” Ernie said quickly. “After all, if she wanted you two to know she would likely have said something. I just thought it was incredibly arrogant for this ass, (and honestly, WHO voted for him, because I think ANY of the other candidates and half of the owls of this country could have done a more credible job when it comes to holding his temper and acting reasonably) to accuse me of doing something to hurt Hannah's feelings when his words were what led to her contacting me, sobbing over her journal, late after the wedding. HIS words are the reason she's acting “oddly” and not living up to your little happy side family expectations, Minister NOT mine.”

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[info]eagleofdelphi
2008-01-19 04:22 am UTC (link)
Giving Ernie an incredulous look as he tried to get out of telling after dropping bits of information all over the journals next to insults and recriminations. The insults continuing were not helping her temper at all, as they were only a vehicle for Ernie's own upset, not any truth about Dominic and his ability to do his job. But, what stopped her cold was one small phrase, one word in that phrase to be completely accurate..

"Side family?" she repeated, the beginnings of understanding dawning, enough for Hestia to at least have some point of reference for all of this. However, it was not a point of reference she wanted to have, to think this could have been caused at all by the baby. "Dammit Ernie," she growled, suddenly defensive, "you've dropped half-information all over in accusing Dominic, you're going to spit out the rest if I have to pull it out of you forcibly myself!"

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[info]lost_ernie
2008-01-19 04:39 am UTC (link)
Ernie glared at them both for a long moment. He thought so much of Hestia, and here she was pretending that she hadn't heard the words that had torn Hannah's words apart, that she didn't know just what a vile creature Dominic Abbott was.

“Tell me.” Dominic's words were low and dangerous, and his fingers flexed, aching to grip his wand once again and pull the information out of the boy in a method even more painful than the one Hestia was threatening. “Tell me EVERYTHING that you heard, you stupid boy, and do it now.”

“Well now that you asked so nicely...” Ernie sneered, bowing before the minister and then, shockingly, Hestia in a sarcastic manner. “I will tell you both what Hannah told me, just as I told you before when you called me a liar. Hannah went to see you, Hestia, and wish you a Happy Birthday after the wedding, and she overheard this ungrateful bastard say how happy he was when it was just the two of you, how he didn't need anyone else or something like that, and she contacted me, obviously distraught, because she figured out what this beast was doing.” Ernie grew bold in his anger, his mouth saying things it obviously shouldn't. “He lost his wife, and so now he's just going to forget all about...”

“Don't you dare talk about Teaghan, or about what I'm doing. You don't have ANY idea what I've been through, what I've done, what I will do. NONE. Just because my daughter has a passing infatuation with you doesn't mean that you're some big grown man, or that you can pass judgment on me, or that you understand what it's like to be in my position. You know NOTHING.” Dominic's fingers twitched, wanting to grab for his wand so badly he couldn't stand it. Were Hestia not here, he would have hexed the boy by now, but the last thing they needed was for Hestia to be in the middle of a duel in her condition.

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[info]eagleofdelphi
2008-01-19 05:01 am UTC (link)
Though before Hestia had been unable to place what he could have been talking about with the conversation that they had had, when Ernie mentioned 'happiness', it came back to her. 'I'm happier than I've been in some time.' Oh Merline. Oh bloody fucking Merlin. She knew Dominic had not meant anything that could ever exclude Hannah, anything that could insult the memory of Teaghan, anything that could have hurt anyone, but now that she knew Hannah saw it like that, she could see how the words could be mistaken.

That hurt her, to think anything that Hestia caused – and she had caused the whole thing by buying that wedding dress, by letting Dominic have a way to find it, by being so absorbed despite trying to never, for a moment, make Hannah feel her place in Dominic's life, her place in Hestia's own life, was changing, or if changing, was only doing so for the better by becoming closer.

And then Ernie brought up Teaghan. Even if it wasn't the truth, even if Dominic wasn't trying to replace old family with new in any way whatsoever, to accusation still hurt Hestia because it was everything she had ever feared Hannah or even Dominic thinking.

"Macmillan, get out of here now," she said, turning her back on him, staring at Dominic in pained horror of the mess that had existed around them without them even being aware of it except in a superficial, vague way.

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[info]lost_ernie
2008-01-19 05:22 am UTC (link)
Ernie knew almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth that they were a mistake, but then Dominic was arguing with him and Hestia told him to leave and he KNEW he had hurt her, and that had never been his intention at all. He trusted Hestia, respected her, thought that she was all around amazing. He didn't like that she had sat aroudn and let Dominic say those things, but listening was a good deal different from saying, so he really couldn't blame her.

"Hestia.." he started, wanting to apologize or do something to make it up to her. She may not be facing him but he could almost feel the pain radiating off of her. "Hestia I'm so sor..."

"Have you gone deaf, boy?" Now that Hestia was closer to him, Dominic grew more bold, drawing his wand at Ernie swiftly. "You were told to leave by a lady, and I assure you that if I have to repeat her request then you will find that I am far less delicate in issuing my demands than she is."

Ernie sighed. He would just have to owl Hestia later, as this clearly wasn't going to work, not with Dominic Abbott, bastard at large there to incite things. Growling, he turned on his heel and left, all but slamming the door behind him.

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[info]eagleofdelphi
2008-01-19 05:31 am UTC (link)
Not turning around at the start of Ernie's apology, Hestia did start to scold Dominic again for drawing his wand, but realized it would help no one right now. Right now, all that mattered was Hannah was in pain, pain she had hidden from them willfully and no matter the fault of the misunderstanding, it needed to be repaired now.

"You need to go home and fix this with Hannah, tell her what you did say and explain what you meant," she said as the door slammed closed and she faced Dominic, and though it was meant as a reasonable declaration, it came off vaguely pleading. Hestia knew by rights she should go too in order to talk to Hannah after Dominic had cleared everything up, but the sting of guilt, of feeling like a traitor as she did sometimes when she thought about Teaghan's loss essentially being her own gain, made it easier to want to stay at work.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-19 05:41 am UTC (link)
"Hestia..." Dominic rested a hand on her shoulder, torn between going to comfort his daughter and comforting the mother of his child. "Hestia, this is not your fault. It was me who put my foot in my mouth, me who acted like a fool, me who didn't make the connection before. You had nothing to do with this."

He groaned, going to slam a few books shut on his desk, clearly finished here for the day. "We should go now, we shold go and talk to Hannah and we'll all feel a good deal better once this is all resolved."

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[info]eagleofdelphi
2008-01-19 05:49 am UTC (link)
Hestia shook her head, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm not going, Dominic," she said quietly, "Hannah's clearly upset concerning you, not me, otherwise Ernie would have told us both what despicable people we were in his opinion. I still have paperwork to finish here that I would have had to come and do anyhow, I'll Floocall later when I'm done." She kissed his cheek, not a perfunctory dismissal but a goodbye just the same. "Go tell Hannah how much you love her and everything will be fine."

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-19 05:56 am UTC (link)
"Come and see us once it's over?" He questioned softly, not wanting her to feel excluded...not wanting anyone to feel excluded really and unsure of how to make them both feel welcome and loved. This was indeed possible, he knew it had to be, to make a blended family that didn't upend anyone's place in his life. He knew that he should feel honored, to have so many who loved him so much, enough to want to be paramount in his concerns and number one, but he thought that they WERE all number one, and as usual his inability to express himself properly was coming into play.

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[info]eagleofdelphi
2008-01-19 06:00 am UTC (link)
After a moment, Hestia nodded. It all depended on Hannah, though, and she wasn't about to make Hannah feel worse than she already did, or exacerbate a situation just fixed. "If she wants me there," she said quietly and then slipped out of his office.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-19 06:39 am UTC (link)
Dominic watched Hestia slip out of the office, feeling like a failure. Hannah couldn't have heard him say that and thought that...no. But even so, they did need to speak. He glanced at his watch to see if she would be home before remembering about the break. He reached for his still warm mug of coffee, downing it before grabbing his cloak and heading for the door. Likely Macmillan was out of his mind. Likely this was nothing...but still--if it were nothing would he still feel this deep sense of guilt and nervousness?

"Hannah..." He called out when he entered their house, tossing his cloak onto a chair and walking further into the room. "Hannah, can I talk with you for a minute?" Waiting on her to come or not come, he called for Jigsy to bring them a wide variety of flavored teas for Hannah.

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-19 06:44 am UTC (link)
Curled up on a sofa in the library working on some lesson ideas for after holiday break, Hannah started at the sound of Dominic's voice. He was home? It wasn't time for him to be home yet! Flustered at not having the window to be done with things at home and have a ready excuse to be gone when she grew too uncomfortable to stay home with him there, she left the library warily.

"You're home early," she said as she met him in the corridor, painting a falsely bright smile on her face. It was the only thing she could do. Despite what he had said and how he felt, he still came home and tried to be her father, loved her and took care of her and even if he couldn't be happy enough unless it was with Hestia and the new baby, he deserved to have her not treat him badly. It was only when tears threatened or she grew too out of her depth that she retreated.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-19 07:10 am UTC (link)
Dominic went to her, giving her a tight hug. He was struck by the fact that he didn't hug her often enough. Oh, he hugged her a good deal more than some fathers of grown children hugged them but it didn't seem enough, not now, not if it wasn't enough to assure her of her place in his life. "Indeed I am." he said, kissing her forehead before pulling back slightly. "Sweetheart, will you meet with me in the sitting room for a minute?"

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-19 07:18 am UTC (link)
Without pause, Hannah hugged him back just as tightly, a knot forming in her throat. Others might have staked a selfish claim to their parent, and part of Hannah did, so she certainly was not immune to it, but she also thought about this new half-sibling, probably too much, and how bad it had been to not have a father at times and she couldn't wish that on some baby. She knew he loved her, she did, but his happiness was an entirely different thing. Oh Merlin, she wasn't going to get through much time at all tonight.

She glanced down at her watched, hair covering her face a moment as she fought her smile back in place. "I told Ernie I'd be over early, Dad, can this wait until tomorrow?"

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-19 07:29 am UTC (link)
Dominic's jaw clenched, though he hoped it was imperceptible, at the mention of Hannah's boyfriend's name. "No, sweetheart, I'm afraid it can't." The look he gave her was solemn, and his eyes were sad. "I know I've hardly been the most stellar model lately of what to do, but I would really appreciate it if you could make a few minutes to listen to a very foolish man." He could see it, how she was shutting him out behind the smile, trying to dodge around the mention of meeting her boyfriend. She was stalling, and he should have seen it earlier.

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-19 07:47 am UTC (link)
Looking up with undisguised surprise on her face, Hannah knew he had guessed something. Maybe Hestia had told him about trying to get out of spending time with her. She didn't sense this was about scolding, as she didn't think Hestia was suddenly turning wicked-stepmother on her or that her father was becoming one of those blind men in fairy tales, but somehow, he must suspect something because he would have no reason to talk about himself like that.

"Okay," she said quietly, all pretense of that fake smile long gone and then moved off in the direction of the sitting room. Once in there, she settled into the corner of a sofa, watching him worriedly. She hadn't meant to make him feel worse, to add to the unhappiness from her mother's loss and her probable contstant reminder of that, that loss that faded when he was with Hestia.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-19 08:08 am UTC (link)
Dominic settled next to her on the sofa, opening his mouth, then closing it and opening it again. How on earth was he supposed to start this? He didn't like her keeping secrets at all, but a secret like this, one she didn't trust him with that was ABOUT him...it made him uneasy.

"Hannah, I'm sorry. I know now what you heard the other night after the wedding and, while I don't believe the source for all of his...helpful advice, I know that my words might have come across as something differently than how I intended them. Does that make any sense?"

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-19 08:12 am UTC (link)
Hannah froze, her mouth rounded into the perfect 'o' of the utterly startled. Despite her stiffened posture, her mind was whirring at high speeds, all over the male pronouns assigned to his informant. Only one person knew how upset she really was. And now Dominic apparently knew.

"Ernie told you?" she questioned, bottom lip beginning to tremble.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-19 08:22 am UTC (link)
"Oh baby.." Dominic pulled her close. "He didn't want to, but Hestia and I could tell that something was wrong with you and we confronted him, told him that he had to tell us what was going on." There, it wasn't the most accurate answer, but it wouldn't upset her more...he hoped.

"Why didn't you tell me what was going on, Hannah? I thought you knew that you mean the world to me, and not the world in a the world minus Hestia sort of way, but the world. I love you, and I love Hestia, and I love your little brother or sister, but that doesn't take away from the way I feel about you." His gaze turned dark, remembering. "The only reason I AM happier now than I have been in some time is because I am surrounded with people who I love--and yes, Hannah, that includes you. Had you seen the mess that I was when you were gone you wouldn't doubt your importance to me for a moment...just ask Hestia the next time you see her, and for what it's worht, she was pretty unhappy with you gone too."

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-19 08:34 am UTC (link)
It was too much at once. It was too much for Hannah to have him seem to try and neatly fix all of this in one statement, one she felt maybe he was making because he just did not want her upset. She didn't want him to spin her pretty stories so she wasn't sad, there wasn't anything very adult about that.

"Dad, no, just..." she didn't pull away, just put her hands up, as if trying to ward off his rush of words. "I heard you, what you said." She fumbled for words, trying to keep from crying and ruining things more. "I know... I know I must remind you of Mum and being with Hestia is free of that. I do know that's what it must be like and that you can't be as happy here, with memories of her in the house and memories of her with me and us and you don't have that with Hestia at her flat. You... you don't have to pretend just because Ernie told you."

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-19 08:40 am UTC (link)
Dominic made a soft sound of disbelief. "Oh Hannah..." he swallowed deeply, unsure of what to say to that. She DID remind him of her mother, but that was one of the things he loved most about her. "Memories of your mother are hard at times, because I start to think about her and I miss her and I remember something funny that she would say or the way she would make me laugh or..." he groaned, raking a hand through his hair. "But thinking about your mother isn't something that I avoid. She and I were very happy, and, more importantly, we had you. You reminding me of her is a good thing, the best thing, because I don't ever want to forget her, forget what we had. It's just that what I have with Hestia is different from what I had with your mother, not better, not worse, just...different."

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-20 03:31 am UTC (link)
Hannah watched him with a touch of wariness about her eyes, knowing there was far more to her feelings than this, but needing to settle on point as they came to it, not all of them at once. "But you're with Hestia now, going to have a baby with her," she said, then added in a whisper, "going to marry her, that's different than just being reminded of Mum when it was the two of us." Part of her had never really thought they would marry after all that had been said about the risks and so she had never needed to truly face her feelings on it, but despite loving Hestia, she realized now she felt that Hestia coming to be his wife, her step-mother, would further divide her from Dominic, a process that had started when he sent her away. If she truly analyzed every part of it, she might have even realized the feelings had started as a child when 'Daddy' wasn't always around for his job, during the time there had been no Voldemort or active Death Eaters.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-20 03:59 am UTC (link)
Dominic shook his head 'no'. "Being with Hestia doesn't make me think any less of the time that I had with your mother, it doesn't make me want to forget anything about our time together. No matter whether Hestia and I are allowed to marry or not, it won't be the way that you think." He sighed heavily, realizing that he wasn't expressing himself well at all. "Hannah, whether I like it or not, eventuallly you will marry someone." Though, he prayed, not Macmillan. "And I am certain that adding someone to your life that you love in that way will not take anything from the way that you care for me. I know that if Hestia and I marry it won't take anything from you and I. Hestia and I aren't going off to the side to start our own family, YOU are our family."

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-20 04:15 am UTC (link)
Hannah moved then, not pacing so much as just standing in front of the sofa, her arms wrapped around her torso. "This isn't about me and Ernie getting married someday, it's about you!" she cried, eyes wet now but not crying. "I didn't ever want you to stay away from me, I only ever wanted the opposite. I didn't and don't want to live at Hogwarts because of it, I didn't get a flat of my own because of it, I never did things at university that would have made me feel too attached because I wanted to go home as soon as you came for me. But you didn't, even when I could have come home you told me to stay and finish school and I know, I know, you didn't want me here because of the secret you were keeping, so I wasn't in danger, but you'll risk the danger for Hestia..."

And there, that in part was the crux of her feelings, that Dominic was happier with Hestia than he had been when Hannah herself tried to come back and make things better again, and while he kept her away because of danger, how he felt about Hestia was stronger than the danger to all of them.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-20 04:28 am UTC (link)
Dominic rose instantly, wanting to pull her into a tight hug but not sure if she needed her space just now, and Merlin knew that after all the times he had failed her just this once he wanted to do something right. "Hannah, I WANTED you here." It was the biggest truth, the only thing that needed to be said first, and he let it sink in while he thought about what to say next. "There were nights when I'd go and sit in your room or sit and look at your pictures and wonder how I had missed this event or that when you were younger, though I knew full well the answer. There were days when I would sit in the family room and imagine I could still hear your laughter and your mother's. It was never about NOT wanting you here."

He started to pace, unsure of how to explain his actions to her when he didn't even know. "You see I knew long ago that I had not been the father that I had always wanted to be to you. I was gone far too often, unable to be there for you, even though I wanted to. So I thought, after your mother was killed, that perhaps as the damage was already done, so to speak, as you likely already knew that I was rubbish as a father, that I should at least do the one thing that I COULD do and make certain that you were safe. After the real danger was over, I still wanted you to finish school, because I wanted you to be able to go back, to support yourself in the Muggle world if something happened to me and it was too dangerous to be here. It was NEVER about you not makign me happy enough, or about anything other than trying to protect you."

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-20 05:01 am UTC (link)
Hannah looked up at him, eyes seeming huge in her face because of the sad expression she wore. She wanted to argue anything that sounded like him insulting himself, but he hadn't called himself a bad father, just not the kind of father he had wanted to be. And though this wasn't the first time he had told he he wanted her here, that knowledge still warred with her insecurities about her place in his life, especially now with this new baby he likely viewed as a second chance, given how often he said he hadn't been a good father.

"Then why do you want to go have a new, happy family with Hestia?" she asked, voice still not above a whisper. "I heard you and maybe you didn't think you meant it like that, but you weren't lying to Hestia, you told her you were happier with her than you had been in a long time. I want you to be happy, Daddy, I... I just don't want everything to change more, I don't want to lose everything I used to have. Everything is already so different I sometimes don't even recognize it anymore." Only then did Hannah give in to the tears that threatened and let forth the soft, deep sobs she had been holding in.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-20 05:30 am UTC (link)
"Shhh..." Dominic's brows furrowed as he rushed forward to pull her into a tight hug. "Sweetheart, you didn't understand me, not at all. I didn't mean just that I was happy with Hestia that night, but that having her, in addition to what I already have, has made me a happy man. Things are turning around, and I can see my life coming together for the most part now. I have my daughter home now, something that I didn't think that I would have for a long time because I never thought it would be safe enough. What's more, I've the privelege to see her grow into a capable, admirable young woman that any man would be proud to call his daughter. I've a job that I'm beginning to make a difference in, I'm succeeding at foiling some of Lestrange's plans which may one day lay the groundwork to getting me out of this damned mess I've gotten myself in...oh yes, and there IS Hestia and the baby, which you imagined I was talking about. I didn't mean that I was happier when it was just the two of us, but that I was happy with the general direction of my life. Hannah, love, you have a great deal to do with that. There was not one single day when you were gone that I didn't think about you, miss you, wish I had you home. I assure you, had you not returned here, I wouldn't feel this way, because there would always be that cloud hanging over things, that you weren't there."

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-20 06:39 am UTC (link)
The hug was followed by Hannah crying harder, her eyes screwed tightly shut as she pressed her face to his chest. "But I wasn't enough," she sobbed. Even if she could believe that he meant all this, it was clear that she hadn't been enough to make him happy. Maybe it was a big unfair, but the extra happiness she worried about was not in him being happy, but him being happy in a way that might eventually not include her. "I was supposed to be, I was supposed to take care of you with Mum gone and I didn't do it well enough so you had to have a baby with Hestia, so you could be happier and you could have a chance to be better, because even if I don't agree, you think you were bad at being a father and now you get to do it 'right'. I was just practice!"

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-20 06:48 am UTC (link)
Dominic gaped down at her, just so SHOCKED that she could think such a thing. "You've ALWAYS been enough, baby girl." He said fiercely. "You have always been enough, MORE than enough, but it wasn't your job to take care of me when your Mum was gone, it was MY job to take care of you. That's what father's do. And you're not just some sort of practice child, you're my first, my Hannah. I've learned so much from you, sweetheart, but not the way you think. YOU have taught me so many things about doing what's right and being selfless and thinking about what other people need rather than my own selfish desires. I'm certain I'll be no better father to this child than I was to you, the circumstances stood in the way of me doing what I wanted to do with you and I'm sure they will with this baby, but because of you, Hannah, I'm a better person. Do you know that? No one could replace you or be a better child or be even a little more dear to me than you are."

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-20 07:25 am UTC (link)
Hannah looked up at him, hope warring with the tears in her eyes. She had never wanted any of this to be true and being given a chance to believe it wasn't... that was a bright gift. It was something she wanted to cling to, to banish all the bad feels that she had felt over the years since her mother's death. "Really?" He had already said it several different ways, but she needed the confirmation. She needed to know she would still be wanted, that no matter what other chances came in his life or hers, their relationship as father and daughter would not change for the worse, not be as she had feared so much lately, not be less than they both wanted it to be.

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-20 08:10 am UTC (link)
Dominic laughed softly. "REALLY, Hannah. I don't know how I could have let you doubt it before, particularly for as long as you must have. No one will ever take your place, not even a little bit of it, no one will ever be what you are to me. You're always going to be my little Hannah, I promise."

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-20 08:31 am UTC (link)
That, at last, brought a genuine smile to Hannah's face through the tears. "Now, wait a minute," she said, shaking her head in growing amusement. "I don't want to be little forever, Dad... I just don't want to lose you." Her tears had slowed, but they still made her eyes glitter with the thought, amusement fading back again. "I don't think I'd make it if I lost you, in any way."

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-20 08:37 am UTC (link)
"You'll always be my little girl." Dominic said, his voice a mixture of seriousness and teasing. "Even when you think you're a big grown woman with children of your own I assure you, you'll still be my little Hannah. I'm the same prat as I've always been, Hannah, as I will always be, you won't lose me."

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-21 12:21 am UTC (link)
Hugging him hard, Hannah shook her head, face burrowed against his chest. He might always see her as a little girl and she might know she had grown up from 'little' technically and want free of 'little' emotionally at times so he could accept her life and Ernie, but it didn't mean she wanted to be his little girl any less. Forever would there be strength and security and home in a hug like this, no matter where they actually stood. "You're not a prat, Dad," she said softly, "not at all."

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-21 12:35 am UTC (link)
I may not be, but your ass boyfriend certainly is,Dominic thought, but the time to break that news to her wasn't now, not just yet. She deserved a little bit to calm down from this mess first. "I'm trying hard not to be." He said quietly instead, putting his thumb under her chin to tilt it up to look at him. "Now...why don't we do something, just you and I. I'll do anything you want, we can go watch a movie or go out shopping for a bit or you can show me how to bake some cookies. I was thinking that perhaps for dinner we could meet Hestia somewhere or have her over, and we could all enjoy dinner together." Perhaps the key to this lay in doing more things with the THREE of them in addition to the one on one things in order to slowly meld their family into something new.

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-21 12:53 am UTC (link)
Looking up at him, joy spread like a flash across Hannah's face at his suggestions, in doing something together – rather than, as of late, even before she had overheard and misunderstood, doing things with their respective love interest or all together in a group of three or four – no matter what it was, but it was the idea of cooking with him that made than smile a bit gleeful.

"This is going to be so much fun," she enthused happily, pulling back and taking his hand, every intention of tugging him toward the kitchen. As with Hannah, once her problem, even one so weighty, had been addressed and reassured, her normal sunny nature reverted, a stark contrast now to the falseness she had displayed the last few days. "Let's go bake cookies, then we'll already have dessert for dinner, with Hestia." The last was added with a short nod, the matter settled. Oh, there might be uncertainty again, especially when the baby was more real to everyone by being almost here or just new born, but for now all was once again right. "And then after dinner, Ernie can come over and we can all watch movies!"

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[info]regretfulde
2008-01-21 01:06 am UTC (link)
Dominic said nothing when she mentioned bringing Ernie over for movie night, though spending the night watching videos with Ernie sounded about as much fun to him as the Cruciatus curse. However, he would deal with it, for Hannah, and the cooking with her sounded genuinely nice.

"I hope you're going to be supervising me." He teased. "Because the last thing any of us needs is a good case of food poisoning from MY cooking talents.

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[info]puffprincess
2008-01-21 01:09 am UTC (link)
Shaking her head, Hannah giggled. "Cookies aren't that dangerous," she said and pulled him down the corridor toward the kitchen and the certainty of a mess that would no doubt make poor Jigsy anxious, but would result even then in cookies that would not last long in the house.

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