His question shouldn’t have surprised her. After all, Mary had been with him since he helped her from the ruins of her house after Dolohov’s attack. Mary had gone from recovering and in need of a safe place to be, to having a desire to be there with him. At first it had been out of a platonic nature. They were friends in their youth and those feelings didn’t vanish because he’d “died”, nor did they vanish once she’d discovered he was alive all that time. Mary didn’t blame him for doing what he’d had to. Yes, she’d mourned him and perhaps at one time in her life she might have been angry had she known, but Mary wasn’t young and foolish anymore.
Now, she wasn’t old and wise either, she was simply old enough to understand that Bones had few options and a child to protect. Blaming him for doing what he’d needed to, was selfish. Besides, she’d been mourning a spouse herself at the time. If she, of all people, couldn’t understand his choices then she didn’t deserve him in her life. And, Bones was a friend that she wanted in her life. But that platonic love she held for him had seemingly grown into an affection of sorts. One that she wasn’t quite sure what to do with.
The question was a fair one if you looked at it directly as that – a question. However, it took Mary off guard because she quite honestly hadn’t even considered what she would do if she opened her family’s estate as a safe house. There was more than enough room for expansion charms, and perhaps even to create temporary living spaces within the grounds should they need to. Mary could go and live with them at the house. After all, it did belong to her despite her not having been back since their deaths during the first war, and Dolohov had destroyed her cottage. Not that she could really go back there with them now looking for her.
Or was he asking her to leave? That thought very briefly came to mind although she shook it off quickly. Had Bones truly not wanted her there she doubted he would have any qualms about telling her. His honesty was something that she respected about him and appreciated. So instead, her gaze moved over him in question as she thought on it a moment or two. “Not unless you asked me to,” came her answer as she leveled her gaze on his. “I’ve become rather fond of your company. Besides, if I leave, who will remind you to sleep or eat instead of just train?” The last part at least was spoken in that same gentle and teasing voice.