Another scene with just Hannah- a lot of you guys were asking for more :)
Although… we daresay you all will enjoy the next chapter. Let's just say it involves a certain brunette on a certain Hogsmeade visit whose perfect boyfriend shows up…
Review! ;)
Hannah's caseworker wasn't able to reschedule her visit with the Stewarts and a sullen Hannah left the Weasley house that morning with her case worker. She'd eaten lunch with the Stewarts, who seemed pretty nice, but they weren't Frankie. Mrs. Stewart had tried everything in her power to try and connect with Hannah, but the little girl hadn't said more than two words to her the entire day.
The caseworker thought a trip to the park would help them bond, but Hannah just sat off by herself, unwilling to make any attempt at conversation. The caseworker dropped her off at the Weasley house and Hannah was looking forward to seeing Luna. Mrs. Weasley had been very nice to her and she felt safe with her.
Hannah took off her jacket and handed it to the caseworker who hung it up on the coat rack. "Mr. Weasley? Mrs. Weasley?" the caseworker called out.
Ron came out of the kitchen carrying a mug of coffee. "Hi, Mrs. Roman. Hannah. How'd it go?"
Hannah only shook her head. "I want to go to the garden."
"Okay," Ron said smiling at her. "Luna took the other kids to the park. You just let me know if you need anything."
Hannah nodded listlessly and walked toward the back door.
"How'd it go?" Ron asked Mrs. Roman.
"Not too well I'm afraid," Mrs. Roman shook her head. "I wish we could get through to her."
"She's become really close to Frankie Barron," Ron said.
Mrs. Roman nodded. "She came by to see me yesterday afternoon."
"She can be a bit stubborn," Ron told the woman. "But she and her husband are good people and they really do care about Hannah."
"Frankly, I'm just glad that she's connected with someone," Mrs. Roman replied. "I've been worried about her."
Ron nodded. "Us, too. She's been through so much."
"I've scheduled a meeting with Mrs. Barron and her husband in a few days," Mrs. Roman said. "And we'll start the process of checking them out."
"I think you'll find that they'd make good parents," Ron said loyally. "I've known Frankie since the day she was born."
"I hope you're right," Mrs. Roman smiled at him. "I've got to be getting back to my office now."
Ron showed the woman to the door. "We'll be in touch, Mrs. Roman."
"Definitely," the woman answered. "Give my regards to Luna."
"I will," Ron promised. After Mrs. Roman had gone, Ron walked over to the window to check on Hannah. The girl was walking around the garden looking at the flowers. It was chilly outside so Ron grabbed her coat and headed outside to check on her.
"Hannah?" he called out.
Hannah looked over at him silently.
"It's cold out," Ron said handing her the coat. "You should put this on, sweetheart."
"Okay," Hannah said quietly.
Ron could tell she wanted to be alone. "I'll just be right on the deck, Hannah. If you need me..."
Hannah nodded and turned away, pulling her hair out from under her coat.
If things had gone the way they were supposed to today, she would have spent the entire day with Frankie. They were going to plant flowers in the garden and go shopping to buy things for dinner.
She was so involved in her thoughts that she didn't notice the raised stone in the path. Hannah pitched forward, falling on her hands and scraping up her knees.
Ron heard her screams and came running out of the house. "What happened, Hannah?"
When the little girl didn't answer, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back inside. "It's okay....it's going to be okay..."
"I fell," Hannah bawled. "I fell and it hurts a lot."
Ron set her down on the kitchen counter. "Stay right there. I'm going to get a rag to wash off the dirt and gravel from your knee. And then we'll rub some salve on it. You'll be good as new."
Hannah gulped back a few sobs and nodded.
Ron came back a few moments later with a warm rag and the bottle of salve from the cabinet. "I am an expert at cleaning up scraped knees," Ron told her with a grin. "If I had a galleon for every time one of my kids fell or tripped...well, I'd be a millionaire."
Hannah's lower lip trembled as Ron gently cleaned up her wound.
"Did you get hurt anywhere else other than your knee?" Ron asked her.
"My hands," Hannah whimpered. Her palms were scraped up a bit from where she'd tried to catch herself.
"Hold them out," Ron instructed gently. Hannah did so, and Ron gingerly rubbed the rag over her hands. "Better?"
"A little," Hannah looked at him shyly.
Ron rubbed some salve on her hands. "This should help with the stinging."
Hannah nodded. "I fell over a rock."
"Ouch," Ron said grimacing. "That's not good."
Hannah shook her head.
"Do you know that when I was a kid," Ron told her. "My older brother dared me to climb up the big oak tree in our backyard. Well, I made it to the top branch, but I made the mistake of looking down...."
"What happened?" Hannah asked him.
"Well, I decided to climb back down," Ron told her. "And I nearly made it, but I lost my footing and fell right on the ground. Broke my arm pretty bad."
"You broke it?" Hannah's eyes were wide.
Ron nodded. "And it hurt really bad. I didn't even know it was possible to cry that much, but I cried and cried."
"What did your mummy and daddy do?" Hannah asked. "Did your daddy tell you that you were bad for falling?"
Ron shook his head. "Well, my mum ran outside with my dad and they brought me back into the house. Then, they took me to hospital. They took care of me."
"Oh," Hannah said as he rubbed some salve into her wound.
"No one in this house will ever tell you that you were bad for falling out of a tree or for scraping your knee," Ron told her. "I guarantee it."
Hannah chanced a small smile at him.
"How's your knee?" Ron asked her.
"Better," Hannah said softly. "Thank you."
"Good," Ron said smiling at her. "And I've forgotten the most important step."
"What's that?" she asked.
Ron walked over to the icebox. "Well, whenever one of us would get hurt, my mum would set us down with a bowl of ice cream. Chocolate or strawberry, Hannah?"
"I get to have ice cream?" Hannah asked. "Really?"
"Really, really," Ron said with a grin.
"I really like chocolate," Hannah said shyly.
"Me too," Ron said taking the carton from the icebox.
Hannah watched him scoop the ice cream into bowls. "You're nice to me," she said softly.
Ron smiled. "You make it easy."
"I do?"
"Yes you do," Ron said setting the bowls aside to help Hannah off the counter.
Hannah let him put her down. "Thank you," she said when he handed her the bowl.
"You're quite welcome," Ron said sitting down at the table with her.
Hannah ate her ice cream in relative silence. "Is Luna coming back soon?"
"She should be," Ron replied. "If Zack, Jenny and Joey don't wear her out. I'm afraid until she gets back, it's just you and me and Caitlin."
"That's okay," Hannah said softly.
"So," Ron said. "You and I have never really talked one on one. What sorts of things do you like to do for fun?"
Hannah shrugged. "I like playing with the dolls Frankie gave me."
"What else?" Ron asked her.
"My mummy used to read to me," Hannah said thoughtfully.
Ron nodded. "You miss her don't you, sweetheart?"
She nodded. "A whole lot. I wish Daddy didn't make her go away."
Ron took the little girl's hand and patted it. "Your father did a bad thing, Hannah."
"He used to say it was my fault for making him," Hannah whispered.
"None of that was your fault," Ron told her, biting down his anger at her father. "You should never, ever think that. You did nothing wrong and your mum wouldn't want you to think that you did. She knows how much you loved her and she wants you to know how much she loved you."
Hannah's eyes filled with tears and she began to cry again.
Ron opened his arms and Hannah didn't hesitate as she let him hold her. "It's okay, Hannah."
Hannah sobbed for several minutes before she began to finally calm down.
She lifted her head from Ron's shoulder and saw where her tears had stained his shirt. "I'm sorry, Mister Ron."
"It's all right sweetheart," he said soothingly.
"I wish my daddy had been like you," Hannah said softly.
"Thank you," Ron stroked her hair back. "You remind me of my little girls."
"You had three girls and three boys," Hannah said looking up at him.
"That's right," Ron smiled at her.
"And I have Drew's old room," Hannah said. "She has a lot of books."
"She liked to read when she was younger," Ron told her.
"Does she still like to read?" Hannah asked.
"Sometimes," Ron said. "Now that she's going to have her own baby I'm sure she'll have more time to do that again."
"Emma and Caroline said that you liked to read to them," Hannah said. "They said you do good voices."
"Would you like me to read you something?" Ron offered. "I'd be happy to do a story for you."
Hannah nodded. "If you don't mind..."
"I don't mind a bit," Ron picked her up. "These empty bowls can wait until we're done."
Hannah smiled. "Which one of the stories was Drew's favourite?"
"Hmmm..." Ron looked at the selection of books. "She always liked stories about princesses and dragons."
Hannah sat down on the bed. "You can pick one, Mister Ron."
"I want you to pick," Ron replied. "Whichever one you want, and it doesn't even matter how long it is."
Hannah stood up and walked over to one of the bookshelves. She finally picked one out and handed it over to Ron. "This one?"
"Ah, one of my favourites as well," Ron said with a grin.
Hannah smiled back at him. "Goodnight, Moon."
"You can read that sweetheart?" Ron asked in amazement.
Hannah shook her head. "My mummy used to read it to me. I remembered what it looked like. I'm glad Drew had it."
"Me too," Ron tucked her hair behind her ear.
Ron and Hannah sat down on the bed and Ron started to read. Hannah smiled as she looked at the vivid pictures and listened to Ron read.
It was how Luna found them when she came back from the park. "Hi you two." she said, her smile getting bigger as she saw Hannah curled up next to her husband.
"Mister Ron read to me," Hannah said softly. "He does the voices."
"Aye he does great voices," Luna said. "How did your lunch go sweetheart?"
"Not so good," Hannah replied.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Luna said.
Hannah shrugged.
"We just finished reading Goodnight, Moon," Ron told his wife. "After we had a nice bowl of ice cream, right Hannah?"
"After I fell," Hannah nodded.
"Fell?" Luna asked in alarm.
"In the garden," Hannah replied. "Mister Ron fixed my knee up for me."
"He's quite good at that," Luna said stepping further into the room. "Are you doing okay, Hannah?"
"I'm okay now," Hannah nodded.
Luna smiled. "That's good, sweetheart. The other kids really wore me out at the park."
"Is Frankie going to come over tonight?" Hannah asked hopefully.
"I'm not sure," Luna replied. "Perhaps..."
"Really?" she asked happily. "Even though I couldn't stay there today?"
Ron mussed Hannah's hair. "Seems like there's loads of people who want to hang out with you, Hannah."
Hannah blushed and sent him a shy little grin.
Luna watched in amazement at how Hannah was interacting with Ron. She'd been a little hesitant to leave Hannah with Ron, but she'd figured she'd be back before Hannah returned from her outing with the Stewarts. Now, she saw that she had no reason to worry.
"Why don't we send Will and Frankie an owl and see if they're home," Ron suggested. "And if they are, perhaps you can go over for the rest of the afternoon and evening?"
Hannah's eyes lit up. "Really, really?"
Ron chuckled. "Sure."
"I'll go do that now," Luna smiled at the young girl. "I'm happy to see you smile like that sweetheart."
Hannah blushed. "Thanks, Luna."
"You're very welcome," Luna said before heading out of the bedroom.
Ron closed the book and put it back on the bookshelf. He was about to head out of the room when Hannah stopped him.
"Yes sweetheart?" he asked when she tugged on his shirt.
Hannah looked shyly at him. "T-thank you, Mister Ron."
"For what?" he asked curiously.
"Being nice," Hannah replied smiling tentatively up at him.
"I told you, you don't have to thank me for that." Ron kneeled down. "It's what I'm here for. I'm glad we had the chance to bond a bit."
Hannah nodded and put her arms around his neck. She'd never willingly hugged a man before. Once she'd tried with her father, but he'd pushed her away.
Ron gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You're a very special girl Hannah. Don't ever forget that."
Hannah smiled at him and then watched as he walked out of the room. She still found it hard to believe that all these people were being so nice and kind to her. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out the picture she'd worked on since last night for Frankie. It wasn't much, she knew, and she wasn't very talented, but it was a rainbow and some clouds in a bright blue sky. She hoped that Frankie would like it and maybe hang it up in her office.
"Hannah?" Luna knocked lightly on the door frame. "I just sent the owl, so I'll let you know when they write back, okay?"
Hannah turned around. "Okay."
"What have you got there?" Luna asked.
Hannah thought about slipping it back into the drawer, but Luna had already stepped closer.
"A picture I made for Frankie," Hannah said handing it to Luna.
"Would you mind if I saw it?" Luna asked.
Hannah shook her head. "It's not very good."
"All right then," Luna didn't push her.
"No," Hannah said quickly. "You can look at it. I just don't think it's very good is all."
Luna examined the picture. "I think this is lovely," she said honestly.
"Really?" Hannah asked, a small smile playing at her lips.
"Absolutely," Luna nodded. "And I think Frankie's going to be so happy when you give it to her."
"You think so?" Hannah asked hopefully.
"Are you finished?" Luna asked. "I can help you make a frame for it."
"A frame?" Hannah asked. "You can do that?"
"With a bit of magic," Luna nodded.
Hannah grinned. "Okay."
Luna took the little girl's hand. "I can't wait to see Frankie's reaction." she smiled.
"Me too," Hannah said as she followed Luna into her bedroom. "You're really sure she'll like it?"
"I'm positive," Luna told her. "Now let me see... let's find something really fun to make a frame. It needs to be colourful just like this picture."
"Yeah," Hannah agreed.
Luna pulled an empty frame out of her closet. "I think we can make this match..." she said. "How about we put some glitter on it? Make it nice and sparkly?"
Hannah nodded excitedly.
Luna and Hannah brought the frame downstairs along with some glue and glitter. "I'll let you make this," she said, covering the glass part.
"Make what?" Jenny came into the kitchen. "Oooh that's a pretty picture!"
Hannah stared at Jenny. "You think so?"
"Did you make that?" Jenny asked her.
Hannah nodded. "I used my crayons."
"It's really nice," Jenny was impressed. "Are you making a frame for it?"
"Luna is," Hannah said shyly. "I was going to give it to Frankie."
"Can I help decorate it?" Jenny asked. "I promise not to be messy."
"Sure," Hannah replied. She and Jenny sat down at the kitchen table and watched as Luna placed some art supplies on the table. Luna smiled as she watched her two foster daughters chat with each other. The two girls didn't have that much in common, but it was nice to see them being friendly with each other.
"I was going to make it sparkly," Hannah said.
"Glitter is really cool," Jenny said.
The two girls worked steadily on the frame for an hour and by then they'd received an owl back from Frankie and Will.
"They're ready for you," Luna said. "I thought I'd floo you over."
Hannah smiled happily. "Thank you for helping me Jenny," she said to the other girl.
"It was fun," Jenny said waving at Hannah. "Have fun, Hannah."
"Bye," Hannah looked at Luna.
"Okay, sweetheart," Luna said picking up the frame and handing it to her. "You remember how we travel by floo right? You just hold onto my hand the whole time. Okay?"
"Okay," Hannah nodded, holding her gift carefully under her arm.
Luna led the way over to the fireplace and with her free hand grabbed some floo powder from the jar on top of the mantle.
Hannah closed her eyes as they were whisked away to Frankie's house. She was excited to see what it was like there.
Frankie and Will were putting the finishing touches on the makeshift dinner they'd thrown together. It wasn't much and Frankie wished they'd had more time to plan.
"Quit being so nervous," Will told his wife. "She's going to love it."
"What if those Stewarts were really great people and she wants to live with them?" Frankie asked suddenly.
"I'm sure we'll find out in a few minutes," Will caught her hands in his. "And it's something we might have to face."
Frankie shook her head. "She belongs with us."
"I think we're going to be all right," Will touched her cheek. "I hope she'll open up to me a bit."
"She will," Frankie said. "Just be patient with her."
"Frankie," Luna called out from the sitting room. "We're here."
Will gave his wife a quick kiss. "Come on." he said.
Frankie took his hand and they walked into the sitting room to find Luna and Hannah.
"Hiya," Frankie said smiling at Hannah. "Come here, my sweet girl!"
Hannah ran into her arms. "I missed you a whole lot!"
Frankie hugged her tightly. "I missed you a whole lot, too."
"I made you a present," Hannah said shyly.
"You did?" Frankie asked smiling at her. "I love presents."
Hannah held out the framed picture in front of her, hoping feverishly that Frankie would like it.
Frankie smiled as she looked at the frame picture. "Oh, Hannah..."
"Do you like it?" she asked nervously. "Really, really like it?"
"I love it," Frankie said softly.
"That's fantastic," Will agreed.
Hannah smiled shyly at Will.
"I'm going to put this in my office," Frankie announced.
"That's where I hoped you'd put it," Hannah said.
Luna grinned. "Hannah, I'll be back to pick you up in a few hours. Okay?"
Hannah nodded.
"We didn't really have time to make a fancy supper," Frankie told her. "But I'm so glad you're here. How about I take you on a tour of the house while Will finishes up in the kitchen?"
"Okay," Hannah said softly. "I'd like that. Your house is really nice."
"Thank you," Frankie beamed and took her by the hand.
Hannah looked around the sitting room in awe. It was smaller than Ron and Luna's, but she felt at home here.
"And up here we have three bedrooms," Frankie said. "We only use the master, obviously."
"What do you use the other two for?" Hannah asked curiously.
"Nothing yet," Frankie replied. "They're all made up, but basically we just use them when Caroline, Emma and Mia spend the night."
Hannah nodded. She hoped that one day she'd be able to spend the night.
"And back here Will and I share a home office," Frankie said. "It's mostly for him though."
"Luna has one of these," Hannah said looking around the room. "There are a lot of books here!"
Frankie grinned. "Well, Will's a textbook writer. So he's always doing research."
"Wow," Hannah said. She moved behind Will's desk and watched as a quill was scribbling notes. She smiled. "That's so cool!"
"He's got loads of neat spells going around in here," Frankie said.
Hannah pointed to a picture of Frankie in a long, flowing gown.
"That's from our wedding," Frankie told her.
"You look pretty," Hannah said softly.
"Thank you," Frankie said. "Come on sweetheart, I think dinner's ready."
"I'm really hungry," Hannah said rubbing her stomach.
"I hope you like turkey burgers," Frankie replied. "We don't eat a lot of red meat around here."
"Red meat?" Hannah asked.
"Like regular hamburgers or steak." Frankie explained. "My mother doesn't eat meat at all, and she sort of passed it down to me and my sisters."
"Oh," Hannah said. "Well, I want to do whatever you do."
Frankie laughed. "All right then."
"Can we read some more of those magazines?" Hannah asked as she walked back downstairs with Frankie.
"Sure we can," Frankie said. "While we have dessert."
Hannah impulsively gave Frankie another hug. "I love you, Frankie."
Frankie hugged the little girl back tightly. "I love you too Hannah."
"Okay," Will said coming out of the kitchen. His voice trailed off when he saw his wife hugging Hannah.
"Everything ready?" Frankie asked, still holding onto Hannah.
Will nodded. "I even made some of my world famous chips."
"Oooh," Frankie said. "Hannah you're in for a real treat. Wait until you taste his chips they are delicious."
Hannah smiled. "I didn't eat anything for lunch and I just had some ice cream with Mister Ron when I got back from seeing the Stewarts."
"Well I bet you're starving then," Will said with a smile. "Good thing I made extra chips."
Frankie was dying to find out how Hannah's visit with the Stewarts went, but she figured Hannah would tell her at some point. "What would you like to drink, Hannah? We have juice and soda and water..."
"I never had soda before," Hannah said. "What's it taste like?"
"Hard to explain," Frankie said. "But I'll pour you a glass and if you don't like it, you can have something else."
"Okay," Hannah said. "Thank you."
Frankie walked over to the icebox and pulled out the bottle of soda.
"So," Will said to Hannah. "What do you like on your burger?"
"Um..." Hannah bit her lower lip. "Can I have cheese?"
"You sure can," Will replied.
"I like catsup too," Hannah said as Frankie placed a glass of soda in front of her.
"Okay," Will said with a grin. "Do you want tomatoes or lettuce or pickles?"
Hannah shook her head. "No thank you."
"You like yours like me," Will said.
"I do?" she asked, taking a hesitant sip of soda.
"You do," Will said. "Frankie asks me all the time if I'd like some catsup with my burger."
Hannah smiled. "Cheese is my most favouritest thing."
"It's like looking in a mirror," Will said to Frankie.
Frankie laughed. "Do you like the soda, Hannah?"
"It's good," Hannah nodded.
Will handed Hannah a plate. "Just as you ordered, madam."
"Thank you Mister Will," Hannah said shyly.
"No need to call me Mister Will," he laughed. "Just Will is fine sweetheart."
Hannah nodded. "Okay."
Frankie sat down next to her and dug into her own burger. "How do you like it?" she asked.
"It's good," Hannah replied. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome," Will told her. "I've got more if you'd like another."
"So," Frankie said after she'd taken a sip of her soda. Curiosity had gotten the best of her and she had to ask what had happened with the Stewarts. "What...what sorts of things did you do today?"
Hannah shrugged. "Just sat there while they asked me stuff. I didn't like them."
"You...you didn't?" Frankie asked trying not to sound too happy.
Hannah shook her head.
"They took you out to eat?" Will asked.
"Someplace that had icky food," Hannah replied.
Frankie shared a look with Will. She could see the warning in his eyes, but she was happy that Hannah hadn't hit it off with the Stewarts.
"So um... what did your case worker say about that?" she couldn't resist asking.
Hannah shrugged. "She asked me why I wasn't talking to them and I told her it was because I wanted to be with you."
Frankie grinned at that.
"I was thinking after dinner, we'd take a picture of the three of us," Will told Hannah. "Frankie wanted to have one for her desk and ...and I'd like to have one, too."
"You want a picture of me?" Hannah asked. "Really?"
Will nodded. "But watch out for this one. She likes to upstage others in photos."
Frankie hit him on the arm. "I do not!"
Hannah giggled. "Okay." she agreed.
"You should see some of the photos of Frankie when she was little," Will said laughing. "She's striking all these poses with her arms in front of her sisters...."
"You did that?" Hannah asked with a smile.
Frankie blushed. "Maybe once or twice..."
"Try every single photo there is of you," Will said dryly.
"Sod off," Frankie laughed. "I didn't do it in our wedding pictures."
"Much," Will said under his breath.
Hannah giggled.
"You see what I have to put up with?" Frankie joked.
Hannah felt at ease with Will and she giggled even harder when he made a face at her.
"I'm showing Hannah the photo albums after dinner," Will said. "She'll see for herself."
Frankie waved her hand. "You exaggerate."
"Trust me, Hannah," Will said striking one of Frankie's poses.
Hannah began giggling even harder than before.
"I have never in my life posed like that," Frankie said throwing her crumpled up napkin at him. "You keep this up and I'll show Hannah how you try to dance."
Will chuckled. "All right, touché."
"I want to see!" Hannah exclaimed. "Please?"
"Maybe Will can give us a demonstration after dinner," Frankie teased her husband.
Will shook his head. "No, Hannah. It's not a pretty sight."
"But it'll make you smile every time you think about it," Frankie added.
"Please?" Hannah asked.
"Come on Will," Frankie coaxed.
Will pushed back from his seat. "Okay, but neither of you can laugh."
"I can't promise that," Frankie replied. "Neither can Hannah."
"Promise," Will said folding his arms.
"Will," Frankie dragged out his name.
Will rolled his eyes and then used his wand to turn on the stereo. An upbeat tune filled the room and Will started to move. Hannah picked up her napkin and covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"I call that one scooping ice cream," Frankie whispered to Hannah.
"I heard that," Will replied.
Frankie stood up and held out her hand to Hannah. "Let's show him how it's done, Hannah."
"I don't know how to dance," Hannah felt shy again.
"Anyone can dance," Frankie said. "And believe me; you'll be better than Will even if you just stand there."
"Very funny," Will said, sitting back down.
Frankie coaxed Hannah to her feet. "Here...we'll hold hands and you just move your feet like me."
Hannah reached out and took Frankie's hands. She tried to imitate her as best she could.
"Good, Hannah," Frankie said. "Now try this..."
Hannah shook her head. "I don't know if I can do that."
"Sure you can, sweetheart," Frankie said showing her the move once more. She watched as Hannah imitated her and grinned. "I told you!"
Hannah smiled happily. "This is really fun."
"Okay dancing girls," Will said. "You'd better sit back down and eat."
"All right," Frankie turned off the Wireless.
Hannah sat back down and took a bite of her burger. She was so happy that she was able to come and spend time with Frankie and Will. He was really as nice and funny as Caroline had said he was.
After dinner was over, Frankie and Hannah did the dishes together while Will got them apple pie ala mode for dessert.
"I like washing dishes," Hannah said as she dried her hands on a dish towel.
"I think you're the only one," Frankie gave her a teasing nudge.
"Come on, girls," Will said. "Before the ice cream melts..."
"We'll go read magazines like I promised," Frankie said.
"Okay," Hannah said happily as she sat down beside Will at the table. Frankie came back with one of her fashion magazines. "Flip through this and let me know which article you want to read first."
Hannah looked through until she saw some pictures she liked. "Is this a story?"
"Sort of," Frankie said. "It's talking about the hottest Winter fashions."
"Hottest winter?" Hannah asked in confusion.
"They mean the best really," Frankie explained. "If something's really cool, you say it's hot..."
"Which makes no sense at all," Will said under his breath.
Hannah looked confused still. "I don't get it."
"Neither do I," Will said before taking a bite of his pie.
"You'll understand as you get older," Frankie assured her.
Hannah nodded and turned the page. "What does this say?"
"This article talks about makeup," Frankie told her.
"She's got way too much of it on," Hannah said pointing to one of the models.
"Yes she does," Frankie nodded. "Looks like Alicia."
"Who's that?" Hannah asked curiously.
"You don't want to know," Frankie replied.
Hannah shrugged and turned the page. There was a picture of a witch in a long flowing set of purple dress robes. She traced the pattern with her fingers.
"You like those?" Frankie asked, setting her plate down.
Hannah nodded. "Pretty."
"I bet we could find you a set like that," Frankie mused.
Hannah looked up. "I've never had anything as nice as that."
"That's going to change," Frankie told her.
"It is?" Hannah asked.
"Frankie---" Will said gently.
His wife looked over at him and shook her head slightly, reminding him silently that she remembered they weren't going to mention anything yet.
"How about we take that picture now?" Will asked setting aside the dessert dishes. "I'll go and get the camera."
Frankie smiled at Hannah. "You ready for a picture?"
Hannah nodded.
"I'm going to hang your drawing up on my wall tomorrow," Frankie said to her. "And put the picture on my desk so I can see it all the time."
"C-can I have one too?" Hannah asked biting her bottom lip.
"Of course you can," Frankie tucked Hannah's hair back.
Hannah beamed at her. She knew just where she was going to put it.
Frankie smiled at her. "You look perfect for a photograph."
"So do you," Hannah said.
"We'll take one of just you and me," Frankie said. "And then how about one of all three of us?"
Hannah thought about this for a few seconds before nodding her head. "Do you remember those wishes we made at Mister Ron's Mummy's house?"
Frankie nodded.
"If I tell you what I wished for would it not come true?" Hannah asked innocently.
"I'm not sure," Frankie said after a moment.
"Oh," Hannah said frowning. She didn't want to take any chances. "It's about you."
"You made a wish about me?" Frankie asked.
Hannah nodded as Will came back into the sitting room with the camera.
"All right you two," Will turned the camera on.
Frankie put her arm around Hannah. "Smile, Hannah."
Hannah leaned against Frankie and grinned.
Will took their picture. "Perfect. Let's do one more of the two of you."
"All right," Frankie replied. "But then we want one of all three, okay?"
"Me too?" Will asked in surprise.
Frankie nodded. "Right Hannah?"
Hannah smiled. "Sure."
"All right then," Will said, taking one more shot. "Let me just set this up on the timer..."
Hannah rested her head on Frankie's shoulder as they both waited for Will.
"Have you had fun tonight?" Frankie asked her.
"I don't want to leave," Hannah said shyly.
"I wish you didn't have to leave either," Frankie said softly.
Will joined them on the sofa. "Three....two..."
On the count of three all of them smiled into the camera. "I bet that's a fantastic shot," Frankie said.
"Me and the two prettiest girls in the whole world," Will said. "It doesn't get better than that."
Hannah smiled at him. "How long does it take to make the pictures?"
"Just a couple minutes," Will replied. "My dad gave me that camera for Christmas."
"So I get to have it tonight?" Hannah was delighted. "Really Mist-- I mean Will?"
"Really," Will said grinning at her.
Hannah smiled back at him. "I can't wait to see it."
Frankie blinked back tears as she stood up to check on the photos. She so wanted to tell Hannah that she and Will hoped to adopt her.
Will joined her at the camera. "You okay?" he whispered.
"I don't want to let her go," Frankie whispered back.
"I know," he said. "She's finally opening up too."
Hannah tugged on Frankie's arm. "Are you sad?"
"Sad?" Frankie wiped her eyes. "Of course I'm not sad, Hannah."
"You're crying," Hannah whispered. "Did I do something bad?"
"Oh no," Frankie knelt down. "You've done nothing bad. I just don't want you to leave."
"But I don't have to go until Luna comes back, right?" Hannah asked.
"Right," Frankie said.
Hannah hugged Frankie.
"Here we go," Will said. "How do you like these, Hannah?"
A wide smile broke out across Hannah's face as she looked at the photos. "That's us!"
Will chuckled. "That's right sweetheart. You get first pick."
They looked like a real family, Hannah thought wistfully. She knew they weren't, but she had made her wish. And she hadn't told anyone and Caroline said that if you didn't tell anyone your wish, it would come true.
"Do you want one of each?" Frankie asked. "We can do that, right Will?"
Will nodded. "Anything you want."
"Can I really have all of them?" Hannah asked shyly.
Frankie put her hand on Hannah's shoulder. "You sure can, sweetheart. You sure can."
"Thank you," Hannah's face was glowing, she felt so happy.
They spent the rest of the evening playing games and Hannah even let Will teach her how to play Exploding Snap. The events of the day caught up to her and she fell asleep on Frankie's lap.
"What do you think?" Frankie asked, stroking back the little girl's hair.
"I think that this is right," Will said smiling at his wife. "It just felt right, didn't it?"
Frankie nodded. "Earlier she told me she loved me. Will it was like the best feeling in the world, you know?"
Will smiled. "I hope that we can make this happen."
"Me too," Frankie said. "This really means a lot to me that you're willing to do this."
Will gingerly sat down beside his wife so as not to wake Hannah. "We'll meet with her caseworker this week and we'll go from there."
"I'm trying not to think too far ahead or completely get my hopes up but it's hard." she said softly.
"She's a sweet kid," Will said softly.
Frankie smiled down at the little girl. "I didn't know loving a child could feel like this."
Will smiled at his wife. "Hannah Barron."
Frankie squealed. "It sounds so perfect."
The noise caused Hannah to stir and she looked blearily up at Frankie. "Mummy?"
"Hey you," Frankie said. "You fell asleep for a few minutes there." she didn't bother to correct her.
Hannah sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "I had a really nice dream."
"You did?" Frankie asked. "What was it about?"
Hannah opened her mouth to tell Frankie, but thought better of it. She wasn't going to take any chances about her wish not coming true. "I-I don't remember."
Will nodded. "I forget my dreams sometimes too."
Frankie gave Hannah another big hug. She knew that Luna would probably be arriving at any minute to take the little girl home, but Frankie wasn't quite ready to let her go. Hannah was going to be her daughter. She knew that they still had to go through the motions and it wasn't going to be easy, but she just had this feeling.
"I don't want to leave," Hannah said quietly.
"We don't want you to go either," Frankie said softly.
"C-can I stay?" Hannah asked. "Please? I'll be good. I promise!"
Frankie desperately wanted to say yes but she knew both she and Will had early meetings in the morning. "Not tonight, but perhaps later this week? Maybe Friday we can have you, Emma, Caroline and Mia here for a sleepover."
"I promise," Hannah begged desperately. "I promise I'll be good. I won't leave my clothes on the floor and I'll clean up and I'll never get in trouble!"
"We know you won't," Frankie smoothed Hannah's hair back.
Hannah started to cry. She remembered what Caroline had said about her aunt not wanting children.
"Hannah?" Frankie was alarmed. "What's wrong sweetheart?"
Hannah slid off of Frankie's lap and ran toward the kitchen. She crawled underneath the table and hugged her knees to her chest. Her father was right. No one would ever want her.
Frankie exchanged a look with her husband and followed her into the kitchen. "Hannah... sweetheart please tell me what's wrong..."
Hannah shook her head and stayed silent.
Will stood back in the doorway as Frankie crawled under the table with her. "Hannah..." she said softly.
"Go away," Hannah said quietly.
"Honey," Frankie said. "Talk to me all right?"
Luna had arrived a few moments ago and she followed the sound of voices into the kitchen. When Hannah saw the blonde in the room, she crawled out from under the table and ran into Luna's arms.
"Sweetheart?" Luna asked picking her up. "What's wrong?"
Hannah only shook her head and buried her face in Luna's shoulder.
"It's okay," Luna said soothingly.
Frankie felt like she wanted to cry as well. "Everything was going fine..." she said, standing up. "I don't know... I don't know what happened..."
"Can we go home?" Hannah whispered to Luna.
"Sure we can," Luna said. "Frankie... I'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"Wait," Frankie said dashing into the sitting room to retrieve the photographs. "Hannah, you don't want to forget your photos."
When the little girl made no move to take them Frankie handed them to Luna. "We took them tonight."
Hannah sobbed harder into Luna's shoulder. Frankie wondered how things could have been going so well and then suddenly turn completely horrible.
"Hannah," Frankie said softly. "I love you very much. You know that."
Hannah turned to look at Frankie. "But you don't want me."
Frankie stared at her in disbelief. "Hannah, that's not true!"
"But you don't want me here tonight," Hannah wiped her eyes.
"That's not true," Frankie said touching Hannah's arm. "I was so happy to have you here."
"You were?" Hannah sniffled.
"Of course," Frankie said as Will stood behind her. "We both were."
Hannah looked at Frankie for a moment and then reached for her.
Frankie took Hannah in her arms. "Oh, Hannah. What made you think we wouldn't want you here?"
"Because you said I couldn't' stay here," Hannah said softly.
"Tonight," Frankie corrected. "We said you couldn't stay here tonight. Sweetheart, if we had our way, you'd be here with us all the time."
"All the time?" Hannah echoed. "Really?"
Will smiled. "All the time."
"I'm sorry," Hannah said.
"No need to apologise," Will said tugging at Hannah's hair.
Hannah managed a tiny smile at Will.
"So, I don't want you to ever doubt how we feel about you," Frankie said tweaking Hannah's nose.
"I love you Frankie," Hannah hugged her tightly.
"I love you too Hannah," Frankie said. "You're my sweet girl."
Luna had tears in her eyes and she blinked them back.
"In my dream," Hannah whispered. "I got to stay here with you and you were my new mummy."
Frankie bit her lower lip and held back her own tears. "I'd love for that to happen." she said softly.
"Really?" Hannah asked hopefully.
"I hope so," Frankie answered.
"How about we all sit down?" Will suggested. "We should probably tell Hannah what we're trying to do."
Frankie kept Hannah on her lap as they all sat around the kitchen table.
"Will and I have talked," Frankie explained. "And we would very much love for you to move in here and be our little girl..."
"You want to be my mummy and daddy?" Hannah whispered.
Frankie nodded. "We want that more than anything..."
"Me too," Hannah said. "I want to stay here forever and ever and ever."
"It's not that easy though," Will explained gently. "We have to go through a bunch of steps to prove to your caseworker that we can give you a good home and a good life, Hannah."
"I'll tell her that I want to come here," Hannah said, feeling excited.
"That'll help, but we have to prove to her what great parents will be," Will said. "And it might take some time, Hannah."
Hannah nodded. "You really want to be my new daddy, Will?"
"I do," Will said smiling at her.
"I like you," Hannah said shyly.
"I'm very glad to hear that my dancing didn't put you off," Will said with a wink.
Hannah giggled at that.
"Hermione and Harry will be writing letters of recommendation for you," Luna told Frankie and Will. "As will Ron and I. And it would be a good idea if you could get your employers to do the same."
"I'll get on that tomorrow," Frankie said, hugging Hannah.
"Me too," Will said.
"We should get you back, sweetheart." Luna said to Hannah. "I know you've got to be tired."
"I'm too excited to sleep," Hannah said.
"That didn't stop you from crashing just a little while ago," Frankie teased her.
Hannah blushed. "It was all that dancing!"
Will chuckled. "There'll be plenty more of that."
"I promise to stop by Ron and Luna's when I get off of work," Frankie promised.
"I can't wait to see you already," Hannah leaned against Frankie.
Frankie kissed the top of Hannah's head. "Hannah Emily Barron. How do you like that?"
"It's pretty," Hannah said happily.
"Has a nice ring to it," Will said grinning at her. "Come on then. You need to get your sleep."
"He's already sounding like a dad," Frankie said fondly.
Will laughed. "Practise makes perfect."
"And I believe these belong to you," Luna said handing the photos to Hannah.
Hannah nodded. "I'm going to put these on the table by my bed."
Frankie stood up with Hannah. "You have sweet dreams, my sweet girl."
Hannah hugged her again and then looked over at Will.
Will wasn't going to ask for one and he figured Hannah would give him a hug when she was ready. To his surprise though, when Frankie set her down, Hannah took tentative steps toward him and then held her hands up.
With a big grin, he lifted her up and was glad when she put her arms around his neck.
"Good night, Hannah," Will said softly.
"Night," Hannah said shyly as he released her.
Luna took Hannah's hand. "Good night, Will, Frankie."
"We'll see you tomorrow," Frankie said, following them into the sitting room.
"Night," Hannah said closing her eyes. She wasn't all that fond of the floo powder.
Within moments Luna and Hannah were gone and Frankie looked at her husband. "She wants to be with us," Frankie said happily. "Will she wants to be our daughter!"
Will hugged his wife. "She does, Frankie."
"I'm so excited," Frankie giggled.
"I couldn't tell," Will teased.
"We're going to have a daughter," Frankie replied. "It sounds so strange, but in a good way."
"I always knew you'd be a great mother," Will said still holding her close. "And tonight, you were amazing....especially when she ran away from us and hid under the table."
"I was?" she asked. "I just did what I thought was right."
"You were great with her," Will said giving her a kiss.
"It's really amazing how things change so fast," Frankie leaned against him.
"This isn't going to be easy," Will cautioned. "There's going to be background checks on both of us and our families, not to mention having to get her father to sign away his rights..."
"What rights does he have?" Frankie asked angrily. "He lost any right he had when he killed her mother!"
"He's still got to sign the papers," Will pointed out.
"Easy peasy," Frankie said with more confidence than she actually felt. "From what Hannah's caseworker said, he never wanted a child and he took it all out on Hannah..."
Will shook his head. "I don't understand how anyone could hit a child."
"I still remember that first day I met her when she flinched when Luna gave her a hug and we saw those bruises and welts on her back," Frankie said her voice breaking.
"That's got to be awful, especially for her," Will replied.
"Which is why I'm not going to let him stand in the way of her being part of our family," Frankie said her eyes shining with tears.
Will cupped her face in his hands. "You've already done some amazing things for that little girl."
"She's going to be OUR little girl," Frankie said softly. "She gave you a hug, Will. That was huge for her."
He nodded. "I can see why you're so taken with her."
"This is really what you want, too, isn't it?" Frankie asked.
"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't want it as well," Will replied.
"I love you so much," Frankie said throwing her arms around him.
"I love you too baby," Will gave her another kiss. "I married a very wonderful woman."
"Yes you did," Frankie said beaming at him. "And I married a wonderful man who is going to make one hell of a father."
"I always knew you'd make a good mum," Will countered. "I was just waiting for you to realise it as well."
"Thank you for believing in me even when I didn't," Frankie said softly.
Will grinned at her. "I'm kind of hungry you know..."
"We still have some crisps and there's half a pie left," Frankie said making a move for the icebox.
Will caught her around the waist. "I'm more in the mood for a bit of Frankie Gai Pan..."
Frankie grinned. "Oh...."
"You in the mood?" he asked.
"Do you even have to ask?" Frankie purred.
He picked her up and carried her to their bedroom.
This was turning out to be a perfect day, Frankie thought as she looked at her husband. And even though it wasn't a given, she had a good feeling that she, Will and Hannah would get exactly what they wanted.