A/N: Thank you all for your kind reviews. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter. You get a little flashback that will give you some insight into Bridge's past. Strangely, I am not sure if I meant the flashback to connect with what happens in the chapter after it. I probably set it up that way but it has been so long…so… Enjoy.
Chapter 10
Bridget slammed her files down on her desk. The meeting had been long and stressful and she didn't like having to come home to an empty house. Usually Kate and Kya were here causing trouble that Bridget would have to clean up. But this time she had sent Kate to go with Hermione.
She sighed. This day hadn't been the best. All day had been work and more work. She had spent the day worrying about her daughter for no reason and she had a feeling that something else was going to happen soon. She had a feeling that it had something to do with her parents. She remembered her last conversation with her mother before she had gone away on vacation with Bridget's father.
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Bridget walked quickly through the bustling halls of St. Mungo's, files in hand. She had tried hard to finish all of her work so that she could be able to spend more time with Kate but she couldn't avoid the inevitable meeting with the boss and the other people she would normally work with. That was what she got for being a work at home mom. She had gotten the job because her aunt was the Head of the Hospital. It was supposed to be something for her to do until she could get a job working in as an Unspeakable just like her mother had been. But she had just kept being promoted and promoted and here she was today in a place she didn't want to be.
She wasn't focusing on where she was going and she ran headlong into someone. Bridget heaved a huge sigh and bent over to pick up all of the papers that had fallen out of her hands.
"Here let me help," said a musical voice from above her. She looked up at the familiar voice.
"Mom!" she exclaimed at she looked into the face of her mother Caitlyn Lupin. Her mom looked the same as ever; dark, wavy brunette hair and sparkling brown eyes.
Caitlyn waved her hand. "Don't call me mom, it makes me sound old."
Bridget rolled her eyes. This was the traditional thing that her mother had always said. After all she had given birth to Bridget when she was 18; she had really only been an adult for a year by then.
"You probably want to know why I am here, don't you dear? Well I just wanted to say goodbye. Your father and I are going to take a trip for a few months to try to reconnect." She sighed. Bridget's parents had been separated because of the war. Caitlyn was probably the greatest seer in her generation, there was no doubt that she would be a very valuable asset to Voldemort. After she had given birth to Bridget she had left to hide in France to wait out the war. Now that everything had died now it was only now that they got a chance to try to make their marriage work. It of course didn't help at first when they had come home to find him dating a young woman named Tonks.
Bridget bit her lip. "Why didn't you tell me that you guys were leaving? Weren't you going to at least warn me before you just went off?"
Caitlyn laughed. "Well I thought that you would already know." She tapped her head and then as realization dropped heavily on her she frowned. "And you would think that the daughter of the greatest seer would be able to see that too. Well I guess that sometimes the gift skips a generation at some point." Bridget could tell that her mother was a bit disappointed. After all she had heard that she couldn't wait for another seer to come into the family. "But not to worry. I can tell the gift hasn't skipped over you completely." It was true. Bridget had been very adept to the power but she didn't have to chance to develop them further.
"Yeah," Bridge said ruefully. "My daughter is a better seer than me."
"Ah well have you told little Kate about her powers?"
"Not yet but I am planning to soon enough. But not now, too much is happening at this point."
Caitlyn pursed her lips. "Well go off to work then. I have stuff to do." She walked off with a swish of her ponytail.
Bridget sat behind. She guessed that her mother thought that she should tell Kate right away. It was obvious that Kate was experiencing her first visions. It was only fair that Bridget didn't keep her in the dark for too much longer. She finished picking up her files and headed off to her meeting when she realized that she was running late.
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Bridge shook her head. That conversation had been a month ago. She still hadn't told her daughter about her powers. Her mother had told her at an early age and truthfully it had just made it all worse. She had felt too much pressure was on her powers and they had eventually collapsed leaving her with what she had.
She looked down at her papers and stiffened as she heard a creak coming from outside the study door. She whipped her head around as her father walked through the door.
"Dad?" she asked incredulously.
Remus nodded solemnly, a strange look on his face.
"Daddy what is the matter? What are you doing here?" Bridget questioned as she got up and fluttered anxiously around her father.
Remus closed his eyes and a low, shuddery sigh escaped his lips. "It's your mother, she's sick."
Bridget sat down in her chair heavily. Her mother was only 42 and for her father to be this upset about it, the sickness would have to be very dire.
Remus passed a shaking hand over his eyes. "Bridgey, oh god, why? Why are they trying to take her away from me again? I love her! We-we promised that we would stand beside each other forever. Oh why?"
Bridget stood up and went over to her dad. She hovered in front of him for a second, unsure, and then went forward and hugged him tight. "Dad, it will be okay. It has to be. Nothing is going to happen to her. She will get through this." But even as Bridget spoke these words she could feel the heavy veil of truth in what her father had said.
His breath hitched in his throat. "Ana is working on her but I think that she agrees with the doctor that the outlook isn't so great. She hasn't said it but I can see it in her manner. Your mother doesn't want me to bother you here, she says that it will be okay, but I think that you should be with her." Anabella was her mother's cousin and had been trained as a Mediwitch. She was the best around; if she couldn't do anything there really was no hope.
Bridget nodded. "Okay I will come. You-you go back to her. I will be there soon."
He looked back at her forlornly and walked out of the study with tears running down his face. Bridget sat back in her chair and stared at the framed picture of her and her mother that she had kept with her always, the picture that she would always have no matter what.
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Harry walked through the front door of the house. It had been a long day at the office. Of course nothing new had happened. After Voldemort had been defeated and everything had calmed down nothing much out of the ordinary had occurred. After all the reappearance of a person who had been away because of her own decision was the biggest news in a long time.
He ran a hand through his hair. Karen, his secretary, had told him that the Lupin's were back in town. He was worried about Bridge. She had such an odd relationship with her parents. She always had mixed feelings when it came to them. But more concerning was the fact that Caitlyn's mother was supposedly sick, he bet that Bridge wouldn't know that though. News never traveled easily through the mother and daughter. It was true that Bridge had always hated the fact that her mother had kept her away from her family and her home.
It was true that Harry had been really surprised when he had learned that his fiancée was her father's best friend's daughter but he tended to forget that fact. He walked through the house and found Hermione and Kate both reading on the couch.
"Hey you guys. Do you know if Bridge is home yet?"
Hermione looked up from her book. "I think maybe. I just saw Remus Lupin come down a little while ago, if that helps at all."
"Yeah Grandpa was here," Kate piped in. "He looked upset."
That was all Harry needed to know before he took off up to Bridge's study. When he got up to her he found her looking blindly ahead. Apparently the shock was still there, though there was no telling when it would wear off.
He stepped forward and sat to his knees in front of her chair. "Bridge…"
"He told me that I should come be with her," she said softly.
"Then you should honey. They both need you right now."
Bridget stood up and nodded. "Yes, of course. But there is so much to do, I am not prepared for this." she started running frantically around the room looking for her stuff so that she could pack. It was very clear that none of what she needed was in her study.
All of a sudden she stopped dead and sank down to the floor in a helpless heap. Harry went over to her and held her against himself.
"Oh Harry, I can't do this. I can't try to be strong, I am not. I can't!" she wailed. Harry held her tight as she sobbed into his chest.
"Shhhhhh…" he murmured. "It's okay. You won't be going though this alone. You have me and Kate. We will be there for you."
She nodded her head held on to him tighter. Harry kissed her wet check and pressed his face to her. He was rocking her back and forth and whispering soft, meaningless words into her ear. He decided then that he wasn't going to let her down; not now, not ever.
The next morning Bridget woke up and looked over at Harry who was sleeping peacefully next to her with an arm round her. She smiled and snuggled up next to him. This was the first time in a while that she had woken up with him still in the house never mind still in their bed. Usually he would be out watching the sunrise with a cup of coffee but today he had stayed with her.
All of a sudden she snapped her eyes shut as the events of the night before finally sunk in. After her breakdown was over she had banished Harry from her study and their room as she packed up all of her stuff to prepare for her leaving the next day. He had probably gone down and had a nice dinner with Kate and Hermione but at this point Bridget didn't care, she couldn't at that time go down and face them yet.
Harry mumbled something incoherently in his sleep and rolled over towards Bridget, almost squashing her. He woke at her squeal of dismay and her push that sent him flying off the bed. He fell to the floor with a muffled oomph and Bridget scrambled over to the other side of the bed to look down at his body sprawled across the hard floor.
"Um Harry? You okay?"
"Yeah," he rasped, though he very clearly had to breath knocked out of him. "I'm fine." He tried and failed to get up. "Um Bridge, honey, can you maybe help me up?"
Bridget laughed and hauled him back up.
"Oh that's better. Now come on. I asked Kya to make us a nice breakfast this morning. I am sure that it should be ready by now." Bridget let Harry pull her out of the bed and lead her downstairs. When the got downstairs they found Hermione eating pancakes and Kate was reading the newspaper.
Kate jumped up when Bridget walked into the room. "Mom are you okay? I thought we were going to have dinner together last night and talk but you never came down." She jumped into her mother's arms, still talking.
Bridget glanced at Harry over Kate's head. He grimaced. It was obvious that he hadn't told them anything so it was now up to Bridget. Bridget set Kate down on her seat and picked up the newspaper. "Now sweetheart I am going to tell you something. You have to promise me to stay calm, okay honey?"
Kate nodded; her blue-green eyes wide.
Bridget kneeled down in front of Kate. She could see Hermione glancing anxiously at Harry with a questioning look on her face. "Your grandmother is sick."
It was amazing at how those four words could be so powerful. Kate's jaw dropped open and her eyes, if even possible, opened wider. She shook her head in a way that reminded Hermione of after she had asked why Kate thought that Hermione loved her father.
To Harry's surprise Bridget managed to keep it together. She put her hands on Kate's shoulders. "Honey, I told you to relax. Everything is going to be okay, I am going to make sure of that."
Kate bit her lip. "Okay so are going to go and see her? I want to come with you! I want to be able to see her. I want to make grandpa happy again." Her bottom lip quivered and she looked about to cry. She backed away from her mother and grasped onto Harry's leg. He picked her up and patted her back.
At this time Hermione was completely in the dark. She had no idea what this all was referring to. She understood that Bridget's mother was sick and grandpa was sad but she wasn't too sure as to whom they were exactly. She backed out of the dining room and into the kitchen to talk to Kya.
Bridget fought hard to keep her composure and worked to hold onto her calm indifference. "Yes I am going to go see her. You will stay here with your father and come visit over the weekend."
Harry nodded. "Yes I take you there to see her. I am sure that your grandparents would love to see you and your mother said that your grandma would like to talk to you about something."
Kate pushed away from her father and hopped to the ground. "Okay well I am going to go get Hermione and we can have breakfast." It was so unbelievable at how her whole manner can change in a matter of seconds, something that Hermione would have recognized if she were in the room.
The breakfast was rather uncomfortable. No one really looked at each other through the whole thing. Hermione was still trying to sort out the facts that she knew and compare them with the things that she was still puzzling out. Kate was subconsciously searching for answers to see if her grandmother was going to in fact die and what could she possibly have to tell her. Underneath her calm façade Bridget was in turmoil inside, frantically thinking about everything that she had to do. Harry was the only one who was just focusing on getting ever bite of food into his mouth and reading the paper.
After breakfast Bridget hugged Kate and Harry and made them promise that they would come to visit over the weekend. When the door closed behind her Hermione turned to them for answers to the many questions that were running though her head.
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