In Trouble Again (Henri/Aurelia)

[Aurelia Krizova]

Aurelia wanted to cry. There was just… nothing there, not for him. He didn’t remember her… but she could never forget him. Not one thing; not the way he spoke, slipping between French and English, not the exact color of his eyes or the way the corners of his eyes would crinkle when he smiled, and not the way it felt when his hand locked onto hers. It was him, but he didn’t remember.

It made sense, of course. Something caused him to forget and that was why he had disappeared. That was why he hadn’t looked for her at all. But it didn’t explain what he was doing here right now. Was it really just a coincidence?

She had to calm herself down. She was probably scaring Danica, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. So she took a deep breath and let him pull her to her feet. “Then perhaps…. I was mistaken,” she said, even though she knew it wasn’t true. “It’s just that you look so much like… someone I used to know.”

[Danica Krizova]

Danica was a little frightened, and she shrugged when Henri looked at her like her did. She didn't know what was going on with her mother. She had never seen Aurelia look more scared or shaken up, except on two occasions- the day she stepped in to try and stop her father from hitting her, and the day they ran away.

"Mum..."

She jumped off the bench when her mother fell, and turned wide eyes to Henri. She didn't understand what was going on at all, and it scared her to see her mother like this.

But as things continued, a light began to turn on in her mind. "Mum... is this your Henri too?"

[Aurelia Krizova]

Danica was such a smart girl. She picked up on everything, it seemed, and she always remembered what she was told. Of course she would remember what she had told him about Henri.

But how to answer her? After all, Henri didn't remember her. Would it just make things more confusing of she told her the truth; that yes, this man was her Henri? Not to mention the fact that, even though he might not remember it, he was very possibly Danica's real father.

Slowly she sank down onto the bench and nodded. "He doesn't remember... but we knew each other in school."

[Henri Gillet]

In all honesty, he wanted to have some kind of memory to help ease the woman, but that was impossible. "I really am sorry," he said. Henri didn't mean to cause some kind of distress. He couldn't look a lot like another person named Henri, could he? This was more than he knew how to handle.

If he was supposed to be her Henri, why couldn't he remember her? It just didn't make any sense. He would have definitely remembered her if he went to school with her, especially since she had such a reaction to him telling her that he didn't remember her.

Glancing to Danica, he knew that there was a huge piece of the puzzle missing. He didn't need anyone to tell him that, because the little girl's reaction told him that. "Why, why don't you tell me how we knew each other?"

[Danica Krizova]

"You taught her French," Danica said, very quietly, because she was still unsure if she was right about this. Her mother made it sound like they had been such good friends, and why wouldn't he remember her? "Like you have been for me. And you had crepes with her once. Right?" The question was directed at him, and then at her mother. "Right?"

It had taken her a while to catch on, and it wasn't until Aurelia said he looked like someone she used to know.

[Aurelia Krizova]

Aurelia turned to look at her daughter, a soft smile on her face. She was slowly recovering from this and getting back to the control she needed to get through each day. It was still confusing and painful and such an unexpected shock, but she would deal with it somehow. She would figure this out. But Danica didn’t need to be involved in that part of it.

“Oui,” she replied, looking back at Henri. “He did teach me French… that’s French for yes. Perhaps…. We could talk about this privately later. We are here for Danica, after all, and I’m sure the Headmaster will be here any moment. Could we go for some coffee after we are done here?”

She was supposed to get back to work, but she didn’t care. She could simply tell them that a family emergency had come up; in a way, it was true.

[Henri Gillet]

Henri wished there was something he could have done. None of this made sense if she knew him. He tried to sort his thoughts out but they were far to muddled.

He gave a nod at her question. "We can. I am off work now." Maybe going out for coffee was the start of something he could do. Henri was going to wait a while longer with the two.

Henri wanted to lighten things up just a little. He didn't want Danica to be mixed up in anything at the moment. "Let's hope that you don't get in too much trouble, hm petite princesse," he said with a light smile in Danica's direction. "I'm not going to be here tonight, but I will be demain." Henri's work schedule varied. Sometimes he'd work all during the day, sometimes just at night, or there had been a few times we he worked both.

The look he gave Danica told her she had to be more careful if she didn't want to get caught tonight, that was of course if she sneaked out of her room again.

[Danica Krizova]

"Moo-oom," Danica said, awfully close to whining. Something obviously big was happening here, and they were trying to keep her out of it.

"Come on, I'm not really in trouble anyway. I can go to coffee with you- just tell Professor Dumbledore that you're taking me for the day so that we can talk about what I did wrong or something." She desperately wanted to know what was going on here, and was willing to come up with any plan to make it work.

She gave Henri a look when he warned her to be careful, and it was silently pleading with him to convince her mother to let her be a part of this.

[Aurelia Krizova]

Aurelia managed a smile. She knew Danica would not be happy about being kept out of the loop in this. But there were things she needed to talk about with Henri... things she simply could not say in front of Danica. Not yet.

"Sweetheart, you don't really want to come. It's all just grown-up talk, you'd be bored. But I'll tell you what. I have off tomorrow, so I'll come in and pick you up for lunch and we can talk then, OK? How does that sound?"

[Danica Krizova]

Danica pouted, her hands on her hips now that she wasn't worried about her mother anymore. "That does not sound like a fair trade off," she announced. But she also knew that it was the best she was going to get, and if she pushed too much, Aurelia would just get angry with her. She sighed audibly and dropped her hands to her side. "Fine. I'll stay here."

She glanced at Henri again, though, highly suspecting that she would not be bored during their talk.

"And I won't get in any more trouble," she added.

[Henri Gillet]

"Good," he said with a smile. Henri knew the look she gave him, but he was thinking along the same lines as Aurelia. They did need to talk about whatever was going on. He knew that Danica probably wouldn't be bored but Henri knew that it should just be Aurelia and him.

Of course, he knew that Danica would probably get some kind of information from him, her mother, or both of them but for starters, Henri just wanted to see what he could get sorted out.

"And, if it makes you any happier, I'll bring you French foods whenever I come back demain. I make them myself and I think that you'd enjoy it."

[Danica Krizova]

The way Henri looked at her and spoke to her, Danica couldn't help but smile, showing off dimples that etched just as deeply in her cheeks as they did in his.

"Okay," she said. She'd stay here, and then beg her mother to tell her everything over lunch tomorrow. Aurelia would have to tell her something- especially if this was her Henri. She was going to die of curiosity, and her big doe eyes said as much.

"Before you go... can you get me out of trouble here?" she asked, suddenly realizing that she still had to face Professor Dumbledore.

[Aurelia Krizova]

If Aurelia had ever doubted that she still loved Henri after all these years, seeing him now erased those doubts. He was still wonderful and kind and caring and gentle. And he was so good with Danica. It made her want to blurt out everything right then and there, so that Henri could begin being a real father to Danica.

But she just smiled and gave her daughter a hug. "I promise I'll tell you about it," she said, although she did not promise to tell her everything. Without knowing what would happen, she could not make such a promise.

"And yes, we will wait for Professor Dumbledore and I will talk to him. And then I'm going up to your room to fix your bed, just like I promised. Then Henri and I will go."

[Danica Krizova]

Danica was going to hold her mother to that promise, hands down. But for now, she relented. What choice did she have?

"I can get one of the older girls to help me with my bed," Danica offered, wondering if Aurelia would want out of the school with Henri as soon as possible. "And anyway, it's not important until tonight, anyway." Her eyes narrowed a little, and she glanced at Henri quickly. Her mother barely dated, if at all. As far as Danica knew, she had gone out with boys, but never more than one time each, and it always seemed like such a platonic (though she wouldn't know to use that word) event. "But you might still be having coffee later, huh?"