Betrayal of the Black

forty-two

"THEY SHOULD MAKE HORROR MOVIES about this," said Celestia. "I think I'm about to start crying."

As soon as the words had left her mouth, another scream came from the pack of people in front of them.

"You hate kids?" asked Theo, wondering how he didn't know this about her.

He had been around her for years and had never seen her blink at the younger students. Though, he supposed that the eleven year olds at Hogwarts were a far cry from the squealing Muggle offspring before them.

Before Celestia could respond, a hoard of children run straight at them, seemingly oblivious to their presence. A boy at the front tripped and fell, and the bark of the floor clung to his sticky hands as he stood up and continued running.

Another child barrelled right at her this time, and her reflexes saved her in time. She held the kid back from her body with a hand to his forehead, keeping him at arms length. She diverted him back to his friends, and the boy didn't even blink at the reroute.

"I don't hate them. I just think that they're annoying," she explained. "What about you?"

She didn't say that she feared having children because of her family's track record. Sirius had hardly been a father to her, and according to Regulus's journals, her grandparents had been even worse. She didn't want to be anything like them, but she feared she wouldn't be any different.

Not to mention they might not survive this war.

"What about me? Do I want children?" She nodded, and he shrugged. "I'd like them, but I wouldn't be too gutted if the girl I marry didn't want children."

Unbidden, the thought of Theo marrying some faceless woman flashed before her eyes, and she suddenly felt like she'd been stabbed. She placed a hand to her stomach absentmindedly.

In the play area in front of them, a child is pushed off the playground structure by one of his peers. Over in the sand pit, a toddler forces another's head into the ground, effectively suffocating her until their mothers intervene.

"Merlin, they're more homicidal than me," exclaimed Celestia. "Seriously though, where are these kids parents? Do Muggles not teach their children manners or something?"

"You'd be a—" began Theo.

Draco cut him off by clapping his hands. "Right, enough baby talk. They're loud and poop a lot, need I say more? We still have a bit to walk, and I'd rather get there sooner than later."

"Don't listen to him, Theo, he wants kids. Lots of them," she grinned. 

Though, she began walking in the direction of Hermione's house. Draco grumbled something behind her, and her grin widened.

She watched the town around her in fascination. Hampstead was solely a Muggle town, and from what her research said, most of them millionaires. Celestia had never seen anything like it.

They were doing such odd things like using a cup to water their flowers, or hanging clothes on a line. A small dog yapped loudly for attention while a cat lounged in the sun on a ledge.

Every once in a while an odd-looking machine would amble down the road. She's ashamed to say that she'd heard of them before — cars — but had thought they were a work of fiction.

Despite having their weapons hidden by a Glamour Charm, and wearing Muggle clothes, she was sure they looked as out of place as she felt. Seriously, they were gaping at everything that must have been normal for Muggles but was extremely foreign to them.

It was downright transfixing, so much so that it wasn't until Theo broke out of his own stupor that she broke out of hers. Nudging her side, she was still drinking up everything about their surroundings.