legendi euis vitam

𝟞𝟟⏐the riddle house

"Are you alright?" James asked his daughter after a moment. They had just gotten back from the Great Hall and Cordelia's tension seemed to be depleting. The rest of her immediate family had followed; Remus and Sirius had tagged along because Remus was not going to let his cub be alone; Moony wouldn't allow it.

"I'm frustrated," Cordelia admitted. James gestured for her to sit as Lily got out the tea and Sirius put a record on quietly; knowing it would help Cordelia. Arcturus would be on his way back and Cordelia was terrified that he'd be mad at her. "I didn't think Hermione would stoop that low; we normally duel when we are both heated, neither of us has good temper control when it comes to each other but the things she said this time..." Cordelia trailed off.

"I think that perhaps you and Hermione are simply growing apart, which there's nothing wrong with," Remus gave his input, handing Cordelia a chocolate bar. "I heard the whole thing and you are not in the wrong," Remus added, kissing her head quickly. "She wouldn't allow you to eat in peace, I don't know if the others are upset but I'm not, in fact, I am quite proud," Remus admitted, causing Cordelia to look at him in disbelief.

"You are?" Cordelia's eyes had widened, giving her that innocent deer look that all of her family members thought was adorable.

"Of course I am!" Remus assured her. "You held your temper, you stuck to basically non-lethal spells and you managed to protect everyone so that there was no one getting hurt from the blasts," Remus mentioned. "You defended and stuck up for yourself, even against someone who you called a friend, that shows great courage and bravery," He continued on. "Would I have wanted you to fight with a friend or someone in general for a reason other than training or survival?" He rhetorically asked. "Probably not but no one in your family can say they haven't, especially your dad, Sirius, and I." He told her.

"I just worried that everyone was going to be disappointed, Grandfather Arcturus looked so upset in the Great Hall," Cordelia confessed, her eyes downcast. She loved her grandfather and didn't want to disappoint him.

"I am not disappointed in you!" Arcturus assured her as he walked through the door. Everyone looked in surprise as the normally stoic man was looking frazzled. "I apologize, if I have caused you any distress," He added, hesitantly leaning down to brush her hair back and kiss her forehead. "I was just trying to cool you down before your temper took control; like with what happens to Sirius and James but you aren't them or Dorea, and I need to stop treating you as if you have to be anything less than yourself," Arcturus sighed not liking to talk about his feelings.

"Grandfather," Cordelia reached her hand out and squeezed it. "I think you are doing a wonderful job, we're all learning and I'm not always perfect..."She trails off.

"You don't have to be perfect Cordelia, and we would be horrible parents if we thought you needed to be," Lily comforted her. "Sometimes when you are a parent, you make mistakes that are worse than the ones that your children make and sometimes you end up hurting them because of it so I am sorry if we have done that," Lily apologized.

"Mum, Dad, I'm just so happy to have you back that I didn't fully care how I was being treated," Cordelia admitted, explaining to Remus and Sirius why she hadn't been defending herself as much as with them. "It took me almost a year to break out of my shell around Uncle Remus and he helped with my break out of it with Uncle Sirius." She scratched the back of her neck, looking slightly sheepish. "I also just thought that if i.." She trailed off, not knowing how to continue.

"If you tested them now, you could be able to tell how far James and Lily's limits were?" Remus guessed, knowing that Sirius had done something similar when he moved in with Dorea and Charlus. His cub wordlessly nodded, allowing him to fully see her emotions.