Zelda didn’t think she could manage to be properly encouraging about the Voyager’s prospects — she didn’t really understand much at all about ships, and it was impossible to strike the right chord for it when she was still thinking of the way Dionisia looked in the hospital bed in St. Mungo’s. So she nodded, instead, hoping that the physical gesture would make up for it.

She believed in the Voyager; she’d spent a lot of time on it when she was working on the curse. (If it wasn’t so late at night she probably would have reminded Alfred to watch the boundaries on the curse around the navigation room, but it was late at night and he didn’t need her reminding him of it now.)

This was better than Cee’s guess, that Alfred didn’t want her on the boat because he thought she was a child. It was better than Zelda assuming he didn’t have confidence in her magical abilities. And she thought she felt worse for having dragged the truth out of him than she had when she was just guessing.

”I love you,” Zelda said quietly, looking at him. She should have just let things drop; or, she should have listened for once; or, maybe she had just gone too far this time.

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The following 1 user Likes Zelda Darrow's post:1 user Likes Zelda Darrow's post
   J. Alfred Darrow

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AMAZING set by MJ

I love you, too. He'd said it at least a dozen times since they'd first exchanged the words at Christmas, and most of the time when he said it now he didn't even need to think about it — it was just a spontaneous feeling, words that welled up from the bottom of his heart and spilled over. And he did love her, that was the whole point, that was what had gotten them into this in the first place... but just like saying you could stay, he didn't think that he could manage to say it the way that he usually did at the moment. The sentiment just wasn't there — or it was, but it was inaccessible, covered up by all this ugh he was still feeling.

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled instead. "Thanks."

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

She hadn't expected that — she'd expected him to say it back, even if they were fighting. Zelda swallowed. She had an impulse to lay a hand on his elbow, like he often did when they were fighting, just to verify that they were them and she hadn't quite ruined everything. But she was suddenly worried that if she tried to touch him he would pull away, and if he pulled away then — she was not sure she could handle that alongside everything else from the day. Not Dionisia in the hospital, not this weird fight with Alfred, none of it. She was never going to be able to sleep.

"Okay," Zelda said. She adjusted her grip on her wand and pictured it in her head: the privacy of the Ministry apparition point, her halfway stop. "Alright. Goodnight, Alfred."

She apparated.

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The following 1 user Likes Zelda Darrow's post:1 user Likes Zelda Darrow's post
   J. Alfred Darrow

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AMAZING set by MJ