WHO: Drystan and Bess Fawcett
WHAT: Bess has a surprising proposition
WHERE: Their flat
WHEN: Tonight!

Before she was photographed talking to strange men again, Bess figured she should talk to her husband. She wasn’t meeting with random quidditch players, but who knew what trouble the rags could cause. Actually---she did, and she never wanted to deal with a fiasco like that again.

Their flat had been so very uncomfortable these past few weeks. Any owls that had arrived were stared at with nervous eyes for a few moments before Bess took them into her own hands. Even though they knew Penny was safe (though Derek Dobbs wasn’t, if Bess ever slipped to Drystan where she was), her absence weighed heavily on all of them. Bess had actually snapped at Sadie the other night for pestering her about her aunt, and while Bess ended up piling on the ice cream in apology, she decided this had gone on long enough.

It may not have happened the way it should have, but their family had been through enough and it was her job as the mother and wife to fix things.

Bess pushed the door of their bedroom open with her back, the pile of folders and magazines and other informational rolls of parchment in her arms. Her husband was in bed reading who knows what (or if he was actually reading at all), but Bess did not mind disturbing him. She came around to her side and dumped all of her belongings into the center of the bed.

“Pick your favorite,” she said, waving her hand over the various brochures of houses she’d narrowed down. Bess’ shoulders lifted; it always felt good to take the initiative.

Drystan was lying in bed, and he did have a book propped up, and he was, more often than not, staring at the words and seeing shapes and lines rather than intelligible or meaningful information. There were many things weighing on his mind of late, of his family and their predicament, his occupation, what he thought he'd accomplished in life so far. He knew he was but a fledgling in the lifespans of wizards, but some days he felt so incredibly old and tired that Drystan felt perfectly justified in his careful evaluation of his years. More than anything, he thought, it was finally starting to weigh on him how much losing his family that fateful November had impacted him—naturally, of course, but he'd soldiered on for so long without paying mind to the change, it had simply… caught up to him. To both of them, he thought, thinking of his sister.

His attention was directed to the door as his wife sauntered in and let papers upon papers cascade onto the bed. Looking from the pile to his wife and back again, he delicately cocked an eyebrow in bemusement and reached for a scroll.

Skimming its contents as it unrolled, the crease in his brow deepened as he looked back at Bess with a vague frown of cautious confusion. "You want me to look at—property." Drystan dropped his gaze to the heading once more.

She didn’t want him to just look, “I want you to choose your favorites, so I can set up an open house or something---” Bess had pressed her knees into the edge of the bed, and she looked up in thought, “Though I’d rather not have to look at the homes with a bunch of other people, so maybe a private viewing.”

Her grand idea was this: finding a home, a real home for their family. Bess knew that they’d rushed into things, but it didn’t feel like rushing when you were doing it with your soul mate. It wouldn’t have mattered if she and Drystan had gotten married that first night, two weeks later (which was about what they did), or two years. Her life had been incomplete without him, and now she needed to make sure that his life was happy with her. She and Sadie had moved into Drystan’s flat, and had adjusted to life with him instead of trying to create one for their new family.

Maybe starting from the bottom up, or at least an empty house that they could fill themselves.

Bess looked over at Drystan, keeping her nerves at his imminent, complete rejection of the idea in check. All she could imagine was that her husband didn’t want to leave the flat until they knew Penny was coming with them, but Bess knew that they’d be waiting a long, long time before his sister wanted to come and live with them again. It pained her, but Bess was the one that had to push this family through these hard times.

“I think I’ve picked out a few good ones,” she said. They were large, with spacious yards for quidditch and far, far away from muggles---it would also be easy to see when photographers were heading their way.

His comprehension was dawned slow but eventual. "You want to move." It was neither statement nor question, hovering in-between. Drystan took a moment to consider such a notion. It was true that settling into life as Mr and Mrs Fawcett happened in something of a whirlwind. Whether or not it was to his credit, Drystan never questioned for a moment that she and Sadie would live with him, but now he wondered if that had been the wisest of choices. Two people with cleaner slates than they often made a mess of piecing together lives. They had done remarkably well with their so-called extra baggage and messy lives, but perhaps the time had come for change. A knot in his throat swelled as the implications of uprooting the life he'd built for himself here, of moving on with his life when he'd done a very good job of standing still all these years. Thus, he applied himself vigorously to the task of browsing the properties listed before him, to buy himself a little time, noting the relevant information, such as price, square footage, and location as he did so.

"You've put a lot of thought into this," he began quietly, tucking one parchment under the stack in his hand as he started upon another announcement.

He was actually looking through them. Bess bit back her surprise as she made a more comfortable spot for her on the bed. Yes, of course she’d put a lot of thought into this. She’d honestly been thinking about it since the night they were engaged; the flat was a wonderful size, yes, but it wasn’t theirs. And...she felt guilty when thinking those things sometimes, but Bess had always worked for her own things, to give Sadie everything she deserved. So---yes, their current home was wonderful, but didn’t their family deserve, hadn’t they earned the right to move forward with their lives as one big familial unit and...

Merlin, she would never be able to vocalize her reasoning behind this without sounding like an ungrateful wench. Bess played with her fingernails as he continued to scan over the pieces of information she’d gathered, allowing that bit of anxiety to show.

“Yes, I...don’t believe we’re done making additions to our family,” Bess said a bit boldly, the heat in her face rising, “and I feel...that while we’re in a transitional period of sorts that now might be the best time to look at houses. For a house.”

He slanted her a considering look, brows furrowed in thought. A period of transition. That was certainly the name for it, wasn't it? Much as Drystan would have loved to ignore (continue ignoring) the sad state of reality, he couldn't dither on in this limbo forever. Either things would return as they once had been, or they would move on, irrevocably. He was not at all certain that returning to the status quo was good, but more than part of him was afraid of the consequences of moving on.

But he owed it to his family, whom he knew had been treated unfairly in this appalling spiritual crisis of his young life. He would make it up to them, and if this was the way to do, he could find himself amenable. A fresh start, he mused looking at the last listing. He tried hard not to think of the person this would not include.

Drystan nodded slowly. "It's a good idea. Starting new would be…" he trailed off, searching, "nice. Timely."

“Really?”

Bess blurted out her surprise before she could stop herself. Drystan thought it was a good idea? Wow, wow, that was...brilliant! Her eyes lit up with excitement at the idea that this venture was not going to be begrudgingly pushed through by her husband, that they were actually going to look at houses and find one that worked best for their family. Their family, all theirs! Oh, Sadie could have a room personalized just for her, Stephen would be able to acknowledge that this place was his, Brian would grow up knowing that this was the Fawcett family home, any future children will...

She scooted over on the bed to lean against Drystan’s shoulder, to look over at the pieces in his hands to start giving her own opinion on things. Ooh, this was exciting, this was lovely, this was something to focus on and be happy about for the first time in over a month.

“This one’s near Molly,” Bess stated casually, though it was her absolute favorite. Not because of the close vicinity to the Weasleys, there were many more things, but...it would be nice to be close to Molly and her brood. Bess smiled again and kissed the side of Drystan’s head before turning back to the parchment, “Look how big the fields around it are. Perfect for quidditch.”

"Aye, can't underestimate the importance of that," he said with a laugh, scrutinizing the property she'd brought to his attention. Drystan couldn't help but picture what life would be like, say at this Ottery St. Catchpole. Country life, privacy. His three children running wild in proper yards. More space, something valuable to have. And Drystan couldn't deny the benefit of adding to their property holdings, what with this building and his parents' home still in his possession. New as the idea was, and uneasy though he felt about it still, it sounded more and more like a step in the right direction for their future together.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to sleep on it for a night or two, before they made any serious decisions.

"Suppose we ought to send an owl to the estate agent tomorrow," he mused, absently drawing little circles on her thigh. "Start organizing these viewings."

This was---this was going----Bess couldn’t compile her thoughts. Drystan wasn’t shooting this idea down, he actually laughed even if it was a small one and----she let out a happy sort of sound and slung her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder to continue looking over everything.

It had been tough, walking on eggshells around her husband these past few weeks. Bess was proud of herself for going out on a limb and deciding to be productive instead of tentative. It had worked out for her, for them, it seemed.

“It’s going to be so nice,” she said, eyes scanning quickly. She’d memorized most of the facts of the properties, but it was exciting to read them and think about them now in a way that wasn’t determined on whether or not Drystan was going to throw them out the window. Bess could actually think about these places as potential homes for their family and it was such an exhilarating thought.