2 YEARS LATER

They said that Christmas was a time for family, and yet I wanted nothing more than to get away from mine. Cormac and I had spent the last Christmas with his family and whilst I was jealous of the relationship Cormac had with his father, I was even more bitter about the relationship his parents shared. But the McLaggens had welcomed me with open arms and I had been grateful for it. I had secretly hoped that we would have joined his family again this year but apparently, Cormac had other plans. He had claimed that since last Christmas had been spent with his family, it was only fair that we spent this Christmas with mine.

I spent every spare moment in the build-up to Christmas trying to convince the stubborn man that spending a Christmas with my family was the last thing he wanted. He knew about the relationship my parents had, he knew how strained my relationship with my father was so what reason could he possibly have for wanting to sit in that tense, suffocating atmosphere? Arellano family Christmases were nothing like McLaggen family ones were. There was no warm exchanging of gifts in front of the fireplace, no children running around with cheeks reddened from their laughter, and all the adults certainly didn't clamber into the kitchen to cook the meal together.

No, Arellano family Christmases were cooked by house-elves who magically summoned all the food to the table as mother and father sat on opposite ends of the table with me forced to sit between them. Father would continue to make digs about how mother had let herself go after giving birth to me and mother at that point wouldn't take another bite of her food and would instead reach for her wine glass which would refill itself a countless number of times over the duration of the meal. Father would shower me with affection, calling me the apple of his eye but I 'd wonder whether he truly meant that and inevitably, he would be the first to leave the table and announce that he was leaving to meet his latest mistress. He would hop into the fireplace and completely miss the way mother's head fell into her hands as she smothered her cries.

So really, I saw no reason for Cormac to want to accompany me. Despite my insistent protests, he claimed that he could handle it.

But now, as he sat rather silently beside me, I wondered whether he regretted those words. Father, always one to keep up appearances, had informed us that since Cormac was going to be staying with us, he wasn't going to be visiting his mistress. Neither mother or I welcomed that news.

Throughout the dinner, as he drank more wine, father's character slowly began to shine through and the digs inevitably started. The first time he'd said something horrendous, Cormac had jolted as if he wanted to say something, but I reached out to put a hand on his knee, halting him. The first few times I had said something too, but mother didn't want it. She'd rather we continued to act as though nothing was wrong. So, Cormac took in a deep breath and returned to his meal.

Father, like always, was the first to finish his meal but before he left the table like he always did, he turned to address Cormac, "When you're finished, come and join me for a smoke."

"I don't smoke, sir," Cormac said firmly, and I watched my boyfriend with a little surprise, he had gotten much better at hiding his emotions. If I didn't know what to look for, I wouldn't notice the anger brimming beneath the surface.

"For a drink then," father amended with a smile. "Leave the women to their gossiping and come and join me for a drink. I get the impression that we have much in common."

If he saw the way I stiffened at the throwaway words, Cormac said nothing about it. Instead, he reached out to take my hand and gave me a reassuring squeeze. "I don't really think so, sir."

Father shrugged, as if it was Cormac's loss, and finally left the room. Mother pushed away from the table too and I just knew that she was going to cry on her own; she wouldn't let the tears fall because Cormac was around.

"Excuse me for a minute," I said apologetically to my boyfriend who had no idea to react in the unfamiliar situation, "I'm just going to check on mum."

"Of course," he agreed, pressing a kiss to my hand as I rose to my feet.

Following after mum, I made my way through the house and to her room; father and she had long since stopped sharing a room. I hesitated on the other side of the door, her sobs carrying into the hallway. Taking a moment to steady myself, I pushed the door open and walked into the room and headed straight for the bed where she sat with her head in her hands.

"Mum," I called out gently, wrapping my arms around her. "Why do you continue to do this? You can leave him, we'll leave him."

"I wouldn't know what else to do," she murmured, wiping her tears away and giving me a strong smile. "For as long as I can remember, I've been your father's wife. Salazar, we married when I was straight out of Hogwarts –"

"And he was the older man that charmed you," I finished steadily for her, brushing a hand over her hair. "But he's gone back on every promise he's made to you. Why stay in a marriage where he uses you as nothing more than a pawn to maintain the image he has? Salazar, I've even had the divorce papers drawn up for you – all you need to do is sign on the dotted line and I'll handle it from there."

She sniffled, caressing my cheek, "My darling daughter, the only thing that made me keep going."

Her words brought tears to my eyes that I blinked away. "Please, if that's true then do this for me. I can't keep seeing you suffering in this way.

"But where would we go?" she protested.

"With me," Cormac's voice sounded from the doorway as he stepped into the room. Mother's eyes widened as she tried to say something to fix the situation. "I hope you don't mind my intrusion."

"Cormac," I began warningly but he didn't listen to me and instead crossed the room until he was crouching in front of our seated forms.

He reached out to take my mother's hand in between both of his. "You could come and stay with your son-in-law."

"We're not married."

"Not yet, anyway," he added quickly, eyes only for mother as he smiled gently up at her. "You could get away from here and come with me? I'm just becoming a more famous Quidditch player but I make more than enough to support us."

"You're being ridiculous," mother chastised, even as she melted under his eyes.

"Perhaps, but once I marry your stubborn daughter – I'll be like your son, so you can rely on me." Mother didn't say another word and instead, her eyes drifted to her bedside table and it was enough for hope to begin to bloom within me. Deep in the top drawer of the bedside table were the divorce papers I'd managed to draw up in her stead.

And if her change in mind had really been because of Cormac, then I was going to marry the man like he so clearly wanted.