Enjoy.

Without further adieu, I present to you...

D E C A D E [O L I V E R ]

Oliver Malfoy

May 20th, 2027

"Charlotte I—" I run my hand down my face in desperation, "All I'm asking for is 2 hours. Just two hours with Danica without the bloody kids running around, and that's it! Just two!"

"And where do you think we'll go? Where would you want the 6 of us to go? Hmm?" Charlotte snapped as she dried the wet dishes aggressively.

"Bloody hell, I don't know! Scarlett's house maybe? Just anywhere but home, love. Anywhere but home."

"Oh, Scarlett's house! What, so we can pay for another broken vase that YOUR son broke? Yes, let's go to Scarlett's house!"

"You know I didn't even pay for the last one, right?" I looked right at Charlotte with a flat expression. She was unamused and unfazed.

"Of course you didn't. That's why I did."

"She insisted that we didn't have to. That's on you, Char," I raised my eyebrows, as well as lifted my hands in surrender. "Scar is perfectly fine with her goods being damaged by her nieces and nephews."

"You're embarrassing, do you know that?" Charlotte winced her eyes.

I approached her with a smirk on my face. Kissing her neck, she scoffs.

"Oh, but you love me, don't you?" My hands glued onto her waist firmly as she knocked her head back against my chest, letting out an exhausted sigh.

"I suppose we could go to Scarlett's after all. Her house is cleaner than ours, too," Charlotte mumbled. "This Danica girl... Is she hot?"

I groaned as she giggled. "Oh, please. Even if she was, I'd still stay with you."

Charlotte scoffed as she pushed me off of her. "Thanks, you always have a way with words."

"I—you know what I mean, Char! Don't be so dramatic—"

"Drew! Casey! Get your sisters! We're going to Aunt Scar's home!" Charlotte's motherly voice bounced off the walls, startling me and the small boy in the dining room.

"Mum, you don't have to scream. I'm right here," Drew groaned, hopping off his chair and running his hand through his red hair, "You made me lose my game."

"Your game? What game? You don't have any game! What are you talking about—"

"Charlotte, honey. He's talking about his 'video game' or whatever he's got going on on his large tablet," I corrected.

"Oh. Right," Charlotte gulped, "Well, onward! Chop chop, gather the herd!"

As Charlotte gathered our children, I watched her every move from the kitchen to the dining room. Her small figure and her huge and heartwarming pregnant belly brought butterflies to my stomach. It almost felt surreal.

After 5 children and counting, Charlotte still looked vibrant and stunning. I usually don't like comparing, but even after three children, my mum looked nothing like my wife.

Maybe that's because I'd like to blame it on my father.

As the children gathered into the kitchen, toppling over toys and chairs, a smile grew across my face. "Debby, you're going to wear that to Scarlett's house?" I picked up my red-headed daughter and kissed her on the cheek.

"Swimsuit! We're swimming!" Debby giggled as she wriggled in my arms, signaling that I put her down. I set down Debby as she runs to her older sister Margaret.

"At least give her a bloody sweater or something. It's windy out, isn't it?" I told Charlotte.

She rolled her eyes and gathered brown lunch bags. Charlotte tossed it in a laundry basket and ordered Casey to carry it to the caravan. "Debby is going to be fine. No need for you to be so...uptight. Loosen up a bit, yeah?"

"We were doing so great yesterday, Charlotte."

"That's because you—" Charlotte inched closer, "—performed oral sex on me in the kitchen after we put the children to bed! You can't just seduce me and assume that things are great!"

"You haven't dropped the thing I did last week, haven't you Charlotte..."

"No, of course not," she snapped passively. "How the hell could I just drop it? Tell me, Oliver?"

"I was just—I can't get a drink with my cousin?! Fuck's sake, he travels the world for whatever reason, and all of a sudden I'm in trouble for grabbing a drink with my cousin?"

"You can do whatever you want, Oli. But when you stay out until 4 in the morning without telling me, that is an issue."

"I've already apologized, Charlotte. I don't know what else you want me to do—"

"I want you to let me be angry. Don't invalidate my bloody feelings—"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Charlotte—"

"Can we go?! I want to go swimming!" Debby shouts, completely shutting Charlotte and me up. We turn our heads to our daughter as her arms are crossed. Her eyebrows are scrunched and her fists are clenched. "You two always bicker and then become okay after 4 hours! Please just hurry up!"

Charlotte and I looked at one another, then burst out laughing. I pulled Charlotte towards me and kissed her forehead. She buried her head into my chest and sighed.

"You're something else, Oliver Malfoy," Charlotte chuckled softly as she pulled away from our embrace. "Kids, go on ahead and fill the car up. By the time I'm out there, you all better be buckled in your seats."

"Do you want me to check if Scarlett is even home?"

"She is home. I've already spoken to her yesterday."

"So you planned on going to Scar's beforehand?"

Charlotte smirked. "You don't think I know your needs? Oliver, you're probably the most predictable person I know. Either that or I just know you like the back of my hand."

"That's why we're married," I smiled. "Well, go on now. Danica should be here any moment. Wouldn't want her knowing I'm married."

Charlotte walks towards the door with her middle finger in the air. "You ever wonder why I don't bring the children while I grocery shop?"

"Why don't you, Charlotte? Enlighten me."

She turned around and grinned. "I wouldn't want all the handsome young lads knowing I'm a mother to your children."

"Just plain foul," I mocked. "Foul as ever. Leave the bloody house before I kick you with my foot."

She softly giggles as she exits our home. Charlotte will be the death of me. I hope she knows that.

I immediately pick up a few toys and place them in the toy chest located in our dining room. Fucking christ, why do we own 3 of the same toys? Who lets this happen?

After 13 minutes, a knock on my door emits, leaving me at the edge of my seat. I flatten out my shirt only to realize there are Cheez-It crumbs. Fucking christ, I need to stop eating my children's snacks.

I speed-walk towards the door and swing it right open. A woman with long, wavy hair stands tall right in front of me. Coffee in her hand and a light-brown shopper bag slung over her shoulder.

"Danica, right? The writer?" I queried, pointing my finger subtly right at her.

"That is correct," she replies, "And you're Oliver? Malfoy?"

"Ah, not proud of it," I huffed, "I'm sure Mel told you why. Come on in."

"She only told me brief parts of your point-of-view, and she left out huge pieces. I'm hoping you can fill those in for the book."

After I close the door, Danica tails right behind me as we make our way towards the kitchen. I gesture her to sit on the chair where my daughter Emily usually sits. I hope she doesn't notice the orange juice spill. Who dyes orange juice green? Either way, it left a gnarly stain that, to this day, irks me in all different ways.

"Can I get you anything to drink? Water? Juice? I have juice boxes. Do you want snacks? I've got some applesauce in these cool packets—"

Danica softly chuckles as she pulls out a leather notebook, setting it right in front of her. "I'll let you know whenever I need anything, Oliver. Thank you very much, though."

"Very well," I comment. I take a seat across her and fold my hands together right in front of me. "So, where would you like me to start? Where did Mel leave off?"

"Does Jack Willaby ring a bell?" Danica asked, sternly looking into my eyes.

"That blonde git," I scoffed. "Yes, it does. That's my brother."

"Are you two on speaking terms?"

"We're like two peas in a pod, him and I. But our younger sister Narsa begs to differ. Right now, they're backpacking around the world together. They have been for the past 7 months. Those two fuckers send me postcards every destination they go. You know, if I didn't have 5 kids and one on the way, I would be backpacking around the world with Nar and Jack. They're travel-Healers. They heal those who are non-insured and such. Low-income villages and neighborhoods, stuff like that."

Danica smiled. "From the looks of it, it seems like you all are keeping one another up-to-date. Would you mind telling me what happened after you found out that Jack was your brother? How did that impact your family? Mel informed me that your father and your uncle split?"

My hands clammed up. I sat against my chair and leaned back a little. Looking up at the ceiling and sighing, I exhaled passively.

"Merlin, it makes my blood boil just thinking about it," I mumble. "My uncle did my father wrong. Sure, my father did him wrong, but I don't think it could compare."

"What did he do? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm sorry, but will all this information be a big part of the book? I mean, isn't it about—"

"There's a large gap missing in the timeline. I can assure you that any conflictions won't be in detail," Danica sipped her coffee before clearing her throat. She picked her pen up and had it against her paper. "Now, whenever you're ready."

My teeth met the bottom of my lip as I fiddled with my rings. A wedding band and my black titanium. I smiled. I looked at Danica and huffed.

"Lorenzo, my uncle, knew about Jack's existence for the longest. See, when my mum was...16 I believe? 17? I dunno. She was pretty young. She was pregnant with an infant. My grandfather and his little mistress supposedly hexed her blah blah whatever, right? Look, it's a lot. But anyway, he did that. Pansy felt bad for doing my mother wrong, so she forced her father to do whatever it took to save the small fetus. Mind you that her father is a very big donator towards St. Mungos, so he made all the Healers save him. One of those Healers was my wife's mother. She took Jack in as her own, hence why his last name is Willaby. Originally, Pansy never wanted to tell anyone. But she had to tell Lorenzo. Lorenzo kept it a secret, which was probably—no, is probably one of his biggest mistakes ever."

"Is that what split your family? How did your mum react? I heard she and your uncle were close."

"She and my father felt betrayed, of course. They despised Lorenzo for a long time. My mother forgave him. My father didn't. Hell, I wouldn't forgive him if I were him. Mum's got a big heart. My father doesn't deserve her, truly."

"Why do you say that?"

I gulped. "After knowing about Jack's existence, my father's true colors were shown. I don't know why my mother kept justifying his actions, but I guess she's just used to being treated like shit. My sisters and I were aware of that toxic behavior. Unlike my mother, we're not the types to deal with it. We left that bloody house as soon as we all turned of age to do so."

Danica wrote aggressively. "True colors? Could you expand on that?"

"Gladly," I mumbled. "We were given the idea that my father was this great man who loved his family very much. As we got older, or at least not until the discovery of their son, we realized that he's not really... a great man like our mother perceived him to be. I dunno, maybe he just had some sort of switch in him. Something in him just shifted. He started drinking more. Very verbal with all of us. My mother included. My mother the most. I wanted to get my mother out of there, Danica. I wanted—" I choked up, not even realizing that tears were already flowing out of my eyes. "Christ, my apologies." I wiped my tears quickly. Looking at Danica, her eyes softened as she patiently waited for me to continue.

"Please, take your time."

I sucked my cheeks in, hoping I could stop the tear flow. "I just hate that my mother always tries to see the good in people, even if there's nothing left. All the stories my mom told us, saying that he was a changed man? He was just a wolf in sheep's clothing! But she did it for us. That's the problem! She did it for us and I— fuck — I could never thank her enough. I wanted to get her out of that house. To this day, I call her up and ask her that she always has a room here for her at my home. Scarlett practically begs every month."

"How's your father?"

"Not the father I thought I knew."

Silence lingered. All that could be heard was my loud refrigerator and the flickering of this damn dingy light above us.

"It hurt Scarlett the most. She looked up to my father. And when he almost laid a hand on her, all the respect went down the drain. I guess that's what alcohol does to you. My father, he's an alcoholic. Always has been. It just got worse when—you know. When Jack was known about."

"How about your other sister?"

"Narsa? Ah, no. She's pretty strong. I'm sure she's repressing how she feels about it, though. Because that's how Nar is. She doesn't like sharing how she feels. I'm sure she's doing fine, though. She and Jack are, as I said, backpacking around the world. She seems happy in all the photos that she sends us, but beneath her smile, I just know that there's more to it. If anyone is good at hiding feelings, it's Narsa."

Danica continued writing. She had scrunched brows. Almost as if she felt bad. Like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. To be honest, I couldn't either. Life felt like a fever dream.

"It sucks because I pity my father like my mum does," I murmured. "He was lied to. By his cousin. His feelings are valid. But then I remember how he treated my mother. I'm sure there's a fine line between sexual abuse and just angry sex. Yeah, my mother has been pretty honest with her past as we got older. I don't think she wants to admit it, but I'm pretty sure she's been coerced by my father. My mother isn't the type to victimize herself. I know that she should, though. See, the whole thing is blurry. My father was treated poorly. This is the consequence. Now he's treating his family poorly. Who do we pity? Do we even pity at all? It's all just a fucking mess. My children only met their grandfather once or twice. We don't bring them around him. If anything, it's only my mum that comes to us. Mumsy used to come all the time before she fell ill."

"Mumsy?"

"My grandmother."

"Is she alive?"

"Barely," I reply. "Hanging by a thread. She'll be fine, though. I hope so."

Danica nods, proceeding to write. "Are you close with your uncle Lorenzo?"

"No," I spat. "I'm close with his children, though. I've got a cousin around the same age as my children. Her name is Lilith. There's Zeno, Lola, Prince, and Lilith. Lilith is 11? 10? I don't keep track, there are too many of them. My oldest is 7. Drew Malfoy. My second is 5. Casey. He and Oshun are like, inseparable."

"Oshun," Danica repeated, "Mel's daughter, right?"

"Yep," I smiled. "Looks just like her father. With curly hair, though."

"Mel hasn't told me who Oshun's father is," Danica rolled her eyes as she sipped her coffee. "It's like, 'when will I hear about him!', you know?"

I chuckled. "Oh, you'll know who he is once you see him. Has Mel shown you a picture of Oshun?"

"She's got a ton on her phone," Danica giggled. "Oshun is very pretty."

"Then you'll know who her father is," I crossed my arms. "Say, who are you interviewing after me?"

"I received an email back from Zeno not too long ago. I'm seeing him tomorrow."

I grinned. "There you go."

She smiled. "So, what is Scarlett doing? I know that your brother and Narsa are backpacking, but what about Scarlett?"

"Hospice nurse in Germany, France, United Kingdom, and just about anywhere in Europe. Whatever hospital, she's there. Scar is one of the best ones out there. Hospitable like my mum. I'm just waiting for her boyfriend to fucking propose to her. I'm sure she's waiting, too."

"Oh? And what does her boyfriend do for a living, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Vicente? He's some sort of engineer. For the wizarding world, though. All types of magical shenanigans. When you have 5 kids, you stray further away from the magic. Especially if none of them go to Hogwarts."

"You're not putting your children in Hogwarts?"

"Still thinking about it."

"Does Scarlett live in Germany?"

"She lives here in the U.K. She doesn't want to leave my mum. I don't either. Narsa and Jack did, though. That's why we're living vicariously through them!" I laughed.

It's crazy how everyone went separate ways after Lola came back home. Secrets were revealed. True colors showed. Disaster struck and so did truths. It was all too much. I'm just glad my siblings and I got out before any of them unintentionally inherited any toxic traits.

Time changed at the snap of my finger and I failed to realize how soon that would be.

{~}

Zeno's POV is coming pretty soon.

D I S C U S S I O N