Chains That Bind

The next morning, Charlie was gone by the time Iris woke up and got ready for the day. The flower farm hands would arrive around 9, so she had a few hours to go ahead and do what she needed to do with magic. She twisted her braid around her head a couple times, making a milk maid braid to get all her hair up off her neck.

She had some baby hairs fall around and frame her face, occasionally tickling her nose. She had not talked about it, but she had lost a great deal of hair after the battle because of stress and grief, at one point she felt like her hair was falling out in handfuls. A trip to see Chiara, and some potions brewed by Penny helped save her hair, but there was still new hair growing back from all that fell out.

She saw that Charlie had made his side of the bed best he could while she was still sleeping, and then made her side up before she went downstairs to get something to eat. She opened the fridge and saw that the milk bottle was already half gone after she had filled it the previous night. Iris had never been so thankful to have a dairy cows as she was when she married Charlie. The man drank milk like most people drink water.

Out in the barn she had bottles of milk, cream, and butter, so it didn't matter how much he drank, they would always have enough, but Iris wasn't able to sell as much as she had before because of his intake. She needed to milk the girls and then also milk the female sheep before the sheerer came out to sheer them for the spring. She had a lot on her to-do list this morning-

“Iris!” Someone called her name as she made her way towards the barn.

“Penny!” She smiled, seeing the familiar face make her way towards her. “Good morning!”

“Good morning to you too.” She greeted, making her way careful through the flower rows to Iris, then held up a list of her own. “Thought I'd get here before the employees.” She winked.

“I get it, I have to get the girls milking but the quicker that gets done the quicker you can have your ingredients.”

“Oh I'm not in a hurry, but I can help you milk them... With magic... Right?”

“No, I sit on a stool and milk each one by hand.” Iris pointed at her head, “hence the milkmaid braids.” Penny looked unamused.

“So, magic?” She asked, knowing Iris well enough. Iris laughed and nodded,

“Oh yeah, or else it would take the entire morning.” The two blonde's made their way towards the back of the property, where the barn was and the fields for the animals to roam. “How's Corey?” Iris asked. Corey Hayden had been her friend, and honestly one of her closest confidents in their seventh year... He had also been paired to marry Penny. Iris was rather happy when she heard, she thought the pair made sense, and she knew that Penny would be treated like an absolute princess (which she was). She also knew that Corey, with all his social anxiety, would have a person who excelled with social situations and would take the lead well.

Penny let out a happy sound and smiled.

“Good, he's doing really well. We should have dinner all together. He misses you and wishes he saw you as much as I did.”

“Dinner sounds... Nice.” Iris nodded, not really knowing how that would work since she and Charlie were barely on speaking terms.

“You know, he's going to get to see you more.” Penny told her.

“Oh?”

“Mhmm. He's actually turning in his two week notice on Friday, he's going to help me make potions and we are actually going to open our own brick and mortar place, not just sell to the other apothecary's.”

“Penny that's amazing! I'm so happy for you! That's your dream come true!” Iris was genuinely excited, she knew how long Penny dreamed of her own shop.

“Well Corey and his parents ran their own store forever, and his parents are retiring, so they offered to give us the store. We're going to keep it partially the convenience store, but also have a large portion dedicated to being an Apothecary.”

“That's brilliant, honestly. I know I hate going to four or five stores, so if I can get a couple things in one place, that sounds wonderful.”

“That does mean we are going to go through more ingredients.” Penny told Iris.

Iris made a shocked face and looked around her abundant fields of flowers and plants.

“Oh no! I don't know if I can handle that!” Iris said sarcastically with a smile. Penny laughed.

“Well Corey said that if you want, we could talk about getting some of your textiles and other farm products in there, like the milk, butter, eggs, and wool. I think people would love the whole 'farm fresh' and straight from the sheep kind of thing.”

“Yeah? I mean, I don't mind giving it a shot, got nothing to loose.”

“Oh wonderful! He will be so happy to hear that!” Penny clapped and had a bounce in her step. Every time they mentioned Corey, Iris noticed that Penny reverted to their schoolyard girl with a crush.

“You really like him, don't you?” Iris asked her. Penny gave her a look, and Iris recognized it as the completely smitten, over the moon look. It was the way Ben used to look at her.

“I really am. I know, I know... I was skeptical too about this whole mess with the law.” Penny nodded, “but goodness, I had no idea the Ministry could actually do something right.”

“Oh?” Iris questioned her, pulling the barn doors open wide.

“Corey and I, I mean, I know you and him were friends but we really didn't know one another til we were paired off and married. He's just the sweetest man I've ever met, he's such a great listener, and romantic! Like the little things he does, it makes me feel like he's always thinking about me, and that I'm his priority. I've never been with anyone like that and I can feel myself falling in love with him.” She told Iris in such a starstruck genuine way, “and I would have never chose to date him on my own. It sounds so shallow to say, he's so different in his looks from the guys I typically date... But goodness, I just...” Penny had her hands folded over her heart, and Iris saw her wedding ring gleam in the morning light. Penny wasn't just smitten... She was already in love.

“You've already fallen in love with him.” Iris affirmed, and Penny gave a smile and nodded.

“Yeah... I think I have... What about you and Charlie? It has to be a little easier since you already knew him really well.” Penny asked as she pulled out her wand and commanded the milk pail's to her.

“It's actually piss poor.” Iris informed her as she went to get grain for the two Jersey Cows she had, Myrtle and Ethyl.

“What? I mean... I get that you're still grieving, no one faults you there, but it's really that bad?” Penny asked, placing the two large pails under each of the cows.

“We don't handle each others company well, as like a married unit. It's more then just me still grieving Ben, we just... We aren't compatible.” Iris informed Penny, pouring the grain into the two cows feed buckets, gave them both some ear scratches, and then cast the milking spell that Ben had came up with years ago when they first got the pair of cows.

“You got along so well in school though.” Penny tried, feeling sad for Iris. “I find it hard that you two aren't compatible at all.”

“We were friends, that's why. Just platonic friends.”

“Well, I seem to remember a few occasions that line got kind of grey.” Penny smiled.

“Look, harmless flirtation and one kiss during spin the bottle is not what I would call compatible.

“I think spin was more then one kiss.” Penny smiled devilishly.

“Penny, focus.” Iris tried not to let her have the upper hand. Because Penny was right, it had been more then one kiss, and would have been many more had the party not been crashed by the teachers. “Now we're married, and expected to have kids and a family.” Iris told her as the sound of milk hit the metal pails.

“Have you tried?” Penny smiled in an extremely wide, in a playful way.

“I barely like him around, let alone actually having sex with him.”

“Start with a snog, give it a try, I was hesitant but-”

“I swear if you say he's the best I'm gonna puke.” Iris warned her. Penny gave her a smile,

“I was gonna say he's the biggest-”

“Blehhhh!” Iris gagged as she opened the back doors of the barn, where the sheep and goats would go.

“Oh come on, you can look me in the eyes and tell me you haven't thought of big hunky, freckled everywhere, Dragonologist, with his tree trunk arms, just ravaging you?”

“Penny!”

“What? He's big, he's hunky, and his arms are the size of a tree trunk! He could probably split a tree trunk log in half if he wanted! With his hands!” Penny stated while Iris fetched the smaller pails for the sheep and goats. She enchanted the grain into the feed troughs just outside the barn in the side yard and let the goats and sheep out of their barn stalls.

“He probably could. Charlie is ridiculously strong.” Iris didn't argue there. “Clk-clk, Twila, come here.” She called one of the larger female goats over to the milking station, holding out a bucket of oats. The goat happily hopped over and up into the station, where she stuck her head in the grain bucket while Iris latched the back so she couldn't run away, and cast the milking spell.

“So... What has you two at odds?” Penny asked gently. “I mean... He's a Weasley, I feel like you married into a family who already adored you. Charlie included.” Iris let out a long sigh as she fitted one of the sheep into the second milking station, casting the charm silently. She thought for a second and just said the first thing she felt.

“It's... Me. I'm just angry.” She admitted.

“At Charlie?”

“At... Everything. My entire life I feel like I've struggled to keep my head above water. The cursed vaults, R, Rakepick, Jacob, Rowan... I felt like once I graduated, and started our lives, that Ben and I could just finally enjoy life. And it was what... Four years before Cedric died and Voldemort was back? We were twenty one, hardly what people would call old. I had been twenty five for three days when Ben died. Then not only did I loose my husband, I lost one of my best friends, and her husband who had been my friend for years, and Fred who I always loved like a brother. I'm just... Tired and angry. Then I'm forced into another marriage. I wanted to re-marry eventually, I wanted kids and a life with someone, but I didn't want it done for me and for there to be a time limit.”

“You have every right to be angry, Iris.” Penny told her, “but just keep this is mind. Everything you're angry at, not one of those things is Charlie, or even anything he did. If anything, he's tried to help alleviate some of that hurt. He went through that pain too, he lost his little brother, and Tonks who he had grown up with. He lost Ben too, they had been friends since they were eleven. Roommates, and who knows how close they really were, you know guys don't talk about that. You two could lean onto one another and help build one another up.”

“I know. It's just hard to admit I was so wrong.” Iris admitted.

“There's nothing in the world quite like makeup sex.” Penny smiled devilishly.

“My goodness woman, you must be jumping each others bones every chance you get.”

“Well we are, may I highly suggest the kitchen table. He comes home and you're just waiting there in some sexy lingerie and-”

“Penny, you have to stop, because all I can see is you and Corey.” Iris shook her head, trying to get the image out of her head.

“At least admit you find Charlie attractive? I seem to remember the girls night we had he ranked second, even beating out our sweet Barnaby.” Penny reminded her.

“I like long hair, and redheads, Bill and Charlie both had long hair when we were in school and both of them were really good looking.”

“Ben didn't have long hair or was a redhead.”

“Ben was the exception, not the rule.” Iris pointed out. “I will say though just to pacify you... That Charlie is, still, very attractive.... Maybe even more so now that he's got older.”

“I knew you thought he was good looking. But I have a soft spot for redheads now too.” Penny smiled, jumping up on the fence to sit. “So... You two have never.... You know? Not even tried?” Iris groaned, and decided to tell Penny about the previous night.

“Last night, he kind of tried?” Iris started, “like he came up behind me and started kissing my neck, and then my shoulder.”

“That's hot.”

“It... Was... But something in me just snapped.” Iris admitted. “He mentioned trying to get closer to me as my husband, and I yelled and said that my husband is in the ground.”

“Oh Iris.” Penny said sadly. “Like... I see both sides, I get where you're coming from because I was there, I saw you mourn, I saw you on the happiest day of your life, and the saddest.” She told her childhood best friend. Penny and Iris had been through a lot together, and Penny always gave Iris sound advice and was there whenever she needed. “But... Bless his heart, Charlie is trying. That is so much more then what most people have. From what I've seen and what you've told me, he's trying really hard to try and make you happy and make it work. This can't be a picnic for him either, I mean he went from living and breathing dragons and just worrying about himself, to having a wife to protect and care for. Look at his parents, that's who he's trying to model himself after and Arthur is like the perfect husband. It's different hardships, but still hardship nonetheless.”

“I hate when you're right.” Iris sat down on an old bucket. “I think... Maybe the reason I'm taking it out on him... Is because I do feel myself...” She had a hard time choking out the words.

“You feel yourself starting to really care about him.” Penny finished. Iris nodded her head.

“He makes me coffee in the morning.” Iris told Penny, looking up at her. “He asks about my flowers, and work, and offers to help me. He wants to build another barn or onto the barn because he wants me to have the horses I've always talked about, he brags about what I do to his co-workers.” She buried her face into her hands, and felt Penny's hands come over and start rubbing her back. “He comes home and he will tell me about his day and the dragons, and he keeps all these notes in a book that he reads to me from, it just feels natural. I had a crush on him back in Hogwarts, but I quickly let that go because he was just so against dating. Now, I find myself in this relationship but I'm just so consumed by guilt.”

“Iris.” Penny bent down on her knees and made Iris look at her. “Ben would be broken hearted if he saw how you had been living the last few years, because you haven't been living, you've been surviving. Ben loved Charlie, genuinely they were friends and good friends at that. They had differences yeah, who hasn't... But the bottom line was they did trust one another, heavily. Charlie is a really, really, good man and I think if Ben was here he wouldn't want you mourning him so much that you destroy any happiness you do have.” Iris blinked back some tears and nodded. Ben had a possessive streak back at Hogwarts, but he grew out of that after they graduated. There had even been a conversation before they fought at Hogwarts, where Ben told her he wanted her to remember him, hold him in her heart if anything happened... But that she should remarry, and have a chance at a good happy life. Perhaps his words that were suppose to make her feel better were what made Iris feel so guilty.

“Do you feel like going into Diagon Alley?” Iris asked suddenly. Penny looked a bit confused but nodded.

“Sure. Do you need something?” She asked. Iris smirked a little.

“Well who better to find sexy lingerie then the humping queen herself?”

“Oh stop!” Penny shoved her shoulder, laughing. “Well... I mean, you're not wrong.” Both girls found themselves laughing, and Iris felt just a little bit of weight taken off her shoulders. As if a physical chain that had bound her to her guilt finally cracked and fell away. There were other weights she carried with her, but for now just letting this one go was a start.