utterfrankness:
Every time Frank saw Alice appear, in any room, any place in the world; his expression relaxed into a comfortable smile. It was just her presence, the fact that he knew that she was there, and that she was okay. Weeks after the attack, once they had been out of the hospital, he had become increasingly paranoid. He checked on her and Neville every hour, and he had placed his own protective charms both at their home and her family’s shop. He used to check on those constantly as well, obsessively. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the other Aurors or even the other Order members, but the truth was that they hadn’t seen the attack coming, and neither had the Potters. Precautions were never an exaggeration when it came to war.
Nowadays, almost a year after, Frank could safely say he was better. He could spend an entire day at work without spiralling down a panic attack because he hadn’t heard of his wife in three hours, or his mother hadn’t sent news about his son while she was babysitting him.
“I’m going to be frank with you. I have no idea who your husband is, but I’m sure he must be a dashing fella if he scored a gorgeous wife like you.” He chuckled, and gently placed a hand on her knee despite his joking words. “How you doing, beautiful? Is everything alright?”
If she could have had been with anyone, in any lifetime, she always would have chosen him. Every road led back to Frank - even from the beginning, when she hadn’t known she was on that path. It had just been inevitability. Friendship lay at the foundations of their relationship - and from that, everything else had bloomed, a love that set her heart on fire, a man who warmed her soul, a partner who would never falter nor fail her. She hoped she could be half of that in return. She hoped she was less of a burden than she sometimes felt, taking too long to come back to herself. Patient and reassuring, she asked herself daily, how am I so lucky?
His joke took her back to carefree days, to school uniforms and secret makeout sessions in the library, trying not to be caught. Fumbling at the details, she reached out, eager to grab them - only to have them snatched by a dark void. Trying not to let her smile falter, Alice told herself they didn’t matter, that the past was behind - and therefore untouched by the present. It was the future that mattered. Right? Perhaps one day, she would believe herself. Perhaps one day, she would be as well as Frank, seemingly secure in his place in the world. “Very punny.” Gentle and light, you would have thought she had no cares in the world. “Very lame. But hey, it’s all good material for embarrassing Neville later, right?” The sacred duty of parents.
Leaning into his touch, one hand grazed the exposed skin on his arm, tracing patterns with smooth nails. Small intimacies. That had been a small blessing of her memory loss, learning each detail all over again. “I thought I would surprise you.” And see if I could make it into the office. “Where’s everyone else? Too scared to turn up to work or too busy?” She hoped it was the latter. She hoped good would win.