The Morning After The Night Before

He slowly made his way over to her and he gently cupped her cheek with his hand, brushing away some of her tears, which were just starting to escape. He returned her weak smile,

"The song... Bolly Joel, She's Always a Woman to me..." he smiled a little more, "It is a beautiful song Briony... but it means nothing unless you sing it for someone you love..."

He gently pulled her into a loose hug,

"Let it out Briony." he reassured her softly, "I told you I would let you cry on my shoulder..."

Briony flung her arms around him and let her tears fall softly down her cheeks splashing on her skin as they landed on her hands, she nestled her head into Richard's chest and for the first time every she let out a sob. She was as shocked as anything, she had never done that, at least she could never remember doing it.

"We always used to play together, she would play and I would dance. Her smile, no-ones compared to it, it used to brighten my day just by seeing it. We'd practice in the afternoon, all afternoon sometimes."

Briony couldn't help but show the venom, the true hatred in her voice when she spoke next.

"Then, they just had to ruin it. Stupid, drunk, ignorant fools who thought it was fun to burn down an old woman's house! The very people I'd defended from my Father's prejudice. Muggles." Briony spat

Richard cooed comfortingly in her ear,

"It's alright Bri..." he whispered to her as he began to rock slightly on the balls of his feet while he hugged her, "Muggles are ignorant, stupid and needlessly cruel creatures... I'm sure your grandmother did nothing to deserve to die, most people don't..."

He paused for a second,

"Are they dead?" he clarified, "The muggles?"

Briony felt herself being soothed as she was rocked backwards and forwards, she stopped crying slowly and snuggled her head against Richard's chest messing up her hair slightly. She wound her fingers softly in his hair, calming herself down a little too.

"No. They aren't. My father was happy that they did what they did, it was only me who felt like tearing their heads off. I was only 11 at the time so...I couldn't do much."

Briony sighed and splayed her hands across his chest.

"I wish I could have been with her, she must have been so scared, so alone. I should have been there instead, I was a useless child and she was so brilliant."

Richard swallowed hard, shaking slightly,

"You don't want to have been there Briony..." he shivered and closed his eyes tight, "You really, really... don't."

He hugged her closer to him, this time as much for his comfort as her's. He hadn't thought about the death of his wife, in detail, for a long time but this topic was moving in that direction. He forced a small smile,

"Say... I've heard Ice Cream is good for getting rid of troubles." he managed to mutter, while trying very hard not to start thinking back.

"Oh no Richard. You don't know how much I would have loved to have been there, I could have made a difference, helped her to escape, cracked their noses in."

Briony scowled and found that Richard was upset too, she stopped all of a sudden and felt awfully selfish, she had made him upset and now she would stop the conversation and move on. She had her self indulgent moment. Briony reached up an pecked Richard's cheek before wandering over to the piano and gently pressing her lips to the keys, closing the lid again she smiled weakly and motioned to the door.

"Ice cream it is then, and a fish for Anhanger since you owe her."

Briony gently pulled her tongue and sauntered from the room.

Richard took a deep, shuddering breath, and smiled a little, having almost sucked his emotion back so that he didn't have to deal with it for awhile. He chuckled lightly as he followed Briony out of the room, delicately closing the door behind him,

"How could I forget... I have to look after my girls now don't I?" he replied, only half-joking, "Do you have any salmon? She got a taste of it in Greece and never lets me walk past a shop that sells it."

Briony looked at him with a smile on her face she didn't know if he was talking about the cats or the cats and her so she just walked back into the living room and snapped her fingers to call for Kayla once more. She had no idea what food they had in but she could always go and buy some more salmon, as Briony had a nasty feeling the ice cream would have melted and Marcy would have polished off the salmon.

"Greece?!" Briony gasped "You've been? I've always wanted to go, Greece and Italy are on the top of my list of places to go."

When Kayla appeared with a small pop Briony turned to her with a smile and asked her swiftly to get the items she required and she departed with a pop. Looking at Richard she walked up to him and kissed his cheek.

"It works the same for you Richard if you have something you want to get off your back, please say it."

He chuckled lightly,

"I'd hardly say that I've visited..." he smirked, "More like ran through Athens to make a portkey connection. Then Anhanger jumps out my pocket and I have to go and buy her a fish to keep her happy."

He swallowed, becoming slightly more uncomfortable,

"I'd... I think it's a bit..." he swallowed again, "Depressing."

Briony looked carefully up into his eyes, seeing that he was clearly upset, now it was her duty to listen to him and help him through his emotions that were threatening to break through to the surface. She reached up and cupped his face in her cool hands making him look at her directly in the eyes, Briony softly began to wind her fingers in Richard's hair hoping to soothe him.

"Please Richard, you have listened to me all day and all night, it is your turn. I don't like seeing you upset, perhaps, perhaps I could help you with whatever it is. I would certainly like to try."

She tugged his arm and moved him over to the sofa where she sat him down and placed her hands in his lap clasped over his own. She gazed deeply at him letting him know in her own way how serious she was about it, she wanted to help so badly.

"Let me help."

Richard swallowed hard again, trying to physically push the emotions back down. Briony's fingers running through his hair loosened his hold on his emotions and he felt tears threatening to burst forth. He toke a shuddering breath,

"I... I..." he started but closed his eyes against the tears, not trusting his voice to continue for several moments. Eventually he opened his eyes again, tears slowly trickling down his face now, "M-my wife.... I w-watched her d-die..."

He wanted to continue but his body lurched as he gave a great sob, followed by a sniff,

"M-my father... and b-brothers... s-stuck me to the wall..." he stopped, lowering his head. He wanted to continue but he couldn't. He couldn't say it without thinking about it. And he couldn't think about it without reliving those moments... those hours.

Briony kept playing with Richard's hair, keeping him relaxed and as calm as he could be, the tone in his voice made Briony herself want to cry she hated seeing people she loved being hurt and upset, she traced her fingers down her face gently hushing him, trying to stem his tears. It must have been horrible for him, truly it must have been, she had never seen anyone she loved die. Not yet.

"Hush Richard, hush."

She continued to play with his hair, gently tugging at the ends and she wiped the tears from his face, keeping him in her embrace, laying him upon her chest so he could hear her soothing heartbeat.

"I can't empathise with you, truly, I know you don't want pity it is rare that people do, but, please let it all out it is no good to bottle everything up. You're wife was and still is someone you love dearly, no-one will be able to replace her you have every right to feel like this, don't beat yourself up please, I'm sure there was nothing you could have done."

Richard's body shuddered even more at this as the sob increased in strength,

"B-but there was!" he cried, now sobbing with every breath he took, "I was able to break it... not two seconds after...!"

He pulled his head back and cried out towards the ceiling, a mixture of anger and regret at his own inaction. The sound died in his throat and he slumped forwards against Briony, his body weak and drained,

"I... I wasn't good enough..." he sniffed, gaining some control over himself, "I escaped... in time to bury a wife and kill my family... fat lot of good that did me..."

He sniffed again, smiling a little now,

"I'm sorry Briony... I got your hopes up with ice cream and I end up blubbering like a baby..."

Briony jumped a little when Richard screamed out at the ceiling, she didn't quite know what to do, she placed a finger to his lips and made him stop speaking for a while she knew the more that you spoke the more upset you'd get and he looked like he was about to cry again he was so depressed.

She made him lay down properly and she put his head in her lap. Gently stroking his face she wiped the tears away softly, tracing his lips with her finger, trying to make him feel a little better she smiled softly down at him, there was no point in her acting all sad and depressed too.

"Richard you were in shock, everyone knows what to do in hindsight everyone can say I could have done this or I should have done that, it is very very rare for someone to do the right thing the first time in a situation like that."

Briony bent down and kissed his forehead lightly, massaging his temples slowly to try and relax him.

"Ice cream doesn't matter, you matter Richard. I would never eat ice cream again if you could be happy, heck, even lasagne I'd give up."

He chuckled weakly from his position resting his head on her lap,

"Ah but I'd never ask you to be unhappy just for me Bri..." he said with a sigh, "And I know how you love lasagne..."

Blinking the remaining tears away, he decided to try and continue,

"You don't ever want to have to watch a loved one die Bri..." he blinked a few more times to stop the influx of tears, "They cry out to you. And not just with their voices. Their eyes..."

He closed his eyes completely,

"Their eyes beg you... beg you to help them and... later... they beg you to finish it..." he swallowed, "I had to finish it. She wasn't dead when I got out, but she was dying."

He swallowed and tried only just stopped a sob breaking through,

"She asked me to finish it... to end the pain..." he shook his head, burying his head into Briony's lap.

Briony listened carefully to Richard speak, listened to the emotion in his voice and she wished that one day she would be loved by someone with the same ferocity and passion that he loved his wife with. She kept on massaging his temples she herself finding it rather relaxing, she hoped that Richard would calm down soon and be back to his normal self, but with the last words he spoke she realised that wouldn't be so.

"You are so brave Richard, and so strong. I couldn't have done that I don't think, but I guess I couldn't watch a loved one die even if I wanted to. I don't love anyone and stories like this proves that I shouldn't, and I wont."

Briony stroked the back of Richard's head as he lay face down in her lap, she ruffled his hair affectionately before taking a deep breath and saying what she most wanted to say for a while now.

"You are worth giving up lasagne for and I wouldn't be unhappy because you would be happy besides there's always pizza." Briony joked

He slowly pulled himself together, the sobs dying away slowly. Eventually he sighed a little and opened his eyes again,

"Don't get me wrong Bri... if I could change it so that I didn't love her at the time I wouldn't." he frowned slightly, "Simply because that was the only time when the love I had for her didn't fill me with joy."

Richard smilled up and her and hugged her waist,

"I understand." he told her faintly, "I understand that feeling... I think I have it to. I don't want you to ever be unhappy either, it would make me unhappy."

Briony smiled lightly down at Richard it seemed that he was gradually calming down which was great, she didn't like seeing him upset and she was secretly happy that he trusted her enough to tell her about what he was feeling and it made her feel important and even liked for a minute. She continued to play with his hair and gently tugged once more at the ends, seeing as he found this relaxing.

Suddenly Kayla appeared with the ice cream and a couple of spoons, blushed, squeaked and then left. Briony couldn't help but chuckle after her, that was probably the most emotional thing she'd ever seen Briony do for someone else, well, besides killing them. Picking up the ice cream spoons she flipped off the lid and scooped some of the chocolate ice cream onto the spoon popping it in Richard's mouth.

"See, chocolate and ice cream, twice as effective as cheering you up."

Briony bent down and kissed Richard's cheek, smiling and tracing her hands against it.

Richard smiled as he swallowed the ice cream,

"Chocolate flavored ice cream..." he licked the inside of his mouth to taste it a bit more, "It's good. Very good."

He chuckled and sat upright, taking his head off of Briony's lap. Sliding down beside her, he sat beside her, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders as he took the offered spoon with his right,

"What wonders will you show me next?" he teased lightly, playing with her hair with his left hand as he scooped up some ice cream with the spoon in his right.

Briony smiled and picked up the other spoon, sliding some more of the delicious ice cream onto it and placing it slowly into her mouth, she moaned a little at how good it tasted and licked the spoon to get all the chocolate off. Quickly she ate some more hoping she wasn't getting a chocolate mouth that wouldn't be very attractive!

"Hmmmmm. I don't know. Only time will tell. What else haven't you eaten or done that you want to?"

Briony wondered and she leant her head a little more towards Richard as he played with her hair thinking it was such a good thing that he got all that emotion off his chest but it made Briony wonder what exactly he was feeling being so happy with another woman...

Richard smiled a little as he looked off into the distance,

"I want to have a family... I want to be a dad... and I want to be with a woman who loves me... like I love her" he paused, went bright red as he realised that he'd been thinking of Briony at the time, and shook his head, "Sorry, that's a bit of a silly dream."

He scooped up some more ice cream and smiled wider,

"Of course, you could always take me to taste some more flavors of ice cream."

Briony looked up at Richard when he spoke about having a family, she had never really thought about having one herself before because she hadn't believed that anyone would want to have a family with her but she thought she would be a good mum. She would be able to make her children happy by not acting like her parents had. She then let out a little laugh, this was getting weird. Thinking of having kids, already?

"Whoa, slow down tiger." Briony winked

She nodded her head and took another mouthful of ice cream digesting it slowly on her tongue.

"I will of course take you to get some more ice cream, and, maybe perhaps one day we shall go and get some real Italian ice cream like I have always dreamed. And maybe I can take you to Paris, the city where I was mostly raised."

Richard smirked,

"I'm sure I'd make a good dad... but I need to find a mother for my children, someone for me to love..." he smiled at her with a raised eyebrow, "Any suggestions?"

He smiled a little more,

"That sounds like fun though Bri." He smirked, "Although I've been to Paris as well. Hid in the city for awhile."

Briony smiled at Richard and tried not to show how uncomfortable she was with the whole situation, she didn't like the talk of children she wasn't even ready to talk of how you MADE children in the first place. She didn't quite know what to say so she tried to politely change the subject.

"I would very much like to be that someone, I'm just...not ready for talks of families just yet."

Briony smiled and she recalled the city in which she was born, wondering if Rich new any of the dialect she decided to playfully test him.

"Il est vraiment beau à Paris, je l'aime tellement. Je peux me lasserai jamais de marcher le long des rivières, de regarder l'œuvre d'art et même le dialecte il est si passionné non?"

Richard's eyes widened and his throat run dry.

She said she wanted to be the woman he loved.

His heart pounded against his ribs mercilessly, as if trying to break free.

She said she wanted to be the woman he loved!

Eventually he managed to regain higher his higher brain functions and he smiled, having no idea how goofy a smile it was,

"Fine then... we won't talk about families yet." he replied, subconsciously hugging her tighter with his left arm while he scooped up some more ice cream. He frowned playfully at her french,

"You should know that's not the kind of french I know. I'm german, they only really used insults for me." he replied with a chuckle before adding, "Et puis, la langue n'est pas passionné quand la malédiction. Et comme j'ai entendu maudire ... mon français est un peu rude."