Uncomfortable talks

After leaving the unconscious Soisen in his room, Ingta and Ann looked for a quiet place to discuss their son's reaction and arrived at a secluded tower, which was destined to become part of the magic bastion's library in the future.

-Do you think maybe we went too far in teasing him about having a partner? -Ann asked as she took her partner's hand, genuinely concerned about the situation.

-I think... he didn't just see it as a joke," Ingta answered after a few moments of silent thought, "It's possible that we really pushed him without realizing the situation.

-But, for him to react this way... Did he think we were going to force him to get married or something? -Ann unconsciously squeezed his hand.

-Probably," Ingta nodded.

-What? -Ann looked at Ingta puzzled and not understanding how she could think that -We would never do that!

-Of course not! -But remember that despite the maturity our son has come to show, he's not an adult yet, and it's easy for him to have misunderstandings, because the way he sees things is not the same as ours," she raised her free hand and caressed his cheek, "We went through that once, remember?

Ann was silent as she assimilated that point of view.

-Nagini told me some things privately, worried about him -Ingta waited a minute for Ann to calm down and process the information in her mind -Any other man in his situation would be eager to get multiple mates. He is the last of his lineage, he has some sort of strange ancestor artifact made of gold at Gringotts that also pressures him to have children as if he were a stallion, he has a fortune capable of supporting a large family, he has marriage debts he could use from prestigious magical families and his animagus form seems to have given him some sort of magical charm, with which it would be easy to make countless women adore him and surrender at his feet, begging to be made into mothers. He could even command Nagini to bear his children and she would not refuse, just ask how many he wished to have with a smile.

Ann looked at her with wide eyes.

-BUT, despite all this, she didn't," Ingta remarked raising her voice a little, "And that shows that there is a problem, a very serious one.

-What do you mean?

-Although I'd like to think that it's thanks to our upbringing that he hasn't abused his abilities or circumstances, if you think about it carefully, his attitude is not normal," Ingta sighed as she shared her thoughts with her partner, "When he came back from his first year at Hogwarts, he put our house under the Fidelius charm without hesitation, as if he had a great fear that something would happen to us. Doesn't that seem a bit too extreme and determined?

-And the worst thing is that later on, he proved to be right when the ambush and Rada happened," Ann muttered.

-Yes, maybe he thought we couldn't connect the dots when soon after our old families disappeared simultaneously. Her emotional state wasn't right and we never brought it up tacitly. And now, look around us. Despite having our house under Fidelius, he wanted to build a huge bastion, but it doesn't look like he's preparing to build a big family in the future, it's more like he's preparing to resist a war on his own if he comes looking for it. Do you think that makes sense?

-Now that you mention it?

-Nagini believes that since Rada's death, he has been holding back his feelings and emotions. To use his words: he didn't want to have any more important people he could lose until the threat was eliminated.

-You mean you-know-who?

-Maybe, I'm not sure. Dumbledore doesn't seem to be clean wheat either... -Ingta shook her head- But I think we should feel happy that he has a girlfriend now, no matter which of the two girls it is, since she's the anchor that keeps him from sinking. Otherwise, it's likely that his heart would be locked in a shell and... maybe he wouldn't know how to find his way out of it much later.

-So how should we resolve the misunderstanding with him? -This was the point that Ann was worried about -We just want him to be happy.

-There is no other way but to sit down with him and talk face to face, heart to heart," Ingta sighed as she looked up to gaze at the enchanted ceiling with a landscape of stars, "We will have to find and ask Silvia or Hermione, find out which one is the lucky one and assure him that he has our support behind the scenes without letting Soisen know. We also need to know his attitude about our son having multiple wives, because you know as well as I do that because of his political situation, he'll have to accept more than one if he wants to be left alone and it's best if he does it willingly.

-But, that brings us back to the same point," Ann complained.

-Yeah, we need to think hard about how to step on that thin ice without it cracking. And even if it does crack a little, we have to make sure it doesn't crack too much.

...Meanwhile, in another part of the bastion...

Hermione and Silvia met later, after catching up with her parents and managing to find their rooms in this immense place. They almost had the feeling of being in a second Hogwarts if it weren't for the fact that the architecture was much more modern, the materials more expensive and there were no talking pictures on the walls to distract them.

-What do you think happened to Soisen? -Hermione asked after raising a sound isolation bubble for some privacy.

-I don't know, but it must have been something horrible for him to faint from hearing the news," said Silvia.

-Do you think someone else died? He already took the death of his scarbato badly and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd take the death of an acquaintance worse," Hermione theorized.

-I don't think so, he didn't seem sad or devastated, but rather terrified," Silvia denied as she remembered Soisen's behavior.

The two witches were silent as they thought of a possible cause, but the amount of information in their hands was practically nil. Somewhat frustrated, they could only change the subject of the conversation.

-How are things going with you and Soisen? -Hermione asked with genuine curiosity about how the romance between her two best friends was developing.

-Great, although I'm a little nervous about my family and I living here this summer," admitted Silvia with a red face, "I mean, it's almost like a reunion between parents and after that....

-Do you think he'll ask you to marry him soon?! -Hermione asked aloud as her eyes widened wide.

-What? No! I mean, I don't think so. We've barely been dating... -Silvia suddenly noticed that they had actually been in the relationship for practically a year, since they started meeting more often when Hermione and her family went on vacation to France.

How long do couples usually date before proposing?

-Well, according to the books I read, in the magical world it's not that uncommon to get married very young," Hermione commented, not realizing that she was adding coal to the flames.

-I...