some sacrifies have to be made [503]

[Queety White]

"I can't wait for the holiday season to be over," Queety scoffed as she opened the door to her flat. Three pairs of little feet ran past her and into the living room. The kids threw off their jackets and hats as they ran, despite Queety reminding them that they're supposed to put them in the closet. She sighed, closing the door behind her and then carrying the large bags in her hands to the living room as well. She'll pick up the kids jackets later.

Perhaps taking the kids out Christmas shopping had not been the brightest idea. While the kids were extremely well behaved most of the time, going into a store and seeing all the lights and hearing the music had lead them to take off and lead her on a wild goose chase all over the store, trying to keep them in line. "Straw, your kids exhaust me!" she called out.

However, there was no response. Queety called out his name a few more times. When there was no answer, Queety grinned, knowing he wasn't home quite yet. She did not know when he would arrive so she had to work quickly. She directed the kids to sit down and opened the bags. Inside were gifts that each child picked out for their father for Christmas as well as wrapping paper they could use to wrap it up. The cats, upon hearing the noises, came by to observe as Queety helped the kids wrap the presents. And by helping, she actually did all the work herself because the kids had no clue the proper way to wrap presents. Thankfully, they were finished before any sign of Straw's return. The kids placed the gifts under the overly decorated Christmas tree and then were sent off to their room for a nap.

Queety plopped on the couch, figuring she could take advantage of the temporary silence. It had only been a couple months since she moved in with the Bucketts, but it has definitely had its toll. Suddenly being thrust with the duties of caring for three young children, despite having Straw and his mom often available to help as well as occasionally dropping the triplets off with their mother so she can take an occasional break, was wearing her out. Plus, she still had her job at the school that she had to keep up with. She understood now why Hogwarts professors lived in the castle. Getting all the way there every morning, teaching several classes, and then immediately getting home to take the kids and keep an eye on them while grading papers was getting to be too much for her. She had already had quit all her duties as faculty adviser to several clubs at the school because she wasn't around the castle except for classes. But even with the slightly lighter workload, going back and forth between this flat and the school was getting to be too much.

She had already made a choice on what to do about the matter. Now, as her eyelids began to droop, she had to figure out how to explain it to Straw. She wasn't sure whether or not he would be pleased with it. But she couldn't keep running around exhausted like this.

[Straw Buckett]

“QUEETYWAKEUP,” yelled Straw as he leapt over the back of the couch and half fell on her and the pillows. Straw unaware that the children who were napping, but thankfully much like their father, they seemed to sleep deeply when they were needlessly tired. It was good having the couch facing away from the door though, It proved to be quite amusing for Straw to constantly sneak up on his flat mate and scare the bejesus out of her.

Straw kicked off his shoes as he scrambled off Queety. It didn’t matter that they were both in the mid-twenties because they still acted like teenagers around each other. "Why weren't you ever a Gryffindor and not a stupid Miheal?!" and playfully pushed her. "You would have haso so much more fun with us I bet," That was the beauty of their friendship, he could be as serious and childish as he was and she still seemed to tolerate and enjoy him. “What’s happening with you Whitie-ino?” he smiled lying back on the other end of the couch. “How were the kids? Didn’t get too many ‘you’re too young to have kids’ glaze today?” he said putting on his old grouchy lady voice and scowling as he impersonated the local old witches who judged them both.

It was almost amusing how nosey the surrounding population seemed to be. At least once every few days one old lady would approach him and/or Queety, scrunch up her nose at the fact that they were obviously young and make statements like ‘children having children, what is happening to today youth’ or ‘is that your little brothers and sister?’ or his favourite being when they approached Queety with raised eyebrows, believing she was their mother and confused why they didn’t look a thing like her. Straw, if he could, would puff out his chest and walk right over to Queety and the kids, put his arm around her and say something like ‘they really take after you don’t they mum?’ or ‘yeah made them so well, thinking about going home to try for six more tonight’ or his favourite being he’d offer to sell the children to the old ladies but mentioned they needed to act fast because he had several potential buyers on the market.

[Queety White]

Queety should know by now to expect to wake up to a Straw that had just jumped on top of her. But still, she screamed and kicked him, thinking for a moment that he was an attacker. Still half asleep, she reached into her pocket for her wand and held it out at him. She did not know what she was going to do but holding the wand made her feel safer.

After waking up a little more, she realized that her attacker was Straw and groaned. Why did she always fall for this? She playfully shoved him back. "Quiet! You'll wake the kids! And don't be hating on the Mihaels!! We had so many good times in our common room that you'll never know about because you were in silly Gryffindor," she teased. She probably would have fit in well with the other Gryffindors had she been in that house in school. After all, she became head of Gryffindor later on. Still, while she had pride in both houses and definitely attributes of both, she would never regret being put into the house she was put in.

The thought of school again caused the smile on her face to fade slightly as she was reminded of what she needed to tell her flatmate. She opened her mouth to speak but then was stopped by Straw.

She chuckled. "I am too young to have kids. Taking care of all four of you is exhausting!" However, she loved it. It felt strange, this new living situation, but now that she was living it, she would not give it up for anything. Queety loved the kids as if they were her own but when someone actually thought they were hers, she never knew how to react. Straw always wanted to make a joke about it and that lightened the mood but it would leave Queety with the reminder that these kids really weren't hers. She may be acting like it now, but she was definitely not their mother.

But she could not deny that once or twice she wished she was. Then what she was about to do would make sense. It was a sacrifice that only a mother would make for her children.

She took a deep breath, her face suddenly serious. "Hey, Straw..." she said quietly, nervously twirling her hair. "I've been thinking about some things...this whole situation that we're living in now. And, uh, well, I needed to tell you something."

[Straw Buckett]

Straw couldn’t help but grin at her. He greatly appreciated everything Queety had done to help him since he left Kat. There was no way he could have done this all by himself, the kids would have suffered from it which would have broken his heart more than their mother ever could. That was the odd thing this time around, it was not Kat leaving, it was him. It was not her calling it off and maybe that’s where things might have lead despite in inflect in her voice, something that ran over and over through his head. But No Straw had, like a spell, changed in the words that slipped so easily out of her mouth. She didn’t struggle and he valued that because it made it so much easier to walk away.
Straw wondered if she expected to stay and for him to simply accept her infidelity? Something had snapped inside Straw, his heart didn’t break, it kept going, he didn’t cry and the only real reaction from this whole ordeal was getting angry which he thought was fair enough. He’d given so much to her, so much to them, and to him if she didn’t want it so then he certainly didn’t want it either. Straw had been abused by Kat until he couldn’t bare it anymore. She was not the woman he fell in love with and like that he had walked away. She could have the life she wanted but he would simply not be a part of it.

Straw watched Queety carefully as the convocation turned a littler serious, “You ok White?” this sounded bad. Straw raised his eye brow in anticipation, his smile faded a little and he suddenly knew what she was going to say. She loved him and the kids but this was all too much. He thought about how he should react to this and decided he needed to be fine with it. She had done her duty as best friend and he was grateful. If she needed to escape then he would smile and hug her, he knew this would come soon but life in the woods was fastly approaching and soon he’d be running free like Logan in the forest forever focused on just his kids. ’Try to find them now Kat’ he smirked playfully to himself as the fantasy scenario played out in his head.

[Queety White]

Queety continued twirling her hair, not looking up at him. "I guess I can be completely honest. I hate saying this but I'm really tired, Straw. Like, completely exhausted! Between the kids and work, I just feel really overwhelmed. I can't do both anymore."

It was not like she had nine months to prepare for this mentally. When Straw asked her to move in with him, she immediately said yes without thinking about the consequences of that decision. Before she knew it, she had this new life, running all over the country every day, constantly feeling exhausted. She never had time for herself because she was constantly thinking of either her students or her godchildren. She had agreed to this because she loved Straw and that's what best friends are supposed to do, help each other and support each other in their toughest times.

There had been many times their friendship had been scarred. All those years ago when she had blown up at him when he announced he was getting married (that was her fault). The fact that she never actually attended his wedding (totally not her fault!). She knew she had to make sure she made up for her past mistakes and selfishness. She was going to do anything she could for this family, which she called her own.

"So, I'm planning to go to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow," she continued. "I'm going to quit my job teaching for good." She finally looked up Straw, waiting for his response.

[Straw Buckett]

“WHAT?” he said in a rather high girly voice. “What are you talking about?” and he sat up very surprised. Straw didn’t expect this, he thought Queety was going say she was going to go back to living at the school permanently. If Straw had been holding a drink he would have spat it all out. He sat himself up right and stared at her, “Wait why are you doing this? Not so you can look after the kids more?”

He was shocked, was she giving up her dream of working at the school to help him. He couldn’t ask her that from her, he felt bad that she had felt she needed to make such a big change for him. “Queety…" and he only used her first name when he was serious, “I can’t let you do this! You shouldn’t have to, I mean you’re sweet and I love you for it and the kids love you for all the help but you can’t quit your job?!”

[Queety White]

Queety winced at the high pitched squeal. Well, she can safely say, knowing Straw for so many years, that she expected that sort of reaction. She let him finish with his barrage of questions that made sense for him to ask. Of course this seemed out of the blue!! Ever since she graduated, teaching was all she had ever known and done. When he finished, she took a deep breath, trying to form her sentences so her reasoning made sense.

"It's fine, Straw, really! I'm still gonna do some work so you don't have to worry about me not paying my half of the rent," she assured him. "I just want to find a job a little closer to home. Something simpler, like working in a store or something like that. Actually, I was thinking it would be wonderful to work at Flourish and Blotts, and be surrounded by all those wonderful books!" Her eyes lit up for a moment before she realized she was supposed to be serious and explain herself. One does not quit their life's work on a whim like this and not have any explanation.

"But really, it's a combination of things. Being really tired going back and forth was just that little push that tipped me over. I'm kind of sick of being at Hogwarts. Teaching is definitely not what it was when I started the job. The students are different, not like when we went there. The school just isn't as fun as it used to be. I was real quick to agreeing to moving here because I was just sick of the same walls, the same lectures and the same food. I needed a change in my life. And being out here all the time is a wonderful change in pace. I found myself feeling kind of dreary when I left for work and looking forward to coming home."

She sighed. "I mean, I've been in the castle for years. After I was a student, I stayed there, not really wanting to leave the only place I ever called home. It's really because I had nowhere else to go. I don't have any relationship with my family anymore so I had nothing but the school. So that's why I stayed there. I didn't like the idea of growing up and going into the 'real world.'

"I've always been immature, you know that," she chuckled. "But these past couple months have really caused me to grow up a little. And I like it, acting like an actual adult with responsibilities like cooking and cleaning and taking care of others. I realized that I had been hiding in the past while I was still at Hogwarts. But now, I know that I need to get away from there.

"It's not just for the kids," she concluded. "Though, that is a big part. But I'm quitting for myself. It's time for me to grow up and leave the past behind. It's time to start something new. I hope you understand."

[Straw Buckett]

Is she doing this for me? Straw stares at her, dumbfound. He honestly wasn’t expecting this and felt bad for not realising this was how she felt. “You know I don’t see you as needing to grow-up right?” wondering where she got the idea that she wasn’t adult enough. “I know we can be silly together but I really have always seen you as the more ‘adult’ one than me.” He smiles knowing how well she keeps him in check more than she realises.

“It’s also ok that you wanted to stay there after graduation, I also almost became a professor just so I could stay there too,” he admitted, “but knowing Hermione… I don’t think she would have ever taken me seriously.” He laughed, “Plus how could one concentrate on classes with Ms Kelly Black parading around the staff room in those skirts!” Straw winked at Queety and playfully raised his eyebrows up and down. Logan and Straw could never pay attention when they were in her classes.

“But if you would like to do this then,” he paused briefly to take an obvious big breath, “I’ll support you,” and smiles. “You are my best friend and how can I not after everything you’ve done for me. And if you can’t pay the rent for a bit that’s ok too, I’ve got your back” he winked and leaned over to give her a hug. “So Flourish and Blotts?” he questions with a smile, “does that mean free books?” a secrete Straw assumed anyone could believe. He enjoyed reading, he’d become quite the old man with his collection of books by his bed side table. Apart from reading to the children before bed, Straw found he enjoyed his own bed time tale too. “Nothing in the ministry interests you?”