Cooling Down (Rigel and Kerrington)

As Kerrington approached the place she once called home. Slowly she lowered herself to the ground, tears stinging her eyes as she saw the park she played in when she younger. She could almost see the blonde and brunette little girls running around a beautiful Italian women. It was almost too much, but Kerrington needed it. Sooner than Kerrington realized, she felt her feet touch the ground.

Leaning her broom against the fence, Kerrington walked toward her house. Images of a smiling brunette dancing around the porch flashed through her head. Other images of two girls playing together flashed through her head as well. Kerrington smiled a very sad smile as she realized that everything she once had was ripped from her hands so simply. Now, Kerrington was having a family of her own. She didn't know how to do it. It was times like this where she wished her mother was there for her. Kerrington's face scrunched up as tears threatened to spill. She was long past hating her parents for leaving her. She was long past hating the people for killing them. She was long past hate. Now she just felt a deep sense of emptiness. And now want. She was so close to feeling the emptiness. But the only things that could cure it weren't available at the moment. One of them were in her stomach and the other had walked out on her.

Kerrington sat down on the steps of her house, knowing that no one leaved there anymore, and set her hands on her stomach. The sky was beautiful and the weather was perfect. A serene smile painted itself across her face. Merlin, life was so messed up right now. But, the sad thing was, Kerrington couldn't remember a time when her life wasn't messed up.

Rigel had searched tirelessly for hours. He looked all over London, all over Bristol, all over Devon. Hell, he searched the entire country just to find his wife. He just couldn't find her anywhere. No matter how hard he tried, Kerrington just refused to be found.

The thought had only just struck in the back of his head. What if she's in Italy? It seemed stupid at the time, but right now, Rigel was desperate. He focused on Kerrington; her smile, her eyes, her perfume. Everything. He Apparated to a small park, near a giant house. He wondered how he got there for a moment before recalling the reason why.

Kerrington.

He walked up to the house, his hands in his pockets, tears stinging the brims of his eyes. No, he couldn't cry. He was Rigel Malfoy for Merlin's sake. Rigel Malfoy didn't cry. As he walked nearer to the house, he saw the woman he'd been looking for. He stepped up on the porch and sat next to his wife. "Hey," he muttered. "I've been looking for you."

Hearing Rigel's voice, Kerrington closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. "How did you find me?" Kerrington wondered in a steely tone. She came to her old house to escape. It was her safe haven. Rigel had no right to come here and make the memories worse. She had a right to be alone without him blaming everything on her.

Kerrington refused to look at him. Looking at him would be surrendering. He was a Slytherin, he knew how to manipulate emotions just as well as she did. Kerrington knew that if she looked at him she would loose all willpower and he would have full control. She didn't want that to happen. No, that was the last thing she wanted. "Why were you looking for me?" Kerrington asked, looking down at her hands.

Rigel raised his eyebrows. "To be honest, I'm not completely sure. I focused on you and Apparated. It just led me here," he explained, slightly irritated at Kerrington's knife-like voice. He could understand why she was so angry with him, but he was at least making an effort. He wondered why his wife refused to look at him, however. Didn't she want to make this better? Didn't she see that he was trying?

Sighing he replied, "I'm looking for you because I want to apolo- apologi-yi-yi..." He pretended to not know how to say sorry. It had been so long since he was truly sorry for something. "I wanted to say I'm sor- sorry." He took a deep breath and muttered, "Harder than I thought." He cocked his head at her and said, "I also looked for you because I want you home. I want to make this work. Is that too much to ask?"

Kerrington listened to his story with poorly hidden interest. She was slightly impressed by him finding her so quickly. Yet, it didn't make up for anything. The fact that he knew her so well just made her slightly more irritated. "Well, congrats then." Kerrington replied blankly, fighting against herself so she wouldn't look at him. She wanted to look at him, to judge how much he was affected by her leaving. She knew how to figure out his feelings, yet she didn't want to give in.

Hearing him struggle to apologize, Kerrington gave into her urge to look at him. The first thing she noticed was how tired he looked. Kerrington sighed, though she didn't say she forgive him. "You did, huh?" Kerrington asked rhetorically, knowing he would answer anyway, since that was just the way he was. "Maybe it is Rigel. Honestly, do you really expect us to work out? You don't have feelings for anyone for yourself. And I've never had anyone and will not accept your pretending." Kerrington replied.

Rigel was admittedly ragged-looking right now. He'd looked for hours, he'd found her, and now she was denying him? Not right at all. He was trying to be nice. He was trying to be a good husband. He was trying to get her to like him, because, no matter how hard he tried to fight or deny it, the love-hate relationship the two had for years was mostly an act for him. He liked, maybe even loved, Kerrington, and a lot at that.

He raised his eyebrows again. "Is that really all you have to say? I come all this way to Italy and that's all you can say? I'm admittedly disappointed," he teased. "I would have expected a bit of yelling and screaming, or maybe even a kick to the face."

Rigel gave his wife a slight smile as she finally looked at him. Nodding, he said, "Yeah," though it most likely wasn't necessary. He narrowed his eyes, though not in contempt. It was more in confusion, fear, anything, really. "I expect we'll work out if we can get along. Couples fight. Friends fight. Let's just work on being friends first. And I have feelings for people other than myself!" he protested. "I just don't like to show them!" Sighing, he said, "Listen, can we just try to be friends first and see what happens from there?" He was trying to reason with Kerrington, trying to get her to come home. He had actually missed her quite a bit. He panicked whenever he couldn't find her. He was relieved when he finally did. What did that tell him? Almost nothing. Except maybe that his feelings for Kerrington were more than he'd thought.

Kerrington looked out into the yard of her old house. The only place she ever called home. It was depressing, being here after all that happened. She hated that just behind her, on the second floor den, that she witnessed her parents being murdered. Kerrington could remember every little detail about that night. She remembered the way the sun seemed to stay up a bit to long for a fall night. She remembered the smell of cinnamon that ran in the air. Kerrington could remember the way her sister was asleep while Kerrington sneaked into the den just in time to witness the scared look on her parents faces as they were killed and the wink one of the murderers gave to her before they disappeared. Kerrington had to close her eyes to keep the tears at bay. It was all too much.

Hearing Rigel tease, a smile that probably looked more like a grimace made its way onto her face. "Just wait until later when I'm not so--" Kerrington didn't know the word to use. She wanted to use dead, but that was far too dramatic. "Calm, and I'll be sure to throw a few punches at you." Kerrington promised.

"Friends?" Kerrington repeated as if it were a foreign concept. Kerrington couldn't imagine being friends with anyone, especially not Rigel. He was not someone she classified as a friend. Her feelings were Rigel were so far beyond the friend stage. "Let's not try being friends. I don't think I can be friends with you." Kerrington stated honestly. "It's not that I don't like you, it's just that I think I like you too much." There. Kerrington had said it first. She always liked being first, so it only made sense that she declared her feelings first.

Rigel wondered what Kerrington was thinking of. She seemed far off in thought, in fact, she looked like she'd blanked. He could tell she was fighting inevitable tears. It made him feel bad for her.

He laughed as she grimaced and basically threatened him. "There's the Kerrington I know. I'll gladly take it, I know I deserve it. Strange, I know, but I'm admitting it. Shall we go home soon? Or do you want to take a few more strides down Memory Lane?" he asked, eager to leave. The towering building made him slightly uncomfortable, even though he'd grown up in a house similar to this. His parents had made their own little Malfoy Manor, since his grandparents were still living in the original.

Rigel's eyebrows rose high above their natural resting place. "What's wrong with being friends?" He was slightly confused at her statement but realized what she meant. "What do you mean like me too much?" He wanted a straight answer from his wife. He knew what she meant, and he wasn't going to tell her what he felt until he knew for sure. It was unusual how insecure and doubtful he was being.

Kerrington raised an eyebrow at Rigel. "Rigel Malfoy saying he deserved punishment for his actions. I'd never thought I'd see that day." Kerrington said with a dark smirk. "We should go home soon. I'm hungry and want to sleep." Kerrington said with a sigh as she looked up at her house. It was intimidating, yes, but it was home. And she missed it. "I don't want to take anymore strides. It was bad enough just coming here." Kerrington admitted, wiping away the nonexistent tears.

Looking at Rigel with an amused expression, Kerrington smirked. "I'm not going to tell you without you telling me. I'm a Slytherin Rigel, I'm smarter than that." Kerrington said blankly, kissing her husband on the cheek. "I've given you far too much information than you ever have. It's time for you to give a little." Kerrington said. She was too insecure to tell Rigel how she really felt. If she was going to tell him that she had strong feelings for him, then he needed to admit it too. She was sick of telling him something and it backfiring. She had a right to expect something from him too.

"Horrifying, I know. I never thought I'd see the day either, but here I am... Apologizing... Going after a girl... Oh Merlin, who am I and what have I done with myself?" he asked, his eyes extremely wide. "Okay, you can make yourself something," he teased. "You'll get plenty of sleep, I'll make sure of it." Rigel nodded, but didn't ask about it. Getting up, he offered his hand to Kerrington so she could also.

"All right, all right. I like you too. Can we go now?" he asked before being kissed on the cheek. He smiled and said, "Okay, I really like you. Seriously though, do you want to leave? This place is kind of intimidating." He never thought he'd see the day when he thought a large house was intimidating. It wasn't normal at all.

He waited for her to get up patiently. Ah, women. Always slow with everything. I suppose it gets worse when they're pregnant, he thought, laughing to himself. Oh how he cracked himself up sometimes.

Kerrington smiled at Rigel. She knew that even though she was still angry about what he said, she could never really be mad at him. It was confusing as hell, but at least it made sense in her mind. "Sounds like you like this girl quite a bit." Kerrington murmured, giving Rigel a sideways look. "Did you ever eat that amazing omelet I left you you?" Kerrington wondered. "Mmmm, sleep." Kerrington liked the thought of sleep. "I didn't get much last night." Kerrington shot Rigel a knowing look and laughed.

Raising an eyebrow, Kerrington laughed. "Yes, let's go. I know, being by a house that two people were killed in is intimidating." Kerrington said with a shudder. "Good, glad to know you don't completely hate me." Kerrington replied sweetly.

Standing up, Kerrington looked at Rigel evenly. "Let's go."

"I do like this girl quite a bit. And you know who that girl is? She's the best Assassin at the Ministry, she's got the most amazing eyes, she's not bad in bed," he said with a wink and wiggling eyebrows, "and she's my wife." Rigel chuckled. "No, I didn't. I was a bit busy brooding and then looking for you." He snorted at Kerrington's comment. "Oh, no, you didn't did you? We'll have to remedy that. Now, when we get home, you get in bed and sleep. I'll join you after. No funny business, just sleep. Agreed?"

He sighed deeply. "Yes, yes it is. Oh please. Do you really think I ever hated you? For your information, no, I didn't. Never have."

Rigel held his wife's hand firmly before Apparating them both home.

Kerrington smiled at Rigel. "Sounds like a girl worth knowing. Too bad I don't know her." Kerrington then pretended to be shocked when Rigel said the girl was his wife. "No way! I'm you're wife! Oh! So, that girl must be me!" Kerrington said with a fake squeal, which was followed by laughter. "Oh, what a shame. I'll make something else and hopefully, no one will be brooding." Kerrington said with a smirk. "No funny business? Alright, sounds like a deal. We can make up for wasted time later." Kerrington promised with a wink.

"You never hated me?" Kerrington repeated with a doubtful expression. "Alright, I believe you. And, for your information, I've never hated you either. Far from it actually." Kerrington said firmly, kissing his cheek.

And, before she knew it, she was home.