While You Were Sleeping *Andrew, Ethan*

[Lindsey Linus]

Lindsey brushed her teeth, and changed into an old shirt of Ethan's and a pair on pink pants in the bathroom adjoining her and Ethan's bedroom before sneaking towards the bed and jumping on top of her husband while his back was turned. Lindsey was always thinking of new ways to surprise Ethan. She started to wonder though if he was just learning to go with it and not wonder why she was so hyper. She laughed before leaning down kissing him and then rolling over, cuddling up next to him,"I love you" she whispering in his ear before resting her head against his chest and dozing off into dreamland.

Later on during the night, Lindsey awoke when there was a cold spot on the bed where Ethan's body should have been. She noticed the light in the hallway and concluded to the fact that he was probably just going to get something to drink. Sighing she snuggled up into his pillow and shut her eyes falling back asleep. Her body shifted as she slept so that her body was lying across the bed and a pillow was over her head. The static from the pillow caused her already curly hair to poof out and start looking like it had a mind of its own. Usually, Lindsey had peaceful dreams, but lately she had been having nightmares. She was always being woken up by Ethan holding her tightly and whispering soothing words into her ear till she fell back asleep. This time it was about her adoptive father. He vanished without a trace and Lindsey was starting to come to the conclusion that he had been taken and killed. The last time she saw him was three years ago. She whimpering in her sleep with one of the Seven Member appeared with her father and shot a killing curse towards him. She cried out while pushing the pillow down onto her head. It seemed that this time there was nobody to wake her up.

[Andrew Langerton]

Andrew hated coming home this late, but his meeting with Joseph had gone way later than he had imagined it would. Still, a lot of good things had come out of that meeting besides the obvious reconnected with his oldest friend. He had regained his seat on the Wizengamot and had been assured by Joseph that he had a place in the ministry as an auror. Andrew really did not want much more, at least not now, all he wanted to do was to find Marden and his cronies and try to bring a little peace to the world, though he knew that that would be an uphill battle at best.

There had been one time in his life that he had thought about settling down, having a family and getting away from the dangerous life that he had been leading.. But alas, that was not to be. Allison's murderer had made sure that what little light had in his life was taken away from him most cruelly. No, no that was not true. He did have some family. Right before he had disapeared the last time, he had adopted a Hogwarts student by the name of Lindsay Potter. He had not wanted to at first, not wanting to expose the young woman to his dangerous life, but she had won him over with her smile and her sometimes overenthusiastic hugs. He paused for a moment as he made his way into the house that he had not step foot in in a few years to remember that smile, an wondered to himself where she might be and what she may be doing. Whatever it was, he hoped that she was happy.

He was just making his way up the darkened stairs to what he hoped was still his bedroom, and thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea to contact her, when he heard a feminine cry come from one of the nearby rooms. Andrew did not know who it was, but his instincts kicked in and he rushed toward the sound, wand out, ready to hex whoever dared to intrude in his home.

[Ethan Linus]

Ethan had fallen asleep with Lindsey as he usually did every evening. After about two hours, though, he found himself wide awake. No matter which side he turned to, he was unable to get comfortable again. As he laid there awake, he decided to get up and get a glass of milk, hoping that he would be able to come back to bed soon. He got out of bed, managing to not wake Lindsey in the process, and made his way towards the kitchen (though he kissed Lindsey soft on the forehead before leaving).

Now, 20 minutes or so had passed, and Ethan was still sitting at the kitchen table, drinking his what was now his fourth glass of chocolate milk. While he took sips from his glass, he was a little intrigued by what he was looking at on the table. Witchard had left his bag there, and a small piece of parchment had fallen out of it. Ethan had ignored his instincts to not meddle in someone's business and was now looking at the parchment, figuring that it was okay since it had already fallen out of the bag itself. He looked confused as he stared at the parchment, which had a single, crudely drawn bird on it. Ethan normally wouldn't put much thought into it; after all, he certainly couldn't draw the bird any better. But the drawing seemed oddly familiar to him. It was as if he had seen the drawing before, but he couldn't remember where to safe his life. That was the last thing he needed; now he was definitely going to be awake all night trying to remember where he had seen it.

He was forced to dwell on this no longer, however, as a scream he recognized all too well as Lindsey's broke his train of thought. Picking his wand off the table, he began to quickly make his way back to their bedroom. His pace changed into a sprint when he heard footsteps traveling up the staircase. Intruders! That was the only explanation! Witchard had told he and Lindsey that no one would be calling at 246 tonight. And sure enough, when he burst through the kitchen door out into the main hall, he saw a figure making its way up the dark hallway. "STUPEFY!" Ethan yelled, not wasting any time as a jet of red light fired toward the man.

[Andrew Langerton]

Andrew broke through the bedroom door from which he head heard the scream come from. He looked around wildly, wand pointing everywhere looking for whatever threat may be present. It felt like a lifetime, but in reality was only a few seconds before he realized that there was no one in the room but his sleeping daughter. He relaxed just a little, taking a moment to just look at her. She had not changed much over the years. She had matured of course, but that was to be expected obviously. Once again, he cursed himself for missing so much of her life. Did she get married? Did she have any children? Would she even want him in her life anymore?

He was about to approach her and ask her these questions, and a few more besides, when there was the loud noise at the door. Andrew's instincts and training kicked in. His back was to the door and he had whipped his wand out. He was turning to face whatever or whoever was coming through the door when...

"Stupify!"

Out of instinct, Andrew yelled out "Protego!" and watched at the red jet of light bounced harmlessly off his shield. He did not know who his attacker was nor did he care. The fact remained that he was attacked, and in his own home none the less. Not wanting to give his attacker a chance to attack him again, he dove behind a nearby wardrobe for some cover before going on the offensive himself.

"Perfectus Totalus!"

[Ethan Linus]

To Ethan's dismay, the intruder blocked the stunner with ease. All he had accomplished was driving the intruder deeper into Lindsey's room, which was making him absolutely panicked now. Ethan continued his run towards the bedroom, his wand ready. He then heard the man shout an incantation, making him stop in his tracks and jump to the side of the door. Sure enough, a spell flew out the doorway and hit the wall, blasting a small hole into it.

"Get away from my wife!" Ethan roared from behind the wall. His heart was beating hard against his chest. He was sweating and breathing real quickly. Who ever it was, the intruder was in the bedroom, right next to Lindsey. It was too big a risk to cast another stunner, as he might hit Lindsey in the process. But if he went in there without being ready to defend himself, this man would get the upper hand without any trouble whatsoever. Ethan sighed. There was really only one answer to this, but how much good it would do was still in question. He had no choice, though; Lindsey's safety was his responsibility, and it always would be.

Ethan ducked away from the wall and was no in front of the doorway. "PROTEGO!" shouted Ethan, casting a shield charm between the intruder and Lindsey. "This is your last warning: leave my wife alone! Who are you? What do you want?"

[Lindsey Linus]

Lindsey stirred in her sleep at the sound of Ethan's voice shouting and her fathers voice. She opened her eyes before screaming at the sight before her. There was a man attempting to hide behind her wardrobe and Ethan pointing a wand at him. Quickly, she jumped out of the bed before shouting"Expelliarmus!" hopeing to disarm and man.

She ran over to Ethan,"What the heck is going on? Are you okay?" she asked angerily before stalking over to the man and dragging him out into the room. She shoved her wand to his throat before talking slowly, angerily "What the bloody hell are you doing in my house! In my room! Attacking my husband!" Taking a closer look at the man her eyes widened and she dropping her wand to the floor with a thud. Her hand reached out unconciously slapping him across the face in her fury,"You'r supposed to be dead!" Lindsey seethed before grabbing his wand and moving over to Ethan.

She spoke to Ethan in a almost calm voice, which seemed to be more threatening,"Why didn't you disarm him! You could have been killed! How did you not notice that was my father!" she glared at him before grabbing his wand from his hand and then walking over to the chest next to the bed, putting the two wands in it, and then sealing it with a charm so she would be the only one able to open it. Lindsey crossed her arms infront of her chest before glaring menancily.

She probably looked like hell its self by the looks she was giving along with her hair being all poofed up and tangled from her nightmare. Her shirt was riding up slightly showing more skin than what her father would probably like to see on his daughter.

[Andrew Langerton]

Andrew was breathing hard. He was far more out of shape than he would have liked. He was still crouched behind the wardrobe waiting for his opponent, whoever he was, to make a move. He was hesitant to go on the offensive as he did not want to endanger Lindsay if he could help it.

"Get away from my wife!"


Wife? No, it couldn't be? Had she gone and gotten married? She was still too damn young for that...wasn't she?

It was not long before he heard the shield charm being cast. This was one cocky SOB, either that or really stupid. He hazarded a glance around the corner of the wardrobe and saw that she shield charm was cast over Lindsay and not the other guy. Well, that would make sense since he proclaimed to be her husband.

"This is your last warning: leave my wife alone! Who are you? What do you want?" Okay, this had to end, Andrew was about to step out from behind the wardrobe with his hands up and try to explain this. If this guy was indeed who he said he was, then they could perhaps end this with minimal damage. Before he could do it however, his wand flew out of his hand, shocked, he suddenly found himself looking into the very angry and very awake face of Lindsay. He listened as she berated her husband before turning back to him. Before he could say a word, she slapped him hard across the face.

"You're supposed to be dead!"

"Lindsay, dear..." Andrew paused as he tried not notice that his daughter was showing a bit too much skin for his liking. He would have to say something to her about that later,but given her state right now, and the fact that she had locked his wand away, this was not the time.

"Lindsay, I am so sorry love, I know I should have said something but...." he spread his hands and shrugged, "things just happened that were beyond my control. That, and I had to protect you honey. Please believe me when I did this for your own good."

Andrew knew that he sounded pathetic, but this was the best he could do for now. All he could hope for now is that she calmed down enough later to let him explain better. She had to know that right now, she was the most important person in his life.

[Ethan Linus]

Ethan's head was spinning. Everything was happening so quickly that he could barely keep up. Lindsey was furious with the man, who he now realized (albeit a little too late) was her adoptive father. Sighing, Ethan lowered his wand, feeling like the biggest fool in Surrey right now.

To make things worse, Lindsey wasn't done with her anger. She now rounded on him. Every breath she took, Ethan would try to explain, but then she would immediately start up again. His mouth hung slightly open in shock as he listened to her. When she finally stopped, Ethan began to speak, but he chose his words carefully. "I tried to stun him, Lindsey, but he was too quick for that. I figured that stunning is better than disarming, isn't it?" he asked earnestly. After all, she was the Auror, not him. Surely she would agree. "It was dark and I didn't recognize him. I'm sorry. You know me, Lindsey; the last person I would attack would be my father-in-law. You marry the family when you marry the girl."

He looked at Andrew and sighed. "I'm sorry for trying to stun you, sir. And in your own house, too. Joseph Witchard told me that no one would be calling at 246 until morning."

[Lindsey Linus]

Lindsey sighed before running her fingers over her face and through her hair slightly tugging at the ends,"I have half a mind to throw you both out of the house right now...." she spoke annoyed. Rolling her eyes she walked over to the chest with their wands and took them out against what she wanted to do with them, but she knew better,"I know were in the middle of a war, but if I see either of these pointed at the other one I won't think before I hex you both and lock your wands away again. Understood?"

She asked before handing Andrew and Ethan their wands before looking at her dad and then hugging him tightly crying into his shoulder,"Don't leave again!" she sobbed before shutting her eyes and looking up at him,"You were supposed to be there when I got married daddy." she whispered before looking at Ethan and biting her lower lip.

Lindsey moved out her father's embrace before going back over to Ethan and pulling him towards her, nuzzling her face into his neck, while she intertwined their fingers then looked at her father,"This is Ethan. Remember the boy I told you about when I was writing those letters? The one that grew up with my dad?" She asked before snuggling into Ethan again then yawning slightly.

[Andrew Langerton]

Andrew stood there stunned. So much had happened to him in the past two days or so it was almost too much for one person to take in all at once. He had taken himself out of his self imposed exile, come back to the only place he had really called home, resumed his position at the ministry, took up his leadership spot in the resistance movement, and now....now he was standing here in his own home, and had just been told that his daughter...the fact that she was not his blood daughter did not matter to him in the least, was MARRIED! Somehow, that last bit seemed the most important to him, not to mention the most earth shattering.

He must have stood there for hours trying to get all of this information to sink in while Lindsey handed him his wand and gave him a fierce hug, admonishing him to never leave her again. Deep down in his heart, he knew that he would never do such a stupid thing again. He then had some more time to try and get his emotions in check as she introduced him to her husband, wow, that was going to take some getting used to. He still thought of her as the young, vibrant, full of life young girl that he had first met all those years ago, fell in love with, and then became the father figure that she so desperately needed. He had failed in his role as a father, he could not change that, he could not change the past, but the past was just that, the past, all he could do now was do everything he could to make the future a little bit brighter for them all. Suddenly, he was struck by sudden inspiration, he knew what he could do to at least try and make this better.

He walked over to where Lindsey was embracing her husband...Ethan was his name, and put one hand on each of their shoulders.

"I know that I have not been...the best father lately, and I will regret that for the rest of my life. Though, that is in the past, and as much as I may regret it, there is nothing that can be done about it now. I have two things I want to say now. No, more like one thing to say and a question."

He first turned to Ethan.

"I do not know you that well, which I do hope to change in the very near future, but I do know that my daughter would not marry just anyone, so you must be pretty special. So I do give you my blessing, late as it may be, but know this...if you EVER hurt her in any way, shape, or form, nothing in this world will be able to save you from my wrath. Is that understood.?"

Smiling, he then turned to Lindsey.

"I know that I missed your first wedding, and more to the point, I missed giving you away. I know that I have probably not earned the right to ask this, but....but would you consider having another wedding soon? Perhaps renewing your vows, and this time, I WILL be there to do my duty as your father. This can be as small or large as you want, and of course, I will be paying, something else I did not do the first time."

He waited anxiously. This was something that he really wanted to do for her and he silently prayed that she would be accepting of his offer.