diggory | d. malfoy

4 1

YEAR FIVE, CHAPTER FOURTY ONE

THE LAST HAPPY SUMMER
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As the year drew to a close Francesca didn't want to go home, she wanted to stay at Hogwarts with Draco.

The Hogwarts Express came to a stop at the station and Francesca said her final goodbyes to her boyfriend before disappearing into the crowd to find her parents.

"Francesca, good to see you again dear," Amos smiled at his daughter, giving her a hug. "I do have some bad news to tell you though..." he said.

"Bad news?" Francesca furrowed her eyebrows. "What's the bad news?" She asked.

"It's your mother," Amos sighed. "Her sickness is back, it's worse this time."

"How worse?" Francesca asked, worry in her eyes as she looked up at her father.

"Much worse... The doctors have given her a year," Amos said.

Francesca looked down at her feet. "She survived it once, I bet she can do it again," Francesca said.

Amos smiled sadly. "I don't want to give you any false hope Francesca, she's declining rapidly," Amos said.

"I'm sure she'll beat it," Francesca nodded.

-

Summer in the Diggory house was extra depressing this year. The house was even more quiet than last Summer, all that could be heard was the grunts and groans of Francesca's mother who was in indescribable pain.

Francesca couldn't stay in her mother's room for too long, seeing her mother hurting so much made her feel sick to her stomach.

Francesca didn't want to admit it, but deep down she know that Amos was right. Her mother was declining rapidly, it was much worse than before.

She spent her nights staring out her window, looking up at the stars, talking to Cedric, wondering if he could hear her. Francesca told him everything, how she felt about everything, how she could see the world changing before her.

Francesca was scared of the future, of what could happen. Would she survive the war? Was there going to be a war? Would her and Draco still be together after everything? She had so many questions that would remain unanswered until they were playing out right in front of her.

As the Summer dragged on Francesca was happy to receive and Owl from Draco and she quickly sent one back. They exchanged letters for a while, but majority of the Summer Draco would disappear. He apologised over and over for not getting back to her sooner, he said he was incredibly busy.

Francesca didn't care that he wasn't replying straight away, at least he was making the effort to send her letters.

Draco wasn't the only person sending her letters, so was Pansy. Pansy was planning a slumber party between all the girls towards the end of the Summer. Francesca decided that she would go, even though she felt guilty for leaving her mother.

Her mother assured her that it was fine and that she should have fun while she can. So the second last week of Summer Francesca traveled to the Parkinson Manor and spent an entire week with her friends.

"I didn't even know your mum was sick the first time," Pansy said. "Why didn't you tell me?" Pansy asked.

"Because it wasn't as bad... she survived and I didn't want anyone to worry because if you guys worried I would of worried even more," Francesca shrugged.

"That explains your Boggart," Tracey said.

"I've been through death before... I'll survive it again," Francesca sighed sadly. "Let's just stop talking about this, I want to take my mind off all of it."

"Okay... well me and Tracey have something to say," Daphne said, nudging her friend. Tracey cleared her throat, looking over at Daphne. "We're kind of... dating," Daphne said, looking at all of her friends.

Millicent and Francesca were shocked, but Pansy wasn't. "I called it," Pansy said.

"What?" Tracey asked.

"I knew that you two fancied each other," Pansy smiled. "And I knew that Tracey was into girls after all those comments you made about never liking a boy," Pansy said. "I'm so happy for you both."

Millicent gasped. "That means we can go on a triple date!" She exclaimed happily.

Daphne chuckled. "A triple date? That sounds like fun," she said.

"When did this happen?" Francesca asked.

"At the start of Summer, we've been spending all of our Summer together," Tracey said with a smile, leaning her head against Daphne.

"So cute," Pansy grinned. "Now that just leaves me... who can I date?" She asked.

"Don't rush into it Pansy, find someone you truely like," Millicent suggested.

"I've always found Blaise cute," Pansy shrugged. "Maybe I should get to know him better and see where it leads."

The girls all broke out into chatter, giving Pansy advice and telling her what they think of Blaise. It was a happy way to end the Summer and Francesca was glad that she agreed to the sleepover.