The Gryffindor Malfoy

Chapter 11

I nod my head.

"You know, thinking about it now, that makes a lot of sense." Stella says with a chuckle.

I look at her, curious. "What makes sense?" 

"You liking girls, you not liking boys." Stella begins. "I know that your parents, especially your father, have been trying to find a pure-blood boy for you to marry in the future ever since we were little. You never gave a damn about any of them and... And I'm pretty sure that at some point you had a crush on Blaise's older sister..."

I feel my face heat up... That's why my family even thought I had a crush on Blaise when I was younger.

Stella smirks again. "I'm right, aren't I?"

I look down before answering her. "Almost... It wasn't his sister I had a crush on..."

Stella looks confused before she realises what I'm talking about. She raises her eyebrows in shock. "His mum?!"

I slowly nod my head, looking even redder than before. Stella starts laughing and I end up laughing along with her, more out of nervousness than anything else.

Our laughter is interrupted as soon as we hear someone knocking on the door, which is already open. We both stop laughing and turn towards the entrance to my room. There's my mum, standing by the door with a smile on her face.

"I don't want to interrupt you, girls." my mum starts to say. "I just came to tell you that dinner is almost ready, so as soon as you've finished whatever you're doing, you can go down to the dining room."

We both nod. I quickly wipe away the tears that remain on my face, so that Mum doesn't suspect anything. Stella looks at me purposefully, as if silently asking if I'm going to tell my mum about what she's just discovered. I shake my head. If my mum notices this exchange between the two of us, she doesn't say anything. 

Mum walks over to us and sits down on my bed, next to where we are. She looks at us with a smile, but it seems to be a look of longing, perhaps missing something.

"You know, seeing the two of you together like this, having your own little secrets, getting along so well, reminds me of my childhood." my mum starts to say. She sighs before continuing. "It reminds me of my sisters, Bella and Andy..."

Stella and I exchange glances. She knows it's rare for Mum to talk about her sisters, especially considering that one is in Azkaban and the other was disowned years ago. I can tell from the look in her eyes and her voice that Mum misses her two older sisters.

"Were you close, Aunt Cissa?" Stella asks.

Mum smiles, a longing smile, and hugs Stella from the side before answering. "We were, darling. Bella was always very protective of me, always very adventurous, a troublemaker... But Bella and I never fought, the fights were usually between her and Andy."

Stella and I listen to the story that my mum tells very attentively, even more so considering that this is something rare, stories from her childhood and adolescence involving her sisters.

"I was always the peacemaker, of course." Mum chuckles as she tells it, most likely recalling memories with her sisters. "I was always the one who broke up the fights, who tried to calm them down, to make them forgive each other. Well, up until a certain point, of course..." her face, which a few seconds ago had been smiling, is now very serious. I notice that Mum blinks several times trying to disguise the tears that are starting to form in her eyes.

Stella and I look at each other again. We know what my mum must be thinking: when Aunt Andromeda (or Aunt Andy) was disowned, when mum had to choose between Andromeda and the rest of her family.