Henrietta Potter And The Slytherin Child - (A 'Henrietta Potter' sequel) || D.M

65 - Building Bridges

I stood hesitantly in the doorway of my son's dormitory.

"Can I come in?" I asked tentatively.

Albus did not look up, but I saw the small lift of his shoulders.

Taking it as an acceptance, I walked over to him and sat myself cautiously on the end of his bed.

"No luck yet with finding the Time-Turner. They're negotiating with the Merpeople to dredge the lake." I looked around, taking in all the green around me. "This is a nice room."

"Green is a soothing colour isn't it?" Albus said, following my gaze over the walls and drapes. "I mean, Gryffindor rooms are all well and good, but the trouble with red is - it is said to send you a little mad - not that I'm casting aspersions..."

Well, to be honest, that did explain a fucking lot.

"Why did you do it, Al?" I asked, looking him directly in the eye. "Please. Please explain to me."

Albus looked down, shrugging again. "I thought I could - change things - I thought Cedric deserved to live. I overheard you telling his father that there was no Time-Turner. I was angry that you could lie to him. I thought you were being a coward. So I decided to step up and be- and be a..."

"A hero?" I finished for him.

"Yeah," he said, his voice sounding small, "something like that."

"Albus," I sighed, thinking carefully of how to put this, "if you were trying to do as I did, you went the wrong way about it. I didn't volunteer for adventure, I was forced into it. You did something really reckless- something really stupid and dangerous - something that could have destroyed everything-"

"I know. Okay, I know." And to my horror, I watched as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Oh, Al," I sighed, "you don't realise how much you really scared us, how much you really scared me."

"Really scared you?" Albus asked, looking up in genuine shock.

"Yes."

"I thought Henrietta Potter wasn't afraid of anything?"

"I'm afraid of losing you, Al - more than anything else in the world. You are the most important person in my life, you always will be."

He immediately scowled. "More than him? My father?!"

"Look," I said, closing my eyes. "I know what Draco did all those years ago was just... shitty. I don't expect you to understand, Al, but you at least deserve to know how much it's shattered me - having to endure all those years believing that I was nothing more than a mere side woman to the man I loved. It left me utterly heartbroken. But I was determined to raise you and show you just how much you mean to me. And something has gone wrong between us and it's scaring the fuck out of me, Al. I want to fix it, I want my son back. Just tell me what I need to do to make you realise how much I love you."

I fell silent, waiting for my words to sink into my son, praying he would listen to them and believe me. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke, albeit so quietly that I had to strain my ears to hear.

"I'm sorry I called you a whore."

My heart lifted at once, hardly daring to believe the apology that had just passed his lips. I wanted to hear him say it again, to be sure I was not imagining it, but at the same time, I didn't want to push him, to ruin the little progress we had just made.

"Oh, Al," I whispered, reaching out a hand towards him, silently begging him to take it. "I've missed you."

To my joyful surprise, his arm began to lift, trembling and hesitant at first.