My mind began racing and whirring with possibility. Harry had always spoken about going back to our old home—but had he been here already, or was he planning to for Christmas? Was there a way I could contact him to let him know?
"Here we are," Arthur said, killing the engine.
"It's just like I remember it..." Gennie whispered from the back, staring at the house that was hers for the majority of her life.
It was just like I remembered it five summers ago—A broken concrete path to a small, neglected cottage with broken roof tiles and overgrown grass. Dumbledore had been with me then, and I had no idea that I was about to meet my best friend....
The four of us got out of the car, and feeling like in a dream trance followed Arthur up the path. Yes, there was the barn owl doorbell I'd admired so greatly, and the glass stained window where Gennie had first appeared....
Arthur pulled a key out of his back pocket, and ushered us inside. The hallway was less dusty than I remembered, but the photos of Gennie's family and mine still remained lined on the peeling wallpaper.
"I didn't want to move them; I thought you'd appreciate them when you got back." Arthur said softly to Gennie, who looked on the verge of a breakdown.
Noticing a picture of my family, for the countless time today I felt like crying. We all looked so happy there, but my family was lost in time, unaware that almost two decades later they would be dead and Harry and I would be separated....
"Hello Arthur dear," a round old woman appeared from the living room, clutching Louis Lockwood, Sam's nephew. He was almost one and toothy, his big blue eyes so much like his aunt's. The old woman caught sight of my blood coated clothes. "What—what happened?"
"Obliviate," Arthur whispered under his breath and the old woman's face became calm, and he took the baby from her. "Thanks for watching him today, Ms Olivers but you can go now."
The woman nodded and with a dreamy smile gave us all a little wave and disappeared out of the house. "I forgot about her," Arthur shook his head. "She's our muggle neighbour; have to keep her in the dark unfortunately. Come on in."
Following Arthur into the living room, it looked almost identical to the living room where I first met Remus. The high bookshelves, the fraying carpet, the faded armchair where Remus had first spotted me for the first time in twelve years.
"I don't understand. Who are you, girl?"
And now, the last time I'd seen Remus he'd been so angry at us for telling him not to leave Tonks... I wondered if Gennie knew about all of this...
Glancing over at Gennie, she was wandering around the room with a distant expression on her face, brushing her hand over the dressers and examining photos. Turning to Arthur, he looked determined.
"Right, anyway, the first aid kit is around here somewhere—"
Arthur broke off as a loud thump was heard. Spinning around, I let out a shriek as I saw Gennie had collapsed on the floor, shaking and sobbing. Cole rushed to her but she kept shaking, holding her hands over her ears.
"Gennie, you're okay," Cole said, though his voice was shaking as he rubbed at her back. "I'm here now."
"—No—No, this—this is all wrong!" she shrieked. "Make it stop—stop now, please, STOP THE VOICES!"
Watching on helplessly, I didn't know what to do. Cole caught my eye. "Both of you—go, now!"
"Cole—"
"C'mon, Rory," Arthur said, and grabbing me by the forearm forced me from the living room, slamming the door behind us, catching a last glimpse of Gennie shaking in Cole's lap.
Silence took over as we stared each other out, the only sound being Louis little gurgles. "Arthur, I can help her—"
"You can't." Arthur said firmly, though he sounded unsettled. "Look, Cole knows how to deal with this. He's had them before."
"And they are--?"
Arthur sighed, juggling Louis on his hip, who was now trying to bite his hand. "It's like a PTSD thing, having flashbacks of painful stuff.... I know Gennie used to help Cole with his, she came to me for advice a couple years back."
"She'll be okay though?" I said timidly.
Arthur nodded, and squeezed my shoulder. "She'll get through it, Rory, don't you worry. You're both safe now. Go shower, sleep, be normal for a few hours."
Taking one last look at the living room, I nodded, and feeling like the living dead I almost crawled to the bathroom. Locking the door behind me and stripping off my blood soaked pyjamas, I finally let myself sob over the hissing of the water pressure.
Why did Draco have to be ripped from me again? We'd finally gotten back to a beautiful calm in our relationship---no, actually we'd gotten one step further; we were the couple we'd always wanted to be. The two of us had loved each other the way we wanted, supporting decisions, bantering and no arguments about stupid shit...
Water ran down my skin, and I saw the liquid mixing his blood into a thick paste. Letting out a mix between a whine and a sob, I rubbed at the skin aggressively. Why was this real?
I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy. We could be friends if you want.
Why did I have to respond to him, why did I have to lock eyes with him all those years ago?
"Just kiss me, you fool."
Why did I have to kiss him with everything in me? A sob escaped my lips and I pulled at the skin. If we'd never kissed, he wouldn't be in so much danger.
"You are the one that I'm in love with. Not Cole. Not Arthur. You."
My body was shaking. His smile after I'd said that, the hope in his eyes. He thought we would have so much hope in our future. How wrong was he?
His gentle touches against my skin, setting an ocean of calm and a hurricane at the same time.
Sinking to the floor, I began involuntary rocking back and forth—where was he? Would I ever see him again? Would I ever see his stupid little smirk or hear him whisper that he loved me in the dark of the night?
Was Draco even alive?
Painfully aware that the only physical reminder of Draco was across me, my task continued. I scrubbed and clawed at the bloody paste until my skin was raw and burning, my heart aching and eyes puffy and numb from over-thinking and tears.
Exhausted, I climbed out of the shower with shaking legs, wrapping a towel firmly around me. I'd allowed myself to break down, but I wouldn't allow myself anymore weakness. I needed to woman-up, find Harry and act strong for Gennie and Cole.
Getting dressed into one of Mrs Weasley's jumpers and my lucky pair of jeans (they had a faint spotty pattern on them) I began building my inpentrable mask of eyeliner and lipstick, my only weapons at appearing stronger than I was inside.
"Shit," I hissed under my breath as a pain spasmed through my wrist, my eyeliner going in a horizontal line up my face.
Curling my fingers over the sink, I prepared for another shot of pain, but instead a slideshow began to flicker in my eyes.
There was a dark room, a flickering lightbulb swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Lying in a bed with dark bandages tied around his neck was none other than Draco.
Screaming, I reached out for him, screaming at him to wake up, but in these twisted images sent direcly to my brain, I had no power.
Cameron was staring at him with a calm impassive smile, but he had a friend with him. He had his hand on the shoulder of a young man with short black hair and a dishevelled appearance.
"See, Nathan?" Cameron cooed.
Of course, it was Nathan Lockwood, Arthur's absent boyfriend.
"Who is he?" Nathan murmured, and he sounded broken, pulled apart at the seams.
"It doesn't matter who he is, but what's he's done. He tried to switch sides, but you can't do that, not in this world. He looks pretty torn up, hum?" Cameron said, and Nathan was silent. "If you even try to go back to that fag boyfriend of yours—that's what will happen to him and your bastard son."
Nathan whimpered. "I—I just want to protect them. Please—please, let me go. Let me see my sister."
"Your sister is dead." Cameron snapped. "Either get me what I want or what happened to Draco Malfoy will seem like childsplay. Hollie, take our guest for some discipline."
Camille appeared in the doorway with Hollie at her side, looking unafraid with a blank expression. "Yes, master."
Hollie roughly grabbed Nathan by the arm, and the man struggled under her grip as she kicked the back of his leg and he tumbled to the floor in a heap.
"I'm sorry." Hollie said as she raised her wand, and for a second, she almost looked remorseful.
****
I kept the vision to myself until Christmas Eve, two days later. Arthur and I were in the living room with Louis, who was attempting to walk, but kept falling down on his bum every time he tried to take a step forward.
"He's one in a few months." Arthur said remorsefully as Louis head-butted the sofa, giggling the whole while. "I hope Nate will actually get his act together and come back for it."
"Arthur.... About Nathan...." I said my stomach turning into knots as I explained everything I'd seen in the vision.
Arthur looked as if I'd slapped him by the time I'd finished explaining. "He—he was taken by Cameron? And Cameron wants him to do something?"
"I'm guessing after he left somebody grabbed him." I said. "I'm so sorry, Arthur."
He just shook his head a let out a little laugh, though he was close to tears. "I have all the luck with romance, don't I? My first boyfriend doesn't understand my sexuality, Eloise pity dates me because of my eye, you use me as a rebound, and Nate, my silver lining has been abducted. Perfect."
Scooting closer to him, I reached out and lightly stroked his arm. "Don't give up, Art. Hope is there for a reason—and Nate and Draco are alive. That's hope enough."
Arthur turned to me with a small smile. "A couple of years ago, I would have given up hope completely. I would have given up as soon as Nate left, I would have handed Louis over to social services and hidden under a rock. But here I am, looking after a kid, rescuing my friends from creepy houses and being incredibly reckless."
"Well that's good."
"I became stronger because of you, Rory. I hope you know that." Arthur said with the flicker of a smile, bundling Louis up onto his lap. "And I'll never be able to thank you enough for that."
Before I could reply, the door opened and Cole and Gennie appeared, bundled up in winter jackets, hats and scarfs clutching Tesco shopping bags.
"Hello there, friend." Cole said to me with a smile, dropping the bags to the floor. He turned to Arthur. "Hey there, mom can you make us dinner? We got fajitias."
Arthur gave Cole a bitch face. "Seriously Cole, just because I look after Lou it doesn't mean I'm suddenly a mother."
"You could be one of those suburban mums with a minivan, don't hide from the truth, Arthur." Gennie said, rolling her eyes.
Gennie was getting increasingly better—the number of panic attacks and flashbacks she had was starting to decrease, and she was looking healthier by the day.
"Oh ha ha," Arthur said, and he got up, Louis trying to pull at his glasses. "No—no, Lou, I need those. Cole, help me with these bags."
Rolling his eyes, Cole picked up the majority of the bags and set the other ones floating behind him, Arthur and him arguing as they headed to the kitchen.
Gennie sat down next to me, a distant look in her eye as she looked out into the darkness outside. "I want to go to the graveyard."
"Is your mum in there?" I asked, and Gennie nodded, still not looking at me.
"Your parents are too, I think." She said her voice far away. "I haven't seen mum in years.... I just want to talk to her, since I have no way of contacting dad...."
A pang came to my heart, I hadn't even thought about my parents being buried here. An odd homesickness came over me; my parents weren't so far away from me. I could see where they'd been for the last sixteen years.
"Yeah, we should go see them.... So they won't be lonely at Christmas." I trailed off, running my hand along my locket, thoughts back to my parents.
After a huge dinner of fajitas and Cole lifting Louis up like the beginning of Lion King ('He's wearing a lion onesies, Arthur, I saw the opportunity and took it') I bundled up in my coat and beanie, carrying a bunch of flowers I wanted to put on my parents grave.
"Don't be gone too long," Arthur said as he unlocked the door for us. "I know it's only local, but still..."
"And you still say you aren't the group mother," Cole muttered, and even Gennie laughed at that.
"Ugh, get out please," Arthur rolled his eyes.
Gennie and Cole stepped out into the darkened village, but I hesitated, and gave Arthur a quick kiss on the cheek. He looked surprised to say the least. "For the record, Arthur, you are one of the strongest people I've ever met. You just needed to recognise it in yourself."
"Save the sentinemental crap for Christmas day," Arthur scoffed, though he was smiling the most he had in days.
Giving him a little wave, I hopped out into the outside world for the first time in two days. Everything seemed brand new, a fresh piece of slate wiped off. Everything was silent and white, flurries of snow twirling from the sky onto my face as I turned.
"It's beautiful," I declared to Gennie and Cole, who looked just as mystified as I did. "Who would have thought there could still be beauty in this goddamn awful world?"
"I did," Cole said with a coy smile, glancing at Gennie before kissing the side of her neck, making her turn pink.
Holding my arms back I embraced the fresh coldness of everything, spinning around in this flurry, snow falling and melting on my tounge, everything so simple and beautiful.
Still dizzy, I caught up to Gennie and Cole, twisting my arm through Gennie's as the three of us crunched slowly through the peaceful village. I took the time to salvage every detail of the village I could have grown up in, if fate hadn't interviened.
"It's quite a boring place, actually...." Gennie said. "I mean there's nothing to do here, only a few shops.... Usually dad would take me to the Weasley's or somewhere for me to have some actual fun."
Gennie didn't seem to see the beauty in the village around us, but I suppose she did grow up here. But all I saw were houses that my parents could have lived in, and I knew I wouldn't remember, but I couldn't help but dare to hope something would click in me, some recognition.
The thin lane we'd been walking down cut off to the left, and we found ourselves in the breathing soul of the village, a small square.
It was glowing with brightly coloured Christmas lights that were strung across shops and a maginificent Christmas tree next to the war memorial. Several small shops, a pub and a church were strattegially propped in a circle formation, forming a close-knit community feel.
The snow was trod through more here, boot prints sporadic along the road, bunched up sections where snow ball fights had happened; villagers crossing the square barely visible under street lamps. Snippets of cheery pop music could be heard from the pub, a carol stringing together from the jewel lit church.
"Silent night, Holy night..."
Cole looked over at the church with a fond smile, murmering under his breath: "безшумен нощ, свят нощ...." It took me a moment to realise he was singing the carol in Bulgarian. "It was my favourite one as a kid when we went to services...."
"I almost forgot about that memorial.... Rory, look," Gennie said softly, tugging at my sleeve.
Looking at the memorial, it transformed in front of my eyes. Instead of being a tower covered in names, it turned into a statue of four people: a man with rounded glasses and untidy hair, a woman with kind eyes and long hair and two babies—a boy and girl—sat on their laps.
"Harry would have loved to see this...." I couldn't help smiling through the tears pricking at my eyes, the ache for my brother growing. Clearing my throat, I smiled again. "Come on."
Crossing the road to the graveyard, I took one final look. It had transformed back into the war memorial. Singing grew louder as we approached the church, and I felt close to tears again, I was thinking of Christmases.
My first Christmases—Hollie ripping up wrapping paper and sticking it to the ceiling with giggles, Lacey tackling me with a smile as we opened our stockings, back when we shared a room.... Mark and Jenna letting us open our presents in their room, kissing our foreheads and smiling so much....
My mind span to my Christmases at Hogwarts—Dumbledore pulling crackers over the table, kisses under snowy skies in green dresses, marshmallows over the fire and snowball fights that left us all weak with laughter.....
There was a kissing gate at the entrance to the graveyard. Cole pushed it open as quietly as possible and we edged through it. The snow was deep and untouched here, and I felt sympathy for the dead, nobody had come to visit them after the snow fell....
Keeping to the shadows, Gennie led the way, knowing the way like the back of her hand. Snowy tombs greeted us on both sides, snow piled so high that they looked like silent bed covers.
Finally, Gennie stopped in front of a grave. Letting go of our arms, she knelt to the ground. "Hi, mum," she whispered. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
The tombstone was flecked with moss and ivy, but the inscription was legible:
Marlene McKinnon
13th January 1960~August 2nd 1981
Do not go gentle into that good night.
"I've changed a lot since I last spoke to you." Gennie said, stroking the top of the grave head. "I've grown up, I've loved, I've lost, I've made a lot of mistakes.... But he wasn't a mistake." She turned to Cole with a smile. "I'm engaged mum, and he's honestly one of the best things to happen to me. You'd love him."
"Hi, Miss McKinnon," Cole said, before putting his hands over his mouth. "Oh was that bad—oh I—"
But Gennie just gave him a smile and let out a laugh. "Can you hear this dork, mum? He's amazing, I really wish you could have met him." She turned to me with a little smile. "And I'm still friends with Rory, mum, how amazing is that? Uncle James and Aunt Lily would be so proud of her, I know I am."
"She'd be proud of you, too." I spoke up.
Gennie gave me a fractured smile. "Hopefully." She turned back to the grave. "Merry Christmas, mum. I still miss you, and I'm sure dad does too, even though he's married now. I'm not sure when I can come back, but remember that I love you--Always and forever, right?"
Waving her wand, a wreath of white roses appeared on the grave head. Leaning down, she kissed the top of the grave. Standing up, she rubbed at her eyes, staring at her mother's final resting place.
"Look at this, it's an Abbott, could be some long-lost relation of Hannah's!" A voice shouted in the darkness, and grabbing my wand, I whipped around.
"Keep your voice down," a second voice hissed.
Cole and Gennie drew their wands too. "You bastards, we heard you!" Cole shouted into the darkened graveyards. "Show your faces—I really don't want to have to shoot a spell on holy ground, but I will!"
"Cole?" one of the voices was oddly familiar.
Footsteps crunched in the snow, and through pale wand light, I saw two bedraggled figures only a few feet away from us. Feeling like I was back five years in the past, I felt my heart leap in my chest.
"Harry?"
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A/N Literally so sorry this took forever and a day!! Everything's been super jam packed with school (helping out with school bc I'm a good person) and 5sos and Louis Tomlinson are fucking with my emotions, plus I have been binge watching PLL (SERIOUSLY WHO THE FUCK IS A I'M ON SEASON 3 AND I'M VERY CONFUSED)!
Any who, this was going to be a lot longer, but I split it—next chapter up hopefully tomorrow!!
Thoughts on Hollie appearing in that vision thing--do you think she's a death eater now or nah?
As a heads-up, I'm almost certain I will be writing a HP fan-fiction called 'Colours' which is very different from anything I've written before!! (More info soon)
In sad news: I've 90% sure I'm changing one character death, meaning somebody who wasn't going to die is now. Just to pre-warn.