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❝All things must pass.❞
"My beautiful papillon! Look at you!" Corinne Marchand cried out as she caught the sight of her niece. "I haven't seen you for almost a year."
A loving smile crept on the younger female's face as she heard the nickname the woman had been using since the girl was a toddler. "I have missed you, auntie." She pulled her into a hug.
Scorpius, Albus and Isabelle ended up travelling for more than a year, more exactly, a year and a half. They roamed almost the entire Europe.
"Me too," Corinne whispered and let her go. She took a mop of Isabelle's hair in her hand. "When did you have a haircut?"
"Maybe two weeks ago," Isabelle shrugged. She decided to have a little change in her appearance, so her long hair was the past, it only reached her shoulders. "Where's mum? I thought she will pick me up when my plane lands. Not that I'm not glad you're here."
Isabelle decided to spend a little time in France at the end of her journey, and her mother told her that she would be there at the airport, and she would pick Isabelle up when she arrives.
Corinne pressed her lips into a thin line, and teardrops appeared in her eyes. "I am sorry, papillon," she whispered under her breath.
"What? What are you talking about? Why are you apologising?" Isabelle furrowed her brows. "Where is she?" she asked, getting closer to lose countenance.
The way Corinne behaved scared the hell out of her. Instead of her the usual beaming irradiation, all Isabelle could sense was gloom. "Lori was sick. Her disease was very rare and lethal. The doctors couldn't save her."
"No," Isabelle breathed out. She heard her heart cracking. "It's impossible. She would've told me if she had been sick."
"She didn't want you to suffer, to be conscious of knowing she may not survive. She didn't tell anyone. She thought she could recover, but the doctors and her condition disagreed."
Isabelle fell to the ground, not giving a shit about everyone around her. Her breathing got harder, and she felt sweat on her neck from the flutter. Her mother, the woman who raised her to be who she became, who was always with her, was dead. The one, who stayed awake and lay on Isabelle's bed next to her when the girl had nightmares and read her the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers, was gone. The only one who she had left.
"I can never see her again," Isabelle whispered as tears showed up in her eyes. "When?" she looked up to her aunt who stood there with eyes brimming over with tears.
"She passed away yesterday."
Isabelle had to fight the urge to scream. A day. Only a day. It could have changed a lot of things. If she had come there a day earlier, she could have seen her mother one last time. She could have told her how much she loved her, and that she was the best mother she could ever wish for. But Isabelle hadn't got the chance. Because she decided to be on the road. She left her. While her mother was battling a disease.
Isabelle hadn't noticed her aunt bending down next to her only when Corinne grabbed her hands. "Papillon. Isabelle, please stop," she told her after the younger started pulling her own hair. She needed physical pain to help her deal with the pain inside.
"Corinne, I lost her," Isabelle managed to say this in between sobs. "I only had her."
➳ ➳ ➳
Her mother's funeral was the worst thing she had ever attended to. She was too young when her sister died, and she had her mother by her side who held her, while the little girl piped her eyes. But this time, she didn't cry. She couldn't anymore. She had spent a month crying night and day. She was afraid that her eyeballs would dry up from all the sobbing. But just when she thought she would lose everyone, she wasn't alone. Everyone she loved supported her, Corinne, the Potters-Weasleys, Malfoys, even teachers from Hogwarts. They barely left her alone for minutes. Isabelle supposed they thought she might do something blindfold.
Isabelle looked at Corinne after the ritual ended, and they buried her mother. The woman sent her an encouraging look, so Isabelle nodded and took a deep breath.
"Hello," she cleared her throat when she stood next to her mother's gravestone, drawing the attention to her. "I would like to thank you all who came to the funeral. Mallory Marchand was a strong, brave, admirable woman. I could enumerate everything good about her, but we would be here for a very long time. She was a good friend, " she looked at the crying Fleur, "sister," she looked at her aunt who watched her with a faint smile, "daughter," she looked up because her grandparents were long dead, "and mother. As one wise person said, " Isabelle glanced at Harry Potter who looked like he knew what she was about to say, and a smile crept on his face, "the ones that love us never really leave us. You can always find them in here," Isabelle put her hand on her heart. "Thank you." She kept her speech short.
People in front of her applauded, and Isabelle walked next to Corinne, who instantly grabbed her hand in comfort. Next to her, Draco Malfoy sent Isabelle a consoling smile and put his arm around Corinne. The two were very close friends, but Isabelle wouldn't have minded if they had ended up together. Corinne would have found someone who truly cared about her, Draco would have found love and comfort years after his wife's death.
A priest said his final words and officially ended the funeral. The funeral was held in the church in France and the churchyard next to it since Corinne thought her sister would have wanted to rest in her hometown.
"Thank you, Mr Martre," Isabelle thanked the old man quietly after he placed a bouquet on her mother's grave. She had seen him a couple times when she was in the library with her mother. He was French too but moved to London before her family did. He was always in the library as a frequenter.
"Hey," someone snapped Isabelle out of her mind. It was Albus. "Scorpius will be there in five minutes. He went to get the car," he took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm proud of you." He smiled softly at her. Isabelle did her best to return the smile, but from his facial expression, she found out she didn't really succeed.
"Where's Corinne?" Isabelle asked since she lost sight of her aunt.
"She is saying goodbye to everyone," Albus pointed behind her.
Isabelle turned around and saw her aunt with people who were at the funeral. She had a gentle smile on her face while she talked to them. "How is she doing it?" Isabelle asked herself in mind. She was so good at hiding her bereavement, it was unbelievable for the younger female.
The two waited for Scorpius to come and take them home. He was the one who drove. They didn't want to apparate as they were all upset. Corinne and Isabelle, they basically moved in with Fleur's family, including Teddy, because he was always there. The rest of the Potter-Weasley family, plus Scorpius and his father, visited them almost every day.
"Wait a minute. I'll be back," Isabelle told Albus when she saw Fleur still standing next to her mothers grave.
Albus nodded and patted her arm encouragingly.
"I'm sorry," Isabelle stated after she approached the mourning figure of her mother's best friend. "I know how close you were," she put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Fleur looked at her and let out a small chuckle while wiping her tears. "Look at you," she said, still smiling. "You are the one who lost her mother, yet you are the one comforting me."
"She wouldn't want me to mope for the rest of my life. That would be the last thing she would wish. So, instead of moping, I would like to laugh and- and just be happy. I wish you the same. I wish everyone the same."
"She would be very proud of you, you know." She pulled Isabelle into a hug. "I would like to apologise."
"For what?"
Fleur pulled away with a sore facial expression. "Lori told me she was sick. I knew about it. I wanted you to know about it, but she was sure that she would recover, and she didn't want you to worry."
Isabelle stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to find an explanation why Mallory decided to tell nobody but Fleur about her illness. "I am not miffed," she declared, just when Fleur started to get worried. "I guess she told you not to tell me. And it wasn't your liability to tell me. It was hers. And she decided not to tell me. She just wanted to protect me from distress. Just like she didn't want to tell anyone to save them from anxiety. I wish she would have told me or anyone, but I respect her adjudication. I am sorry that you had to be burdened with such a huge secret."
Fleur swallowed a big in relief and wiped the remaining tears on her face. "My dear Goddaughter, you are so grown up. I remember the day you were born just like it happened yesterday. You brought the family so much happiness," she sniffled."Okay, let's go home."
"I'm sorry, kiddo," Teddy pulled Isabelle into an embrace after they got home, stroking her hair. He didn't want to interrupt her in the churchyard, so he decided to comfort her at home. "You're gonna be okay," he said quietly.
"I know," Isabelle whispered.
"I know it is too soon for you to announce something like this, but I-" he started as they pulled away.
"Go on, pop it!" Isabelle encouraged him with a smile after he stopped talking.
He licked his lips before speaking and cleared his throat. "I- I proposed to Victorie."
"What? Teddy, that's magnificent. Congratulations!" Isabelle sang out and hugged him.
"But, I didn't even tell you what she said," he knitted his brows.
"Are you kidding me? She wouldn't say no, I'm sure about that. You two share the truest love I know."
"Oh," his lips parted a little, then he shook his head. "Anyway, we wanted you to be a bridesmaid."
A true wide smile appeared on Isabelle's face from the announcement. "I'd be honoured."
➳ ➳ ➳
Isabelle felt odd. She felt like she was surrounded by a familiar environment. But she wasn't.
She looked around, but all she could see was a bright beautiful forest. It was peaceful, almost too peaceful. Her mind seemed clear enough to acknowledge that it was a dream. Moreover, she was sure that it was only a dream, last time she checked, she was in her own room, sitting on her chair, and she had no plan on travelling to a totally unknown forest.
"I must have fallen asleep," the witch muttered. "Hello!" she said as loudly as possible. She didn't know how, but she felt someone's presence. She could not give an explanation for that, simply, she was sure someone was with her in the woods.
Minutes passed when she heard a man's voice from behind her. She turned to face the person, but as she did, her vision was obscured.
"Who are you?" he asked while he warily approached the girl, and she narrowed her eyes after rubbing them, however, her blurry eyesight didn't clarify. The only thing she could see was that he had a lighter hair colour, probably blond. He was taller than her, and his voice was deep but not too deep, it was affably low-pitched.
"I-" Isabelle started but stopped. He was a total stranger, in the middle of the forest. She had no reason to tell him her name. "Why should I tell you? You might be here to kill me." She was aware, that she might disoblige him with her slightly rude behaviour, but that was her, being defensive.
"I am sure I did not wish to be in an unbeknown lady's dream, so if you don't mind, I would like to ask you to drop that attitude, I am not some barbarian," he scoffed.
Which surprised Isabelle was that he knew he was in her dream. She had read stories about people travelling into other's mind while dreaming, but those tales were most likely unacknowledged. She would have never thought them to be true.
"Okay, fine," Isabelle threw her hands up in surrender with a sigh. "My name is Isabelle," she held out her hand for him.
"Peter."
Her outstretched hand fell back next to her body before the man could shake it after her vision suddenly cleared, and she was able to see him. The male in front of her had dirty blond hair, piercing eyes which had the ocean trapped inside them, strong jawline, and a tall figure.
He noticed her bewilderment in a second. "Is there a problem, miss stranger, uh, Isabelle?" he asked with furrowed eyebrows.
Isabelle thought she lost her voice. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't just say 'oh, hi, I am the girl who fell in love with your brother, but I wiped his, your sister's and cousin's memory because I wanted to make them forget me', he would have slapped an imaginary door before her nose.
Yes, the person who stood in front of her was none other than Peter Pevensie.