Pandora Malfoy and the Philosopher's Stone

Chapter Forty-Two: The Aftermath

I slowly woke up, my head pounding, and squinted through dazed eyes.

Something gold was on my chest.

A drop of water landed on the tip of my nose, and I felt a warm, fuzzy sensation spread through it. The pain in it stopped, and I blinked, trying to see through the blurriness.

Someone was sitting beside me.

Another drop of water fell, this time onto my forehead. My headache eased away, and my vision cleared up.

I was in my room, lying on my bed. It was Aureli on my chest, I realised — he'd been using his tears to heal me. And the person next to me was Mother. A look of relief spread across her face as I turned towards her, and she gave me a quick kiss on my forehead, right where Aureli's tear had just fallen.

"I was so worried, sweetheart," she said, gently brushing my hair out of my face.

It took me a moment to remember what had happened, but then the memories all came to me in a rush, and I gave a slight shudder.

"He used the Imperius Curse on me..." I said, my voice quiet and trembling. "He — he used an Unforgivable..."

Mother nodded silently, her eyes shining with tears.

"I'm sorry, Pandora," she half whispered, pulling me into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry I let things get this bad..."

I tried to tell her that it was alright, that it wasn't her fault Father was so horrible — but the words got lost on the way to my mouth, and what actually came out was, "Why can't you leave him?"

I'd asked this question before, I vaguely realised — back when my Metamorphosis powers had first become apparent. But this time, Mother's reply was different.

"Because I love you," she said, her sad eyes fixed on mine. "Trying to leave would put you in even more danger — you and Draco — and I could never risk doing that to you."

"But — but he hurts us," I said, frowning slightly. "And leaving would mean he couldn't hurt us anymore... wouldn't it?"

Mother gave a soft sigh. "Lucius has been careful to put things in place that will cut me off from the Gringotts vault should I ever leave. I would have no money, no house... and so he would be granted full custody of you."

I looked slightly confused, unsure of what 'custody' meant. Seeing this, Mother gently explained.

"You and Draco would still have to live here, following Lucius' rules, Pandora... and you wouldn't ever be allowed to see me unless he let you..." She gently stroked my hair, before adding, "Maybe in time, things will change... but until they do, I can't let that happen to you. You understand that, don't you?"

I looked up at her, and I could clearly see the hope in her eyes as she looked back at me. For a moment, I felt like I was five years old again, still innocent enough to believe that things would get better with Father and his temper. But then I was back to being eleven, grown up more than my peers seemed to be, with danger always lurking just out of sight.

"I understand," I said softly, with a slight nod.

Mother kissed the top of my head, a thankful smile on her face.

"I should leave now; Lucius will be wondering where I am," she said, getting up.

I began to get up too, but Mother shook her head and gently pushed me back.

"Spend the rest of the day in bed, sweetheart — your mind needs time to heal from the spell."

She gave me another kiss on the forehead, then left the room, leaving me alone with Aureli and my troubled thoughts.

"He used an Unforgivable Curse on me..." I whispered, as the memories resurfaced once more. "Oh god, Aureli... he used an Unforgivable... if anyone finds out—"

Nausea suddenly rose up inside me as I thought about it again; my stomach seemed to twist, and before I could stop myself, I threw up on the bed in front of me. Aureli made an alarmed noise, and I shivered.

"Wand, please," I said weakly.

Aureli quickly retrieved my wand from my desk and dropped it into my lap, before rubbing his head soothingly on my arm.

"Scourgify," I half-whispered, shakily pointing my wand at the bed in front of me. The vomit disappeared, and the bed was left as clean as it had been before. Although that spell wasn't taught at Hogwarts until fourth-year, it was a fairly easy one, and I'd mastered it almost as soon as I'd got my wand, just in case I'd ever need to clean something up before Father could see it.

Still feeling shivery and ill, I leant back into my mountain of pillows.

"Don't tell anyone I was doing magic," I said softly to Aureli, hiding my wand under one of the pillows. "I'm supposed to be resting; Mother said I need to let my mind heal from Father's — F-Father's Imperius Curse..."

Aureli hopped up onto my pillows; next moment, one of his tears landed on my forehead, and I gave a weak smile.

"Sorry, Aureli — I don't think your healing powers work on problems in my mind." I said, gently stroking his golden feathers. A warmth spread through me, lifting my spirits a little, but it did nothing to ease the sickness the day's events had left me with. "Thanks for trying, though..."

I closed my eyes, memories once again swirling around my mind in a sickening way, twisting and changing as I struggled to suppress them. A sudden realisation pushed itself into my thoughts, and an icy feeling took hold of my heart.

"He's never going to love me, Aureli..." I whispered, my voice trembling. "H-he just — he just wants me to be like — like Mother..."

I took a shaky breath, unable to stop the tears now rolling down my face. Aureli nudged my cheek, making a mournful noise as he did so.

"He — h-he sees me as a... a thing," I choked out, my hair turning a deep blue.

My cheeks wet with tears, I curled up into a ball, pulling the covers over me completely. Aureli squirmed under them too, seeming desperate to stay close to me. His presence caused the slight cavern under the covers to fill with a soft golden light.

"Don't want to be a thing, Aureli," I mumbled, suppressing a yawn as I forced my hair back to its natural colour. "Just want... to be loved..."

My eyelids began to feel heavy, and though I fought to stay awake, the exhaustion caused by the day's events quickly overwhelmed me. One last tear rolling down my face, I closed my eyes, and sunk into a deep, nightmare-filled sleep.

***
A/N: ughhhhh this chapter is short and terrible, but I've been trying to write it for literal months now, and this is the best I can get it  :/

Also, this is the last chapter I've got finished, and the next one's taking me absolutely forever too, so there's probably going to be a pretty long gap before the next update. Sorry!!

Also also, tysm for 18k reads! 😊🖤

Word count: 1142