Love Of My Life

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Letter

Salem sat in her office the next day reading a list of names that a captured death eater gave them.

She went through marking whether or not they were dead, loyal, or if they should be looked into.

She goes to mark one as dead when her door suddenly flies open.

"Merlin Barty, you are going to put a hole in my wall," Salem says as she continues on the list. "Malfoy, not Barty." She hears a voice say. She looks up and sees Lucius's son that she talked to yesterday.

"Ah, Draco. It's good to see you again." She says as she sticks the list into a drawer.

"I figured it out. Where I know you from, of course." He says with a grin on his face. He quickly reveals the box that he was holding behind him as he takes a seat in the chairs in front of her desk.

"Look familiar?" He asks as he hands her a photo.

She examines it to find that it was her graduation photo from 71. She was so in love as she stood by Lucius in front of the Slytherins, smiling. She looked so young and happy that she couldn't help but smile at her old life.

"Where did you find this?" She asks, trying to hide the fact that her eyes had become glossy. "This box has been in my father's study for years." He says as he shoves the box onto the desk and she goes through it.

"He's written you letters that he's never sent, there is some of your stuff in here and some things that he intended to give to you." He tells her as she looks through all the memories.

"I never actually got a good look at the box besides the picture. When I pieced it together that you were the one in the picture, I apparated to the manor immediately, to get it and show you." He frantically says.

"Draco... This was a long time ago. Your father and I are different people now. For God's sake, he's married to your mother." Salem tells the boy as she pushes the box back to his side of the desk.

"You don't understand.'' Draco frustratedly says as he pushes his hair back like Lucius used to do when angry.

"Neither of them are happy. They only stay married because they must keep the happy pure-blood persona for the paper and so they could remain high up in the wizarding world," he tells her.

"When they are not in front of the camera, they are at each other's necks." He says making her silently question if that is true.

"Draco, marriage has several parts to it. Just because they fight sometimes doesn't mean that they don't love each other." Salem tells the frazzled boy. "Does an affair sound like love?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Lucius is cheating on Narcissa?" Salem asks, surprised by him for once.

"No, my mother is. Father has no idea." He says, making Salem's heartbreak for him. "Now tell me, Auror Sioux. Does that sound like love to you?" he asks.

Salem couldn't believe she was sitting here being lectured by her ex-boyfriend's son. It was ironic, truly ironic.

"I believe in love, I really do. But what my parents have isn't love. They love other people but not each other." he says and Salem knew that he was right.

"We're having the annual ministry gala on Christmas Eve. Please take this box, sort through it, and then decide if you'll come." He says as he hands her an envelope with a Malfoy wax seal on it.

"It was a pleasure speaking with you Miss Sioux." He tells her before apparating out.

Salem sat there, truly speechless. She was just schooled by a 17-year-old version of Lucius and was now forced to make a decision.

"Well shit." She says to her empty office, not knowing what else to say.

Malfoy Manor

Lucius sat in the ballroom, playing an upscale version of Fur Elise on the grand piano. He always got anxious around Christmas time so he did what calmed him the most. He played.

Narcissa enters the room, holding an opened letter.

"What is it, dear?" Lucius asks as he continues to play through the song. "I just received a letter from work. They need me to go away for some business." She says, making him sigh.

"How long?" He asks as he slows the song down.

"Three weeks." She hesitantly says as he abruptly stops playing. "You do realize Christmas is in four days?" He snaps.

"What's the big deal, you're just gonna sit around and mope the whole time." She tells him. "Narcissa don't go there," he says before standing up, making Narcissa swallow a lump in her throat.

"Draco's staying at Hogwarts for the break but he'll be back for the gala." She tells him in a now calmer tone. "The gala?! I didn't even think about that." He says, becoming rather frustrated with his flakey wife.

"You volunteered the house so they could have their little party and now you're just gonna leave?!" He tries to keep his temper in check, however, it wasn't working.

"There will be people to set everything up and all you have to do is stick Draco at the front door to greet people, the minister's workers will do the rest." She tells him.

He tries to find what to say before he sighs and lets it go.

"Just go then." He tells her with a defeated tone. "I love you, darling." She says before kissing his cheek and leaving the giant ballroom.

"Elly, restock the liquor cabinet." Lucius sighs as the elf runs off, knowing this Christmas was going to be miserable.

Salem's Home

Salem sat in a silk set of pajamas, sorting through all the stuff Lucius had of her as Mas laid in her lap purring. She occasionally reached down to stroke the cat while reading through the stuff.

Once she got to the bottom, she found a letter addressed to Salem.

She opened it to find that it was dated from 1972, the year after graduation.

"Dear Salem,

Even though I will probably never gather up the courage to send this, I had to write it down.

Darling, I miss you more than I could ever put into words. You are my ever-loving happiness and I hate myself for letting you go so easily. I know that you had your mind made up and you left because you thought that it was what's best for me, and I admire you for that. However, I should have fought harder.

You were and still are my entire world. You were the light that led me out of the darkness that I once hid in.

I used to hide my emotions by being rude and egotistical because people used to be afraid of me for that. I hate to admit that I liked when people feared me, but I did.

Though, you weren't afraid.

You saw past the facade that I put up for Merlin knows what reason and I admired you because of it.

Salem, you truly helped me become a better person and now that you're gone I can feel myself slipping back into the darkness.

I hope that one day our souls can find our way back to each other because I would love nothing more than to hold you in my arms and tell you how much I love you, even if it was just for a day.

I know I sound like a broken record on this one but, Salem Aldridge Sioux, you are the Love Of My Life...."

By the end, Salem was sobbing. She felt so heartbroken for him and even though she knew that it was best for the both of them, she felt an incredible sadness wash over her.

After reading that sorrowful letter, she knew that she had to see him again or else it was going to tear the both of them apart even worse than it already had....