Raven (Fred x oc)

109. Home

Once she had made tea, the three of us sat down. "So what exactly happened?" she asked, taking a sip of her tea. 

"I left to go and find Harry, Ron, and Hermione," I explained. "When I did, they had just decided to visit Luna Lovegood's father. I waited outside to stand watch, which apparently I'm terrible at because I got caught. They took me to Malfoy Manor and Bellatrix got Petra, my mother, and Draco to see if they would recognize me. Draco didn't but Petra and Bellatrix did." 

"So she tortured you," Dromeda said. 

"Yes, but it gets better," I said dryly. "Harry, Ron, and Hermione were caught pretty soon after me. Like, less than two hours. Bellatrix saw that they had a sword that's supposed to be in her vault. She wanted to torture Hermione but I said I knew how they got the sword. I told her it was a fake. She freaked out, thinking we had gotten into her vault. Then a goblin lied and said it was fake. That's when Bellatrix decided to kill me." 

"And Draco stepped in," I continued. "He and Harry. Bellatrix used me as leverage to get them to stop but a house-elf dropped the chandelier on us. Harry grabbed me, saved Draco for my sake, and the house-elf apparated us to Bill's place." 

"So that's why she wants to kill him," Dromeda sighed. 

"I'm going to kill her," Fred muttered. 

"Not if I do it first," I countered. Seeing Andromeda's sad expression, I said, "Sorry." She waved it off, pouring herself more tea. 

"I'm not blind. I know what my sister is," she said. "It's just hard. I remember watching as my older sister grew up, always trying to be strong for me and Cissa. She always protected us growing up, but eventually, she grew so used to hiding her emotions and being strong, as she called it, that she lost her conscience." 

"Well, at any rate, thank you for your hospitality," I said, staring off where Draco disappeared. "Should I check on him or just let him rest?" 

"I think he needs rest, babe," Fred said. "It's been a long, hard week for him." 

"Yeah," I sighed. "I think I need some rest too." 

"The bedroom just beyond Draco's is empty," Dromeda said. I nodded in thanks and went to bed. 

......................................................................................

Hours later, I woke to find it was late evening. Moving into the kitchen, I saw that Andromeda was just finishing with some dinner. "Hi," I said. 

She gave me a smile and asked, "Would you go tell Draco dinner's ready?" I nodded and went back into the hallway. 

Stopping by his door, I knocked and called, "Draco?" He didn't respond, but I heard sniffling noises. I frowned, gently opening the door to peak inside. He was sitting curled up in the corner, crying. Sitting down next to him, I wrapped my arms around him and held him as he continued to cry. I sat with him for a long time until he had cried himself out. 

I stayed silent as he held onto me tightly. Soon he was gasping for breath as he tried to keep his breathing even. Eventually, he calmed. "You want to talk?" I asked gently. He shook his head. 

"Please don't go anywhere," he begged. 

"I'm right here," I promised. "And I always will be." With a small smile, I said, "There is dinner though, if you want that. Eating is kind of important." He smiled, letting out a small, watery chuckle. We passed another few minutes in silence. 

"Thank you," he said finally. "Valerie, if you hadn't believed in me, I don't think I ever would have ended up here." 

"Draco, I will always believe in you," I promised. "You're kind of like a nephew to me." He smiled at that. 

"You'd make a good aunt," he replied. 

"I'll be one some day," I said. "Once my brothers-in-law and sister-in-law have kids." 

"I won't be," Draco remarked. 

Letting out a small laugh, I said, "Well of course not, aunts are women." In spite of himself, he laughed too. 

"No, I meant I won't have any nephews or nieces," he said, laughter still in his voice. "Unless I marry someone with siblings." 

"It's good to hear you laugh," I said with a smile. "I haven't heard you laugh in a long time." 

"You haven't seen me in a long time," he countered. 

"Yeah, but I mean like even before then." 

"I haven't been happy in a long time," Draco admitted. 

"How long?" I asked. 

"Too long," he said. Swallowing, he said, "I just...I always feel so alone." 

"I used to feel like that sometimes," I admitted. 

"What did you do?" Draco asked. 

"You find people who care about you and then you hold onto them," I replied. "But most importantly, you let them love you." I waited until he had some time to think over what I said before asking, "You good now?" 

"Yeah," he said. "Thanks." 

"You know you can always come to me, right?" I asked. 

"I know," he replied. 

"Good, because I do love you, Draco," I said. "You're family and I will always look out for you."