Shattered and Broken

>1<

A/N - This story will probably get better over time so bear with me! 

Thanks! =)

---

End of summer between year 5 and year six, Isabelle's house

I heard the door to my apartment creak open from the living room. It was midnight and my mom was just barely getting home from work. Or wherever she has been.

"Mom?" I closed my book, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble, and went to welcome my mom home. "Hey, Mom," I said as I walked up to her. She set her bag down on the counter and set her head in her hands.

"Why are you still awake?" She whispered as she swiped her hands through her hair.

"I wanted to see you," I replied as I sat next to her. She laughed but there was no joy in it, in fact it sounded almost like a scoff. 

"You don't want to see me like this."

"You don't know what I want, Mom-"

"But I know what you do want. A better life, for starters, one I can't provide for you on my own." She stood up and opened the fridge, taking out a fire whiskey. 

"You shouldn't have had to provide on your own, Mom, Dad is-"

"Don't," she warns as she turns to me. She points with the hand holding the bottle towards the door. "I don't want to talk about that coward who left us." Her voice cracked and she took a swig of her drink. My heart shattered. She used to not drink but every since what Dad did...

"I thought he changed," she shook her head, forgetting all about how she didn't want to talk about it. "I thought he left his old life behind, that he was going to decide not to be a Death Eater anymore! But right when you-know-who came back-"

"He ran to join him again," I finished with a sigh.

"Goodnight, Izzy," my mom says as she kisses my forehead and heads off to her room.

"Night, Mom."

I couldn't really fall asleep. It was like this a lot for me, ever since my dad left us.

I loved my father. He used to sing me this song when I was younger. His mother wrote it and so he sang it to me when I was going to bed, when I was sad, in the car. He always changed the tune depending on the mood so that he could sing it everyday. Soon enough, I had it memorized. It went like this:

I want to give you the world, I want you to be free, I want to keep you safe, but to what degree?

I know you want to explore the world, and go to live your life, but I can't help being scared, that you'll fall for all their lies.

You won't stay with me forever, growing up comes with a price, you're getting older everyday, so let me give you some advice;

You'll grow and grow and grow grow grow, but you'll never be young twice. So live, live, live everyday because your youth is part of your life.

You can't spend everyday worrying about your future, you can't throw your adventures away, you can't pretend to be all grown up, because getting older comes with a price to pay.

I want you to be happy, I want you to make friends, I just don't want you to make those mistakes, that'll haunt you to the end.

I can't keep protecting you, I need to let you explore, to have all these experiences, and see what the world has in store.

You won't stay with me forever, growing up comes with a price, you're becoming more mature, so I'll sing to you each night

You'll grow and grow and grow grow grow, but you'll never be young twice. So live, live, live everyday because your youth is part of your life.

You can't spend everyday worrying about your future, you can't throw your adventures away, you can't pretend to be all grown up, because getting older comes with a price to pay.

I love love love you and I always will, I'll let you make the mistakes you need to make, but I'll always keep the memories we made together, you being my child has made my life that great.

As you can tell, it's a song about a parent telling their child about getting older and about how you have to treasure your youth. I'll keep that song with me my entire life and I'll sing it to my children. My father was a good person. But he was a coward and made mistakes. But before you-know-who came back he was doing good things, accomplishing things that made me proud to be his daughter.

Now, he's where he should be. Thinking about his choices in a cell in Azkaban. But just because he's an idiot who left his family because he was scared, doesn't mean I won't keep the good memories of my father.

I just wish he never went back. I wish he didn't go with the other Death Eaters to the Ministry of Magic. Well, I guess I should be grateful, shouldn't I? That my father is in a cell and can no longer do harm.

Guess who else was at the Ministry of Magic? Lucius Malfoy. He made the front page on the Daily Prophet with his name all over along with his picture. My dad's name was on the side saying that he was sent to Azkaban along with everyone else but that was pretty much it. My dad isn't as important as the Malfoy's. At least, to everyone else.

I loved my mom, spending the summer with her. But she was barely ever home as it is so I didn't get to see her a lot. I just have to be honest and say that I miss Hogwarts. I miss the school, the students, the professors, just the people. I may not have any friends (anymore) but I even miss my enemies. I just want to get away from this boring summer and go to Hogwarts with drama and excitement and all these other things happening everyday.

Luckily I don't have to wait long. School starts in a week.