Death Eaters Daughter

39

The grass brushed against my arms and legs as I sat with my face tilted up towards the sky; sunlight spilling through the fluffy white clouds as I soaked up the warmth the light provided. The river babbled in the distance as it ran through the property, birds chirping within the trees as they flitted from branch to branch. All the while, the presence beside me wasn't forgotten, nor did it go unnoticed. The sleeves of my ash-grey shirt were rolled up to my elbows, the light denim of my jeans standing out sorely in the dancing grass.

My father sat beside me, as silent as ever. An identical pair of denim jeans covering his legs as the black crew neck t-shirt contrasted with the ivory of his skin. I realised now-admittedly later than I should have-that he too had seen his father's dead body when Scorpius had died. And yet, he hadn't batted an eye. I couldn't bring myself to care that Lucius had died; not when he had been the one to kill Scorpius. My eyebrows furrowed as confusion marred my mind, my head turning ever-so-slightly towards the blonde.

I couldn't shake the feeling that he knew something that I didn't. He'd been so calm, collected and level-headed since Scorpius had died. I wasn't even sure myself if he had truly grieved for my twin; his son. He had been the one that'd insisted we come out here, for whatever reason I was yet to know and ever since, we'd been sitting in perfect silence. I stared at him a moment longer, my thunderous-grey eyes boring into the side of his face as my brow remained furrowed.

A huff spilled from my lips as annoyance quickly bubbled within my chest. His face was an impassable mask that wouldn't give me anything, not even the slightest insight into whatever was going through his mind. And, for the first time in my life-I didn't have a clue what the future held in store for us.

"Scorpius spent almost every day out here before he got your letter." He began, glancing down at me briefly before turning his attention back towards the horizon. "It was almost like he knew that you'd need him, even if you didn't know it yourself."

I only angled my head in a way that told him I was listening, plucking a blade of grass from the ground and tying it into small knots as though it'd keep me grounded enough to listen.

"Scorpius mentioned his suspicions that there was more between you and Mattheo than we thought. It was only slight murmurs every now and then, but eventually he just got this glint in his eyes that spoke louder than his words."

I caught the movement of his hand lifting from the floor as he raked his fingers through his hair from the corner of my eye, a sigh leaving his lips before he spoke again. "Scorpius came running in from this spot in the field, parchment clutched in one hand as he blurted out that you were okay but that he needed to go to you."

"Scorpius didn't waste a second as he apparated to Hagrid's. I didn't even get the chance to warn him not to go." This time when he looked down at me, his icy-blue eyes met my own. "Scorpius knew that my father was on his way to collect you, and knew by which means he would stoop to. And he still went."

I tore my eyes from his own as I frantically blinked back the tears that began to well in my eyes, the lump in my throat growing as I tried to quell the swelling storm within. My breathing sounded loud to my own ears as I sucked in several shaky breaths of air, fingers absentmindedly tying small knots into the piece of grass without me even noticing.

And, the entire time my father watched on from beside me.

Almost as if it had only just registered within his head, he wrapped one of his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. His head came to rest on top of my own as he uttered words of reassurance; reassurances that didn't make much sense to me because how could everything be okay? Tears balanced precariously on the edge of my eyes, threatening to fall at any given moment if not for the constant inner turmoil within.