Desired | Draco Malfoy & Theodore Nott, 18+

e p i l o g u e

Hi, and welcome back to Desired. Thank you so much for being here. It means the world to me.

I apologize in advance for my writing. I haven't written in a long time, and I feel like I'm new to this again.

—

Five years later.

Isla Grace Nott.

"Hi, you."

She breathed through tears as she sat at the foot of his grave.

Something already broken crackled in her chest uttering those words, and Isla couldn't get another word out — couldn't form them. She never could. She said hi, and then Isla sat there in silence, listening to the wind as it danced through the tops of the trees.

Usually, Theodore was the one continuing their conversations. His Hi always came with a question or a comment. It came with warmth and a sense of home. It didn't anymore, and he hadn't continued their conversations for a very long time.

Two years.

Two long years.

Now her Hi was shattered, empty, and alone. It didn't come with questions or comments. It barely left her lips. It hurt to say it. It hurt to say it because he didn't say it back. It hurt because it drifted with the wind, and it was quiet.

It stayed quiet.

Isla never saw it coming, yet she did. That seemed to be the worst part — the part she couldn't handle.

The missing piece she couldn't face.

Theodore was dying, and she never saw it coming. When she thought about it now, she should've seen the signs. He wasn't himself, not at the very end.

It made her hate herself.

Yes, he didn't tell her, but she should've asked. She should've made him tell her. She should've known.

He was dying and he didn't want her to know. He always told her that the blood curse wouldn't kill him, that he could live with it — that they could live with it.

He couldn't. They couldn't.

He lied.

Isla couldn't blame him for it. She would do the exact same thing. She'd keep her curse hidden, and locked away so deep that he couldn't find the truth. All for him to live a happy life.

Theodore did just that. He gave her the best three years of her life. He gave her a happy marriage. Never had she been so happy as she'd been with him.

After Draco left them five years ago, with nothing but a note — she was a wreck, and so was Theodore. It took them months to do something more than get out of bed. It took her months to smile. It took months before she heard Theodore laugh again.

Eventually, they began to live with the fact that he'd left them. Isla coexisted with the thought of Draco not wanting her anymore. She accepted the fact that he'd lied to her.

All because of Theodore Nott.

Her Theodore.

He made the days brighter, and the nights manageable. He hugged her so tight as she cried. He healed a heart he never broke in the first place.

Theodore gave Isla her life back again.

Then he died.

It was a Thursday.