He should've been expecting this, but it still blindsides him somehow. In the unrest of everything else, the sombre occasion was momentarily forgotten for a few blissful moments. A glimpse into a different life shared with a girl draped in red and drenched in gold. An escape into a fantasy, however brief. It was too fragile to last. Draco fiddles with the stiff slate grey cardstock that Pippa placed on his desk. He would be expected to attend, though it is the last thing he wants to do. The little invitation makes everything more real , cementing all the truths he'd much rather avoid.
A CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND FAITH
Hosted by the Bulstrode Family.
Please join us for a memorial service to honour and remember a life lost too soon.
MILLICENT WILMA BULSTRODE
Beloved daughter. Cherished friend
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Millie is gone. Nothing but another name in the casualties of the war. Will it ever end?
It's not over for him. Draco sighs, giving the cardstock one last look before walking over to his bed. He wonders if there might be a way to wriggle out of attending but there are responsibilities that have come with his ascension. Draco's eyes drop down to his hands, his signet ring a tether to his past and the absent serpent ring reminding him painfully of his present position.
I trust you will make better decisions regarding this family.
Being the head of the Malfoy family is more trouble than it's worth. But what else did he expect?
Not this, certainly.
The younger version of him was drenched in visions of grandeur and extravagance, the stars in his eyes blinding him to the reality of it all. What might have it been like if things hadn't gone so wrong? But that is neither here nor there. Pointless speculation over things that could never be.
He's always been caught up in the hypotheticals.
Draco rubs a tired hand down his face. 'It isn't fair,' he thinks as he slumps onto the edge of his bed. Has it ever been fair? He lets his palms push into the mattress to steady himself as he leans back onto his forearms, looking up to the ceiling.
The painted stars there still glow faintly, charm work persisting even after all these years. A tapestry of constellations and their stories. An innocent memory from his youth. Wasn't it only yesterday they were all so young? And it is all Millie would get, never getting to grow older.
She is gone. Lost to the world while Draco is still here⸺ alive. Existing. Should it have been him? Draco doesn't know anymore.
There is a room filled with shelves that touch the sky. These shelves are filled with boxes under lock and key.
The room trembles beneath him as he enters. Draco ignores it as he wanders to the center of the space. A steady rumble surrounds him. Things haven't calmed down since Pansy disappeared⸺since Blaise left . Draco isn't under any illusions. It's bound to all come crashing down.
Things always do.
But he isn't worried; It will all be okay.
It has to.
And it might be a comfortable thought if he weren't such a proficient liar.
o.o.o
"Oh good, Draco. I was wondering if you'd swing by before the meeting."
YOU ARE READING
And She Was Golden
Fanfiction[Dramione Fic] Their eyes meet just for a fraction of a moment, and that's all it takes. All his boxes and walls come crashing down. He's always been weak in the face of her reality- no matter how furiously he would deny it. Breathe in. Draco Malfoy...
