𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 | f. w

xxxvi. mommy dearest

chapter thirty-six
MOMMY DEAREST

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» » "I'M COMING WITH YOU". Fred wasn't asking but more so demanding to accompany the brunette to see her mother once again, and this time, he wouldn't let her persuade him to stay behind. No. Things were different now. She had been taken from him too many times, and the last time something happened, it was because he wasn't there to protect her. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. Not again. I won't lose you", he said with a much gentle voice this time. Edith was pacing around the room looking for her misplaced wand, while Fred tried his outmost to convince her. Well, he didn't really care if he managed to do so or not, her would be coming with either way.

Edith stopped her pacing to take Fred's hands in hers. "Look, I know what happened last time and I'm just as scared as you are, but this is my mother we're talking about. She won't hurt me."

Fred sighed, looking down at their intertwined hands. "She already has."

"Yeah, but it's different this time. I-I don't know how, but she's changed somehow. I can see the person she used to be again, and if I could just talk to her—I might learn to trust her again." She smiled gently, before reaching on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I love you. Don't forget it."

Fred let out a sigh once more, letting his hand run through his bright red hair. "I love you too, and that's why I need you to be careful."

"Fine", Edith concurred. "I'll let you come with me, but, you need to let me do the talking. I'm not so sure she'll be comfortable if you keep butting in." She chuckled and their lips met again.

✦✧✦

"Thank you for coming."

Rose Gannon sat twiddling her thumbs nervously as she prepared to explain herself to her daughter and —-to her surprise—her daughters boyfriend. She hadn't been saying much since they both showed up at the small cafe by the corner of Shaftesbury theatre, instead she had been stalling, waiting for an excuse to walk away. Because Rose felt guilty. Extremely so. She had been treating her daughter so badly for so many years now, that nothing, no manner of excuse, seemed to be able to suffice, and that's why she could barely look her in the eyes.

"Mum?", the young woman questioned her worryingly. "What's going on? What are we doing here?"

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of awkward silence, Rose spoke up.

"It's all my fault. I'm to blame for all of this. If it wasn't for my horrible choices and stupid mistakes, your father would still be here and Lucius would never have taken his revenge on you."

"What are you talking about mother? What is it you're not telling me? Look—I read the letters, I know about your affair and the reason dad left us, and I'm not mad anymore." Edith breaths became somewhat shallow as she tried to keep it together. Thinking back to her father's—-Alexander's—last moments, she couldn't help but let a single year make its way down her cheek.

Alexander's body lay motionless on the floor, the marks of the curses hitting him countless times still very much adamant. His breast cage—-which used to rise and fall rhythmically as he took breaths—wasn't anymore, and the blood on his arms and legs was starting to dry.

Alexander Gannon was dead, and he wasn't coming back.

"If only I could've handled things differently. Maybe Lucius wouldn't have thought to hurt you. Oh, I was so scared my darling. When I found out what had happened—I-I have never been so terrified before in my life." The woman's hands were shaking, her cubicles bleeding from all the picking she had done. Tears pooled in her eyes as she spoke with a broken voice. "I love him. I loved him even when he left us and I love him still. Oh what have I done?."

Edith breathed deeply, her eyes stinging from the tears she kept trying to hold back. Fred was seated next to her, his hand placed on hers in her knee under the table. Now and then he'd make sure to give it a gentle squeeze, as if to reassure her of his presence and support. "What was if you wanted to tell me? You brought me here, but you already said so much in your letters."

Rose looked up. "What? Oh", she whispered, as if only just then realising the real reason she asked Edith to meet up with her.

"Is it about my brother?", she spoke with a gentle voice, as if her voice coming out smoother would somehow make the topic of conversation more bearable. She knew of her mother's second pregnancy from Alexander, but she never found the courage to bring it up—until now.

"Alexander told you?", Rose asked, the tears now falling freely down her face as if they had a mind of their own. Edith nodded, attempting to focus on Fred's warm hand in hers when it seemed to become too much. "Yes. You do have a brother." Edith swallowed. "Eli was his name." Rose was now on the brink of losing her cool completely, wiping the tears from her cheeks until they became red. "I wish you had gotten to meet him, I wish that for myself as well."

Edith didn't need further explanation, she knew exactly what her mother was talking about.

"I lost him before I even had the chance to see him. Something broke inside of me that day, and I'm so so sorry I never told you, my love. I just—I didn't want you to be sad about it. I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone." The brunette casted aside any anger she still held towards her mother and inched closer, placing the hand that wasn't in Fred's on hers. She wanted to comfort her, she didn't want her to feel alone anymore, despite whatever grudge she had felt for her for so long. None of that mattered now. All she cared about was finally learning the truth, finally getting to know the reason for her family's destruction.

"It's okay", she cooed comfortingly. "I understand. I forgive you."

"You do?", said Rose and Fred at the same time.

"Yes. I understand why you did what you did, and I don't blame you for feeling like you couldn't confide in me or anyone for that matter. You put your trust in someone, someone you loved with your whole heart, and they betrayed you. So yes, I forgive you." She took a deep breath, looking between her mother, the person she spent so many years loathing, and Fred, the one person she couldn't live without. "But I won't go back to the way things were before, and I'm not saying that I don't still feel like you took a part of my childhood from me, because you did. I love you and you're my mother, but I won't accept the way you've treated me these last few years. I deserve much more than that".

"I understand that, and I'm not expecting you to. I'm just so happy you're even sitting here, talking to me right now. You've given me a second chance, and that's all I could ask for. I'm not entirely sure I even deserve it, if I'm honest."

"Everyone deserves a second chance." Edith smiled, her heart falling with warmth at the knowledge of finally knowing the truth. Finally, she would be able to move on.

"I love you mum", she beamed, standing up.

"I love you, my darling", the woman responded with a sad smile as she watched the pair disappear out the door of the cafe.

Fred and Edith left the picturesque cafe behind hand in hand and with mixed feelings. Sad that Alexander wasn't there anymore, scared because Lucius Malfoy was still out there somewhere, but happy because they had finally learned the truth.

Fred pressed a kiss to Edith's hair. "Let's go home, yeah?", he asked, smiling with their foreheads pressed together.

Edith smiled. "Yeah, let's go home".

⬩ word count: 1377