Wand Hopping ; D.M.

13 𝑉𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑠

Long time no chapter, but I am alive and will be working on this as much as possible...

Elsie Granger

Draco and I spent time dressing the kids nicely before we were going to bring them to Norah's house for a little play-date. Lorenzo was going to come to the manor and with the help of Draco and I, put a large protective bubble around the manor. This one would be stronger than any of the previous.

All three of our wands cast tinted bubbles, each a little darker than the previous before they disappeared. That was supposed to signal they were now in place.

I suppose I felt safer now that these measures were in place and now that Lucius is locked up, but I don't. He could escape or send one of his sick accomplices who could break the bubbles.

Hopefully the walls of Azkaban are one hundred times as thick as the walls of the manor.

Once the spells had been put in place, I felt as though I had nothing left to do. The kids are safe now. I wanted some time to myself today as well and planned to read an old book I found in a London bookstore. The cover was partially torn and looked to be at least fifty years old.

Somewhere during the day I had fallen asleep with the book on top of me and Draco had gone to pick the kids up from Norah's. I did not realize I had fallen asleep until Draco was telling me to come to bed.

The look on his face was sweet and something I had missed. Maybe my eyes were deceiving me and it was all in my imagination. Or maybe even I was still sleeping, but I couldn't help but allow him to help me up.

"I love you," I muttered.

"You're tired."

Why will you not say it back? I have pondered for far too long why you will not show me a fair amount of affection. Please, Draco.

Maybe I am tired, but what reason is that? I want to love you and I want you to love me more.

I did sleep well and woke up an hour earlier than normal. I'm going to open the shop early and get away from home for the day, to clear my head. Draco will be going to work at the ministry since his dad no longer means anything to them.

Maybe that will cheer him up. He will see Lorenzo and his other friends from school.

I rolled from bed with Draco sleeping deeply and not even me screaming his name could wake him, if I wanted to.

The kids were not sleeping as well as Draco, but Narcissa and the maid were spending time with them. I gave my goodbyes before going to the fireplace on the ground floor.

Being at work would be good. I would not think about Draco or our marriage problems that not even a professional can fix. Maybe we need to go more and more. But maybe I don't want to wait any longer. I know what I need, and I need it now.

Would he even care if I stayed at the shop all day and slept here? Would he miss me?

Before opening the shop, I had a short period and decided to go back home and write a letter. It consisted of all of my feelings and thoughts about us. Am I selfish for not wanting to wait or for letting this all happen?

I left the note on the bedside table before leaving once more. It was as if I had not come back.

Work got very busy and Ron took a few hours off around lunchtime, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Bad thoughts that I tried to suppress. Despite this, the amount of customers made the day go by swiftly and relatively painlessly.

As I locked up and walked back down the alley, a large group huddled around the Daily Prophet. People that were no taller than my knee and people who towered over me all stood closely packed and chatting about recent news. It had to be something big for this large of a crowd to arise.

Everybody talking over one another and the signs covered by the groups made it impossible to know what had happened. Was it bad? Was it good?

It took a handful of minutes until I was able to navigate through the crowds and saw the paper with the information. 13 members of the ministry died, but no specific names were listed. I stood, unknowing of what to do or how to react. What if one of the 13 is Draco?

I went to the manor full of uneasy faces. Everybody, including the girls, had frowns on their faces and looks of worry. Draco did not come home that night, and we remained hopeful that something else had happened. Maybe he had a lot of work at the ministry?

On the nightstand was a bouquet of flowers in a pale pink vase. He had seen the note. And now I don't know when I will see him again.

I think we all knew, and were just too in denial to accept it. Bright and early, Narcissa and I made a trip to the Daily Prophet to await the newest news. We wanted our worries to be put to ease.

A crowd of people four times larger than yesterday crowded the small opening. We waited and waited until a boy rushed out with a large piece of paper and nailed it to the wooden board.

People much taller than all of us pushed us to the side and immediately, the crowd became loud. It was both from people who wanted to see the news but could not and people who read their worst fear.

Narcissa realized first and seconds later, so did I.

He was dead. Her only son, my husband, and the father of my children. Dead.

I know that we have been through so many things and so many times I have wanted to give up, but now I wish I wouldn't have.

There is not a thing I would do differently if I could go back in time, but at the same time, there are a dozen things I would've changed. I probably would have let him find any job other than this one.

And what about the girls? They grew up with a father that is now gone. At least Timothee has no memories and therefore cannot be sad like the rest of us.

I looked around the crowd with tears down my face, once again not knowing what to do. There were 13 victims that day and dozens of others who now mourn their losses.

Draco was never a good man to all or a hero, but he didn't deserve to die.

Narcissa and I, both heartbroken, found our way out of the crowd. Lorenzo was approaching the crowd to read the news he knew too was inevitable. Not only was his best friend and "brother" dead, but so was his wife, Kiera. Only, he hasn't read the sign yet and does not know.

The tears streaming down our faces like endless waterfalls was probably enough of a sign to him that our worlds were crumbling. I saved him the task of fighting through the crowd.

"She's dead." I muttered, "So is Draco." I began to sob harder.

He looked in disbelief and shook his head, "I should've been there," he started to cry and stumble on hsi words, "I took a sick day and left her to fight crime without me by her side. I should have been there instead of her or at least been there in her final moments." his cries were becoming louder and louder and attracting attention.

Narcissa had said nothing and took Enzo into her arms to comfort him. He had never cried around me and now he was sobbing.

Eleven other people died, though I didn't know them. A few were vaguely familiar names from our time at Hogwarts, but nothing more. The only thing I can think of when I think of Hogwarts is Draco.

He died thinking that I hated him from that note. He left me flowers in case he got home from work late. And now I will never get to see, talk to, or feel his touch again.

As soon as we returned home, there was a flooding amount of packages at the doorsteps. Pies, gift baskets, and cards were left as a way of saying "We're thinking about you" but what good is a pie if the person I love more than anything else in the world is dead? A pie is something you give to a person when it's their birthday, not when somebody near to them dies.

I'm sorry, but I had to do it. You can hate me all you want but I said from the start to try not to get your heart broken... but tbh, my heart is broken. But for the reason of this being sad, I made it short to avoid stabbing you in the heart.