Professor Malfoy

66 | nothing is the same

Chapter 66
__________

Draco
A year later

"Father! Come play!" Scorpius' child voice breaks into my ears.

I glance at him, playing outside on a fresh mowed lawn with a colorful ball in his hands. He's right under my opened office window, constantly shouting at me, which makes me a bit nervous.

It's a fresh August morning, my garden is glowing with sun rays and the only thing ruining my view from my office is the pile of clay on the place where the pond used to be.
I couldn't stand looking at it, not when the only thing that came on my mind was Lou swimming in it, her beautiful blonde hair waving in the water. I imagined her in there too many times while working and I couldn't stand it anymore.

Lou. My Lou.

"I'll be there in a minute," words stop coming out of my mouth as I grab and read the answer to my job application.

My body stays still, just my hand start shaking a bit. I quickly eye the paper down.

Congratulations, Mr Malfoy. After viewing your job application as a potions professor, we are pleased to announce to you-

"Please, just for a little while!" Scorpius whines again.

I take a deep breath to calm myself down, especially my shaking hands. My eyes read through the paper five times to make sure I'm not just imagining those words. Wouldn't be the first time. I can't concentrate on anything in this house, which is part of why I preferred to stay in my office at Hogwarts during the week. The bigger part was, of course, for my mate.

Just as I breathe out, the doorbell rings. My body flinches at the sound and I put the paper down with a bang against the wooden desk. Coffee accidentally spills from the mug and destroys some papers. My desk is a mess, just like my life for the last two years. Everything sort of went downhill. My current job at the ministry, my marriage, my health.

With anger slowly filling up my body, I open the entrance door, ready to yell at whoever's in there.

"Can we talk?"

My mouth instantly closes and all my hate words prepared to slip out fade with it.

"Zion?" I manage to breathe out.

I'm not just hallucinating, this is not my pure imagination. Zion really is standing in front of me, in flesh and bones. He looks the same. Just his face...it seems sadder.

"Yes, come in." I say after a long stare.

He remembers me.

Questions flood my head, my heartbeat rises. He's not supposed to remember me. There's no way. I took care of everything that day. Everything and everyone.

We walk into the living room and sit down. I offer him some water, but he doesn't want anything. He seem to be in a hurry. So I sit in front of him and try to calm myself down.

He remains silent.

"You remember everything?" I ask after a moment, my voice is serious.

Zion nods, "I didn't at first. It slowly came in pieces. Lou thinks there was a loophole for me, that's why I remember."

Lou.

Her name resonates in my ears like a sweet melody.

Lou, Lou, Lou...

"And is...is everything okay?"

Is she okay? We haven't shared a single thought, said a single word through the bond since we said out goodbye. I told her to talk to me whenever she felt the need to, but she said it would only make it worse. I didn't have to ask what 'it' stood for. It was crystal clear. The forgetting.

Zion shakes his head, staring at the ground.

"No. I don't think so."

My breath becomes heavier.

He lifts his head to look at me, "you ruined her. You left her alone. How could you? What did you think? You have all this-" he looks around the house, "but she-"

"I have nothing!" My voice raises, the sudden change shocks Zion. I force myself to calm down, "we ruined each other."

Zion scoffs in disgust, "it's not the same Lou. I want her back." His voice breaks.

"I know. Me too,"

"What do you know!?"

"I know how she is, I can feel it, Zion. She doesn't eat, she doesn't laugh, she pushes everyone out of her life. I know it, because I do the fucking same!"

For the first time, Zion finally looks at me like he doesn't want to kill me.

"Then why don't you do something? Talk to her!"

"I can't," I say immediately, "we agreed to it. I won't talk to her unless she wants me to."

Which she doesn't.

"This is ridiculous," he lets out a painful laugh, "she's disappearing right in front of our eyes."

"Give her time. Be there for her, all of you."

"We are, but...not for long. I'm going to work for the Ministry, Theo's leaving with Cèlie to travel...we all moved on. She's stuck."

I remember what she told me about her plans for the future, "but isn't she going to Paris?"

He nods, "she is, I think. If you...if you just saw her...she's not Lou. Not anymore,"

"Everything will change once she moves to Paris. New city, new people, new job...it does wonders to a broken person,"

"What if it won't?"

I take another deep breath, "then I'll figure it out."

Lou, Lou, Lou...

How many stitches does it take to heal what she left in of my heart? How many times do I have to look at the place where pond was without seeing her swimming in it? How can I ever get over her?

Not short after Zion left, the door opens again and Astoria comes in.

"Who was that boy?" She asks right after she walks into my office.

"Just my student..." I mumble under my nose and continue reading the mail I got.

Astoria puts her shopping bags on my desk, which she knows I hate and leans down to me.

"What's this?" She points at the paper in my hands.

"I got a job interview," I try to sound as normal as possible without my voice shaking.

"That's amazing! Where?"

Breathe in, breathe out. I still can't believe
what's written in there.

"Beauxbatons."

She lifts her brows and reads the paper for herself, "but that's in-"

"Paris. I know,"

This can change everything.

"Well, you once promised to take me there. Perhaps it's finally time."

"Yeah," I mumble, staring at the letter in my hands, "perhaps."