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Willow waited for Draco as she exited the train, holding her younger brother close throughout the busy train station.
As if it were the beginning of the year, families upon families spread across the platform, smiling larger than ever before as they spotted their children.
She watched as students happily ran into their parent's wide arms, pulling them in like it had been years since they last saw one another and had just returned from war.
Envy struck her like a bug bite as the fathers held their daughters, brushing their hair down and appearing like the hole in their hearts had finally been restored. Willow wondered if the hole in her heart was waiting with her mother.
He wasn't there. Thank Merlin, she thought for a moment before seeing the disappointed look on Draco's face. She gave him an extra tight squeeze as they walked closer to their mother.
Even if she didn't want to see him, Draco always did. She couldn't be mad at him for this or use it against him, he was the only male figure he had to look up to.
"Hello, my sweet children." Their mother said, appearing more tired than ever. Her usual perky face was replaced by deep, dark bags under her eyes. Willow noted that she would ask her if she was alright later.
"Hello Mother," Draco responded, giving his mother a tight, but short, squeeze. His friends couldn't know about his affection for her.
Willow followed after, giving the slightly taller woman a firm grasped hug. Her sage and rustic perfume was pressed against her nose as she buried it deep into her shoulder.
As she pulled away, her mother gave her a new expression that didn't come around often. An expression that you wouldn't catch if you weren't paying attention, and she knew her mother would ask the same question she was bound to ask her. Maybe Willow needed that hug more than she believed.
The Malfoy Manor has never had a warm welcoming feeling, the dark and dead trees didn't exactly hold a homey sort of vibe to it.
On the way home, Draco had asked their mother where the monster who lived there was, except Draco called him father, and she responded with the usual.
"He's out doing business, he'll be back sooner than we know it." She always said this when he asked, faking the largest smile possible. Willow stopped asking by the time she was his age.
Although their home was powerful and obnoxiously large, Willow hated it. She hated the way it felt when she stepped on the land, she disliked the lack of comfort it brought her, and she couldn't stand being here.
