Draco places me down on the kitchen table. I sit, shoulders slump, uneven breaths and probably still crying. Narcissa is quick to grab a washcloth and a bowel of water.
She turns to her son, who looks like he just fought a battle. "Can you get towels from upstairs?"
Draco nods quickly and rushes out of the room. Narcissa's eyes flicker to mine but don't linger long as she takes a breath and begins to reach for bandages. Gently, she reaches for my hand. She begins to apply pressure to the cut before tracing it with her wand. My skin knits back together. There's still a small cut but it would heal. My scar would return.
She gently rubs my hand with water, washing away the blood and grime. She turns it over to and begins to clean it but then suddenly stops. She places the cloth down and snatches my other hand.
She looks up. Her eyes wide with an emotion I never see her give me. Concern.
"Who did this?"
I glance down. She was talking about the words scarred across my hand. "Umbridge fifth year, Alecto Carrow a few weeks ago. For detention." She looks disgusted, horrified, almost angry. Her lips are pressed together in a thin line as she wraps my hand. She reached for my arm and cleaned my cut before wrapping it as well.
Her eyes lock onto my other scar, her breath hitches. But she does not ask who gave the 'Death Eater' scar. She wipes the blood from my open skin with a wet cloth.
"Do you love me?" I blurt. She freezes. "Do you feel anything for me? Anything at all?" Her eyes shift but she continues cleaning my arm. "It doesn't have to be love." I continue almost desperately. "It can be hatred, disgust—anything but indifference..." I didn't know if it was the fact I was sleep deprived, highly emotional, in intense pain, nearly just died, and going off an adrenaline high that made suddenly spill my feelings and ask a question I've wonder my entire life.
"I'm not indifferent." She said her flicker to mine for a brief second. "Do you love me?" She asks quietly.
"I care for you." I say honestly. She stops as I speak. "You're my...mother. To me, you are my real mother. The closest thing I've ever had to one."
Her face softens as she looks up at me. And for once she looks at me like I'm something to her.
"Raelyn—"
"I'm in love with Draco." I blurt before I can help myself. She recoiled, swallowing the words she was about to say. Something about tonight was making me say things I've hidden for years. Perhaps it was the weightless feeling on my skin after freeing myself from the locket.
"You are...in love..." She says it slowly as if it doesn't make sense. "As in...romantically...with my son..."
I nod. Her mind seemed to be thinking a thousand things at once as she processed my words.
"Does he—love you..?"
"Yes."
Her eyes widen and she takes a step back from me to process. "How...how long have you—?"
"I believe it will be two years tomorrow."
She looks appalled. "Who knows—"
"Everyone but you and Lucius."
At this moment, Draco decides to walk in the kitchen. He is carrying a towel, most likely from my bathroom. He drapes the towel around my shoulders. Warmth floods me. His fingers linger a second too long on my face. Narcissa doesn't miss a beat. Her eyes snap to his.
"I—" She begins but never finishes. Draco gives a confused look, and glances at me. I just shrug before leaning into him. She looks as though she wants to say something. To oppose or disapprove of what we were doing, what we felt toward one another. But she doesn't.
