Marilyn Bradford and the Inheritance

Fin

The large shadow from the even larger tree behind me protected me from the small amount of sunlight that was coming from the sky as I leaned against the hard, brown bark of the tree trunk. A quill was in my hand as I hastily scribbled on the paper in front of me in an attempt to finish writing the first page of the seven page paper I had to have done by tomorrow for my astronomy class. I sighed and ran a hand through my long, dark hair before pulling all of it into a ponytail. A small, childlike giggle distracted me from the work I was doing as I looked up to see Draco playing hide and seek with Sierra.

"Go away, Dray!" Sierra whined when he caught her again even though both Draco and I could tell she was just joking.

Draco chuckled and picked her up before tickling her as she was in his arms. I looked back to my paper and sighed, slightly angry at the fact that I was the only one of any of my friends that had yet to complete the long essay.

"Maybe if you did your homework when I did you wouldn't be sighing over there!" Draco said as he walked over to where I sat with Sierra balanced perfectly on his hip while his arm was around her body to make sure she wouldn't fall off.

"Well, I'm sorry that I had more important things to do in my free time then complete an astronomy essay." I said playfully as he plopped down next to me and leaned against the tree as well.

Sierra got out of his grip and I watched her as she ran around the grass, picking up leaves and rocks that she found interesting. I leaned my head on Draco's shoulder and he pulled me closer to him before placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"Do you know what today is?" he asked me against my hair that was tied away from my face minus a few loose strands that never went where they were supposed to go.

"Hmm I'm not really sure," I began, teasing him slightly even though I knew exactly what he was talking about, "I think it might be Wednesday, my love?"

Draco rolled his grey eyes before pressing a kiss to my lips that I melted into.

"Please tell me you actually know what I mean." he said against my lips.

"Happy one month anniversary." I said, watching as his eyes lit up and he pressed another kiss to my lips.

"Happy one month anniversary." he replied with a smile that before last month I didn't know existed.

I leaned in to kiss him again, our lips only connected for a few seconds before we both felt Sierra throwing small rocks and pebbles our way. We pulled away and both watched as she ran away only to hide behind the tree across from where Draco and I sat together, giggling like a mad-woman.

"I need to go play hide and seek with Sierra again apparently." Draco began before standing up only to bend down and press another kiss to my full pink lips as I left my hand on his cheek, "I wish everything else in the world was as simple as it was when I was with you. Can we run away together and pretend we're muggles?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe after I finish my homework." I said to him, watching him grin at my poor excuse of a joke before he stood up straight and went to where Sierra was 'hiding' from him.

I turned my attention back to the parchment in front of me and just as I was about to press the tip of the quill to the blank sheet, something in my bag let out a small chirping noise. I dug my hand in my bag before pulling out the small, black, mint green notebook that matched the one Ashley had. I opened the book to the first page to see my sister's messy handwriting scribbled down in front of me.

Marilyn, where are you? There's someone I need you to meet...

I quickly scribbled down a response in my own neat script that greatly contrasted the smeared handwriting of my left-handed twin. I placed the book back in my bag when I was done and took my hair out of its ponytail in an attempt to look presentable for however she wanted me to meet. I rolled my parchment up, completely giving up on getting any work done until later when Sierra was asleep.

"Marilyn!" my sister's voice called.

I turned in the direction the voice came from to see my sister slowly approaching, her fingers laced with that of a pretty blonde Ravenclaw. I felt myself arch an eyebrow at the sight, knowing right away that our father would never approve even if they were mates.

"Mama," Sierra began as she shuffled over to me, "Who's that with Auntie Ash?"

"Well, baby, that's Auntie Ashley's new girlfriend." I explained as the little girl made herself comfortable on my lap.

Sierra nodded her head in understanding and Draco, Sierra, and I waited for the two of them to reach us.

"You guys, I would like you to meet Gemma." Ashley began as the green-eyes beauty waved to the three of us on the floor, "She's my mate."

"Hi, Gemma," I greeted with a smile on my face, "I'm Marilyn, this is my daughter Sierra and this is my mate Draco."

"You're all Veelas then, it's true?" Gemma asked after the two of them sat down.

Ashley, Draco and I nodded our heads in turn, Sierra doing the same so that she wouldn't feel left out and successfully made each of us chuckle.

"Have you introduced Draco to our kind father?" Ashley asked me sarcastically after Gemma and Draco became engaged in a lively conversation about a recent Quidditch match and we both knew they were not paying attention to us in the slightest.

"No, even though he's a Slytherin and a pureblood I'm sure our darling father will still find some reason not to approve of him." I said with a sigh as Sierra left my lap and walked over to Draco who she had become very close with over the last four weeks, "What about you? Have you introduced him to Gemma yet?"

Ashley rolled her eyes before shaking her head with a chuckle.

"No, I haven't even thought about it yet to be honest. We're planning on running away together after classes are over." Ashley told me.

I sighed and leaned my head on her shoulder only for her to lean her head on top of mine, a long and thick layer of black hair forming over both of our faces as our identical hair mixed in a curtain of darkness.

"Do you think life is ever going to get any easier?" I asked her as we wrapped our arms around each other.

She chuckled, her whole body shaking slightly as a smile found its way to my lips.

"Oh, my attractive twin sister-" she began before I cut her off.

"You have to say I'm attractive, we're identical twins." I said sarcastically even though I knew her blue eyes that matched mine were being rolled sarcastically.

"Shut up," she began, "Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted; I think you are a question that people have been trying to answer for at least ninety two thousand years."

I chuckled at the same time that she did.

"I guess we'll never find out." I said when we both managed to calm down.

"Maybe it's just a story for a different day." she said, making me nod.

I sighed contently as Ashley and I watched who we considered to be the most important people in the world talk animatedly about quidditch and the other things they had in common. It definitely reminded me of a more simple time. A time when Ashley and I were little kids in our parent's large manor and for a few minutes, it seemed as though everything was alright in the world. It seemed like there was not a war raging just outside the semi-safe boundaries of Hogwarts, it seemed like the five of us could stay together here on the warm grass forever and time would not pass. The moment was perfect as my sister and I felt nothing but relief at the fact that we were all able to be exist together peacefully... For Now...

Author's Note: This is the last chapter and I would love to know what you all think about it!