For Draco (on hold)

Evangeline

Hope you have a lovely week, Cissette, sweetheart.

Lots of Love,

Mother x

I signed the letter with a smile and slipped it into the waiting envelope. My owl stood on its perch waiting patiently for me to tie the letter to its leg so it could deliver it to Hogwarts.

"Are you sure you don't want to add your name to this, darling?" I asked Draco who was still in the bathroom getting unchanged.

A muffled 'no,' came back and I sighed. I took my tawny owl onto my hand and held it out the open window in our bedroom, watching as it flew away into the darkening sky. I jumped as two strong arms wrapped around my lithe form from behind and relaxed back into Draco's chest. He held me softly and kissed the top of my head before releasing me and climbing into bed.

"Are you definitely going to see her tomorrow? She won't forgive you if you don't appear, and you haven't sent her a letter."

Draco pulled the covers up round him and settled down against the pillow.

"I'm certain, Angel. Once we're done at Folletti's tomorrow night, I'll just pop up to Hogwarts, see her, and have a word with her teachers to check how she's getting on. I promise. I couldn't disappoint my little Cissie," he finished with a grin; he so loved our baby girl.

I shifted in our bed and shuffled closer to my husband to keep warm. He draped his arm over me and cuddled up behind, his breath tickling my neck as his shape moulded to mine. I yawned and closed my eyes, drifting off slowly into a peaceful sleep.

***

“See you later, Angel,” Draco said as he kissed me goodbye for the day and stepped into the fire in the living room. With a flash of green and a whoosh, my husband disappeared to the Ministry and I went about getting ready for the day. I walked out into the hallway on my way to collect a file from the office and stopped to look at the picture on the wall once more, of Cissette receiving her letter. It was that day that we had stumbled across the little restaurant, Folletti’s, that we’d since visited a couple of times every month. For my birthday last year, Draco had booked out the entire restaurant, even though it was only the two of us there. He was just romantic like that sometimes, and I sighed thinking about it. It had been then we had discovered that we couldn’t have any more children. I tore myself away from the picture and wiped my hand across my eyes, blinking back tears. I concentrated on the clicking of my heels on the hard floor to distract me from thoughts of baby clothes and doctors visits that had come to a bitter end.

I searched the desk for the file I was after. Not finding it there, I checked the shelves and the drawers, the filing cabinet, but it wasn’t there and I got gradually more and more annoyed with myself. I pulled out my wand and tried summoning it, but the file, belonging to Rachel and Andrew, wouldn’t appear. I sat down on the plush sofa and took a deep breath. I thought back to when I’d last seen it, but I couldn’t remember. My fingers automatically reached up to run through my hair, which was in need of a cut, and my hands got to my eye line, I saw my nails needed a manicure.

Sick of stressing out about other people’s happy endings, I decided on the spot that as Draco was taking me out, I’d go and treat myself and look nice for my husband tonight. Within seconds, I had dropped everything and was slipping my fitted trench coat on, stepped into my pair of Manalo’s and locked the front door before apparating to Diagon Alley.

Striding down the street, I nodded to Tom, the barman of The Leaky Cauldron, who stood chatting in the doorway with a red head. When he turned round, I realised he was one of the Weasley twins from my days at school. He looked tired, but was still smiling and joking as always, although the mischievous glint seemed to be missing from his eyes. I continued down the pavement and turned down an alleyway just after Twilfitt and Tatting’s, where I bought most of my clothes; making my way across the cobbles to a door set into the wall that opened into Kasey’s Parlour.