Hidden Feelings - A Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter Sixty-One

A/N Quick note, I mention Elizabeth's mother's name as Kathryn later in this chapter but I truly can't remember if I had ever mentioned her name before. If anyone remembers please let me know!!

Ron's POV

Elizabeth was the easiest to be sad around.

It sounds weird that way, I know. It wasn't ever that she caused the sadness. If you were sad, though, your pain was the most comfortable when near her. It eased, her presence calming and empathetic. She knew pain well enough to understand when someone else needed help.

It takes a minute for me to feel that dreaded sadness when I read the newspaper that morning. I stare at the words, at the picture, and for a moment, I don't think it's real. It's some...joke. Fred and George hexed the paper or something, they knew that I might be upset at her for choosing Malfoy yet can't forget how relentlessly I miss her.

And then the anguish comes when I realize it's real. More pain is to follow when I think, she isn't here to help me anymore. She's not here for comfort.

"Ron, Mrs. Weasley wants you to..."

I look up, my eyes stinging with unshed tears as Harry stops in the doorway to my room. His brow furrows, his eyes flickering down to the paper in my hands.

"Ron?" he mutters.

I take a shaky breath. "It's not...I..."

"Harry, Ron, come on," Hermione calls, her footsteps hitting the floor loudly as she approaches the room. She peeks in beside Harry, her face falling as well. My heart twists, and I gasp, my stomach turning as I look down at the paper. "Ron, what is it? What's wrong?"

I hold out the paper, and the moment it slips from my fingers, I shove my face into my palms. I hear a small gasp, followed by the sound of the paper hitting the ground.

"What? What is it?" Harry asks.

Hermione lets out the tiniest whimper. I drop my arms, looking up at my best friends.

"She's dead, Harry. Elizabeth is dead."

Paul Medlor's POV

Dear Kathryn,

I'm truly sorry to be writing to you under these circumstances. I know it's been a long time since I've been able to get away from the manor long enough to see you. I'm doing all I can to keep you safe, and going out of my way to visit before the situation with Elizabeth was hard enough. It became impossible once they brought her here.

Did you know about her and Draco, Kathryn? Did you know she loves him? That he loves her?

It's like us. That scares me, Kathryn. A brave, unfaltering girl like you and a...well, a death eater, like me. I never saw it coming, but Draco talked to me about her over Christmas break, and I had my suspicions. I can tell how much she cares about him, and him about her. They haven't been talking from what I see, but she seems to trust him more than me.

I regret that I lost our daughter's trust. I can tell she hates me. Of course, while I don't know for sure what's going on in her head, she has to still love me in some way, right? She can't be mad at me for being a death eater when she knew Draco was and still loved him. She can't be mad at you for loving a death eater when she did the same. She must have learned why I do what I do.

Regardless of how she feels about me, or Draco, or anyone, she still is fighting like you would have. I've never seen a death eater snap back like she does; although, she's not truly a death eater, which is the reason. We're weak. Cowardly. Evil. Elizabeth is anything but that, and it shows. Perhaps she's just protecting us when she shuts us out. I hope she knows how much I care for her, and how much I wish I could have kept her from this situation.