A Malfoy Holiday

Lyssa couldn't help it. She started laughing. "Draco, really, give it up or you will be outsmarted by a ten year old and I'm sure you don't want that happening. Laurie has an excellent point. Suck it up and deal with it." She tried to stop laughing, but couldn't. It was rather amusing to see Draco argue with a child.

Nicole on the other hand was frowning. "I don't like all this talk about blood statuses," she said, quietly, but loud enough to be heard. She looked up them, sad in the face. And this time she wasn't acting. "It isn't nice to judge people, no matter who they are. And besides I'm sure there are families that are and have always been 100% Muggle, thus making them purebloded Muggles. So in sayng the general term of pureblood you're really lumping yourself with them. And I don't think you mean to do that, so stop please?"

Eris steadied herself as she bent down and let Sev have his pick from the different sorts of cookies her mother had made over the past day or two. She felt decidedly awkward with the conversation going on around her. "I...I agree with Nicole. This is a silly thing to discuss. Isn't there anything better to do than argue?" She felt rather bold saying something like that in front of her father, but perhaps her aunt was right. Perhaps it was time to start thinking for herself instead of parroting all of her father's ideas.

Draco clenched his hands tightly. He was being compared to Muggles. Under his own roof. Sure, by the end of the war he had been tired of the Dark Lord's demands, but that didn't mean he had lost all of his beliefs. It was so simple, really, to see that all people with magic (he would even admit that, not just the Purebloods, but all wizards and witches) were better than those without. Disagreeing with that was like saying a person without a brain was just as good as a person with one. He turned swiftly and was about to yell at them all when he realized that it was probably not a good idea to piss off a room full of people. With a swish of his black robes that could have rivaled Severus Snape, he marched into the kitchen, presumably to find his wife.

"Exit stage left," Scor said, then broke into a fit of laughter. His sister surprised him with a wide, understanding smile. Maybe Eris wasn't all bad after all.

Cassie laughed and smiled. "He was always that easy to annoy." Laurie nodded thoughtfully. "He should have said something though." She said frowning slightly. "That's why he's a Slytherin. They run not fight" Cassie laughed then turned to Eris. "You I wouldn't know about, and although it may seem like it, I don't think poorly of all Slytherins. Just most of them." She smiled again. Severus who hadn't had a clue about what just happened looked around the room. "Where did what's-his-name go?" He asked. He didn't know Draco's name and if he had he most likley would have forgotten it. "He's gone off to sulk about being outsmarted by a ten and a eleven year old." Cassie smiled picking him up and stealing a bite of his cookie. Severus pouted at her but said nothing. "Can I go look around the house?" He asked his mum. Cassie shrugged. "I can't see why not, just dont touch anything. Ok?" Severus nodded and got down stuffing the rest of the cookie in his mouth and spilling crums all over the floor. Severus ended up walking straight into the coffe table like thing upsetting Cassie's half finished cup of tea and causeing it to break on him. "Owww." Severus moaned. Cassie quickly rushed over to her son. "Are you hurt?" She asked him then grimanced. The glass had cut his cheek. "Come here." She picked him up to get a better look at it. "I don't think there's any glass in it, it's just cut. It'll take a few days to heal kay?" Cassie was firm with her muggle ways even when her kids got hurt. She prefered if it was a cut or a slight cold for it to heal naturally. She was a healer and obviously had to use magic at work but with her children and with Nicole when she was over, though Nicole usually went home and Lyssa fixed it for her. Taking Severus into the she spotted Draco and Tori. "Do you guys have any tissue's or anything? Sev's cut himself."

Astoria was startled as Draco barged into the kitchen just as she was finishing up her brownies. She put the tray on the counter and looked at his angry expression. "I told you it was a bad idea to let them come here," she said with a smug look, "but you let them."

She was about to say something else, probably rude, as Cassie walked in with Severus, who was bleeding. "Do you guys have any tissue's or anything? Sev's cut himself."

Astoria scowled and snapped her fingers and a house elf came from not too far away with a small towel, which it gave to Cassie.

~

Back in the other room, Lyssa flopped back on the couch. "I hate this family, but I love it. It's full of crazy people. Especially Draco..."

Nicole laughed at her.

Draco frowned. He hated when his wife was right about something, and at this moment, he couldn't help but think that she had been absolutely correct. He watched a Cassie dabbed at her son's face with a towel. "What kind of mother are you? You should heal that. He's in pain."

~

Scor smiled at his aunt. "You're right, dad's completely off his nut. We think it's better not to talk about it, or he gets all prissy about it and then Eris sticks up for him and it turns into a fight. Pretty much everything turns into a fight with us, actually," he said, glancing at his sister, who had come to sit on the couch near him, but not exactly next to him.

Eris frowned. "Well, it's not always my fault, now is it? You're a right little rebel now. No matter, more love for me." Normally she would have said this with malice, but she was smiling, even if part of her meant it. "Anyway, that not what they're hereto talk about. Everyone loves to talk about themselves. Talk away, girls," she said, doing her best to seem at ease with them. Small children she could handle, but as they got older they began to see through any niceties you faked. Eris wasn't quite perfect at being sincere yet; she'd had too many years of being absolutely fake. She wondered vaguely if all these changes would make James Potter pay attention to her.

Cassie scowled and put Severus down and the cloth to his face to wipe the blood off it. "Just because my views are different to yours Draco." She snapped. "Does not mean I am a bad mother, I prefer for minor things to heal natraly not with the wave of a wand." She inspected the cut to see that it had stopped bleeding. "You ok?" She asked Severus. He nodded abit soberly. "Just don't touch it and it'll be fine."
***
Laurie smiled, she liked Nicole's cousins, They seemed quite nice, expecially Scor. And she would know two more people once she started Hogwarts even if they were seventh years. But of course she was too shy to say much without prodding, when around people she didn't know too well. Severus came back into the room, he seemed fine and the cut on his cheek was no longer bleeding. "You ok Sev?" Laurie asked him. Severus nodded and smiled at his sister. "Mummy said not to play with it and it will get better faster." He said. Laurie nodded. "She's right."

"So now that things have calmed down a bit and all and Astoria's not in here anymore," Lyssa started. "I would very much like a better anwser to my question about how school has been from you two." She looked at Eris and Scor. "It would be beneficial to the girls if they knew some of the goings on in Hogwarts I think."

Nicole grinned at her mum, then looked at her cousins. "Would you really tell us? Please? I would reallly really like it!"

"Oh, I see the logic here," Draco said condescendingly, "make them suffer the consequences of their own clumsiness. That might actually keep them from becoming reckless little Gryffindors. LIttle bit barbaric, though." He wiggled his eyebrows dangerously at Cassie.

~

Scor smiled at seeing the young girl so enthusiastic about school. "Hogwarts is brilliant! The castle is huge and there are all sorts of interesting places to get lost, and the library has more books than I've ever seen in my life. The classes are interesting too, especially Charms and Transfiguration."

"Oh, of course the classes you're tops in are the most important," Eris said, rolling her eyes. "Defense Against the Dark Arts is much better than the other classes. But Scor here is just being a nerd talking about classes. The people are the best part, all of your housemates, and the Head Girl and Boy -"

"Oh, yes, tell them just how brilliant you think the Head Boy is, Eris," Scor teased. Eris wasn't sure how he'd picked up so well on all of her thoughts (perhaps it was a twin thing?) but it was beginning to annoy her.

"You annoying git." I snarled punching him in the face. I was furious. How dare he."At least I care for my children's needs Draco, I listen to them, I help them, but let them make their own choices. You have two teenage children in that room, but as long as they grow up to be suitable Malfoy heirs you don't really care. Have you ever tried sitting down with your son to talk to him about his classes?"

~

Laurie laughed. "I've met James once or twice, Mum invites Harry over sometimes and his kids come if their not at school." She sat listening to her freinds cousins talk about school and their classes. "Transfiguration sounds interesting." Laurie said. "I'm not quite sure about defence against the dark arts though. Mum did extra classes in her sixth year to help with her healing, she was a good healer." Severus say down next to his sister. "I want to do defence against the dark arts." He said. "Is that job still cursed?" Laurie wondered.

Astoria was flabbergasted. She felt her eyes growing wider and her mouth falling open, but quickly contained them both. How dare that…that half blood touch her husband, much less strike him! Her eyes narrowed and she spoke in a harsh icy tone, "Just who do you think you are! Coming into our house and telling us what to do with our children! We don't need you around here, nor are you wanted here. You're only here with your children as a favor to Melyssa from Draco, though I can't see why!" Her eyes flashed as she glared and she gritted her teeth together in anger.

~

Nicole listened to her cousins with wide eyes. Hogwarts sounded for lack of a better word magical. Her eyes were bright and she couldn't wait to get there. Lyssa noted these actions with a smile.

"That all sounds so wonderful!" Nicole exclaimed excitedly. "I can't wait for it!"

Lyssa laughed quietly to herself when Scor teased Eris a bit. She knew what that was all about after all.

Draco felt the dull ache in his cheek and mouth. Blood pulsed hot in his lip and he wondered if she had split it. If she had, there would be hell to pay later -- the unnecessary spilling of pure blood was unforgivable. His face throbbed and he wondered if it was natural for a woman to hit that hard.

"Tori is right," he said, wincing as he talked, "you're here due to our hospitality and love for Lyss. If you're having trouble containing yourself, you can go home." He was barely able to stop himself from pulling his wand. It was undignified to hit a lady but he'd have no problem hexing her if she thought herself worthy of hitting him.
~

Scor laughed a bit. "You'd have to ask a professor about any curse. Professor Potter seems to be doing an okay job, and I hear he's getting an assistant teacher soon as well, a young one." He screwed his face up in concentration. "Can't remember the name, though." He looked at Eris for help.

"It's that godson of his," she said easily. "I heard J-...I mean, I heard someone talking about it. Maybe Al." Feeling a bit awkward, she wondered what was going on in the kitchen, but decided against going to check.

"Then don't insult me Draco." Cassie snarled. "I had enough of this pureblood herichy when I was a teenager, and that's why I fought to keep my kids if I had any and other people kids too safe. You don't want your children to grow up in a world where you don't want them to play in the garden unsupervised. So stop trying to shove it in my face that you are better then I am because of who your asesors were, when they were the ones who helped turn this world inside out. Ability matters more Draco, more then blood ever will but people forget that. They chuck it out the window." She sighed. "He was half blood you know. Voldemort, he had less blood purity then you did and look what he did. He did amazing things even is he was dangerous and dark. He accomplished something." My voice had gone into a more meaningful manner since I started talking about ability.


~

"She was going to say James." Laurie noted watching the teenager. "Hmm..." Laurie wracked her brain because she had overheard Cassie and Harry talking about it some time ago. "Can't remember, think it started with a p or a t. One of them." She frowned this was going to annoy her now. "I could go ask mum." She suggested. She stopped what she was saying when she heard yelling from the kitchen. "Or we could wait until they've finished shouting." She added quietly. Laurie didn't like seeing parents yell at eachother. It made her sad. Adults shouldn't yell, they were always telling you to be quiet and talk it out but when they go and yell at each other all that talking it out buisness gets thrown out the window.

Astoria's anger just grew with every passing word. Sure, she liked to think she didn't have that sense of pureblood supremacy that other families had, but that didn't mean she didn't have some sense of pride in her bloodline as it was a powerful and ancient one. Stronger than any half bloodline she would say with magic skills handed down for generations.

She turned to Draco with a face that said she wanted this girl and her children out of her house immediately, not trusting herself not to speak, thus she would say something incredibly stupid that ended up making no sense and contradicting herself. Which her thoughts were already doing. Being flustered and angry, it seemed, did not suite Astoria one bit.

~

Lyssa made a face at all them. "Ya know," she said, "you could just ask me. I happen to know his godson's name." She raised an eyebrow in their direction from where she was. "But if you don't want to ask, then I won't tell."

Nicole laughed at her mum. She was always doing things like that when she felt ignored. Apparently, it didn't suite Lyssa to be ignored.

"Yes, he accomplished something all right, he accomplished getting many of his followers killed and imprisoned; he caused the spilling of rivers of pure blood, when his was impure. He accomplished DYING at the hands of incompetent children and foolish foes. What a great legacy." Draco knew that this was all beside the point, but it was so much easier, wasn't it, to dwell on the past and not deal with the issue at hand? The look on Astoria's face, though, forced him to say something. "I know you'd like to stay and spend time with Lyssa, but it's obvious that we can't be near one another right now. You can have the west wing of the house to stay in, if you wish, we don't use it much anymore." That was a lie. They didn't use it at all, anymore, because it was still reminiscent of Narcissa's dying days. Draco pretended this didn't bother him, complained that the west end was drafty, but really he couldn't stand to pass the room where his mother had lay on her deathbed.

~

"Oh, let them shout at each other. Nothing ever comes of it," Scor said lightly. "But please, Aunt Lyss, you know it'll drive me crazy if I can't think of his name. It'll eat at my brain."

"Maybe that'd improve your personality a little, you not being such a humongous bighead," Eris said. She found herself saying all the same things that she usually did, but meaning them in different ways. It was more like the teasing of their younger years than the spite that had been between them since they started school. "But yeah, it'd be nice to know his name before we go back to school, keep us a little ahead of the game."

Astoria scowled at her husband's decision on what to do about the unwanted houseguests, but she also just figured it was all because of his sister that he hadn't already kicked them out. That was the only time she didn’t get what she wanted. When Lyssa was around. The scowl deepened.

~

Lyssa's eyes widened. "You punched him?!" she said, not entirely shocked, but still somewhat. "And just how angry did that make him?" All thought of telling the children the name of Harry's godson had disappeared. She sighed. "You’re insane you know that? I'm actually completely surprised he didn't throw you out for that. I would expect him to, or at least to distance you from himself and Astoria, since she likely had something to with it as well." Shaking her head Lyssa got up from the couch. "I'm going to get his side of things, and then yours. Once again…. And then I'll think about whether or not I plan to hex either of you for this. Your not teenagers anymore. You two could stand to act like adults now and then." Then she walked from the room to the kitchen to find Draco, since it was only logical he would be where he was last. Nicole watched her mum go and blinked.

"I think she's mad…"

Draco conjured a mirror and examined where he'd been hit. His lip was indeed split and bleeding and he grimaced at it. That would have to be fixed later. Astoria was making a highly unattractive face that indcated that she was displeased, but this was certainly the last of his worries. They had made a deal together and he would stick to his side, buying her the pretty baubles and gadgets she loved so much, and she would have to put up with the unwelcome guests. Of course, this was all forgotten as his twin sister stormed into the kitchen, a look of questioning anger on her face.

"This is not my fault," were his first words, pulling at the split lip of his skin but clearly giving away his righteous indignation over what had just happened.

~

Scor sat, absolutely motionless and expressionless, listening to all the talking around him. He thought, wildly and incoherently, that everything would be okay if he just didn't breathe. If he took so much as one breath, he was sure that he would double over in helpless laughter, and that would not work out well for him in the end. He glanced over at Eris, whose face was also expressionless. He guessed she was angry or at least confused. She was still, on some level, whole-heartedly devoted to their father, and hitting him would certainly not get you on her good side.

Laurie frowned at the preasure of the room. Scorpius was trying not to breathe it looked as if he was trying not to laugh aswell. Eris, her face held no expression so she unsure whether or not she minded or found it amusing. Laurie stood up and walked over to the youngest Malfoy girl. "Parents." She whispered standing next to her. "Sometime's it seems as if they're the young ones and we're the adults." She smiled. Cassie grinned watching her daughter talking to her best freinds neice, Laurie had her own charm with people, she was quiet but could be quite chrasmatic when she needed too. Cassie turned her eyes from her daughter to Scorpius, she had to stop herself from laughing at the boy's expression. "Sometimes." She said. "It does people good to punch them in the face, takes them down a few pegs." She winked at him. "Just don't go punching the evil wizard who is trying to take over the world, not such a good idea." Laurie shook her head at her mum. Severus payed no mind to how everyone else was feeling or thinking and just sat down bang in the middle of the room and frowned at the lack of attension he was getting.

Lyssa looked at him with a mix an incredulous face and a glare. "Oh don't give me that," she said, in a dangerous voice she only used when she was really mad. "It almost makes you sound like you think I'm some sort of idiot. I've only been her friend since we were 11. Don't think I don't know about you constantly provoking her anger. Now tell me the truth, or face the consequences." She then gave him a look that said she was dead serious about that too.

~

Nicole's eyes lit up when Cassie said something about punching an evil wizard. "My mum told me about that!" she exclaimed. "She described it as stupid but also very funny, well until you got kidnapped again....Stupid Voldemort. Wish I could have seen it. I bet it was awesome!"

Noticing his sister's menacing tone of voice, Draco weighed his options of attempting to lie or simply trying to make the truth sound favorable to him. He knew that Lyssa would know if he tried to lie outright. "Fine, fine," he muttered, still carefully running his fingers over his lip as it bled. "I reprimanded her for letting her titchy little...I mean, her helpless child....bleed all over. He was hurt and she didn't heal him." His shoulders lifted into a careful shrug and then settled back down into his perfect, aristocratic posture.

~

Eris, wide-eyed and still shocked from the news that her father had been hurt, turned to her aunt's friend. "You punched the Dark Lord in the face?" Instead of waiting for an answer, she noticed Sev on the floor and kneeled down, tucking her robes under her legs. "Is that cut alright then?" she asked, eyeing it. "You seem like a tough little bloke to me." She was surprised to find herself smiling at him easily. Why were children so much easier to get along with than adults?

Scor finally found a good reason to be laughing and let his breath out. "Ha! Punched Voldemort!" he cried, chuckling heartily and shaking his head. Really, he was thinking, "Ha! Punched my father!" but that might not have gone over so well with his family. He wondered what sort of snarky remark his father had made that resulted in him being beat up by a girl.

Cassie laughed at her freinds neice and newphew. "Yes I punched him in the face, he bloody deserved it aswell. But then so did Draco and trust me that wasn't the first time." She winked. "But then I did go to school with him for seven years, or well six and a half." She frowned slightly remembering the other half of the year. Severus smiled up at the girl. "Course I am." He said. "Takes more then a cut to stop me." Cassie smiled and shook her head. "Such a little Gryffindor." Severus beamed. "Gryffindor!" He half shouted. Laurie who had sat back down with her book looked up. "Be quiet Sev." She complained. Contemplating wacking him on the head with her book but dicided against it.

Lyssa came back into the room then and Cassie sighed wondering what lies Draco had sporn. She started to tell her side of the story.

"You know I prefer to let my children's cuts heal natraully." She started frowning slightly. "And he called me a bad mother for not fixing it with the wave of a wand. Just because I do things differently." Cassie had to refrain from snarling. "Making it heal natrually helps them, they need to realise magic can't solve everything and that just because you can use it doesn't mean you have to use it for everything. I realized that in our seventh year when I wasn't permited to go to Madam Pomfree, You can't solve all your problems by waving a peice of wood." She sat down on the couch. "And anyway I stick to my word, told you in sixth year I would punch him if he said anything and I did." Her mouth curved upwards. "But thankfully Scorpius and Eris aren't mini him." She sighed.

Laurie sat their watching Cassie talk, she frowned. "Mum, why weren't you permitted to go to the hospital wing?" Cassie sighed. "Cause Snape was pretending to be a Death Eater and didn't permit it as a part of my punishment." She spat. "What did you do?" Laurie wondered. Cassie shot her a look that said. Now is not the time Laurie. Laurie frowned, she could be stubburn when she wanted something. "I was a constant nuisence in class and we are not getting any furthur into this discussion."

"But-" Laurie pouted, she wanted to know more. She was curious. Severus who didn't care what the adults were saying went around talking to imaginary freinds.

"Fine." Cassie snapped she wasn't in the mood to have Laurie bugging her all day wanting to know what had happened in her seventh year. "Lyssa and I constantly disrupted the Carrows class cause they were annoying Death Eaters we also said to Snape's face many times that he didn't deserve to be headmaster and so he and the bloody Carrows used...erm.." She sighed wondering how to phraze this without going into details. "Used a spell that wasn't exactly legal and a bunch that were particulally painful."

A frown marred Laurie's features. "But wouldn't Aunt Lyssa have learnt the same lesson you did because she went through it too."

Cassie seriosuly regretting getting into this. "No and for two reasons." She forgot she was talking to children at that point. "One, she had a." Cassie glanced at her freind. "Change of mind a few weeks into the year which steered her onto a less harmful track and two, before she had that change of heart she got less...physical punishments and more mental."

"Why didn't you get mental ones?" Laurie wondered forever asking questions.

Cassie sighed. Sometimes Laurie being a Ravenclaw annoyed her, she would never had asked this many questions as a child. "Because, I can throw off mental hexes. Including Unforgivables. Happy?!" Not realising she had stood up she sat back down.

Laurie hugged her mum. "Love you mum."

"Love you too kiddo." Cassie replied she shot a look over her shoulder and groaned when she noticed Tori and Draco were by the door. Dammit. She didn't look to see what the other kids were thinking.

"Draco, honestly," Lyssa muttered shaking her head at him. Then she turned and left the kitchen to go back to the others. Upon her entering Cassie immediately began her version of the tale of what happened, and Lyssa suspected Cassie figured Draco would lie. "Yes, Cassie," she said once her friend had stopped talking, "I know."

She sat down on the couch, feeling as though this was already overwhelmingly stressful, all them being together, and it was only the second day she was here and the first Cassie and her kids were. Why oh why had she ever decided this was a good idea? Then her eyes snapped to Cassie at the mere mention of something from seventh year and memories unwanted came back to her. And Laurie's unnatural curiosity to learn things wasn't good either, as Lyssa knew the young girl would press the issue until she was satisfied with the answers she had gotten.

Lyssa sighed. Did Cassie really have to get into that subject? Now? She watched as the childrens' eyes seem to spark with curiosity. Even Nicole didn't know the story of what had happened that year. Sighing again she looked at Cassie. "You already started telling the story, why don't you finish it?" she said standing up. "Every bit of it. I don't care anymore. But I'm not going to be here when you do."

Then Lyssa walked to the doorway of the room and in between Draco and Astoria who had finally decided to leave the kitchen and rejoin them. They all heard the front door open and close. The whole room was quiet for a moment, wondering what was going on. Nicole watched her mum walked out eyes widened slightly. "Aunt Cassie," she said after a moment looking at her aunt with a worried face, "what happened that made mum so upset?"

Scor and Eris, side by side with now solemn expressions, glanced at each other. It had been years since they had really looked at each other properly and meant it, and it was amazing how well they still understood each other's expressions. Scor frowned slightly and Eris nodded. This was the sort of thing that their family avoided talking about. The twins knew bits and pieces of their father's past, and even their grandfather's, from what they heard from other kids whose parents had lived through the war, but they had never really desired to know the details of what had gone on with their aunt and all the other kids who had been forced to go through the war. It wasn't right to treat children that way, they weren't ready to defend their lives, but that was just the way the world was, unfair. They looked away from each other and remained silent, not wanting to break the mood of the moment and seem rude.

Draco loomed in the doorway, glowering. He didn't want his children hearing the past recanted, especially by Cassie, but he wasn't going to get in any more fights today. He'd already had to have Astoria heal his split lip and he knew the children would have heard stories of the things that went on during the war already. In fact, most of it didn't have much to do with him, so he simply crossed his arms and scowled, allowing his mind to wander to what he could buy Astoria the next day as her consolation prize for their unwelcome guests.

Cassie sighed and watched as her best freind walked out of the room. She turned to Nicole and said softly. "She did some things that she regreated later ok?" The little girl nodded. Cassie stood up. "Draco please do me a favour and look after Laurie and Severus while I'll talk to Lyssa. Please?" She didn't wait for a responce but walked out following her freind. She was happy to know that Lyssa hadn't disapearated and was just outside.
"Lyssa?" She asked walking over. "I'm sorry, I didn't think. I suppose thats why I'm a Gryffindor." She sighed and hugged her friend.

*~*
Laurie watched her mum walk out of the room and frowned. "I think she's upset." She muttered. She hated it when her mum was upset it made her sad too. "I didn't mean to upset her..." She trailed off looking sligthly fragile. The little girl hated knowing something went wrong and it was party her fault. She bit her lip.

As soon as Lyssa heard the door shut behind her she stopped. Taking a few deep breaths she calmed herself down. She wasn't outside very long, just at the beginning stages of thinking about Apparating somewhere when the door opened behind her, but she didn't look to see who it was. "Lyssa?" she heard Cassie's voice. "I'm sorry. I didn’t think. I suppose that's why I'm a Gryffindor."

As Cassie sighed, Lyssa turned around. Then Cassie hugged her. Lyssa let her for a second then she broke free from it. "Please, don't hug me when I'm trying to be angry with you. It makes it incredibly difficult to do. And right now I think I need to be angry. You know how I feel about everything that happened, and you still brought it up, thinking or not. You know how badly it still affects me." She took a deep breath. "It's been what? Twenty some odd years?" A sigh. "And yet none of the memories have faded, none of the hurt, or the pain, or the fright, nothing is gone. I think maybe it's because I still haven't forgiven myself for what I did to you and everyone else. You know?" She frowned, and then laughed dryly. "I think I've caused more drama than yours and Draco's spat with the resulting punch in the face."

~

Nicole bit her lip as she looked toward the door where her mum and aunt Cassie had gone out of the house. She was worried for them. She had never seen her mum that upset ever, or at least, not that she could remember. She cast a glance over at Laurie who looked about ready to cry. Nicole went over to her, and gave her a hug. "It'll be fine," she said.