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Unhinged 2: Til the Flame Burns Out	By : nikki13088 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Ginny Views: 3348 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 30
- 31
A/N: I need to blab for a bit real quick. First off, I am so very sorry you all had to wait so long for an update. I do not intend to keep you waiting that long every again. Second, I really wanted to thank everyone that comments on my story and for all the kind words you have shared with me, it means so much. I want to give a big thanks to my followers on my Facebook page for being so supportive and so patient with me. You guys have been so understanding and so loyal to me as readers and it truly touches my heart, so thank you! Last, I HAVE to give shout out to my good friend Laura!!! You are one of the greatest people I have ever known in my life and I am so happy to have met you. You literally fill my life with so much more happiness and excitement that I didn't know I needed until we clicked! I love being your friend! xoxo
Ok, time for the story! I really hope you guys enjoy, this is close to a 20k word chapter so hopefully it will make up for how long you've waited.
Enjoy!
Ember’s eyes snapped open and she found herself staring up at the ceiling of the guest room she was staying in. She sat up and took in a few heavy breaths as she waited for the adrenaline in her to subside from the dream she just had. After a few moments, she realized someone was holding her hand as she turned to her side to see Scorpius asleep beside her. She gave a small smile at her laced fingers with his and gave his hand a small squeeze. After she felt her breathing returning to normal she let out a soft sigh as she laid back on her pillow.
She turned her head towards Scorpius this time to find him staring at her.
“Are you ok?” he softly asked.
She swallowed the small lump in her throat before giving a small nod. She watched him prop himself up better to look at her until a small smile formed.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m just... I’m glad you’re ok and I’m really happy you’re home now.”
As much anger and sadness Ember felt inside right now, she couldn’t help the small smile that stretched across her lips at her brother’s words.
They both turned their heads to the sound of the doorbell ringing out.
“Who’s that?” Ember asked.
“Probably everyone else,” Scorpius said as he got up from the bed and walked around to Ember’s side.
“Everyone else?”
“Yeah, Mum has a big dinner planned tonight... you know our usual big ridiculous family dinners where we all want to kill each other by the time its over?” he reminded her with a smirk before he held his hand out for her.
“What do you want?” she asked as she eyed his outstretched hand.
“Uh, I’m helping you up so we can join everyone.”
Ember quickly shook her head. “No, I can’t be around everyone right now.” She quickly objected as she pulled the covers up over her and went to turn over.
Scorpius grabbed the blankets and pulled them back with one hard tug. “No, no, no, you’re not going to lay in bed for weeks and sulk about everything. You need to get up.”
“Up? I can hardly walk.” Ember spat as she tried to reach for the blankets he was holding away from her.
“I don’t know if I believe that.” He teased as he grabbed her crutch and handed it to her.
She refused to look at him and tried her best to ignore his persistent stares. “Get out.” She said through clenched teeth.
“Why don’t you want to go out there? Because of Noah?” he asked as he took a seat beside her.
She shot him a deadly glare before her expression suddenly softened and her eyes welled with tears. She bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling and finally hung her head as she failed from holding her tears in. “I feel so embarrassed. I’m so stupid.”
“You’re not stupid and there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Jake is an asshole and honestly, Noah is too, but he’s redeeming himself. You hate him even more now though because of what happened with Jake.”
“No!” she quickly objected.
“Uh, yeah.” He said with some amusement as she pathetically tried to object to his theory.
She was angry at him for picking up on her feelings. “I hate you.” She mumbled.
He just smiled widely at her. “I know.” He leaned forward and wiped a stray tear away. “You should be angry with Noah, he hurt you. What he did and how he treated you... sometimes that stuff isn’t forgivable, regardless of the reasoning behind it.”
She looked up at him again, she wasn’t sure why but the fact that Scorpius was telling her it was ok to be angry with Noah made her feel better because she really was angry. Yes, it was true, she hated Noah ten times more than she did before because of Jake’s betrayal and she was definitely taking it out on him.
“Hey guys?” came Riley’s voice from the doorway. “Mum said to get your arse’s to the table now.” She said with a small giggle.
Ember just stared at her. There was so much for her to deal with emotionally and she still felt guilt for leaving Riley out there in those woods. Then of course she had the mental image of her clone slicing her own throat that constantly replayed in her head.
“You’re going to come to dinner, right Ember?” she asked as she locked eyes with hers. “Please?”
“Uh... yeah, of course.” She nodded.
Riley just smiled at her before she walked over to her and tightly hugged her. “Ember, don’t feel guilty... you saved my life.” She whispered in her ear.
Ember felt relieved to hear Riley tell her that and she was surprised to see Riley being the one to console her. She pulled back to better look at her and her eyes immediately went to the burns on her hands and arms.
“They’ll heal up,” Riley said as she watched Ember’s eyes take in her injuries. “Just like you will... physically, emotionally... and mentally.”
Ember wiped her tears away; she felt like a baby crying so much when Riley was put through hell in that lab and was more together than she was.
“It’s nice to see you’re dealing with everything a lot better than I am.” Ember quietly spoke as she hung her head.
“Well, I wasn’t and then I just spilled my heart out to Dad and let it all out. I felt a lot better and I have a lot of support and so do you.”
“She’s right, but you’ll probably be more of a blower upper with this situation.” Scorpius teased as he helped Ember stand up from the bed.
“What do you mean?” Ember asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Meaning you’ll hold it all inside and then just have this all-out explosion. Honestly, you’ll probably take it out on Noah... poor bloke.”
“I won’t do that!” Ember disagreed.
Riley and Scorpius looked at each other. “Yeah, you will.” They said agreed in unison as they shared a laugh.
Draco made his way over to the door at the sound of the bell filling the manor. He gave a small smile when he looked across the foyer into the dining room and saw Aurora and Ellie setting the table. He still couldn’t believe he had his family together again and having a big family dinner just like old times was exactly what they all needed.
He pulled the door open and stood there for a moment in surprise as his eyes fell on James.
“Good evening Mr. Malfoy, you’re looking quite dashing this evening. Is that a new shirt? Because-“
He was cut off when Draco grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into a tight hug. Draco held onto him for a few moments tighter than he intended to. He had given James hell for the past few years just because of his eye on his daughter, but at the end of the day, James was like another son to him. Memories of the day he was born and the first time he held him flooded his mind as he held onto him just a little longer. He didn’t think he would respond the way he would when seeing James, but seeing him again after everything, after he risked his life for Aurora... it just reminded him how lucky they all were to be alive still and be together.
“I’m glad you’re ok Kid,” Draco spoke, his voice a bit shaky.
“James!” Aurora yelled as her voice filled the foyer and ran to him.
Normally Draco would have already pried the two of them from each other and shoved James off in the opposite direction, but all he noticed was the way they latched onto each other. It was as if they couldn’t breathe without the other and it made Draco remember how he held Ginny the other day at the Ministry when he saw her back to normal. The longing he felt for her in his heart was almost unbearable and the thought of her never being right again was gut-wrenching.
Aurora’s lips were barely on James when he quickly pulled back. “Do you want me to end up in the hospital again?” he asked her as he nodded to Draco standing beside them.
Aurora just rolled her eyes. “Dad, I’m going to kiss my boyfriend, so turn around or something.” She said as she pulled James to her and kissed him.
“Boyfriend? Nothing has been discussed with me on this matter.” Draco said as he watched Aurora ignore him and pull James along to the dining room. “THIS CONVERSATION ISN’T OVER!” he yelled to her.
“I thought you were happy to see him?” Harry teased as he made his way inside with Luna and Bella.
Draco just stared at him as he passed, his expression turned serious.
“You ok?” Harry asked with a bit of amusement.
After a moment Draco nodded. “I’m just... it’s just good to see everyone together again.” He settled on before giving Harry a hard pat on the back as he followed him the rest of the way into the Manor.
Dinner at the Manor was just how it used to be, the sound of conversation and the occasional bickering from the kids filled the halls. You could hardly tell anyone had been through the nightmare they all had or that many of them faced much uncertainty about their futures. As much love and happiness filled that room there was still tension that lingered at the opposite end of the table where Ember sat across from Noah.
She kept thinking about why she felt so angry with him again. She had already had her outburst on him back at the house when Noah first arrived with Eve. Even after that, they managed to be civil towards each other but now after Jake betraying her and hearing about Noah’s part in his father’s plans, it made her angry. She almost felt angry with herself for feeling anything for Noah at this time.
She suddenly felt his eyes on her and then realized she must have been staring at him the entire time her mind was wandering. She couldn’t break her gaze fast enough as she looked anywhere else beside him. As hard as she tried to steer her thoughts in a different direction they gravitated back to Noah again. She just kept reliving the moment she realized Jake was playing her the whole time. She ran her fingers over the still healing wound on her side from Jake’s attack on her.
Once again she found her eyes on Noah across the table and this time when he locked his gaze with hers she didn’t break it. She thought about the nightmare she had in the hospital about him and the memory she relived from their school days. She felt a lump form in her throat as she remembered the earlier years between them. Her mind was all over the place and she wanted all of her thoughts to just fade, but it didn’t seem likely. As hard as she kept trying they still went back to Noah or Jake. The hard gaze she had on Noah suddenly turned softer as she went back to him trying to fight off Jake in the lab. She could still hear Noah’s howl and see those yellow eyes every time she closed hers.
She suddenly felt all thoughts of Noah fade away and every time she tried to go back to them something kept distracting her mind. Her eyes met Eve’s who was sitting beside Noah who gave her a small smile as her purple pupils turned back to normal. Ember gave her a silent nod of appreciation before she turned towards Riley beside her who also sensed Ember’s wandering thoughts. Riley quickly started a conversation about her upcoming birthday in an attempt to distract Ember from the internal torture she was putting herself through.
Towards the end of dinner, casual conversation continued to fill the room but came to a dead silence when the sound of the doorbell rang out.
“This should be interesting,” Draco mumbled as he got up to answer it, already having a hunch of who it was. He opened the door and a slight sneer crossed his face.
“Mr. Malfoy, good evening, hope this isn’t a bad time,” Matthew said.
“Well it is, come back tomorrow.” He snapped as he went to slam the door shut.
Matthew quickly put his hand out to stop it from closing. “This will only take a few minutes.” He insisted.
Draco just glared at him. “You’re an asshole, you know that.” He suddenly blurted out.
“Ex-Excuse me?” Matthew asked, a bit surprised by Draco’s comment.
“I said you’re an asshole. Showing up here as if you can’t trust me, Harry or Hermione. Acting like a fuckin babysitter to those two, which by the way, EVE... NOAH CAN YOU COME OUT HERE, YOU’RE BABYSITTER IS HERE!” he yelled across the foyer.
“Mr. Malfoy-“
“What do you want? To check on them? There they are.” He said as he gestured towards Eve and Noah walking towards them. “Now fuck off.” He went to close the door when Matthew once again put his hand out to stop it.
“Mr. Malfoy I must insist that I come in for a moment.” He demanded as his tone turned serious.
Draco just rolled his eyes before opening the door just enough for Matthew to squeeze through. He hardly waited for Matthew to get all the way inside before he slammed the door shut causing the corner of Matthew’s suit jacket to get caught in the door.
Draco just smirked while watching him pull it free from the door. “Nice suit.” He drawled before turning to Eve and Noah.
Matthew’s lip quivered with anger before taking a deep breath and refocusing his attention on the other two. “Eve... Noah, good to see you again.”
“Is it?” Noah asked.
Matthew cleared his throat before finding his composure once more. “You guys know anything about the Adwell household burning to the ground last night?”
All three of them didn’t even flinch at the mention of Mr. Adwell’s house.
“Nope.” Noah shrugged.
“You seem awfully calm about finding out your family home is nothing more than a pile of ashes,” Matthew stated, his eyes narrowing a bit with suspicion.
“Why should I care? There’s nothing in that house worth keeping, I’m glad it's gone... nothing happy ever filled that house anyway.”
Matthew's eyes traveled down to their wrists. “I see you’ve removed their bracelets?” he turned to Draco.
Draco gave a hard sigh and folded his arms. “Yep.” His gaze was locked with Matthew’s, daring him to make a big deal about it.
“Matthew? So good to see you!” Molly’s voice rang out, cutting through the tension as she hugged him. “Come on in and have some dinner.” She said as she went to lead him to the dining room.
“Oh no thank you, Molly, I’m just here to check-in,” he explained.
“On these two? Pft” she waved her hand. “There’s nothing to worry about with these two, especially this one.” She said with a bright smile as she cupped Eve’s face and gave it a quick squeeze. “You don’t honestly think you really need to be checking in on these two now do you?”
Everyone was quiet for a moment as Matthew looked over at Eve and Noah, his eyes lingering on Eve for a moment longer before he lowered his head a bit. “I suppose not.” He said with a small smile to Molly.
“Good, come on you two let's grab some dessert.” She motioned for Noah and Eve to follow her.
“Eve, can I speak to you for a moment?” Matthew asked.
She gave a small nod before turning back to Noah and motioning him to go ahead without her. She watched Draco keep his distance in an attempt to give them some privacy but remained in earshot. She walked up to Matthew, more closely than he thought she would.
“I know what you want to say to me and as much as I appreciate your apology... I won’t accept it until I hear you speak it.” She said, her tone cold.
He just stared at her for a good moment before his expression softened.
“Go ahead Matthew... tell me.” She demanded as she stared him down.
He finally was able to look her in the eye. “I’m sorry Eve, I’m sorry I turned on you and Noah. It’s hard to think anything good or a with a heart as pure as yours came from a man like Jack Adwell and I doubted you both and questioned my loyalty to you... to all of you.” He said as his eyes traveled over to Draco across the room.
Eve took a step closer, giving him a fierce glare. “Anything good in me came from my mother.”
He flashed her a slight grin before turning to leave. “They’ll want to see them... the Ministry... they’ll want to see your powers, what you can do. Just be ready.”
Eve’s eyes remained locked on the spot where Matthew was standing just a second ago. The thought of showing off her powers to the Ministry made her feel like some freak show. It scared her to think of the possibility of losing control or even hurting someone. The thought made her wrap her fingers tightly around the stone that laid on her neck.
“Come on.”
She heard Draco’s voice make its way through the cloud of thoughts filling her head and took a deep breath before making her way back to the dining room.
“Is everything alright?” Ginny asked.
Draco nodded. “Maybe its time to call it a night?” He suggested.
Ginny gave him a small smile before she got up and started clearing the table with the help of Molly and Hermione. Ember got up and started to make her way back to her bedroom as everyone else started to disperse and get lost in conversation. She could feel Noah’s eyes on her as she made her way silently past him.
“Maybe I should go talk to her?” Noah suggested to Scorpius who was standing beside him.
“Uh, no. Believe me, I know Ember pretty well. She’s hasn’t had her outburst on you yet so there won’t be any talking to her right now.”
“Outburst? How so?” Noah asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I can’t explain it, you’ll know when it happens.”
Noah just shook his head as he watched Ember continue down the hall. “I’m going to talk to her.” He decided as he started to walk after her.
Scorpius just shook his head at Noah’s poor decision and leaned against the wall at the end of the hall for him to return.
“Hey, Ember, can we talk for a minute?” Noah asked as he ran to catch up with her.
She ignored him, she had to, she could hardly look at him right now.
“Ember, please?”
She opened her bedroom door and went to walk inside.
“Ember-“
“STOP!” she yelled at him, her eyes finally meeting his. “I don’t want to talk to you Noah. Please leave me alone.”
“Why? Why can’t we talk about-“
“Why? Because Noah every time I look at you I think of how much you’ve hurt me. Then I think about how much Jake hurt me and then I think about how fucking stupid I was to trust either of you and how I’m just some naïve fool who got taken advantage of and put her entire family in danger.”
Noah was silent.
“When I look in the mirror and I see what he did to me... how he betrayed me... It makes me hate him more and more. It makes me hate you more and more, so please leave me alone.” She said through her cracking voice as she slammed the door shut behind her.
He took a moment to compose himself before walking back towards Scorpius. “You mean that outburst?” he asked.
Scorpius just snickered. “Oh no, that was nothing. Trust me, you’ll know when it happens.” He said before making his way upstairs.
Draco made his way downstairs in the middle of the night for a glass of water after continuous tossing and turning all night. He glanced down the hall and saw the light to the room Ember was staying in was on and so he made his way over to it. He leaned against the doorway watching his oldest daughter repeatedly open and close her palms. He waited to see what she was trying to do but after a few more times he gave in and entered the room.
“What are you doing?”
Ember jumped at the sound of his voice before laying back in bed and covering herself with the blankets. “Nothing.” She mumbled.
He took a seat on the side of her bed and looked her over. He was happy to see her healing quickly but knew her heart would take the longest to heal out of any other injury. He wanted to say something encouraging to her but he knew she wouldn’t want to hear any of the cliché things that ran through his head.
“Can’t sleep?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Want to talk?”
She shook her head again.
“Want some water, I was just-
“Dad!” she shouted. “Please just leave me alone.”
His eyes locked with hers for a moment before nodding and getting up to leave.
Ember watched him walk away and all she could think about was how much she had missed her parents over these past few months. How she and her family were lucky to be alive and together again. Her mind then drifted to what Riley had told her earlier about talking to their parents about what happened. She tightly squeezed her eyes shut and roughly rubbed her face.
“Dad?” she finally choked out before he got through the doorway. She watched him turn back to her as she unburied her face from her hands. “Don’t go.”
He gave her a sad look before walking back over and taking his place back on the side of her bed.
Silence filled the room for a few moments.
“I... I was trying to conjure up my powers.” She quietly spoke. “I haven’t been able to feel them since...” she trailed off, her eyes unable to meet his without tears filling them. “Why can’t I feel them? Are they gone?”
“No.”
“Then why can’t I feel them?” she asked as she finally looked up at him.
He could see the concern in her eyes at the thought of her powers being no more. “Emotions play a big part in the control of our powers Ember.”
“But I’m angry, so shouldn’t they be raging?” she snapped.
“Yes, but you’re also hurt and-
“So, I’ve had many injuries and have been able to-
“Not like that... you’re hurting here.” He gently placed his hand over her heart. “You’re just feeling defeated right now. They will come back and they will be stronger than ever... I guarantee it.” He reassured her.
She was quiet for a moment as she took in his words. “Dad, why am I so mad at Noah? I mean I know why because of how he treated me and everything with him and Raven, but then when Jake told me everything else about Noah I didn’t know how to feel. A part of me wants to forgive him and I feel obligated to forgive him but I don’t want to. I loved him at one point... maybe I still do? I don’t know, the thought of me wanting to love someone who hurt me is ridiculous. I loved Jake... he hurt me too. What is wrong with me? Are you disappointed in me? I feel like I failed you as a daughter.” She cried, her voice breaking with every sentence.
Draco watched her breakdown before him and he couldn’t help but just watch her for a moment as he processed her words. How could she ever think that she was a disappointment to him? He thought of Ginny and how his children definitely got their kind and caring heart from her.
He finally lifted her chin until she was looking him dead in the eyes. “There is nothing wrong with you and your mother and I couldn’t be any prouder of you than we already are... all of you. Everything you’re feeling is probably normal.”
“Probably?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
They both gave a small laugh.
“Listen, your mother is a lot better with the whole feelings thing, but I’m trying and I’m just putting everything together. Maybe you hate that you have feelings for Noah rather than actually hating him? You can’t take out your hatred for Jake because he isn’t here and Noah is, so... it just makes him an easy target.”
She could only shake her head at his words, unsure of how to respond to them. She thought about what Scorpius said earlier and she knew he was right, but it was hard to admit still. She just wanted to feel like everything was back to normal again, but she knew that wouldn’t be likely any time soon.
They were both quiet, each getting lost in their own thoughts until Ember finally broke the silence.
“Dad... do you think-“ She paused as she rethought through her question. “Do you think Jake’s sorry for anything he did? I really thought... that he loved me.”
Draco couldn’t help but just stare at her as his mind tried to work out a proper answer for her. He cleared his throat before repositioning himself to better face her. “I think that... I think that for most people knowing the difference between right and wrong is a natural thing. I think for people like Jake or Noah... or even myself at one point, that at some point doing the wrong thing seemed like the right thing to do. When your morals suddenly become challenged after living a life where you thought they were the only right way, that’s when you start seeing things from a different perspective. Once you see that there’s this entire other path that you can take in life and not follow the one that for years you felt obligated to follow and not wander from... it’s... it's amazing.”
Ember watched his facial expression as he mentioned this other path and that’s when she could see the smile in his eyes and the happiness that filled them.
“Was that other path Mum?”
The smile in his eyes finally reached his lips at her question before he nodded. “Indeed it was. My point is that not everyone gets a second chance at starting their life over and sometimes even when they do they still follow that same path. So, I think Jake has a lot to think about... he’ll certainly have time on his hands now to live with the decisions he’s made. I know that I could have easily been Jake... I just feel incredibly lucky that your mother saved my life before I ruined it completely.”
Draco watched as she absorbed his words and tried to make sense of them. He often thought about his life and what it could’ve been if Ginny never shared that train compartment with him that day eighteen years ago. Sometimes he looked at his children and couldn’t believe they were his, even now staring at Ember, his eighteen-year-old daughter that he was scared to death to be a father to... even now it was still just unbelievable how lucky of a man he was. He sometimes even questioned if he really did deserve all of this or if he really would wake up one day and it would all just be a dream.
“Try to get some sleep, you need your rest. I want to see you up and about tomorrow.” He got up and pulled the blankets up over her and gave her a quick tuck in. “Just give yourself time, ok?”
She stared up at him for a moment before giving a small nod.
“Love you, try to get some sleep.” He said as he placed a quick kiss on her head and left the room.
“Scorpius?” Eve whispered as she gave him a small shake. “Scorpius, wake up,” she whispered a little louder as she sat down on his bed.
His eyes snapped open as soon as he realized it was Eve’s voice he heard, making him jolt up. “What’s the matter? Is everything ok?”
She instinctively placed her hand on his chest to push him back a bit to help him settle down. “Shh, everything is fine.” She said with an amused smile. Her smile quickly faded when she realized he had no top on and her hand was on his bare chest. She cleared her throat before removing her hand. “I was just wondering if you might feel like practicing with me?” she asked as her voice grew small with embarrassment at her poorly placed hand.
He looked at the clock beside him and saw it was a little after five in the morning. “Now?”
“Matthew said they’ll want me to showcase my powers and I’m just... I just want to make sure I’m ready... for anything.” She explained as she fingered the stone around her neck.
“I’ll be ready in just a minute.” He said as he slipped out of bed and turned on a small lamp.
Eve’s eyes shifted to Scorpius’ bare chest again as she watched him look for his shirt. She suddenly caught herself staring at him and their eyes locked. Her heart immediately started racing as he walked back over to his bed where she was sitting. He was so close to her that she had to lean her head back to look up at him. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat but it was no use. She watched a slow smirk form on his face when a shimmer of purple flashed in her eyes and she tightened her grip on her necklace.
He just stood there for a second, she could tell he was contemplating something but her mind was going too crazy to try to read his. She suddenly felt one of his hands cup the side of her face and before she knew it his lips were on hers. Her body must’ve gone limp from how she melted from the feel of his mouth on hers because she felt him wrap his other hand around the small of her back and pulled her a little closer. She couldn’t even lift her hand to caress his face or run her fingers through his hair because her body was completely useless right now.
As soon as she felt her body ready to respond to him kissing her, he pulled back. She felt him lean over her a bit and grab something behind her on the bed.
“Had to get my shirt.” He said with a satisfied smile as he finally slipped it on.
She just sat there and stared at him, her fingers touching her lips where his were just moments ago.
“Listen, I know you want all of this.” He motioned to his body. “But we need to practice first, so snap out of it.” He teased her as he threw his shoes on.
She finally felt a smile form as he made light of the awkwardness of her shocked expression. “You know maybe I was just shocked at how horrible of a kisser you are.” She teased back as she finally got up and led the way out of the room.
“Wait... really?” he asked sounding genuinely concerned.
She started laughing. “How would I know? You’re the only person I’ve kissed.” she continued giggling all the way downstairs before finally running from Scorpius who started chasing her.
Draco pulled her closer to him as he buried his face in a mass of her fiery hair. He felt her place her hand over the one he had wrapped around her in bed. He placed a small kiss on the back of her shoulder blade before he started drifting off into another peaceful sleep. The sound of Ginny’s light breathing beside him brought comfort to him and reminded him just how lucky of a man he really was.
Just as he was about to doze off again, his eyes snapped open at the sound of a loud bang that came from outside. He heard Ginny’s breathing come to a stop as she too woke up at the sound. They were both quiet and waited for a moment to see if they heard it again, but when an even louder bang was heard and the windows started to shake they both jumped out of bed and ran over to the window.
“What the hell was that?” Ginny asked as she looked around outside for the source.
After realizing they couldn’t see anything from their room they both started sprinting downstairs. Once they got to the foyer they heard a small scream come from the backyard and ran towards it; Draco’s powers already surfacing as he feared what awaited them. It felt like an eternity was going by as he ran through the massive manor to get to the yard.
“WHY THE FUCK IS THIS HOUSE SO DAMN BIG!” he yelled out over his shoulder as he and Ginny continued to run. “WE’RE FUCKIN MOVING!”
They finally reached the back doors and as he went to open it he realized there was ice covering the knobs making it harder to open. He slammed his body against it to break through the light layer of ice and finally they made their way outside. They both snapped their heads to the side when they heard the sound of laughter reach their ears and saw Harper and Noah standing there watching the others.
They just stood there and took in the scene as the field before them was filled with fire and ice and some other questionable destruction.
“What in the fuckin shit fuck is going on out here?” Draco demanded.
“Shit fuck?” Noah mumbled to himself as he looked at Harper who shrugged at what the word meant.
“They’re just practicing,” Harper said happily.
“Practicing?” He mumbled to himself.
“Well you know, fucking around,” Harper said.
“Language young lady.” Ginny snapped.
“What? But Dad...Sorry Mum.” She just gave in before turning back to the field.
They walked further out into the chaos to get a better look. Draco suddenly felt Ginny pull him by the back of the shirt out of the way of a giant fireball flying past them. The fireball turned out to be Ellie who was skidding to a halt along a trail of ice as she was thrown backward. They watched her flames finally die out before she picked herself up from the ground after a rather hard hit from her brother.
“Ellie? Are you ok?” Ginny quickly went to run to her when she saw she had a cut on the side of her face.
“I’m fine Mum.” She shrugged it off as she quickly put her hands out to stop a giant boulder of ice flying towards her.
She melted the giant piece of ice with little effort and then turned to her parents to see them drenched in the melted water.
“Oops, sorry.” She giggled before running back into action, not giving her small injury a second thought.
Ginny and Draco just stood there before turning towards each other and taking in their soaked appearance. After composing themselves a bit and using a quick drying spell, they took a few steps forward to take in the entire scene before them. They just watched them all practicing for a few minutes, both of them in awe at just how far their kids had come.
“They really are amazing aren’t they?” Ginny said, her gaze fixed on the incredible powers her children possessed.
Draco could see how proud she was of them from the look on her face and her glistening eyes. He just smiled at her and then turned back towards the field. His eyes fell on Eve across the way who seemed to be showing Riley something. He went to make his way over to them but the sound of Harper and Noah laughing beside him got his attention.
“Ah, Dad, did you see that blow Aurora took right to her precious porcelain face.” Harper laughed with a bit of a maniacal tone that was borderline concerning.
He just shook his head at her comment before his eyes fell on Noah. “Shouldn’t you be... you know... out there practicing with them?”
Noah scoffed at his words. “Pft, yeah if you want to watch me pick pieces of your kids from my teeth later.” He drawled before he looked over at Eve and Riley across the field.
Draco just gave him a sad look before following his gaze across the field again.
“What is she trying to do with Riley?” Ginny asked.
“She’s trying to help her develop her powers. Conjure them up without them harming her.” Noah explained.
Draco and Ginny just watched from across the field, both of them hopeful that Eve might be able to help her.
“Ok Riley, now as soon as you feel the slightest bit of warm try not to freak out. Fear is one of the biggest obstacles that people with special abilities like ours have to learn to overcome. Fear can take over and make you lose control and then depending on how powerful you are, things can turn deadly.”
She watched Riley’s eyes grow a bit wider at her words before she cupped Riley’s hands between hers. “But that’s not going to happen.” She tried to reassure her. “Look at me Riley,” she saw her eyes meet hers once more. “All because your powers were forced out doesn’t make them a bad thing. These powers would have surfaced eventually and because of how they emerged from within, your body hasn’t learned to adapt to them yet. You have to get your mind to change its way of thinking. You see if your powers were to have naturally developed then that burning sensation would be something you welcomed with open arms.”
“But how? How can I make myself not be afraid?” she pleaded with Eve for an answer.
Eve gave her a warm smile. “Here.” She reached for Riley’s bracelet to take off when Riley retracted her wrist before she could. “Riley, it's ok... I promise you won’t get hurt. Trust me.”
Riley searched her eyes for any doubt but after feeling like she could trust her she gave Eve her wrist and watched her take it off. Eve cupped her hand’s tightly around Riley’s once more.
“Ok, give it a go,” Eve told her.
She quickly shook her head. “I can’t... I’m too scared it will hurt me.”
“It won’t, I promise,” Eve reassured her as her pupils turned purple.
Riley felt her heart start to race as fear filled her, but she was so tired of being constantly scared of an element that she should be embracing. She could feel her blood boiling beneath her skin with her newly developed powers just waiting for her to welcome them. She closed her eyes tightly and focused on the warmth that filled her body before she let out a shaky breath and slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes turned a shade darker as she focused her attention to her hands buried beneath Eve’s. After a moment she felt the flames covering her hands and her first instinct was to panic as she awaited the scalding feeling from them. When she didn’t feel her skin burning she looked up at Eve and then back down at her hands until Eve slowly uncupped her grip from Riley’s.
Riley’s hands were inside this small dome that Eve formed around her hands to protect Riley from being burned. She watched the flames dance across her hands and in between her fingers as she opened and closed her palms a few times.
“Whoa.” Was all she managed to get out as she got a chance to watch just how beautiful her powers were.
Seeing her being able to produce them without harming her made most of her fear of them fade, even though she knew Eve was using her powers to keep the flames from burning her. She felt more determined to master them now at seeing just exactly what she was capable of.
“Go harder... push yourself a bit... breakthrough my forcefield,” Eve told her.
Riley gave a look of uncertainty but nodded at the request. She looked at the burn marks on her wrists and grew angry because she let her own powers hurt her. She knew it wasn’t her fault but it still angered her. She felt that much more determined to overcome any pain she might feel and mentally let go of any fear she had of them. As soon as that fear subsided she felt the flames grow higher and hotter. She gave a small hiss as she felt them coming through Eve’s small dome she formed around her hands but she kept pushing.
Eve finally took down any protective barrier around Riley and let her continue to push her powers. “Don’t be afraid Riley, just look at what you’re able to do.”
Riley winced a bit as the flames grew and were all the way up her arms at this point. She felt the flames whip through her strands and soon all traces of any burning sensation faded. She welcomed the warmth that filled her body and soon she felt her whole body covered in this tiny inferno that she created. Just as soon as she started to settle into the feeling, her powers died down and she gave a small frown.
“What happened?” she asked sounding confused and a bit disappointed.
“What happened? What happened was you just overcame a giant obstacle.” Eve said in excitement. “You did it, Riley, that was amazing!” She pulled her into a quick hug before seeing she still looked confused. “Don’t think too much into Riley, they only died down because you’re not used to using them. You need to practice just like how your brother and sisters did to perfect them to get them to stay surfaced. It's just about focus and control at this point.” She stood there and continued to look at Riley before she smiled at her again. “You are brilliant... I’m so proud of you.”
Riley let her words sink in before she gave a wide smile at what she had just overcome. She never really understood what her siblings meant when they made comments about how developing their powers had helped them learn more about themselves or how it felt like a void had been filled. Now though, she could understand what they meant, now that she wasn’t afraid of them any longer she could see how her powers were the missing puzzle piece to her life.
Draco turned to Ginny who had a wide smile on her face. “Well look at that... she did it.”
“Makes me feel hopeful about my powers,” Ginny said, her smile slightly fading as she fidgeting with the bracelet on her wrist.
Draco pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head.
“Sorry did we wake you guys?” Scorpius asked as he walked over and tried to catch his breath.
“Ya think?” Draco snapped.
“Sorry Mr. Malfoy, I asked Scorpius to practice with me so I can be ready for this trial,” Eve explained as she walked over to them.
“You think you need that much practice? Thought you had a good handle on them?” he asked her.
“I just want to be ready... Things have been difficult since I haven’t had my implant.” Her voice grew meek as she twisted the stone around her neck between her fingers.
“Why don’t I start some breakfast,” Ginny suggested as she turned and made her way inside.
“Good idea and in the meantime, WHY DON’T YOU ALL CONJURE UP SOME DAMN GRASS FOR THIS TORN UP FUCKIN LAWN!” Draco yelled out to them as they disappeared onto the field again; Ellie leaving a trail of burning singed grass behind her.
Ginny made her way into the kitchen and was surprised to see Ember up and looking out the window. “Oh, didn’t expect to see you up already.” She said with a smile as she made her way over and gave her a quick hug good morning. “And look, no crutches today. I’m assuming you’re feeling a lot better?” She assumed as she started preparing the pancake batter and taking some plates out of the cabinet.
“I guess so.” She mumbled before she broke her gaze from the window where she was watching the others practice and turned to her mum. She thought back to her mother's warning about Jake being a monster just like his father and shook her head at how she defended him to her.
“You ok?” Ginny asked her as she took notice of the silence between them.
Ember just watched her continue to cook before she leaned against the counter and let out a light sigh. “You were right Mum... about Jake.”
Ginny just looked at her before she looked down as she remembered how ashamed she felt for saying something like that, especially when Draco had a troubled upbringing. “First off Ember, I want you to understand something and this is very important so listen.” She gently grabbed Ember’s shoulders and gave her a firm stare. “What I said wasn’t right, it is not fair to judge somebody based off of the actions of somebody else. What Jake has done to you... to us, is devastating, but that doesn’t make me right for saying those things. If anyone was right, it was you. You reminded me how something so amazing can come from the darkest of places and the most broken of people.” She said softly before tucking a piece of Ember’s fiery hair behind her ear.
Ember felt her lip quiver a bit and quickly cleared her throat before a lump could form.
“Here, why don’t you go start setting the table and we can talk more after breakfast?” Ginny suggested as she watched Ember struggle with holding in her emotions.
Ember gave a quick nod before taking the plates and walking to the dining room. Ginny went back to her pancakes before she caught sight of Draco walking past the kitchen. “Hey, can you grab Ava?”
“Sure.” He said before he stopped to give her a quick kiss, his hand cupping her ass before he left the kitchen and made his way upstairs.
She grabbed some cups and flatware from the drawers and went to sit them on the counter when she saw Noah pass. “Hey!” she called out to him.
He took a step back and looked at her from the doorway. “You talking to me?”
“Yes, here, take these to the dining room.” She ordered.
He walked over and took the cups and flatware from her. “Shouldn’t you guys have servants for this kind of stuff?” he asked.
“That’s what I have seven kids for.” She teased.
“So should I get Scorpius to take these?” he joked making her giggle.
“As long as you’re under this roof I’ll treat you like one my servants- oh I mean kids.” She lightly joked.
He smirked at her comment before making his way to the dining room. When he walked into the room he didn’t expect to see Ember there laying out the plates. He watched her gaze meet his for a few moments before she continued what she was doing.
“Sorry, your mum asked me to bring these in,” he said before he started putting the flatware down beside the plates she was putting down. “So, how are you feeling? You’re walking better I see.”
She stopped and just looked at him. “Please don’t speak to me.” She snapped.
Noah furrowed his eyebrows at her request. “So I can’t ask how you’re feeling?”
“No.” She simply said.
“Well too bad, I’m going to ask anyway.”
“Well don’t.”
“Well, I did so now what?” he challenged her.
She just shot him an angry glare before rolling her eyes. “Shouldn’t you be outside practicing with the rest of them?” she said as she sat her last plate down that Noah had been waiting for her to place so he can add the silverware. “Oh that’s right, doesn’t there need to be a full moon for you to practice?” she scoffed.
“Wow, that’s fucked up.” He stated as he followed her angrily out of the dining room and back to the kitchen.
“Oh was that hurtful? Because I don’t remember you caring about the hurtful things you said to me that night.” She shot back as she grabbed the plate of pancakes from her mother to take into the other room.
“You know I never meant to say any of that shit.” Noah spat, angry that she was bringing up that night when really, he was just angry at himself.
“Umm..” Ginny just stayed quiet as they argued back and forth in front of her.
“Really? Sure sounded like you meant it when you said it.” Ember argued.
“It’s not like that Ember and you know it.” He said defensively as he took the plate of bacon Ginny went to bring inside and followed Ember back to the dining room.
Draco placed Ava down in her highchair and looked up at the two of them arguing. “Maybe you two should talk in priv-“
“There’s no need for that Dad. This conversation is over.” Ember said in a dismissive tone.
“Like hell it is.” Noah fumed as he slid the plate down on the table and followed Ember back out to the hallway where the others had made their way inside for breakfast.
Ember stopped in her tracks and turned around so quickly her hair whipped him in the face. “Alright, you want to talk?” she gave him a hard shove back, making him stumble a bit. “Let’s talk.”
“Hey! Stop guys!” Draco called from the dining room before walking over to them before things escalated any more than they already had.
“It’s fine, everything is fine. Noah just wants to talk, right? That’s all you want?” Ember took a step towards him, anger rising with every second that passed. “What do you want to talk about? How you treated me? How about the things you said to me? Or how you fucked Raven and betrayed me?”
“Ember stop.” Draco gently grabbed her shoulders and stopped her from getting any closer to Noah. “Let’s go calm down.” He tried to have her back down.
She ignored his words and didn’t care that he was between them, she had so much anger built up towards Jake and Noah she didn’t know what to do with it all.
“HOW ABOUT YOUR PLANS TO TURN ME OVER TO YOUR FATHER! HOW ABOUT TURNING MY PARENTS OVER! HOW ABOUT YOU TURNING YOUR BACK ON YOUR FAMILY JUST TO PLEASE THAT PSYCHOPATH OF A FATHER!” she screamed at him as Draco tugged on her arm in an attempt to pull her into another room to cool off.
Noah just stood there, ashamed at her words as he kept his head down.
Ember ripped her arm from her father’s grasp. “How about we talk about those powers of yours. Tell me Noah... how does it feel to be a freak?” she spat, her voice breaking as the words left her mouth and she locked eyes with him. She could see how she had broken him with her words. “You said we were nothing more than a bunch of freaks who should be locked up in that lab, well how does it feel to be a freak like the rest of us?”
Nobody spoke, silence filled the hallway as they all just let the words settle in the air.
“What’s the matter? You have nothing to say? I thought you wanted to talk?” she mocked him.
Silence still filled the hall.
“SAY SOMETHING NOAH!” she screamed.
Draco could feel the temperature around him suddenly rise as he knew Ember’s anger was at an almost uncontrollable level. He felt her take a step towards Noah and he went to grab her arm again when he was roughly pushed backward. It wasn’t by Ember but by the blazing barrier of heat that surrounded her. He watched her fingers crawl into a tight fist before slowly unraveling with tiny flames that trailed around each finger and came to the center of each palm.
“Ember don’t!” he shouted to her through the forcefield that separated her and the rest of them.
She threw a fireball at Noah that he barely dodged.
“Come on Noah, show me those powers... show me how much of a fuckin freak you are.” She badgered him, her words soaked with hatred for him.
“Ember stop!” Scorpius tried to reach her, but he could tell her mind was on an entirely different level than his.
Eve attempted to force her to back down but whatever barrier Ember out up was making it hard for Eve to get through to her. It also didn’t help that Ember was completely focused and locked onto Noah and nothing was going to distract her from taking out her anger on him.
Ember threw another fireball and then another, all of them nearly hitting Noah. She finally managed to hit him with one that sent him flying backward onto the ground with a hard thud and sliding a bit across the marble floor.
Eve and Scorpius ran over and helped him back up to his feet.
“Yeah, remember that freak out she was due to have soon? This is it.” Scorpius warned as he helped Noah find his balance.
He quickly formed a large shield in front of him, Noah, and Eve as Ember had already unleashed a steady stream of flames at Noah.
“You might want to run at this point, she’s turned completely fuckin psycho,” Scorpius said as he winced a bit at how hot the raging flames were.
Noah went to take off but didn’t get far before the flames outran him and blocked his path.
“EMBER! ENOUGH!” Ginny screamed at her. “THIS WON’T SOLVE ANYTHING!” she tried to reason with her daughter but she could see Ember’s eyes turn a shade darker and she worried just how angry Ember really was.
Ginny’s words were ignored and before anyone could attempt to talk her down again she advanced on Noah once more. He continued to dodge or block most of her powers but she only kept getting angrier and soon it became hard for him to protect himself from the constant flames. Eve threw herself in front of her brother just as a wave of flames was about to hit him and blocked it with her powers. She left the forcefield of energy up as the flames kept intensifying to try and break through.
“N-Noah...” Eve turned to look at her brother, her arms and hands shaking as she fought with everything in her to keep her shield up. “Defend yourself!” She called out.
He studied her eyes for a moment as they begged him to defend himself but the thought of using his powers just kept reminding him that he was just some monster his father created. As hard as it was for him to allow them to surface he felt his body stiffen a bit as the metal started to surface and the beast within him made its presence known.
Eve couldn’t hold the flames back any longer and her arms fell limp to her side and she jumped out of the way as the blazing wall of fire whipped past her and went to hit Noah. Just as it was about to hit him the flames hit a large metal shield and bounced back towards Ember, missing her by a few feet.
Ember narrowed her eyes fiercely in Noah’s direction before he revealed himself once more from behind the shield. The two of them met each other’s gaze before both of their powers collided. Noah felt her flames push him back as he held out his metal-covered hands in front of him to block them. He felt his feet continue to slide back against the floor as they only intensified again. He was holding on as long as he could to not do anything he would regret but he feared he may be forced to unleash something he shouldn’t.
Eve watched Noah struggling to keep control over his powers but the more Ember pushed him the more they were slipping. She finally saw him turn his gaze from the fiery inferno before him to her and watched his eyes turned to those big yellow ones that terrified her that one night. She attempted to run to his side but he let the rest of his body cover in the same impenetrable metal Crystal had and he let the blazing flames engulf him.
As soon as the flames died away he ran straight for Ember and as she went to whip another stream of flames they turned to metal shards instead and back to her palms making her hiss out in pain as a piece cut her. She started to run towards him too, each of them throwing their powers at each other until she stopped when she saw him transform into this giant werewolf. Her eyes were locked on his as he halted to a stop right in front of her face and released a roar so loud her hair whipped around her face, but she didn’t once flinch or fear him. Instead, she just locked eyes with his as she glared over his transformation.
If she wasn’t so livid with him she would appreciate how extraordinary he was. Her eyes took in the metal beneath his fur before she stared back up at the creature that was towering over her. She didn’t know why she wasn’t afraid of him and she didn’t know why he didn’t attack her. Just as she thought he was aware of what he was doing she started to see the struggle he had with being this creature and he suddenly let out a loud howl before lifting his enormous paw to tear her to shreds.
Ember was so fixated on Noah and what he had become that she didn’t even notice Draco jump in front of her to block the deadly blow coming towards her. It was only when bits of ice from the shield Draco put up hit her face from Noah’s claw marks that she realized he was there.
“GO NOW!” He yelled to her as he continued to hold off Noah, but before Ember could even move she watched Noah use his other paw to knock Draco aside and sent him flying across the room.
Ember just kept taking a step back from the approaching beast, her eyes taking in the cracking floor from the weight of the metal covering the giant werewolf before her. She felt her back hit the wall and soon she felt his breath hitting her face before another loud roar filled her ears, this time she could feel bits of his saliva hit her face.
Noah suddenly let out a loud yelp and then started whimpering in pain as he grabbed at his head.
“Noah... e-enough.” Ginny forced out through the pain that ran through her head as she tossed her bracelet aside.
Noah backed off as Ginny attempted to control his mind, but she struggled with keeping focused on just him. She wasn’t used to this type of power like Eve was and she soon lost focus and Noah fought off the last few traces of her hold on him. He went into attack mode once more before Ginny just hit him with an electrical shock that slammed him hard into the wall and fall to the floor; the werewolf within him finally retreating.
He picked himself up on shaky legs and looked around at the mess he and Ember just made before his eyes fell on her.
She took a step towards him. “I wish you would’ve died in that hospital.” She choked out.
He just sneered at her comment before hanging his head. “Yeah, me too.” He turned to look at his sister and the others and saw them all staring at him and the fight that just took place. He was embarrassed and ashamed of everything, he couldn’t stand their eyes on him any longer. “Sorry.” He quickly mumbled before running from the Manor.
Eve went to run after him but Scorpius gently grabbed her wrist to keep her back so he could have some space.
“Draco, my bracelet... I need it.” Ginny said in a panic as she tried to look for it.
He quickly ran over to her and spotted it almost immediately before running to her side. She was on her knees holding her head in pain.
“Hurry, put it on.” She said, her voice filled with fear.
He quickly snapped it back onto her wrist and lifted her face to his. “Hey, you’re ok... calm down. Look at me.” He gently said as he tucked her hair behind her ear. He watched her eyes, one black and one white slowly turn back to the amber ones he so often got lost in. “There... all better. You’re fine... ok?” he reassured her as he felt her body shaking in his arms.
She nodded before he pulled her into a tight hug until she felt like everything was under control again. Draco helped her to her feet and went to help her to the bedroom when she insisted on helping clean up and finish making the kids breakfast. After he felt sure she was ok he agreed and went to help the others clean up and repair whatever damage had been done.
Draco knew it was only a matter of time before Ember’s emotions got the best of her, he just didn’t think it would go this far. He certainly didn’t think Noah would have turned like that either and as incredible as it was to see what Noah was capable of he also knew how lost the kid was. He knew Ember had every right to feel as angry as she did and honestly he wouldn’t have minded her roughing Noah up a bit, but the more he watched Noah struggle the more he was reminded of himself at Noah’s age.
“Hey, Ellie and Aurora are going to finish up breakfast... I’m going to go talk to Ember.” Ginny said, shooting Draco a small smile before she headed towards her room.
As Ginny neared Ember’s door she couldn’t help but feel angry at her daughter’s outburst. She was angrier that the argument escalated enough to where it put everyone’s lives at risk. When she finally got to her door she didn’t even knock and threw it open instead before slamming it behind her.
“Do you feel better now?” Ginny asked, anger apparent in her tone.
Ember kept her back toward her and dropped to her knees. “No.,” she said in a small voice. “I feel worse.” She choked out through the emotional lump in her throat.
“You could have hurt someone, Noah could have killed someone... I could’ve...” she trailed off. “I know you’re angry Ember, but this isn’t the way to handle it, and taking everything out on Noah isn’t going to make you feel better about what Jake did.”
She watched Ember’s small body shake with emotion as she started to cry. “I know, I’m sorry.”
Ginny walked over and wrapped her arms around her from behind and rested her chin on her shoulder. “I know you don’t believe me, but things will get better and one day it won’t hurt so much.”
Ember tried to believe her words, but it was so hard to think that one day she wouldn’t feel so broken like she did now. “I need to see him.”
Ginny was pretty sure who she meant but she felt like she should clarify. “Who?”
“Jake.”
Draco made his way over to the front door where a hard knock was heard and was surprised to see Harry standing there.
“Tenant issues?” Harry joked.
“What brings you here?” Draco asked as he held the door open for him to walk inside.
“Noah asked if he could stay with me, he said things weren’t working out here?”
Draco just let out a hard sigh before he looked up the staircase to where he knew Noah’s room to be. “Yeah... I guess you could say that.”
Harry could tell Draco didn’t want Noah to leave but he knew Draco would do what was best for Ember in the end.
Draco turned back to see him staring at him before he shook his head. “Give us a few.” He said before he ran up the steps towards Noah’s bedroom.
He knocked and waited for Noah to answer the door, when he did he barely looked at Draco before he turned back to his bag and continued packing.
“So, Harry’s waiting.”
Noah just nodded as he tried to quicken his pace with packing; there was not one person he could even face right now.
“Noah, you don’t have to leave-“
“Pft, are you kidding me?” Noah scoffed. “Did you suffer memory loss from when I threw you across the house or did you forget how I could’ve almost killed Ember or someone else?” his tone was angry and he sounded disgusted with his actions. His voice was shaky as his emotions surfaced. “I really do need to be locked up somewhere in a cage, not going to Harry’s to potentially attempt to kill someone else. Hopefully, this trial will go south for me and I’ll finally get what I deserve.” He casually stated as he grabbed his bags and threw them over his shoulder.
“Noah stop.” Draco pushed the door closed to keep him from leaving. “Just hold on.” When Noah went to open the door Draco grabbed one of his bags and threw it aside. “Sit down for a minute, let’s talk.”
He just stared at Draco before shaking his head and reaching for his bag. “There’s nothing to talk about... nothing that I want to discuss anyway.”
“Noah, listen to me-“
“Please get out of my way.”
“I will, but let’s just talk for a minute.”
“Talk? About what? I’m not your kid so you don’t have to make me feel better. There’s nothing that anyone could say or do to make me feel better. There’s nothing... at all... I’m not fixable, I’m so fucked up... too far gone.” Noah went on and on and the more he kept putting himself down the more and more Draco watched him falling apart and unraveling before his very eyes.
“You’re not too far gone, you can’t let the past define you, it’s a PART of who you are but that doesn’t MAKE it who you are.” Draco tried to make him see that he had his whole life ahead of him.
Noah just dropped his other bag to the floor and stood there helplessly, his body trembled with a cocktail of emotions inside him before he slowly took a seat on the couch and hung his head. Draco sat beside him and watched him for a moment, he could see the internal struggle and he was reminded so much of his younger self.
“I... I don’t know what to do with myself Draco. I’m a monster... I wish I could accept it but I can’t... I just can’t. Knowing I was made for who knows what... to destroy... to kill? I can’t even look at myself in the mirror because I am too ashamed of what I’ve done and what I’ve become. The ONLY reason I haven’t put myself out of my misery is because of Eve. She’s the only one I am sticking around for because I’m the only family she has left and I won’t do that to her.”
This kid was tearing Draco’s heart apart and yeah Noah was right, he wasn’t Draco’s kid and he didn’t have to make him feel better but he wanted to. Draco felt like he needed to protect Eve and Noah for everything they did for his family and for everything miserable that they had to live through.
Noah buried his face in his hands as his fingers gripped tightly onto chunks of his hair. “I don’t want to do this anymore.” He choked out as he shook his head.
“You need to hang in there, Noah,” Draco said softly before he gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
Noah immediately retracted from his touch and got up from the couch. “You don’t get it, I’m a terrible person. The things I’ve done...” Noah took a few steps back until his back hit the wall as if he had just realized how many horrible things he did or was forced to do throughout his life. “Fuck... the things I did... for him... I didn’t want to die.” He cried out. “I took the cowards way out and just gave in to him.” Tears finally filled his eyes and fell down his face as everything boiled up. “I remember my m-mother coming into my room and waking me up one night. She grabbed my face in her hands in... in the most loving way... a way I’ve never felt before...” he sobbed at the memory and choked on the words he tried to form. “She just said... I love you Noah... and then that was it. I knew she was saying goodbye and I swear I knew the moment she was gone forever.” He placed his hand on his chest over his heart as if the pain was fresh and new. “He came home the next morning and said, “Your mum’s dead, I guess we need to find another candidate.” Just like that, as if she was nothing more than another test subject... and I did NOTHING!” he screamed out. “I just stood there and he told me if I shed one tear he would make me regret it, but I couldn’t help it. I cried for her... for Eve... for myself... I-I just couldn’t... I couldn’t get away from him..I couldn’t...” He could barely speak at this point, his body giving in to his emotional state and ready to collapse onto the floor before Draco grabbed the young man to him.
He just held onto Noah, he could feel him wanting to resist a bit but he kept his hold on the boy and let him fall apart in his arms. Draco couldn’t help it, his fatherly instincts kicked in and he knew he needed to be the rock for Noah right now. He couldn’t help but feel like Noah seemed a bit fearful still of letting his emotions out and that killed him.
After a moment or so Noah finally gave in and let everything he had been holding in out. His hands grabbing onto the only person that had ever offered him a comforting hand or showed any kind of care or concern for him in his whole life. He was completely vulnerable now and he didn’t care how pathetic he looked or sounded, it was the only thing he could do right now.
Draco grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and pulled him back at arms length to look at him. “You don’t need to be afraid anymore Noah. I won’t let anything happen to you or Eve... I promise.”
Eve hugged him tightly before finally pulling back and looking at her brother. “You sure you don’t want me to come too?”
“I’m sure, it’s just until after the trial, then...” he trailed off as he realized he didn’t know what would happen to them after the trial. “Anyway, they have more room here and of course there’s always Scorpius which is a plus.” He teased her.
She gave him a small smile before hugging him tightly once more. “Do you remember what I asked you to help me with?”
“Of course, but when?” he asked as he locked eyes with her.
“It should be after the trial... I want our names cleared first.”
He nodded.
She looked at his swollen puffy eyes and his exhausted appearance. “Your powers are a part of you now. You’ll have to learn to control them before the trial, especially if they want us to prove that we can.”
He broke his gaze and looked down at the floor. “I better get going. See you soon.” He said before he met Harry at the bottom of the stairs.
Eve watched him walk out the front door before the sound of her name made her turn her head.
“Hey Eve... can I talk to you for a moment?” Ginny asked.
“Of course.”
“First, I wanted to apologize about what happened between Ember and Noah earlier, she-“
“There’s nothing to apologize for. Ember is dealing with a lot of trauma, especially emotionally and mentally. She has every right to be angry, even if it's more so with Jake, she still has a great deal of anger for Noah. As crazy as this sounds... I feel like that fight had to happen for her... probably for both of them.” Eve hung her head a bit as she thought back to Noah not being here with her.
Ginny nodded at her words before she cleared her throat. “Um, I was wondering if you could help me?” she asked in a small voice.
Eve just looked at her. “With what?”
Ginny took in a deep breath before pointing her wand at her bracelet. “With this.” She mumbled a small spell that removed the device and her powers immediately surface, each one of them all at once.
Eve watched her eyes start to change and she could see Ginny start to struggle to control them. She saw Ginny go to put her bracelet back on when she quickly grabbed it from her and held it out of reach.
“What are you doing? I need that!” Ginny exclaimed in a panic.
“You can control these powers, I saw you do it back at the Ministry, but you’re still afraid and as long as you let that fear control you... it will also control your powers.”
“That was different!” Ginny yelled trying to reach for the bracelet but this time Eve made the bracelet crush into a ball until it was useless before handing it back to her. Ginny’s eyes went wide and filled with tears. “What did you do?” She choked out as she cradled the small ball of metal in the palm of her hand.
Eve just watched her for a moment before she started to walk downstairs and Ginny was quickly on her heels going off on how she destroyed the bracelet.
“Do you know what you’re naming the baby yet?” Eve suddenly asked her, making Ginny’s rant come to a complete stop.
“What?”
“The baby, have you and Draco picked a name yet?” she asked again.
Ginny just looked at her. “Uh, not really. I mean, I haven’t had a moment to think about it really.” She answered and instinctively put her hand over her stomach to feel the small bump that was forming.
“Well, there’s still plenty of time to think of that. Are you disappointed that it’s not a boy?”
Ginny just gave her a weird look. “Of course not, I rather enjoy Scorpius being my one and only boy. Either way wouldn’t have mattered though. I would’ve been equally happy.” She quickly answered. “I’m sorry, why are you asking me these random questions suddenly? What about my bracelet? I need it.” She stated angrily.
“For what?” Eve asked as she looked over Ginny’s appearance; her eyes now back to their normal color.
Ginny suddenly realized she was fine, there was no nagging urge of any powers wanting to make their presence known. “But... how?”
“Well, I distracted you. If you are constantly fearing them then they will control you. Your mind went to your child and your family when I asked you those questions and so your body just naturally knows to stay in line when it comes to your family. You are more in control than you think Ginny, but you need to trust yourself. I saw what you did that day at the Ministry and your fire powers trump all the rest... remember that.”
Ginny still looked a bit unsure but felt a little more confident after hearing Eve’s words.
“Here,” Eve handed her the bracelet back and used her powers to restore it to its original form. “Why don’t you just hold onto this and if you really feel like you need it then its there for you to use.”
Ginny took the bracelet and looked at it for a few moments before slipping it into her pocket and closed her eyes tightly as she didn’t realize she had tears stinging them. “Eve... you helped Riley out there earlier... will you help me?”
Eve gave her a small smile before nodding. “Of course I will.”
She felt two hands placed on her shoulders, the touch was firm yet comforting at the same time.
“Ember, are you sure you want to do this?” Draco asked.
She let out a long shaky breath before finally locking eyes with him. “I feel like I have to do this.”
Draco watched her rethink her choice once more but nodded when she finally had seemed to come to a final decision.
“I’ll be right outside the room in case anything goes wrong or you decide you can’t go through with it, ok?” he reassured her.
She gave a quick nod and let out another shaky breath as she tried to keep her emotions in. She walked into the small room and took a seat across the table and stared at the empty chair she knew Jake would be sitting in at any moment. The sound of another door opening across the room made her eyes shift from the chair over to the guard walking in the room followed by Jake. She watched him stop dead in his tracks at the sight of her, a look of shock covering his still bruised and beaten face.
“Em-Ember?” he stammered. “Y-Y-You’re-“
“Alive? Yeah.”
He was chained up to the seat and wore one of the bracelets to keep him from using his powers. They both sat there in silence for a while as neither of them knew what to say. Ember knew what she wanted to scream and yell at him for but she unfairly took all her anger out on Noah already.
“Why did you come?” he finally asked.
“Honestly, I really don’t know. For answers? To ask you why? Or more... how could you do that to me? To my family? But I guess you gave me all the answers back at the lab. It was all for vengeance in the end, right?”
He gave her a deadly glare. “I didn’t get my vengeance.”
“No... you didn’t and look where it’s gotten you. Was any of it worth this?”
“Any attempt to revenge my parents was worth it. I guess I failed in the end.” He mumbled as he lowered his head.
“You failed the second you thought you’d get vengeance by helping Adwell.” She snapped, all the anger she thought she let out on Noah was coming back again.
His eyes met hers as he heard her tone change. “Why are you really here Ember?”
Her lips trembled at the question, the last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of Jake. She broke their gaze as she felt tears start to sting her eyes and quickly squeezed them shut in an attempt to push them back. After a moment when she felt more confident that no tears would fall, she looked back up at him.
“I just wanted to know... if any of it was real?” she finally managed to choke out.
Jake just stared at her in silence, he was caught off guard by the question. As much as he wanted vengeance and how much he played the part to win them all over, he would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t feel the slightest bit of feelings for Ember. It made everything that much more difficult for him to follow the plan that Adwell had set for him.
“Some of it.” He finally answered.
Ember’s lips quivered at the answer. “Between us?” she barely whispered out as a ball of emotion got lodged in her throat.
“More than I would like to admit.”
She finally saw some kind of emotion on his face as he spoke. Was it regret? Disgust? If it was disgust was it for his actions or was it because he realized some of his feelings for her were real?
“I don’t know if that’s suppose to make me feel better... or worse.” She said as her voice started to crack.
Knowing that there was at least a bit of Jake’s feelings that were real made Ember feel both relieved but also angrier. She felt like such a fool and so naïve to her whole relationship with Jake. Finding out some of it was real made her feel the slightest bit more confident in her feelings towards him, but knowing that he might have developed a soft spot for her and still ended up betraying her was an even bigger slap in the face and that’s what hurt her the most.
“I have to go.” She quickly said as she jolted up out of her seat.
She desperately tried to hold her tears in but her eyes already welled with tears. She was almost out of the room where her father was waiting for her when Jake’s voice made her stop.
“I’m sorry Ember.” He called out to her.
She stood there frozen for a moment in the doorway, her eyes locking with her father’s as Jake’s words destroyed her even more. She watched Draco give her a sad look before she turned back to Jake.
“Goodbye Jacob.”
She quickly walked past her father and headed back towards the entrance. Before Draco followed her he walked into the room where Jake still sat. He couldn’t help but smirk a bit when Jake tensed up at his appearance.
“Your father tried to rape a young woman and murdered countless innocent people. Men, women... children. Honestly, your mother was probably one of his victims and that’s how you came to be. It’s fucked up to say, but that’s the kind of man he was. You should feel lucky you didn’t know him.” Draco walked closer and placed his hands down on the table before he leaned in closer to Jake. “You’re young Jake and you have a chance to turn your life around. When and if you get out of here it is my suggestion that you put this hunt for vengeance to rest and you work on being a better man.”
Jake just took in his words and watched him start to walk away before he stopped and turned back to him.
“Oh and one more thing... Jacob.” Draco leaned over the table once more and grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him closer. “If and when you do get out of here, don’t you fuckin dare come near my family again. You may have apologized to Ember but that means shit to me. I almost watched her die because of what you did to her.” His grip on Jake tightened and Draco knew the guard in the room would have put a stop to it if he didn’t know him so well from work. “You better hope I never see your face again because if I do you’re a fuckin dead man. You got that Kid?”
Jake quickly nodded.
“Tell me!”
“I GOT IT!” Jake yelled out as Draco’s icy fists started to burn Jake’s skin.
Draco roughly released his hold on Jake as he pushed him back in his chair. He composed himself and fixed his bunched up suit jacket and ran his hands through his hair to get it back into place once more.
“Good, Have a nice life, Jake.” He said before he left the room.
“Knock, knock!” Scorpius called into Eve’s room as he poked his head into the open doorway.
She gave him a small smile before turning back to the small suitcase she was packing.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
She let out a soft sigh before zipping up her bag. “Well, the trial is tomorrow.”
“Ok and?”
“And if it goes badly-“
“It won’t.” he cut her off.
She turned to look at him and gave a harder sigh, a bit of frustration behind it this time at his words. “Ok, well let’s say it does go well, I’ll be leaving the manor so-“
“Why would you leave the manor?”
She just stared at him. “What do you mean why would I leave the manor? I don’t live here, your parents are just helping us out until the trial so we don’t have to sit in Azkaban. Why would you think anything different?” she asked.
“Well, there’s no place else for you to go right now and-“
“What about Noah? I want to be with my brother. He can’t stay here, not with Ember right now... its too much.”
Scorpius was quiet for a moment as he listened and took in her words. “Eve... I don’t want you to leave.”
She lowered her head at his words and allowed the smile he forced out of her to cover her face before it faded after a few seconds. “Scorpius, I know you think you know enough about me to think there’s no way the Ministry would send me or Noah to Azkaban, but you’re wrong.”
“I’m not-“
“You are!” she suddenly snapped, her eyes locking with him for a brief moment before she shook her head a bit. “I’ve helped my father do terrible things. I helped keep your parents locked up in that place. I even sabotaged their plan to try and escape one time out of fear.”
“Eve, stop, without your help we wouldn’t have even had a chance of getting them out of there and-“
She placed her hand over his mouth and stared into his eyes. Once she knew he wouldn’t try to interrupt her again, she slowly moved her hand away.
“Scorpius, you don’t know how much it means to me that you believe I’m a good person, or that I’ve somehow redeemed myself by helping you all. The thing is that I myself have trouble believing that and I don’t think anything you say right now will make me feel any different.” She studied his eyes for a moment and she could see he so badly wanted to tell her she was wrong and maybe she was but right now she couldn’t help how she felt.
She noticed Scorpius’ eyes shift down to her lips. Neither of them spoke about when he had kissed her again and honestly neither of them knew where they were as far as a relationship even went. As badly as Eve wanted him to kiss her again and again and even take things a step further she felt like she didn’t deserve Scorpius. Just like how he felt that he didn’t want to take advantage of her she felt somewhat similar about him.
Here she was staying with this family who her father tried to destroy and she felt like she didn’t deserve their kindness or their protection. She wasn’t a hundred percent certain that she knew what love was or what it felt like but she swore she felt it whenever her eyes met Scorpius’ and when she felt it she also felt guilt. Was it ok that she felt that? Or how dare she even think about having such feelings for this wonderful man before her, someone who was nowhere as evil as she was. Who did she think she was to even think she had the right to love someone like him or to even hope to have the same love back? She felt so small and so worthless compared to this amazing loving family and she just wasn’t sure if she deserved to be welcomed into it as wholeheartedly as she had been.
She knew he was about to kiss her again and as he got closer she felt her body give in to the urge of wanting to feel his lips on hers again. One thing she loved about Scorpius was her inability to read his mind. Sure she heard an occasional thought but when it came to moments like these and she desperately wanted to know what was running through his head she couldn’t hear a damn thing. He was always so focused on her, so much so that she could never find a way into his mind.
She finally felt his lips softly press against hers but before she got lost in the moment she gently grabbed his face in her hands. She didn’t know what to say to him, she opened her mouth a few times in an attempt to explain why she stopped him from kissing her but nothing came out. She felt her stomach knot up as she watched his eyes desperately search hers for an explanation.
“I-I... I should finish packing.” Was the only words she could form.
The disappointed look he gave her made her want to burst into tears right then and there. She watched his brow furrow a bit at her actions before he took a step back and then headed towards the door. He stopped and looked back at her once more before he finally left her bedroom. As soon as he was out of sight Eve felt the tears spill from her eyes as she released a small emotional gasp that her nerves forced out of her.
She couldn’t handle how much her body ached for his touch or his kiss again. She could hardly focus on anything else as her thoughts constantly went back to Scorpius. Everything he did, everything he said and even the way he looked at her made her want him more. She wiped her tears away and let out a long breath to steady her emotions before forcing her thoughts back to the trial tomorrow.
Noah ignored the knock at his door and turned his attention back towards the night sky outside of his window. He felt numb to everything going on in his life right now ever since his breakdown. He felt more broken than ever, but he did feel the slightest bit lighter emotionally since releasing some of his feelings. He gave a light sigh at the sound of another knock and then tightly shut his eyes at the sound of the door opening.
“Noah?” came a small voice.
The sound of her voice was so calm and sweet that he felt forced to open his eyes and turn towards her.
Luna walked over with a tray and placed it on his side table. “I brought you up something to eat.”
He looked at the tray and then looked back at her to see her staring at him.
“You should eat.” She said with a smile.
Noah was convinced she wouldn’t stop staring at him or leave his room until he at least bit into something. He grabbed the sandwich off the plate and took a small bite before tossing it back onto the tray. He didn’t have to look back at Luna to know her smile grew a bit wider at his action.
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
“You’re quite welcome.” She said with another smile.
An awkward silence filled the space between them as Noah turned back towards the window and looked at the brightly shining moon. He felt Luna’s eyes on him which prompted him to meet her gaze. He quickly leaned back at her sudden movement as she reached towards him, but when he saw she had just lifted her hand towards him he felt frozen to the spot. She touched the side of his head where there was a large scar from the damage his father had done to him in the lab. His tensed body relaxed a bit as she traced the scar with her fingers before retracting her hand.
She reached up and pulled her long blonde hair aside to reveal a large scar that ran from under her ear, down the side of her neck, and spidered out a bit across the back of her shoulder. Noah was a bit taken aback by the scar and how large it was, he was surprised he hadn’t noticed it before. You couldn’t see it at all if her hair was covering it or with the right clothing.
“I got this from Harry.”
Noah’s eyes snapped to hers and locked onto them at her comment. “Harry did that to you?”
“By accident of course... years ago while saving my life. There were some complications from it but... everything worked out in the end.”
“You’re not... afraid he’ll hurt you again?”
She just smiled and gave a small amused giggle. “Of course not because it was an accident. Harry would never do anything to hurt me or any of us... I trust him... completely.”
Noah wanted to tell her she was crazy for thinking she could trust someone with deadly powers like Harry and James’... like his. He felt like a ticking time bomb sometimes with his powers, like at any moment he would turn into this deadly beast and kill everyone around him. He hardly slept any more in fear that he would wake up to a bloodbath.
“Luna?” came Harry’s voice from the doorway. “Bella is asking for you to read to her.”
“Of course.” She said with a bright smile before turning back to Noah.
“Let us know if you need anything. Goodnight Noah.” She softly said before leaving his bedroom.
“Night,” he mumbled after her before his eyes fell on Harry staring back at him.
“How are you holding up?” Harry asked, taking a few steps into his room.
Noah just shrugged. “Living the dream.”
Harry just shook his head at Noah’s sarcasm with a slight smirk. “You want to talk?”
Noah scoffed at this offer.
“How about your powers, you want to talk about those? You know the trial is tomorrow and they might want to see some control on your part when it comes to those powers of yours. What are you going to do if they ask to see a demonstration?”
Noah finally looked up at him at his question before he stood up and took a step towards Harry. He felt the cool metal beneath his skin seep out to the surface and soon his body started turning to metal. Just as his whole body was swallowed by the metal he changed back to his normal form.
“That’s all I know.” He told Harry. “I know I can do more but that other stuff only happens when my adrenaline kicks in. When I’m scared... angry... feel threatened. That’s when it feels like my mind becomes unhinged and I can’t control anything.”
“You know...” Harry paused for a moment as he considered his words. “I know you didn’t ask for these powers and it's not fair that you’re now forced to live a life with them. I promise you though, you can learn to control and-“
“Suppress them? If I can control them enough to where they almost never surface again then I can live a somewhat normal life.” Noah cut him off.
“No, not suppress them.” Harry snapped angrily.
“Why not? That’s what you did, wasn’t it? All those years without using your powers?”
“That was different, I almost killed someone I loved.”
“AND SO DID I!’ Noah yelled back.
Harry just stared at him as he watched Noah replay the words he just said out again in his head before his gaze fell to the floor.
“Noah, suppressing my powers was harder than you think. No matter how happy I was and how perfect my life with Luna and James is... I still felt like something was missing, like a part of me was missing. It wasn’t until I allowed them to surface again that everything seemed to click again.”
“But these aren’t me... they aren’t a part of me.” He choked out as his emotions balled up in the back of his throat.
“They are now Noah... they are now.”
“Well then... fuck me, I guess.” He said before throwing himself facedown onto his bed.
Harry just looked down at Noah who was already deep in thought as he thought back to James and how he kept his powers a secret. He felt his stomach knot up at just how close he was to losing James or never seeing him again.
“Get some rest Noah. It’s going to be an eventful day tomorrow.” He said before leaving his room and walking down the hall.
He stopped in front of James' room and gave a small knock before opening the door a bit to see the room was dark. He went to close the door when James’ voice made its way through the darkness to him.
“Dad?”
“Oh hey, I didn’t realize you were asleep already.”
He suddenly saw all the lights in the room flicker back on and saw James still fully dressed sitting on his bed. “I’m not, just... messing around.” He shrugged as he let the small waves of electricity dance around his hand. “What’s up?”
Harry took a seat next to him. “James, I just... I need you to know that I’m sorry about-“
“Dad, stop, you don’t need to apologize or explain. If I was honest with you and told you about my powers then I’m sure you would have said something.”
“I would have... and if I was honest with you about my powers then maybe you would’ve felt comfortable confiding in me. I just hate that you felt like you couldn’t and I never want you to feel like you can’t tell me or your mother something. No matter how horrible it may be, we will always love you.”
James gave him a small smile before hugging his dad. As soon as they both touched all the lights blew in the house.
“HARRY!” came Luna’s voice from Bella’s room.
James and Harry started laughing. “Oops.”
Ginny spit the last bit of toothpaste out into the sink before rinsing her mouth out once more. She walked back out into her bedroom and grabbed her brush off the vanity table and started to brush her hair.
“Draco, what do you think about Willow?” She asked as she gave her long copper strands a few more strokes.
Draco raised an eyebrow at her question as he pulled his head through his shirt. “Who’s Willow?”
“Our daughter.” She snapped.
“We have a daughter named Willow?”
Ginny just shook her head before she patted her stomach and looked at him. “This daughter. Do you like the name?”
A smile crept across his face at her question as he made his way over to her. “It’s nice but honestly I think that we should think back to my first suggestion when you were pregnant with the twins and go with Scorpia.”
She slapped him on the arm at the suggestion. “Well if you go off on a mission again and I think you dead then maybe I’ll consider it in your honor.” She giggled. “Seriously though? What about Gracie? Oh, that’s a cute one.” She mumbled to herself as she grabbed some parchment and started jotting down a few names.
“Kylie?”
“Layla?” Ginny suggested over his.
“Avery?”
“Sadie?”
“Piper?”
Ginny made a face at the name. “No, I knew a Piper once... I hated that bitch.” She sighed before she plopped down on the bed. “Why is this so hard?”
“Because we used all the good names already on our fifty children.” He smirked as he plopped down beside her.
She laid back and turned on her side to face him and he did the same. She smiled at him and then propped herself up to get a better look at him. “Quinn?”
“Pft, hell no.” Draco propped himself up to look back at her. “Sawyer?”
Ginny contemplated it for a moment but made a face in the end. She laid back again and stared at the ceiling. “Willow?” she suggested again.
“Gracie?” he replied before they both turned to look at each other with a wide smile.
They were interrupted by a knock on their bedroom door that made Draco release a hard sigh. “Fuckin Harper... pain in my arse that one.” He mumbled as he scooted off the bed and walked over to the door.
“The answer is no, you’re not flying at this time of n-“ he stopped when he saw it wasn’t Harper standing outside his room but Eve instead. “Eve? Sorry, thought you were Harper. What’s going on?”
She stared at him for a moment before she finally cleared her throat. “Um, I was wondering if I could speak to you and Ginny about something for a moment?” She timidly asked as she broke eye contact with him and started fidgeting with her hands.
“Hey Eve, sure come on in.” came Ginny’s voice from behind Draco before he could answer.
Eve just stared at the doorway where Draco pulled the door open for her to come in. Draco and Ginny inviting her into their bedroom to talk was, for her, a big deal. She just thought of it as such a private space for them and to have them welcome her inside made her stomach knot up, almost as if she was unworthy of being there.
“Oh, uh... ok.” She took a few steps inside and heard Draco close the door behind her.
“Is everything ok?” Ginny asked.
Eve nodded, she felt like a scared, intimidated little girl for some reason. “I just wanted to say thank you for allowing Noah and me to stay with you. We both don’t deserve your kindness and-“
“You don’t need to thank us.” Draco cut her off. “We should be thanking you for helping us escape.”
After a moment of taking his words in she slowly nodded before the room grew silent. Eve grabbed the stone around her neck and rubbed her thumb across it as she felt a lump form in her throat. Draco and Ginny exchanged a look at her gesture.
“Eve, what is it? What’s wrong?” Draco asked.
Eve could hear the genuine concern in his voice which only made her more nervous. “I-I was hop-hoping I could ask you both a q-question?” her voice kept breaking as her body shook from how scared she was right now.
“Hey, calm down, you can ask us anything. What is it?” Ginny reassured her as she reached forward and gave her shoulder a soft shake.
Eve looked at her shoulder where Ginny had touched her and she felt her chest grow tighter and her heart race faster. She squeezed the stone around her neck tighter until her knuckles turned white as she tried to steady her voice.
“Is it... is it ok if...” she trailed off as tears filled her eyes as she feared their answer.
Again, Draco and Ginny exchanged a quick look at how upset Eve had become.
“Eve, you can talk to us. Just ask what’s on your mind. We’ve all been through a lot together so I doubt what you need to say or ask will be as bad at the past few weeks.” Draco said with a small smirk as he tried to calm her nerves a bit.
She looked at both of them with tears in her eyes. “I just wanted to know if...” she let out a shaky breath as the lump in her throat only grew bigger. “Is it ok if I...if I love... your son?”
Once the question was out she felt a weight lift off her chest but it was replaced by fear at what their answer would be.
Draco and Ginny just stared at each other again and then back at her, Ginny felt her eyes instantly fill with tears at the question. Her heart ached so much for Eve because she felt like she had to ask if it was ok to love somebody. It was heartwrenching and all she could do was grab Eve and hug her tightly.
Draco was still staring at her as his mind wandered off at the question. He thought back to the days when he was scared to love Ginny, afraid to admit it, or that he felt unworthy of her love. How could someone with a good heart like Ginny Weasley ever love a Malfoy? It was a question he used to constantly ask himself so when Eve asked if it was ok for her to love their son, it broke his heart. Not only because she didn’t think she deserved to be loved or have the right to love someone, but also because she honestly didn’t know if it was ok to love another person or if those feelings were ok to have.
Ginny cupped her face in her hands and wiped away Eve’s tears. “Of course it's ok.” She said through a tearful smile. She noticed Eve’s eyes leave hers and travel over her shoulder to Draco before she turned around to look at him. “Isn’t it?” she asked him as she wasn’t sure where his mind was at.
He just shook his head at first because he was just in disbelief that she felt she had to ask them first. He gently grabbed her shoulders and leaned down a bit so his gaze was level with hers. “Scorpius is a lucky man to have someone as extraordinary as you that loves him. So yes, it is more than ok that you love our son and you never have to ask if it's ok to feel something.”
He pulled her into a tight hug and Eve felt her tensed up body completely relax in his embrace. Her knees buckled a bit and she thought she would fall but Draco tightened his hold on her which made her start to cry again. She couldn’t help but think of Draco and Ginny as parent figures, maybe it was wrong to think of them that way, she wasn’t sure. All she could think about while Draco was holding her was if this is what the love of a parent felt like, because if it was a feeling of safety, warmth, and love, then it just made her sob harder at what she had missed out on.
She felt the warmth and security of his embrace leave her as he locked eyes with her again, his face serious but his eyes full of reassurance.
“I want you to know that we aren’t going to turn our back on you, no matter what happens tomorrow. You’re kind of stuck with us now Kid.”
“Yeah, you’ve kind of grown on us.” Ginny chimed in with a smile as she put her arm around her. “We love you, Eve.”
A/N: I know there wasn't too much action in this chapter and there was a lot of emotion but I still hope you enjoyed it. I have one more chapter and then the epilogue. There will be some Adwell action in the next chapter so be ready!! As always comments are always appreciated. Love hearing what you all have to say. =)
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Unhinged 2: Til the Flame Burns Out