𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍

❃ never safer

❃

𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒗

The sunrise was blinding. No curtains, sheer or heavy could prevent the thick beams of sunlight from pouring into the hospital room.

When Maybelle awoke, Penelope was looking up at her with those bright blue eyes, her small hand wrapped around her Mother's finger, cheeks pink and glowy, sprinkled with just a few freckles.

Penelope Flower Cliffdane was the definition of perfection.

"Hi," she said timidly with a small smile.

"Goodmorning, sunshine," May smiled softly, combing her fingertips through her daughter's silky brown curls.

"Dad said hi last night," she exclaimed, sitting up, turning backwards in May's lap, signaling she wanted her hair done in braids.

"Really? What'd Dad say?" Maybelle asked, taking two hair ties from the nearby night stand, parting Pen's hair in two sections. She was eager to hear what he'd said after having snuck from his room into her own.

"I dunno," she shrugged her small shoulders, adjusting her light pink pajama shirt, "he asked if you told me about him, then said we should let you sleep."

"Did he say anything else?" May asked, moving onto the next braid.

"He said goodnight, and he told me he loved me," Penelope smiled softly, eyes lighting up in contentment.

Maybelle didn't know what to say.

"That's nice of him," she tied off the second French braid.

Narcissa opened the door, a timid blonde boy standing behind her back.

"He's up," she exclaimed, "I'm taking Scorpius to the cafeteria downstairs for breakfast. I'd be willing to take Penelope along if you'd like," she smiled as the little girl gave her a small wave.

"Go with Cissy, Pen. you're going to get something to eat," May stood from the bed, placing Penelope's bunny slippers back over her feet.

"Will they have pancakes?"

"I'm sure they'll have pancakes, love,"

"With chocolate chips, strawberries and whipped cream?"

"I'm sure that can be arranged," May chuckled, "go have fun."

"Good luck," Narcissa whispered, taking Penelope's hand.

"I'm Penelope, but you can call me Pen. I don't like Penny. It sounds weird," she exclaimed, shaking his hand.

"I'm Scorpius," the blonde boy said shyly as they walked out the door, "you can call me Scorp. That's what my Mum calls me,"

Maybelle took multiple deep breaths, rubbing her temples in anguish with her soft fingertips.

"It's okay, everything will be fine, it's fine," she whispered, reassuring herself repeatedly before even attempting to leave the vicinity of her own room.

With every step in his direction her heart beat just a bit harder. As she inched closer and closer to his door, she was sure the blood pumping organ would explode out of her chest.

He was pacing anxiously, awaiting her arrival when she finally built up the courage to show herself.

Her uneven breathing was what revealed her. He turned on his feet with a heartbroken expression, the newly reborn memories of her whirling through his mind evident on his face.

She stood in the doorway, staring, biting her lip as to prevent the mixed emotions in her irises from spilling down her face.

But he knew better than to ignore the pain welling in her eyes.

"Don't cry, Flower."

And with that, she burst into tears.

"Shh, it's okay," he held her up, wrapping his hands around her as she collapsed into his arms, dainty fingertips grasping at his t-shirt, staining it with her tears, "Hi my love,"

She couldn't speak. Only sob into him in ragged breaths.

"You're okay," his eyes, grey as storm clouds began to pour, squeezing them shut as he held her small body to his chest protectively, as though he may lose her again if he ever let go.

He pulled back, wiping the wetness from her cheeks, searching for himself in her eyes, and without hesitation, he kissed her.

He kissed her as though the air she breathed belonged to him, and he'd been deprived of it since the day she'd been stolen away by his Father.

A man with no oxygen is a dead man.

And that kiss... That kiss had brought him back to life.

It was passionate; it tasted of salted tears and terrible pain and it sparked their hearts like a flint to stone with every memory they'd ever shared-but most of all, out of anything that could've possibly mattered, it was missed.

And as his lips sat on hers, stealing her breath, she couldn't even remember her own name. Her heart was still shattered in pieces when he'd re-entered her life, and he'd healed her entirely with a single kiss.

As fast as it begun it was over, and yet in the middle of those milliseconds sat an eternity. The moment had lasted forever in their minds, the taste of one another still blanketing their tongues.

With swollen lips and puffy cheeks he pulled her back into his chest, relishing in the faded scent of her sweet, floral perfume.

The scent that had brought her back to him.

After what felt like hours of sitting in his warm embrace, she finally whispered three words:

"I missed you."

Maybelle had never felt safer.

❃