𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓 ‣ 𝙳𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚘 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚏𝚘𝚢 ✓

- Finding happiness -

- 15 years later -

The doorbell rings and without doing anything, the door opens and a tall woman enters the long hallway of Malfoy Manor. Her hair, wavy and black like waves of the ocean in the deepest of nights and eyes blue like the water of an oasis in the desert. Desperately needed and wanted. She seems to be stressed out and her black robe indicates that's she's back from work.

"Babe? I am back. I already picked up the kids at King's Cross on my way home. You don't have to go anymore." she yells in a calming and loving voice as if birds sing you to sleep. 

As soon as she finished talking, two white haired children run along the corridor to the stairs, chasing each other, squeaking for pleasure. They can't run fast enough to greet their favourite person alive. They run along the long hallways on the second floor until they reach a huge door which is beautiful decorated in tiny wooden swirls. 

With a slam, the door opens and as soon as I see those beautiful happy faces, I get up and run towards them. They cling themselves on my neck and as I stand up, they're hanging on me like two little monkeys on a tree. I smell the scent of their hair and I inhale it. I've missed these two little treasures so much, my heart ached in a familiar way.

You might wonder, Heaven, what changed my mind when I was about to end it all. It was you. I thought about how everything turned out and how I promised you on your grave that I will honor you with every part of me possible. So I thought about how I could possibly honor you and the life you lost. I realized the only way to do it right, is to take everything I've learned from you and the way you lived.. and let it become a part of my own life. So I did. 

I took the sourest lemons I could find and made the sweetest lemonade possible. I ran away without telling anyone. I traveled around the world, just to forget you. Let me tell you, it didn't work. I will never forget you. But I found something else while traveling. Myself.

I met a girl in Italy .. I fell madly in love with her. You won't believe me when I tell you that she's a muggle! But she makes me really happy, Heaven. I know I can never love her as much as I loved you, but I love her with all my heart that survived your death. She knows about you as I always talk about you.. still talk about you. She knows every little detail, every little story, every little word we've shared and she's fine with it. She's fine with sharing my love with you. That's why I love her so dearly.

I married her a few years later and I had the wedding of my dreams. I found happiness again in a place where I thought there couldn't ever be happiness again. We made love out of love and 10 years ago she gave me these wonderful gifts. My twins. Scorpius and Heaven. They don't have the freckles of yours or your crooked smile.. but they have hair white as mine. They might not have those freckles but everytime I look them in the eyes, I see a piece of you in them. I see the purest love and joy someone can experience. They are a part of me, I'd never trade for anything in this world. This must be heaven, I think.

"Will you come downstairs and play chess with us Dad?" my little Heaven asks me and I smile. 

"I will but not now. I am not done here." I mumble and give her a little kiss on the forehead

"What are you doing here in this empty room anyway? There's nothing to do here." Scorpius says in disappointment and looks around. The wooden floor and the white walls let the room appear much bigger than it actually is. There is not one single piece of furniture in it. 

I open my mouth to answer as Matilde enters the room as well. She smiles crooked and came next to us. We sit down on the floor, each four of us, and I am ready to tell the story of my life.

"You little Heaven.. did you never ask yourself why you're named after such a mysterious thing?" I ask her and tip her on her tiny nose. She shakes her head. Of course, she didn't.

"Well. You are named after someone, I loved with everything I had and in some way .. she gave me you, little monkeys. Not in the way your mother gave me you.. no no. Your mother is one of a kind and no one can replace her. But once there was a girl named Heaven. Just like you little monkey." I whisper.

"I was so in love with her, she changed my life for the better. For her, I became a better person and I don't say a rude word to anyone ever! You know what I use to say right?"

"One single bad word can come back around and hurt yourself" the twins say at the same time shining bright with their smiles.

"Really good my bees. But one day she died and my life fell apart. I lost everything I knew and lost myself as well. There was once this little stone, it was called the stone of resurrection! And if you believe it or not, you could bring dead people back to life with it! Not actually alive I mean.. sadly. But their ghost will be seen and heard only by you."

The twins hang on my lips while I am talking and I can see their excitement in their eyes. Matilde just smiles and gives me a loving look. I give her the same.

"So I decided to bring her back to me but the sad thing about a ghost is, that ghosts aren't meant to live in this world. They are meant to fly where angels live! So she got really sad because she was so homesick and so she decided to test me. When she was alive, she had a lot to say. Actually, she never shut up. She said a lot about life, love and loss and her words inspired me to keep going, to keep changing. She wanted to see if I learned anything from her wisdom. It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. I managed to learn from her and keep everything she said in mind. I did and that's how I survived the hardest task in my life. And look.. now here I am. With you and your mother. I couldn't be any happier and all I have, I have it because of her. I will always be grateful for her." I mumble and look at my children full of pride.

"So I am named after the wisest girl there was?" little Heaven asks me. I have to smirk. Wise is such a strong word. You weren't the smartest in school but you were the wisest in life. And in the end, that's all that matters.

"Yes you are Heaven. The wisest and most loved girl there was. Such as you are now. Wise and really, really loved" I say and strike over her soft face.

"So what you're doing here, dad? You didn't answer the question!" Scorpius drags me. I can see it in his face that he's jealous of little Heaven's name. But he doesn't have to be as I love both of them equally. 

I smile at him and in a calming voice I say

"This room, my son, is my personal treasure. It is where I dance with death."