i s o b e l
When Maggie stopped speaking, Isobel was quiet for a long time. She stared out at the doorway, letting her mother's words sink in.
Her mother had known all of this. For the year they had lived in isolation in the countryside house, she had known. And she had lied, every day. Had acted like nothing was wrong. Nothing was different.
Had acted like she hadn't erased years from her own daughter's mind.
Without looking back at her mother, Isobel stood. She walked to the door, and turned the corner to see Draco. His eyes met hers at once, and she saw the pain in them, and her anger intensified.
She took his hand and pulled him into the ward. Without hesitation; without saying a single word, he followed.
Maggie was sitting up in her bed, wringing her hands. When she saw Draco, her expression flooded with fear. "Isobel," she croaked, "Isobel, you said you wouldn't -"
Isobel was so filled with rage that her entire body felt tense, but she dropped Draco's hand and walked to the foot of Maggie's bed.
"I hate you," she said to her mother. She felt a lump rise in her throat and tried to swallow it down; was so sick of crying all the time - "I hate you, and I hate that you tried to control my life so that it would make yours better. You have ruined so much for me."
Maggie was crying now, too, and Isobel ignored the guilt that pressed at her heart; how dare her mother play with her life as if she were a puppet on strings -
"You can't be together," said Maggie, her eyes darting between Isobel and Draco. "It's too dangerous, Isobel - his father is going to find you -"
"He already found me," said Isobel, and Maggie's face paled once more. "He found me, and he threatened me, but I'm dealing with that on my own because that's what normal people do. Normal people don't lock up their daughters - don't shut themselves off from the world -"
The lump in her throat had risen so much that it was difficult to speak. She felt tears, hot on her cheeks, but did not bother to hide her face or brush them away. Felt she could do nothing but glare at her mother, who was squinting up through her own tears:
"Lucius is an evil man," said Maggie. "He will do - anything - to get his way -"
"So let him try!" said Isobel desperately. "Leave him to it, let me fight for myself. There were different ways to help me than - than altering my whole mind -"
She broke off. Felt the betrayal like a dagger, twisting in her gut. "I gave you so many chances," she said. "I made so many excuses for you. I overlooked all of the evidence that pointed towards it having been you that took my memory, because I didn't think you would do that to me. I didn't think you could."
"I just wanted to protect you," said Maggie, her voice barely more than a whisper, "I love you."
"That," said Isobel, "was not protecting me. That was trying to change who I am."
From far away, she felt Draco's fingers at her elbow, on the sleeve of her jumper. Felt him step closer, saw, in the brink of her vision, his head of white-blond hair -
She saw Maggie's eyes move to Draco. Saw the shift of fear in her expression.
And then he spoke. "I understand why you did what you did, Maggie," he said. "I understand loving a person so much that you will do anything to keep them safe." Isobel turned to him, and saw that his eyes were on her, running down the features of her face as he formulated his sentence. "That - sometimes - you just want to hold onto them so tightly and never let them go, because you fear that something terrible might happen if you do."
