Sweet Toxicity | Draco Malfoy

XIII

September 1

Harry, Neville, and Luna went back to Hogwarts. We decided that since the twins would've graduated and I wasn't expected back that we wouldn't return. Draco was "transferred" but he's just staying here.

"Olivia, dear, would you fancy a walk through the gardens?" Narcissa asked, pulling her focus away from her book.

"That sounds lovely," Olivia kissed Draco on the cheek and walked to the gardens with Cissy.

"Olivia, I would like to get to know you better, since you are courting my son," Narcissa smiled and looked over at the girl.

"Oh of course! You can ask anything you'd like. I think you deserve that. I know Draco has told you a bit about the darker part of my past while I was in the hospital," Olivia said looking at the ground.

"Yes, he did. And I don't judge you for your past. I certainly can't imagine going through that at such a young age. I'm sorry that happened." The older witch looked at the younger with sympathy and compassion.

Liv nodded and looked back down at her feet, "I do understand if you think I'm not good enough for your son. I know I'm not the type of girl you expected for him. I'm not pure, I'm not from pure blooded parents, and I certainly am not as pretty as Pansy or Astoria."

"Nonsense! You are a strong woman who I think is perfect for Draco. He has been happier since he met you, and that's all I could ask in life is for my son to be happy," Narcissa stopped and picked some daisies, lillies, and yellow roses.

"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy," Olivia blushed.

"Call me Cissy. Now I want to show you one of my secrets," Narcissa tied the bouquet with a vine and led the younger girl to a place under a large oak tree.

"I've never shown anyone but Lucius and Draco, but from one mother to another, it's an honor."

Olivia's heart was in her throat. Narcissa called her a mother. It was a term she had never considered herself before. She never got to raise a child, but she did birth one. She was a mother, a mother to an Angel baby.

Olivia's eyes clouded as she felt the tears well up.

"This is Lyra, she was a day old," Narcissa placed the flowers on the stone. And Olivia kneeled down next to Narcissa.

Lyra Narcissa Malfoy
October 14, 1987- October 15, 1987

In loving memory of our angel, may you fly high in the freedom of the stars.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Olivia said to Narcissa.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry for yours," Cissy placed a hand ontop of Olivia's.

"You're the first person to ever use the term mother to define me. Even if Ava isn't here, or the circumstances she was created were, I never took the time to realize that she made me a mother. I guess I always thought you had to raise the child to be considered a mum," Olivia picked at the grass.

"Ava is a beautiful name," Cissy smiled.

"After my mum. I never met her, but I always felt a connection to her during the pregnancy. It was as if she was protecting the baby," The younger girl smiled and thought back.

They sat in silence for minutes, sitting under the large oak tree and watched as various birds flew by.

"Do you ever feel like she's still with you?" Olivia asked, placing the little crown she made out of wild flowers, on the gravestone.

"Sometimes when I come out here, there will be a pink butterfly that will land on the stone. It doesn't leave until I say goodbye," Cissy said.

"I often dream of what she would've looked like now. How my life would be," Olivia wiped a tear.

Narcissa pulled her into a hug, letting her cry. Cissy knew she had never spoken about her baby like this before, not to anyone who understood. But the sentence that broke her heart came through the sobs of the young mother.

"I wish I could hold her again."

Cissy, who understood, teared up as well, whispering soothing words. She knew it wasn't a cure for the heartbreak of losing a child, but for a moment, it meant the world to Olivia. Finally someone understood how much she hurt. Although it was an unwanted pregnancy, it was still her baby. Her DNA.

"Is that why you're distant with Nymphadora?" Narcissa started putting pieces together.

Olivia looked down, ashamed of her own jealousy of her step mother.

"It hurts... and I know that she is happy, and my father is happy, but it just reminds me of what I could've had," Olivia muttered.

"I felt the same way when one of my cousins got pregnant right after Lyra passed. It's a completely normal reaction, and although it's a horrible thing, it's just how life goes."

"I want Draco to meet Ava."

————————

Olivia sat at the cemetery alone. She hadnt been there in three years.

Ava Rose Lupin
February 27, 1994

Rest easy

"Hi Ava. I'm sorry I didn't come visit, but I needed to heal. I wanted closure, and after talking to Cissy, she helped me realize that closure isn't what I needed, it was acceptance. You made me a mother, and that is a title I hold proud," a few tears cascaded down her cheeks.

A couple people looked at her strangely as she talked to the stone, but she ignored them. The others who passed look at her with pity or sympathy.

"I met a boy, and I love him. I truly do. And if you were here with me, I think he would love you as much as I love you. I wish I could hold you again, Ava, see you open your eyes or smile. I never got that opportunity, but I dream of it," Olivia continued. A dragonfly flew and landed on the stone. A yellow one.

"Thank you for the sign, Ava," she sobbed and smiled.

"Maybe tomorrow i can bring Draco, would you like that?" Olivia asked, and a breeze danced across her skin.

"Goodbye, princess. Mummy will see you tomorrow," Olivia kissed her hand and placed it on the stone. The yellow dragonfly flew, landing on the hand she placed on the stone, and then flew away.

She checked her surroundings before apparating back to the manor. She knew she looked like a wreck. Mascara down her face, hair in a messy bun, oversized sweater from Draco, and leggings.

"How was it?" Remus asked his daughter, pulling her into a hug.

Olivia smiled through her tears, "She listened."