You're Safe With Me ( Draco Malfoy )

The Final Chapter

"Mum?" Alice called out as her mother's face came in to view. 

The two were in a completely white expanse, no discernible floor beneath their feet. Simply bright white light as far as the eye could see.

"Oh, darling." The sound of her mother's voice after all of the long years without it was enough to make Alice want to drop to her knees and cry, though she tried her best to stay steady in order to run and launch herself at her mum in the biggest hug she had ever given.

It was a foreign feeling to hug her mum as an adult, considering she was so much smaller the last time the two had been able to see each other. Despite that, there was no other feeling in the world like it. Tears streamed down Alice's face freely as some pooled in the eyes of a parent who held her daughter close after far too long apart. Her mum bit back sobs, though it was not time for tears, it was time to comfort her child. 

"I've missed you, mum." Alice choked out, her throat hoarse from the screams and shouts of the night. A nasty headache was beginning to brew after the amount of crying she had done throughout the evening. As if her mother knew, she softly stroked Alice's hair.

"I've missed you, my flower." Her mother replied, not sounding even a tad different from the day she departed. They stood in each other's arms for a moment more before her Mum took a step back, holding Alice my the shoulders. "Let me get a good look at you, my pretty girl- woman, I should say."

Gently wiping her child's tears with her thumb, Alice's mother looked at her with the warmest smile she had ever seen. The love in her glassy eyes was enough to make Alice yearn to for all of the time together the two had lost. 

"Happy with what you see?" Alice asked cheekily, grinning through her tears. The same mischievous look Alice often bore was reflected to her in her mother's face, making it more than clear where she had gotten it from.

"Eh, at least you look more like me than your father." Her mother joked, causing both women to burst in to giggles. Alice never knew how much she missed laughing with her mum until she didn't have the chance to anymore. Doing so again caused goosebumps to tingle down her arms. Hands travelled from her shoulders up to her face, where her Mother cupped her cheeks, eyes still shining. "I have never been more proud of you."

"Thank you, mum." Alice replied, revelling in getting to say mum again without it being in past-tense.

"There's someone else who's proud of you, too." Her mother whispered as the two were sharing a secret, gesturing behind Alice. 

Turning around, she was met with none other than Remus Lupin.

"Remus!" She exclaimed, running as fast as her legs would take her to launch herself into the arms of the man before her. A joyous laugh left Lupin's mouth as he wrapped his arms around Alice.

"Oh, you brave girl." He spoke softly, kissing the top of her head before resting his chin upon it. "You brave, brave girl."

"Remus, I'm-" Alice began an apology, hoping to try and find some kind of a way to say sorry for Remus laying down his life on her behalf, though it seemed as though he knew where she was going as he cut her off.

"I don't want an apology, there is nothing to be sorry about. I want you to go and live a full life, a happy life, surrounded by the love and laughter you bring by simply walking in to a room. I want you to take that ability you possess, to help others, and use it as often as you can. You can change lives, Alice. Go, go back and do that for me. Teach my son the same, and you two will be my legacy."

It was as though Alice felt herself filling with a new sense of purpose, committing Lupin's words to memory. One day, she hoped to say the same words to Remus's son. She dried the tears from her cheeks, pulling back from Remus and giving him a firm nod, accepting the mission he had given her. If there was one thing, one thing that she would strive to do for the rest of her days, it would be what he had requested of her.