Because I Love You (D.M)

19 Years Later

One Year After:
I visited Johnny's grave every Sunday afternoon with my parents and replaced the flowers that surround his cradle of dirt. We mourned his death, but it appears my Mother bore the most pain and grief. Father and I have accepted his passing, but there's an unmistakable hole in our hearts. He was only twelve years old. Gwendolyn hadn't been heard from since riding away in the carriage that fateful night Johnny was taken from us.

As for my fellow classmates, Hannah and Neville had only gotten closer after this whole ordeal. Ernie has a desk job in the Ministry of Magic and his younger sister was transferred to Beauxbatons to finish her magical career. Zach hadn't been heard from since his desertion, but I did not care. Lastly, I have no idea what had happened to Draco Malfoy. Knowing that he had been the reason my brother was dead just made me want to distance myself from him and his family forever. Johnny was gone.

Seven Years After:
I still visited my baby brother's grave every Sunday with my parents. He's been gone for eight years and I haven't forgiven Malfoy yet.

Hannah and Neville have married and they now own the Leaky Cauldron in London. Ernie had been promoted to the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation, (specializing in the instruction of Apparation), and Zach was still missing off the face of the Earth.

Though something else happened to me. It occurred one fateful night that we came upon each other. I had stayed late at the Leaky Cauldron while one Hannah's workers was wiping down the bar. I already had drunk up two cups of Fire Whiskey and was feeling lonely albeit it may have been attributed to the alcohol when he came in from the cold outside. Wrapped up in a long black jacket and scarf, I barely even acknowledged him until he placed himself on the bar stool to my left. I had just called for the bartender to get me a third cup when the man to my left unwound his scarf and glanced hastily at me. I returned the glance in my somewhat drunken stupor and was shocked to see Draco Malfoy sitting there. He ordered some kind of whiskey I had never heard of and looked back at me, this time holding the gaze for a while longer. Everything about him was the same except for his hairline had ever so slightly started to recede and he wore a gold ring on his left hand. One bottle of Fire Whiskey later, the ring didn't matter because I found us back in my apartment in my bed and awoke the next morning alone and with the worst hangover of my life. Not a word was said between the two of us, just the passion. Consequently, I ended up pregnant from this little encounter. Malfoy wasn't going to stick around me this time. He was already married to a girl from the Greengrass family: Astoria. She was also pregnant with their child. That night had been a horrible mistake on my part.

There I was, twenty-five years old, single, and about to be a mother.

Eleven Years After:
My daughter had been born nine months after that passionate night in which Draco Malfoy, the boy I had once loved more than myself, and I ran into each other at the Leaky Cauldron.

She has deep brown hair and stormy grey eyes, eyes just like her would-be father's. She needed glasses thanks to my vision, but was undeniably the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen and I loved her so much. Her name was Lucinda, or Lucy, and she was the light of my life. So young, innocent, pure, and good. Now, that mistake of a night with that mistake of a boy had gifted me something far more valuable than he ever could have imagined.

Nineteen Years After:
Before I knew it, September 1st had arrived and my little girl was about to embark on the greatest seven years of her life. Lucy clung tight to my hand as we and her trunk clambered onto Platform 9 and 3/4 much like I had done when I had been eleven. She was afraid to let go of my hand after we had loaded her trunk and stood together within the masses of families.

"Mum, what if I am in Slytherin?" She asked me with watery grey eyes.

I crouched down so I was eye level with her. For a fleeting moment, I was reminded of how I used to do that with Johnny ,but I brushed that memory aside.

"Lucy, if you are sorted into Slytherin, then Slytherin House will become your new family. There's nothing wrong with that. Wherever you end up, darling, I'll always be proud of who you are," I told her gently.

"Really?" She squeaked out.

"Always."

I stood up and wrapped my arms around her tightly as I planted a kiss on top of her head. As I continued to hold Lucy, my eyes scanned the crowds. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley had three children close at hand and Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley had two. My eyes were drawn to a tall blonde man and a shorter woman with wavy brown hair. Standing next to the man was an eleven year old boy with the same blonde hair and curious grey eyes as his father. The man didn't see me, but his son caught a glimpse of me staring and I quickly averted my eyes back to my daughter.

Lucy eventually had to board the Hogwarts Express after promising me multiple times to write me as often as she could. I waved until I couldn't see her tiny face against the train window anymore and turned back to leave the platform. I passed by the shorter woman with wavy brown hair and she gave me an odd look, probably from staring at her son, but I didn't mind. I left the platform, found my car, and drove back to my apartment.

A few days later, I discovered a letter in my mail from Hogwarts. My Lucy's messy handwriting filled the page and my heart was filled with joy:

"Mum,

I was sorted into Slytherin House and I think I'm going to be all right with that. The castle is huge! So many hallways, how didn't you get lost while you were here? The food is amazing and I am especially fond of all the desserts! Classes are hard but I'm enjoying them anyway. I also met a boy today, we have the same eye color. It's cool, but we are pretty good friends already. His name is Scorpius Malfoy, by the way. Can't wait to see you over the holidays,

Love, Lucy"