Eleanor Snape- Book 5, Part 2

The Best Present I Could Ask For

"Dad!" Draco yelled when he woke up. He looked back over at me with wide eyes. "D-Dad?"

"Draco?" Lucius rushed into the room. "Are you okay?"

"No! I mean, well... .yes! But... Why is she in my bed?!" He guestered to my sleeping form with the arm that was not pinned down by my body. 

"I don't know..." Lucius seemed puzzled as he peeked over at me. "She usually comes to my room..."

"Well, what do I do?  She's laying on my arm!" 

"Stop yelling. Don't wake her up."

"Then how am I suppose to get up?"

"You'll just have to wait for her to wake up herself. If you mess her up from her scheduale, which she has been doing the last few days, it makes her act terribley, not to mention she's ill."

"So you want me to just lay here?"

"Please, Draco. Obviously, she's taking a liking to you. Don't ruin it. She won't even touch most people, much less sleep with them."

"But Dad..."

"Listen, your mother is trilled that the two of you are getting along so well. You don't know how much stress you getting along takes off of us.." As Lucius said this, I yaawned and cuddled clsoer to Draco, shivering, but not waking up. 

"Fine, I guess. But if I get sick from her, I'm going to be angry."

"You've been next to her all nigh.t If you're going to get ill, it's too late to stop it."

"I guess." Draco sighed. Lucius laid a hand on my forhead.

"She's still burning up. I hope she feels better by the time Micheal and Clarissa get here."

"Yeah."

"Did she seem excited to see Gregory?"

"Yeah. She really likes him." 

"Good. She needs friends right now."

"And last I spoke to him, he misses her."

"He needs her, too. Micheal said he's still having a hard time over Vincent."

"We all are. We are a great guy. He was my best friend." Draco turned his head as he began to tear up. "Gregory and I were both going to be his best man."

"I know. It's a pity."

"Fire was the worst way eh could have gone, too. It was terrible..."

"I'm sue it was." Lucius wiped a tear from his son's cheek. "I know."

They went quiet as Draco continued to silently cry. He didn't have hard sobs like I usually did, but a pitiful crying that made no sound. INfact, if tears hadn't of been snaking down his cheeks, then it would have been impossible to tell. Lucius tried his best not to look at his crying son. I coughed and rubbed my face into the side of his chest. He swollowed and looked at me.

"Do you think she'll ever be better?" Draco asked. Lucius sighed.

"It's not that simple, Draco. She's hurt. She's sick."

"But do you think-"

"Healer Green said that she will probably learn how to handle it, or hide it, but the wound will never heal. She will always be hurt. She's sick ,and it's nto as simple as takign a potion and it going away. She will always struggle. Some days she will be better than others, but she will never be 'better'."

"Oh..." Draco quietly breathed. 

"That's why we have to try to support her. She needs us."

"I understand."