Narcissa Malfoy [HARRY POTTER AFTERLIFE FANFICTION]

Chapter 8

Albus sat alone scribbling away on a piece of pink parchment paper. He was writing a love letter. He wanted to thank his girlfriend for saving his life from whatever the hell Narcissa Malfoy had attempted to do to him. 

Victoria had gone to sleep, so he sat alone in the common room with only the playful crackle of the fire to keep him company and the soft scratching of his quill on the paper. 

Then, there was another sound. "Albus...?" He heard someone call his name, he didn't turn around. If only it were Victoria. 

"Yes, Lily?" He knew from her voice.

She came nearer. "Oh, you're studying! What a relief, I was becoming worried about your upcoming  N.E.W.T.s. You've just been-"

"You don't need to worry about me." Albus cut in flatly. "And I'm writing a letter."

Lily dropped her hands to her sides. "Al, your N.E.W.T.s are important, more than writing love letters." Her voice raised slightly.

"Lily, I know what's important for me." He said, his voice low and rasping. His eyes still had not turned to his sister. 

Lily huffed quietly. "Really? Is she that important? Do you really love her that much?"

Albus's eyes finally gazed hers. Lily couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about them. His pupils were dilated like black holes and they quivered. Albus's face was set with hard lines, his eyebrows pulled downward. Lily must have given him a look because his features then relaxed instantly. 

"I always have." He said after a beat. 

Then Lily saw her brother, but he was smaller, still a kid. It was one of her earliest memories. Albus followed young Lily and Victoria to her room. They closed the door shut before he could step inside. He asked and asked them to let him in. They laughed but never opened the door. Lily remembered that he would attempt to unlock it with a stick he had found in the backyard-their parents had learned to never leave their wands lying around the house- and would go on shouting alohomora a thousand different ways but it never unbolted. He would give up after half an hour. This happened every time Victoria was over. 

Lily remembered clearly the day when the door finally creaked open by itself. It opened up slowly, revealing her brother inch by inch. Albus held the twisted stick in his grip. His eyes were wide with bewilderment. "You didn't lock it properly!" Victoria complained. Lily insisted that she had. And she had. 

Lily shook the image of her young brother out of her head. Had he really never stopped liking her?  Had he just been pretending all those years that he was over Victoria?

Victoria was her oldest friend. She couldn't remember a time when they hadn't been close. They told each other everything. So why did it feel like there was something she wasn't understanding? Something that wasn't making sense? 

Just a few months ago, Victoria had told Lily that Albus had forgiven her. She promised that they were on good terms again. That they were friends again, like old times. Then, she revealed that she had begun crushing on Albus. He was older- different now, not like how he'd been when they were kids, she assured. Victoria had crawled into her bed one night, her happiness so radiant that Lily had to ask what had gotten her friend so cheerful. She told Lily that Albus had agreed on going on a date with her to The Three Broomsticks. She was so nervous, she needed Lily to be there, for support. Of course she had agreed.

Everything was logical. They were madly in love. And yet, something still felt off. They were the people closest to her, wouldn't she know? But then, these days it was as if she didn't know them at all. Was this horrible feeling stirring in her gut like slush just jealousy of feeling left out?