Control ▸ Ron Weasley [2]

V. A TWIN CONNECTION

CHAPTER FIVE:
A TWIN CONNECTION
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      The funny thing about seeing your dead mother was that you couldn't breathe. Nova thought it would be easier to breathe, knowing her mother was right there in the room with her. However, she felt short of breath as she stared at her mother's reflection in the photo, stroking the rose gently with her fingers. She was still humming, and Nova recognized the tune now as a lullaby Elizabeth had used to hum to her children at night. Elizabeth was looking at Nova softly, with the wisdom only a mother could.

      "Little dove," her mother said again, contently. "The Room of Requirement certainly is a strange place. It was a study room when I was here." Elizabeth smiled fondly. 

      "Yeah," Nova managed to stutter out, "it's changed into a couple different things when I've needed it to."

      Elizabeth's smile suddenly melted away, and she stared at Nova in sorrow. "Little dove, I'm so sorry. I never meant to leave you and your brother. I never wanted to. And to know what your father has done... it breaks my heart."

      Nova found herself kneeling beside the portrait, shaking her head instantly. "No, Mum, no. It's not your fault. None of it is your fault. Theo and I, we don't blame you."

      "A mother always blames herself," Elizabeth corrected with a sad smile, reaching out as if to touch Nova's cheek but pulling away when realizing she couldn't. "Merlin, you're so beautiful. You look so much like me, it's like looking in a mirror," Elizabeth chuckled, continuing to stroke the flower in her hand. "So beautiful. And so heartbroken, too. So cold."

      "You've seen me?" Nova asked hopefully. Deep down she knew her mother had been watching from wherever she was. But it was nice to hear a reassurance, all the same.

      Elizabeth smiled again, and the sight of this smile, so familiar, made Nova's lower lip tremble like she was a little child. "Little dove," Elizabeth whispered, "I'm always watching you. You, Theo... you're the only ones I see."

      Nova couldn't help the quivering of her lower lip at her mother's confession. "Too many times," Nova trailed off, shaking her head, "too many times I've wanted to be there with you. Life would be so much easier if I was there with you."

      "I never wanted you to die with me," Elizabeth argued. "My sweet girl, life certainly hasn't been kind to you, has it? Tell me about him, about this silly boy that broke your heart."

      So Nova did. She told her mother about the stupid redheaded Gryffindor that was the only one to ever hold all of her heart, and break it in the same year. She told her mother about Theo joining the Death Eaters, about the fight at the Ministry, and about how the twins had taken her in for the summer. Nova had a feeling that her mother knew all of this, but still appreciated the way Elizabeth Nott nodded and smiled comfortingly for Nova to continue each time the teenager trailed off in self-consciousness.