•Memories• ||D.M.||

41. Pandora's Box

"I hereby pronounce thee, husband and wife!" I bolted up in fear as the first thing I registered in the morning was Christina helping Theodora strike a gong, making me jump from where I was laying.
Or who I was laying on.
I squeaked as I realized what had happened.
"Why do you have a gong?!" The reason I squeaked said, confused.
I looked at my four friends.
The boys were in legitimate suits, and the girls had obviously raided my closet for dresses.
"You all got dressed up for that joke, huh?" He shook his head as he shuffled, and I scooted further to the other side, head to my knees.
"Why do you guys suck this bad?!" I yelled into my legs. I looked up, face red. "And he has a point, why a gong?"
Jay shrugged. "I had one lying around."
"...I'm not even going to ask." I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"We just wanted to say goodbye, but you two were still all cozy so we didn't want to-" Christina began.
"Bye, now leave!" I sputtered, covering my ears.
"No hugs?" Jay fake cried.
"She's gotten enough affection, trust me!" Jeremy called as he spun out the door, followed by the others.
"It was their idea.. have the gong." Theodora apologized and placed it on the table with a soft thud, and we all knew that it was totally her idea.
"Uh, I'm gonna..." Draco mumbled.
"Ah, right! I'm I'll just go do.." I mumbled back and pointed at the door.
"Yeah, I'll see you in a.." he averted his eyes from me as I shuffled out, slamming the door and half walk/running to my room.
I closed the door and cursed myself out for a good minute as I hid my face in my pillow.
There's no way I let that happen...
I need better friends, too.
But oh my god.
I don't even remember falling asleep, let alone finding the opportunity to be spooned by-
Oh dear lord, it was too real...
---
"You know, we could've stayed another night and just left with them, their trip ends tomorrow anyways." Jeremy commented to Christina as she drew.
They were in the back seat of the car together, while Theo and Jay were up front.
"Trust me, they need to have this one day in Paris." She said.
Jeremy shrugged, yawning. "Whatever you say..." he looked over to her drawing, resting his head on her shoulder as he softly hummed.
He drifted off as she colored in the sky.
---
"Oh! There you two are!" Narcissa said as she walked up to us in the hotel dining area.
Draco and I were the only ones there, opposite sides of the room as we didn't glance at each other once.
She didn't even notice because she was so excited for the day.
"Last day, you two! We'll be going about for a final round of shopping, going to get our portraits done, dining at the biggest restaurant in the city, and concluding this trip atop the Eiffel Tower!" She cheered.
I sighed internally as I put down my soup spoon.
This is going to be an interesting day.
---
"Too much?" I asked Avocado as I spun in the dress I had bought.
The cat didn't acknowledge me.
"Well, it's a portrait, I don't know what to wear!" I argued as my rude cat continued to ignore me. "You're such a boy, Cado..." I whined.
"Oh, you look just like her!" Narcissa said from the doorway, hand over her heart. "Veronica would be so proud.." she said as she walked behind me in the mirror.
The dress was a black v-neck with a long sheer skirt.
Did I really look like my mother?
I thought for a moment.
I could ask about her, but am I ready for the answers? And will those answers raise more questions?
I took a breath. "How come you two were so close?" I asked, and it even took her off guard.
She grabbed the locket on the vanity and toyed with the clasp.
"Well, we'd been friends since we went to school, and we both knew how much money we'd inherit, and marry into." She pulled the necklace over my head.
"We'd been planning a way to still help our... community without risking everything we had. We entrusted each other with everything, and when I lost her..." she clapped it in the back, straightening the necklace as she motioned for me to turn. "I was devastated. I mean, I hadn't even met you yet..." she blinked back tears as she straightened the necklace. "She was buried in the garden, next to her wife, and an empty grave, what we thought was yours."
I breathed heavily, regretting ever asking any questions, but feeling strangely satisfied, even if I had more questions.
A click came from the locket.
A click that I never wanted to hear.
Yes, I had been curious of what was inside, but I never wanted to put myself through that.
"Take a look.." she softly said, guiding me to the mirror.
It was a moving picture of Veronica holding an infant, as Maple gave a huge kiss to the baby's head.
"Momma's giving her crazy kisses! Look out!" Veronica's voice was one thing, but seeing her mouth move made me tense.
"Oh, quiet you.." Maple said, placing a kiss on Veronica's cheek.
The baby giggled, and my body shot forward with a sob.
A pair of cold hands rubbed my arms soothingly.
I slammed shut the locket, wiping my face as I pulled away, a smile on my puffy face.
"I'm okay!" I reassured, and she hesitated.
"Very well.. fix your makeup and meet us downstairs, hun."
"Will do!"