Trust No Testimony

CHAPTER TWELVE.

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE: THE TWELFTH TESTIMONY

"When it rains, my thoughts are of you. I hate it."

Alex's POV

Yes, there's stress and worry, but instead of letting myself think, I focus on the calming motions of moving the yarn through the hook. Over and through, creating perfect knots, sometimes a little uneven, but neat. The baby blue yarn I've been working with is thick and soft, so the blanket is coming together faster than usual. I keep the pattern up, over and through until it's all I'm thinking about. I barely even register the creaking sound, things like this happen all the time in the castle.

"You know they have knitting needles that do the hard part for you."

What? I look up slowly, seeing Draco standing in the doorway to my room. "One, this is crochet, which isn't hard, not that knitting's too difficult, it just takes longer. Two, it soothes me. Three, there's this really cool trend called knocking, you might want to try it."

Draco leans against the door frame, "And you might want to try locking your door." My lips purse just a little, "You know I thought you'd be happier to see me since you seemed so worried before."

"The lapse in judgement passed." I stand up, walking towards him.

He presses his lips together. "Shame."

I hug him with not enough warning, "Yeah, a real shame."

There's the slightest bit of hesitation before he places a hand on my back. "You alright, there?"

"I'm glad you're okay and that they fixed you."

I feel him adjust against me, "Fixed isn't the most accurate word, darling, so don't squeeze me too tight just yet."

The thought of hurting him forces me to jump back on instinct. "Sorry!"

"Please, that was nothing," he mumbles, pulling me back in.

I sigh against his chest, way too comfortable. "So did your dad find you again?"

"Oh, Lucius always finds a way." He mumbles in a low voice. "Don't worry about him."

I'm not worried about him, dumbass, I'm worried about you. "He's not the one I'm worried about."

"I'm fine," I pull away just enough so I can look at his face, "You know how it is..." The way he trails off makes my stomach knot just a little. "When you're used to it."

He has a point. "Yeah," don't get emotional or sentimental, please, "I get what you mean."

"Do you ever think about life away from them?"

I laugh, "Do you ever think about anything else?"

He walks away without pushing me away, so I awkwardly shrink off of him. I watch him move to sit on my bed. Aw, Draco's comfortable--maybe a little too comfortable. "Where do you think you'd be if it wasn't for them."

"Wow, kind of a lot for like four PM on a Saturday," I clear my throat, "And I haven't thought of too much detail, I can never pick just one alternate life, but I'll give it a shot." My hands smooth out my skirt, "I think I'd put the manor back together again--my mom made the manor look so homie and Coretta changed it or maybe I'd be in New York with my aunt or just travel or..." I pause, really thinking about it, "There's this place."

"Place?"

I nod my head, "Malison--some people call it the inbetween of the muggle and wizard world--it's bright and warm and rains just enough to not be boring and lush and only wizards know about it but the muggle world is just behind the shrubbery. My parents had a summer home there." Wow, I'm way too into this, "I'd keep my parents home, maybe renovate it and open it up for wizards and witches who don't have family to stay out before they turn eleven or something and then just live in our old summer home."