SANCTUARY
By Yananetta (Tanya Araneta)
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters! The universe
and characters are property of JK Rowling.
So, there she was. Astoria.
The girl who became a woman. The woman who became my wife. The wife that bore my son.
There she was, more beautiful than ever before. More beautiful than life itself — even more beautiful than the love that she carried. She had loved all, but all had not been as generous as her. They had envied her, spited her, and hurt her. They had driven the light that was her into the brink of darkness. Then, the world became dark. For our child, for me and, for her. For she, unfortunately, was dead.
No longer will her heart beat another second, and no longer will my heart beat for another. I walked toward her, a rose in hand, legs shaking with every step. When I finally get to her, I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to face: my son. My only son. I gave him an appreciative smile, and he gripped my shoulder harder in response. It was an act of support, it was him telling me that everything will be alright. It won't. His mother was dead.
I turn back toward the black casket before me. It carried my whole life inside — my childhood, adulthood, and death. I do not know how long I shall live without her by my side. I place the rose on top and touch the glass above her face. Underneath it were the eyes that I knew would never look at me with kindness ever again. With that thought, I tried to fight back tears but failed, and stood there crying with my free hand covering my face in shame.
"Papa." I heard my son say, but I did not turn to face him.
"Not right now, Scorpius." I said between sobs. "Let me grieve my sweetheart for a little while longer. My swetheart."
Sweetheart.
Sweetheart?
. . .
"Sweetheart?" A familiar voice said softly. I open my eyes and look at—
"Astoria?" I couldn't believe my luck. It was a dream — no, a nightmare — and I reached toward and grabbed her in my embrace, tears that originated from that dream manifesting itself into reality. Astoria hugged me back, undoubtedly worried and confused at the same time. We sat in bed like that for a long while, before I finally, reluctantly, let her go.
"Draco, sweetheart? You wanna tell me what your dream was about?" She asked, while wiping my tears with her hands. When she finished, she put her hands on my shoulders.
I looked at her, thankful that all that madness wasn't real. I cupped her face with my hands and kissed her, then took her in my arms once again. As we relished in the silence of that moment, I knew that my agony had somehow reached her, and she caressed my back gently, soothing me in the way only she can. Then, she turned her head to whisper in my ear, "No worries, love. That was just a dream." I sigh as I register her words. "No worries. You're okay now. You'll always be okay."
END