The old man sat on his bed, wrapped in sheets, as he had for days. His gray hair, once blonde and slick, was nearly gone. What remained was thin and stuck out at random. He simply stared at the mantel piece before him. Sitting atop the rich mahogany was a glass case containing a single green apple. A voice spoke outside his door and he recognized it as his wife's.
"No. Scorpius, please! You have to visit your father. He's terminally ill. I fear he may be gone by the end of the month. Okay, alright. Thank you, dear. I love you. Okay, bye." There was a faint click and the she pushed open the door gently, "Is there anything I can get for you, darling?"
"I'm fine," he said, not looking at her.
"Still musing over that apple?" she chuckled sitting on the edge of the bed, "How has long has it lasted anyways?"
"I've had it since I was a boy."
"How has it stayed so ripe and delicious looking? That's what I'd like to know, Draco." She smirked, the wrinkles in her face becoming slightly more defined.
"Why do you insist on using the Muggle telephone? Why not send our son an owl?" It was clear he was avoiding the question, but she went along with it.
"More and more witches and wizards have been using them. I thought I'd try to keep up with the times."
"Yes, but why? We have means of communication far superior to that."
"Oh darling, strapping letters to an owl's leg is so... Primitive."
"Whatever you say, dearest," he sighed. Astoria's thin fingers curled around his on top of the blankets, "I've always feared dying," Draco began, "but now that Death is upon me? It's not as frightening as I once thought it to be." he tore his gaze from the apple and glanced at Astoria who was now watching the case, as if expecting something of it.
"Yes, well, we're still just hoping for the best, now aren't we?" she looked at him and smiled slightly before standing. She patted his hand and kissed his forehead, "Now get some rest. You've had a long day." She flicked the lights off and shut the door as quietly as possible. Once she was gone, Draco turned his focus back to the apple.
Thin veils of moonlight shone through the thin curtains that covered the large windows in the bedroom. What little light managed to get through shone onto the glass, illuminating the apple in a halo of light. In the dim moonlight, he saw a nearly imperceptibly small brown spot on the apple's skin. Draco frowned and slipped his wand from the nightstand next to his bed. With a flick of his wrist, the cover lifted off the glass case and the apple floated towards him. He plucked it neatly from the air and turned it over in his hand, rubbing a frail thumb across the smooth skin.
"How did you get damaged, my lovely?" he brought the apple to his lips, kissing it softly. Draco sighed and levitated the apple back into the case, replacing the cover, "What a wonderful mystery, love is. It clouds the mind and makes fools of the sharpest witted kings."
Let me know what you think and I'll be sure to write more. Favorites are nice, but I prefer comments and criticism. Be as harsh as you want, for any real writer can take some criticism ;P