August 14, 2047
St. Ignatius Basilica
Xavier stepped up to the podium silently. He nodded to Xhylea, his twin sister, who took her place at the piano. He took a deep breath as he faced the crowd. The church was packed full of people from all walks of life. Purebloods and muggleborns alike came to pay their last respects to his grandparents- the war hero and the fallen angel.
"I wanted to thank you all for being here today, no matter what the real reason may be. I know most of you have already heard of my grandparents' stories. They were survivors of the war after all; their tales recorded in our history books forever. But only few people know of the truth behind the words. I am fortunate enough to be one of them. I would like to a portion of that truth with you today. My grandmother would have liked it, no matter how my grandfather would sulk about and refuse."
A nervous chuckle reverberated from the congregation. He smirked, one worthy of only a true Malfoy, as he stepped down. A servant handed him his guitar while another one set up the microphone. He ran his fingers across the strings, letting the momentum flow through him.
Here goes nothing. This is for both of you.
I read a note my Grandma wrote back in 1923
Grandpa kept it in his coat, and he showed it once to me
Xavier
December 27, 2043
Malfoy Manor
"What you reading there, son?" I heard someone ask over my shoulder. I turned to see my grandfather peering at the book I was flipping through.
"Hogwarts, A History: The Revised Edition. Professor Binns still sticks to the old version. Not that anyone cares to listen anyway," I shrugged, turning back to my book, "We get enough of the stories from our grandparents."
"Ah, I see." He looked at me pointedly, "We are what you children consider history now, yes?"
I looked away, trying to hide my embarrassment, as he chuckled heartily.
"You do realize, son, that there is more to our history that my generation's adventures? There are still those events older than me or my own grandfather that shaped our world."
"But the rest of them are simply boring," I countered, "It only starts to get interesting when Dumbledore comes into the picture."
"Professor Dumbledore, Xavier. And yes, I do believe the same thing," he smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "May I borrow that thing for a while. There is something I wanted to check."
I handed him the book, curious as to what suddenly made him interested in it. He flipped it over, opening it at the more recent historical events. His eyes skimmed over the pages, turning two or three at a time. I watched the various emotions flick through his face- anger, amusement, sadness- until he finally found the page he seemed to be looking for.
"Here," he handed me back the book with a blank look on his face, "Read this first and then tell me what you think."
Hermione Jean Granger graduated on June 18, 1999 with top honors after returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for her 7th year. She was also awarded by the Ministry of Magic for achieving Outstanding for all subjects n her NEWTS, the highest Britain has seen since Albus Dumbledore. But it was also on that same day that she disappeared without a trace. The main culprit? Draco Malfoy, son of known Death Eater Lucius Malfoy, who was coincidentally reported missing the day after.
I gasped, looking at my grandfather in disbelief. I never did hear the whole story of how my grandparents fell in love. Sure, there were rumours- The Gryffindor Princess marrying the Slytherin King- but beyond that the stories became hazy.
"Alright, son. It's time I told you the truth before you hear a distorted version from someone else. So listen closely. I won't tell you of how everything began. Let's just say I'm glad things happened the way they did." He pulled out a worn piece of parchment from his coat pocket, opened it carefully before passing it to me. "Now where to start? Ah, yes…" His eyes glazed over, lost in the memory of his youth.
*-*
Draco
June 18, 1999
Hogwarts
"I am disappointed in you, Draco. You should be the one up there being recognized as the top of your class instead of that filthy mudblood." I heard my father say beside me. I wanted so bad to retort, to hex him, or even just to punch him in the face. My fists clenched in fury, knuckles nearly white. But I just sat there, too afraid to move, too cowardly to stand up to him. You'd think after all this time he'd give up in all this blood status nonsense. Our side did lose the war after all. Thanks to Potter, my parents and I were spared Dementor's Kiss. My father wasn't too happy about the circumstances of his acquittal. Nevertheless, he put up another one of those masks he was famous for. To the world, he was now humbled and even more generous than before. But in the confines of his comfort zone, he was the same sick bastard he was when the Dark Lord was still in power. I wanted to break free of him, of his prejudices, forever.
I looked up at the girl on the stage smiling radiantly beside her parents and some of the professors as the photographers clicked away. Our eyes met, I began to relax. She had that effect on me, one smile and I was putty in her delicate hands. But our 'relationship' didn't start out like that, quite the opposite actually. We hated each other with a burning passion; it was no secret to anyone who knew us. Then again, as they say- there's a thin line between love and hate. We crossed that line. It wasn't easy but we managed. All that was left was telling the world.
He said, "Boy, you might not understand, but a long, long time ago,
Grandma's daddy didn't like me none, but I love your Grandma so.
The graduation party in the Great Hall was in full swing by the time I slipped out. I headed towards the dungeons, whispering the password to blank wall that served as the entrance to the Slytherin Dormitories. After making sure there were no younger Slytherins still lingering in the common room, I ascended the staircase to his dorm room. With a wave of my wand, I shrunk my luggage and pocketed them. I took one last sweeping look at the room, from the drapes that hid the bed from view to the desks that served more than its original purpose. This cramped place had felt more like home to me than the giant cage I called a bedroom at the Manor. With a heavy heart, I left. I hurried along the corridors, taking care not to be seen by anyone. I took a secret passageway that led to the school grounds without passing through the Entrance Hall. I looked at my watch, my princess was waiting. Checking that no one had seen me exit, I ran.
We had this crazy plan to meet and run away together
Get married in the first town we came to and live forever
When I reached the oak tree, our tree, near the lake, she was nowhere in sight. My heart began to race, unwanted thoughts running through my head. What if she isn't coming? What if she changed her mind? I walked around the tree absentmindedly. A glimmer of metal caught my eye. A badge, the Head Girl Badge to be exact, was pinning a piece of parchment on one side of the tree trunk.
But nailed to the tree where we were supposed to meet instead
I found this letter, and this is what it said:
*-*
Xavier
December 27, 2043
Malfoy Manor
I stared at the letter. Somehow, I understood.
If you get there before I do
Don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down
Darling wait and see
And between now and then
'Til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, Me.
*-*
Xavier
August 9, 2047
St. Anthony Memorial Hospital
"Xavier, honey, would you be a dear and accompany your grandfather to the chapel?" My mom asked me as she plumped the pillows around my grandmother's head. "Your father went to fetch Xhylea from ballet. And I don't think we should leave your grandmother alone." I nodded, looking around for my grandfather. "He's waiting for you in the hallway, dear."
"Granddad?" He had his back to me when I closed stepped into the hallway.
"Let's go take a stroll, shall we?" he started walking, not even bothering to see if I was following him. I sighed and tried to keep up with him.
"Your grandmother. I used to hate her, did you know?" My grandfather was rambling but I let him be. I know for a fact that the past few days had been hard on him. Heck! It was hard on all of us. I mean, what would you feel when all the healers you went would tell you that there was nothing more they could do. What we needed was a miracle, something even magic couldn't comprehend. So here we are at a muggle hospital, as we had been for the past month. But even they seem at a loss.
"She was everything I was brought up to despise. Muggles and mudbloods alike. All lower than the dirt under our Pureblood shoes," he scoffed. "She beat me at everything, except Quidditch that is. Her fear of heights had always amused me. Despite everything, I still respected her. More so when she punched me in third year. it was the very first time anyone had the balls to stand up to me. Me, the Slytherin Sex God, put in his place by the Bucktoothed Know-It-All. And by Merlin, she was a girl! Imagine that? " he chuckled as we entered the lift. He was silent during the ride up but continued speaking when we emerged from the moving metal box, as he called it.
"Then in fourth year, that damned Triwizard Tournament. She was so beautiful, even Blaise admitted that. But we, well me mostly, were too proud to ask her to dance. It would have been shocking after all. What would Potter and Weasley say? Its bad enough she went with that dumb oaf Krum. I saw the look on Weasley's face, you know? He was stupid not to ask her." I recognized the names Potter and Weasley from his monologue, grandmum's best friends. There were pictures of the three of them somewhere among the various albums in the Manor. And I see them on the rare occasions when she tags me along to see Nana Ginny.
"My father she was there in the Ministry when the Death Eaters were ordered to retrieve the prophecy. He said she was foolish, I thought she was brave." He was smiling now, something I haven't seen in a long while. "Then in sixth year, I was an outright mess. I was stupid enough to duel with Potter in my state. Where did that get me? A bed in the Hospital Wing with bandages around my torso. Up 'til now she doesn't know that I saw her peeking in the morning after. It's our little secret, Xavier. I was the only one in the Hospital Wing that time so I was quite smug about the fact that she was concerned about me."
We had reached the chapel. It was quiet, seeing as we were the only ones there. He sat down on the pew nearest the door while I stood behind him.
"I never admitted this to anyone but her. I never knew exactly when I had fallen for her, just that I was sure she was the only one for me. Snape and I fled when the Headmaster had fallen. I hated myself for leaving her there, at the mercy of the Death Eaters. But I had no choice. I had no control over my life anymore. Nothing, not even my own thoughts, was safe. When Snape informed the dark Lord that the Golden Trio was on the run, I was frantic. Where is she now? Is she alright? Is she alive? Imagine my surprise when Greyback and a couple of Snatchers dragged them in. And when my aunt, she…" he choked on his words. This part of the story I already knew. My grandmum once showed me the faint scar on her neck, and reminded me that it was all in the past now. I always had the feeling she was saying that more to granddad than me. "We came back for that last year in Hogwarts. We were all scarred by the war. I want to believe we helped each other accept and move on. The rest, Xavier, is history."
I nodded. He told me that part of the story during the Christmas break of my first year at Hogwarts. How they ran away on their graduation night, got married in the States, and only came back to London when my dad started attending Hogwarts. I watched as he pulled an all too familiar piece of parchment from his pocket.
I read those words just hours before my Grandma passed away
In the doorway of the church where me and Grandpa stopped to pray
"Hold on to this, Xavier. And someday, when you find your own princess, tell her these words. Don't ever try to push her away. Don't make the same mistakes I did." He handed me the letter. I simply stared at him, too stunned to say anything properly. "She made me promise not to cry for her, your grandmother. But I can't. This is one promise I can't keep."
I know I've never seen him cry in all my fifteen years
But as he said these words to her, his eyes fill up with tears
For generations, it had been taught in the Malfoy family that emotions are for the weak. It was my grandmother who changed all that. She made sure my father was raised properly and saw to it that we were raised the same. Draco Malfoy may have been the trunk holding up the family tree but she would always be the roots that anchored him to the ground.
He had stopped sobbing now but the tears continued to run down his face. I heard him whispering. I thought he was talking to me so I strained my ears to listen.
"If you get there before I do
Don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be
But I'm not gonna let you down
Darling wait and see
And between now and then
Til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, Me."
Tears were prickling behind my own eyelids. I hastily wiped them off and leaned back to give him more privacy. In his own way, my grandfather was praying. The cell phone in my pocket began to buzz. I walked to the doorway and fished it out to read my father's text message.
Mum is gone. Get dad and come quick.
I cried then. Remembering my grandfather, I wiped the tears from my eyes and walked over to where he sat. He was still kneeling on the floor with his head in his hands. I thought he had fallen asleep so I shook him gently. He had remained motionless. When realization set in, I found myself screaming for a doctor in the hallway.
And between now and then
'Til I see you again
I'll be loving you
Love, Me.
Scorpius
August 14, 2047
St. Ignatius Basilica
I could hear Rose start sobbing beside me. I put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, blinking back the tears starting to form in my eyes. For my family's sake, I had to stay strong. As my son sang the last of the song, I found myself smiling. I know those lines. I often heard my parents uttering the same ones throughout my childhood. It wasn't until my father showed me the letter that I understood.
I glanced at the pair of coffins sitting side by side in front of the altar. Even in death, my parents were together.