"So what are we going to do?" asked Draco, sitting on the bed in their
bedroom, watching Hermione walking back and forth around the room, thinking
hard. "Are we going to tell her the truth, about me being an idiot,
affected by my father and everything?"
"I don't know," said Hermione, biting her lip. "Maybe you could tell her it's not true? She asked you to, after all, didn't she?"
Draco raised the letter to his eyes and read: " 'When you were my age, were you ready to use any means to achieve your ends? Please tell me you weren't. Please tell me I've been hearing and reading lies.' Yes," he said, throwing the parchment back on the blanket, "she wants me to."
"So do it!" said Hermione, as if this was solving the problem.
"What, and lie to my own daughter?"
"Look, we've been hiding things from her for eleven years," Hermione sighed, "does another lie make any difference?"
"Of course it does!" Draco protested. "Hiding the truth is not like lying. I don't want to lie to Monica. She's my daughter. I wouldn't be able to look at her in the eye after that."
"But we've been lying to her for eleven years!"
"Technically, we haven't. We only never told her the truth - we never lied!"
"Oh, come on, Draco," said Hermione, twitching her face, "you know it's exactly the same as lying and Monica would count that as lying, too. Anyway, it's not the point. Are you going to tell her the truth?"
"Guess I have no choice, do I?" sighed Draco. "All right, I'll tell her. Come over here and help me write it down."
"I can't, I got to go check on Sapphire."
"Oh, give me a break, Hermione! Sapphire will be all right for five minutes on her own. You've got to help me, I have no idea how to start."
Hermione went over and sat on the edge of the bed. "All right," she said. "Why don't you write down this: 'Dear Monica, I don't know how to tell you this, but everything you read was true. I was a jerk when I was in Hogwarts, I was a typical Slytherin etc. etc.. Oh, and yes, your mother and I used to hate each other. Love, Dad.' "
Draco narrowed her eyes at her.
"Fine, I'm sorry!" she said. "OK, let's give it some thought."
It took much longer than five minutes, but eventually the letter was done.
-----Dear Monica,
I wish you were here, so we could discuss this face to face. I'm afraid I don't have very good news. You probably remember that my father was a Death Eater, a servant of Voldemort, and one of the most powerful of them. He was very strong, a great wizard, powerfully magical. He was much stronger than my mother, and since I was a child - also much stronger than me.
When people feel strong, they decide they are worth more than weaker people. This is what my father thought. He decided he was the best of all people, and if he was a pure-blood, then pure-blood is better than Muggle- born. That was the way he brought me up: you are the best. Your family is the best. Muggle-borns are Mudbloods and we don't give a damn about them. Dumbledore is the worst Headmaster that has ever been to Hogwarts, because of his fondnessfor Muggles and Mudbloods. Do anything you can, use any means to achieve your ends. Slytherin is the best house. Hufflepuff is full of idiots and Gryffindor is full of traitors. Lord Voldemort is right about everything he does, and you were born to serve him.
I believed my father, because I had never heard anything else and thought it was true. I didn't understand why I should care about whether someone's parents are wizards or Muggles, but I shut my mouth up, because I was afraid of him. I did whatever he told me to.
That was the reason I had never been friends with Harry, Ron and your mother. Harry had beat Lord Voldemort; Ron was a Weasley, and my father hated the Weasleys - he thought they were traitors; and your mother was a Muggle-born. I simply did what my father had told me to, until he died. And when he died, I finally had a good, long talk with my mother - your grandmother. We discussed the whole issue of the so-called purity of blood, and decided that I would never judge someone according to their origin, but get to know them first. When I went back to school for my seventh year, I felt as if I was meeting everyone for the first time, because I finally noticed their characters, not their origins.
Indeed, this was the year when I noticed I liked your mother, and asked her out. Of course, she wouldn't agreed unless she saw I had changed, but since I HAD changed, she agreed.
Monica, I'm sorry I've never told you all this myself, and you had to find it out like that. The thing is, I guess I didn't want you to find out, because I wanted you to keep thinking of me as the "greatest dad ever", like you had said. This was the reason your mother has never told you about her adventures with Harry and Ron - we knew you'd ask why I hadn't helped.
I just want you to remember that whatever we did, we did out of pure concern and love for you. You are the greatest daughter.
Yours
Dad
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Do you think she would forgive us?" said Draco uncomfortably.
"Why wouldn't she?" asked Hermione.
"Well, we have lied to her for eleven years."
"That's not the serious lie, you know. If she finds out about how she was born - now THAT'S a lie."
"It's not the point! Look, Hermione, what if she decides not to forgive us? What if our relationship with her would never be the same again?"
"It's Monica, Draco. Monica will never do such a thing. We are her parents, she loves us, she will understand, don't worry."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Monica read and re-read the letter over and over again. OK, so her father used to be a jerk. He's changed, though. She can forgive him, right? It's not like he's murdered anyone. It could be worse.
Yes. She was going to forgive him. She wrote a letter back, telling him that she totally understood everything, and it was okay.
It was a relief...
For a brief period of time.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I know this was short, sorry guys, I'm just really really busy these days - you know, school is killing me... I'm doing my best, I really am. All right, the next chapter will be more interesting, I believe, but it's going to take some time, because I think that at least until next Thursday I will not be able to write again. I have two huge tests this week, math and history. Wish me luck! ;-)
Love,
Roni.
"I don't know," said Hermione, biting her lip. "Maybe you could tell her it's not true? She asked you to, after all, didn't she?"
Draco raised the letter to his eyes and read: " 'When you were my age, were you ready to use any means to achieve your ends? Please tell me you weren't. Please tell me I've been hearing and reading lies.' Yes," he said, throwing the parchment back on the blanket, "she wants me to."
"So do it!" said Hermione, as if this was solving the problem.
"What, and lie to my own daughter?"
"Look, we've been hiding things from her for eleven years," Hermione sighed, "does another lie make any difference?"
"Of course it does!" Draco protested. "Hiding the truth is not like lying. I don't want to lie to Monica. She's my daughter. I wouldn't be able to look at her in the eye after that."
"But we've been lying to her for eleven years!"
"Technically, we haven't. We only never told her the truth - we never lied!"
"Oh, come on, Draco," said Hermione, twitching her face, "you know it's exactly the same as lying and Monica would count that as lying, too. Anyway, it's not the point. Are you going to tell her the truth?"
"Guess I have no choice, do I?" sighed Draco. "All right, I'll tell her. Come over here and help me write it down."
"I can't, I got to go check on Sapphire."
"Oh, give me a break, Hermione! Sapphire will be all right for five minutes on her own. You've got to help me, I have no idea how to start."
Hermione went over and sat on the edge of the bed. "All right," she said. "Why don't you write down this: 'Dear Monica, I don't know how to tell you this, but everything you read was true. I was a jerk when I was in Hogwarts, I was a typical Slytherin etc. etc.. Oh, and yes, your mother and I used to hate each other. Love, Dad.' "
Draco narrowed her eyes at her.
"Fine, I'm sorry!" she said. "OK, let's give it some thought."
It took much longer than five minutes, but eventually the letter was done.
-----Dear Monica,
I wish you were here, so we could discuss this face to face. I'm afraid I don't have very good news. You probably remember that my father was a Death Eater, a servant of Voldemort, and one of the most powerful of them. He was very strong, a great wizard, powerfully magical. He was much stronger than my mother, and since I was a child - also much stronger than me.
When people feel strong, they decide they are worth more than weaker people. This is what my father thought. He decided he was the best of all people, and if he was a pure-blood, then pure-blood is better than Muggle- born. That was the way he brought me up: you are the best. Your family is the best. Muggle-borns are Mudbloods and we don't give a damn about them. Dumbledore is the worst Headmaster that has ever been to Hogwarts, because of his fondnessfor Muggles and Mudbloods. Do anything you can, use any means to achieve your ends. Slytherin is the best house. Hufflepuff is full of idiots and Gryffindor is full of traitors. Lord Voldemort is right about everything he does, and you were born to serve him.
I believed my father, because I had never heard anything else and thought it was true. I didn't understand why I should care about whether someone's parents are wizards or Muggles, but I shut my mouth up, because I was afraid of him. I did whatever he told me to.
That was the reason I had never been friends with Harry, Ron and your mother. Harry had beat Lord Voldemort; Ron was a Weasley, and my father hated the Weasleys - he thought they were traitors; and your mother was a Muggle-born. I simply did what my father had told me to, until he died. And when he died, I finally had a good, long talk with my mother - your grandmother. We discussed the whole issue of the so-called purity of blood, and decided that I would never judge someone according to their origin, but get to know them first. When I went back to school for my seventh year, I felt as if I was meeting everyone for the first time, because I finally noticed their characters, not their origins.
Indeed, this was the year when I noticed I liked your mother, and asked her out. Of course, she wouldn't agreed unless she saw I had changed, but since I HAD changed, she agreed.
Monica, I'm sorry I've never told you all this myself, and you had to find it out like that. The thing is, I guess I didn't want you to find out, because I wanted you to keep thinking of me as the "greatest dad ever", like you had said. This was the reason your mother has never told you about her adventures with Harry and Ron - we knew you'd ask why I hadn't helped.
I just want you to remember that whatever we did, we did out of pure concern and love for you. You are the greatest daughter.
Yours
Dad
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Do you think she would forgive us?" said Draco uncomfortably.
"Why wouldn't she?" asked Hermione.
"Well, we have lied to her for eleven years."
"That's not the serious lie, you know. If she finds out about how she was born - now THAT'S a lie."
"It's not the point! Look, Hermione, what if she decides not to forgive us? What if our relationship with her would never be the same again?"
"It's Monica, Draco. Monica will never do such a thing. We are her parents, she loves us, she will understand, don't worry."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Monica read and re-read the letter over and over again. OK, so her father used to be a jerk. He's changed, though. She can forgive him, right? It's not like he's murdered anyone. It could be worse.
Yes. She was going to forgive him. She wrote a letter back, telling him that she totally understood everything, and it was okay.
It was a relief...
For a brief period of time.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I know this was short, sorry guys, I'm just really really busy these days - you know, school is killing me... I'm doing my best, I really am. All right, the next chapter will be more interesting, I believe, but it's going to take some time, because I think that at least until next Thursday I will not be able to write again. I have two huge tests this week, math and history. Wish me luck! ;-)
Love,
Roni.