A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has favourited/followed, and to ForeverTeamEdward13, Jessie, Aurora (everything that you surmised in your review on chapter 21 is correct but I'll explain more in a few chapters time), MissBlack2, and my Guest reviewer for reviewing the last chapter - your reviews made me so happy that I managed thought I'd update super speedily as a thank you.

I know this chapter is short but I thought Arianwen's grief deserved its own piece, the next one will be back at Hogwarts. The poem in this chapter is by Mary Elizabeth Frye.

Please please please listen to the song that's included in the chapter, its called 'With You' by the 'Ghost - The Musical' cast.

This chapter is dedicated to StarletSpotlight, may your father rest in peace.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Grief

Draco sat down next to Arianwen on the bed in the Room of Requirement. She was sitting very still, staring at her hands in her lap. Anyone would have thought that she was just a little subdued but when he saw the whites of her knuckles as her hands clenched together, he knew she was near breaking point.

"I have something for you."

She looked at him in confusion so he carried on, presenting her with a small silver box, engraved with ancient Saxon runes.

"This is a portable penseive. When Pansy destroyed your album, I wrote to your friends and asked them to send me some memories that they have of you, some of them sent memories with your father. Then they asked other people they know to send me memories as well. I put them all in here for you, you can look at them whenever you like. I wanted to get you a proper penseive so you could fit more memories in but they're so rare and I didn't have enough time. I hope this is okay."

Arianwen stared at the little silver box in shock; she took it from him and opened it, wondering which memory it would show her first.

"Can we go in now?"

"Uh-yeah, of course!"

She plunged her hand inside the box and felt it pull her in, figures swirled around her like splashes of black ink in water before they took on a more corporeal form. She landed weightlessly in the audience of a large gathering, Draco landed next to her a few minutes later and they looked around; everyone was wearing black and watching someone making a speech on a raised platform. There was an intricately carved ebony coffin in the centre of the stage and Arianwen felt a lump rising in her throat as she realised she was reliving her father's funeral.

She knew Draco had figured out which scene they'd landed in as she felt his eyes on her; she ignored him and instead listened to the man speaking behind a lectern on the stage, his voice magically amplified.

"-and while the Duchess was his first love, when she gave birth to their daughter, well, I've never seen anyone love anything so fiercely in all my days. That is what I will always remember about the Duke, his devotion to his friends, his subjects and his country, but most of all, his overwhelming love for his beautiful daughter, Lady Arianwen." The man turned to bow his head at Arianwen respectfully, who was sitting on the stage between Gwyn and Brianne; she gave him a forced smile in return before fixing her gaze to something in the distance. "And on this solemn day, I think I speak for us all when I say that we, the people of Wales, will love Lady Arianwen in his stead."

Draco heard Arianwen let out a choked sob next to him, tears were streaming down her face and her lip trembled silently as she watched. He wasted no time in engulfing her in a tight embrace, desperately trying to relieve her of some of her pain. However, as the man announced that Arianwen would be making the next speech, the real-life Arianwen pulled away and stared back at the stage.

In the memory, Arianwen stepped up to the lectern and ran her eyes over the audience.

"Thank you, Earl Bedwyr, and thank you all for coming here today to join me in the mourning of…" she cleared her throat a few times, trying to remain composed, "…of my Father. I did not know how to put this tremendous sense of loss into words, how to tell you all about my Father's life and what he means to me. All I can tell you is that without him I am truly the weakest version of myself, I have a gaping hole in my heart that will never be filled.

Father, you were my Knight, my counsellor and my guide, and for every moment that you lived, you made the world a better place for me to live in. When mother died you told me to think of a poem that you came across in your youth, I still remember it to this day:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Those words will stay with me until the day I join you both in the life beyond this one; I hope you have found peace together, Father. You always loved it when I sang to you so now I shall send you off with a song – the very last song, for the very last time."

Upon her queue, a pianist started playing and Arianwen began her ode to her beloved Father:

I picked up your shirts this morning
I don't know why, I don't know why
Mr Reynolds said to say hello
I started to cry, I started to cry
Every place we ever walked and
Everywhere we talked, I miss you
You never leave my mind
So much of you is left behind

You took my days with you
Took my nights with you

Draco felt Arianwen move away from him but he let her go, so entranced was he by watching her sing in the memory.

Those unfinished conversations
We used to have still speak to me
And I write you letters every day
That I'll never send and you'll never see
All this wishful thinking
Gets me nowhere, I can't stay
Though my heart is broken
It keeps breaking every day

You took my hopes with you
Took my dreams with you

I keep thinking that you'll be calling
Everyone says that it's all in my head
And I can't accept it yet
I'm not ready to just give in
I know that I can't live in this pain
With these feelings of regret
I can't comprehend this
And pretend that I don't care
Any place I wanna be
I wanna see you there

She paused and gulped a few times, unable to stop the tear that had escaped from the corner of her eye. Draco suddenly thought to check for the real-life Arianwen but didn't have to look for long; she had walked up onto the stage and was bent over her father's coffin, her arms wrapped around the top and her shoulders shaking uncontrollably as she cried.

He felt tears welling in his own eyes as he watched her; it was the most excruciating scene he had ever beheld and he found himself thinking of his own father and how he would feel if it were his body in that coffin.

You took my life with you
Took my world with you.

Draco walked up to the stage and placed a hand on Arianwen's back, rubbing it in slow circles. "Ri, I think it's time we go, darling."

She ignored him, her sobs growing in intensity the longer she lay across her father's coffin. Draco forced his arms between her chest and the coffin and prised her apart from it, carrying her away with difficulty as she kicked and screamed, trying desperately to get back.

"NO! FATHER!" She cried out in agony. "DADDY! COME BACK TO ME!"

Draco pointed his wand in the air, gripping her tightly with one arm, the memory started dissipating, swirling and mixing together again.

"NOOO! COME BACK!"

They were propelled from the miniature penseive and made a much more solid connection with the ground than they had the first time, they were back in the room of requirement.

"Please come back," Arianwen whispered, one hand outstretched to the penseive but when nothing happened, she whimpered and crumpled to the floor like a kite with no breeze.

Draco lifted her and carried her over to the bed where he cradled her in his arms as she wept.

A week or so later…

"Ri, please, just eat it!" Narcissa entered Draco's room to see him kneeling on the floor in front of Arianwen, who was bundled up on one of his sofas. He had given her a plate of food and was watching her in dismay as she simply stared at the plate.

"Draco," Narcissa called as she moved to sit beside Arianwen on the sofa, "why don't you go for a nice walk outside, it's a lovely day."

Draco looked at her like she was crazy, he'd barely left Arianwen's side since they'd been to see her uncle, and had insisted on her staying at the Malfoy Manor over the Easter holidays while she grieved for her father.

"It's alright dear," Narcissa told her son soothingly, "I can look after her for a while."

He nodded and got to his feet slowly, bending down to give Arianwen a kiss on the cheek and whisper, "I won't be long," before leaving his room. He did need a break from it all, it had been agonising watching his cherished Arianwen in so much pain.

Narcissa took the plate from Arianwen's lap and rested it on a side table. Instead, she picked up Arianwen's brush and started smoothing out her hair, singing a lullaby softly as she brushed. She saw Arianwen close her eyes and smile, something about Narcissa's presence made Arianwen calm, and Narcissa found herself falling in love with the young woman as if she were her own daughter.

"My governess used to sing me that when I was little." Arianwen said quietly.

"What ever happened to her?" Narcissa asked as she plaited Arianwen's long hair.

"I don't know to be honest, I think Father must have decided that I was too old for a governess because she left sometime after my fifteenth birthday and I haven't seen her since."

"Mmm yes, probably," Narcissa agreed, "now, Arianwen darling, I would very much like it if you could eat something. I know you don't want to but I think that you'll feel much better if you do."

Arianwen hesitated but looked at the stern expression on Narcissa's face and decided she couldn't refuse. After she'd successfully eaten an entire salmon and cream cheese sandwich, Narcissa pulled off the blanket that Draco had wrapped her in and tucked her into bed again.

"Get some more sleep, darling. Then, if you fancy it later, you may join us for dinner."

Arianwen nodded and stifled a yawn, she closed her eyes and smiled contentedly when Narcissa placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving her to get some much needed rest.

Draco and Narcissa had started eating their soup when the doors to the dining room opened and Arianwen stood in the frame, smiling sheepishly at them.

"Arianwen?" Draco leapt to his feet and rushed across the table to pull out a chair for her.

"Thank you, Draco," she said softly as she sat down.

Draco looked at his mother, expecting her to look as baffled as he, but she was smiling rather triumphantly at her soup. He couldn't help but stare at Arianwen as she too started to eat; she had changed into some sky blue robes rather than the usual black, the top half of her hair had been pinned back to keep the rest from her face, and she had even applied some make up so her red eyes and nose were disguised.

She must have felt his gaze upon her for she looked up and caught his eye, she blushed and looked back at her soup. Narcissa, who had been watching the coy exchange, smiled to herself.

Such a charming pair, if only Lucius were here to see them together.

After dinner, Narcissa requested that they dance for her. Draco had given her a hard glare at this, but when he saw Arianwen's face light up at the idea, he didn't feel quite so resentful.

They danced merrily to an up-tempo song and Arianwen even laughed at one point when he spun her around so quickly that she nearly lost her grip on his hand.

"Draco," Arianwen whispered as he held her close to his chest to guide her through a much slower, gentler dance.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for the penseive, I think I'm ready to look at the other memories in there now. I can't believe you went to all of that effort for me, especially considering we weren't even on good terms at the time."

Draco frowned. "Why can't you believe it? Come on Ri, have you really not noticed how pitifully in love with you I am?"

Arianwen's face flushed for the second time that evening but she held his gaze this time.

"My Father would have loved you." Tears pricked at her eyes again but she didn't let them fall, she wanted to be strong.

"Yes," Draco said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a half smile, "I'd say we might have had something in common."

Upon understanding that Draco was meaning her, she couldn't hold the tears in any longer, but somehow that was okay, she knew that she didn't have to be strong when he was there – he would love her either way. She smiled through her tears and tilted her head up to kiss him tenderly.

It was beautifully bittersweet.

Draco couldn't fill the void that her father had left, that was a different type of love entirely and now that it was gone, it couldn't be replaced, but he did do a damn good job of shouldering the burden and somehow making her sorrow more bearable.

Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.