A Day of Bliss and Troubled Pasts
"You know like what you hear on the muggle reality shows." Ginny said as she sat at the table watching Blaise make her breakfast.
"Bliss?" she heard Hermione question for the fifth time since their conversation started two minutes ago.
"Yes Hermione, the complete feeling of chill, relaxation, content, bliss." Ginny clarified, hoping that her friend would just take the concept and run with it.
"Well I guess I can try and relax for a day. I was doing so well before this whole mess started again. Had Blaise found anything yet?"
"No, he is still searching the database for Malus Pescuro, but there is not a record of him in the wizarding database. His aunt works at the ministry still and so he is going to try and ask her about him. Also, he contacted his family in Italy, but we are still waiting to hear back. I also asked Harry and Ron to look into it at the Ministry as they have started their Auror jobs now. Thanks babe." Ginny told Hermione the progress, or really lack there of, that had been made about this person. She smiled at Blaise as he kissed her cheek and put her breakfast in front of her.
"Thank you, Ginny. Yes, I sent them both congratulations and a basket of goods from that place in London we like so much. Ok well I have been in the loo talking to you for quite sometime, Draco probably thinks I got lost in this bookstore. Give my best to the boys. I'll call you later."
"Remember Bliss!" Ginny shouted as Hermione said goodbye. "Darling, have you heard anything from your family in Italy?" She asked as she noticed Blaise reading a letter.
"Yes. Apparently, he is my father." Blaise looked up at his girlfriend with a terrified look in his eyes. All these years, countless husbands and his mother, actress and heiress to the Zabini fortune had accumulated wealth through each mysterious death of her spouses, however not once had she told her only son anything about his father, until now.
Ginny grabbed his hand from across the table, Blaise squeezed it, "Darling do you fancy a trip to Italy? I think it's time I pay dear mummy a visit."
"I'll go pack." Ginny said getting up and wrapping her arms around her boyfriend.
OOOOOO
"Draco?" I called out as I turned down the next aisle.
"Yes, are you finished? I have found some great books in here, just so fascinating the amount of muggle literature."
"Yes, I suppose the lack of magic in our ordinary lives pushes us to be creative in the books we write."
"Have you found some then…well I think some might not be the correct word." He chuckled as he looked at my pile of eight books in the basket on my arm.
"Well I haven't read these yet and we are still on vacation for a bit…"
"Thinking I will begin to bore you then? Well Granger I don't know whether to be insulted or see it as a challenge." He smirked coming to towards me and reaching out for the basket.
"A challenge of course" I said as I kissed his cheek and handed over my heavy basket of books.
"I believe I see…wait, is this a history book?" He said picking up 'A Complete History of the French Revolution', "I think my chances are fine, let's get these paid for and then find our way to the Eiffel Tower." He grabbed my hand and led me through the bookstore. Maybe I had just achieved what Ginny would call 'bliss'.
OOOOOOO
"So how long did it take you to find your parents?" I asked Hermione as she was laying down beside me on the blanket we had laid out. I was perched on my elbow wrapping her curly hair around my finger.
"Well about three weeks. I had booked them flights to Melbourne but found out that they hadn't actually stayed in the city but on a farm near the border of the Outback. It took a bus ride of 9 days to finally get there, and then I had to convince them to let me, a strange girl, stay on their farm for a few days until I could actually restore their memory, which is not as easy as it is to take it away."
"Did you go on your own?"
"No, the boys and Ginny came with me but stayed in Melbourne, so it wouldn't seem like an ambush to my parents. We all got reacquainted and filled mum and dad in on everything that had happened. It was after we came back to England that they wanted me to seek therapy and so I went to see a muggle one for a bit, but it is hard to talk about my dreams and memories without referring to magic at all. Otherwise she would really think I was a lunatic."
"Do muggle ones give you potions as well to help with the nerves and such?"
"Well yes, however it is not a liquid but a capsule, same effect I'm sure. I stopped taking the medication though, it affected my mood too much. I just take a sleeping pill sometimes if I am having nightmares again."
"Mine haven't stopped either." I said and then took a deep breath, "Hermione, do you ever dream about that night? The one in which you were at my family's house and…"
"Yes. Sometimes, it is not constant though. And each time I do it becomes more distorted then it did in the beginning."
"Does it hurt still?"
"No, it doesn't, it is a bit faded. I wanted to try and get it removed, there is a muggle process that removes tattoos and such, but I wasn't sure it would work on dark magic. I'm still doing the research on it." She said turning to look at the arm that had mudblood etched into it. She often wore long sleeves, even on the hottest days. Probably didn't want to upset her parents or have people question it.
"I'm sorry."
"Draco…"
"No, I'm sorry I was a coward. I should have stopped her. I should have tried something."
"I don't blame you Draco. You were scared, just like I was."
"You would have done something I was being tortured. Even though we were enemies, you would have done something." I lay down beside her on the blanket taking in deep breaths.
"I think you had such a troubled circumstance. You knew it was Harry and you didn't say anything. You gave him more time. And had you been in the position to do the same for me I know you would have. It's not like you could have hexed her Draco. Your family could have been murdered too."
"I'm glad she is dead. I've never liked her, she was always a terrible woman who did terrible things and I am glad she finally got what she deserved. If she were still alive I would kill her myself."
"Did you hear any news about your father?"
"No. Mother requested zero contact. Her sister is dead, and we don't stay in contact with anyone except Blaise's mother and the Weasleys. Mother has taken it upon herself to wipe the past clean and focus on the future. I think she is trying to redeem herself and redeem the life of her niece Nymphadora, she often visits her sister Andromeda and Teddy. I've gone over a few times, she's a quirky woman but at least she is more of an aunt then Bella was."
"He hasn't had his trial yet." Hermione said quietly, not knowing if I actually wanted to know that tidbit of information.
"When will it be?" I asked hesitantly, not knowing if I was ready to know.
"I think it will be at the end of the year. Harry said they are still processing evidence and such to convict him of all the crimes and get a…" she trailed off.
I know what she is going to say, death sentence, that is what all the others have gotten. "Draco," I felt a hand on my chest and I opened my eyes to see the most beautiful pair I had ever seen, I just wanted to look in them, to get lost and forget about the terrible things that still affected me. "Let's go love." I nodded, sat up and helped her to her feet. We both walked back to the hotel in silence, holding hands, linking arms, being as close as we could be in public.
I walked her to her door, "Come in," she said tugging on my arm. She closed the door behind me and I wrapped my arms around her. We stood like that, embraced, for a while, both of us breathing steadily, holding back tears and trying to forget about the traumas.
OOOOOO
I pulled back and ran my fingers through his hair. "Draco, I don't want to be alone right now."
He responded my burying his head in my neck and holding me tighter. "I love you." He whispered against my ear.
"I love you too," I whispered back and shifted so I could kiss him. He walked me back towards the bed and we slowly undressed…