A Family United.
As she tied her long, dark blond hair up and checked her reflection in the mirror, Mia Malfoy, began to have second thoughts over what she was about to do. Ready to voice her doubts, she turned around to where her sister, Zara, was sprawled over the bed.
"Only you can make this call, Mia," Zara said, easily able to predict the misgivings her sister was having.
"But what if I make the wrong choice?" Mia asked in a quiet voice. "I've lived all this time without her. Why do I need to see her now?"
"I don't know," Zara replied with a shrug. "Only you can answer that."
"What would you do in my shoes?" Mia asked, desperate from some form of advice other than to make her own mind up. "If your father got in touch and wanted to see you, what would you do?"
"My biological father is a lying, cheating bastard who has never wanted anything to do with me, so I hardly think he's going to get in touch," Zara pointed out. "But if he did, I would tell him to take a running jump. I have a father, I don't need a sperm donor in my life as well."
"And I have a Mum," Mia whispered. "A Mum who has never let me down, and has always been there for me. Is it fair on her for me to be doing this?"
"Mum would never resent you for doing whatever you want to do," Zara said. "Besides, it's different for you. My father has never been a part of my life. He was out of the picture before I was even born. But your mother wasn't. She was with you for a couple of years, and then she tried to get you back."
"More like she tried to hold onto her boyfriend," Mia snorted.
She still recalled the awful time when she was small when her mother had waltzed back into her life and tried to take her away from her father, but over the years she'd come to learn the true story about the custody battle and what it had truly been about. To be honest, that alone should have been enough for her to ignore the letters from Astoria, when they had started to arrive after her seventeenth birthday. But the fact was, Mia had questions that her parents couldn't answer. They could give her their opinions, but they couldn't really tell her why Astoria had done the things she had, and more importantly if she ever regretted them.
It was the thought of finally getting some answers that had prompted Mia to agree to see Astoria now she'd left Hogwarts. Although another part of her reason for agreeing to meet her mother was to hopefully get some peace of mind before she started Healer training in a few weeks' time. At the moment she was so full of questions that she didn't think she stood a chance of reaching her potential, and she wanted to fix that before she started training for the job she'd wanted to do since she was a little girl.
"I know I said it was your choice, but I think we both know that you've made your choice," Zara said. "If you change your mind now, you'll only regret it in later years. Go and get the answers you deserve."
"And what about Mum and Dad?" Mia asked. "Neither of them have said as much, but I don't think either of them are happy about this meeting."
"They just don't want to see you get hurt," Zara said, getting off the bed and walking over to her sister. "None of us do," she added with a small smile. "Just come back to us."
"As if I would ever leave any of you," Mia said, embracing her sister and thanking her for her support.
"It's what sisters are for," Zara returned with a smile. "And speaking of sisterly duties, I promised Scorpius we could go flying. I'm going to teach him a few tricks. It'll be good for him to learn from a professional."
"You're not a professional yet, you haven't even had your first practice with the Falcons," Mia chuckled. While she was heading into Healer training, Zara had signed for a professional quidditch team and was determined to be a star, and knowing her sister Mia had every confidence it would happen.
Chuckling in response, Zara wished her sister good luck, before heading off to find their brother. Left alone in her bedroom, Mia fastened her silver eagle necklace around her neck. The necklace was a gift from her grandfather, and it represented the fact she'd been sorted into Ravenclaw. Zara also had a silver necklace, only hers was shaped like a lion as she'd been a Gryffindor. Mia always wore the necklace when she wanted luck. It had been with her during every exam she'd sat at Hogwarts, and she'd passed every one with flying colours.
Knowing that she would need much more than simple luck if the meeting with Astoria was going to be a success, Mia picked up her bag and making sure she had her wand, she left her bedroom. Instead of leaving straight away, she first headed for her father's study, as he was working from home while his office was being redecorated. Knocking on the door, her father called for her to enter without hesitation. Draco may have been working, but he always had time for his family.
"Hello, sweetheart," he greeted with a warm smile. "Are you off then?"
"In a minute," Mia replied. "But before I go, I need you to know something. I love you, and I have never once wished I was with Astoria. I wouldn't have wanted to grow up anywhere else, and with anyone else. I love you and I love Mum, and I think you're the best parents I ever could have hoped for."
"Thank you," Draco said softly. "But I've never doubted for a moment how much you love us. We understand why you want to go and see Astoria."
"Do you?" Mia questioned.
"Yes," Draco replied with a nod as he stood up and walked over to his daughter, taking her hands in his. "We can tell you our side of things, and why we think she might have done some of the things she did, but there's some stuff only she can explain. It's only natural you want some answers from her. In your shoes, I would be doing the same thing."
"So you're not mad I'm going to meet her?"
"I could never be mad at you," Draco promised his daughter as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, and I fully support your decision to go and see Astoria. And just know that I will be here for you if you need me."
"You think she's going to hurt me?" Mia questioned.
"I don't think she can help herself," Draco replied with a sad smile. "I hope I'm wrong, and I hope she's changed since we last saw her."
"But you don't think so," Mia predicted.
"Let's just say my experiences with her makes it hard to give her the benefit of the doubt," Draco answered. "But I hope you get whatever you want to from the meeting."
"So do I," Mia muttered.
Saying goodbye to her father, Mia decided to visit her mother before leaving. Since the library had just been redecorated, Mia guessed it was the best place to find her mother, and sure enough she found Hermione in the library sorting through boxes of books. With her was the family's newest addition, two year old, Carina. Carrie had been a bit of a surprise to everyone, but the whole family doted on her and the second she spotted Mia, she cried out for her sister and held her arms out towards her.
"Hello little princess," Mia cooed, sweeping her baby sister up in her arms and covering her with kisses.
Putting a giggling Carrie back down with her toys, Mia turned to Hermione, who had been watching the pair of them with a smile on her face.
"Are you off?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Mia replied with a nod. "But before I went, I wanted to be sure you were okay with it."
"Of course I'm okay with it, Mia," Hermione insisted. "It's only natural you would want to get to know your mother."
"You're my mother," Mia said firmly. "You're the one who was there for me as I grew up. You will always be my Mum, and I will always love you."
"And I will always love you," Hermione said, sweeping Mia up into her arms. "But I understand why you want to see Astoria," she added. "I know it's nothing to do with me, or my abilities as a parent."
"Just so you know she could never take your place in my heart," Mia said. "I don't even know if I will see her after today, but I do need to speak to her as an adult. I need to hear what she has to say about the past."
"I understand," Hermione promised. "You go and get your answers, Mia. We'll all be here when you come back."
Struck by what a loving and supportive family she had, Mia headed off to meet her biological mother. She was meeting Astoria at a hotel in London, although when Astoria had suggested it, Mia was surprised that she didn't want to meet at the newest and trendiest hotel in Wizarding Britain. She knew enough about her biological mother to know she liked the high life, and while the hotel she'd asked to meet at had once been the best hotel in Wizarding Britain, it no longer had the same prestige.
Arriving at the hotel, Mia wondered if she would recognise Astoria. Her memories were of a highly fashionable, highly made-up blonde witch, and of course she had no pictures of her mother. However, the second she entered the bar area, she easily identified Astoria sitting in a corner booth. Although as a follower of high-end fashion, thanks to the influence of her stylish grandmother, Mia could see that while Astoria looked pretty good, the clothes she was wearing were several seasons old. And as she got closer she could see that time had ravished Astoria's beauty, and while she wore heavy make-up it didn't totally disguise the fact she was growing older and losing her looks.
"Mia," Astoria gasped, jumping up when she spotted her daughter.
"Astoria," Mia returned, noticing the way the older witch blanched when she used her first name.
"You can call me mother," Astoria offered as the pair of them sat down.
"I have a mother," Mia said, not wanting to give Astoria any false hope. Even if the meeting went well and they started to see each other on a regular basis, she would never truly be her mother.
"Okay," Astoria replied through gritted teeth. Her instinct was to point out that Hermione was not Mia's mother, but she knew that would only turn the meeting sour before it even began.
"I'm going to be honest with you," Mia began, well aware of what Astoria had wanted to do, or say, when she mentioned already having a mother. "I don't even know if I want you in my life. First you abandoned me when I was barely more than a baby, then after a few years you came back and tried to take me away from my family, and when that failed you vanished for over ten years. It's hard to want someone like that in your life."
"I understand that I haven't always been the best mother," Astoria conceded.
"The best mother, how about any mother at all?" Mia snorted. "I guess all I really want to know is why? What was so bad about me that you couldn't bring yourself to love me?"
"It was never about you, Mia," Astoria said honestly, not realising how selfish she sounded. "I was trapped. I wasn't ready for a child, and I was virtually forced to have one. I couldn't cope, and I wasn't happy, so I left. And I knew you would be much better off with Draco. Your father may have his faults, Mia, but he was a natural parent."
"So then why would you want to take me away from him a couple of years later?" Mia asked, for the moment ignoring the fact Astoria had made it all about her, as she still wanted some more answers. "Was it really all to keep hold of a boyfriend?"
"It was complicated," Astoria replied with a slight shrug. "Part of the reason was to keep Ron onside, but part of me did want you back. You're my daughter Mia, I felt we should have been together."
"Yet you walked away yet again when you lost," Mia pointed out. "If you'd really wanted a relationship with me, you would have stayed in touch."
"It would have been too hard," Astoria argued. "I wouldn't have been able to face seeing you for a few hours and then handing you back over to that mudblood bitch."
"Do not call my mother that name," Mia hissed. "She's twice the witch you'll ever be. You know what Astoria, I'm glad you left me. I'm glad I didn't have to grow up with someone so selfish as a mother. Even now, it's all about you, isn't it? I bet you don't even want a daughter. All you want is someone to go shopping with you, or to go to spas and to get pampered with."
"We can do that if it's what you want," Astoria offered. "If it's going to help us bond, I'll do anything."
"I don't need a shopping buddy," Mia said with a snort. "I've got a sister to go shopping with. Actually, I've got two sisters and a brother. But you're not interested in that, are you? You're not really interested in me."
"I am," Astoria insisted. "Please just give me a chance."
"Why should I?" Mia questioned. "You never gave me a chance. You left me as a baby, because it didn't suit you to have a child. You then tried to regain custody of me when having me would help you keep a man. And now what, you're bored and realised that I would be old enough so that you didn't have to look after me, so you decided to get in touch. Why did you get in touch now?"
"I knew once you were seventeen, your father couldn't stop you from meeting me," Astoria said. "Before that, he would have stopped any meeting between us. I couldn't get in touch before now, Mia. Draco wouldn't have allowed it."
"Dad may not have liked it, but he would have allowed it," Mia said confidently. She had every faith in her father, and she was sure he would have done the right thing for her if Astoria had chosen to get in touch sooner.
"I disagree," Astoria said with a delicate shrug of her shoulders. "We can't change the past, Mia, but we can make a fresh start. We can have the sort of relationship we were always meant to have."
"It's too late for that," Mia replied with a shake of her head. "I can see that you haven't changed. You would never be able to put me first. But thank you for answering my questions and proving to me once and for all that I wasn't the reason you left. I've always wondered if there was something wrong with me, and if I was the reason you didn't love me. But now I can see the truth. The only person you love is yourself. Everything you do is for yourself. You're incapable of putting another person before yourself."
"That's your father speaking," Astoria hissed. "He's poisoned you against me. Him and that bitch he married. They've turned you against me."
"No, they haven't," Mia stated. "In fact both Mum and Dad have been very careful not to say anything bad about you. I've had to get the whole picture from everyone else. Other people weren't as worried about not speaking badly about you. But Mum and Dad have let me make my own mind up about you, and I've done exactly that. I've lived my whole life without you, and I don't need you now."
"But what if I need you?" Astoria pleaded. "What if I need my daughter? I'm all alone, Mia. I have no-one else. My sister lives abroad and barely speaks to me, my parents have their own lives, and my partner died leaving me alone with barely any money. I need you."
"And there you go again," Mia said with a sad shake of her head as she rose to her feet. "It's all about you, Astoria. Maybe if you'd learnt to love other people, and had just once put someone else above yourself, you might not be alone. You walked out of my life because you weren't happy, and you can't walk back in now you're not happy with the life you chose. You chose not to be my mother, so guess what, you're not my mother. Goodbye Astoria."
Leaving Astoria to call after her despondently, Mia left the hotel and returned home to her family. Even though the meeting hadn't been a success, it had give her the closure she needed to move on with her life. Now she could get on with living her life and she never had to worry about the past again. She never had to worry that she was the reason her mother had left. The truth was, Astoria was just too selfish to be a mother, and even though she'd left for her own reasons, it turned out to be the best thing she'd ever done for her daughter. She'd given Mia a chance of a life away from her selfishness, and for that Mia would always be grateful as it meant she'd grown up with a loving family. A family Astoria would never be a part of, because as far as Mia was concerned, she was in the past and she would certainly not be part of her future.