Alone. That one word described her life.
Was she destined to live alone? Without those of whom she cared about?
Her husband without whom she wouldn’t have known the real meaning of love. That wonderful person, whom she gave up her family for. A Muggle-born who showed her that there was more to a person than their blood. Much more. She remembers their first real meeting. They were both seventh year Ravenclaws, caught up in studying for the NEWTs and looking into future jobs. They had both signed up to do an extra credit program for Flitwick and were in the Slug Club together. It seemed like fate was pushing them together by putting them in all the same classes. Yet, they thought they were much too busy to even think about falling in love. But fall in love they did.
She remembers every step that led up to their love. It started off casually enough. One of her friends started to date one of his. The two groups started to hang out more. It became a tradition for the seventh years to study together. Slowly and surely she began to talk to him more and more. She began to have feelings that she had never experienced towards a person before. She discovered that this feeling was love. A pure true love.
One day, they were both studying for their NEWTs in the library. Talking, flirting, and acting as all teenagers do when they’re in love. A comfortable silence started to surround them. She stared into his warm brown eyes and him into her crystal blue ones. He was feeling daring that day and slowly reached over and kissed her. An emotion leaped through her body like a jolt of electricity. For once in her life, she disregarded the rules and just deepened the kiss. Of course, they were kicked out of the library, but it her eyes it was worth it.
Three years later they were still dating. They had their fair share of ups and downs, but were still hopelessly in love. He took her out to dinner and a stroll in the park. She saw a shooting star up in the sky and when she looked back down she found that her heart’s only wish had been granted. She was going to get married to the best, most wonderful, perfect man she had ever met. And this time, it wasn’t a dream.
Her husband was one of the best people to ever walk this cold, treacherous Earth. She learned to love everything about him. His fondness for Muggle appliances, his refusal to clean up saying all of the messes gave the house a more homely feel, and most importantly the way he stood by her no matter what happened. Even if she argued with him and felt like she could never talk to him again his love for her did not diminish. When he was around she felt protected, like nothing bad could ever happen. But many bad things did happen. And now her husband, whom she loved so much, was gone.
He was gone, never to be seen again. She couldn’t bear it. Everything around her reminded her of him. She felt as if she was in a dark tunnel with no one to hold on to for company. There was no one who would kiss her good night. No one who would help her when she felt she was losing grip. No one who would tell her how beautiful she looked even after she was covered from head to toe in grime from working in the kitchen all day. There was only one person who could do all that. And his face was never to be seen again on this unforgiving planet.
Her daughter. Her beautiful, funny, clumsy little girl. Her only child that taught her the joy of being a parent. With her dark, twinkling eyes and mischievous smile she was like the sun that she and her husband orbited around. That innocent little girl who was elated from the simple joys of the Earth, but she was the biggest joy that her parents could have ever had.
She remembers her daughter’s birth. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience, especially for her husband whose hand she almost broke from her pain. Yet, the end result overshadowed all of that pain. She remembers holding a sweet baby in her arms and awing at the fact that it was she who brought this new life into the world. Her tiny hands were curled up in fists and her eyes were shut in a tight lock. She remembers staring down at the baby’s little face when for the first time she opened her big, beautiful eyes and then almost dropping the baby in shock, when the baby’s hair turned turquoise.
She remembers sending her baby off to Hogwarts. It was the proudest and saddest day of her life. She knew that her little girl was not so little anymore. The letters that she got from her proved it. Her first letter was when she was sorted into Hufflepuff. Her baby was so thrilled to be making new friends and loved Hogwarts. As the years left, the letters changed. Gone were the days of excitement upon changing a match into a needle and the days of boys and exams had entered. Still, her baby would always be just that. A baby. No matter how old her baby got, she would always think or her as her little girl.
She remembers her little girl desiring to be an auror. and herself being worried for the safety of her little girl, while at the same time being fiercly proud of here girl’s bravery. And her baby told her that she’d be okay, that nothing bad would happen to her little girl. But what a lie that turned out to be.
She watched that sweet little princess grow up from the time she got her 1st tooth to the moment she too had a child. She watched her only child get married to a werewolf. She was against the marriage at first, but then she remembered her own past. How happy she was when she fell in love and how her family was so furious with her. She didn’t want her daughter to go through that as well. She let her daughter marry the werewolf and knew it was worth it when she saw the look of elation on her daughter’s face. She watched her daughter go through the experience of having a child. An adorable little boy so much like her little girl. She remembers her daughter and knows that she’ll never see her again. She too, was gone.
She remembers her own childhood. How she used to love her sisters and play with them every day. She remembers her father and mother being so proud of her when she got her wand. She remembers her family being bitterly disappointed when they found she was a Ravenclaw and not a Slytherin. Yet they still loved her. She remembers being a fifteen-year-old girl who struggled to fit in with her family. Her older sister became a death eater and wanted her to help the Dark Lord’s cause. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t destroy innocent Muggle lives, yet couldn’t summon up the bravery to tell her family that. So she lied, saying that she wasn’t ready to kill yet. Again her family was disappointed, but they still loved her. She remembers being seventeen and falling in love with her future husband. She remembers telling her family she was marrying a Muggle born and the looks of outrage she saw on their faces. She remembers her parents kicking her out and her sisters refusing to even talk to her, despite all her pleading. And she remembers when she found out that her oldest sister, whom she used to care about so much, was the very one who murdered her little girl.
She simply could not take it anymore. All of the painful memories bursting forth sent her to the ground sobbing. She stayed like that for many hours just thinking and weeping. Wishing that she too was gone from the Earth. Then she heard the sound of another person crying. Startled, she looked up only to see her little grandson.
This little baby boy whose past represented all that was wrong with the world. Who had no parents to play and talk with. Who had no parents to exclaim in his tiny miracles. Who had no parents to watch him go to Hogwarts, fall in love, and start a family of his own. Was he too cursed with the loneliness she now faced? No, she decided wiping her tears. She wouldn’t give up on this little boy. She would not bestow her fate on him. She would take care of this little boy as a son as well as grandson.
She would not leave him alone.
Alone by radishearrings
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer: Everything, besides the plot, belongs to the lovely JK Rowling.