The Sunrise of My Heart

I left Dumbledore's office so I could go and pack, with instructions to meet my great aunt at the front doors. Classes had just ended for lunch, so I had to fight my way through a sea of laughing, cheerful faces. My world had completely fallen apart, and here were these people going on without a care in the world. It made me desperately jealous that they didn't have to deal with my pain.
When I got to the Slytherin girl's dorm, I stared at my trunk for a long time. What would I need? My school books, of course. And enough clothes to last me a month. Nothing else seemed important enough to bring. Slowly, meticulously, I began folding my clothes and packing them up. When I had finished that, I put my books on top and shut my trunk. Deciding I was done, I turned and left the dorm. In the common room, I stopped, my path being blocked by Draco.
"So, you're leaving?" His voice was casual.
"For a few weeks. I'll be back by the start of February."
"Oh. Where will you be staying now?"
"With my great aunt, Iris Wing."
He nodded. "She's quite wealthy. You should enjoy living with her."
"Draco, I don't care about how much money she has."
"No, you wouldn't."
"You really shouldn't. Money does not determine a person's character or worth."
He gave a small smile, although it didn't seem very happy. "Maybe not for you."
"What if I hate her?"
"You'll make her life a living hell."
"But that would make my life suck too."
He shrugged. "Your life already sucks, Riley. But if you hate her, at least you can have some fun messing with her. And if you don't hate her, you can be a bit happier that you moved in with a good person."
"When did you become so optimistic about things?"
"I guess you've been rubbing off on me."
I dropped my trunk and threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you for always being there when I really needed you," I said softly.
He stiffened at first, but after a few moments, he slowly hugged me back. "Well, I didn't have much choice. You always corner me and then dump your problems on me." I wasn't sure, but I thought he might have been smiling while he said that.
"Well, thanks for letting me corner you and dump all my problems on you." I stepped back, releasing him from my hold. His hands lingered on my arms for a moment before he let them fall by his sides.
"Your great aunt will start to wonder what's taking you so long," he said.
I sighed and nodded. "I know. I should go. And you should eat."
He shrugged. "I'm not hungry."
"You're far too skinny. You need food."
"Riley."
"Draco."
"You're not my mother."
"Well, she's not here right now, so I'm bossing you around in her place. Go eat."
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Fine."
I nodded in satisfaction but did not move from my spot.
"Riley, come on. You have to move too."
"I can't. I'm crippled." I sat down on my trunk, my legs suddenly and mysteriously broken.
He didn't say a word, simply turned around, walked back over to me, and threw me over his right shoulder. He used his right arm to hold me in place and grabbed my trunk with his left. Then, he set off. I smiled softly, wrapping my arms around his back in as close to a hug as I could give him at that point.
"You're insufferable," he muttered.
"You're the best," I said to him. "I never would have left that common room."
"I know. That's why I'm carrying you. Just so you know, you're not that light."
"Jerk."
"Lazy."
"Poof."
"I will drop you and walk away."
"Okay, okay, sorry."
"Your great aunt probably has no idea what she's getting into."
"No one ever does. I mean, did you have any idea what you were getting into when you asked me out?"
"Not in the slightest. You're more mentally unstable than I thought possible. You really should be institutionalized."
"Happened to me once. Worst five months of my lives."
"Did you get out?"
"Uh... Not quite. Have you ever heard of trephination?"
"No."
"Well, my doctors thought I was possessed, so they sawed a hole in my skull to release the demons. Infection set in, and I died. It was very dramatic."
"You don't seem very affected by it. Your idiot doctors killed you."
"Well, it wasn't a very happy life anyway. I really did think I was crazy for believing I had past lives."
"Do you have no end of tragedies?"
"I'm going to buy you a dictionary so you can look up the meaning of the word "cursed." Here's a hint: it's not good."
He sighed, dropping me off his shoulder. At least he simply put on my feet instead of dropping me on my ass. "You can walk from here. You great aunt might find it odd if you show up tossed over a random boy's shoulder."
"Good point. Well, thanks for taking me this far." The entrance to Hogwarts was around the corner and down the hallway.
"See you in a month," he said, turning and walking away.
"Draco," I called out. He stopped and turned back, raising an eyebrow at me. I opened my mouth to say something, but I had no idea what I wanted to say. I just knew I didn't want to let him walk away so quickly.
"I'll see you in a month, Riley," he repeated. "I'll be waiting for you."
I smiled at him and nodded before grabbing my trunk and walking the rest of the way to the front doors. As she had promised, my great aunt Iris was waiting there for me. There was a carriage waiting for us outside, which would lead us to Hogsmeade so we could then disapparate to her house.
When we appeared in her front yard, I was stunned into silence. The house was amazing. It was a Victorian Gothic mansion, with about three floors, and probably twenty bedrooms. There was a wrought iron fence surrounding the property, and the front garden was carefully and beautifully arranged so that it was like walking in a more contained version of nature. We stepped inside, and the interior was just as breath-taking. A grand, spiraling staircase made of hand-carved wood curled up to the floors above, and everything seemed to be made of either marble or granite.
"Your room is this way," she said, leading me down a hallway. My room was in the back of the house on the first floor, and it was enormous. I'm pretty sure the entire Slytherin dorm could have fit into my bedroom. The walls were a lovely golden cream color, with a lighter cream color at the borders. My bed was huge, with a princess canopy, gilded bed frame, and sheets that went with the color scheme of the room. There was a vanity table on the wall opposite my bed, complete with a large mirror and a cushioned bench. The closet was bigger than my original bedroom, and already had nice selection of shoes and clothes in it. But perhaps my favorite part was the far wall. It was almost entirely made up of windows, and at the center were two glass doors that opened out into the garden.
"If you want to change anything, it can easily be arranged. I stocked your closet with a few things, but I understand if you want to go shopping and pick out other things."
"It's incredible," I said.
"Well, I'll leave you to get settled. I understand if you'll be wanting to explore the rest of the house, and I only have two requests: if for some reason you wish to enter my room, please ask permission first. And also, the first room to the left on the third floor landing is to always remain empty. I ask that you don't go in there."
I nodded, still taking in my new surroundings. "All right."
"I have no servants or house elves, so we will do all the work ourselves around here."
"That's fine. I don't mind looking after myself."
She nodded. "If you need anything, I will be in the library. It's the room the doors down from this one."
She started to leave, but I stopped her, a thought hitting me. "Where's you bedroom?"
"On the second floor. Why?"
"I have nightmares, sometimes. I tend to wake from them rather loudly, often screaming or yelling out random things. I wouldn't want to wake you."
"Don't worry about it. You won't bother me."
She turned again to leave, but again I stopped her with a question. "Who exactly do our eyes come from? You said you got them from your great grandmother?"
"Yes. Her name was Olivia Quill. As far as I know, none of her parents or other relatives had eyes like hers. She died while trying to protect her baby from his father's men. He wanted no trace that he had a bastard son. They would have murdered the baby after killing the mother, but Charles Carson, the head of the Carson family at the time, showed up. The men fled, and Charles adopted the baby, naming him Oliver in honor of the poor child's mother. He had the same strange eyes as her, and the gene has been passed down since then."
"Wow," I managed to say.
"Tragic, isn't it? A wealthy man seduced a lonely girl, and then didn't want to deal with the consequences." She shook her head, clearly disgusted by Oliver Carson's biological father. "Well," she said after a few moments, "I'll let you get unpacked. If you get hungry, find me and I will make us something."
"Thank you," I said mechanically. I was in complete shock. Oliver Carson. Ollie. A precious name. I had not known, after being murdered by my ex lover's men, that my darling son had survived. As Olivia Quill, I had been ecstatic when I realized I was pregnant. A child was something I had wanted to have since I was Cassandra. And my boy, my darling angel, had survived and been adopted by a good family. I could not have wished for a better life for him. I only wished I could have been the one to see him grow.