Little Memories

The train ride was a long, grueling one, since neither Charlotte or Draco were in the same compartment, per the new rules. The weather, it seemed, was dreary and rainy, mimicking the moods of many in the Hogwarts Express. The rain trickled slowly down the windows as they cut through the countryside that used to always bring such excitement for the students to see, because it either meant they were heading back to school or traveling home for the holidays. Now it seemed like they couldn’t tell which was better, greeting Death Eaters at home or greeting them at school. The students, however, knew it’d be a bit of relief for them to be rid of the constant watching eyes of Aurors and the Carrow’s. With this holiday, would come a bit of freedom they hadn’t felt since they returned from Christmas holiday.

As was expected, the students were filed out of the carts and the train by compartment. Everything was all about order and keeping things “safe”, but once they were on the platforms, the students were allowed to do as they wished. Charlotte, being the youngest in the group, was one of the first allowed freedom. She stepped out of the train, tucking her curls behind her hair. Over the sound of the train’s huffing and puffing, she could hear the rain beating the top of the station. Her eyes wandered the platform until they landed on a familiar, blonde-haired woman and a broad smile curled her lips, something that was rarely seen from any student at Hogwarts.

“Charlotte,” Narcissa Malfoy said, opening her arms to the girl and hugging her close. It was a bit out of character for the statuesque Malfoy wife to hug someone or show such a blatant display of affection in the public eye. However, she made an exception for this girl, who was now a woman (she constantly had to remind herself of this fact). She had not only won the affections of her stubborn and picky son, but also the sympathy of her husband during the time they spent together in Azkaban. The older woman felt attached more than ever now to the girl that reminded her so much of herself, now that she felt she had to accommodate for the Goyle siblings lack of parental figures in their life.

“I can’t thank you enough for letting us stay over this Easter holiday,” Charlotte said once she pulled away from the woman. “I think my brother and I can both agree that being alone at the castle wouldn’t be very conducive to either of our moods.” The blonde girl nodded a bit to the sharp-looking woman, whom she knew to be very motherly and care much more deeply than her appearance would put on, at least out in public.

“Don’t mention it, Charlotte,” she said softly, “I’m sure Draco will be more than happy that the two of you are there and Lucius actually insisted that I do my best to convince you to stay.” Charlotte’s smile widened a bit as she looked over at Mrs. Malfoy, glancing around the platform to find that neither Draco nor her brother had been allowed off the train yet. “However,” Narcissa’s hesitant tone brought Charlotte’s bright gaze back to the woman, “my sister and her husband…they’re still at the manor, you know.” Charlotte’s smile dropped for a moment but then she forced it back on.

“I shall try my best to keep out of their way,” she said, nodding reassuringly to the older woman. “That last…incident…I was being put under a great deal of stress at that time and, unfortunately, my mind was not always the clearest. I know now that I can withstand whatever they can throw at me.” Narcissa merely gave her a small, thankful smile as she brushed a motherly hand over Charlotte’s curls, though she was a bit taller than her, even though the girl was in flats and she was in heels.

“I’ve had them moved to the opposite end of the manor farthest away from your guest room and Draco’s room,” the older woman murmured close Charlotte’s ear as if it were a secret, causing the blonde girl to nod a bit in response. “I feel like then it would only be necessary for you to run into them at meals and even then they are often not present.” Charlotte bit her bottom lip, feeling a bit guilty that she had gone so out of the way to make sure that she felt comfortable.

“I really appreciate it, Mrs. Malfoy,” she said softly, offering the woman a thankful smile that mirrored the one the older woman gave her moments before. “I understand what kind of position, being that she is your sister and I’m not family-”

“Not yet, at least,” Mrs. Malfoy commented softly. Charlotte felt like she had been dropped into ice water as she went cold but also felt like the floor beneath her feet had been yanked from beneath her. She looked over at Narcissa with wide eyes but before she could ask what she meant or what she knew, Gregory walked over to the two of them.

“Hello Mrs. Malfoy,” he said cordially, giving her a small nod before his eyes turned elsewhere. Charlotte followed her brother’s line of sight, since he looked awfully concerned about something and her eyes immediately fell on Melody, who had her eyes trained intently on the only Goyle male left before her parents pulled her away. Charlotte sighed softly and placed her hand on his arm, hoping to soothe the worry his brow held as much as she could.

“It’ll be alright, Gregory,” Charlotte whispered softly to her brother, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “She’s a pureblood and her parents follow the rules. She should have no problems.” He merely nodded stiffly in response, glancing down to his sister with a thankful smile and nodding a bit to her.

“You’re right,” he said softly and Charlotte smiled up at him before a certain blonde boy caught her eyes. He had a worried expression, not quiet unlike Gregory’s, but there was something a bit deeper in those blue-grey eyes of his that had Charlotte beginning to get a bit nervous as to what had happened with him. Narcissa immediately walked over to him and wrapped him in a warm hug, as if she was afraid she wasn’t going to see him after he left home for Hogwarts after the Christmas holidays.

“Let’s be on our way then,” Narcissa said, diverting her Charlotte’s eyes away from Draco, who had briefly let his eyes wander over her but they quickly darted to the ground beneath him instead. He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head a bit, swallowing hard as he felt Charlotte’s eyes remain on him for a few more moments before the feeling of being watched left him altogether. “You have your luggage, do you not?” She asked, glancing between the three young adults before her that had just been children, it seemed. Gregory motioned to the cart he had pushed over that had three trunks stacked atop one another. “Right,” she said softly. “The three of you need to grab your trunk and then apparate to the back veranda of the manor.”

Charlotte, Draco and Gregory tugged at their trunks, wondering how they were going to apparate with such a weight, but didn’t question Mrs. Malfoy as they took their wands in hand. Charlotte, since was one of the first times she had actually apparated since she came of age, glanced hesitantly from Draco to Gregory. Mrs. Malfoy was the first to disapparate, followed by Gregory. Charlotte turned on the spot quickly thereafter, not wanting to be the last one and seemed so inexperienced. She had apparated before, but it felt weird now that she wasn’t breaking the rules by doing so.

Just a moment after a pop and the sickly feeling of twisting and being suffocated, her feet landed on the cool, polished rock veranda of the Malfoy Manor. The sky were merely a dark grey here, but it looked like it could rain at any moment. One last pop resounded beside her and Draco and his trunk landed beside her with a resounding thud on the veranda. Charlotte glanced over to him for a brief moment, their eyes catching for an ever briefer moment, before he looked away. A frowned curled the blonde woman’s lips, but Mrs. Malfoy quickly ushered them inside and had their things taken away to their rooms by a house elf or two. Draco and Gregory immediately broke away from the woman, much to Charlotte’s dismay.

“I figure you‘re probably tired from traveling, Charlotte” the woman said, placing an arm around her shoulder at Charlotte watched Gregory and Draco disappear up the stairs, “I could get a house elf to bring you tea.” Charlotte turned and looked over at Narcissa and nodded once or twice, offering her a small smile that didn’t hide her concern and disdain for Draco’s near ignoring of her.

“That sounds wonderful,” she said softly and the older woman offered her a smile before breaking away from her. Charlotte slowly began to walk down the hallway, finally making her way to the entry hall. She heard a door close somewhere and she would be that Draco and Gregory had hold up in Draco’s room. At the same pace, she ascended the four flights of stairs until she got to the corridor where Draco and “her” guest room were. Her flats gently thumped against the carpet runner down the middle of the otherwise hardwood hallway and she leaned closer to the door, placing her hand and ear gently against the cool, dark wood.

“Damn it,” she hissed once she realized that they had put some sort of muffling charm on the door and she couldn’t hear a word. She let out a heavy sigh and trudged back across the corridor, entering the guest room and closing the door quietly behind her. Just as she entered the room, she heard the quiet splatter of rain against the windows and let out another heavy sigh. Charlotte plopped down onto the bed and bit her bottom lip, shaking her head a bit. For whatever reasons, whether it was because she was tired or because she felt like she was being kept in the dark about something, she started to quietly cry.

It would have been wrong, she thought, to weasel her way into Draco’s thoughts and find out what was bothering him. It was so unnatural in a relationship and if he wanted her to know, she was sure that he would tell her. Even if it would calm her down, she knew that he’d figure it out eventually and know that she had entered his mind without his consent. Sniffling back tears, she fell back onto the bed and looked up at the dark, wooden paneling of the ceiling. Charlotte counted the squared over and over again as she listened to the rain grow in intensity, knowing a full-out rainstorm was upon them.

“Maybe…you know, this vision,” Gregory started, using the word ‘vision’ like he didn’t quite believe in it, at least not coming from Draco. “This dream…whatever it was, is just some sort of manifestation of your worst fear, Draco,” he said softly. Draco sat and the foot of his bed, watching as Gregory paced in front of him. He didn’t quite believe that this dream should easily be pushed aside, but he didn’t want to make Gregory seem like he was going crazy with worry either. “The mind is a crazy thing and I’m sure that you’re just…getting worried over nothing.”

Draco remained quiet for the longest time as he thought through everything. Perhaps Gregory was right. He’d had dreams like this before and none of them had actually gone completely through with their events. Draco ran his hands over his face before dragging his fingertips through his hair.

“Don’t ignore my sister because of these dreams,” Gregory said, shaking his head a bit as he looked over at him. “It just makes the both of you miserable and I’d rather not make this holiday any more tense than it’ll probably be,” he murmured, slowly walking over to the door. “Now, go across the hallway and explain to Charlotte that you were just feeling bad about dragging her around your loony aunt.” Before Draco could say another word, Gregory had left the room, keeping the door cracked as if to tell Draco to get a move on.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Draco toed off his shoes, loosened his tie a bit, and slowly walked across the hallway. He knocked on Charlotte’s door, biting his bottom lip hard as he waited for a response. He heard movement within the room before soft footsteps led up to the door. The barrier between the two of them was pulled open and Charlotte looked up at Draco, seeming a bit surprised that Draco had been standing on the other side of the door.

“You’re not the house elf with my tea,” she said softly, looking up at him with slightly widened eyes and a slack jaw. Draco merely stared down into her eyes, flashes of the dream he had running through his mind. He wouldn’t bear seeing those eyes close permanently, not if he could help it.

“No,” he said, his voice quivering slightly. He swallowed hard and continued, his voice regaining some strength. “No, I’m not.” Charlotte merely stood there for a moment before pulling open the door a bit wider.

“C’mon in then,” she said softly, lifting her hand and wiping away the tears that lingered on her cheekbones, ones that had gone unnoticed by Draco. He stepped into the room, choosing not to bring any attention to her tears. Charlotte closed the door behind the two of them, following behind Draco as he walked over to the bed and sat down beside it. Charlotte remained standing in front of him, watching him closely. He looked up at her and offered her a small grin, patting the spot beside him.

“I won’t bite, Charlotte,” he said softly, “you know you’re the one that does that.” This managed to get a small laugh from the beautiful woman in front of him as she walked over to the spot just beside him and sat down. He immediately took one of her hands in his, clasping both of his warmly around them. “I have to apologize for my…lack of attention to you earlier.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Draco, I understand-”

“No.” He paused for a moment, looking over her face. “But I want to. I was just a bit…hesitant about letting you come here. Not because of you entirely, but because of how my aunt might act around you.” Charlotte gave him a careful look for a moment, her brow creased in the middle and her lips slightly pursed. For a moment, he thought that she wasn’t buying the lie that Gregory had helped him create.

“Your mum had her moved,” she said finally, her expression relaxing. “I will only need to see her at meals and even then, I feel like I can control myself better now.” She nodded once. “I was just hoping that I hadn’t done something to anger you.” Draco merely laughed lightly and shook his head.

“No, you would know if you had. I’d probably call you out on it like last time,” he said softly. Charlotte merely gave him a smile and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. She then wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close and saying not a word. Draco hugged her body close to his, staring blankly over her shoulder. It was all to easy to lie to Charlotte when it meant keeping her from worrying about him.