A Life Worth Choosing

Chapter 8: Lost Memories

Christmas morning at the mansion seemed to fly by much too quickly with Draco. After a short game of Quidditch with the Potters, Avery and Harry bid their goodbyes and disapparated just before lunch. Throughout the afternoon, Weasley after Weasley, stopped in to wish everyone a `happy Christmas'. Dusk was now approaching and Draco now found himself wandering aimlessly around the lower level of the Manor.

Charlie and his boys had once again returned to the Manor, where Draco learned that they were actually staying there for the holiday until they returned home to Hogwarts. The three of them were gathered in the playroom, trying to teach Nate how to fly his toy broom. Draco watched for a moment from the doorway as Nate, along with one of the twins, was able to get the broom to lift off the ground. As soon as the twin jumped down, however, the broom crashed to the floor.

Draco moved on to the ballroom where he found Ginny and Addison chatting it up about who knows what. Their early morning discussion seemed to turn the two into instant friends as they shared stories about their past, mainly about Draco. Resisting the urge to eavesdrop, Draco continued further down the hall.

He now found himself in the doorway of the library where his mother and Severus were sitting quietly together in front of the fireplace. Severus was reading through an old potions book, wile Narcissa was scribbling on a piece of parchment which looked to be some sort of list. Draco imagined it to be something for her next party that she was no doubtingly preparing for as she did at least one every few months. Draco watched as every once in a while, Narcissa would glance towards her husband and smile. Thinking back to his younger years, it was difficult for Draco to remember such a fond exchange between his own parents. His mother was undoubtedly happy.

At the very end of the hall, Draco entered the flying room. The room was like no other. In fact, if someone just happened upon the room, they would have thought they were outside. The cathedral ceiling reflected the night sky as it shined bright with sparkling stars and a crescent moon that provided the only source of light. The floor was covered in cool, freshly cut grass. Allusions of fireflies and pixies fluttered through a cool breeze that swept through the room. A single tree grew out from the wall in the far corner and another corner contained a small waterfall that flowed over a rocky cliff and emptied into a small wadding pool.

.

Draco looked up to see, not Kaeda, but Junior zooming around the room on his new Nebula. Spotting his daughter nestled under a tree in the far corner polishing her new broom, Draco walked over and took a seat beside her.

“I thought he didn't fly?” Draco said.

“He does, he just won't admit it,” Kaeda answered looking up to her brother. “He'd make an excellent chaser if he tried.”

“That he would. He's got skills I must say. I was watching him during the match we played earlier.”

“Yes, too bad they lost,” Kaeda grinned. “Avery couldn't keep up with our Nebulas.”

“Well, I tried to buy them for your entire house team, but your mother wouldn't let me,” Draco smiled. “Of course she never said I couldn't buy just one for the team captain. What you say I put an order in to Quality Quidditch tomorrow?”

“That would be great, then we will definitely win the House Cup this year. Plus Avery could use it if he joins the Pride of Portrees.”

“If?” Draco questioned.

“Yes, he's not sure if he wants to go or not. I keep asking him what's holding him back, but he will not tell me.”

“Well he should. He's a great flyer,” Draco pulled out his wand and summoned his own broom. “Shall we join him?”

Kaeda and Draco took off into the air after Junior.

“Nice night for flying, isn't it?” Draco asked as he pulled up alongside Junior.

“Not bad,” Junior shrugged. “Just thought I get a few laps in before I have to pack it away to go back to Hogwarts.”

“You could always take it with you,” Kaeda Suggested.

“I suppose so, but what's the use. It's not like I'll ever use it.”

“What if you have to pull a Weasley like Uncle Fred and Uncle George did in their fifth year? Or what if the Triwizard Tournament comes back to Hogwarts and your chosen to defeat a Dragon and the only way to do so was with a broom like Uncle Harry did?” Kaeda asked.

“Do you really believe those would ever happen again?”

“Hey you never know,” Draco smiled. “Hogwarts is a wicked school. You never know what's going to happen next?”

“Hey June, Father and I are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy Avery a new broom.”

“We are?” Draco asked not recalling himself ever saying that.

“Of course and Junior is going to come with us.”

“I am?” Junior questioned.

“Yes, just the three of us and Mum will go too.”

“Well, perhaps we should ask your mother first.”

“Of course you should,” Kaeda insisted.

“Me, why me?” Draco asked.

“Because we voted and you lost,” Kaeda smiled.

“I don't recall getting a vote,” said Draco.

“Fine, all in favor of Father talking to Mum, raise your hand.”

Both Kaeda and Junior raised their hands.

“All opposed?” Kaeda asked.

Draco was the only one to raise his hand.

“Fine, you two win.”

“Kaeda, Junior, time to get ready for bed!” Ginny called up to them from the doorway.

Junior and Kaeda both moaned. “Do we have to?” Kaeda said looking to her father.

“Ummm... I guess so,” Draco shrugged. “That way I'll get to talk to your mother,” he winked.

Kaeda flashed him a large smile before zooming back towards the ground, Junior following closely behind.

Draco landed along side Ginny as the twins packed their brooms back into the broom shed.

“Evening,” he said bowing his head slightly towards the witch.

“Draco,” Ginny raised an eyebrow, knowing that smirk on his face could only mean that he wanted something.

“Kaeda, Junior, and I were going to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow and we were hoping that you would accompany us.”

“Let me guess, they voted and you lost,” Ginny smiled.

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I saw you three raising your hands. It's not the first time they pulled that one. That's the trouble with twins, they always team up on you.”

“So will you come with us?”

“Yes, please come Mum,” Kaeda asked sneaking up from behind them.

“Yes, please?” Junior added.

“I would love to guys, but I have to go to work. You know that.”

“You work?” Draco asked, slightly taken aback.

“Yes, I work. At St. Mangos. I'm a healer.”

“So all that hard work with the Order paid off then.”

“Yes, and all that reading I had to do to heal you.”

“Well, I'm glad you did.”

“Can't you take the day off?” Junior asked.

“I already had yesterday and today off. I can't possibly take off another day.”

“Fine, then lets vote on it,” Draco smirked. “All in favor of your mum coming with us?”

All but Ginny raised their hands.

“Sorry, Gin,” Draco said. “We voted and you lost.”

“That's not fair. Fine. I'll see what I can do.”

“So, can we vote on whether we go to bed or not?” Junior asked.

“All in favor of them going to bed,” Ginny asked.

Ginny immediately raised her hand. When she saw Draco had no intention to raise his own, she stepped on his foot to push him along.

“All opposed?” Ginny asked as both Kaeda and Junior's hands shot up into the air. “Sorry, we voted and you lost.”

“But it was a tie,” Junior complained.

“All tie breakers go to the parents. Sorry,” Ginny said. “Now go to bed and Draco, would you meet me in my study in a few moments?”

“Oooo- father's in trouble,” Kaeda and Junior both say together.

“Bed! Now!” Ginny signaled the children to keep moving.

Draco waited patiently inside Ginny's Study waiting for the witch to appear. Finally the door began to creek open signaling her arrival causing Draco to jump to his feet.

“Are you alright, Draco?” she asked noticing his nervous look.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked.

“In trouble?”

“Well, Kaeda and Junior-”

“Oh, that, no. Of course not,” Ginny laughed. “Usually when I ask to see them in here before bed, they are in trouble, but you are fine. I just wanted to give you your Christmas present.”

She walked over to bookshelf and pulled out a large brown book with a leather binding and handed it Draco.

“What is this?” Draco asked looking at the witch.

“Open it.”

Draco opened the book to find a picture of two babies, both sleeping peacefully in what looked to be a large basket. One was wrapped tightly in a bright pink blanket, the other in blue. Draco read the writing scribbled in below the photograph.

“Draco and Kaeda. January 1st, 1999.”

Draco flipped the page only to find his younger self starring up from the book with the word `Father' written overhead. Below his photo was his information from his birthday, right down to his house at Hogwarts.

“Your mother gave me some of your photos,” Ginny informed him.

Draco's eyes wondered over to the opposite page entitled `Mother' where a photo of a pregnant Ginny smiled back at him. Flipping to the next page, Draco now found a photo of an infant Kaeda being rocked to sleep in her mother arms entitled `It's a Girl'. Draco read the wording below the photo:

“Kaeda Ginevra Malfoy. January 1st, 1999, 12:00 A.M. 5lbs, 8oz. 19 inches long.”

Draco's eyes skimmed over to the next page `It's a Boy' where an infant Junior yawned, before closing his eyes to sleep in his mother's arms.

“Draco Arthur Malfoy Jr. January 1st, 1999, 12:03 A.M. 6lbs, 2oz. 19 and a half inches long.”

Draco continued through the book. As each page was turned, the twins grew up before his eyes. They went from infants being passed around from Order member to Order member, to toddlers, chasing after each other on toy brooms. Draco halted for a moment at a picture of two toddlers sitting on the lap of what appeared to be an elderly woman. Her hair was grey and her face lined. Few cuts littered her face, but a smile shone brighter than anything. Draco read the caption below:

“Kaeda and Junior's first visit with Grandmother Cissy. Christmas 2000.”

“She took a great beaten from the war,” Ginny said softly. “Lucius put her through a lot. She was lucky to have gotten away when she did. Don't worry though, look.”

Ginny turned the page for him and pointed to the next photo. The photo was of a large group gathered around a table. Amongst the group, Draco recognized several red headed Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Lupin, Mad Eye Moody, McGonagall, Snape and Hagrid. Ginny and Narcissa sat in the center of the group at the table. Kaeda upon her mother's lap, while Narcissa proudly held onto Junior. A birthday cake with four candles sat in front of them.

“That was their second birthday party that the Order had for them. It was taken less than a week after the last photo.”

Draco looked closer at his mother. Most of the wrinkles and all of the cuts had disappeared and her hair was still grey, but her color was coming back slowly.

Draco continued on through the book, not stopping until reaching a page entitled: `Leaving for Hogwarts'.

Draco took his time to study the photo. It was a candid shot of everyone saying their goodbyes and running around the station just like he remembered doing as a child. Harry and Bill were busy lifting trunks off the trolleys, while Marcel and Avery followed behind, each with a caged owl. Hermione, with an infant in her arms, was talking to a heavily pregnant Fleur, while Molly was chastising the two younger Weasley and Potter boys. Ginny and Narcissa were in the center of the photo hugging the nervous looking Kaeda and Junior, bidding them farewell.

The photos continued on through holidays and quidditch matches, birthdays and report cards, even every single Owl that the twins had sent home from Hogwarts. Draco skimmed through one of the letters that was signed by Kaeda.

September 8th, 2010

Dear Mum,

I'm a Slytherin! Be sure to tell Grandmother Cissy for me. Junior is not too happy though. The sorting hat put him in Gryffindor. It took him almost three minutes to be sorted. He took the longest out of everyone. I don't get to see him much. We do have a few classes together and we try to do our homework together in the library as much we can, but it's not like it was back home.

Hogwarts is so much different than I thought it was going to be. In your stories you told us about, you said that each house has their own table and that you only ate with your house. Well not any more. Junior and I eat together every night at dinner and sometimes lunch. There is also this new room that just opened up. It's a common room for everyone. Each house still has their own, but I like it better than the Slytherin common room, and I always get to see Marcel there. Plus when I'm in the Slytherin common room, Avery Potter is always there and he bothers me. He keeps asking me if I need help with homework or if I found all of my classes alright. It's like he thinks he's a prefect.

Well anyway, me and Junior went exploring the other day, and you'll never believe what we found. It was a trophy room which had pictures of all of the past Quidditch teams. On the Gryffindor side we found you, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Harry, Uncle Ron, Uncle Fred, and Uncle George and on the Slytherin side we found Father. When I asked Uncle Harry about it when he stopped in to speak to the headmistress, he told me Father was a seeker. I know that you were a chaser and that I was going to tryout for chaser, but I've decided to go along with seeker instead. Quidditch tryouts are next week, but Avery said that they never pick first years and that I should wait and try next year. Uncle Harry told me that he was on his team in his first year, so I might tryout after all.

Well I have to go or I'll be late for Charms. Tell everyone we love them and I'll be sure that Junior sends you a letter soon.

Love,

Kaeda

The last photo of the unfinished book made Draco's heart sink. It was the one photo that seemed to be missing through the entire book.

Draco stared down at the photo of his two children gathered around the Christmas tree with their father. Draco stood in the middle of the photo, a huge grin on his face, surrounded by his son and daughter.

Below the photo was a caption reading `First Christmas with Father'.

Ginny looked down at the photo as well:

“They must of put that in there themselves,” she said never seeing the picture before in her life. “That's Junior's handwriting. That's not it,” Ginny said quickly when she noticed Draco closing the book.

Ginny took the book and opened it to the back cover. The left side contained an extensive family tree. Draco couldn't help but notices how small the Malfoy family was compared to the Weasleys, even with the black family tree included. The right side of the cover, contained a large enveloped pasted into the book for security. Draco opened the envelope and pulled out its contains.

Inside were tons of news articles torn from the pages of the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and even the Quibbler. Looking through, Draco found that all the articles were about him. From his wanted as a Death Eater photo, to the article printed just that morning.

“Even the one's I missed seemed to find it's way into here,” Ginny said looking through as well. “Junior especially is very apt to scanning every article. They don't care if it only mentions your name, it is in here.”

Draco skimmed through a few of the older articles and noticed that a few of them had notes scribbled in the margins.

`Daddy's not a Death Eater', `Daddy is our hero', `Rita Skeeter is a Hippogriff'.

“That would be Kaeda,” Ginny said noticing Draco reading the scribbles. “Every since she could write, she decided to edit the articles her own way.

“Thank you for showing me this,” Draco said placing the articles back into the envelope.

“No, Draco, it's yours to keep. I made it for you.”

“Really?” Draco said excitedly looking up at her for the first time since he opened the book.

He never realized how close she was sitting to him until he looked up to his her chocolate eyes starring back at him and his nose was a mere half inch away from hers.

“I should go,” she whispered without moving the slightest bit. “It's getting late and I didn't get much sleep last night.”

“Your right,” Draco said not moving either.

“Good night,” Ginny said, while turning to leave.

“Wait,” Draco grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.

“Yes?” Ginny spun back around to face him.

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Sweet dreams,” he whispered.

“You too,” she whispered back before walking out the door.

Draco ran furiously through the heavily wooded area, frantically searching. His black robes were torn and his mask was lost several yards away. He had no time to turn back. He must keep searching. Green and red lights flashed just beyond the trees behind him in the clearing he had just fled where the battle was occurring.

Order members as well as Aurors were running passed him in the opposite direction, running to the aid of their fellow allies. Few glanced back at him, merely to make a correct identification that would be used later when recording those who were under the loyalty of the Dark Lord.

Draco no longer cared who saw him, his mind was only focused on one thing, and one thing only. So on he searched, deeper and deeper into the forest. He knew what he had seen and he had to get it back before he lost it forever.

`Draco! Draco!' a familiar voiced echoed from not far in front of him.

He quickened his pace, but soon found himself at a divided path. He stopped in hope that the voice would call back to him and it did.

`Draco! Draco!'

“Draco wake up!”

Draco shot up to an upright position. Beads of sweat pouring down his face. He was panting heavily, his heart rapidly thumping in his bare chest. He opened his eyes to darkness. He was no longer in the dimly light forest, but back in his room at the Manor.

“Ya alright, Surga?” his wife asked sitting up next to him.

“I'm fine,” Draco said without looking at her.

He tossed the covers to the side and climbed out of bed. Grabbing his wand and the photo album from his night stand, he disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Draco tossed his wand and the album onto the counter. He looked over to the album which had fallen opened to a random page where a photograph of Ginny and the two children stood smiling happily up at him. Through the door, he could hear Addison rustling the sheets, trying to find a comfortable position to fall back to sleep.

Still panting heavily, Draco planted his hands firmly on each side of the sink and glanced through his blonde locks into the mirror as a small stream of tears trickled down his pale cheeks

“What have I done?”

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