We meet in words | Draco Malfoy

24.

Draco

Draco's breathing stopped when he revealed his past.

"In the beginning, he was a good father, always taking us to the fair and constantly complimenting my mother. He used to take me out for ice cream once a week, and he used to take my mother out on dates once a week. He was a decent man." he said, his breath catching as he remembered how things used to be.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Then suddenly he wasn't. His company wasn't doing well, and stress took over. He was a shell of the father I used to have. He was bankrupt, and he got mixed up with the wrong crowd. A swarm of people who could have taken everything from him, but instead of ruining him, he ruined himself." Isabella placed her hand on his own, causing him to relax slightly.

It was her encouragement that kept him going.

Draco reflected on how his father had fallen in love with the life of that crowd, a life of violence, misogyny, and pain. His father had changed, and he was no longer pleasant. He stopped taking him out for ice cream and stopped taking his mother out on dates. Draco would squeeze his ears shut, attempting to block out the sounds of his father hitting his mother.

"He hit her, Isabella." he said quietly after a few moments of silence.

"He'd hit her and-" He didn't want to go any further because he knew he'd have to remember those things.

He didn't want to go through it all again.

Isabella quickly moved closer to him, settling into a comfortable position on his lap. She rushed to wrap her arms around him, squeezing as tightly as she could before tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I understand." she said quietly, as if she knew exactly what he was trying to say.

She cried despite her intention to remain strong for him.

He wrapped his arms around her immediately, hating the fact that she was crying.

"Hey hey." he coaxed quietly, kissing her temple.

"It's alright. I'm fine now, it was a long time ago. You don't have to be concerned about me." She sobbed even harder as his words sank in.

She moved her gaze away from his face for a moment before bringing him close to her chest and kissing the top of his head.

"Time doesn't heal wounds." she managed to mumble as tears streamed down her cheeks.

He knew she had more to say, so he remained silent, not wanting to try to be brave and strong for once. He chose not to speak up and dismiss her statement. Instead, he chose to let her logic overpower his reasoning because he knew that if anyone could be completely honest about pain and emotion, it would be Isabella.

He ran his thumbs over her tense back muscles, clearly trying to help her relax a little.

"I'm aware of the saying, 'Time heals all wounds.' And for the longest time, Draco, that's what I thought." she said, sniffling back another round of sobs.

"But when I was still in pain after years of trying to heal, I knew that saying was nonsense." They sat in each other's arms, trying to figure out how life could have thrown so much crap at them.

"Wounds do not heal with time. It's just what we think is the reason we're no longer in pain. Time can make us numb to it, but it can also cause us to hurt all over again at any time." she said with a laugh that was devoid of humour.

"We heal ourselves, in all honesty. We simply do not notice when we are no longer in pain and thank time for being our saviour."

"So, Isabella, what are you trying to say?" He sighed tiredly, his gaze averted from hers.