Casualty of Love: Turning Tables

We Were Free

My eyes fluttered open. I sat up quickly, but regreted it immediately. I was incredibly sore. "You should probably lay back down."

"What happened?" I asked, turning to see Draco. We were in the infirmary and all the other beds were filled. 

"Well, you're a mother now. The battle is over and we won." His smile was huge and abnormal. 

"It's really over?" I asked, not letting myself believe it quite yet. "Where are the babies?"

"Yes, it's really over. And they are with your parents. They weren't sure when you were going to wake up and they wanted to show everyone. They're beautiful, Allie. Now we just need names."

I smiled up at him. "I have some picked out... But first, I want to know who is...you know." I couldn't bring myself to say the word dead. Elijah was the first to come to mind since I saw him get attacked by Greyback. I crossed my fingers by side, hoping that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was.

He looked down uncomfortably. "Well, there were a lot of casualties... But Fred Weasley...and I really didn't want to have to tell you this but your friend Emmy is gone too."

The smile on my face was immediately gone. "Wow," I said under my breath. I was afraid that if I said too much, I would begin to sob uncontrollably. Emmy was one of my best friends... Silent tears fell. "Elijah?"

"Elijah's fine. He's going to have some scarring and since Greyback was transformed at the time...it's clear that he'll transition during the next full moon."

I didn't know how to react. Elijah was okay and I wanted to be happy but then I felt so guilty because Emmy and Fred weren't. I didn't want to know anymore. "Okay, can we save the rest for later? I don't know how much more I can take."

He looked at me sympathetically, wiping away a stray tear with his thumb and leaning over to kiss me on the forehead. "Of course."

I shut my eyes for a moment. If only I could shut the world out as easily... "Allie, you're parents are coming through the door."

My eyes shot open and I sat up in my bed, fighting the soreness. All I could see at first were two baby-shaped blankets but that's all it took to make my heart race. I focused in as my parents brought them to me. My dad gave Draco the boy, as I could tell from the color of the blanket, and my mother gave me the girl.

It was as if every problem and hurt in the world took a backseat. They were all I could see. I couldn't stop looking at them both, flickering my eyes to them interchangeably. Since they were newborns, it was hard to tell which features would last or change over time but they both had two things in common--Draco's stormy grey eyes and my chocolate brown hair. Actually they both had quite a lot of hair already.

"They're beautiful," I said, realizing after a moment that I had tears falling down steadily.

I realized in that moment that everything Draco and I had gone through--from the first moment that we met until now--was worth it. Everything. 

I glanced away from my babies for a moment, looking at Draco with a new kind of intensity. I never thought our love could grow but it did. I truly couldn't imagine experiencing this with anybody else. He looked down at the baby in his arms with a smile that could light up the world. Such a different expression compared to the first time I saw him...

"So, I hear you're coming to Hogwarts," Draco spoke unexpectedly. I noticed his gray eyes and noted how peculiar they were. He was looking at me with some kind of intensity, like he was trying to figure me out, but a smirk sat on his face. It was in a way that made me question just how long that expression had been on his face. It looked forced.

"Yeah, I've even been sorted already. I'm in Gryffindor," I said with my hands together behind my back. His eyes flooded with disappointment and the smirk melted away, if only for a few seconds..

"Oh, well, I'm in Slytherin," he said, his voice sounded assured but his face didn't match. His arrogant expression wasn't genuine and his face was flushed, much to his embarrassment.

I hadn't seen him wear that smirk in a long time. I wasn't sure I'd ever see it again. "Have you two thought of names yet?"

I looked to Draco. We hadn't discussed names together yet...at least not the ones that I was thinking of. "Go ahead," he said, nodding to me.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded again and I looked down at the baby boy in his arms. "Leo Nijah Malfoy," I said first, knowing for sure that was his name. I looked down at the girl in my arms. She squirmed a little, raising her tiny fist in the air. It reminded me of someone... "And Ara Emmalyn Malfoy." 

It was perfect. They were both named after constellations, just like Draco, and after people that I loved more than anything. "Beautiful," I heard my mom say. "Absolutely beautiful."

"I know," I said, just as Ara wrapped her fist around my index finger.

For once in my life, I felt like everything was going to be okay. All of the horrible things we were hiding from weren't around anymore. We were free.