Chapter 14: Narcissa

It wasn't easy, living without Eryndor at home. The worst thing was, we all felt like we had failed him. We just wanted him to come back home, to apologise, to see him smile and laugh for once, but it had now been two years since he last came home. At the beginning, we had thought that maybe it was just the French system, that he couldn't come home during the holidays, but our letters were left unanswered. We knew that he had received them, he just didn't seem to be opening them. It took us some time to realise that he wouldn't be coming home again. Even Draco, with whom he had never really gotten along, was upset about his twin's absence. The girls kept asking us where he was and, even though they didn't say it, I knew that Andromeda and Remus blamed me for upsetting Eryndor. 

It was the evening. We were all sitting down in the living room, eating hamburgers because it was the day where the kids could pick what they wanted to eat. So here we were, eating burgers. 

'Draco, could you try and achieve at least two Outstanding's in your N.E.W.T.s ?' Remus asked our son, knowing that we couldn't ask him more as school wasn't really his thing. 

'I'll try and achieve four,' Dora said. She wanted to become an Auror and I smiled at that. She always had wanted to push herself to do more and be better than the others and we all loved that about her. That, and the fact that she still found a way to pull out pranks, which was more upsetting my sister than making her angry, and I admired her for that. 

'I'll try and get 100% on my next test !' Alethea, our youngest daughter and now seven, exclaimed, making us laugh. She was really sweet.

'When's Eryndor coming home ?' Sophia, now twelve, asked. She hadn't been able to tell her brother about her first year. She was hurting, and so were we all. 

'We don't know, sweetheart,' Remus said with a smile, looking at her with tears in his eyes. He could feel her pain. It was the same pain that we had all been experiencing for the past two years now. 

'I'll try and send him a letter,' Dora suddenly said. 'I'll get him to come back, okay ?' She promised my two beautiful girls, who both nodded. 

*°*°*°

Three days later, though, she hadn't received any answer, just like the rest of us and it was time for her, Draco and Sophia to get back to Hogwarts. 

*°*°*° 

Three years. That's how much time we spent, waiting for letters to come our way, but they never did. 

That year, Remus and Ted had offered all of us a trip to Paris, all 8 of us. So there we were, on a plane to Paris as a family. 

When we landed, we stopped quickly at the hotel before going out and walking down the busy streets. It really was a beautiful city. Now I understood why people loved it so much. I could see the kids' marvelled eyes, the way they looked at the buildings, the shops, the cafés... it wasn't that different from London, but it was a new place, a new city, a new country... Then, Dora whispered the words that we all had hoped to hear one of us say : 'He here.' Instantly, we all turned around to look where she was looking. I almost didn't recognise him. My son. Now a handsome young man. Even Draco didn't seem to register it. 'He has a girlfriend ?' He asked, bewildered. Indeed, there was a young woman walking next to him, her fingers entwined with his. She was the one to spot us. I'm sure it wasn't difficult : eight heads, sixteen eyes, eight opened mouths staring at them. She elbowed him and, seconds later, Eryndor's icy blue eyes, identical to mine, were staring at us. He didn't show any emotion, he just — stared. I wanted to cry, to run to him and apologise, but I knew that it would be useless, that he wouldn't forgive me. I turned around to look at Remus, who was still looking at our son. None of them was moving, as if challenging the other to. Then, Alethea started running. She ran towards her brother, her favourite. He had always held this place in her heart. We watched him kneel down as she ran in his arms and buried her face in his shoulder. Then, Sophia went, too. I almost expected her to hit him, but instead, she hugged him. That's when I realised how tall he now was : Sophia was at least 8 inches smaller than him, and she was as tall as I was. Even Remus wasn't 8 inches taller than me. Slowly, without realising it, we started walking towards him. We were starting to hear the girls' voices, asking him questions. Then, we heard it. His laugh. Merlin I hadn't realised how much I had missed it. His girlfriend looked at us and then introduced herself, probably not wanting to make Eryndor do the introductions. 'I'm Thea. You must be Narcissa, Remus, Ted, Andromeda, Dora and Draco. Eryndor told me a lot of things about you !' She said with a smile. Dora was the first one to talk. 

'Why didn't you answer, Ery ?' She asked, hurt in her voice. 

My son looked at her in the eyes and smiled sadly. 'I needed time. I needed to take care of my own health before talking to you again. And not you personally, Dora. All of you. Because you never realised the damage that you were causing. I was hurting so much, and none of you saw it. I didn't understand, though. Why didn't you see it ? Why didn't you see what you were doing ? Well now I know the answer : you didn't want to. You preferred to think that you were doing the right thing, that by giving more to Draco, you were making us equals. How long did it take me, mum, to realise the meaning of "everything" ? Not much, I can assure you. I was so young and yet, you made me pay the fact that I had a father when you were wrong. Dad always loved us equally. You just never did. And all you did for Draco was an attempt for you to prove yourself that you loved him as well. But in the process, you forgot to love me. I know what you want, mum. You want me to forgive you. But I'm sorry, I can't do that. Because it was Andromeda who made me skip two years, not you. And that's because we all knew the truth : you'd never let me because Draco wouldn't be receiving the same treatment. But we're different, mum ! We had different needs and you didn't adapt to that. You gave us the same things when we didn't need the same things. And sometimes, you thought you were helping Draco but you were only hurting me. I left to France because I was going through depression, mum. So, yeah, sorry, I didn't answer, but I was depressive ! I needed time ! I needed my parents. Because you, dad—' he turned towards Remus, his eyes dark with anger. Tears were running down my cheeks, hating how right he was, how I had failed him. 'You didn't care more. All you wanted was to keep your marriage safe ! You used to say something, but the moment you started arguing, you hid ! You could've helped me ! All of you ! You just didn't want to risk your relationship with my mother. So  here it is : yes, I'll try and bond with Alethea and Sophia again, as they were stuck in the middle of your selfishness. Yes, I'll talk to you again, Dora. But the rest of you, don't expect too much. Be glad if you receive an invitation to the wedding.'

'Ery— I'm sorry,' I apologised, crying. 

'It's too late for that, mum. You should've apologised sooner.' He then turned towards Dora, Alethea and Sophia. 'See you soon, ladies,' he whispered, before turning round, taking Thea's hand before apparating away.