VI

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...

VI

A month later, Lily found the courage to confront her mentor with her newfound knowledge of his true nature.

She had expected a reaction. She got a mild, "Brava, Miss Potter!"

She had expected her revelation to cause a significant change in their relationship. However, he had remained as stern a taskmaster as always.

She had awaited contentment at her successful deduction. Instead, she was troubled with more questions than before. The predominant one was why a vampire would choose to spend time with a mortal girl and assist her.

And yet, she was no longer obsessed with finding the answers. She was curious, but she had also decided to accept her tutor's need for privacy. Instead, she tried to show him that she did not care whether he told her or not, like she did not care for anyone or anything else. And indeed no one else noted, other than Scorpius.

Scorpius, who made her heart flutter and tied her stomach into knots. Scorpius, who was as much a playboy as her brothers, but a far better person.

...

Draco Malfoy opened his eyes. His first sight was a mound of soft flesh with a cherry nipple on top. He opened his mouth, and his tongue darted out to lick the top. He felt the body next to him shiver. He moved his head over the breast and sucked the nipple into his mouth.

"Good morning, husband," Astoria greeted him lazily.

He raised his head for a moment.

"Good morning, wife."

...

Scorpius Malfoy opened his eyes when a stray ray of sunshine landed on his face. It took him a moment to shake himself awake from sleep. When he did, he groaned loudly and looked at his side. Right next to him there was a naked, female body. Just another day, just another meaningless conquest. Sometimes, he thought he was just as bad as James Potter had been before he graduated.

Potter's graduation had changed things for the better. Finally free from the pranks and heavy competition, he was able to be more social with members of other Houses. His tentative friendship with Albus Severus was a surprise, but a good one.

It was a couple of months into their sixth year when they were forced by Lily's recklessness to put their differences aside and work together for the first time.

Lily had hated him ever since. Until then, her family had been unaware of her escapades. Harry Potter had tried to curb her tendency for trouble after that incident. His intervention had brought the exact opposite result. In the last year, Lily had turned wild. He often wondered how she managed to continue to be a very good student

...

Astoria Malfoy entered George Weasley's shop and looked around. This visit was not an easy one for her. She had known, even before she'd married Draco, of the special friendship between the two men. However, in over twenty years, she had never encountered George Weasley. She did not even remember him from school, since he had been four years older than she had been and in another House. She had always loved her husband fiercely, and she had always wanted him to have everything. However, this she had found difficult to do. For years she had even thought of it as unthinkable. The passing of the years, though, and the toll on Draco, of having to keep his friendship with George hidden, even from her, changed her mind, as no argument could have ever done.

A polite clerk asked her if she required any assistance. Astoria took a deep breath and asked to see the proprietor. She was led to a wooden door. The clerk knocked and shouted, "Boss, there's someone here to see you."

Without waiting for a reply, the clerk opened the door and ushered her into a small office.

She had expected a red-haired man. The man, who raised his head from the papers before him, had hair the color of salt with only hints of red in between. A look of surprise crossed his face, and he immediately stood up. His surprise was followed by panic, that something must be wrong with Draco for Astoria to be there. He did not dare ask, though, lest he unwittingly reveal Draco's secret.

Astoria watched him panic, and she immediately spoke up to reassure him.

"Good morning, Mr. Weasley. This is just a social visit. There is nothing to worry about," she said.

He coughed to hide his uneasiness. He wondered whether she had found out about Draco and him, whether she had come to threaten him, or to plead with him to leave her husband alone.

"Would you like to take a seat, Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked as politely as possible, considering the circumstances.

"That would be lovely, thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you from your paperwork, but I was passing by and thought it would be nice to finally meet my husband's best friend," she chatted, as if Draco and he were just buddies.

"I would like to invite you for dinner. Is Saturday evening convenient for you?" she continued.

"I, eh, I, ah ...," he mumbled like an awkward teenager.

"It is settled then. We will be expecting you around seven at home. If you can't make it, just send us an owl with another date that would be convenient for you. It was nice meeting you. I wish you a pleasant day." She finished her speech without any pause to breathe and left immediately.

He remained standing before his desk, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

As soon as his wits returned, he scribbled a note to Draco, describing his wife's visit and her invitation, and asking for instruction as to what he was supposed to do.

The owl that took the note brought back a reply just minutes later.

George opened the note and read, "You will obviously come for dinner on Saturday. If you don't, I will personally come and drag you there. Since Astoria invited you, it would upset her if you didn't show up."

A few miles away, Draco pondered on this latest development and wondered whether he should ask his wife for the reason of it or if he should just follow her lead. Since he trusted her with his life and heart, he decided to follow the second option.

...

Severus Snape looked at the girl before him. He often wondered whether his intervention had caused her rebellion. It had taken great effort to not shout at her a couple of months ago, when she had pierced her ears. Then, she had started painting her lips and eyelids black. He really hated that and would have liked to force her to stop doing it.

He had asked the Bloody Baron to tell that useless Head of Slytherin House, Hamilton, to take her into hand for this outrageousness, but Hamilton had done nothing.

Then she had cut her hair short. That was when he had grown really angry. Did no one see the destructive path she was walking down? The Bloody Baron had murmured something about 'normal adolescent behaviour,' but he would hear nothing of it.

So he had just kept his mouth shut and started pressuring her into more studying and into original research. He even shared with her a couple of his own studies, trying to force her to take interest in something productive. She did more than well, and she seemed to enjoy the learning process, but in her free time she continued to be wild and unpredictable.

...

Severus pumped one last time inside the woman, and then he bit her. She had her eyes closed, and she moaned as he started drinking her blood. It was in this last year that Severus Snape had started having intense cravings for sex when he was feeding. For this, he blamed his increased involvement in the mortal world. In order to be able to better protect the young hoyden, who was his student, he had been forced to spend many evenings and nights in the shadows of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts watching the mortals.

With a flick of his tongue, he closed the two punctures on the neck of the woman. He kissed her gently and left her with a murmured, 'goodbye.' She just smiled and changed sides. It was one fact of life that had remained the same during the last twenty years. The waitresses at Rosmerta's were always accommodating and willing to fuck.

...

Lily was angry. She was sixteen and a half years old, but nobody treated her like a woman. Her two older brothers thought her to be a kid. Her parents vocally disapproved of her new looks. No one really understood her. Well, that wasn't strictly true. Scorpius was a good friend, but he also was a disappointment. He would have sex with any female, but not with her. Not that she wanted to lose her virginity to her best friend.

And now her mother had just announced that she was once again pregnant. Whereas it was true that due to their longer lifespan witches could have children at her mother's age, Lily found it embarrassing.

...

Kingsley treated Harry to a fourth glass of firewhiskey.

"Maybe it is a good thing to have another baby. It will give Ginny a purpose to have another kid to nurture, and something for us to share once again. It could help our marriage. And you know that I will love the baby," Harry said mostly to himself.

"Right, if you say so." Only a stupid man would gainsay the Head of the Auror Department when he was drunk. And Kingsley had never been stupid.

...

George Flooed to Malfoy Manor at seven o'clock sharp, holding a bottle of reserved elf wine. He exited the fireplace in the living room of the Malfoys' and faced Astoria and Draco. He held his breath. Draco was his usual self, dressed to the nines, despite the pouch at his stomach and his receding hairline. Astoria, on the other hand, was beauty personified, even if her choice of dress surprised him. It was a little more daring than he would have thought appropriate for dinner. He had to acknowledge though that she was truly magnificent in her red sleeveless dress that showed a bit too much cleavage. Draco smirked at his friend's surprise, and then he welcomed him. George had feared that dinner would prove to be awkward, but was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't. Astoria was well read and intelligent and a brilliant conversationalist. Draco did not try to pretend that they were strangers, bringing forth open discussions that they had on common investments and interests. Draco's affection and love for his wife was obvious, and yet George did not feel any jealousy at seeing them like this.

...

Lily approached a semi-filthy table.

"Raise your blouse higher and take your pants off," the man instructed.

Lily complied.

"Lie down on the table," he ordered.

Lily did as she was told.

He approached her, and she closed her eyes, preparing herself for the pain.

At the first prick of the needle, she knew that it was not as painful as she had feared. She smiled when she thought of everyone's reaction to her getting a tattoo just above her buttocks.

...

"Life sucks," Albus Severus said in a half-drunk drawl.

"I fail to see your point," Scorpius replied. He then elaborated. "We can have any girl we want; they even flock around us, begging to be taken. We are excellent students, and we will certainly be accepted in any academic programme we choose. Our families are financially secure, mine more than yours. Our families are politically well connected, yours more than mine. We are young and healthy. I simply can't imagine why you would think that our life is not ideal."

Albus Severus raised his glass to his lips, sipped on his firewhiskey and frowned before replying.

"We are eighteen and have never in our lives done anything important. My parents, they fought a war since they were eleven years old. At eighteen, they had already won that war. How could I ever compete with that? How could I ever follow in their footsteps? James is a wastrel, pampered by everyone, because of my father. Lily is someone I don't recognize. We are at the same school, and yet House rivalry and age distinctions have kept us apart. Who is this teenager in her place? I worry about her, and I am glad that you keep an eye on her, but still I miss her terribly. My mum, she is pregnant, at her age. How can my parents do that to themselves? They hardly talk with each other, and it has been years since I saw any real conversation between them. A baby can't fix relationships. I had planned to move to Europe to study, and yet, what if this baby needs me?"

"Blah, blah. So your family has problems. Welcome to the real world. Maybe I should loan you my paternal grandparents. Try having Lucius and Narcissa for grandparents, and then you can talk about dysfunctional families. Now, let's go try those luscious twins at the corner table. They have been staring at us for an hour."

Albus Severus sighed, but stood up and followed his friend to the other table.

...

Severus directed Lily to remove the cauldron from the fire, while he remained as far away from the potion as possible. She had dark circles under her eyes and copious amounts of sweat ran down her body. He had finally found a way to hinder her rebelliousness. Hard work was the trick. He sometimes wondered why she accepted that.

Lily bottled the potion.

"Congratulations, Miss Potter. You have just managed to brew Wolfsbane. If your other career plans fail, you can always earn enough by this skill," he informed her drily.

Lily smiled at her vampire. And he was that, her closest ally during all these years in Hogwarts.

"I think it's time you called me Lily, sir."

"And I think it's time you went to sleep, Miss Potter. Don't make my punish you," he replied, but without any real anger.

Lily made a grimace.

"I don't think I can handle any more of your punishments. My lovely tattoo cost me fifteen hours of dissecting various worms for potion ingredients and my outing to Hog's Head today. I think I am done with rebelliousness," she honestly said. She omitted that she had already decided some time ago that she had matured enough to be over that stage of adolescence.

"Go to sleep, Lily, and leave an old man to his peace!" her mentor waved her away, fed up with her antics.

Lily laughed and shouted a farewell as she left the room.

...

George Weasley had thought that the invitation had been a one time event. It had been an interesting experience. He had enjoyed himself very much, but could not shake his feelings of guilt, now that he had met Astoria. When Draco had come to the shop for lunch during the following week, he had felt awkward and hesitant. It was more a feeling of being superfluous. He had always thought that he was not the only one needing Draco but that the need was reciprocal. Now, he had his doubts. How could someone who had the love of someone as great as Astoria need anyone else?

Draco had sensed his misgivings, but had not said anything on the matter. Their discussion had remained in the acceptable fields of their common investments and the current political situation.

George was surprised when he received an owl sent by Astoria with an invitation for a Saturday brunch. He replied eagerly, like a starved man.

...

"How is the pregnancy proceeding?" Kingsley asked Harry over their customary lunch meeting.

"Quite well, thank you for asking. The mediwitch assured us that everything is going well and the baby shall be born before Christmas," Harry replied.

"Is Ginny happy?"

Harry grimaced. "I don't know. She says so, but I am not sure."

Harry sighed and for the first time dared voice some of his pain.

"I don't know how to please her. It's all I ever wanted, to be a good husband and father. And I have failed in both," Harry admitted in a low voice.

Kingsley remained silent.

"James is a scoundrel. He counts on the family name to get him out of trouble. Lily has turned into a Goth, and she never shares anything with anyone of us, not even her mother. Albus Severus is the only one doing alright, even though he is also wild. And Ginny, I always wonder, what did I do wrong, how can I fix our relationship?"

Kingsley had been an Auror for many years before becoming Minister of Magic. He knew that Harry should have known, but failed to do so, due to his closeness to Ginevra. Because every Auror knew that the victims of Voldemort seldom recovered, and even if they did they remained traumatized. Harry had also been a victim, but he had managed to heal, and that had been as miraculous as his achievement to kill Voldemort.

...

Lily sat next to Scorpius.

He greeted her heartily.

"So tell me, little freak. What will I need to save you from next time?" he asked her affectionately.

"Oh, I don't know. I am over my rebelliousness. But, I have been thinking that it is high time I lost my virginity. I am already sixteen years old after all," she replied evenly, as if she spoke of the next Quidditch match.

Scorpius choked.

"You are only sixteen. You need to wait until you are at least eighteen or married!" he informed her.

"Your current girlfriend is in my year! Don't be a hypocrite! But I am open to suggestions as to who would be the right one for this endeavour." She smiled at him.

Scorpius considered her. He hoped that Albus Severus would understand the necessity of what he was about to promise.

He touched her lips with his forefinger.

"We both know, sweetheart, that the only one you would consider losing your virginity to is me. However, I will not do it. Not a day before you are eighteen. If you still want it then. But do not even think about it until then. And I will have your promise on that!" he stated solemnly.

Lily thought about it. It was true that she had no other candidate in mind. On the other hand, two years were a long time.

"I'll promise that I'll think about it!" She kissed the finger that touched her lips and stood up and ran away before he had any chance to say anything more.

...

After their dinner, Draco, Astoria and George moved to the living room to continue their discussion. Astoria held a glass of sweet wine, while the two men preferred coffee.

Draco and Astoria sat next to each other and George in an armchair opposite them. It was telling of how relaxed everyone was and how comfortable their evening dinners had become that these dinners had turned into an every day occurrence.

George would have felt like an intruder had Astoria not actively convinced him that he was more than welcome. There were even some times that Astoria would be tired and would go to sleep after their dinner, leaving the two men to continue their discussion alone. Nothing untoward would ever happen in these instances, but it was still extraordinary.

Astoria was happy. Draco was so much more peaceful now that part of his friendship with George was not hidden any more. And Astoria had come to care about George too. George, who looked at her with such respect and tenderness that she sometimes wanted to scream at him that she was not perfect either. George, whose loneliness and soul-deep sadness made her want to cry.

...

Severus Snape lounged in the armchair while the woman crawled to him. She opened his fly and almost tenderly took his member out. He was hard and ready. She shivered at the coldness of his skin, but did not otherwise react. She opened her mouth and dived for him. He grabbed her ears and fucked her mouth. She mewled and even gagged once or twice, but was too much a professional to attempt to complain. When he had finished and was certain that she had swallowed every drop, he positioned her on his lap and found himself face to tits. He played with one nipple while he bit on the other breast. When he was satisfied, he asked her to stand up. She complied eagerly, received her payment and bid him goodbye.

The pale stranger with the cold skin was her favourite customer. He paid her much better than any other client, but she would have taken him even if he didn't. She did not know who he was, but he was providing her with the potions required to keep her little angel alive. Most of her customers did not want to know whether the whore they fucked had any family, but he knew, and he provided for little Zoe, who had been born with a defective heart, and who just might grow into an adult if she had access to the right potions.

...

Summer came. Scorpius and Albus Severus passed their NEWTs with great success. They decided to spend the next semester travelling in Europe before they had to decide what they would do with their lives. The only deadline was that Albus Severus wanted to have returned before his baby sibling was born. Lily returned to her family's house. With James and Albus Severus gone, the house was too quiet. Her mother was absorbed with her pregnancy, and her father was constantly at work. She felt lonely and detached. During the family Sunday brunch was the only time that every member of the extended family currently in England would get together. It would have been insufferable had her favourite uncle and godfather not been present.

She regretted having not sent more frequent letters to him, but was glad to see him happier than any other time in the past. She looked around, but no one else seemed to notice any difference. She attributed it to being the only one not having seen him for some time.

"So how is my favourite girl in the whole world?" he asked her teasingly.

She told him the truth about the empty house, and he invited her to help him out in the shop in the mornings. She accepted joyously.

Fleur's voice alerted her to an absence she had not noticed.

"Where is Uncle Bill?" she asked George.

"The Potions master who brewed him the Wolfsbane decided to move to Tibet to further study obscure ritualistic potions making. Until another one can be found, he has to do without," George explained haltingly.

Lily moved closer to him and whispered in his ear, "I don't want to raise any expectations, but I know how to brew the Wolfsbane. However, since I am a minor, I do not have access to some of the ingredients."

George turned to her, shock evident on his face.

He unceremoniously dragged her outside, while the other members of the family wondered about what had happened.

He Apparated them to his shop.

"Explain yourself, young miss!" he ordered her.

"I-know-how-to-brew-the-Wolfsbane," she intoned every word so as if she were speaking to an imbecile.

"My dear niece, this is impossible, as the Wolfsbane potion was created by a long dead Potions master, named Damocles. The recipe was taught by him to several other Potions makers, upon their wand oath that they could only teach it to one person every twenty years. Unfortunately the only living ones alive to know the recipe at this time chose to reveal it to people who are now perished. Therefore there is no way you know how to brew it, unless of course you had access to someone dead like Severus Snape!" George explained patiently.

Lily shrugged and repeated, "And yet I know how to brew it!"

George then asked the one pertinent question.

"How did you learn how to brew it?"

"This I have made an oath not to reveal," she replied casually.

George was torn. Lily was an unruly teenager, but she was also honest and decent and loved her family.

"I need to think about it. Please, write down the ingredients you want me to acquire, and I will provide the workspace for you to brew it if I can find a Potions master of the ones who know how to brew it to verify that your potion is indeed the Wolfsbane," he told his niece.

Lily bristled under the lack of trust, but was also aware of one thing. She finally knew her mentor's identity. She knew, at last, why the Bloody Baron bowed to his will and why he was able to move freely in Hogwarts. Her father had made all three of them study the biographies of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape when they had made fun of her brother's name.

George knocked on the main doors of Malfoy Manor. He would have never thought of going there uninvited had he not been so upset. A house-elf opened the door and Astoria appeared right behind it.

"Hallo, George, please come in," she invited him warmly, as if it was normal that he had gone there.

"Draco is in his home office. It is next to the study; let me take you right there." Astoria started guiding him to the corridor.

George touched her arm lightly.

"I need your advice, too," he whispered.

"Alright," Astoria replied, realizing what this meant in terms of friendship.

They entered Draco's home office, and George immediately told them of what had occurred. The tea tray arrived just as George finished his explanations.

"Poor Lily will be devastated by your lack of trust," Astoria said, and both men looked at her surprised, because it would never have occurred to them. George jumped up, ready to go and mend the fences, but Astoria told him that a couple of minutes would not make any difference.

As it was, Draco had a ready solution. One of his firms was a potions company. The problem was that it was based in the Amazon region and potions like the Wolfbane could not be shipped by magical means, while they expired if shipped by Muggle means due to their short shelf life. Draco called his chief potions maker and bribed him with enough money to make a quick trip to England.

It took less than half an hour for Draco to arrange this, and meanwhile Astoria had vanished. She returned as George was ready to leave and gave him a package.

"Give this to Lily, and she just might forgive you," she told him.

George bent and placed a tender kiss on Astoria's cheek.

"Thank you! Thank you both so much!"

He left via Floo. Draco hugged his wife and whispered in her ear, "You are the most extraordinary and amazing woman, my dear, and I am the luckiest man in the whole world."

She giggled like a much younger girl and left him to his work.

Draco, however, had difficulty concentrating on his work. George was happy because of what this could mean for his brother if his niece was indeed able to brew the Wolfsbane. Draco, as an outsider, wondered though. If it was so, how had the girl learnt to brew the potion?

...

In his hidden home in the Forbidden Forest, Severus Snape was unaware of how many times his name had been spoken in these last few hours by a multitude of people. Summer was always a quiet time for him. For the first time, however, he realized that he missed someone. He missed little Lily, who was growing up fast. It saddened him that in just a couple of years she would graduate and then he would probably never see her again. She was an imp, but she was also his friend in a way, especially this last year that she had found out that he was a vampire. She was outrageous with her pierced ears and bat tattoo, but she was also decent and nice. When she grew up, she would become a remarkable woman.

...

George informed Lily of the arrangement with the Potions maker, and then he begged her forgiveness for finding it hard to believe her.

"Since I haven't brewed it yet, and you believe me now, I think I will forgive you," she told him.

George handed her the package.

Lily opened it immediately and found inside an original Billenwise bracelet.

"Wow! I have no idea how you even knew who Billenwise is. Do you know how difficult it is to find an original of his? The waiting list is way too long! Thank you so very much." She hugged him and left the shop. After all she would need to rest if she was to brew to potion tomorrow, and she also had to inform a couple of her classmates of her bracelet. She even wrote a letter to Scorpius bragging about it.

...

Scorpius contemplated the nightly sky. Not far away, Albus Severus was kissing another conquest, a dark-haired quarter Veela. He did not envy him. He was tired of these hurried encounters, of the one-night stands. The sky held no answers for him, and he kept wondering what he should do with his life. He was good in almost every field of magic, but nothing held any particular interest for him. He even had some business acumen, due to his father's summer training ever since he was ten, but did not particularly like it or crave to become a businessman. A moan drew his attention. Albus Severus had divested the woman of her clothing. His head was currently between her legs and his hands on her breasts. Scorpius sipped his beer and settled for the show that would follow.

...

Severus Snape touched the bruise on the prostitute's cheek.

"Just an angry client," she apologised.

"I don't like to fuck bruised women. I will pay you to be your only customer," he informed her coldly.

"I can't, I don't want your pity," she replied.

"Whether you want it or not is irrelevant. You will do it for Zoe," he replied evenly.

She nodded. He was right of course.

He placed her on the bed on all fours and pounded into her. Just when she thought that she would faint, he bit her neck. He left soon afterwards, and she found on her bed enough money to pay the rent for many months. She showered and went to the other room. Little Zoe slept peacefully. Next to her bed there were three vials filled with the potion that allowed her defective heart to beat.

...

Lily had never before been allowed into the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes

workshop. It was divided into two parts, one dedicated to mechanical assemblies and one to the concoction of potions. She stood before the workbench. Her hair was tied in a tight bun. She wore her school uniform because of the stain-resistant material. She concentrated on the task before her. The aged Potions master did his best to intimidate her, certain that there was absolutely no way that this adolescent knew how to brew the complex potion. However, Lily had learnt from the scariest teacher of all, and she almost laughed at the pitiful attempt. Her uncle was there too. Mr. Malfoy, Scorpius' father was also there, a fact that puzzled her, despite her uncle's explanation that Mr. Malfoy was the Potions master's employer.

The ingredients were laid before her, and she had already checked them. She would have preferred her own equipment from the Hogwarts dungeon, but she would make do with the existing one.

She commenced and everything fell into place. Potions making brought her peace and a sense of belonging. She was unaware of the people watching her. George with pride, Draco with surprise, and the Potions master with incredulity.

Eight hours later, she removed the cauldron from the fire and placed the potion into six identical vials. The potions master took one. He smelled the liquid inside. He then dropped a small moonstone inside, and the liquid changed colour. He then turned to Lily.

"I would have never believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes. You may apprentice with me after you finish school. Well done, young lady!" He shook hands with Mr. Malfoy and left.

George had a broad grin on his face. "Should we call Bill and inform him of your success?" he asked and without waiting for an answer got some Floo powder to throw into the fireplace.

"Wait, Uncle," Lily stopped him. "Please, take the vials and give them to Bill for his use, and for the use of the other local werewolves, but I don't want anyone to know that I brewed the potion." George was surprised at the request, but would honour it.

"Mr. Malfoy, would you please also keep your silence?"

"Absolutely. Only my wife will be informed as she is already aware of this experiment. Naturally, you are kindly requested to consider whether you would like to work for one of the Potions Firms of Malfoy Enterprises," Draco Malfoy said without any sneer. It was strange but this older Mr. Malfoy was nothing like the boy her parents had described him to be.

...

"Mr. Potter, you need to come to St. Mungo's," a head announced from his fireplace at work.

Harry immediately jumped up.

"What has happened?" he asked and run towards the fireplace.

"It's your wife. She has had a miscarriage," the head said and vanished in order to allow Potter to step through.

Harry felt anguish at the words, but his first thoughts were of Ginny, of how this must have hurt her.

He stepped through and immediately asked the nurse, "My wife, how is she?"

The nurse replied carefully, "She will need some time to recover, but she is alright. At least physically. Depression is a danger at the moment however."

Harry sat for many long hours next to his wife's bed as she slept. He held her hand and noticed how pale she was and the lines on her face. They were not laugh lines, and it was his fault. If only he had been a better husband. If only he had known how to make her happy.

...