This chapter contains scenes of death and emotional trauma. Please read with caution.

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''No one should die alone.''

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''Excuse me—'' Draco lowered his voice, his hands placed flat on the counter in front of him as the lady behind it turned around, smiling broadly at him.

''How can I help you today, sir?'' She asked politely.

Draco cleared his throat, peering around discretely, ''I'm looking for a Mr. Brown, former Dr.Brown.''

He didn't once falter with his demanding tone, not wishing to seem doubtful even if this was far out of his comfort zone.

The lady frowned at him, nodding hesitantly as she began to flip through the pages of her book.

''I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not allowed to give out any information about Dr. Brown at the moment.''

Malfoy's jaws gritted, his sight snapped across her as it landed on the nametag on her chest, taking in the name on it before he narrowed his eyes in hers, ''You'll have to excuse me, miss. Smith, but I'm new to town and an old friend of—''

''I'm still not allowed—''

''Perhaps a donation to this home would make you rethink what you're about to say,'' Draco's tone shifted darker, his hand shoved into his pocket as he hauled out a checkbook, ''Or a private one, I don't really care.''

Her brows knitted as she stretched her spine, bending over the counter to watch his doings. She tucked a curl behind her ear, ''Sir, I really don't—''

''One-hundred thousand pounds, would that do it?'' Malfoy held an emotionless look, staring blankly at her while scribbling on the check, ''Or what is it you muggles call your money?''

''Muggles, sir?'' The lady questioned, her face cloaked in confusion, ''I don't—''

Draco ripped the check apart from the book, slamming it down onto the wood as he sighed, ''So, about Dr.Brown?''

The lady startingly stared at the amount of money written on it. She couldn't believe her eyes before her sight snapped, looking around quickly as she snatched the paper, pushing it down in her pocket.

She attended her book again, humming quietly to herself as Draco impatiently stood before her, annoyed to an unexplainable extent.

''He's in the garden, until noon, but Mr...?'' She spoke up as he began to step away. Malfoy cocked his head in response, ''Dr. Brown is utterly confused, and he's not really... lucid at all times so please have—''

Draco didn't bother to listen. He tucked his hands into his suit pants pockets and walked away.

''Pleasure doing business—'' She yelled, but he'd already disappeared, out of sight.

He strode across the elderly home, rolling his eyes at the muggles he watched around him, ''Pathetic,'' Draco scowled to himself as the thought of Amelie not being here clocked his mind.

She was safe at home with his mother and Theodore. He'd promised to be back by dinner, and he intended to keep that word. He knew his mother to be cooking broccoli today and just how much Amelie despised that.

She never told anyone except him.

Draco shrugged, tempting to swallow the aching feeling he caught inside at the loss of her memories. Even when he was half the country away — it still haunted him.

Everything did. It angered him, and he loathed himself more than anything for it — for constantly leaving her at home when he didn't want anything other than to bring her with him, even for a task like this one.

The second, her memories were to be restored. He'd never go anywhere without her. He'd never leave the house without her next to him.

Draco had learned the hard way that every time he'd left her — he lost her.

He stepped out on the lawn. His eyes squinted at the early summer sun as he searched for the man he was looking for. Mr. Brown, former Dr. Brown.

A wizard who was hidden in the muggle world, away from the Dark Lord and all the cruel things that would befall if he got his hands on the Doctor.

He needed to get to the man first. He'd been searching every city in this county for him, and finally — he'd located him. Ever since the night when Amelie had a breakdown, and he had to comfort her, something stuck to his mind.

The utter fact that she spoke about her mother and a pregnancy.

It wasn't Pansy she was talking about. She'd be far more emotional with that memory even if her own remembering were in the wind. This had to be about her mother. It all fell into place, all the missing pieces.

Her mother obliviated herself and the recollection of her escape from Amelie's mind. There wasn't a more logical explanation for her to do so and the Dark Lord's hunt to find her — if she wasn't hiding something as valuable as a child.

''Dr. Brown—'' Draco said, clearly to the man seated on a bench in front of him, ''Is it, Dr. Brown—?''

''Isn't it Lucius?'' The man gaily greeted him, his arms thrown out in the air as his face brightened, ''Ah, Lucius, it wasn't yesterday I saw you!''

Draco's face twisted awkwardly in a grimace, frowning slightly before he realized what the lady at the desk had been talking about.

He wasn't lucid.

It still didn't come as a surprise to him that his father had a part to play in this.

With a thick swallow, Draco nodded, stiffly, ''Yes, Dr.Brown, it's—''

The man stood up, wearing a hefty winter coat along with a sun hat and sunglasses. He had swim shorts, colorful ones at that underneath the long, fur-covered jacket. His arms stretched as he brought Draco into a hug.

His entire body tensed at the man's doings, but he couldn't do anything other than play along. He patted his back bunglingly.

''Let me tell you a little secret, Lucius—'' The Doctor laughed as he stepped back, dropping down onto the bench again, ''This is my favorite place to be, out here in the garden... tell me, does your son still play in your garden?''

Draco's eyes widened as he hunched down at the bench next to him, ''I suppose he does...'' Draco mumbled, his elbows on his knees as he cocked his head to the side, looking at the man.

''I remember you telling all about your little boy... how is he these days? He must be growing!''

Draco nodded sternly as a seep of hurt took over, ''He's growing indeed.''

''I'm happy to hear that. He was a tall boy when I last saw him, and I'm certain he'll find a pretty girl and carry those handsome Malfoy genes along, don't you think?'' The man beamed, patting Draco's arched back.

Malfoy's eyes squeezed shut for a second, his head clouded by the girl still waiting for him at home, and only the knowledge of seeing her at the end of the day — with memories or without, eased all the pain in this world.

''I sure hope he will,'' Draco felt an arch in the corner of his mouth, ''He'll be a lucky man when he does.''

''And she'll be a lucky girl!'' The man nearly shouted, laughing loudly at himself as Draco flinched next to him, not too familiar with behavior like this, ''She'll be a lucky girl to be with such a man, don't you think?''

Draco's head tipped in a bow again, agreeing to the spoken words.

''But don't you take me for a fool, Lucius,'' He continued, earning Draco's attention again, peering up at him over his shoulder, ''I know that a wealthy man like yourself doesn't visit an old man like me without reason. What can I do for you today?''

Panic swelled within Malfoy as he leaned back against the backrest, his arms folded over his chest and his leg placed over the other. The sun stung through his white shirt, '' I do—''

He cleared his throat again, stressed to bring up something to set the already mad man off, ''I have a question about an old patient of yours. A birth you secretly took care of about six, seven years ago.''

The man froze. His spine straight as he looked around, quickly, observing the area around them suspiciously before he inched closer to Draco.

His hand moved up to his sunglasses and tipped them down to rest on his nose, revealing the black eyes behind them, ''So it's time, isn't it?'' The man whispered, lowly, ''They found her?''

Draco couldn't understand a word he was saying nor the meaning behind it, but he simply nodded, ''It's time, and I need to know—''

The Doctor leaned back against the bench again. His sight glued to the park in front of him, ''Are they looking for me as well?''

''They are.'' Draco admitted, hurtfully, because the both of them knew what this meant, ''I'm afraid that they are.''

''We did something foolish, Lucius. All of us, we did something terrible when we crossed the Dark Lord and when he finds out that it was us—''

A trickle of quiet hovered as he gathered his breath, coughing lightly into the bow of his arm.

''If Voldemort finds out that it was us, all of us who helped her escape with that child... We're doomed.''

Draco rose his chin, staring out over the view in front of them as well, ''We're already doomed, sir. Life is nothing but a losing game, no matter how you live it.''

He could feel how Dr. Brown looked at him, shockingly, ''What happened to you?'' He asked silently, ''Life never treated you fairly, Lucius... I just wish it turns out better for your son and that he never has to take part in these wicked games.''

It shot through Malfoy like pure lightning, and it pained him to a point where his teeth shattered.

''Protect your child, son,'' He said, accepting the faith he knew was coming to him, ''Or you will never forgive yourself.''

No one ever protected him.

''About—'' Draco squinted, shaking his head loosely to ease the hurtful thoughts, ''About your patient, it wouldn't happen to be Mrs. Avery?''

The man hushed for minutes as he hummed a song to himself, and Draco blankly stared at him, so confused — puzzled as to how he was ever going to get any information out of him.

''Athena,'' He finally whispered, ''And Atlas. I believe she named her son Atlas.''

Malfoy drew a breath, deeply between his teeth. He felt the pain as it faded into anger.

Amelie's mother truly left her while keeping another child safe. He didn't want to save her anymore — how could he when she left Amelie behind, knowing what her father was capable of.

''She had a daughter too, I remember...'' He mumbled, stretching his legs out to stare at his sock-covered feet, slamming them together, and he laughed, ''She was a sweet little girl, had the kindest smile, I remember.''

Draco could break apart right there and then.

''But she had to forget. Didn't she? Wasn't that a part of it all? The danger that poor little girl would've faced if they didn't make her forget? But to do that to a child... forgetting her mother and thinking she died... terrible — just terrible.''

Malfoy could barely breathe anymore. He was so angry.

''We will pay for what we put them through. We were monsters, Lucius,'' He nodded, huffing out, ''We ruined that poor little girl's life. Is she alive today, you think?''

A sweep of torture mantled him as he tried to suppress it, ''I hope she is and if she were—''

''She'd be the strongest girl I've ever met,'' Mr. Brown admitted, ''Death is too kind for people like ourselves, but it all has its price, doesn't it?''

Draco nodded. Not speaking a word.

''I hope we saved the children at least from all of this.''

Draco bolted forward. He couldn't listen to it anymore — if anyone, he knew just how haunted and doomed Amelie's life came to be.

He didn't need anyone to explain it to him.

''Athena, she had a son, you say?'' Malfoy asked, distressingly, ''Do you know where they went, where we can find—''

''Unfortunately, I don't... even if I did, I doubt that I would remember,'' He laughed at himself, slamming a hand over his chest, ''But there's an archive in Edinburgh where I saved all my old files, perhaps you'll find something of meaning there.''

''And that's all you know?'' Draco asked, looking down at the ground.

''That's all I know...'' The man closed his eyes, and he inhaled powerfully, almost as he knew what was happening, ''It has to end... all of this madness, it does...''

Draco sighed, grunting as he pushed himself up on his feet.

''And this is the end... isn't it?'' The man took his glasses off, entirely, folding them together as he placed them beside him, "For me, I mean?"

He didn't look scared, and he didn't look fearful. He looked to be at peace.

''I'm afraid so,'' Draco couldn't stand watching him anymore, he felt sick to his stomach for doing this, but there couldn't be any loose ends — there couldn't be a thread that the Dark Lord could grasp.

''I'm sorry,'' Malfoy whispered, and it was the first time, ever, he felt guilt for something like this. He always robbed vicious people of their lives, never pure ones.

Never the ones he believed to be innocent, but he couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk her. It was a small price to pay for Amelie to be safe and her life to be shielded.

''Don't be, son,'' The man tilted his head to the side, his beard covered most of his face, and it made it easier — not feeling as he saw all of him.

''I have to pay for what I have done in this life. We all must do so at the right times and this...'' He smiled and watched the view he cherished so dearly for the last time, ''I couldn't think of a better way to go than to go with their safety and bury it with me.''

Malfoy's insides wrenched, trying to breathe through the pain he felt.

''It all ends. Please remember that, boy. It all one day, perhaps not as beautiful as this one, but it all ends, every lie unravels, every smile fades, every kind act is replaced with a bad one. All you can do is protect the children from it. Save your son from this, and if you can — save Athena's daughter too, she never asked for this.''

If he only knew how much Draco did to protect Amelie.

Draco peered around, checking so that no one would see this, and the man's hand stretched out in the air, ''I have a guess that you brought something for me?'' Brown asked kindly.

Malfoy hummed, reaching down in his pocket before he brought out a vial with a shimmering black liquid in it.

The easiest way to death is through a bottle, as his father used to say.

Never to be discovered, the deathly potion didn't leave a sign. It would be ruled as a heart attack.

''Thank you, boy,'' The man nodded, dragging the stopper off as he waved with his hand, ''Now off you go, no need for you to watch this.''

The blond's throat hurt so much, daggers ripped through his lungs with every breath he took, and his head shook — on edge to tears, ''You shouldn't be alone.'' He said, and the man smiled even broader.

''I wished you'd say that,'' His neck bent, nodding to the seat next to his as he moved the vial closer to his lips, ''No one should die alone.''

All Draco wanted to do was cry.

He slipped down next to the man as their shoulders brushed together.

It hurt so much.

''In another life, Malfoy and the largest cheers for this one,'' The man didn't even hesitate as he tipped his head back, allowing the deathly potion to pour down his throat.

Malfoy shook. His entire body trembled as he heard how the man's breaths slowed. He couldn't hold it back anymore. Draco sobbed out.

His hand flew to his mouth as he tried to stop the tears with the edges of his sleeves, but nothing could finish it.

He cried and cried and cried as Dr. Brown's body cooled next to his, and the vial fell from his grip, crashing into pieces as it hit the ground.

Draco stayed there for minutes, crying as the man next to him faded from this life. It was torture. Everything he did was pure torment.

Malfoy was so tired, so exhausted of all of it.

He swallowed the sob he felt coming as he dried the stains of tears on his cheeks, and he — before he had the chance of changing his mind, stood up.

''In another life,'' He whispered, shooting the view one more look before he turned around and walked away as nothing had happened.

It was the way it had to be.

''You just killed him?'' Theodore was standing on the back porch, his upper body bent over the railing, ''You just—''

''I did,'' Draco stared out over the evening sun, not an ounce of hesitancy in his voice as he spoke, ''I did what I had to do.''

Theodore jolted back, his arms flung around him as his face fell into a maddening cloak, ''What you had to do?'' He scoffed loudly, ''You did what you had to do? Well, that's great, Malfoy! Isn't it? Killing innocent—''

He hushed himself. His sight grounded as he shook his head, ''This can't go on. We can't continue to slaughter people as if they were nothing. This needs to stop.''

''I know it does,'' Draco said calmly. He had no more fight left in him, ''But it won't. It will never stop until the Dark Lord gets what he wants and if he can't have her mother—''

''I know...'' Theodore stepped up to Draco, crossing his arms as they stood close, watching the same sunset, ''I can't believe she did that. I can't believe that her mother would leave her like that. It's...''

Neither of them could find the words to explain it. Athena had left Amelie, drowning in her father's abuse to save herself and her newborn son. Nothing could ever justify that.

''How is she?'' Theodore asked, concerned as he looked at his friend, ''How did you tell her?''

''I almost didn't have to,'' Draco mumbled, not once looking away from the horizon, ''She figured it out herself. She just needed me to speak it out loud, and then she locked herself in the bathroom.''

''She wouldn't—'' Theodore's sight flickered, and he drew a breath, a deep one, ''She wouldn't hurt herself in here, would she?''

''She wouldn't,'' He huffed out, his jaws sharp, ''I can't tell her about the Doctor, Theo. I just— can't.''

Theodore nodded, agreeing to what he'd said, ''No, you can't.''

''But I can't keep it from her either. We don't lie to each other, Nott. It's not how it works between us,'' Draco rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck, ''It might have worked a year ago, lying to her, but it would never—''

''It wouldn't,'' Theodore's fingers gripped his own arms tighter, knowing about his own lies and what he'd failed to tell them, but he couldn't. He could never be truthful with what he'd done, ''Tell her in your own way then, Draco. Don't lie, but don't say something that will hurt her.''

''I'm not scared to hurt her...'' He frowned, upper lip curling, ''I'm terrified to scare her. There's no coming back from that.''

The warm summer air trapped around them, causing shivers to flee down Draco's spine.

''Did she...'' Theodore rushed a hand through his hair, nervously scratching his neck after, ''Did she ever see you—''

''Once,'' Draco gritted, tormented by the memory of that time. The night in the Pucey residence when they both were on the far edge to be free of this life, ''And I regret that more than anything. That's nothing she should've seen.''

Theodore shut his eyes, understanding that it was far from the worst thing Amelie had ever witnessed.

''Did she...'' Theo whispered, shooting a glare over his shoulder to make certain that they were alone, ''Did she tell you about her father? What he made her see when she was a kid?''

Draco's head snapped, his brows furrowed as he sought to think, ''No, what—''

''He had...'' Theodore feared the memory, remembering how shaken she was when she came clean to him about it, after years of friendship when she chose to tell him.

''He used to kill people, muggles to be exact, and he had Amelie cleaning it up... She was only twelve, but he used to say that she needed to learn it at a young age, so when she has nightmares, she dreams of the screams she heard before the blood came—''

Theodore swallowed thickly, ''It was after her mother died... or when we thought she died and after they cleared her memory... She used to talk about this doctor, coming to collect the bodies for Voldemort—''

A nauseous feeling washed over Malfoy at the image of it, and his hand stretched in the air for Theo to stop talking.

He couldn't listen anymore.

He stepped forward, both of his hands gripped at the wooden fence, his knuckles paled as his nails dug deeply. Malfoy's chest heaved.

He was so tired.

His mouth bone dry as the metallic taste of blood began to sore and without another breath wasted, he screamed.

Draco fell to his knees as he screamed out, shouted at the top of his lungs, a heartbreaking scream. He needed to get it out. He'd been holding it all in for so long, and he felt as if he couldn't breathe.

It all hurt so much that it caved his bones, and his skin crawled.

Theodore didn't know how to deal with all of this himself. His eyes shut as he felt tears stinging in the corner of his eyes at the way Draco's shout ripped through his ears.

It took him moments. Long minutes to pull himself together — to be able to stand straight and to shrug his shoulder at what just happened.

Draco shot Theodore a gentle nod before he walked inside. Without another word spoken.

All he needed at that moment was her — he didn't need Theodore's pity. He didn't want it. He just wanted her. She knew how to calm him. She knew how to make him whole in a time where he'd shattered to pieces.

The only person who was able to glue him back together was her.

His Amelie.

Draco stepped inside his room, feeling as the emptiness of it swallowed him whole until he strode up to the bathroom door. His fist collided with the timber, giving it a knock as the sobs echoing inside hushed.

She was still crying.

''Draco...'' Amelie breathed out, her forehead against her side of the door, ''I just want to be alone—''

''I need you.'' That was all he said.

His tone broke lightly as his hands gripped the doorpost, and his forehead, just as hers, tipped against the door.

That was all he needed to say for her to give all her own misery up. Amelie unlocked the door, slowly sliding it open as she watched Draco, his head hung, and his shoulder had sunken.

His hair messy, and his arms dropped to his sides. He didn't even look at her, and not even a moment later, half a second, he was falling to the floor.

Amelie's arms wrapped around his chest, using the whole weight of herself not to let him hit the ground.

She fell with him, slowly and steadily as she held him, and he cried.

Draco's hands grasped at her back, and she climbed entirely onto his lap, giving him all of herself, every last mend of peace she carried, she gave him. Letting him drain her of every emotion if he needed to.

Lacing her fingers behind his neck as he buried his head in her chest, ''I love you...'' Amelie whispered softly, ''I love you, Draco, and you're always safe here.''

He shook uncontrollably. He trembled below her on the cold floor. His breaths shallow, and it sogged her skin, hotly but she wouldn't let go. She refused to do so.

Amelie hugged him so close, so desperately close. In need to take all his pain away from him.

''I'm here...'' Her lips pushed into his blond strands as he sobbed out, his tears burnt her skin, ''I'm here, Draco, alright? I'm here. I'm here. I'm here.''

She was so wretched for him to hear it — to understand that she'd always be here with him. She'd never leave, and he could always suffer her of comfort.

Always.

''I love you,'' Amelie bent back slightly, her head tilting to the side, and she caught his jaws in her palms, bending his head back for him to look at her — and he did.

His hooded eyes bolted in pain. His pupils darkened of all the demons he carried, and his skin ashenly paled at every tear that rolled down his cheeks.

Her brows knitted as her thumbs brushed over the stained skin, drying him of his suffering, and she leaned in, kissing the mauve, soft skin right underneath his eye, gently.

It caused his hands on her spine to tighten, but it helped.

Her touch on his eased it all.

''You're human, Draco...'' Amelie whispered, looking at him with a broken heart, ''You're not responsible for everything around you, and the world falling apart will never be your fault.''

His veins laced in ache.

''You can't save everyone and everything.''

Draco couldn't keep his head up anymore. He was just so tired. His forehead fell to her shoulder, and she caught him by moving her hands along his jaws, over his neck.

''You saved me,'' She said, quietly yet with so much meaning, ''You saved me, and you saved Teddy. You saved us, Draco, and we're safe now...''

His skin vibrated.

''You can rest, Draco...'' Amelie let the tips of her fingers run along his shivering skin, ''Please rest now.''

''I'm tired,'' He chocked out, he could barely hold his eyes open, ''I'm just so tired.''

Amelie's heart ached as she kept on stroking his skin, ''I know Draco, let me help you rest. You need to rest.''
She helped him up, standing on his weak knees.

Amelie took him to bed, tucking him into the covers as she laid down next to him.

Him in her arms as she silently hummed, soothing his haunted senses to the fullest until she heard him breathe slower, and his body caved heavily into hers.

He indeed needed to rest, and she stayed with him for hours until the room was utterly dark and the moonlight welcomed the night. She had no idea why he had broken down. She didn't understand a thing, and she needed to do so.

She wanted to know it all to help him, to relieve his aching heart and his beaten soul.

''I'll be right back...'' Amelie whispered into his head, earning a grunt in his sleep as she stood up from the bed, walking hesitantly downstairs.

''How is he?'' Theodore caught her off guard, making her flinch a bit in the darkened hallway. He stood in the doorway to his room, his face trapped in pure pain, ''He can't do this anymore, Amelie, he can't—''

''I know,'' Amelie hushed him, taking slow strides closer as he wrapped his arms around her, dragging her into where he needed her to be, ''What happened?''

Theodore doubted it at first, telling her what had happened and what caused Draco's last standing pieces of sanity, but he couldn't let this go on, and she was more than capable of helping now.

''He hurt someone, looking for your mother,'' Theodore whispered into her hair, placing his chin on the top of her head, ''He hurt someone, and I don't know how to fix this. I need to go to Edinburgh to help him, but I don't—''

''Edinburgh?'' Amelie inched back, her face twisted in a grimace at the mention of the city she once traveled to repeatedly, ''Why would he have to go to Edinburgh?''

''Why?'' Theodore frowned curiously, ''Does that mean something to you?''

Amelie nodded, loosely as her hair spilled over her shoulders, ''I had a doctor there, once... I think, but I can't really remember. It was a big hospital, I think.''

A glint of hope torched in Theodore's eyes, and his jaws gritted for a second, swallowing the lump of everything he held inside, ''I need to go there for him,'' He said, backing into his room to pick up his wand, ''I'll be back—''

''It's the middle of the night, Teddy, you can't just go—'' Amelie tried to speak against, her arms folded over her chest as the dress she wore fell around her, ''Go tomorrow—''

''I need to go now...'' He knew he couldn't tomorrow. The Dark Lord had requested him to assist the Death Eaters in his mansion, ''I'm not here tomorrow.''

''Then let me go with—''

''Absolutely not.''

''Teddy—''

''No!''

Amelie blinked quickly, shaking her head as she pulled her wand out from her waistband, ''I have this now, and I can help. I want to help him, Theodore, he's done so much for me, and I can barely comfort him.''

It pained her to know the truth of it. That he saved her from her own hell, and she couldn't bring him up to the skies with her. At least, that was what she believed.

''Let me help, please.'' Amelie pleaded, her voice cracked as she raised it, ''I'm not the one who needs protection right now. He is. Draco needs us. He can't do this anymore, Teddy and I—''

A slight pause and a hurtful seep of silence hovered.

''I need to help him too. I can't just stand by and watch him fall apart anymore. It kills me.''

Theodore sighed, loudly and he knew he'd live to regret this. Hell, Malfoy would kill him if he ever found out that he took her to that Doctor's office, not knowing the entire story nor what was waiting for them.

Draco would rip him apart for taking her with him, but she was right. Amelie could help, and with him there, she'd be safe.

No one was allowed to harm her. That was the deal he'd made with the Dark Lord.

Theo regretted the words even before he said them, ''Alright...'' He muttered, looking down at the wand in between her fingers, ''But we need to be back before Draco wakes up.''

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