"You must stay atleast for a week, Draco." Narcissa insisted as Lucius opened the gate to the Malfoy Manor. The very same manor where I had come to celebrate Christmas. 

The same manor where Draco and I had first kissed.

The same area, where my own husband stabbed me. 

Draco had a pure white bandage wrapped around his head, and a soft beige-colored cast squishing his right arm. "If you say so, mother."

It was evident to everyone present in the manor that Draco and I had become distant.

Even with him being so utterly sick, barely able to move and speak--he had chosen to grant me the cold shoulder.

My husband is so stubborn sometimes.

------------------

Dracos Point of View.

My head spun like like a swing swinging in a constant circular motion. I wasn't sure if it was the side effects or something else.

I found myself often zoned out, though the doctors had informed me, this was normal for a sick patient.

"Draco," Mother called.

I glanced towards her, meeting my gaze in hers.

"Why are you acting so cold towards Emerlyn?"

Suddenly, I felt the buried memories of her opposing my father flushing in my brain. The arguing, screaming, yelling.

My wife was truly stubborn.

"Just an argument that's why..."

"What do you mean argument?" Her tone had changed. She sounded a bit more concerned with a combination of frustration. "After the chandelier crashed on you, she was the first one to reach you, even though she was all the way at the back."

I furrowed my eyebrows together to recall my memory. I did remember hearing her voice and remembered  her gentle hands pressing on my face.

"Not just that, she sat by you day and night while you were dying--and this is how you decide to respond?"

I didn't want to believe it. At all.

Not because I suspected my mother had lied.

But because of the immense guilt and need to apologize building up inside of me.

I didn't like apologizing, it made me feel less of a person; more submissive.

"I-I'm sorry--" This was all I could blurt out, these were those kinds of words that'd just come to your tongue without a single thought.

"Go apologize to her." She commanded.  "Oh and--"

These two words were enough to demand my attention. I turned around viewing my mother.

"Prepare yourself for a few guests."

"Guests?Who?"

"Your cousin." 

"But I don't have any cous-Nymphadora?" I furrowed my eyebrows together, trying to remember her appearance but it was just a blur. The last time I had seen her was when I was about ten.

"Yes, Nymphadora and Andromeda are coming over."

                                                                ---------------

EMERLYN'S POINT OF VIEW.

Being six weeks pregnant wasn't an easy task and on top of it hiding it made it even more difficult. I couldn't even stay nauseous properly because of the fear of getting caught.

I still had no feeling of a fetus being present inside of me, but my morning sickness had begun to get severe.

I was preparing to go to bed when I suddenly heard a knock on the door. 

It was Draco.

I mean why was I surprised? This was his room, the room where he had grown up--of course, he'd come here to sleep.

I continued going about my night, filling up my glass with water but there was a silence from Draco. Although, I could feel his eyes following me.

"Emerlyn--" He gently wrapped his hand around my upper arm. 

I didn't entirely look at him but rather gave him a judgmental stare from the corner of my eye and forcefully let go of my arm from his grip. 

"Emerlyn." He repeated my name. "I'm sorry"

Now he is apologizing?

"Emerlyn," this time, he used his hand to forcibly ensure that I'd be facing him, his eyes followed the ground and then my eyes and then the ground again--it was almost as though he couldn't bring himself to face me.

"I'm sorry--and you know I don't apologize often--"

"Do you know how much I hate this trait of yours?" I replied with a river of irritation flooding my voice. "You know I have no one in this world-" a part of my voice cracked. "except for you--it gets lonely when you treat me like this."

By now, I had sparkles of tears pinching my eyes, but I blinked them away, however, Draco had noticed them--the mood on his face had changed. 

I freed myself from his somewhat strong grip and motioned myself back to my original position, but he placed his head on mine and wrapped his arms towards my waist. 

"Draco, let me go," I commanded. 

"I really am sorry for how I treated you, I take accountability that I was wrong to do that and I promise I won't do it again."

Despite my countless attempts to speak to him, he had always responded to me with the cold shoulder, and now he was begging me to forgive him. I couldn't help but acknowledge the immense anger building up inside of me.

I knew this was petty. I yanked his arms away and returned to the things I was doing before. 

"Okay, so now you're just gonna ignore me? Fine then, I take my apology back."

"Your apology was pathetic anyway."  I sat in front of his vanity brushing the knots on my hair, while he obviously angered sat on his bed.

"Not as pathetic as you ignoring me."

"Your just mad, that I'm giving you a taste of your own medicine now?" I stood up walking towards the bed.

"Get off the bed," I demanded. 

"What?" He glared at me; I knew he was bewildered by what I had just told him. "You want ME to get up? The one who just came back from the hospital?"

"Get off the bed and stop making excuses."

"This is my bed!" He replied standing up and towering over me. "Infact everything here belongs to me!"

"And you married me here!" I commented. "Our marriage contract says clearly that I have every right to every piece of your inheritance! So do me a favor and get off the bed."

He clenched his jaw clearly pissed. "You don't have any empathy for the sick?"

I didn't actually want him to get off the bed. I just wanted to be petty. 

"Fine just for this night--" I lay on the bed, picking up a random novel sitting on his side table. He was right beside me.  

                                                                       -  - - - - - - -

7 AM.

I woke up to Draco all around me. I wondered how I had managed to get myself into this position. While I was fully awake, he was engrossed in a deep sleep. 

I gently moved his head placing his head on a pillow. 

The more I walked out of the room, the more I could hear chatter from downstairs. Narcissa and Lucius were preparing breakfast but it was-- unusual?

There were fancier dishes and more preparation. Whatever it was, I snuck into their room. 

I wiped my hand over my face and whatever sleep there was left was gone, I had to seize this opportunity and figure out the reason behind the death of my parents. 

I began shuffling through various closets but there was nothing I could find. I was particularly avoiding Narcissa's belonging but rather dangerously searching Lucius's. 

I found a daring-looking notebook in a drawer inside his closet. It contained pictures of many, many, many, many people. Most of them had an "X" marked brightly on them, but my heart sank when I saw a picture of my parents. 

They too had an "X" on them. It was now I realized this "X" had meant whether they were dead or not. This realization was one of the most joyless realizations I'd ever had.

I shook my head and held the abandoned notebook in my embrace. I planned to walk out of the room without alerting anyone of my presence.

"My dear daughter-in-law" A masculine voice spoke dangerously. He poked his wand underneath my chin. It was sharp. My book lay flat on the ground.

"Don't shoot arrows in the dark, they can come back and can shoot you." 

This time I repelled and yanked the wand off my chin and turned around. "My dear father-in-law you may have won our first battle but I'm still yet to win the war,"

He let out a chuckle, it sounded as though he was ridiculing me. "Emerlyn, war is not as easy as it sounds. By the end of a war, there are stains left on your heart."

He took a step forward. "Perhaps, my own son will be the one leaving these stains on your heart."

I tried to wipe away that thought.

Just at the same time, heavy rainfall occurred. There was no sound of thunder but lightning was present in the sky. 

"How are you able to call Draco your own son after trying to kill him?" My mouth tasted like rage.

"I wasn't trying to kill him? I was just trying to prove my point."

I responded with a sound that sounded like quiet laughter but my spine had shaken out of fear for Draco. 

"You will pay for your actions, Lucius." It wasn't a warning, it was a threat. "And that day is not far."

It wasn't even about hurting Draco anymore it was about proving Lucius wrong in the most excruciating way.

A/N: IM SORRY THIS CHAPTER WAS LENGHTY.