The Memory of What Didn't Happen
June 5, 1991
At midnight, Narcissa Malfoy awoke from her sleep with a terrible heartache and a sense of wrong. The first thing that came to her mind was her son, and without even looking at the man sleeping next to her or even thinking about putting on a suitable robe, she rushed out of the room and ran down the corridor to see him. When she reached the door of his room, she paused for a moment. Her heart was beating very fast. An unbearable longing began to burn her from the inside.
When she opened the door with shaking hands, the first thing that caught her attention was the sound. A frantic series of cries and pleas. Draco was crying and whispering in his sleep. With a rush that surprised even herself, she took her son in her arms, hugged him tightly, and kissed every part of his face. Draco was burning with fever. Narcissa held her son tightly to her chest and cried for a while, not understanding why she suddenly went crazy like this. The only thing the beautiful woman knew was that she had to protect her son from everything and everyone in the world. She wouldn't let Draco get hurt again.
After a while, when Draco stopped crying and Narcissa managed to calm down, she watched her son in confusion for a few minutes. What had just happened? Why did she think Draco couldn't get hurt again? Had her son been hurt before? Narcissa couldn't remember. But this thought filled her heart with sorrow. She wouldn't let anything happen to her baby.
Narcissa laid her sleeping boy down on the bed, covered him, and kissed his forehead one last time. "Don't worry darling, your mother will take care of everything."
After leaving Draco's room, she went straight to the library and grabbed a parchment and a quill. She sat in the long-backed chair behind the large mahogany desk and thought for a while about what to write. Then she decided to keep it as brief as possible. It would be better to discuss this situation face to face.
Severus, something is very wrong. I don't think Draco is safe right now. Come here as quickly as possible.
N.B.
Malfoy's M remained unwritten because of the anger and disgust she felt when she thought of her husband.
* * *
Severus Snape frowned in his sleep. Silvery blonde hair stained with blood, a desperate cry, the evil grins of death eaters who no longer wore masks... He wanted to kill them all. He wanted to tear off their dirty hands and break all their limbs one by one. Most of all, he wanted to take him away from them. He would do anything, he just had to come back. If only he could find the way.
He was startled awake by a sudden knock on the window. When he turned his head, he saw a great gray owl outside. He immediately recognized Narcissa's owl and his throat suddenly went dry with anxiety. It was still dark. Writing letters in the middle of the night was not something Narcissa would do. Something had happened.
While getting up from bed, he grabbed his wand from the nightstand and cast a tempus spell. 3 am. Something terrible had happened.
Severus suddenly realized how much he was sweating. The black t-shirt he was wearing was almost completely wet. When he opened the window, he shuddered at the breeze that came in. He reached out and took the parchment from the owl's leg, then the owl flew away without waiting for a treat. So Narcissa wasn't expecting an answer. Feeling a little uneasy, he opened the paper. This uneasiness increased when he read the short note, obviously written in haste. Blood-stained blonde hair appeared in his mind for a moment and then faded away.
In a complete haze, he took a quick shower, got dressed, and stepped into the fireplace of Spinner's End with a handful of floo powder.
* * *
At the same time, at number 4 Privet Drive, a green-eyed boy was staring into space in tears in the dark closet where he lived, after crying for hours without understanding why.