I think it was a disappointment
to Draco's parents when he married me. I was still a pureblood and I kept my pureblood values, yet my values were a bit looser. It wasn't until I had a miscarriage that Draco's mother started to like me.

...

I lay in bed as I try to calm my breathing as the healed instructed me to do. It's been three days but I still ache. I feel destroyed from the inside out. I feel defeated. It is my fault that the once living baby inside of me is now dead.

There's a soft knock on the door. I wipe my eyes and try make myself look presentable. "Come in." I say weakly, pushing myself up to sit. The door slowly opens. It's Draco's mother.

She sits on the side of my bed and places a piece of hair behind my ear. I have never really looked at her in this way. She looks worn out— much different than how she usually presents herself. I notice how her envious blond hair is greying at the roots. I notice that her usually brightly painted lips are thin and colorless.

"How are you feeling?" She asks me.

"A little better." I lie. I hurt terribly. Somehow she can tell I'm not telling the truth.

"Are you eating well?" She puts her hand on my shoulder.

"I try, but I can't keep anything down."

Narcissa nods.

"How's Draco?" I ask. I haven't seen him in three days, and knowing that he is here, just downstairs, makes it a hundred times worse.

"He's worried sick about you. He hasn't eaten a bite of food."

"Oh." I shift my gaze from her eyes to my lap.

"Don't worry Dear. I slipped a few drops of bottled hunger into his tea this morning." She pats my hand.

"That's good."

This is one of the most uncomfortable conversations I have ever had. I don't know why.

"I'm so sorry." She says. Her voice is so soft- barely audible.

"For what?"

"I should've acted more like a mother to you." She says. "I've always wanted a daughter- and I've never even treated you like one."

"That's alright." My voice cracks. I think of my mother. I miss her dearly. I begin to cry. Narcissa wraps her arms around me and I start to feel more comfortable. I find this rather odd; a woman who barely paid any attention to me embraces me as if I am her own child. But I don't care. I really need someone now.

"It's not alright." She rubs her hand in circles on my back. I have no idea why she's treating my like this. "Before Draco was born I had lost a baby. It was the worst feeling in the world-" she began, "I- I felt so helpless. And yesterday, when Draco came to me with the news-" she started to cry, "that pain immediately came back. And I - I remembered what it felt like not to have a mother and being completely alone. I couldn't let that happen to you. Not after all you've done for Draco."

This brings back a memory of my mother. I was little, no older than five, and I was very sick. I don't remember what sickness I had, but it was bad enough that I was in bed for days. I remember my mother sitting on my bed and treating me like I was a baby. She would feed me, wrap me with extra blankets, tell me stories... Well I was a big girl being five years old, and I thought that I was too old for all of that, but now I need it more than anything in the world. And now she's giving it to me.