𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 | 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓

                                    

                                          
╙ ❝ 𝙼𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝, 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚞𝚜 ❞ ╜

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
▐░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▌
𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟻, 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟷;  𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚞𝚜 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚏𝚘𝚢 𝙿𝙾𝚅
I WAS SITTING AT THE DINING TABLE when Narcissa came down the stairs from Alya's room without the girls following behind her. Her cheeks were stained with dried tears and her eyes slightly red and puffy.
"Narcissa" I called softly. She motioned for me to follow her and I stood from my chair and followed her to my study. Once we walked in the room, she locked the door and placed a silencing charm on the door.
"Is everything okay Cissa?" I asked, genuinely concerned about my wife. She shook her head, as a few tears rolled down her cheeks, landing on the corners of her lips. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and walked up to me and dropped her face on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist in a comforting way, rubbing circles on her back.
"She's cutting herself. She's done it multiple times" she whispered as she buried her face into my chest.
"What are you talking about? Who's cutting?" I asked, leaning back to get a better look at her and cupped her face with my hands.
"Alya" she replied. I felt my heart drop and a pit in my stomach fill with guilt. "She was talking to Cassie about it, and she was saying how she feels like she's failing us. My little girl is falling apart, Lucius" she sobbed. "She's been falling apart for months, and I didn't even notice. She's been hurting herself and I didn't even know!" she exclaimed, sobbing into my chest. When she said those words, I felt my heart break. I felt so guilty that my daughter had been going through pain, and no one had been helping her.
"Hey, look at me" I said as I lifted her face with my hands. "You're not a bad mother. We couldn't have known she was cutting herself. Maybe we could have noticed that she was falling apart, but other than that we couldn't have known anything" I said, trying to comfort her.
"She doesn't even want us to know about it. What do we do?" She asked. I had no idea. My heart felt like it had been throbbing for the past minute.
"I don't know my love" I replied honestly. "Come" I said as I held her hand and led her to the sofa. I sat down and pulled her on my lap and she wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms wrapped themselves around my neck tightly. "What do you suggest we do?" I asked, looking down at her. She shrugged lazily in my arms.
"How about we just pretend we don't know anything, and if she tells us, then she tells us. I promise we can talk about it more tomorrow" she nodded slightly; her face still buried in my chest, sobbing quietly. "My love, you shouldn't feel guilty" I sighed. "I know you feel responsible, but I understand how Alya is feeling right now.
She wants to keep her emotions bottled up in front of everyone else and only let them out when she's alone. I've been in her position before. I know how it feels, and I hate that she's going through it. I'll talk to her about it later, but for now, let's have a good Christmas. Okay?" she nodded her head as she wiped her tears. She composed herself once more, and I gave her a reassuring hug before we left the study.
"She's going to be alright Narcissa. Now that we know, we can help her. She just needs to feel comfortable enough to ask for our help" I whispered in her ear.
"I know. I just don't want her to be going through this at all" she sighed. I nodded my head understandingly as I pecked her lips softly and we walked out back to the dining room where we saw the two girls looking at each other nervously.
▐░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▌
「ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ」𝟔𝟓𝟗