Surviving Times

Note: this chapter is written from different points of views. It's more like a recollection of their pasts. It's show the backstory I set up for them. Mostly about how their life was before they each other and come to be best friends...

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Daphne's POV:

It must've been a year. Since mum left me, dad and my little sister, all to ourselves.

Her loss hit us hard. But I knew better than to just blame her. I accused her. I did. But I will not do it again.

I might have been young, but I needed to be responsible. I'm the heir to my family, and I need to be a one befitting to it.

I had my little sister with me. My baby and so fragile sister. I had to become strong enough to take care of her and our family.

I can't be like father who still mourns every day and disregards us. I understand. He loved mother. We all did.

And that doesn't mean he can forget us. But he did. Completely.

I hated it. But it might have been better if he just ignored us. Because he started doing something much worse… abusing us in the name of education and discipline.

I wanted nothing more than to escape from this. Initially, I thought it would make my mother proud. He said so. Yet Astoria and me just became, stress relieves for him.

We were never good enough.

He repeatedly criticized us both as failures. Always disappointed. And then he started yelling. It was so hard. Was he the same father who loved us? Can we ever see him again? Maybe not.

By every passing day, I felt one step closer to despair. At one point I in fact thought I was useless, like he said.

I recall it clearly. The day he nearly striked me.

I didn't perceive what happened, but he stopped. Not on his own but apparently because of me. It was my first time performing magic. And I did it to protect myself and my sister. Subsequently, I collapsed.

What happened next was blurry. I had a fever. I don't know what happened after that. I vaguely recognize my aunt coming after that.

She and my father got into an argument. A lot. Astoria and I hugged each other. I kept telling her it's going to be okay. I will never be frightened in front her. I vowed to be her strength.

The next day was maybe one of the few good things that happened after mother perished. We both were taken somewhere far away from our father.

Astoria was very much happy about it. She thought we wouldn't have to suffer much. I felt sad for us. Even after all he did, the man was still our father. Only I knew the 'him' from the past. The one who loved and cherished his family more than anything in the world.

Alas, that man was not left in him anymore. Nonetheless, I was indebted. I didn't want to loathe him anymore…

Few months have passed since we were staying with our aunt. It was peaceful and nice. She cared for us and showered us with her affection.

I thought everything was going to be normal. But one day it happened.

The day which altered my life, I would never forget that.

The day Rebekah arrived. To take me to meet Mia, my dearest friend…

Whenever I look back at it, I know how lucky I am. To have her as my friend.

Yes, I had to endure hardsh.i.p.s that came along. And I gladly accepted it. It wasn't much. For I'd die if Mia ever asked me to. Just like I would for Theo and Draco.

They changed my life after all… for good.

I don't know what I'd become if it weren't for those three.

Maybe someone who would never be noticed, like I never amounted much. And desolate.

But that's impossible now. Why? Because I have my family and friends who made me the woman I am. They are proud of me.

***

Theo's POV:

People were different. I experienced and acknowledge that fact.

That's why I've given up on making friends a long time ago. The people of my age usually liked playing while I liked reading. While everyone liked sweet things, I was strangely fond of bitter things. So I saw it coming, Me being a proper loner. It's not like I liked to be left out. It's just that I'm...different.

I felt there was no need for me to change myself for others. I didn't fancy pretending to be stupid just so I could get a few 'friends.' Once again, smart people are destined to be lonely. Unless they be with the people who are like them or completely different from them. I'm a loner. And I chose to not help it. Hence, I'm solitary.

And my parents are… quite old. So they let me be. They saw no problems with me. Hence, I was in charge of myself since I was four. And yeah, I discerned many things by the time I was four.

Like how my father is a death eater. He scorned muggles. He also preached about pureblood supremacy and what not. I formerly believed he was right. But then found everything he mentioned dubious. As he had no proof to back it up.

Dumbledore, the strongest wizard alive, was half-blood. An absolute denial of the so-called status.

But I knew better than to defy him openly. He wasn't a very patient man. More like he didn't take it well when other pointed out his shortcomings. So I stayed silent and never voiced my thoughts aloud. The curse he placed me under one time I did so, was horrible. Since then, I was… withdrawn.

My mother did nothing to stop it. It was possible that she herself was scared or something else. But all I know is none of them truly care about what I think. Since then, I knew I was just a tool. A tool which should only do it's work and nothing else. My work was to bring benefits to the family and do nothing to disgrace them. They never regarded me as a son.

A typical example would be how they delivered me to Rebekah. Though I still have mixed feelings about being 'traded off', I'm grateful they did.

Because if it weren't for that, I never would've met those three.

Those three people, who are more important than anything else in this entire magical world. We are always there for each other.

Thinking about us, inevitably makes me content. Despite our differences, the life threatening adventures we faced and all the troublesome stuff that never left us, I can say for sure that it's worth it.

They're worth everything.

***

Draco's POV:

They say you would forget your own name if you aren't called by anyone in a mere span of seven months. I wonder, maybe I would've forgotten my own name. Well, that wasn't possible. The house elves were there. They called my name. 'Master Draco, it's time to eat' they said. Other than that, I rarely heard anyone else calling me in my early years. My parents too. They were barely home.

Almost never. Except for my birthdays, they were never home. They tried to make it up with gifts, toys, etc. But still I can never forget that there were things more important to them than their son.

I know I was being petty, thinking like that. But hey, I was just a child who wanted their attention. Even a bit was fine.

I was there, all alone inside large manor. It sometimes felt cold even though it was charmed to stay warm. Maybe because there were not many people living here. It's said that empty houses are always colder. I guess that's true.

Just, no one ever looked at 'me.' No one noticed Draco. There was this time, when they promised to stay with me for a whole day, but they couldn't. And what happened after that was… pretty bad. Many things broke on their own. And after that I collapsed.

Later I knew the reason behind it. I did magic.

And that was like a, a turning point in my life.

Because after that incident, my parents were there with me. Not always, but for longer times. They made me study many things. Many boring things for a three year old. But I had to learn them.

I thought they would go back to ignoring me if I didn't satisfy their expectations. Hence, I followed everything they demanded me to. Even things which I didn't like.

Like how I should hate all the muggles, muggle-borns and blood traitors. Like they were sinners.

And I started doing it, at least I pretended at first. But soon, I genuinely began to resent them a bit.

They all had what I never had. The warmth. The blood traitors my family detested with so much passion, made me envious.

They all lived freely, like nothing in the world would break them. I felt greedy.

And inferior. Because all those kids who I've seen had bright smiles on their faces. Their parents too had them.

But my parents were cold and stoic. I knew they loved me. But they never showed it. I felt like, I was not worth it. Their affection. So I felt inferior and desperate. Inferior at my incompetence and desperate, to be acknowledged.

I tried everything. Studying, training, usele- ahem, etiquette… Like that, I was taken by Rebekah to meet her grand daughter. Whom, my father clearly said that I needed to befriend.

At that time, I assured him confidently but only I knew how nervous I was. I was worried about it.

But then, everything went well. And I could never thank enough for that. Because of that meeting, I gained the friendship that I would offer my life for without blinking an eye. Very little things mattered more than those three to me. Like my wife and son. But still, I guess, those three are my family too. We are. And we will be. Till we die.