Control ? Ron Weasley [2]

V. A TWIN CONNECTION

      Elizabeth gave another gentle smile before the portrait shimmered again and suddenly, her mother was stationary. Nova had heard tales of muggle photography, how their pictures didn't move. It looked like a muggle had captured her mother on a canvas, her pretty face leaning close to the roses once again. Nova felt the tears in her eyes spill over, wishing more than anything that her mother could stand next to her again. But Elizabeth was right. Nova couldn't spend the rest of her life hiding in the Room of Requirement. She had to get out there and live her life, despite not wanting to.

      Still, it didn't mean she couldn't stay in her little bubble, just for this moment. She lowered her body back down onto the bed, cuddling with one of the pillows and staring at the portrait of her mother until her eyes drifted closed.

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

      For the first time in eleven months, Theo Nott woke up because of a dream and not a nightmare.

      He was used to nightmares now. He saw faces in them, faces like the Dark Lord and his father. He saw Draco, forcibly branded with the Dark Mark. Draco thought it was what he wanted, but Theo knew better. No one could want this. That was something he'd discovered in the past couple of months, when it ultimately put him on the wrong side of the war and the opposite side of his sister.

      But this time, he mused, he had dreamed of his mother.

      It had been a while since he'd dreamed of her. The last time he remembered was in second year, when he had woken up and silently cried to himself because the dream of her felt so vivid, like she was back. He knew better than to cry now, but he could swear he still felt her running her hands through his hair, giving him a brilliant smile that he saw on his sister on the rare occasion she smiled. Theo had always been jealous of how much Nova looked like their mother. Not necessarily in looks, since she had a lot of their father's features. But hen Nova made an expression that Elizabeth Nott used to make, the resemblance was obvious.

      This time, he'd dreamed he and his mother were at Fortescue's, enjoying ice cream like they had when Theo was still a child. He wondered how he remembered her so vividly, when he and Nova were only four when she died. He supposed it was just karma, payback for all the bad things he'd done in his life. Remember Elizabeth vividly but never be able to see her again.

      They were sitting outside, and they seemed to be the only ones in Diagon Alley. Occasionally, his mother reached out and brushed his hair with her fingers. He didn't shy away, as he might have a couple years ago when he was a young boy and a mother's affection was embarrassing. Now, he relished the feeling. "You need to slow down. You'll give yourself a freeze brain."

      "It's called a brain freeze, Mum," Theo replied, rolling his eyes when she gave him a big chuckle.

      "I know. I'm just being the annoying Mum."

      Theo set his ice cream down. "You could never be annoying, Mum."

      She smiled. "I'm glad." She ran her fingers through his hair again, humming to herself. "You've been so brave, Theo."

      He frowned down at the table. "I haven't been brave. I've been a coward. Hiding behind the Dark Mark." At his words, his mother's fingers moved down to his sleeve. He wanted to tell her to not roll it up, so she didn't have to see the proof of what he'd done. But it was too late. Her fingers were twisting and twirling the fabric of his shirt, rolling it up to his elbow until the ugly black ink was on display.

      "Do you think I could ever love you less? No matter what you do, Theodore, you are my son. This mark means nothing to me. It means that you were scared, and that I should have been there for you."