It's been written in the scars on our hearts, we're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again

I held her close and took a deep breath.  "JUniper, despite what you think, you did nto kill Albus Dumbledore.  All you did was survive," I said to her softly.

"Sometimes I wish I hadn't." I admitted so softly, I wasn't sure if he heard. "Sometimes, I wish I would have let them kill me when I had the chance." I remembered everything Draco had gone through after he became a murderer just to protect me. I was not worth all the after effects he had to endure. "If I could've just got under Greyback's skin a bit I could've bought Draco some time so he would not have had to go through with everything." I took a few shaky breaths to maintain my composure as much as I could.

I sighed, not entirely sure if there was anything that I could say that would make her feel any different about the entire situation.  "June... you can't change the past," I said after awhile.  "You can relive that moment forever, but no matter what... the outcome stays the same.  All you can do now is try to move past it and learn from it..."  I almost felt like I was giving mysel fthat advice, too.

"There are so many things that could've been done differently that would've prevented Draco from completing his task. Most, if not all, of them involve me not being on the top of the tower and getting tortured." The tears were still coming and I knew there was no point on trying to prevent them. I took a shaky breath. "I tried so hard not to scream. I knew Draco would go through with everything if I did but I wasn't strong enough."

I nodded, understanding her completely.  "It still wasn't your fault," I said to her, wanting to be clear on that.

I looked at him, tears in my eyes, he still didn't get it. "It's only my fault. They were going to kill me if Draco didn't complete his task. If I wasn't here, Draco wouldn't have become a murder. He killed him to protect me." I shook my head slightly and laid against his chest again.

I looked at Juniper.  "Draco still would have killed him to protect your mother -- he loves her as much as he loves you.  And, despite everything your father has done, he is still your father.  He would have done it to protect his entire family despite everything," I said, knowing that if something would happen with my own mother, I still would not be able to kill her despite everythign she did to me.  She was my mother after all.

I sighed, "Our Mother would've been safe, Aunt Bellatrix would have made sure of that." Or at least, I was pretty sure she would've been safe. I was happy I would never have to know for sure though. "As for our Father..." I debated how best to word this. Yes, he was still our Father, despite what he had done to us, but he had never had to take responsibility for his actions. I shook my head slightly. "It would be a chance for him to pay for his own mistakes instead of have someone else to do his dirty work." I said, slight bitterness in my voice. I sighed again and looked up at him. "If I was not in the picture, I'm not sure what would've happened." I admitted. Father would've paid for what he had done to us our whole lives but he was still our Father.

"Draco still probably would have had to pay for your father's mistakes," I said to her quietly.  "Because your father would be no different than who he is today."  That was probably the very sad truth of it all.

When he said that, I thought back to the horrible week when Draco had resisted the Dark Mark, when I didn't know if my brother would survive. I shuttered at the memory and pulled my knees tighter to myself to prevent falling apart. I took a shaky breath. "I honestly have no idea what would've happened." I admitted. "When we were little, Draco worshipped our Father, he would've done anything he asked." I sighed. "As we grew up, we saw our Father for what he truly was, mostly because of the way he treated me." I shook my head slightly, surprised at what I was about to say. "Sometimes, I think Father only kept me around to make sure Draco did what he asked. It's not like he actually loved me or anything." I finished softly.

I held her close, knowing that she needed it.  "It doesn't matter what your father thought of you," I said, something I had to learn about my own mother.  "Your mother loves you... and you've got Draco.  He's the best thing you could have ever hoped for when you were younger.  And now, you've got me as well," I said to her softly.  "Between your brother and I... we'll make sure your father doesn't hurt you again."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Mother could only show she loved me when Father wasn't there. She still had to treat me like the disappointment, just like everyone else." I took a deep breath. "Draco really was the best." I had absolutely no idea how I would've survived our family without Draco by my side our whole lives. I shook my head. "I told you when you proposed, you can't protect me from everything."

"I'm pretty sure we've both said those words numerous times... and look how well either one of us listen," I Pointed out to her, trying to make things a little bit better than what they were right now.

I gave a small laugh, "We never listen when it comes to that." I agreed. I sighed as I started tracing another scar on his arm. I didn't want to talk about my life anymore right now but I didn't want to force Lincoln to talk about anything he didn't want to. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

I looked over at June and sighed.  "There are just so many instances... they all blur together anymore," I said to her honestly.  "That was how I lived my life... it's what I thought was normal.  It was just sad..."