[HP Doujin] 1943

When I vaguely heard a song, I thought I was in heaven.There is a snow-white light all around, and the singing is ethereal and melodious, so beautiful that it doesn't seem real.

The first time ever Isaw your face,

when i first saw your face,

I thought the sun rose in your eyes.

Your eyes are as gentle as the sun.

Andthe moon and stars were the gifts yougave,

And the moon and the stars are your gifts to me,

Tothe dark and the empty skies, my love.

Filled the long night, my dearest you. 【31】

The sound of heels running across the floor was heard not far away, and a girl's voice rang out: "Aunt Clarissa! Aunt Clarissa!"

"I've told you a hundred times, Melinda, don't make a scene in the bedroom hallway!"

"William stole Eleanor's atlas!"

I slowly opened my eyes, and saw dark blue velvet curtains, fluttering white curtains, floor-to-ceiling windows filled with afternoon golden sunlight, and a terrace with folding tables.A brass record player was spinning slowly, and a woman in her forties sat in a stiff armchair, reading a newspaper through a pair of gold-rimmed pince-nez.Her wand was resting on the table, and a pair of thick knitting needles were dangling above a basket full of balls of yarn, knitting a gray sweater by itself in rapid succession.She put down the magazine in her hand and stood up, the lines of her broad face were rigid and rigid, and the corners of her stern mouth were tightly pursed.

"Elizabeth wakes up! Elizabeth wakes up!" Melinda screamed and threw herself in front of me.

"Don't mess around!" the woman in the pince-nez said solemnly, turned around, and the pair of gray-blue eyes that were exactly the same as Francis saw mine, and then showed a surprised expression.She stroked her robe, rang the bell beside the bed, sat down beside my bed, and touched my forehead with her hand.

"Hello, Elizabeth," she said kindly, "I'm Clarissa, Francis' sister."

I opened my mouth, but I couldn't say anything, my throat was hoarse and painful.At this time, the maid came in, and Clarissa Stuart turned to her and said, "Go and inform Francis that Elizabeth has woken up. Ask Becca to bring the medicine and a glass of water."

After she finished speaking, she turned to me again, took my hand, and said, "Thanks Merlin, you're fine."

With my eyes half open, I was vaguely aware that I was in Francis' bedroom.I have been here twice.The first time I got pregnant with Charles, the second time I had a total falling out with Francis and he said he never wanted to see me again and told me to get the hell out of Stuart Park.But why am I here now?

I closed my eyes, the flying snowflakes, the cold tombstone, Tom's cruel eyes suddenly all flooded into my mind, and my child... Thinking of this, I subconsciously stretched out my hand and touched my lower abdomen.My belly is flat and the baby is gone.

Seeing my terrified expression, Clarissa's eyes showed a trace of unbearable: "The child is gone. Don't be sad, Lizzie, take good care of yourself, and the child will be there in the future."

I looked at her blankly, wondering why I was here.Francis knows this is not his child, he has agreed to divorce me, and he wants me to get out of Stuart Manor forever and never see him again.

A witch wearing St. Mungo's familiar green robe came over.She bent down in front of me, looked into my eyes, and smiled with unconcealable sadness in her eyes: "Lizzie."

It's Jillian.Although speechless, I still smiled at her.

She skillfully and carefully placed a pillow behind my waist, helped me sit up, poured me a small glass of water, and brought it to my lips.I drank a little half and shook my head. She put down the glass and walked behind Clarissa. I noticed that Becca was looking at me from the plate holding the water glass. She dared not make a sound and bit her lips tightly. , Tears rolled down the cheeks like glass beads.

My heart was sore, but the corners of my eyes were sore and dry, and I couldn't shed a single tear.

"Francis will be back as soon as we hear," Clarissa told me. "Poor Francis . . . I'll go and see."

She led Melinda out of the room, and I looked at Gillian, who immediately understood the confusion and incomprehension in my eyes.

Gillian sat down by my bed, took my hand, and whispered, "Tom won't come back, and neither will your baby. Clarissa doesn't know the baby is Tom's. You're enchanted." The Ministry of Justice took them back as Death Eaters, Francis went into a rage, nearly fired half of the Enforcement Department, sent you to St. Mungo's, and never left the emergency room until you were out of danger. door."

I slowly opened my mouth, my voice was hoarse and unpleasant: "He knows the child is not his."

"He knows," said Gillian, with a tear rolling down the corner of her eye, "but he didn't say anything. Lizzie, if I beg you, take care of yourself and stop talking to yourself I can’t make it through. Let’s live a good life with him. It’s enough for a woman to find a man who is willing to shield her from the wind and rain, and some things cannot be forced in real life.”

At this time, there were footsteps at the door again, and Francis strode in, wearing a black robe, and Melinda followed behind him.Francis stood still at the foot of the bed with a haggard face, as if he had aged a lot all of a sudden.

"Gillian, Becca, you come out with me!" Melinda looked at him, then at me, and said crisply. Gillian and Becca wiped away their tears and hurriedly followed her away.

The bedroom door was closed, and it was just me and him in the room.

He was silent for a while, walked to my bed, bent down and kissed my forehead without saying anything.

My voice was hoarse: "Francis..."

His gray-blue eyes looked at me, filled with indescribable tiredness and vicissitudes. "Well, what's the matter?" He whispered, sitting down by my bed, looking at me intently.

"Sorry." I said.I know that I am sorry for him, I have done too many things to be sorry for him, and I owe him more than I can finish in this life.

"You don't need to say anything, as long as you are fine," he said.

"You really forgive me?" I said.

"Didn't you forgive me too?" He said simply, "I've done things that I've been sorry to you too."

I had too many questions I wanted to ask him, and too many things I wanted to clarify with him, but his words blocked all my words in my heart.I tilted my head on the pillow, and a line of tears finally flowed down my cheeks onto the pillow.

******

Clarissa and her youngest son, William, lived here to care for me while I was slowly recovering.There were two more people in the manor, and it seemed to be much more lively.Clarissa is Francis' second sister and lives in Lyon, France.Her three other children all attend Beauxbatons.Francis also has an older sister, Victoria. Both Francis and Clarissa are reluctant to talk about her, and they seem to have a bad relationship with her.

No one said a word about Tom's accident, as if it was an unwritten rule.I have occasionally heard gossip from the maid, that Tom seems to have fled abroad, and no one knows his whereabouts.

It was already warm April when I first stepped out the door.We sat for afternoon tea in a gazebo in the camellia garden, and Clarissa and I sat together watching Eleanor, Melinda, Charles and William play hide-and-seek among the flowers.

"Poor Francis," Clarissa said to me, shaking her head, "his first marriage was a total disaster. You know, he didn't want to marry Laura at all back then, but the Don insisted. Laura actually endured it for a long time, and she ran away from home until 45 years. At that time, the outside world was in chaos. She returned to Greengrass's house, and then traveled to Northern Europe alone. She did not expect to meet Grindelwald The henchmen of the party were killed."

This was the first time anyone had mentioned his marriage to Laura to me.I was a little surprised and said, "How could this be? I thought he was always in love with Laura."

"Francis said that you are a silly girl, and it seems true." Clarissa shook her head and took a bite of the custard pancake. "He, like our father, is a person who keeps his thoughts in his stomach. So I've known what he's done to you over the years. He's been so different to you and Laura. I hesitated when we got married because you were too old, but my brother If he insists on going his own way, no one can stop him. In recent days, he has aged a lot. In fact, he is sadder than anyone else. He lost a child and watched you almost die... But now you are fine I was relieved, when you were in a coma, I was worried every day that he would completely collapse."

It was not until the summer of 1950 that my body fully recovered, but my physique was not as good as before.There was a peace between me and Francis that we had never had since we were married, and life became quieter, perhaps because age and experience have made us no longer want to argue and awkward.

We no longer slept in separate rooms, and gradually my clothes and supplies were moved from the bedroom down the hall to his room.The three children occupied most of my energy and time until the spring social season of 1951, when I went to London for the first time.

I never mentioned Sylvia or Tom to him again.In London I met Tony, who was in Paris working for the French office of the British Ministry of Magic.I haven't seen him for a long time.I had a long chat with him one evening when he came to dinner on the Strand with some Ministry officials.Melinda liked him very much, and kept pestering him to tell her about the Hogwarts Quidditch team. It wasn't until the nanny took her upstairs to sleep that I lowered my voice and asked softly, "Sir How is Sylvia?"

"Same as you, stay behind closed doors in the manor, husband and son." He said simply, with no surprise on his face, as if he had expected that I would definitely ask this question.He finished the whiskey in his glass, sighed, and said, "I know what else you want to ask. He has disappeared from public view. You know what he can do. If he doesn't want anyone to find him, he will be found." Not to him."

I turned my face, and there were more than a dozen acquaintances of our family sitting in the living room, some were playing wizard cards, some were playing the piano, and some were talking, looking warm and harmonious.I looked at the raging flames burning in the fireplace, and the hidden wound in my heart stabbed fiercely.I know that even if I live my life in peace and comfort like this, this wound will torture me until the day I die.

In 53 years, I got pregnant again, and even though we were all very careful, the baby was still miscarried.When Francis returned from a long session with the therapist, he told me in a very veiled way that my body was no longer fit to have children.

Because of that miscarriage, I missed Tony's wedding in Paris. During the hunting season in the autumn of 53, Tony and his wife Claudia visited our estate as guests.Claudia is the daughter of Francis' eldest sister, Victoria, but she severed ties with Victoria long before she got married.

I remember it was a clear autumn night.There were more than a dozen guests at the dinner party, and I was pretty tired after dinner.I put the children to bed and stood with Francis on the terrace overlooking the camellia-filled valley.Seeing my sad and silent expression, he put his arms around me and said, "We already have three healthy and beautiful children. For the rest of my life, I will protect our family and everything will be fine."

After being married for so long, this is the first time I feel that he has said a touching love story.I leaned on his chest and closed my eyes. The evening breeze in the Stuart Manor carried the smell of the ocean and the familiar scent of camellias blowing over my hair and cheeks. It was as peaceful and beautiful as an unreal dream.

[31] from Leona Lewis "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"