A Snake, A Bird, and A Fawn

ten

Cecily couldn't have been happier in that moment. Her soulmates were sitting thigh to thigh, allowing her to lounge across Blaise's chest with her legs sprawled in Draco's lap. A pale, long-fingered hand ran up and down her calf as a much darker one carded through her long hair.

"So, how did Draco find you, doll?" he asked conversationally, never once stopping the soothing motions of his hand that almost put her to sleep.

At the question, her hooded eyes popped open with fear and resignation clear in her dark irises. Draco quickly cooed soothing words into her ears and rubbed circles into a back, a tactic he had learned calmed her down unlike any other.

"My father found her first, actually," Draco chose his words carefully. "It's not my place to tell why or how, it's up to Cecily to decide if she's comfortable telling us the whole story yet."

Blaise's eyes hardened. There had been an immense amount of pain in the bond for as long as he could remember, so he could only imagine what kind of horrors his soulmate had faced.

Cecily's hands trembled in her lap. She definitely trusted the two boys, more than anything, but what would they think of her? Harry had always called her weak, was she really? Was she not good enough to be called their's?

Draco hummed softly to the girl halfway in his lap. "C'mon, angel, we aren't mad at you. You don't have to say anything if you aren't ready, we would never pressure you into anything. Breath for me, honey."

Blaise watched with keen eyes as her hands ceased their shaking and latched onto his pant leg, clenching the fabric like her life depended on it.

"What if you hate me?" she whimpered quietly, breaking both boys' hearts.

"Oh, doll," Blaise sighed. "Neither of us could ever hate you. Hell, I don't think we could even get mad at you. The only thing we've ever felt for you is love, and that will never change. All I want is for you to be happy. So, do what makes you comfortable, not what makes you shake so hard that I get dizzy looking at you."

Cecily nodded hesitantly before clutching a hand from each one of them, taking a deep inhale. "My last name is Potter," she ignored the sharp intakes of breath from beside her. "My brother never liked me. I don't know why, really. Maybe it was because we were told our parents died in a car accident because they were on their way to get me from daycare because I got sick. He always had something against me, but I can't blame him. Any orphan is going to blame something for the death of their parents, and for Harry, it was his sister."

I slept in a cupboard under the stairs for my entire life. When Harry got his Hogwarts letter, my aunt and uncle let him move into our cousin's second bedroom, but I stayed. I had to stay. I cleaned, cooked, washed, gardened, anything you can think of. I just found out that not every child lived like that," she huffed out a disbelieving laugh. "Not everyone was hit when they burnt breakfast, or made to sit outside all throughout the night when their cousin blamed them for their broken computer. Those weren't even the worst punishments, either. My uncle did things to me that I still don't fully understand. All I know is that I would scrub my skin raw afterwards to get the feeling of his hands off of me. Mr Malfoy told me that not every child was raised like me. And now... here I am. On a train, my brother probably compartments away, ready to torment me once again," Cecily finished.