A/n: Okay, so I uploaded another chapter of 20 Forbidden, so I feel the right to write this cute little one shot. It will be SHORT because I have to get to sleep sometime , I kind of modified Harry Potter to fit this. I know that Bellatrix was still in Azkaban when Draco was born, but we will disregard that little fact for the sake of this oneshot. Enjoy!
I do NOT own Harry Potter. If I did, none of you would actually like it, and it would be like the work of a teenage fangirl, so be grateful for Rowling, Kay?
The small, seven year old boy with bright blond hair and cold gray eyes wandered the halls of the Malfoy Manor aimlessly.
It was often the case, as it was today, that his father and mother were busy, and he was left to himself. He had tried to join them before, and his father let him sit quietly as him and the strange men discussed far more adult things than young Draco's mind could comprehend. The result was a sleeping little boy slumped down in his chair, drooling slightly. This had only succeeded in getting him an aggressive scolding from his father, and Draco had given up on trying to avoid his loneliness altogether.
But today Draco could tolerate it. Today, he knew for a fact that Auntie Bella would be visiting the manor at exactly four o'clock. Auntie Bella would of course want to see Draco, as she always did. she would even perhaps teach him a new curse and let him try it with her wand, while his mother and father weren't watching.
He liked his Auntie Bella. As far as grownups in his world, he had him mum; an uptight woman who was almost always gone to places he knew of not. Then he had his father, Lucius, who could be counted on to either be office, alone, or be hosting a meeting of sorts whenever the Strange Men visited.
But his Auntie Bella wouldn't scold him for doing something foolish. She would disregard him as an 'unimportant matter'. And she never used her magic against him.
She would often bring presents for him, from a shop called Borgin and Burkes. Strange, and creepy things that often peaked Draco's interest in the wizarding world. She would look into his gray eyes with her wild nearly-black ones, and say, "farewell, Draco, I shall see you again soon, my dear." when she was leaving the Manor. She would tell him wicked, horrible tales of her bloody encounters, which would keep him up all night, tossing and turning in bed, although he was always all too eager to hear them.
So for these reasons, Draco was ecstatic when he looked up at the intricate wrought iron clock in the corridor, and saw that it was nearly four. Auntie Bellatrix would arrive any time now.
His excitement was answered with a three quick knocks on the magnificent door of the grand entrance to the Malfoy Manor. Draco darted through the hall to the entrance room, and saw that his father and mother had beaten him there. His mother, Narcissa, motioned for one of the house-elves to open the door.
Bellatrix Lestrange strode meaningfully into the Manor. Her wildly curly hair ceasing its thrashing as she stepped out of the wind, and into the dark, gothic mansion. She was pleasantly surprised to see Draco there, waiting along with his father, and her sister, Narcissa.
"Welcome, Bellatrix." Lucius said with a charming smile. She nodded to answer his greeting, as she made her way through the room to the grinning seven-year-old. How fond she was of him.
She was ecstatic seven years ago, when Draco was born. Positively delighted when he showed signs of being magical, which they had all expected. She couldn't have been happier to have a child in the family that she could corrupt, and form into an excellent Death Eater. But it was also more than training him for the Dark Lord. She had grown to become ever so fond of the child, and his never ceasing to amaze her, or make her laugh. She felt incredibly jealous of Narcissa and Lucius, who, she was sure, had no idea how lucky they were to have Draco. She had even before, in a moment of terrible greed, considered taking the child. But alas, doing so would bring on uncountable problems.
She felt that it was terribly unfair that she could not have a child of her own, as her husband was in Azkaban, and the Dark Lord would not be happy with her if she left such a faithful Death Eater. So she would have to do with taking visits to the Malfoy Manor whenever possible, making up excuses such as 'checking in' on them for the Dark Lord, when really all she wanted was to see the seven-year-old blonde boy.
"How are you, Draco, my dear?" she asked as she reached the small boy, and kneeled down to his level, so as to make eye contact with him.
"Good, Auntie Bella. How are you?" Draco said in his high voice of a young child. He had such developed manners for a seven-year-old.
"Wonderful, dear boy." Bellatrix said with a smile, as she hugged him, and then stood up. She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small box that resembled one that would hold a wedding ring in it, but slightly larger. She tossed it down to the small boy, and he caught it with ease.
"Run along and play, Draco, while I talk with your mum and dad." She said, not knowing that he never really 'played' nor did he ever address his mother or father as 'mum and dad'.
But he walked out of the room without another word, gripping the black velvet box tightly, as he made his way to his room.
When he reached the large room, he sat on his bed and eagerly opened the box. Inside he saw a small a very small, 2x2, framed photograph of his aunt and himself. They were smiling and making silly faces at the camera, their heads pressed together.
Draco smiled at himself as he admired the photo. He turned it over in his small pale hands, and saw that it had words on the back. Love, Auntie Bella, he read.
He walked over to his dresser, photo in hand, and placed it on the top, which he could barely reach. Being so short, he had to stand back a ways, in order to see the moving photo, which he now smiled at again.
Downstairs Bellatrix, Lucius, and Narcissa had just finished a conversation on the recruitments of the Dark Lord.
"We really must be going, Lucius." Narcissa said after a moment of complete silence between the three. Bellatrix lifted an eyebrow at the remark.
"Where are you going?" She asked, knowing she shouldn't be prying, but not being able to help herself.
"We have made plans with the Carrows for the evening." Narcissa replied in good nature.
"What about Draco? Is he coming along?" Bellatrix asked, immediately thinking of the boy.
"Don't be silly, Trixy. He is only a boy, and this shall be a business-like meeting." Narcissa told her sister.
"Well surely you aren't planning on leaving him by his lonesome!" Bellatrix said, worried for her little nephew.
"Then by all means, take him with you!" Narcissa said, not really caring, but certainly not wanting to be late for their meeting with the Carrows.
"Well if its an option then I most certainly will." Narcissa said, smiling, then adding. "Have a pleasant evening with the Carrows. I shall go get Draco and we will take our leave. He'll be back by tomorrow morning." She said as she turned towards the hallway. She was stopped by the curt voice of Lucius.
"Bellatrix! Don't soften the boy." He said, and with that him and Narcissa stepped into the fireplace and disappeared through the Floo system. Bellatrix smiled as she quickly walked to Draco's room.
Draco had been looking through a picture book of professional Quidditch players when he heard knocking at his door. Thinking it would be his mother, coming to notify him that dinner was done, he raced to the door and opened it. Instead, though, he saw his Aunt smiling down at him.
"Come, Draco. You'll be staying with me for the night." She said, her grin growing even wider. Draco himself smiled at the thought along with her.
"What are we going to do, Auntie Bella?" He asked, looking up at her.
"Whatever you want to, Draco. We can go feed the Thestrals, or visit Borgin and Burkes. Whatever." She said, enjoying the brightness in the child's eyes.
And with that she took his hand, and lead the way out of Malfoy manor.
Draco, now seventeen years old, waited patiently in the sitting room. Not much had changed. Lucius still wouldn't allow him in their meetings, now that he went to Hogwarts, for fear that he might accidentally spill information in the presence of Potter. Narcissa was still gone to wherever, and now that Draco was older, he was regarded as even more unimportant, on the fact that 'the boy can take care of himself'. He didn't particularly mind that he was always alone during holidays. Sometimes he would stay in his room and read, or letter his girlfriend, Pansy. He had never invited anyone to the Manor, and planned on keeping it that way. Too many things could go wrong. And recently he had taken to sneaking out in the middle of the night, and flying aimlessly on his broom, looking down on the lights of muggle London.
But today he was awaiting the arrival of his Aunt Bellatrix. He always remembered liking her the best out of all adult figures in his life, and that fact remained valid. So he was in a pleasant mood today upon being notified that she would be visiting.
Several minutes had passed and finally there was knocking at the door. Narcissa and Lucius stepped into the room simultaneously, as a house-elf opened the door, and in stepped Bellatrix.
Draco immediately stood, to greet his aunt.
"Draco, my dear! You keep getting taller every time I see you! And very handsome as well!" His aunt said as she hugged him. She then greeted his mother and father, and Draco waited. This moment would tell him if this was either a business meeting, in which he would have to go back up to his room, or a no-reason-at-all visit from his Aunt, in which he could stay downstairs and participate in conversation.
"So the Dark Lord has news?" Lucius inquired, and Draco inwardly sighed as he exited the room.
Several minutes of informative conversation had passed between Bellatrix and the Malfoys, and she figured that her work here was done. It was most definitely not as fun of visit, when it was strictly Death Eater business.
"If you don't mind, Trixy, Lucius and I have plans this evening..." Narcissa said, looking meaningfully at the front door.
"Not at all. May I ask where you three will be going?" Bellatrix asked with curiosity.
"The two of us. Lucius and I are attending a dinner party at the Notts' house." Narcissa said, with a certain sense of honor to be invited to such things.
"Does Draco have plans for the evening, then?" Bellatrix asked, already plotting a night with her nephew.
"Not that I am aware of. But I must say, Trixy, Draco is no longer a little boy, and he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself." Narcissa, already guessing at what her sister wanting. She never really understood why Bellatrix was so drawn to child.
"Perhaps Draco could stay with me for the night...? Some bonding time with his Aunt could do him no harm..." Bellatrix said, with a hopeful look on her face.
"Do whatever you wish, Trixy. Lucius and I will take our leave now. Goodbye." Narcissa said, as her and her husband stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a flash of green flames.
Bellatrix did a small jump of victory, before quickly walking down the hallway and up the stairs to Draco's room. Once she reached it she knocked three times on the door and waited for the teenage boy inside to open it.
When he did, he found his excited Aunt smiling at him. She was now a few inches shorter than him and had to look up at him to make eye contact.
"Aunt Bellatrix? What are you still doing here?" Draco asked pleasantly.
"Now, now, Draco. Where are your manners. Aren't you going to invite me in?" she joked.
"Into my bedroom?" Drake asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"Well, yes." Bellatrix said, grinning. Draco raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well, alright then. In we go." He said as he stepped back into his room.
Bellatrix had only seen his bedroom a few times before and wasn't at all surprised to see everything neat and tidy. She was very glad to see the photograph of her and Draco ,that she had given him so many years ago, sitting atop his dresser. She followed Draco's lead and sat on his bed.
"So tell me, Draco, my dear. How's school?" Bellatrix asked, genuinely curious.
"Bloody fucking brilliant." Draco said with heavy sarcasm.
"Watch your language, Draco... What's going on?" She asked with concern.
"Well my family is well known for being Death Eaters, which kinda makes all of the teachers and most of the students hate my guts, except for the other Slytherins. But they aren't really my friends... I mean, they really only stick with me because of our parents alliances. So I don't really have any-" he stopped once he looked up to see Bellatrix's face, intently listening.
"I'm rambling." he said quickly.
"No you weren't." She said, wanting him to keep talking.
"I was." he said, obviously wanting to leave the matter. She sighed. He had always had this problem of not sharing any of his feelings whatsoever and he would always stop himself before he said much. She was afraid that one day all of his bottled up emotions would explode inside of him, and he'd go nutters. She decided to just press on.
"Have you got a girlfriend, Draco?" she said, with a devious smile.
"Aunt Bellatrix!" he scolded, blushing slightly.
"What? I can ask, can't I?" she said defensively, "So tell me... She's pureblood, right?" she asked in a low tone.
"Of course she is!" Draco seemed outraged at the thought of her thinking otherwise for even a second.
"Aha! So you admit it! What's her name?" She inquired joyfully. When Draco didn't answer she looked around the room. Her eyes fell on a photograph of Draco and Pansy smiling at each other, up on his wall. Next to it was a letter from her. Bellatrix read the last bit of it, and found what she was looking for by reading 'Yours always, Pansy'.
"Pansy. Like the flower. She's very pretty you know..." She said to her nephew.
"Aunt Bellatrriiiix!" Draco groaned. Bellatrix looked absolutely ecstatic.
"Draco and Pansy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" She taunted and Draco wondered how she even knew the children's rhyme.
"Honestly, woman! And you think I'm the immature one here!" Draco scolded, but eventually fell into laughter with his aunt.
"Yes, Draco, and you and Pansy had better make me some gorgeous babies some day...Well, we'd better be off now. You're spending the night with your Auntie Bella, my dear." The older woman said, as she stood from the bed, and walked from the room, Draco right behind her.
He grinned to himself. Whatever the problem there may be, Auntie Bella would of course be there to always make it better.