Draco Malfoy suspected that something was wrong. In fact he was quite sure, that he decided to search throughout the manor. Even if he was going to have to flip through every page of every book in the library, he will find where his mother had hidden his First Hogwart's Letter.
Blaise Zabini had visited him that morning, and he had told Draco all about the fuss his mother made, getting ready all the preparation for his first year at Hogwarts. Zabini didn't see the shock that flitted across Malfoy's face when he first mentioned it - Malfoy wasn't about to confide in his friend that he hadn't receive his letter.
And now Malfoy believed that his parents had hid it from him - rationalising that they felt unready to have their only son sent abroad at so young an age. Young Malfoy begged to differ; 11 years old is only two years short of being called a teenager, and he already accepted his mother's request to decline the invitation from Durmstrang Institute - it's too far from home, said she. But this; no, Malfoy will not have it.
He now stood before a door. He knew it to lead into a room which he was forbidden to enter - Lucius Malfoy's office. But alas, the patriarch's own personal quarters sounded like the best place to hide something like Draco's First Hogwarts Letter, and said Head of the family was currently away at work, so the young Malfoy took his next most logical step; that 1-foot stride across the door, into Lucius' office.
It was huge, with high ceiling and a fireplace on either side. Lucius has his own library of books upon the shelves that now stood across from where Draco was standing. Before it was Lucius' desk, and Draco's first target. But he had only come a short distance when he heard footsteps approaching. Instinctively, Draco turned to his left and stepped into a cupboard that he had barely noticed upon entering the room. The slits on its door enabled Draco to see from the inside, but not from the outside; to his advantage, really.
Much to Draco's surprise, what came after the footsteps and into the room was a little girl. Judging from her general appearance, Draco made out that she was no older than himself. She was wearing the housemaid's "uniform", at which Draco mused for a minute whether hiring someone that young was even legal. Then it hit him - the maids had always been discreet, doing their chores in the background and were never seen. In fact, this was the first time Draco knew of their existence in his house.
It should be safe for him to step out of the cupboard now - he had no reason to be hiding from the crimson-haired housemaid. Just as he was about to push the cupboard door open, there came a flash of green; and then out from the fireplace across him came Lucius Malfoy. Draco then knew it better to remain hidden. He watched the older Malfoy as he walked toward one corner of the office. There was a small table there, upon it was a bottle of what Draco only knew to be liquor. Perhaps he needed it out of tension. Then suddenly, Draco remembered the little girl who came in earlier. His eyes trailed back to where he last saw her; the mantlepiece opposite to the one Lucius had come in from. She was still there, but she stood frozen.
"I am really sorry, sir. I didn't know you were going to be here," she at last managed to say. Draco didn't fully understand why she should apologise. He only knew that the office was forbidden. What he didn't know was that it was great offense on a servant's part to allow themselves be seen while going about their chores. It was one of the very reasons they were paid for. The little girl may have been illegally employed, being under the age of consent; but she was employed still.
Silence prevailed. The older Malfoy still had his wand hidden in his cane, but the cane itself was to be feared. Lucius often use it instead to punish misbehaving house elves. The little girl's eyes fell on it as Lucius' grip tightened. Draco almost gasped at the furrowing of his father's eyebrows. Almost, because the man's face slowly mellowed, and his lips broke into a smile. The girl however, looked even more terrified.
"I could use the company anyway. Come here, join me," said he, almost cheerfully. Draco may think he was old enough to face the world, but he was still too young to understand the fact that his father acting all nice at the moment was merely; an act.
The girl though, she seemed to know what was coming. Perhaps she learned enough from experience. But how can she, being younger than Draco himself? Perhaps the bedtime stories that she gets sent to bed with were different from any of the ones Draco ever heard of. Perhaps.
The little girl walked towards her master, head lowered to focus only on her steps. When Lucius gave a sigh, she took it as a sign to speed up. In a moment, the older Malfoy towered above her, drinks in either hand. He offered the one in his left hand to her. She looked at it, examined it somewhat and said "Thank you, sir, but I really shouldn't." She knew it wasn't the kind of drink someone her age could ever tolerate. Or was it? Lucius shrugged a little bit, and when he had set the glass down on the table again Draco gently let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.
Lucius turned from the glass he just set down to the little girl beside him. Her eyes were still fixed on said glass. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the hair with his now empty left hand and pulled her hard closer to him. He then forced the drink in his right hand down her throat. There was a struggle, but the older man was naturally stronger; he succeeded to force her to gulp down half the glass, the other half coughed out.
She fell on her knees, head hurting and still coughing. Lucius' grip on her hair didn't turn loose, even as he set the empty glass down. "Stop that, you're dirtying the carpet," he yelled, with the faintest hint of mockery. He grabbed the other glass and forced its contents down her throat. This time, she managed to finish it all off without spilling. Draco only watched from inside the cupboard. He wasn't thinking, he didn't know what to think. It seemed perfectly fine when he saw his father beating the hell out of Dobby the other day, but this one was not. Almost on the contrary, even. It was just a little girl. How could his father be so cruel? Maybe he's not? It's just a couple of drinks after all.
Lucius released his grip. She was still on her knees, wiping her mouth with her sleeves. The man only proceeded to help himself with a drink. And then another. She tried to stand up. When Lucius seemed to ignore her, she hurriedly got up and stepped back. Her head still lowered. She turned around and tried to make a dash for it.
Lucius took one last gulp and turned to the little girl, then almost immediately ran after her. Draco couldn't understand why he did that, nor could he understand the rest of what happened next. He sinked into the cupboard, not daring to look out anymore. Draco sat down and hugged his knees. He shut his eyes as he heard her first scream, which was almost immediately stopped. There was a thud on the floor, and then muffled shouts. It didn't sound like a beating. Like nothing Draco ever heard. He somehow knew he didn't want to know anything about it, so he covered his ears and started repeating something to himself. He regretted coming into the office. Logical step, indeed!
After a while, it was silent. He heard footsteps moving towards the fireplace, and then a gush of winds, then nothing. Draco stood up and peeked out the cupboard. His father was gone, and the little girl too. He peered out carefully, and slowly stepped out. He wanted to run as fast as he could towards the door but his legs were somewhat heavy. So he walked steadily, and when he reached the door, he couldn't help but take one last look behind him.
She was still there, seemingly lying dead on the floor. It was a dreadful sight. Her back was already covered with a lot of scars, and now there were some fresh wounds on it too. She curled a little, and then stood up very slowly and shakily. Draco could only watch. She staggered as she walked towards where her torn apron was lying. Draco saw blood trailing down her leg, and heard her sniffle. He then abruptly left the room.
Author's Note
This has been sitting around for a while, and I feel guilty about the lack of update. Not something I usually write, either. But I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you get what's going on in the story. Aye, the little girl is my oc.
Thanks for reading and please leave a review. ^^