The silence echoed around Malfoy Manor, the house elves were nowhere to be seen, going about their work like shadows. The trial was today, the trial that would either condemn or liberate what remained of the Malfoy family name.
A sudden blast of air rocked the room as a blazing fire appeared in the living room hearth, the sickly green light illuminating the dark room. Draco emerged from the flames first with a grim expression sketched onto his face, his mother following closely behind.
As the flames died down the room remained in a stony silence. The dark emotions that encompassed the two Malfoys seeped into the grey walls and cast a black shadow of foreboding over all occupants of the Manor.
"Perhaps it's for the best Draco." Narcissa's calm voice cut through the thick air. Her eyes were glued to the back of her sons head, awaiting his reaction to her carefully chosen words.
"For the best." Draco's equally calm voice scared Narcissa more than the idea of him yelling at her.
"You think locking him up is for the best?" Draco spun around to face her then. His barely suppressed anger radiated from his eyes, scorching Narcissas face with the pure heat of it.
She flinched as he took a step towards her; she'd never seen him as angry as he was at this moment in time. His pale hair stuck out in a range of different directions and his nails, or rather what was left of them, were bloody and broken from the constant nervous biting.
He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to expand on her heartless comment. When no reply came he shook his head before turning away again and storming down the nearest corridor, leaving Narcissa to ponder what she should do next.
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the dusty corridor. Draco regretted being so angry with his mother the moment he left her in silence. After all, it wasn't her fault that his father was to be sent to Azkaban.
Mixed emotions circled around Draco's crowded head. On one hand he was nearly glad to see his father put away where he would be unable to hurt anyone else, but on the other hand he was still his father and no matter what Draco would love and miss him.
Draco eventually reached his room, his suffocating heart clenching with each memory of his father. The heavy emerald curtains cut off any entrance for the sun and the happiness it brought with it, leaving Draco in a cocoon of his own misery and allowing him to sulk for as long as he wanted.
Four weeks passed by quickly. Draco still sat in a sad silence by himself, only allowing the house elves with meals to enter what had become his sanctuary. Narcissa began to worry that Draco would never leave the Manor again. She knew she had to find a friend for Draco, someone who would listen to everything he had to say and help him to come to terms with his emotions.
After several failed attempts to get Draco to talk to his old school friends, and, at one point a doctor. She decided on what her next course of action would be. If Draco refused to talk to anyone human then perhaps she needed to try a different route; one with no humans involved.
It was the 31st night Draco had been locked in his room when it happened. He had stopped thinking and feeling some time ago, his confusing thoughts had become too much so he had blocked them out and instead spent his time either staring at the ceiling or reading.
He had gone to bed early, his book doing nothing to capture his attention, when he heard it. A constant scratching noise at his door. Since the beginning of his self imposed imprisonment Draco had not answered the door to anyone other than the house elves. But this noise was different; it wasn't the sound of someone trying to break into his room nor was it the sound of one of the house elves who wanted to clean his room.
Slowly getting up and staggering towards the door Draco nearly fell over several piles of books. The annoying scratching seemed to be growing louder in the now familiar and comfortable silence, Draco just wanted to put an end to it so he could enter the world of emotionless dreams.
Wrenching the door open Draco only caught a glimpse of silver fur, before it shot between his legs and disappeared underneath his bed. Confused, Draco let the door glide shut before slowly creeping towards his bed. Cautious of the small intruder Draco knelt down by his bed, careful of the sea of books that surrounded his place of peace and rest.
Staring into the dusty blackness the only thing that could be seen were a pair of bright green eyes. Reaching a wary hand under the bed Draco attempted to touch the shadow coated animal. Before he could lay a gentle hand on it the creature took off again, flying away from the bed and knocking over a nearby pile of books, before jumping on top of his chest of draws.
Now bathed in the sliver of moonlight Draco had allowed to enter his room, he could see that the creature was in fact a kitten; a silver kitten with big green eyes and a black tipped tail. Draco's confusion only mounted further as he stared at the animal, and he found himself wondering what it was doing in the manor, let alone his room.
Shaking his head Draco calmly walked over to the lounging animal. Softly stroking its moonlight fur he found himself no longer caring why it was here and instead realised he was actually glad to have some company other than house elves. For the first time in a month Draco felt a small smile spread across his stiff face as he watched a peaceful expression settle on the kittens face, followed by the soft sound of purring. Draco let the repetitive motion comb away his dark thoughts before catching a glimpse of the tag on the green collar, and then he knew he and his new friend "Luci" were going to be just fine.