Prologue
It couldn't be. It simply couldn't. A child of the House Malfoy could not be born a – he felt utter repulse rise in him when he thought of the word.
He looked at Narcissa with hateful eyes. She looked up at him, fear in her beautiful blue eyes. He could see a vein in her throat pulse. He would like to snap that fragile white neck, he would like to torture and kill her, the mother of the child. Instead he took an ancient Chinese vase from the shelf and smashed it against the floor before Narcissa, causing her to hold the baby closer and scream in surprise. On this way out of the door, the baby's cries rang in his ears.
She brushed her long blonde hair away from her tired face. With gentle hands she held the little girl into her. Somewhere in the distance she could hear Draco's young voice, demanding to see the new baby and the house-elf telling him it wasn't possible yet.
She bent her head examining the perfect little girl in her arms. After a little hesitation she bent over kissing the girls forehead, her nose, the closed eyelids, her soft rosy cheeks, and the little sweet mouth.
'I love you, Daughter of Mine,' she whispered, again and again, while examining her perfect little body, the small hands and feet, and her even smaller fingers and toes. 'You are perfect, Daughter of Mine. You are per-' Narcissa was interrupted by a sob. She bends over her daughter, tasting her own tears on her cheeks. She took a few deep breaths, trying to relax herself. With shaking fingers she unbuttoned her blouse, letting out a gasp, when she felt the little mouth suckling her breast. She sat up straight a plan forming in her head.
'She's a squib, Severus. A filthy squib, my daughter is,' Lucius said, the remorse strong in his voice.
'What are you going to do?' Severus coolly replied.
'Get rid of her.'
When he returned to Narcissa she was dressed in travel robes apparently on her way out, with the child in her arms. 'Where are you going?' he asked, not sure of her motives.
'To get rid of the child,' she answered, breathing heavily, nostrils flaring.
He looked at her, as if, he searched for prove that she would do otherwise, but she looked fairly cool, so he only nodded and watched her walk down the hall.
She walked out of the castle, over the grounds. The wind was blowing hard against her, making her lean upon it and hold the baby tighter, as if the wind would steal her child from her. Once out of the Malfoy grounds she made the child hold tight onto her, and apparated away with her. The dragging and tugging feeling made the child cry, and with a gentle kiss she tried to comfort her daughter.
The building in front of her was huge and grey. She shivered inwardly. She couldn't see much happiness in places like this. Then she sighed. What happiness was in the home she came from?
She found a bench and sat down with the child in her arms, letting her feed again. She tried hard to keep her tears at bay, and when the child was fed, she got up and walked towards the mansion.
She went inside with an intimidated look towards the ceiling, as a young woman greeted her. 'Take me to the person in charge,' she said hoarsely. 'But Miss, I am fully capable at taking care of whatever business you may have here,' the woman said, eyeing the child in Narcissa's arms. Instinctively she held the girl closer to herself. 'Take me to whoever is in charge here,' she repeated. Maybe it was Narcissa's aristocratic appearance or the look of steel in her eyes, but the woman nodded sternly and led Narcissa through the big mansion, until they ended at a big wooden door. The young woman nodded and showed Narcissa in when the matron answered.
Narcissa sat down, feeling rather uneasy, on the wooden chair, facing a stern looking woman in her fifties. 'I need you to,' she paused fighting back the tears. 'I need you to take my daughter. And to look after her, so she never, never gets hurt.' She lost the battle against her tears, feeling them slide down her cheeks. The older woman only nodded, having seen this many times before. She waited a moment until Narcissa had gotten hold of herself again, before she brought out several forms.
'You need to fill out these,' she said, handing them over. Narcissa looked down, hastily reading through the forms. Name of child, Date of Birth. She looked down at her daughter; once again assuring herself this was the best. She looked up at the older woman. 'Do you have a quill I could borrow?' she asked. The woman looked mildly confused. 'Here's a pen, would that do?'
Narcissa didn't answer simply took the pen and started filling out the forms, while the woman came over to her side, taking the baby, and carefully examining her. Once Narcissa was finished she looked up at the woman holding her child in her arms, with tears in her eyes once again. 'I don't know your situation, Miss,' the matron said. 'But I think this is for the best.' Narcissa simply nodded, asking for a moment with her child.
Once the Matron was outside she looked down at her child, kissing her again and again. 'This is the best, my Daughter. This is better.'
She reached under her collar bringing out an old amulet, which had been inherited down through the Black family for ages, and brought it out. Carefully she hung it around her daughter's small neck. 'Always know that I love you, my Daughter.'
Julia Potter, the Matron of the Orphanage, looked down at the small girl that had been put in her care. Then she consulted herself with the forms. 'And now… Lucia… Malfoy, it's time that we find you a bed.'
