Hello everyone! Welcome to 2017! I hope the year holds nothing but positivity for all of us. New year, new story! So here's Ravenfire Ashe: Third Year. I hope you all enjoy.
Chapter One
"You were inside the Chamber of Secrets?" Draco asked eagerly.
"Yes," I retorted rather irritably, "Can we please not talk about it here?"
In fact, I wouldn't feel comfortable talking about it until I returned to Hogwarts. It was currently June twenty-eighth, and I was at Malfoy Manor for the first time since the end of the school year. This shared birthday party that we were having was the first time I'd even seen Draco since I left him in the Slytherin common room in order to study for final exams.
Once I left Hogwarts with Mr. Malfoy after my adventures in the Chamber, I hadn't gone back to Hogwarts. It was too close to the end of the year, and Dumbledore had written to me, explaining that I needed rest and would be exempt from my final exams. He also told me that, although Gryffindor had managed to win the House cup, the two hundred points I'd earned had made the Slytherins proud. In his letter, he informed me that Draco was worried, but also that he would explain to both him and Willow where I had disappeared to.
Before he'd even left Hogwarts, Draco had sent piles of letters to me. He wanted to be certain that I was safe, and he was dying to find out what happened in the Chamber, as it was no secret that's where I had been.
I wrote back because my mother nearly begged me to, but I only gave brief, vague details on the subject I wanted to avoid talking about. And I refused to go and visit because of what had happened between Mr. Malfoy and I when I was leaving Hogwarts. The last thing I wanted was to see Lucius, so I had avoided his house and – by default – his son.
However, now that Draco and I had been reunited at last, he was bursting with questions. Unfortunately, we were surrounded by various Death Eaters, including our fathers, so I was actively avoiding the discussion of my latest failure. Besides, it still brought up painful feelings of both shame and betrayal.
Because I hadn't seen my best friend in so long, his appearance took me by surprise.
The commanding air inherited from Lucius was still there, but his outward look was completely different. He was much taller, and his hair was slicked more to the side than completely back. His facial features were harder and angular, giving him a more adult look to him. And on top of all of that, there was a glint of maturity in his eyes that was not there when last I'd seen him.
Even though he bombarded me with questions like a nosy child, he no longer struck me as the schoolboy I'd left behind at Hogwarts. I now saw him as a young man. Perhaps this was partially because of the humbling loss of his father's position as governor of Hogwarts.
As far as puberty went, I hit it hard as well.
My hair had darkened dramatically from its dirty blonde color to a dark and chocolaty brown. Instead of holding excitement and childlike awe at the world, my eyes held more wisdom…as well as brokenness and pain.
And then, of course, there were other additions to my body that weren't present before. For instance, my hips now slightly spanned outward, providing me with more feminine curves. My breasts, to the evident notice of Draco and several Death Eaters, had swelled to no less than a "C" cup.
I wondered if Mr. Malfoy would notice when he saw me.
Then I shook the idea from my head as my cheeks heated with embarrassment of my own thoughts. Lucius was my best friend's father – and my father's best friend! But apart from his relationship to me, he had given me a deep purple bruise that had just recently faded to yellow.
There was absolutely no reason for the intrusive thought that had violated my mind.
Besides, when I saw Draco standing across the drawing room only moments before, standing tall, I realized how big of a crush I really did have on him. Of course I suspected the feelings during the prior year, but I hadn't been sure. Most of the time, I was able to dismiss it as the childish misinterpretation of friendship or admiration. When he rushed through the throng of Death Eaters to sweep me into his arms and hug me as we were reunited, I could feel my heart flutter.
It was truly a shame we hadn't seen each other in so long.
After Lucius had slapped me in the corridors of Hogwarts, we'd barely exchanged words. He was still furious when he took me to the Ministry to get registered as an animagus, and that was the last time I'd seen him…assuming the dreams I'd been having about him didn't count. Because of my wild imagination and my endocrine-induced dreams, the meeting would be awkward enough, but I was also nervous that he would still be angry that I'd failed. He might even blame me for the loss of his house elf that Harry Potter craftily freed. I didn't want Lucius to turn into the abusive, formidable figure that my father was. However, I couldn't avoid him forever, especially not now that my mess of hormones could seemingly only be satisfied by thinking of him.
"Raven."
The voice had come from behind Draco and I, and as the unmistakable drawl pulsed through me, I tensed. I turned slowly to face the very man I'd both hoped and dreaded to see.
"Mr. Malfoy," I greeted in return.
The words tasted strange on my tongue. They were cold and metallic. Nothing quite so sweet and warm as 'Daddy.' But I couldn't call him that. Not now. Pain flashed through his eyes, but it vanished so fast that it could have been a mirage. I wondered if my addressing him sounded as terrible to him as it tasted to me.
"May I have a word?" he asked, shooting a warning glance at Draco as if daring him to accompany us.
I didn't need to answer. Lucius knew that I'd never be anything less than perfectly obedient to him. Reluctantly leaving Draco behind, I followed Lucius through the crowd of Death Eaters. Some friendly ones smiled while some creepier ones tried to catch a glimpse of my cleavage in my green summer dress. Overall, though, many death eaters, including my father, were too absorbed in conversation to even notice my absence.
"First thing's first," Lucius began, moving around his desk and sitting down once we'd reached his office, "Happy birthday."
He picked up a brand new quill from the desk in front of him and handed it to me. When my eyes landed on it, I momentarily forgot how to breathe. This was no ordinary quill. It was soft, long, and white. It didn't take much to figure out that it had come from his albino peacock.
"Thank you," I breathed in awe, my fear beginning to fade as I stroked the silky feather.
I could feel his eyes on me as I toyed with my new birthday present. He let me admire it for a long time before he felt the need to break the silence.
"That's not why I wanted to speak with you, though," he continued, "I wanted to talk to you about what happened at Hogwarts."
I tensed again and looked up from the feather, quickly forgetting it in my hand. But when I looked at Lucius, he seemed too calm to truly be a danger to me right now.
"I wanted to apologize," he told me suddenly.
I raised a cool eyebrow, but I felt like the world around me was imploding.
"I realize how contradictory I was being of myself by telling your father not to abuse you before smacking you around myself," he went on, "I don't want to be another man in your life that you have to fear. We should be working together to bring back the Dark Lord. Regardless of the choices you made last year, it isn't too late to redeem yourself. And I don't want you to be afraid of me."
Of all the terrible ways I'd imagined that this conversation would go, this came as a giant shock. I didn't know how to respond. What was I supposed to say to someone who was apologizing for slapping me? We hadn't spoken since then, and I had so many questions about what had changed within him that would make him want to apologize to me. And there were so many feelings and thoughts that I didn't know how to express, so I brought the focus of the conversation to something else: Draco.
"You aren't abusive like my father, but you bully Draco often. Why are you so gentle with me?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Draco has much room to improve, and he won't unless I push him. Besides, I think your father has corrected you enough."
I looked at him for a few moments before nodding, pretending that I understood everything. Pretending that everything was okay. I didn't even know how to feel myself. Did I accept Lucius' apology? Did I forgive him? Was I still attracted to him? Yes, that was a definite. But I had no idea how I was supposed to feel about the smack.
"Alright," I muttered.
Before I realized what was happening, Lucius was standing and moving around the side of his mahogany desk. He grabbed my arms and pulled me into a hug. I froze. I thought I'd been shocked when Draco hugged me last year, but for Lucius, it was so out of character that the gesture that was meant for comfort was almost more unsettling.
Though I couldn't ignore the little sparks of pleasure that shot through my body as I returned the hug.
"Okay," he said, gently nudging me away and putting the desk between us as he glanced down at some paperwork, "Best get back to your party before you're missed. I'll be down in a bit."
I nodded and headed towards the door.
"Oh, and Raven?" his voice – suddenly low, like predatory growling – stopped me once I had a foot in the hallway. I glanced over my shoulder at him, "You're growing into a beautiful young woman."
Blushing hard, I rejoined the celebration.
Once the tension between Mr. Malfoy and I had been resolved, I spent a lot of additional time at Malfoy Manor. It was as if my goal was to make up for the time that I'd wasted. It was the morning after my actual birthday on July twenty-seventh when I woke up in my comfy guest bed at Malfoy Manor for the first time that summer.
I had slept over the night before, staying up too late to play with my new set of exploding wizard snaps with Draco. We'd only gone to sleep when Narcissa came upstairs to separate us, leaving us with the promise that we could play for the entirety of the next day.
When I woke up, I groggily made my way down the grand staircase made of polished marble. My black, satin pajama bottoms swished as I entered the dining room, my bare toes sinking into the plush rug. I took a seat next to Draco – who was eating a breakfast soufflé – and across from Lucius – who was scowling as he read the Daily Prophet.
"Unbelievable!" he snarled lowly, shaking his head. Draco and I look up at him as he continued disdainfully, setting down the paper and looking at us, "Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban last night. Azkaban is one of the highest security prisons in the wizarding world! They should be able to prevent something like this with ease! So many witches and wizards that are far more powerful than Black are still incarcerated."
"Isn't Aunt Bellatrix still in Azkaban?" Draco asked.
My eyes widened in interest, and I leaned forward slightly in my seat.
Ever since I was very young, the Ashes and the Malfoys alike told me stories of Bellatrix Lestrange. They described all of the daring and crazy deeds she'd do for the Dark Lord out of sheer loyalty. They would tell the stories like they were legends – with a mix of admiration, disbelief, and hilarity. It was as if both of the families didn't know whether to venerate Bellatrix, or to view her as the insane relative that was nearly laughable in her intensity. But nevertheless, they told me of her dramatic spell casting and spectacular fighting techniques until she was nothing less than a celebrity in my eyes. Despite her loyalty to the Dark Lord, she was my idol.
"Precisely my point!" Lucius snapped, "She's incredibly powerful. More powerful than Sirius Black. She should be able to escape easily if Azkaban's security was fairly distributed."
"Who is Sirius Black?" I asked both Draco and Lucius, trying to compare him to Bellatrix, "Is he dangerous?"
"You could take him, Raven," Draco joked in the voice that had been lowered by puberty.
"Draco," Lucius scolded harshly.
We fell into silence as Lucius looked back and forth between us. There was a warning glint in his eye, as if asking our questions was a poor idea. For a moment, I saw him as he truly was – just a father who worried about the safety of his son and best friend. He didn't want me trying to fight Black, as he knew that I would be inclined to do if I thought I had a chance. And if I thought that doing so would protect my friends.
Finally, his shoulders fell with a sigh.
"Don't associate with Black. Regardless of whether or not he'd hurt you, speaking of or to him will undoubtedly make us all look bad. Just keep your heads down."
