This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
House: Hufflepuff
Year: 4
Category: Standard
Prompt: [Time Period] Pre-Hogwarts Era (Golden Era) – One prompt per team
Word Count: 1325
Warnings: Magical Creature torture/abuse.
Au Canon, alteration in timeline
For: Verity – without whose bunnies I would have been lost!
Bye Bye Auntie Bella!
The five-year-old Draco Malfoy was excited to see Auntie Bella. Bellatrix Lestrange often taught him interesting facts about Mudbloods and half-breeds.
When the house elf opened the door for Bellatrix, they quickly left again after being reprimanded.
"Where is my tea?" she screeched. When she spotted the little blond boy, he was focused on his extra studies, and her tone immediately changed. "Draco, darling." she said.
"Auntie Bella! Auntie Bella!" her tiny nephew shouted, jumping down from his chair and running to his aunt.
"Hello there, my little Dragon." she greeted him warmly. She knew her time was almost up. Her Dark Lord was gone, and orders would surely be given soon from the Ministry for her arrest. She was partially upset with Lucius, denying all his involvement in Death Eater activities, but Draco needed a father. Narcissa was too soft to train a future generation of Death Eaters.
"Let's go into the yard and torture some garden gnomes. What do you say?" Bellatrix asked him. He nodded excitedly, jumping up and down.
Bellatrix walked into the yard with the small blond boy on her heels, muttering something about "…silly pests…"
"That's quite right, my Dragon. Garden gnomes are complete pests." She nodded encouragingly.
The house elf that opened the door quickly brought her a copper tea-tray and vanished before she decided to start torturing him instead.
"Crucio!" Bellatrix chanted, cackling.
"Crucio!" Draco copied with his toy-wand.
The spell didn't work of course, but Bellatrix taught him that it is about more than just the words, you need to want to cause pain.
Draco nodded, aiming a swift kick at his garden gnome who had realized that Draco couldn't cast the Torture Curse yet. Therefore he had gotten complacent.
He ran off, leaving his brother to get tortured. There was nothing else to be done really. Next time they would pick a different gnome.
"Mother doesn't want me using this spell, especially not on Mudbloods," Draco said arrogantly.
Bellatrix nodded. "Your mother would say that," she responded in mild annoyance. Her head swam with the thought of getting locked up. How long would the Dark Lord be gone? When would he release his loyal subject from Azkaban?
"Auntie Bella?" Draco asked, stomping a foot when she did not respond to him immediately. He wasn't used to being ignored. His aunt adored him.
"Yes, Dragon?" she asked. Her mind was far away. When would they come for me?
"I think I want to be just like Father when I grow up," he said philosophically.
Bellatrix laughed. "What is it you think your father does?"
"He runs the manor," Draco responded, standing taller.
Bellatrix enjoyed hanging out with Draco. Some children cried, but Lucius Malfoy would not stand for such nonsense in his household. The boy was also exceptionally bright and had picked up Latin easily. He had a keen interest in potions and already knew many of the names of the ingredients, both by the common and Latin names.
"Draco, are you outside?" Narcissa called, having found her son's study area empty.
"Yes, Mother. I was playing with Auntie Bella," he said walking over to his mother.
"Hello, Narcissa," Bellatrix said, raising an eyebrow at her sister.
"Draco, playtime is over now. Please continue your studies. Your father will be home soon," she said to Draco before greeting her sister.
"I suppose you have come to say goodbye?" Narcissa asked.
Bellatrix nodded. "I will quite miss the little scamp. He is a very bright boy."
This made Narcissa chuckle.
Draco was sitting at his desk with his potion ingredient flash-cards. He was reciting various facts about each image before turning to look at the answers appearing on the back. The flash-cards had various common names, Latin names, locations, and various uses in different potions.
"Bad house elf," Draco said and as his Mother walked in, she saw him aim a kick at Dobby, who managed to avoid the child's small foot, disappearing back into the kitchen.
Lucius Malfoy had also caught the exchange, chuckling. "That's my boy," he said proudly.
Narcissa was dumbfounded at this, but she already knew she had no say in how Draco was raised. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoys did things a certain way.
….TIME LAPSE….
It took a lot longer for the Ministry to find Bellatrix than she had anticipated. She Apparated all over the place and never stayed in the same place for long periods of time. The only place she frequented often was Malfoy Manor. This was where they eventually managed to track her down.
Draco watched the strange men arrive to take his Auntie Bella away. He didn't understand what was going on, but he knew it wasn't good. When Bellatrix sent him inside, he stood by the sliding door, watching the exchange. His mother and father remained outside, standing quietly and watching as she decided to go without a fight.
There was no reason to carry on running, not risking her family when she knew her time had finally come. She had much longer than she believed, and those hours spent with Draco were ones she would treasure during her long time in isolation from the rest of the world.
One day, she thought, He will return and set me free. I must just remain loyal.
"Auntie Bella!" Draco screamed as they disappeared. He knew he wouldn't be heard through the glass, but his only aunt was being taken away by strange men. Why would anyone want to take his family away from him?
In his anger he decided to call a house elf, just to smack him over the head. This made him feel slightly better.
Hopefully, these strangers would let his Auntie Bella return to him soon.
….TIME LAPSE….
"I want Auntie Bella!" Draco screamed unhappily.
"Auntie Bella has gone away for a while and she can't come visit us anymore," Narcissa tried to explain to the unhappy child, but Draco was being insistent.
He was really missing his Auntie Bella and he couldn't understand why she hadn't come to visit him this week. Perhaps it had something to do with those strange men who arrived at the manor and took her away?
"Then we can go and visit her. I am sure she will be happy to see me," he responded haughtily.
"Draco, that is quite enough. Your mother said no," his father said.
"Auntie Bella will come visit soon enough," Narcissa tried to pacify the small blond. He was already so much like his father. She didn't even feel bad when the lie crossed her lips.
Draco moped about not getting his way, but he knew better than to argue with his father. His father also hated being questioned; he had often been sent to bed hungry when asking his father "Why?"
That night Draco overheard a heated argument between his parents. He couldn't understand most of it, but he heard words such as "Dark Lord", "Azkaban", and "gone for good." His mother and father had also mentioned his aunt, who he knew they called Bellatrix, but he wasn't sure why his mother would be unhappy. It couldn't be that bad, could it? His mother insisted his aunt would be back soon, and that was good enough for him.
When his father swung open the door, spotting the small boy, Draco quickly made a break for his room before his father shouted at him as well.
"Mother must have done something naughty," Draco reasoned to himself, crawling into bed and pulling the copper-coloured covers all the way over his head. He often felt like he was safe from the world like that. Nobody knew where he was. They couldn't find him. That way he could avoid getting into trouble. "Maybe Mother should also have hidden away until Father calmed down." The young Malfoy reasoned, falling into an easy sleep, as young minds often do, considering the strange argument no more.