Eunice and Prologue
When I look back I notice all the small things. All the things that, maybe, are the reason everything ended as it did. But in order for you, dear reader, to understand my story I have to tell you everything from the very beginning, how it all started.
My name is Octavia Malfoy. I was born on a Saturday, 12th August, 2042. I was my parent's first child so as you can imagine my mother screamed in horror when she was giving birth to me at st. Mungos. Dad tells me he has never been as scared his whole life. Apparently my mother wouldn't let go of his hand. He had hand shaped bruises for the first month of my existence. But, anyways, I came into the world, crying and naked as most newborns are. My parents lived in a modern flat in a quiet, muggle neighborhood in the suburbs of London back then. I used to love that place. Our neighbor, miss Maylinn, had a dog called Star that she let me play with. She had long fig earrings that swung through the air when she shook her head. I always wondered whether she was a witch or not. I also liked my room in that flat, it had a large, purple octopus painted on the wall, it's arms dancing around. My parents both quit working for a year when I was born, and honestly I don't think they spent the time focusing on me, because two years later my sister was born. Lexie is, how do I put it nicely, an intolerable know-it-all. She was better than me from the moment she said her first word: book. Mine was dada. I don't mind her being better, really. Most people say she's more of a Potter, and I'm more of a Malfoy, not that it's a bad thing, people always add when they notice my father's glare. Still, I must've got one thing from the Potters since I'm brilliant at Quidditch but she can't even hold a broomstick, not to brag. When I was six years old my brother Albus was born. My parents named him after mum's brother and dad's best friend. Then they decided it was time to move out of the muggle apartment and into the Malfoy manor. My grandparents continued to live there after we moved in, but on a separate floor. That only lasted for a year though, after that they moved to, what they called, their mini-mansion, one hour out of London.
I was a late bloomer when it came to magic. I didn't show any signs of it until shortly after my eighth birthday. Lexie was chasing me up the stairs and calling me a squib. She had picked that word up from my grandma Astoria who accidentally blurted out her suspicions about me at last Sunday's dinner. I was so furiously mad at my sister that without thinking I lifted her up into the air with my mind and shoved her over the staircase and down to the floor. Luckily for Lexie she was an early bloomer, showing her magic by stopping in the air, seconds from falling and braking her wrist. She was six years old and of course my family was very proud.
I have a huge family on my mother's side. Cousins after cousins. I am only close with one of them. Skylynn Weasley. Sky. She is Hugo's daughter, granddaughter of Hermione and Ron. My mother Lily and him were very close growing up, and still are. He was married to a wonderful woman called Emily. She had wavy, chestnut brown hair, reaching her elbows. Emily had crystal blue eyes just like Sky. She was always kind to everyone and all the kids in the family adored her. She always let us style her hair or try on her clothes, things like my mum never let me. They used to come over to our house on Christmas eve. We'd eat turkey, pigs in blankets, mashed potatoes and drink butterbeer. Later Sky and I would play wizard chess or exploding snap while our parents drank firewhiskey in front of the fireplace and the little ones played with their screaming yoyo's or a Jack-in-the-box. In 2053, only couple of months after Sky and I started Hogwarts, Emily was murdered. My parents wouldn't tell me any detail, not even if it had been a dark wizard or a muggle. I always wondered who would kill Emily, the kindest person I knew? Especially in our time, with the Wizarding War over and no death eater daring to come out into the open. My parents didn't tell me how the case went, but one night Albus and I slid our pair of Extendable Ears down the stairs to the kitchen where mum and dad were talking. Their voices were hushed and I could tell they were worried.
"Scorpius, this wasn't normal. What if he's…he's back?" Mum was hesitant.
"Lily, he can't be back…he's dead."
"Well, people have thought he was gone before…have you asked your father?"
"Lily!" I could tell dad was hurt. "You know as well as I that my father knows nothing. Even if he'd be offered…that. He wouldn't. Never. He regrets it, Lily, he does."
"I know, I'm sorry. I just don't know what to think, Scorpius. Hugo…he's devastated." I heard dad standing up and pulling mum into a hug.
"I know, Lils. But there's nothing we can do, except…are you missing an ear?"
"What? No, Scorp, that's completely irrelevant…" Dad came walking towards our Extendable Ear and Albus pulled it hurriedly up to our floor. We ran to our rooms just in time for dad to let us of the hook. The only thing I really knew was that Sky and her family didn't come to the next Christmas Eve, or the one after that.
The moment I knew I was a witch I became tremendously excited to go to Hogwarts. My cousins told me stories about the glorious castle and how fantastic the food was. My dream was to get on my house's Quidditch team. So, as you can imagine, I was thrilled when I got my letter. I rubbed it in Lexie's face because now, finally, I had something she didn't. My parents signed me up for Promola's witches camp for aspiring witches. In Hogwarts they both had problems making friends so they thought it was a nice idea for me to get to know some of the witches before I started school, so I wouldn't have the same problem. I didn't mind going to camp, I thought it sounded fun. But first my parents took me to Diagon Alley. The streets were crowded as usual with wizards and witches, their paper shopping bags floating after them. I was surrounded by colorful cloaks and top hats and loud people hollering for their children who had run off to look at the newest broom, the 160 Firebolt. Their faces were pressed against the window of the store, their eyes shimmering with admiration. I wanted to look at the dashing broomstick too but we had a long shopping list to go through first. We went to Flourish and Blotts to collect my school books and then to Potage's Cauldron Shop for my pewter cauldron, standard size 2. When we'd ticked everything of the list exept a wand and a pet it was time to go to Ollivanders. The man working there had bright blue eyes and salt and pepper hair. He was scratching his head with an old, brown wand. The bell chimed as we walked in.
„Ahh good morning folks. I'm Gervaise Ollivander jr., how can I help you?" he smiled at us.
„Nice to meet you." My mother said. „I'm Lily Potter-Malfoy and this is my husband and my daughter." She pointed towards me with her finger.
„I assume you are mr. Ollivander's son?" The smile vanished from the mans face and he slowly turned to look at my father. I could see hatred in his eyes and all of a sudden I felt very scared. I quickly clasped dad's hand as mr. Ollivanders stood up and glared at him.
„You have blonde hair. Blonde hair and grey eyes." I didn't understand what the man was talking about. Why was he pointing out the obvious like that?
„You're a Malfoy prick!" He then shouted, spitting in our faces.
„Do you know what your kind did to my father?! He was never the same afterwards, you changed him, you ruined him and now you come waltzing in here asking for service as a regular costumer?!"
My father tightened the grip on my hand. I could sense he was furious, but mum shot him a look towards me and he relaxed a bit.
„I am sorry for the harm my family has caused yours." Dad said, but he didn't look sorry at all. „I can assure you, sir, that we mean no harm. We simply want to purchase a wand for our daughter." I looked up at the man and our eyes met for a split second. But then he looked away and said:
„Well, you ain't getting it from me." Mum reddened and I could feel she was about to pull my-father-will-hear-about-this card.
„Do you know who my father is?" The man swallowed.
„Well he's Harry Potter. And I can guarantee you that he will hear about it if his granddaughter doesn't get a proper wand." The man swallowed harder, glared at dad and then looked at me.
„Ok, miss Potter." He said to me. I was about to correct him and tell him that my name was Malfoy but something in my parents looks told me I shouldn't. The men walked into the back and arrived again with a long, grey box in his hand. „Try this one." He said, pulling a short, twisted wand out of the box. I gave it a wave and added one more grey stripe to mr. Ollivander's hair.
„Or not." He snatched the wand from my hands and handed me another one. I tried four different wands before we found the right one. It was beech wood, 11 ¾ inches, with a Slightly Springy flexibility and a unicorn hair core. I practically sprinted from the wand shop back to Broomstix. When my parents finally caught up with me I was smashed against the window like the other children, staring at the divine broomstick with utter longing.
"No Octavia, first years aren't allowed broomsticks. Maybe you'll get it on your twelfth birthday."
"But mum, it will be sold out by then."
"And there'll be a newer type, witch you can get and then you'll be much better than the silly kids who bought this version." Dad said.
"Come on, O. It's logic." Dad said, smiling at me.
"Besides," mum added. "Didn't I hear somewhere you would get it this Christmas?"
"Yes, I'm pretty sure I heard it too." Dad said and I rolled my eyes happily, following my parents to the pet shop.
They got me an owl. My parents always said I couldn't get an European eagle owl, like I'd always wanted but I got one anyways. I think they felt bad for me because of what happened in Ollivanders. I named it Davey after my favorite Quidditch player, Eleanor Davey. She was a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, my favorite Quidditch team. I aspired to be like her one day. Anyways, when I finally went to Promola's witch camp for aspiring witches I was overcome with joy, the camp was from the 1 August until the 7th. You weren't allowed to take wands nor broomsticks with you, according to the letter my parents got. The young witches would be focusing on other activities as a unity, it said. That made me even more determined to make new friends at the camp and have fun. Well, long story short: the camp was a nightmare. No matter how hard I tried to make friends all everybody seemed to notice was my last name. After the trip to Diagon Alley my parents had a talk with me about why the man was so angry in the wand shop. They said that daddy's ancestors, along with his father and grandfather, had made bad choices in the war, choices that often led to bad things happening to others. They assured me that I didn't have to be afraid of people treating me differently because now there were new times and people were forgetting about the things my family had done.
"But" mum had added, looking at dad to await his approval. He nodded.
"But, sometimes people are going to remember and blame you for the bad choices. At those times you have to be strong. You did nothing wrong, these people are simply wrong about you. They don't know you, ok?" Mum said smiling.
"Do you think you can remember this, O? It's very important." Dad said to me whilst patting the top of my head. And I did remember it, even on the first day of camp I thought about my mother's words. Be strong, she had said to me. I tried as hard as I could but the other witches avoided me. Everyone did except a large group of girls. Their leader was called Eunice Marlowe. She had straight purple hair down to her waist and daring blue eyes. She had a gang of minions following her wherever she went and snapped her fingers every time she wanted them to do something for her. She seemed like a cool person so I talked to her the moment that we came, I now know that was a mistake. The first of many I made in the camp.
"Hi. I'm Octavia Malfoy, I'm from Wiltshire. What about you?" Eunice looked at me, biting her cherry red lip.
"You know this camp is just for witches, right? Not wizards." As a child I was very boyish. I liked to dress in comfortable green and blue sweaters and wear shorts too. Grandpa Draco had given me luxurious black shoes and a black dress too, but I preferred to wear the clothes aunt Rose gave me. She had three boys, slightly older than me and gave me almost every clothing they grew out of. I had also experimented earlier that year by cutting my own hair. I liked it short so it wouldn't get in my way while I played Quidditch in our huge backyard. Grandma Ginny had tried to fix the horrible haircut by cutting it shorter but it grew back again overnight. She blamed Grandpa Harry for this.
So when I stood there, with my dad's suitcase with the Slytherin emblem on it, my short hair wild and ruffled, wearing black shorts, worn out trainers and an oversized Holyhead Harpies T-shirt I suddenly realized that those girls were making fun of the way I looked. Suddenly remembering my grandma Ginny's words: kill it with kindness, I kindly attempted to correct the girl.
"Actually I am a girl."
"Prove it." Eunice dared. She snapped her fingers one time and her minions all jumped at me at once and tried to pull down my shorts.
"No!" I shouted and tried helplessly to pull the waistband of my shorts higher up. I was ready to give up when all of them suddenly stopped. One girl started crying. Her nose was bleeding. I lay on the ground and watched her friends hug her tightly.
"Oh dear Merlin, what happened to you, Meredith?" Eunice said.
"The boy kicked me in the face." She sobbed through her tears. I tried to crawl away from Eunice but she stepped on my hand, crushing my fingers into the dirt.
"Nobody messes with my friends. You got that, you squib? Didn't you say you were a Malfoy? Aren't you folks supposed to be rich? Maybe your parents didn't want to waste money on buying you decent clothes." She walked away, her purple hair billowing in the wind. That night I didn't understand my mother's words. To me it seemed like everyone but my family made bad choices.
The second mistake I made was taking my wand with me to camp. I knew it wasn't allowed but I did it anyways. I liked looking at it and imagining all the spells I would cast with it when I arrived at Hogwarts. The third day at camp I was playing with it in the backyard of our dorm, carefully trying not to accidentally cast a spell. Eunice, Meredith and two other minions came up to me.
"You brought a wand Malfoy?" Eunice asked.
"That's so cool, can I see it" she reached out for my wand. I was gullible back then and desperate for friends, so I handed it to her. She lifted it next to her ear.
"Oh, what's that?" She said to the air. The minions exchanged confused looks behind her.
"I see. You don't want Malfoy as your owner? Then you shouldn't have picked her." She nodded.
"Do you want me to break you in half, instead of going back to Malfoy boy?" I didn't like how she said me name. She made it sound like something bad.
"With pleasure." Her voice was filled with contempt.
"No! Please don't!" I shouted, reaching desperately out for my wand. But it was too late. With a snap she broke it in half, throwing the remains at me.
"I'm sorry Malfoy. I felt it was my duty to prevent your wand from killing innocent people. Like your family did. Did you know that? They were death eaters, the war was their fault!"
Meredith spit on the ground in front of me.
"And your nothing but their death eater scum."
"Lets go, girls." Eunice said turning on her heel. And there came the third mistake, as unexpected as a lightning from a clear sky. I ran after Eunice, broken wand in head. I screamed and kicked her in the shin so she fell down.
"You-" I kicked her again, and she lay there helpless, all of her minions watching flabbergasted.
"Broke-" I kicked her legs and she started crying.
"My wand!" Then I stepped on her fingers, just like she had done to me and looked her straight in the eye.
"Nobody messes with my wand. You got that, you squib?" She stared at me, scared shitless. I stepped off of her and was about to walk away when Promola herself arrived at the scene.
"Eunice! Merlin's beard, who did this to you, child?" Eunice sat up with much difficulty and pointed at me where I was about to get away.
"Malfoy did." Promola grabbed me furiously by the ear.
"My camp has zero tolerance for violence, you prat. But you can't control yourself, can you?" She forced me to look her in the eye.
"It's in your blood." After that I learnt three important lessons:
1. People are idiots.
2. Never break the rules and not get away with it.
3. Don't expect people to give you a chance. They won't.
My parents had to come collect me that evening. They said nothing but I could feel their disappointment. The moment we arrived home I ran up all the stairs and locked myself in my bedroom. I cried the whole evening until mum and dad came and comforted me. After that experience I wasn't very excited to go to Hogwarts anymore. I assumed Eunice would be there, and if she was, she would definitely give me a hard time. I feared the whole school would act as her minions. But it was in my favor how big my family was. I had loads of cousins in school. So hopefully it wouldn't be a problem.
On September 1st my family escorted me to Kings Cross. It was not a beautiful morning. The rain poured down on us as we ran from our gleaming black Volvo and inside the train station. My hair was wet and I was trembling, my heart pounding like a drum. Dad took my hand and squeezed it.
"You'll be okay." He whispered so only I could here. I appreciated his effort to make me feel better though it didn't work.
When I was saying my goodbyes Albus clung to my leg and refused to let go. He had ruffled blonde hair and grey eyes. He was only five at that time. I assured him I'd always come home for Christmas and send him loads of presents. I saw the worry in my parents eyes but I tried to ignore it.
I could do this, just like every kid that came to Hogwarts before me. Every compartment was full but one where Sky sat. I was so glad to see her. Sky is a very talkative person, you barely have to express yourself when you're with her.
"Hi Octi." She has always called me Octi, I don't really know why.
"Hi Sky."
"Aren't you just ecstatic to be here?" She said dramatically. I nodded in reply and placed my trunk over the seats.
"What house do you want to be in? What house do you think I'll be in?" She wondered, her glasses a bit crooked on her nose and her wavy hair pulled up in a ponytail.
"I don't know." I said.
"I want to be in Ravenclaw." She said dreamily.
The ride with the scarlet red Hogwarts express flew by and before I knew it we were there. A very big man with bushy ray hair and beard led the first years to the boats. He paused when he saw Sky and me.
"Yeh Hugo's daughter?" He asked looking at Sky. "Yeh look just like him." The man continued.
"Yes. And you're Hagrid I suppose?" Sky said shaking hands with the enormously tall man.
"Yes, that's me." He turned to look at me. There was something incredibly warm about his smile.
"And what's yer name?"
"Octavia." I hesitated. "Malfoy."
"She's Lily's girl." Sky said taking my hand.
"I see that now. Yeh have eyes just like Harry. Say hi to him from me, will yeh?" I nodded.
When we stepped into the boats I soon noticed the most glorious castle I had ever laid eyes on.
And it was even more beautiful inside. Wax dripped of the floating candles but disappeared before it could reach the ground. The ceiling was magnificent. It looked just like a clear night sky with thousands of stars shimmering all around it. But we didn't get a good look at it because first years were collected in front of the whole great hall that was filled with students of all ages, just to look at a stool with a dusty, old hat on it.
A tall woman with thick red hair pulled up in a tight bun held a long parchment in front of her and read our names, one by one. Nervous children sat down and put the hat on their heads. It was so big that it almost swallowed their whole heads. Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor. Each time the hat hollered a house the children applauded their new student. Before I knew it I heard my name called. I nervously walked up to the stool and sat down. I could feel everyone's eyes on me.
"Ahh." The hat said, startling me.
"I see. You have potential, young witch. But where should I put you? I see the will to prove yourself…and also the desire for power and greatness. But you're kind at your heart and loyal, also willing to learn. You could belong anywhere, child. Well, I guess it should be…HUFFLEPUFF!"
I stood up, shaking even more than before. Is this good or bad? I thought. For a moment, when I was walking towards the Hufflepuff table, no one said or did anything. The hall was completely silent. Then it was like people came to their senses and each and every Hufflepuff applauded me. Some even stood up. I took a seat close to the end and watched the rest getting sorted. Sky was sorted to Gryffindor so I was all alone again. After the feast a prefect from Hufflepuff escorted us to our common room, a cozy place next to the kitchens filled with plants, beautiful paintings and round windows. I walked up stairs and followed a long corridor to the girls dormitories. The room for the first years was a nice room with five made four-posters with comfy, yellow curtains. Our trunks were beside our beds and I found that I had the bed next to the window. The view was beautiful. We weren't that high up but I could still see the beautiful lake, the Forbidden Forest and a couple of trees closer to the castle. Paintings and a mirror hung on the wall and somehow the floor was warm under my feet. There was also a bathroom with showers and a huge bathtub. None of the other girls had arrived and I was glad to have a moment to change my close by myself before I would meet my roommates. On a chair next to my bed I saw my brand new uniform folded neatly along with a thick yellow and black scarf and nice shoes too. I put my pajamas on and pulled the covers over my head. I didn't hear the other girls come laughing into the room because I had already fallen asleep.
My roommates were Holly, Madeleine, Lynn and a girl called Trixie. They were all quite nice but very different from each other. Holly and Madeleine, or Maddy as she preferred, were cousins and very close to each other. The rarely talked with anyone but the other. Lynn was a very clever girl. She was very organized and ensured our room was always very clean. She was al so fun to talk to and very honest. She didn't mind that I was a Malfoy, she didn't care about stuff like that. Then there was Trixie. Trixie was a metamorphmagus and liked to keep her hair turquoise and wild. She was very bubbly and very brave too. I remembered her from the sorting.
After the first weeks of school I started feeling good. I liked all of my classes, except potions, (seriously, who invented that monster of a subject?) whick I sucked at. Me and Trixie became friends though I always sat with Sky's group of friends at breakfast and lunch. Lynn wasn't so bad either and before I knew it time started passing real quickly. So quickly I'm going to fast forward to the beginning of my fifth year, where our story actually begins.