Hello again! Thank you so much for any and everyone who checked out the story! And now... on to chapter 2!
Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Harry Potter. One can only dream.
11 years later
May 7, 1991. An innocent enough day. The sun was shining in a cloudless, blue sky and a light breeze blew through the grass and bright flowers. It was a day that should be perfect in every way. It was also the day that Ivy Black's life completely changed, and not exactly for the better.
Of course, she had no knowledge of this when she awoke. As a young girl on the day before her birthday, she was entirely content and happy. Even though the exact moment she woke up she shrieked, due to the bulbous green eyes staring down at her.
"Dobby is so sorry Miss Ivy!" His tennis ball eyes were remorseful as he quickly climbed off the bed and commenced banging his head on her bed side table. "Bad Dobby, bad Dobby, bad Dobby!" Ivy jumped out of bed and pulled him away. She hated seeing the elf hurt himself on her behalf, trained to do so by none other than her "lovely" uncle.
"No, no, it's perfectly fine Dobby! I'm fine, see? You just startled me a bit. " She bent down slightly so that she was the same height as the house elf. "I wish you wouldn't do that Dobby."
"But Dobby has to, miss. If I disrespect my masters then I must." He replied earnestly, bobbing his little head up and down. She shook her head sadly at the little elf who was saying these words to convince himself more than her.
She decided to change the subject. "Does Aunt Cissa want me for something?" Ivy rummaged in her dresser, pulling out emerald colored robes that matched her eyes.
Turning her head back towards the house elf, she saw Dobby's eyes darken. "No, Master Lucius would like to see you miss. He says he has a special treat for you and Mr. Draco, miss."
She could only wonder as to what this supposed treat could be. "Thank you Dobby."
The elf went to the door and hesitantly turned around with a last look at the young girl. "Be careful miss," And with that, he was gone with a small pop.
Ivy continued to stare at the spot he had just disappeared from, puzzling over his last words. After a minute she gave up on this and proceeded to pull on the green robes. Standing in front of the full length mirror she gazed at herself, not vainly, but out of curiosity, to see if with her 11 year birthday coming up tomorrow she would look different from the little girl she had seen gaze back at her so often. Alas, the reflection was the same. Pale, almost translucent skin contrasting with ebony ringlets and large eyes a vibrant shade of green. She stepped away from the mirror and continued with her morning routine, a bit hurriedly, as to not keep her uncle waiting.
The halls she walked were fairly dark and gloomy, lined with various portraits of the long line of pureblood Malfoys. They all stared at her as walked down the seemingly endless hallway where she always felt a bit uncomfortable with all of those painted eyes watching, judging, whispering amongst each other. She was even pleased when she turned the corner into the dining room and was met with human eyes. That was at least until she realized one pair of those peircing blue eyes was judging even more than the paintings.
"How nice of you to join us." Her uncle, Lucius, sneered at her while his wife gave him a disapproving glance before turning to face the girl. Her eyes warmed. Ivy was actually quite fond of her aunt and cousin Draco, but the strong feelings of dislike her uncle gave her were mutual. However, for appearances sake, she always remained civil, polite, and even kind. He, on the other hand, did not always extend the same courtesy.
After a muttered apology she took her seat across from Draco and began to fill her plate (not too full however, since that was not considered lady like). Draco gave her a devilish smirk as she gazed longingly at his overflowing plate, which he got to have since he was a growing boy and considered worth the extra food. When the four had finished eating one of their many servants came to clear away the table and Lucius had leant back in his chair positioned at the head of the table, examining his son and neice.
"I have decided to take the two of you out for a little treat." Lucius drawled lazily. Ivy and Draco shared a weary look. Lucius never gave them treats and they were quite worried as to what his idea of one might be.
Never the less, Ivy knew what he expected. "Thank you uncle," She said quietly, with her head bowed. Draco followed her lead.
"Come now children, grab your cloaks and we shall leave straight away."
Narcissa smiled at them encouragingly and the three filed out into the coat room. With her black cloak draped over her robes Ivy looked very much like a mysterious witch rather than a young child.
They walked out on to the impressive lawn surrounding the manor, with albino peacocks strutting around it. Lucius grabbed the arms of both children tightly and with a moment of discomfort, they reappeared in a forest close to home.
The twisting of the branches and silvery green hue to the leaves enveloped the woods in a seemingly magical aura. So, naturally, all of the nearby muggle children were attracted to the forest.
"Just what we were looking for." Lucius exclaimed as a muggle boy of about five years came skipping, utterly oblivious to the witch and wizards so close to him in proximity. "I suppose I'll start the game off." He waved his wand to force the now terrified boy forward and keep him in place when he was a few feet away. Meanwhile, Draco and Ivy were staring in horror at the little boy, just beginning to understand what Lucius had brought them here to do. "Crucio." He snarled and watched with amusement as the boy shrieked loudly and started twitching on the leaf strewn earth.
Without thinking Ivy threw herself in front of the muggle and screamed loudly as the full agony of the curse hit her. She had, of course, experienced the effect of it before but couldn't help the sound being torn from her lips.
Her uncle immediately stopped and looked at her with a mixture of confusion and distaste. Considering who her parents were, he had thought that she would relish the sight of a muggle howling in pain, and the absolute last thing he had thought she would do was protect him and use her own small body as a shield. The little boy was crying behind her, not quite comprehending what was happening. "Hold her back Draco."
Draco obeyed the command and unwillingly dragged a protesting Ivy to the side where he held her tightly to avoid escape. Lucius raised his wand once more and muttered, "Avana Kedavra,"
Draco watched the body slump on the ground as the boy's eyes drained of life and his face of its rosy color. His grip loosened, allowing Ivy to run over to the little golden haired boy. She lightly stroked his blonde locks and closed his pale blue eyes. He looks angelic, she thought. Sweet and innocent and angelic. He didn't deserve to die like this. Hell, no one deserved to die like this; unaware and at the hands of a sadistic monster.
"Come," Lucius swished his cloak and proceeded to walk away as Draco was frozen in place and Ivy looked upon her uncle in complete loathing. Concentrating hard, the ground in front of him exploded, stopping her uncle in his tracks. "How dare you!" He spat at her, turning around. He proceeded to walk towards her, but the sight of the almost eleven year old girl stopped him in his tracks. The wind was whipping her black hair all around and her stance looked not small and insignificant, but powerful. A murderous glint was in her emerald eyes and he couldn't help but think that she had never looked so much like Bellatrix.
"How dare I? How dare you? How dare you take the life of that innocent child? You are a foul excuse for a man! How can you take the life of something so pure without even a single thought?"
"There was nothing pure about him or his blood." Lucius snarled, the child provoking him.
"Blood! That's all you think of when you see a person, isn't it? You don't think about what they're like, or how they act, or even their life! You don't care that they have just as much of a right to live, in fact far more of a right than you do. All you care about when you see a person is whether they're a pureblood or not." Unlike her previous shouting, her voice remained calm and steady, but her eyes still shone with pure hatred. "I feel sorry for you uncle, that you are so shallow to only care for something like that. I'm sorry that you're such a coward that you only fight people who do not stand a chance."
"You dare to call me a coward?" He grabbed hold of her arm roughly and Draco's as well, apparating them both back to Malfoy Manor. Ivy felt herself being shoved up the steps and into the hall where she stumbled to regain her footing. In the meantime her uncle shouted loudly for his wife.
She came swiftly, her light hair flowing out behind her. "Yes, darling?" She eyed him warily.
"I want her gone!" Lucius spat. "I want her gone and out of my house!"
"What?" Draco protested loudly as Ivy was frozen in place. "Father, please, you're being irrational-"
"Silence Draco! I will not stand for a child that's not even my own insult me whilst I provide for her! Had she not been a child of the Dark Lord then I might have..."
"What did you say?" Ivy interrupted quietly, absolute dread written across her pale face.
"Yes, you are the daughter of Lord Voldemort himself." He stated cruelly. "Haven't you ever wondered why your last name was not Lestrange after that oaf Rodolphus, but Black as in your mother's maiden name? You are the only child of the Dark Lord." He turned back towards his lovely wife. "Even so, I don't care. I want her out of the house by the end of the night and that is final." And with that, he walked away.
Ivy found her petite frame sliding down the wall to the floor where she wrapped her arms around her skinny legs, the full weight of this new realization hitting her like a truck. She was no longer just the child of two Death Eaters, but the daughter of Lord Voldemort and his most faithful follower. Her father was no longer an insignificant follower of evil but the instigator and leader of it all.
"You're not going to do anything about this?" Draco asked.
Narcissa let out a sigh. "You know that your father's word is final." She knelt down next to her distraught niece. "Come along Ivy, dear." Ivy allowed herself to be gently pulled up and around the manor to her room. "Dobby!"
In an instant the house elf appeared in Ivy's bedroom. "Yes, mistress?"
"Help Ivy pack her belongings." After that Narcissa trailed out of the room, bringing Draco with her.
The next couple of hours passed in a daze, Ivy thoughtlessly shoving her belongings into two trunks with the help of a silent Dobby at her side. Too soon the room was barren and the trunks full.
"I suppose this is goodbye, miss." Ivy turned to look at the sad elf and immediately crushed him into a hug.
"I'll miss you Dobby." She spoke truthfully.
He returned the embrace. "I will too, miss."
She pulled away and looked into his bulbous green eyes. "I don't suppose I would be able to free you?" She asked, pulling out a plain black shirt from one of her trunks.
The little elf's eyes teared up. "No you wouldn't be able to, miss. Master Lucius is the only one able to do that. But I am so grateful that you would even think of freeing Dobby!" The house elf hugged her once again. "Goodbye Miss Ivy."
The young girl smiled down at him. "Goodbye Dobby." She watched as he disappeared with a sudden pop!
Ivy took one last lingering look at her former bedroom before she began down the hall and grand staircase where her aunt and cousin were waiting for her at the bottom.
"Ready to leave?" Narcissa asked with tears in her eyes. Ivy nodded and began lugging her heavy trunks (with the help of Draco) out onto the lawn. Ivy turned back towards her childhood home and was surprised as she realized how little she would miss it. With its grim halls and barely lived in quality she had never grown too fond of it. Still, it was the only place she had ever known.
Narcissa grabbed onto each child's hand as they grasped the trunks tightly in their other ones. They reappeared on an unfamiliar street right in front of 11 and 13 Grimmuald Place. With a wave of her wand the crack between the two houses began to widen untill, in the place where nothing had once been, there stood 12 Grimmuald Place. The three of them walked up the stairs and into the house with Narcissa in the lead. They closed the door and stood in the doorway while Narcissa eyed it thoughtfully.
"Your mother, aunt, and I used to come here in the summer to stay with our cousins."
Ivy looked around the dust filled narrow hallway. "Did you like coming here?"
"I absolutely hated it, but this is the safest place I could think of for you to stay." She placed a small golden key in the girl's hand. "This is the key to your mother's vault at Gringotts."
Ivy's hand closed around it. "Goodbye, Aunt Cissa." Narcissa's beautiful blue eyes started to overflow with tears as she embraced her niece. She let go and Draco took her place.
"I'll see you soon at Hogwarts!" Ivy was starting to cry because even though she had no fondness for the house, she did love her cousin.
"Maybe not. I didn't get the letter yet."
"But you will." Draco assured her.
Narcissa gently pulled him away. "Goodbye." Ivy returned the last farewell and watched as the door shut behind them, leaving her with a sense of desperate loneliness in the desolate house. She began weeping as she never did for the complete way that her life had changed in the course of hours.
A while later, the great grandfather clock a few rooms over chimed out twelve times. Ivy, upon hearing that, muttered bitterly, "Happy birthday to me."