DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form.

I could feel it go down
Bittersweet, I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining the cloud
Oh and I,I wish that I could work it out

-The Hardest Part; Coldplay

Draco POV:

The very moment that Draco walked into the round room at the end of the hallway, he was whisked away from Astoria and shoved none too gently through a door into another, slightly smaller round room. Half of the walls were covered in mirrors that kept shouting out compliments to Draco. "You look fabulous today, Master Malfoy!" "I love that shirt on you; it makes your eyes really pop out." "I could just EAT you, Master Malfoy!"

Ignoring the obnoxious mirrors, Draco walked over to the one chair in the entire room. It was located in front of a slightly feminine vanity that made Draco want to do push-ups and fight someone just to show his masculinity. He was startled out of his thoughts by a high, female voice.

"S'il vous plaît, sit down, Monsieur Malfoy. Ze vanity von't bite." A tiny woman with a very strong French accent was pointing towards the chestnut table with a determined look on her face. For a moment, all that Draco could do was stare at the woman. Woman wouldn't even be the correct term; she was just a girl, by the looks of her. She had her hair curled in perfect corkscrews that were pulled up into two little pigtails. Her red, rosebud lips were pursed as if she was trying to look older than she actually was. Draco looked at her clothes and realized that she was wearing a simple pink dress. Just like a young child would wear.

"Excuse me, but how old are you?" He could hear the superiority coming through his voice and he almost winced.

"I am eight years old, Monsieur Malfoy. Now, sit down. Vee need to begin on your preparations."

Shocked, but compliant, Draco walked over to the completely feminine piece of furniture and sat down on the ivory cushioned chair. The little girl immediately went to work on him. His hair, which was sticking up in every which way was combed down until it was smooth, flat and parted perfectly. The young girl saw the look of complete disgust and horror on Draco's face and instantly began working on a different style. After about ten more minutes she had his ash blonde hair styled in a fashionably messy way with some of his bangs hanging just above his eyebrows. The girl nodded her approval and then hopped down from the stool she had been standing on. Draco watched as she took something out from one of the drawers and watched with horror as she pulled a makeup brush out of another drawer.

"No."

"Excusez-moi, Monsieur Malfoy?"

"No. No makeup. Absolutely not. I forbid you to come near me with that infernal device."

The young girl just chuckled at him and shrugged her shoulders. "C'est votre perte. (1)"

Extremely relieved, Draco stood up from the vanity and took a few steps away from the dainty chair. The young beautician seemed impressed by his knowledge of what was to come next. The chair folded in on itself and slid under the vanity as the mirrors and drawers slowly transformed themselves into a tall wardrobe. As Draco had suspected, the doors opened to reveal only one set of pants, a dress shirt, and one set of robes. All black. Draco carefully slipped on all the pieces of clothing until he was fully dressed.

"Vhile you do look quite 'andsome in zose garments, Monsieur Malfoy, I 'ave been informed zat you are not allowed to vear full noir in the presence of ze Dark Lord until you have been fully… initiated." The little girl snapped her fingers and the dress robes instantaneously turned a very dark green. The sleeves trimmed themselves with intricate designs made out of silver threading. Pulling a tiny wand from her sleeve, the young girl pointed at the robes and muttered an altering spell under breath. The robe sleeves began to slim down until they were only slightly larger than Draco's arms. He looked down at the eight year old girl holding a wand and surprised himself by keeping his face blank of emotion.

"What is your name?"

The girl looked up at him and smiled, "Cepheus."

"Cepheus? Meaning 'King'?"

Cepheus' smile turned into a slight grimace. "Yes, Monsieur Malfoy. And zere is no need to be shocked by it or even amused. If I am correct, your own name, Draconis, means 'Dragon'. Oui?"

"Yes." Draco looked sharply down at Cepheus but couldn't find it in his heart to threaten her for talking to him that way. Rather, he admired the courage that she held in her posture and voice.

"You are very young to be wielding that wand. Why do you have it?"

"For moi, it is perfectly legal. I vas cursed vhen I vas eight years old so zat I vould age normally mentally but vould stay trapped in mon adolescent body. Technically speaking, I am four hundred and seventy-five years old."

This time, Draco could not hold his emotions in check. He openly gaped at the seemingly young girl who was inspecting the shirt that he was wearing.

"Non, non, this vill not vork at all. Verto gray (2)" She swished her wand across his body and his shirt obtained a dark gray color. "Oui! Parfaite," Cepheus turned her face up to Draco's and smiled innocently. "Now it is time for your etiquette lessons."

"I hardly think that will be necessary, Cepheus. I am a Malfoy, I understand proper etiquette."

"Oui, but not in ze presence of ze Dark Lord, Monsieur Malfoy."

For a few seconds, Draco simply stared at the tiny woman in front of him. Then, slightly grudgingly, he nodded.

Soon, Draco revealed to Cepheus that he could speak French fluently and he endured his entire lesson on proper social grace in the presence of the Dark Lord in rapid French. After an hour of training, the door opened and Draco was surprised to find his father standing in the frame.

"Pardon me, Cepheus, but I need to speak with my son. Alone."

"Bien sûr, Maître Malfoy (3)".

Lucius Malfoy waited until the door had closed behind the small woman until he turned to his son. While his face held no emotion except for superiority over his son, his eyes were filled with pride and respect for the young man standing before him.

"What do you wish to discuss, Father?"

"I would only like to inform you that you shall be presented to the Dark Lord in front of his innermost circle of confidants and that you are gaining great honor today. You and Miss Greengrass are the youngest to be admitted to our circle of… servants. You will uphold our family name proudly by doing this and I expect no less than the most amount of service that you can give the Dark Lord. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Father. I promise that I will serve the Dark Lord to my fullest capabilities and that I will not fail you in upholding the Malfoy name."

"Good. Now you may go and see Miss Greengrass before the initiation begins. You have fifteen minutes."

Draco walked to the door and when he touched the cold metal of the handle he heard his father from behind him,

"Oh, and Draco?"

Draco turned to see his father smiling. "Yes, Father?"

"I am very proud of you."

"Thank you, Father."

"Astoria," Draco softly called to the young lady who was sitting on a delicate stool with her back turned to him. She turned around and smiled up at the man in front of her.

"Hello, Draco. Fancy seeing you here."

Draco looked at Astoria's grinning face with a mischievous light in his eyes. Her hair had been simply braided to the side in an elegant and beautiful way. A green barrette pinned her bangs back and brought the lightness of her hair out. She was wearing a strapless, dark brown gown that fitted her body perfectly. It flared out at the waste and the flimsy chiffon of her skirt was flecked with gold.

"No dress robes?"

"No, apparently the Dark Lord does not regard dress robes as a woman's garment. He prefers true dresses."

"You look beautiful," the comment was out of Draco's mouth before he could stop it and his pale cheeks flushed pink for a moment.

"Thank you, Draco. As do you, we shall make quite the impression, I believe," if Astoria was startled by the sincerity of Draco's compliment, she didn't show it.

"Yes, we shall," Draco smiled at Astoria and turned to the sound of a door opening.

"Monsieur Malfoy, your father vould like me to fetch you and ze Mademoiselle Greengrass for your ceremony." With that, Cepheus slipped out of the room.

Draco turned to Astoria and held out his arm to her.

"Ready, Mademoiselle Greengrass?" He smirked at her.

"Always, Monsieur Malfoy," she returned his smirk with a grin.

They walked down the dark hallway, arm in arm and turned the corner to face an intimidating set of white and gold double doors. Draco took a deep breath and pushed the doors open, a white light immediately gushed out of the doors and silhouetted the two teenagers against their fate.

A/N:

DUN. DUN. DUN.

Did you liiiike it? :) I did, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it! What was your favorite part? Least favorite part? Improvements? Suggestions? Ideas? I'll take anything in a review :)

And I'm sorry that this chapter is kind of boring, I needed a filler chapter. Also, the lyrics at the beginning dont have much to do with anything in it… But I LOVE Coldplay, so that's why I used them.

A few more things! One, Cepheus really does mean "King" I'm not making that up. And I tried to make her sound as authentically French as possible. I'm not quite sure on how to actually do that… But I think it worked pretty well. And if you have any questions on what something meant, just message me or ask in a review *HINT HINT*

How about this, if enough of you review then I'll make an effort to make the next chapter 2,000 words long. Okay? Okey dokes. Please review!

OnlyPureBlood, over and out :)

(1) "It's your loss"

(2) Turn gray

(3) "Of course, Master Malfoy"