After the flight from Hell, Ebony found herself dead tired. She entered her new house without question or protest. Fierrensia Manor seemed like a lovely place. Her new step-father is what was considered a pureblooded wizard, yet he lived like a pureblooded prince. Her room had been decorated more or less to her taste with different shades of gray setting the color scheme. The next morning, she found David in the living room and decided to set the rules of the house down before he could.
"Look, David, you're a nice guy. I'm going to lay down several rules for you so that way we don't fight and my mother can have faith in this fake little reverie." Ebony glared up at her new, soon-to-be stepfather and extended her hand towards a chair, indicating for him to sit down. The easy-going brunette smiled before taking a seat.
"Okay, sweetheart. Would you care for something to drink?" he asked as he sat. His politeness vexed her.
"No. Now first of all. Do not call me sweetheart. I am not sweet and blood has a metallic flavor to it, so hearts aren't sweet either. Therefore, the name does not hold itself in proper regard. Second. Do not hug me. Third. I will not call you Dad, Daddy, Father, or any of those other over-rated titles. Fourth do not bother me. Fifth. Do not invite me to eat with the family because as soon as I'm old enough, I'm disowning my mother and thankfully, you can be discarded with her. Sixth. I will not acknowledge you as more then another person living in the house and you are to treat me the same. Seventh. I will never have company over, but should that chance arrive for some unknown, cosmic reason you are not to talk to me, about me, or in front of me and/or my guest. Is that understood?"
At first, David looked puzzled. His new daughter had never talked to him much, and that must have been the longest string of words he'd ever heard her say. She seemed angry with him, her mother, and most importantly, herself. He wondered why such a small girl would harbour so much rage. He could live with all of those rules, though, at least until she grew out of this childish phase. He glanced at her fingers. "What happened to your ring, swee-Ebony?"
Ebony grimaced at the thought of the small, diamond ring he had given her in honor of the coming wedding. He had said that it wasn't just a marriage, it was the making of a family and that meant everyone had to be treated equally. Well, in the first place, her diamond had been smaller than her mothers. In the second, she couldn't find a way to melt it down, so she buried it after arriving. "I'm saving it so I can wear it on a special occasion," she lied glibly.
"Oh...well, it's a very special ring, and I hope you take care of it. You see, that ring was my mother's favorite from her childhood, given to her by her best friend. When her fingers got too big for it, she wore it on a silver necklace and never removed it. In her will, she gave it to me with the instructions to give it to a special girl, and I think I chose a very special one indeed."
Ebony felt a pang of guilt. Guilt was a cursed emotion. It made people do things that wouldn't have been done otherwise. She should have cut him off after he called it a special ring. She knew better. Didn't she? Of course she did. She walked off to unearth the stupid ring. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid…
Why couldn't he just give her a dagger? She would have more use for a dagger then she would for a ring. Besides, it was wretched here in this Hogwarts place. Yesterday afternoon, she had run into this boy. Yes, it was partially her fault, but she had mumbled an apology, which was better then what he had done. She was the one that had fallen and he just stood there, spacing out. His friend tried to get his attention, but his friend was loud, and seemingly non-intelligent. She sighed, knowing better than to assume. He was probably intelligent, but taking full advantage of his summer vacation.
Draco Malfoy threw himself back upon his bed, bored. He had grown out his hair a bit over the summer and given himself the gift of a diamond studded hair tie. Each summer, he kept a journal and this one was no different. Within the week before school started, he burned them to make sure no one could read the words to be kept only to himself. He watched the ceiling change colors, trying to find one to suit his mood, and finally it settled upon being a look at deep space. A comet flew overhead. He wondered where the rumor that one was to make a wish upon a shooting star had come from. He didn't make a wish. He didn't know what he wanted. He knew what his father wanted, and seemingly, he had no other choice in the matter. Then again, right now the house was being run by his mother while his father was paying his way out of being thrown into Azkaban for good. His father chose a life of deceit. Did Draco want the same fate? Did his wants matter?
He stood and opened a steel box. It was warm to the touch and filled with a never ending flame. He threw the silver journal in, watching the flames eagerly lap at the pages of the book he had written in so diligently. His thoughts...his desires...all gone. They may as well be. They were useless to all. No one saw beyond his last name...He was a Malfoy. Powerful. Proud. Pureblooded. P Cubed. Great. That's exactly what he wanted to be...at least, it was all he was going to be.
A white and black owl came into his room through his open window and landed on the edge of the box. He picked the bird up and shook it violently. "You stupid animal! That's a box of fire!" The owl let out a shrill cry and a part of him wanted to back hand it. He covered the box, and put the bird down. It was visibly shaken, and he felt bad for it. He found some extra seed and gave it to the bird in apology. Stupidity was something always punished in this household.
The bird was shivering uncontrollably, obviously unused to such treatment. The bird was Pansy Parkinson's and it was twice as smart as its mistress, though that didn't say a lot. He hoped the seed wouldn't make it gain twice the weight of its mistress, for if such a thing should happen, the bird would never touch the sky again. "Birds," he paused his thought to pet the owl slowly, "didn't deserve to be messengers." They needed the sky, free will, and the chance to prove their intelligence more than their sense of direction. The bird calmed after a while and Draco took the message.
Mummy
said that when school started we had to be extra good, especially to
Hairy Potty, next year 'cause he's going to have a lot of teachers
favoring him, and if we're going to be in good with our professors,
we can't attack him. I miss the lady from the Ministry. She was so
nice! What was her name again? Umbrella? Underbridge? I hope
Dumbledore doesn't give us another one of those half-lings. Those
centaurs. They're awful. I miss you and I can't wait til school
starts. I have a special surprise just for you!
Dear
Draco,
Hugs and kisses,
Your precious Pansy.
Draco held the urge to regurgitate. Precious Pansy? Hugs and kisses? He shuddered. Nasty.
Early that morning, Percy had stopped by and came in wordlessly. His head was bowed and his face was set in a scowl. Molly wouldn't have known of his presence if not for her clock which told of the family's where-a-bouts.
Percy's face was beet-red when the rest of the family (including Harry and Hermione) came downstairs to meet him. Arthur looked his son over solemnly. He knew the look that was plastered on Percy's face, but Percy--the perfect one--had never worn that look before. The look of failure. The look of a fired man with no where to go but home. That look seemed out of place on perfect Percy, but Arthur said nothing. Every man needed to feel the sting of failure. It was the only way to grow and learn.
Percy studied his only sister quietly, contemplating her. She was female and females were notorious for their understanding, yet Ginny stood before him brother, rigid and cold. At last, she snapped. "Go away! We don't want to see you! Go have your fun with Umbridge and Fudge! Go!" Ginny screamed. Harry put a hand over her mouth and she struggled in his arms, but she had no choice but to give up and glare at her older brother silently. Harry removed his hand when Hermione put a hand on his shoulder.
"Percy..." Arthur began and ended, not knowing what else to say.
"Get out you git," Ron growled.
"Ron!" Molly and Hermione exclaimed together. "Ronald Weasly, I will not tolerate such verbal abuse towards your brother under my roof!" Molly continued.
"I'd gladly tell him outside, too." Percy stood silently as they talked about him as though he wasn't there--as though he couldn't hear. As though he didn't know what they were all thinking.
"Why'd you come back?" Molly asked, ignoring Ron now.
"Fudge fired me. He blamed me for not knowing Potter was telling the truth. It's all his fault. The world would be so much better without Harry Bloody Potter," Percy said in a monotonously. Molly slapped him while Harry shrank away. He could feel their stares. He left them standing there and ran upstairs, stopping just before a wall. The sprint hadn't been long, but his breath was heavy with anger.
