Oh god I feel horrible about not updating in forever but here it is, the fourth chapter, hope you all can forgive me *pleading eyes and sheepish grin*.
Disclaimer: everything recognisable belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling
Luna and Ginny spent most of their time exploring the grounds of Malfoy manor and avoiding the places Lucius warned them about. The girls looked in just about every safe room when they came to a door that hadn't been described in Lucius warnings. This one was different from all the other doors. It was taller, made of wood and wrought iron, and had an overly large door-knocker. The knocker itself looked looked formidable, with the obsidian gargoyle guarding the knock in its gnarled mouth. There was something in the air that screamed danger and that both girls should walk away. But Ginny's Gryffindor stubbornness and Luna's Ravenclaw thirst for knowledge prevented either girl from doing so. They exchanged a brief look that pretty much said 'if we open this door, there's no going back. You with me?' each girl nodded and reach for the handle grasping it and pulling at the same time.
The door was heavier than it looked, and that was saying something considering it looked like the Malfoys had taken it straight off a dungeon from the 1400s, which, knowing the Malfoys, they probably did. At first there was too much dust to see anything but when it settled again both girls gasped. The room looked eerily like a crypt. Cob webs were stuck to the ceiling, spiders climbed up the walls, and there were tables everywhere. Only after a moment of inspection did they realise that it really was a crypt. The tables had bodies on them that were wrapped in shroud. They looked at each other and swallowed.
"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come in here," Luna said.
"Why not?" Ginny asked, "you might be able to learn about some of your ancestors here."
"Yes, that may be, but wouldn't it just be easier to just ask about them, it would definitely be more practical..."
Luna was soon distracted by something engraved on one of the tables, though. From what she could make out this was her one of her earlier ancestors, Brutus Malfoy. He was born in 1605 and was a pure-blood advocate. While Luna didn't really have any problems with muggle born witches and wizards or with muggles themselves, she figured that pure-bloods probably held their beliefs for a reason and that some of them, like the Death Eaters, just went to the extremes to make their opinions known. She decided to talk to her father about it later, but then something caught her eye. In the corner there was something shimmering with an otherworldly aura. Curious Luna walked over to it.
"Hello?" she called out to it.
"State your name," it responded with that drawl that everyone associated with the Malfoys.
"Luna Lo- Malfoy," she corrected herself, "and you are?"
A ghost appeared. Its hair was the same white as her father's and brother's, except it glowed with the same supernatural light that the ghosts at Hogwarts did. he also had a smirk on his face.
"Ah, we are related, but I still want to know who the ginger is."
Luna didn't miss that he ignored her question.
Ginny pouted at the term but otherwise answered, "Ginny Weasley."
The ghost appeared thoughtful for a minute, "Weasley, Weasley, where have I heard that name before, excuse my forgetfulness, I'm still trying to recover all of my memories from when I was living, and that was over three months ago."
he chuckled then stopped as another ghosts appeared, this one had white blonde hair as well, but didn't look nearly as friendly.
"Father," the first ghost greeted curtly.
"Abraxas," the new ghosts said equally irked, "And who would these children be?"
"This is my granddaughter Luna Malfoy and her friend Ginny Weasley."
At the mention of Ginny's last name the new ghost's already unfriendly expression hardened.
"Weasley?" he asked, his voice dangerously low, "Do you not know who the Weasleys ARE?"
Abraxas visibly cringed.
"I still haven't recovered all of my memories yet," he explained hurriedly.
"BLOOD TRAITORS! THE ONES WHO ACCEPT THAT FILTH INTO OUR WORLD!" the as of yet unnamed ghost screamed with such malice both girls stepped back and paled.
The ghost began to glide towards Ginny, anger radiating off its spirit form.
"Your people need to learn that there is no place for their kind in our world, or any world for that matter, they are a disgrace to magic and should be rid of. If people like you can't see that, then maybe you should be purged as well!" the phantom spat at the redhead.
"EXPULSUS!" a shout came from behind the girls and the spun around, but not before they watched as the ghost was pulled away from Ginny and sucked into a box of sorts.
Lucius Malfoy stood in the door way with his wand still raised.
"Come with me," he said, noticing how Ginny's complexion had gone a few shades whiter.
In the library of Malfoy manor Ginny and Luna huddled together as Lucius came back in with some hot chocolate.
"Chocolate doesn't just help after an encounter with dementors," he said with a small smile, handing each girl a mug.
They both accepted their mugs gratefully and thanked the elder Malfoy.
"So who was that exactly," Ginny asked, breaking the silence.
Lucius sighed, "That, unfortunately, was my grandfather, Cronus Malfoy. A fitting name don't you think, the father that ate his children to insure his own power. He's the one who forced my father to become a Death Eater as well as myself. Neither of us wanted to be Death Eaters but he pushed for it, even going so far as putting each of us under the imperious on the day of our initiation ceremonies."
"So you didn't want to be a Death Eater?" Ginny asked sceptically, "because it didn't seem that way to me when you slipped Tom Riddle's diary into my basket before I started my first year."
Luna looked at her friend "Ginny-"
But Lucius held up a hand to stop his daughter, "No, no its okay Luna. I admit that I shouldn't have done that and in all honesty I had no idea what it was capable of but that doesn't excuse me totally. I do hope you could find it in you to forgive me?"
Ginny looked thoughtful for a minute, "I believe I can Mr. Malfoy, besides I think that not doing so would be a bit of a problem if I'm going to be visiting Luna."
Luna looked relieved at the fact her friend could now play nice with the rest of her family, then a thought that had been on her mind came to her. "Father?"
Lucius looked at her attentively, "Yes?"
"Why do a lot of pure-bloods hate muggles and muggle borns?"
"Well first you have to understand, that prejudice was formed at the start of magic when muggles thought magic was pure evil and tortured and murdered witches and wizards for being what they were, whether they could help it or not. Most of the time they were killing "innocent" muggles anyway. Wizards of that time saw how barbaric muggles where and knew they'd have to protect themselves. They also didn't know which muggles could be trusted therefore relationships with muggles was banned. It wasn't some unfounded prejudice, it was for the magical community's own protection."
Luna nodded, it made sense, "But why are there still those prejudices?"
"Because pure-bloods today are too bloody thick to realise that muggles are more accepting of magic folk as long as we don't present ourselves as threats, which is exactly what most of the Death Eaters are doing." Lucius said, his voice thick with frustration.
Ginny's eyes lit up like they always did when she was about to ask a question. "I know this is a bit off topic but where did Cronus go?"
Lucius smiled, "I banished him into a portal that leaves spirits stranded in a limbo of sorts, my mother invented it and we named it 'Pandora's box' after her."
The girls giggled at the well placed pun.
"What happened to my grandmother? I never hear anyone mention her. Is she still alive?" Luna asked, being extra cautious with the latter part of the question.
"She's still alive, her cottage is up in Yorkshire. I think it would be a good idea to introduce you to her, the last time you've seen her was when you were about two months old"
"Are there any other ghosts in this house?" Luna asked, her dreamy eyes drifting across the walls of the library.
Lucius looked a little taken aback at his daughters random question but decided to blame her untimely questions and sudden topic changes on his cousin, who had a habit of doing that. "Only one other, Brutus Malfoy."
"Yes, I saw his sarcophagus. Would it be alright if I talked to him and Abraxas, I want to know what life was like for them, especially Brutus."
"Yes, I do believe that would be okay, they are a lot more tame than Cronus. I have a feeling you'll get on quite well with my mother, she was in Ravenclaw you know," he told her, "I'm assuming that's where you get your need for knowledge from."
Luna's eyes lit up at the fact that her grandmother was in her house when attending Hogwarts.
"So her name is Pandora?" Ginny asked, "Seems appropriate for the bride of a Malfoy, no offence."
Lucius chuckled, "That's actually her middle name, her first name is Aphrodite, so you can see why she went by her second name instead. And she only truly acted like a 'Pandora' when my father got on her bad side, we were all a little scared of her when she got like that."
Ginny and Luna laughed and each took a sip of their hot chocolate while Lucius told them about the time his mother found Abraxas in the kitchen covered head to toe in flour, and about how she had screamed so loud Lucius could hear her from the stables.
About an hour later Draco and Narcissa came into the library to tell them it was time for dinner.
Dinner was a joyous affair, full of laughter and stories about Lucius and Narcissa' s childhood. It seemed like they were more brother and sister than husband and wife. There was far more merriment that Ginny had anticipated and even she had to admit that there was more to the Malfoys than everyone thought.
No one could help but notice how Draco and Ginny kept staring at each other for prolonged periods of time. Lucius and Narcissa would imitate them, their interpretations much more dramatic, making Luna laugh at her parents ridiculous behaviour. The blonde and the redhead would then look up and ask what was so funny, which would in turn make the rest of the Malfoys laugh even harder.
That night Luna slept better than she could remember getting in a very long time. There was something calming about knowing that your best friend and family were getting along after a very rocky past with each other. Who knew that a spiteful ghost could fix a seemingly unrepairable relationship?
Okay I know that Abraxas Malfoy died in sometime in the sixth book, but he was important to have in this chapter so lets just forget that little detail for now, eh? ;)
Well, I hope that was worth the wait. It took forever to think of what I where I wanted this story to go but I thought of this literally three days ago and it just started pouring out. I hate writers block with a passion...
reviews please :)
oh, and I have another story on fanfic that's about Lucius' childhood, its not related to this story and its OC. I actually was just writing it out of sheer boredom but I was kind of forced to continue writing it by my current muse (she's kind of bossy). Its called "My Immortal" if your interested.
Well, I try to update within the next two weeks but it all depends on my schedule, so it could be longer.