Chapter 5
Meeting the family
"Have you seen my shoes?" Crys shouted from the adjacent room.
"It's in the bathroom," Brandon replied as he walked into my room rubbing the back of his head.
Brandon dressed in black slacks and a white dressy shirt sat on my bed.
"I tripped over her shoes while in the bathroom" he explained while picking imaginary particles off his pants.
Crys then walked in clad with her shoes. She was wearing a floor length dark blue dress with bronze lining around the edges of the dress. She looked very Ravenclaw-ish in comparison to her Slytherin self. She sat next to Brandon aiding in plucking off the imaginary particles off his pants.
"Are you three ready yet?" Thay asked as he walked in, dressed similarly to Brandon except with his longish hair falling in his face as if he spent hours perfecting it to that style.
"Ready." I answered glancing at myself in the mirror once more before linking hands with Crys and Brandon.
My hair was pinned up in small tight curls with green and silver clips holding them in place and my floor length dark green dress with silver accessories provided me with the perfect aura of a true Slytherin.
We all linked hands to Thay as he apparated us to the Malfoys' Manor. It was the Malfoys' annual Christmas Eve party and we were all invited this year.
We were ushered to the main ballroom by some servants who were stationed at the door.
The room was magnificent. It was extremely spacious even with the amount of people presently occupying its space. The Christmas decor livened up the room in comparison to the rest of the house that we passed on the way to the ballroom.
I searched for Draco through the crowd. After five minutes of searching, my eyes landed on his. He was in the middle of the room surrounded by Jodie and Pansy. My eyes darkened considerably when I saw Jodie whispering in his ear. He smirked towards me and then turned to face Jodie and replied but he was cut off when his father's voice echoed throughout the room.
"Welcome all to the Malfoys' Annual Christmas party," Lucious Malfoy spoke out from the stage.
"I am glad that you all were able to accept me and my wife's invitation. Tonight, we not only celebrate our annual party but also our main guest of honour," he continued.
"Guest of honour? Who could that be?" Crys whispered into my ear. I shrugged in reply to her question and continued to listen to Mr. Malfoy.
"Our guest is my Lord Voldemort," Lucious announced as Crys, Brandon and my mouth dropped in shock. I glanced around the room, the reaction of the other guests were completely opposite to ours; they were completely happy and unconsciously edged closer toward the stage where Lord Voldemort, himself stood.
"Welcome, my followers," the Dark Lord spoke.
I thought to myself, am I even allowed to be here?
My family never chose sides in the upcoming war and remained impartial as well as Crys's family and Brandon's.
"This must be some mistake?" I questioned myself thinking that the Malfoy's surely would not have invited us knowing that we had no true allegiance to the Dark Lord.
As my thoughts took over, the Dark Lord had finished his speech and was no longer standing on the stage. In fact, he was nowhere in the ballroom anymore and Thay was gone as well.
Suddenly, someone was tapping my shoulder. I spun around to face stormy blue eyes that belonged to Draco. He smirked at me and grabbed my hand pulling me away from the ballroom. I turned looking for either Crys or Brandon but both were nowhere to be seen as well so I willingly went with Draco.
He pulled me along through a couple twists and turns and stopped in front of a door. I felt his warm breath against my cheek and I shivered slightly.
He whispered, "You look nice tonight, I am glad you could have made it."
I smiled at him.
He smirked and then turned toward the door and knocked. The door opened immediately and he pulled me inside.
It was an office-type room. There were only a few in the room, including my brother. I shot a questioning look towards him but showed me no response. I was about to say something when I heard a hissing sound.
"Ah, Miss Crescent, we finally meet after so long. It is nice to meet you," Lord Voldemort said as he strode over to me leaving a few feet between us.
I replied naturally, "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. But what is it that you mean after so long?"
"Do you realize that you are talking to me in parseltongue, Kimberley?" he asked, disregarding my question.
I stood there, slightly shocked. I hadn't realized that I was speaking parseltongue. I was now aware that he was hissing as well when speaking to me.
I replied in English, "I didn't realize until you mentioned."
"Interesting," was all he said while turning to sit behind the desk.
"Do you know who your father is?" he asked his snake eyes directed on me.
"No" I replied softly, my eyes straying to my brother who avoided my eyes completely.
"Your father made a foolish mistake years ago, but he has returned to fix it. You should meet him," he said.
My eyes snapped to his. 'He knows my father?' I thought.
"Yes, I know your father for your father is me, Kimberly" he stated.
I stood there and stared at the Dark Lord. A smile graced his face. I continued to stare at him and was broken out of my trance when I heard my brother calling out my name. I looked at Thay; he had a sad smile as he watched me. My eyes darkened.
'He knew,' I thought,' he knew all this time and he never said anything!'
Thay's facial expression shifted to one of fear as he watched me.
"You knew and you never told me?" I screamed out at him.
He opened his mouth to start to explain but I wouldn't have it. I raised my hand up and he began to rise from the floor. He let out a yelp but I disregarded it. I began to smile a little as his fear completely took over his being.
"I trusted you and you lied to me! You told me that you didn't know who my father was!" I screamed at him angry tears beginning to stream down my face.
He started to say something again, but I didn't want to hear him speak. I twirled my hand and Thay's body responded to the motion. I raised my hand quickly and he slammed against the roof, then I twirled my hand again and he spun around. My hate was building up within me and many dark spells flashed through my mind to torture Thay but one stood out most prominent: the Cruciatus Curse. I smirked, before releasing him, allowing him to collapse on the floor. I pulled out my wand from the side of my shoe and aimed the curse at my brother. His screams filled the room as he twisted and crumbled in pain on the floor. Clapping broke me out of the trance I put myself in. I dropped the curse and turned away from Thay and faced the man who called himself my father. He was clapping. As his clapping slowed, I could hear the gasps of breath coming from my brother behind me. I smiled at the thought of him feeling some kind of hurt that I felt at the moment from him lying to me.
"So I take it that you didn't know that he wasn't your true brother but your cousin. Your mother died a year after you were born by aurors that were hunting us. The woman who you have known as your mother growing up was your aunt," the Dark Lord, I mean, my father began to say.
"You were hidden from society as my daughter for obvious reasons, and this story was formed for your protection. So really there was no need to punish you cousin for his acts but thank him. However, that was an amazing display of magic and concentration. I can truly say that you are my daughter. You posses the qualities I had when I was your age," he continued.
I thought about the information he just told me and turned to look at my cousin who lay on the floor. A small feeling of guilt filled me but was quickly passed off as I thought that he had still lied. I faced my father once more waiting for anymore information from him but all he said was, "But now it is getting late and you shall stay here for the remainder of your holidays. Draco shall show you to your rooms."
"Wait, what about my friends?" I cried out, imagining Crys and Brandon wondering where I was.
"They shall be escorted back to your house alongside your cousin." Mr. Malfoy replied.
I nodded glancing at my cousin who wasn't moving on the floor. I allowed myself to be pulled along by Draco until he stopped once more in front of another door.
"This is your room, mine is right across from yours. You should find some clothes in the wardrobe." He said to me.
He leaned in and kissed my cheek whispering in my ear once more,
"Goodnight and Happy Christmas." I nodded and muttered a response and walked into my room where I laid on the bed falling in to a dreamless sleep without bothering to change clothes. A smile graced my features at the thought that I had finally found my father.