Rosalind – soon, I have something very specific in mind. ;-) Rune, ah, I lurf it when you say my writing's getting better! Yours is too you know. (So you've been taking the writing enhancement potion also, eh? ;-) FallenAngel, yep, it was about time for that, wasn't it - as much as I like the Edwardian feeling of the formalities. ;-) Emmy, shirtless….oh Merlin….I know…I almost didn't live through it. Pimp stick, that's definitely an interesting theory you have there – very Freudian. Yep, Jason is terrific. There aren't words to describe. Copperstring, here's your update! J
Disclaimer: I don't own Ginny, and I don't own Lucius, nor do I own the wizarding world, or Malfoy Manor (don't I wish I did!). I don't really even own the general idea for the plot, as it's been done before, and better. I'm compelled to continue work on it, however, as my beloved Muse, Lucius Malfoy himself, keeps smacking me with his cane every time I neglect to work on it. Notice the cane is delightfully absent from this story. Opening A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this one up, but obviously it's a bit longer than some of the others. This chapter is best read while accompanied by the adagio from Beethoven's Empire concerto, as that's what I was listening to when I wrote the bulk of it. Also, anyone who can name the film featuring the song the chapter title is taken from wins my undying love and devotion (I adore eighties music – almost as much as I enjoy challenging my readers, waha). This chapter is dedicated to my darling sister, Lisa, who is a terribly phenomenal writer herself, and helped bring out my descriptiveness in this chapter with her own superior descriptions in her fanfics. Also, she'll know where I got the title. Chapter seven: Lost in the ShadowsGinny sat in a comfortable chair by the drawing room fire, her eyes trained on a page of the book about ancient Roman wizardy in her hand, but her mind drifting. Across from her in his favourite armchair sat Lucius, his light brows furrowed in thought, as he intently read an article in the Daily Prophet.
Ginny glanced up at him lazily then turned her gaze to the fire glowing in the hearth. She was feeling ponderous on that particular afternoon, and rather hopeful for one of her engrossing and lively discussions with the blond wizard across from her, but it seemed that he was in a tranquil mood and preferred to read.
Having dispensed with the formalities the week before, she felt more comfortable with him than ever. Being called Ginevra had taken some getting used to, however she had come to rather like it, as it was more in tune with her surroundings than 'Ginny.'
She wondered how Harry would feel if he knew where she was and moreover, who she was with. He wouldn't understand, of that much she was certain. She hardly understood herself. She felt less angry towards him than she had before, and she wondered curiously how he was faring in the American wizarding world, and if his and Ron's jobs were quite what they had expected.
Lucius folded up the paper and laid it on the table beside his chair with a soft flop. Rising, he strode purposefully from the room with no word as to his destination, but Ginny was so lost in her thoughts she barely took notice.
Her mind had wondered to what her parents were doing, whether they missed her or not, and Hermione's new job at the ministry, working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures – Hermione was hoping to work herself into a position to lobby for house elf rights, her pet cause. She missed her mum and dad, and she missed Hermione, but curiously she felt no desire to leave the manor to see them.
"Can Cappy get Miss Weasley anything?" Squeaked a voice behind her chair, bringing Ginny back to reality. She thought for a moment then asked for a cup of tea. She did so hate to disappoint Cappy when he wished to be helpful; the elf had grown terribly fond of her. He disappeared and returned only a minute later with some tea that Ginny suspected he had already brewed in anticipation of her request.
"Thank you Cappy," she said with a smile. Cappy grinned back at her, lingering for a moment. "Would Miss Weasley like anything else?" He asked tentatively.
Ginny couldn't think of anything. "No, I think that'll be all for now, Cappy, unless you can tell me what we're having for dinner."
Cappy seemed delighted to do so. "Tonight, Miss Weasley and Master Malfoy will have roast beef, Miss Weasley's favourite!" He beamed up at her. Ginny wondered how he knew it was her favourite dish.
"Cappy always knows," the elf said softly as if in answer to her thought. He timidly laid his small hand on hers. "Cappy is so glad to have a pretty lady around again," he said, looking up at her with bright eyes.
"And I'm glad to know you, Cappy," said Ginny sincerely. The elf had been extremely gracious and kind to her during her stay at the manor. She highly doubted that she would have settled in so much without him.
Cappy slid his other hand under hers, his toothsome smile as bright as the full moon and his shyness dissipating.
"What the hell are you doing?" hissed Lucius' unmistakable voice from the doorway.
Startled, Ginny turned to see that the tall wizard was glaring at Cappy, not herself. The trembling house elf cowered and stared up at him, his violet eyes the size of tennis balls.
To Ginny's horror, he advanced on the elf and grabbed him menacingly by the collar of his pillowcase. "Lucius! What are you doing?" She shrieked. He paid her no heed. "That was inappropriate," he hissed through bared teeth. "How dare you take such liberties!" He flung Cappy painfully to the floor.
Frantically Ginny jumped out of her chair. "He didn't do anything!" she exclaimed, flushing with anger. "Don't hurt him, he hasn't done anything wrong!" She tugged on his arm, which was raised to strike.
Lucius turned to her with a scowl. "Ginevra," he said coolly, "you live here now, but I am still master of this house. You will not tell me what to do with my own things."
Ginny stood her ground. "He's not a thing, he's a living being! He didn't do anything wrong, Lucius…it was nothing more than the whim of a lonely elf. You can't honestly mean to punish him for it!"
"You have no say in this matter. You do not understand servants, Ginevra," he stated condescendingly. His dangerously narrowed eyes dared her to challenge him further, but his tone was final.
"Fine!" shouted Ginny angrily. She knew she had lost, which humiliated her, but more than that she was terrified for Cappy. She could think of no more to say, however, so grabbing her book, she flew from the room without once glancing at Lucius.
Changed indeed.
Ginny was too furious to read for some time after the scene in the drawing room. She was appalled at her host's behavior toward a loyal servant, as well as his illusion to her parents' lack of wealth. "You do not understand servants, Ginevra." Damned is she didn't! Ginny had been waited on by house elves all her seven years at Hogwarts! She'd journeyed to the kitchens with Hermione to visit Winky, the disgraced elf formerly in the employ of a deceased Ministry of Magic official, on several occasions. She knew house elves, and she knew they didn't have to be treated like that.
Her fury was such that she would have left immediately if she had been able to do so without Lucius' aid and consent.
As it was, she elected to stay in her room for the rest of the evening and deprive him of her company at dinner. She didn't know if she could manage civility anyway.
Some hour or more after the set supper hour, Richter brought Ginny a plate of food on a tray. Feeling quite hungry by then, Ginny was grateful for it, but she considered declining to eat to spite her host. After a moment's debate she decided that would be too good an illustration of the ancient "cutting off one's nose to spite his face" adage, and quickly set into her solitary dinner.
By nature Richter was a rather quiet and morose elf, quite unlike the pleasant and sometimes talkative Cappy, but after some persuasion he reluctantly informed Ginny that Malfoy had taken his own supper in the drawing room, much to her satisfaction.
…
Ginny awoke to another bitter cold, grey November day the following morning and waged a private debate as to whether she should go down to breakfast or continue to ignore Lucius.
Before she had made up her mind she was interrupted by the popping sound of Cappy apparating into her room with a mug of coffee and two pieces of toast drenched in butter and topped off with a solitary fried egg, her preferred breakfast.
"Good morning, Miss Weasley!" Cappy greeted in a cheerful tone, though Ginny's attention was instantly drawn to the bandages around his long, slender fingers.
"Cappy, are you okay?" she inquired, feeling terribly guilty to have been a party to the elf's mistreatment.
"Cappy has never been better!" he exclaimed, beaming up at her. Ginny couldn't quite understand his reasoning, but felt better to see that he was cheerful, and nothing was broken.
"Mr. Malfoy has instructed Cappy to inform Miss Weasley that he will be away today on business. Master said Miss Weasley may do anything she likes to keep herself entertained, and also Master said Miss Weasley must choose a dinner for Cappy and Richter to cook."
Cappy opened the palm of his hand, revealing a small cylindrical device of dull silver, which rotated seemingly of its own volition. Instantly the voice of Lucius Malfoy flooded the room.
"Ginevra," it said, "I must spend the day on business in Diagon Alley, I trust you will find ways to keep yourself occupied in my absence. It will be your duty to inform the house elves what they shall serve at dinner. I will be back in time to dine with you." Ginny noted that his voice was none too warm, and she winced as she imagined the imperious scowl that must have been pasted on his face as he spoke.
With Lucius gone, she decided to take her breakfast downstairs in the drawing room in her favourite chair by the fire.
Over the course of the morning Ginny began to marvel at how bored she was without the former Death Eater's presence in the room with her. It wasn't as if they talked all the time, she thought, so why did it feel peculiar and rather empty to sit and read without him?
She tried to immerse herself in The Song of the Geisha: An Art Witch's Tale, which had fascinated her when she first picked it up, but she felt too antsy to read for more than a few minutes at a time and kept losing her place – she had gotten all the way to the author's introduction as a geiko before she realized she had absolutely no clue what that was.
Abandoning the book, she considered taking a walk, but realized upon glancing out the window that it was raining again. It was too much bother with rain repelling spells and whatnot, so that was out. She eventually settled on a self-guided tour of the manor. There were parts of the large Malfoy home that she had not yet seen, and she highly doubted Lucius would ever think to show her, or indeed even want to show her. He mostly kept to the drawing room, his private study, and the small dining room to the left of the large formal dining hall, which was too big for just the two of them.
Ginny stepped into the hallway outside the drawing room and paused to observe where it led. She'd seen a few of the rooms beyond the one she and Malfoy so frequently occupied, but she had never been invited to follow the hallway to its end. Why not, she thought, deciding to explore it then.
She noted as she walked slowly down it, her eyes observing every detail, that the hallway was somewhat bare. Every now and then she passed a portrait of snoozing Malfoy ancestors or an open door, which led to a dark, barren room with sheets covering scattered pieces of furniture - nothing particularly interesting to see. Nonetheless, she felt compelled to continue.
At the end of the hallway Ginny came to a long, dark, twisted stair, leading to somewhere she couldn't see for the gloomy darkness. She stared up it apprehensively for a moment, then pulled out her wand and began to ascend.
She was startled slightly on several occasions as she climbed when she hit a creaky stair, and once rather badly when she awoke an angry portrait of a dark eyed Victorian witch, in an elaborate but ill-fitting pink satin gown. The painting shouted at her indignantly long after she was out of sight of it, but it was speaking Slavic and Ginny had no idea what it was saying.
After what seemed like an eternity, she finally came to a landing. She was surrounded by inky darkness on all sides, but she felt through her shoes that the floor beneath her was marble, and heard her cautious steps echoing in the gloom. "Lumos," she muttered, illuminating the surrounding area.
She seemed to be standing in another hallway, but by the look of it no one had been there for years. The rich wooden furniture that punctuated the bare walls was all covered in a thick layer of dust, and the gilded mirror that hung a few feet away from her was cracked and dirty. There were several doors on each side of the rectangular hall, which ended in another door about twelve meters in front of her.
Curiously, Ginny opened the first door she came to on her left, and poking her head and the lit tip of her wand in, she looked about. The walls were covered in bookcases and wood paneling, and in the center of the room was a grand mahogany writing desk, empty of all of the knick-knacks and papers that usually adorn desks in use. In the corner of the room under a tall, freestanding lamp with a burgundy and gold shade was a giant world globe in a wooden frame, which instantly captured Ginny's attention. She had always wanted one for the Weasley home.
After giving the globe a last, longing look, Ginny closed the door before the urge to enter the room and disturb the contents became any more severe.
The room next to the first seemed to be some sort of guest room, for there was a bed and some other matching furnishings within. It was similar to Ginny's room, in color and layout, and didn't interest her as much as the room with the globe.
The next door she tried was locked, but the one after that opened to a large room lined with windows, and bearing a king sized bed with emerald hangings, sitting on a furry rug in the center of the marble floor. Ginny was too overcome with curiosity not to enter the room and open the shades this time. There was something distinctively different about the feeling that pervaded the dark interior.
After the darkness of the hall, the grey winter light that streamed in from the windows seemed bright and illuminating. Ginny stood at the foot of the four-poster bed and surveyed the area around her. A black trunk of what appeared to be dragonhide graced a space on the floor to the left of the bed; a bookshelf with various books about Quidditch and spellwork stood only a meter or two from the trunk. Directly in front of her was a large poster for the Leicester Lords Quidditch team, all in the team colors of royal blue and brilliant purple.
Ginny had no doubt as to who had occupied this bedroom. Draco.
She felt a deep sadness fall upon her as she continued her survey of the dead Malfoy heir's quarters. In life she had hated him for his rotten attitude and his constant ragging on her family's inferior social position, directed especially at Ginny's older brothers, former Head Boy Ron, and the twins, Fred and George. But being in his room after his death brought a seeping pity into her heart. Looking at his possessions all there as if he could still come back to them gave her a sense of what he might have been like at home – not so very different from Ron, really. What a waste, she thought as she looked back upon his short life span. No one so young deserves to die, even someone as rude as he was. He should've had a chance to live and find a way to redeem himself. No wonder Lucius was so bitter and sometimes lost in his despair. Ginny completely forgot her anger and was washed in a wave of grief for her companion.
The longer she lingered in Draco's room, the more Ginny felt she would have been happy to stay there herself. With a shudder she left it undisturbed save for the open shades, closing the door tightly.
The next door she came to was the one at the end of the hall. It was unlocked, and emboldened by her experience in the last room, Ginny walked right in.
She was stricken with the size of it, which she got a sense of even before she opened the thick, dark curtains over the only window looking out over the pasture that ran parallel to the west side of the manor. Standing by the window, Ginny looked over the room and decided it had to have been the master bedroom at one time. The golden-framed bed was huge, almost beyond king size, and covered with a strangely iridescent royal blue coverlet and matching canopy.
Blinking in the light, Ginny looked around the room quickly. Lucius had slept there once, and that thought alone made it almost too personal for her comfort, even though she suspected he hadn't been in there since his return from Azkaban. She decided to look into the other rooms, and only go back to that one if she had extra time.
Back in the hallway, Ginny faced the remaining wall, which held only two doors. She found nothing but an empty room with a sheet over a single piece of furniture behind the first one, and moved directly to the second door, which was unlocked and yielded squeakily to her prizing entrance.
As soon as she had thrown open the shade, the red haired girl was stricken with the difference in colour and feeling in this room as compared to the others. The furnishings were of a light coloured wood, and the upholstery on the small settee and matching chair in front of the picture window was a powdery lavender colour. Over a lavender-skirted dressing table on one side of the room was a large guilt-framed mirror. Bottles of various perfumes, cosmetics and potions were scattered over the top of the table.
Ginny stared at it for a moment, registering in her mind that she had obviously stumbled upon the deceased Narcissa's private dressing room, when something on the other side of the room caught her eye.
Three wardrobes, as big as pantries, stood against the opposite wall. The door of the first one was open, revealing a row of dusty but nonetheless elegant and elaborate robes, in various pastel shades. Ginny's breath was taken away as she looked at them and slowly stepped over to the open wardrobe, her hand out to touch the fine fabrics. She'd only dreamed of owning clothes like these.
She pulled a gold, slim-fitting robe out of the wardrobe and stared at it, her eyes taking in the smooth satin and elegant trimming. She wanted to try it on more than anything in the world, but something stopped her. She looked around the room, from the dressing table to the settee, to the window, and back to the wardrobe. She was alone all right, but it didn't feel like it somehow. The aura of Narcissa Malfoy filled the room like an expensive perfume. Every piece of furniture and every rich robe softly whispered to Ginny, 'I'm not yours'.
Slowly she placed the gold garment back in the wardrobe and closed the door. She felt keenly melancholy, and a curious icy feeling was spreading over the back of her neck. She thought she caught something move out of the corner of her eye and turned on her heel with her wand at the ready, but she saw only the gentle flutter of a curtain in a draft. Still, something deep inside her seemed to be telling her she wasn't alone.
The icy feeling grew, spreading down her spine and tingling in her fingers. Panic welled up from deep inside her chest, overwhelming her logic, but another force rooted her to the spot. She was paralyzed, the two emotions battling for supremacy within her. She didn't want to leave the room, but soon her terror would overcome her.
Taking a deep breath, she brushed a strand of red hair off her sweating forehead. It's all in your mind, she told herself, but she finally gave over to the fear and left the lavender room, closing the door with a loud creak and quickly crossing the marble floor…almost running down the stairs, all the while assuring herself it was only her silly whimsy, but feeling as if she were being pursued.
Back in the drawing room, Ginny forced herself to become engrossed in the book about Japanese geisha witches, but she never entirely shook the icy cold on the back of her neck.
Lucius sought Ginny out the moment he arrived home, and found her sitting in her usual spot by the fireplace in the drawing room, a book in hand. "Salmon," she told him by way of greeting, without looking up.
Lucius smirked. "I see you got my message, Ginevra. I'm pleased to hear Cappy is good for something." Ginny cleared her face of her resulting scowl before she turned to look at him. His smirk had changed to a surprisingly pleasant smile.
"Ginevra, I don't believe we'll ever agree on the subject of house elves," he told her dryly, "but I offer you a flag of truce." He held out a package, of white paper with a little twine wrapped around the middle. It looked squishy, like a cloth something was within.
Ginny took it with a raised eyebrow. "For me?" she asked. "Open it," said Lucius with a sly smile.
As Ginny removed the wrapping her fingers brushed something soft, and pulling off the remainder of the white paper, she gasped to see a very expensive-looking forest green velvet witch's robe in her size. "Lucius, really…"
"Yes, really."
So he thought he could win her over again by buying her expensive gifts? Ginny marveled at how manipulative the smiling blonde wizard could be, even so far this side of his Death Eater days. In a flash of insight she realized that was how he'd kept his wife and son's support and admiration through the years, by pacifying them with gifts - and now he was employing the same tactics on her. Well, two could play at that game. After all, she thought wryly, he owed her for putting up with his moods.
She gave him a dignified smile. "It's lovely. I'll wear it tomorrow, if you like." Cocking an eyebrow she added, "last night is forgotten."
Lucius smiled brilliantly, showing off a row of perfect white teeth, bared in a catlike grin. "Excellent. Shall we go to dinner then?" he asked, offering her his arm.
Ginny took it with a smile of her own, acting the part of the conceding woman. But really I've won, she thought to herself. I've obviously made him care what I think, and that's an advantage he doesn't suspect he's given me.
Closing A/N: I'm surprisingly happy with this chapter, considering I usually put them up feeling only marginally satisfied with my writing. This'll probably end up being my favourite chapter, if only for all the references to movies and books I love. I had to have the obligatory heroine-wanders-around-large-gloomy-manor/castle/estate scene, which is in homage to all my favourite Gothic romantic fiction, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Turn of the Screw, and Rebecca.
For any of you who wonder why Cappy would be so cheerful after being punished, here's the explanation (which I couldn't work into the fic): Cappy's a bit of a romantic, and though he isn't able to go against a direct order from Lucius, he feels that being punished for his "love" for Ginny is a worthy cause and therefore validates his unrequited feelings somehow. In short, it makes him feel important, and though he won't attempt any more affection, the flame still burns bright. ;-) Ah, I love house elves.