Chapter Ten
A/N : By the way, just to give you fair warning, this chapter is going to be very, very, very long.
Three months had passed since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts and everything was just about returning to normal.
In the House of Malfoy, this was the first time that they had been properly together for dinner for thirteen years. It was also Allie's first dinner with her family, as she'd been bedbound for three months. Though she was still on crutches, she was alright. She sat down next to her mother, while her father sat next to Draco, who was opposite to Allie. Lucius Malfoy raised a glass to toast, the others mimicking him.
"To our little girl. We're glad to have you back, princess. To Allie."
"Allie."
"Allie."
They sat and ate quickly, casting quick friendly glances at each other as they did so.
When they'd finished, Narcissa jumped to her feet and walked over to the fireplace, checking that it was all in working order, tapping Draco and Lucius on the shoulders as she went, then walking over to Allie and helping her to start getting up.
"Come along, we need to get ready for the service tonight. Allie, we need to get started quickly, because it's going to take us longer to get ready and you can't Apparate."
"Alright."
Allie was helped up from her seat by Lucius and reached for her crutches, which her father passed to her. She then exited the room with Narcissa, while Draco did the same with Lucius several minutes later.
Approximately an hour later, Draco and Lucius were standing in the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor, waiting for Narcissa and Alyssa to come downstairs. They were dressed smartly, much to Draco's dismay, in black suits and green cravats with black coats over the top to block out the cold. Lucius remained patient, while Draco was pacing up and down, the complete opposite of his father's patience.
"Oh, how long are they going to take?"
"Your mother has to help Allie. She's still on crutches, she has to be careful." snapped Lucius.
"I know."
About ten minutes later, Narcissa swept down the stairway wearing a long sleeved full length green dress with silver jewellery and a black veil coming from her hair, which was in a french twist.
"You look gorgeous, darling." commented Lucius, kissing his wife on the forehead.
"Thank you."
"What's with the veil, Mum?"
"Oh, it's a sign of respect for the memorial. Remember your Aunt Walburga's funeral."
"Not really. I was only six. Where's Allie?"
"She's coming now."
"Doesn't she need help with her crutches?"
"No. She told me she wanted to go it alone."
A full fifteen minutes later, Allie descended the staircase wearing a three quarter length emerald off-shoulder dress with a silver twist belt, matching jewellery and, like her mother, a black veil secured under her topknotted hair, a few curls framing her face.
"Allie, where's your crutches?" asked Draco, as she reached the foot of the stairs.
"I'm not taking them. I'll manage for one evening."
She turned her gaze from her brother to her father, finally landing upon her mother.
"Mum, your hair!"
"What about it?"
"You dyed it back. It's blonde."
Everyone turned to look at the woman and sure enough, her hair no longer had the black running through it, but was pure blonde.
"So I did. It was a memorial in itself, my hair. I had it since I was...oh...twenty-nine, thirty?"
"A memorial for me?"
"Yeah, but I don't need it any more, because you're both here, with me."
She pulled both her children into her arms, holding them tightly.
"Oi!" complained Lucius. "What about me?"
"Oh, come here, you!" exclaimed Narcissa, releasing her children and pulling her husband into a passionate kiss, while Draco put his arm around his little sister.
"Come on, we'd better go." said Draco weakly, in an attempt to discourage his parent's embrace from getting any more uncomfortable for their children. Luckily, it worked. Narcissa and Draco walked to the fireplace in the hallway and flooed out immediately, soon followed by Lucius and Allie in quick succession. The house was extremely large with endless gardens and from what they could see, contained about fifty people.
"How many people are coming, Mum?"
"Not many. The family and a few guests. You'll have met most of them before."
"Did you invite the Weasleys?" she asked nervously.
"Yes and Mr. Potter. I thought he should be here, as Sirius' godson."
"Yes, you're right. He knew him better than we did. Me and Draco, I mean."
"Yes. Come along, the ceremony's in the garden."
They walked outside to a marquee and found quite a few people there, including Andromeda, Nymphadora, Remus, little Teddy, the Weasleys and Harry. Andromeda and Nymphadora were wearing veils in their hair as well, even though Nymphadora had never met half of the people the memorials were for. Then again, neither had Allie.
Everyone took their seats and the first person got up to give the first memorial speech. It was Andromeda.
"This speech is to commemorate the death of the youngest member of my generation of the family, Regulus. He made a very stupid choice, he chose to become very closely affiliated with Voldemort. It was only after a long time that Regulus realised his mistake. Unfortunately, he was already too far into the hole to get out. Regulus knew that he was going to die, so he thought that he could help the next generation by attempting to destroy one of the Horcruxes. Even though he didn't succeed, he tried his best and that was a very admirable thing for an eighteen-year-old to do. Reg, despite being a Death Eater, was a hero. Thank you very much."
She stepped down from the podium to quiet applause to give way to Narcissa, who was now approaching it.
"Hello everyone. I just wanted to start off by saying thank you for coming. I know there are a few people in this tribute, particularly the one I'm about to give, that most people would not listen to, because they think that they are not worth it. Well, even I can say that Bellatrix Lestrange was not worth it. But to those of you that knew her, Bellatrix Black was. She was cunning, ambitious, manipulative, everything a perfect Slytherin would be. But she was also kind, friendly, sort of, and fiercely loyal to her sisters. It wasn't so much her marriage that changed her, because she had already changed by the time she married. I lost my sister to Lord Voldemort about thirty years ago. She was gone, but I knew that she was still in there somewhere, buried deep. I told her that she had to try to find herself. It turned out that Bellatrix didn't die a few weeks ago, my sister died thirty years ago. Thank you for listening."
She stepped down and sat next to her husband, burying her head in his shoulder. By the time Nymphadora had stepped up, the atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"This is slightly going off subject, but we thought that five minutes could be taken to remember someone who unintentionally split the family. Ted Tonks, my dad. He loved my mum so much and she loved him just as much, maybe even more, because she left her family behind. She left her sisters, her parents, her cousins and her friends, even her education. Dad died on the run, trying to protect me and Remus and mum and eventually Teddy as well. In case anyone didn't actually know that, I named Teddy after the grandfather that he never got to meet. And I hope that Teddy will make him as proud as he made me. And I hope that I will as well. Thank you."
She flew down to her seat and was enveloped in Remus' arms, holding him close and stroking Teddy's turqoise hair. She then buried her head into her mother's shoulder, as it was Remus' turn to speak.
"Hello. As you may have heard, I am a recent addition to this family and I just want to say thank you to a few people who helped us during the war. Thank you to Narcissa Malfoy for lying to Voldemort, to Andromeda for ridding us of a cackling maniac Death Eater and, perhaps most importantly, to Allie, not just for the battle, but for the work with the Order of the Phoenix, saving Harry and Ron quite a few times and for being the constant voice of reason. Now, this tribute is for one of my best friends, Sirius. He was a brilliant godfather and friend. As for being a son, brother and cousin, he had his ups and downs. He was always the odd one out in his family, but he always fitted in with the Marauders. He always did and he always will. Thank you."
He stepped down and lent an arm to Allie, who was walking up to the podium. When she reached it, she saw the confused faces staring back at her.
"I can see that some of you are confused as all the deceased members of the family have been accounted for, but I thought that this tribute should be made. He wasn't so much a part of the Black family as the Malfoys, but he was a Black through my mother. He was brave, loyal, incredibly loyal, and a friend in your time of need. He helped us all so many times. He was loyal to his family until the end, when he was killed by one of them. In his short life, he caused so much joy, while he was inflicted with so much pain. This tribute is for Dobby, a free elf."
Raptuous applause filled the hall and several people created a standing ovation. People began to file out of the marquee. Allie suddenly stopped and ran inside to the fireplace, stepping through and then back again, running to find her family again.
Later that evening, Harry was sitting against a wall in the tapestry room at Grimmauld Place, staring at the faces of the people he used to know. Bellatrix, her face looking less maniacal with her eyes closed. Sirius, reinstated to his original place on the tapestry by Narcissa Malfoy, along with Andromeda and the other people who had been disowned. Nymphadora and Teddy, finally taking their rightful places. Next to the bubblegum pink, he stared at the golden blonde hair of Allie Malfoy, smiling dazzlingly. Then he noticed the small envelope underneath her name. He broke the seal and began to read the elegant crimson script.
My dearest Harry,
Despite what appearances may suggest, I am not a snake among the lions and I never intend to be.
All my love forever,
ASRNM.
Harry sat back against the wall, waiting until he could see his Allie again. For Harry, September couldn't come fast enough, but for Allie, she had never dreaded anything more.
The End
A/N : I've finally finished! If you want to find out what happens to Allie, I will be publishing a sequel soon, which will be called 'The Girl Who Promised'. Keep a lookout...
HermioneHeartstring7.