Chapter 11 – Partings
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The time until Thursday passed slowly. Elizabeth had mixed emotions, in that she wanted to see Draco. Yet she knew that the passing of time meant that she would have to say goodbye, not only to him, but to these new-found friends who had 'adopted' her and whom she had taken to heart. She felt especially close to George and Arthur. Arthur Weasley reminded her in so many ways of her father—both valued imagination. Her father had always said that if early man didn't have imagination, we'd all still be sitting around naked in a cave. Unlike her mother, her dad encouraged her to dream, then follow her dreams. As for George, he reminded her in so many ways of Jeff. He acted like a big goof with a heart of gold, but was extremely intelligent, and would protect those he loved like a tiger. And he was a great listener, and so easy to talk to. Yes, she loved George like another older brother. And now she would be leaving them behind, and who knows when she would be back in London to see them.
And then there was Draco. Would the relationship end when she left for Hogwarts? When her research was finished, she would probably return home to New Orleans. Would she ever see Draco again? Her heart was aching, and the only thing she could do to assuage the hurt was to keep telling herself that at least she had someone for a short time. Maybe now that she could live her own life she would eventually find someone to love her forever. But if not, she would always remember Draco Malfoy, the man who had rescued her from danger and who told her she was beautiful.
In the meantime, Elizabeth wanted to do something special for Ginny and Harry, but what? After all, they had magical powers that she could only dream of. Then it struck her. She grabbed a piece of paper and began scribbling down a list. When it was finished, she went looking for Kreacher, finally locating him upstairs gathering the laundry.
"Kreacher, would you do me a favor?"
"Of course. Kreacher is honoured to assist Miss Elizabeth."
"First, you have to promise to keep this a secret between us."
The little house elf looked at her quizzically, but assured her that he would not reveal anything they discussed, as long as it didn't hurt Master Harry or his family, but as he knew that Miss Elizabeth would never harm the family, he would keep her secret."
"Could you get these things for me? I want to fix a special dinner for the family tonight."
"Is Kreacher's cooking not to Miss Elizabeth's liking?"
"Oh, it is absolutely delicious! But I want to fix them something you'd never cook, you know, Creole food, like from back home. As a special present from me. Can you get these things for me?"
Kreacher looked at the list. "Of course Kreacher can! Some of the things Kreacher already has. The others will take no time at all. But Kreacher has a favor to ask Miss Elizabeth in return."
"Of course. What is it?"
"Would Miss allow Kreacher to help so he can learn how to prepare these? If Master Harry and Mistress Ginny like these, Kreacher must know how to cook them!"
"It's a deal!"
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That evening, Harry and Ginny returned home to find the table set with their best china, sterling, and table linens. Kreacher greeted them with the announcement that dinner would be served at eight o'clock, and there would be cocktails before. When they asked where Elizabeth was, they were shocked to hear that she was in the kitchen, cooking, and that they were requested to stay out. Ginny was speechless, while Harry couldn't help commenting that whatever was cooking smelled great.
When Harry and Ginny went upstairs to their room, they found dress robes laid out. They looked at each other, and Ginny commented, "This is going to be something really special, I think." Harry could hear his stomach rumbling. "I hope whatever it is comes soon. I'm starved. Didn't have much time to grab lunch today."
They went downstairs around seven-thirty and found Kreacher waiting with Mimosa cocktails. What was really shocking was that Kreacher was in a crisp, clean, sparkly white tea-towel, instead of the usual rag. "Kreacher!" Ginny exclaimed. "What happened to your clothes?"
Kreacher looked abashed. "Miss Elizabeth said that this was a special occasion and wanted to get Kreacher clean clothes. Kreacher explained to her that giving a house-elf clothes was a sign that they were freed or not wanted. So, Kreacher used magic to fix his own clothes. Kreacher hopes Mistress Ginny and Master Harry are not displeased."
"Displeased? You look wonderful!" she replied. Just then, a bell rang.
"Kreacher must go now. He is needed in the kitchen. Please sit at the table. Dinner is coming now"
Elizabeth walked in, dressed in the pink robe she had worn to the quidditch match. "Kreacher is taking over from here on. He's been such a great help today."
Harry looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. "What's going on?"
"Well, I wanted to give y'all something special for your generosity and kindness, but I didn't know what. Then it hit me, you probably don't have much of a chance to eat New Orleans or Louisiana cuisine here, so I enlisted Kreacher's help in getting a special dinner for you."
Just then, steaming bowls of seafood gumbo appeared, with its thick brown base and chock full of shrimp, oysters, and crab. Harry dove into it like he hadn't eaten in a week. Ginny raved about how good it was. "If Ron was here, he'd be in heaven!"
"Ron! What about Arthur? Muggle cooking! And really delicious, too!" Harry continued eating his soup.
Elizabeth smiled. She just hoped that they enjoyed the rest of the supper.
After the soup, heaping plates of andouille and shrimp jambalaya appeared. "I have no idea where I'm going to put all this, but I'm going to find a way!' gushed Ginny. "It's going to take a week of workouts to keep this off my rear!"
"Just save room for dessert," Elizabeth warned. "It's something my grandmother used to make when I was little, and nearly every restaurant in Louisiana that's worth its salt has some variation of it."
Between bites, Harry told Elizabeth that they were not letting her leave. Ginny chimed in, "Yeah, if you go we won't get to eat like this any more."
"Oh yes you will. I taught Kreacher how to fix it. He's quite adept at picking up on muggle recipes. I just had to convince him that browning a roux takes time and patience. He tried using magic and burned it every time."
"Roux?" Ginny asked. "What is that?"
Elizabeth explained that it was an oil (or butter) and flour thickener used in soups, stews and gravies.
Finally, dessert came out, bread pudding with a praline sauce. Ginny exclaimed that she had died and gone to heaven. She could taste the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg in the pudding, along with the plump, whiskey-soaked raisins. Harry looked at Elizabeth and commented, "Now I know we're not letting you go until you show Kreacher how to cook like this all the time." Ginny laughed, "If Kreacher cooked like this all the time, we'd be big as elephants! Elizabeth, you're a marvel! It's been so much fun having you here. Now that you've been adopted into the clan, you must come back and visit, and not just for the cooking!"
After supper, they sat up quite late, talking about the upcoming trip to Hogwarts. Harry asked how she had come to contact Professor McGonagall in the first place, and Elizabeth told them her story. "I don't know if I have any living relatives now, or why my mother became estranged from her family. And I don't know anything about Dad's family. My mother didn't like them much, and apparently the feeling was mutual. I wouldn't know any of my dad's family if I bumped into them on the street. Like I told George, for all I know, the family tree might be poison oak. That's what I have to find out."
Harry looked at his hands for a moment, then asked Elizabeth, "When you were little, did you ever have anything strange happen to you that you couldn't explain, like when you were very angry or frightened or something?"
"Not really. I always could sense when something was going to happen, though, and could predict what people were going to do in certain situations. So could my mother, but she just chalked it off to intuition. Same here. Wait, there was this one time when I was in college. I had a professor who was a real jerk. I mean, nobody liked him and he was enough to make Mother Theresa come back from the grave to slap him. Anyway, he really embarrassed one of the kids in front of this huge auditorium-size class, and he seemed so pleased about it. Anyway, I turned to the guy next to me and said something like, 'That idiot needs at least a six-week case of laryngitis. Then he won't bore anyone and can't embarrass people in front of the whole class.' Well, the next week a graduate assistant showed up to give us our final exam. When I asked where our regular teacher was, the new guy said that the professor had severe laryngitis and had strained his vocal chords so badly, that if he didn't take off the summer semester he'd never get his voice back. That gave everybody about an eight-week break. I figured it was one of those 'God gives you what you deserve' situations, and that it was just coincidence."
Harry looked at Ginny, then spoke. "You know the other day when we were flying? Well, George only put a charm on the broom to take you up about five feet. He thought I charmed the broom to go higher, and I thought he did. Don't you see? You flew on your own!"
"Harry, that's impossible! My mother always told me there's no such thing as…but then you and Ginny are… Oh, no! There is no way! I mean, I would have known. Somebody would have told me!"
"Maybe not. My Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon told me that my parents were killed in a car accident, and that there was no such thing as magic. Maybe your mother did the same."
"But, my dad was just an ordinary person. He never did any magical… I mean, he'd do tricks for me, but they were only illusions bought from a novelty shop and sleight-of -hand stuff."
Ginny looked at her intently. "Are you sure? Really sure?"
"But why… Nobody told me. Why not?"
Harry knit his brow. "Maybe when you dig up the information on your family, you'll find out."
Elizabeth just sat, totally shocked. Finally she asked, "Would you please keep this a secret? At least until I find out what's going on, anyway. If you're wrong and I'm just an ordinary muggle with a little ESP or something, I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone."
"Good idea," Ginny replied. "It might make it easier to find things out that way, too."
"In the meantime," Harry said, "I'll see if I can dig anything up at the Ministry."
"Thanks."
After a few more minutes, Elizabeth excused herself to go to bed. "By the way, I asked Kreacher to put away the leftovers in case you want to raid the fridge later. Look, thanks guys. You have no idea how much I appreciate all you've done for me. G'night."
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The next day, Thursday, Elizabeth received a note around noon. Horace didn't want to give her the envelope at first, but once she threatened to smack him with a badminton racket, the owl quickly dropped it.
Dear Elizabeth,
It seems I probably will be delayed at the office later than planned, so I've arranged for my house-elf, Albrecht, to call for you at seven. Since you've traveled by side-along before, I've asked him to take you to Malfoy Manor that way. I hope you don't mind, but I really want to see you before you leave. I'll have the house-elves prepare dinner for us at home, if that's okay.
Yours,
Draco
Elizabeth felt a little disappointed at first, but then realized that she'd get to see Malfoy Manor. She had gathered in conversations with the Weasleys that it wasn't just a house, it was an estate. When Ginny and Harry arrived, she told them about the change in plans. Although Harry and Draco were on speaking terms, the thought of Malfoy's house gave him the creeps. He couldn't help remembering the things that occurred there before the Battle of Hogwarts. Ginny, on the other hand, had attended a couple of parties there with her team when she played with the Holyhead Harpies, so her memory of the estate was considerably more favorable.
At seven o'clock, there was a pop noise in the parlor. A house-elf appeared who was no larger than Kreacher, but younger. His tea-towel garment was sparkling white, and seemed more like a Roman toga than a house-elf's clothes. Draco seemed to treat this elf better than his father, Lucius, had treated poor Dobby.
Harry's train of thought was quickly broken when the elf spoke up. "Master Draco has sent Albrecht to fetch Miss Elizabeth, whenever she is ready." "Elizabeth replied, "Thank you, Albrecht. I'm ready now." She turned to Harry and Ginny. "Don't wait up for me or anything," she said as she smiled. "I don't know how late Draco will be getting home from the office."
Ginny laughed, "Just remember, you have to leave early tomorrow."
"Yes, Mom and Dad." She chuckled and took Albrecht's claw-like little hand, and with another pop, they were gone.
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When Elizabeth arrived at the Malfoy estate, Draco had not yet arrived. Albrecht asked if Miss would like to dine now, or wait until Master Draco arrived. "Why, when Draco arrives, of course." Albrecht started to apologize and went to hit his head with an iron from the fireplace when Elizabeth stopped him. "You've done nothing wrong," she told him. "You were only being a gracious host until Draco arrives. Thank you."
Albrecht straightened up immediately, and asked if Elizabeth would like to see the garden. She replied that she would, and suddenly, two cut crystal doors that she hadn't seen previously opened up to a patio and garden that were the most exquisite she had ever seen. As she walked out into the garden, she noticed the small lamps that were placed strategically throughout. It was a soft summer night, the kind you imagine as a setting for a fairytale. A huge pearlescent full moon hung low in the summer sky, shining a soft white light over the garden. The trellises and bowers were covered with roses and the soft greens and deep purples of wisterias. There were hyacinths, peonies, practically every sort of beautiful and fragrant flower that could be imagined. Elizabeth was astounded to see varieties of flora that she wouldn't expect to see growing in England's climate. Then she heard a shrill call and turned. She recognized the cry from when she was a child visiting Audubon Zoo. Yes, there were peafowl strutting in the garden, snow-white ones that seemed to float in the moonlight like ghosts. In the middle of the garden was a fountain that cascaded with the most musical sound, and sprays of water that caught the light and glistened like little sparkling diamonds. Nearby were benches that seemed like they were made of fine lacework rather than wrought iron. Elizabeth sat in the moonlight, eyes closed just absorbing the sounds and the scintillating fragrances. It seemed to be putting her into a trance, putting her at a peace she hadn't known in many a year. The soft breeze blew lightly against her cheek as though caressing her face.
Then she felt a hand caressing her cheek, a hand with a soft touch that belied its strength. She opened her eyes to see Draco standing there, silhouetted in the moonlight. He looked so handsome, dressed in a deep hunter green robe with silver trim. The dark robe and the moonlight set off his silver-blonde hair and the light seemed to glow around his head like a halo.
"Were you dreaming?"
"Mmm. No, just enjoying the smell of the flowers and the soft summer air. Your garden is exquisite, Draco!"
"Actually, my mother planted it a long time ago, when I was an infant. It was her way of getting us away from my father when he was in one of his foul moods. He could be quite charming with strangers, but he gave us hell at times."
"Sounds like he and my mother had a lot in common. She could go into rages that were downright fierce, especially after my grandmother died, then my father two years later. Anyway, there are varieties of flowers here that I didn't think could grow in England. How do you do it?"
'My mother put a spell on the garden, so that anything can grow here that gives a sense of peace and pleasure from its beauty or its fragrance. She enchanted the garden so that no discord can enter. Mother meant it to always be a place of peace and refuge from stress, a retreat from all troubles. I've kept it that way. It's special to me. I'm glad you like it. Until now, I thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world, but then I saw you in the moonlight and I realized that it's even more beautiful tonight."
"Thank you, Draco. That's very sweet of you."
"Albrecht said that you haven't eaten yet. You shouldn't have waited for me. You didn't know how late I'd be."
"That's okay. I wanted to wait for you."
"If you'd like, we can have supper out here, then I'll give you a tour of the house."
"Sounds fabulous!"
Draco waved his wand, and a table appeared, complete with linens, two chairs and two place settings. An exquisite silver candelabra, shaped like a dragon, sat in the center of the table. Glasses of champagne appeared, then supper. Elizabeth was so enchanted by it all that she had no idea what was on her plate. She couldn't take her eyes off Draco, and the feeling seemed mutual.
After supper, as they were walking through the mansion, they talked about Hogwarts, with Draco admitting that he had been a royal git in school. "My father had the notion that Slytherin was the best house, and that since the Malfoy family were purebloods, we were better than the mudbloods—a very ugly term for muggle-borns and wizards from mixed families. In time I came to realize what a batch of rubbish that was, but only after I saw what my father had become, a sycophant to that demon Voldemort. I realized I resented Potter and Granger because they were what I would have liked to have been—liked and admired for myself, not for what my father could do for people, My father looked down on the Weasleys because they weren't rich. I realized I disliked them because they had something I never had, a family bound together by love, and material riches be damned. My mother loved me, but she was afraid of my father. And she was from a family that with few exceptions believed in marrying only purebloods and keeping up appearances. Do you know what I would have given to just once have had my father hug me or say when my team lost a quidditch match, 'That's okay, son. You did your best'? To my father, if you didn't win, it wasn't good enough, no matter what. To fail was a disgrace to the Malfoy name."
"Draco, I know what you mean. No matter what I did, it wasn't good enough. Someone else could do it better. When I was little I took dancing lessons, you know, ballet. My teachers told my mother I was the fastest learner in the class, yet when it came time for the recital, my mother found an excuse to keep me out. When my father asked her why, she said I was clumsy and stupid, and she'd be damned if she would let me embarrass her by screwing up on stage. When I was in a play tournament at school, she went kicking and screaming because she was convinced I was going to forget my lines or something. When we won, and later placed first in a statewide tournament, she simply said she was shocked that I hadn't messed it up for everyone else. She told one of her friends how good I was, but I had to overhear it. She would never admit to me I was good at anything."
"What about your father?"
"He was the opposite. He always said that the shame wasn't in failing; it was in failing to try. He died of a sudden heart attack when I was nine years old. My maternal grandmother died when I was seven. After they were gone, there was just my older brother, Jeff. He meant everything to me. He was my main support when my mother would go off on a rage."
"You know, I don't really know anything about you, Elizabeth."
"There isn't very much to tell. I teach history and geography. I'm probably going to take a year off this coming term, though. I mean, with my mother and brother being killed in that accident recently, I have legal matters to take care of, and I have to decide if I'm keeping the house or getting an apartment. I don't know."
"What about your parents' families?"
"That's why I'm in England, Draco. I know nothing bout either family. My father's ancestry was never discussed. His family didn't like my mother, from what I gathered, and I think the feeling was mutual. As for my mother's family, she broke off from them before I was born. I don't know why, and she refused to discuss it. When mother died, I found some papers about a gift mother kept from me, including a letter from Professor Dumbledore telling my mother that she shouldn't keep whatever it was from me. I wrote a letter to him, thinking that he might be able to tell me something about my family, but I realized I didn't know where Hogwarts was. When I left to go to the library to look up the school, some owl took the letter and went off with it. Professor McGonagall answered me, telling me that Dumbledore had died, but that I could stay at Hogwarts to do research. Now everyone tells me that as far as they know, Hogwarts only has records of magical families, so I don't know what I can accomplish. Unless, of course, Harry is right, and that I am from a magical family."
"How did Potter come up with that?"
"Well, when we all went to the Burrow the other day for a family get-together, George Weasley charmed a broom so I could see what it was like flying."
"He did what? You could have been hurt!"
"Well, I wasn't. Anyway, I went soaring off and landed with no problem. Harry and George were on either side to make sure nothing bad happened. Well, Harry told me last night that George had only charmed the broom to go about five or so feet high. He said I did the rest on my own. Then he asked if strange things happened when I was angry or upset. Well, I remembered when one time in college, there was a real jerk of a professor who enjoyed embarrassing students in front of the whole class, and there were about a hundred students in that lecture hall. Well, one day, he had nearly reduced someone to tears in front of the class, and I said that the idiot deserved to lose his voice for at least six weeks. Well, he did, for the entire summer term. Harry and Ginny think I may have magical abilities, but I think it's only coincidence."
"What about the flying?"
"Maybe I just caught a good wind stream. Anyway, if I had magical abilities, why wouldn't anyone in my family tell me? Anyway, I'm going to Hogwarts tomorrow to start looking for answers."
"When you find your answers, then what?"
"Then I'll know who I am, Draco."
"I already know who you are. You are the woman I've fallen in love with."
Elizabeth was shocked speechless. Draco spoke up again. "Until now, I've only said 'I love you' to my mother, my late wife, and my children. Now I'm saying it to you. Elizabeth, I know this is sudden, but I think—no, I know that I love you."
"Draco, I'm a muggle, at best a squib or an untrained muggle-born or mudblood. I'm not in your class by a mile."
"Don't be foolish. You are so much better than me, blood status be damned! You are good, kind, beautiful, and I love you. I won't push the issue, but I had to tell you how I feel."
"Draco, I love you too."
"Promise me that I may visit you at Hogwarts and that you won't go back to the States without seeing me again first."
"Do you really believe I could tell you 'no' for anything? I think I've loved you since the day we met in Diagon Alley."
He took her in his arms and kissed her. They were sitting on a couch in the parlor, facing the fireplace. Above the mantel hung a large painting of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. As he held Elizabeth, Draco looked up and noticed the deep frown and look of indignation on his father's face. Narcissa seemed to smile.
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A/N: I know. Before I get the lecture, I couldn't help putting in some 'fluff.'
Thanks to all who have been reading the story so far, and especially to those who have been sending reviews. Hope liked the new chapter.