Narcissa's lightness

The Malfoy Manor was now almost unrecognizable. Without Lucius, Narcissa had the freedom to bring light to the house. She had not changed many things, only the colour of some pieces of furniture, which became unrecognizable in pastel colours. Baroque music was echoing through all the rooms. Narcissa's expression had also changed: there was lightness and joy in it; she seemed even more so with her sister Andromeda:

'Flora, what a joy! Lia and Yan, come and give me a big hug! How you're grown up and beautiful! Ricardo and Scorpius are in the backyard, practicing Quidditch.'

After greeting their grand-aunt, the children ran to the backyard. The two women followed them with a slower pace, suitable for intimate conversations.

'I hear that I will have a new 'grand-nephew', Flora?'

'Grandniece. I was talking with the centaurs; she seems to carry with her all the more remarkable features of the Black family. I chose the name Astrea Spiv - bright and true, balanced, kind, strong. I found it very interesting when they revealed me that she would be a woman and I saw in the sky the starlight which remitted me to your cousins Sirius and Regulus Arcturus which were offsetting Bellatrix's brightness. It assured me that she won't inherit from her grandmother more than her determination ... But above all she will be loved. The kids loved the idea of a new sister, especially Yan, who feels wronged by having to wait until September to start his studies in magic. He says that to take care of his little sister will leave him less time to whine for not going to Hogwarts soon. But she's going to be born in July, so he won't have much time to care for her.'

'How about Felipe?'

'Ah, Felipe is too much in love with her.' Flora smiled. 'He's already making up the cradle for the baby. He did something special with his own hands for all our children ...'

'I heard that Harry Potter has helped him ...'

'I know where you want to get at, aunt.' Flora said, a little nervous. 'If you could keep a secret and really want to know about what your sister was able to do with me, I have no problem in telling you that. But I can shorten the conversation by saying, yes, this girl that I'm generating is biologically Harry Potter's daughter. I guess Draco may have already talked to you about it. I haven't betrayed my husband; all of it was planned and executed by Bellatrix. Mr. Potter was under the influence of a love potion, while I was dominated by her, in addition to the potion, of course.'

'No need to explain anything, dear. Draco didn't want to cause any discomfort, he just did a rant about how difficult it's to live with our family history. From time to time it insists on coming to the fore. I'm so sorry about that.'

'Oh, forgive me if I was rude… Um, well. Talking about family how is my uncle Lucius?'

Narcissa sighed deeply and said in a lament:

'Your uncle is right. Unfortunately, he recovered his wits and was transferred last week to Azkaban. Draco went along with him there.'

'Unfortunately?'

Narcissa replied firmly:

'Well, yes. Unfortunately, because the only thing he regrets is that he believed that you could be like your father.'

Flora's eyes widened in amazement. Her aunt continued opening her heart:

'I miss him; I'm still in love with Lucius. Too bad I discovered that I can't expect anything good from him. Draco went to St. Mungo's when Lucius was being transferred to prison. It was actually the first time they saw each other since his father had been hospitalized. Draco told me that his father barely glanced at him, after all that he'd done to our son ... I wish he apologized to Draco, but instead Lucius said that his son had died when he had accepted a despicable job at the Ministry and spat at Draco's feet. I feared that something would happen, because every time I visited my husband, he never mentioned his son's name and whenever I spoke about Draco he'd change the subject. It's very sad to see my family destroyed like that, but it'd have been worse if Lucius had managed to regain the power for the Darkness.'

Narcissa was teary-eyed. Flora took Narcissa's hands and asked, concerned:

'How are you feeling, aunt?'

'I'm fine. I'm very proud of Draco. He is stronger than his father. I'm sure he's never hurt anyone in favour of greed and power.'

Narcissa smiled, wiped her tears, while Flora looked at her tenderly. Mrs Malfoy hugged her niece, and then looked at the sky where the kids were flying on brooms and said:

'I I had never thought that one day, I would have a family so numerous and cheerful ... Nor could I have imagined seeing Scorpius acting so spontaneously. He's the opposite of Draco at this age ... It's astonishing how he and Ricardo get along so well ...'

'Well, far too much I'm afraid... If they weren't so good students in terms of notes, I would support anyone who suggested that they should be expelled from school. The two are more than terrible in their play. They say that old Filch office is like a second home ...'

'Yeah, I know. Draco and Astoria have sent Howlers with amazing frequency to Hogwarts. What exactly have they done wrong?'

'Confusion... they mix Muggles Illusionism practices to the real magic to divert everyone's attention from something important. The only problem is they usually do this during classes... On the other hand, Neville told me Lia is his more dedicated student and usually helps him in all the greenhouses – he told me that she has more knowledge than the last year students! And she's always with Potter's daughter as hand in glove.'

Narcissa smiled and changed the subject:

'And Yan will be a great Seeker - have you seen how he dominates the broom? And what about that looping dip?'

'Of course I have; I'm still nervous ... Yan scares me. He doesn't seem to be afraid of anything and risks so much; like he's always testing his limits ...'

'He reminds me of my cousin, Sirius ... not because of his skill with the broom, but because of his confidence and challenging look... ... Sirius was sweet and also very beautiful at the same time, but unfortunately hadn't had much aesthetics , just as Yan ...'

'Oh, you mean his ear enlargers, right? I didn't like it much at first, but he feels handsome with it so ... And, anyway, when he wants to, we can fix it with one wand touch ...'

Flora smiled and her aunt replied by inviting Flora to see her "treasure". Flora was very impressed because the "treasure" was nothing more than a nice garden that her aunt had been cultivating with her own hands. Not even by a long shot, did Narcissa look like the woman who had once referred to Dobby - the elf who had served her in the past - as a despicable being. She was happier, had sparkle in her eyes where before Flora could only see fear. "A blessing in disguise" thought Flora, sighing: for her uncle's hospitalization had freed Narcissa. It was comforting to think that she had contributed to this change.

Without haste, the chat flowed freely between the two women. In the evening, Draco and his wife arrived at his mother's house for dinner. Later on, Flora and the children returned home using a portkey provided by Draco, as they didn't have a fire place, since Ricardo was allergic to Floo powder. They didn't linger saying goodbye, as they would meet soon at Katarina and Krum's wedding.