The sun was already high in the sky when Draven rolled out of bed and trudged to the loo to clean himself up. He was in the process of rubbing sleep out of his eyes when he entered the dinning room. The only ones left eating were Narcissa and Bellatrix. "Morning." He grumbled as he plopped down in a chair across from Bella. "Toast, Dobby." He grumbled to the waiting house elf who disappeared and reappeared in a matter of seconds with a plate of toast. After taking a bite he greeted the other two. "Good morning, Aunt 'Cissa, Bella."
"Good Afternoon, Draven." Narcissa greeted her nephew.
"Where is everybody?" Draven pushed his empty plate away and focused his attention on the two women across from him.
"Lucius left this morning for the Ministry and took the boys with him." Narcissa answered as she rose and excused herself to the drawing room.
Draven sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. "They could've woke me up, prats."
"I told them to leave you sleep. I wanted to spend the day with my favorite wittle Draven-poo." Bella commented as she rose. "Stop that infernal pouting, Malfoy's do not pout." She started towards the door that lead out into the foyer. "Well, come on then."
"What about father? I have to tell him..." Draven stopped at seeing Bella's amused look. "He already knows." He mumbled as he rubbed his newly marked arm.
Bella stopped and grabbed the boys arm, yanking it up eye level. She stared at the burnt flesh with a critical eye then left his arm go. "I missed your marking." Her voice almost sounded sad. "When was it done?" She continued walking towards the large front doors.
"Last night at the ceremony. Father announced me as his heir and gave me and Ron, my friend, the mark." Draven explained as he followed her. He shielded his eyes from the sun once they were outside and starting down the stone walkway towards the garden.
"He promised that he'd wait. Something must have happened." Bella mumbled, lost in thought, as she sat down on one of the gardens stone benches.
Draven shrugged as he sat beside her. "I have no idea. It came as a shock to me and about three fourths of the Deatheaters. I thought, for sure, he'd wait until I was older."
"Did the ceremony work? Has he regained his body?" Bella inquired as she placed her arm around the boy and drew him close to her side.
He snuggled against his surrogate mother and sighed. "Yes, it worked. Have you not seen him?"
"The Dark Lord is busy this day. My news can wait until tomorrow. So I thought I'd spend my free day with you. I have missed you so, little serpent. Tell me of your time at Hogwarts." Bella kissed the top of his head.
"I'm in Gryffindor." Draven sneered in disgust. "What more is there to say?"
Bella chuckled. "Tell me of your friends then. You mentioned someone named Ron got the mark with you?"
"Ya, Ron Weasley. He's one of my best friends. He's in Gryffindor too. He has a five brothers and one sister. Three of his brothers are in Gryffindor like us and his sister starts Hogwarts next year. Um...I'm friends with Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini , Pansy Parkinson and Draco of course, their all in Slytherin so it drives McGonagall crazy to see some of her precious Gryffindors chumming with slimy Slytherins. Then there are Ron, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom who are all in Gryffindor with me." Draven finished.
"Granger, I don't believe I know any Grangers." Bella tried to rack her mind for any pureblooded witches or wizards with that last name but came up empty. Draven being friends with a Nott, Zabini and Parkinson wasn't surprising since he and Draco both grew up surrounded by the children of Deatheaters. "Longbottom...I believe I knew his parents." A crazy smile appeared on her lips. "Pity what happened to them. As a matter of fact, Lucius has asked Rodolphus and I to take the boy in since his Grandmother is surely going to lose all rights to him. Neville, you said?"
Draven tensed up then relaxed. He knew all about what happened to the Longbottoms and the part that the Lestranges' played in it. He also knew that it was Dumbledores' fault "Are you going to take him in then?" He also knew that Bella wanted children but could not have them due to an old childhood injury caused by her cousin, Sirius.
"Rodolphus wants to adopt the boy. He wants, needs, an heir and since I can't give him one..." Bella stared across the garden. "Having a child around would be...interesting." She looked down at her surrogate son. "What do you think? Am I the mothering type, little serpent?"
"You've helped raise me, didn't you? You'll make someone a wonderful mum." Draven gave her an encouraging smile.
"You know the boy, tell me about him. The choice is Roddy's but I'd like to know a little about my future son. He wasn't more than a year old when we...paid his parents a visit. A scared little thing." She was trying to remember her last encounter with the boy but so much had happened since that night that all her memories had run together.
"Neville...he's shy and a bit clumsy but he's fiercely loyal. I think his grandmother is to blame for his short comings. She's a loony old coot." Draven explained. "I think with the right environment and role models, he'd make you proud and would carry the Lestrange name far into the future."
Bella pondered the Dark Heirs' words then nodded. "Alright, but the name Neville has to go." She made a face. "Alice never did have good taste. She proved that by marrying Frank Longbottom" She tightened her arm around the boy. "How about...Dominic?"
Draven made a face and stuck out his tongue. "Dominic sounds so...common. How about...Orion?"
"Orion Lestrange?" Bella tried the name out several times then smiled. "You know your astronomy. Ok little serpent, what do you suggest for a middle name?"
"Rigel, of course. Orion Rigel Lestrange." Draven smiled. It felt weird helping pick out a name for one of his friends but whatever he picked out would be a lot better than something Bella picked out. She was fond of the more...unique names.
"It's settled then. I thank you for your help, Draven." Bella hugged him tightly before releasing him. "Lets not lounge on this bench all day. How about a game of muggle hunting? First one to cause a Ministry official to be called in wins!" She darted off the bench and in two steps apparated away.
"No fair!" Draven slid off the bench and frowned. "You know I hate apparating!" He grumbled as he apparated after Bella, knowing exactly where she was going, praying he didn't splinch himself in the process.