Sirius POV
"I'm sorry, my daughter just did what?" Sirius repeated as he stood up, wanting to make sure that he had heard the boy correctly. He knew that Bailey had been angry, but to directly disobey him again…
Merlin he was old.
"She left for the banquet. On the bike. About a half hour ago," the idiot repeated.
"And you didn't think to come and get us before she left?"
"Would yeh 'ave ratted me out at tha' age, Sirius? Hell, would yeh 'ave ratted anyone out at any age? She's 'is girlfriend, of course he would give 'er a head start!" Tilly said as she scrambled off the floor as well, defending the boy. Sirius glowered at them both. The boy looked abnormally pale. Sometimes, Sirius's reputation as a madman from Azkaban managed to work for him.
"Why would she have left now?" Sirius said. "The damned party isn't for three more days!"
"Sometimes, that's how long it takes a woman to get ready, if you know what I mean," George joked. Usually, Sirius would have joined in, but he didn't that time, instead just glaring at the boy. "Sorry, sir," George said uncomfortably, awkwardly saluting for some reason. "Bailey said something about Narcissa wanting to prepare her before the Banquet, whatever that means. Sir."
"Yeah, prepare her to be branded!" Sirius said.
"Siri, be reasonable," Tilly said tiredly. "You know Cissa; she likes playing dress up."
Sirius stood from his seat and started making his way to the door. "That's it," he said. "I'm going to find her and drag her sorry arse home!"
"Yeh'll do no such thing!" Tilly snapped, dragging him back to the table. "I'm not having you locked up in Azkaban again! And she is perfectly safe, I am sure. We'll send her a letter this evening to make sure she is okay and let her know that she is in huge trouble, but other than that, she is staying at the Malfoys' and going to the damned Banquet! D'yeh understand me?"
Sirius made to argue, but was silenced by a fierce glare from Tilly.
"Fine," he grumbled, not happy at all.
A hundred miles away, Sirius's daughter was sharing that feeling as she sat at the Malfoy's dining room table. In fact, she was nearly ready to answer the mirror that her father had given her that had been going off all evening and go home to face whatever punishment her father saw fit to give.
Narcissa was, of course, lovely. She had lead both Bailey and Amelia to the drawing room, where the three women had a lovely spot of tea, even if Draco had been less than pleased to be there. He was rarely happy to be home; between his mother pushing him towards Amelia, whom he had no romantic feelings towards, and his father being, well, his father, Bailey could hardly blame him. All said, they were having a marvelous time, Bailey not once embarrassing herself or Amelia. Sadly, it could not last after the arrival of the lord of the manor.
When Lucius Malfoy finally arrived, Amelia had left not long before. The man was every bit the nasty piece of work that she knew him to be. By the time they had got through appetizers and half of the main course, he had already made three insults about her mother, five threats toward her father, and two slurs against the farm, all while somehow maintaining a veiled Pureblood civility, a feat which any self-loving Slytherin would have to admire.
Bailey did her best to grit her teeth and ignore the man, pretending that she was too stupid to understand the veiled rudeness just to keep her sanity. Narcissa refused to meet her eyes while her husband slighted Bailey over and over, while Draco kept imperceptibly shaking his head to warn her not to say anything, as if she were idiotic enough to rise to the aristocrat's bait.
"What is it that your mother does again?" Lucius said, a snarl curling his lip.
"She's a therapist," Bailey said slowly. "She helps people addicted to alcohol or other substances become sober."
"Always the philanthropist, Matylda was," Narcissa said kindly, watching her husband carefully out of the corner of her eye.
"So, one could say she is in close contact with the very dregs of Muggle society," Lucius said. "Does she get paid well for this line of work?"
"It is not always about the money. My mum has done a lot of good," Bailey said proudly, holding her chin up in a fierce challenge, unable to resist the opportunity to insult him in kind. "And, as I have recently found out, she works with the Magical community as well. It seems young Pureblood boys in particular are susceptible to the allures of Muggle drugs. Something about wanting to escape the almost impossible standards their parents demand they live up to."
Under the table, Draco kicked her hard in the shin, glaring daggers at her. Bailey ignored him, even with her eyes watering.
"I assume those boys must come from very weak families," Lucius said, holding her gaze evenly. Bailey stared back, just as unyielding, ignoring the paleness of her friend's face across from her.
"Oh, enough of this conversation. It is absolutely too serious for the dinner table!" Narcissa interjected with fake merriment, ending the staring war between her husband and young cousin. "Let's talk about the Banquet! Do you have the dress robes you are going to wear, dear?"
"Erm," Bailey stuttered, shocked by the sudden change of conversation. Draco kicked her shin under the table to remind her to speak properly as Amelia had drilled into her head before break. "Well, I had brought my green dress robes from the Yule Ball last year—"
Draco was shaking his head furiously at her from across the table and she furrowed her brow at him, mouthing 'what?'.
"You're planning on wearing the same robes?" Lucius snorted.
"Yes," Bailey said, trying her best not to sound defensive. "I don't have any others, and they pretty much still fit—"
Narcissa reached over and patted her hand, even while Draco continuously shook his head.
"Oh, my dear, it is considered a bit of a… faux pas to wear the same robes to two formal events," Narcissa explained gently. "People might assume that you are—poor." She said it like a dirty word.
"But, I am—" Draco kicked her again, this time harder. She only just managed to keep from cursing him. "I mean—I don't own any other dress robes. The ones I do are quite nice."
"Oh I know that, dear—your pictures with Draco last year were absolutely wonderful," Narcissa said, all but gushing. "But, still, you need a new set. We can go shopping tomorrow."
Draco was smirking at her. She glared at him.
After dinner, Draco escorted her to one of the many guestrooms in the Manor, but he didn't let her in just yet.
"Do you realize how stupid that was?" he half-growled.
"Yeah, me Yule Ball robes are perfectly fine an'—"
"My Yule Ball robes," Draco corrected dramatically. "And I'm not talking about that. What kind of idiot do you have to be to bait Lucius Malfoy?"
"I did not say a word as he not-so-subtly bashed me fam'ly, me home, me accent and Merlin knows what else. I sat there an' smiled like a good Pureblood young lady," she growled, arms crossed.
"Oh, and telling him boys of good Purebred stock engage in Muggle drugs is sitting and smiling?" Draco scoffed.
"Well, I 'ad to have some fun tonight, before I lost it and 'exed him," Bailey quipped.
Draco looked so angry that he couldn't speak for a moment. "You all but told him what I've done!" he hissed, glancing furtively about the hall.
"Don' worry, Dra," she said soothingly in a very soft voice, suddenly feeling guilty. "Your father is far too arrogant to realize that his own son has been involved. And it's not as if you actually did it."
"Lucius Malfoy may be arrogant, but he is not stupid," Draco insisted, looking over his shoulders subconsciously. A side-effect, Bailey knew all too well, that was from the harsh use of the Malfoy patriarch's cane on his son. She realized then just how stupid she had been.
"Dray, is that you? What the hell are yeh doin'?"
The blonde boy dropped the pills. "B-Bailey?"
"Yeah, wha' do yeh thin' yer doin'?" she repeated angrily.
"They said it would make the pain go away, make me forget," he said morosely. It was then that he turned so she could actually see his face. There was a brilliant bruise his cheek, with a small cut under his eye.
"I'm sorry, if I made things worse," she said, ashamed. That was the last thing she wanted to do to her friend. "Has he—well, y'know—over break?"
"No, Mother's distracted him with thoughts of you, actually. I think my father wants to introduce you to—" Draco barely spoke the last word "—him."
"He'll be severely disappointed if he tries that," Bailey said, rolling her eyes. Draco glared at her.
"Shutup! Or do you not realize my father is definitely paranoid enough to have spies within his own home?"
"Sorry!" Bailey exclaimed, suddenly completely and utterly frustrated. She rubbed her temples, feeling the beginnings of a migraine. "Maybe I shoulda listened to them. I shouldn't o' come. It's not as if someone like me will ever be welcome among proper Pureblood society. I'm just a stupid coutry bumpkin, whether I'm heir to the House of Black or not."
Draco sighed, shaking his head. "You have the breeding, the intelligence, and the power that most Purebloods would kill for. You just need to learn when to bite your tongue. And to be more ladylike."
Bailey snorted. "Have you met me, Draco?"
"Surprisingly enough, I have indeed met my best friend before, and I know better than just about anyone that she is fully capable of being as shrewd and stuck-up as the rest of us, when she puts her mind to it," he replied pompously. "You've come a long way from that girl I made fun of on the train first year."
"Merlin, not only do they let in Mudbloods, but they don't even know how to speak properly!" the pompous blonde said to roars of laughter from his ape-looking friends. The little girl felt like crawling under a rock.
"Watch hoo yeh are callin' Mudblood!" she snarled. "An' I'm smarter than you! I bet yeh cen't even do any spells or nothin'!"
"Oh, and you can? Have you ever learned the cleaning spell? It would be helpful in getting the stink of Muggles and farm animals off you."
"Haven' learned tha' one yet, bu' I've learned this—furnunculus!"
The pompous boy began to yell as the hex took effect. The little girl just smirked, before turning to find a different compartment, whistling an old drinking song as she did so.
"Why, Draco, I do believe that was nearly a compliment that you just gave me," Bailey teased, thinking back to those simpler days when she had no clue who she was or what powers she would one day have at her disposal.
"Don't get used to it," he said warningly, though there was a touch of mischief in his grey eyes.
She grinned, "Don't worry, Dray, I won't."
The next morning, Bailey woke to a small puffball of an owl tapping on the window. She sighed, though she was honestly surprised that it had not come earlier. She quickly opened the window and let the tiny thing in. She thought that she recognized it as Weasley's owl.
Luckily, the envelope was not the tell-tale red of a Howler, as she had been expecting since she had left on the bike. In fact, it wasn't even in her father's handwriting, but in her mother's.
Bailey,
Your father is extremely worried and I, quite frankly, am disappointed. I said you could go if your father agreed, not if you decided that his lack of previous involvement with you disqualified him from those type of decisions. That being said, you can stay. Take pictures. And have fun dress shopping with Cissy.
Mum
Bailey pursed her lips. She knew that she would be in big trouble when she got back home. If it weren't for the wedding and plans she and George had made, she would be seriously considering just staying at the Malfoy's, or even Amelia's for the rest of break. She would likely get more peace and quiet that way.
Bailey roamed over to her suitcase and pulled out the outfit that Amelia has chosen for her for that day and dressed in it as quickly as possible. Of course, the peplum dress and robes with long flowing sleeves were much harder to dress in than her usual choice of clothing, but armed with a few cosmetic spells Amelia had drilled into her head, Bailey was ready by the time the house elf came to collect her for breakfast with Narcissa and Draco.
Draco gave his trademark smirk as soon as his mum delved into the topic of shopping for Bailey new dress robes, and Bailey just barely resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. She was going to have a long, long day.
