++++++ Hello lovelies...I miss you all.
Enjoy the chapter.
I do not own ++++++
Fifty-Two
Draco's snow leopard Anora was completely one hundred percent devoted to him. She followed him everywhere and loved to play, always hiding and trying to destroy everything.
Petunia had reluctantly agreed to allow Harley to stay in Sweden with the Malfoy's under the guise of learning different wizarding cultures but everyone knew that the two were too stubborn to apologise to each other-Harley more than Petunia.
In the few days that Harley had already been there, she was yet to meet any of Narcissa's family but when she woke up on the fourth day of her stay, the House Elves were rushing around in a panic.
"Harley I hate to be a bother but can you get out of bed!" Narcissa shouted from the bedroom door. "The elves need to make the bed and you need to get out of those muggle clothes immediately."
Rubbing her eyes, Harley was having trouble even contemplating what Narcissa had just said. "What?"
"Out of bed Harley," she repeated. "The elves have put out some dress robes for you, do your hair. Oh-Dobby took Prongs to wash him."
Harley giggled. "Good luck to him," she muttered. Getting out of bed, the pre-teen stretched only for Narcissa to push her into the bathroom attached to the guest rooms. "Where's the fire?" she joked.
"My cousin will be here in an hour," Narcissa fretted. "She's in town and figured a surprise visit would be okay. I haven't told her who you are, thankfully you have black hair so I can pass you off as anyone other than Harleen Potter. Carina and her husband are loyal Death Eaters. Your name is Amalthea Black, you're the illegitimate child of Regulus Black and a dark witch. We took you in like a good dark family. Okay?"
Harley shrugged and Narcissa clipped her on the shoulder. "We do not shrug," she told her. "Carina has two children, twin girls, Ceres and Cressida. She had a boy but he was born a squib-we don't talk about him, understand? And their father was killed by the light so in this family he is a 'hero'. Understand?"
Harley nodded. "Right."
"Do not wear your H necklace," Narcissa finished telling her. Seeing Harley's face, she sighed. "Okay…fine." She drew her wand and touched it to the metal turning it into an A. "I can only change the shape not the colour. I suppose Ravenclaw will have to be your house. Nothing I can do about that. Now hurry up."
Harley got into the bath and cleaned herself red raw, her stomach rumbling from lack of breakfast. Thankfully a house elf brought her some kind of warm baked pastry which she wolfed down. By that time Prongs had been returned to her smelling like jasmine.
She got out of the bath and dressed herself in the sapphire dress robes left out for her. By the time she and Draco plus their familiars had got to the sitting room, a middled aged witch was there with her nose stuck in the air-reminding Harley of her earliest memory of Petunia.
"Your punctuation is poorly, Draco," the woman scolded at the boy. "And who in the name of Merlin is this creature?"
"Carina this is our ward, Amalthea Black," Narcissa smiled. "Amalthea, this is my cousin Carina Swan
The woman frowned. "She looks like Regulus I'll allow that. But those eyes…horrible colour…is this the baby?" Narcissa offered her Pandora but she waved her off. "Babies…horrid creatures. That's why we have nanny elves, Cissy. A woman of breeding should not be nursing a baby. It ruins the figure. Cissy, you remember Ceres and Cressida?" she asked, directing the attention away from Harley and Pandora to the two pale, vampire-like girls in the doorway behind their mother. Both had pale blonde hair with earie blue eyes and pale skin. They looked like they would break if you pushed them over.
"My you two have grown," Lucius fake smiled. "Fourteen…fifteen?"
"Fifteen," they both chanted in ethereal voices. "Why are there animals inside the mansion?" they asked, pointing to Anora and Prongs.
"They are Draco and Amalthea's familiars," Lucius all but bragged. "Imagine my son so powerful that he has an animal familiar? Must be the Black blood."
Carina pursed her lips together. "A good host has tea ready, Cissy," she warned.
"And it is," Narcissa smiled. "Come, come."
Harley trudged behind with Draco, the boy clearly preferring to run in his wolf animagus form with his friend and not here bored out of his mind. They sat down, Ceres and Cressida staring at Anora and Prongs in anger.
"What house are you in, Amalthea?" Carina demanded to know, sipping her tea.
"Ravenclaw," she answered.
Carina scoffed. "The only noteworthy house is Slytherin."
"Ravenclaw has its advantages," Harley frowned. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure. Wizarding society would know nothing without a man's thirst for knowledge."
Draco smirked as he at his cake.
"Have you chosen a carer yet?" she questioned the two, like this was an interview.
"H-Amalthea wants to be a potions mistress," Draco answered, "I want to play quidditch, professionally."
"You'll both change your minds," she replied. "Have you thought about a marriage contract for your ward?" Carina inquired. "The girl seems like the only thing she'll be good at is breeding. Illegitimate is a nasty tag to have."
Harley bit her lip as she fought the need to scowl and hex her.
"Carina," Lucius spoke up, changing the subject, "there was an incident this year at Hogwarts where the Chamber of Secrets was open and students almost killed thanks to this." He produced the blackened diary from his robes, wrapped in a green fabric. "Is this what I think it is?" he inquired.
Harley frowned, Lucius knew what it was?"
"It is a horcrux," Carina explained.
"As I suspected," he replied.
"A what?" Narcissa frowned.
"A horcrux," she repeated with a smirk. "The light would consider it the most evil bit of magic to ever exist simply because it anchored the soul of the creature to an object in the desire to beat death. This particular item belongs to the Dark Lord. Rumour has it that the diary was in the possession of Albus Dumbledore," Carina scowled, spitting his name out like it was filth.
Harley could feel a sudden anger in her chest...had Dumbledore given the diary to Ron thus almost killing him? Oh how she hated that man.
"How that man was in possession of one of the Dark Lords most sacred possessions I do not know. What happened to it?" Carina asked.
"Harleen Potter," Lucius spoke, "she and Sirius Black destroyed it with basilisk venom."
Carina scowled. "Harleen Potter, how a nasty little brat such as that filth could defeat the Dark Lord is beyond me. Because of her we live in exile and my girls are denied the father they deserve. I curse the light," she spat.
"I desire to know more of these horcrux," Lucius advised Carina. "Children would you please excuse us? This sort of knowledge is not for the ears of the young."
"Go," Carina ordered Ceres and Cressida.
"This is boring," the two muttered, following Draco and Harley out of the sitting room. "There's a party in the village, are you two coming?"
"We should stay here," Harley frowned.
"Aren't you boring, Amalthea?" Cressida smirked.
"I don't think we should go," Draco backed her up. "Amalthea is right."
"We'll we're going," the twin chorused. "Come, stay. We don't care."
Draco shook his head as they left. "Don't trust them at all. Let's go."
Harley frowned and followed him, wishing she could be in the sitting room to learn about the horcrux. "Oh, let's go to the study and see what books your dad has on a horcrux."
"I was thinking the same thing," Draco grinned. "Great minds."
++++++ Amalthea Black will be a name I'm using for Harley sort of like an alias.
I know that Narcissa doesn't really have a cousin called Carina but I made her up for this.
And yes they learn about the horcux much earlier as well.
I have plans for Cressida and Ceres as well so they will be back ++++++
