This work is complete at 31 chapters and ~127,000 words. I'll be submitting a chapter a day through March until it's all up.
Chapter 2: Malfoy Manor
Dagmar opened her eyes to see the same ceiling that she had for years, in this dream. Moonlight cast into the room she laid in, creating long shadows across the floor. Howls sounded from somewhere outside. Because the moon was so big, Dagmar couldn't tell if they were wolves or werewolves that roamed the surrounding, tangled forest.
It wasn't that, that woke her up within the dream. A noise came through the wall that the bed she was laying in was pushed up against. It was an erratic noise, loud then quiet but always high-pitched. Occasionally, a hiss would interrupt it.
Curious, Dagmar slipped off the bed. It was bigger than a normal bed, which made for a short fall as she headed for the floor. The whole house was like that. Dagmar had to reach up, to pull open the room's door. She came out into a hallway, and here was where the reoccurring dream transitioned into the nightmare. A sick feeling came over her, as if she was doing something she shouldn't be, and each step toward the noises took a tremendous effort.
The slightly agape door opened in front of Dagmar's fingers, as if by its own will. Dagmar hated when this happened. That meant that—yes, the man faced her. Dagmar looked up. Before she could see his face in the shadow, she started awake for real.
Dagmar's heart pounded in her chest. Her breathing had turned heavy, sweat stuck her to her sheets, and she trembled slightly. Sunlight reached the subterranean dormitory through the shallows of the lake, shimmering as its current passed by the window that kept the water at bay.
"Oh good, she's awake," came Pansy Parkinson's voice. "I'm looking forward to two months without having to listen to that."
Cheeks burning on top of everything else, Dagmar pressed her face into her pillow. On the other side of the room, Millicent's heavy chuckle could be heard, followed by a mocking moan. The giggling worsened, and failed to taper off as Dagmar pulled open the curtain around her bed. She didn't look at Pansy, Millicent, or Daphne on her way to the toilet.
Pansy sat on the end of her bed with a broad grin when Dagmar returned. "Hey, Ramstad."
"What?" Dagmar replied as she put her slightly-damp sleeping clothes into her trunk. She'd packed last night in attempt to avoid any kind of encounter like this.
"I know how you could stop having dreams like that."
Dagmar didn't respond. She slipped on her shoes and bent down to tie them as fast as she could.
"Get a boyfriend," Pansy said. "He'd work that out of you."
Millicent and Daphne giggled again. Dagmar let her hair fall in front of her face to hide it, the blonde strands brushing against the dungeon floor. When she was done tying her shoes, she grabbed her trunk and headed for the exit.
"We're only joking, Dagmar," Daphne called after her. Dagmar didn't care about the slight tone of regret in her voice.
How Dagmar woke up from her recurring nightmares was bad enough. That her dorm-mates misinterpreted any noise she might make from it only made it worse. Dagmar's focus on her studies and general lack of a social life within Slytherin house made her an easy target for jokes about how she worked too hard and needed to loosen up.
Dagmar stopped in the Great Hall long enough to pick up some toast, then carried on outside of the castle. Other students emerged at their leisure and used the carriages to take them down to Hogsmeade station. A couple were returning up the drive.
To Dagmar's relief, she recognized a couple of the waiting students. Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood stood together, their trunks both set down on the ground. Ginny smiled when she saw Dagmar approach, and Luna, although they were well-acquainted, always seemed to look at Dagmar as if she was a new figment in her vision's setting.
"Mind if I ride down with you?" Dagmar asked.
"Sure!"
Ginny had pulled her long, red hair up into a ponytail. Dagmar was regretting having not done the same while she still had her trunk open and access to her hair ties. Her neck grew warm under the weight of hers. Ginny had rolled up her school blouse sleeves and foregone the tie, like Dagmar. Without them, there was no way to tell that they belonged to separate houses.
"So how were your exams?" Ginny asked. "The OWLs were rough, even with all the warning from you and Hermione."
"My exams went well, I think. Is it a good sign that I'm looking forward to the owl that'll deliver my marks?"
"Wouldn't you anyway?"
Dagmar chuckled. "I suppose, to get the bad news over with as soon as possible."
"I think I at least snagged As on all my OWLs," Ginny said.
"I'm sure you did just fine." Dagmar turned to Luna. "And how about you?"
While Luna hemmed and hawed, more students flowed out of the castle. Amongst them was Pansy, who walked with Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise Zabini. The first four ignored Dagmar, but Blaise lowered his chin as a makeshift nod when their eyes met. Dagmar returned it.
"He's pretty decent, isn't he?" Ginny asked, having caught the exchange.
"He's all right." Dagmar shrugged.
"He gets more handsome by the day," Ginny said, her voice closer to a whisper as her gaze followed him past. "Pity he's a Slytherin."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Ginny turned wide eyes to Dagmar, who merely elbowed her.
"I guess I should say pity he hangs out with Malfoy," Ginny revised her statement as a carriage came to a stop in front of them.
Out the corner of her eye, Dagmar spotted Draco eyeing the carriage. Beside him, Pansy goaded him to no reaction to try and take it over. With a sigh that heaved his shoulders, Draco looked off in another direction as if he either didn't see the carriage or hadn't heard her. Pansy's nose wrinkled and she crossed her arms.
"Are they always like that?" Ginny asked Dagmar.
"More or less."
Dagmar climbed into the carriage after her levitating trunk. Even though she had her own quibbles with members of her house, she tried to avoid putting them down as often as possible.
Ginny knew to drop the topic, once it'd been acknowledged. Their conversation strayed to other things as the carriage started off toward the school gates. Summer plans came up, a topic Dagmar knew would be pointless to try avoiding. Although she now had no real idea what her summer would consist of, she maintained previously discussed plans about her trip to France with her parents.
They arrived at the train early enough to not have to fight for a compartment. A couple Ravenclaw second-years that recognized Dagmar from tutoring politely asked if they could sit in with them closer to eleven o'clock. Soon enough, they were on their way and the mountains outside started to level off in height.
About halfway, while the second-years had a loud game of Exploding Snap and Luna had disappeared behind an issue of The Quibbler, Ginny tapped Dagmar with her toe.
"That's about the fifth time I've seen Malfoy walk by," she said. "He keeps looking in here. What's he up to?"
"How would I know?" Dagmar shrugged, but looked over at the second-years. He probably would've loved to bully them, but without his usual entourage he might not have the courage to try it in front of anyone too close to his age.
Then again, it could have something to do with her. He probably wanted to know where she was, at the very least, to make sure he'd find her later.
London was in view. When the train arrived at Kings Cross and their compartment emptied out, Dagmar intentionally let Ginny and Luna lose her in the crowd. If Dagmar ran into anyone else she knew, she'd just say that her parents were running late on meeting her. On the station platform, she intentionally picked a place on the opposite end from the Apparation ports. She kept an eye out for Draco, and her stomach flopped when their gazes met. He followed her suit when he came over, lingering and waiting at a decent enough distance.
"Let me know when you're ready," he said, facing straight. "Although this is pretty ridiculous."
"Only have yourself to thank," Dagmar replied. "So rotten, not even members of your own house want to be seen with you."
He didn't reply, but when Dagmar looked at him, he was smirking. Amused or proud, Dagmar couldn't tell.
The station platform thinned out. Dagmar swept it over with her gaze and, when satisfied that nobody she considered a friend remained, addressed Draco by name. He looked at her finally, then levitated his trunk along toward the Apparation point. Because Dagmar still had to pull hers, he caught up easily and let his trunk bump into hers with every other step.
"Either learn how to do a Levitation Charm properly, or don't use it at all," Dagmar said. As predicted, Draco backed off. He didn't like the implication he didn't know how to properly use such a simple spell.
Dagmar stopped just shy of where they could apparate.
"So you're going to do your trunk, and then come back for me?" she asked.
"Or we could do it all at once?"
"Can you?" Dagmar asked.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "You would think, since my family has graciously offered to help straighten things out, that you would show some manners."
"Hard to show manners if you leave my head behind."
Draco pursed his lips. "You ready, or what?"
"I guess," Dagmar sighed.
Draco offered his free arm to her. Dagmar wrapped her hand around the upper part of it, just above his elbow. Just when she made to open her mouth again and ask what he was waiting for, Dagmar's ability to breathe temporarily stopped. The air sucked out from her lungs and, a moment later, when she and Draco appeared on the Malfoy Manor's front portico, left her gasping. She checked for all her body parts.
"You're fine," Draco curtly said.
Dagmar made to grab her trunk again—she'd dropped her handle—but it levitated over to Draco's. Their gazes met before Draco opened the manor door and held it open while Dagmar and their trunks passed through.
The paintings hanging on the foyer walls had changed, but everything else remained the same since the last time Dagmar was here. A curved staircase headed up to the second floor. Sliding doors to Dagmar's right, which had been closed before, were now open to the library Dagmar didn't know was there. Ahead, through an arch and across the hallway, was the great room where Dagmar had spent all of the functions she attended. It looked bigger than she remembered, probably since it wasn't full of people. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy sat there. Mrs. Malfoy stood up first before her husband, smoothing her robes down where they had wrinkled through the motion.
"The kids are here," she said.
Dagmar's parents appeared from deeper in the room, where the fireplace was. Her mother grinned, inspiring Dagmar to mirror her. Whatever had happened couldn't be so bad if they were all here together. The thought had visited Dagmar a couple times on her way back from Hogwarts that, by the time she made it to London, her parents' situation may have drastically changed and she might be receiving news from Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy that they'd been placed in Azkaban.
Relief washed over Dagmar as she embraced her mother. Blue eyes just like hers glimmered and crinkled. Her mother ran her fingers through Dagmar's hair affectionately before letting her father Erik give her a one-armed hug and kiss on the cheek. On the other side of the room, Mrs. Malfoy gave Draco a similar treatment. He looked annoyed as she glanced him over with a concerned expression, then waved her off, cheeks pink. Mr. Malfoy kept his distance, but gave his son a nod and smirk.
"Could you not, when we have company?" Dagmar heard Draco say to his mother under his breath when she tried to smooth his hair down.
"So what's going on?" Dagmar asked when her parents had eased off along with Mrs. Malfoy on Draco. "Why couldn't you meet me on the platform? And why are we here, rather than home?"
Her parents' smiles turned wooden—stressed. When they wouldn't say anything, Dagmar raised her eyebrows as prompt. Mr. Malfoy cleared his throat.
"Frankly, I'm a little surprised that Draco didn't tell you." Mr. Malfoy's gaze traveled to his son, who lowered his eyes in turn. "It's a manageable situation, first of all. If anything was going to come of it, we would know by now. The Ministry performed a surprise raid on your family's manor."
"I don't think we have any artefacts that would get us in any trouble."
"The Dark Lord happened to be there at the time, and was spotted," Mr. Malfoy said. "We all stood our ground—the four of us, him, and Bellatrix and Rodolphus, and managed to. . .neutralize them. The Ministry has inquired upon the team, but as there is no evidence they actually reached your manor, they are currently investigating what may have happened on the way there."
Dagmar exhaled the breath she'd been holding. "So why can't we go home?"
"We're allowing the Ministry to search the manor as a gesture of good faith," Dagmar's mother said. "It should take the most part of the summer."
"We'll be in France anyway," Dagmar said. "Right?"
Her parents looked at each other. They didn't have to say anything, for Dagmar to deflate with disappointment. She'd braced herself for this possibility, but facing it still sucked.
"So what, then? We're just staying here?" Dagmar asked. Aware Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy looked at her, she hastily added, "Not that I don't appreciate the hospitality. It's gracious of the Malfoys to make room for us like this. But why does that mean we can't go to Nice like we planned? I've been looking forward to it since Christmas."
"The Ministry has requested that we remain in the area, in case they have any questions, or if they find something incriminating," her father said. "Which they won't, but we must fully comply if we don't want to draw any extra unwanted attention to the situation."
Her mother squeezed Dagmar's shoulder. "We're disappointed too."
Having been tempted for the duration of the conversation, Dagmar switched the language they spoke from English to Norwegian. "This was the last chance we had. I wanted to come of-age in France."
"I know you did," Hildegard kept on in English, her eyes boring into Dagmar. "And please speak English in front of our hosts. We don't want to be rude."
Dagmar pursed her lips.
"Your disappointment is understandable." Mrs. Malfoy folded her hands in front of her. "We take no offence that you'd rather be somewhere else. We do hope that you'll make yourself comfortable. Lucius and I are committed to helping your parents however we can while this situation is active."
"I appreciate that. I don't want them in trouble."
"None of us do," Mr. Malfoy said. "Nor does the Dark Lord. Your family's support has been crucial, and he always takes care of those who are loyal to him."
Dagmar ignored the twinge at her conscience that that included her parents. More so, that she was grateful to the Dark Lord for handling this.
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," she said.
"Draco," Mr. Malfoy addressed him, who had taken to inspecting his fingernails. "Would you show Dagmar to her room? She'll be taking the guest suite at the east end. While you're at it, show her where the west suite is. Her parents have taken that one."
"Yes, Father." Draco levitated their trunks again and moved them back toward the foyer.
They headed up the curved staircase in the foyer, the marble banister cool under Dagmar's hand. At the top of the landing, Draco dropped his trunk and continued with Dagmar's to the right where, around a corner to the left, stood a lone door. He opened it and led her in.
"This is it," he said. "Doesn't look like you got any of your stuff."
"No," Dagmar agreed. "I don't know what they expect me to wear all summer, at the very least. Honestly."
The white walls were embellished with silver and gold. The bedspread was scarlet, as well as the rest of the furniture. A pleasant surprise met Dagmar in the closet. She did at least have her clothes. She also had her own bathroom, carrying through.
She expected that Draco would've left her to it, but he lingered when she returned to the main part of the room. He'd resumed his usual lean against the wall by the door with his arms crossed. His wand stuck out of his pants pocket.
"Might as well give you the quick tour," he said. "You've never been upstairs here before, have you?"
Dagmar shook her head.
"Come on, then."
Dagmar followed him out of the room. They rounded the corner back to the stairs landing, where Draco picked up his trunk again. He opened the next door on the left and let it drop inside.
"That's my room," he said. Across the hall from it was the second set of stairs that led down into the dining room. Dagmar and Draco carried on down the hallway and stopped at the end where it forked either left or right. Draco pointed to the right, "Your parents—" he pointed to the left, "and mine."
Both their doors were closed.
"That's it then, huh?" Dagmar asked.
"I'll let you get settled in," Draco said. "Let me know if you need anything, I guess. Or the house elves can help you."
Dagmar tried to smile, but she wound up pressing her lips instead. She could tell by Draco's tone that, despite trying to act his part of host, he really didn't want her to bother him with anything.
"Thanks. I'll probably manage on my own."
Draco nodded and headed back for his room. The door had closed again behind him before Dagmar passed it by for her own. Dagmar closed her bedroom door behind her, and kicked off her school shoes, followed by pulling off her socks. The rest of her uniform created a pile by the closet door as she picked something more comfortable to wear. After that, she laid down on her bed and folded her fingers over her lower abdomen while looking up at the ceiling. So this would be her summer.