Chapter one, dark marks and loyalty
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a few months ago...
"They've been brave..." I sneered, eyeing the famous Malfoy Mannor.
My father chuckled as he stepped from the long black car we had been in since arriving in Britain. As much as I detested that back seat, I would much rather climb back in for another 10 hours than walk down this pathway...
"Very much so... But they're very loyal, Euridice. They acted the part of innocent and bewitched better than your mother and I ever wanted to." His chest puffed as he linked his arm with mine, walking me down the long gravel pathway, the gates closing behind us, leaving the car and the house elves we had taken with us to their own devices.
We had been hiding away for the last 15 years while the ministry looked far and wide for my mother and father.
They were death eaters- or rather just my father was. My mother was often too sick to be a valuable asset to the cause. But she helped in whatever way she could.
It was thanks to her American relatives that we were able to get away when the aurours came sniffing around for us.
The Malfoys were a subject of humour among those of us who had disappeared.
They had pretended to be under the imperious curse...
How rat like...
It rubbed my father in a way that he never truly expressed to me, but after a drink with his friends, if the name Malfoy came up, we would hear every word under the sky.
Traitor. Coward. Rats. Bastards. Blood sympathisers.
I knew better than to take my own feelings any further than a jab here and there around father, though.
The dark lord had summoned us here to live under their roof to rehabilitate us back in our mother country while he gathered his followers and strength.
"I'm sure Malfoy got more than an earful when Our Lord finally returned and sought him out. There's no need for us to say a word about it Cicie. Manners now."
As we got halfway down to the Mannor, the door opened.
"Skylar." A man with long silver hair and a cane stepped out, opening his arms with a warm smile.
Father squeezed my arm before letting go to hug the man.
"Lucius." He chuckled, patting his back heartily.
"My my... Skylar... This cannot be little Eurydice?" Lucius looked down at me with a fond smile.
"Last time I saw you, you were just about walking. Now look at you. A beautiful young lady." He gently placed his hands on my shoulders and gave them a squeeze.
I forced a small smile and laughed awkwardly, biting my tongue to hold back a snarky retort.
"My son will be returning for the summer break in a few days. Do you remember Draco?" He asked to the both of us.
I looked to my father as if to ask him to speed this along.
I didn't care about their ratty little teenager.
I didn't care for this man I once knew as a toddler.
And I didn't care for the awkward pleasantries.
"Not Hogwarts? Oh my, I remember our school days there." My father laughed, seeming to drift into the past for a moment.
"It's a shame Eurydice couldn't go... We couldn't risk her being exposed." He placed a hand on my back and drew me close with a warm expression.
"You'd have loved that old castle."
I looked to the gravel and nodded.
I'd been home schooled under American registration and even over there I heard whispers of Hogwarts.
A part of me was indifferent to it. A bigger part of me felt sorrowful.
My mother and father had been Slytherins there. I would have been too.
I'd have walked the halls my mother did- maybe even slept in her dorm.
I'd have known how my mother had grown up... How I should have grown up...
"Cicie...?" I jumped a little as a hand touched my cheek and looked up at my father.
"Shall we go in and get some dinner? By the time we're full the house elves will have finished setting up our beds. We both need a good rest." I smiled up at him and nodded.
We had flown and driven from Sacramento California all in 24 hours without using a drop of magic.
I was still underage and could be tracked if father apperated us or used the flu network. So we had to be muggles and forgo our wands for the travel. It was hell.
"Dinner sounds great." I sighed happily.
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My guest room was rather nice, I had to admit. A balcony, an en-suite, a walk in closet... And my favourite part, a California king bed.
The headboard was a dark stained oak that looked like a series of vines- a very feminine choice for bed decoration.
I had bought my sheets from home to make the transition easier on my body.
The smell and feel would at least soothe me to sleep quickly. Or so I had hoped.
It felt strange to be here, back in the UK. It felt strange to play guest to the Malfoys.
Narcissa was nice enough, not as overly friendly as Lucius had been, but she smiled and seemed welcoming.
Father and Lucius were very likely still drinking and catching up on 'the good old days' of their school years and The Dark Lord before the war ended.
I sighed and pulled the sheets above my head, curling up on my side to be surrounded by the familiar fabric.
As I began to drift off to sleep, I wondered what their son would be like... If he was as sickeningly friendly as his parents I may have to strangle him in his sleep...
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A/N: please gimme those yummy reviews!
Draco will be coming very soon, so just speed read if you wanna get through the Eurydice character building XD