October 2003
She fails to see the atraction of a baby. It cries, it nurses, it soils itself. Done. Nothing else. Oh, one more thing: it takes Draco away from her. She quickly decides there is no good to this baby business and that Scorpius will forever be it in her mind.
Astoria notices her lack of interest first. Once the novelty of the whole situation is gone, Delphie eschews from their chambers. She almost always responds "No, thank you" in that very clear voice of hers when she is invited to go see her little cousin. Astoria knew this was a very serious possibility, but believed Delphini would come around about the little white blond child, so different from her.
Delphini holds a grudge against the child for that too. She is so obviously different from her family, with her black mane of unruly curls and her wide heavy-lidded eyes of the deepest green. They are all blond statues of perfection, with their pale eyes that hold a superiority only good-breeding could accomplish. Even Toria, with her dark brown hair and soft brown eyes, has the regal poise of the Malfoys, though not the ice. Delphini has some poise, yes, she is very aware of the looks of approval she gets when she walks demurely about the house. But not the Malfoy poise. There is something different to her, she only knows that she dislikes the difference now. Her eyes are not ice, she is not cold and distant like them. She is all fire and passion, though contained, but ever present. She is pale like them, but her colours are all wrong. She looks all wrong amidst them. And Scorpius looks so right it's painful.
Narcissa sees it too. Her niece's unwillingness towards the new arrival. She notices somethig else also. Delphie is now capable of much more control over her Metamorphmagus abilities and has taken to changing her looks. She does it in secret at first, and Narcissa only catches glimpses of black curls taking over pale blonde silk straight hair, eyes of ice blue and grey subsiding to emmerald-like shine. Then she starts doing it around them, when they sit together in the evenings, when it's only the two of them and the piano.
The day Astoria talks to Narcissa about it, after a blonde Delphini of grey eyes leaves the room where she still rests with the precious baby in her arms, they decide they must do something. They cannot risk one of the girls furies, not with all that unbound magic within her small frame. Not around the family.
Narcissa reassures her daughter-in-law. She will talk to Delphini, make sure she knows she is loved. That she is not being replaced. We cannot have another child feeling unloved. We promised she would be different. But the fear does not leave her.
X
Narcissa approaches Delphini in her playroom. She has a book on her lap but her attention is on something beyond the window. She is so distracted that Narcissa has a chance, for the first time, of taking in her niece's Malfoy-like persona from the reflection on the glass panels. Her hair is long, white blonde and straight now. She has made her eyes ice blue, but not unkind, like Draco's. Her features seem a little different but she cannot put her finger on it. She sighs at the task before her, and Delphini notices her presence then. Her eyes go scarlet for the tinniest second, her fury at being caught by surprise surfacing. It's always Him in her when she is angry, and she shudders at the thought.
The moment she touches the subject of Scorpius, Delphini breaks out in tears. Her six years of age too clearly visible all of a sudden. She sobs incontrolably for a long while and Narcissa holds her as tight and close as she possibly can, humming a lullaby in her ear until the sobs subside. The little girl raises her head to her again and she is blond and blue eyed again.
"Would he like me better if I looked like him? Because I can do that, forever." She is deeply afraid she does not fit, that she is no longer wanted.
And Narcissa's heart breaks at how much like Bellatrix she can be, despite not remembering her, barely even knowing her. She would leave anything behind to feel loved, just like her Mother had. She loves with true passion, wholly, completely, careless of herself. Just like Bella. And it's her turn to cry, quietly, for her sister that loved too much, too entirely, that put so much of herself into all things she loved that her daughter learned to do it in the short months they shared. She talks through the tears. She tells Delphini that they love her exactly like she is, that Draco still loves her, above all things she believes, and that the child he has fathered will never take her place. She is the reason he is together, the reason he survived the war and came out the other end sane. She tells Delphini of her own family, of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, of the magical blue blood that runs in her veins, saying nothing of the pure-blood obsession that runs there too. Tells her of how much she looks like her Mother, of how she loved her, of how they all love her, of how proud they are that she walks and talks like a Black. And Delphini's heart feels a little less heavier, a little higher in her chest, and she brings back her curls and her green eyes. And she stays in Narcissa's arms for a long time, until night has fallen and Lucius comes looking for them.
X
Once Narcissa tells her of that afternoon, Astoria decides to deploy their best weapon. They need to make ammends, they need Delphini to feel safe again. She has a right to grow up happy and belonging. She talks to Draco one evening. He is so enthraled by their child that she has to actively remove little Scorpius from his arms and lay him in his crib so that he will listen. She warns him of what may come, tells him that he must give Delphini some attention too, that she and his child are safe and going no where now. That he needs to stop worrying so much about them and care for her too. She tells him of what she has been doing with her looks and of how worried the little girl is that he doesn't like her anymore, that she has been replaced.
Reality takes a minute to sink into him. He thinks back to the few weeks since Scorpius birth and realizes he has spent almost no time with Delphie. Most of their time together had been in his room, with Astoria and Scorpius. There is a pang in his chest at that. He is failing her, failing his last standing promise. He buries his head in his hands and shakes his head. What am I doing? I promised her I would take care of her. He had promised himself that he would always be her guardian. He is the reason she is part of the family and he will make sure she always feels like she belongs. Astoria reassures him, she fixes the dragon's wounds so that he can use his wings to embrace his treasure again, the little bird that feels like it's been dropped from the nest.
X
He starts slowly. He apologises for spending so little time with her. He joins her again on the skies, teaching her reckless moves that make Narcissa wince. He tells her how much he likes to mess with her curls even though she loathes it. He looks for her everyday, even if he can only spare a few minutes. He makes the most of those minutes, makes her giggle, and laugh. He tells her that her eyes are like no others, and that he likes how they stand out against her pale skin and dark hair. He teaches her to play wizarding chess (a tiny corner of his mind worries at her glee over the fighting shattering pieces) and takes a tea party to a whole new level. She feels loved again, the shadows of ill-fitting gone.
Draco eventualy finds a way to make her like "the snotty creature". He invites her to come along sometimes. Others, he wanders in the living room with Scorpius on his arms and focuses his attention on her, acting like he just happens to be holding a baby. Delphini can see what he is doing, but cannot fight how much she likes to be with him, and so endures the presence of the little intruder until she can no longer see him like it or snotty creature or intruder. She starts thinking Scorpius and family and cousin. She finds him much easier to like once he starts responding to her, to giggle when she tickles his tiny chompy feet, to laugh overtly whenever Wabby decides to punish herself and they can laugh together.
Narcissa notices she has stopped morphing her features into a Malfoy-like appearance. Astoria finds the three of them asleep in the big fluffy armchair in the nursery every now and then. Draco with his legs streched, feet on a cushioned stool, Scorpius nuzzled against him, in the crook of his arm, and Delphini on his lap, arms around him and her head on his chest.
Author's Notes: Sorry for taking so long. Any thoughts? Reviews are highly appreciated