Father of Mine, Part XI

author: potionsmaster

rating: PG-13

SPECIAL THANKS: Arilla, Draco Malfoy N Harry Potter, Kay, annakas, hippogriff-tamer, Auroress 13, DragonBreath, and Omniscient.

A/N: If this seems ANYTHING at all like any other story you've read, I am sorry. It wasn't intended and I've had the basic story line down in my ever since I wrote the first chapter. I guess some people have the same ideas as me sometimes. Anyway...Time has a way of moving quickly in here, simply because I don't feel like reporting every move he makes. Christmas is almost here! Christmas is almost here! Only about, hmmmmmm, I dunno...5 more months! LOL Guess what THIS chapter's about??? However, Christmas cheer seems to be rather short in supply...

In the Holiday Spirit

Snape sent the list around Slytherin House for people who wanted to stay at the castle during the holidays. Draco scowled as he passed it across the table to Erik; Lucius wanted him home this time. "Business meetings and you were missed at the Christmas party last year," he had written. Draco could read between the lines on that one. Any business his biological father wanted him involved in could only mean Dark Arts or Death Eater related. He really couldn't understand the Christmas party bit, though, he was always shoved into the background.

"I don't see why I have to go this time," he complained to Professor Snape back in his office when the letter had come a while back. Snape gave him a patronising look.

"In all truth, I wish you didn't have to go home, either, but that's mainly a selfish motive on my part. You make for an interesting conversation when nobody else is around. But I understand where you're coming from."

"I guess I'm old enough to partake in whatever they disappeared into the drawing room for after dessert. Joy."

Snape snorted and started rifling through his desk drawer again. "...where is it....where'd I put it?....*sigh*..."

Draco was curious. "What're you looking for?"

"...just a little...thing. It's nothing trivial, but it had a lot of sentimental value." He shut the drawer, looked at his pocket watch, and sighed again. "Dinner's in a minute, you might want to run along."

Draco had scampered off, wondering what his teacher was looking for, but all thoughts of it had been lost later that night when circumstances had let him learn Keira's name.

Now he was facing exactly what he didn't want to: seeing his family and going to the Ball that his parents had held ever year for all of the 'business associates' and their 'friends'. In other words, everybody who was anybody involved with the Dark Arts came, got drunk, and went into the drawing room for Lord knew what. Then they did it again at New Years. And this year, Draco was expected to join them. Unenthusiastically, he folded his school robes, packed up a few essentials he'd need, stuffed his books into his back pack, fastened his heavy winter cloak, and started to drag the trunk down the stone steps with a reverberating *THUNK* step *THUNK* step *THUNK* step on every other one. The common room was deserted and the fire in the grate burned low, looking lonely and forgotten.

He dropped his trunk in the middle of the hallway and pushed his way into Snape's office. Nobody was there except a lone candle, so he continued into further into the room and went through another door to his private chambers. The sight that greeted him shocked him slightly. His teacher had a merry blaze going in the fireplace, many candles were lit and floating, a ball of something was burning slowly and giving off a sickly sweet smell. Piano music tinkled gently, seemingly coming from all sides of the room. The Professor himself was curled up at one end of his couch facing the fire, a glass of red wine in one hand, a book in the other. The most unusual aspect of it was that he was still in his pajamas: a simple pair of hunter green pajama pants with no specific print on them and that was it; no shirt to speak of. His feet were bare, but tucked into the bottom of the pant legs to keep them warm.

"There is such a thing as knocking, you know...." he informed his student dryly, without looking up from his book. Draco flushed slightly and came further into the welcoming room. Snape closed the book with a snap and set it down carefully on the coffee table next to the bottle of wine. "I'd offer you some, but you are under aged and I don't wish to get myself into trouble anymore than I absolutely have to," he said, still with that dry tone, "I suppose you want to say good-bye before you get on the train?" Draco nodded, still a bit pink about the ears. He'd never seen his teacher in anything but robes and having him partially unclad was slightly alarming. His teacher didn't appear to notice his discomfort. "Well then...Good Bye."

"Good Bye, Professor..." Draco got up abruptly and started towards the door.

"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about before you get on your train?" Draco stopped dead. "There was something, wasn't there?"

"I...just...I don't know..." he turned around again to face his mentor, "I'm still having misgivings about going home for the holidays."

"And you're afraid that you won't survive without anybody to confide in." Hit the nail on the head, you did....

"Yes."

"Well, you'll see me. You won't be able to talk to me the way you want to, but you will see me; I can guarantee it."

Draco sighed with relief, tension flowing out of his shoulders visibly. "Then I guess I'll see you later, Professor." He turned once more for the door, but Snape piped up again.

"You didn't want to say anything else? Nothing at all?"

Draco smirked impishly back at his teacher. "Nope." He left with a swirl of his black cloak.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Crabbe and Goyle ate, slept, and went off to terrorize the 1st through 3rd years from all Houses at Draco's bidding; he didn't feel like moving from his seat. He gazed morosely out the window on his left, watching the flashing white of the country side. "Well, well, well...fancy meeting you here," a warm voice told him. He jumped and wound up smacking his head on the window. Scowling, he rubbed his head and turned to see who had dared to break his contemplation. Keira smirked at him, and Erik stepped in, closing the compartment door behind him. He felt his scowl melt away into disbelief. "I thought you two were staying!" he replied, dumbstruck. Keira just grinned at him. Erik shook his head. "Nope...we're wanted on the home-front, too...Father said he had a surprise for us. I know that we're supposed to go to a fancy party for New Years, though."

Draco felt a drop of ice settle nicely in the pit of his bowels at that. "You looking forward to it?" he asked non-chalantly, gesturing for the others to take a seat. Erik plunked down opposite him and Keira next to her brother, tucking her legs up underneath her. Draco was reminded of Professor Snape earlier. "I have mixed feelings about it," Erik said coolly, "But it's probably going to be boring as hell...He said that we were also going to be staying at one of his 'friend's' houses. I can only imagine that it's one of the Death Eaters." At that, he rolled his eyes and Keira scooted closer to him, wrapping her arms around his left one, resting her head on his shoulder. Draco raised an eyebrow at Erik's generalisation and he looked properly abashed.

"You're awfully quiet," he directed towards her. Erik snickered. "Yeah...for once. She usually never shuts up." He glanced down at her and her death grip on his arm. "Are you planning on moving anytime soon?" he asked. "Mmmmmm....no. I don't think so..." she replied, cocking her head at him with a playful smile.

"And what if I have to use the latrine?"

"You'll just have to drag me, now, won't you?"

Erik shuddered at the prospect and Draco laughed. They spent the rest of the ride in a silent camaraderie.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Back at Malfoy Manor, the house elves were fussing about, the cook was being particularly snappish, and Lucius was in his element. "Draco, this year is a good one...The Dark Lord himself is coming for a time! You'll be able to directly pay your allegiance to him..." He walked off to oversee a few bedrooms that were being made ready for friends and the drop of ice in Draco's stomach started to spread. He went off to find Narcissa.

"Mother...? Mother!" He spent a half hour calling for her, wandering all around the mansion, getting kicked out of rooms by butlers and maids, being pushed out politely and hurriedly by the house elves, and being mocked at by the paintings of his ancestors for "...crying for his mummy!" Draco just scowled at them darkly as he went back to his rooms. He found his personal attendant, Todd, humming, lighting the fire and straightening pillows on his bed.

"Ahem..." he cleared his throat and Todd dropped a pillow in surprise, whipping around. "A good valet is never surprised, Todd. You ought to know that," Draco said severely, drawing himself up to his full height. Todd turned his eyes down and nodded. "Yes, sir...It will never happen again..." he replied softly. Draco kept up the imperious air for a few moments longer and could see his servant's shoulders shaking in suppressed laughter and he couldn't help it anymore; he started laughing, too. Todd looked up, dark eyes sparkling and a smile spreading on his tired face as he opened his arms. Draco flew to him. "Oh, it's good to have you back!" the servant said happily, closing his arms around the teenager. Draco closed his eyes and hugged Todd tightly. "I wish I could say it felt good to be back, but...."

Todd held him an arms length away from him, sizing Draco up and down. "Methinks you've grown another inch since you went away to that school of yours!" he exclaimed. A careful knock and the door cracked open, a capped head and bright eyes peering around the heavy wood. "Oh! Young Master Malfoy! You're back from school! How wonderful!" and with a clatter of heels, another servant burst into the room and enclosed him in a warm hug. "I missed you too, Hannah!" Draco said, unable to contain his smile. Hannah was Todd's wife and his other personal attendant. Her plump figure and rosy cheeks had brought him much comfort in his younger years. Draco had missed both of them sorely when he first went off to school, but the ache went away more and more as he grew up.

Todd went to get his trunk while Hannah made Draco sit in his soft leather armchair in front of the fire and tell her about the semester. Todd reappeared with the trunk and a tea set trailing along behind him in mid air. The pair set about unpacking and putting everything in its place while Draco elaborated on his new-found friendships and taking sips of tea. "Tha's wonderful. You need somebody your own age, Drrraco," Hannah said matter-of-factly, hanging up his sweaters. He smiled at the way she said his name. Nobody else in the world could roll her 'r's as well as Hannah could. "Enough about me, what's all the fuss about getting the rooms ready? How many people are staying?"

Hannah pursed her lips as she moved on to folding his knickers. Todd spoke up. "Your father saw it fit that three extra rooms be made up especially early and quite extensively, as well. The guests should be arriving tomorrow in the afternoon."

"And? Who is it?"

"Business associate and family. They're to stay on until a few days after New Year's..."

Nobody said it aloud, but everyone in the room knew it had to do with Dark Arts dealings. Draco decided to change the subject. "How's Demeter doing? I haven't been down to the stables yet."

"I've been exercising her daily for you, Young Master, never fear."

"And Wat? Laddie? Tómas? How are they?"

"Fine, fine, they are absolutely fine, Draco."

Draco took a sip of his tea and relaxed. He wondered in the back of his head who the guests were going to be, but didn't trouble himself over it too much. Maybe being home isn't such a bad thing.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Draco awoke the next morning to Todd pulling open the heavy deep blue draperies. "Good Morn'n, young sir," he said cheerfully. Draco grunted a response. "Hannah has drawn you a bath. And your Father wants to see you in the Dining Room. You're to take your breakfast with him and the Mistress today." Draco pulled the heavy down comforter over his head to block the harsh winter light from his face. Todd stood quietly at the foot of the gigantic bed, tickling his feet and the teenager threw back the off-white silk bed cover. "Alright! I'm up!" he said, crawling out. Todd held open his bathrobe for him to step into, then bowed himself from the room. Draco shuffled to his private bath, which was done in dramatic white and black marble. He stripped and sank into a luxurious bubble bath, but he couldn't enjoy it. Lucius was waiting, after all.

Somewhat refreshed, Draco opened his wardrobe to find his school robes hanging up neatly next to his summer robes, his dress robes, his dinner robes, a variety of cloaks for all different occasions. A carefully clean but tattered set of robes had been hastily shoved in the far corner on one of the shelves. No doubt Hannah had wanted to hide those from him to spare him the memories of long nights locked in the dungeons, in pain, bleeding, helpless and broken...With no change of expression, he moved a set of off-white silk sheets to cover them completely.

In the private dining room his mother sat, watching a crystalline fountain spout jets of icy water into a pool below, looking serene. Lucius sat next to her, wearing stately robes of navy blue, reading the Daily Prophet with a pair of gold rimmed reading glasses perched on his aquiline nose. "Ah...here he comes now," he said with false warmth, looking up. Narcissa looked over, too, and gave him a bland smile. Draco sat down opposite them, silent. Lucius folded his glasses delicately, then waited to be served upon. Almost immediately, a quiet maid appeared from the kitchen and served them delicately shirred eggs, kippers, and a jacketed potato each. Close to follow were glasses of orange juice and coffee. Once the servant had left, conversation started.

"Now, Draco, we have guests coming. I want you to keep your head about you and your tongue under wraps, is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

"I want you in the foyer in a state of welcome by noon. Sharp. No excuses. You are to treat the parents with the same respect as me. I daresay that you and your schoolmates can find well enough to do around here and stay out of our hair whilst we make arrangements."

"Yes sir. I understand completely."

"Now then-"

"Lucius, let the boy be. He's only been home for one night." Narcissa gently broke into the conversation and laid a hand quietly on his arm. Draco had finished as much of his breakfast as he'd wanted by now, anyway. "Might I please be excused, Mother? I wanted to look over Demeter this morning."

Lucius nodded his approval and Narcissa smiled cautiously at her son's retreating form.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

"DRACO? DRACO! GET DOWN HERE AT ONCE!!" Lucius bellowed up the staircase. Todd peered around the pantry door at the commotion. Malfoy Senior was pacing angrily and looking at his pocket watch. "Where is he? Fetch him," Lucius growled at him. Todd nodded once and slipped up the back way to Draco's room. Knocking lightly, there was no reply and Todd was slightly worried. He knocked louder, but still no reply. Todd decided to take a liberty and go into the room unannounced. No Draco. He was properly worried now. A quick search of the bedroom turned up nothing; same for the private sitting room adjoining it. The bathroom door was closed, so Todd knocked on it. Still no answer, so he pushed in and saw his charge sitting on the sink in front of the mirror, head on his knees and one hand dropped listlessly down.

"Draco...?" he asked quietly. The teenager started and held on to the sink to gain his balance before turning around. "Hmmm?" he said, draining his face carefully of any emotion. "What were you doing?"

"I..." Draco looked back at his reflection for a moment, then back to Todd and jumping down, "I was checking myself over for zits. You know. I don't want to be all covered in spots for Father's guests, do I?" Todd ignored the fact that Draco was in his boxers and took him by the chin, inspecting him. "No. I don't see any anyway. You would do well to actually get dressed, young Master, it is nearly 12." Todd slapped him lightly on the cheek and went out. Draco groaned to himself and decided to don deep red robes that he never really got the chance to wear before. He tucked his wand into his sash, and meandered down the stairs, bored. He already could tell it was going to be boring. Crabbe, Goyle, and their families, no doubt. One room for each set of parents and the children grouped into the last one; that's how they usually did it. He just didn't know why they were coming so early...

Lucius scowled up at his son. "Why didn't you just take the rest of the holiday?" Draco merely blinked as he stood on the bottom stair, resting his arm on the banister decorated with a garland. Narcissa wafted in from the Library, looking immaculate in a sweeping robe of pale peach and an exquisite rope of pearls around her neck. It hung loosely and complimented her slim figure at every angle. Father and son's eyes popped. "Oh I say...Sissa, you look wonderful..." Lucius moved gracefully and in seconds had her waltzing across the foyer, much to Draco's disgust. He wrinkled his nose as they floated past, Narcissa giggling girlishly. A minute later, the stuffy Head butler, Chris, informed them stuffily that "...Masters and Mistresses Dannen had arrived and were awaiting in the parlour." Lucius immediately dropped Narcissa's arms and made his way to the guests. Draco stared at Chris as though he had sprouted another head.

"Come, Draco. We don't want to be late." Narcissa held out her arm, waiting to be escorted by her son. Shaking himself out of reverie, he took it and steered her to the parlour.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Ezra Dannen and his wife Vanessa looked unimpressed with the manor so far. Draco could only presume that they had an equally large house. Erik looked as though he'd have rather been anywhere else and Keira was hugging his left arm to her again. Draco hung back with them. Lucius spoke up. "Draco, show your schoolmates their rooms. And keep out of the Study!" With that, the grown ups went into the richly designed room and shut the heavy doors. Keira shuddered. "Such a dark house you have!" she said, leaning against her brother. Draco scowled, then said, "I have no clue where the hell you're sleeping...c'mon..." He trudged upstairs again, motioning them to follow. Todd met up with them at the top of the stairs and bowed.

"Where're they sleeping?" Draco asked rudely, pointing at his friends. "Young Master Erik is sleeping across from you, and Miss Keira is a little ways down the hall, in the Green Room." Draco blinked and led them to his rooms. Todd followed at a respectable distance. Keira gasped and dropped her brother's arm when she entered: an oatmeal coloured plush carpet spanned the room, with a mahogany four poster against the left grey stone wall. The bed had the creme-coloured down bedspread on it and an arrangement of creme and deep blue pillows for decoration. Mahogany end tables were on either side. The blue draperies were tied back with silken cord to allow the harsh light in the huge windows. A golden chandelier hung from the fresco ceiling. Leather armchairs sat in front of a black marble carved fireplace opposite the bed, with merry flames crackling in the polished grate. Erik gave a low whistle. "Nice wardrobe," he commented bluntly.

It sat next to his book case on the near-side wall, truly a piece of work in itself. Draco snorted as Keira walked over to inspect the bathroom in all its splendour. Erik tested one of the arm chairs. "It's nice..." he said, bouncing up and down. Draco sat in another one and kicked off his shoes. "It's too much. I didn't want it all, but Fa-Lucius insisted on giving them to me," he sighed. Todd interrupted. "Would the Master and his friends enjoy a snack? Or is there anything else I can do for you before I go unpack your luggage?" Keira came back and sat in the remaining armchair. Her legs didn't touch the floor because it was so deep and she was so short. Draco raised his eyebrows at them.

"I'm fine."

"No thanks."

"Thank you, Todd, but we'll just stay up here until we're called for dinner." Todd bowed low and said, "Ring if you are needin' anything at all," and backed from the room. As soon as he was gone, Keira bounded over to Erik and sat on his lap. Draco narrowed his eyes suspiciously but said nothing. Erik sighed and glanced around the room again. "Is this it? Or is there more?"

"Ohhh, there's more, alright, there's plenty more....wait until you see my sitting room."

"You have a sitting room?"

"Yup. And a balcony."

Erik whistled again. Draco smirked. "Ordinarily, they'd be a bit more messy, what with my school stuff lying around and whatnot, but Todd and Hannah must have tossed them under my bed."

"Who's Hannah?" Keira piped up.

"Todd's wife. She's going to be attending you for your stay, and Todd is going to look after you, Erik. Lucius wanted everyone to be satisfied with their own personal slave for a week. They're my personal servants, but they assured him that they wouldn't mind looking after two more teenagers for a week and a half. Of course, it helps that they're getting a bonus in their pay..." Draco remarked dryly. Erik shook his head. "We have a whole wing to ourselves in our house," he said in his quiet way. Keira leaned back against him. Draco shot Erik a quizzical look and his friend sent one back, clearly saying, "I'll explain later."

"Tell me more about your manor. Like, how is it different from ours and all that jazz."

"For one thing, it's not built to mimic a castle-"

"-It's been in the family for centuries and it was built in Medieval Times."

"My apologies, then. Well, it's more modern looking, to say the least. It's brick, with ivy climbing the walls. Mother likes to redecorate the inside, so I really can't tell you specifically what it looks like. The atmosphere is quite a bit lighter, though...we don't have torches in brackets along the walls to light the way. Our wing is our own and we have adjoining rooms, too. My room is done with all shades of blue, grey, white, and black. The ceiling is painted to look like the night sky. It doesn't change with it, it just looks like there's a bunch of stars on it with a crescent moon. It's not nearly as fancy as yours."

Keira spoke next. "My room is a dusty rose colour with a mural of a unicorn on one wall, looking back over his shoulder." Draco wrinkled his nose at the prissy description, but she shook her head, "It's NOT girlish! How could you think I'd even like something like that? Anyway, my ceiling is painted to look like a cloudy day. It suits my tastes."

Erik started again. "We have what we call the Glass Room next to our rooms. It's really an observatory for Astronomy and Astrology, because Mother is into horoscopes and trying to figure out our destiny and whatnot. Part of it is a balcony with a telescope set up. The glass part is really for winter observations. But our house feels just as cold and unwelcoming as yours, never fear. You'll have to visit sometime."

Todd bowed himself into the room, just then, saying, "Dinner is bein' served in half an 'our. You might want to smarten yourselves up." Keira jumped up like a jack rabbit, eyes wide. Todd backed from the room and shut the door gently. Erik got up and stretched like a cat. "Does that mean we have to change robes or something?" he asked, interested. Draco sighed, "Only because it's the first night you're here and we're all eating together. After this, we're on our own to eat whenever we feel like it. Unless they 'require our presence' or some such nonsense. If we don't have guests, my family usually wears the same set of robes for the day like a normal family does." Draco scampered out into the hall to show them their rooms. Keira arched her eyebrows when she saw hers.

"Kind of a real 'Slytherin' motif, isn't it?" Draco smirked. The room had a lush green carpet in front of a large craved fireplace, draperies the same emerald colour pulled back from the windows that over looked the East Garden. A grey silk down cover was laid on the bed, which had black throw pillows with silver threads woven into the borders and tassels. The lamps all had green shades. "Lucius always liked this room because it reminded him of the Common Room from school," he remarked. Erik agreed. Keira went to the closet and found all of her things had been put away by Hannah.

Draco led Eric back down the hall to his room and followed his friend in. "I don't need help getting dressed, Draco," he said wryly. Draco replied, "I wasn't offering. But I also don't think we take as long as a girl to get dressed for dinner, so explain to me why she's so clingy all of a sudden." Having Draco in the room didn't perturb Erik enough to stop him from changing, and Draco wondered why all of a sudden men were showing him their bare chests. "You stereotype Keira too easily. Never underestimate exactly what actions she'll take or how fast, because she will surprise even me sometimes," he paused to pull a deeply purple velvet robe on, so dark that it looked almost black, "Come to my room after we go to bed; I'll tell you then." Draco shrugged and left him to pull a comb through his hair.

Back across the hall in his own room, he flung his red robes on the floor and chose black ones; he didn't feel like being especially colourful in front of everyone for dinner that night. Coming back out into the hall, he saw Erik leaning against the wall, looking bored with his arms crossed. Keira came out of her room just then in robes of sparkling blue, her dark hair half up, the rest tumbling about her shoulders. Draco raised his eyebrows appreciatively.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Draco sneaked into Erik's room later that night to find him sitting on his window seat, staring at the moon. "She's scared," he said simply, not looking at Draco still, "She read my latest dream entry, realised exactly what we're here for, and is scared stiff." Draco joined him on the window, also looking at the moon. Erik's eyes held the cold light and illuminated them eerily. Draco waited for him to continue, but he didn't. "Are you scared, too?" he asked gently.

"No...not really...I mean, it was inevitable. It was bound to happen at some point."

"Yeah. I wasn't really scared of getting the Mark until I actually got to the Ceremony."

Erik gave him a strange look, moon reflecting in the unnatural blue of his eyes as he stared into frightful silver ones. "Whoever said anything about joining the Circle? Keira's been promised to someone."

Draco felt the icy feeling in his stomach spread through his veins. "To who?" he demanded shrilly. "To some young Death Eater who graduated a few years ago...Chillingworth, remember him? Big burly chap...not much going on upstairs, but a brute nonetheless. I can't remember his first name."

"Warwick. His name is Warwick. I remember him; he used to be a reserve Beater on the Quidditch Team. He was no one to be trifled with."

"Oh dear."

"But you didn't know? You weren't told that He was coming?"

"Stop talking in riddles! Who's coming, for Merlin's sake? Chillingworth?"

"No! The Dark Lord! He's coming for the New Year's party."

It was Erik's turn to be surprised. "How can you be sure?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Lucius has been crowing about it ever since I got home. He's delighted about some ritual they're performing after the party in the Drawing Room and I can only guess that you'll be part of it..."

"Oh shyte..."

"You said it."

They stayed up a few more hours watching the moon set behind the trees, then Draco stole silently back to his room, feeling numb all over.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

At the Christmas Party a few nights later, Keira looked stunning in a form-fitting dress of black velvet and a choker to match. The only jewel she wore was a single diamond centered on the choker. Erik was debonair and looked like a younger version of his father. Already he was as tall as Ezra, with the same aristocratic nose and quiet demeanor. Draco couldn't tell which of them was the one with the child of the whore; they each had some quality that wasn't apparent in either Vanessa or Ezra. Keira was on the short side and rather an imp. The rest of the family was decidedly tall and quiet. Controlled. Yet nobody else had Erik's piercing blue eyes, either, or his particular affinity for staying out of trouble as much as possible.

Narcissa looked drop-dead gorgeous in another flowing gown of pale lavender with a string of amethysts. Draco danced with her, as was expected of him, after dinner while Lucius smoked a cigar and had a brandy with the rest of his 'business associates'. Erik was dancing with his mother and looked extremely bored. Draco closed his ears to his mother's meaningless prattle, shot him a look over his mother's shoulder and rolled his eyes. Erik grinned back and nodded towards Keira. She had a look of utter contempt as she danced with Blaise. (All of the Slytherins from 4th year and up had been invited with their families for the festivities.) Clearly she had not forgotten, nor forgiven.

Draco started to listen to Narcissa's running commentary again. "...quite a nice girl. It's a shame, though, otherwise I would have spoken to your Father about it. Of course, her family has a bit more going for them in the money department, but it would be a good alliance anyway. Get them more involved in your father's dealings and bump them up a class, I daresay. Have you started looking for any prospects, Draco?" He shook his head, vaguely wondering what she was talking about. "I would have thought you would have jumped at the chance to drop Pansy. I was under the impression that you didn't think very highly of her."

Oh. She was talking about finding somebody to make a future 'Mrs. Malfoy'. Of course. He felt numb again, because Lucius had said if he couldn't find anybody by 6th year, he would set the arrangements with the Parkinson's. Well, it was now half way through 6th year. He'd have to find some excuse and vaguely wondered what Lucius would do to him if he said he was gay and Erik was his boyfriend. He smiled sardonically at the idea and Narcissa gave him a quizzical look. "Was it something I said?" she asked, politely nonplussed. "It's nothing, Mum...forget it," he replied. "Alright. If you say so," she replied dubiously.

Just then, Lucius appeared at his shoulder. "May I cut in? Thank you," he said curtly and swept his mother away from him. He went to go find his friends. Keira hung on the out skirts of the crowd; she really didn't belong, after all. After a few more hours, all the Ministry workers and officials left, leaving behind parents and the occasional friend that had resurfaced through the years. More alcohol was served and talk flowed more freely. The tables had turned; before it had been that everyone wanted everyone else to think that they despised and abhorred the Dark Arts and all that was associated. Now it was quite the opposite. People drunkenly swore their allegiance to the Dark Lord and that their children would soon join the ranks of the Circle. Ezra made his way up to the band stand with a glass of scotch, seemingly more poised than the rest, as did Lucius.

"I would like to raise a toast to the host of this marvelous party," he tipped the glass towards the table where Lucius and Narcissa were seated, looking very much like a king and queen holding court. "And to take this opportunity to thank them for allowing us to graciously stay in their home whilst our children become soldiers in the noble, but endless, work of the Circle." There was a tinkle of glass as Keira dropped her champagne glass of punch in shock. Nobody paid any attention. The girls all looked at her in a new light and suddenly, she was revered. Pansy shot her a look of jealousy and hatred. Erik's face was pale as the moon and carefully drained of emotion as his classmates pounded him on the back jovially. Few students ever dared to become a Death Eater while still in school; it was a huge risk. The ones who did were treated with special respect and the Mark on their arm was a badge of honour.

"Without the Malfoy's continued support and assistance in the endeavour to keep family traditions strong, I'm sure we would not be celebrating our children's coming of age this evening." Ezra raised his glass once more to hearty 'Hear, Hear!'s and downed his scotch in two gulps. "Play on," he told the band leader as he climbed down. Lucius stood up at the head of the table and said, "Now if you'll excuse us, ladies, we men must retire to the drawing room to discuss politics." Draco snorted and turned his attention back to Erik and Keira. Keira seemed to be in shock and her brother was leading her to a chair on the side of the room. The rest of the Slytherin gang held back and was more interested in snitching drinks from the bar. Draco knelt in front of her and Erik patted the back of her hand.

"I didn't think he was serious about getting us in so soon..." she whispered huskily. Draco gave her a sympathetic look and took her other hand in his. Erik knelt down in front of her as well. They stayed there for the rest of the night.

A/N: Merry Christmas my @$$. Cheers.