Grace of the Devil
Part Sixteen:
As time went on, Lucius turned a blind eye to his daughter's developing body. To him, his little Gracie was still that...little. He didn't see the blossoming woman before him, he still saw a little girl who played with dolls and did everything her daddy told her.
Well, she still did the latter.
Lucius always enjoyed the summer holidays more then any time of the year, and the letter from Hogwarts every August was his least favorite thing to recieve. The summer before Grace's fifth year, the letter came before Grace came down to breakfast, and Lucius opened it to scan the supply list. I suppose we'll take a trip to Diagon Alley today, he thought sadly.
Suddenly, amid the list of books and things, he saw it: dress robes. Dress robes? he thought. What the bloody hell do they need dress robes for? A ball? The thought made Lucius's heart fill with dread: the only ball he'd ever attended during school was during Christmas. If Grace went to the ball, he wouldn't see her until next summer!
Just at that moment, Grace came into the dining hall. She smiled brightly, making Lucius's mood rise somewhat. "Good morning, Daddy!" she sang happily as she went to his side and pecked him on the cheek.
"Good morning, Darling."
"Oh, my school letter!" Grace sat down, and Lucius handed it to her with a sigh. "May we go to Diagon Alley today, Daddy, please?"
"Of course, Gracie."
Grace scanned the list, and let out an excited gasp. "Dress robes? What are those for?"
"A ball, I expect," Lucius said, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.
"A ball?" The excitement in his daughter's voice angered Lucius, though he wasn't sure why.
"We'll have to get you some nice ones," Lucius said, trying to sound enthusiastic. But the tone of his voice made Grace look up from her letter and shoot her father a look of concern.
"Daddy? Is something wrong?"
It was almost as if their roles were reversed, Lucius thought. How ironic. "Well..." he said slowly. "The ball will probably be during Christmas holiday, which means that you won't be coming home this year..."
"Oh," Grace said, her face dropping. "Do you want me to not go, then?"
"No!" Lucius cried quickly. "Of course not, my dear. You'll go to that ball, and you'll be the prettiest girl there."
"But-"
"Eat your breakfast," Lucius said, eager to change the subject. "I expect that Diagon Alley will be crowded today."
"Yes, Daddy," Grace said obediantly, concentrating on her breakfast plate with a worried look on her face. Lucius felt a twinge of guilt, but he pushed it back. Perhaps she'd change her mind about the ball, he thought hopefully. And it wouldn't be my fault, because I said she could go.
They went to Diagon Alley right after breakfast. Though it was only mid-morning, the place was already crowded with Hogwarts students and their families. Though Grace saw many of her school friends, Lucius kept a firm hand on her arm to keep her from leaving his side. He didn't care that she was fifteen: to him, she was still a small child that he needed to watch over.
After buying the usual supplies of books, quills, parchment, and other things, Lucius took Grace to Madame Morrible's Robe Shop, the most expensive robe shop in London, he knew. He was one of their best customers, and when he walked in, Madame Morrible herself greeted him warmly.
"Dress robes for the girl, I assume," the middle aged woman said warmly. "We've been fairly busy today, as you can see..." She gestured around the room at the children of rich wizard families who were picking their dress robes.
"I'll be back in an hour," Lucius said, for he knew that the process of dress robes was much longer and more tedious then buying school robes. Lucius kissed his daughter's forehead. "Good luck, Gracie. Have fun."
"Goodbye, Daddy." Lucius left the shop, planning to Apparate home and wait to come back. He didn't need the whole wizarding community gawking at him anymore.
An hour later, Lucius returned to Madame Morrible's. The place was much less crowded then it had been, but Grace was nowhere in sight.
One of Madame Morrible's assistants informed Lucius that Grace was still having her robes prepared. "Oh, she's choosen a LOVELY design," the young assistant gushed. "The fashion this year is somewhat Muggle-based, a bit more DRESS then ROBE, if you know what I mean."
"Of course," Lucius said. He'd always preferred his daughter in dresses then robes. He sat and waited nearly another half-hour, until Madame Morrible came out from the back room.
"Mr. Malfoy! I'm so glad you're here. I know you'll be very pleased with your daughter, she looks just lovely."
"Well, bring her out, then," Lucius said, standing up. He held back his excitement. In spite of his previous feelings, he was excited to see his daughter in pretty dress robes.
Grace came out from the back room, pushing the red velvet curtains aside and standing before them, gushing with pride. Lucius took in the dress robes. The underdress was white silk and sleeveless, and showed off her dusky skin. The overlayer was transparent white, and her arms showed underneath. She looked very lovely, except...
Lucius's eyes traveled to his daughter's chest, and he had to hold back a gasp. Cleavage! He felt rage towards Madame Morrible boil inside of him. "What," he demanded icily, "is THAT?"
"What?" The woman examined the girl, obviously proud of her lovely masterpiece of dress robes. "Why, don't you like it, sir?"
"LOOK at her!" Lucius exclaimed, gesturing to his daughter.
"She looks quite lovely-"
"She looks," Lucius said coldly, "like a common prostitute."
Grace gaped at him as Madam Morrible rushed to the defense of her creation. "Mr. Malfoy, I don't see any problems with the robes-"
"Then perhaps you failed to notice that my daughter's chest is sticking out." Grace looked mortified, but Lucius was in too much of a rage to notice.
Madame Morrible examined the dress again. "Sir, that's the design of the dress. In fact, Miss Malfoy had us cut it higher then it originally was. She looks quite tasteful."
"Your opinion of tasteful doesn't matter to me," Lucius said, as coldly as ever, "I am the one paying for this, and I am not satisfied."
"Daddy, please," Grace whispered, finding her voice. Lucius turned to her, noticing her for the first time.
"Gracie," he whispered gently, "you don't want dress robes cut so low."
"But, Daddy-"
"You're much to young," Lucius said softly. "The dress will be just a lovely if it's cut higher." The look of resignation on his daughter's face told him that Lucius had won this fight. He turned back to Madame Morrible. "I will be back in another half-hour. I expect to find my daughter fixed by then."
"Yes, sir," the woman said curtly, obviously hurt that her latest piece of work had been rejected.
Lucius returned later, and was happy with the results. The dress robes were the same, except that there wasn't a spot of cleavage showing. Satisfied, Lucius smiled and nodded. "Very lovely, Gracie. Turn around slowly for Daddy, now."
Grace obeyed, twirling proudly in her lovely robes. Lucius smiled and turned to Madame Morrible, good humor restored since he'd gotten his way.
"Now," he said, "payment. You will, of course, be adding the alteration price to the bill?"
"Of course," Madame Morrible said with a smile. And all was well.
At least, that's what Lucius thought.
Part Sixteen:
As time went on, Lucius turned a blind eye to his daughter's developing body. To him, his little Gracie was still that...little. He didn't see the blossoming woman before him, he still saw a little girl who played with dolls and did everything her daddy told her.
Well, she still did the latter.
Lucius always enjoyed the summer holidays more then any time of the year, and the letter from Hogwarts every August was his least favorite thing to recieve. The summer before Grace's fifth year, the letter came before Grace came down to breakfast, and Lucius opened it to scan the supply list. I suppose we'll take a trip to Diagon Alley today, he thought sadly.
Suddenly, amid the list of books and things, he saw it: dress robes. Dress robes? he thought. What the bloody hell do they need dress robes for? A ball? The thought made Lucius's heart fill with dread: the only ball he'd ever attended during school was during Christmas. If Grace went to the ball, he wouldn't see her until next summer!
Just at that moment, Grace came into the dining hall. She smiled brightly, making Lucius's mood rise somewhat. "Good morning, Daddy!" she sang happily as she went to his side and pecked him on the cheek.
"Good morning, Darling."
"Oh, my school letter!" Grace sat down, and Lucius handed it to her with a sigh. "May we go to Diagon Alley today, Daddy, please?"
"Of course, Gracie."
Grace scanned the list, and let out an excited gasp. "Dress robes? What are those for?"
"A ball, I expect," Lucius said, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.
"A ball?" The excitement in his daughter's voice angered Lucius, though he wasn't sure why.
"We'll have to get you some nice ones," Lucius said, trying to sound enthusiastic. But the tone of his voice made Grace look up from her letter and shoot her father a look of concern.
"Daddy? Is something wrong?"
It was almost as if their roles were reversed, Lucius thought. How ironic. "Well..." he said slowly. "The ball will probably be during Christmas holiday, which means that you won't be coming home this year..."
"Oh," Grace said, her face dropping. "Do you want me to not go, then?"
"No!" Lucius cried quickly. "Of course not, my dear. You'll go to that ball, and you'll be the prettiest girl there."
"But-"
"Eat your breakfast," Lucius said, eager to change the subject. "I expect that Diagon Alley will be crowded today."
"Yes, Daddy," Grace said obediantly, concentrating on her breakfast plate with a worried look on her face. Lucius felt a twinge of guilt, but he pushed it back. Perhaps she'd change her mind about the ball, he thought hopefully. And it wouldn't be my fault, because I said she could go.
They went to Diagon Alley right after breakfast. Though it was only mid-morning, the place was already crowded with Hogwarts students and their families. Though Grace saw many of her school friends, Lucius kept a firm hand on her arm to keep her from leaving his side. He didn't care that she was fifteen: to him, she was still a small child that he needed to watch over.
After buying the usual supplies of books, quills, parchment, and other things, Lucius took Grace to Madame Morrible's Robe Shop, the most expensive robe shop in London, he knew. He was one of their best customers, and when he walked in, Madame Morrible herself greeted him warmly.
"Dress robes for the girl, I assume," the middle aged woman said warmly. "We've been fairly busy today, as you can see..." She gestured around the room at the children of rich wizard families who were picking their dress robes.
"I'll be back in an hour," Lucius said, for he knew that the process of dress robes was much longer and more tedious then buying school robes. Lucius kissed his daughter's forehead. "Good luck, Gracie. Have fun."
"Goodbye, Daddy." Lucius left the shop, planning to Apparate home and wait to come back. He didn't need the whole wizarding community gawking at him anymore.
An hour later, Lucius returned to Madame Morrible's. The place was much less crowded then it had been, but Grace was nowhere in sight.
One of Madame Morrible's assistants informed Lucius that Grace was still having her robes prepared. "Oh, she's choosen a LOVELY design," the young assistant gushed. "The fashion this year is somewhat Muggle-based, a bit more DRESS then ROBE, if you know what I mean."
"Of course," Lucius said. He'd always preferred his daughter in dresses then robes. He sat and waited nearly another half-hour, until Madame Morrible came out from the back room.
"Mr. Malfoy! I'm so glad you're here. I know you'll be very pleased with your daughter, she looks just lovely."
"Well, bring her out, then," Lucius said, standing up. He held back his excitement. In spite of his previous feelings, he was excited to see his daughter in pretty dress robes.
Grace came out from the back room, pushing the red velvet curtains aside and standing before them, gushing with pride. Lucius took in the dress robes. The underdress was white silk and sleeveless, and showed off her dusky skin. The overlayer was transparent white, and her arms showed underneath. She looked very lovely, except...
Lucius's eyes traveled to his daughter's chest, and he had to hold back a gasp. Cleavage! He felt rage towards Madame Morrible boil inside of him. "What," he demanded icily, "is THAT?"
"What?" The woman examined the girl, obviously proud of her lovely masterpiece of dress robes. "Why, don't you like it, sir?"
"LOOK at her!" Lucius exclaimed, gesturing to his daughter.
"She looks quite lovely-"
"She looks," Lucius said coldly, "like a common prostitute."
Grace gaped at him as Madam Morrible rushed to the defense of her creation. "Mr. Malfoy, I don't see any problems with the robes-"
"Then perhaps you failed to notice that my daughter's chest is sticking out." Grace looked mortified, but Lucius was in too much of a rage to notice.
Madame Morrible examined the dress again. "Sir, that's the design of the dress. In fact, Miss Malfoy had us cut it higher then it originally was. She looks quite tasteful."
"Your opinion of tasteful doesn't matter to me," Lucius said, as coldly as ever, "I am the one paying for this, and I am not satisfied."
"Daddy, please," Grace whispered, finding her voice. Lucius turned to her, noticing her for the first time.
"Gracie," he whispered gently, "you don't want dress robes cut so low."
"But, Daddy-"
"You're much to young," Lucius said softly. "The dress will be just a lovely if it's cut higher." The look of resignation on his daughter's face told him that Lucius had won this fight. He turned back to Madame Morrible. "I will be back in another half-hour. I expect to find my daughter fixed by then."
"Yes, sir," the woman said curtly, obviously hurt that her latest piece of work had been rejected.
Lucius returned later, and was happy with the results. The dress robes were the same, except that there wasn't a spot of cleavage showing. Satisfied, Lucius smiled and nodded. "Very lovely, Gracie. Turn around slowly for Daddy, now."
Grace obeyed, twirling proudly in her lovely robes. Lucius smiled and turned to Madame Morrible, good humor restored since he'd gotten his way.
"Now," he said, "payment. You will, of course, be adding the alteration price to the bill?"
"Of course," Madame Morrible said with a smile. And all was well.
At least, that's what Lucius thought.