Chapter Five: Summer of Freedom

(A/N Still don't know exactly what will happen in third-year, but I've found a way to update without knowing. As you may have guessed by the title, this is the summer between Lucia's year two and year three. And speaking of year three's, doesn't it totally SUCK that Prisoner isn't out until June 2004!!! I'm am so totally obsessed with that book, I really, REALLY don't want to wait that long. ( Oh yeah, and has anyone figured out yet that I DESPISE Dobby?)

Draco was very interested about the next entries. He had always wondered what exactly happened the summer in which they had been written, between Lucia's second and third years at Hogwarts. Something had seemed different afterwards, when September came and Lucia left. But he had never known why. Now, he hoped to find the answers.

*~*~*

Dear Diary,

This is going to be one interesting summer. Just Mother and me, alone, for two months. I have no idea what to expect. But I get ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning.

Usually Father is the one who greets me off the train. Well, greets maybe isn't the right word. He comes and brings me home, usually instructing my on how to improve myself on the way there. But this year it was Dobby waiting for me, with a portkey.

After making sure the stupid elf was going to be able to adequately take care of my luggage, and by that I mean only lose or break a few things, I used to portkey, and ended up home.

Home in the middle of a sea of chaos. The elves were running around, carrying so many boxes and suitcases that it was amazing their backs weren't broken. Mother was standing nearby, overseeing everything. Draco stood beside her, clinging to her skirt.

I asked her what was going on, and she said Father and Draco were going on a trip. By this point, Draco has freed himself from Mother's robes, and ran towards me. I knelt down, and he practically flew into my arms, cling to me. Sometimes I really do have to love that kid. He really is adorable right now, especially with his hair falling in his face. Soon Father will probably start making him slick it back. I don't think I'll like seeing that.

Anyways, I asked Draco about the trip, but my brother didn't say anything, just held on to me tighter. Then I asked if he wanted to go. And he said no, he wanted to stay with me. I kissed him on the forehead, smiling down.

With perfect timing, that was when Father made his entrance. And before even saying hello, he was ordering Draco to get down and stop acting like a baby. I wanted to yell back "he is a baby", but I've never had the courage to openly defy Father. So I put Draco down, trying to ignore his pleading eyes that are so like mine. Father came over, and used his cane to herd Draco towards the door. Only then did he acknowledge my presence, saying that I had performed satisfactorily at school, and that he was sure that I would have an enjoyable summer with my mother. And then he was out the door, taking poor little Draco with him.

So now I'm alone in this house with Mother. And the house-elves, but they don't count. This will be interesting.

Lucia

PS Oh, I almost forgot something. Mother watched Father and Draco leave out the window. I was about to leave the room when she sighed so deeply I thought something was wrong. But when I asked her what it was, she turned to me and smiling said "Nothing's wrong, Lucia. Everything is perfect." She looked so different then usual. It was unnerving. But I think I know why, for like her I can feel the weight that has been lifted off this house, with the departure of my father.

*~*~*

Dear Diary,

A week has passed since Father and Draco left. Life appears to be normal. But it isn't. The changes are only noticeable to people who know well the workings of the Malfoy family. People like me, who have suffered under its tyranny.

Even so, the differences are hard to explain. They are not drastic, yet they are everywhere. Life has become.freer. As I said in the last entry, a weight has been lifted. And because of this, life has become more informal. Mother and I haven't talked much, but I can tell she feels it too. Lately she has been doing more around the house, completing tasks that are normally left to the servants. And she smiles with real warmth, not the cold, forced smile I have known for the last years.

The biggest change is meals. With Father here, we always eat at the big dinning room table with my parents on either end, and Draco and I in the middle. Conversing with Mother or Father is difficult for us. It is impossible for my parents to speak. This seems to make the marriage easier for both of them. But now Mother has had the table shrunken. And I have been given Father's place at the table, which is rather unnerving if I do say so myself. The two ends are still far from each other, but the seem to get closer every day. The meals are also simpler, with less food going to waste. Life seems so different, but I love it.

Lucia

PS Is this what life would have been without Draco? Without my brother, would being home be happy for me?

*~*~*

Draco sat pondering his sister's questions. This life she described was something he had no concept of. Meals had never been less than completely formal, and he could not recall seeing his mother truly smile.

"Did I ruin their lives?" he asked himself quietly, as the next entry was revealed.

*~*~*

Dear Diary,

By Merlin, it's been years since I had so much fun at home as I had today. I have never felt closer to Mother. Actual, I have never felt remotely close to her at all, until now.

I got up early this morning, as usual, and went to have breakfast. Unusually, Mother was not at the table when I arrived, as she has been every day for as long as I can remember. Both my parents are very early risers. I could never beat them out of bed.

Anyways, I ate my meal alone, and then went to the library to do some more work on my homework. I'm working on such an advanced essay that Snape would be impressed if it were written by a seventh-year. But, that isn't important.

What is important is that right before I started work, Dobby appeared. He told me that mother wanted to see me, in the master bedroom.

In the master bedroom. Before this morning, I had never been in there. Father never permitted it, for me or Draco. Not willing to miss this opportunity, I hurried upstairs and through the bedroom doors.

It was so dark in there. Incredibly dark. I thought my room was gloomy, but it's only gray. This room was black. And filled to the brim with dark magic. The air practically hummed with the dark arts. I would have loved to see Quirrel turn to a quivering mass in here, for the professor is completely incapable of battling the dark arts. But once again I record unimportant things.

Sitting on the bed, upon the black satin sheets, was my mother, the only light thin in the room. But even she had a darkness about her. Her golden hair did not shine as it usually does; the waves in it seemed still and immobile. Her face was pale and without any life in it, as were her eyes. She wore a white nightgown, but it only made her seem weaker in the room of strong shadows.

She looked up at me as I entered, smiling weakly. "You need more colour, Lucia," she told me. I was wearing my black skirt and matching black blouse, a standard outfit out home.

I looked around the room, then looked her in the eyes. "I don't think you should be lecturing me on colour."

She stood up then with a huge sigh. "I suppose you're right." She walked towards her dresser, one of the few non-black items, though it was stained dark. I watched her face in the mirror, bone-white against the dark. Then her eyes lit up, and she smiled. Picking up her wand, she turned and cast a spell on the bed.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The bed had been turned baby pink, and was covered in lace. I began to laugh, and than Mother joined me. She turned her wand to the curtains, and suddenly they were white and sheer, not black and oppressive. "Join me Lucia," she said, as the carpet became lemon yellow. I concentrated on the wall, and turned it robin blue.

We spent the rest of the morning, and most of the afternoon, changing all the colours through the mansion. The only room left untouched I think is Draco's room, which was once mine. I have not been in there since I was evicted from it, and Mother saw no reason to alter it. But even Father's study is changed, the desk streaked with a rainbow with the rest of the room is white. Most rooms clash hideously, but we couldn't care less. Finally we were so exhausted that we just collapsed on the floor in the living room, which is now neon green.

Oh, and my black clothes were changed to yellow.

Dinner is going to be served soon, on our now floral china. It used to be marked with the Slytherin serpent. I'm so sick of Slytherin. I love school, but this is home. That's why I chose yellow, because it's not green. Obviously. Though I was careful not to make them Hufflepuff yellow. Stupid Hufflepuffs.

But for today, I want to forget about school. So no more about Hogwarts. Dobby has just come to invite me for dinner. Mother has made the table the proper size for two people to eat and converse. I think that we have come to a new point in our relationship. Then again, it's not like there was really an old point. Our relationship was just never there. But now it is. And I revel in it.

Lucia

*~*~*

Draco smiled at the idea of a multi-coloured house. He wished he had been at the house that summer, with Lucia and Narcissa rather than with Lucius. But he hadn't had a choice in the matter. Lucia had accurately recorded his reluctance to go. But what was past was past, and there was no changing it. But at least he could live the experience through his sister's words.

*~*~*

Dear Diary,

Well, today was another interesting and important day in the mother- daughter relationship of the Malfoys. Today, Mother tried to give me the talk.

It was actually quite funny. She called me to her room early, and we ate breakfast on the pink bed. After we had finished, she looked at me in a very serious manner, and told me there were things she needed to tell me. This surprised me, especially when she began talking about puberty. Then I started to laugh. This surprised her.

"Mum," I told her, "I already know this." Yes, I called her Mum. How weird is that?

Anyways, she replied "You have?"

"Yeah, I have been living in a girls' dorm for the last two years. We do talk."

She began to laugh then. "Of course, well that makes things easier for me. Do you have any questions?"

I didn't. Until she went to the dresser and began "putting on her face", as she calls it. I have never used makeup, so I asked her to show me. First I watched her, then she helped me apply some on myself. Just some lip gloss and clear mascara, but it was a good start. Or so she said. Something I would even be allowed to wear to school.

When she mentioned Hogwarts, I suddenly remembered all the homework. I had been ignoring school for the last week, hadn't even touched my Potions essay. So that was what I worked on for the rest of the day. At supper we had a good discussion about school, and I learned some interesting things about her as a student. Apparently, she was a horror in Transfiguration. The Gryffindors always dominated in that class, as they do today. That is the one class where Bill Weasley actually has a significantly higher mark than me. It's quite horrid.

But I don't want to think about him today. Or ever, but unfortunately I have to eventually deal with him. But not today, or any day this summer. This summer, I can just relax with my "Mum".

Lucia

*~*~*

Dear Diary,

The summer is almost over. I'm sorry I haven't written more, but I've been occupied. I never knew being with Mother could be so fun. But now it's coming to an end.

Father comes home tomorrow. We spent the better part of the day returning all the décor to its original state. Now the house is it usual, dark self. And that absent weight is beginning to press down on the mansion again.

Mother and I had a picnic dinner, our last meal before Father and Draco return. It was so happy and relaxing, yet so incredibly sad. We talked about unimportant stuff all night, trying to forget about everything other than our summer. Sometimes I think Mother was about to say something to me, but then stopped. I wish I knew what she wanted to tell me, but I guess I never will.

In one week I return to school. I can't wait. Once Father comes back, this house will become my hell again. But I'll always remember that time when it was paradise.

Lucia

*~*~*

Draco could vaguely remember returning home. Everything had seemed just as he remembered. Mother and Lucia had done their job, making sure the colours were erased. The only difference he had ever noticed was that Lucia looked older and more beautiful after this summer. Aided by both the makeup and hormones, she had become less of a girl, and more of a woman.

(A/N Well, that wasn't so hard. But now I have to figure our what happens next. ARG!!!! Anyways, I have decided to keep this to a PG13 fic, though some words may be "bleeped". Thanks again for all the great reviews.

First with the last-minute chapter 3 reviewers who didn't get thanked personally before:

She-Wolf: Thanks for adding Confessions to your favs, means a lot. Also I'm glad I stunned you, though I do hope you have recovered. Stunned people can't read, or review, and we can't have that. I also have fallen in love with Lucia's character, which really does suck because of what happens later. But you don't know that.

Angelily: I'm trying to work on the character development, though it is hard for characters other than Lucia, since it's all her POV. Also, I do try to make the entries long, but not too long that they go on and on. Thanks for the comments though.

Guardian of Lost Souls: Another review, thank you so much. I really do think Lucia acted a true Malfoy. Lucius would be so proud if only she were male. Anyways, hope I updated fast enough for you, though this was the slowest update for this story yet. Not too bad though, if I do say so myself.

Darcel: Very cool!!!

Jeanne: Love the Alan story, he so does not look 57. Anyways, I do try to avoid A/N's in the story, but I couldn't resist at that particular moment. I'll try to restrain in the future, but I make no promises. I also agree that Draconis' feelings towards Harriet are similar to Lucia and Bill, though that will change. (More foreshadowing)

Belleza: You hadn't reviewed before, but thanks for doing it now. And now I have written more.

Aurelia: Another return reviewer. Thanks SO much. Love the little ferret thing, way to go Moody, even if it was Crouch. And about Snape, well I did consider that, but I've always found the teacher-student relationship (beyond the norm that is) rather icky, to use the technical term. But I am going to use something along those lines. Read my Snape and Circe fics if you want to see Snape hooked up with someone.

Please, keep the reviews coming. Because of them, I'm updating this story before my others, though I do want to update Betrayal before the next chapter of Confessions is written.)