The Malfoy manor has always been more of a mausoleum than an actual home. Despite the beautiful furnishings and extravagant moving pieces of art by some of the greatest artists. For as long as Amelia Malfoy could remember, it had always been cold; the stone columns and marble tiles suck every bit of warmth that the house held. Not only the building, but the occupants themselves.
The girl knocks on the immense wenge door to her brother's bedroom. After a moment, the door opens, revealing Lucius Malfoy.
Amelia finally realizes how many ways she and her brother are identical; fair skin, long silver blonde hair, willowy statures, features that look almost elvish. Where Lucius had inherited the icy blue eyes of the Malfoy family, her own are a strange sakura blossom color, the only true trait she had received from her mother. It is a color that despite its irregularity, appears every few generations somewhere within the Fawley family heritage. Her brother's hair reaches his shoulders, as straight and flaxen as straw. Amelia's own is a mass of long curls, reaching almost to her waist.
Another feature the two Malfoy siblings share is the tattoo of a skull with a snake wrapped around it.
The Dark Mark.
"Amelia?" Lucius asks, obviously surprised to see his sister standing outside his bedroom. These past few years at Hogwarts the two had become estranged, Lucius had become more and more ambitious and true to his house traits. Meanwhile, Amelia the Hufflepuff, managed to stay loyal to her brother, family, and other Pureblood friends despite the immensely differing opinions and views.
She replies by throwing her arms around her brother. She feels him stiffen briefly, this is the most contact, aside from a cordial kiss on the cheek, that the two had shared in years.
"Please be careful." Amelia mutters softly, referring to the mission that Voldemort had assigned her brother. It will be his first mission as a Death Eater. The moment Lucius had graduated from Hogwarts, a mere three months ago, he had received the Dark Mark.
Amelia, not wanting her brother to endure the pain and danger alone, and always the loyal sister, begged to receive her own. Despite the fact that she was about to begin her sixth year at Hogwarts, Voldemort himself agreed to give her the mark. The pain had been excruciating, as if she had lost a part of herself, and that part now belonged to Voldemort.
Lucius slowly returns the embrace. "You be careful as well, little sister. Your mission to hide your new beauty mark is certainly more dangerous than my own." he breathes into her hair.
She pulls away and gives her brother a weak smile. "I'll be fine. Please stay in contact the best that you can."
"Have fun at Hogwarts, just remember to keep the Dark Mark to yourself."
Amelia nods and turns away from her brother. She still has a good bit of packing to do before she boards the train to Hogwarts tomorrow.
Sirius Black had never noticed how beautiful Amelia Malfoy really is until watches her cross the platform and climb aboard the Hogwarts Express. She is on the thin side, a little too thin for his liking; that was probably why she is arguably the best seeker at Hogwarts, her broom has nothing to carry.
"Looking for your next romantic endeavor?" James Potter asks with a nudge.
Sirius sighs. "Not with a Malfoy that's for sure. I just never realized how beautiful she is."
James sighs. "That she is, mate. Not as beautiful as Lily Evans of course, but I'd give her second place."
"Who?" Remus Lupin inquires as he too comes to stand next to his best friends.
"Amelia Malfoy." James replies.
"Malfoy is nothing like her brother and family. She has a very magnetic personality and an unbelievable kindness. Honestly, I think that she is so kind that even animals seem to notice it." Remus explains.
"Explain. Now." Sirius demands.
Remus chuckles. "If you weren't so opposed to all purebloods despite their names, maybe you would pay more attention. A Pureblood Princess as you like to say, sorted into Hufflepuff is almost as shocking as a Black being sorted into Gryffindor. The Malfoys are just as much of a pureblood family as the Blacks."
"So you're saying that she isn't a princess?" Sirius asks.
Remus rolls his eyes so hard that it is a surprise that they didn't catch sight of his brain. "You are so dense. Figure it out yourself."
"You're a right git." Sirius replies.
Remus sighs and walks towards the train, muttering about how dense and self centered his friends are.
"In that case, maybe you should give the bird a chat." James teases with a friendly slap on the back as he follows Remus towards the train.
Sirius sighs and rolls his eyes.
"What'd I miss?" Peter, the fourth member of the Marauders inquires as he comes to stand beside Sirius.
"Remus being a git." Sirius replies before he grabs his trunk and follows the rest of his friends towards the Hogwarts Express.
"Have you ever seen those before?" Amelia asks as she, Bellatrix Black, and Narcissa Black walk towards the carriages to take them to Hogwarts.
"You mean the same carriages that have taken us to Hogwarts for the past five years? Honestly Amelia, you become more and more peculiar every year. Like always they are enchanted with nothing pulling them." Bellatrix answers.
Amelia stops before the skeletal winged horse. The reptilian face turns towards her, regarding her with opaque white eyes, it bows it's head in acknowledgment before turning and nuzzling its partner. The partner also bows it's head, Amelia finds herself nodding in return. The creatures despite their striking appearance seem calm, intelligent and somehow mournfully understanding.
Despite it being her sixth year at Hogwarts, she'd never noticed the strangely beautiful beasts until now. Suddenly, they are all around her, one pair at every carriage.
"Are you sure?" she finds herself turning towards Narcissa.
"Positive." Narcissa replies.
Amelia runs a hand through her hair and follows her friends aboard the carriage.
The ride goes smoothly and once they reach the gates to Hogwarts, the three climb down from the carriage. Amelia feels the creatures nudge her shoulder, she turns and gives the creatures a rub on the cheek the same way that one would a horse. As she turns away from the creature to begin her trek into the doors of Hogwarts she walks straight into someone.
Said someone grabs her arms to steady her "Wotcher" and she looks up to meet a pair of liquid mercury eyes.
"I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." she quickly apologizes.
"Don't worry about it, Malfoy." he replies, running his hands down her arms as he releases her.
"I'll make sure to pay attention to where I am going next time."
"You can bump into me anytime, love." he replies with a playful smirk and a wink before turning away and walking towards the entrance of the castle.
"Talking to Black, eh?" Rolanda Hooch teases as she pulls Amelia into a hug.
"Looks like it." Amelia replies with a laugh, placing her hands on her burning cheeks. She is well aware of how handsome Sirius Black is, even though she has spent next to no time with him. She is fairly certain that she can count on one hand the amount of times she's spoken to him during their time at Hogwarts. She is honestly surprised that he knows who she is. She figures her reputation proceeds her, and given some of the company she keeps, she isn't too surprised that he avoids her.
"Where's Helen?" Amelia asks desperate to change the subject.
"Probably off flirting with Diggory or Bones."
Amelia rolls her eyes as the two walk into the castle.
After six years at Hogwarts, Amelia is always in awe of the ceiling of the great hall. The mimicry of the night sky outside including the flashes of lightening, and the floating candles illuminating the hall; they make magic seem almost romantic. Despite being raised in a magical family herself, Amelia can't help but think that she didn't understand magic until she walks into the Hogwarts.
The sorting ceremony and immense feast go by in a blur of reunions and chatter. Amelia finds herself sandwiched between Amos Diggory and Rolanda; the three quickly becoming engrossed in a conversation about the upcoming quidditch tryouts. The former Team Captain, Ted Tonks, had graduated and Amos Diggory had taken up the reins.
"We have positions for a beater and a chaser. Amelia you will be seeker, Rolanda you will remain on as a chaser."
"Do we really have to talk quidditch now?" Helen Riley asks from across the table. Helen is a few pounds over curvy and beautiful in a very Rubenesque way.
Amelia chuckles. "What's the term the muggles use? Sports-team-ball?"
"Exactly!" Helen answers shoving a piece of auburn hair out of her lovely green eyes.
"Sports team ball?" Amos asks.
"According to Helen, it's what the muggles say about sports that they do not support?" Amelia asks curiously.
Helen and Rolanda both chuckle. "Close enough. It's what people like me say when they could give a rat's ass about sports." Helen replies.
"So you don't like quidditch?" Amos asks dejectedly.
"Amos, sweetheart, I don't like sports, especially muggle baseball." Helen answers flippantly. "I will watch quidditch, because all of my dear friends play, however there are many other things I had rather do with my time."
Amelia and Rolanda share a humorous glance.
Once the feast ends, and Amos's demeanor changes from that of a carefree quidditch player to that of a Hufflepuff prefect, Amelia is swept up in a sea of students making their way towards the Hufflepuff Common Rooms.
The Hufflepuff Common Room is located beneath the barrels in the shadowy corner of the same corridor as the kitchens. Amos knocks on the barrel in the familiar rhythm 'Helga Hufflepuff'. The slight descent in the round hallways leads to a low ceiling room decorated in a happy bumblebee yellow with black accents here and there.
Despite being underground, the room is surprisingly warm and bright. Ribbons of ferns and ivies hang from the ceiling, playfully reaching and receding to brush the tops of even the smallest of first year's heads. The entire common room is a few plants short and significantly less humid than a greenhouse. Every shelf, each of which is rounded enough to perch atop the round walls, have plants in small pots. Cacti, succulents, flowers, greens, and even a few hanging air plants; the books and games so common in others houses have to fight for dominance along the shelves.
Amelia breathes in the clean, earthy scent of the common room. She'd always thought she'd be happier in a tower, like the Gryffindor or Ravenclaw houses, but the feeling of the earth and plants surrounding her immediately changed her mind. As she meanders around the common room, running her long fingers along the leaves of the plants, a small frog jumps atop of her hand, chirping a greeting. She smiles down at the creature as a lizard begins to crawl in her curls. The reptiles in the Hufflepuff Common room were relocated and enchanted by Professor Sprout to eat the insects that could kill the plants. And just like all other animals, seem drawn to Amelia.
"Fucking wood nymph, I swear." Amos says.
"Damn hippie." Helen replies with a smile.
Amelia sees Rolanda chuckle and cross her arms.
"Good night, hedgewitch." Amos says as he wraps an arm around her shoulders in a half hug, careful to mind the lizard, and goes down the round corridor towards the boy's dorm.
"Come on Amelia, we've got unpacking to do." Helen calls as she leads the trek towards their own dorms.
Amelia gently removes the lizard from her hair and the small frog obediently hops onto the nearest leaf. "Good night, little friends."
"Come on." Helen calls over her shoulder.
Amelia follows her friends down the hallway, ready to start a new year at Hogwarts and for the first time since she'd received the Dark Mark, forgets about the part of her soul that she'd sold to Voldemort.