Chapter 2
The sun shone through the heavy curtains and awoke Kari with a start. She looked around the room, noticing that the room was only slightly brighter. She hadn't slept well since she had arrived at the Dumbledore residence a week before, on July 11th. She had a choice between a stone room with no windows, or the one she was currently occupying; it was far too bright, with glowing white walls and a purple shag carpet with matching curtains.
She wondered why the Dumbledores had such a room, but then she remembered how eccentric Albus could be when it came to home décor. Kari stretched, then put on fuzzy slippers and a silk robe- a gift from Minerva. She opened the door, which had a rather odd fluffy purple doorknob that giggled when someone turned it. The hall was vast, as though it were never-ending. Kari managed to find the stairs leading down into the kitchen, following the smell of burnt bacon.
Dumbledore was sitting at the table reading a Muggle newspaper while sipping tea. His wife Julia was busy cooking breakfast.
Kari had first met Julia during the summer of her adoption. She knew at once that she was Drusilla's mother, due to the unbelievable resemblance in their attitudes. Julia was beautiful, clever, and shrewd, and, although Kari didn't really know what it meant at the time, was as Slytherin as they come. Kari had learned not long afterward that Julia was one of the last of Salazar Slytherin's line.
However, Julia seemed to be in a decent mood on that particular morning. She was humming some indistinct tune quietly. Kari wished she could say that Drusilla was in a good mood as well, but wishes are not always granted.
Drusilla stomped down the stairs five minutes after Kari and sat down next to Dumbledore.
"Good morning, Drusilla." Dumbledore said to his daughter.
"What's so good about it?" she mumbled in reply, laying her head on the table.
Kari laughed softly and said, "Happy birthday, idiot."
Drusilla looked at her, dumbfounded. "Oh yeah! Wow, that's good. I had a vision in a dream that this day would be terrible, but I guess my vision was wrong! So, what did you get me?" She said excitedly.
"Well your Hogwarts letter came with the morning owl, first of all. And here's your gift." Kari replied, pushing a thick envelope and a bright green package toward Drusilla.
Dru grabbed the gift and ripped the paper off within a few seconds. It was amazing how similar to a five-year-old she was. "Um… thanks?" Dru said, unsure of what to make of the gift. It looked like a sleeve of a sweater.
"It's for Mab. I thought she might get cold at Hogwarts. Yes, yes, I know she's cold-blooded, but that doesn't mean she hasn't got feelings!" Kari said, seeing Drusilla's look of utter confusion.
"Oh that's so thoughtful of you!" Dru cried with glee, hugging Kari.
"And I made it myself." Kari added, patting Dru on the back. Dumbledore chuckled, folded his newspaper, and got up to assist his wife. As they all amused themselves with setting the table and cooking, McGonagall walked through the kitchen door looking disheveled.
"Hi Aunt Minnie! Did you sleep good?" Dru asked, helping herself to the bacon her father had placed on the table.
"It's well, not good, Drusilla. And no, as a matter of fact, I did not sleep well at all. Your father has been neglecting the garden gnomes, and they were making such a racket that I had to go out at the break of dawn and take care of them." McGonagall replied hoarsely, sitting down and grabbing a cup of tea.
"I just haven't the heart to destroy their happiness," Dumbledore replied smugly.
"I wish you would," Julia said, sitting down, "they're ruining my herb garden."
"Can we go to Diagon Alley today?" Dru asked, through a mouthful of toast.
"Well, I thought we would go a few days before school, but I suppose we could go for your birthday. What's on your list?" Julia replied, serving her daughter eggs. Kari chuckled as Dru choked on her orange juice.
"Books, and a cauldron, and scales, and whatever else I feel like," Dru said, hoping no one would object.
"You will not be getting whatever you feel like. We will get what you need, and one extra thing for your birthday. And no complaining!" her mother scolded. Dru whined, but said no more.
"We should leave soon, before the crowds arrive" Dumbledore said, cleaning the dirty plates with a swish of his wand. Kari, her mother, and Drusilla left the table to get dressed.
"I'm worried about her, Julia," Dumbledore stated. His wife put away the dishes and asked, "Why, darling?"
"She still talks about that Malfoy boy. I have a feeling they'll be in the same House."
"Oh, Albus, she's too young for him. Don't worry about her so much," Julia replied calmly. "What do you have against Slytherins, anyway?"
"I don't have anything against Slytherins!" Dumbledore sighed. "If I did, would I have married you?"
"No, I suppose not. But honestly, Albus, it's a harmless crush. You shouldn't worry yourself so." Dumbledore smiled as Julia kissed him softly. Maybe he was overreacting; his daughter was only eleven, after all.
Dru hated floo powder. Unfortunately, it was the most commonform of legal transportation available to eleven-year-olds traveling to Diagon Alley. Her parents and Minerva gave permission for her and Kari to explore the alley by themselves for a while. Minerva also told them to stay out of trouble, or she might think twice about allowing them to attend Hogwarts in the first place.
Dru sneezed loudly as she arrived in Diagon Alley with Kari a step behind, dusting off her robes.
"Ugh… I hate floo powder," Dru whined loudly. Kari rolled her eyes and stepped in front of her friend. "Where do you want to go first, Dru? I say we get the lighter things first, so we don't have to carry our books and cauldron everywhere."
"But if we get our cauldrons first, then we have something to put the rest of the stuff in," Dru argued with her hands on her not-quite-there hips.
"Or we could find some boys to carry all of our things for us," Kari replied sensibly as she saw a tall, black haired boy emerge into the alley. His mother and younger brother arrived a few seconds later.
"Sirius, I told you to wait!" she scolded in a high pitched, yet somehow cold, voice. The boy named Sirius rolled his eyes at her and walked into the nearest shop.
"Kar? Earth to Kari!" Dru smirked as she waved her hand in front of Kari's face.
"Sorry. So, where do you want to go first?" she replied after watching the boy and his family until they were out of sight.
"Were you staring at that boy? He wasn't that good-looking, if you ask me," Dru said.
"Well, I'm not asking you." Kari replied, stepping forward into the apothecary.
"I thought you said you didn't want to get cauldrons first," Dru said, smirking. Kari moved closer to the boy, who was trying desperately to stay away from his family by looking at the window display; his mother wandered into the backroom, without asking of course, to see the not-for-sale illegal cauldrons.
"Well, your idea made sense," Kari countered, hoping she would shut up. She glanced at Sirius, briefly catching his eye. He smiled at her as he picked up a cauldron.
"I would suggest getting a different cauldron. Gold alters the chemical formations of potions," Dru sneered at Sirius.
He frowned at her and said, "Thanks, but I wasn't really looking at cauldrons." He looked back at Kari, smiled again, then opened his mouth to speak.
Kari stared at him in disbelief. His eyes were blue as the ocean, and his smile was sad and playful at the same time, and his hair fell in his eyes in such a way… but before Sirius could say anything, they heard a muffled scream, as if it came from the inside of a metal cauldron.
"Help!" came Sirius's brother's echoing voice, with his hands out to make sure he didn't crash into anything; a large cauldron surrounding his head impaired his vision.
"Regulus, you weren't supposed to touch anything!" Sirius yelled as he started to pull at the cauldron on his brother's head.
"Come on, Kari!" Dru said, pulling on her arm, "We'll get our cauldrons later. I just remembered that we haven't even gotten our wands yet!"
Kari looked at Sirius one last time before leaving. He looked back at her at the same moment, a look of despair on his face. Dru and Kari heard a loud pop as they walked down the street.
"Why did you do that?" Kari yelled at Dru.
"I know just as well as you do that you weren't intending to use him to carry our cauldrons" she replied, grabbing Kari's robes and dragging her toward Ollivander's.
"I just wanted to talk to him…" Kari said, forlorn.
"Well, you'll just have to wait until September, then." Dru replied, walking into the wand shop. Mr. Ollivander was busy taking care of a young boy who had long black hair and pale skin.
"No, no, boy! That one is not for you at all!" Ollivander said to the boy (who was slightly stooped over) as a large shelf of wands fell to the floor. Ollivander fixed it quickly and handed the boy a different wand to try.
Kari and Dru looked around at the many shelves, waiting for their turns. When the boy had finally picked out the right wand, the two girls strode toward the counter. They saw the boy's face for the first time; he was incredibly pallid and had a large hooked nose on a face that had an expression of hopelessness on it.
"Hi!" Dru said brightly. "Starting Hogwarts too?" the boy nodded. "I'm Dru, and this is my best friend Kari."
"Drusilla? Your father is Dumbledore? 12 inches, oak, phoenix feather. One of my best wands." Mr. Ollivander mused. The boy looked around, wondering if he was supposed to leave or not. The decision was made for him when Dru grabbed his arm and steered him to a plain wooden chair to the left.
"I'm guessing you'll be in Slytherin, right? I mean, of course you won't know until the sorting, but some people are easy to read. Oh, what's your name?" Druasked quickly.
"Severus Snape," he replied stiffly, his gaze wandering to Kari, who was conversing with Mr. Ollivander about her wand. He paid virtually no attention to Dru's questions, which consisted of "what's your middle name", "can you talk to snakes", and "do you have any pets?", and watched Kari at the counter instead, who was testing out her first wand. A few minutes passed until Kari purchased an ebony wand that was 9 1/2 inches, inflexible, with a dragon heartstring core. She turned around, satisfied with her purchase,. She had to tap Dru on the shoulder, since she was deep in a one-sided conversation with Severus.
"Dru, please get your wand so we can get our other things," Kari said impatiently, taking the empty seat next to Severus.
"Oh, alright." Dru said, a little disheartened. She hadn't met anyone like Severus before, and was rather taken with his quiet personality.
She stepped up to Mr. Ollivander. "Right, let's try this one," he said, handing her a light brown wand about a foot long, "Maple, unicorn hair, 11 3/4 inches long. Very good for transfiguration."
Dru grimaced, but gave it a wave. A nearby plant burst into flames asshe giggled a little, "Sorry about that."
"Quite alright, my dear. That plant has taken more abuse than you would like to imagine," He sighed, dousing the flames. "Try this one… 9 inches, ash, unicorn hair." Dru gave it a wave, sending a bookcase crumbling to the floor.
A few wands later, she said, "This one." The second it was placed in her hand, it began emitting silver sparks.
"Ah, I should have known. You like potions, don't you? Willow, phoenix feather, 8 1/2 inches. Excellent for potions and alchemy."
"Brilliant!" Dru replied, handing Ollivander the money she owed. Ollivander asked her a few questions as Severus began to speak to Kari.
"Your friend likes to talk" he said, almost whispering in her ear.
"Yes, she does," Kari replied curtly, noting that the smile he was giving her looked more like a grimace, as if he were out of practice. Severus realized that Kari was avoiding his gaze, and attempted to bring up conversation; the topic he chose to discuss was the worst topic he could have chosen at that moment.
"Well, at least she's a pureblood," Kari's eyes narrowed. "Who are your parents? I trust they are pureblood as well? Distinguished faces such as yours can only come from pure blood."
"Excuse me, but my blood, my parents, and my face are none of your business," Kari replied coldly.
Severus gave her a slightly surprised look before masking himself with his frown once more. "I'll see you at school," he said to Dru before disappearing into the crowd outside the shop.
"Well, he seemed nice," Dru mused as she walked out of the shop, dragging a disgusted Kari behind her.
"I hope he chokes on a dungbomb, or something…" Karimuttered under her breath.
"Do you want to get some ice cream?" Dru asked, ignoring Kari's snide comment.
"Sure." Dru frowned, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Some ice cream will be lovely." Kari replied, plastering a smile on her face.
"Good, because I don't want you to be sad on my birthday. That wouldn't be very nice. But then again, you can't…" She stopped short, causing Kari to bump into her.
"What is it?" Kari asked, rubbing her nose.
"It's… him," Druanswered nervously as Lucius Malfoy strolled haughtily into Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.
"Kari, what do I do? Should I hide, or something? Or should I run up to him and tell him how I feel?" Dru rushed.
"Well, if I wanted to be like you, I would simply drag you off to continue our shopping, but that wouldn't be very nice, now, would it?" Kari replied smugly.
"Oh, come on… you didn't even know that guy. And you'll see him in September anyway!" Dru said desperately.
"Yes, and you will see Lucius in September as well. And you've already met him a few times, so you've had much more time to get to know each other," Kari retorted, "but since it's your birthday, I won't complain… unless he starts talking about blood again…" she added when she noticed that Dru was about to burst into tears.
"Thank you!" she said, hugging Kari. "You are the best friend in the whole world!"
"Yes, I know. I'm sure you'll make it up to me someday," Kari said, rolling her eyes while pushing Dru toward the door.
"I'll have two scoops of chocolate ice cream," she heard Lucius say.
"Hi!" Dru chirped. Lucius cringed as he turned around.
"Oh, it's you!" he exclaimed. "I thought you were someone else. How has your summer been?" he added kindly.
"Well, a bit boring really. Kari has been staying with me for about a week now," Dru motioned to Kari.
"Sounds more fun than mine. My mother has been bothering me the whole time over trifling things. Why are you two in Diagon Alley so early in the summer?" Lucius replied with a dignified air.
"Actually, we met a lovely boy named Severus Snape, and Kari met this weirdo named Sirius something. They're both in our year, so I suppose we're not the only ones. It's also my birthday, so I get to do some extra shopping," Drurambled.
"Sirius?" he questioned, taking a small bite of his ice cream. "As in Sirius Black?"
"Do you know him?" Kari said fervently. Lucius turned to her and replied coolly, "Not personally, but he is one of the last remaining purebloods of our generation." Kari bit her tongue, for Dru's sake.
"He would probably be a valuable person to have around when you go to school," Lucius directed to Dru, ignoring Kari's glare. Dru smiled nervously, doggedly refraining from looking at her. Instead, she ordered a cone of mint chocolate chip for Kari, and vanilla with hot fudge for herself. As she pulled out her small money purse, Lucius put his hand on Dru's arm.
"Please. Allow me," he said, giving his own money to the bubbly woman behind the counter. He smiled at her, then left the shop.
"He touched my arm…" Dru said dreamily as she and Kari went to a nearby table and sat down. Dru at her ice cream so quickly that she had three of those terrible brain freezes; it was during the first of these fits of pain when Kari threw the ice cream cone Lucius had bought her into the garbage disposal, when Dru wasn't able to see.
"What should we do now, oh fearless leader?" Kari sighed.
Dru narrowed her eyes but couldn't help smiling. She shrugged her shoulders. "Let's get the rest of our school stuff," Dru paused, "I almost forgot, I still have to choose a gift for my parents to get for me." Kari sighed once more, nodding. The two girls walked up and down Diagon Alley a few more times, picking up school supplies and a few other trinkets (like dungbombs).
Their last stop for school supplies brought them to Madame Malkin's Robe Shop. Dru volunteered to go first. Much to her surprise, Lucius was already standing on a stool being measured.
"We meet again," he said softly, smirking at her in the mirror. Dru blushed, smiling innocently back at him. She hadn't been alone in a room with the Malfoy in almost five years. She stepped on her own stool and said, "Do you mind if I ask why you're getting measured? I mean," she said quickly, as he elegantly raised an eyebrow in her direction, "you're in sixth year, you should have plenty of robes… I'm sorry, this isn't coming out right at all."
"That's quite alright. I've been sent here by my mother, who is convinced that I've grown half an inch over the summer, and she insisted I get re-measured for a new set of robes," Lucius said, chuckling.
"Oh, I see" Dru replied nervously, at a loss of ideas for what to say to him next. Instead of forming a normal sentence, she said, 'So I go Hogwarts year you?" Lucius stared at her politely. "I mean… so… I'll be going to Hogwarts this year with you…" Dru was quickly losing her composure.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Lucius… I just haven't seen you in so long. I… get a little nervous," she said, shaking slightly. Madame Malkin began to measure Dru hurriedly, not wanting to intrude.
"What's quite alright, Drusilla. I do tend to have that effect on young ladies like yourself." Lucius replied through a smirk. Dru was flattered that he called her a young lady, but wasn't sure how she felt about how he affected so many other girls.
She cleared her throat and looked around, hoping Kari would say something. Kari happened to be trying to suppress her laughter quietly in a dressing room, out of sight.
Dru's eyes fell on a set of dress robes in the corner, which successfully distracted her from making more of an idiot out of herself in front of Lucius. They were black with silver trim; the sleeves slipped off the shoulders of the mannequin and billowed out at the ends. Lucius watched her curiously as she stepped off the stool toward the robes. She stumbled as she walked and tripped over her own feet. Lucius stepped off the stool in one graceful movement, reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back up before she hit the floor.
"Thank you," Dru whispered, glancing up at his smirking face. And at that precise moment, when Lucius, then sixteen years old, was holding the eleven-year-old Drusilla by the waist, Dumbledore strolled into the shop. Seeing them there, he immediately lost his nonchalant look, as it was replaced by frightening emotions Dru was not inclined to think about. Kari stopped laughing as she saw the scene from the dressing room she was in. Without a word, Dumbledore strode over to his daughter at unbelievable speed. Lucius quickly removed himself from Dru, who then tumbled to the ground. Dumbledore picked up his daughter, shot a look of disgust at Lucius, and left the shop. Kari gave Lucius a fervent look as she followed behind. For the first time, she saw Lucius without a smirk on his face. He shrugged his shoulders at her and regained his haughty demeanor as he caught her eye.
Outside the shop, Dumbledore was quietly yelling at Dru in the scariest way possible. McGonagall quickly ran forward to Kari and ushered her back into the robe shop. Julia stood next to Dumbledore with her arms folded. No one ever knew what Dumbledore said to Dru on that day besides Dru and Julia, but from that day on Dru didn't say one word about Lucius in front of her father for a long time. Eventually, Dumbledore disapparated with a cold look on his face. Dru stood crying silent tears next to her mother with a bundle of school supplies in her arms. Madame Malkin brought out her school robes for her when they were ready and handed them to Julia. Kari came out a few minutes later with her set. As the four of them walked down the street, Julia spoke to her daughter kindly, but firmly. "Drusilla, I trust your judgement. However, I do not want you to think twice about that encounter. Young boys have motives that I do not wish to discuss with you, and your father knows that just as well as I do. We're just worried about you, that's all. I will not speak of this again, but please do not get yourself involved in anything with him. You are far too young." And that was the last Julia said on the subject for the rest of the summer.
McGonagall said nothing when they returned to the Dumbledores' house, and all Kari could do was pat her friend on the back for comfort. Dumbledore refused to look at his daughter all day long. Julia, however, chatted with her daughter playfully. After dinner, when everyone else had left the table, she handed her daughter a neatly wrapped box. Dru smiled at her mother thankfully and unwrapped the box slowly. Inside it was a silver chain that felt like liquid metal, and a small, silver heart attached to it. Dru thanked her mother and hugged her as Julia put the necklace on for her. Dumbledore stood silently at the door, watching the scene happily.
An owl tapped on the window. He rushed over to let it inside, and it flew toward Dru with a large package attached to its leg.
"There's no name," Dru said in a half ecstatic, half frightened tone.
Dumbledore sat down to watch Dru open the package as the owl silently flew out of the window and into the night sky. Inside it were the dress robes she had seen on the mannequin in the robe shop. The note attached to it said "Happy Birthday". Dru smiled happily as she left the room to try on her new dress robes. Julia smiled at Dumbledore, and he gave her a tired smile back.
"At least we didn't have to pay for them," Julia said to her husband. Dumbledore smiled back at her in response and sat down for a strong cup of tea. Having a daughter was much more work than he had thought it would be.
Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews! I realized I forgot to put a disclaimer on last chapter, so here it is:
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. Kari belongs me. Julia and Drusilla and Mab belong to Feanturien.