Fourteen Years Later…

"Mason! Wake up!" Mason groggily awoke to find Bellatrix standing over him. "Up, Mason! Up! Alana's already been up for a half hour!" Bellatrix stormed out of the room. Mason grudgingly pulled himself out of bed and got dressed. Bellatrix was always so impatient with him, but she spoiled Alana rotten. It just wasn't fair.

Just as Mason was about to step out of his room Draco stepped into it. Even though Draco was supposedly Mason's brother the two boys looked nothing alike. Mason personally thought that it was more possible that Bellatrix was his mother because at least Bellatrix had dark hair, but Narcissa was so much nicer.

About nine years ago Mason realized that there was absolutely no way he could be biologically related to the Malfoys so he stopped called Narcissa and Lucius "Mom" and "Dad" and started called them by their first names. At first they punished him whenever he did it but after awhile Mason assumed that they just got tired of punishing him and let him have his way.

"Hey, Mason, would you mind terribly if I borrowed some potion ingredients from you?" Draco asked. Mason's eyes flashed but knew better than to say no. Whenever Draco wanted something he got it. Lucius and Narcissa spoiled him just as badly as Bellatrix spoiled Alana. Out of all three kids in the house Mason was the only one that didn't get everything he wanted right exactly when he wanted it.

"Yeah, sure," Mason finally agreed. One of these days he was going to burst, he just knew it. Draco helped himself to the ingredients he need and as soon as King Spoiled walked out Queen Spoiled walked in.

"Hi, Alana," Mason muttered. At least Alana was never downright mean to him like Draco was.

"Hello, Mason," Alana chirped. "Hey, do you know where my mom is?"

"No," Mason said. He didn't even hear what she said but it sounded like a question so he hoped that he had given a suitable answer.

Alana glared at him. "Shit load of help you are," she muttered as she stormed out.

Mason looked out his window. It was storming outside, but rain had always given him a sense of comfort. In the rain he could be himself. The water countered the charm Lucius put on his hair every morning to make it lie flat and while he was in the rain nobody dared to come outside, even to yell at him. It was a nice change.

Mason stepped out of his room and started walking down the hallway. He passed Alana's training room and saw that she was currently in it. Nobody was allowed to bother Alana when she was training except for a few times when a strange man came to the house. Nobody would tell Mason who this man was, but every time he came Narcissa would take him out somewhere and they wouldn't be able to go back for a long time no matter what.

"Hey, Mason, I'll be with you in a second!" Alana called. She expertly threw a jump roundhouse kick and as she was landing she flipped off the machine that controlled all the equipment. Mason was confused. Did she want to tell him something?

"Okay, I'm done," Alana said. She sounded exhausted. "The Dark Lord should be pleased with that."

"Who?"

"Oh, nobody." Alana looked furious with herself. "Come on. Let's go outside. We need to talk."

"It's raining," Mason pointed out.

"So what?" Alana shrugged. "You like the rain and it really doesn't bother me." She grinned at him. "Especially when I'm soaked in sweat."

"How did you know I like rain?" Mason asked in surprise.

"Whenever it rains you always go outside. I just assumed that it was because you liked rain."

The two of them stepped out onto the porch and they both were immediately doused by freezing water. Alana laughed and threw herself into a muddy puddle. When she stood back up her entire backside and most of her normally-shiny black hair was covered in mud.

"Narcissa isn't going to let you back into the house like that," Mason said.

"She doesn't have to know it was me." Alana grinned mischievously then she seemed to suddenly come to a realization that she was wearing a tank top. "Oh, shit!" she exclaimed. She looked up at Mason desperately. "You're right. Narcissa's never going to let me back into the house."

"Do you want me to go get you a different shirt?" Mason asked her.

"No, that's okay," Alana said. She got off as much mud as she could with her bare hands. "Do yourself a favor and just stay out of my room."

Mason had never even been in Alana's room, so why did her voice sound accusing? "Why? What's in there?"

"It's none of your business. Besides, if I was just going to tell you then what would be the point of telling you to stay out?"

"Look, Alana, what did you want to talk to me about?" Mason asked impatiently.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

Mason almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're what?"

"Sorry. I'm sorry that Draco and I get spoiled rotten and you don't. It's not fair to you," Alana said. If she hadn't sounded so sincere Mason might've been suspicious.

"So what are you saying?"

"That we need to do something about it," Alana said. Apparently this was where she wanted to be. "This place has been way too quiet lately. We need to liven things up."

"How?"

"Mason, somebody is going to pay dearly for you not being even more spoiled than Draco. Trust me, this is big for me. I mean, Draco's my cousin and we're going to get him in HUGE trouble. Okay?"

"How huge?" Mason asked nervously. "I mean, if Draco somehow finds out I was in on whatever you're planning…"

"He won't," Alana said in an assuring voice. "Trust me. Once he figures out what we did I'll step up and take the full blame, I promise. Nobody's about to get mad at me anytime soon."

"Just out of curiosity, what makes you so special, anyway? I mean, your mom's a bitch, but other than that you're not that much different than me."

Alana dropped her head and her dark brown hair fell in front of her shoulders. "I can't be the one to tell you," she said. "I'm sorry, Mason, but I just can't. Mom's rules."

"Where does your mother come up with all these rules anyway?"

"Look, Mason. All I can tell you is that my mom's entire life has revolved around her constantly being bossed around. She gets an order, she obeys. Having a daughter gave her a chance to be in authority for once in her life."

"Alana, do you even know who your father is?" Mason asked her. He hoped that she wouldn't get mad at him for asking.

"Yes, I know exactly who he is. Just because he's not around all the time doesn't mean he doesn't exist." She sounded like she was offended but in a playful way, so Mason interoperated that as a "caution: treading dangerous territory" sign.

"Mason, do you want to help me?" Alana asked. "It's going to be so much fun! Draco's going to get in SO much trouble."

"Er, what exactly are you planning on doing?"

Alana was just about to answer when Narcissa came running out. Mason was surprised because Narcissa never ran, especially not in the rain.

"Mason, the two of us have to go right now," Narcissa said quickly. "Alana, your father's here and he wants to see you."

An absurd thought hit Mason as Narcissa apparated both of them into Diagon Alley. Did these occasional get-aways have anything to do with Alana's father? He couldn't visit her THAT sparingly, could he? Mason may not have a ton of experience with parents but he knew that they were supposed to love you and care for you. Exactly like what Bellatrix does for Alana and what Lucius and Narcissa do for Draco. So where did he fit into the picture?