Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. However, I do own the lovely character of Cassidy Valeska, along with Troy Malfoy and a few other characters.

Anyways, let's get started. I'm very anxious about this!

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Chapter Summary: Cassidy, who is determined to get some answers for the ceaseless questions flying around in her head, hunts down Narcissa in the enormous Malfoy Manor. However, she doesn't intend on getting lost and finding something remarkable… although it does lead to a very sticky situation…

House of Drawn Shades
By Darkwing731
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((--Chapter Three--))
A Glimpse of the Future

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Cassidy sighed and turned back and sat on the bed, the day's thoughts drifting through her head. What was that conversation about when she woke from her coma? What was with the new Narcissa?

And lastly, how could Cassidy be so surprised at her own reflection?

Maybe, she thought darkly, I'm surprised to see a face I can't recognize… like it was never mine in the first place...

Left to her confusing thoughts, she frowned, and got up and left in search of Narcissa, hoping for some explanation that she knew would never come.

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Cassidy felt the meal she had had earlier start to wear off—the heat in her stomach was gone, the comforting feeling of content drowsiness fading. She saw neon spots in front of her as she walked towards the bedroom door. The gleaming handles of the French doors glared at her, and bright lights popping simultaneously in front of her eyes suddenly overcame her vision suddenly. She staggered.

When she opened her eyes again, blinking away the clouds from her irises, she found herself rather light-headed, and feeling as though she hadn't eaten a thing all day, despite her earlier meal.

Well, she thought intelligently, I have been in a coma, as Narcissa told me. I should be hungry, after all. How would my system be able to regenerate itself after such a long time?

And thus, she knew she needed more food. She wasn't going to get rid of the dizziness unless she ate more. Resolutely, she decided to get up, find the kitchen, and have a large, proper meal.

And not look like a pig this time, she reminded herself with a frown. That hadn't been the best impression she could've given the woman who was to raise her in the near future.

The raven-haired girl gripped the plush rug beneath her fingers before pushing herself to her knees in a squat, and then stumbled to her feet, using the wall for support. She would have tumbled down onto the floor again had she not clutched it.

Clenching her jaw slightly, she took a few steps forward, and her instant thought was that she must ask Narcissa for a few simpler dresses, for the one she was in now was rather tight, and in order to diminish the spots in front of her, she needed to breathe. She tried to take a few steady breaths, but the dress restricted it.

She felt like fainting again.

Cassidy reached for the door handle, and after inspecting it for a nanosecond and finding herself mildly interested, she turned the knob and pulled open the door.

Her lips parting in surprise, Cassidy started down the enormous, cathedral like hallway she was greeted with.

The rug was Persian, she was sure of it. Islamic arabesque patterns curved delicately along the edges in a rich emerald green; vines adorned with beautiful flowers and fragile leaves, each curve like the gentle breeze as it drifted through the night. Black figures were stitched meticulously, so subtle and so breathtakingly careful that they wouldn't be seen unless the eye was trained.

The walls had very few paintings or portraits, but rather the cold, dark stone had tapestries hanging, names carved in place as lines connected them like a mother grabbing her child's hand.

The ceilings amazed her most; they rose higher than she had ever guessed a ceiling could be permitted. It had high, golden arcs stationed every twenty feet or so apart, looking expensive and luxurious. Little carvings were whittled into the arches, and by the looks of the shadows on the ceiling, paintings were hanging there, suspended in air.

With her mouth hanging open, Cassidy took a few timid steps out in the hall, but once again the blood rushed to her head at the sudden movement, and she lunged at the wall for support. Swallowing her weakness, and feeling curious and determined, she started walking down the gigantic hallway in search of the kitchen.

Cassidy walked for a good five minutes, in which she only passed two other sets of doors (both of were locked) and five enormous windows. Three out of the five showed the grounds in the front of the manor, for she saw the long cobblestone road and the twisted silver gate in the distance. She had trouble spotting it at first because a silver mist was clinging to the horizon, and despite its hard black color, the gate wasn't easily found.

The other two windows showed a courtyard-like thing. She paused and looked down through the window at the massive open space. It resembled a valley; it was large enough, she knew, and it was covered in emerald grass as if Mother Nature had declared it her royal spot. Several walkways bordered the yard, and cut through several times, each lined with flowers. Cassidy almost gasped as she looked up and saw that the house she was in continued on, for she saw another hallway across from her when the other side of a courtyard reached an end. In fact, she learned that there were five floors to the manor she was in, and at the moment she was on the third.

How large is this house? she wondered, her eyes wide with surprise.

When she reached the second window, she saw the rest of the courtyard. Like before, it was rimmed with cobblestone sidewalks, but it was much larger than she had anticipated. A set of French doors was located at the far end, and she only just made them out and the drawings etched in the dark marble.

She stepped forward and placed a hand on the glass windowpane, her fingers suddenly outlined by the ivy-like frost consuming the glass. Her eyes traced the paths that laced in and out of the flower patches, and then, all at once, they met at a pool of some sort.

It was not an ordinary pool; it was very deep, for she could not see the bottom. It was a swell of black and dark water, despite the weak autumn sun shining directly upon it. A high black gate, quaint-looking and spidery, surrounded it curving and twisting like the hungry flames of a strong fire. Blue-gray granite benches contrasted beautifully with the flowers that were still holding onto their life, as if it were a last morsel of food.

Her eyes darted over the glass windows tens or hundreds of yards away from her, and she surmised that they were all part of the house (manor, she reminded herself), and she should now set off in search of food.

She would have, had she not raised her eyes and inhaled sharply.

She could see three or four towers over the top of the walls on the last floor, which were lined with gargoyles and statures and spidery metal spikes. She turned and looked the other way, and her eyes met the same sight. They stood high and fierce; stones were plastered here and there and making it look like it adorned an old-fashion palace.

Considering the massiveness of this house, I suspect it is an ancient, quaint palace she thought with a slightly grim frown.

She found nothing wrong with it, but it was the fact that the one tower she was looking at —the south-eastern one, to be precise— was cast in shadow from the clouds above, and it looked particularly menacing. It was ominous and seemed as if it may be haunted. And though she positively shivered at the thought, she reminded herself that ghosts didn't matter; in the Wizarding World, ghosts were a natural thing, and sometimes helpful.

Still, she said to herself anxiously as she ripped her gaze from the large turret, something doesn't seem right about it….

Then she turned once more and, determined not to be stopped for any reason whatsoever, she set off down the long hallway, feeling dizzy as she stared into the vanishing point.

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Cassidy had no idea how long she walked, only that she came across a few stunning things about the manor she was wandering in, completely lost and without a clue how to get back.

By now she was quite light-headed and felt very faint. She needed food, and she needed it now. She was going to crumple in a heap very soon if she didn't get any nutrition. How could Narcissa give her just one decent meal (Cassidy's stomach growled at the delicious thought of it), and expect her not to need more? She had been in a coma for so long!

Yes, it's true, Cassidy reprimanded herself suddenly. But I can't expect to have Narcissa at my every whim … despite the fact that I'm roaming her manor rather freely, and I'm lost and have not a faint idea of how to get back … and then, to add to it, I'm extremely hungry!

Sighing, Cassidy walked slowly down the corridor. She wasn't as awed anymore by the amazing detailed artwork and expensive woven rugs, the stunning courtyard that was slowly growing darker, or the articulate windowpanes that were lined with silver or gold.

No, the only thing she could be amazed by at this point would be the kitchen ... if she ever found it.

She trudged on, not wanting to stop for a break because the clawing feeling inside her stomach was growing. She was surprised she hadn't passed out yet, for she was weak, malnourished, and not able to breathe properly in the awfully tight dress.

Spotting a set of doors up ahead, her body suddenly reeled with excitement. Would these be the doors that would finally reveal the food she craved? Would they cause her great joy, or great disappointment? Smiling in spite of herself, she reached forward for the doorknob, praying it lead to the kitchen.

The door was locked — again. She sighed, knowing she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up in the first place, for the last doors she had encountered had been locked also. Frustrated and starving, she kicked the door, cursed it, and grabbed the sleek handle again and twisted it with all her might, taking an attempt at revenge.

When it popped open, she became frozen and still, her eyes alert for any movement, and her ears pricked for any sound. Long strands of her ebony hair fell over her shoulders and into her eyes, and she impatiently pushed them back and ventured forth into the area that was suddenly available to her.

Whatever this room was, it was dim. Candles were perched on candelabras that were in notches in the stone, high in the walls. Their flickering lights seemed familiar to her somehow and, pushing it from her mind with slightly narrowed eyes, she stepped in and softly shut the door behind her.

The click of the handle gave a resonating sound, and it echoed down the short corridor. She looked around; the place she was in was almost like a foyer of some sort. It had pillars and a hollowed place that people could gather in, and there were chairs and expensive looking couches pushed up against the wall. In the middle of the path was a huge grand piano, elegant, glossy, and begging to be played. She resisted and walked on.

Still, she noted how everything had figurines and carvings, lined with gold and silver, and most of the figures were snakes or dragons or dark-looking creatures. She barely suppressed the shiver that instantly came over her, almost as if alerting her that she was not welcome here.

Past the piano, there was another set of doors, and she stood before them, her fingertips caressing the snake handle. The emerald eyes stationed there gleamed in the flickering light, and she frowned anxiously before turning the handle with such fierceness it surprised even her.

The door opened and the wind beneath it seemed to echo. The room was dark, and Cassidy stepped over the threshold, pushing her wet hair behind her ears again. As she stepped onto the shining chestnut floor, the room was suddenly lit as if a roaring fire had just been ignited. Her eyes widened, and with a huge step backwards so that her calf was over the threshold in the other room, she gasped.

Never in her life had she ever she imagined something as wonderful and beautiful as this.

There was a magnificent, enormous chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which was higher than that of a cathedral, with paintings to rival those of the Sistine Chapel. Diamonds glittered and winked as they hung loosely and connected to the golden arms holding thick beige candles. She would have guessed they wouldn't make enough light to illuminate an entire room such as this one, but apparently she was wrong.

Around her were books. Thousands and millions of books. The bookcases reached all the way up to the ceiling, with ladders attached to the top railing to glide over the shelves to collect the novels stored higher. There were books with bindings so thick they might've needed multiple people to hold them up, books lined with silver stitching and yellowing pages, smelling of wood or the aroma of some wonderful natural scent, and books of so many different varieties that she didn't know how someone could collect this many and have use for them all.

There were so many shelves, and they winded around the circular room, and she saw, to her utter delight, a pair of arched doors that presumably led to another room that branched off from this library. The rails for the ladders perched high up reflected the candlelight much brighter than they should have; her eyes narrowed slightly and she shifted, looking around more.

Like the hallways, the windows were huge, their panels frosty with crystal-like patterns and lined with thin gold around the edges. Beneath them were beds of some sort, or at least that's what Cassidy thought they were. There were huge cushions, dark and velvety with plush Afghans thrown over them, spreading out under the window and onto the floor. The black sofa-like things could have held twenty people had it been attempted.

Pushed against the only wall that had not a single bookcase against it was a huge fireplace, with nothing but ashes in the grate. The mantle was dark granite, with green speckles scattered here and there. Quaint ornaments were placed on the mantle; they were neither covered in dust, nor did they look particularly important.

An attractive oriental rug was on the cold floor, and more couches were placed along its edges, tables against their sides. Each table had a dimly lit lamp on them. On one of the dark-wooded tables was a long, thin stick that looked suspiciously like a wand, sitting atop a rolled-up piece of parchment.

Cassidy, who had been standing in the doorway in awe for the past ten minutes, tentatively starting moving forwards the wand and the parchment, her heart fluttering slightly, and she extended her arm towards it.

Her hand closed around the wood, and suddenly a splintery feeling of white-hot prickles shot through her arm, and despite the fact that it burned her hand, she did not let go of the wand. In moments, the hotness died and she gazed in thought at the magical wood in her hand, which felt oddly in place.

Her fingers found the curl of the parchment, and with a fluid movement, she pulled the yellowing paper open. Lines and edges and shapes were spread out, labels written neatly in the middle of each one, rectangles spaced out with different angles and shapes inside of them. She looked at it for a moment, before she realized what it was.

A map … she thought to herself, and then, like magic, it all clicked.

"A map of the house," she whispered. She grinned as her eyes scanned the paper for the kitchens. She found them.

"Excellent."

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It turned out that the kitchens were on the bottom floor, tucked safely away in the farthest corner of the house. Cassidy, who had previously felt very faint, was now buzzing with energy as she took a finishing spoonful of the crimson soup Narcissa had brought her from before. She licked her lips, feeling the ragged chapped skin beneath her tongue. She frowned slightly, but a moment later she shrugged it off.

She was currently in the kitchens at a long wooden table, whose surface was worn and bland and had burns, streaks of random food, stains of hit liquids, and scars from various utensils on it. She was watching the house elves run to and fro from the part of the kitchen she was in to another that was opened with a swinging door, and she couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at how little creatures were performing tasks that humans should be doing with a decent wage.

Still frowning, Cassidy turned her attention towards the map of the manor she had found, her eyes grazing over it in wonder. Out of the five floors of the large house, there was also a basement and huge grounds outside of them. There were stables on the south-western corner of the estate, and she didn't know if there would be regular Muggle horses or magical creatures residing in them.

In the entire house, there were six libraries, the main being the place that she had walked into. There was one in every other tower for the castle. The Master's library was just as big as the main one, and the one for each tower was half the size.

Cassidy suddenly had an urge to walk the halls and explore the house completely. As she looked over the map even more, she saw there were many, many more things to discover. There were ballrooms and foyers, and even dungeons in the vast cellar. Some rooms on the map weren't even finished, and there were hallways that stopped abruptly; in other words, she was convinced there was more to this house she was currently in than anyone thought.

And she wanted to find out all about it.

She stepped out of the kitchen, fingering the wand fondly, and holding the map in her other hand. She wanted to go and look at the towers first, because they seemed the most interesting. Their dark, ominous feeling attracted her greatly, and she wanted to figure out what was so alluring.

Cassidy had not walked two feet down the hallway when a hair-raising shriek stopped her right in her tracks.

"Where have you been?"

Cassidy whirled around like lighting, her nerves jumping at the sudden high-pitched yelling. She watched Narcissa's angry figure storm down from the head of the hall to where Cassidy was standing.

"I have been looking all over for you! Heaven knows what you have been doing, girl! Do you know how large this manor is? It's gigantic! Great Merlin himself only knows what Lucius has in this castle! What if you had gotten lost?"

Cassidy stood still as Narcissa entered a rambling rage of some sort. She was obviously very flustered about Cassidy venturing out and exploring. The raven-haired girl opened her mouth to defend herself, but she was cut off almost immediately.

"Please—"

"—Might have stumbled down one of the tower steps, and Lucius would not be too pleased with that—"

"Narcissa—"

"—or you may have been stuck in the cellar! Good Lord, the creatures down there are dreadfully vile—"

"May I just—"

"—But had you discovered the garden path, oh I'm sure you wouldn't have seen day for years—"

Cassidy was sick of trying to cut Narcissa off and speak for herself. She could feel her annoyance growing, and she really wanted to quiet this blonde woman. Slowly, she reached for the wand tucked safely in one of the little notches she had found in the dress.

"Silencio!"

Narcissa suddenly stopped making any noise whatsoever. In fact, her body immediately stopped its wild gesticulations, and all at once, her face, which had been pale in the first place, lost the little color it had as she stared at Cassidy, her blue eyes surprised.

Cassidy stuck the wand back into the pocket with an air of almost superiority, and couldn't help but smile slightly at Narcissa.

"I am extremely sorry, Narcissa, but I needed to speak and you weren't giving me a chance." The girl smiled at the blonde woman, who was looking politely astonished. Her mouth was not hanging open, her eyes were not huge, but Cassidy could see the surprise anyway.

And quite quickly, the severity and anger was glowing in her eyes, and like lightning, Narcissa snatched her wand from a pocket on her dress. Cassidy automatically flinched, thinking she was going to be cursed, but a moment later she realized Narcissa simply took her voice back.

"If you dare to think for a moment," Narcissa started in a low, quivering voice that was so full of malicious anger that it stunned the young girl, "that you will be able to get away with that in the future, you are very mistaken. Behavior like that is intolerable, and it won't go unpunished in the upcoming weeks!"

All through her reprimanding, she had stepped closer with every word, brandishing her wand dangerously close to Cassidy, who stayed very still as Narcissa's eyes burned into hers. She could see that the thin, arrogant-looking woman was not to be irritated.

"And give me that wand!" Narcissa ordered suddenly, gaining her usual posture and holding out her hand expectantly, a fierce look in her eyes.

Recoiling only slightly, Cassidy narrowed her eyes and gave Narcissa an indignant look.

"Why should I?" she asked. "It's mine, for one!" She has spoken these words without thinking; they felt true, so why not say them as so?

Narcissa made a sound of disbelief. "Do not speak of what you don't know! Hand over the wand, or I shall take it from you!" she sneered.

"What do you mean?" Cassidy said at once, putting a hand over the wood protectively. "It is mine, I can feel it! Is that what you mean?"

"Girl, give me the wand! It isn't yours!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it is not! Give me the damned wand!"

"Then whose is it?" Cassidy demanded angrily.

Narcissa stood rigidly, her shoulders stiff and her body taut. She let out a loud exhale and breathed in again.

"That wand belongs to a girl who is dead," Narcissa said finally, in a voice quite unlike Cassidy had heard so far. "She was on our property last before her death, and her wand had not left the premises. It belonged to her, and now, it belongs to us. Not to you, but to the Malfoy name," Narcissa growled.

Cassidy stood a foot from the blonde Malfoy woman. Narcissa's delicate hand was still out, waiting for the wand to be placed down onto its palm. Cassidy's dark cerulean eyes traveled from the hand back to Narcissa, who still looked furious and was only just keeping her anger in check.

Slowly, painfully, Cassidy reached down and took the wand from the pocket. After letting it dangle in midair for a moment, she dropped it. Narcissa's fingers curled around it, and the sense of home and familiarity left Cassidy completely. There was nothing to relate to anymore, and she felt a kind of remorse.

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized quietly, dropping her eyes. "I-I didn't realize—"

"Of course you didn't," Narcissa snapped, still sounding angry.

Chancing a quick glance up, Cassidy said, "If you don't mind me asking, who was the girl?"

Narcissa looked at her, something undetectable swirling in her eyes. At last she said, "It was no one important. Just a filthy — little — Mudblood."

And then, for a split second, Cassidy almost thought she saw something like fearful regret in the blue eyes, like Narcissa had made a very dangerous mistake.

But in the next instant, it was gone.

Narcissa turned suddenly on her heel and started up the hallway. Cassidy stood there, looking blankly at her retreating back. The thin woman marched on without a word of explanation, and soon, she was out of sight.

Cassidy lowered her eyes to the curled parchment still in her hands. Like before, her fingers found the tight edges and pulled them apart, revealing shapes and squares, angles and passageways, and all varieties of assortments that the manor held.

She lifted her eyes and glanced around the hallway. At the moment, she was standing in the middle of a four-way intersection of corridors, and no matter which way she took, it would take her someplace exciting. Her eyes found the tower she had set her mind on, and she couldn't help but smile a little.

She knew where she was going, and she was going to take some time to get there.

Making up her mind, she started down the hallway to her right, unaware of the presence that had been behind her for only a few moments. It departed quickly to its original place, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood.

Turning swiftly, she looked around in an almost feverish manner for the cause of suspicion. Finding none, she turned around slowly and continued on her way.

She knew, somehow, that the short encounter revolving around the wand with Narcissa would be a preview of something that was to come. But she wanted to know, either way, what was bothering her so when she looked around her.

Because no matter where she was in that house, she knew she didn't belong.

Sighing, she trudged up the hallways, already wondering if things were going to get worse. After all … that wand had belonged to a dead girl, and they still kept it …

No, that doesn't sound creepy at all, Cassidy thought with a little roll of her eyes. There was something wrong, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

And I will, even if it takes me my life … she mused. I will find out no matter what happens … if it kills me, so be it.

Feeling a sense of foreboding creep over her, she hurried away, unaware of how incredibly correct she had been.

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Author's Notes: Well, I hoped you all liked that. I sorta didn't because the lack of excitement, but I'll figure something else to have the heart racing!

Thank you so much Kels for betaing this for me!

Review please!