~Harry~
It had been a few days since Harry had been rescued from the Dursleys and deposited in Grimmauld Place. He had only seen Dumbledore in passing, and received very few answers as to what was going on in the Wizarding World. Sirius had seemed to want to fill him in, but had been silenced quickly by Mrs. Weasley. What he wouldn't give to be a mind reader like Evanna, then no one would be able to keep secrets from him….
Harry frowned, thinking of the younger girl. They had what Hermione called an odd relationship. She was the sister of his biggest rival at school, a Slyteherin to boot, the teacher's pet to Harry's most hated professor, and yet they somehow worked as friends. She had helped him in the Chamber of Secrets and made it into a sanctuary of sorts. Then, she had d din the graveyard and not a full day later had gone off in the arms of a Death Eater's son.
She is ad Death Eater's daughter, a far too reasonable voice said in the back of his mind. Harry dismissed it. Evanna hated her father, and for good reason, if he was anything like the Dursleys, as Harry suspected. Then again, if she was dating the soon of a Death Eater…..
A bronze coin dropped into his lap.
"Knut for your thoughts," Sirius said, taking a seat next to Harry. Harry gave a small grin.
"Just thinking," he said.
"A very dangerous pastime," his godfather said solemnlyy, then ruined the effect by ruffling Harry's hair. "I hope you know you can talk to me about anything. The war. Your friends. Girls."
Despite himself, Harry felt his face go scarlet. "I-I don't know-"
"C'mon, Harry, I was there in the Hospital Wing," Sirius said, nudging his godson playfully. Then, he became, well, serious. "Harry, far be it for me to judge your romantic choices-or even your choices in friends-but Lucius Malfoy's daughter? You know that has got to spell trouble."
Harry looked down at his hands. "Have you been talking to Hermione?"
"She's brought her… concerns to me, yes," he said.
"Everything that's gone wrong, Hermione has blamed Evanna for," Harry said. "Chamber of Secrets open? It has to be Evanna. Sirius Black gets into the castle? Evanna Malfoy, who else? My name entered into the Goblet of Fire? Evanna Malfoy has to be the busiest witch in the world!"
Sirius bit down his smirk. "I'm not saying she's evil, Harry. I am simply saying that family bonds are hard to overcome."
"You did," Harry said mulishly.
"And yet, even I am back in the Noble House of Black," Sirius said sourly, looking around the room. "How I hated this house in my childhood."
Harry felt pity for his godfather. He knew he would hate to be stuck in Privet Drive, with no means of escape. He wondered if Evanna felt as trapped in Malfoy Manor…
"Do you truly believe that's she's different to her family?" Sirius asked. "She won't betray you?"
Harry thought on the question. Before, he would have said yes without hesitation. She was different from Malfoy, that much he knew. Though she could be a bit of a snob, she had actively maintained friendships outside of Slytherin House, he knew. And he had never heard her making fun of others for their status-blood or monetary. But he just couldn't shake the image of her blushing as Nott handed her a bouquet of flowers…
"She-she is going out with a Death Eater's son-Theodore Nott-"
"Really? And Rita Skeeter didn't write on your broken heart?" Sirius said, nudging Harry in the ribs.
"I mean, he gave her flowers-"
"And you danced with her at the Yule Ball. I wonder-are you as hopeless at dancing as your father was? That might explain why the young lady tossed you over."
Harry's face turned Gryffindor red, his scar standing out more than usual. "She-she didn't toss me over because of my dancing! She didn't toss me over at all! We-we aren't-"
Sirius looked back at Harry, with a sort of mischievous glimmer in his eye that seemed to reawaken the young man he must have been, like in Harry's photo book.
"So, have you snogged her yet? Only the papers are quite taken with you two, and you looked so cozy in the gardens together after the Yule Ball," he said playfully.
Harry opened his mouth and closed it a few times, leading Sirius to laugh his bark-like laughter. Soon, Harry found himself joining in, wondering if this was what it would have been like to have been raised by Sirius all along.
~Evanna~
"Will we be training today, Father?" Evanna asked as she passed the dish of orange marmalade to the Dark Lord. She found herself looking forward to training in a way she never had before, probably because the Dark Lord didn't just shoot off Dark Curses at her and expect for her to defend against him.
Instead, the tutors he had brought in were teaching her everything from ancient blood magic to Gobbledegook to international magical relations. when she had questioned why the Dark Lord seemed to be focusing her on so many things besides combat, he had snorted.
"My intention is to rule, not just fight, Evanna," he said. "Though it is important you know how to fight during the war, it is equally important you know how to comport yourself when we've won."
She had excelled in the various magical languages according to her tutors, who, of course, had no idea about her abilities. The books on politics and history were fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Lucius had always referred to muggles as just above animals, but some of the weapons of war they had developed, the amount of times they had been close to destroying the whole world in that century alone….. She could not help but think it would be better all around if wizards ruled again. The magicks she was being taught were fascinating and she took to them almost immediately-unlike Charms. The Dark Lord was a most excellent teacher-he had even tried to gain the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts as a young man
So, she was a little disappointed at her father's response. "Not today."
"Oh. Of course," she said, trailing her fork through her eggs. The Dark Lord smirked.
"You need to learn how to hide your disappointment better," he chided. "I have an important meeting today and Narcissa has acquiesced to take you shopping."
"Take me shopping?" she repeated, confused by the banality of it.
"Yes," he said, flipping through that morning's Daily Prophet casually. "I intend on properly introducing you as my heir to my followers before you return to school. To that end, Narcissa proposed a ball and for a ball, says she, one needs new dress robes. The niceties must be observed."
A small shudder ran down Evanna's spine. Most days, she was able to ignore the memories of the graveyard. Her father seemed so different than the Lord Voldemort who was resurrected that night, but he was the same man. She had to remind herself of that, lest things go much too far.
"I believe Narcissa will be meeting you in a few minutes in the parlor. Make sure you are ready-I expect punctuality in my heir."
Evanna nodded, downing the last of her pumpkin juice and wiping her mouth daintily on a cloth napkin. "Yes, Father. I'll see you for training tomorrow?"
The Dark Lord's mouth twitched. "Yes, now go on, you little brat."
The words were said with no bite. Instead, there was a hint of pride in them. Evanna quirked a smile and bounded to the parlor to meet Narcissa. However, when she arrived there, it was not Narcissa in the parlor.
Lucius Malfoy was leaned against a high backed chair, casually checking his watch and watching the fireplace. Evanna nearly backed out of the room to run back to her bedroom, but forced herself to stand firm.
You are the heir of the Dark Lord. You are above all the Death Eaters, even Lucius Malfoy. You will not be afraid of him. You will not-
All that went out the window when his grey eyes landed on her, a sneer curling his lip. His head dipped in what Evanna supposed was supposed to be a bow.
"So, you're a princess now," he said, scowl fixed firmly on his face.
"Father would say I always was. I am his heir," she said in a neutral tone, doing her best to keep her chin up.
"And a princess gets to dictate whether a main keeps his wife," Lucius sneered.
"She needed more care-"
"I would be careful if I were you, girl," he hissed. "You may be his heir, but the Dark Lord does not tolerate disloyalty. I would hate to see you dethroned should he find out about you more…. Interesting choices in friends. Say, Harry Potter, for instance?"
Evanna stood absolutely still, feeling sick to her stomach. The Dark Lord obviously had no idea about her friendship with Harry, given that he had not killed her on sight for such a grievance. She shuddered to think on what would happen should he find out that she had ever been friendly with Harry-much less that she had helped Harry escape the night of his resurrection. Lucius couldn't be talking about the latter-she had already made sure of that when he had arrived at the train station. But, still, she couldn't be too careful-
She doesn't have to know I would never tell. He would blame me for such influences and my punishment would be far worse…
It was in that moment that all the Dark Lord had been telling her about her status sank in. She was not a Death Eater. She would never be a Death Eater. She was not to grovel, not to bow at anyone's feet. She was the descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself, and here was Lucius Malfoy, taunting her. The man who had kissed her father's feet was taunting her.
"You won't say anything," she said.
Lucius blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You won't say anything to Father because, ultimately, you were meant to keep his heir safe. Like, I assume, you were meant to keep his diary safe," she said, taking a step towards her tormentor. "If you were to tell him anything incriminating about me, you would be the one to truly suffer. And you, Lucius, are a coward."
Without hesitation, Lucius reached forward and backhanded Evanna across the face, just as the fireplace flashed green and Narcissa stepped through. Evanna stumbled back into Narcissa's arms and Lucius stalked forward.
"You little-"
"Stop," Evanna snapped, glaring at him as she pulled her wand. He scoffed at her.
"I taught you everything, little girl-"
"And what do you think the Dark Lord has been doing with me these few weeks? Playing gobstones?" she snarled. "That is the last time you will ever touch me, Malfoy."
"I think you'd best leave, Lucius," Narcissa said coolly, glaring at her husband as well as she clutched Evanna close to her.
Lucius snarled one last time, before stalking out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Narcissa spun Evanna around to study her face.
"Oh, my dear," she murmured, before pulling out her wand. "We won't allow him to ruin our day, will we?"
Within a few moments, Narcissa had healed Evanna's face, all stinging gone. She smiled.
"There, it won't even leave a bruise!" Narcissa said happily. Evanna smiled back at her. The blonde woman seemed to finally be regaining weight and color, now that she had both Healers and Severus Snape working toward her recovery. Beyond that, she seemed genuinely happy in a way Evanna had never seen her mother-Narcissa. Evanna's smile grew wider.
"Thank you, Mo-I don't know what to call you now," she admitted, looking down at her shoes. She felt a pang of sadness from the woman she had grown up believing was her mother.
"I don't know how well your father would appreciate you calling me mother," Narcissa admitted. "And I have always felt a certain amount of guilt, usurping that title. However, when it is just you and I, I should say that you ought to be able to call me whatever you wish."
Evanna smiled, eyes a little watery. "I won't tell if you don't," she said. Narcissa laughed, pressing a kiss to Evanna's forehead.
"Come, let's not waste our day," she said, pulling Evanna to the fireplace. "Diagon Alley!"
They appeared in the great fireplace at the top of the alley, where many shoppers began their journeys. They made their way to the south side of the alley, Narcissa guiding them through the door of Twillfit and Tattings.
"I believe we ought look for something in green," Narcissa said. "Not only will it look lovely with your coloring, but it should serve to underline your lineage. And perhaps something more traditional than what you wore to the Yule Ball."
Narcissa frowned and Evanna fought the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother had made very well known that she despised the jumpsuit and skirt ensemble Evanna had had custom-made for the Yule Ball the year previous. The socialite had found the dress to be just short of scandalous. Given that both at the time and at present, Narcissa was living with a veritable pauper who was not her husband, Evanna felt she had very little room to talk on the subject.
"What about something like this?" Narcissa said, pulling a frothy light green dress with lots of tatted lace. Evanna thought it looked like a swamp ballerina.
"Decidedly not. I'm meant to be the heir-the Dark Lady-and that looks more like a fairy princess-"
"You are still a child, Evanna, don't forget-"
"I'm nearly fourteen"
"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy!" the shop proprietor, Monsieur Brodeur, said happily, kissing Narcissa's hand. "It has been far too long! How may I be helping you today?"
"I am looking for some new dress robes," Evanna said, stepping forward. His eyes widened.
"Oh, the young Ms. Malfoy!" he exclaimed, giving Evanna the same treatment. "Our young mademoiselle à la mode! Back for the latest, I am sure!"
"Perhaps not quite the latest," Narcissa butted in, giving Evanna a look. "Her dress for the Yule Ball was a little too out of the norm."
Evanna frowned, but figured that Narcissa knew better than she the rules she had to play by. Even if Evanna would push those rules.
"Ah, yes, of course, Mrs. Malfoy," the man said. "I believe I can find something that suits both mother and daughter."
By the time Evanna and Narcissa left the shop, Evanna felt as though she had tried on every dress, robe, skirt, and bodice in the shop, along with jewelry and hairpieces and shoes. At the end, though the dress did not push the boundaries quite as much as Evanna would have wanted, neither was it some sort of frothy nonsense that Narcissa favored. She would look the part of a Dark Lady, daughter and heir of the Dark Lord Voldemort, to be feared and revered in equal measure.
And then Narcissa took her to get ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. The two women laughed and talked, looking for all the world a normal mother and daughter on a day out, simply enjoying each other's company. Evanna wished it would never end.
A/N: I just can't resist the opportunity to play dress up! Must be the costume designer in me. Any way, a bit of a fluffy chapter, but I feel our heroine deserves some peace. And she's finally stood up to Lucius! Let's see how long this peace lasts, shall we?
To my anonymous reviewer: Evanna's parentage will definitely change the dynamic between her and Harry. How exactly, well... You'll just have to read and find out. ;)
Thank you to everyone for your reviews and continuing to read my story! Hope you are enjoying!