I unfortunately do not own the world of Harry Potter. That honor belongs to J. K. Rowling.

I would just like to say a quick thanks to Loonynamelass, Dreamingmydaysaway, HopeHealer, The Emerald Doe, soccergurl31294, flightofbella, SlytherinWitchxx, Allen Pitt, XxMiSs. IdPeNdEnTxX, TheUlitimateGleek, CASMERIDITEMIONE, twilightaddict98, LoveofWarriors1998, and lunathevamp.

This is my first fan-fic. Hope you like it! (And if you haven't guessed by now, reviews are greatly appreciated!)

I am writing 5 other fan-fics at this time as well. If you could please check out my profile and check them out, I would greatly appreciate that. Thanks! :)

Chapter 51:

Malfoy Men and Their Orders

As promised, Draco didn't call her just to talk…in fact, he barely called on her at all. Even Lucius didn't call on her quite as much…which didn't say a lot in all honesty. She still had yet to know what her purpose as a Death Eater was…though she supposed that this particular fact was a good thing. And, as promised, Draco was colder to her than he had been in months. But knowing that this time, it was (almost) all an act helped.

A week before the summer was to end, Draco came and found her. She was in the living room, rearranging things to Mrs. Malfoy's liking…and stalling for time. Lucius had said that he wanted to speak to her once all chores were done for the day.

Leaning against the doorway, he observed her for a few moments before making his presence known. His usual arrogant air was around him, but as he was not in front of his classmates or father, it was toned down. He noticed that she was almost totally caught up in her work…yet she was tense, nervous. Her eyes weren't focused. This puzzled him, like many other things about her…but he tried to push it aside. He knew that it wasn't proper, that it wasn't quite right to be so curious about her…and yet, in recent years, he was becoming only more so about the girl he had lived with for most of his life.

"Ariella," he said simply, his voice commanding, but not cruel or forceful.

The girl looked up, startled, but Draco saw that she relaxed just a bit when she realized that it was him whom had spoken to her.

"Hello Draco," she said quietly, bowing her head as she went back to her work.

"Ariella, why haven't you asked me to leave the house?" Draco asked. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was a bit concerned. As far as he knew, she had been working diligently and had not left the house once since her arrival here before school even ended.

"I don't like asking for favors," she replied, her meekly. "And besides, I – I have plenty to do in the house," she continued, not meeting her master's eye.

"I told you that if you wanted to go outside, I would make up an excuse. And it wouldn't be asking for favors, it would just be a request of me, as – "

"Draco, please…just stop. It would be asking a favor of you and you know it. Besides….there's not much out there that isn't in here," she said, but Draco caught her tone, first pleading, then wistful.

"Ariella, you haven't been out of this house in almost three months. You didn't even come to Diagon Alley – "

"Our letters arrived?" she asked suddenly, her head shooting up.

"Yes, didn't you get yours?" Draco replied, perturbed. She shook her head.

"Maybe that's what your father wants to talk about with me," she muttered, suddenly a bit more frightened than she was before.

"What?"

"Nothing Draco," she responded hastily, not meeting his eye. The blonde sighed.

"Come out back with me. Just for a half an hour. You need to get out of this house," he said, and Ariella wasn't sure whether it was a decision for her to make or an order for her to obey. She sighed, before slowly standing up and nodding.

"Fine," she said. Draco immediately turned and led the way. He paused, however, at the back door, letting her catch up. Then, he opened the doors to reveal the beautiful sunset; the sun's fading rays just bathing the garden as the lights came on.

"Ariella, you won't get in trouble. You're with me and I am a Malfoy," he said arrogantly, his impatience starting to get in the way.

And so, taking a deep breath, she stepped out into the garden. Slowly, she moved forward, loving the beauty of everything. The girl twirled once, before stopping, her cheeks reddening a bit, as she stood still, head down, arms at her side once more.

"You can go wander around a bit," Draco said, causing her to look at him once, before nodding gratefully, a small smile gracing her face.

She was so absorbed in her surroundings that she didn't hear the footsteps of a person coming up behind her.

"Disobeying orders are we?" a cold voice asked behind her. She froze as Lucius put a hand on her shoulder and roughly pushed her around to face him. She stumbled in the process, but somehow managed to keep her footing. And Draco was nowhere to be seen.

"N – no sir," she hastily replied.

"Oh? Then what are you doing out here? Without a Malfoy or permission?" he questioned.

"I – well, I did have – "

"Lyons, have you – Father. What brings you out here?" Draco said, re-emerging, his tone surprised.

What neither Lucius nor Ariella knew was that Draco had seen his Father coming and had hidden. He wanted to see how the older man treated his classmate…only to realize that he didn't want to know how exactly his Father dealt with disobedience from her. He had also wanted to see how Ariella in turn would react to Lucius' sudden appearance.

"Hello Draco. I was just about to find out why our servant has disobeyed orders yet again," Lucius said, eyes slightly narrowed, disgust in his voice.

"Which orders, Father? Because I ordered her to come out here," Draco replied, his voice just as cold and slippery as his father's.

"Oh did you now? For what reason?"

"To collect some herbs from beyond the pond. She needn't have the best quality products for her schoolwork…if she is even able to keep up this year, that is. And " Draco said, his voice cold, arrogant, and though Ariella knew that it was an act (one to protect her no less,) she still found herself wary of her younger master – almost scared even, if she was being completely honest.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I do believe that I told you to come to me when you were done with your chores," Lucius said, challenging both his son and his servant.

"Yo – you did sir. But I wasn't done yet. Draco ordered me away before I could finish," she said nervously.

"First off, you are not to use Draco's name so trivially. I have let it go on too long. You should be addressing him as Sir or Master…just like myself...he is your superior, after all. You will learn respect and obedience, girl. And when you're done, come to my study. There's rather a lot we now need to discuss," Lucius sneered, turning to leave.

"Yes sir," she spat back, glaring at the older man.

"Is that why you didn't show me my Hogwarts letter? Because you though I needed to learn respect?" she called out. But her brief moment of bravery ended when Lucius closed the gap between them in three quick strides. He grabbed her jaw roughly in one hand, his other holding the small of her back, making her bend backwards against her will – she looked up at him with fear and indignation.

Draco, for his part, was curious and afraid. He didn't know what his Father would do and wasn't sure if he wanted to find out. Still…he couldn't just turn away. So instead, he closed his eyes, willing for it to be over. The young boy really had no desire to find out why his servant detested his Father so much.

"You will learn your place, no matter how long it takes. I was gracious with you as a child. I allowed you time to heal. I allowed you your own room, food, clothes. I allowed you the freedom to wander around. I even allowed you to go to school. I see now that I was much too lenient with you. Now let me repeat this. You will be in my study in one hour. Do you understand me?" Lucius said, his voice colder than ice.

"Yes," she replied stiffly.

"Yes what?"

"Yes sir," she replied and Lucius released her jaw, only to swing his hand around, smacking her across the face, letting her fall as he dropped her. The proud man stood up straight and, not even sparing her a second glance, walked haughtily away.

The minute his father was out of sight, Draco went to Ariella's side. She was breathing heavily, trying to regain her composure. Draco knelt besides her, allowing his fingers to push her dark locks out of the way and just stared that the sight that met him.

Her cheek had three scratches on it, all bleeding. The area around the scratches was already turning purple, becoming puffy. Draco just gaped, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Had his father meant to hurt her this badly?

"Now do you see why I don't like disobeying him?" she asked miserably, completely humiliated, her head bowed, letting her dark hair fall back over in front of her face, hiding the new injury. She tok another deep breath, trying not to cry. She wasn't sure what she was crying over more – the fact that she had let Lucius get to her again, or the fact that Draco had seen it.

"But you weren't disobeying ord – "

"It doesn't matter anymore. I'm sorry," she said, coming to sit back on her heals, still looking down.

"You may still call me Draco. I don't care what my Father says…it would be too weird to have someone my age calling me sir." Draco said, his usual arrogance gone from his voice. Ariella gave a small chuckle, before growing serious.

"I'd better go get cleaned up and report to your father's study. Merlin only knows what he's going to do to me now." She said, unsteadily getting to her feet. Draco held his hand to her, to help support herself. She blushed in embarrassment as she grasped it. Once she was a bit steadier on her feet, he too stood up, but her back was to him.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," she muttered. "But just to let you know – that is not the worst he's done to me…not in the least."

Then, before he could question her further, she fled, leaving Draco to ponder over what she had said and what he had witnessed.

Anything you recognize is from Harry Potter.

I'm a member of Fanfictioners Against World Hunger.

Thanks to all who are reading, and liking it. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please feel free to review/private message me. Also, if you have any ideas at all, or would like to see something happen, let me know, and I'll consider putting them into a chapter. Thanks! ~ Leanora