The Malfoy Old Hill Estate was one of the most magnificent places both Draco and Hunter had ever been in. The vast gardens and the grand mansion made the manor back in Britain seem like a horse's stables. The building was dark wood but had heating spells cast into the walls to keep the harsh winters out. The windows were lined with black wood and it reminded the boys of a pirate ship they had seen in a book.
They walked behind the adults with their bags stuffed full with their shrunk and lightened boxes and each with their puppies on a lead. They shared excited glances between themselves and tapped their feet impatiently when Narcissa did all the complicated spells to unlock the door. Eventually the big, black door opened silently and the little group cautiously walked through, what seemed like the biggest entrance hall Hunter or Draco had ever seen.
Narcissa let out a slow breath that she seemed to have been holding, the house was kept spotless. How though?
"Ah, it's nice to see the self-cleaning charms are still intact, it has been a long time since they were updates though." Lucius grins. "This used to be my great uncles house, but he died a long long time ago." He tells the boys.
"Where are we sleeping mother? Do we get to choose our rooms?" Draco questions.
Narcissa smiles slyly at the boys, "Well, if you desperately want to choose your rooms then I suppose you can but, if you follow me I think you will rather what I have planned." She gestures her hand for them to follow her.
She leads them through the gigantic establishment, "It's been a while since I have been here, and I do hope I know where I'm going." She turns one more corner and a huge grin spreads across her face. "Boys, you can go in first."
They share a glance and tentively take a step into the door. They walk into a huge living room like room, with multiple wooden doors on both sides and a set of sliding patio doors opening to the main gardens. The pool could easily be seen through the door windows, only a few steps outside. The couches, fireplace and bookcases that filled the room looked old and bare. That would change in a few days.
Narcissa led them into the first door on the right; it opened into a tiny room, about the size of a broom cupboard. With their brows furrowed in confusion they go to ask their mother what is going on but she is busy pushing a sliding door which disappeared into the wall to the side.
The room was filled with pillows and beanbags and empty bookcases there was also dog beds set in the corner and a flap next to them big enough for when the puppies grow up. "We thought you might miss the nook so I sent some elves to get one sorted for you." Their mother explains.
The twins look at her a grin from ear to ear; they rocket over to her and wrap their arms around her. "Thanks mum!" they chorus.
She then shows them the rest of their rooms, the one next to the nook is a wardrobe with all their clothes and a bathroom beside that, then on the other side is the boys bedrooms. Hunter's has black and white walls with a grey carpet. His bed has green and blue pillows on it to add a little bit of colour.
Draco's room is the complete opposite; it's like walking into a rainbow. He has red and yellow bedsheets and blue and green walls and carpet. While Draco has art supplies and books, harry has musical instruments and sports gear.
"We will give you a while to settle in boys, your father, Prongs and I shall be in the living quarters if you need us, Severus and Remus will be here for dinner so be there by around half six please." She goes to leave, "Oh and if you get lost the main house elf here is named Relly." With that she sweeps out the door.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Hunt, Drake, I am leaving without you if you don't hurry up!" James shouts from down the floo into the little annexe that the boys share.
After a few minutes the footsteps of the eight year olds can be heard from the room. The boys fly through the door, only Draco panting as they stop. "I am still not used to how big this house is." Hunter whines.
"Me either, why can't we just floo through Prongs?" Draco adds.
James rolls his eyes, he had answered this about fourteen times since they moved in two weeks ago, "Becauuuseee it would make you lazy and unfit, look how your father turned out for an example." He smirks.
"POTTER!" Lucius shouts from the other room, Prongs reddens furiously.
"BYE LUCY. BYE CISSY! WE'RE LEAVING NOW!" James shouts as he hurries the boys to the floo. "We are meeting Rem in Paris this time lads, have I taken you before?"
Hunter shakes his head, "Nope, but we went with Mum a couple years ago. But she made us shop."
"Well we won't be shopping; we're going to the Eiffel Tower!" Prongs exclaims.
Travelling by floo internationally was much easier than the muggles way of doing it. All you did was floo to the equivalent of a muggle airport but instead it was a huge room filled with fireplaces and you just went through the fire place labelled your destination.
The boys loved travelling.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"That was wicked, why haven't you taken us before Moony?" Draco grins. He loved things like that, the history behind it. To Hunter it was a metal structure with a brilliant view but to Draco it was a work of art.
"Well I don-" Moony starts.
"HERMIONE!" Hunter screams and sprints off.
Prongs chases after him, but damn that boy is fast. The raven haired boy is at the small family in an instant. But luckily they seem to recognise him and the young girl pulls Hunter into a bear hug. Surprisingly he hugs back, something that James always thought his godson hated.
"Hunter!" She exclaims, "Where have you been? You didn't meet me on Saturday like you promised."
Hunter looks guilty, "We had to move, like right away! I was gonna tell you but then we had to leave the day we got told so I didn't have a chance. And I don't know your address so I couldn't mail you."
"It's okay! We can give each other our addresses now and then mail. Is it in Paris that you live now? Or somewhere close by?" She questions.
Hunter looks to Prongs, "No we live in Bulgaria but we are… erm just here for a couple hours." How do you explain to a muggle family that you can travel anywhere in a matter of seconds?
"That's so cool! We are going to Bulgaria like, tomorrow, maybe we could visit your new house!" Hermione beams.
Hunter looks hopefully at his godfather, "I'm sure if you are in the area then that could be arranged, but we will have to speak to your parents Hunt. Have you got a cellular phone? I think Remus has one of those." Hunter cringes at how inexperienced Prongs is in the muggle world.
After numbers were exchanged and goodbyes said the two groups parted ways and the men took the boys to get ice-cream. They flooed back to Bulgaria and met the other two Malfoys for dinner.
As soon as everyone was sat down Hunter went into an elaborate explanation about how they saw Hermione, and Draco gabbled on about the Eiffel tower.
They got home and all parted ways, Hunter saying that he was going to play his piano for a bit. Draco also left to go draw, he ended up taking his supplies into Hunter's room because he loved the way his brother played.
The next morning hunter was awake bright and early, Hermione was coming over. When he got down to the kitchen he cast a tempus and realised that it was only six thirty and nobody would be awake for at least another half hour. So he poured himself some water and took Rocco out for a walk around the gardens.
He had just made it back to the front door when he noticed Moony walking up the path to the door also. He looked tired and tense.
"Hey Uncle Remy!" He called. Moony cringed when he saw who it was, what on earth was going on? "What's with you? When are Hermione and her family getting here?"
They had reached the door at this point; Remus opened it and gestured for hunter to go inside. He sat down and flopped like a sack of potatoes.
"Hunter, there's no easy way to say this but Hermione won't be coming. Not today, probably not ever." Remus explain solemnly, he held up a hand when Hunter went to speak, "Last night when they were in their plane it fell from the sky, you don't know much about muggle transport but when something like this happens people die. Unfortunately Hermione's mother and father died on impact, along with the rest of the passengers on board. Except Hermione, Miss Granger preformed some sort of spell that made a shield protect her from any debris falling on her or her hitting the ground. The young lady has been taken in by a family of wizards back in the UK and will be staying with them unless some long lost family member crops up somewhere."
Hunter looks like he is about to cry, he opens and closes his mouth a few times no words coming out, "But why can't she come visit, she's in the magical world now and we could just floo her here."
Moony sighs, "The wizarding family is the Weasleys."
Hunter jumps up and practically hisses like a hot poker has jabbed him in the leg, "The stupid muggle loving Weasleys, they don't deserve her."
"Hunt, you know that it's rude to say stuff like that, if your mother heard you…"
Well it was true, the Weasleys were a redheaded family of pureblood magic folk who didn't believe in any of the wizarding traditions, like the headmaster of Hogwarts –Professor Dumbledore- they tried to force muggle traditions on our culture. It was horrendous in Hunter's opinion. Another very valid point in his hate for the family was the fact that the two clans had had a rivalry dating back for hundreds of years, even when the Malfoy clan was mainly in France.
"Why can't we take her in? We have the space and the money?" Hunter pouts.
Remus takes a deep breath, he feels the boys pain, "Hermione's name would be on the Hogwarts register, she's probably got Dumbledore as a magical guardian and he doesn't even know your alive. She's probably safer there hunt, with us it's very unpredictable. You understand that it's dangerous with us right?"
The intelligent eight years old nods his head, "Thanks Uncle Remy." His uncle just smiles at him.
"I have to go, you'll tell your parents right? I'm going to be gone for a few months but I'll see you for Christmas okay? And I'll write to you." Remus says.
Hunter walks back to his room, why is nobody awake yet? He peeks into Draco's room; the bundle in the middle of the bed rises and falls so Hunter doesn't worry about him.
So, to pass the time, he grabs a muggle football and heads to the garden pitch for a kick about. After what seems like an eternity Draco finally finds him there and joins him, not matching his brother's skill. Not that the blond haired boy is bad at sports he just isn't as into it as his twin.
When they head into the house for some lunch hunter has almost forgotten the Hermione situation. His parents are finally awake, he explains to them and Draco what happened. He can deal with their sympathetic smiles so he heads to a random room and just practises his magic; the wards had already been changed so the trace didn't reach them here.
He changed the walls different colours, lit the fire, transfigured a chair into a stool and then into a table. He had tried to change it into a sofa one time but it just didn't work so he stuck to changing in the same materials from then on.
Relly the house elf popped up to call him for dinner but he just had it taken to his hideaway and ordered the elf not to tell anyone where he was. It was nearly seven hours until he was disturbed again and that was by Rocco bounding into the room. The puppy curled up on his lap and he silently thanked Draco for thinking of letting the dog out to go find him.
0o0o0o0o0o0
He woke up disorientated, where was he? How did he get here? After a couple of minutes it started coming back to him, but how did he get this blanket and cushion?
Rocco trotted happily behind him as he tried to navigate his way into the kitchen, eventually he found it, the house seemed to tell you which way to go. The family were all there, including Harry and Draco's godfathers, James and Severus respectively.
"Nice of you to finally show yourself Hunt." James smirks from in front of his breakfast, making a funny face at the boy. Hunter shoves him as he takes his seat between Prongs and Draco. A large serving of bacon and eggs appears in front of him and he quickly starts devouring it.
Lucius clears his throat and begins to speak, "I have invited a couple of my colleagues for supper tonight, they are the only two people in Bulgaria who know exactly who Hunter is so you don't need a glamour this time Hunter. But, that does not mean you are any less polite and respectful, these men are high-ranking government workers and could ruin you by making it impossible for you to get a job in the future. So keep that in mind." He warns, "That includes you too James."
"Yes, Sir." The two boys and Prongs chorus.
Draco offers Hunter a game of quidditch and they head out, soon followed by James who wants to play, and Narcissa who enjoys watching her boys and taking a book out to read.
Time flies by without anybody realising it so they only have ten minutes to shower and try to look presentable for their guests. Robes were what they had to wear and it just felt weird when they were in their own house.
Once the guests arrived and had had a few drinks dinner was served, pumpkin soup with green salad and bread to start, for a main apple baked chicken with broccoli and roast potatoes and for dessert chocolate fondant with ice-cream and fruit. Of course, the boys never actually ate the broccoli; it was dropped on the floor for Jack and Rocco.
They all retired to the lounge for some more drinks. Somehow the conversation meandered onto the topic of half breeds, visibly to anyone other than the family it wouldn't be noticeable but to Draco and Hunter who had been trained on noticing the slightest things, Lucius tensed up.
Luckily the topic was not them expressing their hate towards werewolves but their support for them and them admitting that they were both part werewolf. The family's mouths were draped open which surprised the others. This confused their guests, was Britain really as bad as the rumours described?
"Why so shocked? A big part of Bulgaria is at least part werewolf! There's potions that can stop them for changing during full moons, though they aren't quite perfect yet, we still get a bit hairy for a few days and very dreary, but it's better than the alternative." Stannis, the man the Lucius works with, explains. He had moved from America twenty years ago but had only picked up a slight twinge of Bulgarian accent.
James had a light twinkling in his eyes, "So werewolves are accepted?" They nod, "And they can get proper jobs, without hassle?" Another nod, "And it safe for them to admit they are what they are?" A third nod and some confused faces. "I have to call Mooney I'll be right back!"
Lucius and Narcissa look to the boys who 'didn't' know about Remus' little problem, "Mother, we've known for ages…don't look at me like that it was Prong's fault!" Draco defends.
"And we heard you and father talking about it last year." Hunter tries to help but gets a kick from his brother for making it worse. Surely they will put up privacy spells now.
Rolling her eyes Narcissa, of course they know that probably where the books about half breeds disappeared to from the Manor's library. She's just glad that they weren't prejudice about it.
Once their guests had left the elder Malfoy's had a chat with the boys about werewolves that the boys got bored with since they knew everything they were talking about.
Eventually Prongs appeared back from his rooms and was bouncing across the walls. "Remus can stay! Remus can stay!" He kept repeating, Draco and Hunter eventually cast a silencing charm on him.
The plan was set that Remus would quit his current job (that the boys were not allowed to know about) and move to Bulgaria in the winter months – which made the boys almost as excited as Prongs.
The months went by slowly, but also fast in hindsight. The house elves had readied a room as soon as the plan was set and then left it for his arrival.
Through the months of November and December Hunter and Draco started to get agitated, where was Remus? He still wasn't here! By the time Christmas Eve rolled around he still hadn't arrive, but their parents and Prongs didn't seem worried.
They had a quiet Christmas Eve dinner, Severus, the Tonks and Lucius' colleague Stannis and his wife Zora were all there but they all left not too long after dinner. The boys were in bed extra early, hoping that maybe Remus would be there the next day.
The next morning they woke up and raced to the lounge where their presents were waiting. They weren't expecting much because they had a deal with their parents that they would get the big, expensive things on their birthday and leave Christmas for spending time with family.
Lucius, Narcissa and James were already awake and waiting when they got there, in the middle of the room was a box. A big box. "Open that one first boys." Narcissa said, a smile in her voice.
The boys eyed the box suspiciously, they opened a lid each. What jumped out made them scream and fall on their butts. A person had sprung from the box. After getting over their heart attacks they looked at the figure.
"MOONY!" They cheered and hugged their adoptive uncle.
Moony pulled them tight; he'd missed them almost as much as he'd missed Prongs. He could've arrived yesterday but they all agreed that it would make the boys Christmas more special if he came in the morning.
Hunter's presents consisted of quidditch gear, piano music and muggle sports equipment. Rarely did Hunter find the muggles do something right but sports was one of the few things they got bang on.
Draco got similar quidditch gear but he got art supplies and books rather than music and sports. The adults all opened their gifts and then they got a marvellous breakfast served by the elves.
All in all it was a good day in the Malfoy household. All that was left to do was get Hunter into school without the English finding out.