The next morning an arrogant Lucius Malfoy stalked the passageways of Hogwarts, his black leather clothes and heavy cane were stark contrast to the casual and colourful robes of the teachers and students of Hogwarts. He gathered attention and rumours were sent flying through the halls faster than he walked.
Lucius stood in a profoundly pink room, with the sickly-sweet characteristics of a little girl's dolls house. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Severus Snape and he looked around the room with a look of disdain across his face. Severus was in a heated conversation with Professor Umbridge, he exerted his powerful tongue over the toad-like woman, but she argued back. They discussed the matter of Aurelia Lestrange. Neither men wanted to admit they knew of the fugitive in the Malfoy Manor but they both needed Aurelia out of Hogwarts, but each of their secret motives were different. They implied Aurelia needed relief from the stresses of school before she put herself into St. Mungos Hospice. Umbridge insisted that there was nothing the matter with the girl and that she only needed a firm hand, she picked up and stroked the exotic feathered quills. Snape interrupted with a lie, with smooth elegance he insisted that the student needed time and a resolution to her troubles before she gave the school a bad name. The lie fell off his tongue like second nature.
Both men turned their heads when the door behind them opened, Umbridge's round face peered out from behind them. In the doorway stood Aurelia, her appearance looked very neglected, her eyes were red with merciless tears and, her hair was unbrushed and matted. She wore a white night-gown and nothing on her feet. Madam Pomfrey gently pushed Aurelia forward, shut the door and left.
Mr. Malfoy was first to turn his body to greet the girl, her toes were white as she padded forward and slowly linked her arms around his middle and buried her head in his neck. Lucius couldn't help but smirk, he raised his chin along with his eyes to gloat at Severus. Lucius took great pleasure from the discomfort Aurelia's actions so obviously caused Severus. Delores Umbridge cleared her throat with a petite cough.
"Miss Lestrange...tell me what is it that troubles you" Umbridge spoke to the girl but her eyes never left Snape's.
Severus felt a brief twinge of annoyance, not many people disbelieved his words.
"Let the girl leave. I'll clear this up and have her sent back in a day or two" said the blonde-haired man and he bid his companions farewell and left with his arm snaked around Aurelia's shoulders. Snape took off towards the dungeons in a seething frenzy, there were some things in his life he regretted and loathed, and holding his current position started to prove to be his greatest and hardest pretence.
From a high window Draco Malfoy watched his father climb into a black horse-drawn carriage with Aurelia, he was a little surprised to see the rumour of his father at the school was true but understood why he was there, and took a guess at where Aurelia was headed. Behind him Pansy Parkinson ushered him away. Inside the carriage, conversation began.
"What a dump, Dumbledore has ruined that place. Umbridge will straighten it out." Mr Malfoy looked to the girl who sat opposite him, she sat very timidly with her knees together and hands delicately planted on top of them, she picked at her nails and Malfoy saw the words etched into her hand. He questioned her;
"You've heard the news?"
Aurelia's blue eyes started to climb from Malfoy's shiny shoes, up to view his wide apart knees, to his torso and to his face before quickly removing her eyes to the window. She noticed the clouds grew darker and a few drops of rain started to fall from the sky. Mirroring the weather, a solitary tear drop rolled down her cheek. She pursed her lips before she spoke, but Aurelia couldn't bring herself to look again upon the man she hated... and needed.
"Am I going to see my mother?" She asked, after she waited in vain for an answer she moved her eyes to Lucius. Her heart pounded in her chest when they made eye contact. He had been looking at her body, her feet, hands, and neck. He considered how she had grown, she was now fourteen and she was beautiful, the beast in his belly was hungry.
Aurelia's heart beat violently, she was sure Lucius could hear it, he had that familiar glint of power in his eyes. Lucius sat upright in his seat and nodded once, the mention of Bellatrix made him nervous. A lump came to his throat and his appetite for Aurelia recoiled. Lucius's top lip curled and with nostrils flared when his mind raced with ways he could make the girl stay quiet about her abuse.
"Wear this" Mr Malfoy bent forward, his head was so close to Aurelia that she could smell his hair, pipe tobacco and cinnamon, the scent made her eyes flutter. He pulled a box from between his feet and put it on his knees. "Your fortunes have changed Aurelia" Their eyes met, both anticipated what was to happen next. Lucius opened the box and handed her a thick, grey velvet and corseted dress. Aurelia carefully lifted her bottom off the seat and raised her arms to remove her white hospital gown from her body. With one arm she covered her breasts and the other reached for the dress. Aurelia nervously looked to Lucius to find his grey eyes staring back at her own again. Although brief, the connection spoke a thousand words. Aurelia put her arms up inside the skirt and bodice of the dress, but the corset strings were too tight. Lucius Malfoy reached over and tugged on the dress, he loosened the strings with his strong hands and grasped the material to pull it down. He still held on to each side of it when her face was exposed, and she brushed her hair from her eyes and plucked his hands from her. Aurelia adjusted the dress's position and slid her buttocks onto her heels to let the skirt fall to her feet. Awkward silence filled the air, along with their elevated breathing.
Lucius Malfoy scooted forward on his seat once more, the breath caught in Aurelia's throat. He placed his large hands on Aurelia's shoulders and turned her. He gracefully pulled the corset ribbons until the dress hugged her waist tightly. It had been a long time since Malfoy had physical contact with Aurelia, his fingers curled and flexed to hold onto her hips. She had curves. Aurelia's small hands guided her mane of hair to one side and exposed her neck and right shoulder. Aurelia looked over her shoulder and saw Lucius lean forward in her peripheral vision.
Lucius had an ache in his trousers, he leant towards her but saw she still had the shiny remnants of the bite mark he had left on her as a child. The man remembered how her blood had slowly trickled down the front of her and how it tasted on his teeth when the iron aroma flooded his nostrils. He recollected her small and damaged figure sprawled on the floor of his office. His bite was a sign of frustration. His blue eyes moved to watch her tiny hairs stand up on the back of her neck and followed the outbreak of goose bumps down her arms. He took a long breath into his lungs and sat back in his seat, his heart beat wildly in his chest.
Aurelia was nervous to meet her mother, it was something she had desperately wished to happen for a long time and in that moment, Lucius's touch comforted her. When his hands suddenly left her body, she felt humiliated. Malfoy had been vile to her, he had made a child do things that no child should even know of...but, he was the one constant thing in her life that never left. Aurelia admired the dress she wore, it was a dark grey colour, like the pinafore of her school uniform. It was soft to touch but if rubbed the wrong way, felt rough.
Heavy rain pounded the roof of the carriage, the noise was an accelerative to the tension between the two. Lucius Malfoy was agitated, his cane was taken from his side by the girl. He watched her through intense eyes. Aurelia took the wand from the cane and placed it inside the grip of Lucius, she held his hand with the both of hers and lifted the wand to her chin. He swallowed and parted his lips, her face was painfully close to his. He applied pressure to his wand which caused Aurelia's head to tilt, he could feel her breath crawl over his lips. Malfoy didn't say a word, but a yellow glow washed over her face and left her applied with luxurious makeup. Her eyelashes grew in length and thickness and dark ruby red covered her mouth. Aurelia opened her eyes and the vivid pools of blue connected with Lucius's grey stare, but they parted.
"Aurelia" Malfoy breathed, "your mother must never know of us"
Aurelia's eyes rolled to the back of her head when the memories he just gave to Aurelia brought vomit to her mouth. Outside, they rolled into the gravel pathway to the Manor. Anxiety shot through Aurelia and she trembled as she took Lucius's hand to steady her descent from the carriage. Inside was a convicted criminal, an escapee...her mother.
Aurelia Lestrange stood behind Lucius Malfoy in front of their dining room doors. Aurelia breathed fast, her mind convinced her she was in danger. She wobbled from foot to foot and began to panic. She fought to keep her tears inside her eyes and grabbed a hold of Lucius's arm. He was vicious with his movements to remove her before the doors opened, and they walked through.
The room was darkened and appeared to be empty, Aurelia's eyes searched the room and she looked to Lucius for reassurance but was startled by a laugh from behind her. Aurelia spun to see a woman strut from the shadows that the roaring fire in the fireplace cast to dance around the room.
"Oh! Look at you!" Bellatrix gasped, her eyes were wide and had a demonic radiance. She walked agonisingly slow around the girl and then paced backwards a few steps to take in full view of Aurelia.
Aurelia stood in shock, their first meeting was not how she had imagined it would have been. She couldn't find any words to say. Aurelia just stood with furrowed brows and tightened lips.
"My daughter, how you've grown after thirteen years" Bellatrix exclaimed with fake enthusiasm dripping from her voice.
"I'm fourteen" was all Aurelia could think to say and she still glowered with a frown.
Bellatrix let out a stifled chuckle that echoed through the room, the woman released a small sigh of air with a smile before she advanced on her daughter once more. She was close enough to whisper to Aurelia, but she bellowed.
"Give mummy a twirl then, let me look at you!
Aurelia's body jumped at the sudden increase in pace. She cowered her head and expected her legs to wobble but she walked in a circle with strength and elegance. While she faced away from Bellatrix she could see Mr and Mrs Malfoy by the doors. Aurelia sucked on the spit in her mouth and if permitted would have liked to hex the pair of them.
Mother and daughter were a mirror image of each other, only Aurelia was smaller in height and had blue eyes compared to her mother's dark brown. Bellatrix Lestrange walked past Aurelia and applauded the Malfoys for the safe keeping and their care of Aurelia.
Could her Mother not see the scars and marks on her skin? Could she not see the deep lines on her face? Aurelia's fury grumbled as she watched the woman skip about with elation. Bellatrix encircled Aurelia, she flicked at her hair and poked at the girl's sides. The younger Lestrange felt shamed, the Malfoy's knew of her visions and dreams of a mother and the woman who was presented to her was far from those ideals. This woman was no mother. She was a lunatic, and to say Aurelia was heartbroken was an understatement. She simply picked up the front of her dress, left the dining room and the adults and walked to her bedroom and shut the door.
Narcissa and her husband were on the edge of insanity as they watched Bellatrix greet Aurelia. Between them they knew that there was a strong possibility that the damage done by Lucius's cruel hands could be exposed. Lucius now knew that his wife had known of his secret because her body were just as tense as his own. Bellatrix only chuckled and licked her lips after her eyes followed her daughter out of the room. Her piercing gaze turned on the couple.
"How dare she?!" Bellatrix screeched, Narcissa raised her hands to grip her husband's arm.
"Are you going to do something about that, or have you gone soft on the girl?!" she continued but quieter and with more seriousness. Narcissa put one foot forward to walk the way Aurelia fled but Lucius Malfoy stopped her and with powerful legs, walked after the girl.
Bellatrix smirked, "I see your husband is more assertive with his intolerance sissy..." she continued with a scoff "quiet tonight, aren't you?" she probed, "Something wrong?"
Narcissa had lost the use of her tongue, she fought to find the right words.
"N... nothing... she's just a girl Bella, give her a chance. You've been gone..."
"What do you expect when you've spoiled her. She's weak minded, like you! Well I won't have it!" and in a state of mania Bellatrix withdrew her wand from its holster and ran out of the dining room. Narcissa clutched her stomach and fell into a dining chair with the shakes of the nerves she had to hold in.
Upstairs in Aurelia's bedroom Lucius was beyond angry, his eyes were filled with rage and his lips were pulled back so tight over his teeth that all the pink had disappeared from them. He had Aurelia pinned against her dressing table and squeezed either side of her face between his thumb and fingers. He spoke centimetres away from her mouth, his literal spits of rage landed on her face and his hips rocked in between her legs. Aurelia was truly frightened. The last time she had witnessed the pure fury that this man could produce, she was much younger. Her lips quivered as she whimpered and clawed at his wrist to try and release her face from his iron grip.
His voice was thick with lust, but his raging words unexpectedly changed. He was deathly afraid, and his words slipped from his mouth, calm and smooth.
"Aurelia, she cannot know. Do I make myself clear?" Lucius felt a wave of unmeasurable pleasure flurry through his body, he enjoyed being in a state of power. He enjoyed being in control, being on top to watch them writhe beneath him. It didn't matter if it was mentally or physically, Lucius loved to inflict pain, pleasure, and fear. The moment he finished his threat, Bellatrix burst through the double doors with her wand raised and the position she caught her brother-in-law and her daughter in was a surprise to her.