A steel panel slid slowly back from the door, and a tray was levitated through the resulting gap. It floated over to Bellatrix's bed, and the smell of chicken soup drifted up to her nostrils.
Apparently the guards had decided to stretch their Christmas kindness an extra day. The roll next to her bowl was stale, the tea in her rusty cup weak, but to Bellatrix it tasted better than anything had before.
The Dark Lord was coming.
Bellatrix's lip curled as she watched the little girl play at the Dark Lord's feet. She held a toy wand- bright pink and out of place in their private room at The Badger.
"My Lord," she said, stepping closer to him. "Send me out! I would be more than happy-"
"We've been through this already, Bellatrix." His voice was hard, his eyes unreadable as they bore into hers. "I will go alone. This is something only I can do."
"I would kill anyone for you!"
He looked ready to say something, but then a thoughtful look spread over his features.
"And you, little one?" He reached down and pulled Hermione onto his knee. "What would you do if you came across someone I told you I would take care of?"
There was a flash of thick, green smoke, and a small baby doll appeared in his hand. "What would you do if you knew I didn't want it alive?" he shook the doll back and forth.
Hermione, grinning gummily, pointed her wand at the doll. "'Vada Kava!" she squealed, breaking out into giggles.
Lucius shifted beside her, and she caught a glimpse of his ashen face before turning back to her lord.
"No, no, no," ha admonished playfully, his tone light as he pushed her wand down. "It's not your place to kill it, Hermione. You see, when I give an order," his eyes slid up to Bellatrix's, and the playfulness gave way to iciness, "I expect it to be followed. I know what I'm doing, believe it or not."
"My lord, I never meant-"
His voice barked out, "Silence! I've heard enough of your voice tonight, Bellatrix! I'm busy teachingthe next generation." He smiled down at the child in his lap, and Bellatrix felt a stab of jealousy as she watched the girl smile adoringly up at him, her chubby fingers wrapped around his robe.
His voice turned to velvet, "Who will be my bravest, most loyal soldier?"
"Me!" Hermione shouted, collapsing in a fit of giggles.
"I do believe you're right," he said, gently caressing her curls. "You will have all of Bellatrix's skills, without any of her insubordination. Isn't that correct, Bellatrix?"
Were it anyone else she would have reacted in anger, but she was powerless to do so against him. Instead, she gave a tight nod, and stepped back to the shadows…
She replayed this memory over and over in her head. Once upon a time she had remembered this with bitterness, perhaps even sorrow. But now she smiled as she thought about it. He was back. He would be coming for her.
And soon.
Laughter roared through the manor as Hermione's Bishop took out Lucius' king. Narcissa smiled, enjoying the sound of her children at home again.
"I told you I could win with my Bishop!" She grinned cheekily at him, shaking his king in her hand. "My kingdom prevails!"
"Three times in a row. Cissa, she's getting too good."
They were in Narcissa's sitting room, playing with the new chess set some foreign ambassador had given Lucius. Turnip, a cheerful yellow, lay at their feet, his snores providing background noise. Narcissa sat writing thank you notes at her desk, while Draco cared for his Nimbus 2001 with his new broom servicing kit.
"Well, maybe she needs a better opponent," Narcissa teased. "If I recall correctly, I am the undefeated champion around here."
Hermione giggled, "I guess all of those lessons with Miffly played off, eh, Mother?"
Narcissa's brows knitted gently, and she looked over to where Hermione was prodding her pieces back onto the board.
"I suppose so," she said, folding the letter she had just finished. She slid it into it's envelope, and warmed up her sealing wax.
"I think my pieces need a little rest," sighed Lucius. His pieces trudged wearily onto the board, his knight dragging itself by the shield.
She smirked, "It's for the best. We all have thank you letters to write." She pressed her signet ring into the cooling wax, and smirked as she felt three pairs of eyes snap to her.
Lucius groaned playfully, but conjured his own writing parchment.
Hermione dropped down beside him, conjuring a neat little writing station that contained her parchment, wax, ink, and quill.
The sofa dipped as Draco slid beside her, and soon all four were quietly writing.
She finished ages before the rest of her family, and she quietly sat back to watch the rest of her family.
Draco wrote carefully and diligently. His handwriting sloppy but legible, and she sighed inwardly. She had spent a small fortune trying to improve his writing, but it seemed absolutely unchangeable.
She watched him run his thumb over something in the hand that was not writing. It was the gift he had received from his Beauxbatons friend- Felix was it?- and she wondered if her son knew that the silver dove was something French wizards traditionally gave their paramours.
Judging by the blush that had spread across his face, he did. She sighed, I hope he decides to tell us sooner, rather than later, she thought. She had no idea how Lucius was going to react, but she knew that he would come around. Draco had always been a little eccentric, especially for a Malfoy, but he was still their son.
Her eyes slid to Hermione, and she watched her daughter quietly for a few minutes. Every once in a while, the girl would grin at something, as if she was laughing at a private joke.
Narcissa felt something tighten in her chest, and she wanted more than anything to go to her daughter, wrap her arms around her, and beg her to tell her none of her suspicions were true.
There was a jingle as Turnip jumped up beside her, and for once she did not scold him for jumping onto her furniture. Instead, she allowed him to settle into her lap. His ears were pink.
Pink. She didn't see that color often. Mostly when Hermione was embarrassed by something. But the girl didn't look embarrassed now. Her eyes slid over her daughter's face again. Hermione looked happy.
She slid her fingers through the soft fur on Turnip's neck, thinking.
A short while later, Draco threw his quill down. "Finished!"
"Me too," Hermione reached for the family seal- she and Draco would get their own signet rings on their Seventeenth birthdays. She pressed it into the cooling silver wax on her letter, and then stacked it neatly on the mountain of letters beside her.
"Well, I suppose it's time for Mardie's rum cake. Someone will have to fetch it. Shame though, I hear there's only one more chocolate orange-"
"It's mine!" Draco said, leaping to his feet and scrambling towards the door.
"Draco!" the mountain of letters toppled to the floor as Hermione chased him, "That's not fair, you had two this morning! Two!"
They disappeared through the open doorway, their shouts filling the manor.
"Still such children," she said, smiling fondly as she stroked Turnip's ears. The pink was fading away to the usual sky blue.
"Not for long though," said Lucius, bending to pick up the fallen letters. "I can feel him getting stronger, Cissa. Every day the mark burns stronger. Soon-"
He broke off, staring down at the stack of letters in his hand. "I think that Hermione suspects. I saw her staring at my arm-"
"She couldn't possibly have seen it-"
"No, but I caught her eye once, right before she looked away." He set the letters down, "She knows, Cissa?"
Narcissa gulped. "But… how?" A small voice in the back of her head told her that she already knew how. She ignored it.
"I don't know, but she's always been the cleverest one of us all. Sometimes I really think we can get through this, Cissa. Sometimes I think Hermione can get us all through this."
He was trying so hard to be convincing. She could hear it in his voice, see it in his overly bright eyes. Unable to stand it, she stood, leaving Turnip on the sofa, and went to him.
"Of course she can, darling." She sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around her neck. "She's our daughter. The brightest witch there ever was, save for me." She pressed her forehead against his, and breathed in the smell of his cologne. "We're going to make it through this, and come out on top, because we are the Malfoys."
He laughed, and reached up to play with her hair. "What would I do without you?"
"You'll never have to find out," she promised, drawing him into a kiss.
"Ergh! They can't even wait until we're asleep!"
Draco's voice broke them apart, and Narcissa laughed, moving off of Lucius' lap to sit beside him. "Come, both of you," she said, patting the space between her and her her husband.
"We won't all fit," protested Hermione. She set the cake she was holding down on the table, only to be pulled onto the couch by Lucius. Narcissa wrapped her arms around Draco and pulled him down next to his sister.
"What's gotten into you two?" he asked. The four of them were squished together tightly. It was not exactly comfortable, but Narcissa did not mind.
She kissed the top of his head, wrapping her fingers around Hermione's hand and squeezing. "We missed you."
The rest of the evening passed in laughter. It was well past midnight when Hermione and Draco trudged sleepily to bed, their arms full of gifts.
"I wish they didn't have to leave again so soon," she sighed, leaning against her husband in the now quiet room.
Playing with the ends of her hair, he gave a dark chuckle. "I think it might be safer for them to be as near to Dumbledore as possible right now."
Clearly, he did not share her feelings about the man. She pursed her lips, fingers instinctively seeking out the oval locket she wore around her neck.
"I hope you're right."
I'm sorry this is so late! Work has been incredibly stressful lately. As always, thank you so much for your lovely reviews!