Dear Blaise,
Thank you so much for telling me. If I can be honest, I'm quite worried about meeting him. As you can have deduced by doing your math, I was born the year of his 'death'.
I'm not sure what happened to my carrier, but Regulus Black had vanished the previous year and everyone thought he died in the war.
Thing is.. My father does not know of my existence and that scares me. A lot.
What if he never wanted children? What if he is disappointed that I'm a girl? You know as well as me that many purebloods and Lords only want male heirs while the females are pushed to the sides, considered useless.
I'm not even sure how my parents were connected in reality. Were they just occasional lovers? Or was it a serious relationship?
Honestly while I'm glad that he's alive once again, I feel so many conflicting emotions.
Part of me is like an excited little girl who can't wait to meet her daddy. While the other just wants to run away from the confrontation.
You must think I'm acting silly now.
Well, I won't have to worry about it for a while yet. Since I have to take my OWLs. The Academy works quite differently from your school and we don't take examinations during the school year. For OWLs and NEWTs we stay behind for an additional three weeks. It's a lot of time I know but you have to remember that we have many more subjects to test, especially me.
My headmaster couldn't believe me when I told him I wanted to take every class offered, he thought that there had been a mistake in the self-updating student system. In the end it'll take me the whole three weeks to complete all of my exams. I've stocked up with pepper up potions and chocolate.
I'm so stressed with all this mess that I'll probably look like a zombie once I go back home.. Merlin I can't even think about it now.
I hope Uncle Lucius will think ahead and warn my father about me before I get back home.
Pray for me.
Alya
Mia Cara,
Believe it or not, I can understand perfectly what you're going through. I felt the exact same way when I had to meet my paternal grandfather for the first time. See, my parents were not married when I was conceived and my father died before they had the chance to.
My mother was so devastated by his death that she couldn't stand the thought of meeting with his family and tell them about me. I was the only thing she had left of the man she loved and she wanted me all for herself, at least for a while.
I could understand her feelings, but when the time came for Grandfather to know about me and for me to meet him, I was a real mess of nerves.
I was excited, I was curious but most of all I was terrified that he would cast me aside as the bastard child that I am.
If there is someone who can understand you, it's me. You're not being silly, you're just human.
I was lucky and my grandfather was overjoyed that the family wouldn't die with him, that my father still lived through me. He went as far as legitimize me and make me the official heir of his family.
I won't make you any promises I can't keep or tell you that it will surely go well. Unfortunately I do not know the man or how he will react. What I can promise is that whatever happens, I will be by your side.
I know that it's difficult but you must try and keep a calm head, especially since it's an important period for you given your exams. Try and be serene, worrying is useless and will only damage you in the end.
I hope I was able to reassure you, at least a little.
Remember I'm just an owl away.
Blaise
Dear Blaise,
Your words reassured me. Knowing that what I'm going through, what I'm feeling, is normal and not me going mental, is already a great help.
I'm glad that it went so well for you, I can't imagine the pain your mother went through. To lose the man you love must be horrible. You must be very proud of her, for being so strong and carrying you all alone, raising you to be such a fine person. Not many women would be able of such a feat in our world.
Pureblood princesses are too spoiled and delicate to suffer any kind of loss or face such trials.
I tried writing to Uncle Lucius, asking him if he had spoken to Him about me, but so far I haven't received an answer yet. I'm starting to think that the anxiety of having to wait so long is worse than the fear of the actual meeting.
I'm halfway through my exams now and I'm not sure how I was able to keep focused and not make a mess of them all. Must be my stubbornness and fixation of doing everything perfectly.
I must cut this letter short as I'm too exhausted to keep my eyes open.
I will let you know how it goes with my father.
Thank you for your support.
Alya
Alya sighed looking around her room making sure that everything was packed safely away in her trunk. She almost wished to be one of those messy people, then she would have an excuse to triple check everything and put off her departure just for a little while longer.
Uncle Lucius had written just the night before, to tell her that he had been unable to speak with her father due to his volatile temper since his resurrection. He didn't go into details but she deduced it was because someone messed up real bad and then Potter escaped again alive.
She didn't know if to be sympathetic with her uncle given the unpredictability of her father's temper or be angry with him for leaving her the arduous task.
Shaking herself off her pessimistic thoughts she squared her shoulders. She was the daughter of the Dark Lord Voldemort and Regulus Arcturus Black. She was the Dark Princess. And she would act as such.
If her father didn't like her… well, it was his loss. And she would make him regret it.
Clutching her portkey tight in her fist she breathed deeply and spoke the activation word.
Her world spun for what seemed an endless time before she fell hard on her feet in the foyer of Malfoy Manor. Intercontinental portkeys were the worst.
Looking around she was surprised that no one was there to greet her, not even Draco. Sure, she had failed to tell them that she would be back today, but they knew to expect her within the week. Huffing a bit she called for an elf to take her trunk and unpack all her belongings. That done she ventured in search of someone.
After an hour she was still walking around the manor, felling extremely frustrated and no sign of life, house elves excluded, in sight.
She crossed her arms angrily, repressing the urge to stomp her feet like a child throwing a tantrum and headed for her bedroom. They could be the ones to find her then, she was tired and wanted to sleep.
Insistent shaking woke her from her deep slumber.
"Wha?"
"No time to talk, Alya. You need to dress and pack your things."
"Aunty? What are you saying? I just came back" She protested
"I know, sweety. But… Lucius spoke with the Dark Lord. He doesn't believe a word he said. He is sure that he has no children and thinks you must be some imposter. He even refused to see the results of the blood test the giblins performed." Narcissa said quickly, already packing all her belongings, leaving no trace of her existence behind. "I fear you may be in danger if you stay."
"Why?" she cried "This is my home!"
"Oh, love.. This will always be your home and you will always be part of our family. We love you." Narcissa reassured her, enveloping her in her arms "We're just afraid for your safety."
"But I don't understand why"
"I don't either sweetheart" the woman sighed "I told Lucius time and time again to speak with the Dark Lord, but he put it off until the last minute. No one can expect him to accept it right away, everyone would need time to assimilate the information. The long years spend as a spirit must have been hard on him too."
"And I need to leave"
"Only for a short while. As soon as he is ready to accept it you will come back"
"And if he doesn't?"
"He will.. I'm sure he will" even though the woman tried to be optimistic and strong, Alya could feel the insecurity and fear in her voice.
"Where will I go?"
Narcissa sighed in despair "Lucius is looking through his contacts trying to find someone we can trust with you"
Alya could almost hear the 'but there's no one' at the end of the statement.
She took a deep breath and for the second time that day, she gathered all her strength.
"I know where to go. Please tell Uncle Lucius not to worry about it. I just need to make a floo call"
"Are you sure my dear?"
"Yes"
"All right. I will leave you to it, then. Just.. be quick"
As soon as her Aunt left the room, Alya felt her body shaking all over. Repressing a sob, she went to her fireplace and threw some powder in the flames.
"Zabini Manor!"
"Si?" 'Yes?'asked a small elf in italian. From the informality he addressed her, Alya deduced that the Zabinis gave her floo address to very few people.
"Devo parlare con Blaise. Digli che è urgente" 'I need to speak with Blasie. Tell him it's urgent'
"Chi devo annunciare, signorina?" 'Who do I announce, Miss?'
"Alya Black"
The elf's head disappeared and she tapped her fingers on the floor, anxiously waiting.
"Alya? What's wrong, cara?" 'dear' Blaise's head finally appeared in the fireplace
"Oh, Blaise. Everything is wrong!" she cried, forcing back the tears "I need a place to stay… Could I..?"
"Of course! You don't even have to ask, of course you can stay with me!" he reassured her
"Really?"
"Really. Are you coming through now?"
"I need to say goodbye to Uncle Lucius and Draco.. and reassure Aunt Narcissa that I'll be fine"
"That's alright. I'll open the wards for you and leave the floo open. The password is 'Spettro'. Don't forget it, I don't want to scrape you off the floors with a sponge"
"Don't worry. I'll see you in ten minutes"
Rising too her feet and dusting her knees, even though she had knelt on the carpet, she went to find her family.
They were all huddled together in Lucius' study. As soon as they saw her, she was enveloped in three pairs of arms. She relished in the feel of it, memorizing the warmth and the sensation it evoked in her. She refused to let tears fall. She had never cried in front of them and she surely would not start now. No matter how leaving them was hurting her.
"I made arrangements and I am ready to leave" she informed them, detangling herself from their clutches.
"Where will you be going?" asked Lucius
"Somewhere safe"
"Alya"
"No Uncle. If He doesn't want me then he has no right to know where I am by reading your minds, or forcing you to reveal it"
"Dear, we need to know that you'll be safe though" Narcissa tried to reason with her
"No. Just know that I trust this person and I'll be safe." She shook her head
"Will you write me?" Draco asked resigned to the knowledge that he was going to lose his sister, possibly for a long time
"Of course, I will" she promised with a shaky voice "I'll use my personal elf to deliver my letters"
"I'll miss you, little sister"
"I'll miss you too, big brother"
Not what you were expecting eh? But really for Voldy to accept his supposed daughter with open arms as if nothing was wrong would have been quite unlikely. Not only he's pretty insane on a good day but he just recovered his body with a potion that Pettigrew surely botched up and he spent ten years as a spirit, must be tough on anyone.
As always thank you to everyone who added the story to their favourite or alert lists and left a review!
Next Chapter, tomorrow!
