Chapter 2: The Snake, the Wolf, and the Fox
Fenrir Greyback apparated a block from the Malfoy manor. Like most wizarding homes it was nestled in a muggle neighborhood, albeit a neighborhood that had acres of perfectly manicured, stately gardens and land as opposed to yards. As he walked up to the manor gates he passed several confunded muggle neighbors and day laborers who waved at him, vapid expressions on their faces. He almost felt sorry for them, lesser creatures that they were. They lived their whole lives in some fuzzy state or another brought on by their magical neighbors.
He looked at the sky. The casual (aka. Muggle) observer might not notice but the mile around the Malfoy manor was always overcast, the sheer amount of dark magic the manor housed these days was affecting the weather. He sighed as he passed from sunlight to shade on his approach to the wrought iron gate that turned the death eaters' headquarters into an isolated compound.
He raised a hand to the iron as though in greeting and to his surprise it swung open with a surly mutter, "bloody dogs always late to meetings." Fenrir shifted Angie from one arm to the other and she gave the gate a reproachful look. He strode toward the house between imposing shrubberies. Angie's large dark eyes took in her surroundings, the large dark bushes, the nearly white gravel drive, the massive white peacocks, and the blue-grey stone mansion that loomed over the scene. She absorbed them like a film strip. Fen finally approached the manor door and found that the girl in his arms had stilled, locked in deep concentration, staring at a large eagle owl perched over the front doors.
Her tiny finger punched the air as she pointed at the owl, looked at Greyback, and said "bird?"
"Yes," he answered, smiling. "That's an owl. Can you say owl?"
"Owl," she answered matter-of-factly, little brow furrowing as she wrapped her mouth around the new word. Fenrir nodded. He could get used to this, he thought, this kind of teaching again. He always liked kids and it'd been a while since his family had had young children. As he opened the door and crossed the chilly threshold he chuckled to himself, even his innocent thoughts sounded disturbing.
All the albino faces in every portrait that lined the entrance hall turned to look at him, and they all sneered at him with a look of cool superiority and derision, a look that Fenrir had thought Lucius had perfected until he saw the Malfoy entrance hall. Turns out a glower like that is a matter of heritage. The hall filled with echoing sniffs of loathing as Fenrir walked past the portraits.
Angie's little curly head peaked over Greyback's shoulder and leveled a blood freezing glare at the paintings and firmly told them off with an "honor is lessened by rudeness," an adage that sounded like it was told to her after an incident of bad manners.
The Death Eaters sat at a long table in the formal dining hall, black robed figures whose faces held a mixture of smugness and suppressed fear. At the head of the table sat their Master and a massive snake that had draped itself over the back of his chair. The Dark Lord turned his serpent featured face to Greyback, cold eyes sliding over the child in his arms and his muggle garb. Fenrir convulsively pulled the little girl closer to his chest as though that would protect her from the creature whose red eyes now bored into them.
The Dark Lord's arctic voice filled the room, "I was under the impression that I had asked you to watch the Order headquarters for signs of Potter."
"You did, my lord."
"Then what, pray tell," he laughed icily, "are you doing here?"
Greyback dipped his head in the typical sign on reverence, he carefully arranged his features into a detached mask before answering. "I left Rowle to stand guard. We thought you would want to see this." He gently placed her on the table so that she stood facing the Dark Lord. "This child was in the Order's yard, she's addressed to Sirius Black."
Without shifting his gaze from the girl standing on his table, the Dark Lord said sharply, "Bella, it appears that your family tree has become so wild in its unattended state that new rogue sprigs keep popping up. I believe I told you to do some pruning." At this the snake on his chair raised its shovel sized head and let out a menacing hiss. Angie's little brow furrowed and she once more pulled up the blood freezing glare she'd leveled on the entrance hall portraits a moment before. As Bellatrix rose and drew her wand, the child stamped her pink patent-leather clad foot and hissed right back at the snake with equal venom.
Both the snake and the Dark Lord looked shocked. Angie turned to Greyback and told him, "Snake has NO manners. Its mommy should be ashamed!" Bellatrix stared from the little girl to her Master and back in awe.
"What did it say?" she asked, breathless.
The Dark Lord smirked, apparently deciding that this new ability was good news. "Nagini said that she very much looked forward to eating the half-blood babe, its flesh is softer than her normal adult diet. The little girl said that just because Nagini's mother had failed to teach her how to welcome a guest wasn't going to stop her beating the lesson in."
At this the child pulled off her sweater and carefully removed her patent-leather shoes then turned to face the snake once more. She wrinkled her face in concentration and then, in full view of the Dark Lord and his inner circle, her body changed. Her hands and feet turned into tiny paws, her arms became spindly fur covered legs. Soon a little fox kit was wriggling out of its pink dress. Once free of the garment it trotted up the table toward the Dark Lord. The kit barred its tiny pointed teeth and growled. It pounced and while it was suspended in air, mid-jump, the kit sprouted wings and feathers and was suddenly the great eagle owl that had perched over the door to Malfoy Manor. It swooped at the snake, grabbling the shovel shaped head in its claws and slamming the snake's head into the table with a whump. The Dark Lord flicked his wand sending the owl skittering across the length of the table before the shocked and frightened eyes of his followers.
He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes and resting his chin on his steepled fingers. "Interesting," he murmured as the owl gained its feet once more and prepared another attack on the snake. The Dark Lord gave it an amused smirk. "Now look who's being rude. The first time I'm prepared to forgive as the result of a fiery Black temper. A second attack will not be so easily forgiven little one." His gaze swept the table. "We must ensure that our children are raised properly, little useful skills, like this one," he said gesturing to the Owl, who'd hopped over to its sweater and shoes and was attempting to put the latter on its taloned feet, "must be cultivated, and possessors of these skills must learn to follow the right masters."
Greyback shifted uncomfortably and raised his hand. He looked for all the world like a child called into the principles office. "I'd be happy to take her," he said as nonchalantly as he could. The Dark Lord looked him in the eye for the first time. The Dark Lord had looked at him before, his gaze had bored into him as though judging the wolf's worth but never had the Dark Lord actually met his gaze. Or on second thought, maybe it was Fenrir who'd always avoided meeting the Dark Lord's gaze.
"What makes you think I'd allow that to happen? When she has so many blood relations here?" rang out the cold voice.
Greyback inhaled slowly, gathering himself and mentally preparing for the Dark Lord's wrath. "I was promised sovereignty over all two natured. It was a condition of my cooperation with your regime. She may be a Black and she may be a witch but she is two natured and that makes her mine."
The Dark Lord cocked his head as though staring at a beloved pet that had suddenly gotten up on its hind legs and danced the polka. Greyback's stomach roiled as he waited for the Dark Lord's reaction. He knew that there were only three options. He'd either walk out with the little girl, crawl out without her, or get dumped in a shallow grave hidden somewhere in the ornate shrubs. The tension around the table was almost tangible as moments of silence stretched into several minutes.
Finally the Dark Lord spoke, "You can be her primary guardian as per our agreement but I don't think you can have complete control in this case. With so many of her cousins in my inner circle, her upbringing will be overseen by her family." He gave a dismissive wave. "That will be all."
Fenrir let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and looked down at the table. A stark naked toddler had replaced the giant owl. She was staring, mystified, at the buttons on her dress. Her little brow wrinkled as she tried to pull her little dress on without unfastening the elusive buttons. He chuckled and helped her into her clothes, pocketing the letter that had been pinned to her sweater as he did. He'd read it later, maybe it would help him understand what kind of woman would just send a perfect little girl, like the one whose buttons he was now fastening, away.
He gathered up the little girl and the rest of her things and left the room at as brisk a walk as he could manage without breaking into a run. He looked Angie in eye, "You ready to go home?"
She looked up and nodded, "Mommy said I was going to see my Dad. Are we going to see my Dad?"
He smiled at her, "I am your Dad." Angie's face split into a grin that lit her face like a candle. "I knew it," she said and she wrapped her little arms around his neck in a hug.
Fenrir felt the letter in his pocket like a weight. He considered for a moment telling her the truth but what good would it do. Her father was dead, her mother might as well be dead too for all the good she'd done. As far as he was concerned she was a Greyback now, and he planned on making sure every "cousin" the Dark Lord sent to check on her knew it too.