Chapter Three
"Zara, Teddy!" A smile broke through on Lucia Potter's tense face when she noticed Zara and Teddy approaching. Felicia had already joined her and was attempting to pick up little Anna, who did not think this a good idea, and struggled to get free.
Zara embraced her mother quickly, relieved to see she was in good health. When her mother turned to embrace Teddy next, she found herself facing her grandmother in a rather awkward moment. In her opinion, they had little to say to one another.
"Hello grandmother," she finally said.
"Zara," Narcissa smiled, not unkindly. "I can't believe how much you've grown! Quite the young lady you are now."
"Er, I guess so," Zara replied, not sure what to say. She was glad to see her mother had let go of Teddy and joined them.
"Your grandmother invited us all to lunch this afternoon at the Manor, isn't that lovely?"
It wasn't hard to tell that her mother's smile was really quite strained.
"Yes, that way we have a chance to catch up and discuss the grand ball that's coming up," Narcissa explained this unlikely event.
"Come on then, now we're all here," Lucia said, picking up Anna before she could run off again in the direction of something interesting to a three-year old. "Kreacher will take home all of your luggage in the mean time."
Zara had not yet noticed the tiny elf that had joined them. She greeted him briefly before she handed over het trunk and followed her mother and grandmother to the apparition area.
Since Zara had only just come of age, she had not yet passed her apparition test. Teddy, who had turned seventeen in October, had long since passed his. And so they all paired up for side-apparition. Teddy with Zara, Lucia with Anna, and Narcissa with Felicia. They turned on the spot and the next moment Zara felt the familiar sensation that came with apparition. Before she knew it, they had apparated right into the grounds of Malfoy Manor; the Victorian estate that belonged to her grandparents.
"The gardens look beautiful as always, mother," Lucia said once they made their way to the front door of the house, where they were welcomed by another house elf.
"Yes, it's quite the season for it," Narcissa agreed, showing them all inside. "Why don't you all get comfortable in the drawing room; I'll let your grandfather know you've arrived."
When she had made her way down the hallway, Zara turned to face her mother. "Why did we have to come here today, mum? It's the first day of our holidays!"
"Let's not do this now, Zara" Lucia sighed, already in a struggle with her youngest daughter; little Anna was not about to take off her new, pink coat. "Your grandmother just really wanted to see you."
"Right," Zara exchanged a sceptical glance with Teddy. "She was so happy to see me she spoke a grand total of three words to me."
She followed her mother into the drawing room, where she seated herself on a sofa near the fireplace. "Come, Anna," she held her arms out to her little sister, who laughed excitedly and climbed up on her lap. Of the three sisters, Anna was the only one that resembled their mother. Both Zara and Felicia were as dark-haired as their father, and they got his green eyes as well. Another 'gift' was his bad eyesight, which only Zara appeared to have inherited this far. Since a year or two her parents allowed her to wear contact lenses, which she thought was a slight improvement.
Zara bounced Anna on her lap, finally catching her in an embrace while she breathed in the sweet scent of her hair. She listened vaguely to her mother chatting with Teddy and Felicia, but only looked up when her grandmother re-appeared.
"Lunch is being served in the dining hall," Narcissa announced, showing them the way.
The Victorian dining hall was impressive to say the least. Zara had so far only seen the inside of it over Christmas dinners, but even without all the decorations it was still beautiful. Just like everything inside Malfoy Manor was beautiful, and expensive. But not very warm and homey. No matter how richly decorated, Zara could not imagine ever feeling at home here. It made her wonder what it had been like for her mother and uncle to grow up here as children. Something they hardly ever talked about.
Her grandfather had already seated himself on the head of the table, looking grumpy and disapproving as ever. He barely inclined his head when they greeted him, and Teddy received little more than a glare.
"How is business these days, Father?" Lucia inquired, once she had settled Anna on one of the chairs beside her. The little girl, sensitive to the tense atmosphere, quickly lost her patience. No doubt she missed her toys at home, where there wasn't some old grandfather glaring at her. It wasn't long before she started crying.
"Business is fine. And there is a reason children do not belong in the dining hall," Lucius remarked with a frown towards his youngest grandchild.
"She's three years old, where am I supposed to leave her?" Lucia quickly lifted Anna on her lap and settled her with a teddy bear she pulled from her handbag.
"I don't understand why you refuse to hire a nanny, with all these children," again, Lucius's glare was sent Teddy's way. It was needless to say, he had never understood his daughter and son-in-law when they took Teddy in after his grandmother died. "Your husband must be able to afford it now, finally."
"Whether or not we can afford it, I prefer to take care of my children myself, " Lucia said pointedly.
While everyone stared at their plates in the awkward silence that followed, the house elf brought in lunch. Zara would love to ask what the unidentifiable stuff was that filled her plate, but undoubtedly it would land her another speech of her lack of cultural knowledge. She briefly glanced at Teddy, who appeared to be having the same thoughts. A grin of conspiracy with her friend made everything more bearable.
"So, let's discuss Cotillion," Narcissa started off in an attempt to break the silence. "Zara, we're absolutely delighted you were so fond of the idea," she beamed.
Zara, unaware she had ever been 'fond of the idea', frowned in obvious confusion.
"Yes, she's much looking forward to it, aren't you Zara?" Lucia threw her daughter a glance that told her a disagreement would hardly be appreciated.
"Er, yes," Zara managed to say, refusing to look at Teddy. She had heard him snigger in his napkin and feared she would burst out laughing if any eye contact was made. "It was very... surprising."
"It's such an old tradition, it's a shame not to re-install it. When we were young it was a big thing, "Narcissa said. "Right Lucius?"
"Right," Lucius said, although he made no attempt to rid the frown off his features.
"She'll need a dress of course," Narcissa went on without minding her husband's mood. She was probably used to it after so many years of marriage. "A proper, formal ball gown."
"Of course. I was thinking to take Zara shopping tomorrow," Lucia suggested, turning to face her daughter. "You can bring Stella, and her mother, if they want to join. You'll want the twins on the ball, I believe?"
"Yes, I think so," Zara agreed, trying to get over the worst start ever of the summer holidays: lunch with her grandparents, and then an everlasting shopping spree to look forward to. In oppose to most girls; Zara's was not fond of shopping at all. Especially not with her mother; there was no end to her visits to her favourite stores.
"Stella?" Lucius repeated. "These twins? These illegitimate, bastard children, that wrongfully claim to belong to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black? And their mother; a pretend-squib, who voluntarily joined the muggle world? I refuse to invite such people to a society event!"
Zara gasped in shock at such an insult. Beside her, she could hear Teddy do the same. "You can't insult our friends!" she exclaimed.
"Zara!"
Her mother, desperately attempting to save the mood –which had never been jolly anyway- couldn't do much against this outbreak. The four youngsters were ever loyal to one another.
"This is my house, and I say whatever pleases me," Lucius concluded, before he turned his gaze on Lucia. "I would have hoped you'd taught your children some proper respect by now."
"Let's not argue about all this, please," Narcissa interfered, exasperated. "This is supposed to be a joyous occasion."
Zara could hardly decide what was worse; her grandfather's insult to her best friends, or her mother not sticking up for her. Her mother, who was always so in control of what went on inside her home, reduced to a berated child by merely a few words. Both Teddy and Felicia appeared to share her disbelief, and even little Anna was unusually quiet.
Somehow, they made it through the lunch. The children all had refused to say little more than a word, and the event had been dreadfully strained by Narcissa's failed attempts to make conversation. Needless to say; they were all relieved when it was time to go. When they left the Manor's grounds and apparated home, they were all finally free to speak their minds.
"Mum, why didn't you say anything!" Zara said angrily. She was too upset to be able to enjoy being home again.
"I don't have time for this right now," Lucia said. She struggled with a very impatient Anna, who protested loudly against taking off her shoes.
"Shoes mine!" Anna protested. "Want pink."
"Not on the new sofa," Lucia insisted, finally managing to obtain the shoes. When Anna had hurried off to play with her toys, Felicia, Teddy and Zara were still waiting for a much-desired explanation.
"Look, children," Lucia sighed when she found the three of them staring at her. "There is a reason we only visit my parents once a year, all right? You've just witnessed that reason."
"I thought it was because they didn't like daddy," said Felicia. "Not because they didn't like you!" She ran to embrace her mother.
"They sure don't like me, either, " Teddy grinned sheepishly.
"They don't like anybody," Zara said. In Felicia's fairy tale world, all parents loved their children, and all grandparents loved their grandchildren. It was great being only twelve. Maybe this was the down side of coming of age; knowing too much, but understanding so little of it.
"Of course they do," Lucia said, absent-mindedly stroking Felicia's hair. "They're just different. Formal. I'm sure they mean well." She didn't look like she meant it, though.
"Right," Zara exchanged a glance with Teddy. "Grandfather was heart-warming when he insulted our best friends. If Stella and Seb aren't invited, then we're not going to some stupid party!"
Her mother's explanation was so unsatisfactory it pissed her off, and she ran off to go up to her room.
For a moment she was distracted from her mood. Kreacher had left her room's window open for some fresh air, and she couldn't help but smile at being back here. She loved her dorm at Hogwarts with her comfortable four-poster bed and the presence of the other three girls she shared with, but here it was great to have a place entirely of her own. She dropped down on her bed and stared at the walls, decorated with posters of her favourite Quidditch team. Remembering the costly Quidditch tickets she got from the twins for her birthday, anger flared up again at her grandfather insulting her friends.
She was still thinking of catchy phrases and insults she should have used on her grandfather when a knock on the door disturbed her.
"Yes?" she called out, annoyed at first, but her face lit up when she saw her father enter.
"Dad!" she beamed, and ran up to hug him. "I didn't hear you come home!"
"Your little sister making test rides on her toy broomstick may have overshadowed that event," grinned Harry Potter as he spun his eldest daughter around. He was in his late thirties now, but even as a successful auror he had never grown out of the round glasses and unruly hair.
"I'm so glad you're here," Zara clung to him.
"Yea, I heard you had a lot of fun this afternoon," he grinned, picking up one of Zara's school books Kreacher had unpacked from her trunk. "History of Magic, what was it about this year?" he skimmed through the book absent-mindedly. "Goblin wars? Troll riots?"
"You, actually," Zara chuckled at the puzzled look on her father's face. "The war against Voldemort. The Battle of Hogwarts, you know the drill."
"I sure do," Harry put the book down, looking like he wasn't really sure whether she was being serious or not. "That's about as recent as history gets. Professor Binns must have updated his curriculum. Did you pass the test?"
"Would you like me to?" Zara grinned.
"Hard to say," Harry chuckled at the oddity of the situation. "How about we go for average this time?"
"Still waiting for the results, but I assure you I didn't overdo it," she laughed.
"So, your grandparents," Harry took a seat on the edge of the bed. "I hear they were their charming selves?"
"Dad, I'm not going to go to some stupid ball. Did you hear what they said about the twins?"
"Teddy told me just now," Harry nodded. "And I can't say I'm surprised. "
"And now you're probably going to say how they didn't mean any of that?"
"No," Harry finally said. "Knowing your grandparents, they probably meant every word they said."
"So why are you up here, then? I thought you were going to talk me into going to the ball."
"Hey, I thought you knew me better than that," Harry grinned. "I'd love an excuse not to go. The thing is; this is important to your mother. Despite all, they're still her parents. And this is the first attempt they made in the past seventeen years to see more of us," he paused. "More of you, anyway."
"I know," Zara murmured. The guilt card again. They all wanted to see her mother happy. "Will you be there?"
"I wouldn't miss the chance to see my daughter all dressed up," Harry stood up and motioned for her to follow him. "And if it's crowded enough, it's likely we'll be able to leave early. Now come on, your mother's making lasagne and I'm starving."
"I'm starving too," Zara said, only noticing she was now that he mentioned it. She'd been too busy sulking before to notice how her stomach was rumbling. Lunch hadn't been very impressive, after all. She still had no clue what it was they had attempted to eat. She followed her father down the stairs, breathing in the lovely scent of homemade tomato sauce. Maybe the holidays wouldn't be so bad after all.