Chapter Six

The Holidays

By Halloween, the prank war between Slytherin and Gryffindor had been going on for a week with no end in sight. So far the Weasley twins had put Bulbadox Powder in the Slytherins' freshly laundered pajamas, Lexi and Draco had let several Zonko's snakes and a few real garden snakes they'd found on Hogwarts grounds loose in Gryffindor Tower, the Weasley twins had spiked the pumpkin juice at the Slytherin table with Belching Powder, and Lexi and Draco had put green punch in the showerheads in the Gryffindor bathroom. None of them had been caught, though not for lack of trying on the professors' part.

Lexi walked into the Great Hall for the Halloween feast wearily. In the Muggle world, Halloween was a time for tricks. Last year on Halloween two of the teenaged boys at the orphanage had egged and toilet papered a girl's house. Now, it was the Weasley twins' move, and, whatever they were going to do next, Lexi was ready for it. She expected it.

Lexi forgot about the prank war for a second when she saw the Halloween decorations. There were thousands of live bats in the Great Hall.

"Are those bats?" Lexi asked Draco, her voice filled with shock and a bit of fear.

Draco turned to look at her and raised his eyebrows. "Are you afraid?"

It didn't seem like Lexi was afraid of anything. She was always cool and confident. She had never been afraid of getting in trouble. She practically dared Snape to give her detention. And she was afraid of bats. Bats! Draco laughed.

Lexi glared at him. "No!"

"You are! You're afraid of bats!" Draco said, still laughing.

"A little louder…I don't think the Gryffindors heard you," Lexi said sarcastically.

"They didn't hear me," Draco said with a quick glance at the Gryffindor table, where the green-haired Gryffindors were eating and chatting animatedly. "Come on."

"What if the bats attack me?" Lexi asked.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Draco said with a smirk. "Come on."

They had barely sat down at the Slytherin table when Professor Quirrell burst into the Great Hall. His turban was askance. The look on his face was pure fear. He ran over to Dumbledore.

"Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know," Quirrell gasped before fainting.

"I may be afraid of bats, but at least I didn't faint," Lexi whispered to Draco, looking at Quirrell with contempt.

Lexi didn't know much about trolls and was probably more afraid of bats than trolls. She was in the minority.

There was an uproar in the Great Hall. The scared children only quieted down when purple firecrackers exploded from the end of Dumbledore's wand.

"Prefects lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately," Dumbledore said.

"The feast is over?" Lexi said, surprised.

Draco stared at her. "You wouldn't even come in at first because of bats, but you want to stay when there's a troll in the castle? The troll's more likely to hurt you than the bats."

"It is?" Lexi said.

"Yes," Draco said in a matter-of-fact tone. He shook his head at her. "Sometimes I don't know about you, Lexi."

"Well, I'm sorry, but there aren't any trolls running round Muggle London," Lexi hissed. "There are trolls in books and they're dumber than dirt."

Draco nodded. "They are dumb, but they're also dangerous."

They got in the back of the line of first year Slytherins following Gemma to their dormitory.

"If they're so dumb, how did one get in?" Lexi said.

"There's no way it got in without help," Draco said at once. "Someone must've helped it get in the castle."

"Who would do that?" Lexi asked, and then it dawned on her. "Gryffindor!"

"What?" Draco said.

"It was Gryffindor. It had to be. Think about it, the troll's not just in the castle, it's in the dungeons. The dungeons! Everyone knows our common room is in the dungeons!" Lexi said. "Who else would let a troll in the dungeons?"

"You're right," Draco said softly.

And they were convinced that the Gryffindors had let the troll into the dungeons. Until the next morning when everyone was talking about how Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had defeated the troll at breakfast. Then they weren't sure anymore. Well, Lexi wasn't sure anymore. Draco still thought it was possible that the Gryffindors had let it in and Potter had decided to play hero.

"But why would they let a troll in the dungeons if they were just going to deal with it before it hurt any of us?" Lexi said, exasperated.

"They weren't going to deal with it. Potter just decided to deal with it," Draco said as he served himself scrambled eggs.

"Yes, I suppose he didn't think the professors were capable of dealing with it," Pansy said.

Pansy had only heard the tail end of their conversation, but she never missed an opportunity to agree with Draco. Lexi rolled her eyes.

Draco swallowed a bite of eggs and smiled at Pansy. "No, he thought they'd need help from the famous Harry Potter," Draco drawled.

"Of course he did," Pansy said.

Blaise scoffed at that. "He didn't think they'd need help. He just wanted to be even more famous. The Dark Lord's not here, so a troll will have to do."

A few of the older Slytherins looked nervous at the mention of the Dark Lord, but most of the first years laughed. They didn't remember the war. They didn't have to remember to know that a troll was nothing compared to the Dark Lord.

After the troll incident, there was a temporary ceasefire in the prank war. Lexi didn't believe that the Gryffindors had let a troll into the dungeons only for Potter to defeat it. So, as far as she was concerned, it was still Gryffindor's move. The Weasley twins were too busy getting ready for the first Quidditch match of the season to pull off a prank. And then it was Christmas, and the prank on Slytherin would have to wait until after the holidays, as none of the Slytherins were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas.

The professors had gone around, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, watching Lexi fish a quill out of her bag with a frown on his face.

"Putting my name down," Lexi said.

"You can't stay here!" Draco cried. "The only people staying aren't wanted at home." Draco glanced over his shoulder at Potter.

"Yeah, well, I don't want to go home," Lexi muttered.

"You can come stay with us," Draco said.

Lexi looked up at him. "Draco, you can't just invite me to stay for Christmas. What about your parents?"

"They won't care," Draco said. "I'll write to Mother and ask, but she's going to say yes."

Narcissa did say yes. She would have invited Lexi herself, but she thought Lexi's mother would want to spend Christmas with her daughter. She wanted Draco home for the holidays. She would have been upset if he'd wanted to stay at school or stay with a friend. It had been three months and three weeks since she had seen her son and she missed him terribly.

Narcissa and Lucius were at platform nine and three-quarters when the Hogwarts Express arrived. Narcissa was looking for Draco in the group of children emerging from the train while Lucius waited patiently.

"There he is!" Narcissa said, smiling.

Draco looked around for a few seconds and finally saw Narcissa. Draco smiled, turned to Lexi to say something and nodded towards his parents. The children headed over to where Narcissa and Lucius were standing.

Narcissa stepped forward to hug Draco. After a moment, she took a step back and looked at him.

"You look skinnier," Narcissa said with a small frown.

"Mother, it's only been three months," Draco said.

Lucius shook his head at Narcissa mollycoddling Draco.

"Come, Draco," Lucius said, offering Draco his arm.

Draco gripped Lucius' forearm and they both disappeared before Lexi's eyes. Lexi stared at the space where they had been standing only a moment ago.

"They're home, which is where we're going," Narcissa told Lexi as she gave her a quick hug. "Now, I don't expect you've Apparated before?"

"Er, no," Lexi said.

Narcissa offered Lexi her arm. "You will need to hold on to my arm very tightly. Don't let go."

Lexi nodded and gripped Narcissa's forearm. She felt Narcissa's arm moving and held on tighter. Platform nine and three-quarters faded to black. Everything was black. There was pressure in her ears and on her chest. It was not a comfortable feeling. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and then another.

"You can open your eyes now," Draco said in an amused tone.

Lexi did. She was standing in front of a pair of wrought-iron gates.

"It can be…strange the first time," Narcissa said gently. She glared at Lucius, who was trying not to laugh.

Strange? Well, that was one way of putting it. Lexi looked at Narcissa and tried to smile, but it looked like more of a grimace.

The gates swung open for them as they approached, and they went through the gates and up a long gravel drive bordered by a neatly manicured hedge. There were a few pure-white peacocks on the lawn. Lexi stopped to look at the beautiful birds, and then she had to hurry to catch up with the Malfoys.

A handsome manor house was at the very end of the long drive. It was a large house even compared with the houses in the nicer neighborhoods of Muggle London. Lexi thought it looked a little like a castle. Like the gates, the front door swung open as they approached.

Lexi stepped into a large dimly lit hallway. A magnificent carpet covered the stone floor in the hallway. There were portraits lining the hallway. They all had the same blonde hair and pale skin.

"I will show you your room, and then Draco can show you around," Narcissa said.

As Lucius and Draco went into the drawing room at the end of the hallway, Lexi followed Narcissa up the stairs to the third story. There was a little sitting room with a white sofa, a green loveseat, and a green armchair arranged around a dark wood table. Narcissa walked through the sitting room to a wooden door with a bronze handle.

"This is your room," Narcissa said as she opened the door.

Lexi followed Narcissa into her room. The room was large, like everything about the house. The walls were dark purple. There was a wardrobe against the wall to the left. There was a little dark wood make-up table against the wall to the right. There was a queen-sized bed with a thick white bed covering against the far wall. There were dark wood nightstands with crystal reading lamps on either side of the bed. The window looked out at the drive.

"It's nice," Lexi breathed.

Narcissa smiled at her and strode across the room to another wooden door.

"And this is your bathroom," Narcissa said, opening the door.

Narcissa checked to make sure there were clean towels in the linen closet.

"Well, I will leave you to unpack," Narcissa said with a quick glance around the room. "If you need anything, you've only to call for Dobby."

"Thank you," Lexi said.

Narcissa left her alone in the room then, and Lexi sat down on the bed.

Lexi was surprised at how nice Malfoy Manor was. She knew the Malfoys were rich, but this was...she didn't even know people lived like this. Was this how her father had lived? Her room alone was easily bigger than the apartment she and Niccole had lived in until Niccole overdosed and was arrested. She exhaled sharply.

When Lexi had been in her room for half an hour, Draco went up to find her. Her trunk was in the doorway, unpacked, and she was lying on the bed. She sat up and looked at him.

"Hey," Lexi said with a small smile.

"Hey?" Draco repeated. "What have you been doing up here? It's been ages!"

"Nothing," Lexi said honestly.

"Well, come on," Draco said, motioning toward the door. "I can show you around."

Lexi followed Draco down to the second story. The first door he stopped at bore a nameplate reading Draco.

"Let me guess, this is your room," Lexi said dryly.

"Clever," Draco said with a roll of his eyes.

Draco's room was the largest room on the second story. It had a sense of grandeur. The walls were dark green with the Malfoy family crest painted over the bed. The bed was queen-sized with a thick green bedcover. There was a dark wood nightstand with a reading lamp on it against the wall to the left of the bed. There was a dark wood desk by the window. There was a leather armchair in the corner. The room was clean, yet it looked like the room of a boy. There was a poster of his Quidditch team on the wall by the door and his broomstick was leaning against the wall.

Draco noticed Lexi admiring his broomstick and his expression turned smug.

"It's a Comet Two Sixty," Draco told her. "Maybe Father will lend you his broom. Then we can fly."

"Draco, I don't know if your father would want me borrowing his broom," Lexi said slowly.

Draco looked at her sideways. "Why not?"

"Because he doesn't like Muggles and I'm half-Muggle," Lexi said.

Lexi remembered the look on Lucius' face when Narcissa told him that her mother was a Muggle. Cold disdain. He had never exactly been rude to her. He was too polite to be rude to his wife's cousin. But she knew he didn't like her much and she doubted if he wanted her there.

"But you're not a mudblood or a blood traitor," Draco said. "That's what he cares about."

Lexi shrugged. "If you say so."

"I do," Draco said with an air of arrogance. "And it's not like you like Muggles either."

"I don't," Lexi said quickly. "I just – I can't do anything about the fact that Niccole's my mother. If I could, I would."

"Yes, I know," Draco said. "If you'd rather stay at Hogwarts by yourself for Christmas than go home to your Muggle mother…"

"Yeah, about that…thanks for inviting me," Lexi said with a grateful smile.

Draco acknowledged her gratitude with a nod of his head.

The room to the right of Draco's was a game room of sorts. There was a dark wood table with a magnificent wizard's chessboard on top of it. The shelves on the wall to the left were filled with wizard's games. There was a fancy wireless set up in an entertainment cabinet on the far wall.

The room to the left of Draco's was a study. There were two dark wood bookshelves filled with books. There was a large dark wood desk. There was a cushioned window seat that was perfect for reading.

The rest of the rooms on the second story were guest rooms. There were several, and Lexi wondered how many guests the Malfoys had.

Downstairs Draco pointed out his father's office and his parents' bedroom, and then led the way into the drawing room. It was the largest and grandest room in the manor. The walls were dark purple. There was a portrait of the Malfoy family in an ornate frame on the wall to the left. In the portrait, Lucius and a younger Draco were wearing black dress robes and Narcissa was wearing an expensive-looking white sweater and a long black skirt. They looked like the picture perfect family. There was a fireplace with an ornate marble mantelpiece on the opposite wall. A beautiful gilded mirror was hung above the fireplace. There were a few leather armchairs arranged around the fireplace. Narcissa and Lucius were sitting in two of the armchairs with glasses of wine. There was a long dark wood table in the center of the room. A large crystal chandelier hung above the table.

"Do either of you want anything to drink before supper?" Narcissa asked Draco and Lexi.

"I was going to show her the garden," Draco said. "Father, can Lexi borrow your broom?"

Lucius looked up at once.

"You don't have to lend it to me, it's fine," Lexi said quickly.

"Of course you can borrow it," Narcissa said to Lexi.

Lucius looked at his wife with raised eyebrows.

"Lucius doesn't need it right now," Narcissa said with a pointed look at Lucius. "But we're about to eat. You two can fly after supper."

Draco opened his mouth to protest. "But-"

"You heard your mother, Draco," Lucius said silkily. "After supper."

A little creature with bat-like ears and large bulging eyes wearing only what looked like an old pillowcase appeared at the threshold of the room and bowed low to the ground.

"Master Lucius," the creature said in a high-pitched voice, "supper is served."

"What is that?" Lexi whispered to Draco, staring at the creature in shock.

Draco looked at Dobby with a bored expression. "That's just Dobby, our house-elf. All the old wizarding families have them. They're servants."

The Malfoys and Lexi sat down at the long table. The goblets and plates were already laid out. As they served themselves, Lexi returned to the topic at hand – broomsticks.

"Er, I was actually thinking about going to Diagon Alley to get a broomstick tomorrow," Lexi said.

She was well aware that Lucius didn't want to lend her his broomstick. And she did want a broomstick of her own. It would be a Christmas present for herself. It's not like Niccole would get her anything. She would need a broomstick for next year if she was going to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team.

Narcissa looked up from her plate. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"What? Why?" Lexi said, dropping her fork.

"Well, first of all, you cannot go to Diagon Alley by yourself-"

"I did in the summer," Lexi reminded her.

"Yes, well, you were not staying here then, were you?" Narcissa said. "You are eleven years old. While you are here, we are responsible for you, and you cannot go to London by yourself."

"Okay," Lexi sighed.

"And you aren't allowed a broomstick at Hogwarts this year. Why would you buy a broomstick when you can't even use it? You ought to wait to buy one in the summer," Narcissa said reasonably.

"Father's going to buy me a new broom in the summer," Draco said in a drawling voice.

"I said I would buy you a new broom if you are good and do well in school this year," Lucius said coolly.

"I'm doing better than Lexi, and Mother just said she could get a new broom in the summer," Draco said, a mixture of jealousy and thinly veiled desperation in his voice.

Lexi looked up from her baked potato at her name and gave Draco a dark look. "That's not much of an accomplishment, seeing as I don't do homework," Lexi muttered under her breath.

"What?" Narcissa said sharply.

Apparently Lexi hadn't spoken as quietly as she thought she had. Narcissa exchanged a concerned look with her husband. Lucius wasn't concerned for Lexi. Lucius was concerned that it would disgrace the family name if their cousin failed out of Hogwarts.

"I'm doing fine," Lexi said with a heavy sigh. "I'm not failing, and that's all that matters."

"That is not all that matters," Lucius said tersely.

"Is the work too hard for you?" Narcissa asked kindly. "I know you didn't grow up with magic."

"It's not too hard for me," Lexi said loudly, insulted. "I can do the work, okay? I just have better things to do than write essays on the theory for a spell I can already do."

Narcissa was skeptical. She looked at Draco with raised eyebrows.

"It's true," Draco said. "She does the spells in class. She's really good at Transfiguration."

"Don't you want to do well?" Narcissa asked Lexi.

"Why would I?" Lexi said. "What's in it for me?"

Lucius chuckled softly. The girl really was a Slytherin. A true Slytherin wouldn't do anything unless there was something in it for them. A bribe. He could respect that. To everyone's surprise, including Narcissa's, he spoke up with a proposition for Lexi.

"I will make a deal with you," Lucius said to Lexi. "The same deal I made with Draco. I will buy you a racing broom if you do well."

Lexi's eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise. "Are you serious?"

Lucius nodded. "What say you?"

"Okay. I'm in," Lexi said.

Narcissa smiled gratefully at Lucius. Like Lexi, Lucius Malfoy didn't do anything unless there was something in it for him. He knew she would feel like she owed him. She would do whatever he wanted that night.

They spent the rest of supper listening to Draco's recap of the first Quidditch game of the season between Slytherin and Gryffindor. As Draco imitated Potter trying to stay on his bucking broomstick, Lucius was wondering who would have jinxed Harry Potter's broom. He knew only powerful dark magic could do that to a broom. Perhaps Snape.

"Father, aren't you listening?" Draco said in a drawling voice.

"What, Draco?" Lucius asked.

"I just said Potter caught the snitch in his mouth!" Draco said. "A wide-mouthed tree frog will be replacing Potter as Seeker next."

"It's a shame Slytherin lost," Lucius said. "Perhaps next year, when you are on the team…"

As she listened to the conversation at the supper table, Lexi couldn't believe she was sitting there in a manor house that could pass for a palace with the Malfoys talking about Quidditch. That was how she spent the first evening of her Christmas holiday. It beat staying at school by herself and it sure beat the orphanage.