The Forgotten Disclaimer: I own only one character. (You'll see)
The Zabini's mansion was large, ornate, and, in all frankness, unimpressive in comparison to the Claret's home. Clara's mother stood on the doorstep, grabbed the serpent knocker, and pounded three times. The door opened in seconds.
"Mary!" A tall woman with dark hair and a wide smile greeted her mother enthusiastically. The two women had tears in their eyes. "We've all missed you. You must be Clara. Oh it's been to long!" The woman turned to the younger witch and pounced upon her, squeezing her tightly, as if she would disappear otherwise. "Let's all go inside and you can meet your cousins."
They stepped into a large, airy foyer. A grand staircase wound up to the right. The mahogany railing shone in the late afternoon glow.
"Muffy!" Clara's aunt called hoarsely. A small pink-pillow cased house elf appeared.
"Mistress called?"
"Go get Blaise and Jemma." She dabbed her eyes daintily and sniffed politely. The elf disappeared. Jemma… Clara thought. Where have I heard that name before? A bell dinged in her head. Now I remember! Jemma, the unusually quiet Slytherin girl who carefully placed herself away from the rest of her house. Hermione had always thought it odd that such a pretty girl be cast away as an outsider, especially if her brother was so popular among their ranks. But then again… maybe it was for the better.
"Please, follow me to the drawing room." They followed the host to the left. "When did you get back?" She asked.
"Last night. Poor Clara fainted from the excitement."
"Have you seen this morning's Prophet then?" Mrs. Claret's sister asked, eyebrows raised.
"No… what does it say?" Clara's mother asked precariously.
"You'll have to see it for yourself."
The small party entered the drawing room, a cozy place with high armchairs and a small fireplace. The Daily Prophet was resting on a small side table, open to the first page, which projected a photo of two individuals walking into a large house.
Her mother gasped loudly. "That's John and I! That's Clara in his arms!" Her mother began skimming the article. "Suspected Death Eaters have returned! How will the Ministry deal with this… Went missing mysteriously after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fell fifteen years ago… Good friends of the Malfoy's…" Her breathing deepened as she finished the reading, looking incredulous as she looked at her sister. "How did they get this so quickly? We apparated in the middle of the night!"
"I always thought those neighbors of yours were suspicious." Mary's sister replied. Mary huffed.
"Oh Annabelle, you know our closest neighbors are two miles away!" She sat in one of the armchairs heavily. "What will John say about… Oh, John! He's at the Ministry now!"
"Why is he there?" Aunt Annabelle asked. Mary buried her face in her hands.
"He's gone to explain things." Nobody had to tell Clara that by "explain things," her mother meant lying about their whereabouts for the past fifteen years.
"Oh, come dear, we can't have you upset on your homecoming!"Annabelle told her sister sitting down alongside and wrapping an arm around her. "Now, you'll just have to stay for dinner and not worry about your husband. You know how John is; he can talk himself out of anything. Why, don't you remember how at your wedding he-"
The door creaked open, snipping off the rest of her aunt's reminiscent story.
Clara had been quite involved in the whole scene, curious as to how her mother and sister interacted. Clara had always thought her mother was an only child, like herself, but now knew otherwise. It was also quite a treat to peak a look into the mysterious Zabini's home. The only time she had ever glimpsed the boy was during a Malfoy attack, and those only ever required Draco's words.
"Blaise, Jemma, my dears, come in and greet your family." Annabelle coaxed her children. The Italian boy bounded in, his long, shaggy hair bouncing with him. His behavior, though welcome, was extremely different than what Clara had initially expected. His long, slanting eyes were yellow, almost gold. His expression was sly, almost mischievous.
He walked straight to her, turned, nodded to her mother, "Aunt Mary," turned back to Clara, took her hands and kissed both her cheeks in brotherly affection. "You must be Clara."
"Blaise." Annabelle called to her son. "Show Clara the grounds; Mary and I have some catching up to do." Blaise obeyed, guiding his cousin out the door, where Jemma was standing. The pretty girl with light brown hair and a lighter complexion than that of her brother's gazed at Clara with blue eyes.
"Mother told us to give her the grand tour. What d'you say?" Instead of answering Blaise, Jemma sidestepped the boy to offer a hand to Clara.
"Hello, I'm Jemma." She said timidly. "My brother and I have talked about you a lot." Clara accepted the hand, but quirked an eyebrow at the comment. "Well, you know," Jemma began awkwardly. "We see you around Hogwarts all the time…" So they know. Clara recognized. If Malfoy knows, then it's only logical they do as well.
"I see." Clara said. Blaise jumped in.
"Yes, you must forgive our offensives, if any. Back then you were only a measly muggle-born; today you're a cousin of the Zabini's, and that's quite something, I must say." His tone was warm, but his words struck Clara oddly. Only a measly muggle-born… This was the first hint of arrogance in her friendly cousin, an arrogance she was all too familiar with. Clara glanced at Jemma, who was glaring at her brother.
Thus the tour began.
It was altogether uneventful, but not un-fun. The brother and sister she soon found out were "Irish twins." Aunt Annabelle had gotten pregnant again soon after she had given birth to Blaise in early January. Jemma was born August 31st, by some lucky stroke of fate, and so attended school in the same year as her brother. The fact that Clara was older disheartened her male cousin briefly, since he wished to assume the lead figure in the household. He couldn't do that with an older family member around.
Jemma was a nice, soft-spoken girl, except when it came to her brother. In that regard, things could get pretty nasty between the two. Blaise, on the other hand, was very out-spoken and over-confident. She wondered how she never noticed him at school before. Did the other Slytherins not joke around like he did?
They went upstairs, came back downstairs, walked through the gardens, and found themselves back in the foyer within three hours. Clara found it very easy to become close to them, and was thankful for it. By the end of the tour, she was already calling Jemma by her private nickname, Jem, and was laughing heartily at Blaise's obnoxious jokes. It was the first time she had felt normal all day.
Blaise took a smooth step to face the girls, ending one of his quirky musings with a bow. "And that, my ladies, is how you squish a blast ended skrewt." Clara continued her soft laughing, wiping her eyes as Jem attacked the joke's flaws.
"I don't get it. How can conjuring a group of merpeople increase your chances of getting rid of a skrewt?" Jemma was annoyed; her brother's jokes never made any sense to her. Clara found them ridiculous to the point of hilarity.
"Oh Jem," Blaise said while wrapping an arm around his sister's shoulder. "Don't get so frustrated when your intellect cannot comprehend a good joke when it hears one." Jem's jaw dropped.
"My intellect?" She scoffed. "I'll show you my intellect."
Unfortunately, Clara never got to see Jemma's intellect, because the children's mothers exited the drawing room.
"Just look at them, Mary." Aunt Annabelle said dramatically. Just the way she said it explained much about her personality. "Just like they were when they were babies." She threw her arms out to Clara. "And you poor girl, in the middle of this awful mess!" For the second time that day, Clara was enveloped into the fierce grip of her aunt, a fierce woman to begin with. "Everything will be fine, though; it always is. Draco is a fine boy and marrying him will increase you wealth beyond imagination. You'll hardly need to spend any time with him if worse comes-" Annabelle was promptly shushed by Mrs. Claret, telling her sister that her words "did no good" to her daughter. Blaise blanched.
"Did you just say that Clara, my cousin, is going to marry, Draco, my best mate?" He asked. "Blimey, I guess this means he and I are going to be family now. I wonder why that bugger didn't tell me before… ah, well, I'll be back ladies; I have an owl to send." In the blink of an eye he was already half way up the winding staircase.
"Hmm," Ms. Zabini murmured. "I suppose we can check on Muffy and the food now. I'll show you the estate, Mary."
This left only Jem and Clara.
"You're marrying Draco Malfoy?" Jem asked, almost incredulously.
"Yes. I am." Clara returned solemnly. The room was quiet with brooding for a minute.
"I'm not like them, you know." Jem said suddenly. "I don't believe in all that pureblood supremacy." She sighed and looked down at the table. "That's why I don't talk to anyone. Their views are too much different from mine. I think they know how I feel, too." The poor, dispirited girl tried a glance at her older cousin, anticipating the worst. She was surprised to find Clara wrap her arms around her.
"Oh! I knew you couldn't be like them!" Clara exclaimed. There was hope in pureblooded society after all.
"Please don't be angry with my brother." Jem pleaded when the girls separated. "I don't really think he believes in any of this purblooded silliness, either, but he pretends to for his friends and our mum. Purebloods would shun and label us as blood traitors if she didn't appear bias." Jem put a palm to her cheek in worry. Clara placed an arm around her in comfort. Tears brimmed in Jemma's eyes.
"I can't stand it: pretending. It drives me mad sometimes. I see the way our guests speak of havoc wrecked on the muggles with smiles on their faces, and I can't ever justify it. It bugs me to no end." She took a big gulp of air. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't be telling you all this." Jem made to pull away, but Clara tugged the lost girl closer. She hugged her once more, stunned at the openness this reserved child had with her. It reminded Clara of a lost puppy as her inner Hermione shifted into place and stroked the girl's hair.
"It's alright." Clara heard herself saying. "We're in this together now."
Nothing more was said until dinner was called and the new friends went to their meal.
The end of the chapter! I know I told you there would be an engagement dinner in this one, but I realized it needed a chapter all on its own. You will definitely get the engagement dinner next time, though, and lots of Draco/Hermione togetherness!
In the meantime, I have a few more things to say.
I'm unsure what to do with Blaise and Jemma romantically for this fic. Should they have love interests, or stay alone? I think I'm going to have a poll on that one, so everyone can get in on it. I'll let you know when.
Also, to further suspense, here is one single line from the next chapter:
Her beautiful pink dress, her sparkling hazel eyes, and that magnificent soft-curled hair did much to disarm poor Draco Malfoy.
That's all I have for now. I'll be writing until next time! (Which is hopefully very soon!)