Chapter Six
Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, 12 August, 1991
Malfoy Manor looked much different than it had ten years ago. The formerly bare mantle was now covered with moving photographs. One showed two small blond boys of about two years old sitting on their father's lap, roaring with laughter at a joke told long ago. Another featured the same two boys at about the age of eight with their first broomsticks, arms across each other's shoulders and beaming at the camera. The next showed the same two boys at about nine, grinning at whoever held the camera, laughing heartily and looking into the bundle the taller boy held, their baby sister Marvela. One of the boys was slightly shorter than the other, with longer, darker blond hair and strange gray and green eyes that seemed hardly human behind his square glasses. He had a crooked smile that seemed to draw people in and shook his hair out of his eyes disarmingly. He had sharp, aristocratic features that added to a face that would be handsome when he was older. The other boy was tall and lanky with shorter white- blond hair and a more pointed nose than his brother, but had a straightforward smile that made him just as likeable. They both made funny faces at the bundle and tiny arms poked out of the blanket, waving at them, causing them to roar with laughter. The second-to-last picture was of an adorable baby girl with white curls and clear, ocean- blue eyes reaching toward the camera giggling as a hand reached out and poked her gently in her round stomach, rolling around as someone tickled her. The last was a formal family photo; all of the Malfoy's dressed in their finest robes and looking at the camera haughtily, though they were trying to keep from smiling by the way their eyes shined and their lips twitched, Narcissa holding the little girl, Lucius' hand on her shoulder behind her, their sons to either side, a real and happy family, though they tried to keep up appearances.
Usually.
"Adrian, Draco, if you don't come now, I'll leave you both here while I go to Diagon Alley and seal the fireplace!" Narcissa called, amplifying her voice magically so it could be heard throughout the house. She wouldn't really leave them, of course, but they didn't know that. She'd left without them before, but only if they took too long.
Narcissa had aged 10 years, a few fine laugh lines around her eyes. She felt…. freer since they'd adopted Adrian. Draco's childhood, which would have been dim and boring, filled only with rants of pure-blood supremacy, had instead been full of laughter and a brotherhood that he wouldn't have had otherwise. Lucius had grown closer to his family, and to her. They'd wanted another child since the boys were five, and the summer before last, Marvela Amandine Malfoy had been born, fascinating her brothers and bringing more joy to the family. The real reason for her happiness was that the Dark Lord hadn't called upon her family since that day ten years ago when they'd taken Adrian in. She felt that she was free, detaching herself from the mark on her wrist, which she kept concealed using a thick silver wristband that had the Black and Malfoy family crests engraved upon it, listing her children's names in a sweeping scroll. The Malfoy's were, after hundreds of years, a real family.
A loud thumpthumpthump noise came from the stairs. Narcissa sighed. They always raced down the stairs, and one or the other usually fell (or was pushed so the other could win, she was never quite sure), but it didn't seem to come between them or spark any other rivalries, so she didn't bother with trying to put a stop to it anymore. It was a tradition.
"Drake, stop pushing, you cheat! Ow!"
Crash! Narcissa cringed.
"Ha-ha, Adrian! Can't catch me!"
BAM!!!
"Ow! MUM!"
Narcissa sighed again. At least they were consistent.
It wasn't that Draco and Adrian weren't close; they were very close and the best of friends. But like all brothers, they had a bit of a sibling rivalry going between them. Luckily it was only a race down the stairs, and not something more serious. They were pretty equally matched at whatever they did, and even though Adrian could out fly Draco without even trying, Draco was better at Potions, which they'd been tutored in by Severus Snape, with little effort.
Severus had increased the number of visits since they'd adopted Adrian, coming over at least three times a week for dinner and tutoring, teaching Draco and Adrian any number of things from a simple potion to basic defensive magic. Though the boys didn't yet have wands, they had a bit of control over their magic, which was a sign of immense power and concentration.
That would change after today. Today, they got their wands.
When Narcissa got to the stairs, Adrian was smirking at his brother, a fully-fledged Malfoy smirk that he'd evidently inherited through the Blood- Binding ritual. Draco was on the ground, scowling at Adrian angrily, rubbing his knee.
"Let's go, boys. Diagon Alley will already be full of Mudbloods and everything else. We have to leave now," Narcissa said, hauling Draco to his feet and lightly swatting Adrian on the back of the head.
"Ouch, Mum! He fell! You know what a klutz he is!" Adrian cried, running into the drawing room as Draco lunged at him, his long legs helping his escape. He was a bit clumsy because he'd started his growth spurt and wasn't used to the extra length quite yet, so he often stumbled or broke things, usually injuring himself.
Laughing, Adrian leapt into the dormant fireplace, grabbed some floo powder, yelled, "Diagon Alley!" and was gone before Draco could even enter the drawing room.
He didn't look it, but Adrian was very fast.
Swearing under his breath, Draco grabbed some powder and yelled, "Diagon Alley!" and vanished after his brother.
Rolling her eyes resignedly, Narcissa Left a few last instructions to Dobby, who was staying home with Marvela, and followed her sons to Diagon Alley.
If I can't keep them calm now, what'll I do when they have wands?
Diagon Alley, London
Narcissa arrived just in time to see her sons disappear into a crowded shop followed closely by several reporters. She sighed. She and Lucius had kept their children out of the limelight for the most part, though they appeared every now and again, snapshots of the family disappearing into buildings and turning corners trying to avoid the infamy and celebrity that comes from being members of one of the oldest pure-blood families in Wizarding Britain. The boys had been taught from a young age to escape into the nearest crowd when mobbed by the press, and they'd done exactly what they should have.
Scowling, Narcissa drew her wand and advanced on the reporters, who were trying to push their way through the crowd after her sons.
Stopping a mere foot behind the reporter closest to her boys, she pressed her wand into his back, hard. He froze.
"Get. Away. From. My. Children," she hissed, accenting each word with a sharp prod to the back. He nodded vigorously. "Now."
He dashed off in the other direction, silently thankful that he'd only gotten a scare: it was a well known fact that Narcissa was fiercely protective of her family, and she'd been known to hex anyone who got too close.
And that was if they were lucky.
"Mrs. Malfoy! Wonderful! Do you have anything to say about your sons going off to Hogwarts this year?" Rita Skeeter asked, pulling an acid green quill from her purse.
"Rita, if you as much as look toward that quill while in my presence again, you will be fired," Narcissa said coolly, brushing past her. The threat wasn't a bluff; she had several high-up contacts at the Daily Prophet.
She slipped into the store and found her sons gawking at the Nimbus 2000, the newest and best racing broom. They'd been reading about it in Quidditch Monthly for weeks and practically drooled whenever it was mentioned.
"Draco, Adrian, let's go to Ollivander's first, then we can go get your owls and robes before we get your books," she said.
At the mention of getting their wands, they awakened from their reverie and grinned, nodding eagerly. They'd been waiting for this ever since they'd gotten their letters.
They walked down the busy streets, and it was obvious which children were Muggleborn by the way they stared around them liked they'd never seen anything like this.
Adrian walked and laughed with Draco and his mother. Suddenly, a boy with unruly black hair and wide hazel eyes smashed into him, causing him to stumble back a few steps.
"Hey! Watch it, will you?" the boy yelled, his face contorting angrily.
"Are you kidding me?! You crashed into me!" Adrian yelled back, rubbing his shoulder.
"Henry, what's going on?"
A woman pushed through the crowd, her bright red hair shining in the sunlight, a tall thin man with the same hair and eyes as the boy right behind her.
Adrian squinted through his glasses, looking at the woman closely. There was something about her that seemed familiar…
"Ah, the Potter's," Narcissa said as she placed a hand on Adrian's shoulder. "I believe that your son owes mine an apology."
"I do not! He crashed into me on purpose!" the boy whined, "and he probably used magic to make it hurt more!"
"Really?" Adrian smirked, "because I haven't got my wand yet."
The boy flushed in fury.
"Did he crash into you?" the woman asked, ignoring her son's outrage. There was something about the boy in front of her, something she couldn't quite name that made her want to protect him, even from her own son.
Something in his strange silver and green eyes….
He nodded, glaring at Henry over her shoulder. His brother behind him bared his teeth menacingly. She heard Henry back up a step.
"Henry, apologize."
"What?! Mum!"
"Now."
Henry huffed and stomped up to the other boy, inches from his face. "I'm sorry, Adrian," he sneered.
"That's alright, Hank, I'll deal with you at school," Adrian said, whispering the last part.
"You and what army, Malfoy? I'm the boy-who-lived," Henry smirked.
"Not for long," Adrian growled.
The woman came up behind her son, steering him away. "It was nice to meet you, Adrian. Narcissa, Draco."
And with that, the Potter family disappeared down the street.
And Adrian was left with a hollow aching in his chest.
Ollivander's Wand Shop, Diagon Alley
After the meeting in the street Narcissa healed the small bruise on Adrian's shoulder and led the boys into the wand shop. Mr. Ollivander peered at them from behind his desk.
"Ah, yes, the Malfoy's. I thought you would be in here before too long," he said in his strange whisper.
"Yes, they need their first wands, and we're in a bit of a hurry, so if we could move this along," Narcissa said in a bored voice, though she was almost as excited as her sons and really had nowhere else to be.
"Yes, well, we cannot control how long it takes for a wand to choose its wizard, Mrs. Malfoy
"Very well."
Draco went first, him being the oldest, and tried at least thirty wands before he found the one that choose him.
"Ah, hawthorn and unicorn hair, 10 inches, reasonably springy," Ollivander said, handing Draco his wand.
Grinning, Draco pointed it at the door. "Coloportus!"
The door slammed shut, shaking the windows.
Draco grinned again.
"Ah, Adrian Malfoy, you'll be a difficult one, I can tell already. No matter, though, I'll find your match," Ollivander said, seeming cheered by the prospect of a challenge.
If Draco had tried thirty wands, Adrian must have tried at least double that number when Ollivander came back with a box he held almost reverently. "This, Mr. Malfoy, is a wand I've had for almost fifty years. It's an odd combination, holly and phoenix feather, very odd indeed, and its brother was wielded by the most powerful dark wizard in recent history, one who left his Marks, and whom I fear will leave them further in the future," the old man said, his misty gray eyes staring intently at him.
Narcissa's mouth went dry. "Perhaps another, Ollivander?" she managed to croak, but Adrian had already taken the wand in his hand.
A strong wind whipped through the shop, swirling violently around the stunned eleven year-old in the middle of the shop. Boxes and papers flew from the shelves, the front desk dragging slowly toward Adrian, who seemed to be in the eye of the invisible storm.
Ollivander, robes swirling around him, stared in astonishment. Nothing like this had ever happened before. In the history of wand lore, he'd never heard of something like this, let alone seen it, a display of such raw and wild power.
The boy would be great.
Okay, so how did you like that? I wanted to re-introduce the Potter's here, and show how different the Malfoy's are because of Adrian and how the ten years have passed for them.
How did you like Henry? How'd I do making him into a total jerk?
Major thanks to DarkNaruto002, who gaveme a verythought-provoking review, and to all my reviewers who rock for taking the time to give opinions (which I listen to) and ask questions (which I'll answer).
-TheNefariousMe
