Author's Note: This chapter will move a few things out of order and so I apologize if it bothers you. Again this is AU of sorts. Also thank you for the reviews!
~Of Silver and Gold~
Chapter 51: Runaway
Never in her life had she felt so nervous to just go outside of her room. Bellatrix Lestrange was a woman who managed to make Angel's life hell. The woman looked like she was the epitome of murder in heels. She had a grace in her destructive walk that almost seemed to own the whole room. Angel clearly noticed that her aunt's appearance in the household had changed the way her mother acted. The brightness in her eyes dimmed, yet her determined loyalty and love for her sister was unwavering.
Angel had never really noticed just how dark the halls of her house were; she never noticed how eerily quiet it could be, that is until her aunt moved in. It seemed odd; even if she didn't consider herself a Malfoy by blood that woman was still her aunt. And she feared her greatly. The woman had this aura about her that demanded attention and chaos roamed around her. Her stories full were told with pride and grandeur, and while others were in awe, Angel found herself disgusted. She remembered how she had questioned her aunt without really realizing it.
Flashback..
"Then when we raided the Muggles oh you should have heard their screams. They didn't know what was going on, and many just hid their children hoping we couldn't see them. But when the Dark Lord told us to scare them, we did. Their screams were glorious, the colors in the sky made the night alive and I was at the center of it all. I can feel my blood pumping now at the thought of it."
"How did it feel Auntie Bell?" Draco asked with fear and awe.
"Amazing" she breathed out.
"Did you ever hesitate?" Angel asked suddenly.
Bellatrix seemed to break from her nostalgia to look at the younger girl. She sat primly on the couch her hands placed on her knees tensely. The girl looked wide-eyed and fearful not loving the dark stories. Very odd for anyone in their family really. Narcissa didn't bother to say a thing instead sipped her tea calmly as Lucius read the paper. It was as if nothing big was being said.
"Hesitate?" she repeated confused.
"Yes…weren't you nervous? Remorseful for what you were doing?" Angel added softer. "I can't imagine people doing that without a hint of fear or guilt? Do you?"
That got her parent's attention. Narcissa placed her tea back on the table, and her face shifted to nervousness and guilt, while Lucius closed the newspaper to look at the girl before them. In turn Bellatrix's face slowly grew red in anger and Angel began to curl herself into the couch making herself smaller. This was going to end badly. That is, until the older witch began to laugh, cackle even at the question.
"Oh darling" she cooed and touched the younger girl's face. She always had a fascination with her face. "You have never killed someone have you?" Bellatrix's grin was feral. "Imagine the way their pupil dilate in a rush that they get too, their body tense, their breath labored as they're pinned like the tiny rats you use for your spells at Hogwarts. Then they begin to do my favorite part-"
"Bellatrix…"Lucius warned his newspaper now down.
She ignored him completely and continued to describe the emotions to Angel. "You know what my favorite part is niece?" she asked and the girl shook her head. "They plead. 'Y-you don't have to do that'" she imitated their high pitch voices, "'why are you doing this?' 'Not the children please.' My personal favorite is 'I'll do anything you want just please let me live'" she cackled, "You know why it's my personal favorite? It's because at that moment you realize how desperate they are to live. And then the light goes out of their eyes slowly as your spell hits them and-" she took a deep breath shaking her shoulders in glee. "And then you realize what power really is. The power will eat your alive my love; I can see you now. You are what? Fourteen?"
She couldn't answer instead hiccuped; her eyes slightly watering after that event. Bellatrix grinned and ran her nail down against Angel's nose before kissing it.
"Soon you will know" turning to look at Draco she grinned, "You both will"
As she backed away she slowly moved on to her other moments of glory. It left Angel shaking the way her stories continued: each more horrifying than the next. Leaning against the couch she hoped her heart would stop beating so quickly.
End Flashback….
Placing a hand on her chest she felt her heart beating even faster now at just remembering it. The lack of hesitation, the lack of fear had made her want to learn more about her aunt. Yet at the same time, it seemed best to avoid her altogether. Draco didn't; in fact her brother took joy in learning more about her stories, and her powers. He dreamed of the power too; she knew it. And while she too found the power to be impressive, she could not justify the actions that were done. She feared that every time Bellatrix got her claws into Draco, she lost her brother more and more. Bringing her covers closer to her body she knew this Christmas would be the worst by far.
A knock on the door caught her attention and she softly called for them to come in. For a second she feared it was Bellatrix but thankfully it was only her brother. Draco had seemed to give up on his grudge against her, only because he had better things to think about.
Draco wondered why his sister was acting so odd. At least odder than usual, he didn't get why she wasn't out having brunch with the family like they did every Saturday. He did notice that she was always tense when around their aunt Bella but he figured it was because she was so iffy around new people.
"Why aren't you having brunch?" he asked curiously.
"I don't feel well is all" she replied hiding under her covers. He could see that her eyes seemed tired and her body was paler than usual.
"Are you sick?" he asked and touched her forehead, "what's wrong?"
"No, I don't think so" she murmured, "just haven't been sleeping right."
He frowned.
"You know we had plans to be taught by Auntie Bella today, now get up. Don't you want to go?"
"No" she whispered.
"What?"
"I don't want to go" she admitted and sat up frustrated, "I don't trust her."
"She's our aunt!" he exclaimed surprised at her dislike of their aunt.
"So? She's ruthless!"
"She's ambitious, there's nothing wrong with that"
"Draco…she killed people. Innocent people, how can you be defending her?" she croaked out surprised.
"She is a good person to us" he furrowed his brow, "Mother and father allow her to be near us and she, she has so much to teach us. We could be as strong as her, don't you want that?" he asked.
"Not if I have to kill, Draco" she frowned, sitting up she gripped her bedsheets tightly before truly making eye contact with her brother. "I don't want to kill, I don't want innocent people to get hurt. Look at what she did to those muggles"
"They're just muggles" he snorted waving off her concern.
"They're people too Drake." She glared. "I don't want to be like her, I'm happy just…just…"
"To just be a waste of space?" he said angrily.
"Draco!"
"I mean it!" he stood up, "you're wasting your talents by just being afraid of the dark. Sometimes in moments like these, were people think that the sun rises with Potter and sets with him, we can find our own power. "
"We have power," she breathed out "And Potter has nothing to do with this"
"It has everything to do with this," he replied angrily. "We have a chance to have power, to make the world our own. The Dark Lord has promised that-"
"You're following that bullshit?!" she cried out waving her hands in her own desperation. "People died because of him. Innocent people that had no interest or anything to gain by simple equality. Hell our family was broken because of him! How can you say that?"
"You're so stupid how can you-"
"Tsk tsk, no arguing between siblings"
Both turned to face Bellatrix who played with her wand amused at everything that was happening. Neither knew how long she had been there but it had been enough to notice that they were arguing. Walking in, she made herself at home by throwing herself on Angel's bed. She was good at that: just taking over everything around her.
"Come, we are late for training."
"On it auntie Bell"
"I don't feel well, I'll skip out on this one" Angel murmured.
"Oh?" Bellatrix turned her body and dug her nails lightly on Angel's leg. "What's wrong? Does this little witch scare? You are, aren't you baby?" she cooed and dug her nails slightly. "if I say we have training we have training got it? I'm doing you a favor. You have ten minutes to get ready"
Getting up, the woman dragged Draco out of the room leaving Angel shaken. She didn't feel safe. Even in her own room she felt like she could be pulled out and forced into situations she didn't feel comfortable in. She wasn't ready to just stand up to the woman. She knew she had to go to her mother, and that was hard to do. The deep love that her mother had for her sister was obvious. Changing her clothes she tied her hair up and rushed out towards the ballroom, where their training would be held.
Finally reaching the ballroom she noticed that her brother was already training non-verbal spells with their aunt. He was naturally talented; it seemed wrong of her to be surprised. It was rare that they had lessons together; being a year apart meant that she always assumed his age was what helped him. But seeing him in this moment he was genuinely talented. She merely sat by the window as their aunt went over with him the importance of non-verbal spells. It was obvious the woman was pruning him for something bigger, much bigger than Angel could ever achieve. It had been a week of them simply trying non-verbal spells over and over again. Draco had achieved some trace of it two days ago, and for Angel nothing as of yet.
"Angel, baby it's your turn" Bellatrix cooed.
She knew that the woman called her a baby to anger her. She had told Angel that babies were weak and needed to be taken care of and her name was fitting. Angel said nothing and merely walked over waiting to be told what to do.
"Now the importance of non-verbal spells is to give you an advantage over your opponents. For a split second you can change the whole outcome of the duel. Now, once more begin to clear your head" her nails dug into Angel's head as if it was bringing comfort. "Now think of fire, of a burning heat!"
She knew that Incendio was what she was supposed to bring. But fire was not in her nature. Draco immediately had taken to fire for his destructive nature, but it wasn't for her. Closing her eyes tightly she thought of fire, the warmth, when it got too close to your face, all the options she could possibly think of. 'Fire's are hot, burning. Searing burning. Burn! Burn!' but nothing. Sighing she opened her eyes to see a disappointed looking Bellatrix. It seemed that her annoyance was increasing at the lack of improvement on Angel's part.
"Did you think of burning?" Draco asked and only earned a glare from Angel.
"Of course I did! I did! I thought of everything that could bring heat and I got nothing."
"Hm…well then I know exactly where we can go to see something."
They quickly walked out of the ballroom and headed towards the gardens. She sighed knowing that she would be forced into an unorthodox punishment for failing. It seemed that the last few days that was all that she could get right. She was forced to do many frustrating tasks to earn her right back into the 'classroom' of sorts.
"Okay we are here" she said gleefully as they reached the lake. "Shoes off"
"It's winter" Angel said shivering.
"Did I hear something that didn't sound like yes?" Bellatrix said aloud. Angel glared but took of her shoes as asked. Her feet hit the ice and she immediately knew this would be bad. "Aunt Bellatrix I don't-"
"Get to the center" she ordered, annoyance clear in her tone.
Draco said nothing instead wrapped his sweater tighter around himself. It was clear that he was relieved that he hadn't messed up. As she finally reached the center of the lake her aunt began to explain the rules.
"In this cold imagine the fire, the warmest fire you can possibly think. Go!"
Angel shivered and wrapped her arms around herself before she began to think of the flames. She thought of the fires from Bombarda, she thought of the warm fireplace from the Slytherin common room that kept her warm. She thought of the warm kisses and the hugs that she received. She smiled softly and ignored the winter chill around her.
"Hotter!" Bellatrix yelled scaring her from her thoughts. "Like this!" Immediately flames began to circulate her and she began to scream in surprise. How dare her aunt throw spells on her this way.
"Stop! Please!"
"No! You don't plead for someone to stop you stop it! Without a wand"
As the flames grew angrier, Angel's face began to warm up in her own anger. Without thinking she thought of the largest waves, of the waters of the Chambers, of the pools, the ocean, anything. Waving her hands a large water ball came around her and pushed everything away. The water was warm, the same warmth she felt from the memories of fire. As the flames died out she fell one her knees, soaking wet from her creation. She was breathing heavily and felt absolutely exhausted.
Both Bellatrix and Draco were wet from her spell and both were in shock. Immediately Bellatrix walked forward and bent down once she reached Angel looking impressed.
"So…fire is not your strong point? Fine, no clear destruction, but the use of water. Acceptable" she smiled gleefully. "Come, we now need to dry up."
Grabbing her she tugged her towards the path and they began their walk back to the house. As they chatted, the conversation went back to her spell casting. They were in the midst of drying up:
"What did you imagine when you conjured the water?" Draco asked.
"I-It's silly" Angel said frowning as she rubbed a towel in her hair. "But I thought about the Chamber of Secrets. I remember the flow of water, the cold in the room and…the strength of the water. I can't see it, but to this day I can imagine it"
"You know the Chamber of Secrets?" Bellatrix asked curiously.
Angel nodded nervously.
"I-I was the one trapped there my first year at Hogwarts." she looked down and shivered at the memory.
"You went into the Chamber of Secrets? Our Master's chamber?"
Her head snapped up to look at her aunt who looked shocked.
"I could have died and that's all you ask?!" she exclaimed.
" Death is a worthwhile sacrifice that could have brought us a world of good!"Bellatrix replied back
"Isn't there a limit when it comes to your loyalty to Lord Voldemort" she snarled angry at her Aunt's stupid comments.
"Don't you dare mention his name if you can't make sacrifices" Bellatrix soon got close to her face. Her hands immediately headed for Angel's face but she slapped them off angrily. "You're just like your father, he never did enough sacrifices for the Dark Lord"
"My father is not like you!" Angel screamed back tired at all the bullying. "You can't come into our lives and ruin everything with your stupid ideas of grandeur. We aren't meant to kill innocent people, we're better than that!"
"Oh?" Bellatrix's voice grew deadly quiet. "You all are, are you?"
"Yes, yes we are!" she said confidently.
"Well then, you haven't really talked to your father have you?" She cooed. "Those stories with those muggles? That definitely involved your father, and he enjoyed it. You know what else he enjoyed? Killing dirty mudbloods who thought they were as good as us."
"S-stop" she whispered horrified at what she was hearing.
"No!" she screamed suddenly, Bellatrix's voice echoed through the house. "You need to hear this, you need to see how good your father is. When I joined the Dark Lord guess who happily followed? Him. When we attacked the Muggleborn villages to start a proper war, who do you think suggested that we hang them in the air? Him. When the attack occurred in the Quidditch World Cup, who do you think reenacted their torture spells? Who strangled those muggleborns? Who do you think enjoyed that destruction? It wasn't just me"
"Bellatrix!" Lucius' voice boomed.
Both women turned to face Lucius. Bellatrix looked amused and even gleeful at the trouble that she had brought to the family. Angel on the other hand looked in disgust at the thought of her father being there. Her face had grown pale and she felt herself wonder just how naïve she had been. Lucius gripped his staff harder at the harsh judgment on his daughter's eyes.
"Oh do relax, she needs to know what is expected of her, of them." Bellatrix replied and waved off his anger by kissing Angel's cheek. "Imagine all the good these children of your could do."
"Stop" Angel begged, eyes brimming with tears. "I don't want to do this anymore."
Pushing the woman off of her she ran off to her room slamming the door shut. This woman had brought forth and said all of her biggest fears. Harry was right; her father was a death eater. Her father brought death and destruction to poor people that knew nothing of magic. Her death could have come her first year had it not been for Harry.
She curled up on the center of her bed; her breathing quickened and she found herself just quietly crying. Then the noise from everything seemed to disappear. She couldn't hear the knocks on her door right now, nor hear anything that they were saying. She merely stared towards the window, as she hugged herself tighter as she quietly cried. No noise could come from her mouth, other than sharp inhaling. It was then she realized she was having a panic attack. Closing her eyes tight she tried to slow down her breathing and hoping to be able to just get herself together and for the dreadful feeling to go away.
Eventually the knocks stopped, and she found herself being able to stretch her legs and be able to move. She didn't dare try and get out of the room. It was too tiring to act as if nothing was wrong. Bellatrix Lestrange had wormed her way into her family, and no matter how she ignored the woman, and tolerated her presence, it seemed that she was still good at getting under her skin. She feared the woman for many reasons: her ambition, her lack of moral compass, and most importantly her power. The witch was powerful and could easily destroy her. She wasn't quite sure if she could bother and keep avoiding her for long. At the end the woman would get what she wanted. Leaning back she closed her eyes and allowed herself to just drift off.
…
Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she realized that the sun had set. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but it was late. She slowly got out of bed and walked towards the window. Snow was falling, it was heavy; she could tell from all the animals locked up in their pens and the flowers having a heating spell around them. This was the winter that she wanted…well this and having family around the fire and simply be happy. This was not going to happen.
Her stomach growled and she placed her hand there sighing. She had missed dinner, that much was clear on just looking outside the window. Figuring it was safe to head out, she took off her shoes and put on her slippers to make her movements quieter. Opening the door quietly, she popped her head out; she first looked left, then right before seeing that the coast was clear. Heading towards the stairs she slowly descended them. She knew the house elves would be happy to see her and more than happy to feed her.
The house was dark, only a few candles lit themselves as she walked. It seemed everyone had gone to bed early, or just not in the mood to eat. No matter. She was walking through the hallway that lead to the kitchen when something caught her attention: voices in her mother's office. That's the odd. Her mother had an office for the sake of presence. It was another room they barely needed and thus her mother had taken it as her own. But it was always open, that is except now. Something told her to stop and eavesdrop. Sure enough, there were voices in the office one being her mother, the other being her aunt Bellatrix.
"You're being too hard on them you know" that was her mother's voice.
"Hard? Hard?! I think I'm being fairly kind considering that they're so behind"
"Behind? Bella they're just children. They're not ready for the world of war. I-I don't want my children in that situation."
She heard Bellatrix scoff.
"Children? Come now Cissa, Draco is far stronger than you give him credit for. And as for the other…who are we fooling?"
'Watch your tone Bellatrix" Narcissa warned.
"Oh come now Cissy, it's obvious that the child is not….not-"
"She's my child" Narcissa's tone rose.
"She's not a Malfoy, my dear Cissy, now the real question is…whose is she?"
Angel couldn't help but flinch at the way that Bellatrix bluntly stated the worst kept secret. While she knew all along, she couldn't help but think about how her mother would take it. Would she deny it or would she just-
"Sirius' daughter" Narcissa said interrupted Angel's train of thought. "She was Amorette's daughter, but we took her in after her death."
"So she's a daughter of blood traitors? Why would you keep her? You should have left her to the dogs. If she's the daughter of a dog she should be raised by such!"
"Bellatrix!" Narcissa hissed. "She's mine. Lucius and I love her dearly and she doesn't know about that."
"Well she's weak like her father. She refuses to learn the dark arts, in fact she questions everything left and right." She heard her take a deep breath. "Draco is amazing and naturally talented Cissy. His natural take to dark spells is pleasing to me. He has a future in this, in the movement."
"Angel excels in her own way and as for Draco...I'm not sure I want him in that you know. He could die and –"
"And it's for the greater good of the world." She interrupted. "But the girl…her talents aren't….there. She's not gifted in this. The girl can barely make a flinch with non-verbal, and that's only when her nerves are shot. She's weak Cissy."
"She's not weak" Narcissa's tone brought hope into Angel's heart.
"She's obviously part of the weaker part of our branch. Sirius brought nothing good to our family. And obviously he left your this burden."
"...I love her dearly"
"But you know she's weak. Love doesn't make up for screw-ups"
Angel didn't miss the fact that her mother didn't deny her being a burden. Her chest stung once more hearing them talk. The way her mother spoke more and more about their dislike of Sirius, the more she felt that she was judged by that fact. Her eyes welled up with tears but she bit her lip.
"What are you doing?"
Turning around she realized she too was being spied on. She sniffled softly and curled herself more towards the door as Draco walked closer. Every time he opened his mouth she shushed him. And that's when his annoyance grew.
"You have no right to be spying on mother you know"
"Shut up" she hissed.
"I'm telling her"
"You always do"
"Come here"
"Did you hear that?"
Damn it. Before she could even attempt of hiding, the door opened and her mother crashed into her. She closed her eyes for impact and ignored the scent that once brought her calmness. As the arms went around her and Narcissa began to ask her what she wrong, Angel found herself shaking her off. She didn't want to be touched; she had heard enough and those two were the last people she wanted to talk to. For every touch that descended on her, it felt like she was being slapped.
"My love what's-"
"Let go of me" she struggled.
"What are you doing here?" Narcissa asked confused over her tone.
But the moment Narcissa realized that not only was her daughter crying, she didn't even look up at her. Everything clicked. A panic began to rise in her chest at the thought of what her daughter could have possibly heard. Looking over at her son, he obviously looked confused.
'What's going on Draco?"
"She was listening, and she knows she's not supposed to" Draco tattled.
Looking down she grabbed her daughter's shoulders forcefully, and despite the struggling it seemed to stop her from pushing away. She bent down and tried to make eye contact; the eyes that greeted her were full of disappointment and sadness. She began to run her hands on the girl's face trying desperately to comfort her, yet she didn't miss the way the girl flinched.
"Honey what's wrong?"
"Just let me go please" Angel hiccupped covering her face.
"I'm so sorry" Narcissa felt her own eyes well up with tears and pulled her into a hug.
What was going on? Draco looked confused and wondered of the possibilities of what his sister had heard. Was it that bad? He began to feel a panic rising. He wanted to ask so many questions. Did someone die? Was it about him?
"Come on darling, let's leave them be" Bellatrix said and despite his reluctance he was successfully pulled away from the scene.
…
Angel lay in bed, her body curved in a way to be able to face the window. She didn't blink, her eyes staring blankly at the snowfall. Her body was curled in fetal position and hid under her covers. At the moment her mother lay in bed with her, petting her hair and waiting for her to calm down. She didn't know why she was crying; the truth had been told to her a while ago, yet her 'mother' was consoling her.
Perhaps it hadn't felt as real as hearing it from her mother's mouth. She was adopted. More important was the known fact that despite the fact her mother loved her, she didn't love her as much as she loved her real son. Angel knew that was expected and her mother would never out rightly say it: she didn't have to. Narcissa Malfoy would die for Draco, but perhaps not for Angel Black.
"Darling, are you feeling better?"
Narcissa got no response and she took a deep sigh. This day was the one she was dreading for a long time. The thought of Angel finding out the truth killed her inside. She loved her; she loved her daughter as if she had given birth to her. She had been there when she was presented to the family. She felt tears well up in her eyes. No matter how much she could tell Angel how much she loved her the trust was gone. Pulling her daughter close she hoped that the girl would talk. Anything would be better than silence.
"I'm sorry" Angel finally whispered after a while.
"What?" Narcissa was surprised.
"I-I'm really sorry I've been a burden to you and father. And I'm sorry I'm a blood traitor. I'm sorry if I made your life harder. I-I'm so sorry" she sobbed.
"Oh honey" Narcissa cried softly and ran her fingers through her hair. Her daughter was inconsolable and it was all her fault. "You are not a burden. Lucius and I love you just as much as Draco. You are our children. You are on our mantle, we have given you everything because we want to."
"Tell me about her" she whispered softly. "Tell me about my parents"
And she did. Despite how hard it was for Narcissa to tell her about Amorette, she told the stories from their first meeting, to how they became best friends. The love she had was clear in her voice and Angel listened intently. She never mentioned Sirius much, except that they had lived in the old family home; and that he loved Amorette. Slowly Angel dozed off hearing stories of her parents and near the end, Narcissa felt that it was for the best. Kissing her forehead, she walked out wiping her own tears. It would take a lot of mending to make everything right, but she would try.
But as the door made the audible click, Angel opened her eyes. Sitting up she wiped her tears and took a shaky breath. The truth was out she supposed. It hurt, and it hurt more seeing her mother react that way, but it was important that the truth was out without her breaking the contract. She couldn't be here anymore. The thought of being in this household with everyone, pretending nothing happened; pretending everything was okay killed her. Draco still had no clue and she couldn't deal with it. She briefly thought about running back to Hogwarts. Then she could spend time away from them and it would be okay.
That seemed like the best plan. Immediately she rushed towards her closet and took out her suitcase. Unclipping the sides, she immediately began to dump her clothes in it: her presents from friends, her books, and her cat's toys. She needed to get out of there. She knew it would hurt her mother once she found out, but she would understand.
"I should leave a note" she murmured to herself.
Taking out a quill she scribbled on ripped parchment where she would be:
To: Whom it May Concern,
I have decided to head back to Hogwarts this Christmas. I love you
All dearly, but I cannot bear being here. I need some time away and
I hope that you can all respect my decision.
I will see Draco once the term starts, and I shall write as well.
Love,
Angel
Satisfied with the note, she filled her bag with items she might need: clothes, galleons, salves. She knew that she couldn't get out of her room at the moment, at least not with attracting attention so turning over to her cat, she signaled her feline to follow her. As they headed towards the chimney, she pulled the poker that lead to the entrances of the secret halls. The house was centuries old and she knew every inch of this place through games. As she closed the wall behind her, she murmured a light spell and scoffed. 'Of course I get a non-verbal when no one is around.' Walking down the halls she ignored the dust that had built over the lack of use. Her cat wasn't pleased either but she simply shushed her. As she counted to three hundred, she knew it was here she would turn left. The halls were confusing and one could easily get lost. She needed to land in the Floo Room that wasn't her father's.
Once she reached a wall, she knocked on it to find it hollow. Perfect. As she pressed the bricks with her wand she found herself in the empty office. Smiling with glee, she found herself walking towards it. Bending down and picking up her cat, she made sure she had everything in order before grabbing the powder.
"Hogwarts!"
Closing her eyes she felt the familiar pull and stumbled out of the new chimney. Coughing, she found herself being handed a handkerchief.
"I don't usually get visitors this time of night"
Looking up she found herself looked at Headmaster Dumbledore. The familiar twinkle in his eyes told her that he had an idea in what happened. She was embarrassed that the chimney somehow sent her in his office rather than the general chimney.
"I'm sorry Headmaster, it won't happen again" she promised.
He waved her off and signaled her to sit down. She had no choice but to do so once he requested it. Setting her things down, her cat immediately took note of the warm couch and curled herself up, leaving Angel to take the chair in front of the Headmaster's desk.
"Good evening sir, I'm sorry that this happened but-"
"I don't mean to be nosy Miss Malfoy, but it is rare to find a student leave her home right before Christmas. Is something disturbing you?"
She immediately shook her head.
"No sir" she lied, "I just found myself preferring the company of my mind than of my family. It is only for a while, I promise. There is no need to contact my parents either" she immediately added, "they already know."
"Hm..I see. Well just so you know, many do not wish to spend Christmas alone." He took a sip of his tea, "even the loneliest of dogs sometimes needs company"
The twinkle in his eye was there again and that's how she knew something was up. She shuffled awkwardly at the mention of a black dog, but figured he couldn't possibly mean it.
"Sir?"
"I merely mean, that as much as you seem to love felines, a dog has won over your heart has he not Miss Malfoy?"
She shuffled uncomfortably.
"Yes I suppose so. But he has a loving home does he not? With his…owners?" the analogy was soon going to be complicated.
"Not at the moment. Last time I kept notice he was spending time alone. A dog is never truly happy alone, especially when his pup could be there."
"Would that be wise?" she asked softer than before. "t-to visit without warning?"
"I believe you would get a warm welcome Miss Malfoy. After all no one should spend Christmas eve alone."
"How do I go?" she knew there was no need to go around with more analogies.
Clearly Dumbledore suggested she visit Sirius, and who was she to deny it. She felt nervous to be reunited with him; last time they met it had been the day of the tournament: A very unhappy moment indeed. Frowning she found herself wondering if he would think she was intruding.
"12 Grimmauld Place should serve you well." He replied smiling.
Smiling shyly, she got up and grabbed her things. It seemed that her trip wasn't over just yet. As she picked up her cat she looked at Dumbledore curiously.
"Sir? About my parents, if they come and ask?"
"You've asked for some privacy that is all"
"Thank you sir"
"You're most welcome. Oh, and Miss Malfoy?"
"Yes sir?"
A package was handed to her. Looking confused she looked up at the old man. He smiled sweetly.
"Merry Christmas"
She grabbed it and smiled shyly before entering the chimney once more. As he grabbed the powder bowl and handed it to her, she grabbed it and took a deep breath. No going back now.
"12 Grimmauld Place!"