Home
June 30, 1995
Draco
As planned, we reach Andromeda’s house together with Sirius and Lupin.
It is an old faded yellow cottage, surrounded by a vast lawn and a small forest; to the right of the house extends a rose garden, modest but well-kept. Probably the Black sisters have a soft spot for roses.
The veranda is made of wood, with tables and chairs arranged in the left corner, while on the other side a small swing moves slightly with the wind.
As Sirius said, we will spend the summer here, in a sort of forced isolation, with exit permits granted only in the muggle world and under the supervision of my aunt.
Salazar, my aunt. A slight panic brushes my chest at the thought of meeting my mother’s sister, the aunt I never knew, the woman my family disowned. Will she hate me for what my family did to her? Was she reluctant to host me in her house? Did she look for other solutions before reluctantly accepting me here? Will she look at me with disgust noticing the resemblance to my father? How should I call her?
Remus knocks gently on the door. I am tempted to back away, to hide behind Nott and to postpone all this indefinitely, but I force myself to stand still, in front of the entrance.
The door opens suddenly and I am scared of how much she looks like my aunt Bellatrix, only continuing to look at her I notice the lighter hair and the sweeter and bigger eyes.
She too remains motionless, letting her gaze run over my face countless times. Her hand flies to her heart as soon as she stops to look at my eyes.
“Darling, how you have grown”, she whispers in a sweet tone, reaching out a hand to move a lock of hair from my forehead. “I saw you at Diagon Alley a lifetime ago and now you are an adult”.
I do for her the same bow that I reserved for Sirius, slightly deeper and more prolonged than etiquette would require. I might be able to ask for help, but expressing emotions, feelings, gratitude, is not something that falls within my skills. “Mrs. Tonks”, I greet her formally, rigid.
In an instant, her arms wrap around my neck, squeezing me tight and shaking me back and forth. “Honey, you don’t have to call me that if you don’t want to”, she whispers, holding my face in her hands. “I’m so happy you’re here, you’re really beautiful”.
My heart skips a beat, she looks at me in a way I’ve never seen in anyone else. “Thank you for your hospitality, aunt”.
She leaves a kiss on my cheek, stroking the other with her thumb while continuing to stare into my eyes, not even bothering to wipe the tear that streaks her face.
Sirius, Remus and Theo remain in the background until it is Black himself who breaks the atmosphere that had been created, pouncing on his cousin.
How can my parents and their circle hate these people? How can I wish to see them dead? How can they be so cruel to someone who is so good?
I move slightly from her view, leaving her space to get to know Theo, still petrified on the stairs.
Theodore
I keep repeating it, I will continue to repeat it until I am exhausted, this is pure madness.
Draco Lucius Malfoy today hugged someone for the second time and thanked them. Do I really believe that all this is just a dream or a hallucination, is it possible?
“Dear, you must be Theodore Nott,” she says as she holds out her hand to me, “I am Andromeda Tonks.”
It’s impressive how much she looks like Bellatrix, I was really scared when she appeared in front of us. She invites us to follow her through the door, showing us every corner of the lower floor.
“This, my dears, will be your home for the next few months. Feel free to do whatever you want. I have prepared two rooms that I will show you later, but now, while you discuss the latest things with Remus and Sirius, would you like some tea?” she asks, smiling at us again.
Astonished, Draco and I find ourselves only making a tiny nod of assent, not expecting any of this, all this welcome, this kindness. So not all pureblood matriarchs are sadistic and cruel bitches.
As we watch her leave the living room, we hear a amused laugh behind us. “She’s the best of the Black family, my absolute favorite,” says Sirius, with a sweet smile on his face. “You have to get used to her, apparently.”
My old professor looks at me smiling, pulls out a worn old diary from his heavy jacket and hands it to me, as if it were a treasure, eagerly awaiting my reaction. Just like Malfoy and Black. Are they all excited about this horrible diary?
“What is this?” I ask confused, noticing that the thoughtful silence that has fallen in the room continues to exist.
“It’s for you, like Draco’s,” Lupin explains a bit disappointed, “but yours is directly connected to me; you can write to me for any problem or, well, just to talk”. When he finishes speaking, his cheeks are slightly flushed.
“Like Draco’s?” I repeat, shifting my gaze to the blonde boy next to me.
“It’s a two-way diary, that’s how I managed to talk to Sirius all year,” he explains, gesturing uncomfortably. Is he ashamed to admit that he confided in Sirius? “You don’t have to use the owl in this way, which is traceable.”
I look at the worn notebook in my hands, they are offering me the same possibilities as Malfoy, they are granting me my escape, they are giving me the chance to turn to them directly and not just through someone else.
For the first time today, I am the one to respect the pureblood etiquette, bowing before all three. “Thank you, for everything.”
Dear father, how many Cruciatus would you throw at me now to see me thanking Sirius Black and Remus Lupin with this bow?
“Well guys,” Sirius intervenes, clapping his hands, “we’re going because Harry should be arriving soon, we’ll leave you with Andromeda.”
They say goodbye with quick hugs; Draco and I remain a bit too rigid during all these displays of affection. We watch them as they head towards the door, in absolute silence, both of their walks are unbalanced, each of the two leans to a different side with each step.
“Ah!..”, exclaims Remus, suddenly turning towards us, “if you’re interested, Nymphadora could train you a bit, she’s come up with some very clever methods to evade the trace, and she’s also an Auror.”
“Nymphadora?” asks the snake next to me, confused.
Sirius opens his eyes wide, realizing that they had forgotten to reveal a small but fundamental detail to us. Remus, next to him begins to nervously scratch the scar that crosses his face, his shoulders curve as if to hide him. “Ehm, yes, emh…”, he stammers, looking at an indefinite point above our heads, “she’s your cousin, Andromeda’s daughter.”
“Damn…” I mutter, watching Malfoy with his mouth wide open.
Draco
I stare at the ceiling of my new room, trying to metabolize everything that happened today.
Sirius, always labeled as a vile coward and a traitor, is actually a good man and a great friend, faithful to the last particle of his being.
Andromeda, the woman described as a madwoman, an unbalanced, like a monster; she welcomed me into her home with open arms, she is kinder than anyone I have ever known. She showed more concern for me in one afternoon than my father ever did.
I also found out that I have a cousin, whose existence I was unaware of, full of euphoria and vitality, funny and witty. A hand grenade.
I would like to convince myself not to be surprised, that I should have expected something like this, but it’s too much, too much all at once, too much in one day.
I look at the huge trunk at the foot of my bed; I should arrange all my things but just lying down doing nothing calms me more than I ever imagined. No screams, no punishment, not even a racist ideology for the whole summer.
I am still contemplating the ceiling indefinitely when Theodore bursts into the room like a lightning bolt, opening the door abruptly and stopping in the center, without saying a word. He just stares at me.
“Don’t you knock anymore?” I ask, trying to incinerate him with my gaze. With more effort than expected, I lift my back, sitting on the bed.
He has changed, he is wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a short-sleeved shirt, strictly black; I can see all the scars along his arms. I had never seen his, they are many more and deeper than mine.
He looks me straight in the eyes for a few seconds, I see him take a deep breath and he bows, deeper and longer than I have ever done today.
“Draco, you are saving my life. I will be indebted to you forever, my life is yours,” he says all at once, remaining in the same position.
“No,” I retort impulsively, before even connecting brain and mouth. He gets up, looking at me with wide eyes, almost scared. I shouldn’t have yelled. “Not here, here no masks, Nott,” I say trying to soften the tone of my voice.
He is about to say something, but I interrupt him before he can start. This is my opportunity to change, to try to discover my true nature, to understand who I really am. I don’t intend to wear the mask of the Prince of Serpents here too, I don’t want to pretend that there is really a hierarchy between us.
“No masks, Nott, be invasive, cheeky or whoever you really are, no hierarchies,” I say seriously, trying to express in words the thousand thoughts that invade me.
“Malfoy…”, he murmurs, a small smile makes its way onto his face, “are you authorizing me to make fun of you?”
He rips a small laugh from me, making me roll my eyes. “I don’t have to authorize you to do anything,” I reply emphasizing the point, “only that that bow, being debtors, the difference between us only for our families, is not something that belongs to me, I don’t want to be like my father.”
Taking my suggestion to be invasive literally, apparently, he throws himself on the other side of the bed, crossing his arms behind his head as soon as he lies down. On my bed. With shoes. Salazar, I shouldn’t have said it.
“Anyway Malfoy, I thank you for all this, for everything you have done for me, I would probably already be under Crucio if it hadn’t been for you.”
I suppress a shiver thinking about Christmas, trying to forget the feeling of the unforgivable curse.
“Now,” he says smiling at me, “let me get to know the real Draco Malfoy a little bit.”