Sympathy
January 17th 2001
"What took so long?" Theo remarked when I finally made it to his study, which is on the opposite side of the manor from Malfoy's room.
I groaned and tossed myself down into a chair, rubbing my temples and trying to stave off the headache I felt coming on.
"What was it this time?" He drawled.
"What are you talking about?" I grumbled and leaned back. Closing my eyes to try and center myself again.
What the hell was Malfoy thinking? He could have died if I hadn't gone up there. It seems after all this time he still hasn't lost his selfishness; always thinking of his own feelings over everyone else.
Theo lit a cigarette and took a long drag before leaning forward in his seat. "What did he mix? Potions, muggle drugs, alcohol... I could go on."
I was slightly dumbfounded when I responded, "Potions and a whole bottle of gin. Wait he's done this before?"
"Several times in fact. After Azkaban it was harder for him to adjust and when you and Daphne took off for those few months he felt alone. Ember was gone, you were gone, his father was still locked up and his mother spent all of her time trying to help Nova adjust and- well- he spiraled." He explained.
Somehow this made me even angrier. I never knew about any of this. Yet again his selfishness comes into play. We all felt the pain of loss after the war was over in one way or another and we all struggled but none of us tried to kill ourselves over it.
"The last time Pansy found him on the roof. He had gotten ahold of some hallucinogenics and he had convinced himself that Ember was there to take him with her. Pans had to stun him so he wouldn't jump to his death."
I laughed bitterly, "He's such a fucking idiot. I mean who would do that?"
Theo glared at me, "You need to get over yourself. Stop being so hard on him all the time. We all lost her and I know 'she was my sister' is about to tumble out of your mouth but you forget that Draco lost the love of his life. Imagine if you lost Daphne? How well would you take that?"
Before I could respond, Malfoy strolled into the room. I bit my tongue so hard I tasted blood while I tried to keep my mouth shut.
He fell into the chair across from me and closed his eyes. All remnants of his earlier episode were gone. He appeared almost bored as if he would rather be anywhere else- as if he didn't just almost kill himself.
Bastard.
"Okay shall we begin?" Theo stood and tossed a quill at Malfoy, who just groaned and finally sat up and opened his eyes. "So after a few days of digging into this Daisy character I didn't find much on her; but what I did find is pretty interesting. Daisy Lawson is her married name. Her maiden name is Daisy Delphine."
I sat up straight as a chill shot down my spine. Delphine is Ember's mother's maiden name. I was never aware of Aria having any siblings. From my understanding she was an only child.
I looked over at Draco who was still leaned back lazily in the chair. Obviously he hadn't caught on to what Theo had just revealed.
"So what is she like a long lost sister of Aria?" I questioned. The mention of Aria's name must've finally clicked something in Draco's ferret brain because he shot up from his seat like he'd been struck by lightning.
"Ember's mother, Aria? So she's related to Ember?" He stuttered as his face paled considerably.
Theo crossed the room and guided Draco back into a chair, "You should sit down for this next part." He cleared his throat and walked over to his desk, grabbing a shiny black file and handing it to him.
Malfoy hesitantly opened it and his eyes roved over the page before a crease formed between his brows and he scoffed. "There is barely anything here. All it says is that she came here in 1978 from New Orleans. The Delphines hailed from that area and came here in the mid 17th century. There's bound to be some distant relatives there."
Theo grabbed the file from him and pointed forcefully enough to bend the parchment. "Did your drug addled brain even bother to look at who brought her here?" He shoved the file back intro Draco's face, "Daisy Lawson (Delphine) first appeared in wizarding Britain in June of 1978 when she accompanied Regulus Arcturus Black to a high society engagement at Malfoy Manor."
Draco sat back almost dumbfounded.
"Give me that!" I snatched the file and began reading for myself.
Daisy was one of many things that the Young Black heir brought back with him from his travels. She appeared on his arm at several society parties around Europe from June of 1978- July of 1980 when their public appearances ceased.
The page then goes on to list all of the parties of Pureblood wizards that she attended with Regulus. The next page was something else entirely.
Daisy Delphine
Age: 19
Status: Unknown (disappeared July 1980)
Affiliations: Suspected Death Eater (not officially confirmed)
Associations: Fiancé to Regulus Arcturus Black (deceased)
Sirius Orion Black (deceased)
Bellatrix Lestrange- Black (status unknown)
Abraxas Malfoy (deceased)
Tom Riddle (aka- The Dark Lord, aka- Voldemort) (deceased)
My heart felt like it was in my throat. The picture of Daisy from 1978 is a spitting image of my sister. Except instead of the raven black curls, Daisy sported straight blonde hair similar to Narcissa. It almost made me question if the Daisy we saw in Diagon was the same Daisy in this article. The girl we saw had wild auburn curls and looked the same age as the girl in this picture. Which... that would be almost impossible given the 20 plus year difference unless she was using some serious glamour charms. It would almost make more sense that this was 1978 Daisy's daughter instead of the same person.
I flipped through the thin file until I got to the last page which was dated December 22nd 2000, where a picture of Daisy and the same man from the bookstore were walking into the ministry.
Daisy Lawson (Delphine)
Status: Living
Affiliations: None (see page 4 for clearing of charges)
Associations: Wife of Beckett Lawson (see Lawson Family- Surrey, England)
I closed the file and shoved it across the desk.
What does all of this mean? This woman who bears a striking resemblance to my dead sister and shares a last name with her dead mother, just appears out of thin air and sends my world into a tailspin.
I think back to the women in the book shop. It was obvious now that she is related to Ember but why had I never heard of a Daisy Delphine before now? Especially if she was here during the time Ember's parents were here and she attended the same society parties they did with Regulus. Aria was close to the Black Brothers and still there was no mention or photo evidence of them together at any of these events. The glaring fact that her introduction into Britain's wizarding society was here at Malfoy Manor, also seemed odd. This entire thing was just off. It's almost as if "Daisy" was fabricated or plucked out of thin air and dropped into random pieces of time.
"She arrived at the ministry on December 22nd? Coincidentally on Ember's birthday?" Draco had grabbed the file and was flipping through it. His expression torn between annoyance and longing curiosity.
"Also happened to be the same day our marks reappeared." Theo said casually. Both Draco and I stopped and stared back at him.
"I'm just saying. All of this is too much of a coincidence to not be significant. I mean come on..."
He conjured a chalk board and began scribbling things out under the date 12/22/2000.
"Daisy and her husband arrived to register at the ministry on 12/22 at 9:01 am. Our marks appeared at exactly midnight on that day and on top of that it's Ember's birthday and she is distantly related to Daisy."
"I see the path you're taking and you're veering into some very dangerous territory here Nott." Draco warned through gritted teeth.
"I'm not... ughhh... I'm not saying it's Ember. All I'm saying is that maybe someone is trying to send a message and I think that message is directed at the two of you."
"The two of us? Why would someone be trying to send us a message? We've stayed invisible since the war ended." Draco scoffed.
He's right. We've stayed invisible and avoided landing on the ministries radar or anyone's radar for that matter since we were released from Azkaban. That was our promise. We would live a quiet, uneventful life now that my father was gone and his regime with it.
After those few months Daphne and I took to ourselves , we barely leave the Manor grounds. Draco takes a weekly trip to Diagon or muggle London when he doesn't want to bother being recognized. Daph and I visit her father and sister every Sunday. Theo and Pansy are the only ones that work outside of the Manor. Theo at the Ministry and Pansy at a dress shop in London's busiest fashion district.
I try and rack my brain for anyone that has come up over the years- anyone that's been wronged by us that isn't dead or locked away in Azkaban and come up empty. The threats stopped coming shortly after the trials ended once people realized whose side we were actually on. Although, some people still believe we manipulated our way into a lighter sentence because of who our family are.
The sound of glass shattering jerked me back to reality. Draco stormed past me and out of the room, slamming the office door so hard it shook the bookshelves and several of them came tumbling down onto the floor. A puddle of crystal shards and fire whisky littered the floor along the far wall.
"That bloody fucking wanker!" Theo growled and with a wave of his wand the room began to clean itself up.
"We need more information on the Delphine family and the Lawson family." I looked up at Theo who was staring at the file on his desk.
He huffed a laugh and shook his head, "No, first we need to talk to Narcissa. If Daisy was with Regulus and he brought her here to the Manor for society events; she had to know who she is and maybe she can shed some more light."
He was right. Narcissa was the only remaining member of the black family besides Draco. She was around Regulus and if Daisy was engaged to him she would be the best option to figure out who this woman is.
"She should be in the green house, let's...."
White hot pain exploded up my arm and cut off any chance of finishing the rest of that sentence. A cold sweat broke out across my skin while the nerves in my forearm felt like they were being dipped in acid. Through my blurred vision I saw Theo's shaking hand trying to support himself on the desk.
Malfoy stumbled through the door, "We are being summoned." He wheezed.