Chapter 5
“You look beautiful.” Haryana blinks over at her doorway as she finishes putting in her earrings, watching Sirius leaning against the frame.
“Thanks.” She says with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll look just as good when you join me next year.”
Sirius cringes, the entire ball was still a sore spot for them. As was the fact that she generally acted more adult than him, they had kind of gone to breakfast the next morning pretending that they’d never upset each other and just… never stopped.
Was it healthy? Merlin no, but until it blew up horribly they were talking again and that was all that mattered really.
She wasn’t losing him again.
She wasn’t.
“Just… stay safe, alright pup?”
She smiles softly at him and nods. “Not even a hair out of place, I promise.”
“Haryana!” She smiles brightly as she approaches Draco and his parents. “I’m glad you could make it.” He grins as he hugs her carefully, she hugs back just as carefully not to mess up the albino peacock tail cloak he was wearing.
“We had worried Lord Black would deny the invitation due to… past quarrels.” Lucius hums as Draco lets her go, taking her hand and lightly kissing the back of it.
“I am a ward of the goblin nation.” She reminds before her smile takes a slightly sharp edge. “And the goblin nation values the size of your vault very much.”
“As they should.” Narcissa says charmingly as she clasps her other hand for a moment before letting it go. “I do hope you enjoy yourself, cousin.”
“I’ll find you when we’re done greeting everyone.” Draco promises.
“I’m sure it will be a night to remember.” She says back brightly before walking through the doors.
“Lord Nott, a pleasure to see you again. Tell me how your trip to Russia was?” Lucius says behind her to the next guest.
The hall is grander than she remembers from her time as a prisoner. Soft whites and gentle blues, fake snow falling lightly, golden tables filled with all sorts of foods she’s never seen. A real winter wonderland.
She’s also not the only one in white which is good, she’d been slightly worried about that. As she waits for Draco to join her again and for her other friends coming to arrive she smiles sweetly listening to people she’s killed, laughing softly with people she’d not killed but celebrated the deaths of. A constant melding of new and old memories that leave her slightly dizzy, something she passes off with an innocent look and a soft comment about being a little overwhelmed by being surrounded by so many adults who are nice.
They all melt like putty under the sweet trust, like Dudley’s action figures who’d trusted him not to melt them enough to not move when he brought out the magnifying glass. No wonder Tom had gone the route of gathering people in his bid for world domination.
“Haryana!” Daphne calls making her turn away from the Carrow twins with a smile. Daphne was dragging a smaller girl over. “I would like to introduce my little sister, Astoria Greengrass.” Both of their hair was pulled up into high ponytails.
“It is lovely to meet you, second heir Greengrass.” She intones sweetly, gently taking her hand when offered.
Astoria blinks at her like she was looking at a ghost before Daphne elbows her back. “It’s good to meet you as well, Heir Potter.”
The incorrect title makes her pause as she’d gotten used to people knowing about her ladyship but she moves past it quickly, as one does when surrounded by enemies pretending to be friendly. “Please, call me Haryana. Your sister is a good friend of mine.”
“Astoria then.” She says with a little more confidence.
“I’ve not been invited to call you so familiarly.” Alecto sighs with a sharp gleam in her eyes, her brother looming slightly over her shoulder. “How unfair of you Heir Potter.”
“You do not have a sibling my age whom I have struck a friendship with Heir Carrow.” She counters back easily with a slight protective shift when Astoria flinches.
“Do you not want to be friends with us?” Alecto asks with a sicking sweetness, less insane that Bellatrix but getting steadily closer.
“I’m not too fond of adults.” She says as she places her hand on her stomach protectively, ready to cast a protective shield over Tom should this turn into a fight. Surprisingly though the Carrow twins back down instantly, pulling back all of the fanatical crazy within moments.
She’s starting to understand how they could have avoided Azkaban so easily.
“Our apologise for pushing such an upsetting subject for you.” Amycus hums, emotions slipping off his face like water off a ducks back.
“We were having such an interesting talk that we forgot about that… unfortunate business.” Alecto adds, she was clearly wanting to say something harsher but her brother’s pointed stare at the Greengrass siblings quelled her. “If you’d like help dealing with that business we’d be happy to assist, it’s been so long since we’ve had a good muggle hunt.”
“As nice as that offer is I already have the issue well in hand.” She assures with a sharp grin before melting it back into the innocent ‘traumatized but willing to trust again’ face she’d been sporting for the last hour. Watching bug-Rita approaching in the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry if I was too harsh, you are right, hearing about your jobs in the Ministry was fascinating. I just find it hard to trust, but I want too. If you still want to then you may call me Haryana, Lord Carrow, Heir Carrow.” She blinks big doe-eyes at them as bug-Rita lands on a floating tray near them.
“There is no need to apologise, Haryana.” Amycus promises, just as artificially soft. Clearly picking up on her shift in mask and adjusting accordingly. “We understand more than most the faces of monsters hiding behind a pleasant smile. You may call me Amycus.”
“And you may call me Alecto.” Alecto adds with a sweet coo, lightly pinching her cheek as if Haryana was a small child doing something cute instead of blatantly manipulating everyone around her. Maybe it was cute to them.
“Thank you. I shall stop taking up all of your time now though as I know you have others you want to talk to, have a good night Amycus, Alecto.” She says sweetly with a small curtsy, it gains her another cheek pinch from Alecto as well as a louder coo.
“A good night to you as well, Haryana. I am sure we will talk again later when everyone is here.” Amycus promises before they depart.
Daphne clearly wants to say something but luckily Pansy cuts her off. “There you are, Draco told me that you both arrived ages ago. How have your winter holidays been so far?” Pansy calls as she weaves her way over to them.
She happily details her interactions with Sirius, Remus, and the packs, covens, and nests that visited to give her gifts. Artfully skipping over her business dealings. “I can’t wait to show you all of the stuffed animals I got, they are so well made and I will adore them forever.” Bug-Rita had left by then and Blaise had joined them. Followed with a beautiful woman who could only be his mother. “I love your cloak.” She adds as she eyes the black cloak so dark it seemed to absorb the light.
Blaise’s mother’s smile at that is slow and sharp. “So you have delt with your problems correctly, I am glad. I was ever so worried when my darling bambino kept telling me you refused help.” Her confusion must show on her face because the smile sharpens further. “The cloak is made from Thestral hair.”
Well that wasn’t fair at all even if it worked in her favour. “Death suits you well, Lady Zabini.”
“Doesn’t it just.” She purrs happily.
Any other conversations are cut off by the loud clinking of glass. She, and everyone else, turn towards it to see Narcissa holding a crystal champagne flute and a silver knife. On her left is Draco, on her right is Lucius, and on his left is who Voldemort. He looks so much like his diary horcrux that it physically hurts but older, early to mid-twenties at most.
“Good evening everyone and thank you for all coming on short notice.” Narcissa says lightly to the quiet room. “I know that many of you had plans already and we are very grateful you could join us in welcoming back a dear friend to our family. It is our deepest hope that Lord Grant is able to put down roots here so we will not have to wait another decade to see him.”
Her whole speech is filled with artificially fond familiarity as she looks at Voldemort, she can tell because she’s seen actual fondness splashing across her cold exterior before.
“I am very glad to finally be back in Britain, dear Narcissa, and I promise that I am here to stay this time.” The voice is deeper than her memories of it but then again the last time she heard it was from a sixteen year old. “It pleases me to see so many familiar faces here, as well as some new ones.” His brown eyes sweep over the crowd until they meet hers. “Be merry my friends, as tonight we celebrate many good years to come.”
The absolute bastard. She has to fight to keep her face and mind clear as his eyes leave her so he can start a conversation with Corban Yaxley. His dark brown hair is styled similarly to his diary horcrux but his outfit makes her want to cast Sectumsempra him. The white suit looks like frosted ice with its sharpness, frosted diamonds used as cufflinks and detailing in the vest that looked like two moving snakes from her point of view halfway across the room. It’s the kitsune fur cloak that sparks anger from deep in her gut, the fucker was matching with her! Not in a way that anyone would really pick up on at first glance, but she knew.
How the fuck had he known what she was going to wear? Morgana’s tits, how did he know that there was still enough fur from the kitsune she’d used to make himself a cloak too?!
She needed to talk to Salvatore. At best he was simply excited about the dress and gushed about it where it could be accidently heard, at worst someone was selling client information under his nose. Her information.
She thinks about ignoring him, passing the whole night in the middle of oh-so-interesting conversations whenever he comes to introduce himself to her, but Draco was with him and his parents, and it looked like he wouldn’t be leaving that spot soon. Fucker.
“Shall we kidnap Draco away from his parents?” She asks lightly as she looks to her friends, Pansy and Daphne looked slightly more pale than before but gain a determined air before she could question it. “He looks dreadfully bored.”
Daphne hums lightly before smiling slightly at her. “I suppose, we’ll need a distraction though. Say, in the shape of the light-side’s golden girl sitting in the middle of a dark-side’s ball?”
“Wow, I don’t know if I’m more insulted you called me a pawn or impressed at how cruel you are to toss me to the snakes.” She huffs but smiles so Daphne knows she’s not actually mad. “I guess I can go introduce myself to Magical Britain's new Lord to save my cousin from death by dull conversations.”
“Such a martyr.” Pansy snickers.
“I will stab you.” She hisses, bordering on Parseltogue which makes Pansy smirk. This is what she gets for making friends with Slytherins.
The plan is pretty simple, Haryana introduces herself and engages in light conversation while Blaise asks Draco to show him the new additions to the Malfoy gardens. All she has to do is pretend that she doesn’t know he’s the dark lord until he announces it, it should be easy because she’s gotten good at pretending not to know a lot of people.
Simple and easy go right out the window when she gets closer and realises that he’s wearing his fucking ring horcrux as his lordship ring. All she can see for a moment is Dumbledore’s shrivelled hand as he forces her to drink that awful potion. Her throat burns, phantom hands reach for her as rotting faces gnash their teeth.
“Heir Black?” Her eyes snap away from the ring and to the dark brown eyes that were much closer than she’d like with the grip of a panic attack still trying to drag her under.
“Lord Grant, it is good to meet you. I do hope this change in scenery won’t stop you from returning my book, seeing as the need for it has passed.” She says as she throws on a sweet smile.
His eyes flare red for a moment before he bows lightly, catching her hand and kissing the knuckles. “Marvlo, please.” He purrs causing a flash of hot anger to burn in her gut, she smiles through it. “And is the need for a good book ever passed?”
“Haryana.” She intones, it comes out darker than she means it and she fights to make her tone lighter as she continues. “Are you saying I shouldn’t expect it back? I didn’t take you for a common thief, Marvlo.”
He grins at her and she almost bares her teeth at the echo of a younger version smirking with her wand in his hands. “I’ve never been common, Haryana. I will return your book when I’m done with it. It makes for a fascinating read and a delightful look into your interests, do you where I can get the next part in the series?”
“Can you not find it on your own?” She asks sweetly, his grin dips down a tad. “How unexpected, don’t worry. I’ll lend you the next one when you return the one you borrowed.”
“Isn’t family meant to share, Lady Slytherin?” He hisses causing Yaxley, Amycus, Alecto, and Lucius to close ranks around them. Draco had been successfully ‘kidnapped’ at the beginning of the conversation and Narcissa was being distracted by Lady Zabini.
“It’s like you want to get caught.” The Carrow twins, Yaxley, and Lucius stare at her in shock as she slips into Parseltongue but she ignores them. “I will remind you again not to fuck up our house name, Heir Slytherin. Dumbledore is already trying to go on a warpath about being kicked out of Hogwarts this summer, I don’t need you fucking around too.”
“And I will remind you that I have not besmirched our house name ever.”
“You got yourself blown up by failing to kill a baby. Our name is in fucking tatters.”
His eyes flare again, more bloody red than the light ruby of his amusement earlier. “If you like I can try again.”
“If you raise your wand to attack in front of Rita fucking Skeeter I’ll gut you with the snapped shards of your wand you little shit.” Speaking of the bitch she spies bug-Rita in the corner of her eye and makes sure her mask is unshakable. “You’re travels sound so interesting, Marvlo. I am so sorry to cut our conversation short but I think the crowd is getting to me. I do hope one day I can visit some of the places you mentioned, they sound truly magical.”
Their argument is buried as he smiles understandingly at her, visibly softening when her hand covers her stomach. The psychopath. “Of course, Haryana. If you’d like I can send you a letter with my best recommendations, so you are well informed when you do decide to travel.”
“That would be wonderful, I look forward to your letter.” She smiles softly up at him before turning to leave, spotting Astoria peaking at her through a stained glass door.
“Before you go, Haryana, I had a question. A curiosity if you’d be willing to indulge me.” She hums curiously as she looks back to him, wondering why he was being annoying and not letting her leave. “You do not have to answer if it is too painful but I was wondering if you had a name picked out yet?”
Bug-Rita lands on the floor next to her feet, clearly too interested in her answer to be cautious. It would be so easy to crush the vile woman under her heel, to cut her life blissfully short so she can expel some of the indignant rage burning its way through her. Rita’s hand in getting Sirius freed saves her, not that she’d ever know that.
“Tom.” She watches him stiffen and hopes bug-Rita is too distracted by getting the exclusive baby name drop to notice. “It felt right.” Then she leaves, bee-lining for Astoria. “Please tell me we’re going outside.”
“They’re waiting in the gardens.” Astoria answers, she wavers for a moment before snatching her hand and dragging her out of the ballroom.
“Haryana, are you okay?” Draco asks as soon as she’s in view.
“I’m fine.” She lies before letting Astoria go. “Show me around?”
He clearly doesn’t believe her, he also clearly knows exactly who his house guest is, but instead of pressing he offers up his arm. She links hers with his and lets him pull her along as their friends trail behind. “I’d be glad too, cousin. We have them changed seasonally so you’ll have to visit again in the spring.”
Sirius is waiting up for her when she returns with hot chocolate and a warm hug which she falls into. “You okay pup?”
“Too many people.” She grumbles sleepily into his chest.
“I know.” He sighs before scooping her up. “Bed time.”
“I’m not tired.” She mumbles as she throws her arms around his neck to keep steady.
She’s asleep before her head hits her bed.