Collecting Strays
Chapter 2: Collecting Strays
WHOOOOSH
The Floo from Draco’s room roared to life. Lucius had allowed him to have it set up after Theo’s St. Mungo’s trip last summer, but only for Theo to come through from his own room. Draco’s father had been made aware of the treatment his friend frequently received, and while he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) stop it, he offered the Floo connection as a means of escape for the boy.
Theo flopped through the Floo, scrambling to his feet and switching the grate behind him so that no one else could come through. His face was oozing scarlet at differing stages of healing. He had yellow and brown mixed with purple and blue around his cheeks and across his nose. Theo sported a gash above his left bow and a slice over his lower lip. When the boys made eye contact, Draco grabbed his lanky friend into a tight hug, trying to keep any tears from falling.
“You’re safe, now,” Draco whispered to the other boy.
“Thanks,” Theo mumbled as sobs wracked through his body.
There was a knock at the door and Narcissa swept into the room with a small box, not even waiting to be let in. “Theodore, my sweet Theodore,” she said softly, pulling him from her son’s grip.
“Mrs. Malfoy,” he tried to choke out, but blood sputtered instead.
She lowered him to the floor gently, placing a cushioning charm beneath him. Draco watched her work mostly, asking a question here and there. He watched her cast a couple different diagnostic spells to see if he had any internal damage or broken bones, and to locate the sources of his bleeding.
“Two broken ribs, a broken nose, fractured collar bone, and a bruised kidney,” she whispered to herself as she checked the scans. Draco sucked in a sharp breath, how was Theo even awake? He has to be in so much pain—
“Draco! Did you hear me? Get me a pain relief potion and a calming draught from the kit, I need to focus on the healing, but I can’t start setting the bones until he’s had something!”
Panic set in as Draco rummaged through the kit, finding the potions after what felt like minutes but could only have been seconds. He unstoppered the calming draught first, blue with a scent of peppermint and lavender. Draco grabbed the second vial which was mostly clear with a slightly murky white haze, and it smelled just the tiniest bit like cherry. He’d never really seen one before aside from what he had been given at Grimmauld Place, and he was thankful for the neatly labeled tag. Come to think of it, Draco had never even heard of a pain relief potion before…
His mother tipped each phial down Theo’s throat, and the boy grunted as the pain ebbed after a few moments. His mother reset the bones with sickening snaps, and she dug in the box for a small jar of star grass salve to rub across the cuts on his face, and another with bruise paste to help ease his black eyes. Placing a stasis charm on her work, she finally took the largest bottle from the kit—Skelegro—and Theo grimaced as he took a swig.
With all the greenish paste on his face, Theo almost looked like the Muggle women at the spas Pansy and Daphne read about in those Muggle magazines they smuggled into Hogwarts. Draco caught himself before he let a chuckle escape, now was not the time for jokes, although Theo did love a good one.
“How ya feelin’ mate?” Draco tried for a teasing tone.
“Oh, just swell you git,” Theo half laughed, half winced at the discomfort of the movement against his ribs.
“Language, Theodore,” Narcissa scolded gently with a little smile.
“Well that’s good, because you look like you’re having a ladies spa day with all that green goop on your face,” Draco joked, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice.
“All you need are some cucumbers on your eyes,” Pansy said sadly, seeing the state of everyone in the room.
“Hey Pans,” Theo smiled up at her with a dopey grin.
“Hey, you,” she said almost sweetly before turning on him. “I leave you two alone for one month! One month! And look at you both—a blubbering mess and a punching bag! Next time, Theo, just leave and come find me, kay? He might be able to bully you and push you around because he’s your father, but I have no problem casting an Unforgivable on that disgusting piece of garbage,” her voice echoed around the room, and her hatred of Nott Sr. was palpable and thick.
“Pansy, dear, that won’t be necessary. Theo will not be returning to his ancestral home,” the elder witch patted the young girl's hand in a comforting manner. She turned to the boy lying on the floor in front of her, “Theodore, once you have healed, we will all take a field trip to the Nott Estate and you can gather your belongings and anything you wish to keep of your mother’s, then you will permanently live here at the Manor.” And that was that.
The three teens shared a look between them—no matter which of their other friends came and went, they would be family, bonded for life. Narcissa smiled, packed her healing kit with a wave of her hand, and left them to catch up.
“So,” Pansy looked directly at Draco, “what happened to you that you couldn’t write me back?”
Draco rubbed his hands over his face, exhausted from the adrenaline leaving his system. “Occlumency lesson with Snape,” he answered.
“Occlumency?” She asked, clearly trying to remember if it was something she’d heard before.
“It’s advanced. It’s like building barriers around your brain and keeping someone from being able to read your mind and emotions with Legilimency,” he offered by way of explanation.
“And Legilimency?” She asked again.
“Forcing yourself into someone’s mind to read thoughts, memories, emotions—without Occlumency they can see everything,” he said sadly.
“So what, Snape used Legilimency on you?”
“More like ripped my brain to shreds. It isn’t usually too painful, I just hadn’t practiced much this last year and he was angry at how weak I’d let my Occlumency shields get,” Draco shrugged.
“So you were in, like, a coma?” She asked showing concern.
“Basically. I woke up a little over a week ago, but was too weak to come home. Mum had us staying at one of her family homes.”
“What did your father do to Snape when he found out?” Theo asked, knowing how protective the Malfoys were of each other.
“He was the one who let Snape in, and dragged mum out of the room—mum’s only let me come home because he’s gone on business for a while,” Draco said sadly.
“ Lucius let him do that?!” Theo’s eyes bugged out of his head in shock.
“Yeah, but it was my fault for not practicing—I had so much time I should’ve been focusing on that instead of checking on Granger non-stop—“ he froze. He’d never officially said anything about Granger in front of Pansy. Of course Blaise and Theo knew about his borderline obsession with the witch, but Pansy couldn’t stand the Gryffindor.
“I knew it!” She exclaimed righteously. “I bloody knew it and you all told me I was imagining things! So what, you guys sneak off and snog all the time?”
“What? No!” Draco denied her accusation. “Sometimes we talk in the library, and I help her save Potter’s stupid life, absolutely no snogging.”
“But you want to,” Theo teased.
“Oh, he definitely wants to,” Pansy agreed, sharing a smirk with the injured boy.
The two made a good deal of jokes at Draco’s expense for another fifteen minutes or so, before Mippy appeared to usher Draco and Pansy out so she could finish healing Theo and he could get some sleep. Narcissa met them in the hall, and showed Pansy to her room, also offering her a place at the Manor should she ever need it, no questions asked.
“Thanks mum,” Draco said once she had come back out of Pansy’s room.
“Of course, darling. Theodore and Pansy have always been family,” she kissed the top of his head and sent him off to bed.
…
The following morning, Draco and Pansy helped Theo hobble down to breakfast, where Narcissa was waiting for them with coffee, tea, and a variety of fruit flavored scones.
“How did you all sleep last night?” She asked them, genuinely caring about their rest, which shocked Pansy and Theo. Aside from Theo’s late mother, neither had known loving parents who actually showed real interest.
“Great, thank you,” they each replied.
A soft pop and Mippy had dropped off the morning’s copy of The Daily Prophet next to Narcissa’s plate. She picked up her teacup daintily, and glanced over at the front page. Her face twisted into an unreadable expression, and the teacup clattered to the floor, cracking into several pieces.
“Mother? What is it? What’s wrong?” Draco inquired nervously, while the other two children sat frozen in fear that their new happy ending might be pulled out from under them.
Narcissa cleared her throat delicately before regaining her composure. “My cousin has escaped from Azkaban,” she said as if commenting on the weather.
“What?!” Pansy and Theo shouted in unison, earning a glare from Draco.
The blonde gently took the paper from his mother’s faintly shaking hands. He read the front page aloud.
SIRIUS BLACK AT LARGE
Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, has recently escaped, and is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.
“We are doing all we can to recapture Black,” said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, “and we beg the magical community to remain calm.”
Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.
“Well, really, I had to, don’t you know,” said an irritable Fudge. “Black is mad. He’s a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister’s assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black’s true identity to anyone. And let’s face it — who’d believe him if he did?”
While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.
Draco folded the newspaper and laid it on the table, looking absolutely confunded. His mother had always spoken highly of her dearest blood-traitor cousin.
“Your cousin is a massmurderer?” Pansy asked, horrified.
“No, darling of course not,” Narcissa chuckled, as if the young girl had told a terribly funny joke. “He’s the most Gryffindor boy, well, man I suppose, that I’ve ever met,” her continued laughter tinkled like a windchime.
“So why does all of Wizarding Britain think he is?” Theo questioned.
“Ah, now that is a rather long story, but I suppose we aren’t going anywhere today with Theodore’s current condition,” she eyed the injured boy, quietly assessing his healing bruises and his sub-par posture. “Very well. My cousin was the first Black to be sorted outside of Slytherin, and to Gryffindor nonetheless. Naturally, my aunt and uncle were irate and began punishing him at every turn. They gave up hope on Sirius ever becoming a real pureblood heir once he befriended a Potter. Luckily for my cousin, the Potters took him in as a second son.”
“Potter?!” Draco scoffed. “A Potter took in one of us? I find that rather hard to believe!”
“Draco Lucius Malfoy, do not interrupt me,” she demanded before returning to her story. “Yes, Harry Potter’s father and Sirius Black were inseparable, as though they were actually brothers. It infuriated his parents to no end, and they instead focused on grooming my youngest cousin, Regulus, to be the new heir.”
“But how could he become the new heir? Doesn’t it go to the oldest son by blood?” Theo asked politely, trying to avoid Narcissa’s anger with interruptions.
“Indeed, but Sirius would’ve given it up if asked. He hated the Black family and everything it stood for. I honestly can’t blame him after the way Walburga and Orion treated him as a child,” she sighed, clearly remembering some of her more upsetting childhood memories.
“I think your cousin and I would get along great,” Theo grinned wistfully, as he imagined meeting the rebellious escaped prisoner.
Narcissa reached over and patted his hand softly, “I think you’re right, Theodore. Perhaps one day you two will meet,” she smiled brightly. “Now Sirius and his few close friends were constantly getting into trouble, and much like your Gryffindor classmates, they got out of it easily. It angered Severus Snape to no end and eventually pushed him into joining the Dark Lord’s side later on. You already know how your father’s were pushed into their servitude, so I won’t linger there,” she said thoughtfully.
Theo and Pansy have her tight-lipped half-smiles in silent thanks for not having to hear all the gruesome details again.
“When their time at Hogwarts was coming to an end, Orion and Walburga begged the Dark Lord for Sirius to be given a chance to prove himself. They locked him up as soon as he returned home for his last summer before seventh year, and tried to force the Mark on him,” she began choking on soft sobs before attempting to control her emotions.
Draco saw the mask of her Occlumency shields slip over her face. It was a little unsettling how he could not see a single drop of emotion on her face.
“Lucius was the one tasked with giving him the Mark. He refused and fought it with everything he had. Lucius didn’t try very hard, knowing how much I cared for Sirius, and eventually the Dark Lord told him to stop and that it must be taken willingly. Walburga left him in the drawing room to bleed out, but somehow he was able to escape to the Potters and thankfully never returned,” she paused to take in the state of the three children—teenagers—before her.
“So he was never a Death Eater?” Pansy asked, confused.
“Absolutely not. He would’ve rather died than join the Dark Lord. A true Gryffindor, with no sense for self-preservation. Which is why his own friend was able to take the Mark and kill all those people right under his nose, then pin it on him!” Narcissa said angrily to no one in particular.
“Potter’s father was a Death Eater? Now I’m really lost,” Theo said, astonished.
Narcissa waved him off as though he was a silly child. “Not Potter, Peter Pettigrew. He was one of their closest friends, and ended up being the one to hand over the Potters to the Dark Lord. Sirius just happened to figure it out the fastest, and went after the sneaky rat being the last one standing in the carnage when the Aurors showed up.”
“So he killed Pettigrew?” Draco asked, enraptured by the story.
“When I said rat, I meant rat. He was an Animagus, as was my cousin, and I would assume Potter. The perks of being both a Legilimens and an Occlumens. I can seek out any information I wish, and do not have to share it if I do not wish to.”
“So Pettigrew turned into a rat and everyone thought Sirius killed him and everyone else—” Draco whispered, not entirely a question but more of a revelation at how unfair his cousin’s life had been. He then turned to his mother in anger, “why didn’t you just tell everyone Pettigrew was an Animagus? That would’ve saved Sirius from Azkaban, right?!”
Narcissa’s face fell a little at the accusation, but her Occlumency shields reinforced themselves and her features went stoic again. “None of them were registered Animagi. If I had given my memories to be viewed in the pensieve for a trial, they would have seen that Sirius was an unregistered Animagus too. He would’ve gone to Azkaban regardless, at least this way he had an escape plan once he finally figured it out,” she said matter of factly.
“You really thought this through,” Pansy asked in awe at the manipulative witch before her.
“I did,” Narcissa answered with a satisfied smirk.
“So now what will you do? Now that he’s escaped?” Theo asked.
“We find him,” Draco answered firmly for his mother.
…
All three Hogwarts letters arrived later that week, and Narcissa began planning their trip to Diagon Alley for their new supplies and books. Draco and Theo would need to be fitted for new robes, since they had both grown several inches in the short time they had been out of school. She also planned a separate, secret shopping day to take Pansy bra shopping. It was clear the young girl was becoming more and more uncomfortable with each passing day, and living with two teenage boys didn’t help the matter. Narcissa felt sorry for the witch, her own experience had been significantly different, growing up in a household of nearly all females.
Theo’s bruises healed quickly, and after about a week, he was able to move around freely, without wincing every time his torso twisted. With one last scan, Narcissa declared him healed enough to leave the Manor, and they planned their trip to the Nott Estate for the following morning. It was a Tuesday, and Nott Sr. was sure to be away on business.
The morning of their excursion, Theo looked rattled. Sitting at breakfast, his hands shook so violently, he nearly dumped the contents of his teacup on his lap. None of the other Manor residents said a word about it, and only offered positive looks and comments.
Together, the four of them entered Theo’s room through Draco’s Floo. Narcissa and Theo went first, followed closely by Draco and Pansy. Narcissa watched the door while Theo packed. Once a bag or box was filled, he passed it off to Draco and Pansy to be carried back through the Floo. His room was quickly emptied, and Narcissa checked the hall outside his door.
“It’s empty if you would like to bring some of your mother’s things, dear,” she offered sweetly.
Not able to force out any words, he just nodded as tears pricked his eyes.
“We’ll keep watch on the door here,” Draco said, and Pansy nodded in agreement.
The pair waited for what seemed like forever. When Draco spotted a shadow turning the corner at the end of the hall, he grabbed Pansy’s hand, ready to run. They heard a deeper voice, knowing it was most certainly not Theo or his mother. They both held their breath, closing the door so that only the tiniest crack remained. The footsteps grew closer…and closer…
“Yes, yes, of course! I don’t know how you put up with a child at all, if it weren’t for my need of an heir, I’d have gotten rid of the horrid thing ages ago,” the deep voice grumbled.
Draco’s heart sank. It was Nott Sr. and he was most certainly talking about Theo—not as his son, but as an object. A thing.
“I do hope you don’t mean that, Ted. After all, the Dark Lord wouldn’t be happy to hear such discord in our own homes,” the distinct drawl of Lucius Malfoy floated across the hall, only mere steps away.
“Ah!” Pansy audibly gasped at the recognition and the conversation just outside the door paused.
“Did you hear something?” Nott asked curiously.
Staring directly at the door, Lucius forced a chuckle, “doubtful, Ted. Don’t you have quite an array of cursed objects in the house? Surely you’ve attracted a boggart or two over the years? Just last week I had to have one removed from the west wing at the Manor…”
The voices continued down the hall, passing the door to Theo’s room without further incident. Nott Sr. either didn’t know Theo was gone or didn’t care.
“They need to hurry up before your fathers come back! We’re so going to get caught!” Pansy started to panic, still squeezing Draco’s hand. The moment they both realized what they were doing, the quickly stepped apart and averted their eyes, looking anywhere but at each other.
Finally, Narcissa and Theo turned the corner, hurrying toward the door with two boxes levitating behind them. Theo was clutching a small wooden box to his chest, looking pale. No one spoke a word until all four of them made it back through the Floo and safely into Malfoy Manor.
“So we saw Mr. Malfoy talking with Theo’s dad,” Pansy said nonchalantly, and Draco elbowed her in the ribs a little over-aggressively. “Oww! Merlin, Draco, what’s wrong with you!”
“Sorry Pans, but did you have to just blurt it out like that?” He said, hardly sounding contrite, and the girl just shrugged her shoulders, not sorry either.
“Yes, we saw them too. Luckily, they didn’t see us since we heard them come through the Floo downstairs. It was a rather close call, though,” Narcissa admitted.
“I thought you said father was away on business?” Draco asked, ignoring the fact that there were two non-blood relatives listening in on a very personal conversation.
“He’s following up on the matter we discussed at dinner the other night, dear,” she said stiffly. Draco dropped the subject, but he could tell that Pansy and Theo would not.
Pansy, astute as ever, drew everyone’s attention away from the Malfoys and back to Theo for the time being, “so what’s in the box?” She tapped the little wooden box he held with a vise grip, and gave him a charming smile.
“Just some of my mother’s jewelry and letters to me,” he said grievously.
“Oh,” Pansy whispered and they all moved toward one of the smaller sitting rooms.
“Mrs. Malfoy,” Theo began, once they were all seated and watching him like he would shatter any moment, “can you tell me about my mother?”
Narcissa’s concerned gaze flipped up into a tender smile, “of course, Theodore. What would you like to know?”
“I guess what was she like? Did she have any family left?” He tightly grasped the armrest of the ivory winged-back chair he was in, his knuckles blanching.
“She was so lovely. I’m sure you at least remember how beautiful and kind she was. Accalia was one of my dearest friends once we finally met. She was so incredibly intelligent, and she was fiercely loyal—so much so that I had no doubt she would’ve been in Hufflepuff had she attended Hogwarts,” the elder woman said wistfully.
“Wait, so my mum never went to Hogwarts? Isn’t that how my parents met?” Theo’s face twisted up in a combination of surprise and confusion.
“Sadly, no, she was not permitted to attend Hogwarts, but myself and another student visited her often enough that she learned everything we did, and even better than we could’ve accomplished,” Narcissa answered carefully, warily watching what the children picked up on. Draco could see she was hiding something, but didn’t want to ruin the moment for Theo.
“So how did she meet my father?” He tried again.
“Lucius and I had our engagement party right after I graduated from Hogwarts, on the summer solstice, and she was a guest of mine, while your father was a guest of Lucius’s. The moment he saw her, he claimed he would have her as his wife, no matter the cost. I’m not entirely sure how it went from there, I didn’t see much of Accalia after that day between planning my own wedding and your father chasing after her. They got married shortly after Lucius and I, then along came you two,” she laughed softly motioning to Theo and Draco.
“Was she happy?” Theo asked nervously.
“I’m sorry, Theodore, she seemed happy when we were together, but your father and Lucius were always present as well. Much like any society lady, she knew how to keep her true feelings hidden so all we would have seen was happiness. Now when she was holding you, she had pure joy radiating from her. Always,” the woman beamed at the lanky brown-haired boy before her. “She would be so proud of who you’ve become, Theo.”
Narcissa dabbed at a tear in the corner of her eye with a handkerchief she had wordlessly conjured. The woman stood and excused herself from the room. Pansy sniffled at the sentimental conversation she had just witnessed, inching ever so slightly closer to Draco on the settee. Theo wiped away a stray tear and gently opened the wooden box on his lap with a small gasp.
“What is it?” Draco asked, concerned.
“Her wedding ring and the necklace she always wore—I don’t even know what it’s made of, but it’s definitely not a diamond like her ring, or even a pearl,” he said as if it had never registered with him as a child.
“Can I see it?” Pansy asked hesitantly as she rose from the settee to stand next to Theo’s chair.
“Um, sure, I guess—“ he started to answer before she cut him off.
“I don’t need to hold it, Theo, I know it’s special. I’ll just look, okay?” She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and knelt next to his seat to inspect the necklace. “I’ve never seen it before, Draco would your mother know?” She looked over her shoulder at the blonde in question.
“Possibly,” he said thoughtfully. “We can ask her at afternoon tea, she’ll most likely be sitting in the greenhouse, waiting for us.”
Pansy and Draco left Theo to read through the letters from his mother, with promises to meet him for afternoon tea after they washed up from their exhausting excursion to the Nott Estate. He walked Pansy to her door and she clung to his arm tightly.
“You okay, Pans?” He asked, a little concerned by her clingy behavior all day.
“I’m fine, I just feel safer with you around,” she answered sheepishly.
“Safe? What do you need to feel safe from?” He said cluelessly.
Pansy took his hand, without looking up, and squeezed it, “never mind, don’t worry about it.” She grinned at him brightly, then rushed into her room, shutting the door quickly behind her.
Draco scratched at the back of his neck, even more confused, but shrugged it off and went to his own room. He took his time changing out of his pants and button down shirt, into something more comfortable and suitable for the warm weather since they would be essentially outside for the remainder of the afternoon. He pulled on a pair of khaki shorts and a Kenmare Kestrals t-shirt, the two back-to-back yellow ‘K’s standing out against the deep emerald green. While he wasn’t a true Irish fan, he gladly supported the man who taught him Quidditch and built him into the Seeker he was today. Because it sure as hell wasn’t any thanks to Madam Hooch or Flint.
Taking a final look in his mirror, the blonde raked a hand through his unusually shaggy hair before leaving his room. I really should have mother cut it again before term starts again.
Draco was last to enter the conservatory for tea. He hadn’t been there since the previous summer, and while he wasn’t surprised, he did appreciate his mother’s tendency to strive for perfection. The Manor’s grounds had a lovely, award-winning rose garden thanks to Narcissa, but that was just a tiny glimpse into the woman’s green thumb.
The conservatory was cross shaped in layout, and had wide gothic arched frames with a large dome in the middle that were all paneled with blue-ish green tinted glass throughout. Above the doorways were ornate metal frames, and they mimicked the iron points above the central frames. The floor was tiled with classic black and white alternating marble tiles that often reminded Draco of a giant chessboard, and the walls were lined with benches and tables covered in pots and plants of all varieties.
At the center of the glass room, there was a mid-sized pond of nearly twenty feet in diameter. In the middle of the pond, was a tall, wrought iron spiral staircase that wound up through the leaves and vines that arced to the ceiling, and it ended with a round platform near the top of the glass dome. There were a few carefully placed stepping stones just a millimeter beneath the surface of the water, hidden to those who didn’t know they were there.
Under the water's surface, resided his mother’s kappa. She never would give him a straight answer on how she domesticated the beast, but Draco knew it would never betray her, only cause trouble for him if he disturbed it or called on it. While the youngest Malfoy found magical creatures interesting in his many books, he never really had the skill or desire to deal with them in person. Just in case the creature was watching, Draco gave the pond a wide berth as he walked past it, keeping his eyes on the glassy surface for any hint of a bubble or ripple.
Walking to the opposite end, he spotted his mother and his friends sitting at the large ornately carved wooden dining table. There was a silver tea set sitting in the center, and a full cup waiting for him at his place setting. Between the two women, there was a small silver tray piled with tiny finger sandwiches and biscuits. They had all apparently waited for him to arrive before diving in, to the refreshments.
“Draco, darling, how lovely of you to finally join us,” his mother teased lovingly.
“Yes, dearest, I dare say I expected you to look much more dashing with the amount of time you spent getting ready for tea,” Theo jibed.
“You look like a bum, Draco, when’s the last time you cut your hair?” Pansy said, leaning over to card her fingers through his blonde strands.
Rolling his eyes, the boy scoffed, “I didn’t realize this tea was to rag on me instead of talk about Theo’s jewelry.” Pansy harrumphed but dropped her hand back to her teacup.
“Theodore, why don’t you show me that lovely stone you told me about,” Narcissa politely steered them back to their purpose.
Theo pulled out the wooden box, setting it softly on the tabletop. He carefully lifted the lid and pulled out the necklace. It was a pear-shaped gemstone that was not quite an opaque, iridescent white. The light bounced off the little facets, creating a prism of colors. It was beautiful. The pendant hung on a thin golden chain that looked nearly invisible. The whole thing looked somewhat luminescent, and it was entrancing to look at.
“Adularia,” Narcissa breathed.
“Adu—what?” Theo asked, bewildered.
“Adularia,” she repeated, “it aids in bringing balance and femininity, and invites the wearer to accept change and embrace new beginnings.”
“Femininity?” Pansy asked, curious, “just what you need, Theo.”
Draco chuckled, but his mother continued with a smirk, “yes, femininity and fertility too, I might add, but it can also soothe emotional instability and stress, bringing calmness to the wearer.”
“Are you planning on wearing this thing, mate?” Draco asked skeptically. He knew his mother dabbled in divination and all of its facets, including gemology. He also had never been able to put much stock into any of her ‘readings’ which always seemed to be overly generalized.
“I hadn’t thought about it, but maybe,” Theo shrugged, replying honestly.
“I’ll wear it!” Pansy cooed, reaching for the pendant.
“Uhh, no thanks,” Theo snatched the necklace out of her reach, just as she nearly snagged it. He tucked it safely away, back in the box, and smirked at her pouting lips. “Trying to be a teenage parent?” He chuckled.
“Absolutely not!” She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms, “it’s just really pretty…plus when she sees it, Da—“ she trailed off, eyes shooting to Theo’s face but had already tuned her out and was appraising his mother’s wedding ring instead.
Draco watched the interaction and wondered what Pansy was about to say, while trying to remember where he had heard the name ‘adularia’ before. He could swear he’d read it in a book, and it was right at the edge of his brain, just out of reach…
The greenhouse/conservatory I pictured is a combination of the images below, and the pendant at the end is what Theo’s mother’s necklace is based on.
