Chapter 7
The next morning arrived cold and grey. All the seventh and eight years going home stood in the great hall, waiting for the carriages to pull up. This time around, everyone was expecting the Therestrals and weren't scared when they showed up. Ada got into a carriage with Draco, Blaise and Pansy and tried not to shiver as the cold penetrated her thin coat, the only one she had. Draco noticed and draped his arm around her shoulders and tucked her to his side to keep her warm. She stiffened originally but relaxed after a second.
There were only about fifty kids total going home between the seventh and eighth years so they were able to really spread out along the train. Draco found a compartment that was pretty isolated for them and they all lugged their trunks in. Blaise took Ada's trunk and put it up for her and she nodded her thanks. They all settled in for the two hour ride and were pretty quiet for the most part.
Ada hadn’t slept well the night before and she yawned tiredly as she settled back on the bench she and Draco shared. She was apprehensive of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, even more so at the reality of them actually being her only family. She stole a glance at Draco but quickly looked away when she realized he was watching her.
“Do you want to lay down?” he asked.
She considered it for a second and then nodded. She let Draco pull her down so that she was basically using him as a pillow and could put her legs and feet up on the rest of the bench. Draco carded his fingers through her hair and she closed her eyes at the soothing sensation. She fell asleep pretty much as soon as they left Hogsmeade.
Draco looked down at the head in his lap and smiled gently. He still couldn’t believe he’d found her! His father had been obsessed with finding her and so of course Draco had been too. He had always hoped that he would one day find her at Hogwarts but after the war he had feared she had been among those killed. He had just about given up on her but here she was, sleeping on him. He looked up and found Pansy smiling at him. She and Blaise were the only ones who knew how much this meant to him and his family.
When they neared the Platform Draco gently shook Ada’s shoulder to wake her up. She sighed but opened her eyes and blearily sat up. She looked out the window just as they pulled into the platform and her expression became guarded. Draco pulled their trunks down from the rack and she whispered her thanks. Blaise and Draco led the way and Ada hung back a little. When they disembarked from the train she momentarily got separated from her group and decided just to stand still for a second, until the crowd had dispersed. Once it had she realized that Draco had stopped to wait for her and she hurried to catch up. Pansy said her quick goodbyes once Ada was there and she hugged her.
“Don’t let them scare you.” she whispered to Ada. “They’re all bark and no bite. Write if you need anything.”
Ada nodded and smiled at Pansy. In just the past couple days, she’d come to like the other girl. Pansy quickly hugged Blaise and Draco before going to where her family was waiting for her. Ada hesitantly followed Draco and Blaise to the other end of the platform. When she saw the stern looking Malfoy’s she had second thoughts about all this. She was mostly hidden by the two boys in front of her and so Mr. Malfoy didn’t see her at first.
“Where is she?” he asked Draco, frowning.
“Right here father.” Draco said and Ada warily stepped forward to stand between Draco and Blaise.
Mr. Malfoy stared at her for a second, almost unbelieving. He stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug, trying not to cry. She was tense but didn’t push him away.
“Elizabeth.” He whispered.
A few stray tears slipped down his face as he held her an arms length away to look at her properly. She was small and slim, with the Malfoy grey eyes and pale skin. She had her mothers dark wavy hair and dainty facial features. Mr. Malfoy looked at Narcissa who had tears freeley streaming down her face. Narcissa reached out and gently stroked Ada’s cheek, almost as if she was afraid Ada would break.
Ada was a little uncomfortable with the attention. No one had ever looked at her with such love and they didn’t even know her, not really. When she felt like it was too much, she stepped back to the relative emotional safety of Draco and Blaise. Draco stepped forward next to embrace his parents and they hugged him just as tight as they had Ada. Blaise shook hands with Mr. Malfoy and hugged Mrs. Malfoy. When Draco stepped back he bumped her elbow and smiled when she looked at him. She managed a tight smile back and looked back at Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.
“I suppose you lot would prefer to go home rather than standing on this drafty platform.” Mr. Malfoy said after a second or two of awkward silence.
The three nodded in various levels of enthusiasm and grabbed their trunks. Ada winced slightly and realized the numbing from last night must be wearing off. She carried on, however, as if nothing was wrong. She followed the boys as they left the platform and into the rest of King’s Cross. A car was waiting for them outside the station and the three teenagers heaved their trunks into the trunk, grateful for the expanding charm on it.
Inside the car looked quite normal which surprised Ada. She was once again sandwiched between Blaise and Draco and was starting to wonder if they did it on purpose. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were on the bench across from them and whenever Ada looked up from her hands she saw them both looking at her as if afraid she would disappear. At this point she was starting to wish she could, all the attention made her uncomfortable and anxious.
Once they got outside the city the car did some sort of weird jump thing that left Ada’s stomach lurching unpleasantly. They pulled through a set of large ornate gates with the Malfoy crest on them and she was awed by the estate. Snow covered everything in a pure white blanket and even though it hadn’t been snowing outside the gates, it was softly falling here. The manor itself had lights spilling from every window. It looked like a postcard.They pulled up right in front of the house and as she got out she couldn’t help but stare.
“It's beautiful, isn't it?” Mrs. Malfoy said softly, coming to stand by the girl.
Ada just nodded and kept looking around, taking in the beauty. Draco unloaded her trunk for her and seeing that she was enraptured by the scene he took it inside for her. He followed his father to the room that he and mother had prepared for her and set the trunk at the end of her bed. When he went back to the stairs he found his mother and Ada just coming in from the cold and smiled. His mother looked so at peace just having the girl beside her. Draco also noticed that Ada was shivering in her thin coat and made a note to either remind her to wear a heavier one out or to get her a new one.
Blaise came up right behind him and nudged Draco. Blaise had stayed with them over summer so he just took his old room next to Draco’s. As Ada took off her coat Blaise noticed her wince and pointed it out quietly to Draco. He just nodded his acknowledgement and the two of them went down the stairs to join Draco’s parents and Ada in the parlour. A house elf had already brought in tea so Draco and Blaise helped themselves before settling down. Mrs. Malfoy smiled warmly at the two boys and Draco couldn’t help but feel at peace to finally be home.
“So Elizabeth, would you like to help us learn more about you?” Mr. Malfoy asked.
“I guess. What do you want to know?” she replied.
“We can start with school, if that's all right. Draco said you’re a Ravenclaw but that's about all we know. What are your favorite subjects?”
“Umm, I like potions and arithmetic. I don’t really care for divination though. It's pointless.”
“Potions? Severus didn’t scare you off?” Mrs. Malfoy asked, surprised.
“Not at all, he’s so intense because if you don’t take it seriously, people could be really hurt or die. He’s intense because he needs to be.”
“Interesting.” Mr. Malfoy said. “And Arithmancy?”
“Before Hogwarts I attended a muggle primary school because I’d get too bored at home. We did arithmetic, or math, and arithmancy is the closest Hogwarts has to that.”
“Were you involved in any extracurriculars?”
Ada looked down at her lap anxiously.
“No, I preferred to use my free time to read and do my own research projects as well as keep up with some of my muggle studies. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, it's great that you had the drive to do all that on your own. Means you’ll be successful in life. What muggle subject was your favorite?”
“I really like literature because I got to read a wide variety of books and stories. Arithmetic was fun too, though, because math is so perfect. It has rules and it follows those rules no exception. There’s no better feeling than working an equation perfectly and getting the answer the first time.”
“That sounds wonderful. So what was it like with your adoptive family?” Mr. Malfoy asked.
The quick turnaround caught Ada off guard and she hesitated for a second. She didn’t want to lie but she also knew her family hadn’t been the greatest and she didn’t want to bother the Malfoy’s with it.
“They were fine.” she settled on saying.
Mrs. Malfoy frowned.
“Just fine? Were they abusive?”
“What? No, not abusive. We just all kind of kept our distance. I never felt connected to them and they certainly were never connected with me. They left me alone for the most part and I did my best to leave them alone.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy exchanged a worried look that Ada missed since she was looking down at her hands in her lap. They were really starting to hurt now. The Malfoy’s decided not to press it for now but turned the conversation to the past semester. They spent close to two hours in the parlour talking before Mrs. Malfoy noticed that Ada was starting to look tired. She looked at the other two boys and realized that they were as well so she gracefully interrupted the easy debate over the pros and cons of having four separate Hogwarts houses.
“I’m sure you could continue arguing for another few hours but I for one am a tad exhausted and I’m sure you three are too.” She said with a smile at the teens. “Would you all like to unpack your trunks and settle in?”
They nodded and Narcissa smiled again as they stood up. Ada looked a small bit more comfortable than she had been at first so that was a good sign. She looked around uncertainly as the boys left and Mrs. Malfoy realized she hadn’t been shown her room yet.
“Come with me dear, I’ll help you get settled in.”
Ada followed the matriarch up the stairs and was slightly in awe again of the grandeur of the manor. They climbed the stairs to the second floor and then walked down a long halfway to the end. Narcissa opened the last door on the right and then stepped aside so Ada could go in.
There was a twin bed centered along one wall. There were two walls of windows, each with a large arching window that overlooked the vast Malfoy estate. A simple dresser ran along the wall the bed wasn’t on.
“I know its barebones right now but we wanted you to be able to design it however you wish. Tomorrow we could start working on it if you like.”
“That would be nice.” Ada said softly.
She noticed her trunk at the end of her bed and realized she had been so distracted when she first arrived she hadn’t even thought about it.
“I’ll let you have some time to make yourself at home. Just ask if you need anything.” Mrs. Malfoy said and turned to leave. “Oh, and that door right there is to your bathroom. We can figure out what products best suit your hair later.”
“Thank you Mrs. Malfoy.”
Please feel free to call me Aunt Narcissa, or simply Narcissa if you prefer.” she smiled at the timid girl before leaving.
Once Narcissa had left, Ada sat down on the edge of her bed and looked around. It was a pretty spacious room and it was easy to imagine a bookshelf and a cozy chair in the corner near her bed. A desk would be great under one of the windows too. She went to feel the soft quilt on her bed but winced at the movement. The numbing had definitely worn off. She summoned the little drawstring bag from her school stachel.
She clumsily pulled it open and dumped the two jars on the bed next to her as well as a couple more little pads. She started painfully unwrapping her right hand since it hurt more. Once the bandage was off she lifted the pad and was relieved to see it wasn’t sticking like the gauze had. She realized she needed a rag but didn’t know where to find one. She was just contemplating using the sleeve of her t-shirt, it was just a hand-me-down from her brother anyways, when a house elf popped in.
“Missus Narissa sent Barty in to say that when yous likes you can come downstairs and she will be giving yous a tour.”
“Thank you Barty.” Ada said.
Barty smiled and bowed to the girl and was just about to leave when she realized there was a solution to her problem.
“Barty, would you be willing to get me a rag please?”
“Yes ma’am, would you like me to also let Missus Narcissa know that yous be needing help with your hands?”
“Oh, no please. Don’t bother her with that, I can do it on my own but thank you.”
Barty nodded and popped back out and Ada stood up to go look out her windows as she waited. After a minute a rag appeared on her bed with a sharp snap that startled her slightly. She levitated all the things she needed and brought them into the bathroom so that she could use the faucet. She wet one corner of the rag and wiped yesterday's gooey mess off as gently as she could. She tried to breathe deeply and ignore the pain but wasn’t very successful. Her eyes smarted but she didn’t want to cry so it took her a very long time to get everything off. She would pause between every dab to steel herself for the next one. When she was finally done she breathed a sigh of relief. She went to unscrew the lid of the jar of the numbing gel when someone knocked on her bedroom door frame.
“Just a second.” she called and then silently cursed.
She decided she’d just hold her hands behind her back as she walked out of the bathroom. Draco stood in her door frame and she wanted to curse again. Instead she conjured up a small smile.
“Just wanted to see if you needed help or anything,” he said.
“Nah, I’m good but thank you.”
“How are your hands? Blaise noticed you winced earlier when you took off your coat.”
“What? They’re fine. He must have just imagined it.”
“Sure.” Draco gave Ada a suspicious look and stepped closer to her. “Would you mind if I took a look at them just to make sure?”
“Draco, I’m fine. Honestly. You're such a mother hen!”
“You’re lying straight through your teeth right now. Let me see your hands.”
Ada shook her head and tried to back up but Draco was faster. He reached out and grabbed one of her wrists. Unfortunately for her it was the one she’d already unwrapped. She tried to tug away but he just glared at her and she sighed in defeat.
“Is everything in your bathroom?” he asked her and she nodded.
He made her sit down on her bed before he went to retrieve everything. He sat down next to her and pulled her hands so that they rested on his knees. He unwrapped her other hand as well and inspected them before using the rag and repeating the process from last night.
“They are already looking better. Mother says it will only take a few days for them to heal with this stuff.” he nodded to the blue jar.
“They still hurt like hell.” Ada muttered darkly.
Draco just laughed at her. She was just like a grumpy toddler who didn’t get their way but was still behaved enough not to throw an all out tantrum. When he finished wrapping up both her hands he patted her knee and stood up.
“Mother said to meet her downstairs whenever you're ready. She’ll give you a tour before dinner.”
Ada nodded and watched him leave before standing up herself. She supposed it would be best not to keep the matriarch waiting. Before she left though she pulled out a threadbare jumper, it was rather cold here.
She slowly crept through the long hallway staring at everything around here. Beautiful paintings of red sunsets and green meadows lined the halls. From the top of the stairs she stared down at the simple but elegant entry hall and sighed. She felt so out of place here.
Her adoptive family had been purebloods but they were incredibly frugal so they lived in a modest two level farmhouse. She had only ever known hand-me-downs from her brothers or clothes from muggle thrift stores. Her first brand new clothes, perhaps since she had been a baby, had been the new robes she bought herself in her fifth year once she’d finally stopped growing. She’d worked all summer to get all new things for school and had just barely had enough. What was she doing here? She caught sight of Narcissa walking through and hurried down the stairs to meet her.
“Ah Elizabeth, there you are! Would you like to see the rest of the place?”
“Sure, I’d love to. Thank you Mrs. Narcissa.”
“You make me feel old when you say that! Remember what I said earlier?”
“Sorry Aunt Narcissa.”
“There we go.” She smiled warmly and took the girl by the elbow, leading her through the first floor.
They saw the kitchens, dining room, front parlour, ball room, and the sun room before heading up the stairs. The second floor was all bedrooms on the left side and Ada learned where everyone was situated. Then they went down the right hall and stopped before the one set of doors on the left side. Narcissa pushed them open and Ada gasped.
It was a huge Library! It rivaled Hogwarts in size but instead of sprawling out it sprawled up. Books lined every wall and created a maze on the ground. The shelves towered up impossibly and Ada couldn’t wait to get lost in the middle of it. She walked in and just smelled the air. It was thick with the smell of old books and it made her grin like a child on christmas morning.
“Would you like to stay here for a little bit?” Narcissa asked, pleased at the joy on the girl's face.
She just nodded and walked into one of the rows, her fingers trailing along the spines of books. Narcissa watched her till she disappeared then left to go check on her son and Blaise, who might as well be her son at this point.