Ink and Parchment ~ blood and bone

18

They shared meals with Lucius and Narcissa every night in the family dining room. Draco rambled on about the happenings of the term even though Eliza knew his parents have probably heard most of the stories before as Draco wrote to them at least once a week but they still listen indulgently.

The first night was tense, giving her and Lucius' tepid relations up until this point, despite what his son might think of her.

"And how have you been doing Miss Potter?" he drawled blissfully unaware of the warning glare Narcissa shoots him.

"Wreaking havoc I suppose" he sniffed disdainfully and Eliza returned his remark with one of her own.

"And how have you been doing Mr Malfoy? Missing a house elf I suppose?" she simpered and finished her question with a cutting vicious smile. Lucius reeled back angrily and Eliza took a slow sip of her water as she watched him splutter. To her surprise it's Draco who came to her defence.

"Father the only reason we lost Dobby was because you decided it was a swell idea to open the Chamber of Secrets in the first place. Please cease your posturing" he said scathingly and as Eliza turned to gawp at the blonde. In this moment she can truly see how much he took after Narcissa.

"What?" Draco asked as the stupefied silence dragged on, arching an eyebrow "I'm 13 not an idiot"

That seemed to snap his parents out of their shock and Eliza watched as Narcissa smiled at Draco softly.

"Of course Dragon"

It's amazing how far Draco has come in such a short time, it's nice to see he's finally stepped out of his Father's shadow.

Things between Eliza and Lucius are still tense but at least things were a bit more civil now, in fact sometimes she even finds herself getting along with the blonde as much as it pained her. She appreciated his Slytherin attributes, it took a very skilled man to be well known as one of the Dark Lords supporters and still retain such a high social standing after all. Many of their political beliefs even aligned and Eliza took great pleasure in debating the current bills in the Wizengamot with him.

Plus it made Draco happy.

What was perhaps most interesting about these 'family' meals was that Narcissa and Lucius both actually involve her in conversation. Although it's obvious Lucius is simply fishing for more information about her policies, Narcissa seemed genuinely interested in her.

"And how many subjects do you take Eliza?" she asked one night as the house elves appeared with their food.

"Currently all that are offered on the curriculum, including Alchemy and Magic theory" Eliza responded with a smile, murmuring a 'thank you' to the house elves much to their delight.

"Ah yes I heard they reinstated the subjects" Narcissa said with a small smile of her own.

"It's brilliant mother!" Draco interrupted "Eliza was the one behind the article you know"

Eliza was very careful when she revealed her political manoeuvrings to the Malfoy's. Draco had no such qualms.

"Eliza was actually going to organise a Samhain ritual, like the ones we used to do, but Sirius Black broke into the castle" he said one night and Eliza had to resist the urge to kick him under the table. She didn't really fault him, of course he was going to share these things with his parents.

Eliza just wished his parents weren't terrifying political powerhouses that could ruin her. The Malfoy's didn't seem to mind that much really, if anything they seem quite impressed but it never hurt to be too careful.

She spoke to Riddle a lot at night when she retreated to the guest bedroom. It was a bit overwhelming, being at Malfoy Manor. It was a permanent reminder that in high society she would always be out of place. Riddle was a comforting steady presence and Eliza stayed up well into the night to talk to him about anything and everything that crossed her mind.