-The Children of Darkness- The Riddle Siblings

Xmas holidays

Me: Are you there?

I hold my sister's hand as she grabs her luggage, Zephyr peeks out of his coat and meows

Aurora: Yes, I am.

Together we throw ourselves into the fireplace and shortly afterwards we find ourselves in front of Theo's father and our uncle, who examine us before helping us up and removing some of the ash from our clothes.

A few minutes later

My uncle shakes Mr Nott's hand and pats Theo's back, while Aurora, as soon as her turo arrives, breaks the coldness and rigidity of the situation and hugs him.

Aurora: Merry Christmas

Mr and Theo Nott: Thank you.

We load our luggage onto the flying carriage and take the flight home.

Aurora strokes Zephyr and Draco doesn't stop staring at her, so I clear my throat and he goes back to looking out the window.

After a few hours we start to pull, the Pegasus trotting towards the gate and the manor, stopping just outside the entrance. Our Aunt Narcissa rushes out of the door and greets us, trying to hide her excitement. My sister, as expected, jumps on her neck and the two of them cling to each other for a few seconds.

Then they break apart and she takes a few steps towards me and Draco, stroking our cheeks with her bright, tired eyes. She doesn't say anything, just nods and goes into the house.

Malfoy Manor had always had a strange charm, even though it was a house full of gloomy colours and lights, the place gave me a sense of tranquillity, perhaps because it was always quiet, being large and inhabited by only four people most of the year...

As soon as I entered the house, however, the feeling of peace and quiet that had been with me since childhood disappeared. From the basement of the house I could hear horrible screams and small stains of blood littered the floor.

The doors closed behind us, making my blood run cold. A strange hissing sound echoed through the room and Nagini, the devout father's serpent, emerged from the stairs, her scales still stained with blood.

Aurora begins to make the same hissing sounds that none of us can understand, and in response a hissing sound echoes throughout the house and my father's figure appears in a black cloud. He approaches my sister and caresses her face with his long, cadaverous fingers. ....

Then he looked at me with his icy eyes and patted me on the shoulder.

Tom: Son

Me: Father

Aurora's POV

The two of them walk away arm in arm followed by Lucius and another man I had never seen before, Draco flanks me and I look up and our eyes meet, I shake my head telling him not to ask any questions.

Cissy: Draco...

He looks at his mother, nods, picks up his bags and disappears around the corner to his room, my aunt waiting for him to disappear too, to take my hand and look me straight in the eye. A sympathetic smile appears on her lips. She raises her wand and makes my luggage disappear.

Cissy: Come on, darling...

We climb the stairs and enter the room, the curtains fluttering in the breeze and my room smells of meta peperita. I wave my wand and both the windows and the door close. Zephyrus jumps onto my bed and I use my wand to make my clothes disappear neatly into the wardrobe. My aunt stops and looks at me, something is bothering her.

Me: Is everything okay...?

She walks over and picks up my mother's necklace with tears in her eyes, then takes a deep breath and smiles, caressing my face.

Cissy: My little girl, look how much you have grown in four months.

She laughs but I continue to look at her seriously.

Me: Auntie, please tell me what's going on.

Cissy: Things are going to change around here...

Me: I know, my father is back, it was obvious that things were going to change.

Cissy: I just want you to make the right decisions, the ones you think are right and in keeping with the wonderful person you are, OK?

Me: OK...?

She kisses me on the forehead and leaves the room. My aunt didn't like the Dark Lord living in her house.

She had never been his follower or admirer, on the contrary, without her he would never have returned to our lives.

Narrator's POV

The cold winter days passed. Aurora spent her days in the bookshop, reading books on dark magic, taking a great interest in the concept of immortality, Zephyrus often lying on her lap and Nagini curled up in the chair where the girl was reading.

Mattheo, on the other hand, trained with his uncle every morning and attended Death Eater meetings in the afternoons to plan what to do.

Christmas Day, however, was the saddest Christmas the Malfoy/Black family had ever spent; dinner was quiet at best, Lord Oscusa glaring at anyone who dared to make a comment. The boys received their presents directly in their rooms, something that had never happened before.

Aurora also received a ring in the shape of a snake with two emerald eyes, the person who had given it to him was his father, which made her smile, but when she found out that her brother had received nothing from his father she decided to keep quiet.

Aurora spent a lot of time with her father, who taught her spells she had never heard of and took her under his wing. During meetings, Aurora was actually not a Death Eater, she sat at the table with them right next to her father, who often consulted with her.

Mattheo immediately noticed the bond that had been created between the two of them and it was very disturbing to him, which is why he had told Narcissa about it and she had reassured him by telling him that it was all in his head and that the fact that his father had given him the Mark, the equivalent of a very big responsibility, meant a lot. It hadn't made him feel any better, but then he'd got over it, his little sister had always been everyone's favourite anyway, so it wasn't news to him.

He and Draco had talked and cleared things up, even Draco and Aurora looked at each other with less disappointed eyes and mutual contempt now; Narcissa, however, made sure never to leave her son and niece alone in the same room, because she had always suspected that something was going on between them and she obviously didn't like it.