Evermore

IX.

"Mimsy, please tell me where Tinder is," he said, as gently as he could. "I'll tell him that I forced you to talk to me. You don't have to be afraid that he'll reprimand you, okay?"

Mimsy nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. "Tinder looking for Koopy, Snag, Tookey, Tork, and Gimp. He is saying they's need to come home. Now!"

"What? Why didn't he tell me first?" Draco regretted the sharpness of his tone when he saw Mimsy cower before him, her fingers frantically twisting her apron. "It's okay, Mimsy. I'm not angry. I'm just...concerned. As soon as Tinder gets back, tell him that I'd like a word, okay? You may go back to...well...whatever you were doing. Thanks, Mimsy."

Mimsy curtsied and disapparated with another loud pop.

When he looked up, he saw Hermione looking at him with worried eyes.

"I'm sure he's okay. That old coot is more resourceful than he appears. He'll be back here in no time," Draco said, not just to reassure Hermione, but himself as well.

Hermione nodded and gave him a small smile before returning to what she was doing. Now, Draco was intrigued. Hermione was not one to just let go of a subject, especially when it involved house elves. He rose to his feet and walked over to the other side of the mahogany table where several large tomes were spread out in front of her.

"What's that you're reading? And what are all these notes?" he picked up a piece of parchment and read what she had written. Runes.

"Remember that diary we found? The one about the young bride - M. B. Malfoy? I think we should take another look at it," she said, grabbing a few of her notes. "Based on these accounts, it appears that the first Malfoy bride to have really resided here in the Manor was a Madeleine Beaufonte. She was married to the heir of House Malfoy, Alphonse, in the spring of 1560. Look at this," she said, turning the book around toward him. "It says that at first, what everyone called Malfoy Manor actually consisted of three separate structures - the main house, servants quarters, and the kitchens. Apparently, the main house, where the couple first took residence, burned down in 1561, a year after they were married. Construction on the new, bigger, and sturdier Manor began right after. It doesn't say here when it was finished...but," she gasped, her hand going to her mouth to cover it.

"...Another fire broke out in 1565, killing Madeleine," Draco finished for her, reading from the ancient tome. An uneasy feeling washed over him. He could've died the same way. Hermione pulled the book back to her and continued reading.

"It seems that they were a tragic couple," Hermione said, her finger tracing the words as she continued reading. "Alphonse died the next year due to unknown reasons, leaving behind his three-year-old son and heir, Aloysius, in the care of Alphonse's younger sister, Delphine, who later married a Cepheus Fawley. Mr. Fawley obviously didn't think the Manor was safe because he took his wife and the young heir to an undisclosed location. It was only in 1568 that Aloysius returned to the Manor, together with his own young bride, Helene," Hermione paused, her eyes swiftly scanning the words on the next couple of pages. After several turns, her fingers stopped on a line that clearly captured her interest. "There were no fires reported until 1661, where another Malfoy bride almost died, a certain Elethea Edwardson married to Alcaeus Abraxas Malfoy in the spring of 1660," she paused again, scanning and turning pages. "That's all. Nothing more was said about them. I have a feeling that the rest of their history was removed. See there?" she pointed to a jagged piece of parchment sticking out at the bottom of the tome. "It looks like a page was torn out," she said, carefully closing the book.

"An attempt to hide something, perhaps? What's that you're reading anyway?" Draco asked, pulling the tome toward him. There was no title engraved on its cover, but the spine read: House Malfoy 1500-1700. Their family must've had several historians in their employ, he thought as he scanned the pages for himself. Pureblood families meticulously recorded their own history for posterity, a family historian wasn't such a far-fetched idea. He never did give these ancient tomes a second glance before, not really that interested in his ancient lineage. He couldn't believe how far back the Malfoy name went. Catching sight of another tome - 1700-1900, he deftly yanked it from Hermione's stack and flipped through it.