Serenity | 1

FORTY FOUR

"The Dark Lord is Dead"

31 October 1981, 3 months later

The house elves were happiest when helping Serenity. They feared their masters, but she was as kind as a witch could ever be to a house elf. She was not their mistress, and they had no obligation to obey her aside from the direct orders from Lucius, before he left, to obey her. But when the Malfoys were set to host a Hallowe'en ball she turned to them for instruction. Lucius had extended his reach to the ministry as well as finding his way to the Dark Lord's side. With Abraxas away on Ministry business, as well, the final preparations were left to Serenity.

She was pacing the ballroom and kicking the emerald skirt of her dress ahead of her while an elf raced after her trying to focus on tying the velvet bodice around her waist. Her steps stuttered as she felt a sudden tug on her bodice. Reaching around the back, she ran her fingers over the lace, criss-crossing over her back and the neat bow tied at the bottom. Turning around, she looked down at the elf and crouched down, wobbling as her heels adjusted to the shift.

"What's your name?" The elf diverted her gaze, and shuffled away.

"Teeley, Miss." Serenity nods.

"Thank you, Teeley." The elf nodded and promptly scattered back to accompany the other elves. Sighing, Serenity pushed herself to her feet and looked around the room, unsure of what to do with herself.

Exiting the ballroom and approaching the main foyer, she stared down at her bare arms and traced the dark mark. She frowned, which wasn't uncommon when she looked at the mark. In fact, the mark made her blood boil. Every time she saw it on her arm, or on Lucius', all she could see was the identical mark on Dara's arm moments before Merritt died. Merritt, she sighs.

"I must be the luckiest Wizard," lowering her eyebrows, Serenity spun to see Lucius standing at the top of the staircase with his arms stretched towards her and a grin on his face, "to be able to come home to see you in that." Despite the blush on her cheeks, Serenity still couldn't battle her loss for words. He was wearing dress pants and shirt, freshly pressed for the party and, yet, the cable-knit cardigan that hung off of his shoulders cancelled any and every air of formality about him. He descended the stairs, using his cane despite not needing the support. Finally, she smiled.

"I thought you would be at the ministry longer."

"Mediocre business, they didn't need me." Serenity, couldn't resist running her hands through his hair. He must have washed it as soon as he returned home considering it was soft to the touch, unlike his usually slicked back hairstyle. His arm wrapped around her waist as he admired her smile, enraptured by her. "Would you like to style my hair today?" Her fingers stopped, she moved her hands to his shoulders.

"No, I know how much you love to do it yourself." Nodding, he released her hip and stepped back towards the staircase. "You can do my hair if you like." Within seconds, Lucius had grabbed her hand, and they were rushing up the staircase to finish getting ready for the party.

*

An enchanted record player filled the manor with music and Lucius and Serenity were waiting by the entrance to welcome their guests. Many of the death eaters were familiar with Lucius from the Ministry, however, since Serenity often refused to leave the Manor grounds she barely knew any of them... yet they all knew her.

Much to their surprise, Narcissa had arrived alongside Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. While the Lestranges continued towards the ballroom, Narcissa took it upon herself to greet Lucius with a hug and smile at Serenity. Although, in the time it took for her to turn to Serenity, the brunette was staring at the man standing in the doorway, fiddling with the button holes on his blazer. Brushing past Narcissa, Serenity approached Vaughn Floyd.