What He Knew

Chapter 1

"Oh, it is just fabulous darling! The next time you speak to your Father thank him for the recommendation again. How is he doing in-" 

"He's fine and I will. If you don't mind, Vivianne, I must rush to a meeting," Draco was quick to interrupt the end of her sentence and with a quick nod to my aunt, he was flying off again.

"Oh, Draco, he's a good kid, he's just had a hard time of it lately. He seemed very stressed didn't he?"

"How do you know him?" I asked as we entered the same pub Draco had ran out of.

"I've been friends with his family for years, his father, Lucius, has been in Azkaban since June for apparently aiding You-Know-Wh. Bull, if you ask me, Lucius denounced him the moment he realised it was wrong. Draco's in your year, actually, I'm sure you two will get along quite well. He looks like he needs a friend..."

I stared at her, amazed. How was she so casual about not only knowing ex-Death Eaters but being friends with them? Especially after one had just killed her sister in cold blood. I had known from the moment I saw Draco that he was some sort of trouble with that moody, arrogant gaze but I really hadn't predicted this sort of backstory. One thing was for sure, if his family knew anything about the Death Eater who murdered my mum, I was going to find out.

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When finally we arrived home that evening, laden down by all my equipment and robes for the year, I was dead. All I wanted was to run to bed and forget all this was happening, just for a couple of hours, but I knew I had to at least greet my cousin before I ran away from everyone.  Valentine was standing outside the front door of the old Georgian house, beaming down at me as I trudged towards her. She was a carbon copy of her mother, delicate and girly, full of energy. She pulled me into a hug that smelled like lavender and weirdly, The Alps. 

"I'm so glad you're here Fiadh! The moment I heard what happened I wanted to send an Owl but Mum said it could wait until you got here and you would've been bombarded by mail, anyway. Here, let me help you with those bags!" With no hesitation, Valentine grabbed the bag that had weighed Vivianne down and lugged it inside. 

"I'll show you your room for the night! It's not much but you'll be sleeping in Hogwarts tomorrow! Isn't that so exciting? I'd love to be spending my first night in Hogwarts again, I can't believe this is my last first night, you're so lucky you still have 2 years left! I'm there for 7 years and I still haven't discovered everything about the castle yet, I doubt even Dumbledore knows everything and he's ancient!" 

I couldn't help but admire my aunt's house as Valentine led me to my room, the ceilings were high and the wallpaper was splattered with gold flakes, the wooden floor was shiny and smelled like polish, there was art work on the walls that were definitely older than Hogwarts and a massive chandelier ordained the foyer, throwing rainbows down the hall in the setting sun.

Valentine had moved onto the topic of Hogwarts houses by the time she'd led me up two flights of plushly carpeted stairs to my room for the night.

"So, what house are you in?" I asked after she had described each house to me.

"I'm in Hufflepuff! Mum's a Ravenclaw but Dad's  a Hufflepuff so he won the bet that year." Her laugh was sweet and soothing, she wasn't half as annoying as I remembered, chatty and giddy, yes, but it hadn't become irritating yet and she definitely wasn't ugly anymore. She had grown into her big eyes that had once been buggish, now she looked innocent and inquisitive.

Valentine gave me a big hug before leaving me to collect my thoughts. Normally I hated hugs but from her it was soothing and left me with a sense of comfort before I fell asleep.