If one thing was certain in perilous times, it was darkness. A month had already gone by since Dumbledore's death, and the Dark Lord's strength had only grown both mightier and larger in number.
Lucy was quick to take up permanent residence at Malfoy Manor, much to her relief. The last thing she possibly wanted was to deal with her father and his foul temper. Fortunately, Narcissa was eager to fashion the girl a new wardrobe, seeing as everything she owned was still folded neatly inside her dresser at Hogwarts. Lucy secretly thought perhaps she was just glad to have another woman around the empty manor.
Each night, Lucy would fall asleep in Draco's comforting arms, cozied up in his gigantic plush bed. However, in the mere hours of dawn she would often wake, fearful from her nightmares. They were always the same two things, Dumbledore's lifeless body flying off the Astronomy tower, or the disgusting werewolf, Greyback, ripping out her throat. Draco always seemed to understand what the matter was without ever asking and would merely pull her closer to his chest.
They would spend their days reading in his vast library, playing rather intense games of Wizard's Chess, or merely chatting by the fire in the drawing-room. Meanwhile, Narcissa enjoyed Lucy's company, and the two were gradually working on redesigning the antique interior of the mansion, as well as the magnificent gardens. Many days were spent charming the furniture and cleaning it off. Lucy did not mind the task, and in fact, she welcomed it with open arms. It was far too depressing to sit alone with all the thoughts swarming inside her head.
The three were seated inside the drawing-room as soft morning sunlight streamed in through the grand windows. Lucy wore one of her new dresses, a pretty off-white color, and sipped lightly from her mug of steaming rich coffee. They were all tucking in quietly to their enticing breakfast. Mornings at Malfoy Manor were very peaceful compared to the loud, chaotic ones at Hogwarts. The house-elves had prepared delicious poached eggs, sausages, and toast with jam.
The fire in the mantle crackled gently, and the only sound was that of their silver forks clinking against the very expensive china. Suddenly, a large screech owl glided into the room, letting out a screech. Lucy's fork clattered onto her plate at the sound. The bird held the mail in its pointed yellow beak, and dropped it in Narcissa's lap before perching on the mahogany table before her.
With a surprised look on her face, she placed her plate upon the table, picking up the small stack of mail. The owl began to nibble gleefully upon the piece of toast that was still sitting upon the china.
Narcissa's pale face turns full of shock. She holds the Daily Prophet in her now trembling hands.
"What is it?" Lucy questioned, getting to her feet, followed quickly by Draco, hurrying over to the plush armchair that the woman was seated in. Narcissa wordlessly hands her the newspaper before standing up from her seat, her frail hands over her mouth in shock as she moves to look out the large window. Lucy glances down at the Daily Prophet, reading the headline that was in big, bold letters.
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN PRISON, COUNTLESS PRISONERS MISSING
"You don't think-?" began Lucy.
"There's no doubt in my mind that the Dark Lord is behind it," Narcissa exclaimed breathlessly. "Who else would be able to pull it off? We could only hope that it means Lucius escaped—!"
"Well wouldn't he be here by now then?" retorted Draco, his brow furrowed, something he did whenever he was trying to think.
"I-," his mother paused, folding her thin arms over her chest. "One cannot simply Apparate out of Azkaban, of course, there's enchantments, guards...Oh, poor Lucius!"
Her deep brown eyes gently began to fill with tears as she gazed out the window of the manor. It was a surprisingly nice day outside, Lucy thought.
"I'm going to write to Aunt Bella," Narcissa announced with a sniffle before sweeping out of the room.
Lucy glanced over at Draco as she ran a hand through her long, raven locks.
"She'll be alright," he reassured her before standing up and brushing off his dark suit.
"Come on," he said softly, reaching out a large ring-clad hand.
"Where are we going?" Lucy asked hesitantly as she stood up, taking his hand.
"You'll see," he replied, a smile tugging on his soft lips as he dragged her to her feet and outside the grand mansion.
Lucy quite enjoyed the serenity of the garden. It brought her peace and almost hid the fact that a war was waging violently just outside the towering hedges. Draco's slim fingers were intertwined ever-so-perfectly in hers.
She sighed as her eyes fell upon the ornate silver fountain that was gushing out a clear stream of water. From there, it flowed into a rather large pond that surrounded the area. Lucy swore she heard the toadstools calling her name faintly as the two strolled past the bushes full of colorful flowers and trees full of sparkling fruit. Draco reached out and plucked an oblong, sparkly blue fruit off the tree and bit into it hesitantly.
"It's an Ambrosia tree," Lucy informed him. "Your mum and I just had it planted,"
"It's rather odd," he stated, a small smile tugging on his lips. "This tastes exactly like Honeydukes toffee,"
Lucy blinked in disbelief before taking the fruit out of his hands and taking a small bite of it herself. Sparkling juice dribbled from her lips and down her chin. While it had the fleshy and smooth consistency of fruit, the taste was instantly recognizable.
"I believe it's meant to taste like your favorite food," she quipped. "It tastes like a Cauldron Cake to me,"
"Toffee is far superior to Cauldron Cakes," he huffed before grabbing another fruit off the tree and turning around. There was a thud, and Lucy whirled around to watch the blue fruit roll on the ground.
"Draco—?" she asked, looking to him with confusion.
He stood rigidly pale, his mouth slightly agape as he stared off in the distance. Lucy fixed her gaze and suddenly, she too matched his facial expression.
Just in front of the iron-wrought gates, clothed in the tattered grey uniform of Azkaban prisoners, stood a man with long, unmistakably platinum hair that was a grimy mess. His skin was covered in dirt, and his beard was far overgrown.
"No fucking way," Draco murmured under his breath before striding towards the man.
Lucy quickly followed, hot on his heels as the man turned to look in their direction at the sound of approaching footsteps. They stood just a couple of feet from the escaped prisoner, Draco's skin turning paler by the second.
"Hello, father,"
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
author's note
hi everyone!! i hope you all are prepared for the craziness that will ensue in part two! this chap is a short filler but things will pick up next chapter!