Lucius Malfoy swept in front of Jesalynn the second Isobel disappeared from sight.
She was grateful for that.
"Mason," Lucius' voice drawled. He was always drawling.
"Lucius, hello." She had been a bit surprised that he'd asked to meet her here, of all places, but with a quick glance over his shoulder from the direction he came, she spotted a small boy with the same shockingly pale blonde hair as Lucius... "I didn't know you had a son."
"I didn't know you had a daughter."
"She's not my daughter." She said, trying not to let how much it hurt to say that sink into her words. "My niece, rather. Family from out of the UK, actually, from my father's side.
She practised this lie a lot when Isobel moved in with her.
"Your niece? I was under the impression you were an only child."
"I'm not."
He hummed. His cold grey eyes held notes of suspicion. "Well where is this... niece."
"Aboard the train already, finding someone to sit with."
"First year?"
"Yes sir," She said. She knew how much he enjoyed the sir part and hoped he'd be pleased enough with that to get on with why he needed to see her.
He didn't. "Draco is a first year too. Perhaps they should sit together?" His smile was sickening.
"Perhaps, though I think Isobel has found someone else to sit with. Maybe they'll run into each other."
Lucius sneered. "I do hope they do. I'd like to hear more about this niece of yours. Really, I had no idea you had any other family."
"You've never asked," She said. "Sir." She added for good measure.
His sneer deepened, less amused. "To get to business, Miss Mason, are you aware of the rumours going about the wizarding world as of now?"
She shook her head no.
Lucius seemed pleased that she didn't know, like this little bit of information made him smarter than her. "Harry Potter is also a first year attending Hogwarts."
Despite her attempts to hide her shock, her mouth fell open.
"Oh do close your mouth, Mason, you'll catch a fly in there." He continued as she angrily snapped her jaw shut. "With his reappearance in the wizarding world, and at Hogwarts, there's been quite a bit of... whispering... about You-Know-Who. There are many who claim they've heard mumbling about his followers returning, Miss Mason. Some have spotted some peculiar things as of recent, regarding the return of Harry Potter. Some have even said they've seen old Death Eaters making reappearances, becoming more active. I suggest," he said, peering down at her from under his nose. "That you look into it."
"And why would I, Lucius?"
He snorted and rolled his eyes at her incompetence. "Are you or are you not a part of the Muggle Liaison Office? And do I or do I not have to remind you what You-Know-Who thought of your kind," he mused, but there was an obvious look of disgust on his face as he looked her over, like she was a pile of rotting fruit.
She felt chills flurry under her skin, a snow storm through her vertebrae.
"It's just a suggestion, Miss Mason. Wouldn't want anyone getting hurt, would we? Especially not the kids."
With that, he swept off almost as quickly as he had come over in the first place. Jesalynn stood where she was, rubbing her arms. She was shivering, but it wasn't cold. She only stood alone for a moment before Isobel returned, looking so much like her mother even if she didn't see it herself, and Jesalynn was flooded with emotion: pride and heartbreak at the same time. And then, as quickly as the blink of an eye, Isobel was on the train and the train was chugging away and there she was, Lucius' words ringing in her ears, alone again.
There was no way he could have known. It was a solid lie, they'd been formulating it for years, and had all the documentation to make it look legit. As far as anyone would ever know, Isobel Anderson was Jesalynn's niece, the daughter of her supposed half sister, born of two pure-bloods from the States.
Isobel Anderson, according to the records, was a pure-blood witch.
Lucius was just being Lucius. There was no way he could know.
Was there?