WORD COUNT: [1767]
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Lorraine was lost in her mind. Her own self-made penitentiary composed of all the guilt she felt and bad thoughts she ever had. Every scream she caused and every drop of blood she spilt plagued her mind like some chronic illness. While she had not directly hurt someone—and would hopefully never do so—she had led to numerous deaths at the hands of death eaters.
Most days it was as if she was put in Palliative care by her own mind. It was a surprise to her and everyone she knew that she was still sane.
Her company certainly didn't help.
"My dear, Lorraine," her mother spoke sweetly, lacing her voice with a tone she was all too familiar with whenever she wanted something.
"Yes, mother?" Lorraine spoke bluntly, glancing up from her dinner plate. The Malfoy boy beside her also glanced up from his plate at the sound of his friend's name being called. The two looked at each other before her eyes met her mother's reluctantly.
They were used to the Malfoy and Winters dinners being a cage composed of unspoken words. It always made everything so much more exciting when someone did speak.
"Lucius has discussed with your father and me about moving into their Manor in Wiltshire, England. We want to hear your opinion," her mother finished, looking quite proud of herself.
"I would leave Ilvermorny," Lorraine pointed out. "I like it there."
"Oh, but Hogwarts is so much better! You would be there on business, of course. We wouldn't move if that weren't the case. You see, we need you to spy on Harry Potter. Draco failed to befriend him in their first year, but I know you, my darling, are much more capable. We need to know what he's up to—to help the Dark Lord."
Draco hid his embarrassment by staring down at his plate once more, picking at it miserably with a fork.
"He's dead," Lorraine stated. "I don't work for ghosts."
"Oh, but he's far from dead, my foxglove," her father butted in. She scowled at his name for her but allowed it nonetheless. If telling him no ever worked, then he would've dropped the name years ago.
"Okay," Lorraine said, "say he was still alive. Why me?"
"My dear, without you, we would've never found as many blood traitors as we did," her mother said softly. Lorraine had heard that too many times. It was all she ever heard—how amazing she was. Draco would always say it got to her head, that all she ever did was act as if she were better than everyone. If that was actually the case though, then Draco was more pathetic than she thought. What kind of fool would stick with someone who made them feel bad?
Oh, right, he's scared of his father.
She forgot that sometimes. Her father always knew where to draw the line, but Lucius didn't even know what a line was. She felt bad for Draco. It seemed he didn't get lucky in the parent department. It wasn't a problem her fourteen-year-old mind wanted to solve though. In fact, she didn't even care about Draco. He had failed a very important plan the moment he opened his mouth to Potter. The boy may have been only eleven, but all he needed was to appear morally right.
Oh, yes, Lorraine was very aware that she and her family's views were not morally right. But sometimes you needed to be unethical to get what you wanted, and the Winters family understood that perfectly. So, if she needed to manipulate Potter and his friends into trusting her just so that she could feed death eaters intel, then she would. She was happy to, in fact. Potter's friends were mostly mudbloods or mudblood sympathisers, so manipulating them would be delightful.
Okay, it was not delightful. She wasn't that cruel. The only grudge she held against any muggle was that they killed her older brother and sister. That and her parents hated them. They raised her and kept her alive, so their beliefs were trustworthy enough to her. In Lorraine's world, it was kill or be killed, and if it meant listening to the only people who raised her then so be it.
Muggles were bad, and pure-bloods were good. Simple as that.
"Alright," Lorraine said simply, going back to picking at her food. She wondered if Harry was foolish enough to believe the mask she would wear before him. Of course, he would, she thought with a roll of her eyes, I've lied to hundreds of adults and it worked. How can a fourteen-year-old boy be any different?
"Ensure you get into Slytherin. It is the only good house," her father informed her, to which she nodded dismissively. Draco shook his head.
"If she wants a chance to befriend Potter, then she needs to be in any house but Slytherin. He and his blood-traitor friends don't like Slytherins," the boy explained with a slight scowl on his face, as if even speaking about the boy who lived sickened him.
Lorraine was above that childish way of thinking.
"You wanted me to be in Horned Serpent, yet only Wampus and Thunderbird suited me," Lorraine spoke dismissively with a shrug of her shoulders. "At the end of the day, it's a house. I don't want Slytherin. I'd rather something like Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff."
"Hufflepuff?" Draco spat out in shock, shifting his wide-eyed gaze to the girl that had probably just announced the most out-of-character thing. She only stared back with a bored look.
"What? Scared I'm going to be loyal, patient, hard-working, and passionate about justice?" she retorted, jabbing a fork in his direction with a sneer.
"Maybe not patient," he snapped, taking a bite of his steak aggressively. She only watched with an amused smirk.
"So easy to anger. No wonder I'm better than you." He didn't look at her after that and only continued eating. She swore he looked and acted like a wounded puppy.
Seems I hurt the poor baby's feelings.
"I shall keep an eye on Harry and his friends," she informed her and Draco's parents. "I will send any information I find in letters every week. When are we to leave?"
"We'll be packing up and moving in with the Malfoys tomorrow, where we will then head to Diagon Alley to collect school supplies," her mother explained with a hint of excitement.
"Can I get a cat then?"
Her father sighed deeply and her mother pursed her lips together. They both watched the other to try and predict what they would say, only to end up relenting when Lorraine's persistent eyes were practically burning holes in their heads. She had wanted a cat for half a decade now, mainly because she was an only child and longed for a loving friend.
"Fine," her parents sighed, to which Lorraine clapped excitedly and stood.
"Let's pack then!"
***
It had taken a mere hour for everything that Lorraine needed packed to be apparated over to the Malfoy Manor. Her parents were going to keep their home in case things went south in England, which was more than likely considering that Lorraine was going to be surrounded by Lord Voldemort haters, such as Harry Potter and Dumbledore. If she were to make one major slip-up in front of the wrong person, then she would expose her family and get a one-way ticket to Azkaban. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a high-security prison with most of Draco's relatives.
She supposed that she needed to have more faith in herself.
"Miss Winters--" spoke her family's house elf, Dotty, in greeting. She was a sweet old creature who seemed somewhat protective over the Winters' only child.
"Are you coming?" Lorraine asked immediately, staring down at the house-elf, who suddenly seemed shy.
"Dotty regrets to inform Miss Winters that Dotty is not needed at Malfoy Manor. Dotty will stay here and care for the Winters Manor," Dotty replied solemnly.
"I order you to come with me then."
"Dotty cannot take her orders from Miss Winters. Dotty is very sorry." Lorraine let herself feel disappointed for the first time in a long time. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel slightly upset. Dotty helped raise her and healed her whenever her parents hurt her. She could handle their attacks now, but when she was younger she was a weak being. Dotty ensured that she was always alright. She was the reason why Lorraine was so strong today.
"Alright. I shall see you soon then, Dotty. Do be careful," she said reluctantly before she apparated to the Malfoy Manor, where her parents were waiting. She may have needed a license and needed to be at least seventeen to legally apparate, but certain exceptions were made when her parents were skilled in the Imperious Curse.
"Ah, welcome back, Lorraine," Narcissa greeted excitedly, walking toward the girl and forcibly linking their arms. Lorraine allowed it begrudgingly and listened to the woman as she began to give her a tour of the Manor. It seemed that she knew Lorraine all too well as the last room she showed her was where she would be sleeping. Her bedroom.
She was wanted nothing more than to sleep.
"How...delightful," she forced out as she gazed upon the colourless, lifeless room. Every inch of the room was either black or a very, very dark green. In the centre of the back wall was an enormous bed--the only exciting thing about the room in her opinion.
"I'm so happy you like it, Lorraine! Please, feel free to make yourself at home here. I will leave you be," Narcissa said excitedly as she left the room and shut the door behind her. Lorraine let out a sigh of relief and her body slumped, finally relaxing at the knowledge that no one was watching her anymore. No more expectations.
There was a beautiful gramophone in the corner of the room, which excited Lorraine. She had brought numerous records in the hopes that she would be provided with a record player.
"Maybe I will enjoy it here," she mused before running towards her bed and flinging herself onto it. She grinned widely as the pillows and surrounding sheets were thrown into the air around her.
The room needed a bit of revitalisation from colourful furniture and decorations, which were things she had a plethora of. All she needed was the dedication and motivation before she could bring everything to life.
Nothing that she couldn't do.