Narcissa led Valentine and Draco in through the large double doors. The foyer looked that same as it always had. Polished marble floors, a staircase on either side of the space, stretching around to meet at the middle.
Draco seemed immediately comfortable. He pulled off his scarf and gloves tossing them at Emma without even a glance.
Valentine wanted nothing more than to turn around and walk right back out that door. For a place that she knew so well, it felt so alien to her.
She and Draco went up together, their rooms being across the hall from one another. Their rooms were cleaned all year round and so it was like they had never left. No dust, no stuffiness.
She threw her coat over the back of her desk chair. Her room always felt too big when she returned to it. It was bigger than the one she shared at school. It reminded her how ridiculous it was to have such a huge space for one person and how empty it made it seem.
Valentine's windows were open. It made the room colder than usual and she didn't even shiver. They knew she preferred things on the cooler side so Haley had probably opened them that morning. It was dark already and the lights of the manor painting shapes on the lightly frosted gardens.
She heard Dobby come in behind her at one point, asking to forgive any inconvenience as he bought in her luggage. She ignored him and took a bath. That was one thing she didn't miss. Bathing alone. Leah could be entirely too handsy and never listened when Olivia told her not to run on the slick tiles.
She thought about Harry and his friends. About Colin Creevy, Justin Flint-Fletchly and whatever had attacked them. She thought about how much time she wasted during these holidays. It was time she couldn't get back but also time she couldn't get out of. She knew Narcissa would pitch an absolute fit if she tried to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. There was also the little fact that everyone believed she hated the school just as Draco did. That couldn't have been further from the truth. Given the choice, she would have picked bickering with Snape over listening to her uncle complain about her behaviour and then blame it on Draco any day.
A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts.
"M-m-miss, dinner is ready." Came Haley's stutter.
Valentine didn't reply but yanked the plug from the bottom of the bath to let the maid know that she was getting out.
-----Pretending To Hate-----
Draco had reiterated the entire situation with The Chamber of Secrets twice despite the fact that Lucius, who was on the school board knew all of this. Lucius didn't seem to mind and delighting in hearing it.
Valentine barely glanced up from her food but she could hear that smug tone in his voice. He was never in such a good mood and it rubbed Valentine the wrong way.
Of course, he would be happy about Muggle Borns' living in fear.
She wondered if he was this gleeful about it when discussing it with the other school board members. She wondered just how many of them were on his payroll.
"Val," Narcissa peered over at her. "You're awfully quiet over there. How's school been?"
"I publicly humiliated Gilderoy Lockhart."
"Ah, yes." Narcissa frowned, "we heard about that and we were not pleased. You're so much better than these childish pranks, Valentine. And you're on probation. Again."
Valentine glanced at her uncle. She expected him to chime in at any moment and scold Draco for not keeping her in check but he was far too busy having Draco describe the bloody words from the night they found Mrs Norris in detail. As grateful as she was that Draco was able to spend a moment around his father without being a tense wreck, the gleeful glint in their eyes was about to turn her off her meal.
"Lockhart is a mockery of man let alone a Professor." Said Valentine.
"That isn't the point."
"I'm not going to respect him simply because he's famous."
"That's not what I'm saying." Narcissa sighed. "I really wish you could come home without tales of punishment. I don't know why you choose to act this way."
"Because people are stupid and I feel they should know that." Valentine set down her fork. "Besides, you've always said we're better than other families. It's not my fault they aren't aware of that."
Narcissa shook her head and rested her chin in the palm of her hand.
"Sometimes I don't know what to do with you."
"You could start by letting me handle my own affairs."
Narcissa almost laughed.
"I appreciate your independence but you're twelve years old."
"My age doesn't decrease my intelligence."
"No, it doesn't. But it does mean that we're responsible for you until you become a legal adult."
Valentine huffed and stood.
"If the adults I know are anything to go by, legal age doesn't make for maturity or common sense."
"Val, sit down and finish please." Said Narcissa.
"I'm not hungry."
As Valentine turned to leave the room, Haley was entering with a silver pitcher.
The maid stepped to one side and froze in place to allow Valentine to pass. Despite having more than enough room, Valentine barged her shoulder against the girl's side and sent her stumbling. She managed not to spill any and quickly stuttered out a wealth of apologizes. Valentine just kept walking.
-----Pretending To Hate-----
Valentine sat alone in the garden upon a stone bench.
It was late afternoon and she had a book open in her lap that she had long given up reading. Her uncle was in a good mood. A freakishly, abnormal good mood and had been for several days now. At first, she had assumed it was all because of everything that had happened a school but then she realized there was so much she was missing.
He was furious after the Quidditch match. He all but promised to make my holiday hell and yet he's barely glanced my way. He's not exactly the type to forgive or forget. Somehow, he's in such a fantastic mood that nothing else seems to matter. I haven't seen him kick Dobby once since I've been here and that's a massive red flag.
She was glad that Draco had been spared his wrath and that Narcissa seemed happier than ever before but something was wrong and she sensed it. Lucius should have berated her the things she said after the Quidditch match, accused her of corrupting his son with her disobedient ways, probably beaten her since that was the only way that seemed to make him feel like he was in control. But none of that had occurred, not even a hint of it. Draco was blind to the implications this could have. He must have thought that his father was finally showing him how much he loved him. You'd never imagine that Draco Malfoy would be an optimist. All that happiness and Valentine couldn't shake the feeling that there was more going on here.
Could he be involved in this somehow? Maybe even directly behind this? Could he be the Heir of Slytherin? It is him who's responsible for everything? No. Somehow that doesn't fit. Why wouldn't he have opened the chamber years ago when he was in school? Not to mention he's not the type to get his hands dirty. If he can have someone else do something for him he will. But am I supposed to do? Come straight out and ask him? If he hasn't gloated to us all yet about being behind it I doubt he's going to tell me, one of his least favourite people in all of existence. But...this isn't the first suspicious thing he's done...before the school year even started he slipped a book into Ginny Weasley's cauldron at Diagon Alley. Even then, I thought it was strange and but nothing ever seemed to come of it.
Valentine played in the image over and over again in her mind. Lucius had been careful and slick about it. Only Valentine herself and Harry had seemed to notice it happening but it had happened and Valentine was beginning to think that they were still feeling the repercussions of it.
She narrowed her eyes and shut her book. She was deep in thought, mind working at hundred miles per minute. She was going to work this out. There had to be a connection.
-----Pretending To Hate-----
This year Narcissa and Rose had decided on a blue theme. That meant everything was some shade of blue from the tree decorations to the napkins on the dinner table and of course, the clothing. All dresses and robes we're to be so. That left Valentine in a dark blue dress.
Similar to last year, she didn't hate the dress. It wasn't particularly ugly and Narcissa had never been cursed with bad taste but it just wasn't Valentine's taste. Meaning it wasn't black. It was sleeveless and just below knee length, covering her upper chest and shoulders with a panel of lace that was blessedly not an itchy nightmare. Narcissa had tied a matching dark blue ribbon around her waist and pretending not to be too disappointed when Valentine refused to let her touch her hair. It was too horrible. Just one dress for one day of the year. Narcissa never dared force her into something at any other time which was perfectly suited to the situation seeing how Valentine was only willing to concede for one day of the year.
Her shiny dress shoes clacked across the marble floor. The sound was so utterly foreign from the thudding of her usual boots that she felt like an entirely different person.
The Lovat's would be arriving soon which called for them all to gather in the main sitting room but Valentine didn't care. She would take advantage of her uncle's disturbingly good mood while it was still there.
She'd fully formulated her worries and theories concerning her latest pondering an into a three-page rant and now had a letter to send to Dumbledore. She didn't want to leave anything out. She wanted Ginny Weasley to be watched carefully.
"Val!" Draco called down from the top of the stairs as Valentine neared the front door.
"What?" She looked back up at him.
"It's almost time." He said, adjusting the collar of his deep blue velveteen robes.
"I know." Valentine just rolled her eyes and opened the door.
The cold-rolled over her bare arms and face. It had snowed the night before but not heavily. She imagined Hogwart's would be blanketed by now.
"Where are you going!" Draco called down at her but she was already heading down the steps.
If she could avoid getting body slammed by Leah on the point of arrival she would. Leah was energetic in general but Christmas seemed to boost her crazy tenfold.
She headed out into the garden, hating how loud her low heels were on the stone pathway. If she'd been at school, she would never be able to sneak around without being heard. They would hear her coming from half a mile away. But she wasn't at school and she wasn't sneaking around. She wondered if it was normal to wish otherwise
To reach the tree that Darcy usually occupied, she would have to leave the path and walk through the garden itself. Valentine smiled. She could practically hear Narcissa screaming as she stepped in amongst the snow damp leaves, twigs and dirt with her glossy shoes.
The tree, one of the largest and oldest on the grounds was completely bare. Valentine peered up at its branches, searching for those amber eyes.
Just great. Where is he?
She heard the flapping whip towards her on the wind and looked behind her. Darcy swooped down around her left side and flew several circles around her, tossing up her hair.
"Yes, yes." She rolled her eyes. "You're very impressive. Are you done now?"
He did several more circles as if to spite her before landing on the ground.
He had what looked like blood around his beak and face and she supposed he must have been eating. Darcy's particular breed of owl typically lived off fish and hunted at night, but they also weren't even native to the United Kingdom. Valentine doubted he had even spent a day in the same environment as another of his breed, but she knew virtually nothing about how Rabastan Lestrange had come to have such an owl. Either way, Darcy didn't seem to mind.
"Do you remember him?" She found herself asking. "The man who owned you before me."
Darcy blinked at her intelligently but, being a bird, did not reply.
"Fantastic." Valentine pursed her lips. "I'm talking to a bloody bird. Here."
She held out the envelope containing the letter.
"Take it to Hogwarts. And straight to Dumbledore. It can't end up in the hands of anyone else."
Darcy snatched it up and stretched out his wings. Valentine backed up to give him space and watched him take off into the sky.
One time Liam had told her that Darcy what is an interesting owl. Not because of his size or that fact that he had on occasion, actively messed with people's heads, but because he was so cold to everyone. It wasn't uncommon for owls to grow close with their wizard or witch. Some were even profoundly loyal, but Darcy just had to be different.
Valentine had never felt he was particularly loyal and he certainly didn't have the affection for her that she'd seen from other owls to their owners. In fact, for whatever reason, most animals seemed to like her while Darcy's manners were more along the line of mild tolerance.
Valentine just shrugged and headed back towards the path. She mostly allowed Darcy to do whatever he pleased, the only things she asked of him to send her letters and he never seemed to object that. She wondered briefly how in the world anyone would have managed to train a taciturn creature like Darcy into a mail owl.
As Valentine was approaching the manor she felt a streak of dread trickle down her spine. She glanced behind at the pathway and saw nothing. Then as she turned back around she was greeted to the sight of flailing limbs and a sky blue dress that looked disturbingly like her own.
"VAL! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Leah grinned, barreling towards her. "Where were you!"
Valentine stepped to the left and Leah shot right past her. She kept moving for several metres before she stopped herself and spun back to Valentine.
"You were supposed to greet us by the tree in the sitting room!" Leah exclaimed. "We do it every year!"
"Who cares?"
"I care!"
"Right. So nobody cares then."
"Arg! It's Christmas Val! You should try to be merry!"
"I would literally rather be eaten by a shark."
"But look at my dress!" Leah pirouetted on the spot. "See. We match!"
They did match, Valentine realized. The dresses were identical in every way except the shade of blue and Leah's seem a little shorter as per the height distance.
Blue dresses, Valentine would allow. Lace and clacky shoes and white stockings instead of black she would concede to. But matching? And matching with Leah?
Oh, Narcissa you sly beast.
"Don't we look great! The blue matches your eyes so well!" Leah bounced on her toes, "and look at my hair! Isn't it the cutest?"
Leah turned around and jabbed a finger at the ponytail twisted into several long curls.
"I refuse to be subjected to this." Valentine crossed her arms over her chest.
"Huh?" Leah glanced over her should in confusion, "but it's cute?"
"Not that." Valentine snapped at her. "This matching situation. We're not three years old. Well, I'm not at least."
"Oh, come on Vallll." Leah reached for her and Valentine swiftly stepped out of the way. "It'll be fun. Besides, it's colder than the north pole out here. Can we go inside already?
"Remember what I said about sharks? That still stands."
"Okay, Val." Lead pouted. "I know I'm supposed to be the irrational one, but it's not even for a full day."
"I refuse for any amount of time."
"Well, it's too late now! Everyone is waiting inside for us and I think I'm getting frostbite!"
Valentine looked at her dress, then at Leah's and then at her own again. She untied the dark blue ribbon from her waist and held it up.
"Feel like rebelling in the form of a shiny new ribbon?"
Leah appeared confused for a moment before wide smirk slowly broke its way on her features, dark eyes lighting up like stars.
"Oh, Val. You know just what to say to me."
-----Pretending To Hate-----
Narcissa pulled Valentine aside mere seconds after she and Leah stepped into the sitting room.
"Val. Is that your ribbon in Leah's hair?"
Valentine looked pointedly at the ribbon in question.
"No."
"If that's not your ribbon, then where did your one go?" Narcissa shot her a dubious expression.
"I never had a ribbon."
"Valentine." Narcissa drawled in that motherly, warning tone.
"Really," Valentine said seriously, " I don't know what you're talking about. You never gave me a ribbon."
"Okay, stop." Narcissa sighed. "We both know that I tied a dark blue ribbon around your waist this morning."
"Are you feeling alright?" Valentine frowned. "Not feeling feverish or prone to hallucinations? Because I really never had a ribbon. Why would I lie about something so ridiculous?"
"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, Valentine." Narcissa stood straighter like she was trying to assert herself.
"I'm not. I'm talking to you like you're wrong. Which you are. You never put a ribbon around my waist this morning and Leah's has been wearing that one the entire time. And you've seen Leah's collection, haven't you? Do you really think she wouldn't own one just like that?"
"I know what you're trying to do and it won't work." Narcissa didn't look nearly as certain as her words suggested.
"Like I already said, why would I waste my own time making up ridiculous lies about some piece of ribbon?"
"Val!" Draco called over from where he stood with Leah. "You have to hear this completely stupid thing Leah just told me!"
"It's not stupid!" Leah stamped on his foot.
"Ouch!"
"If you'll excuse me," Valentine tilted her head in the others direction, "the idiots are waiting."
She left Narcissa standing there, looking uncertain, confounded and like she was questioning everything.
"Val!" Draco whined. "Get her to leave me alone."
"Leah," Valentine growled lowly, looking threatening even in her lacy dress, "you know Christmas doesn't extend my patience."
"Uh, yeah. I know." Leah swallowed nervously.
"Perfect. Now the both of you can shut up."
"Yes, ma'am!" Leah ducked her head and hide behind Draco. "But, you know. Draco started it."
"Don't use me as a human shield!" Draco snapped at her.
"Valentine!" Rose descended upon them, tall, elegant and refined. "You look just lovely. I'm so glad Narcissa and I decided on blue this year, aren't you."
"Oh, yes," Valentine said with a complete lack of emotion. "I thrilled beyond belief."
Rose was wearing a long flowing gown, a dark blue just a few shades lighter than Valentine's one. When she stood beside Narcissa in her pale silvery blue dress, they looked like night and day.
"And Draco, you look as handsome as ever." Rose touched his head, careful not to ruffle his perfectly slicked back hair.
"Thank you, Mrs Lovat." Draco nodded politely. "You look fantastic yourself."
"Oh, you little charmer," Rose cooed. "You certainly didn't get that from your father."
Valentine nearly laughed out loud. She did not expect that from Rose Lovat.
Emma came in and announced that food was ready and waiting and as if on cue, both Draco and Leah bolted for the door.
"William!" Said Rose and before Valentine even saw him move, William had one hand each on Leah and Draco's heads, holding them in place.
"No running in the house." Narcissa scolded. "The food isn't going anywhere."
"Except my belly!" Leah hollered.
"Leah!" Rose shook her head at her daughter.
"Sorry." Leah smiled sheepishly, "but...can we please eat now?"
-----Pretending To Hate-----
By the time dinner was over Valentine had a headache that put all her others to shame. She barely recalled being in the main sitting room and opening presents. She was just biding her time before she could run off and lie in the darkness somewhere. She once more praised her skills as a complete liar. As long as she didn't get struck by a wave of dizziness or pain, no one would be the wiser.
And nobody was. She muttered 'Merry Christmas' and 'thank you' when she received gifts, which this year including a homemade colouring book from Leah that was surprisingly well done.
She kept her mouth shut through most of it and waited as Leah and Draco fought over a game of cards. Eventually, Dobby tittered in anxiously with a bottle of wine and that was the sign for Valentine, Draco and Leah to be off upstairs where they wouldn't be corrupted by the evils of alcohol.
They were on the stairs when Valentine got an idea.
"Hey, Leah," Valentine whispered. "Draco has a new board game that he's been hiding from you. It's at the bottom of his wardrobe."
Leah turned to her with very real tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Val. You have truly made this the best Christmas ever. Now I'm going to scream at him until he plays with me."
"I would expect nothing less."
She watched Leah scramble up the steps, tripping on very last one and landing on her face. She hardly seemed to notice that the floor was suddenly closer before and begun to crawl along the hall on her hands and knees.
I'm sorry cousin. But my head is about to explode.
Valentine continued on to her own room and immediately locked herself inside. She took a moment by the windows to let her head clear. These headaches really were becoming an inconvenience. Especially now that they were even more regular in frequency.
She hid away in the bathroom, not lighting a single candle along the way. Right now the absence of light felt like a true Christmas miracle. She filled the tub, undressed and climbed in.
She was content just sitting there for however long it would take until her headache faded away or until Draco came seeking asylum from Leah's rabid ways.
She wondered what the others were doing for Christmas. Olivia had been able to go home this year so at least she wouldn't be stuck in the castle for two weeks without. She knew Blaze had a family, a brother at the very least, though he rarely spoke about that. She imagined a family of Blazes and the havoc they could wreak on a day like today. Blaze liked to pretend that he was the straight man to Leah's funny, but he was really just was ridiculous as she was. Then there was Liam. All she knew about his home life was that he lived with his grandfather. From what little Liam had said he didn't seem like an overly jovial man.
Valentine couldn't imagine ever spending Christmas differently than she had today. In all her twelve years it had never changed. Well, perhaps it hadn't always been the same. At the time of her first Christmas, she'd been about six months old and Voldemort had still been very much at large. She wondered if that would even make a difference to people like the Malfoy's or the Lovat's or Lestrange's. She supposed not. They supported the man that wanted to kill entire civilizations because he was raging megalomaniac.
Valentine held her breath and submerged herself completely under the water. Her hair wouldn't dry for hours and Narcissa would scold her for risking a cold. Valentine didn't know what she was always so worried about Valentine rarely ever got sick.
She held her breath until her lungs burned and then came back up. As she did she could hear fists pounding on wood and sighed. At least her headache had subdued significantly.
She took her time getting out and dressed. Leah knocked away the whole time. She was seemingly tapping out a song with some kind of bizarre rhythm.
The second she opened the door Leah pulled her out into the hall. Her blue dress was gone and she was wearing a pair of Draco's pajamas. She wouldn't have had any other choice since her bag had been locked in Valentine's room.
"Come on." She urged. "You took forever."
"Not long enough," Valentine grumbled.
Leah pushed open the door to Draco's room and revealed the sight of him sitting on the floor underneath a sheet anchored between Draco's armchair and the end of his bed.
"I'm here under duress." Draco held up his hands, bound by what looked like a scarf.
"Really, Leah?" Valentine sighed, "a blanket fort?"
"Awe, come on!" Leah whined. "It's cold and it'll be warmer with us all together, you know."
"I'm not cold." Said Valentine.
"Maybe not on the outside, but I'm sure that on the inside you could do with the loving warmth of your friends."
"No, thank you."
"Valllll. It's Christmas. You can't say no!"
"I just did."
"Please!"
"Oi!" Draco snapped. "Still under duress here people."
"Shush!" Leah hissed and turned back to Valentine with wide puppy dog eyes. "Please. Please, please, please, Val. We haven't done this in years!"
"That's because we're not five years old anymore."
"Yeah, well, maybe five-year-olds have it right and we're all just doing it wrong."
"You're not going to get out of this." Draco held up his bound hands pointed. "I am literally a prisoner in my own room."
Valentine stared at Leah for a long, waning moment. Her eyes seemed to bulged more with every passing second and Valentine was getting worried they might pop out.
"Bloody hell. Fine." She heaved a great sigh. "But I'm not sleeping in that thing. That's what I have a bed for."
"YES!" Leah first bumped the air triumphantly. "Victory is mine!"
"Okay, now. Seriously," Draco said, "untie me."
-----Pretending To Hate-----
"Kreacher's master is upstairs as he was when you left. Is there anything Kreacher can do for you?"
"Was that Lockhart looking like a rainbow reject?"
"It's too early in the day for my brain to be forced to comprehend the words 'graceful noodlage'."
"I always wanted a wife."
"I mean, if you do the math, she was only a baby when they locked up her parents so I doubt she even remembers them. If that's the case, who could they influence her at all?"
"Do you really wish to anger me while we're down here alone, isolated from anyone who would care should you mysteriously disappear?"
"It appears I win due to the sudden and gratifying death of my rival."
"RONALD WEASLEY!"
"Why does she have bigger balls than every male in this school combined?"
"Don't say that. We don't care if your family isn't rich. You're our Olivia. You're special."
"I smell the blood of a well-deserved suffering."
"You've been a failure since day one. Even got your parents killed in the process."
"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."
"If you have the power you always claim to have then you wouldn't care what people say!"
"Fame is a fickle friend, Harry. Celebrity is, as celebrity does. Remember that."
"How do we stop a monster when we don't even know what it is?"
"Last time I checked I wasn't put on this Earth to get married."
"You can tell Draco that he has disappointed me. Through your influence no doubt."
"If you haven't noticed, it's us against them. And you're one of us. That means when they screw with one of us, they screw with all of us. Do you understand?"
"All you Lestrange's are madmen."
~~~
It seemed that Valentine had in fact, despite her words, fallen asleep. She woke in the nest of pillows and blankets that Leah had created.
She looked over at Draco and Leah and figured they must have been pretty cold the end up in a jumble of limbs like that. Draco had his arms around Leah's torso and his face pressed to her stomach. Leah had thrown an impossibly long leg over Draco and had both arms tucked inside the pajama top.
Valentine snorted quietly. They looked like a demented pretzel. The kind Leah would keep and give a far too human name too. Like Adelaide or Barry. If they were still like that when they woke, it would be utter chaos. Draco would be threatening Leah to keep quiet and Leah would be going on and on about how knew Draco didn't hate her.
Valentine grabbed a blanket and tucked it in around them, particularly careful around Draco who was not a heavy sleeper. Then she headed back to her room as she had originally planned. The dream echoed in her mind and a for a second, just one, she thought about what was going on with her and not with Harry Potter.
Are these headaches and dreams connected? Or is it just a coincidence?