Her Journey To Greatness

Chapter 4

When Narcissa apparated into privet drive, after transfiguring her clothes to be more appropriate for a muggle neighbourhood, she almost sneered at the houses. Every one of them looked exactly the same, no creativity, no personality to them whatsoever; she can't fathom how anyone could possibly want to live here.

The first thing she did when she arrived in front of number 4 was check the wards; she didn't want the likes of Dumbledore to know about her being here if it can be avoided. The only wards there were a mail redirection ward, a magic detection ward, and a magic syphoning ward: all keyed to Dahlia, and with Albus Dumbledore's magical signature. The last one is just downright cruel, to syphon a child's magic, especially without their knowledge. Narcissa's was practically vibrating with rage but she did her best to remain calm so she could get her task done properly.

Now, with the knowledge of no proper security wards, she went up to the front door and knocked.

"SOMEONE GET THE DOOR" She heard being shouted from inside and within a few seconds a tall thin woman opened the door with what seemed to be a permanent scowl on her face.

She looked at Narcissa, "yes?"

"Hello, is this the Dursley residence?" Narcissa asked, as politely as she could.

"Yes, who are you?" she demanded waspishly.

"My name is Narcissa Malfoy, I assume you are Petunia Dursley? I am here regarding Dahlia Potter"

As soon as the girl's name left her mouth, the woman started turning bright red in rage, "that freak isn't here, and good riddance! NOW LEAVE, WE WON'T TOLERATE YOUR FREAKISHNESS HERE!" She said, shouting by the end.

Narcissa was already shocked. Those despicable potters sent her to people who despise magic. How on earth could they possibly think that a magical child could be raised well here.

"Imperio", Narcissa cast, wanting this over with, "you will give me written permission to take care of Dahlia Potter for the foreseeable future, and when the time comes, you will sign over custody without argument. Understood?"

"Yes," Petunia said, dazed. Narcissa nodded and proceeded to cast "Legilimens" on her, followed by the same to Dahlia's uncle and cousin.

The stuff she found made her want to throw up. The physical abuse, the verbal abuse, the malnourishment, the solitude and loneliness. It's a miracle that Dahlia turned out to be so kind if she was raised in such a hate filled house. She knew Dahlia would never be returning so the next thing she did was go to the cupboard under the stairs and checked if there was anything that Dahlia might have forgotten; her anger multiplying tenfold at the sight of the bloodstains all over the tiny mattress.

By the time Narcissa left the house she was on the brink of bursting into tears. To think that a child had to suffer in that house for the last 8 years is heart-breaking, and she vows to shower Dahlia with as much love as she can.

⚡︎

Lucius took both children home to Malfoy manor, resolved to keep his mind distracted until his wife returned. He couldn't help but worry about what Narcissa would find out, and if she would be okay or not.

So the first thing he did was introduce Dahlia to the house elves, explaining their duties. Dobby in particular seemed to be very fond and protective of the girl already, so Lucius assigned him to be her personal house elf for however long she stays, and whenever she visits in the future.

Next, Lucius and Draco took Dahlia on a house tour. They move slowly so that she has more chance of remembering directions. The best part was when she laid eyes on the library, her eyes just about looked like whey would pop out of her skull.

They finally got to showing her where her room is and were overwhelmed with a mix of sympathy and anger when they saw her reaction. She just couldn't believe that this whole room is for her after sleeping in a cupboard for so long. When she got over her shock, she stepped into the room and started to settle in; Lucius and Draco leaving her to it.

When Narcissa returned 5 minutes later she was greeted with the sight of Lucius and Draco hugging on the sofa, making her heart melt into mush. She panicked for a second about where Dahlia was but quickly realised that today must have been exhausting for her, so she is probably in her room.

When her husband and son saw that she had returned, they rushed to her side at the sight of the tears now freely running down her cheeks, not used to seeing her so affected by something.

Lucius knew he wouldn't like what he was going to hear from his wife, so they sent Draco up to bed slightly early; Draco was disappointed that he wouldn't be involved in the conversation, but he did as they said anyway. If he's honest with himself, he isn't sure if he could handle hearing what his mother learned about Dahlia's life.

When Draco ascended the stairs and was out of earshot, Lucius braced himself ant turned to his wife,

"How bad was it?" he asked hesitantly.

The question brought another round of tears, so Lucius comforted her until she was able to answer.

After a few minutes, she quietened down and started speaking slowly, trying to hold onto her composure until she's done. She told him about the cupboard under the stairs, the verbal abuse, their hatred of magic, the physical abuse, the chores and punishments if everything wasn't done perfectly.

Lucius sat in stunned silence through all of this; he knew it was bad already, but he never thought it would be this bad. They both knew that after being with those people, she would definitely have some fresh wounds, and maybe some broken bones that haven't healed correctly so narcissa floo called their family healer and asked her to come as soon as possible in the morning.

While she was doing that, Lucius wrote out a letter for Sirius and Remus.

____________________________________________________________

Sirius Black & Remus Lupin-Black,

Something happened today that I think you would appreciate knowing about. I don't want to discuss the matter in a letter, due to the possibility of it being intercepted, as well as the fact that the topic is quite delicate, so you should be here in person as soon as you can. Preferably some time tomorrow.

Don't bring anyone else with you, and do not tell anyone about where you're going or why.

Hoping to see you very soon,

Lucius Malfoy & Narcissa Malfoy

____________________________________________________________

When he sent it off with one of the family owls, he saw that Narcissa was done too, and they decided to head to bed early, checking on both children on their way.