Her Journey To Greatness

Chapter 5

The next morning, Dahlia woke early by force of habit. It took a few moments to remember where she was and what had happened yesterday, but when it all came back to her, her face lit up and she got ready for the day with a skip in her step.

Knowing she no longer had to make everyone breakfast and that they didn't expect anything of her, she headed to the amazing home library she was shown the night before to pass the time while she waited for the rest of the house to wake.

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When Lucius and Narcissa woke up they both smiled at each other and got ready for their day in contemplative silence, as heartbroken as they were regarding Dahlia's life so far, they were also excited to have another child in the house that they could love and care for, and they were both very curious about what the day would bring.

Just before they were about to leave their room to go wake the children for breakfast, there was a tapping on the window from an owl carrying a letter.

They let the owl in, recognising that it is Sirius' owl, and Narcissa fed her some owl treats while Lucius read the letter.

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Lucius & Narcissa,

We will be there at 10am. You've made us curious enough to get up early and cancel our very important plans of sitting around all day doing nothing. Whatever it is better be worth it.

See you then,

Sirius & Remus

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When Lucius read the letter to his wife, they shared a laugh at just how 'worth it' it was. They were both still a little sad that Dahlia wouldn't be staying with them permanently, but they knew how much Sirius and Remus missed Dahlia. They hadn't stopped trying to get her back, resorting to begging Dumbledore to tell them where he took her, and when that failed, begging the Potter's to reconsider their decision. But with their refusals, and zero leads about where Dumbledore might have taken her, there wasn't much more they could do except wait until her 11th birthday and hope that she is okay.

After that they checked the time, seeing that it was 8:07am, and finally headed out of their room to go and wake the children. They went to Draco's room first and saw that he was already awake and ready, sitting in his reading chair and flipping through a quidditch magazine. He got up when he saw them and put his green and silver fluffy slippers on before following them across to Dahlia's room. They knocked, but when they got no answer they slowly opened the door to see a completely empty room.

Seeing his parents start to worry at the thought of her being lost somewhere in the large manor, Draco remembered something from when they were giving her a tour and laughed, smiling at their confused looks.

"I bet you 2 galleons that Dahlia is in the library" he said, smugly.

"How do you know that?" Narcissa asked, seeing her husband had gained a look of realisation.

"When we were giving her the tour last night, she was rather reluctant to leave the library. And when I met her in Flourish & Blotts yesterday, she bought close to 100 books. It seems she has a passion for learning." Lucius explained, making Narcissa smile.

They all then made their way to the library, Draco's smug grin growing even more when they saw her in the cosy reading nook with 3 books around her, and his mother slipped 2 galleons in his pocket.

"How long have you been awake, Darling?" Narcissa asked her, smiling at how Dahlia's face brightened when she looked up and saw them.

"Oh, just a couple hours. I'm used to getting up early so I decided to come and read some of my new books in here." Then she paused and her face fell into a worried frown "I hope that's alright?"

The Malfoys heart broke a bit more at how worried she looked over something so simple, the adults especially, knowing how little freedom she was allowed at her previous residence.

"Of course it's alright" Narcissa said softly, "you're free to go anywhere you like in the manor unless the door is locked. Although, I should tell you that there is a section in the back of the library that won't let children in without adult supervision and even then, the child has to be at least 13. We don't want to hide anything from you and we won't hinder your learning, but those books are rather dangerous so we don't want you trying to learn any of it on your own or before your magic has matured enough for it" she explained, calmly. Pleased to see that Dahlia understood.

After that, Dahlia put her books back in her room and followed them down to the family dining room where breakfast was ready on the table. There were usually only a few dishes to choose from because the kitchen elf knew what they all liked, but today there was a wide range of dishes because they wanted the kind young witch to feel as welcome as possible but were not sure what she liked.

Dahlia's eyes widened at the delicious smelling food and with an encouraging smile from the others who were already sitting at the table, she sat in the chair next to Draco and put some fruit and a croissant on her plate, feeling guilty when she started to feel full after only a few bites.

Lucius and Narcissa saw this and changed the subject to Sirius and Remus to try and cheer her up, explaining that they contacted them, and they will be arriving at around 10am. They both silently promised themselves that they will make sure Dahlia starts to eat enough.

When everyone had finished eating they went into one of the cosier sitting rooms to do their own things together, Lucius was sitting at the desk near the window doing some paperwork, and Narcissa was sitting on the sofa starting a new embroidery project, wanting to make a pretty pillow for Dahlia. Both were keeping an eye on the children sitting on the floor, smiling when Draco started trying and failing to teach Dahlia how to play Wizard's Chess.

It was decided that Lucius would go meet Sirius and Remus in the floo room while Narcissa watched the children. So at 9:55am he headed that way and felt incredibly surprised ten minutes later when they actually arrived on time.