Of Doves and Dragons

Chapter One: The Questioning of Squibs

PART ONE

In which, she was born for him and he was born to fail.

"Oh, Father tell me, do we get what we deserve? Whoa, we get what we deserve. And way down we go."

-KALEO, Way down We Go

It was on a strange summer day that a small party of three stood in front of a black iron gate that emerged out of ten-foot-tall hedges. Twin snakes coiled together around a large Mwhere the gate met in a disturbing dance. There was a long dirt path lined with maze like shrubbery, leading up to a dark mansion, that could be seen through the small gapes of the barred gate. Even though the sun was looming high in the sky with nary a cloud, the estate remained veiled in an elegant darkness.

Blaine and Olivia Knight clasped their hands together at the entrance of Malfoy Manor with relieved breaths. Olivia glanced behind her shoulder to ensure their daughter, Ember, had survived the nauseating trip. She was shaky on her feet, eyes blinking dramatically, but otherwise unaffected as her small hand let go of her father's bicep.

"Where are we?" She asked timidly, gazing up at the omnipresent estate, trying to suppress the nausea that had captured her stomach.

Ember Knight had just celebrated her fifteenth birthday in May. She was rather plain. She had wavy chocolate brown locks that stopped just above her breasts, was rather too skinny for her own good, had no curves to speak of her femininity, but she had the most enticing pair of forest green eyes you had ever seen. She was beautiful in the way of subtle grace. She was the perfectly sculpted model of what her parents had wanted her to be.

Ember never talked much. She never really got the opportunity. Her parents were frugal with the amount of attention they showed their only daughter. She knew that if she asked a question or made a comment that it would be received with silence or mild annoyance. It was always easier to remain silent than to be scolded over having a voice.

She grew up shy with a yearning for learning. She was a very bright girl, always reading everything she could get her hands on. Unfortunately, when one excels at learning they usually are very curious- Ember was no exception. Her parents however never gave her any worthwhile answers. More often than not they didn't even try to placate her; they would rather scold her than indulge her curiosities.

"Please behave yourself Ember." Her mother sighed brushing her own shoulder length blonde hair behind her ear.

Ember frowned, pulling the sleeves of her light cardigan over her thumbs.

Blaine nonchalantly pulled his wand out of his pocket and flicked it smoothly by his side. The gate groaned as it shifted open, granting the party entrance. "Yes. Don't say anything stupid." He remarked coldly towards his daughter before tightening his hold on Olivia's hand and beginning to trek down the graveled path.

Ember sighed, ignoring the sting of his words, and began to follow behind her parents obediently.

Large peacocks caught her eye as they roamed on top of the wall of greenery. They cawed at the group occasionally, there long glorious necks stretching out indignantly, but mostly they kept to themselves. Her parents paid no mind to the exotic birds which gave Ember the impression that they had been here before.

Olivia glanced at her husband from the corner of her eye before letting out a gentle sigh of her own. Finally being able to deliver on their side of the deal soon meant that she would be free of the small amount of motherly guilt she had carried around for fifteen years.