Beauty and the Beast [Draco Malfoy]

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lizzie's POV:

For the first time ever, I think, I found myself resenting the summer holiday. As usual, since my mum's a muggle, I didn't receive any news of the wizarding world. For the entirety of my time away from Hogwarts, I had no clue of the happenings my friends were experiencing. Had Voldemort started attacking? Had the war started? I didn't know, because everyone refused to write to me.

Every time my mum and I would go out, my eyes would search the crowds around me, trying to spot the witches and wizards to attempt to get any type of news. However, every time, my hopes would remain unfulfilled and since none of my friends were replying to my letters, I was even more discouraged.

"Any mail for me today?" I slumped down the hall to my mum who was in the kitchen making a batch of pancakes. I had been asking her this same question everyday this summer in the same hopeful yet disappointed tone, and everyday she gave me the same answer in the same sorry voice: 'No, I'm sorry, honey." School was going to start back up soon, and I was planning on confronting each and every person as to why they hadn't replied to my letters at the first chance I got.

"Actually, a rather large owl delivered this just after I woke up." My mother held up a yellowed envelope in her left hand. I leapt through the air between us and snatched it from her grasp.

Finally! Someone had written me!

I was hoping it was Draco as I flipped it over in my hands and studied it, but my heart felt as if it had been squeezed slightly when I saw the seal on the back, holding the envelope shut. It wasn't the Malfoy crest stamped there, but the Hogwarts crest. This was only the yearly Hogwarts letter with my school supplies.

"Oh," I released the breath I had not realized I had been holding. "It's just my textbook list." I set the unopened envelope on the table and sat down begrudgingly. I should have seen that coming, seeing as this was a yearly letter.

"Were you expecting something else?" my mum asked as she flipped the golden pancakes.

"Yeah. I was hoping one of my friends had written me. So far, no one's bothered to reply." I leaned my forehead against the table and sighed.

"Well maybe that's what this is." My mum's voice held a knowing tone to it, as if she knew something I didn't. My head snapped up to see my mother holding up another envelope. This one was significantly smaller than the Hogwarts letter.

"That's for me?" I asked cautiously.

"You betcha," she grinned, holding her hand out. I grabbed it gently, as if it were a piece of my heart.

The parchment was soft and so pure, it was almost white. My full name was elegantly scratched onto the front with smooth, black ink. I flipped it over and slid my finger under the flap, peeling it open.

Elizabeth,

Come to Malfoy Manor as soon as possible.

There was no signature or further details. I wondered if Draco had written it, but the use of my full name made me second guess that thought. He only called me Elizabeth when he was angry or acting sarcastic. Otherwise, I was Lizzie or Liz. Sometimes he called me Hufflepuff, but that was rarer than Elizabeth.

"Who's it from?" My mum placed a plate of pancakes in front of me, a small slab of butter on top.

"Draco," I murmured in confusion. "He wants me to go to Malfoy Manor as soon as possible." I realized then that my hands were shaking, the anxiety of the situation reaching my hands.

"Alright. That's fine with me, as long as you're home by dinner," she replied. I looked up to her and furrowed my eyebrows. My mum was usually the woman who wanted to know every single detail of where I was going, when I was going to be home, and who was going to be there. The easiness of her agreement was odd on many levels.