A Snake's Son

Malfoy Manour

They arrived at the far end of a massive driveway made of pristine white gravel bordered with chalk white stone, which kept the gravel from mixing with the surrounding soil. It was a long and wide stretch that, in the daylight and moonlight seemed to shine brightly. At the end of the drive a gate stood covered in ivy and radiating out from either side two red brick walls that were also being eaten by the ivy.

As the family and Harry approached the gates they swung open by themselves and the meticulous and skillfully wrought iron stopped blocking the view, Harry could see Malfoy manor. It, like the gravel, was a shining white that stood out against the blue sky, it was three stories tall along with an attic. All the rooms on the top floor appeared to have balconies, all the windows were like the ones at Buckingham palace and there were two huge dark oak doors at the front. There was a small roundabout in the middle of the drive, and growing in it was a small cherry tree. The drive looped about it, the side of it ran right along the large set of steps leading up to the doors, the steps and doors had a large porch covering them that had wisteria growing up its Roman columns.

Harry had only seen opulence like, well greater than, this once before, so he was not quite as stunned as he could have been. Never the less it was still a sight to behold, the Malfoys lead the way down the drive and up the steps to the door which like the gates appeared to open by themselves. Draco made a big show of taking Harry through the halls and up to his new room while he stays with them.

The inside of the mansion, unlike the outside, was filled with darker more muted tones and wood. The walls had dark green wallpaper and the floor was a highly-polished wood that reflected the sunlight streaming in through the windows. Occasionally there would be a strange looking object on a pedestal or a glass cabinet filled with strange devices, some even producing smoke.

They passed a small house elf that cowered in fear as they walked by, coincidentally this was the same elf that had picked up Harry's owl from him at Diagon alley. The same tennis ball shaped green eyes, the ears, the long nose, they were all the same. It turned terrified eyes to Draco and Harry as they passed by, its hands were bandaged. "Draco what is that thing there?" Harry asked out of sheer curiosity. The elf flinched back at being called a thing but when it looked up and met Harry's cold calculating gaze, it seemed to be trying to shrink back into the shadows.

"That is a house elf, they tend to appear in big houses like ours and serve the family living there. This one is called Dobby, he is the one that tends to me most." Harry nodded and looked up at Draco the look in his eyes softening to friendly and warm. They continued up the stairs until they reached the top floor just underneath the attic. There were three main rooms in the top floor and other smaller ones dotted about between them. It was obviously the family's living quarters, Draco moved down the hallway to the nearest of the three rooms and opened the doors with a flourish, Harry had noticed Draco's love for dramatics by this point, and stepped aside for Harry to go in first.

The room reminded him of a forest, the carpet was a dark green and the walls even darker. There was a king-sized bed lying head against the wall to the left of the room, it was a four poster and the frame was made of a light oak. The curtains on the bed were a light green with what looked like ivy embroidered in them with silver. The curtains on the giant windows were a thick black velvet and the tassels were mostly silver with hints of gold. Harry was now seeing that the two windows in the middle were actually doors which opened out onto a balcony that overlooked the gardens, one of the doors was open and the sweet smell of flowers wafted in. Across from the bed were four bookcases that held a multitude of books on magic the arts and wizarding life in general. In-between the book cases there is a sizeable desk made of mahogany that had its own smaller window that was slightly ajar, at first this window didn't make sense to Harry but then he worked out that it was charmed to look out onto the gardens even though it was facing a brick wall. There was a door closer to Harry and Draco then the last bookcase on the right side of the room that was open and led to an an-suite bathroom with a toilet sink bath and shower. Opposite the door on the right was another, this one was also ajar and from what Harry could see it lead to a big walk in wardrobe. There were already a few sets of wizarding robes in there along with his school robes.

He smiled and turned to Draco, "Draco this is amazing, thank you." Draco looked pleased with himself and said "Thank you, but you should also thank my parents. Speaking of which dinner will be happening soon, I want to leave you alone for a while to get used to the room so I will send Dobby up to escort you to the dining room later. And Harry, whatever you do, do not pass Dobby so much as a sock. Giving a house elf clothes releases them from service, so if you need them to take dirty clothes away or you have changed your mind while getting changed then just toss them on the floor. It will pick them up form there so don't worry about being messy that is what the elves are for. See you at dinner." With that Draco left shutting the door softly behind him before Harry could say goodbye, this gave Harry the distinct feeling that Draco was planning something.