Secret Daughter (A Harry Potter FanFic)

Chapter 15

Over the next couple days, Elliana was never left alone, but she was okay with that. Between her father and Draco, she was always with another person. Draco didn't know the full story of what had happened to her, but she had told him that she had had a fainting spell randomly, so of course he was worried about her. Her father had encouraged Draco's concern, and seemed happy that Ellie had another person looking after her.

It was Friday morning, the last day before the Christmas break, and all around Hogwarts, students were buzzing with excitement. The campus was decorated beautifully for the holiday, with the biggest Christmas tree Elliana had ever seen in the Great Hall. Even before class began, Elliana knew that the day's classes wouldn't be very productive. She and Draco walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts class and sat down in their usual seats in the back.

Much to everyone's dismay, Professor Lockhart had decided to lecture as usual, even though it was one of the last classes before break. He began his lesson on vampires by launching into the story of the vampire that he had encountered on his travels in the previous year. As he blathered on endlessly, Draco turned to Elliana and whispered, "So did you ever ask your father?"

She looked at him confused. "About what?"

"About coming home with me for the holiday?"

"Was I supposed to ask him about that?"

"Yeah. I asked you a few days ago..."

Elliana thought back, but couldn't remember ever having this conversation with her best friend. "I don't-" realization dawned on her, "That must have been the day I.. got sick. I had a monstrous headache and everything that happened that day is kind of fuzzy. Did you really want me to come with you on break?"

"Of course. You're my best mate, and I figured you might want to get away from the castle for a bit. I already talked to my father about it and he said it was alright."

"Well-"

"Ahem." While the two were talking, they hadn't noticed Professor Lockhart come to stand directly in front of their table where he now stood looking down on the pair. Elliana's pale face had gone a dark shade of red, while Draco simply snickered at the professor.

"Sorry sir.." She mumbled. Satisfied, Lockhart resumed his lecture as he returned to the front of the room.

"You're seriously afraid of that blithering idiot?" Draco whispered, smirking at Elliana.

"He gives me bad vibes. Like I get the chills whenever he's around me."

"Yeah, he is a total creep. I get that." Draco continued to talk, but Elliana had turned away from him so that she was facing forward to at least give the appearance that she was listening to the lecture.

At the end of the hour, everyone was dismissed and the students travelled as a large group to the Great Hall, escorted by Lockhart.

* * *

That evening after dinner, Snape escorted Elliana back to his quarters as usual. On the way down to the dungeons he said to her, "You'll need to pack tonight. You're spending the holiday with the Malfoys."

"I am? Draco only asked me this morning?"

"His father owled me extending an invitation to you."

"Oh." She was trying to gauge his feelings on her spending the holiday with him, as she wasn't sure what he wanted her to do. She had dared to hope that he wanted her to spend their first Christmas together as a family. "You didn't want me to stay here at the Hogwarts?"

"Of course not. There's someone running about petrifying students, and someone tampered with your memories. It's not safe here now."

She understood where he was coming from, but it still hurt her that again this man wasn't the father she envisioned in her head. They had been separated for eleven years. She had hoped he would want to be an actual family. After all, he was all that she had left of her birth family. 

The rest of the evening was spent in relative silence while Elliana packed her trunk for the two weeks she would be away. She was bummed about her father sending her away, but at the same time she was excited to spend the break with the Malfoys. She was eager to see what a normal wizarding family and home were like. 

In the morning, students who were leaving for break gathered in the Great Hall where Elliana met up with Draco. "You ready Snape?"

"Yeah. Haha, your father owled my father about the holiday?"

"I figured you would probably forget to ask. And that there was a better chance he would say yes if my father asked him." He shrugged, smiling at her. 

When they boarded the Hogwarts Express, Elliana was really excited as it was her first time travelling by train. Draco noticed Ellie's palpable excitement. "You've never taken the train to school have you? Of course not."

"No, I just apparated with my father. I've never actually been on a train at all."

They found an empty compartment and entered, with Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy coming in behind them. Draco dropped down onto a seat and stretched his legs out so that he took up the entire bench. The others sat normally on the other benches.

"You think any of the mudbloods are gonna come back after the break?" Crabbe questioned the group.

"What do you mean?" Elliana asked.

"I heard that they were so scared of the chamber monster that some kids weren't coming back to Hogwarts." Pansy laughed. 

"My father said that the Chamber was supposedly opened fifty years ago, and a girl died." Draco chimed in. 

"Well that's why my father sent me on break with Draco. Even the professors are getting worried."

"Why would he be worried about you? It's Slytherin's monster. And it's only after mudbloods." Pansy eyed Elliana suspiciously.

"Bite me Parkinson." Elliana snapped back.

"What? I mean, we all know you're not a pureblood. I mean your father is a half blood for Merlin's sake, and who the hell knows who your mother even was..."

At the mention of her mother, Elliana's anger boiled over. She stood, pulling her wand and aiming it at Pansy's chest. Draco laughed, "Leave her Ellie, she's not worth the detention."

"She doesn't get to talk about my mother." Elliana managed through clenched teeth, not lowering her wand. Pansy moved to grab her wand, but before she could reach it Elliana shouted "Expulso!" Pansy was picked up from the seat that she was in and was thrown backwards against the wall behind her with a loud crash.

"Bloody hell Snape!" Goyle's mouth was hanging open as he stood up to go take a look at Pansy's unmoving body.

"Damn. You'd think people would start to learn not to mess with you after Potter..." Draco got up and kicked Pansy's leg, causing her to stir. "She's fine." And he returned to his seat.

A few minutes passed before Pansy slowly got up off the ground and moved gingerly back into her seat. She glared at Elliana, but didn't say a word for the rest of the train ride. As the train pulled into King's Cross Station, Pansy quickly collected her trunk and hurried out of their compartment. The others laughed at her embarrassment as they too stepped off the train. Standing alone towards the back of the platform was Lucius Malfoy, waiting for Draco and Elliana. Elliana remembered the first time that she had met him in Diagon Alley and shivered under his piercing gaze as they approached him. When they reached him, there was no show of affection between father and son, no hug hello, not even a hand shake. At least Elliana wasn't the only one with a cold father.