A New Dawn at Hogwarts

Chapter Thirty-Six: Meeting the Malfoys

They Apparated onto the drive in front of Malfoy Manor. Even in the darkness, it was an imposing building. Judging from the lights blazing from the windows, that was what the Malfoys intended.

"I will be right next to you all night," her father said quietly, laying his hand on her shoulder, as though he knew that the sight of the house had drilled it home just how rich and powerful the Malfoys had to be for this to be their home.

And how much that scared her.

She nodded, squared her shoulders, and walked beside him through the iron gates and up the crushed gravel path to the front door. His hand remained on her shoulder, a silent reminder of his promise.

The door opened as they approached, revealing the massive entry hall.

Aurora gaped. She couldn't help it. The hall was almost as large as Hogwarts' entry.

"Close your mouth," Severus muttered, a slight squeeze to her shoulder to get her attention. "Try to remember you are not here to catch flies."

He led her through the house smoothly, as though he'd been there a hundred times before.

He probably has, Aurora thought with a start. Severus frowned at her, slowing his pace when he felt the slight jump.

Aurora shook her head. "I'm fine," she whispered. They arrived at a pair of double doors that rose imposingly to the ceiling, already swinging in before they had stopped.

"Severus. On time for once." Lucius rose from a wingback chair next to a fireplace as large as Aurora's bedroom at Spinner's End, tossing a copy of The Daily Prophet onto an intricately carved side table beside it.

Lucius's sharp grey eyes settled onto her as they crossed the room to greet him. She noticed he flicked his eyes to her shoulder, where her father's hand remained.

"This must be – Aurora, is it?" His voice held no warmth, no welcome.

"Nothing gets past you, Lucius," Severus said dryly. "Aurora, this is Mr. Malfoy, Draco's father."

"Thank you for having us, Mr. Malfoy," Aurora said, shivering as the potion her father had given her began to wear off.

"Lucius, let the poor child sit by the fire," a woman's voice drifted in from a room adjacent to the sitting room they'd entered. Aurora leaned forward to see her.

Tall and slender, her blonde hair perfectly coiffed and her ice-blue eyes set off by the emerald dress robes she wore, Draco's mother seemed to glide into the room.

"Severus told you she'd been ill, and you're letting her stand there shivering." She brushed between the men and drew Aurora towards the fire. The girl shot a look to her father, but he was only a step behind, standing at the side of the chair as Narcissa persuaded Aurora into it.

The fire did not alleviate the chill she was feeling, but she suppressed the urge to shudder when Lucius put his hand on her shoulder.

"There now, all better?" he drawled, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Narcissa snapped her fingers, and a house elf – Aurora had only ever read about them in books – appeared at her side, his eyes wide, his knees banging together.

"Elfin wine, Dobby. And some hot cocoa, I should think, for the young lady," Narcissa said smoothly. "Tell Draco that our guests have arrived. He's to come down immediately."

"Yes, Mistress," Dobby squeaked, Disapparating again.

Narcissa sat on the ottoman in front of Aurora's chair, taking the girl's hand in her own.