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THE MALFOY MANOR was deafeningly silent, as it usually was during that time of morning. On that particular morning however, the soft clatter of utensils against ceramic plates rang through the dining hall.
Valerie Grindelwald slowly looked up from her meal to see the three Malfoys, anxiety coursing through her when she noticed how quiet they all were. Lucius was deep in thought as he stared blankly at the wall, Narcissa was eating in small portions with grace, and Draco was picking at his food. Meanwhile, Valerie seemed to be the only one enjoying the delectable cooking. It would have been the best meal she'd ever had, if she didn't feel so guilty about her eagerness to consume it.
"Dobby," Lucius suddenly called, garnering the attention of everyone at the table as he spoke to him, "Get Miss Grindelwald our finest cup of tea."
"Oh," Valerie cleared her throat, uncertainty in her voice as she sat up straighter, "Thank you, sir."
Lucius nodded curtly, before turning to his son, "Draco, have you finished your studying?"
"Yes, father," he answered.
Valerie watched the exchange between the two as Lucius fired questions at the boy, who answered them correctly so far. She had no idea what they were even talking about. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, why was he studying?
"Tell me about the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards."
History of Magic was the absolute worst. She couldn't remember a single time where she hadn't dozed off in that class, so she could barely imagine willingly studying it over the summer.
"It was a European wizarding organisation, with some relation to the International Warlock Convention of..." Draco trailed off, forgetting the exact year.
Lucius sneered, as if he had known this would happen, "Witless boy."
"I don't even know what you two are discussing," Valerie spoke up, "It's quite brilliant how he even tries to study over the summer, don't you think?"
There was a challenging fire in her ice blue eyes as she stared at Lucius Malfoy, a man she had grown to despise more than anyone in the past few hours.
"Perfection is brilliant. Simply trying is nothing," the man told her calmly, before turning to Dobby, "What is this?"
Lucius angrily swiped the cup out of the house elf's shaky hands, "You call this tea? Must I do everything in this household?" He then proceeded to stand up, walking off to prepare it himself.
Valerie glanced at Draco, who had gone back to picking at his food with a scowl on his face. The Malfoy Manor served as a prison to its very own residents.
