Circi | 2

TWENTY

"Bittersweet Reunions"

Christmas 1995, 2 months later

Being back at the manor, while it was her home, Circi could tell some foreboding activities had already taken place within its walls in her absence. Every step she took as she wandered about the grounds seemed to echo and the elves were particularly skittish.

The manor itself seemed to radiate fear, a feeling which she could only escape in the gardens or her own bedroom.

Upon arriving home, Lucius had advised her not to spend too much time outdoors for fear of her falling ill. And so, respecting his wishes, she stuck to exploring the place she knew like the back of her hand... well, her left hand at least. But the house was a stranger to her now, this new, scary, building for the new, scared, Circi.

One day, she wandered into the study her father often took residence in when he worked from home. She stumbled upon him writing a letter which he hastily abandoned and invited her in.

She had nothing to say for him. Not out of want, but out of obligation. It was her who had came across him so surely she should say something, but the words would not come. Instead, she watched him as he watched her and let him take her right hand in his. She watched as he traced the faded scarring that only made the slightest bumps on her skin, but she swore it was as raised as it had been the day after it happened.

She observed his face grow solemn and... embarrassed? Of course, Lucius Malfoy would not be embarrassed at the act, but being caught in the act.

"I'm sorry, this is not what I intended." Taking her hand back, she said nothing as he hung his head. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"You wanted my letters to stop." She nodded curtly, telling him exactly what he was too scared to say. "By any means necessary, right? That's what you always used to tell me and Draco." He couldn't look at her but she was looking at him. "It worked for a few hours, so you can pat yourself on the back. But Carmen gave me a healing potion and the letters were much more regular after that."

"I know-" he stopped himself, taking in a sharp breath, "I know what Carmen did for you. She wrote a letter to me and I also received a letter from Fudge as a result of her anger..." they fell into a silence for a moment. Carmen had sent a letter to Lucius? It was a though Circi was trying to comprehend. Once upon a time, about a year ago, Carmen was the only teenager Lucius spoke to with any manner of respect. And here he was, ashamed as a result of her words. "I'm glad you have someone like her, she reminds me of your mother."

"Um," Circi took a sharp breath and turned her head to the window that looked over the back garden where she could see the greenhouse in the distance, "I want to spend some time in the Greenhouse soon, the house is suffocating me. Could you enchant it to be warm? If you're really sorry."

Finally meeting his daughter's gaze, Lucius nods.

True to his word, Lucius had enchanted the greenhouse to remain at a tolerable heat. As he stood among the mess of the place he felt nostalgia clawing up his throat and whispering in his ears like the ghost of a past lover. Shaking it away, he closed the greenhouse behind him, shivered into the collar of his winter robe and gripped the cold head of his cane as he stabbed it into the layer of snow disguising the rest of the garden.

By the time he was back in the house a blizzard had already begun to pick up. His hair, windswept and littered with snowflakes, covered his face as the wind blew in after him. Despite hindering his sight, he could see enough to catch Circi before she ran past him and back outside.

He caught her hood, fisting the fur of her hood and halting her. The jerk of his wrist as he pulled her away from the door forced the top of the coat's zip to strike the base of her throat. Standing, dazed and caressing the indent on her neck, Circi looked up at him, confused.