How To Annoy A Gryffindor ; harry potter

Step 33: See Your Evil Father

Ember was not excited for the Christmas break... Well, in all reality she had never been excited for the Christmas break but this one was much worse than any other. Spending two weeks in the Rowle Manor with her father was something she hadn't quite expected when he went to Azkaban.

When the train finally stopped and she was standing on Platform Nine and Three Quarters it didn't take much time to discover that the Malfoy's were the ones taking her to the manor. She had never been more grateful that her dad was on the run, it would be too much seeing him on the platform.

"We're just going to drop you off, alright? Austin says that he'd like to speak with you alone," Narcissa said to Ember when she and Draco approached her. She seemed reluctant at first, to say anything to Ember. "We'll go now, then?"

Ember gulped and nodded, she took Narcissa's arm and Apparated. The Rowle Manor that now stood in front of them was huge. Much bigger than the Malfoy Manor. I had the same dark tinge to the stone that it was built with. It was gloomy in the afternoon light. Many of the plants were starting to die after many years of not being cared for. The manor decayed. The bricks crumbled and the windows gave in to the winds long before. It had grown old, and tattered, the windows broken and the bricks crumbling. Yet, despite its faults and failings, it was still a thing of beauty.

"Will you be alright?" Draco whispered to Ember, staring at the enormous building in front of him. "If you need me just floo, okay? Like always."

Ember nodded slowly, "Thanks... I'll see you after the break, then?"

"Not going anywhere else... Plus, we still have things to do," replied Draco.

"Oh yeah, the scavenger hunt's still on," Ember said with a small smile. "Cullen will kill us if we don't finish it — He says it's the most important thing we'll ever do."

"Well he's an idiot," Draco retorted.

"You better go, Ember, I expect he's waiting for you in there." Narcissa said though she sounded scared like she herself wanted to leave.

"Thank you, Narcissa," said Ember as she stepped forward, one step closer to entering the house.

The Malfoy's Apparated away, leaving Ember standing there alone. She was worried about what was going to happen inside the manor. Would her father be happy to see her? Probably not. She walked through the gates, which automatically opened at the touch due to the Rowle blood flowing in her — the gates were magically designed to only open for members of the Rowle bloodline. It was something that had always been placed on the house that had been inherited from many generations before.

As she got closer to the building, Ember wished that she was seventeen so that she could use her wand, but her birthday was still a month away. The air was colder and she felt as if she'd encountered a Dementor as all of the bad memories from her childhood resurfaced as she pushed open the big double front doors. The familiar creak of the door could've been loud enough to wake someone up from a hundred-year sleep. It was unlikely that Ember could move around the house stealthily to get to where she needed.

"Ember," a deep, cold voice called from the dining hall.

The voice alone sent shivers down Ember's spine as she stepped forward one more time, into the room. The leaves on the floor outside flew in the manor from the cold winter wind, covering the marble floors. The door closed with a deafening bang and Ember jumped slightly at the sound.

"Come in here, love." the voice spoke once again.

Ember could barely recognise it as her father's voice. It was a lot gruffer than she remembered, a lot more assertive. In all reality, Ember was more terrified than she'd ever been in her entire life. Usually, she had an idea of what was going on. She could guess what someone was going to say or do, but not in this place. She felt vulnerable, way too vulnerable than she was comfortable. The brave Ember was replaced with the Slytherin Ember — the terrified Ember.