The Outlying Serpent { Fred Weasley }

1. Appearances

Pre-Books

1989
Summer before First Year

Ara Malfoy, although conscious that she was indeed deeply loved by her family, had always been aware of what a disappointment she had been, specifically for her father.

It all stemmed from the fact that she was the first female Malfoy to be born in more generations than she had fingers to count.

Ara supposed she couldn't be too angry at that.

It was understandable, blatantly sexist, but understandable for someone of Lucius Malfoy's generation. She guessed every parent had a preferred gender for their child, Ara had just so happened to cater to her mothers preference.

And so, Draco was born.

At least I had been born first.

Without a doubt, if Ara had been male, her father would not have given a rats-arse about her mother's preference and would not have wanted another child. So, in the end, at least she had not disappointed her mother.

Now, after the unfortunate case of her gender, a few more unforeseeable, uncontrollable, coincidences also disappointed her father.

Her hair, for one, was much to dark for his liking.

Instead of the characteristic, near-white hair Malfoy's typically possessed, Ara had been given long locks of dark blonde hair. Locks that were much to pigmented for her fathers taste, as her mother would sometimes joke in an attempt to make Ara feel better.

Narcissa Malfoy couldn't help but feel guilty about the traits Ara had that were constantly picked apart.

You see, Ara had gotten that pigmentation from her mother's side of the family, the Blacks, along with far to many more of their features, for her fathers liking that is.

From her hair, to her height, to her nose, to whatever else Lucius felt like complaining about. She did not look the part of a 'proper Malfoy', whatever that meant.

Another unforeseeable, uncontrollable, aspect that would've been horrid, to her father, were her eyes.

Ara had been born during the height of the First Wizarding War, and despite this, Lucius found it ever so important to throw a fit when he saw that his daughters eyes were not blue, but instead deep stone-like colour, much like the ones her then disowned cousin, Sirius Black, possessed.

Lucius was convinced by Narcissa, then in postpartum, that a child's eyes were constantly changing and that surely Ara would grow up to have beautiful, icy blue eyes, much like his.

Thankfully, Narcissa'd been right, Ara's eyes did change to a beautiful blue colour, which her father adored and constantly complimented. They were the one thing he had never complained about.

A true Malfoy's eyes.

Ara's irritation knew no end when she heard someone say such a thing, her father, on the other hand, would swell with pride.

What does that even mean?

But, like a good little pureblood, she'd force on a charming smile, say thank you and move onto a new topic of conversation.

Ara often thought, only to herself of course, that her father should be grateful that his daughter took after her mother, with the blonde hair and all, compared to her aunts. Had Ara been born with the dark, curly hair, or chocolate-coloured eyes that her Aunt Bellatrix possessed, she couldn't help but think that her father would've thrown her out onto the streets by now.