August 1st, 1991 (Part 3)

“Draco- hey! Draco!” I hissed from across the hall.

After a deeply uncomfortable time wherein all four of us pretended nothing happened at all and the lot of us told Mother how fetching a plum and silver robe would look on her, we have finally been allowed back to our rooms. And I have no intention of leaving said room until the morning, and hopefully Draco will have moved on to something more embarrassing than me crying while holding a Death Eater mask. However, the fact that he hasn’t already started mocking me does not bode well overall.

“I am not talking to you.” He hissed back.

“You git -how can you be mad at me? I’m your sister! And I cried.” I pulled a mock disgusted face, but only got a glower in return.

My beautiful, wonderful, not at all gnat like brother paused at the door to his room before sending me a not so friendly gesture and flinging his door open.

“Oh, come on! Use your words, Coco.” Desperate times, desperate measures and all that. I slid my wand out from my boot, where it has resided ever since Ollivander told me it was mine.

One of the key perks of magic is that so long as you have the focus, knowledge, and general dexterity, there isn’t much to charms. Or, well, a jinx in this case. And I was born to a scion of a powerful magical house. So despite the legality of it all, I have snuck Mother’s wand away from her enough times to have casting experience.

“Locomotor Wibbly.” With a loop and a push, I sent my prayers to Merlin the jinx would take.

“Oof-“ Draco made a hearty thump as he fell face first through his door, landing stomach down, “You insuf- Medea. Did you hex me?”

I crossed the wide hall in short order and settled myself so I was sitting atop my brothers back with my legs to the side before I tapped the tip of my wand against Draco’s legs to dispel the jelly legs jinx, “A hex? Do you think me so hateful?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I prefer to think of it as a jinx.” I huffed, “Besides, you were going to slam the door on me, I could tell by your face.”

“You -you! Agh. Fine, Medea, just get off and we can talk or whatever it is you’re hoping to accomplish.” He tried to swat at me, but I’d already pulled myself away from him.

“Are you mad about the lying? There really has been so little reason to tell you about the memory bit, plus Mother and Father never talked about anything so I simply kept quiet as it seemed proper.”

“Dea if you don’t stop talking like that, I’ll get right pissed.”

“What do you want from me? I’ve just fought Father over a house-elf. If I’d called him a git and whacked him I’d never get my way,” I scrunched my lip up, “It’s a bit of a change to leave the formal behind.”

“Still, you make me feel like I’m talking to a proxy-Father, and he’s already lecturing me about what to do at Hogwarts. It’s exhausting.” As if catching himself rambling, he forced his mouth closed and stood up.

For now, I could look him eye to eye as he gave me his most cross expression, but I could tell he’d be a bean pole. I just hoped I wound up tall as well. Despite what men like to tell women, being tall matters in more ways than one. Specifically, a particularly tall witch in particularly tall heels is terrifying. Add the Malfoy genes? I could be a sight. It haunts my dreams in the best way.

“Merlin, why are you so cross?” I slid my wand back into my boot as I looked to my brother with an aggrieved expression, “What? I thought you’d get it. I was just politicking Father like he does with everyone else.”

“It’s not about that.” His voice was still the high pitched of a young boy, but I could already see the shape of his jaw sharpening once the last of his baby fat melts off, “You… You said I was Father without the bite.”

He paused, his gaze hurt, and angry, and searching my own, “Is that how you see me? As some incompetent? As though I am a poor copy of our Father?”

“Oh- oh, no. No.” Without hesitation I grabbed my brothers balled fists and held them tightly in my hands, forcing them between us as I pushed as much hardness and certainty into my words as I could, “Coco. That is not what I meant. We know so few charms, and even fewer dark charms. We’ve only ever dueled each other -whereas Father… Father is powerful. You heard what I said. We cannot compare.”

My words did little to change my brothers mind. Which is especially frustrating because I know just how powerful he becomes in the future. Draco is smart, resourceful, and ambitious. He constantly casts high level magic, and had he the same presence as Tibble more would have been sure to recognize his talent.

“Brother, you and me, yeah?” I lean in close, trying to pull a response out of him, one that allows us to move on, and he gives me a slight tilt of his head, “You and me will take Hogwarts by storm. We are heirs to Malfoy, trueblood witches and wizards. We will rule Slytherin as if we are Salazar himself, you hear me?”

I watch as something lit up in my brothers eyes and I gave a small smile at his next words, “Born under the Gemini stars. Twins of the highest order.”

“I am Castor. You are Pollux. Inseparable.” I said the familiar words.

“I am Pollux. You are Castor. Inseparable.” He repeated, our steel eyes boring into each other.

“Twin stars. Undefeatable.” We said together, our voices melding into one.

And like that, Draco had a Malfoy smile to match my own. Small, but telling.

“I’m still mad at you. You owe me.” His steel grey eyes were dancing and I groaned.

“What? What could you possibly want from me.” I let go of his hands, my gnat like brother wearing that predatory expression that says he’s just got one over on me.

“Well. I believe you said you ‘remember’. So, after you get the elf to get us dinner -and also tell me what that was about because I know you and that was weird, you will be telling me everything.”

I shot him a look, but didn’t protest.

“Fine, I’m gonna change - see if you can sneak any scotch out of the cabinet in the sitting room down the hall.”

-

I pulled on a light jumper and tucked it into casual black sport pants. As I brushed out and started to braid my hair I looked over myself in the mirror. My sharp face matched my brother, but the pout of my lips and the sharpness of my cheeks made me look more like Mother whereas Draco’s severe features leaned more towards Father. My white blonde hair and steel grey eyes tied to the Malfoy side of my blood. As I focused on the up-over-shift-up-over-shift of the braid I called out.

“Dobs - you have a minute?”

Within a half second, Dobby had apparated next to me. Rather than his frantic babbling that was frequent in front of my father, his voice was more toned down and steady, “Dobby is always here, Miss Medea. How can Dobby help?”

I gave him a smile and tossed him a paper bag, that he caught easily in his bony hands, “I found some new candies at Sugarplum’s. I think you’ll like them.”

As always I have to be careful to phrase it as something I want him to do rather than as compensation or a thank you. Dobby has taken to accepting verbal gratitude, when minimal, but has an episode if given physical items. Candies are a good bet as it’s a loose form of sustenance.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The blue candies are charmed to conjure clouds and a tiny sun around your head -occasionally a thunderstorm and subsequent rainbow pop up. The pink candies conjure cherry blossom to fall over your head. My personal favorite is the purple candies, if you eat them in the dark they surround you in a meteor shower so you can wish on countless shooting stars. I bought a separate bag for myself and one for Draco, but I thought the effects were fantastic and I couldn’t help but want to dote on Dobby as an apology for the years to come.

He played such a large role in the original plot, and I’m unwilling to leave too much to chance -which means I’ll have to ask him to do some similar things in Year 2 and onwards. After this year, I’ll have to see how my intervention changes things.

“Thank you for thinking of Dobby, Miss Medea. Dobby does not deserve Miss Medea’s kindness. Dobby wonders how your trip went?”

I felt my eyes soften as I looked over the form of my favorite house-elf. I didn’t see any fresh marks, but one could never tell with a house-elf’s constitution.

“It was fruitful. When you eat the purple candies, do so in the dark. It’s quite fun. And, Dobby?” I put my hand on top of his head and patted him twice before returning to my braid, “Thank you for staying calm today. Did you have to punish yourself afterword?”

He had only replied to me, and while his reply answered Father’s request it was technical compliance at best and malicious at worst. Even after all these years I have to talk him down from excessive self-punishment. I worried about him.

I could see Dobby shift on his feet, and I knew the answer before he began speaking. A pit formed in my stomach and my chest tightened. His hands were already shaking around the bag of candies, and his eyes were scrunched shut. As soon as his wide green eyes popped back open and met mine in the mirror, I had to force my muscles to loosen so I could feign indifference. Being upset in front of Dobs, even when it wasn’t directed at him, was a terrible idea.

“Dobby is sorry, Miss Medea - Dobby did wrong. Dobby needed to be punished. Dobby did wrong!” His voice was shaking and the last bit became a frantic whisper hiss. I had to stop and measure my breathing before finishing the last of my braid and turning towards Dobby.

“Dobs, you fulfilled Father’s request. You confirmed you understood. You did nothing wrong.” I had to look down at him out of necessity -Dobby was a head and a half shorter than me. But before I continued I crouched down, “You know how I feel when you punish yourself without being asked.”

Dobby nodded frantically and as he began to speak again I cut him off, my voice cold to protect him from his own reactions, “Dobby because you are too harsh on yourself, you know the rules. I am to tell you your punishment. You understand?”

“Yes, Miss Medea. Dobby understands. Dobby did wrong again.” He half-wailed, as his eyes shook.

“After you bring Draco and I dinner in the music hall, you will wash my pillowcases with strawberry extract and then you will discard them in your room, they are not fit for a witch’s bed anymore. Then you will replace them with a new set of black satin pillow cases. Then you will take a bath and don something new.”

This is, obviously, not a punishment. This is an excuse for him to get a new outfit.

But forcing Dobby to bathe and wash his own clothes may as well be a punishment to any other house-elf. Since I know the truth of Dobby’s personality, I also know that he is unlike most other house-elves. And, as I can’t -and won’t, give him clothes, I have to order him to replace the pillow cases and other stray cloths he wears.

Despite what Father and the others think, house-elves have plenty enough smarts to be cunning. And so I know Dobby understands my intentions. The evidence is his current outfit made of my most recent baby blue satin pillow cases. The satin is decorated with a black geometric overlay that tied in nicely with the general aesthetic of my room.

The strawberry extract bit is just because last year Dobby thanked me for gifting him some extract that I hadn’t meant to leave on the pillow. Rather than correct him, I preferred to give him new extracts every week since he liked it so much.

“Dobby will do so, Miss Medea. Dobby will repent surely. Would Miss Medea like anything special for dinner? Dobby will make anything!”

“Very well, the main course can be anything but I’d like some of your biscuits as dessert. I missed tea today because of school shopping.”

Dobby made a chirp-like hum of agreement and gave a quick goodbye before apparating away.

I fell back onto the soft duvet covering my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Unlike downstairs, I had asked Mother to leave the ceiling blank. Well, it was black. I don’t know if it was painted or charmed, but I wanted it flat black. There were decorative columns that were sunk into the walls to match, but they were charmed to have silver outlines used to represent the constellations. The walls were an off-black that most would also call black. But it’s not truly. I would know -I picked the shade, it was called ‘Dark Slate’. So, not true black. Hung up on almost every available space were pencil sketches framed in black. They had been charmed to move and featured witches and wizards from fables. Occasionally some of them even spoke -but only if asked a question relating to their story. When I’d been requesting them from the artist, I had scoured tales from merpeople, centaurs, and other magical creatures. Of course, I chose the wizards and witches they fought to go on my walls. There were twenty four in total.

After letting my mind wonder for a few minutes, I decided to check out my school supplies. Father had gotten me a blackthorn trunk with the highest level expansion charm so I could pack my whole wardrobe if I pleased -but mostly I planned on filling it up with loads of charmed sweets and books I had yet to read. I’d already had Father pick up a dozen obscure charm books while we were in Diagon Alley -and I had every intention of packing several dozen banned books from the library on the fifth floor. It’s the only one Mother banned us from until we turned eleven and got our Hogwarts letter. They were banned for sale but not illegal to own, at least not the ones I planned on taking to the school.

The trunk itself was easily held in my arms -it even had a weightless charm inscribed. And when purchasing it, I’d stopped by the leather worker next door to get a back-pack like attachment for it. Since the thing was only as wide as me and half a foot tall, I essentially had a stylish harness made for it. The leather was soft and also helped keep the trunk closed. I’d gotten the idea because of the leather harnesses I wear as accessories on top of my dresses and blouses when I’m in casual. Granted those were for aesthetics not function.

I flipped open the latch and watched as the inside expanded and revealed several shelves and drawers -the truck even had a glass case used to display jewelry. I unclasped the garnet necklace I had been wearing today and hung it up behind the case -alongside the other pieces Mother had picked up earlier, which included several moonstone rings, bracelets, and one particularly sophisticated tiara that also included emeralds and diamonds. Where I would wear that to in my first year at Hogwarts I wasn’t sure. The rest were a mix of agate and pearl pieces at varying levels of complexity -there was a single emerald ring set in black platinum and a set of barrettes to match.

I ran my fingers over the schoolbooks set up on one of the shelves before check the hidden compartment beneath the left most drawer. Popping it open, I took in the odd shaped vials filled with brightly colored regents -from ground fire beetle to yellow drake blood. It spanned multiple rainbows. Tucked in with the neatly arranged vials was a short book that looked nondescript on the outside. I ran my nail along the spine, deciding to leave it as is for now.

Satisfied with how thorough Dobby was -down to the sharp creases of jumpers, I was once again reminded of how well Dobs takes care of me. I was half sure Draco’s was simply placed in his truck in the paper packages.

As I smiled at that thought a light knock came from the door and a deep voice called my name. Swiftly, I closed the compartment and snapped the trunk shut. Not a moment later I was at the door and pulling it open.

“Yes?” Steel eyes met steel eyes as I looked up at my father.

“We need to talk, Medea.” Ah, that’s the voice reserved for when Draco and I do something superbly stupid. Not that this is a surprising turn of events -Father has now had hours to process my outburst and decide his response.

“Draco and I were going to eat in the music hall, if you’d like to join?” In response, Father simply shot me a look and shook his head. His very own, ‘I know you’re trying to stall, and you know this is between us.’

“I told him you will be along after.”

Of course he already caught Draco. That’s what I get for staring at myself in the mirror for ages. Resigned I simply nodded and opened my door wider, waiting for my father to come in -instead he slid his staff along the ground and tapped it when he was facing toward the main staircase.

Silently I slid on some flats and closed the door behind me as I made to follow. We walked the halls in tense silence, but we didn’t’ actually go down the stairs. Instead Father waltzed to the wing on the opposite side and didn’t pause until he’d flung open the door to this floor’s office. His main office was on the third floor, and it was placed above the vaulted ceiling that covered the grand staircase we’d just passed. It was placed as such so that it could oversee the entryway with charmed floors that went translucent.

This office was not nearly as extravagant. It was set up with a sitting area and several bookshelves, containing copies of some of the not-so-sensitive Malfoy genealogy books, were lining the walls. I’m sure there were just general books as well, but the family books were always more interesting.

Father sat in a tufted green velvet armchair and used his staff to gesture to the seat to his right. They were close enough together for it to be a friendly distance, but angled so that Father was positioned in a seat of power. I took my seat without a word.

We were both quiet for a long minute until finally Father started to frown.

“You said many things earlier, Medea.”

I swallowed, “I did.”

“Most of which was disrespectful at best.”

I held my breath, waiting for him to continue.

“I will not even get in to your defense of the elf,” Father ended with a sneer, which is usually my favorite part of his conversations -it usually means someone else is about to be verbally eviscerated. It means something different now, “However, you should not have said such things about the War.”

I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying something I would regret and schooled my expression, taking my time to work out a response, “At the time, it seemed the most effective.”

“To get your way.” He looked as if he was about to ask another question before he paused, tilted his head, and seemed to make a decision, “How much do you remember of the War? Of the aftermath? How much did you understand?”

His voice was cold and hard, and he was still frowning, but this was safe territory. It didn’t seem he’d be reneging on his promise. The rest was simply perception.

“Everything. From the moment I was born to now. Obviously, at first I didn’t understand, but over time I was able to look back at the memories and process it all. The aftermath was easier to process, and you and Mother have obviously added to my understanding over the past few years. It…” I had to stretch my hand to stop it from balling up and realized I was staring at the snake head at the top of Father’s staff. I took a light breath and looked away from it, “The memories are why for a while I hid from your staff. When I was younger. Not now. Obviously.”

I saw Father’s face darken and felt exasperation flood over me, “Father, even knowing the truth, what does it matter? The War is over, the Dark Lord is dead, and you are alive and more powerful than ever. Who knows, maybe the Boy Who Lived will be the next Dark Lord - and even if Voldemort was alive he’s still a half-blood, wouldn’t a true born wizard be more worthwhile?”

This was honestly a cheat. I knew Father thought as such because of elsewhere. He’d never blatantly said this before, but I know he was for the ‘cause’ not Voldemort himself. And maybe it’d get me out of the rest of this conversation.

My father studied me for a moment, “Harry Potter will be starting at Hogwarts this year. I received word by owl not long ago. Did you already know?”

I had to fight back an eye roll but let out a satisfied smile, “I met him already. Easy to spot a boy with a death mark on his forehead and green eyes who everyone fawns over.”

A fib. But I’m not above lying to get my way. I’m not above a lot of things to be honest.

“Very well. But we will discuss this again, Medea. You and your brother should meet him on the express, help him understand the virtues of Slytherin and the boon being tied to our family could bring.”

I stood stiffly, “Yes, Father. We’ll give it a go. Anyways, I’m off to sup.”

-

Dinner with Draco was exhausting, but he was able to get his hands on the scotch so it was at least a bit of an event. He didn’t ask about my conversation with Father, and I didn’t share. I also didn’t fill him in on the fact he’d already met Tibble. That felt too much like giving a spoiler. And I was rather looking forward to seeing his face on the train.

Still, he forced me to sit and tell him story after story of what I remembered -as a child, I have no plans to speak of elsewhere outside of my own mind. When his questions were too annoying I told him particularly grotesque stories -and when Dobby popped in to clear our plates he swiped the bottle of scotch and put it back in the sitting room down the hall. Traitor.

At least the dessert was amazing. It was sugar cookies with a candy glass center. It wasn’t until I ate one and shooting stars filled my vision that I realized Dobby had used some of the charmed candies. He’d only brought half a dozen biscuits so I was content with that fact that he kept plenty for himself.

It wasn’t until late night became early morning that we left the music hall and I slid into bed -the new black satin pillow cases soft against my skin.

I slept like the dead and when I woke up the next day, time began flying by.