The Secret of the Malfoy Name

Disclaimer: all characters are property of J.K. Rowling, no copyright infringement intended.
This goes for the whole fic. I do not own any of the characters, except for Hera Malfoy.

Chapter I: The Youngest Malfoy

10/22/1987
Seven-year-old Draco Malfoy was sitting on the Manor’s living-room armchair, swinging his legs that were still too short to reach the dark wine carpet and twiddling his thumbs impatiently. He was still upset about being the only one left out of the room where all the action was taking place. Father had been in there for hours and every once in a while he heard his mother’s winnings and crying from the master bedroom. The winning turned into ear-tearing screams of pain.

Eventually, the screaming broke off and the master bedroom door was opened. Draco looked up to find his father beaming proudly from the upper flight of stairs that leaded to the bedrooms and Draco’s playroom.

‘Draco, come here. There’s someone I want you to meet’, Lucius said to his son, waving for him to follow him into the master bedroom.

Draco was rarely permitted to enter Lucius’ and Narcissa’s room, so he stop timidly by the doorframe, as though waiting for reassurance. He peered around before taking his first step in, taking in the whole scene so he would remember it. The room was decorated with dark objects, just like the rest of the Manor, but it had an unique style that was slightly intimidating and yet, extremely beautiful. The large four-poster bed had blue velvet hangings and black silk sheets, making his mother’s pale skin stand out like a heavenly character. She looked exhausted, her cheeks flushed and few drops of sweat running down her forehead.

Draco looked at the Mediwitch next to his father. She was a rather big woman, with small brown eyes and thin lips that formed a sweet, sideways smile. The little baby she was holding was barely visible in her arms. Lucius took the baby-girl and lowered her so Draco could see her.

‘She’s beautiful’, Draco said in awe, after his little sister opened her grey eyes. She had been born with her head full of soft golden hair.

‘Have you chosen a name yet?’, the Mediwitch asked.

‘Hera’, Narcissa said in a whisper. ‘Hera Malfoy.’

‘Hera. It’s a very pretty name. Peculiar, but pretty’, she commented.

‘Hera was the Greek queen of the Olympic Gods’, Draco said distractedly, unable to tear his gaze away from his little sister.

‘Really?’, she asked surprised at the boy’s response.

‘Yes. Draco chose the name himself’, said Lucius regaining his full high.

‘Well, I think it’s lovely’, she said.


5/03/1988
Lucius had been pacing in his study all afternoon, which was a sing that something was disturbing him greatly. Malfoys didn’t pace. Narcissa knocked on his door and went in before he had a chance to tell her to leave him alone.

‘Lucius? What’s wrong?’, she asked highly concerned for her husband and the polished wooden floor from the study.

‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! What are you, blind?!’, he yelled. ‘She’s almost eight months old and she hasn’t shown any sign of magic! You gave birth to a squib, Narcissa! That’s what’s wrong!’

‘Lucius, calm down…’, his wife tried to sooth him, but what he had just said had felt like a slap in the face. A squib… It couldn’t be…

‘Do you remember how old was Draco the first time he did magic? A week!’

‘Yes, darling, I remember… But maybe she’ll…’

‘No! There are no maybes here! You know strong emotions trigger the magic out of them. Every time Draco cried something broke or flew around the room! Hera cries all the time and I never noticed any of that’, Lucius went on. ‘There cannot be a squib in this house.’

‘What are you saying, Lucius? Will you give her an ultimatum and tell her that if she doesn’t blow something up in less than five days, you’ll give her to adoption?!’

‘Narcissa, don’t be ridiculous! If we gave her to adoption people would know we brought a freak into the world. We have to kill her.’

‘WHAT?! Are you insane? We can’t kill her! She’s just a baby!’, she screamed.

‘Look, I’ve thought about it, and that’s the only way. Just because that Harry Potter kid made the Dark Lord disappear, we both know he’s still out there and will return. And I am still a Death Eater, remember? As soon as he’s back, he’ll either kill us all or make me kill her to show I’m still loyal to him and haven’t changed my ideals. It’s a lose-lose situation, and the least harmful one is getting rid of her now, before anyone gets suspicious.’

Narcissa was doing everything to keep herself from crying and nodded.

‘But… what about Draco? He loves her so much…’

‘Well, he’ll just have to be strong… as we all.’

***

Draco was in the Manor’s library, reading a mythology book to Hera. He had spent seven years completely alone, and his only friends were his parent’s friends’ sons. High class purebloods as themselves hired tutors for their kids, so they wouldn’t have to attend any muggle school or the only public wizards’ school in Britain where anyone could go, including poor families like the Sanders or the Weasleys… especially the Weasleys. Having someone making him company all the time made Draco so happy, even if such company was just a baby.

His parents entered the library and sat in front of him.

‘Draco, we need to talk to you’, his mother started, but didn’t seem strong enough to continue.

‘What is it, Mother?’, Draco asked, putting down the book neatly on the table.

Lucius cleared his throat and made sure his voice came out strong and powerful.

‘Draco, it has come to our attention that Hera has not shown any sign of magic since she was born, and being seven months old already, that is highly alarming. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

‘Yes, Father.’

‘We’re quite certain that your sister is not a witch, but a squib’, he continued, hissing the last word with disgust.

‘But, how can she be a squib? I didn’t know purebloods could even have them.’

‘It happens sometime, though it’s very rare. No one knows she’s a squib yet, but when the word is out, she could put our family in danger.’

‘Why? She’s just a baby!’, Draco protested, knowing fully well what happened to the people who risked the life of a Malfoy.

‘I know that, but when the Dark Lord returns to power he’ll either make me kill her or kill us all. Therefore, it would be for the best to do it now before we get more attached to her.’

‘NO! You can’t do that! She’s MY sister and I won’t let you!’, Draco cried.

‘Draco, you need to see…’, his mother said.

‘NO!’, he yelled.

‘Draco, don’t yell to your mother!’, Lucius warned him.

‘I will unless you stop saying that! Can’t you… can’t you fake it?’

‘What?’, his father asked.

‘Fake her death, like Romeo and Juliet? No one has to find out’, Draco suggested desperately.

His parents looked at each other and then at Draco again. Draco had always been extremely smart for his age. He’d learnt how to read and write on his own when he was three. His brains were like a sponge for knowledge. Of course, he hadn’t read Shakespeare, but her mother had told him the complete story over a year before.

‘Well… I don’t think that would be too hard to pull off…’, Lucius thought out loud. ‘All we would have to do is pick up one of those homeless kids we see when we go to London, slip him a Polyjuice, kill him and make a small funeral. But if we do that, Hera will have to live her life trapped in the Manor, where no one can ever see her.’

‘It’s absolutely brilliant’, Narcissa said.

‘You hear that, Hera? I won’t ever let anything happen to you. Ever.’


A/N: The cover to this fic can be found here:
http://img208.echo.cx/img208/6674/thesecretofthemalfoynamecover7.jpg