The Secret of the Malfoy Name

Chapter XXIX: Telling the Tale

09/26/1996
Hera sat on Draco’s lap at Dumbledore’s office, even though when they’d just arrived, the Headmaster arranged three seats for them. Hera didn’t want to be seen as an adult; she was still a little girl who wanted the protection of her brother, because that was how he expressed his love better, and by taking it, it was also hers. It made Draco happy, and that meant more to her than growing up.

The old wizard looked at them fondly and smiled, and Hera could feel that he’d never looked at his brother in that manner before. Even though she didn’t try to find out the truth behind that innocent smile, Dumbledore’s most unconscious thoughts merged with Hera’s. His whole life, he had expected this boy would become a Death Eater, and while they were gone, he was extremely certain that Draco had leaded Harry to Voldemort by using a dirty manoeuvre. Only now, having an innocent little girl in his lap and sitting side to side with the wondrous Golden Boy, he thought he was worthy of his trust… worthy of his smile.

Hera’s expression turned bitter. He’d only shared the room with this man a single minute, and she’d already grown to hate him. So, what if he fought for the good side… she didn’t support Voldemort’s ideals one bit, but as the man he’d really been, he was one thousand times better.

‘Would you like some tea with biscuits?’, Dumbledore offered them.

‘Sure, thank you’, Harry smiled and looked at the Malfoys.

‘I’m fine, thank you…’, Draco said without smiling in the least. ‘Would you like some, love?’, he asked her nudging her head with his nose.

‘Hot chocolate and pudding would be lovely’, she replied, unable to mask her discomfort.

The old man smiled again and flicked his wand, making a silver dish full of food appear on his desk. Two three teapots, three cups, three plates, a bowl of cinnamon biscuits and different flavoured puddings for her to chose. Oh, and don’t you dare forget the sugar and spoons! Show off…, she thought as he served her a cup of hot chocolate. Don’t expect to buy my love that easily…

‘So, I don’t think I need to say I’m quite intrigued about your sudden disappearance…’, he begun to let the boys tell him what had happened.

‘It was my fault, sir…’, Draco said. ‘If it hadn’t been for me, Harry would have never even left the castle. The reason why most people don’t know about Hera, is because she was supposed to be…’

‘Dead. I remember’, the old wizard nodded for him to continue.

‘Right… dead. This, of course, was a lie my family put up years ago to hide the little secret that could’ve been the cause of it’s downfall. Hera never showed signs of being a witch… a squib, my parents thought. Imagine how they must have felt when they realized their daughter had no magic in her veins. If the rest of the world found out about it, it would’ve been quite a scandal and he kept saying it would put us all in danger, so the only way he thought of getting out of trouble was to kill her and tell everyone she had died in her sleep. It was thanks to me that he didn’t touch a single hair of her head; I talked him out of it and asked if we couldn’t just fake her death… and we did.’

‘The thing was’, he went on after a small pause, ‘that the only way to really get away with it, according to my father’s plan, was to kidnap a random kid in London, polyjuice him to look like Hera and murder him. Back then, I really didn’t care about any of that… I was just happy to see my sister alive. The kid was buried with Hera’s name and people believed my father’s cover story and, as the years went by, only few people remembered the Malfoy girl who had only lived a couple of months. The rest of her life, she was trapped in the manor’s dungeon, where my parents never went to see her. They tried to forget about her along with the rest of the society, but I didn’t.’

‘It was only a few years after, when I found out she wasn’t a squib… this little girl is the most powerful seer I’ve ever seen… powerful enough to make my father lose his mind’, he grinned. ‘When he escaped from Azkaban, he hid in the dungeon, therefore, he saw Hera after all those years and found out the truth about her. He asked her to predict something for him, and she did… she told him he would be murdered by the one he least suspected of and wouldn’t tell anyone who it would be. He went completely paranoid, it ruined the last bit of his miserable life. But it also made him more dangerous to Hera… I couldn’t risk her being murdered while I was here, too far away to go to her when she needed me the most. So I came looking for Harry’s help… and, of course, he did no less.’

‘We got her out of the manor without an inconvenience, but as we returned, my father noticed she was gone. How? I still have no idea, but he must have sensed it, somehow… He came after us and he managed to take Hera from me, almost causing my own death, and took her straight to You-Know-Who. We obviously followed them and ended up in a castle, surrounded by Death Eaters and Himself. My father was killed for lying his Master by Parkinson and we were taken as prisoners. We had no ways of escape, but Hera used her gift to save us by fooling the Dark Lord and winning his trust. Harry and I were trapped for a couple of days, until He came down to kill us, but Harry ended up killing him.’

‘Voldemort is dead?’, Dumbledore asked, evidently shocked by the news. ‘But Severus hasn’t taught you the Killing Curse yet!’

‘I threw a dagger at him…’, Harry said quietly. ‘I guess he didn’t see it coming either.’

‘But, didn’t the Death Eaters attack you?’

‘No, Hera took care of that too’, Draco said proudly.

‘The only Death Eater that stood on our way was Wormtail and, when he found out Voldemort was dead, he let us escape. Let’s just say he was paying an old debt. I don’t think we’ll see him in a long time’, Harry said.

‘I see… well, I can only say I’m very relieved to see you all fine and I’m glad that it’s all over now.’

‘Believe me, so are we’, Harry smiled tiredly. ‘The only thing that needs to be arranged now is where Hera will stay.’

‘Well, she’s obviously welcome at Hogwarts. If her wish is to stay with her brother, we can rearrange his room until she’s old enough to be moved somewhere else. If not, will find her a room of her own somewhere around the castle’, he smiled.

‘You don’t mind me staying with you, don’t you, Draky?’, she asked quietly.

‘I’d love to have you around, love’, he smiled and kissed the top of her blonde head.

‘Wonderful. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?’

‘I don’t think so… right now, I just want to get some sleep’, Harry said running a hand through his messy jet black hair.

‘Fine, then. Feel free to go.’

‘Thank you, Professor’, Harry and Draco said as they all got up and returned to the Gryffindor tower together.