Just Around the Riverbend

Yay! I'm back with a brand new chapter, and I just can't wait to share it. I'm hyped up on donuts and sundrop and I'm about to tear a hole in my keyboard!!!


Ithilwin
margaritama
Niclaire
Heidi191976
Jessi
Carha
darkheartsgirls
CoCo.M
Aurelinwae

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Lucius swung his cloak around his shoulders dramatically, and snatched his cane from its resting place.

He had been busy for the last three days preparing for his cousin’s arrival. He still wasn’t sure why he let the girl come. Public relations just didn’t seem like a good enough reason to basically adopt a child. He ignored the tiny part of his mind that told him he wanted a bit of redemption with himself, as well.

He looked around the study, and at that moment he realized something else: he was lonely. With Narcissa gone, he had no one to speak to, no one to care if he woke up in the morning. When Draco had left he had been devastated….not that he would share that bit of information with anyone….

He missed having someone….anyone at the Manor. It was too large a house for just one person. So he had jumped at the chance to have some company….even if it was a thirteen year old American girl that he knew nothing about.

Good gods….he must be losing his mind…

~~

He walked through the halls of the Ministry with a purpose. Most people that he encountered either sneered in his direction, or cowered as he approached. The cowering didn’t bother him so much: it was the sneering that he wanted to remedy.

As he turned off into the Department of Child Services, he got quite a few strange looks. It wasn’t everyday that Lucius Malfoy visited this corner of the Ministry. In fact, it had never happened. Ever.

The receptionist looked at him.

“May I help you, sir?” she asked timidly. Lucius turned his icy blue eyes on her, and she visibly shrank in her chair.

“I’m here to pick someone up. A girl from America. Her name is Daisy Melfy.” He said. The receptionist’s eyes widened.

“She’s going with you? Oh my….” She said. She quickly jotted something down, and then stood from her place, practically jogging back through a door. Lucius narrowed his eyes. Something was amiss…

And he understood in a moment why the receptionist had looked so surprised. When she returned, she was accompanied by a girl. And the girl was….odd.

Her hair was long, to the small of her back, and braided neatly in one long braid. But her hair was black as a raven’s wing, nothing like the Malfoy hair at all…. She was wearing ghastly denim jeans that were cut off and frayed at the knee, and a plain, snug tan-colored t-shirt. She had what appeared to be a tattoo circling her upper right arm. It was a simple rust-colored band with decorative downward spikes. She was wearing strange, tan-colored shoes that appeared to have been sewn together by hand, and beaded with a decorative pattern.

Her skin was darker than his, as if she spent lots of time in the sun. And her face….well…she had a lovely face, at least. Her eyes were a blue to rival his own, icy in color, and lined with thick lashes. Her eyebrows were rather thick, but it added to the beauty of her face. She had rather full lips for a teenage girl, but she wore no makeup.

Lucius stared at her, clearly surprised.

“Mr. Malfoy, this is Daisy. Daisy, this is Mr. Malfoy.” The receptionist said softly. Lucius looked at her, surprise clearly written all over his normally stoic face.

“Hi.” Daisy said softly, and stepped from beside the receptionist. She had a single bag with her, made of the same material as her strange shoes, and beaded with the same pattern. Someone must have shrank her things and put them in that bag for her.

Lucius cleared his throat, and held out his hand.

“Come along, Miss Melfy, we must be getting back.” He said. She blinked at him.

“You talk funny.” She said softly, but didn’t reach for his hand. When it was apparent she wasn’t taking it, he lowered his hand slowly.

“Follow me.” He said, and turned on his heel, his cape flicking out as he turned to go. When both of them had gone, the receptionist shook her head.

“Those two are going to mix like oil and water….and I’m not sure who’s more slippery…”

~~

Daisy was quiet on the walk back through the Ministry. Lucius did notice one thing about her stange shoes. While his boots tapped methodically against the tiled floor, she walked as if on air, with no sound whatsoever.

“You have blonde hair.” Daisy observed softly as they stood in line for the floo. He turned to her.

“And you have black hair.” He said. She looked up at him with her own eerie blue eyes.

“My mother was a Cherokee. Fairly pure of blood...it's nigh impossible to find a Cherokee that isn't of mixed heritage....Anyway... I got the hair of a Native, and the eyes of a Melfy. Genetics can be quite strange sometimes.” She said, and then looked at the floor. Lucius blinked at her. So the girl was part Native American, eh? It explained the patterns on her shoes and bag. So that would make her shoes….moccasins.

“The Native Americans have strong magic. Don’t be so gloomy.” He said to her. She looked up at him again, her eyes searching his as if she were looking for something, but then she shrugged.

“Whatever.” She said.

“Do you know how to use the Floo?” he asked her. She looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“Yes. I’m not stupid.” She snapped.

“Well then, when you throw the powder, say ‘Malfoy Manor, Front Hall.’” He said. She gave him a strange look, before taking a handful of the powder from a bowl nearby.

“Malfoy Manor, Front Hall.” She stated clearly, and disappeared in the green flames. Lucius gave himself an inward grin.

Let Malfoy Manor speak for itself. He doubted she’d say a word once she was planted firmly on Malfoy grounds.

~~

Daisy stepped out of the fireplace, and stopped in her tracks. This place was huge! She’d certainly get lost a few times. She took a few steps forward, her moccasins making no sound on the stone hallway. There were a few large tapestries along the wall, depicting different scenes throughout the history of magic.

She was about to reach out and touch one when she heard someone clear their throat. She turned to see Lucius standing there, a very smug look on his face.

“Welcome to Malfoy Manor.” He said softly.

“Malfoy Manor? So that makes you…the Lord of the Manor?” Daisy asked. She had actually meant it as a joke, and smiled a bit at her own wit, but her smile faded when Lucius chuckled.

“Actually, my dear, it does. I am Lord Lucius Malfoy. I’m afraid you’ll find the British Magical world a bit more…old-fashioned…than it’s American counterpart.” He said. Daisy sighed.

“As long as there’s indoor plumbing I really don’t care.” She said. Lucius snorted.

“Of course there’s indoor plumbing…I said old-fashioned, not archaic.” He replied. “Would you like to see your room?” he asked. She nodded silently, and he began to walk, taking one of the grand staircases at the end of the stone hallway. The carpet on the stairs was rich and heavily patterned. Obviously expensive. Daisy felt poor just walking on it.

She made the mistake of looking down, and when she saw her beaded moccasins hit the opulent carpet, she didn’t do that again. This was going to be a disaster.

They walked for what seemed like forever, until they came to a set of double doors.

“There are two doors to get to my room?” Daisy asked in disbelief.

“There are two doors to get to your suite.” Lucius said, his eyes cutting to the side to see her reaction. It was comical the way her head tilted forward slightly, and her mouth fell open.

“Whoah.” She said softly, and he smirked as he pushed the doors open.

There was a sort of den that met them. There was a small couch and chair off to the side, situated in front of a large fireplace.

“Off to the left is your personal study and private library. I’ll take you shopping for books of your own choosing later… To the right is your private bedroom, and your en suite bathroom, and just down the hall from your bedroom is a guest bedroom, should you decide you want company later.” He explained. He paused for effect, and then turned to her. “Are the rooms to your liking?” he asked. Daisy was looking around in awe. She turned to Lucius, and he was a bit alarmed to see she had tears in her eyes.

“This is so beautiful. I….I had no idea you were….uh….well….filthy rich, I guess.” She said. She laughed nervously. “This is all so much. I feel really overwhelmed.” She said softly. She swayed slightly on her feet, but stayed upright.

“Perhaps you should rest. You are in a new country, in a new home. I shall come back up and fetch you for supper. It will just be the two of us tonight.” He said. He didn’t mention that it had just been him for several months, and he had taken to asking the elves to stay in the room just so he wouldn’t be by himself. The little creatures seemed to understand his loneliness, and would often pop in just to see if he needed anything, or would make a habit of ‘cleaning’ the room he was in. Lucius found he didn’t mind at all.

“Okay.” She said numbly, and followed Lucius to her room. It was done not in pink, but in neutral and earth colors. Daisy would have liked the color scheme if she weren’t so upset. Lucius ushered her into her room, and silently closed the door behind her.

Daisy went over to the full-sized, four-poster bed, and toed off her moccasins at the edge of the bed. She pulled back the ornate damask cover, neatly rolling it to the end of the bed, and climbed up onto the soft bed. It was larger than her bed at home had been.

She laid her head against the pillow, and really let the gravity of the past few days hit her. She had been packing and preparing for this day since she sent her letter. She was either headed off to the orphanage, or she was going to come here to stay with a cousin who was old enough to be her father. She was here with her cousin…who was filthy stinking rich. She hadn’t expected that at all. She hadn’t really looked into her cousin’s name that much other than discovering they were related, and quickly penning a note to ask for help.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about this….suite. It was just so much to take in. She wished she could tell her mother about this huge house. She wished she could talk to her father about how distant Mr. Malfoy seemed. She didn’t know how she felt about him. He’d showed up looking like something out of a Halloween party, and walking around like the King of England….

A short sob escaped Daisy as she thought about her parents again. They had been taken so suddenly. One minute they were walking home from the movies, the next her parents were lying in a pool of their own blood. And for what? A few dollars and her mother’s wedding ring…. And she was alone.

So she cried. She cried for her parents, who would never get to see this lovely manor-home. She cried for herself, unsure of what the future held for her. She cried herself into a fitful and uneasy sleep.

Perhaps a few hours rest and she could face her cousin again…
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Ah....chapter three. I do hope you all enjoyed it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go off into a sugar-induced coma. See you in a few days.

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