Freedom

Lucius rose in the morning, feeling the pleasant soreness of muscles well used. Stretching, he looked over at the form of his wife, sprawled across the mattress still asleep, her long platinum hair a startling contrast to the deep navy blue silk sheets.



Rising, he dressed, leaving her thus asleep, nude but for the iron collar about her throat. The Imperius Curse was still in place, keeping her from using magic, for harming herself, or from leaving the manor, and limiting how much she left his chamber. It allowed her a wrapper to go downstairs to eat, but otherwise kept her nude and confined to his room.



Smiling at the irony, he strode downstairs for breakfast finding Draco sitting at the table, a plate piled high.



"Good morning, son," he said softly, sitting carefully in his chair and picking up a piece of toast. "If you have a moment, I have something I\'d like to discuss with you." While phrased as a request, it wasn\'t one, and Draco would be well aware of that.



Draco looked up and blinked, pulling himself from the daze his mind had been in for the past few weeks since their release from Azkaban. He hadn\'t had much drive to do much but eat and sleep and wander around the grounds. And he suspected it was the same for his father. They hadn\'t spoken much and actually Draco hadn\'t spoken much to anyone at all except his mother when her nagging became too much. But he actually preferred the lack of interaction with his parents. It was hard to function around them beyond just eating, so it was a bit of a surprise when his father spoke to him. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" he asked, setting his fork down next to his plate and giving his father his undivided attention. Vaguely he wondered where his mother was since she was always the first one down for breakfast, but decided he really didn\'t care. It was nice and quiet without her incessant nagging.



Lucius waited a moment, wondering where to start.



"Draco," he said, looking at his son carefully. "I know this may come as something of a surprise to you, but... you have a sister. Well, half-sister. Her name is Raven and she\'s a year and a half younger than you," he finally said, too tired of the lies to even want to bother with his family.



He blinked. Then blinked again. "I - I what? I have a sister? Why - who? Why didn\'t I know about this? Wait, half sister? With who?"



Lucius just sighed, letting the boy flounder a moment as the shock sank in.



"Yes, a half-sister. Her mother\'s name was Sylvia Iris. I took her as a mistress not long after you were born and... well... she was a very special woman. She was with child fairly soon, actually, and I had always wanted more children, so we decided that she should have the baby. As I said, she\'s a bit younger than you. I kept to the traditions with... illegitimate children. She was educated privately and mostly hidden from the world. Or was, until we went to prison and my books were confiscated. That\'s when the news became public. You didn\'t know because you were in Azkaban with me. Your mother, though, did find out. Needless to say, she didn\'t take it well."



Draco paled a little. He was quite aware of his mother\'s temper and had been at the receiving end of it a few times so he knew exactly what she was capable of. "What did she do?"



Lucius sighed. "She took it personally. I don\'t have the details." Yet. "Sylvia... is dead. Your sister... your sister was taken and brutalized, sent to a whorehouse. Did you see the picture of the raid the Ministry did two days ago? It was on the front page? The girl in the picture? That was Raven. That\'s how I found all this out. On Christmas Day. I am... I am going to see that she is protected this time. But... she would like to meet you, if you... if you would like to meet her."



The last time Draco had been so surprised had been when he\'d been sentenced to Azkaban. Then he\'d been fairly certain his father\'s lawyers would\'ve gotten them off on some legal technicality but that hadn\'t been the case. Now he was just plain gobsmacked. "This is a bit... much to take in," he began slowly, unsure if he really wanted to meet the whore in the family. But deep inside he\'d always wanted a sibling even as much as he loved being the center of attention. Mainly he\'d wanted someone to pick on during the boring summer months. And now he suddenly had a sibling. He looked over at his father and his cautiously optimistic expression. Wow, he really must love this Raven girl, which piqued his curiosity. "I think I\'d like to meet her, though."



Lucius beamed at his son, proud that he would look past his obvious hesitancy. "Wonderful. Then today at half past eleven, the three of us will have lunch at the Grey Garden," he said with a nod.



Standing from his chair and leaving his breakfast untouched, he walked past Draco, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "I\'ve left her alone longer than I intended, son. I\'ll see you at lunch time. Don\'t disturb your mother. She and I had a bit of a row last night and I\'m sure she needs to cool off. I think she has a migraine," he informed him then left the dining room, grabbing a cloak and Apparating to the townhome he\'d set up for Raven and himself.



Draco knew his father well enough that he could spot a lie from him no matter how silver tongued it may have been told. But to be perfectly honest, he didn\'t care. It would be a relief to be able to walk the grounds for a while without the constant threat of his mother\'s nagging. Sighing softly, he looked at his plate and contemplated everything that his father had told him. He had a whore for a sister... but... from what he\'d been told, she\'d been forced into that life so did that really make her a whore? In body yes since it had been used, but in personality? He\'d wager not if his father was obviously devoted to her. Very curious indeed, he thought returning to his meal.



****





Raven had slept fairly well once she\'d managed to nod off, although it had been hard in the too quiet house. She\'d been surprised when Lucius didn\'t come back, but she wasn\'t afraid for him. She was well aware that he was armed and capable of defending himself, and unlike her mother, he had warning.



Still, alone in the house, she\'d been nervous as a cat about to kitten, and had paced until the elves had brought her in a calming draught.



This morning, he still hadn\'t returned, and she did start to worry.



Sitting alone at the table with a breakfast spread before her, she looked up in surprise as an owl fluttered in.



It wasn\'t the one she remembered her father using, but then, it had been years since he\'d owled her anything.



Carefully, aware it could be a trap, she took the letter from the owl\'s leg and gave it a rasher of her bacon while she considered it. The little thing hopped and flitted all over the table, making her smile at its antics which only seemed to egg it on.



Finally deciding that staring at it wasn\'t getting anything accomplished, she opened the note with her wand, her frown smoothing out into a look of surprise then a smile as she read the note.



That was how Lucius found her. Smiling at the utterly normal sight of her reading her mail at their breakfast table, he sat across from her feeling utterly content. "Just tea," he told the House Elf who appeared next to him.



"Who\'s the letter from?" he asked, noting her smile. She looked radiant and he wondered who would also be able to give her that smile.



"Ron Weasley," she said, looking up at her father and laying the note carefully next to her plate. "He wanted to apologize if he upset me the other day." She grinned then. "He\'s invited me to, um, hang out sometime," she said with a suppressed giggle. "I think he fancies me, Papa. I think he might be the first boy to actually fancy me."



Lucius\' smile faded into a disgruntled frown. He couldn\'t deny his only daughter her first fancy especially when she was practically giddy with it, but with a Weasley? Never mind that he saved her life. "That\'s... good," he replied somewhat hesitantly. The tea appeared before him and he set about preparing it exactly as he liked it. He never trusted the House Elves to do it his way. "What are you going to tell him?"



"I think I\'m going to tell him that I\'d like that. I don\'t really have any friends, and... he\'s so... nice," she said softly.



"I\'m not sure I like the intentions of this boy," he grumbled, feeling a familiar surge of protectiveness. "What\'re your feelings for him? Or do you have any?" Please tell me you don\'t have any, he silently pleaded.



Raven\'s eyes sparkled as she watched her father squirm slightly. "I think his intentions are more honorable than most men\'s would be if they were sending me a note," she said, cocking an eyebrow. "After all, he\'s never even been subjected to the Veela side of my heritage. But as for my feelings? I think he\'s a very nice boy, and given my experiences with men in general... nice is very appealing.... Why? Are you going to play the role of the concerned father and threaten him if he make any inappropriate attempts on my virtue?"



"Play what role? This is no role. I am a concerned father and I will threaten him if he makes inappropriate attempts on your virtue," Lucius grumped. "It\'s my duty to make sure that you are being well taken care of and are seeing and being seen with the appropriate people and I want to make sure that this Weasley is appropriate for you. But I won\'t dictate who you see or associate with. I trust your judgment and I trust that you\'ll know who is good for you and who isn\'t. Even if it is a Weasley."



"Papa," she said in a quiet voice, "in case you\'ve forgotten, I have no virtue left. I highly doubt there is anything someone like Ron could do to me that would hurt me. At least, not in that sense. I\'m not an innocent little girl anymore."



She felt the weight of knowledge on her shoulders and sighed softly feeling the joy drain out of her as she thought about just how much knowledge she really had. "Besides, I\'m probably wrong, anyway. What honorable boy would fancy a girl like me?"



Lucius felt his heart melt at her insecurities. "Love, it has nothing to do with honor or lack of honor. You\'re a beautiful woman, inside and out. Any man would be lucky to have you, IF you really want to have one. If he sent you the note, then he\'s obviously quite taken with you. I just... I guess I want to be selfish and keep you for myself for a little while. It\'s that age old fatherly desire to never have their daughter grow up and leave home. Even after all that has happened to you. And you\'re still an innocent... perhaps of not of the flesh, but of the heart and that can be just as dangerous. Owl him back, have fun with him, be an eighteen year old." He inwardly grimaced, unable to believe that he was actually encouraging his blood to hang out with a Weasley, obvious positive political benefits aside.



Biting her lip, she sighed softly, trying to decide what was really the best choice.



"Papa, I have no desire to... to be used like that ever again. But I don\'t have any friends, and I\'d like to see him... as a friend. I don\'t want to stay here alone all the time," she said in a quiet little-girl voice, subtly reminding him that he\'d left her alone the night before.



At once he felt a shot of lust go straight to his cock at the memory of Narcissa the night before tempered with a hefty dose of guilt. Oh she was good. "You won\'t, Raven. I promise. Well, not every night anyway. I\'m sure there\'ll be nights that you wish to stay out too." He cocked an eyebrow and looked over at her.



"Papa, that makes no sense. First you say you will threaten a boy who I like, then you say I will want to stay out all night. I don\'t see how it will be both," she said, her eyes going wide and innocent as she playfully blinked up at him.



"I meant dancing, having fun, doing the things teenagers do to drive their parents insane, not necessarily... staying the night with a boy," he replied controlling a grimace at the thought of his baby girl shagging that overgrown oaf. "Would either of you listen to me if I threatened him? Doubtful. You\'re just as willful and headstrong as your mother. I actually pity the Weasley boy when you get something in your head that you want." He couldn\'t help the small shudder that escaped.



"Blame our Veela heritage," she said loftily, waving her hand dismissively, then she giggled. "Did you have someone else in mind that I should be interested in? Because if there are other options, this would be the time to present them, before my mind is settled on someone you consider innappropriate. Otherwise, I will expect you to smile and nod politely when I invite him over for dinner and not laugh or make rude comments when he uses the wrong fork. Because I\'m absolutely certain that he has no idea what fork is for what. Or even if he\'s ever seen a place setting with more than one."



He thought long and hard, immediately dismissing any of the boys from Draco\'s class. Most of them were betrothed anyway or if they weren\'t, they were in Azkaban, in hiding or dead. Plus he wouldn\'t want them for his princess anyway. Perhaps a good lad from Durmstrang... no, they would balk at her lack of purebloodness and they just weren\'t good enough. Sighing softly in defeat, he came to realize that perhaps Weasley was best suited for his baby girl, IF that was his intention and IF she fancied him in return. "I\'ll... keep my comments to a minimum," he conceded reluctantly.



She shook her head at that. "Papa, I don\'t want to date him anyway. I don\'t want to date anyone." She shuddered at the thought. "Not at this point, anyway. But I do need friends. I don\'t want to sit here alone all the time with only the elves and my memories for company. I\'ll go crazy. And... and someday... I\'d like to have someone who loves me... like you loved Mummy."



Relaxing that his daughter wasn\'t going to run off to get married, he smiled tenderly. "You will, love. You will." Glancing at the clock, he realized that they should probably start getting ready. "I\'ve come from talking to Draco and he would like to see you. We\'re going to have lunch at The Gray Goose today at eleven thirty. Is that alright?"



"Of course, Papa," she said, standing and coming around to the side of the table where he was sitting to kiss his cheek. "I\'ll be down after I take a nice hot bath."



She\'d never been overly fastidious about bathing, but after two years of feeling constantly filthy, she found herself loving the feel of the hot water and the clean smell of the soap. "Is there anything I shouldn\'t do or wear?" she asked, beginning to be nervous at the prospect of finally meeting her brother.



"No, nothing special. The robes you have now are fine. If you like, we can do some shopping afterwards. I doubt Draco will want to go though," he replied leaning back and looking up at her.



Smiling at her nervousness, he took her hand and squeezed it gently. "You\'ll be fine. Draco is just as curious to meet you."



She nodded once more, then left him alone at the table with his thoughts to get ready to meet her brother for the very first time.