The Tale of Apollina - Harry Potter non-Canon fanfic

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[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Prologue: The Letters

“Apollina’s Hogwarts letter has come,” Narcissa Malfoy said that night over dinner. “Shall we send a demurral or simply ignore it?”

Her husband, Lucius - looking healthier than at any point during the last two years, but still too thin and rather paler than he should’ve been - finished chewing in a thoughtful manner before he answered.

“Why demur at all? We’re certainly not going to send her to Durmstrang, it’s an all-boys school. And Beauxbatons is too far away. Plus, I don’t like the curriculum. Focuses too much on ‘behaving like a lady’ and not enough on actual schoolwork.”

Narcissa lay down her fork at once. Her suddenly stiff posture was the only indication of the intense anxiety that gripped her, because she kept her face and voice studiously neutral. “You intend to accept her invitation? Start sending her away for the better part of each year?”

“We have to start letting her grow up sometime, dearest,” Lucius replied gently.

Draco, on the sidelines up until now - quite literally, as he sat between his parents who sat at the head and foot of the long dinner table - suddenly spoke up. “Father, you can’t send Apple to school. She’s not strong enough to handle what they’ll throw at her there. Who’ll protect her?”

“She’s stronger than you think. She’s not the sickly little baby she once was; if we go on as we’ve done, keeping her locked up tight, thinking she’ll break if we look at her wrong, then she’s going to get sick again. She needs to get out, run around, play with other children, soak up the sunshine. She’ll never get that here, even if we ever manage to break this bad habit we have of treating her like bone porcelain.”

“But Father, at school they’ll…they’ll…”

“Speak up, boy,” Lucius said, not unkindly.

Draco hung his head. “They’ll hate her because she’s a Malfoy,” he finished.

Lucius lay down his own fork. “Yes, many of them will. Most of them, probably. But Apple isn’t like the rest of us - I don’t know if it’s because we’ve kept her hidden from our own ugliness or if she was just born that way. Eventually, they’ll start to see that she‘s a good girl. It won’t be as bad as you think it’s going to be.”

He planted his hands firmly on the table and stood up. “I won’t let it get that bad.”

From the inner pocket of his robes he withdrew a heavy parchment envelope and tossed it onto the table. It skidded down the slickly polished surface and came to a stop just past Draco, in the middle. “I got my own acceptance letter today,” Lucius said.

Draco picked up the letter gingerly, as though expecting a shock or a bite. He opened it up and read the short note inside, then passed it on to his mother, looking shell-shocked. Narcissa read the letter once, shook her head as if to clear it of wrackspurts, and read it again.

“Lucius, what in the world can this mean?” she asked at last.

“I would’ve thought it spoke for itself very clearly. I’ve been accepted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts this year. On probationary trial.”

“You…applied for this position?”

“I did. Most of the teachers we supplanted last year have come back to teach this year - those that lived, anyway. But McGonagall couldn’t find anyone to teach Defense - probably lingering fears about the Dark Lord’s curse. I applied, she and the school governors accepted.”

“But Dad - what about the Dark Lord’s curse?” Draco blurted.

“Then I guess they’ll have to find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher next year,” Lucius said calmly. “Frankly, I doubt the curse is still in effect - the Dark Lord is dead, after all. But if it does still exist, only two past teachers ended up dead-or-worse. I can’t imagine anything more terrible than being laid off happening to me this year.”

“Severus…” Narcissa reminded gently.

“Severus was killed a full year after teaching the class, dearest - and being that close to…Voldemort - “ his family winced - “the only great surprise about his death was that we didn’t all follow right behind him.”

“Well, why don’t they get Potter to teach Defense? Surely he’s not afraid of the Dark Lord’s curse?” Draco said.

“Harry Potter is currently undergoing a special course of Ministry certification, both to make up for the year of schooling, and more importantly, the N.E.W.T. exams he missed, and to train as an Auror. They’re pretty desperate to bolster their ranks, since they lost so many. I think they would’ve taken him on green if he hadn’t insisted on getting a bit more education first. Most people don’t think he needs any more testing, considering he defeated the greatest Dark Wizard in centuries. I personally think he’s in the right; he won’t have the advantages against other Dark Wizards that he had against…Voldemort…and he can’t expect to be able to kill just anyone with a basic Disarming Spell.”

“But why you, Lucius? Surely someone else would take the position if they were offered it? Why on earth did you apply?” Narcissa demanded.

“Why, to draw unfriendly attention away from Apple, of course,” Lucius said, with an expression of mild surprise. “I knew she was sure to get her letter this year, and it’s much too soon to expect that everyone would forgive and forget, like the Ministry was willing to do for us. You and I know that none of us was directly responsible for the death of any Witch, Wizard, or Muggle since the Dark Lord’s return to power, and the Ministry found in our favor on that as well. But public opinion doesn’t have much to do with fact, and less with court rulings. Draco and I were Death Eaters; I confessed to acts of torture committed in the past; I spent six months of a life sentence in Azkaban and was allowed to walk free after all was said and done. That isn’t going to be easily forgiven. I’d much rather have the animosity of teachers and children directed at me than Apple.”

“But Apple is a defenseless little girl, not a grown man,” Narcissa pointed out. “Teachers might - and I stress might - be willing to overlook her family connections and treat Apple like any other student, but the students certainly aren’t going to direct their hostilities at a teacher when there’s a helpless target handy.”

Lucius drew himself up tall and straight. “You forget - or were unaware - that in the past year or so it has become widely known that I, my dearest, am a spineless coward. Even the most cautious of schoolyard bullies won’t be able to resist the temptation of being able to be rude and obnoxious little gits toward a teacher with perfect impunity. And of course, if I were to jinx one of the little buggers I’d lose my job in a heartbeat, and probably end up back in Azkaban, to boot. No, my dear, I believe I can expect my fair share of hard times at Hogwarts.”

He sat back down and returned to his interrupted meal. “And besides, I’ll be there to watch out for Apple and make sure the little bastards don’t handle her too roughly. Even if they won’t respect my authority, they’ll respect McGonagall’s, and as a teacher I can report them directly to her. I already have her assurance that she won’t stand for anyone, student or staff, treating Apple badly just because I’m her father.”

Narcissa turned her attention back to her own plate, though not with any real interest. “So, Minerva accepted the position of Headmistress, then?”

“For now. She wants to retire soon, I think, so she’s got them on the lookout for new candidates.”

“Who will be teaching Transfiguration this year, then?”

Lucius dropped his fork and wiped his mouth and hands carefully. “I almost forgot to tell you,” he said, reaching into his inner pockets again. He pulled out another Hogwart’s letter and tossed it down the long table to his wife. “You are.”

[Buyn]

Very interesting. I think I'll keep my eye on you.

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Why, thank you! I'll be posting the first chapter shortly.

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Note to fellow Piers Anthony fans: the Simurgh is a real myth (sort of like genuine naugahyde?) of Persian origins.

EDIT: With much thanks to Z OMG, who suggested that a child walking past might make mention of Apple's...unusual appearance.

Chapter One: The Core of the Wand

Apollina clung to her mother’s hand, almost needing to be dragged from one place to the next as, for the first time in her young life, she explored the streets and shops of Diagon Alley. It was not fear, or not wholly fear at any rate, that slowed her steps, but wonderment - her cornflower eyes were huge and round with excitement as she took in all the amazing sights and strange people around her. She was too young and, perhaps, too sheltered to notice the way those people glanced at her father, always just a few paces ahead, and sidled away, or the angry looks on some of the faces.

"Mummy - look at the funny girl with the yellow tai - " a passing child said before her mother snatched her up and shushed her, and hurried away with a furtive glance at the imposing figure of Apple's father. Although she was unused to comments on her unusual physical characteristics, Apple was too entranced with the sights and sounds of Diagon Alley to notice...much.

“There’s Gringotts, Apple,” her father said over his shoulder once they’d come to the end of the main street. “I have a bit of business to take care of before we start buying your school things, so I thought you might like to see what it’s like inside, and ride the carts with me.”

“Ride the carts?” she repeated, looking up to her mother for enlightenment.

Narcissa smiled down at her. “You’ll see,” she said. “Go with your father, dear, and I’ll go to Flourish and Blotts to get your schoolbooks. I’m not fond of the carts myself. My hair always gets mussed.”

Conscientiously, Apollina first checked that her own fine blonde hair was still tightly bound in its large, green satin bow before transferring her small self from the care of mother to father.

As Lucius led her up the beautiful white marble steps, Apollina’s attention was grabbed not by the beautiful structure, but by a dark, gnarled-looking creature in doorman’s livery, smaller even than she herself, standing next to the great double doors of the bank building. She tugged at her father’s hand urgently.

“Daddy, what’s that?” she asked, pointing to the little creature.

“Shush, dear, and don’t point - it’s not polite. He’s a guard. Gringotts is the only Wizarding bank in the entire world, and this is its biggest and richest branch. They have to have lots of security measures - so many, in fact, that the guards are really just for show. Though it has happened, Gringotts is so hard to steal from that they really don’t need guards at all.”

“But Daddy, what is he?” she asked again.

Her father’s lips quirked, an expression she knew meant the same as a face-splitting grin on any other man’s face. “He’s a goblin, dear. Gringotts is goblin-owned and operated, so you’ll see many more inside.”

“Oh. Hi, Mr. Goblin!” she said, and grinned and waved at the surly-looking guard, who likely knew all about her father and his former friends. The goblin started, nonplussed, then tentatively raised his own hand in a return wave. He passed out of sight, still looking confused, as her father led her inside.

The little girl was struck speechless inside, where all was gleaming marble as highly polished as mirror glass, and nearly as slick as ice. She clung tightly to her father’s hand, since he seemed sure of his footing, and prayed she would not fall. He walked straight for the goblin seated at the high front desk.

“I have business in Vault Two, Bogrod,” he said. The goblin’s upper lip curled distastefully, but his voice was professionally respectful, for a goblin, when he spoke.

“Follow me, sir. Garnock, Ragnar; clankers, at once.”

“Yes, sir!” the two other goblins replied, and each grabbed a set of wicked-looking chains with heavy metal discs hung on them. Bogrod took yet a third.

“What are those things for, Daddy?” Apollina asked.

“Those are to keep the dragons from attacking us,” her father replied.

“Dragons? Real, live dragons?”

“Yes, dear. Three of them guard our family vault. It’s the biggest, oldest, and richest vault here, except for vault number one, which belongs to Hogwarts.”

“Are we going to see the dragons? Really and truly?”

Lucius laughed, quietly. “Yes, dear. Really and truly.”

The goblins led them through a side door into a large, rock-cut chamber. Apollina wondered where they really were, since there wasn’t enough room on the outside of the building for this chamber to exist on the same level as the grand entry, unless there was a secret Expansion Charm on the place.

The two underling goblins climbed into a mine cart sitting at the head of a set of rusty-looking iron rails. Bogrod stood beside a second cart. “Please be seated, sir and miss,” he said.

“In you get, my Golden Apple,” Lucius said, and picked her up and plunked her down inside the cart. He then climbed in himself, tall enough - just barely - to keep from looking awkward about it. He settled down and pulled her onto his crossed legs just in time as the two carts took off with a jolt and began racing down the long, narrow trackway into the darkness below.

At first, Apollina was terrified. She buried her face in her father’s robes and tried to keep from screaming. But as the ride continued for quite some time - at least twenty minutes - she eventually relaxed, seeing that nothing really bad was happening, and her stomach unclenched. She even went so far as to stand up in the bottom of the cart and cling to the side, looking to catch a glimpse of her first real, live dragon.

“I don’t mind you standing up so much, my faerie princess, since you still don‘t come up as high as the top of my head,” her father said as he pulled her back from the edge. He kept a firm grip on her shoulder. “But please, keep your hands and arms in the cart. Don’t need anything getting lopped off.”

The cart continued down and down, so deep into the earth that the chamber grew quite hot and close and damp, and the light from the torches they passed did little to dispel the surrounding darkness. When the rock walls came close enough to be seen, Apollina discovered that they were covered now in enormous sodium crystals, tens of feet long and weighing probably dozens of tons, if not hundreds. She settled back down on her father’s lap. “Why is it so hot, Daddy?”

“Because we’re many miles deep in the earth now, dear. Don’t worry: we’ll be stopping soon. They don’t bother with Cooling and Dehumidifying spells out here, but the vault chamber is quite dry and cool. Fresh air, too. Or, at least, as fresh as a good Circulation Spell can make it.”

The cart at last ground to a shrieking halt in front of a wide rock platform. The goblins got out first. “Wait here,” Bogrod said. He took up his clankers purposefully and followed his underlings around a blind corner out of sight.

She and her father waited by the carts for the moment the goblins needed to gain control over the dragons. There was a tremendous hullabaloo - terrifying roars and much shouting in Gobbledygook, as well as the cacophonous clackety-clang of the clankers, and then Bogrod returned, looking a trifle paler than before but still professionally composed.

“You may approach,” he said.

Suddenly afraid to see, Apollina clung to her father’s legs as they turned that blind corner to the entrance chamber of her family vault. She couldn’t resist peeking, though, with one eager eye.

As her father said, three enormous, hulking dragons stood just away from the vault’s intricately-mechanized iron door. They looked very old, with nearly colorless scales, diminished wings, and clouded eyes that were probably fully blinded by years - or even centuries - in almost total darkness. They were apparently quite used to being controlled by goblins, and their show of resistance to their captors only token, as they were all lounging in quite calm attitudes. One of them, bigger and older-looking than the others, was tearing at something that looked rather like the carcass of a bull, clutched possessively in the great talons of his huge front feet. Apollina looked away from the grisly sight in a hurry.

Perhaps exhibiting a touch of showmanship in front of his new young audience, Bogrod made a great production out of unlocking the vault’s many security mechanisms. She doubted it always took that long, because her father grew restless and impatient beside her. Apollina didn’t mind the show so much: the many clunking levers and grinding gears fascinated her. At last, with the air of a street magician unveiling his greatest illusion, Bogrod stepped aside and the door slid into the rock and disappeared. “Please enter,” he said with a certain flair.

The interior of the vault was, indeed, cool and dry, a great relief from the intense heat of the outer chamber. It was also incredibly vast - she could not see the walls or ceiling, only empty space stretching to the limits of her vision. And everywhere she looked was the bright avaricious glimmer of gold.

“You’ll need pocket money while you’re at school,” Lucius said, and handed her a small pouch made of some shiny, glittery, kaleidoscopic leather. “Take as much as you want; there’s an Invisible Expansion Charm on it, so it’ll hold quite a little before it gets too heavy for you. Just the coins, though. Don’t touch any of the artifacts, because most of them have security charms on them and they’ll hurt you. I’ll be right back, and then we’ll go meet your mother to get the rest of your school things.”

Her father disappeared into the depths of the cavern and, feeling like a thief for some reason she couldn’t pinpoint, Apollina scooped a handful of Galleons into her new purse. She was startled to hear it start to sing, and nearly dropped it. When it stopped, she dropped one more Galleon into it, just to hear it again. It was a cheerful, birdlike chirping sound that made her laugh brightly.

Her father returned, his left hand buried deep under the lapels of his robe as though making certain something was secured inside his inner pockets. When he was satisfied it was safe, he took her hand again and they returned to the outer chamber, the goblins, and the carts. The ride back up to the main floor of the bank went at the same breakneck speed, and finally they stood on the steps in the bright sunshine again.

“There’s your Mum,” Lucius said, spying the stately form of Narcissa just exiting the Apothecary at the end of the block. “Looks like she’s got most of your kit already; probably just have to have you fitted for your robes and get your wand. And I suppose you ought to have an animal - kind of a ‘welcome to the world, little girl’ present.”

“Oh! Really, Daddy? An honest-to-goodness pet of my own?”

He laughed his brief, quiet laugh again. “Yes, princess. An honest-to-goodness pet of your own. We’ll pick him out last, all right? That way we can take him straight back to the Manor and not bang him about on the streets like baggage.”

“Oh, yay!” She ran the remaining distance to her mother. “Mummy! Mummy! Only guess! Daddy says I may have a pet of my very own!”

“That’s wonderful, darling, but don’t jostle me - I’ll drop your cauldron! Let me transfer a bit of this load to your father first.” She passed the small pewter caldron, loaded up with school texts, to her husband. “I’ve just gotten the last items on your equipment list - your potions ingredients, vials, and scales. I think we should get you a decent telescope of your own for Astronomy class - Circes only knows what germs live on the eyepieces of those old school models - a good model of the solar system and a constellation map, and maybe a Lunascope. What do you think, Lucius?”

“Whatever you say, my dearest. Also a collapsible chair so she doesn’t have to sit in those nasty, germy school models,” he said, with a droll wink at his daughter.

“Don’t be fulsome, dearest,” Narcissa warned mildly. “Take your daughter to Madam Malkin’s while I buy a few more items, won’t you? It will keep you out of trouble, and out of my hair.”

“Yes, ma‘am,” he said meekly, and took Apollina’s hand.

The busy little witch in the clothing shop had her fitted and finished in short order. Since her mother was still nowhere to be seen, in the depths of one shop or another fussing over what tools her only daughter should have for school, her father took her to the end of the street where, in a rather dark corner near the exit to Knockturn Alley, stood Ollivander’s Wand Makers. A small bell over the door jingled as they entered, but the sound was somehow flattened, as if by the dust and weight of centuries encapsulated in the narrow boxes stacked to the ceilings, and the feeling of too much magical power in too small a space.

A tall, skinny old man with wild white hair and square wire-framed spectacles glided spectrally from the back room, but both grace and professional demeanor evaporated on the instant he saw who his customer was. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, flat-footed now. “Didn’t know you had another child, Mr. Malfoy, sir. I’m afraid we’re closed. You can find used wands in some of the street vendor’s stalls. Good day, sir.”

“Used won’t do, I’m afraid. My daughter needs a very special wand, and I think only you are skilled enough to make it. I want you to use this,” Lucius said, and drew from his robes a single long, shining golden feather that illuminated the entire store with its radiance. It was so brilliantly colored - and heartrendingly beautiful - that Apollina could not look directly at it without feeling hot tears p***k her eyes. A strange feeling rose up inside her - she wanted that feather, more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. Wanted it so badly that it hurt her.

Mr. Ollivander gasped. That’s…that’s…no, it cannot be. A feather from the Simurgh herself?”

Her father nodded once. “The very same. It has been passed down through my family for centuries, but I think now is as good a time as any to put it to use. It’s not doing any good gathering dust in a Gringotts vault.”

Mr. Ollivander approached, in much the same shy manner as a half-tame deer. His watery blue eyes were fixated on the golden feather. “I have never in my life beheld the real thing, though I have had many come to me bearing false copies, trying to get me to part with real gold for them. I must say, it’s…it’s far more beautiful than I could possibly have imagined.”

He reached for it, and for a moment Apollina thought her father would not let him have it. Then, reluctantly, Lucius released his grip on the quill. It was the first moment that Apollina realized her father was not immune to the thing’s bright glamour, either.

Ollivander turned the feather this way and that, breathlessly examining it from every angle and vantage. “I’ll make your wand, Malfoy,” he said at last in a shaky voice. “Though it seems almost sacrilegious to lock such a treasure away in plain wood. But there’s no possible way I could have it finished today. You’ll have to give me a week to work on it.”

“You have it. We’ll return in one week’s time for the wand, and believe me, Ollivander, I’ll know if you try and pull a swap on me. Until then, sir, I bid you good day.”

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Note: okay, this chapter is a little schmaltzy, but the subject of parental-love-despite-parental-flaws sort of lends itself to schmaltz. Plus, Apollina is kind of a little putz. Plus, it hasn't been edited.

Chapter Two: A Friend in Need

“Daddy, why was Mr. Ollivander so rude to you? I don’t think he’s a very nice man.”

Lucius sighed. “It’s…complicated. He had a bad experience in our house, last year.”

“Oh. He must’ve met up with Auntie Drosophila,” she said, referring to the rather mean-tempered ghost of a long-dead ancestor whose actual relationship was lost in the crackled and faded pages of the family lineage. She haunted the oldest parts of the Manor house, and was known for flinging phantom chamber pots at strangers. “I didn’t get to meet him then. Was he why I had to stay on the fourth floor all last year?”

“Indirectly. You see, a lot of Daddy’s, erm…business…associates were staying with us last year - you wouldn’t have wanted to have to meet them, they were all terrible…ly dull. Anyway, Ollivander’s professional expertise was required at one point, so he…came to stay with us, too, for a time.”

“I wish they hadn’t come. You’d just got back from overseas - I didn’t get to spend any time with you.”

“Yes. Well. That was another reason you had to stay on the fourth floor, dearest. You know I got sick on my business trip - I didn’t want to give it to you. You’ve been sick enough, Merlin knows.”

“I know. I hate it. I missed you loads.”

“I…missed you, too, my angel-child,” Lucius said in rather a choked voice. He cleared his throat noisily. “There’s your mother - looks like she bought out the whole alley. We’d better stop her before she hurts herself.”

Apollina tugged urgently at her father’s hand. “Am I going to get to pick out a pet? You said that I might.”

“Yes, dear, you shall. Do you want to go to Eeylops’ Owl Emporium, or the Magical Menagerie? Eeylops’ has a better selection of owls, of course, but the Magical Menagerie gets some unusual ones in now and then.”

“Do I have to get an owl?”

“Well, no, but they are very useful, and very popular. Everyone should have one sooner or later, but with both your mother and I at school with you this year, I suppose there’s no reason why you couldn’t use one of our owls if you wanted to send letters to Draco. And there are school owls, as well. You can have whatever you want, dearest.”

“I think I’d like to look around a little, first, then,” she said. “Owls are very pretty but I’d like something I can cuddle.”

Narcissa joined them. “Did you get your wand, dear?” she asked.

“Daddy’s having Mr. Ollivander make one special for me,” Apollina replied. “Oh, Mummy, you should’ve seen the feather Daddy gave Mr. Ollivander to use! It was so…so…special! I never saw anything like it before.”

Narcissa gave her husband a quizzical look. “What feather was that, dear?” she asked, though whom she was addressing was unclear.

“A beautiful sparkly shiny golden feather,” Apollina said. “It was big, too - almost as long as my arm, I bet! Mr. Ollivander said it was from a Simpur, whatever that is.”

“Simurgh, dearest,” her father corrected gently. “And there’s only ever been one. It’s a type of phoenix, but the size of a roc. It’s a very, very special bird.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Narcissa said, bewildered.

“There are few who have. It was never widely known, and it’s only been written up in one publication during modern times: The Quibbler.”

Narcissa snorted, an uncharacteristically unbecoming sound. “You can’t mean to say you put any stock into what that old fool Lovegood writes about?”

“A fool Xenophilius may be, and I’ll certainly not be the one to deny it. But he’s not stupid. His enthusiasm for the outrageous is unfortunate but once in a great, great while, he gets something right. And my family have known of the existence of the Simurgh for centuries. It was a secret we kept for a very, very long time.”

Apollina was growing bored with the grownup talk, which was mostly over her head. She didn‘t know Xenophilius Lovegood and had never seen a copy of The Quibbler in her short life. “Oh look, Daddy - there’s the Magical Menagerie! Oh, let’s do go in!”

He laughed his quiet chuckle again. She had not heard it in such a long time, since before he’d had to go overseas to America two years ago, looking for new business contacts for his firm. Hearing it so much in one day made her feel good. “All right, antsy-pants. Let’s see what strikes your fancy, eh?”

The inside of the little shop was exactly the kind of place Apollina liked to be: small, crowded with tons of interesting things, a bit messy but not unpleasant. There were animals of every description: tortoises with brilliantly jeweled carapaces, funny mice and rats doing somersaults and showing off, hoping to be chosen, puffskeins piled together in crates like fuzzy, inert yarn balls, and cats of every color and description. So absorbed she became in inspecting the animals that she did not notice her father quietly slip out the door.

One of the animals was not in a propitious location for adoption; locked away in a small cage on the floor, hidden halfway behind the counter, a scraggly-looking specimen sat and, usually, sulked. He was not sulking now: indeed, he was standing at the door of his cage, and if ever a feline face had worn a dumbstruck expression, this one certainly did. Then he began miaowing and butting against the bars, trying to get out.

“Oh, look at the poor little kitty!” Apollina said. “He looks so sad, scrunched in that little cage!”

“Them’s not a cat, Miss,” the shopkeeper said. “There’s a Kneazle, that is. Not a good seller, him. Too smart; we ‘ad to lock ‘im up in that little cage. ‘E broke out’n all our other cages. Folks don’ want a pet what tears around, lookin’ fer trouble. Don’t much care fer human comp’ny, Kneazles do, and bain’t shy to show it. But they say they make good pets, if’n they likes you, that is. Only ever had one part-Kneazle in here before - a big orange marmalade tom. ’E didn‘ sell for summat like ages, an’ ‘e were a sight more friendly-like than this‘un. But the bloke what brought ‘im in were an old friend a‘ mine, so I ‘ad to take ‘im.”

“May I see him? Just for a moment.”

The shopkeeper shrugged, and pulled a ring of keys from her apron pocket. In a moment she had pulled the Kneazle from his cage. He squirmed out of her hands and ran straight to Apollina, and stropped himself against her legs. He looked up at her with a soppy, melting expression in his yellow-orange eyes and her heart was lost.

“I want him,” she said, decisively. “Mummy?”

“How much is he?” Narcissa asked, resigned.

“Well, now, seein’ as he seems to ‘ave took to the young mistress so happy-like, an’ seein’ as how I won’t be sorry to see the back of ‘im me ownself, I could see my way clear to lettin’ you have ‘im for two Galleons.”

Narcissa handed over two gold coins. Apollina squealed with delight and picked up her new friend. “Oh, thank you, Mummy, I love him! Thank you, Daddy! …Daddy? Mummy, where’s Daddy got to?”

“He sneaked out a few minutes ago. I don’t know what he was up to.”

“He didn’t say anything. Funny, that.”

“He looked like he was on a mission. There’s no stopping your father when he gets that look in his eye. Let’s go outside and see if we can find him.”

They didn’t have to look far. He was just outside the shop, looking shifty and a bit guilty. Half-hidden behind his legs was a large birdcage.

“All the other kids will have their own owls,” he said, somewhat disingenuously, as he brought out Apollina’s second pet, a beautiful cream-colored barn owl that blinked its large amber eyes at her in mild surprise.

“Oh, Daddy, it’s too much! Thank you!” she said, and gave her father a large, impulsive hug. He looked a bit surprised himself for a moment before he hugged her back.

“Nothing is too much for you, my precious one,” he said. “Nothing.”

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Chapter Three: Unfogging the Future

“Now remember, the proper way to introduce yourself is to say, ‘My name is Apollina Hesperides, I’m very pleased to meet you,’” Narcissa coached.

“Yes, mother, I’ll remember,” Apollina said, for what felt like the millionth time.

“Leave her alone now, dearest - she’ll only be on the train for two hours. She’ll be fine,” Lucius said. “And stop fussing with her hair - you’ll give the poor girl the fits if you keep pulling at it like that.”

“I just want her to look her best, Lucius. But I don’t understand why we’re sending her on the Express. We’re Apparating to Hogsmeade; why don’t we just take her with us?” Narcissa suggested, also for what felt like the millionth time.

“Because, dearest, this is the start of our little girl’s first real adventure in the world,” Lucius explained again, with remarkable patience. “Taking the Hogwarts Express is the first chance the children get to meet, mingle, and form alliances - she’ll need that time to socialize. Without her parents,” he finished, anticipating his wife’s rejoining argument, that they could just as easily take the train with her.

“But, Lucius…”

“Listen, darling. It’s nearly ten o’clock. We wasted quite enough time at Ollivander’s, we really must be getting to the station now. We’ve discussed this a thousand times already. You know you just don’t want to let your baby go.”

“Lucius, she’s so little…”

“They’re all titchy at that age. She won’t stand out.”

“Yes, she will,” Narcissa muttered.

“Well, not for being short, at any rate,” Lucius said, and scratched his head. “Darling, I know how you feel, but we just don’t have time to debate the matter anymore. It’s showtime.”

“I suppose it is. Well, let’s be off, then.”

Apollina took hold of her mother’s hand, and felt the sickening twisting sensation that came with Side-Along Apparition. They popped back into the world on platform 9 and ¾ of King’s Cross Station. Lucius appeared an instant later, with Apollina’s baggage and two cages. The train was sitting on the tracks, but there were few people on the platform - they were more than half an hour early, despite her father’s urgings for haste.

“I’m sorry your brother couldn’t be here to see you off, dear,” Narcissa said. “But you know how it is with him these days. Interning is difficult; you have to work hard and long to earn a bit of respect, and new as he is to the Minister’s staff, there was no way he could’ve asked for the morning off.”

“That’s all right. He said goodbye and good luck to me this morning before he left for the office. And he gave me a present, see? I haven’t opened it yet. He said I should wait until I was on the train.”

“That was good of him,” Lucius said, though he seemed more than a little distracted. He kept glancing at the few other parents waiting on the platform, as though looking for someone. “Listen, Apple - I’m really, very sorry we have to dash like this. I’d love to see you off, and I know it’s going to be a long, dull wait until the train starts moving, but…you’ll be all right here by yourself, won’t you? You can find a seat on the train and open Draco’s present, and you can take…erm, your Kneazle…out of his basket to keep you amused.”

“It’s all right, Daddy - I know you and Mummy have important things to take care of. I’ll be okay.”

“Good, good,” he said, vaguely. “Well, anyway, we can get you settled in before we leave. I’ll see your trunk is stowed, and you take…erm…whatever his name is on board and find a compartment. Your Mum will carry Hermod for you.”

“Gesundheit, Daddy.”

“Yes, well, just…just get on the train. I’ll join you in a second.”

Apollina followed her mother onto the gleaming red steam engine. “Where would you like to sit, darling? Near the front? The back?”

“Erm, I think perhaps near the back - then Daddy won’t have far to go to find us from the baggage car.”

“All right, dear. Lead the way.”

Hampered by the Kneazle’s large basket, Apollina lumbered clumsily down the narrow corridor of the near-empty train, followed more gracefully by her mother, who carried the owl’s cage in one hand. “This looks good,” Apollina said at last, once they’d come to the very last compartment.

“Are you sure you want to be this far back, dear? Most of the other children will be sitting closer to the front.”

“No, this one is good. Let’s wait for Daddy.”

“As you wish, dear.”

Apollina helped her mother stow the owl’s cage securely in the overhead bins. Hermod fluttered sleepily, then tucked his head back under his wing.

Lucius arrived shortly. “Well, precious…I suppose we should say goodbye for now,” he said.

“Now remember, dear, ‘My name is - ‘” her mother began.

“Apollina Hesperides. Yes, Mummy, I can remember my name,” Apollina said with a grin. “I’ll be okay, Mummy. I’ll see you in just a couple of hours, you know.”

“Oh, Lucius, can’t we just take - “

“No, dear. We really have to go now,” Lucius said firmly. “Goodbye, Apple, dear. Remember: you can have a meat pie or a pumpkin pasty from the cart when the witch comes by, but there’ll be plenty of sweeties at the feast tonight, so no candy, all right?”

“All right, Daddy. I won’t forget. Goodbye, Daddy. Goodbye, Mummy.”

With a final, reluctant round of goodbyes, her parents Disapparated. It was the first time Apollina had ever been left alone in her life - even when her family was not home, there was a House Elf completely devoted to her service. Pickly had actually been even more upset than her mother about Apple going to school, and had begged to be allowed to go with her, but her father said that it was time Apollina learned to take care of herself, and have the freedom to explore Hogwarts without an overprotective Elf at her feet. Though she wondered how much freedom she was going to have with both her parents at school, watching over her.

She opened the lid of the Kneazle’s basket, but the funny-looking animal was curled up asleep, or pretending. She closed the lid again and sat back in her seat. She felt a weight pressing down on her from inside her chest, which she supposed was the silence.

She remembered her brother’s present, and pulled it out of her pack. It was small and mostly flat, and felt like a book, but there was something else in there, too, that she couldn’t begin to guess. She pulled off the paper and a small diary fell out, along with a silver compact and a small gold cylinder with a tassel, that looked like some kind of perfume bottle.

There was also a note. She opened that first.

Apple, her brother had written, the compact is a Foe Glass and the bottle is a special potion Professor Snape taught me how to make a long time ago. Don’t use it unless you really need it, because it’s kind of nasty. Keep them both in the pouch Dad gave you, and keep them with you ALWAYS. I’ve written more in the book. Don’t tell Mum and Dad about it; they don’t think you should know the truth, but there’s no way they’ll be able to keep you in the dark much longer. It’s better you find out this way. Dad wasn’t in America those six months he was gone, Apple. He was in prison. He’d be there right now but the Ministry decided to let him off with Probation --

Apollina wadded up the note and tossed it on the floor of the compartment. Then she thought better of it and stuffed it, along with her “gifts,” into her pack for more secure disposal later. Draco was fond of teasing her, but he’d gone much too far this time. How dare he say such things about their father, even in fun?

Upset and angry, she flopped back in the seat, fidgeting. She checked on the Kneazle again, but he was still asleep. Feeling completely abandoned, she reached into her pack and pulled out the long, thin box containing her new wand.

She opened the lid and just looked at it for a long moment. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever possessed. Though the wand itself was made of the blackest ebony, she could still see the feather it contained, as clearly as though there were no wood around it at all. She felt calmer immediately, as though the feather were dusting away the negative feelings in her mind.

The scene at Ollivander’s had not been a positive one, though. The memory was uncomfortable, though she didn’t know exactly why. She didn’t like confrontations, and didn’t like seeing her father look so angry, so she supposed that was the reason.

It’s time to stop playing this game, Ollivander, her father had said. We both know you’re not fooling anyone. I gave you extra time already - twice, in fact! Now I know perfectly well you’ve had the wand finished for days. Probably weeks. It’s September first, and my daughter needs her wand before she goes to school. It’s time to give it up, old man.

All right, Malfoy, all right. It’s right here, Mr. Ollivander said, and pulled a box from beneath the counter. Lucius opened it, and then looked back at the wandmaker. Watery blue eyes waged a brief struggle with steely grey, and grey won. It’s too much wand for a little girl, Ollivander sniveled. There was no way I could’ve used anything other than the finest Gaboon ebony, no way I could’ve made anything less than a perfect, flawless wand. She’ll never be able to control it.

You know that’s a lie, Ollivander, Lucius said. No matter how much power that wand possesses, no matter if she’s never able to use a fraction of it, that wand belongs to Apollina, and no other. No one else will ever be able to use it. You know the lore. We had an agreement, and that feather belongs to me and mine, not you. He plunked a heavy pouch of gold on the counter. Your payment is here. You’ll note it’s quite substantial.

Gold doesn’t buy everything, Malfoy, Ollivander said. That’s something you’ve never learned.

Possibly. But the feather doesn’t belong to you, only the ebony wood. I’m paying far more than it is worth. Now. Give. Me. The. Real. Wand.

When Mr. Ollivander at last pulled the real box from under his counter, he looked like a man on the verge of tears. Lucius snatched the box from his hands immediately and gave it to Apollina, without taking his hard, cold stare from the wandmaker for an instant. Take a look at it, dearest, he said to her.

Apollina carefully took the wand from the velvet-lined box. It was absolutely enormous - a good eighteen inches long, and two in diameter. It looked heavy and clumsy, but when she picked it up it weighed virtually nothing. Power surged up her arm and flooded her body, a fine high harmonic chord seemed to ring in her ears. She could almost hear a voice, speaking or singing to her, but she could not make out any words. Tears pricked her eyes and she quickly replaced the wand in its box.

Just know this, Ollivander, Lucius said, and though his unwavering gaze remained cold and hard, his voice was almost gentle now. I don’t blame you for trying to keep it. I don’t think any mere mortal could spend so much time in the presence of such an artifact and not become possessed by it. But we both know, it’s not for the likes of us.

[A-Manga-Freak-S]

Buyn

Very interesting. I think I'll keep my eye on you.

I as well shall be keeping my eye on you! Your story is way awsome!

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Jeez, thank you! I have several more chapters ready but I'm being lazy about posting them. I'll try and get another in here tomorrow but it's bedtime now. 4laugh

[A-Manga-Freak-S]

Lucius Scipio Malfoy

Jeez, thank you! I have several more chapters ready but I'm being lazy about posting them. I'll try and get another in here tomorrow but it's bedtime now. 4laugh

Night night! Don't let the grunnies bite!

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Chapter Four: New Friends

Lost in thought, Apollina did not hear the compartment door open, some time later.

“Hey. Mind if we join - Wow! Is that your wand?”

Apollina startled, and quickly closed the lid of the box. Two young girls entered the compartment and sat down on the opposite bench.

“Sorry I startled you,” the first girl, black-haired and very pretty, said, “my name’s Shishi and this is my friend Zinnia. We’re going to be First Years. Are you a First Year, too?”

“Erm, yes, I am. My name’s Apollina,” Apollina said, feeling a little guilty for not using her mother’s format of first and middle name. But these girls hadn’t done it, so she thought she’d sound silly. “Pleased to meet you.”

“That’s…that’s a, erm, pretty name,” Shishi said, looking a little embarrassed.

“Everyone calls me Apple,” Apollina replied shyly. “You can, too, if you like.”

Zinnia smiled. “I like that. Nice to meet you, Apple.”

“That is more like it,” Shishi agreed. “Don’t get me wrong, I like Apo…Apa…the other name, but I don’t think I could say it, that’s the trouble.”

Apollina laughed. “I was named after the sun god of Greece,” she said. “My middle name is Hesperides, after the garden where Hercules found the golden apples. Everyone in my family is named has either a Greek or Roman name.”

She suddenly remembered her mother’s caveats against giving away too much family information, and closed her mouth suddenly. Narcissa had warned her that certain things were private, though Apollina still didn’t understand why.

Shishi laughed. “Sounds like my family. We’re from China originally - my grandparents, anyway - and we’ve all got names from Chinese history. My real name is Xi Shi, after a Chinese witch who was said to be so beautiful that the fish in the ponds on her daily walk would forget to swim and sink to the bottom as she passed.” She laughed in embarrassment. “It’s stupid, but thankfully everyone just calls me Shishi so I usually don’t have to worry about it.”

The train whistle blew, and the big engine began to chug along the tracks, picking up speed more quickly than a mundane steam-powered train would’ve done. Zinnia and Shishi immediately crowded the window and waved a last goodbye to their families, still standing on the platform.

“Don’t you want to wave, too?” Shishi asked. “Here, let me make room.”

“My parents had to leave - they’re both teaching at Hogwarts this year, and they had a lot to prepare. My brother’s busy with work so he couldn’t come to see me off.”

“Are you from a Wizarding family, then, too?” Zinna asked Apollina once the two sat down again.

They were treading now on the edges of ground her mother had forbidden her to speak of. “Yes, I guess I am,” she said slowly, wondering what she was supposed to do if a more direct, personal question about her family was asked. “What about you?”

“My mother is half-blood, and my father is Muggle-born,” Zinnia said. “I don’t know what that makes me, exactly, except that I’m sure not Pureblood. I’m so glad I was only ten last year. I don’t like to think about what might have happened to my family if I‘d gotten my Hogwarts letter while all that was going on.”

“While all what was going on?” Apollina asked innocently. The two girls shared an incredulous look.

“You mean you don’t know?” Zinnia asked. She sounded scared of something.

Shishi whispered an aside to her friend. Her caution was useless as Apollina could hear every word. “Careful, Zin - I mean, look at her. Don’t you think her parents might have had reasons for, you know, keeping her away from all that stuff? Even if she is Pureblood?”

“Oh. Yeah, maybe you’re right, Shish. Erm, Apple,” Zinnia said, addressing Apollina in a normal voice now, “erm, don’t think us rude or anything, but, erm…”

“I was born like this,” Apollina said quietly. “It’s something that happens in my family now and then, I guess, though it hasn’t for a really long time. No one seems to be able to say what it is or why it happens, but we get really sick, too. I’m not so bad anymore, but when I was little I think my parents were afraid I was going to die. They’ve maybe been a little…overprotective of me, because of that.”

“Oh. Sorry for asking, it’s just that…you know, we kind of thought maybe you got on the wrong end of a hex or a botched transfiguration or something.”

“It’s all right. It’s just that my family don’t really make a big deal out of that part of it, so I’m not used to…you know…thinking about it.”

The girls shared a look again.

“If anyone tries to tease you about it, we’ll punch ‘em out,” Shishi said at last.

“Yeah,” Zinnia agreed.

“I think you’re really pretty,” Shishi said. “You have the prettiest eyes.”

“And I love your hair. How did you ever get it so long?” Zinnia said.

Soon enough the three girls were chatting comfortably, though Apollina was grateful that the two now seemed to consider certain topics, including personal information, to be off-limits. She supposed they were afraid of offending her or hurting her feelings again by accidentally stumbling onto a touchy subject. When they got to Hogwarts, she would find her mother and ask for specifics regarding just when in a new friendship things like family history became okay to talk about.

When the witch came around with the snack trolley, Shishi and Zinnia jumped up at once. “My treat!” Shishi shouted immediately. “Put your purse away, Zinny. We’ll take three Chocolate Frogs, a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, and…ah! Three licorice wands, please. Zinny, Apple - anything special you want?”

“Pumpkin pasties!” Zinnia said at once.

“I get sick if I have too many sweeties,” Apollina said regretfully. “Daddy told me I can’t have any candy off the cart, since there’ll be so many sweet things at the feast. But I’ll take a meat pie, if I might.”

“Oh. That stinks, Apple, I’m sorry. Well, I guess we’ll only take two of everything, then, and one meat pie, please, ma’am,” Shishi told the snack-cart witch. “Well, maybe you can’t have a Chocolate Frog but you can have my Wizard Card - I don’t collect them since my little brother managed to ruin all of them I had with slug slime.”

“You can have mine, too,” Zinnia said quickly. Both girls tore open their boxes and passed over their cards. Zinnia glanced at hers first. “Oo, a new one - kind of icky, though. I don’t like the idea of them putting Death Eaters on Wizard Cards already - I hope they don’t end up putting You-Know-Who on one!”

Apollina didn’t know what a Death Eater was, and she most certainly didn’t Know-Who, but she recognized the face on the card: Bellatrix Lestrange, her Auntie who’d lived with them for a short time last year. She hadn’t spent much time around her - her parents had a tendency to bustle her out of the way when Auntie Bella tried to talk to her - but she hadn’t exactly taken away a good impression of the woman and was glad she no longer shared their home. She didn’t even want to read the short description on the back of the card. She slipped the hexagonal piece of cardstock into her pack, with a brief word of thanks. Her other card was all right - Beatrice Bloxam, authoress of the world’s most sickeningly cute children’s stories.

Next to her on the bench, the basket suddenly lurched. A speckled paw reached out through one of the small air holes and tapped at the toggle that held the lid closed. With expert dexterity, the kneazle flipped the strap open and popped out of the basket like the finale of a magician’s illusion.

“Erm, what kind of cat is that?” Zinnia asked.

“It’s not a cat, is it, Apple?” Shishi said. “You’ve got a kneazle! What’s his name?”

“Gesundheit,” Apple said.

“No, no - I said you’ve got a kneazle. What’s his name?”

Apple grinned. “Gesundheit.”

Zinnia began to laugh. Shishi’s lips quirked, a bit reluctantly, then she too started laughing.

“Kneazle!” Zinnia shouted.

“Gesundheit!” Shishi shouted back. Convulsed with helpless giggles, all three girls kept shouting the animal’s species and name at each other, until a pretty red-headed witch, whose Hogwarts robes indicated she was Head Girl and a Gryffindor, peeked in on them, one eyebrow raised quizzically. She looked at each of them in turn, her expression indicating she thought they were quite insane, and returned to the hall without a word. Her abrupt entrance and departure set them off on a fresh round of the giggles.

[Fayt of Fire]

Why do you write in red???
It's pretty cool though! smile ))

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

No particular reason, except I like the color - just a way to separate story from discussion.

Jeez, this is slightly unprecedented: actual unsolicited readers who actually comment positively rather than saying "You suck!" Kind of makes me feel good, especially considering this is a total play-around story and I haven't even edited my spelling yet.

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Chapter Five: Eyes Wide Shut

“Hey, look - Zinnia said. “There’s Hogsmeade station. We’re nearly there!”

Hurriedly, the girls assumed their Hogwarts robes, and Apollina stowed Gesundheit back in his basket. The train slowed, the whistle blew, and finally they were stopped.

“Please leave baggage and pets on the train,” was announced over the speakers. “They will be brought to your dorm rooms for you.”

Apollina didn’t like the idea of leaving her two animal friends behind, but she shook the paw Gesundheit offered through the basket’s air holes, and stroked Hermod’s feathery head through the bars of his cage. “I’ll see you guys soon, okay?” she told them. “Be good.”

She followed Shishi and Zinnia out of the train and onto the platform. “Firs’ years, over here. Firs’ years, this way,” a great booming voice said.

“Holy Hercules,” Shishi said. “What the heck is that?”

“That must be Hagrid,” Apollina said. “He’s the gamekeeper and I guess he teaches Care of Magical Creatures, too. My brother says he’s half Giant, which I guess is why he’s so huge.”

“Does your brother go to school here?” Zinnia asked.

“He graduated last year,” Apollina said reluctantly. It wasn’t exactly true, since Draco hadn’t finished for some reason, though he did take his N.E.W.T.s over the summer at the Ministry.

“Oh. Darn. I was hoping he’d be closer to our age,” Shishi said, then she and Zinnia looked at each other and giggled. Apollina was thoroughly confused. “Come on, girls - follow the giant.”

“Half-Giant, Shish,” Zinnia said.

“What-ever! Just put a wiggle on, get it? It’s almost time for the Sorting!”

The girls joined the throng of First Year students gathered on the end of the platform under the light of the twelve-foot gamekeeper’s upheld lantern.

“Ha’ we got everybody?” he asked, beaming down at them with affable black eyes and a huge grin quite visible even beneath the wild tangle of his beard. “Gonna be a great year, kiddies - a great year. Not like las’ year, I tell ya. Things are gonna be okay again. All righ’ then, you lot - hop in the boats an’ let’s get goin’. Two to a boat, please - two to a boat.”

Shishi and Zinnia got in one boat, leaving Apollina to climb into another, where she was joined by a black-haired boy who looked at her with speculative black eyes for such a long time that Apollina became very uncomfortable.

“See something green?” she asked at last.

“You look like a Malfoy,” the boy said.

“I am a Malfoy,” Apollina replied. The boy grinned.

“Some people say your Dad’s a bleedin’ coward, but I dunno about that - I say he’s bloody brilliant, keeping himself out of Azkaban again after all that.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Apollina said coldly. “And if you speak ill of my father again, I’ll bust you right in the nose.”

“Peace, peace - I’m on your side, right? Name’s Hardrich - Gaius Hardrich.”

He offered his hand. Apollina looked at it with an expression of disdain that would’ve been instantly recognized by anyone who had many business dealings with her father, and refused to take it. She turned her face away from the boy and stuck her prominent nose in the air.

“All right, be that way. But you’ll find out soon enough that friends are going to be few and far between. You should take ‘em where you can get ‘em. Offer stands when you change your mind.”

Apollina remained haughtily silent as the little boats all set off for the far shore of Black Lake at once, moving by Charm. The lights of Hogwarts Castle grew larger as they drew nearer, and the towers and turrets outlined against the sky were more impressive than she’d even expected. But when they were quite close, she noticed signs of decay and damage - there were crumbled ruins on the grounds, and some towers looked a bit ramshackle. She wondered why they didn’t take better care of the place.

Some of the other students gasped as the boats drew near the sheer rock cliffs below the castle, but Apollina was not scared: though she couldn’t see the opening beneath the ivy, she trusted the teachers of Hogwarts enough, sight-unseen, to assume they were not going to crash. They ducked under the hidden overhang and the boats drew up to the piers, where they disembarked and Apollina rejoined her friends.

“Who was that boy that sat with you?” Zinnia asked. “Looked like he was impressed, but you kind of looked like you stepped in something nasty.”

“Just a very rude little boy,” Apollina said. “He’s not worth being troubled over.”

Hagrid led the students into the castle and left them gathered in a small vestibule. After some minutes, the far door opened and a fat little wizard with huge moustaches stepped out, looking both pleased and uncomfortable simultaneously.

“Hello, children - I’m Professor Horace Slughorn, currently Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. Welcome to your first year. I’m very, very pleased to see you all. Now, we’ll be letting you in to the Great Hall in just a few moments for your Sorting, but first, just a little information about this school.

“Now, there are four Houses at Hogwarts: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Whichever House you end up in, I hope you will all work very hard to be an asset to the school at large. Each day you will be presented with multiple opportunities to earn your House points, which will be added to the hourglasses in the Great Hall. At the end of the year, the House Cup will be awarded to the House that has earned the most points.

“You will lose your House points if you break the rules, but I can tell already we don’t have any bad little boys and girls in this group, now do we?” he finished, beaming disingenuously. Apollina decided he was an okay-sort of person, but probably not very used to, or good with, young children. Unless he was unintentionally condescending to everyone, that was.

“Now tonight you will be dining with your Houses, but after the…erm…unpleasantness of last year, it has been decided that for ordinary meals the House tables will be done away with, to encourage mingling and Inter-House friendships. High time, I say,” he continued, now looking more uncomfortable than pleased. “Erm…well…let’s go in, shall we? The older students should be seated by now.”

They were lead into the Great Hall, where Apollina found herself squirming under the combined weight of the eyes of hundreds of older children. She found her mother and father, seated next to each other at the Staff table, and stood up straighter.

Professor Slughorn brought out a small stool and a battered old wizard’s hat. “When I call your name, please seat yourself on the stool and remain still while the Sorting Hat decides in which House you belong,” he said. “Amaranth, Cygnus.”

Apollina paid minimal attention until “Hardrich, Gaius” was made a Slytherin. She made a face at him. He merely smiled and tipped her a conspiratorial wink as he passed. Shortly thereafter, “Jin Xi Shi” was sent to the Gryffindor table, amid considerable applause from that quarter. A few more names were called, and then it was, “Malfoy, Apollina.”

A chorus of gasps arose from around the Hall, and next to her, Zinnia stood agape. Nervously, Apollina mounted the dias and sat down on the stool. The eyes of the other students were hard - many of them looked angry at her for some reason. Gratefully, sight of them was cut off as Professor Slughorn lowered the Sorting Hat onto her head and down over her eyes.

All was quiet for a long moment, then a voice spoke very softly in her ear.

“Well, you’re an odd one, aren’t you? I think I’ve sorted at least three hundred Mafoys since this school began, so many centuries ago, and you’re the first in generations that isn’t an easy fit. You’d manage well in Slytherin, it’s true…but something tells me you’re much, much more in line with the proud house of Hufflepuff…so where to put you?”

Apollina sat quietly, waiting.

“What? Not going to help me, are you? Well, let’s see here. You’re a loyal little squirt - that’s perfect for Hufflepuff - but since your loyalty is to your family, that means you really ought to be in Slytherin, since that’s where you’ve all been since time out of mind. You’ve got a lot of ambition and your brain is plenty good, too. Well, then, though I still think you’re really a Hufflepuff at heart, I guess perhaps I’d better put you in - SLYTHERIN!”

The hat called this last out loud. There was some mild applause from the Staff table, and some slightly louder applause from the Slytherin table, but the rest of the school didn’t even clap politely. Nervous and uncertain, Apollina went to her House table. Gaius slid over to make room for her, but she ignored him and moved to the other end of the table, where there was a space next to the House Ghost, who smiled thinly and rather vaguely at her when she sat down.

After a long while, “Roberts, Zinnia” went to Ravenclaw. Apollina applauded as hard as she could, though she was hurt that neither Zinnia nor Shishi had applauded her. The remaining First Years were sorted out, then the stool and hat were removed and a very severe-looking witch in forest green robes stood at an owl-shaped podium that appeared from nowhere.

“Welcome, First Years, and welcome back, all of you. I am Professor Minerva McGonagal, and I am your Headmistress for this year at Hogwarts School. Your feast will begin in just a moment, but first I have just a few announcements to make.

“As you may well have noticed, much of Hogwarts is still under reconstruction. Parts of the castle were damaged so severely at the end of last year that they couldn’t be repaired magically, so dwarf specialists have been called in and will be working on the damaged sections through the rest of the year. We have their assurance they will not be interfering with day-to-day classes, but please be aware that these areas are currently unsafe, and do not pass the cordoned-off sections.

“Finally I would just like to take this opportunity to welcome back Professor Sinestra, who will be reassuming her position as Astronomy teacher, and our Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, who will be reassuming his former position as Care of Magical Creatures teacher in addition to his regular duties as gamekeeper. Older students will note a number of new faces at the Staff table this year, as well - joining Professor Sprout as Assistant Professor of Herbology this year is Neville Longbottom, who will be taking charge of First Year Herbology. Professor Vanessa Midguard will be assuming the position of Muggle Studies teacher, and taking the position of Transfiguration teacher this year is…Professor Narcissa Malfoy.”

Apollina didn’t like the chorus of gasps and hisses the students gave mention of her mother’s name.

“Accepting the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year, we are…pleased…to welcome Professor Lucius Malfoy.”

The Hall erupted into a loud buzz of angry shouts and indignant words, some of them from the Slytherin table. Professor McGonagal held up a hand for silence, which was a long time in coming despite her forbidding glare.

“You will accord all Hogwarts professors with proper respect, regardless of past. And all Hogwarts students will also be treated with respect, regardless of family. Do I make myself clear?”

Her words were received with angry grumbles, but the students finally quieted.

“Very good. Enjoy your meal.”

Food appeared on the golden plates and platters covering each table, and Apollina turned her attention to her meal, though she wasn’t very hungry after seeing the way her parents had been treated by the other students. She didn’t understand, and she didn’t like it at all.

Some of the students in her House seemed inclined to be friendly with her over the course of dinner, though they all seemed as slimy and too-familiar as Hardrich had. Others treated her with a kind of magnanimous condescension, as though they considered her quite beneath them but possessing possibilities. Still others ignored her entirely. She wished she could sit with Zinnia and Shishi.

After the meal, while the other Slytherin First-Years were gathering with the Prefect who would lead them to the dungeon, Apollina ran to catch up to her friends.

“Hey, guys - congratulations,” she said. The two girls stared stonily at her.

“Erm…did I do something wrong?” she said.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were a Malfoy?” Shishi demanded.

“That was a really rotten thing to do,” Zinnia chimed in. “Here we were thinking you were just a nice girl.”

It was too much. Apollina felt something snap in her head, and she began shouting to the world at large.

“What the bloody hell does everyone seem to have against my family? I am a nice girl - I’ve never done anything to anybody. If you’ve got a big bloody problem with my name, you can go…dip your heads in Black Lake, all of you!”

Both girls looked a bit repentant, if only a little. “Look, Apple…” Shishi began.

“No. Forget it. Enough. Goodbye.”

In high dudgeon, Apple stalked back to the Slytherin Prefect. She did not look back.

[A-Manga-Freak-S]

Aww poor Apple! -huggles her-

[Lucius Scipio Malfoy]

Chapter Six: Hard Times and Misery

Apollina followed the other First Years down to the Slytherin Common Room, deep in the dungeons below Black Lake. “The password this year is ‘Draco bizarus terriblius’” the Prefect said. “Don’t. Forget that.”

The portal swung open, and the students piled through. The Common Room was elegantly appointed with thick, overstuffed couches, chairs, and poufs, all done in shades of emerald velvet. The walls were hung with green velvet draperies, warming the cold damp stone. It was quite nice, though not nearly so beautiful as home. For the first time in her life, Apollina got a sense of the difference between her own lifestyle and that of “other people.” Though her father had mentioned their vault at Gringotts was the richest privately-held vault in the richest Wizarding bank in the world, she had never really confronted the concept of “rich,” since she had no experience with any other lifestyle.

There were many older students in the Common Room, taking up their favorite spots and eyeing the fresh fish speculatively, either sizing up the competition or looking for potential contacts. Unable to deal with the weight of any more critical eyes, Apollina found her room and threw herself upon her bed, fully clothed.

“Rowr?”

She looked up. Staring back at her were two concerned yellow-gold eyes.

“Gesundheit,” she said, and sat up. “Hallo, sweetie. Have you eaten?”

She looked around the room and found a golden dish on the floor, containing the remains of a nice meal of tuna and lamb. There was a small, trickling fountain nearby. “Oh, good. Looks like you had a nice dinner.”

“Rowr,” Gesundheit confirmed, and rubbed his head on the underside of her chin.

“I’m so glad I’ve got you, Zunny,” Apollina said, tearing up as she hugged the animal. “I thought this was going to be great, but I don’t think I’m going to like it here very much now.”

The Kneazle pulled away from her embrace, but not far. He looked directly into her eyes and put one big paw on her shoulder. Apollina laughed through her tears and hugged the creature tighter. “I know you love me, even if no one else does.”

She looked around the room for Hermod before realizing that the owl would’ve been taken to the Owlrey. “Well, I’ll go up and see him tomorrow. It’s too late to go wandering around tonight,” she said aloud.

Slytherin House was the only Hogwarts House with individual bedrooms, a fact Apollina didn’t know but for which she was nevertheless grateful. She unpacked her trunk and put her clothes away neatly in the tall standing wardrobe, then sat on the edge of her bed and looked around the room, taking it in for the first time. It was lovely, done all in green with velvet coverings, draperies, and bed curtains, and silk sheets on the bed. There was also absolutely no sense of welcome, homecoming, or personality. The room was, in a word, oppressive. A wave of homesickness washed over her.

She put on her pyjamas and got into bed. Gesundheit snuggled onto the coverlet at her feet, purring loudly, and promptly fell asleep. Apollina was not so lucky. She lay awake for a long time, restless and unhappy. Finally she decided she needed a drink of water and a visit to the lavatory, and quietly slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb her friend.

She crept out of the room and into the hallway of the Girl’s Dorms, hoping she wouldn’t see anyone. When she reached the door to the Common Room, she only opened it a crack before she heard voices. One of them, sounding scared, was Professor Slughorn. The other, sounding fierce, was her father.

“You can’t threaten me, Lucius - they’ll put you back in prison,” Slughorn was saying.

“And do you think I wouldn’t go back there - gladly - for my daughter?” her father demanded. “I’m not asking you to induct her into your precious Slug Club, Horace,” Lucius spat out, sounding disgusted. “As far as I’m concerned you never have to acknowledge her existence, provided you give her the grade she earns in your class, and nothing less. But you will look out for her, and make sure no one troubles her. Do you understand me?”

“Y-y…yes, yes of course I understand.”

Apollina closed the door and ran back to her room. She dove under the covers, much to the indignation of the kneazle, and buried her face in the pillow. After some moments of intense concentration, she succeeded in forgetting those horrible words. Mostly.