quattuor.

Chapter 4

Lyra gets up earlier than her roommates and gets ready for the day. She slips out of the common room unnoticed and moves to the kitchens nearby. A perk of Hufflepuff was that the kitchen was so close. Lyra never had to fear that the house elves would deny her food. She doesn’t eat anything but drinks some cocoa as she talks with the house elves. It was always interesting to listen to the perspective of a house elf. Lyra learned about elven magic and how house elf's work without being seen at Hogwarts. “It’s be time for breakfast soon,” A house elf informs her and Lyra smiled, standing and collecting her bag. She bids goodbye to the house elf and heads to the great hall. “Draco was looking for you,” Theo took her by the arm as soon as she entered. “He got worried when you didn’t come out of your common room and then found out that you weren’t there.” “I didn’t realize that he was waiting for me,” Lyra sheepishly admits. “I was in the kitchens.” Draco shows up a little frantic, ready to tell the others about the missing Hufflepuff when he spots Lyra sitting next to Theo. “Ember!” Draco looked relieved to see her. “You worried me.” “Sorry,” Lyra was ashamed that she wasn’t used to somebody being worried about her. Draco moves to sit next to Lyra. He started a conversation quickly and soon they were chatting. Owls swoop in with the morning mail and a black owl lands in front of Draco, a package in his talons. “Hey Holmes,” Drace runs his fingers over the breast of the bird and feeds him a piece of bacon. Holmes nips Draco’s finger softly before he takes off and Draco pulls the string from the package. He pulled a note out first and opened it. “Hey,” Draco elbowed Lyra. “This is for you too.” Lyra, confused, leaned over to read the note with him. 'Draco and Lyra, We hope that you are behaving and keeping up with your work. Draco, work hard and keep up practice for Quidditch. Share this box with Lyra. Lyra, we have inquired about obtaining custody of you. This Saturday, Lucius will come to pick you up to take you to the ministry to start the steps about obtaining custody. He will see you then. Stay safe. Love, Lucius & Narcissa Malfoy (Mom & Dad)' Draco grinned at Lyra that fell when he saw her face. “What’s wrong?” “Do they really want me?” Lyra looked up from the note, confusion in her tone. “Nobody ever wants me.” “Don’t be stupid,” Blaise tells her firmly. “They wouldn’t ask if they didn’t want you.” “Bugger off, she wasn’t talking to you,” Draco sneered at him before turning to Lyra. “Mother and Father wouldn’t offer if they didn’t mean it. I really would like them to get custody of you too. Then you can be my sister.” “I’ll be your sister even if they don’t,” Lyra offered and Draco nods, a smile on his face. “Mother said to share,” Draco then reveals the contents of the box. There was an expansion charm on it and it held baked goods. Muffins, cookies, brownies, and some candy from Honeydukes. “Do they send this to you all the time or just now?” Lyra can’t help but question. “On special occasions, mostly,” Draco admits. “C’mon, try one.” Lyra reaches into the box and pulls out a cookie. It was the best tasting baked sweet she has had in a long time. “It’s good.” “I know,” Draco boasts, stuffing a brownie in his mouth. Lyra laughs and finally relaxed. ~The Dark Orphan~ Saturday approached quickly and Lyra received a message from Snape to meet him in his office so go to the ministry. She was nervous. What if they suddenly decided that they no longer wanted her? That was all she could think as she got dressed in a pair of jeans and a pastel yellow sweater. The only nice-ish clothing she had and it was muggle. “You’ll do great, Ly!” Draco promised as he walked with her to Snape’s office. “My Father will ensure that nothing bad happens to you.” Lyra enters Snape’s office and Lucius is already waiting for her there. “Hello, darling.” He greets. “Hi,” Lyra smiles at him softly. “Are you ready?” Lucius inquired. “I have a portkey.” Lucius pulls out a small silver disk. Lyra approached and reached out to place her hand upon it. She felt nervous already. The portkey activates and Lyra feels herself spinning as they take off. It seemed like hours but also seconds before they’re dropped a few feet from the doors of the ministry. Lyra stumbles, her stomach doing flip-flops. “Just breathe,” Lucius tucks the disk back into his pocket. “Your stomach will settle in a moment.” They stand outside for a few moments while Lyra’s stomach settles. She eventually looks up at Lucius. “I’m okay.” He gives a curt nod and reaches out to place a hand onto her shoulder. She tenses up at the contact but allows him to guide her through the doors. The place was big. They had to check their wands in at the front. Lyra hated handing hers over and was grateful when she got it back. Lucius guides her further inside and the grip on her shoulder keeps her straight while she marvels at the magic around her. After various twists and turns, they end up at a desk with a plaque labeled ‘Department of Magical Social Services’. They’re taken back and seated in front of table where there is a older man with greying hair. “Ah,” He glances them over. “My name is Herb Pickary. You are Lucius and Mia?” He questioned. “That is correct,” Lucius nods. “Alright. Let me see,” He balances glasses on the bridge of his nose as he looks at paperwork. “And you want to gain custody of the girl, is that right Mr. Malfoy?” “That is correct,” Lucius drawls. “I see,” Herb flicks through a stack of papers. “And, Miss Aspen, you have currently been placed with muggles, is that correct?” Lyra nods, glancing at Lucius. “I see no reason why she should be moved at the moment,” Herb looks at Lucius. “It can be detrimental to health to simply move a child for no reason.” Tears burn at Lyra’s eyes. This wasn’t turning out well. “She is a magical child placed with ignorant… muggles,” Lucius’s face grows dark. “It would be in her best case to be moved to a family more suited to her needs.” “I’m sorry, but unless there is a problem with her current home then I simply can’t,” Herb shakes his head sadly. “They hit me,” Lyra blurts and both gazes turn towards her. She shrinks in her seat. She hated letting that secret out but she really wanted to live with the Malfoy’s. “They hit me.” She repeats again quieter. “I see,” Herb frowns as he shuffles papers around. From there, they go through and discuss her abuse suffered at various foster homes she had been in. Lyra focuses on Herb, too scared to see the look on Lucius’s face. She was sure that he would be embarrassed to have such a weak person as a Malfoy. She couldn’t even fight back. “I’m placing an emergency custody order and transferring custody to you temporarily. There will be a hearing in a few weeks to check in and discuss a more permanent arrangement.” Herb presses a rubber stamp onto a paper and hands it over to Lucius. They leave the ministry and head into Diagon Alley. Lyra was quiet. She was drained. “I’m proud of you,” Lucius comments, head straight ahead. Lyra looks up at him in confusion. “That was not an easy thing that you just did. You did well.” “Really?” Lyra questioned incredulously. She didn’t feel proud. Lucius reached out and placed a hand onto her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Let us go get a treat.” Lyra follows him in confusion as they enter Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. “Order anything,” Lucius tells her and Lyra shyly orders a butterscotch and strawberry. Surprisingly, Lucius ordered a plain vanilla. She accepts the bowl and they sit. “Narcissa insisted that you have this,” Lucius pulls out a small black box from his pocket and places it onto the table. Lyra sets her ice cream down and reaches out for it warily. She slides it towards her and pulls the top off. Nestled inside the box in velvet folds was a silver bracelet. Lyra lifts it up and almost drops it. There was a silver plate in the middle with a familiar crest on it. “Is this the Malfoy family crest?” Lyra whispered with wide eyes. “It is indeed,” Lucius inclines his head in a nod. “What if today didn’t go well and you didn’t get custody?” Lyra looks at him. “You would still get it,” Lucius says matter-of-factly. “Narcissa swore to herself to look after her sisters children if the need ever came up.” Lyra remembers that one of the Black sisters was disowned. “Even the other one?” She hesitantly questioned. Lucius nods. “Even her.” Lyra looks down at the bracelet. “Will you help me put it on?” Lucius reaches across the table and helps her secure the bracelet around her left wrist. Lyra marvels at it when he finishes, eating her ice cream. “Thank you.” “You are a Malfoy now,” Lucius tells her. “And nothing will ever change that.” Lyra gets a grin on her face and she ducks her head to hide it. “We do not have to return until curfew,” Lucius informs her. “Do you wish to do anything while we are here?” “Can we look at books?” Lyra asked. Lucius nods and they finish their ice cream. They head out and to the book shop. Lyra peruses, picking up and flipping through books. She would hesitate before putting it back sometimes. She hadn’t realized that Lucius was picking up the books after her. Lyra grew tired and started to yawn. She had paused in front of an ad for a book coming out and didn’t see Lucius buy the books. “Are you ready?” Lucius questioned, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder. Lyra jumped, turning around and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Yeah,” Lyra nods, letting out a yawn. Lucius nods. “I need to visit Gringotts briefly and then we can head back.” Lyra follows after him to Gringotts and waits in the lobby while Lucius heads back. She started to fall asleep in the chair and would jerk her head up every few moments. She doesn’t realize when she dozes but the next thing she knows, she hears Lucius. “Hey, are you ready?” He questioned quietly, his hand resting on her shoulder. “Yeah,” Lyra murmured but was a little too tired to move. It was dark outside and Lyra was tuckered out. “Wrap your arms around my neck,” Lucius tells her and Lyra does as he asked. She’s startled when he scoops her up to rest on his hip like a small child. “Relax. I won’t let you fall.” Lyra can’t help it. She was just too tired. She lets her head relax onto his shoulder and closes her eyes. The sway as Lucius walked was soothing and lulled her to sleep. She wakes up in Snape’s office as he places a hand onto her shoulder to lead her. She flops into her bed and barely remembers to lock her curtains before falling asleep again. She’s on the front page of the Daily Prophet the next day, a full cover image of her sleeping in Lucius’s arm. Lyra saves the front page.