𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 ; 𝑔.𝑜.𝒻

two

The rest of Lorelei's family arrived home precisely a week after she did.

Her parents didn't say much to her, nor would they tell her exactly why they were keeping her home. She contemplated telling them about the black dog she kept seeing, but decided against it when she noticed it stopped coming around when they came back home.

The dog never came to her, but she would catch glimpses of it in the woods. When it saw that she saw it, it would run away.

She now sat in her room with her window open, enjoying the air on the beautifully clear day.

Even Nyx, who typically tried to find the darkest place in the room to rest, was stretched out on the floor where the sun was shining.

Lorelei had decided to read through her textbooks for the upcoming school year. She was an average student, but she had a knack for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which might have to do with her studying the Dark Arts herself.

She never used her knowledge of Dark Arts to harm anyone, but she found herself interested in it. So, unbeknownst to everyone, she studied it.

She read through a book of Apparation, which she would be learning this year during her sixth year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As Lorelei sat at her old wooden desk, a rock was thrown towards her direction that narrowly missed her head.

The rock hit her lamp, causing it to break.

She snapped her head to her brother, Draco Malfoy, who was outside her window on his broomstick.

She huffed and picked up the rock, and threw it at him with all her force.

It hit him in the stomach, and he fell off his broomstick. He held onto it with one hand and weakly got back up, "You could have hurt me!"

"That was the point!" She yelled back, "You'll actually have a broken arm to cry about!" She said, marching towards with the window with her wand now gripped in her hand.

"Now now, Lorelei." She heard her father say from behind her.

She slowly turned to her father, Lucius Malfoy, who was standing at her door. His white hair was slicked back, only adding to his cold demeanor.

"You are going to be seeing a lot of your brother this year, and I expect you to treat him like a brother."

"He broke my bloody lamp!"

"That can easily be fixed, Lorelei. Now I will not tolerate this behavior when you go off to school. You are to look after him."

Lorelei scoffed, "Why don't you just send me away again? Then, you won't have to worry about Draco and I bickering. I'm sure he can be a twat all by himself, seems to me he's been doing it quite well by himself for the past 4 years at–"

Her words were cut off by Lucius' cane striking her cheek. She took a few steps back, touching her fingers to her cheek. She looked at them and saw that they were lightly covered with blood.

She looked up at her father, "You will not disrespect me. This is your only warning. Next time your punishment will be..." he trailed off as he looked down at her with disgust, "... more severe."

With that, he walked out of her room and slammed her door shut with the flick of his hand.

She turned back to the window, where Draco was watching the scene fold out. He mischievously snickered and Lorelei mimicked her father. She slammed her window shut with her wand and walked to her vanity.

She looked at the cut on her cheekbone, blood was slowly trickling down her cheek.

She picked a handkerchief from the top of her dresser and wiped the blood off of her face. She looked at herself in the mirror as tears began to fall down her face.

"Wipe your tears, Lorelei." She heard her mother say to her in a softer tone than her father.

Narcissa Malfoy, her mother, was also quite stern with her. She was never nearly as harsh as her father, who hardly even treated her as his own.

She turned to her mother and saw her hanging up an outfit, "For the Quidditch World Cup." She said, "I expect you to be on your best behavior."

She turned to her daughter, her eyes falling on the cut. She sighed and walked to her, taking out her wand a muttering a healing spell.

Lorelei put down the bloody handkerchief as her mother wiped her tears away, "Don't let anyone see you cry. It shows your weakness and vulnerability. We cannot have that."

"Of course." Lorelei quietly said, avoiding her mother's eyes. Took a deep breath, "Why is father so harsh with me? He never looks me in the eye, it's like-"

"He wants you to be great." Narcissa said, "As do I."

"Is that why you constantly send me off? You let Draco come home every holiday and you spoil him endlessly during the summer... yet you leave me behind. Every time."

Now, it was Narcisa who wasn't looking her in the eye. Lorelei stared up at her mother, "It's not my idea to keep you away, I'll have you know."

"Why don't you fight it, then? Like you did for Draco."

"Some battles aren't worth fighting, Lorelei." Narcissa said, turning away from her and walking to her desk, where her lamp was still broken.

"Not some battles. The ones that deal with me and my welfare. I don't particularly mind being away from this place, but I cannot understand why."

Narcissa avoided her comment and fixed her broken lamp with a tap of her wand, "Please, do not go prying into minds at school. Professor Snape will be keeping a close watch on you to make sure you do not do it."

"Can't wait."

Her mother eyed her before walking out of her room, shutting her door much softer than her father did.

She sighed and looked at her textbooks, "Can't bloody wait." She said quietly.