Our curses and wounds

T W O

Malfoy manor was a maze for Astra. Even after two weeks of living there, she couldn't find her way from the dining room to her bedroom without help.

This was quite the problem, since besides the house elves no one was helping her. Even they were reluctant. See, what they don't tell you about house elves is that they are incredibly elitist. They take pride in who they work for and if you don't seem like a worthy family member, they might just overlook or overhear you.

Astra was also not sure what it was about her, that seemed to compel them from her. As in she could think of multiple reasons why. Maybe it was her appearance, that did not made her look like a Malfoy at all, but a watered down version of her aunt Bellatrix.

Well... Not even that was quite accurate. After all looking like a Black, while not ideal with the last name Malfoy, was nothing to be ashamed off. But instead her hair was not only too light but also too straight, and her eyes didn't even give the slightest evidence of the dark brown the Blacks typically possessed. Instead they were an abnormal mishmash of brown around the pupil and green on the outer part of her iris.

The other reason could be that when she was particularly distraught and insistent on finding the way on her own, she ended in the kitchens. And as one does when stressed and surrounded in a mess of a seemingly deserted and dirty dishes, she started to clean them. Her help was not met kindly. Before she knew it she was, quite literally, kicked out by a very grumpy old elve lady, withering something about the young generations of wizards not knowing their place.

Astra really did not know her place in the house, but now she could at least say for sure that it were not the kitchens. This confusion was a result of the last possibility for the house elves resentment, which was that she did not grow up at Malfoy Manor like her older brother, effectively making her the black sheep. Though she guessed that the true reason for the harsh treatment was a combination of not only all of the above, but most likely a few reasons she didn't even consider.

In fact she did not grow up with her family at all. It wasn't her fault. Just like it wasn't the fault of any of the other children growing up like her. She was just part of the generation born, shortly before the dark lords fall. This made her special, because she was a child born and made for a great experiment.

An experiment she would get influenced by her entire life. An experiment looming like a dark omen of ruin on her left underarm. She was given the dark mark shortly after she was born. A right reserved only to the inner circle. I mean who wouldn't want their new born to bear the mark of a group of terrorists. Dream come true.

But, oh well, the dark lord fell and with him the the benefit of his mark. Now Lucius Malfoy was in the uncomfortable situation of not only having the brand himself, but a newborn, proving he was not only an onlooker but a successful supporter of his grace. This meant he would have to make use of his connections and get rid of her, before the public might find out.

So Astra was brought to Germany, where she would be put into a group made by the sacred 28, to have a place for their bastards and unwanted children, like Astra. Of course, she was educated and taught manners there. After all it was only meant to be a place to keep her hidden until the dark lord came back.

Astra thought she would stay there forever, taking care of the dirty work for the ministries of the world, which was essentially what everyone did there. This had its perks; the children got molded into faithful little soldiers for the dark lord and if the children took care of something, no one would know who it was because, officially, they did not exist.

Since quite some time, Astra felt something had changed. Something within the mark shifted and it got darker and more prominent on her skin. That was the first time she thought about going back to her parents, what would happen if the dark lord actually came back. A few weeks later she was taken back to England by her father. He had apparently talked to an official and enrolled her in her brothers school.

So now she was here. With nothing to do, no one to talk to and no idea what might happen. The only information given to her being that she would have to get sorted into Slytherin, which she did not much care for, and that she would start out as a first year due to the fact that no one knew how much she knew and if she was behind on anything. To be perfectly clear she also did know that her brother would not acknowledge her existence during school and she was expected to do the same. He did not tell her this, but his behaviour and look on his face when he was told about her being in the same school as him did. Astra planed on doing no such thing. Two weeks of living in this house made it clear that her parents would never like her or treat her as one of them, maybe she could at least get her brother to accept her as time would go on.