MARVEL [draco malfoy]

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One:
The House of the Serpent. 
~*~

"You are awful, and horrible, and you will never replace my mother! I wish you were dead! I hate you! I hate you so much!"

Nelly stepped back in shock, Emma's trolley bag escaped the confines of her fingers and fell to the floor in a loud clatter. She placed a hand on her heart and stepped back, watching with the tear-filled eyes as the young blonde burst into hiccupping sobs and sank to her knees on the floor— her face was blotchy and red, and her cries were so loud, Nelly supposed that Mr. and Mrs. Latimer from down the street would be able to hear her.

Nelly's own heart ached awfully. In the last thirteen years, not once had Nelly heard the young girl raise her voice like that, nor had she heard such hateful words spewing from her mouth. She was always a sweetheart, an absolute angel— she was so kind, and such a beautiful person, Nelly would never have guessed she was capable of such hatred.

"What's going on?" asked Emma, appearing behind Nelly's shoulder. She quizzically looked across the street to where the blonde girl was sitting on the asphalt of her driveway, sobbing. "What's wrong with Danielle? Why is she crying like that?"

Nelly sighed, shaking her head in defeat as she turned her back toward Danielle, and looked at Emma, "Oh, poor Dani— it's the first anniversary of her mother's death, and it doesn't really help that her wretched father brought a stepmother home just a week prior. How can a father be this cruel?" She turned her head to look at Danielle, over her shoulder and sighed again, "My heart breaks for her, poor baby. And look how her stepmother's just standing above her, not even trying to console her."

Emma looked past Nelly and at Danielle and the new Mrs. Markham, Janine, and shook her head, "Do you think it would be appropriate for me to go over there and try and console her? I am her friend after all."

Nelly glanced down at her wristwatch and nodded, "I think it would be really sweet of you, bean, but try to hurry— we're already running quite late, I don't want you to miss the Hogwarts Express."

"Oh? What time is it right now?"

"Quarter after ten, and you already that the Express leaves at eleven on the dot."

Emma nodded quickly, releasing her hold on her trolley bag which she'd dragged out of the Manor behind her, "I'll only be a minute. Dani looks like she could really use a friendly face right about now."

"That's my girl, always so thoughtful." said Nelly, pride dripping from her expression as she cupped Emma's cheek lovingly before leaning down and picking up the trolley she'd dropped. When she straightened, Emma was already halfway across the driveway of the Manor, and heading steadily towards the street. She watched in dismay as Emma crossed the street, not once bothering to check either way— she always crossed the roads like she didn't have any friends or family left, as if no one loved her, which was the exact opposite of the truth.

Emma hurriedly crossed the street and walked right up the Markhams' driveway, where Danielle sat on the floor next to her father's Mercedes-Benz. A few steps from her Janine Markham stood, shaking her head with a horrified expression on her face; she a young woman of thirty, with sleek black hair and extremely fair skin, and startling sea-green eyes— everybody had understood why Chester Markham had married Janine; she was insanely beautiful, and everyone knew why she'd married him; he was insanely rich. Emma had met Janine only once, and she hadn't struck her as the motherly type, but she also didn't seem evil.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Janine looked up, an expression of pure dread on her face— it slipped the moment she saw Emma, but she didn't utter a single word. Emma regarded her with a curious expression before her eyes found the shaking frame of Danielle, and she fell to her knees on the ground next to her friend.