A Creature's Justice

Chapter Fifteen; A Family

After Draco and his snake got acquainted, we left the store, heading down to a trunk shop nearby that looked rather expensive. Nervously, I peered up at Narcissa and asked quietly, "Are you sure you want to buy me a trunk? I can pay for it, really. I have enough money. I don't-I don't want to spend too much of your money."

Narcissa sighed, gently cupping my cheek in her hand, "Phoenix, I know you probably haven't had a good image of what parents do for their children, especially after living with those awful people, but parents are supposed to care for their children's needs. Besides, we were the ones who suggested the trunk. You won't need to touch your money, not unless you want pocket money. We will happily provide anything you need or want, do you understand? You are our family, our son, just as Draco is. I know you'll need time to get used to not looking after yourself, but we're here to care for you."

Smiling, trying not to let the tears that gathered in my eyes fall, I leaned into her palm and murmured, "I'm not used to it yet, but I think-I think I could get used to it with time. I'm not used to people caring about me."

Narcissa pressed a kiss to my forehead, gently taking my hand and leading me into the shop, Lucius gently patting my shoulder as we passed him and Draco, who smiled warmly at me.

Once we were in the trunk shop, Narcissa pulled me up to the counter and stated, "Hello, we would like to order three custom trunks. One with wizard space and two with personalized compartments, such as a library and a small closet area for clothes, as well as a lockable area for their money pouches."

The man behind the counter immediately began writing it down, and asked, "The two personalized trunks will only take a few hours, but the wizard space trunk-it will need a few days, three at most. I will also need the dimensions you'll want for the trunk with wizarding space."

Narcissa nodded, "We will need a rather large one, I'm afraid. My son is a parselmouth, and will be housing snakes that cannot be adopted from the nearby shop. We'll be turning it into the proper habitats, so I would like it to be able to be tampered with as well, so we can do the work needed inside."

The man nodded, "You'll need different biomes, correct? Depending on the snake?" At my nod, he smiled slightly, "Should you be unable to do the work yourselves, my son specializes in similar trunks. He lives in France at the moment, but I have an international floo, so he can floo here at any time. As an animal lover myself, I'd be willing to ask him to help, should you need it. He'd love to meet a parselmouth."

I looked up at Narcissa, who smiled slightly down at me, raising her eyebrows, and I realized she wanted me to decide whether I wanted to meet this person-whether I wanted to be known as a parselmouth. Nodding, I stated, "I'm being adopted, using the old ways, so I will look a bit different at our next meeting."

He looked surprised, "Adopted, you say? By the Malfoys'? Who are you now?"

Smiling softly I admitted, "I'm sorry, but I haven't had a very good life, Mr.? Well, I'm not very keen on everyone knowing who I was before. I-I don't want to be known as him."

His face softening, he admitted, "I don't blame you for that...I'll respect your privacy. Have you a name picked out that I could know?"

Smiling wider at him, "Phoenix, sir. Phoenix Malfoy. You are?"

Holding out a hand, he stated, "Mr. Ross, Abel Ross. Raised in America, moved to England, fell in love, started this trunk shop-I was inspired by Newt Scamander's case, but I'm afraid I just don't have the right touch with animals."

Shaking his hand, I admitted, "I've always loved animals, sir. Birds, snakes, cats, dogs, mice, rats, etc. I've loved any I've ever come across-  including accidentally setting free a boa constrictor from the zoo once."