Ariadne's Thread ⭒ h. potter

Home for the Holidays

On the train platform, Ariadne looked around for the tell-tale platinum heads of Lucius or Narcissa, but she saw nothing of the sort. Down to her right, however, something small and gray entered her periphery, jumping up and down. Ariadne smiled in recognition and began to walk over.

"Mimsy!" She greeted, dropping down to hug the little elf. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you, of course."

"Mimsy was sent to pick up Miss!" Mimsy replied excitedly. "Mistress has been very busy preparing for the holiday!"

Mimsy Apparated Ariadne to the manor directly from the platform, which she'd been unaware was even possible. She was pretty sure Lucius and Narcissa couldn't do it, at least, or else they certainly would have before. When they entered the foyer, Ariadne took a second to both breathe through the nausea of the Apparation as well as lament her return to the manor. Greeted by the cold, black wooden floors and unwelcomingly high marble ceilings, Ariadne couldn't be certain that the pit in her stomach was from the Apparation alone.

Mimsy tugged Ariadne's hand, breaking her out of her reverie. "Mistress Malfoy told Mimsy to take Miss to the dressing room."

"Wait just a moment, Mimsy. First, where's Dobby?" Ariadne had not forgotten the mission that she had come here on, but was dismayed when Mimsy looked down, tears welling in her eyes.

"Dobby was a bad elf, Miss. Mimsy does not know where he is, only that he has been gone. A bad elf! Bad, bad!" Mimsy began to shake, and Ariadne placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "Please, Miss. Let Mimsy take you to Mistress Malfoy, so Mimsy is not punished."

Ariadne nodded. "It's okay, Mimsy. I'll find him. Take me to Narcissa for now." She would play her part, dutiful and sweet.

Mimsy led Ariadne up to the north end of the north wing of the house, to Narcissa's private suite, which was connected to Lucius' private suite by a rooftop terrace. Though Ariadne was pretty sure that Lucius and Narcissa did love each other (she really couldn't be certain), it did seem that the aristocracy liked to have their space. It wasn't like her mom had shared a bed with anyone (that she knew of, gross) for her to compare their relationship.

Mimsy took Ariadne around the back and into an ornate dressing room, around the size of a good sized flat. Rather than walls, Narcissa had mirrors so that she could see herself from every possible angle. At the very center of the room stood Narcissa with her arms out by her side atop a small platform. A woman kneeled at Narcissa's feet, a tape measurer levitating in the air between them.

Mimsy poofed away with a crack, and the noise attracted Narcissa's attention. She turned to face Ariadne with a small smile.

"How nice of you to join, darling. Come, I'm almost done with my fitting. Sit and tell me about Hogwarts until it's your turn."

"My turn?" Ariadne questioned, moving over to a flat black ottoman in front of Narcissa. "Hello, Muffy," she greeted to the woman fitting Narcissa, remembering her from Diagon Alley. She was as thin and as frozen-faced as before, though the tops of her cheekbones were now unnaturally full relative to her size. Was there a wizarding equivalent to plastic surgery? Ariadne thought back to some of the muggle mums at her primary school whose foreheads couldn't form even the slightest wrinkle. Those mothers always sneered at her own in envy. At only nineteen when Ariadne was born, Selena was younger than some of the other mums by decades and as such, had quite a bit of trouble making friends. That, among other reasons.

Muffy looked surprised to have been remembered. "Lady Black!" She exclaimed, completely unaware of the effect that the moniker had on Ariadne. "Lovely to see you again."