Asper

"Breakfast is downstairs whenever you're ready. I'll let you get changed," Draco Malfoy said, leaving the book on the chair where he sat. Asper nodded, pulling her quilt up to her chin.

"What do I call you?" She asked him before he slid out of the room. He turned back to look at her.

"I've told you. My name is Draco Malfoy."

"I heard you, but what do I call you? What did I call you...before?" Asper felt her cheeks redden again, ashamed to ask. For a moment, it looked like he wouldn't answer, his jaw tensing. Then he smiled again and tapped his knuckles against the doorframe once.

"Just Draco."

"And you called me just Asper?"

"Oh no, we all call you Asp."

"We?"

"Get dressed and I'll introduce you to everyone." With that, the left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Asper scowled at the door. Everyone? Everyone sounded like a lot of people. She wasn't so sure she wanted to meet a bunch of people, especially people she was supposed to have known already. Deciding she was overreacting, Asper slowly let her fingers uncurl from her quilt. She hadn't realized how tightly she was holding on until her fingers began to cramp at the release of pressure.

"Ouch," she seethed, shaking out her fingers. She threw the blankets off of her, looking down to realize that she was wearing the same clothes as she had been the day before, minus her jacket that had most likely been covered in blood. Her blood. An image of a boy's hand covered in her blood passed through her mind. She gasped at the memory, recoiling into herself.

Asper took a few moments to regain control of her breathing before sticking her legs over the side of the bed. There was no carpet beneath her bed, so when her feet touched the ground she was met with frozen tile. The shock of the cold sent shivers up her spine, but she welcomed the cold. It was better than the headache that was trying to start at the nape of her skull.

With her feet flat on the floor, Asper observed the room around her.

Light flitted through the window, a light breeze from the open glass blowing at thin, white curtains. They drifted toward Asper like clouds. She reached out to touch the drapes. They were soft like clouds, too. A seat spanned the base of the window, another quilt lounging there with a half-read book laying on top. The sun shining through the window burned her eyes, but she wanted to look outside. Ignoring the pain, she pushed the curtains aside and met the world face on.

Though the day was overcast, the world was still covered in the sun's light. Outside her window, Asper had a wonderful view of a beautiful garden full of flowers and all other sorts of beautiful plants. There were things out there that looked abnormal to her, plants that moved like they had a mind of their own, flowers so vibrant she could almost see each individual petal. Beyond the garden was a row of trees and among them, a single willow. The sight of it made Asper smile. The chill from the breeze and the tiles below finally got to Asper and she shivered.

Turning from the window, she was met with the rest of the room. Above her was a high domed ceiling. Arches connecting the walls and the ceiling made what looked like a flower from where she stood, staring up at it. The smile on her face grew wider. The wall across from her bed was lined with bookshelves. The shelves were mostly full of books, but other things were there, too. Pictures that moved. A red and gold scarf. A note with the name Harry penned across the front. A collection of ink and quills. Loose pieces of parchment. Other objects that Asper didn't recognize.

She ventured over to the chair that Draco had been lounging in. The book he had been reading wasn't really a book at all. It was a photo album. The first picture was a moving picture of a pair of wriggling babies swaddled in cloth. On the edge of the page two names were inscribed; Asper and Draco. Asper released a shuddering breath. That boy who had been in her room had been in her life since she was a baby and she couldn't remember a single thing about him. She didn't even remember her own mother. If she couldn't remember them, what hope was there for remembering anything else?

She set the album down, not daring to look any further. Draco had told her to get dressed, so she needed to find a wardrobe of sorts. Across from the window was another door, one that Draco hadn't gone through. Asper opened it slowly, a light popping on as she did. Peering inside, Asper's mouth fell open. To one side was a full bathroom with bath and vanity and to the other side was an entire closet full of clothes. Her heart nearly burst from her chest at the sight of it. She had no idea what she could possibly do with so many clothes.

Deciding against exploring any further, she grabbed the first things she could find, which happened to be a pair of denim pants, a plain t-shirt, and a green flannel. She threw the clothes on quickly, finding that she needed a belt desperately. She brushed her hair quickly, pinning the sides back with two clips, and her brushing teeth before running out of her room.

As soon as she left, she felt as if she entered a completely different world. Her room had been full of light and life, books and things. Even from the balcony alone, she knew the rest of the house was not this way. Where her room had been cold from the open window, the house she stepped in to was cold from a complete lack of warmth. She must not have felt it the night before because she had already been so cold, but she felt it now. She suddenly regretted her decision not to wear socks.

Her pace slowed as she set her hand along the railing. Hers seemed to be the only room on this side of the upper level, but another staircase and balcony on the other side of a great room below told her that there was more. The vast room below her was almost completely empty, save for the door, which seemed to be the entrance, a large statue of a bearded man in the middle, and the couches that Asper had seen earlier. The fire that had been roaring the night before was dead.

Dread clawed at Asper's throat.

She followed the railing down a set of perfectly silent wooden steps, her hands trailing the detailed wood as she descended. The bottom of the staircase pointed her toward another door which she gladly walked through. The bearded statue in the middle of the room made her uneasy and leaving it behind her gave her no sad feeling. Passing through the door brought her to another large, open room, though not nearly as large as the last one. Lining the room was a dinner table.

Asper's heart skipped at the sight of the number of people sitting around it. They were talking politely to one another, silverware scraping quietly against ceramic plate, though the small sound was enough to make Asper cringe. She pulled her hands into her sleeves, chewing at the inside of her lip.

"Don't worry," Draco said, seeming to appear suddenly beside her. "They don't bite...often."

Asper jumped at the sight of him, though he didn't seem phased by her shock.

"I thought you wouldn't want to walk in alone," he told her, offering his arm for her to take. Again, Asper kept her limbs to herself. Draco didn't seem too offended. He leaned close to her and whispered, "It's better to just get the whole thing over with. Then we can hide away in your room. I do it all the time at...family reunions."

There was something else he wanted to say there, but he didn't. Asper nodded, grateful for his company. He started to stride toward the table, but when he noticed her slow and tentative steps, he slowed.

"No socks?" He asked, eyebrow raised. Asper shrugged, looking down. "You never wore socks before either."

Asper looked up at him, something of joy on her face. She wiggled her toes slightly, feeling somehow connected to the girl she was before by nothing more than her lack of socks.

This thought gave her the confidence she needed to walk alongside Draco, chin up and eyes staring straight ahead.

"Asp!" A voice shrieked. Asper froze as a girl pushed her chair away from the dining table and sprinting full speed toward her. Asper put her hands up, her leg moving behind her, as if preparing for the girl to ram into her full force. As the girl neared, she could see a smile on her face, but it didn't make her feel any better. Luckily, Draco noticed her unease so he stepped between the girl and Asper, effectively stopping her.

"Asp, I was so worried about you," the girl said. Her hair was dark, darker than Asper's mother's. It was straight and reached just below her shoulders. Her grin was wide, her eyes as deep a brown as her hair.

"Pans," Draco said quietly. "We talked about being calm?"

The girl, Pans, nodded quickly before stepping away from Draco.

"I'm Pansy," the dark-haired girl said, her smile still there. "We were best friends."

Best friends? From her smile alone, Asper would hope this was the kind of girl she would be friends with. Asper offered a small smile back.

"I'm Asper," she said slowly, glancing at Draco, who nodded at her. From behind Pansy came three more boys, all about a foot taller than her.

"These are our other friends, Asper," Draco said. "Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise."

"Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise," Asper said, pointing at each as she said their name. The tallest of them was Blaise, his skin dark and his smile intoxicating. There was a twinkle in his eye, like he knew something she didn't. It was fair enough to say that there were very few people who didn't know more than she did. Crabbe and Goyle were both large and could probably lift both Asper and Pansy in the air without even trying.

"We were all friends at school," Blaise said.

"School?" Asper looked at Draco again.

"We'll talk about school later. It's a lot to take in. Let's get some food in you, ya?" Draco said, leading her over to the long table. Everyone else at the table were all adults, staring Asper down as if she was a chicken who had lost its head.

"Welcome, Little Asp," Asper's mother said from the head of the table. On the far opposite end was an empty chair. Asper wondered if that was where her father sat. "Sit beside me."

Asper did as she was told, giving awkward but polite smiles to anyone whose eye she accidentally caught. Pansy returned to her place beside her. Across from Asper sat Draco and beside him was a stunning woman whose hair was half brown as Pansy's and half white as Draco's. Asper wondered if Pansy and Draco were siblings. This woman was definitely Draco's mother. She could tell by the eyes; both had eyes like a dark storm that was bound to destroy anything that got in its way.

"Asper," the goddess-like woman cooed. "We are all so pleased that you have made it home safely."

"Thank you," Asper said, though she didn't really know why she would be in danger anyway. A flash of blue lightning passed through her memory, the voice of a worried boy, a sharp pain against the back of her head. She cringed and touched the soft flesh on her head.

"This is Narcissa Malfoy, Little Asp," Asper's mother said, motioning for the woman beside Draco. "She has been worried sick about you."

Asper forced a smile and nodded her head to Narcissa. Asper's mother went down the entire table, introducing Asper to each person who sat in each chair. There was a woman with wild ebony hair named Bellatrix and a dirty blonde man called Yaxley. The quiet man at the far end was called Severus Snape and he taught at the school she went to. Asper found that if she heard the name and saw the face she had no trouble remembering it, even when the talk of lineage began to brew. Narcissa was related to Bellatrix who was married to Rodoulphas whose brother was Rabastan. Asper smiled and nodded along as everyone around her talked.

The food she ate slowly, unsure if it would stay down or not. She tried to listen to what Pansy was saying to her, but her mind was starting to overflow with information.

"Jezebel," Narcissa whispered, leaning over Draco to speak to Asper's mother. "Our little Asp is looking pale."

"Oh, dear." Asper's mother, Jezebel, touched the back of her hand against Asper's forehead. "She's getting warm. Draco, would you escort her back to bed?"

"I can walk on my own," Asper said, slowly pushing her chair away from the table.

"I'm finished anyway," Draco said, rising from his seat. Asper turned to the crowd of people at the table and smiled.

"It was wonderful to meet you all," she said. Jezebel took her hand and squeezed it, so Asper assuming she did the right thing. "I hope to see you again soon."

"Rest well, Asp," Pansy said.

Asper followed Draco from the room, glancing back once to see that Draco's plate was still full of food.

~

"Merlin's beard," Pansy groaned, throwing herself onto a couch somewhere hidden deep in the Selwyn Manor. "If I had to smile for one more second I might have killed someone."

"You play the part of a sweet best friend very well, Pans," Blaise said, his coy grin still on his face, though 100 times less friendly as it had been before. "Someone might think you actually want a friend like that."

Pansy glared at him.

"I hate that we have to be so nice to her is all," Pansy grumbled, pulling her legs to her chest. "If it had been any one of us the Dark Lord wouldn't even blink twice before killing us, but he gives her a second chance?"

"Seeing as there is no one in better graces than Jezebel Selwyn with the Dark Lord right now, especially after the fiasco at the Ministry, I think Asper is the only single person on the planet given this second chance," Blaise said.

"It's not fair!" Pansy shouted, hurling a pillow at his head. "We don't even get the choice of being Death Eaters yet, but she does? And she gets special treatment?"

"Well, I mean, she did hit her head pretty hard," Crabbe said, still munching on a piece of bacon. "Maybe it knocked all that niceness out of her?"

Pansy stared at him like he was an idiot, which, of course, he was.

"I hate her," Pansy said.

"Why, because you know Draco's always had a thing for her and not you?"

Blaise had his wand up and Protego ready before Pansy could hurl a string of curses his way. She stopped as the door behind them clicked shut quietly. They all turned to see Draco. He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair and sagging against the doorway.

"The princess asleep?" Blaise asked, lowering his wand and sinking lower into his chair.

"No. But she won't be coming out of her room anytime soon," Draco said, walking over to them before flopping on the couch beside Pansy, who stuck her tongue out at Blaise.

"Good," Pansy said. "I'm already sick of her. Aren't you, Draco?"

Draco had barely heard Pansy, his gaze fixed on the diamond-shaped carpet at his feet. When she said his name, he simply hummed his response.

He couldn't get Asper out of his head.

~

Hello, lovelies! I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter! There are more to come soon!

I love to hear feedback from all of you, so I appreciate every read, like, and comment you provide. It is much appreciated!

I love you all dearly,

Caroline

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