• Camille Malfoy •

„The way you laid
your eyes on me
in ways that no one
ever could."

Camille woke up early and with a smile on her face on the day she would visit Regulus. At first, her parents, especially her father, had not been very enthusiastic, but after she had explained to them that it was for an essay in Transfiguration, they had finally agreed.

As she did every morning, the blonde first opened her shutters to replace the stale air with fresh. Ice-cold wind ran through her fair hair, leaving goosebumps on her bare legs, which peeked out from under a white nightgown. But Camille hardly cared about the cold, for it was this that really woke her up.

The view of the garden was so enchanting that the Slytherin accepted the shivering and held her breath, unwilling to destroy this perfect beauty. The snow drifted down from the sky in ghostly silence, gathering thick and unbroken on the ground. It seemed as if all colour had fled from the outside world. It was a place of pure white.

Camille hastily exchanged her nightgown for a dark blouse, skirt and tights. Over this she put on a cosy cloak of real lambswool and dragonskin boots that laced up to her knees. After breakfast she would be able to leave immediately and be taken directly to the Blacks' home in comfort by her house elf.

After Camille had finished getting ready in the bathroom, she strode down the long spiral staircase. Everything around her was still and quiet, a pleasant change from the castle, where bustle seemed to rule the day at all times of the day.

During breakfast, only her mother and Lucius were present and they talked about nothing but the upcoming wedding. They discussed the day's schedule, the seating plan and the finishing touches. For Christmas was just around the corner and during the holidays they would have little time to plan for the big day that would immediately follow.

Camille was happy for her brother, for it seemed he was quite fond of his bride-to-be. Something lit up in Lucius' grey eyes at every mention of her name, something she too wished for herself in the future. The blonde had been so involved in the planning that she had almost lost track of time.

Tinki was already standing by in the entrance hall when Camille slithered across the polished floor in her boots. "Can we, Miss?" the little creature asked politely. The Slytherin nodded with flushed cheeks that she wasn't sure if she should blame on her recent hurry or her excitement after all. No sooner had she touched the petite arm of the house elf than her gaze immediately lingered on the familiar façade.

Camille had memorised the words Regulus had mentioned in his letter. She couldn't even look that fast because the number 12 had piled up in front of her. It had been a long time since the blonde had last entered the house. Back then, the world had still been fine for the Blacks.

With a nod, she said goodbye to Tinki and climbed the somewhat rotten steps. It seemed that it wasn't just the family's reputation that had suffered in recent years.

It was Regulus who opened the door for her and welcomed her with a restrained smile. "Have you been able to enjoy your first few days of holiday?" enquired Camille, stealthily beginning to look around the entrance hall. It had indeed changed little since her last visit and this fact, with a glance at the chandelier on the ceiling, almost gave her a sense of déjà vu.

How young they had been then.

"No more and no less than the last few years," the young Black replied and led her up the stairs to his room. Her gaze lingered on a collection of house elf heads - a strange tradition, she thought - before her attention turned to the sign on his bedroom door. There, Regulus had proudly referred to his entire name:

Regulus Arcturus Black

Sirius, on the other hand, seemed to avoid any references to his family name and their naming tradition.

"Regulus, who was at the door?" it suddenly called loudly from the ground floor in the unmistakable voice of Walburga Black, who was standing at the foot of the stairs a moment later, looking up at the two of them.

"Camille Malfoy," the person addressed replied in a clear voice with his shoulders pulled back, improving his posture. "I told you about the need for us to work together on a transformation task, Mother."

The woman nodded. Her black hair was tied into a tight bun as Camille remembered, but it was mottled with grey in places. Her bright eyes remained on the blonde. "It's good to see you've grown into a pretty young woman, my child," she said, adding, "Perhaps you can make Regulus' grades turn out a little better this year."

Camille swallowed, not quite knowing what to say to that. Every fibre in her body screamed to defend Regulus, but Walburga's education was none of her business in the slightest. The dark-haired man beside her bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry mother."

"I should hope so too. For a half-breed to have better grades than you!"

"It won't happen again," he murmured, but the woman had already disappeared back downstairs after those words and may not have even heard them. Regulus sighed and tightened his posture before giving Camille the hint of an apologetic smile and holding the door to his room open for her.

Stunned, Camille entered still not quite knowing what to say. The room the blonde saw was almost as posh as hers, except it was a little smaller. It was decorated with silver and green banners and the Black crest. Camille let her turquoise eyes roam over the décor, for some reason she found it rather interesting how her classmates decorated their private rooms. After all, at Hogwarts they didn't have many opportunities to do so.

An embarrassed silence enveloped the two friends, which is why the Slytherin spun around on her own axis in embarrassment and finally pointed at his windowsill. "What is that plant?"

"An affodil," replied Regulus, who seemed similarly uncomfortable with the situation. "I'm still waiting for it to start flowering."

Camille nodded and stepped towards the wall where he had pinned some photos and articles. A slight smile strayed onto her pink lips as she spotted Emma with the rest of the team. Her gaze slid on and for a moment she stared. They were newspaper clippings, neatly cut out and innocently arranged alongside the other pictures. They all seemed to be merely about one subject as she skimmed the headlines; Lord Voldemort and his followers.

"You will join them," she finally stated quietly, not quite knowing how to feel about it. She knew that a large proportion of pureblood families were not averse to such fanatical rule, her own family included, and yet the realisation hit her like a blow and she suddenly questioned her entire world view. Had her father and Lucius already joined the dark lord?

In her presence, hardly a word was spoken on such a subject, but from past conversations she had been able to overhear how her family also spoke highly of Voldemort. She did not reject the idea itself, it was the cruelty with which his followers proceeded and the risk of falling out of favour with the self-proclaimed Lord that put her off.

Camille felt Regulus step up behind her and she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck, ironically leaving goosebumps there. "It is an honour to be part of such a movement."

"Are you sure?" she inquired softly, unable to take her eyes off the articles. "Once you pledge your allegiance to him..."

"I will be rewarded with the greatest titles and belongings," he finished her sentence. At last she turned to him and looked into his grey eyes, into which a sparkle had entered. His breathing was now intermittent and almost excitedly he continued, "Think about it, I can clear my family's name, I can make up for everything and I will rise all the way to the top. Higher than I'll ever make it otherwise."

His confession surprisingly did not diminish her love for him, on the contrary, she had never loved him more. At that moment, Camille smiled and let herself hope that maybe one day they would have a chance. "You're very brave to think like that," she breathed, "or you've completely lost your mind."

"Maybe both," Regulus murmured, and he was so close to her face, with hope in his eyes that mirrored hers. They could make it work. Like Lucius and Narcissa. Make love prevail and make their families proud.

"Don't worry, I must have lost my mind long ago too," she whispered, not even exaggerating. She wanted to take the risk, wanted to steal a kiss from her counterpart. She could hardly put the feeling inside her into words, but if it was indeed love, she never wanted to give it to anyone else. She almost cursed Regulus for fuelling her hopes in such a way, but she also thanked him. The young Black seemed frozen in his stance when suddenly they both flinched, startled.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!"

It seemed Merlin had wanted to punish her for almost kissing him. Perhaps it was a sign? A sign that all this was just wishful thinking?

Embarrassed, the two turned away from each other while loud rock music from the next room flooded the house like a wave and made it tremble. Actually it was not music, but noise. Regulus groaned in annoyance, though this was drowned out by the booming bass, just like his mother's loud shouting outside the door.

"Sirius is really going for it, huh?" asked Camille, partly amused. Nothing like that happened in Malfoy Manor. Not even in the Slytherins' chambers.

Embarrassed, the dark-haired boy scratched the back of his head. "This way, our project will probably come to nothing.... Maybe next time we'd better go to your place... what are you doing?"

The blonde had marched towards the door and immediately pulled it open. When she stepped into the hallway, it was as if she had walked straight into a wall, because the music hit her there like a barrier. She couldn't blame Walburga Black for trying to give her son such a telling off. But at that moment, Camille wasn't sure which noise was more painful to her throbbing skull; her shrill screaming or the droning guitar solo.

The woman looked at her almost apologetically, as if the situation was more than just uncomfortable for her, while her dark hair had come loose from its bun and fell stressed into her tired face. The door to Sirius' room seemed locked, so she had literally been talking to a wall. It was obvious that the eldest son was doing this on purpose and was positively enjoying his mother's reaction.

"Maybe you should put a muffliato around the room, then you'll have your peace and Sirius will continue to think he's driving the residents of this house crazy," Camille suggested gently as she noticed out of the corner of her eye how Regulus had also come up behind her and was staring at her with wide eyes.

Walburga Black didn't say anything at first and the blonde thought at first that the next storm would be for her, for interfering. But the opposite happened, the woman's normally carved stone features softened and in the next moment she looked at Camille as if she would like to kiss her. An expression that was quite rare on the stern Mrs Black.

Perhaps miracles could happen after all.