"Draco! Come down here and greet Aunt Bella!" my mother called. I walked downstairs very slowly. It wasn't that I didn't love Aunt Bella with all my heart (which I didn't), I was sort of scared of her. She had been in Azkaban for six years before my father had finally been convinced to get a previous Death Eater to take her place under Polyjuice potion. She was also, frankly, insane. I finally got to the bottom of the stairwell, where I was embraced by Aunt Bella and Uncle Rodolphus. I quickly pulled away, hoping they wouldn't notice.
"Draco," Aunt Bella scolded, "You shouldn't be frightened of me, only the Mudbloods and Blood Traitors should." I apologised and said, "Is breakfast ready yet?"
"Almost. Why don't you go get Scarlet, Draco?"
"Who is Scarlet?" Bellatrix asked. O​h no. Scarlet will not be happy to see Aunt Bella. I thought. She, for one thing, was only a measly Half­blood, and I had seen her addressing letters to Aunt Andromeda's daughter, Aunt Bella's hated cousin, Sirius Black, and Mudblood scum, a girl called Alice. But for some reason I felt strangely attached to her, even though she was clearly a Potter and Blood Traitor. I left quickly, not wanting to tell Aunt Bella about her. Leave that to Mum. I ran up the stairs to Scarlet's room and knocked on the door. Nothing. I saw her walking down the hall towards me.
"Is Bellatrix here?" she asked. "Bellatrix Lestrange?"
"Yes. She's my aunt." Scarlet's eyes flashed, then she was normal again.
"Can I have some space?" she asked.
"But, it's breakfast." She pushed past me into her room, her eyes sort of watery. I walked to my
room, wondering about what I'd seen. Only now did I wonder: what had Aunt Bella done to go to Azkaban? I sat on my bed and stared at the fishbowl on my dresser, vaguely wondering what it was doing there. Aunt Bella walked into the room and said, "Breakfast is ready." I nodded, but she continued, "What is that on your dresser?" she strode over and grabbed a note that was sitting by the fishbowl. My stomach sank with the lily petal as Aunt Bella read the note.
"Draco­ This is your second present. It may not be as expensive as a Pensieve (hey, that rhymes!) or as elaborate as that chest, but I did all the enchantments myself. It's the thought that counts. Happy Christmas, Scarlet Lily." I had been watching the petal as it slowly transformed into a fish. So had Aunt Bella. This was powerful magic, and she knew it. Her eyes light up and she said, "I must meet this Scarlet girl. She is a very strong Witch."
"She wants to be alone," I said, choosing my words carefully.
"Then I will talk to her at breakfast." I mentally slapped myself. Why didn't I think of that?"I'll go get her," I said obediently. I walked into her room to see Scarlet staring listlessly at a letter.
"Breakfast is served," I announced.
"I'm not hungry. Besides, it was made by House­Elves."
"House­Elves cook well. And Aunt Bella wants to meet you."
"I said, I'm not hungry!" she yelled, and I flinched and edged out of the room.
"She's not hungry," I reported to Aunt Bella, inwardly wondering what she had done.
"She'll appreciate a woman­to­woman talk, then," she said slyly. I knew I couldn't do anything
at that point.
"Maybe," I replied. Slightly worried, I walked back downstairs of a large breakfast of ham,
toast, and fried eggs. I picked at it, waiting for the slightest hint that something was wrong, so I could go help. U​h,​I thought, I​sound like a Gryffindor.
"Is something the matter?" my mother asked me. "The eggs are your favorite."
"I'm fine, Mother." Aunt Bella soon came down with a slightly bleary­eyed Scarlet in tow. She sat Scarlet down, and she rubbed her arm, looking confused. W​hat had Aunt Bella done? I wondered for the hundredth time. Scarlet stopped rubbing her arm, revealing a thin cut. Aunt Bella held up a vial full of a blood­red substance.
"It's ready, tonight!" Uncle Rodolphus shot a pointed look at Scarlet, and Aunt Bella quickly said, "O​bliviate!"​Scarlet's eyes unfocused and she said, "Breakfast looks delicious!" Then, "How did I get here?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I heard a knock on the door.
"I'll answer it," I told Father. I opened it to see a Muggle girl about my age with a box of cookies.
"Hi," she said, "I'm Hermione Granger. Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?"
"Not a chance," I said. "F​ilthy Muggle," Was what I was thinking though. A few seconds later, Scarlet ran in.
"Did someone say Girl Scout cookies? Omg, I need some. Those things are DELICIOUS!" Scarlet gushed. "I'm Scarlet. Who are you?"
"I'm Hermione Granger." Scarlet rummaged around in her pocket and pulled out a Galleon.
"Here we are!"
I nudged her and said, "Scarlet. That's a Galleon." She looked confused for a second, then pulled out some Muggle money.
"Here. This is better." But Hermione didn't respond. She was looking at my hair. Scarlet looked too, and burst out laughing. I tugged a strand of my hair in front of my eyes. It was pink.
"SCARLET!" I yelled.
"It wasn't me," she said, then turned to Hermione. "Sweetie, I have something important to tell you. You are a Witch, and in a few years, you will go to Hogwarts with Draco and I. I alsothink you'll have need of this." Scarlet dumped a few handfuls of Galleons into Hermione's bag. We had discovered a Witch! I was so proud of myself. Then I remembered: she was a Mudblood. And Aunt Bella was here. Not that I cared, though. Speak of the devil, Aunt Bella marched up next to Scarlet and I.
"Draco, why is your hair pink?" was the first thing she said. But then she spotted Hermione. I saw Scarlet's face pale.
"Come on, we need to go. Now," Scarlet said. She half­pushed, half carried Hermione to the gate. I saw them talking, and Hermione ran off, obviously scared. Scarlet came back, looking slightly angry, and said to me, "Why can I not remember half my morning?" I gulped, and saw Aunt Bella mouth D​on't tell her. I hated lying, so I said, "Did you ever get your box of cookies?" Scarlet gasped.
"No! I didn't!" and she ran after Hermione, eventually returning with her boxes of cookies.
"She let me have extra, because­­" she stopped, looking at Aunt Bella. Then she glowered at me.
"You never told me what happened this morning." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scarlet left for Hogwarts a few days later. I had somehow avoided telling her she had been Obliviated, and was very proud of myself. She had been angry at me, I knew, and I felt guilty. But it didn't matter. I wouldn't be seeing her for four years. Aunt Bella was still here, and it was nagging at my mind to ask why she had Obliviated Scarlet. I wandered around the manor, trying to find her, and I eventually did. She was talking to Mother, saying something about how the Dark Lord was going to be very pleased when he returned. I felt a chill run down my back. He would return? I had idolized him my whole life, along with the rest of my family, but now I was simply scared. Because after meeting Hermione and seeing her wonder at becoming a Witch, I didn't know if I believed that Muggles and Muggle­borns should be "killed like vermin," as Father said they should. Breaking into my family's conversation, I said, "Aunt Bella? What's ready? Why did you Obliviate Scarlet?" Aunt Bella smiled at me and patted the couch beside her.
"Sit down Draco, we have... much to tell you." I sat down.
"Draco. Before the Dark Lord disappeared, he left us, his most faithful followers, a job. We were to find the most powerful witch or wizard possible, other than Dumbledore, and take some of their blood to use as the main ingredient in a potion. The Dark Lord wanted a successor. When this Scarlet girl came along, she turned out to be the powerful witch needed to complete the potion," my father said.
"Follow me," my mother got up and walked toward the basement door. Aunt Bella bounced on her heels like a little girl. They led me through to a cauldron full of a bubbling white mixture. Mother held up a vial filled with blood."May I do the honors?" Aunt Bella squealed. Mother handed over the vial. I was revolted. I kept a brave face, but­­ never mind, I'm not a Gryffindor.
Aunt Bella poured in the vial. The red bloomed out like dye, and the potion became a flesh color. It became solid and slowly formed a human shape. They had created a baby.
"Her name is Lyra. Lyra Ebony Lestrange," Mother said, swaddling the baby in an intricately woven cloth. Aunt Bella pointed her wand at the baby, Lyra.
"What are you doing?" I inquired.
"She needs to be ready as soon as possible for her job as the Dark Lord's successor. We need to accelerate her growth. We can only make her a year older but..." Aunt Bella said. She started muttering, "C​rescere, crescere, crescere."​Lyra's small form bloated a little, and she looked around at us curiously. She reminded me of the dragon from Scarlet. Mother took her from Aunt Bella and handed her to me. I held her tightly; she was heavy. Lyra's chubby hand latched onto my finger.
"I'm Draco," I said.
"Dra­go," she said, trying out the words on her tongue. I smiled.
"She won't have the Trace, for she is not a real child," my father said.
"Lucky," I pouted. "I have the Trace, right Father?" He nodded in confirmation. I sighed. "Dra­go?" Lyra said.
"It's Draco, insolent child," my father said.
"Dra­co," she said insistently.
"Yes, good job, Lyra!" Aunt Bella cooed. We all turned to her, surprised.
"What? If I am to be her caretaker, I must be a good one. As the Dark Lord always said,
'Get things done and get them done right,'" she proclaimed. "I'll be taking care of her for a few years, and maybe even once He's back."
"Why can't I have a sister?" I whined.
"Because the job was assigned to Bellatrix. The Dark Lord doesn't care about your petty desires," my father said. I was confused. I thought the Dark Lord cared about my feelings. Maybe He wasn't so great after all.