Lazuli - Harry Potter Fan Fiction (Draco Malfoy)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Thank you for 300 reads!

I know it's not much compared to the millions that some stories on Wattpad get, but it means a lot to me! So thanks again!

Enjoy this chapter, I've called it 'Back to Hogwarts, finally!'

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Christmas with the Malfoys was the same as any other day at Malfoy Manor. It consisted of getting up about 9, finding something to do for the morning until lunch, when we dined on a huge three course meal that consisted of a prawn starter, a huge roast dinner with vegetables, turkey, Yorkshire puddings, stuffing and anything else you could think of, followed by a selection of desserts. By the time that we'd finished eating, I was stuffed. Or at least I would have been if I felt like eating at all.

As soon as I discovered Athena, I couldn't help but scream. I knew that's what Lucius would want, but I couldn't help it. She'd been my sole companion through so much sadness in my life, she'd carried my letters and obeyed me down to her last moments. It had only been because of my reckless acts that she was now dead.

Lucius acted completely innocent, of course. I never did find out what it was that killed her - there were no physical wounds. From my limited knowledge, I guessed that it was probably one of the three unforgivable curses, the Killing Curse.

That at least gave me some comfort. The Killing Curse is supposed to be painless and instant, knowing that she wouldn't have been hurt in her final moments. Some humanity at least.

Narcissa didn't seem to have any knowledge of the event, but I doubt she was involved. I truly believe that she's a genuine person and unlike her husband, she isn't cruel.

Draco tried to some extent to find out what had killed her, sending for a vet from Diagon Alley to come and take a look at her. He could find no reason for her death and suggested that maybe she'd just died. I think that he knew the truth, I saw how his face went pale when he examined her and he spoke nervously. But in the current times, suggesting such things could win him a place in Azkaban for 'plotting against the Ministry and telling lies about the return of a certain dark wizard and his followers.' Besides, why would Voldemort want to kill an owl?

I had to spend the remainder of the holidays acting like I was upset to have lost a trusted pet but completely oblivious as to how she had died. The only person besides myself who knew the truth was Lucius, but he kept out of the way from then on. I only saw him at dinner, and he sat at an opposite end of the table to me even then. Draco tried to distract me, he took me out riding again and we spent hours playing chess, reading, even going to Diagon Alley once or twice. But nothing could stop how endangered I felt, like I was constantly treading on ice and the smallest step too far and everything could come tumbling down.

I wanted to bury Athena. I wouldn't do it anywhere near Malfoy Manor either, not on Lucius Malfoy's grounds. I told Draco about a place that I'd visited during the summer before I started Hogwarts. Back then my family had been whole and Athena hadn't been the only one who loved me. That was the best summer of my life, and also of Athena's, when she'd been little more than a baby. Draco took me by the Floo Network to the small cottage in northern France, where it was surrounded by beautiful fields that come spring would be full of flowers.

I couldn't wait until spring. I found a shovel in the abandoned cottage and trudged through the field to an oak tree that Athena, Ginny and I had sat beneath once. She'd soared and swooped, performing an aerial show for us, Ginny giggling as Athena twirled and spun through the air. I dug a deep hole that was 6 feet deep, the standard depth for a grave, and sweating from the hard work I took her limp body from Draco, who'd wrapped her up in a piece of expensive silk, and gently lowered her into the grave. Draco walked away to give me time on my own, and then I stuttered a eulogy for my bird.