FicWad

Chapter 2
Finally, the day arrived when Draco and I would go to Hogwarts. Alexander, the puppy, curled up by my side in the sleek Italian made car that would convey us to King's crossing.
I was excited. It was a rare day that I traveled away from the Mansion and, sitting beside Draco in the back seat of the car, I pointed out every little detail of the trip to the train station. He didn't seem to mind, laughing and joking with me. He indulged my childlike eagerness to see every inch of the train once we eventually reached it. That is, he indulged me until they arrived.
Vincent Crabbe and Greggory Goyle had been Draco's goons for as long as I could remember. I don't think either of them could be considered the brightest crayon in the box. And around them, Draco became a person that I didn't like. We were walking down the corridor together, when the Dynamic Duo showed up, preceded by Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini.
"Silence, Laura." His voice was cold and curt when he spoke to me. I looked at Draco, startled. He stepped in front of me with a look of warning. I had been relegated once again to servitude. Pansy stepped into his open arms for a hug and noticed me over his shoulder.
"Oh, Draco, why is your little slave thing here?" She asked. "I don't like her, she's so odd."
"Pansy, Laura is not a 'slave thing.' Her father owes mine some gold and she's with us to pay the debt off. I've explained it time and again." Draco sighed.
"Her ears are pointy. No one's hair is that long by our age. Her eyes are slanting, and I don't believe for one minute that she's actually a witch."
I lowered my green eyes to the carpeted floor way. It was all true. My ears were pointy and my black hair hung past my waist. My eyes did tip up at the corners and I wasn't completely human. I hadn't realized how obvious my differences were, never having been seen by enough people for their censure.
"Enough, Pansy... She looks the way she does because she's got elf blood. Her mother was a halfling, but Dumbledore let her in. That old fool will let anyone with a drop of witch or wizard blood into Hogwarts, even my father says so."
"I think you're little elf is cute, Draco. Besides, every one knows that Forest nymphs make the best... companions." Blaise smiled. I snarled at him, would have bit him, when he touched my cheek, outraged, and he blew me a mocking kiss, ran his very pink tongue across his lips. Draco laughed.
"It seems that particular nymph doesn't want to play, Blaise."
"I'm not a nymph! They're elementals and have a tendency to be whores. I'm not elemental or a whore. And I'll ask you kindly not to talk about me as if I'm not here-ouch!" The back of Draco's hand silenced my furious triad. The slightly metallic, coppery taste of blood slid across my tongue. The blow had been a harsh one, splitting my lip at the corner. Tears obscured my vision.
"You were told to be quiet. Go find a cabin. I'll see you at the Sorting." He ordered me quietly. "And you'd never not be with that wild haired boy from the robe shop if I come looking for you. Now get out of my sight." His friends began to laugh as I stood there, tears in my eyes, shaking with suppressed rage and misery.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, Draco Malfoy!" I rushed away as they piled into a cabin, howling with laughter and chattering as if nothing had just happened. I had known I wasn't going to be a favored person by all but out and out contempt was new to me. Draco had never been so cold, so careless. I stumbled along the corridor blindly.
"Oye! Incoming! Are you all right? You're bleeding." A tall, older boy caught me gently as I barreled past him.
"I'm fine. Let me go!"
"What the bleeding hell is going on out here, Fred? You'll have the whole train looking on in a minute. Who's that girl?" I looked up, and stared. The boys, one holding onto me and the other standing in an open compartment door, were completely identical. Long red hair on both of them, and eyes brows canted down in the same look of concern.
"Somebody's been beating up on her, George... Come on, we'll look after that cut and talk for a while."
They pulled me into the compartment with them, and George sat looking at me while Fred magically wet a cloth he produced and dabbed at my wound.
"Who's been pushing you around, sweetheart?" George asked gently.
"I-it's not important." I replied, still shaking a bit.
They looked at each other, sighed. "What is it with first years and abusive, seriously bad relationships?" Fred brushed my hair back from my cheeks. "What's your name-Bloody hell!"
"What?" I gasped, jerking back. George echoed me.
"You're not human... Those ears... Are you an elf, sweetheart?" It was the second time they had used that endearment for me. I nodded. Neither of them looked disgusted at finding out about my parentage. In fact, they both looked rather pleased.
"Yes... my name is Laura. I work in the Malfoy Mansion..." The abrupt chill that swept across their identical features stopped my words.
"No need to wonder how you came to that smack than, poor thing. Well, at least you'll be a bit safer from those monsters at Hogwarts." Fred's voice was grim as he sat beside his brother.
"They're not monsters! At least, Draco isn't. He's very kind to me."
"But he slaps you hard enough to draw blood? That's awfully nice of him. If he gives you a black eye next time, we'll be sure to call the Nobel Peace Prize committee. We should beat the little beast..." Not understanding the random reference to some prize committee, I ignored it. At my beseeching look, they both sighed.
"All right. He's safe from us for now. Knowing his type, he'll be in Slytherine. But you... I doubt it. You'll end up in a different house than him, so no one will be able to hurt you." Fred promised.
"He'd better not. Her house mates'll have a fit." George predicted darkly. With that mysterious comment, they turned their attention to entertaining me. The twins were sweet boys, both of them, and when the train drew to a halt, I hugged them.
"We'll be watching for you around school. If you ever need us, talk to our brother Ron-"
"Red hair, freckles, blank look-" They snickered.
"Anyway, just talk to him if you need us and don't see us around. We'll pop up."
"Thank you. Bye Fred, George!" I said as they walked away. I turned as a deep, booming voice called out.
"Firs' years!"
We traveled to what would be out new home in small boats. I can't say I viewed it with great awe, for Malfoy Manor, the proper name of the entire estate, was quite a bit vaster.
The first years waited in the entrance hall after the pinch-faced woman gave us a speech. Several people were staring and gossiping openly about me, until Draco came. He took my hand and led me as regally as any queen to the top of the stairs, Crabbe and Goyle lumbering in our wake. The dark haired boy from the robe shop saw me and smiled. His warm green eyes grew cold as they feel on Draco.
"So it's true, what they're saying on the train? Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."
"It must be. You're looking at him." His gaze flickered back to the silent human pillars behind us.
"Oh this is Crabbe, and that's Goyle." The dismissal in Draco's voice was all too obvious. However, the Dynamic Duo made no objection, merely cracked their massive knuckles and glowered. "This magnificent creature," he lifted my hand to his lips in a brief kiss, "is Laura. And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
The red haired boy beside Harry tried and failed to cover a snicker with a cough. Draco's grey eyes darkened like storm clouds and fastened coldly on him.
"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask yours. Red hair and a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley."
"You're Fred and George's brother?" I asked, smiling. "I met them on the train, they're absolutely darling." The scowl that had been gathering on his face dissipated.
"Darling? The twins? You're one in a million to think that. I'm Ron. Pleased to meet you."
"Charmed-"
"Laura, you're to stay away from them." Draco cut in. " And if you're smart, you'll stay away from them too. You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held his hand out, waiting.
"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." His gaze swept over Draco, moved back to Crabbe and Goyle and then rested solely on me. The hand he held out was in my direction. I placed mine inside, and he kissed it. Draco snatched my hand from his and was about to snarl something I knew would be rude when the woman returned. As the other first years poured out of the hall behind her, Draco held me at his side, his grip hard on my wrist.
"Stay away from him aw well, Laura." He growled.
"Draco! You're hurting me! What's gotten in to you?" I replied.
At once, chagrin crossed his handsome visage. "I'm sorry... I'm being a jerk, I know. But my father always told me that the Malfoy name is synonymous with power and that I'm to show it whenever under the public eye. I don't mean to be so harsh with you, Laura... Come on, we have to hurry or we'll be late."
Draco and I rushed into the hall with the last of our year, and the Sorting began. I tuned out mostly as she read the list form Z to A. Ron and Harry went to Gryffindor. Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Blaise all went into Slytherine. Terror was paramount in my heart when my name was called. The hat dropped low over my eyes.
"Well, well. This is new. I remember your parents. I knew as sure as my stitching that they'd end up together. Put them both in Ravenclaw. But you, no, not Ravenclaw. Lord love them, bunch of bookworms. You're far too sweet to toss to those snakes in Slytherine. And the Hufflepuffs... bah. Let's put you in... GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted. My body physically sagged with relief, though my anxiety had no real cause. I walked toward the wildly cheering table. Draco was furious; it was etched in every line of his face. I sat beside Fred, who gave me a one armed hug.
"We told you!" he said.
"Told her what?" Ron asked, and then smirked. "By the way, according to her, you lot are 'darling.'"
"Shut up, you great git. We told her she'd never end up with that pack of jackals in the dungeons. Malfoy smacked her." George confided.
"Bloody bastard that he is." Fred added.
"He looks like trouble. What've you got to do with him?" Harry asked.
"My father owes his a large sum of money. I'm to work for the Malfoys until my 21st birthday, or until the debt is paid of somehow.
"How long-"
"Since I was 3. Lucius Malfoy made sure I knew well who was master in his house my first day there. He scared me senseless. I thought he was a vampire. He terrorized me until Draco and Narcissa came home." There was a stunned silence.
"That's horrible!" The outraged voice came from the bushy haired girl who sat beside Ron. I smiled at her in thanks, and she smiled back. "I'm Hermione Granger."
" Laura Delaney." I replied. "Pleased to meet you."
The rest of my first year at Hogwarts was lovely. I had more fun in those months than I had in my entire life. By it's end, I was delighted to have made so many lovely new friends. But it was Harry that I found myself attracted to, even though I feared him. Harry was like no wizard I had ever known. He was an odd mix of fire and ice that drew me. After my revelations about my time in the Malfoy manor, he had give Draco a look of contempt. I hoped he never turned those eyes on me with such fury, such barely reined violence. My own white knight, the poor hero who dies in the first chapter. I didn't want him anywhere near the evil that was Lucius Malfoy and his succubus wife.
"Do you like working for him, Laura?" He asked me quietly as the first years traveled under Percy Weasley's watchful eye to the Gryffindor Tower for one last night before Summer Vacation.
"It's all I've ever known, Harry, since I was three years old. Draco Malfoy's shadow has been my permanent home. It's who and what I am. I don't know how to be anything else." I replied helplessly.
"If I told you... that I could make your father's debt go away, would you want that? Would you like to be free of Malfoy?"
We were alone in the common room; everyone else had gone to bed already. I looked at Harry. Righteousness burned in him. He wanted to save me, wanted to be my champion.
"Harry, I'm a servant. It's what I am. Even if Draco didn't have any legal right to boss me around, somebody would, because I follow orders. It's how I'm wired, how I was raised. I'm a door mat. People will always walk all over me. Draco's just the person who happens to have my reins. If it weren't him, I'd only end up getting into trouble until someone else had them." Even at my tender age, I knew I'd always be someone else's to command. It was just a matter of whom.
"Why not me?" Harry said suddenly. I stared at him.
"I beg your pardon?" the words were gasped. "Why not you, what?"
"If you've got to have a master, why not me? At least I'd treat you well. You'd never have to be scared or upset and I'd be right here with you all the time. You'd be safe in my care, Laura, safer than ever before."
"What do you mean?"
"You could go home if you wanted to. Or stay at the Weasley's over the summer. Ron would take care of you for me. If you want, I'll be your master until you're 21."
"But... why, Harry? This is so abrupt, so... new."
"Laura, the night we met the second time... you were so small and fragile looking. You were getting a bruise along your cheek from where Malfoy had slapped you. That made my blood boil. I've been trying to restrain myself, stood back all years when you had to go and serve the bastard, but I've had enough. Each time you've come back with some new would. You're not clumsy. You're graceful as hell, so there's no accounting for the black eye your sporting right now." He brushed back my long hair, revealing the painful discoloring over my right eye. "I've had enough of it and so have the others. I sent a contract to Lucius Malfoy for a settlement. A certain amount of gold for your freedom. He agreed, signed off on it. I'm sending the gold in the morning. So you're free now, Laura."
"No! How could you! I have nowhere else to go! I hardly know my parents. I wouldn't know them from Merlin and Eve! I-I... you can't do it. I need Draco!" I was frantic.
"No, Laura. You don't. I'm going to take care of you. You're going home with Ron tomorrow, you and your pets. I'll write to you, but I'm sure Ron and the twins will keep you busy, bossing you around. You'll be fine.
"But why are you doing this?" I whispered. His eyes burned.
"Because you deserve better than Draco, Lucius, and Narcissa Malfoy."
Things were as he said for the following three years. He was my master now. My home of old was gone.