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Secretly Slytherin	By : Veresna Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 12269 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 41
- 42
- 43
Chapter 42: What a Swell Party This Is
They apparated directly unto the portico of the Malfoy Mansion. As Severus went to ring the doorbell, Helena stood back and surveyed the massive, foreboding edifice and the surrounding acres of carefully manicured lawns, hedges and gardens. Although the weather here was drier and warmer than it had been in London, a cold shiver passed through her, and she was grateful that she had a chance to slip her hand into Severus’ before the door opened.
It was opened by a small house-elf, dressed shabbily in what appeared to be an old flour sack. He bowed and beckoned for them to enter.
"Professor Snape and Miss Harrison?" he asked, keeping his eyes lowered and his hands clasped anxiously in front of him.
"Yes," answered Snape, airily, his large nose tipped high up into the air as he gazed disdainfully around him.
"This way, Miss and Sir," said the house-elf, starting to walk towards the large staircase that dominated the large foyer.
Helena heard a faint scampering sound behind her, and turned to find that another house-elf, dressed in what appeared to be a string of muslin table napkins stitched together, had appeared and had already retrieved their traveling cases from the porch. Feeling Severus tug at her hand, she turned back and fell into step with him as they followed the first house-elf up the staircase. She glanced around at the furnishings-everything seemed to be white, gold or icy blue in this house. It was as if the house was mirroring the color of its owner’s skin, hair and eyes, she thought. It had nothing of the dark, forbidding atmosphere that she had expected. Instead, it was as light, bright and beautiful. And yet, she mused, as she paused on the uppermost step, it was also as heartless, calculated and cold as Lucius himself.
They were lead down several hallways before their guide abruptly stopped and, with a snap of fingers, opened a door to their right. They stepped inside to find a room decorated with Louis IV furniture, the rich wood complemented by luxurious fabrics, and delicately embossed with bronze highlights. The bed was a massive piece of furniture, a large poster bed complete with a blood-red velvet covering. The second house elf was placing their bags carefully on a low bench situated at the end of the bed.
"I am Kirby," pronounced the first elf, with another bow. "And this is Binty," he added, pointing at the other elf. "And if you are needing anything, you are to ring the bell for us," he said, gesturing at a large bell that was sitting on one of the tables. And Siddy will be here soon to help Miss dress," he added, bowing again as he and Binty backed out of the doorway.
The door closed behind him and Helena sat down on the bed and she and Severus continued to look around the room that was to serve as their lodging for the night.
"Dear me," she said finally, "does that mean I’m actually expected to undress myself?" she asked, a tone of absolute horror ringing through her voice.
Snape snickered. "Well, one must do what one can," he answered. "After all, you can see there’s a definite shortage of help around the place."
She laughed and rose up from the bed to retrieve her case and open it up. "And what are you wearing, by the way?" she asked.
"Dress robes, of course" he muttered, moving over to his own case. He drew out a long robe of black satin, its austerity lightened by the silver piping running along its edges and sleeves. "And," he added, putting his hand back into the case. This time he pulled out a pair of pressed, black pants, a black shirt made out of soft, fine cotton, and a vest made of shiny, silvery silk. Lastly, he pulled out a cravat made out of the same material as the vest.
"Hmm," she muttered, nodding her head in approval.
"And you?" he asked, holding out his wand and applying a wrinkle-removing spell to all the garments.
"Oh," she said, the bag dropping back down on the bed as she suddenly remembered. "A new dress robe that my grandmother helped me buy," she said. She hesitated for a moment and sat down on the bed, hunching her shoulders up nervously. "Since she knew I was going to be attending this party…..with you."
Snape looked like he was just about to drop both his wand and the robe. "You told her?" he thundered.
"No, I didn’t," she hissed. "Malfoy did."
He paused, placing his wand back into his pocket and throwing the clothing on the bed. A moment later, he was pacing back and forth across the floor, his boot heels quickly wearing a trail in the soft, piled fabric of the rug. "Why on earth would he do that?" he questioned.
"I don’t know, but it seems awfully strange to me," she said.
"Indeed." He stopped and leaned back against the wall for a moment, a deep frown upon his face. "Well," he finally said, shrugging his shoulders and striding back towards the bed, "What was her reaction?"
"She didn’t seem too upset about it," she admitted. "Although-" she hesitated.
"Yes?"
She sighed and gripped her hands together. "Actually, I’m most concerned about the fact that, given her hatred for Dumbledore, she might possibly use the information as a way to discredit him. Getting him dismissed on the grounds that he should have prevented, or at least detected, our relationship."
"No," said Severus, shaking his head, "Malfoy wouldn’t dare allow her to do that-he knows we still have the pictures of him in our possession. He’s after something else." He picked up the clothes and strode towards the bathroom. "I’ll be changed and out in a moment."
She looked at him quizzically. "Since when are you shy about dressing in front of me?" she asked.
"Not you my dear," he replied, peering around the edge of the door. "I just don’t feel like having one of those damned house-elves walk in on me while my knickers are off."
She laughed and stood up to retrieve her bag. By the time Severus reopened the door, she was dressed in her corset, panties and stockings, and was bending down to put her shoes on. The look on his face as he regarded her left her no doubt that he found her new underwear quite becoming.
"Is that all you’re going to wear?" he asked, mockingly.
"You wish," she replied, pulling her dressing gown around her. "I suppose," she said, sitting down at the chair that stood in front of the vanity, "that I should let the house-elf help me get on the rest."
There was a small knock at the door and Severus strode over to it and opened it. A small, female house-elf, with two large scarves draped over her shoulders and wrapped around her waist entered the room.
"Siddy, I presume?" asked Severus.
"Yes, Sir, I am Siddy," she replied. "My Master says the gentlemen are to meet in the library while the ladies finish dressing," she said. "Do you know where that is, Sir?"
"Yes," he replied, with a nod.
"Oh, Miss!" she screamed.
Helena yelped, and the hairbrush she had been using tumbled down onto the vanity. "What?" she asked, perplexed at the shocked tone of the house-elf’s voice.
"Oh, Miss must let Siddy help her do her hair," she insisted, jumping up on the vanity and regarding her with an almost fearful look.
"Oh, right," Helena mumbled. She raised her eyes just in time to see Severus smile and wink at her before closing the door behind him.
*******************************
As he made his way back through the halls and down the stairway, that smile gradually turned into his habitual scowl. Within a few minutes, he was striding through the doorway of the library.
Lucius rose from his chair to greet him. He was dressed in robes of pale blue silk, his long blond hair tied back with a matching silk ribbon.
"Severus," he called, extending his hand. "I hope that you and Helena are satisfied with your room?" he asked, his smile cold and calculating.
"Yes, it’s quite satisfactory, Lucius," he replied, accepting a glass of sherry.
"Oh, good," replied the blond man, lifting his own glass up to take a sip. "You know, Narcissa and I were talking the other day, saying what a shame it was that you and Helena were not able to spend the holidays together. I hear she spent the time at home this year?"
"Yes, she did." He turned and began to study a row of books on one of the shelves. "As I’m sure you know, as you seem to have been having some lengthy and informative discussions with Mrs. Ettington lately?" he said.
Malfoy laughed. "You sound rather upset?"
Snape reached out to select a book from the shelf, studying the front intently for a moment. "Well, I must say I fail to see why you would feel compelled to divulge the nature of our relationship to that woman." He replaced the book in its original position. "Particularly at this juncture."
"Now, Severus," Lucius clucked, "I am sure you are aware that Constance is, at heart, an incredibly practical woman. I saw no reason in keeping her in the dark, as long as she understood she was to tell no one else about it. After all, she has already proven useful in providing an alibi for Helena’s whereabouts this evening, so I’m told."
Severus leaned back against the bookcase and regarded him coldly. "It still seems rather unwise, Lucius," he said, quietly.
"Oh, come now," he laughed. "People are going to now about your relationship, sooner or later. And, even if it is not revealed until a later time, I’m sure many will wonder if it didn’t begin while she was still your student," he said, quietly. "I’m sure you realize that, Severus?"
"It is still no reason to advertise it," he commented.
"Really, you are starting to worry me," he purred, his voice low and silky. "Tell me something, Severus, man-to-man as it were," he smiled. "You are planning on making an honest woman out of her eventually, aren’t you?"
***************
Back in the guestroom, Helena was reluctantly admitting to herself that she was actually grateful that Siddy had helped her with her coiffure. She had plaited her hair into a thick braid, also weaving a gold ribbon into the design and then had artfully wound it around her head and pinned it up. The accent of the material running through her dark hair complimented the gold running through the fabric of her dress. And she had oohed and aahed appreciatively at the necklace and earrings as she helped fasten them in place. She was just finishing buttoning up the beck of her dress robes when there was another soft knock at the door.
"Helena, dear?" It was Narcissa’s voice, "Are you ready yet? May I come in?"
"Yes, of course, Mrs. Malfoy," she answered, her voice sounding much more bright and confident than she felt.
The door opened and Narcissa seemed to float into the room, her light blue dress robes wafting around her like a cloud. "Oh, my dear you look lovely!" she exclaimed, bending down to give her a light kiss upon the cheek.
Helena returned the gesture by making a faint kissing motion at the air next to her ear.
"And it’s ‘Narcissa’, please," she cooed.
"Thank you, Narcissa," she said.
"Well," she smiled, "most of the other ladies are still at their toilette," she admitted with wave of her hand. "I thought you might like a quick tour around the place," she offered.
"That would be delightful," she lied, and followed her out of the room.
For the next twenty minutes, she found herself increasingly disorientated as Narcissa led her through hallways and up and down stairs. Although the stairways didn’t move, she found that she was just as lost as she had been during the first few weeks at Hogwarts.
Finally, they came to a long hallway, the walls of which were lined with portraits.
"Now, I thought you’d be especially interested in this," said Narcissa. "As these are all portraits of Malfoys."
Helena nodded and perused the pictures carefully. Almost each and every one of them contained the pictures of a blond, blue-eyed, patrician-looking man or woman. And since they were magical pictures, they all stared down their noses at her, blinking with superior disdain, some of them even daring to whisper unkind comments behind their hands to one another. At the very end of the hallway, Narcissa pointed out the picture of one ‘Lucretia Malfoy DeVilliers’. As Dumbledore had noted, this ancestor’s eyes were a quiet shade of hazel rather than blue. And Helena saw, to her amusement, that the woman in the picture seemed to be a bit startled as she stared back at her. She apparently recognized the resemblance.
As she stopped and contemplated this picture of her ancestor, she suddenly became aware of the chatter of voices behind her. The other ladies had apparently finally finished their preparations and were coming to join the party.
"Ah, ladies," Narcissa called out, "Let me formally introduce you to my dear little friend, Helena Harrison."
Helena smiled and bowed her head, recognizing the eyes and voices of all of them from the Death Eater meeting. And thinking, not for the first time that evening, that Narcissa was definitely looking like the cat that had swallowed the canary. And she was desperately hoping that she was not the canary.
**********
Severus tilted his head back and took another sip of sherry. "You know, Lucius, I find it rather comical that you, of all people, would have the gall to ask that question. You didn’t seem to have such scruples about using her mother. And abandoning her when you were through with her."
"I didn’t abandon Elizabeth," he said, squinting his eyes and drawing back his top lip just enough to reveal a hint of his white, even teeth. "I found a suitable husband for her and supported the child-very generously, may I add-over the years. Besides," he added moving to replenish his glass; "my situation was entirely different."
"Indeed?" said Snape, shaking his head at the offer of additional wine for himself. "How so?"
"I, unlike yourself, had a prior commitment," he replied. "To Narcissa. Elizabeth entered into our affair knowing full well that Narcissa and I were formally betrothed." He stopped and smiled. "An old tradition in the Malfoy family, as I’m sure you know."
"Most people consider that an archaic, outmoded tradition, Lucius," he murmured.
"Many people also believe that it is no longer necessary to maintain the purity of the Wizarding bloodlines," replied the blond wizard, smiling. "And they are wrong-on both accounts. Oh, yes, all the young people today are quite content with simple engagements and to marry as they wish, willy-nilly." He sighed and shook his head, "But the beauty of a formal betrothal, with two people well-matched in their bloodlines, pledging their troth in the presence of witnesses is quite extraordinary."
"And binding," added Snape, dryly.
"Oh, yes," laughed Lucius. "After all, if I had attempted to marry anyone else, Narcissa would have been within her rights to demand that all my property and my powers be stripped from me." He sighed and shook his head. "And as lively as she was in bed, I assure you that there was never any danger that I would risk that for Elizabeth."
"Ah, Crabbe, Goyle!" he suddenly called out, turning his attention to the other men entering the room. "I’ve been expecting you for a while. What’s kept you?"
The two men looked dumbly at him for a moment, before shrugging their shoulders.
"Have some sherry," he urged them.
As he passed by Severus, he bent over and whispered. "No doubt the bloody fools lost their way again."
Snape smiled faintly in reply. This time, he accepted Lucius’ offer for more wine. And, as he leaned back against the bookcase again, sipping at the red liquid, he wondered again just what he was planning.
*******
About half an hour later, the gentlemen and ladies were gathering together in the ballroom. Helena had been delighted to see the expression on Severus’ face as he beheld her in her new dress robe. And she had been rather surprised that Malfoy had contented himself with a short, seemingly sincere compliment on the gown without leering too pointedly in the direction of her exposed chest. The rest of the guests were polite, but slightly contemptuous towards her, more than one seeming to snicker at her as if they remembered quite well that the last time they had seen her she had been on her hands and knees, putting on a coital show for them.
As the guests mingled and chatted, a half-dozen new house-elves had appeared, carrying trays of appetizers and champagne to distribute to the guests. After each guest had taken a glass, Lucius had raised his own flute of champagne high in the air and called for everyone’s attention.
"First of all," he said, smiling and reaching out for Narcissa’s hand, "we would of course like to welcome you back to Malfoy Manor for another New Year’s Eve Celebration. It is so wonderful to be able to spend this time with our dear friends." His smile broadened. "And, comrades in arms," he added.
The rest of the guests raised their own glasses high, in anticipation of toasting the health of their host.
"And this year," he continued, "we have so much more to be thankful for." He paused and snaked his arm around a still-beaming Narcissa. "The return of…Our Lord…." At this, everyone bowed his or her heads quietly. "Yes," he said, raising his glass again, "the beginning of a new era of triumph for our powerful leader and his trusted followers."
"To Our Lord!" he shouted.
"To Our Lord!" they all repeated.
After allowing them all to take a sip of champagne, Lucius raised his glass again. "And, please indulge me, dear friends. I have one more special announcement to make."
A quiet buzz and some soft, anticipatory laughter greeted these words.
"I know you all welcomed Miss Harrison at our last meeting," he began, slowly slipping his arm away from his wife’s waist and heading in Helena’s direction. "And you know her as a loyal servant to Our Lord. And a devoted mistress to our dear friend, Severus."
Helena swallowed deeply and cast a quick glance over at Severus. His expression was watchful and suspicious.
"But she is also-" he paused again.
And for a split moment, the blood thundered in Helena’s ears and she suddenly had the sudden, chilling premonition that he was about to proclaim her a spy.
"My daughter," he said, drawing near her and placing a cold kiss upon her forehead.
As the crowd drew in a surprised breath, she flicked another glance over at Severus. He was paler than usual, and his black eyes were glittering strangely as he watched Lucius through slightly narrowed eyes.
"Yes," he said, drawing back and reaching down to take her hand and walk with her back to Narcissa’s side. "Blood of my blood, issue of my body. A Malfoy, through and through. Tonight, I recognize her in your presence. And soon, after our Lord has triumphed, I hope to proclaim her as such to all the world."
Narcissa smiled one of her brittle cold smiles and bestowed another quick kiss upon her cheek.
"Now, it has always been customary for Narcissa and I to lead the first dance, but I think that tonight we shall break with tradition, just a bit." He stopped and held out his hand towards Snape. "Come, Severus, you dance with Narcissa, and I shall dance with Helena." Without waiting for a reply, he took Helena’s arm and led her to the middle of the dance floor.
Very slowly, Severus made his way towards Narcissa. He bowed formally and held out his arm. As they joined the other couple, music suddenly began wafting down from the rafters, and a moment later the crowd was applauding as the quartet began their dance.
Helena’s body moved automatically in time to the music, still aware that her heart was beating painfully fast.
"Surprised, my dear?" Lucius was looking down at her, his mouth curling up coyly.
"Very," she admitted. As Severus and Narcissa whirled by, she caught his eye again.
He looked just as surprised as she was. And not happy at all.
"I assure," said Malfoy, his cold eyes gleaming, "it is only what you deserve."
That’s what I’m afraid of.
- 41
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- 43
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Secretly Slytherin