Fearn't Ever Further

Chapter One

Sixteen!

***************************************

This part of the chapter is not from any particular first-person POV.

***************************************

One night, Olivia Malfoy, fifteen years, went to sleep. The following morning, the Lady of Malfoy and the Mistress of the Malfoy Manor, sixteen years, woke up in her bed.

For a moment, Olivia just lay there, not moving. At last, however, she slowly sat up, letting the sheets covering her upper body fall to her lap. Then, just as slowly, she turned towards the edge of the bed and slid her bare feet to the rug on the floor in front of her bed.

The curtains around her bed had been pulled aside -- by whom, she had no idea, although she did suspect the house-elves -- as well as the curtains in the windows, and the light of the early summer morning poured into the room, chasing the shadows away.

"Too bright," she muttered, and waved towards the windows. To her great surprise, the curtains now slid half closed, making the amount of the light in the room bearable to her sleep-weary eyes. Bewildered, she stared at the curtains, sensing an odd, tingling feeling flowing through her body.

'Is this what it feels like to have magic?' she wondered briefly as she slowly walked across the room towards the bathroom door. As she got near to it, the door flew open on its own.

"That's a bit unnerving," she muttered, only to have the door close again. Chuckling weakly and reaching out her hand, she now opened the door simply by the handle.

Shedding her nightshirt to the floor, where she knew the house-elves would soon pick it up, Olivia then walked towards the shower. Like everything in the Manor, it worked with magic, and resembled a small waterfall on the ceiling rather than a Muggle shower. Needless to say, there had been showers in the Manor far before Muggles had even first thought that standing in the rain maybe wasn't the only way to get water falling down on your head. Usually, the shower had to be switched on by the elaborate, emerald-adorned switches on the wall -- they were silver, of course. Only Remus and Lucius's bathroom had platinum switches, as silver would have hurt the werewolf. Now, however, she hadn't even got near to the switches as the water already started to pour down, pleasantly warm like she noticed from the tiny droplets that were sprayed onto her skin as she walked nearer.

"That's enough," Olivia sighed as she stepped under the water. "Why's everything suddenly working on its own? Is it just because I'm the Mistress of the Manor now?"

"Exactly!" said a cheerful voice. As she looked up, she saw Laura gliding through the wall. "Ah, it's really good you're awake. I've already told the house-elves to get everything ready for you. And as for the things working on their own, well, they're just reacting to your presence. If you don't want it, just tell it to stop. The Master of the Manor has told the Manor that a long time ago -- as soon as he became the Master, even, I believe. He doesn't like self-controlling objects any more than you do."

"Which only works to prove that my Father has at least some sense in his head," Olivia muttered dryly. "It's not all just hair up there." She reached for her favorite shampoo -- she'd brewed it herself, of course -- only to find the bottle already hovering in the air in front of her, instead of the shelf, where it should have been. "Fine. That's quite enough," she snapped. Immediately, the bottle fell to the floor. Rolling her eyes, she bent down to pick the bottle up, then started to wash her hair with it, listening to Laura's chatter.

"The witch who's going to paint your portrait will come at eleven," the ghost was just explaining. "Although magical painting is usually a lot quicker than Muggle, I think we can safely expect it to take at least three hours, if not four. The party -- small and moderate, just like you wanted -- will officially begin at four o'clock. Oh, and by the way, where do you want to have that portrait painted? Your grandmother's was in her room, and your aunt's in a balcony, although you've probably seen those both, and --"

"Oh, stop for a minute, will you, Laura?" chuckled Olivia. "I swear, the longer I've known you, the more talkative you've got." Rinsing the shampoo from her hair, she then continued, "And where do you think I want my portrait be painted? In my laboratory, of course. Wherever else?" As she then after a moment stepped out of the shower and switched it off, she glanced around. Not seeing a towel flying towards her, she decided to make a little test. Snapping her fingers, she willed a towel to come. To her great surprise, it happened, and a large, fluffy towel flew right into her hand.

"Don't look so surprised," laughed her friend. "You are the Mistress of the Manor now. Of course you can use all of the Manor's magic just as you please." Floating beside her as she dried herself, the ghost then continued, "I think the house-elves have everything ready now. Come on, let's get you dressed!"

Shaking her head and chuckling at the other's impatience, Olivia wrapped the towel around herself and returned to the actual bedroom. There she saw some clothes laid on her freshly made bed, as well as the specifically picked jewelry on her dressing table. Walking to her bed and sitting down on it, she started to dress herself while Laura still went on about the coming events of the day.

The dress was the same ancient green one she'd been shown the very first time she'd ever opened her wardrobe in the Manor. It still looked just as wonderful, though, its misty shade just the same. As she put it on, the hem pooled around her feet on the floor. It didn't make walking any more difficult, though. The soft cloth was like water, sliding away from where she put her foot and flowing behind her back.

"It's beautiful," Olivia said quietly. And it was, really. She'd never seen a more beautiful dress in her life, and that was saying something. She was, after all, the only daughter of the Malfoy family -- even though she hadn't been that even for a year, she certainly knew everything there was to be known of wizarding fashion. That her half brother and Dad had taken good care of.

"I definitely agree, my friend," Laura said, smiling. "Put on the shoes, too." She pointed at a pair of pretty slippers, covered with forest-green velvet. Olivia put them on, astonished by the fact that they fit her feet perfectly. Well, then again, so did the dress. It was all about magic.

"I think you're about set with the dress, now," her ghost friend sad then, circling around her. "Just the belt and jewelry, and we can go to see your family. They'll faint when you see you!"

"From fear, I'm sure," Olivia said dryly. Then she walked to the dressing table. Neatly arranged onto the table she saw a pair of earrings -- silver snakes with huge emeralds --, a silver collar with a snake pendant, and a silver belt buckle in the shape of, surprise, surprise, a snake. All the snakes were exactly in the same position as the one woven with thin silver threads on the front of her dress, which was, the same as that of the snake in the Malfoy crest. There was a silver seal ring next to these specifically chosen pieces of jewelry. Unlike her previous ring, the one she had put on the table before going to sleep the night before, this didn't have only the simple Malfoy crest on it. True, the snake was still there, but she saw the outlines of the Manor behind it. There were only two rings of that kind in existence, and one of them currently adorned her Father's hand. That was the ring of the Master of the Manor; however, this was the ring of Mistress. Feeling oddly nervous, Olivia didn't make a move towards it, instead putting on the earrings first.

After getting the earrings on, the collar with the pendant around her neck, and the belt folded through the complex maze of needles and buckles behind the silver snake, Olivia finally reached her hand for the ring. She expected to feel somehow different as she put it into her finger; however, nothing seemed to change. In fact, it was one of the least dramatic experiences she had ever had.

Taking a hairbrush and starting to clear out her long, reddish golden hair, Olivia now glanced at her friend. "You know, I always thought that every new Mistress of the Manor also has some kind of jewelry in their hair," she said. "At least both my aunt and grandmother had silver diadems on in their portraits, and there was also something on every other portrait person's head. Or have I just missed something?"

"You are right," Laura said, smiling a bit. "Hair jewelry is a necessary part of your birthday suit, forgive my choice of words, though," she then chuckled as she saw the expression on Olivia's face. "Your Father will give it to you when you go to see your family. That's another part of the tradition."

"Interesting," Olivia said, brushing her hair back from her forehead. "Why is it that I always hear of everything at the last moment? If Dad and Father could get biological children and decided to do so, I probably wouldn't hear of it before the one carrying the baby went into labor!"

"Now, don't exaggerate," Laura scolded her good-naturedly. Then he ghost eyed her up and down. "I think you look great," she said at the living girl's questioning glance. "Let's go to show you to them!"

*

"So, where's the birthday girl?" asked Malcolm, grinning a bit. "Or has she run away?"

"Oh, have no worry," Lucius said lightly. "I'm sure she will turn up sooner or later." He glanced briefly down at the seal ring on his right hand. It was silver -- the only silver object he ever had with him, and the main reason why he almost never held his husband's hand. Of course, Remus's ring was platinum, but the Master and Mistress's rings were special. They couldn't be redone, and thus, he had to wear silver.

At this thought, he glanced sideways at his husband. Remus looked better than in ages, happier and healthier. The werewolf was smiling warmly, although he did look down at the box in his hands rather nervously from time to time. Well, one couldn't really blame him for being nervous with silver. Lucius had at first refused to let him even hold the box in fear of him getting hurt, but he'd had to agree to it in the end.

Just then, however, the magic of the Manor tugged at him, forcing him to look up. He saw the frame of the mirror on top of the broad marble stairway being filled with a silvery mist. A moment later, Olivia stepped out of the mirror. She was wearing the "official" sixteenth birthday dress and jewelry, and she was smiling warmly. Remus and Malcolm had noticed her as well by now. With a bit of satisfaction Lucius noted that Malcolm's eyes had widened despite his usual Snapeish calmness.

Then, of course, the satisfaction was immediately replaced by a surge of paternal protectiveness. The boy had no right to look at his daughter like that! ...Although, if he was honest to himself, Lucius had to admit that there couldn't have been a better choice for Olivia than Malcolm. It was just that not even Malcolm was good enough. Nobody could ever be good enough for his little girl.

However, his eyes were not at Malcolm as Olivia descended the stairs; he was only looking at his daughter. Olivia looked beautiful, and more than anything, she looked happy. That Lucius counted as an accomplishment. He had promised to make her smile always, and he had kept his promise, now hadn't he?

"Good morning, Lady of Malfoy," Lucius said, smirking a bit at his approaching daughter. "It is wonderful to see that you have at last decided to grace us with your unearthly beauty."

"Oh, shut up, Father," Olivia said, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. "Oh, forgive me, I completely forgot my manners. Do shut up, Lord of Malfoy," she finished with a tiny smirk.

"Keep that up, and I won't give you the rest of your jewelry," Lucius said, and smiled. At this, Remus brought forth the box that held the newest addition to the Malfoy jewelry, a small smile on his lips as well. "Remus chose this," Lucius said, opening the box, and taking out the piece of jewelry inside. It was a simple silver arc with a huge emerald in silver frames hanging from it. "Because of certain unfortunate circumstances, however, he couldn't have the honour of giving this to you." At this, he glanced at Remus, who gave him a nervous smile in response. The box was covered with gold, as well as several protection spells, only to make it safe to him to hold it without burning his hands from the silver inside.

"It's beautiful," said Olivia, and meant it. Smiling a bit and nodding, Lucius now took a step forward and reached out the arc. He then set it on his daughter's head, placing the emerald carefully right in the middle of her forehead. Checking for the last time that it was exactly in the middle, he then stepped back.

"The birthday breakfast is awaiting," said Malcolm then cheerfully. "Shall we go?" He offered his arm to her. Giggling, Olivia accepted this, and they headed towards the dining room.

*

"Happy sixteenth birthday, Olivia!" said Harry cheerfully.

"About the time, too," Malcolm laughed. "The little one is finally beginning to grow up!"

"Oh, shut up," Olivia chuckled, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. "You're only three days older than me! Or have you perhaps forgotten about that little embarrassing detail?"

"Oh, let him talk," said Severus, smirking. "He's just annoyed about the fact that Jonah turned sixteen far before either of you. I bet the boy's kept teasing him ever since his birthday."

Malcolm glared at his uncle in a way that showed clearly that Severus was right. The man, who was almost an exact reflection of the teen with only some age added in, merely laughed.

The party was truly small -- well, small by the Malfoy standards. Harry, Draco, Sirius, and Severus were of course invited, as were Hermione, her children, Lilian, and the Narcairs. Adding in Malcolm, Olivia herself and her parents, there were sixteen people in the party altogether. Very appropriate, as Sirius had commented right away, only to receive a few Slytherin-styled snorts and rollings of eyes.

Narcissa and Hermione were deep in some conversation, like they had been at Lucius's birthday party. However, this time they weren't going on about raising children. Instead, they were wholly concentrated on the round form of Narcissa's stomach, where the third Narcair child was currently growing.

As could be expected, Severus was a bit uneasy about this particular condition of his sister's. Although he did show a cheerful face to everyone, Sirius made sure to stay near to his husband all the time. He knew Severus too well not to notice that a panic attack was near whenever the conversation turned to Narcissa's future baby. True, Severus had already gotten over the worst shock, but the fear still remained.

Then, as Harry took his turn in congratulating Thomas of the future addition to their family, and Severus went even paler than before, Sirius finally decided to pull his husband aside. Still having to sit in a wheelchair, he reached up a hand to place it on Severus's shoulder.

"Breathe, Severus," he said, so quietly that nobody else could catch his words. "You've been on needles all evening whenever somebody's mentioned Narcissa's baby. You need to calm down."

"But I can't, Sirius," his husband replied just as quietly, kneeling down next to him. "I simply can't. It's just impossible. I mean, of course I'm happy for my sister, but... Whenever I see her, I remember Brian. I've been thinking about him all day, and I just... well, you know." He fell silent.

Sirius squeezed his hand comfortingly. "Don't worry about it, love," he said quietly. "It wasn't your fault. And besides, maybe it was just better that way. Who's to say he wouldn't have been killed in the War? We can't just go saying, 'If this had happened, things would have been like this.' We can't, because we don't know -- and we will never know, either. It's no use to cry over spilt potion."

"Maybe you're right," Severus sighed. Then he fell silent again.

While one couple was discussing their lack of children, another was more concerned about the child they did have. Olivia was talking happily with Malcolm and Draco, her hands waving in the air to emphasize her point. The young wizards both just smiled, obviously amused by her explanation. Angelina ran past and stopped to say something to Olivia, who replied happily and then continued her little speech.

"She's not our little girl anymore, now is she?" Remus said quietly. He intertwined his fingers with Lucius's, raising his eyes to look up at his taller husband.

"With all honestly, love," Lucius said, "can you say that she ever was?" He glanced again at Olivia, then back at his husband, and smiled warmly. "She's never been little during the time we've had her."

"Yes, she has," argued Remus. "At first, she was just a little girl, scared of everything and everyone. But now... now she's a young woman. She has grown up during her time here, you can't deny that."

"Of course she has grown up," said Lucius smoothly. "She has, after all, gotten older."

"You know what I mean, Lucius," huffed Remus. However, he did not sound irritated.

...Well, not too irritated, anyway.

*

"You gave her a cell phone for a gift?" echoed Lucius. "You gave my daughter a Muggle cell phone?"

"What?" asked Draco defensively. "Now she can contact us whenever she wants, even if there are no fireplaces nearby. It's about the time you get over your Mugglephobia, too, Father."

"If you want to contact someone with a cell phone, that someone should have one, too," snapped Lucius. "And besides, I hardly think any Muggle company would accept Galleons as a payment for a phone bill. That's not only stupid, it's also a very unpractical gift."

"Harry and I both have one, and I heard that Sirius has gotten one, as well," said Draco calmly. "And besides, there's a Wizarding cell phone company that uses Muggle technology."

"But I will not allow --" started Lucius again. However, he was silenced by Remus's hand on his arm.

"Lucius, look at her," his husband said quietly. "Look at her, and if you then still don't want her to use her new cell phone, go and tell her that. She would obey you, and you know that."

Lucius looked at Olivia. He saw her talking excitedly with Harry as the young wizard taught her to use her gift. And, at that moment, he knew that Olivia wouldn't have to part from her phone.

Draco immediately noticed and understood the change in his attitude. And, of course, he immediately decided to use this on his advantage. "You know, Father," he said, "if you decided to make Muggle contacts for the Malfoy Industries, you would absolutely have to get a cell phone."

Now, Lucius gave his son a glare. "You've already forced me to act against all my principles, and as my son, you shall survive. However, I do not recommend trying to push it. And that's definitely pushing it."

Remus smirked. "Oh, let it be," he said cheerfully. "You know you would die rather than harm a hair on his head. Do not make empty threats, Lucius -- your reputation will be ruined."

The blond merely sighed. "You are all plotting against me," he said accusingly. "This is a clear conspiracy!"

"That's okay, Lucius," Remus said calmly. "We all love you anyway."

Sighing again, the blond now raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Why me?" he asked. "Sure, I've murdered, tortured, and done many other nasty things, but what on Earth did I do to deserve this?"

"Married him," said Draco, pointing at Remus, at the same time as Remus said, "Had him," pointing at Draco. Then they both gave each other a mock-glare and then started to laugh.

"Okay, that's it," groaned Lucius. "You have all finally gone insane."

"You mean that there was still somewhere to go with them?" asked Severus dryly behind his back. "I think they were both lost a long time ago. It was probably that time you burned the shopping guide."

Lucius shook his head in amusement. "I had to," he said. "Otherwise, it would have been us others who went crazy." At this, he received glares from both his husband and son. However, then they all grinned as they remembered that particular trip to Paris -- a much-liked birthday present to Remus.

~*~*~

16th of April, 2004

***

"I just can't choose," Olivia complained as she looked at all the earrings set in front of her. "There are so many of them. You see? Those little cats, and these stars, and those tiny butterflies... Shit, I can't choose!"

"Tsk, tsk," Lucius said, smiling. "Mind your language, Olivia." Then he smirked. "I don't see why you would even have to buy anything from here," he said. "It's not like we came here because of you!"

"Okay, then," she said, smiling a bit. "Hmm... Dad, what do you think I should take?"

"Well, you certainly have enough snakes," Remus said with a tiny smirk as he saw her eyes wandering towards a pair of silver snakes. "So, do not take after me too much." At this, he raised a hand to touch one of the golden snakes that now adorned both of his earlobes.

At this, Olivia laughed, at last picking a pair of earrings, tiny crescent moons made of silver. They were in a small piercing store, as both Remus and Draco had, because of some sudden urge, decided to get their ears pierced. Harry, of course, suspected this to be only so that they could spend all their time choosing fitting earrings for each of their outfits. The shopkeeper gave them funny looks, but they ignored her.

"However," Lucius said then, as they walked out of the shop, "I fortunately foresaw this problem. Therefore, I think that I have to allow you to visit a nearby store that sells only earrings."

"What?" asked Draco sharply, glancing up at his father. "I didn't see any shops nearby selling them! Well, besides this," he said, pointing at the shop they'd just come from. "But there weren't so many different ones there, so if you do know of a shop selling more of them, I'd like to see it."

"There are no Muggle shops," Lucius replied with a smirk. "But, you see, I read this, 'Every Witch's Self-Updating Shopping Guide to Paris,' and found out about a new one they've just opened on Rue du Réves."

"You read what?" Draco asked, his eyes shining. "A shopping guide? May I have it, Father? Please?"

"Don't even imagine," Remus said with a grin. "He's my husband. Therefore, the guide is for Olivia and I first. You can have a look at it after us."

"Oh, great," Harry sighed. "Lucius, I swear to Merlin that if you give that book to either of those two before this trip is over, I'll push you down from the top of the Eiffel Tower and jump after you myself."

"I'm not completely stupid, you know," Lucius said. "So I burned it yesterday, right after I found out about that shop. Even that I only looked up because Remus was already talking about getting his ears pierced."

"You burned it?" Draco stared at his father, really shocked. "You can't be serious!"

Harry laughed at his fiancé's reaction. "Calm down, Draco," he said. "I'm sure you can find enough stores by yourself. And now, let's go find you earrings to match each of your seven hundred shirts, okay?"

"I hardly have fifty!" protested Draco. However, when Lucius then started to lead their way towards Rue du Réves -- the only reason he'd even agreed to come to the Muggle Paris was that the trip was, after all, Remus's birthday gift, and Remus had wanted that -- he soon shut up. From the gleam in his eyes Harry could tell that he was already making plans about all the different kinds of earrings he could get.

***

"I still haven't forgiven you for that, you know," Remus said calmly. "I would have wanted that guide!"

"Well, considering the amount of things you bought anyway, I don't think you really needed it as much as you claim," Lucius said calmly. "And I couldn't let you spoil Olivia's common sense completely when it comes to shopping, now could I? She's bad enough as it is."

"I'll let you know, Father," Draco said calmly, "that there is nothing wrong with shopping. Witches and wizards who go shopping are what keep the Malfoy Industries running. So, don't complain."

"That's another thing I will never understand," Lucius said. "I just recently bought the company behind Madam Milkin's and joined it to the Industries. You could just say what you want, and get it. But do you? No! You just have to go to the shop itself and browse through it the difficult way!"

"Difficulties we get, maybe," Remus said, smirking a bit, "but also a lot of fun. Don't mind him," he said then to Draco. "I don't think there's any way to make him understand. Merlin knows I've tried enough."

"It's okay," Draco said, smirking. "Harry never understands, either. I think it's because they are bi."

"Well, neither Sirius nor I are bisexuals," Severus said calmly, "but I still do not understand your obsession on shopping. True, if you need something, you need to buy it, but the way you two do it..."

"What's wrong with it?" asked Draco defensively. Then, as Severus and Lucius then started to talk together, he winked at Remus and then pulled is stepfather aside. "I'm telling you," he whispered with a conspiratory tone, "before Christmas, Father has a cell phone of his own..."

*