Breakfast at Natalie's

"I'm back!" called Natalie, kicking off her shoes. She was astonished to find four people cramped around the tiny kitchen table drinking tea, or in the children's case, milk.

"Natalie, this is Hermione," said Malfoy, introducing them. "These are her kids, Cassie and Riley. Hermione, this is the Natalie I was telling you about."

"Nice to meet you, Natalie," she said pleasantly. Natalie returned her greeting.

"We've got to get going," said Malfoy. "We don't want to be late."

"We have plenty of time," said Natalie, opening the refrigerator. "Let me grab a drink first." She didn't used the Summoning Charm because she wasn't sure if the visitors were Muggles or not. "Okay, let's go," she said, after finished her water.

"We should be back in time for dinner," said Malfoy to Hermione. "But if we're not, just help yourselves."

"I went grocery shopping yesterday, so there's plenty to eat," said Natalie helpfully.

"Take care of yourself," said Malfoy, touching Hermione's arm lightly.

"I will," she said. "I'll see you later."

They stepped outside, bracing themselves for the cold.

"Meet you there," said Malfoy, as they spun on the spot. He Apparated directly in front of the purple house. Natalie appeared a second later.

"It's purple," she said, cocking an eyebrow. Malfoy shrugged and walked up the front steps to knock at the door.

Madame Morisette herself, dressed in lime green robes and a silver cape, greeted them warmly.

"Welcome, welcome," she said, as they took in her eccentric appearance. She led them into a small parlor with a round table and three chairs in the center. The room was dimly lit, candles casting eerie shadows on the walls. "You will wait here for a few minutes, yes?"

"Um, sure," said Natalie.

"Very good." She left them sitting uncertainly in the semi-darkness.

"Who is Hermione?" asked Natalie. "How did you meet her?"

"I went to Hogwarts with her," he replied.

"Oh, I see." She paused. "What's your relationship with her? The way you said, 'Take care of yourself' just seemed like it was, well, more intimate than old classmates."

"Maybe you should become a psychic," he joked.

"I'm serious."

"So am I." He sighed. "She was my girlfriend."

"Was? What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Did you love her?"

He didn't have a chance to answer, as Madame Morisette came bustling in with a tray of tea and cookies.

"Refreshments," she said, placing the tray on the table. She took a cookie for herself. "My assistants are sick today, so I had to prepare this myself. Now then, who did you wish to contact?"

"Er, my mother," said Malfoy.

"Her name is?"

"Narcissa Malfoy."

"You have picture, yes?"

"It's right here," he said, pulling it out of his pocket.

"Hmm..." said Madame Morisette, peering at the photograph. "Okay, we start now."

"Now?" Natalie kicked him under the table. "Ouch. I mean, yes. Let's start now."

"Very good," said the psychic. "Everybody join hands." Malfoy placed one hand in Madame's gloved one and the other in Natalie's warm one.

"Your hands are clammy," whispered Natalie.

"No talking, please," said Madame Morisette. "Now close your eyes. Do not let go of each other's hand until you arrive at your destination. When you wish to leave, someone will show you the way out. Do not stay too long. Only as long as necessary."

Malfoy closed his eyes and listened to Madame Morisette chant. He didn't know what she meant by "someone will show you the way out", but there was no time to think. He felt drowsy. The darkness began to fade, and he saw small pinpricks of light in the distance. The lights intensified and he found himself walking along the familiar path to Malfoy Manor.

"Natalie?" he called. His voice echoed.

"Here," she said, emerging from the bushes to his left. A white peacock strutted across their path and they both jumped. Natalie hurried to catch up with him, and she slipped her pale hand into his. They walked towards the mansion, and Malfoy pushed open the door silently. "Where are we?" she whispered.

"This is my house," he said. "Or at least it was, when my parents were alive."

The house was exactly the way it had been in his childhood: polished dark wood furniture, luxurious velvet, and plush carpet. The floorboards creaked slightly as they entered the foyer.

"It's beautiful," said Natalie, looking up at the crystal chandelier above them. She let go of his hand to explore the study.

"Wait, Natalie," he said, afraid that something bad would happen if they were separated. He followed her into the study where she was looking at the portraits on the wall.

"Who are they?" she asked, pointing to oil paintings of several men and women on the left side of the wall.

"Those are my great-grandparents," he said, standing next to her. "Those ones over there are my grandparents on my father's side."

"And these are your parents?" She moved closer to the portraits, which looked down at her curiously.

"Yes. There's me," he said, indicating the portrait farthest to the right. It depicted a small, but serious looking boy with a pale complexion and delicate features. His was the only portrait that was immobile. "I think they did that one when I was about six. It was supposed to be replaced with a more recent one after I'd graduated from Hogwarts, but we never got around to it."

"I'm not here," she said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Maybe...maybe we're not related after all."

"Don't be so sure," he said. "Come on, we have to find my mother."

They went the stairs together and turned into a series of long corridors. They finally came to a door at the end and stepped into a massive bedroom that was decorated lavishly.

"This was my parents' bedroom," he said. "I was never allowed in here." He shivered. "Somehow it still doesn't feel right to be standing in here. Let's go."

They shut the door again and went down a different hallway, this time into a smaller bedroom. It was immediately obvious that it was a boy's bedroom. There were Quidditch posters and Slytherin banners hanging off the walls and an assortment of mismatched socks piled in a heap.

"Is that...a skull?" asked Natalie, leaning closer to examine an object on the bookshelf.

"It isn't human, if that's what you're wondering," said Malfoy, coming over to stand next to her. "I'd forgotten I'd even had that. My grandfather bought it for my birthday one year."

"Ugh," said Natalie in disgust. "Why would he buy you a skull?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I suppose he thought a little boy would think it was fascinating. And I guess it was, though I was always a bit scared of it."

Natalie went over to the bed and stood there looking at it for a moment. Then suddenly, she lifted up the covers and got underneath them.

"What are you doing?" asked Malfoy, alarmed.

"I'm seeing what it's like to be Draco Malfoy," she said, grinning at him from the bed.

"Well, trust me, it's not that exciting," he said, going over to the wardrobe. He gingerly touched one of the shirts, feeling the soft cotton between his fingers. "I used to love this shirt," he said. "It drove my mother crazy because I didn't want to wear anything else."

"Look at this," said Natalie from the desk. She was opening the drawers. "What is this?" She opened a thin, leather-bound notebook with a silver 'D' on its cover. "Oooh, I think it's a diary..."

Malfoy whirled around. "Give me that," he said crossly.

" 'Dear diary,' " said Natalie, rifling through the pages. " 'Today I saw her in the hallway...' Oooh, who did you see, Draco?"

"That's my private--" He tried to snatch it out of her hands, but she held it out of reach.

" 'Her eyes were like two bright stars, lighting up the velvety night sky...' "

"Give it--to me--" She flung it at him and he caught it, quickly scanning the pages. "It's...blank."

"I know," said Natalie, smiling impishly. "I got you, didn't I?"

He sighed and tossed it back into the drawer. "Where is she? Why did we even come here?"

"I'm here," said a quiet voice from behind them. All the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He turned slowly to look over his shoulder. Narcissa Malfoy was perched on his bed, her long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. She looked younger, and her skin seemed to emit a pearly glow. She smiled at them. "I've been waiting for you."

"Are you real?" he asked, striding towards her.

"Of course," she said, laughing. She held out her hand and he touched it, surprised by it's warmth. "See?"

"But you're..."

"Dead?" She smiled. "Yes, that may be so, but as you know, there are ways to contact the dead." She looked at him for a long moment. "Oh, Draco, how I've missed you."

She slid off the bed to embrace him, and as he smelled the scent of her lavender perfume, he felt like a little boy again. She let go of him and leaned back to put her hands on his shoulders. "Look at you, you're so grown up."

"I'm twenty-seven now, Mum."

"Of course," she said. "How time passes...not that it matters here."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Didn't you notice?" she said, gesturing at his room. "Everything is the way it was when you were just a boy. Specifically, when you were in your first year at Hogwarts."

"Is it going to be like this...forever?"

"For me it is," she replied.

"Where's Father?"

"It's different for everyone," she said, a strange look coming over her face. "He didn't choose this."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head.

"Mum," he said, turning to Natalie. "I've brought...someone." Natalie rose slowly from the desk and stood shyly before Narcissa.

"Who..." began Narcissa. Then her eyes widened and she reached out to touch Natalie's cheek. "Natalie," she whispered. "My daughter, Natalie."

"Your daughter?" said Malfoy, stunned.

"There is so much I have to tell you," said Narcissa. "Come, we'll go into the garden."

They followed her out a back door into a small courtyard surrounded by neatly pruned hedges. The rose bushes were in bloom, giving off a strong fragrance. They sat down on the stone benches, the sunlight warm on their faces.

"Before I met your father, Draco, I fell in love with another man. His name was Theodore King," she began. Natalie fidgeted a little on the bench, but didn't say anything. "It was our fifth year at Hogwarts. He was a Gryffindor; I was a Slytherin." Malfoy smiled. "Naturally, our relationship caused quite an uproar. But we didn't care. We were such arrogant teenagers then," she said reminiscently. "I got pregnant at the end of our seventh year, and he asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes. I was head-over-heels in love with him. Nine months later, I gave birth to Natalie. I remember that it was a cold, winter night in January.

"My parents had disowned me, and his parents were dead, so it was just the two of us. It was hard, having a baby and trying to scrape up enough money to pay the rent and feed ourselves. Teddy took a job as a salesclerk at the potions supply store. He was apprenticed to a potions master, and he needed his employee discount to buy all the expensive ingredients.

"I had a job as a waitress in the Leaky Cauldron. We used to live at the Hog's Head before that, but later on we could afford a room at the Leaky Cauldron after Teddy got a promotion. Tom (he was your Tom's grandfather) let me bring Natalie to work. His wife used to look after her for me. I was working when Lucius Malfoy walked in. I served him coffee and hot rolls, and I couldn't help sneaking peeks at him. He was handsome, polite, and richly dressed, and started wondering whether it had been a mistake to marry Teddy. Well, Lucius bought me a drink and we started talking. He was a year older than me (he'd also been in Slytherin; I remembered him being the Seeker for their Quidditch team), and his family was quite rich. He was working at the Ministry.

I began to see him secretly, sometimes meeting up with him in the middle of the night. Poor Teddy didn't know. He was so tired at the end of the day that he never heard me sneaking out of our room. After a few months, Lucius asked me to marry him. I was surprised, I can tell you that. I never thought he'd fall in love with a girl like me. But he really loved me, so I ran away with him and we eloped. Natalie was barely two years old. I never saw Teddy again."

At this point, Narcissa buried her face in her hands and began to sob. Malfoy and Natalie did their best to comfort her.

"Oh, Natalie," she said, once her sobs had subsided. "You must hate me so much."

"I don't hate you," said Natalie forgivingly. "I could never hate you."

"I meant to look for you," she said earnestly. "I really did. But I was afraid that Lucius would find out. Oh, Natalie, I'm so glad I've found you. I'm a terrible mother," she said, giving her a weak smile.

"You're not a terrible mother," said Malfoy, giving her hand a squeeze.

"How is Teddy?" inquired Narcissa. "Is he well?"

"He...died. A month ago," answered Natalie, fighting back tears.

"Oh, my Teddy," she murmured. "If only I could see him again..."

"I think we should be getting back now," said Natalie, standing up shakily.

"You'll come back sometime, won't you?"

"We'll try," said Malfoy, and the three of them walked back to the house.

"But before you go, there's something I want to show you." Narcissa led them back up the stairs into a narrow corridor that Malfoy remembered well from his childhood. It had been the forbidden corridor, the place where no one was allowed, not even his father.

At the end of the hallway there was a door, which Narcissa opened. The walls of the room were a soft, rose pink, with curtains to match. There was a pile of stuffed animals and dolls in one corner, and an open wardrobe filled with clothing for a young girl. There was a bookcase well stocked with children's books and a display cabinet full of delicate glass figurines. A bed stood below the window, where the sun's rays shone brightest.

"This," said Narcissa quietly, "was Natalie's room."

"It's lovely," said Natalie in a hushed voice, brushing the bedspread with her fingertips. She turned to Narcissa. "This was all mine?"

"I had meant to find you and bring you here one day," said Narcissa sadly.

Natalie smiled so brilliantly that Malfoy felt the corners of his lips twitch in response. "I love it!" She ran around the room, laughing wildly, touching everything within reach. She threw her arms around Narcissa. "I love it!"

"I'm glad," said Narcissa, smiling. Natalie's happiness was infectious.

"I want to come here often," she said. "May I?"

"Of course, as often as you like. But I think you'd best be going now. It isn't good to stay long in the Realm of the Dead."

"How do we get out?" asked Natalie.

"The same way you came," said Narcissa, hugging them both. "I love you."

She followed them back into the foyer. They stood awkwardly in front of the door, reluctant to part. Malfoy reached for the doorknob.

"Wait," said Narcissa, unclasping her necklace. "Natalie, I want you to have this."

"Thank you," she whispered, fastening it around her neck. It was wrought out of the finest gold, a small golden heart dangling from the thin chain.

Malfoy gripped the doorknob in his hand and pushed open the door tumbling into darkness. When he opened his eyes again, he and Natalie were back inside Madame Morisette's house.

"Ah, you're back," said the woman, giving them a crooked smile. For some reason, Malfoy thought she looked older. Perhaps it was a trick of the light?

"Thank you," said Natalie, her eyes teary. "Thank you so much."

They paid the fee and went back outside. Malfoy sat down on the front steps and pulled at a clump of grass.

"You're really quiet," said Natalie, sitting down beside him. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he said. "It's just...overwhelming."

"I know what you mean," she said, nodding. She touched the necklace to make sure it was still there.

"All these years and I didn't know I had a sister." He shook his head disbelievingly.

"A half-sister," she corrected.

"Half-sister, whole-sister, it doesn't matter." He looked up at her. "I'm glad."

"Me too."

They stood up and embraced each other.

"I knew we had some sort of connection since the first day I met you," she said.

"It's a small world." They grinned at each other and Apparated back to the apartment.

----------------------

"Oh, you're back," said Hermione, looking up from her plate. "We're having sandwiches."

"Sounds good," said Natalie, taking out a loaf of bread.

"Trade you a pickle for some chips," said Riley to his sister.

"How many chips?"

Riley thought for a moment. "A lot."

"Riley, you've already had enough chips. Cassie, finish your sandwich."

They stuck their tongues out at each other, then quickly finished their dinner and went into the living room to play Exploding Snap, their new favorite game.

"How'd it go?" asked Hermione, as Malfoy took a bite of his sandwich. She waited for him to swallow.

"You won't believe this," he said, "but Natalie's my half sister."

"We talked to his mother--our mother. She gave me this," said Natalie, showing Hermione the necklace.

"But...isn't she dead?"

"We went to this psychic lady, and she put us in touch."

"You've got to be kidding me," said Hermione skeptically.

"Nope, not kidding," said Malfoy. "We really are brother and sister."

"Tell me what happened."

Both Malfoy and Natalie began talking at the same time. An hour later, they finally finished. Hermione stared at them, speechless.

"Yeah, I know. Mind-blowing, isn't it?" said Malfoy, chuckling at Hermione's expression.

"You're both insane," she declared, shaking her head. "Completely mental..."

They all burst out laughing. Cassie came over to them, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Mummy, I'm sleepy," she complained.

"That's right," said Hermione. "How are we going to do the sleeping arrangements tonight? We can't all fit here."

"It'll be a bit of a squeeze," said Natalie, "but I'm sure we can manage."

"No, Hermione's right," agreed Malfoy. "There isn't enough space."

"I'll go back to my dad's place," volunteered Natalie.

"No," said Malfoy. "I don't feel safe with you out there alone."

"Oh, come on, Draco. I'm older than you."

"No, you're staying," he said adamantly. "I'll call Charlie and see if I can crash over at his place." He dialed Charlie's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Charlie. It's me, Draco."

"Oh hey, what can I do for ya?"

"Who is it, Charlie?" purred a throaty female voice in the background. Malfoy nearly dropped the phone.

"Er, never mind," he said awkwardly. "Sorry to bother you." He hung up, his face burning with embarrassment.

"What's the matter?" asked Natalie.

"He's got people at his house," he said vaguely. "It's okay, I'll find someplace else."

"No, really, I can leave if you want."

"It's not necessary." He dug out his sleeping bag and shoved it into a pack.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Hermione, wringing her hands. "I should've called you in advance."

"You did," he said pointedly, putting on his jacket.

"You know what I mean," she said, rolling her eyes. "I can stay at a hotel. It's no big deal, really."

"Hermione," he said firmly, "you're not going anywhere. You're not going anywhere either, Natalie."

"Where will you go?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Sheesh. Living with the two of them was definitely going to drive him up the wall. He turned on the spot and Apparated to the most logical place to go: the Ministry of Magic. There were hardly any witches and wizards still working at this hour, so the grand entrance hall was deserted. He took the lift up to his office.

"Alohomora." The door swung open and he turned on the lava lamp Charlie had given him for his last birthday. Though it was only a quarter past eight, he was thoroughly exhausted from the day's events. He rolled out the sleeping bag next to the wall and put on his pajamas. Resolving to go house hunting as soon as possible, he curled up on the floor and fell asleep.