The Death Eater's Daughter

Chapter Six - Report

Most of her days went on this way. She spent hours upon hours with Draco, trying to get into his head, though she didn't know why. He was fascinating. So convicted about these things, yet she could tell that he didn't even really believe them. It was a bizarre phenomenon, a severe case of brainwashing.

It was sad, really. The hypocrisy of his father. Their father. All this disdain for Half-bloods and Muggle borns that had been implanted into Draco, and in reality, it was all just an extreme created by Lucius to hide his own sordid past. To hide Luci.

Sometimes she wanted to tell him the truth about the man that he tried so hard to please. The fury boiled so close to her surface, nearly all the time, and it took every ounce of her strength to stay in character, to put on this ridiculous show. But she plodded on, if only because she needed to keep her word, especially to Dumbledore.

As the days passed at Grimmauld Place, and then turned into weeks, she and Draco got through a good bit of studying. He was brilliant, but had no propensity for applying himself. He always seemed a bit pre-occupied. Especially after a session with his mother.

One morning, at breakfast, Narcissa had announced that she would be teaching her son the Dark Arts, and didn't trust Luci to do it. Luci couldn't blame her, of course, and made no quarrels, at least not audibly. Draco, however, commented that Luci would probably be better for the job, being an Auror and all, and that she might have useful knowledge. Narcissa swore, silenced him, and it was never mentioned again.

And Luci never asked what his mother was teaching him. But when she was teaching him, she was also managing to discover who her brother was. And he wasn't what he appeared to be, and that was a relief, though she didn't know why. She supposed it was because she had proof that the evil didn't run in her blood.

Yes, Draco was conceited and spoiled and disrespectful and self-righteous and jealous. But he was also scared and lonely and confused and traumatized and starving for attention. A little like Luci herself. And it came down to the fact that they were keeping each other company, distracting each other from the pain, and, at least on Luci's part, kind of enjoying it. Even though Draco remained standoffish and often curt, he sometimes behaved as though he might enjoy her companionship, as well.

In fact, they were rarely apart, and in these cases, Luci sent letters back and forth from home, using the post office down the street, as owls couldn't find Number Twelve. Sometimes, she also wrote in her journal, or read thirstily in the library, or attended meetings with the Order. These gatherings never brought much news, and certainly nothing exciting, but she did feel a sense of inclusion that she treasured, and that wasn't often there.

Except with Fleur. The two girls had taken to each other, even though Luci realized that she probably shouldn't surround herself with women who outshined her in every way. But having a friend made up for the feeling of inadequacy. They mostly sat around talking, sometimes gossiping, and Fleur insisted that they do girly things, like spa treatments. She would invite Luci to visit her home, but of course, Luci couldn't leave Draco and Narcissa for any length of time, and was obligated to refuse.

On the third day of July, in the mid-afternoon, they were in the drawing room, and Fleur was demolishing Luci in a hand of Gin Rummy.

"Bill's family vill be here next veek," Fleur was pondering aloud.

She was obviously counting down the days; the Weasley's arrival would mean the real beginning of her wedding planning. Luci didn't know why they hadn't come already, as school had been out for a month or so. It was peculiar timing. She could only imagine that it was to clear out their home for the ceremony preparations.

"Yes," she responded. "Are you getting excited?"

"Ov course! Vut girl does not vant to be fussed overe?"

"None in their right mind, I'm sure," smiled Luci. "We'll make sure you're more stunning than usual, though I don't have any idea how."

"It vill be divicult. Zots of pampere-ing vill be a good start."

There had been a time when Luci had thought that Fleur was terribly conceited, but then she realized that a Veela always feels beautiful, and is beautiful, and therefore, these comments were only the truth. And Luci wished that she could be the kind of enchantress that Fleur so effortlessly was. But she tried not to hold it against her.

"I zon't know vhy you refuze to have a pedeecure," blustered Fleur, interrupting her thoughts.

"Because no one sees my feet," Luci answered simply, "and even if they did, I have no one to impress."

"Eez zere no one?"

She had asked this question numerous times before. Luci assumed that it was partly because love was such a focus in her life right now, but she also figured that Fleur was nosey and loved talking about relationships and their possibilities, just like any pretty girl. If Luci had any possibilities, maybe she'd enjoy it too.

"Like I've said before, no one."

"Not eve-an at home?"

She looked up and met the French girl's captivating eyes. "Fleur, just because you're happy and getting married doesn't mean that you have to make sure that the rest of us are too. I don't have your magnetism. Boys hate me; always have."

"Bête."

"What?" Luci huffed. She hated when Fleur spoke French, as she knew none whatsoever. It felt condescending.

"Seely. You are imposseebly seely."

"It's not silly at all," continued Luci, feeling even more patronized. "It's the truth. Can we please change the subject?"

In actuality, it may have been a bit silly. Josh was interested, after all. And Mark had been, however briefly. And she knew that she wasn't hard to look at or anything. But, in general, she had always felt invisible to the opposite sex.

"Vut else eez zere to salk about in life but boys?" Fleur had chimed cheerily.

"Plenty," Luci grumbled in reply.

"Zomeday, you vill meet zomeone spay-cial, and I jus hope zat I am zere to zee it."

Luci laid down a meld of three sevens and said, "Me too, because it would be quite a miracle. Then you can give me a pedicure."

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As the summer had progressed, Grimmauld Place had grown more stifling with the European heat. It was a particularly muggy night, two days before the Weasley family was set to arrive, when Luci was startled nearly into heart failure by a voice.

"Miss Keegan?"

She jumped from the chair in which she'd been seated, before her desk, and whirled around, in search of the voice. Her eyes went immediately to the window that she had left cracked for some ventilation.

There was a frustrated intake of breath, and Luci's gaze moved towards the sound, and then settled on the face in her fireplace.

"Severus! You scared me to death!"

"My apologies," he muttered, but he didn't sound the least bit sorry.

"I just... I hadn't heard from you, and it's been so long, I really didn't expect to."

"I was getting settled," he explained.

"Okay..." she said, as she seated herself before him.

"Are things going according to plan?" asked Severus.

"Yes," Luci answered. "We're just sitting here, in the house. Draco is catching up on his schoolwork. Nothing else, really."

"No one has discovered anything... that they were not intended to know?"

"Of course not," she spat defensively.

"It is important that it remains so."

"I know that."

He smirked. "Nothing to report then?"

"Narcissa insisted on teaching him Dark Arts herself," responded Luci.

After a moment, he merely commented, "Curious," and then went on, "Since you have little to account for, I am assuming that Potter is yet to arrive?"

"No, not yet. Near the end of the month, I'm told. And the Weasley family within the next few days."

Severus sniffed disagreeably. "I'm sure that will make things interesting for you. Focus on your objective. Do not get distracted."

"Why would I get distracted?" she inquired.

"I am trusting that you won't."

In this moment, for some reason, Luci wanted to ask him how he was doing, how he was dealing with Dumbledore's death. But she knew that he was not the kind of person of which you could ask such questions. Except that everyone needed to be asked how they were feeling, every once in awhile.

He cut off her thoughts, speaking with finality, "I can be reached in this location. Otherwise, carry on. I will come for another report at the end of the month."

And then he was gone.

Luci took a deep breath. He could appear in her room at any moment. Suddenly, she felt like she had no privacy at all, yet every piece of her was hidden, and it was a terrible paradox indeed.

Since Draco and Narcissa had gone to bed, as had most of the inhabitants of the house, Luci decided that she needed some fresh air. It was very quiet when she Apparated herself to the little payphone down the block.

It was only around 6:00 in the evening in Arizona. Josh would be home from work by now. She wanted to talk to someone with whom she could be herself, and he probably hadn't had time yet to respond to her letter.

She dialed his number, being sure to include the necessary calling codes.

After four rings, his answering machine picked up. She was only a little disappointed.

"Hi Josh, it's me. I was just calling to check in and see how things are going. Somehow, I ended up getting busy here, but it's actually just-"

"Luci?"

He'd picked up in the middle of her babbling.

"Hey," she chirped.

"Where on earth are you calling from?"

"A payphone in the middle of a street in London."

"Oh," replied Josh. "I didn't recognize the number. They don't have a phone where you're at?"

"Nope. It's strictly magic around here."

He scoffed. "God, that sounds terrible. No technology, then?"

"No, and believe me, I am desperately missing computers." And air conditioning, she thought.

"And late-night movies with the sexiest guy you know?"

Suddenly, she regretted calling him. He was doing his irritating little number, where he fished for compliments, and sometimes showered her with them, expecting reciprocity. She rarely gave in. Often, she just ignored the play, like this:

"You're watching late-night movies with Brad Pitt?"

"Ha ha," he grumbled. "Are you saying I'm not the sexiest guy you know?"

Luci sighed dramatically. "I'm not saying that at all, and you know it."

"So I am?"

"Josh!" she growled, finally cracking. "Why do you put me on the spot like this? None of my other friends demand that I tell them they're sexy! Sometimes, I don't even wanna talk to you, because you always bring it back to this ridiculous idea that you've got in your head!"

He was silent for a few moments, and she huffed into the phone. Finally, he answered, "It's not ridiculous."

"It is!" she cried. "Why can't we just be friends, like we always were?"

"Because that's not enough for me, and it never was, and you said you'd try this with me when you got back."

Luci didn't answer, and he spat, "Unless you were just placating me."

"Josh..."

He made a hoarse noise. "So you were?"

"N-no..." she stuttered guiltily. Why couldn't she be honest with him? The truth was, he was a terrific friend, and she did adore him, and she didn't want to lose him. But she didn't want to date him either. Or appease his insecurities with lies, which was exactly what she was doing.

"Good," said Josh, and she could hear the smile return to his voice. "So I'm waiting for you and you're waiting for me, and now we just have to get through a few months."

"Right," she sighed in defeat. She didn't wanna argue. She was kind of done, and wanted to go to bed.

"So what time is it there?" he went on, merry once again.

"A little past one," Luci answered softly, still completely in knots about this whole conversation.

"Why are you still up?"

She shrugged, but realized he couldn't see this, and answered, "Don't sleep much."

"You never did. But how come?"

"Pressure, I guess."

"Who's pressuring you?"

"Oh, you know. I'm pressuring myself, as always."

Josh chuckled.

But Luci wasn't smiling. She responded, "Draco and his mother aren't very easy to deal with. And everyone else treats me like some kind of crime suspect."

"That's because they don't know you and you're pretending to be, well, a crime suspect."

"Maybe," she agreed, "but it gets exhausting."

"Pretty boring stuck in that house all the time too, I imagine," he pried, "with no one to flirt with."

She gritted her teeth. But he was right. She was a shameless flirt, and that was probably most of her problem with Josh in the first place. And doubtless a very evil flaw, as she believed that leading someone on was simply wickedness, and abruptly realized that she was guilty of it.

So Luci circumvented with, "We'll have some new blood in a few days. Maybe that'll spice things up."

"What kind of new blood?" asked Josh suspiciously.

"The Weasleys," she answered, as she'd told him about their coming in her letters. And then added, "Hey, I should go. A deserted street is not a good place for a girl in the middle of the night."

She could hear him suppress a laugh. "We both know that you can take care of yourself."

"In some ways, at least," muttered Luci.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. I'll call again soon, okay?"

He inhaled deeply, obviously disappointed by the end of the conversation. "Just remember, I'm always here if you need me."

"I never forget, Josh."

"Good. Love you."

"You too," Luci emitted quickly, and then she hung up the phone.

What a fucking disaster.