14 July, 1997 (10:00p.m, Saturday)

Astoria had been nervously glancing around the ballroom for the past thirty minutes. She was waiting for Draco and Theo to return- hopefully in one piece. "Do you think they're fighting?" She asked Scarlett.

Scarlett shrugged, "I don't know. I can't see Draco fighting him. Theo would but Draco won't. We could always go check on them." She suggested.

Narcissa sat down in front of the two girls, "Lucius and Theodore have it handled. There'll be no need in you two getting involved."

Astoria stared at Narcissa blankly, "Cissy, I mean this with absolutely no disrespect at all, but how do you know everything that happens? I didn't even see Lucius and Theodore leave the room, how did you know that Adrian was even here?"

Narcissa laughed, "When you've lived here for as long as I have you start to notice things. There's rooms in this house that I guarantee you girls didn't even know existed. Certain floorboards make certain noises that you can hear from all over the house. Some of the walls are thin and if you stand in certain spots it almost sounds like you're in the exact same room as whoever's talking. You'll learn when you live here one day, Astoria. Once you have children of your own, you'll discover that some of the best alone time is exploring the hallways and seeing what you can find that wasn't there last time."

This was a great answer for Astoria because she nodded, "I look forward to that."

Narcissa turned back to Scarlett, "I'm sure when you marry Theo you'll discover the same thing about his house."

Scarlett turned red, "I am not going to be marrying him."

The older woman shook her head, "I'll remind you of that in a few years."

Before Scarlett could respond, Astoria had gasped. Coming through the doors was Theo, Draco, and a woman with wild curls. Narcissa turned around to see what she had gasped at and then quickly turned back to Scarlett and Astoria. "Astoria, would you mind taking Scarlett up to her room and fixing her hair, it seems to have messed up a bit?"

Scarlett looked at her confused but then looked down at her hair, it'd seemed that her rubber band holding it up had magically snapped. Narcissa gave her a sympathetic smile before standing up and walking towards the woman with the curls.

Astoria grabbed Scarlett's hand, "Come on we can take the other doors."

Scarlett nodded and followed her out, "What was that all about?" She whispered once they were out.

"That's Bellatrix. I think Narcissa is trying to keep you away from her."

"Is she already in there?" Lucius asked, he'd turned the corner and saw the two girls, he was just going to walk past them but he heard Bellatrix's name.

Astoria looked up, "Yes, Narcissa asked for me to help her fix her hair, it seems to have come undone."

Lucius sighed, "Thank Merlin she found a way to get you out of there."

"What?" Scarlett asked.

Lucius motioned for the two girls to follow him and Theodore, he opened the door to the library and ushered them in.

"You need to stay with someone at all times for the rest of the night, Bellatrix wants to meet you. Narcissa and I are worried about how she'll treat you due to your parent's beliefs. We want to talk to you alone tonight about that but we have to wait for her to leave. Now, you do have to meet her tonight, once you've fixed your hair you need to come find me or Narcissa, we'll stay with you and introduce you. But you don't need to be alone with her."

Scarlett nodded, "Do I need to be worried?"

Lucius glanced over at Theodore, "No, as long as you're with someone I think you'll be fine."

Theodore nodded in agreement, "You just don't need to approach her alone."

Astoria looked up at Lucius, "I'll go help her fix her hair and then I'll bring her back."

Lucius nodded at the two girls and then he and Theodore left the room.

Astoria pulled Scarlett over to a bookshelf, "One of these books leads up to Draco's room, I just have to remember which one."

"How do you know that?" Scarlett asked.

Astoria glanced back at her, "I don't think you want to know."

Scarlett blinked, "Um, alright."

Astoria finally found the right book and pulled it causing the shelf to make a noise. She pulled on the shelf as if it were a door and it opened to a small passageway. She grabbed Scarlett's hand and pulled her into the passage.

"Okay, if this door takes you to Draco's room then this one must take you to your room." She mumbled.

She twisted the door knob and it opened up into Scarlett's closet, "What the fuck?" Scarlett whispered, "I didn't even know there was a door in here."

Astoria shrugged, "The more you know."

She grabbed Scarlett's hairbrush and a band and fixed Scarlett's hair back to how it originally was. She then touched up her makeup and then the two girls walked out of the bedroom. The two girls hurried down the stairs and right as they were about to go into the ballroom, Theo and Draco walked out.

Astoria frowned at Theo, "What happened to your face?" He had a busted lip and his nose was bruised.

Theo grinned, "I told you what would happen if you sent me in there."

"No, you said Adrian would leave with a bloody nose and busted lip. You didn't mention that you would also be leaving with that."

"He hit me first. I got the last hit. He looks ten times worse."

Astoria rolled her eyes, she looked up to Draco, "Scarlett has to meet Bellatrix but she has to be with Cissy or Lucius, so I need you two to move out of the way."

Draco shook his head, "No way, she doesn't need to meet Bella at all."

Astoria looked down at her feet, "Yeah, I know that but it's not up to us."

"No, you don't need to be around Bella either, Tori. You know how she feels about your family, I'll take Scarlett back in there but you need to stay out here with Theo until I come back and escort you to our table."

Astoria nodded, she looked over to Scarlett, "You have to come find me immediately after."

Scarlett nodded, "I will."

Draco held his arm out for Scarlett to grab and then the two walked back into the ballroom.

He led her over to where Lucius and Narcissa were standing and talking to Bellatrix. Lucius looked up at them as they walked over, "Bella, I don't think you've met our niece, Scarlett."

Bellatrix turned to look at Scarlett, "Well, she looks like a Malfoy. Too bad she was born to the wrong one." She complained turning back to Narcissa, ignoring Scarlett as if she wasn't even there.

Narcissa forced a smile, "Bella, be a bit nicer. We've raised her for the past five years as if she were our own."

"That doesn't make her any less of a blood traitor." She retorted.

Lucius frowned, he gave Draco a look and then Draco nudged Scarlett's arm and signaled for her to follow him back. The two turned and headed back outside of the ballroom.

Once Bellatrix had deemed them to be far enough away, she picked up her drink, "He's going to kill her first."

Lucius sneered, "And what makes you think that?"

"She's the child of a blood traitor."

"She has the Malfoy last name and is being raised by us. She's not being exposed to her mother's nonsense beliefs." He reminded her.

Bella rolled her eyes, "She's not your child, Lucius. I'm surprised Cissy has went along with it for this long. Just let him kill her and then you two can wash your hands of her."

Narcissa gasped, "Bella, I won't have you saying that about her. We've raised her as if she were our own for years. Surely he'll see that. I'll do whatever it takes to keep her alive. She's been through so much and we aren't going to let her down."

Lucius nodded, "She's just as much our child as Draco is. Just because we aren't her parents biologically doesn't mean she's not our daughter and that is the end of this conversation. He won't kill her, she is a Malfoy and she is a Pureblood. It would be absurd to kill her, she's valuable. It would go against his entire goal."

Bellatrix made a humph noise and then walked away. Lucius turned to watch her and once she was far enough away he turned back to Narcissa. "He won't kill her. He's had years to do it and it hasn't happened yet." He reminded her.

She sighed, "Too bad all of that Muggle paperwork we signed legally adopting her wouldn't change their minds."

He chuckled, "I slipped up and called her my daughter while I was screaming at the Pucey boy earlier. I mean, she might as well be, she and Draco act just alike and look like siblings."

She intertwined their hands together. Five years ago after they'd gotten the news and after meeting her at Hogwarts and going to her destroyed home, they'd met with a Muggle lawyer (who had no idea that they were wizards) who told them that Cassandra had made a will that listed them as Scarlett's only living relatives and that they would need to adopt her or else she'd be sent into foster care. After they'd finished the paperwork, Lucius promised Narcissa that he'd treat Scarlett well— he would not let his hatred for her mother and father interfere with how he'd treat her. He would respect her, make sure she had everything she needed and vowed to protect her.

Narcissa changed the subject, "Didn't she and Theo look so good dancing together?"

Lucius nodded, "They did. Theodore thinks Theo fancies her."

Narcissa smiled, "Well she fancies him too."

"How do you know that?"

She shrugged, "It's a secret."

He rolled his eyes, "You and your secrets."

-

"Well how did it go?" Astoria asked, she'd been pacing the hall waiting for them to come back.

"I'd say successfully because Bella barely acknowledged her." Draco informed them. 

Theo agreed, "That sounds successful to me."

"So successful that we should dance!" Astoria added.

Draco groaned, "Tori please-"

She cut him off, "You owe me a dance." She grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the ballroom leaving Theo and Scarlett alone.

"So..." Theo trailed off.

She looked up at his lips, "Sorry you got your lip busted over me."

"You can make it up to me by dancing with me."

"I already did that." She joked.

"Nope. I danced with you, now you have to dance with me. You owe me one."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, okay."

He held his hand out for her to grab and then they walked into the ball room. They began a simple slow dance that soon after turned into him spinning her over and over again until she was dizzy in his arms, only standing up properly from the support of his hands on her hips. The two were laughing as the room swayed around them.

"Watch your hands, Nott." Draco reminded him as he and Astoria danced over. 

"Yes sir." Theo teased.

"Hey, just because you're my best friend and I actually like you compared to Pucey doesn't mean you get to flirt with her. She's still off limits to you."

"Relax, Draco, they're only dancing." Astoria said, swatting his arm, when he looked away she winked at Scarlett.

Scarlett shook her head and turned back to Theo and then they waltzed away from Astoria and Draco.

"You look very beautiful tonight, Scar." He told her once they were far enough away from Draco.

She turned red, "Thank you. I was worried the dress wouldn't fit right. It had sleeves but they were too scratchy so at my last dress fitting we got them taken off." She rambled.

He smiled, "Well it looks amazing."

"Thanks again for dancing with me, I'm sorry you got punched in the face though."

"Well I wasn't just going to leave you out there to dance by yourself."

"Well Astoria was my backup-backup plan."

"Oh really?"

Scarlett nodded, "Yeah she practiced with me for my last practice. Adrian didn't show up and I didn't know where you were so she stepped in."

"Oh, Draco and I were in Hogsmeade, we were getting our suits tailored."

"So how exactly did you get punched in the face?"

He shrugged, "It was mentioned that I danced with you."

She laughed, "So he punched you over that?"

"Yes. Then Lucius and my father came in there and the second Lucius sat down Adrian told him that he should watch who he lets you and Draco around because I'm so violent that he should be worried about you two."

"What did Lucius say?"

"He basically said that if anyone shouldn't be allowed around then it was Adrian because this is the second fight Adrian had started."

"When was the first?"

"Somehow Lucius knew about the fight at Adrian's, he said he wasn't mad about it."

"Well that's good because it would be awful if he'd have agreed with Adrian and stopped letting you come around."

Theo rolled his eyes, "He likes my father too much to ever ban me."

"Is that so?"

"Mhm. Have you just not seen them following each other around all night? They'd be lost without each other."

She scoffed, "I'm sure."

He smiled, "It's true."

He dipped her, when he brought her back up she smiled at him, "So about earlier.." She trailed off.

"Please don't tell me that it can never happen again." He was worried, it's what she'd told him last time they had kissed.

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Oh." Thank Merlin.

"I want to know how we're going to make it work."

He looked over at Draco and Astoria, they were across the room talking to Pansy's mum.

"I don't know, Scar. We can keep it a secret now but I don't want to keep it a secret for forever."

She nodded, "No, I know that. I just think we should make sure it works before we tell anyone. I don't want to mess up your friendship with Draco and then we end a month later. Because then you've messed it up for nothing. So I say we just keep it as our secret for right now."

"Sounds good to me."

"You can sneak over at night or when Draco's away. He's going away with Astoria and her family next weekend so you can come over." She suggested.

He frowned, "I'm not going to do that, Scarlett. We might be hiding our- whatever this is but I'm not going to sneak around and treat you as if you're just some girl that I'm only sleeping with. I want a relationship with you, I'm going to take you on dates, we won't call them that around Draco, obviously, but I'm serious about you. I'm not just going to see you at night, you deserve better than that."

She smiled, "Um, okay, well I wasn't expecting that but we can do that, I'd like it."

He nodded, "Good."

authors note:
is it really a theonotts book if
i don't give everyone a random
redemption arc??? (except for
you adrian pucey, you have
had enough redemption arcs
in my other books)