What Makes A Dragon?

By Kawaii Kitty

Chapter 3

Reminiscing By The Lake

A wonderful, eventful day. I had just arrived home from Hogwarts and been promised a lot more close time with my father, as well as finding a beautiful young girl sleeping on my bed in the middle of the afternoon! I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. The air in my chambers had thickened at least ten times over. The girl was sitting on my bed, spitting out sounds at me, a small blush apparent on her face.

I looked her over, trying to figure out her lineage. Her body was clothed in a very fine silk robe that obviously originated from the Far East. It was dyed a very light pinkish color and had a thick belt high around the middle. I looked over her face and listened to her speech, but could not, for the life of me, tell her nationality.

After a few minutes of her babbling, I raised my hand and she silenced immediately. I looked at her and took a step toward her, lifting her tiny, smooth chin up, examining her face closer. I could see that she had a small mole under her left eye.

"Shush." I said quietly. I stared at her for a moment. I could tell she was nervous, as she was shaking at my touch. "Just… who are you…?"

Her expression turned to that of a confused kitten. "N… Nanio itteiruka wakaranaino..." she said in a sweet, yet baffled voice.

I opened my mouth to speak when my door opened with a considerable amount of force. Both of our attention turned to the entrance to my room where my father stood. He looked at the girl and tapped the base of his staff on my floor. "Kimiko! Koko de!"

The girl hopped off my bed and walked to my father and folded her hands in front of her, bowing to him. "H-Hai, Malfoy-sama."

The two of them talked and my jaw dropped. He…he seemed to be so cruel to her…I saw her point in various parts of the room as she spoke to my father. Once she was finished, she bowed her head once more and my father simply stared at her.

"Yadosagari." My father said angrily. The girl, lifted her head, gave a small smile and ran from the room as fast as she could manage.

I watched her curiously, and then looked up at my father. "Who… who was that…?" I asked quietly.

"She's one of our newer servants." He said plainly, looking out the door. "Her name is Kimiko."

"Oh…" I said I thought for a moment. "What did you say to her?"

He looked back at me. "Nothing of importance. I asked her what she was doing in here. She claims she was cleaning and got tired, so she fell asleep on your bed. I told her to take the rest of the day off…"

I gave my father an odd look. "That was unusually generous of you." I said, keeping quiet.

My father looked back at me, stern. "Your tongue is becoming rather sharp, Draco. I recommend that you file it down before it ends up cutting you."

I lowered my head slightly and looked away, "Yes, Father." I mumbled so quietly that I doubt he would hear it. I heard the door close behind my father and looked up, suddenly remembering his goals.

"Well, Draco, I suggest you break open your books. Your mother expects you to do better on your schoolwork this year." He said with a devious grin.

I couldn't hold back the shudder that overtook my body and the goose bumps that now covered my arms and back. I found my arms wrapped around myself as I backed into the room, as if trying to make myself shrink and disappear. My rear found my bed and I sat down upon the silken sheets. Damned conditioned reflexes.

I felt the tip of my father's wand under my chin, lifting up my head to look at him. I opened my eyes to find my father's almost directly in front of mine.

"You are turning out to be a handsome young man so far, aren't you...?" he said, that grin becoming more lewd and cruel as the seconds passed.  I swallowed hard, not finding the voice or courage to say anything. "Those bratty children at Hogwarts must be swarming all over you." He gave a soft chuckle and lowered his voice. "But… we won't let them, will we?"

I wanted to say something. I could have said something, if I had had the physical capabilities to do so. I only managed a short breath of air before his mouth covered mine. The bitter taste the haunted me each day while I was away at school attacked my senses. I winced and sat rigid, stiff, my hands gripping the side of the bed as if it were my only safety. For a moment, it was, well, before my father tried to push me back onto my bed.

I had had enough. One of my hands let go of the bed and pushed against my father's chest with surprising strength, knocking him back onto the floor. I stood up and looked at him for a moment, amazed at my handiwork. Without waiting another moment, I ran to my door and opened it, running down the hall and down the stairs before he could pull off a leg-locker curse or something.

My mind was reeling. Did I do that? It just didn't seem possible. He had always been so much stronger than I was. I felt a new sense of power coursing through my veins as I ran through the halls. But, the more I thought about it, the more I ended up regretting it. My mind kept floating back to what he would do once, or if, he caught up to me. I would have to face him again. There was no way I could fight him off, especially without magic. During the summer, I had to live as a muggle. Well, all right, slightly better than a muggle, but I still had to do without my magic. Stupid Wizardry license laws.

My train of thought was derailed as the sun above got into my eyes. I stopped running and looked around, finding myself outside, in back of the house. I smiled to myself as a warm breeze found its way to me and wrapped itself around me, giving me a brief moment of pure, innocent pleasure.

I closed my eyes for a moment and stepped from my small aura of happiness, making my way over to the broom shed. I did the small combination on the lock and pulled it down, then off. I smiled a bit as I opened the door and stepped into the grimy shed. Despite the way we had sparingly used it, the shed was in surprisingly neat order. On the back wall was the brooms my father and I used, and along the other walls were some of the brooms that a few of the servants had saved up for and bought. 

I sighed happily and made my way to the back wall where my Nimbus 2001 broom sat. I picked it up and handled it. It had been at least eight months since I really even touched this broom. I was on my house's Quidditch team, playing the position of Seeker. I looked up at my father's broom. It wasn't quite as fast as mine, an older model painted silver with the gold letters spelling out "Artemis 7" etched into the handle.

Father used to be on Slytherin House team, too. He played as the Chaser. People who have seen my father play have said that he could have played any position he wanted, even Seeker. Father flew with such grace and speed, that is, except when he played as a beater; then you wanted to be nowhere near him. In the house he had countless trophies, medals, and ribbons. He expected me to be the same as him, maybe even better. He always expected nothing than utter, sparkling perfection from me. One tiny slip-up and I'd be fried.

I shook these thoughts from my head and stepped back outside, shutting and locking the shed behind me. I set my broom level and put one leg over it, then kicked up off the ground, smiling softly to myself as I rose into the air. I could see below me the few dozen acres of land we owned, our stables, and our lake.

I loved that lake. It always brought back such good memories. When I was younger, I used to spend my summers and days off in that lake. I played for hours in those waters. I even caught pneumonia a few times. Even those times never dampened my spirits about swimming. Even though I loved to swim, Flying was always my favorite thing to do. Nothing could even compare to the freedom of flying…

Looking down on the lake, I noticed the girl in the robes from before sitting on the edge of the lake on a rock that I liked to call my pondering stone. Feeling a small bit of intrusion onto my territory, I flew down and circled over her head.

"Hey! Girl! What do you think you're doing?!" I called out to her, probably a little more roughly than I meant to.

She looked up at me and widened her eyes, sliding off of my rock and bowing deeply. "Gomen nasai!" she said, not lifting her eyes to glance up at me. "…I…Ittekimasu~!"

I watched her as she slid off my rock and made an awkward run toward the house. I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes, following her on my broom. "Hey. I didn't say you had to go back inside. Dad gave you the day off, right?"

She stopped running and looked up at me, a bit of curiosity in her eyes. "…Nani desu ka…?" She said, cocking her head. She considered my words and calm tone and gave me a beautiful smile. "Hai… Wakatteru." She gave a small giggle and brushed some of her long hair from her smooth, flawless face, her actions forcing a small smile to my lips. "Are? Doushita no, Dureko-sama?"

I heard her speak my name and shrugged. "I'm fine." I doubt that she understood me, but she smiled all the same and gave a formal bow, making her way back to the mansion anyhow. I smiled after her and then flew toward my rock, landing on its rough, uneven surface and dismounting from my broom. I sat down on my familiar rock and set my broom on the ground, relishing in the heat of the mid-summer sun.

My satisfaction was short-lived, however as the dead silence of the day was broken and stepped on by my father's booming voice, no doubt heightened by a Sonorus spell. "DRACO SERAPH MALFOY!!" his voice bellowed, "INSIDE! NOW!!"

I swallowed hard and gave a shuddering breath as I slid down from my perch, making my way not-so-bravely toward the Manor.