Addonia woke feeling refreshed. She stretched and slid from beneath the warm sheets. She wrapped a lovely, heavy silk robe Narcissa had lent her around herself and placed walked out onto the small balcony outside her room and greeted the dawn. A pair of bluebirds circled around her for a few moments, singing to her before they flew off to their nest. She watched as the sun rose, dappling the sky with pink, purple, red, orange, yellow and bright blue. She began to shiver as the cold of the curse began to seep through the heavy silk of the robe and returned to the room she had been given by Lucius and Narcissa. She smiled as she saw Sirius, still in his animagus form, sprawled out on her bed

She dressed quietly, pulling on a set of pale blue robes and calf-height soft suede boots that had been dyed the same color. She ran a brush through her curls and turned to find Sirius' grey eyes on her. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth in the caricature of a doggy grin, making Addonia giggle. "Good morning, Lord Black," she said, laughter clear in her voice.

Sirius jumped from the bed, transitioning smoothly into his human self. "Good morning, Lady Addonia. Rest well?" he asked.

"How could I not, with such a valiant knight at my side keeping me warm?"

The "knight" in question just grinned. He stretched and bowed to Addonia. "If my lady will give me a few moments, I shall return dressed and ready to escort her to breakfast?"

Addonia smiled. "That sounds wonderful, my Lord. I await your return," she teased back. While he walked into his room to dress "appropriately" for a formal breakfast with the Malfoys, Addonia quickly washed her face, brushed her teeth and pulled her hair back out of her face with a quick spell that held it in place. A soft knock at the door alerted her to Sirius' presence. She opened the door to find him freshly showered, his hair still slightly damp and his beard freshly trimmed. He smelled of expensive cologne with a base of bergamot and lime and she admitted that it suited him.

He bowed low in a teasing manner. "My lady, I am here to escort you to breakfast," he said, holding his arm out to her. She laughed and took it, and they took the stairs and halls that led to the Malfoy family's breakfast room. It was less formal than the dining room from the night before. It was set up in the solarium, and the room was filled with sunlight and warmth from all the windows open to the sun. Many lovely plants filled the room, scenting it with exotic flowers and hints of spice.

They were quickly joined by Narcissa, Lucius and Draco. "Astoria is bringing Scorpius, she was just finishing feeding him," Draco explained. Addonia smiled, pleased that the baby would be joining them. "Good morning, Lucius, Narcissa, Draco," she said, nodding politely to them. Draco and Lucius bowed their heads, and Narcissa curtsied before she sat down in the chair that Lucius held out for her.

As if reminded of his manners, Sirius held Addonia's chair out for her as well, before sitting beside her. Astoria quickly joined them, sitting baby Scorpius in a high chair beside her own. The baby cooed, giggled and waved at Addonia. She smiled at him and with a wave of her hand, had a menagerie of miniature magical animals playing around on the table in front of him. A tiny manticore reared back and roared, sending the blonde child into paroxysms of giggles.

Draco held his wife's chair out for her before sitting himself and once all were seated at the table, food appeared on the table, and each of them began filling their plates. Narcissa began polite conversation, asking how each of them had slept. Draco and Lucius looked at each other and nodded. "It was the first night in years beyond counting that I slept without nightmares," Draco spoke softly. Lucius nodded, adding in, "Myself as well, no nightmares, no horrible memories, only blessed, dreamless sleep without having to resort to Dreamless Sleep draught."

"What plans do you have for the day, my lady?" asked Astoria, handing Scorpius a small piece of buttered toast.

"At noon, I will require your help, Lucius. Narcissa and Sirius are welcome to join us, but I require someone whose blood is tied to the land. Together, we will perform a cleansing spell that will eat away the curse that Tom Riddle's presence tied to this land during his reign as Voldemort. And then I will create protections to place at the four corners of the land so that they may never again be infected with such evil. Since your blood is tied to the land, Lucius, I will draw on that." Addonia said softly.

Lucius nodded, his eyes lighting at the thought of washing away Voldemort's presence for once and all from his land. It was like finally being able to wash after a week of no bathing. He'd done research for years trying to find a way to release his land from Voldemort's insidious poisoning. But there was nothing, in all the books he and several other families, light and dark, owned that had an answer.

"My lady, you do realize that there will be others who will ask for your gift in removing their marks? If for no other reason than to make their families appear better in society?" he asked.

"Oh, I am quite certain of it, Lord Malfoy. But they forget that I am not human. I will see into their hearts, Lucius. If there is truly no sorrow, no appeal in their heart and soul for redemption, it will not be granted. Money, power and influence are strong reasons to join with a madman. As is protection for those you love and your way of life. Your father joined for the first reasons, but you, Lucius, you joined because your father forced it upon you, telling you that it was the only way to protect the ways that you had been told all your life were the only way for a wizard to live. Later it was to protect Narcissa and Draco. That is why when I looked into your heart and saw that you were redeemable, I granted you such a gift." Addonia explained. "And now I will cleanse your family of the stain of him."

"Thank you, my Lady. The service you do us...is so far beyond any hope we have had in many, many years," Lucius said, his voice thick with emotion he was trying to push back and hide. But Addonia was not the only one at the table who caught the shimmer of tears flowing down his cheeks before he stood with a quick, "Excuse me," as he fled the table. Narcissa also stood, her head held high for the first time in many years. "Please excuse us, my Lady," she said swiftly, following her husband. Addonia nodded, a smile on her face.

At just that moment, Scorpius let out a happy cry and caught their attention, especially Addonia's, who had always loved children. She watched him as he stuffed bits of toast in his mouth and his eyes followed a small hippogryph that was chasing a small pegasus around above his head. Sirius couldn't help but smile, remembering that Draco, as a boy, had been attacked by a hippogryph for being rude to it. He'd told Lucius that the beast had attacked him and had gotten the animal, Buckbeak, a death sentence. But thanks to Harry and Hermione Granger, Buckbeak was the way that Sirius had gotten away from Hogwarts and his own death sentence at the hands of Dementors. And Draco had earned himself a punch in the nose from Hermione Granger. A quick glance at Draco's face made Sirius think that Draco was remembering that punch as well.

They were almost finished eating when Lucius and Narcissa returned, both looking much relieved. "If my Lady would like, we can retire to the yellow parlor and speak about the ball in the Lady's honor?"

"That would be lovely, Narcissa." Addonia said and before she could stand, Sirius was there, pulling her chair back and arm out to steady her. She smiled at him and allowed him to escort her to Narcissa's beautifully decorated parlor. It was done in shades of ivory and palest gold and Addonia was quite fond of the pattern of butterflies on the silk wallpaper. Even little Scorpius joined them instead of being led away to the nursery. He sat at Astoria's feet and played with a small wooden articulated doll. Addonia smiled and sent a small swish of magic at the toy and suddenly it began to dance and twirl, marching along the floor before dancing back to the baby. Scorpius laughing and cooed, making everyone in the room smile.

"Children, Narcissa," she said to the older woman.

"I beg your pardon, my Lady?" Narcissa asked.

"You were going to ask if there were any I wished to have invited to your ball. Children. As many as you and your friends know. Not just Purebloods. All children, from the Twenty-Eight families down to the muggleborn just into Hogwarts and toddlers and infants. I know that many have never heard of me. It is time to put down storybooks about me as just a fairy tale. I am real and intend to make myself known." Addonia said, her eyes glowing bright amethyst.