Chapter 1

"Draco, are you prepared to complete this task?" Voldemort asked the 17 year old boy. The other Deatheaters stood around the two anxiously awaiting Draco's response.

Draco stood quietly in the dining room of his families manor. His eyes shifted around at the masked individuals standing around him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as his gaze fell upon Voldemort who was now standing in front of him. His cold eyes were staring into Draco's waiting for his response. Draco took a deep breath and looked to his mother who stood quietly across the room. Her hands were clasped together tightly as she was slowly nodding her head at him. His father who stood next to her stared back at him blankly.

"Yes, my Lord. I am prepared for this assignment," he replied with his voice quivering. Voldemort's thin lips curled back into a grin over his slightly pointed teeth.

"Excellent choice my boy. Let it be known to all that young Draco Malfoy is going to protect what could be considered my most valuable horcrux. He is to be married to what some would consider to be my daughter," Voldemort announced to the crowd as he hoisted his arms above his head. The on looking Deatheaters erupted in applause and Draco swallowed hard.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Draco thought as he forced himself to hold back tears.

Meanwhile at the Helms Spring Orphanarium…

"Aeris! Aeris Lotus get down here this instant!" Miss Brigham, the caretaker of the Orphanarium, yelled up the old, rotting staircase.

"I'm coming Miss Brigham!" Aeris yelled back from her bedroom. The 16 year old

girl closed the book that she had been reading and stood up from her bed.

She combed her slender fingers through her long golden hair and exited the room. She walked slowly down the poorly lit hallway examining the interior of her current residence. The wallpaper had been peeling off of the walls in numerous areas exposing chipped, red bricks behind it as the lights overhead flickered rapidly. When she had come close to the top of the staircase she frowned at the person she saw smirking back at her.

"Going somewhere, Air-head?" Chloe Match, another girl residing at the Orphanarium, teased while pointing a finger at Aeris as she climbed the stairs. Aeris sighed sadly.

"Come on Chloe, let me by," Aeris pleaded, pushing past her rude roommate. When she finally placed her foot on the top stair Chloe extended her arm quickly, pushing Aeris forward.

Aeris felt her heart jump as her foot slid off of the top stair. Her legs tangled together and she fell forward onto the stairs, tumbling the entire way down them. At the end of the staircase Aeris hit her head on the dingy, tile floor with great force. Her vision went black and she quickly grabbed her head with both of her hands.

"Aeris, there you are! Get up off that floor and get to work," an un-concerned Miss Brigham said while throwing a damp, stained rag at the injured girl. Aeris' vision started to clear and she slowly picked herself up off the cold floor.

"Miss Brigham, Chloe pushed me down the stairs again," Aeris complained while peeling the damp rag from her bare leg where it was stuck. She didn't receive the compassion she had hoped for.

"I'm getting tired of your lies, Aeris. That is the exact reason that you have been here for nearly 16 years, you know. Nobody would adopt a filthy little liar like yourself. Now do something productive and get cleaning," Brigham replied snottily. Aeris sighed as she made her way into the kitchen.

Malfoy Manor

"I can't believe that you are going to get married, and to the Dark Lord's daughter at that!" Gregory Goyle said in disbelief as he leaned back against Draco's black couch in his bedroom. Draco sighed while staring out of his large bedroom window.

"Neither can I Goyle. I didn't know what to do to be honest with you. It's not like you can say no to him. I mean, what if she looks like him? How am I supposed to be married to a female version of him?" Draco complained. Goyle shrugged.

"Draco dear, I need to speak with you," Narcissa Malfoy said upon entering the room. Draco turned to face his mother.

"Yes, what is it mother?" he asked her. She smiled sadly at her son.

"I'm so proud of your decision to marry our Lord's daughter. You truly are becoming a man. Now, tomorrow night I will be leaving with your aunt Bellatrix to retrieve your bride from America. I need you to stay with the Goyle's tomorrow night. Your bride has been forced to reside in….unsuitable conditions so I will spend the night cleaning her up and explaining the arrangement to her," Narcissa explained. Draco scoffed before slowly nodding.

"Does she know of her father at all?" he asked. His mother shook her head from side to side.

"I can only hope that she isn't a terror to work with. I haven't seen her since Bellatrix and I dropped her off at that orphanage nearly sixteen years ago," Narcissa told him. Draco remained silent.

"If anyone can turn a foul creature into a lady it's you Mrs. Malfoy," Goyle told her. Narcissa smiled at the boy.

"Thank you Gregory. Now, enjoy yourselves boys," she said before shutting the door after exiting the room.

Draco turned back around and placed his palms flat down on his window sill. The sky was cloudy today with a hazy gray fog rolling in around the manor. He smirked at how well the weather resembled his own feelings at the moment. He lifted one of his pale hands and slowly ran it through his shaggy hair while sighing to himself.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Draco. Things could be a lot worse," Goyle told him noticing his guarded stance. Draco scoffed.

"You mean like telling Pansy that I'm engaged to be married to a woman I haven't even met?" Draco asked over his shoulder. Goyle frowned.

"Oh yeah, that does sound worse," he admitted. Draco scoffed again before shaking his head slowly.

"You know, there really is no need for me to tell her about this yet, right? I mean I'm not getting married for some time, so it's not like it's top priority for me to tell Pansy right this instant," Draco said trying to convince himself that he was right.

"Yeah, you don't need to tell her. Heck, maybe this new girl won't even want to marry you," Goyle said. Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"Get real Goyle. I'm positive that she won't be objective to marrying the likes of me. I mean, I am Draco Malfoy after all," he boasted. Goyle smirked before laughing slightly.

"True," he replied.

"Want to go and torture the house elves? That always makes me feel better," Draco asked. Goyle nodded and the two left the bedroom.

Helms Spring Orphanarium

Aeris angrily scrubbed the porcelain plate that she was holding with her damp rag before placing it on the nearby dish rack to allow it to air dry. She submerged her hands into the dark, soapy dishwater within the kitchen sink in search of another dish to wash. She winced when she ran her palm across a sharp object and pulled her hands from the water quickly.

Water ran down her arms, dripping off of her elbows and onto the floor as she held her injured hand with its opposite. She stared down at her newly sliced palm as a small line of blood started to form. She contemplated placing her hand back into the water to remove the blood from the open wound, but decided against the idea in order to avoid what would be an inevitable infection.

"Here, take this," Melissa, a younger orphan, said. Aeris turned toward her to see that she had been offering her a dry, slightly stained dish towel.

"Thanks," she replied while taking the dish towel from her. Melissa nodded before returning to her own chore, which was mopping the floor.

Aeris wrapped the towel around her hand and tied it into a knot. Her eyes shifted back to Melissa. Aeris was familiar with the eight year old girl, but they definitely weren't what anyone would consider friends. As she watched Melissa pushing and pulling the mop with a splintered-handle she couldn't help but recall the day that Melissa arrived.

Melissa was brought to Helms Spring by a rather stocky man with salt and pepper hair nearly two years ago. Her bright red hair was a lot shorter then and her now clear blue eyes were shadowed by puffy red bags below them. Aeris never asked Melissa about how or why she ended up in the Orphanarium but instead she simply assumed that the rumors that had circulated through the home were correct.

It was said that Melissa came from a household where her alcoholic father abused her frequently. Nobody was positive about the severity of abuse that the young girl endured and nobody really wanted to know. According to the ongoing rumor about the young girl, her father was taken into custody by the police and none of Melissa's relatives wanted to take her in, so the court placed her in foster care.

"You should really wear gloves when you're on dish duty," Melissa said without looking away from her mop. Aeris snapped out of her thoughts.

"You're probably right," Aeris admitted, slightly shocked that she was even speaking to her. Melissa wasn't the kind of child to make eye contact, let alone conversation.

"I saw Chloe push you," she admitted.

"You did?" Aeris asked her as she stared at the small girls back.

"Yes," Melissa simply replied.

Aeris wasn't exactly sure of what to say next. Not that it mattered considering Melissa gathered her mop and bucket and exited the kitchen without a proper end to the conversation. Aeris sighed to herself before returning to her dishes.

She smiled to herself when she realized that there was just one last knife to clean before her chore was complete. She quickly cleaned the knife and placed it on the drying rack before pulling the drain stop out of the sink. She wiped her damp hands on her jean shorts and exited the kitchen area. She took a deep breath before entering the office of Miss Brigham. She found her sitting behind her large wooden desk, scribbling away on a piece of paper.

"I'm sorry to bother you Miss Brigham, but I have finished my chore," Aeris calmly told her as she waited patiently for a response. Miss Brigham's cold green eyes looked up at her.

"You're not sorry, so don't lie and say that you are. Honestly Aeris, you have been here long enough to learn that I do not want to be bothered with your nonsense," she shot back at the young girl. Aeris exhaled, slightly upset.

"Look at you. Your hair is filthy, you're posture is atrocious and you're nothing but skin and bones," Miss Brigham pointed out. Aeris rubbed her arm with her hand, trying to ignore the rude comments.

"What is that on your dirty little hand?" she asked standing up from her wooden chair, the legs screeching across the tile floor. Aeris looked down at the dish towel that was covering her injured hand.

"I accidentally cut myself," Aeris explained. Miss Brigham walked over to the girl, her round hips swaying from side to side as she did so.

Her eyes were narrowed at Aeris as she walked around her in a perfect circle. Aeris did her best to avoid making eye contact with her so called care taker. Miss Brigham placed a hand to her chin and remained silent for a few moments. Aeris winced as Miss Brigham's pudgy hand crossed the side of her face quickly. She held her small hand over her cheek as she kept her face turned away from Miss Brigham.

"Don't you ever ruin one of my dish towels again. I expect you to burn that one this instant. It's no wonder that we can't have nice things around here," Miss Brigham disgustedly told her. Aeris furrowed her eyebrows together before dropping her hand from her face.

"Yes, Miss Brigham," she replied as she untied the dishtowel. Her hand was still slightly bleeding as she unhappily threw the towel into the nearby fireplace.

"Looking at you is making me sick, get out of my sight," Miss Brigham said waving her off with the back of her hand. Aeris exited the room quietly.

"Please, come for me. Please," Aeris whispered to herself as tears filled her eyes while she climbed the rickety staircase. She avoided touching anything as she made her way down the second floor hallway and into her bedroom.

She was relieved to see that Chloe was not present in the room and she quickly threw herself onto her thin mattress. She gripped her hair in her hands as she curled up into a ball and started to cry. Her hot tears collided with her cold cheeks and her throat burned as she wished her parents would come for her.

Aeris didn't have a similar story like the other orphans in the Orphanarium. She had been dropped off when she was still a baby by a woman that she couldn't remember. Miss Brigham informed her when she turned five years old that she, unlike most of the other girls, actually had parents that wanted her. She never received an explanation on why she was living in the Orphanarium, but Miss Brigham told her that her father intended to come back for her when the time was right.

Aeris hoped and prayed every single day and night that her father would return for her and rescue her from this terrible place. Lately she had started to think that her father had forgotten about her and that she was going to be stuck with these horrible people forever. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter as she tried her hardest to remember the woman who had left her in this place.

"Please, dad please just come for me," she cried into her tattered mattress. She buried her face into the material when Chloe entered the room.

"Hey Aeris! There's a man downstairs talking to Miss Brigham," Chloe excitedly told her. Aeris peeked up from her mattress at her.

"So what?" she replied with a sniffle.

"I heard him say that he is your father and he's come to get you!" Chloe told her. Aeris shot up from her bed.

"My father? You mean, he's actually here?" Aeris happily said as she climbed off her mattress and ran to the open bedroom door. Chloe smirked at her.

"No, I was just lying to you so you would get out of here," Chloe told her before pushing her into the hallway. Before Aeris could get back into the room, Chloe slammed the door closed and placed her weight against it so Aeris couldn't get back in.

After banging on the door for nearly three minutes and trying to shove it open with her shoulder, Aeris fell to the floor. She pushed her wrists into her eyes as tears filled them once again. Her malnourished body trembled as she sat in the dark hallway alone and crying.

A/N: Hello all! So this is a new story I've been working on and I hope you enjoy it. I'm sure this type of story-line has been done before, but I figured why not give it a go? Plus I needed something to work on to keep me sane during finals week ;]. This chapter was pretty slow, but I promise it was necessary. Also, excuse my love of unordinary first names for my OC's (I come from a family of untraditional first names). There is a photo of Aeris on my profile page. Well, hope you are interested! Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters/places belong to J.K. Rowling.