*  *  *

THE MALFOY MANOR was deafeningly silent, as it usually was during that time of morning. On that particular morning however, the soft clatter of utensils against ceramic plates rang through the dining hall.

Valerie Grindelwald slowly looked up from her meal to see the three Malfoys, anxiety coursing through her when she noticed how quiet they all were. Lucius was deep in thought as he stared blankly at the wall, Narcissa was eating in small portions with grace, and Draco was picking at his food. Meanwhile, Valerie seemed to be the only one enjoying the delectable cooking. It would have been the best meal she'd ever had, if she didn't feel so guilty about her eagerness to consume it.

"Dobby," Lucius suddenly called, garnering the attention of everyone at the table as he spoke to him, "Get Miss Grindelwald our finest cup of tea."

"Oh," Valerie cleared her throat, uncertainty in her voice as she sat up straighter, "Thank you, sir."

Lucius nodded curtly, before turning to his son, "Draco, have you finished your studying?"

"Yes, father," he answered.

Valerie watched the exchange between the two as Lucius fired questions at the boy, who answered them correctly so far. She had no idea what they were even talking about. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, why was he studying?

"Tell me about the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards."

History of Magic was the absolute worst. She couldn't remember a single time where she hadn't dozed off in that class, so she could barely imagine willingly studying it over the summer.

"It was a European wizarding organisation, with some relation to the International Warlock Convention of..." Draco trailed off, forgetting the exact year.

Lucius sneered, as if he had known this would happen, "Witless boy."

"I don't even know what you two are discussing," Valerie spoke up, "It's quite brilliant how he even tries to study over the summer, don't you think?"

There was a challenging fire in her ice blue eyes as she stared at Lucius Malfoy, a man she had grown to despise more than anyone in the past few hours.

"Perfection is brilliant. Simply trying is nothing," the man told her calmly, before turning to Dobby, "What is this?"

Lucius angrily swiped the cup out of the house elf's shaky hands, "You call this tea? Must I do everything in this household?" He then proceeded to stand up, walking off to prepare it himself.

Valerie glanced at Draco, who had gone back to picking at his food with a scowl on his face. The Malfoy Manor served as a prison to its very own residents.

Before she could say another word, an intricately designed teacup was slid across her plate, "Our signature herbal tea."

Valerie muttered a quick 'thank you' under her breath, before raising the cup and taking a sip. It tasted of a honey-sweet chamomile.

"How is it?" Lucius asked, earning a simple thumbs up from the girl.

Several silent minutes later, the Malfoys and their guest had gone out to board their carriage, their port of call being Diagon Alley.

* * *

This was not Diagon Alley, or at least, not the one Valerie had come to know. No, this place was darker, with narrow passageways and a sinister tenor. She followed Lucius and Narcissa deeper into the area, trying to ignore the ominous stares of passersby.

"Where are we?" she whispered to the boy beside her, who seemed unfazed by it all.

Draco suddenly tossed Valerie's hood over her head, "Keep your hood up, and shut it."

Valerie rolled her eyes at his reply but did as told, knowing she could easily be recognised, and that would not be a smooth encounter.

They made various sharp turns, and as they walked Valerie took note of the shops that lined the alleyways, selling all kinds of dark objects. Lucius seemed to have reached his destination, motioning for them to follow him as he pushed the door open. 'Borgin and Burkes,' she read.

"Valerie?"

"Theo?" She turned around to see the gravelled face of Theodore Cantankerus Nott. Before she knew it, his arms were thrown around her shoulders.

The sandy-haired boy then pulled away, his gaze then shifting to Draco, "What are you doing with this skunk?"

Draco fumed at Theodore's words, there might have well been smoke blowing out of his ears. Valerie stifled a laugh, "If you read my letter you'd know."

"You just asked me if I was invited, I didn't know what you meant," Theodore explained, before linking his arm with hers, "C'mon, my family had been dying to meet you."

Valerie mouthed a quick 'see you later' to Draco, as his carriage was her ride home.

Being dragged swiftly through the crowds, she couldn't help but notice how comfortable Theodore was as he weaved his way around, "Why do you know this place so well?"

"Let's just say, Knockturn Alley is my family's favourite shopping site," Theodore told her. His eyes then lit up at the sight of a wizard clad in dark colours, standing beside a young girl, "Dad, this is Valerie."

Theodore's father was older than most, but Valerie could see the similarities, his greying hair had the slightest shade of sandy-brown, and his stance was perfectly confident. But, the man lacked a smile. She'd been told that Theodore got his grin from his mother, who had died a couple years back, and his father hadn't smiled since, at least not genuinely.

"I've heard a lot about you," The man greeted as Valerie raised her hand to shake his.

"Theodore speaks fondly of you, sir," Valerie said back, watching as Mr. Nott raised his eyebrows.

"Has he?" he eyed his son, before motioning to the child beside him, "You know my youngest, I presume?"

"I'm Anastasia," the girl smiled. Some would say it was as if someone had simply slapped a wig on Theodore's head and changed his name, but Valerie thought she was far too beautiful to be just that. No offence, Theodore.

"I'm Valerie, it's so nice to finally meet you."

Anastasia then leaned slightly forward, cupping her hands around her mouth, "I heard you live in a castle."

Valerie shrugged, "Castle, prison, what's the difference, really?"

"I like you," Anastasia snickered at that, "You know, I'm a princess in my own right."

"Sure," Theodore spoke, turning to Valerie and swirling his index finger by the side of his head, whispering 'crazy.'

Anastasia glared at her brother, roughly shoving him forward. The boy dramatically winced, muttering a string of incoherent words under his breath.

"You're coming to Hogwarts this year?" Valerie asked Anastasia, grinning when she nodded, "Brilliant."

Theodore narrowed his eyes at the two, about to retort when the loud flash of a camera went off.

"Well, what do you know, Valerie Grindelwald in Knockturn Alley? This will make the front page," the wizard jeered.

"Wait, please—" Valerie ran after him, only to be left in the dust when the photographer fled away without another word, "Great."

* * *

Valerie and Theodore were walking through the streets of Diagon Alley, moving from shop to shop to pick up their school supplies, helping Anastasia with hers as well. Mr. Nott had decided to stay in Knockturn, for reasons Valerie didn't want to find out.

"No one reads the paper anyway."

Theodore could tell that the confrontation earlier was bothering Valerie, and he was trying to cheer her up. His attempt failed when a woman walked by holding a copy of The Daily Prophet in her hands.

"No one important, anyway," he waved it off, before pointing to the bookshop across the street, "Hey, let's get our books."

Flourish and Blotts was packed with a concerning majority of middle-aged women, due to the presence of the renowned Gilderoy Lockhart. Valerie had read one of his autobiographies, finding it a little too incredible, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"I thought your family could sink no lower."

Her stare shifted to the scene right in front of the entrance, hearing the hostile voice. Lucius Malfoy stood in front of Arthur Weasley and his family, joined by Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. The man seemed to notice eyes on him.

"We leave in two hours," Lucius informed her, causing everyone to turn to the young Grindelwald. Valerie nodded in reply, suddenly finding her shoes exquisitely interesting as she gawked at the ground.

"See you at school," Draco raised his eyebrows at Harry and the Weasleys, before looking at Valerie, "I'll find you later."

Everyone was disoriented for a good few seconds, before Valerie took a few cautious steps toward the others.

"Hey," she waved weakly at Harry, who beamed at her. The two shared a brief hug, trying to ignore the undeniable awkwardness.

What do you say to a girl who left you hanging on the train station?

What do you say to a boy who never replied to your letter?

"So," Harry cleared his throat, "Have you gotten your books yet?"

"Er— no, actually we were just going to," she replied, motioning to Theodore and Anastasia.

Harry nodded, acknowledging Theodore who gave him a quick salute. He then pointed at his two friends beside him, "By the way, I wanted you to meet Ron and Hermione, you know, formally."

"Yeah, of course," Valerie held out her hand for Ron to shake, "Valerie Grindelwald."

"I know," Ron answered, drawing his hand back instead of taking hers. Valerie pursed her lips, asking why she even bothered to try.

"Hermione Granger," the bushy-haired girl shook her hand instead, "I believe we met during the Sorting Ceremony."

Valerie let out a low breath, cringing at the memory, "You still remember that?"

"Distinctly."

Valerie laughed nervously at Hermione's reply, not knowing how she would ever make it up to her.

"This is Fred, George, Percy, Ginny, and Mister Weasley," Harry introduced as Valerie smiled at each of them.

Fred Weasley was the first to stride toward her, glancing at her outstretched hand before looking up, "Do I need gloves, or am I safe?"

Valerie tilted her head at the joking boy, before letting a few flames flicker from her hand. Everyone staggered backwards as Fred's eyes went wide, but not with fear as she'd expected. It was with wonder.

"Excellent," the twins chorused.

Knowing she'd probably scared the rest of the group, Valerie exchanged alarmed looks with Theodore who gave her an encouraging nod.

"Harry," she tapped him lightly on the shoulder, "There's this ice cream parlour a few shops down, are you up for a birthday treat?"