Spinning Tales: House Spirit (Part Five)
It took me a while, a long while, but now I've finally finished the fifth and last part of House Spirit. Since this will probably be the last story in which Narcissa have a major role, I didn't want to rush it.
Series Title: Spinning Tales
Story Title: House Spirit (Part Five)
Author: Cousin Giry
Characters (in this part): Narcissa Malfoy, Dobby, Winky, Kreacher and one OFC
Rating: G
Warnings: AU after HBP. Small spoilers for OotP. Work in progress.
Summary: Narcissa Malfoy deals with her family's past as she tries to restore both nr. 12
Grimmauld Place and her family's reputation.
Author's note: This begins in december 1999 and ends at Christmas 2000. It's a good idea to
have read School's Out and Snape Family Values as well as the earlier parts of Spinning
Tales.
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JKR and I'm just playing around in it.
Spinner Tales: House spirit (Part Five)
One never quite forget the very first client or customer coming inside through the doors of
a new business. Years may pass, and one might end up delivering to the Queen herself; but
that first person who bought something from you, who might have wished you luck, or not have
said anything at all; that person will never be forgot.
Mrs. Malfoy's first guest was Mary Stoneford.
It was the very first day the hotel was open for business. Rita Skeeter's article had been
in the Daily prophet the day before, and now everyone in the building, from the House Elves
to Madam Malfoy herself were waiting for the first guests to arrive.
At ten o'clock in the morning the doorbell rang.
Narcissa, who had chosen to wear her third best robes that day, brushed away some
non-existent lint and opened the door.
Outside in the sun was a young woman with two giant Muggle-style suitcases and a broomstick.
She was tall and bony, with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. There was something
horsey over her long face and narrow nose. Not to mention the buck teeth.
'Hello', said the young woman, 'is this Mrs Malfoy's Hotel? My name is Mary Stoneford.'
'Yes, it is.' said Narcissa, 'please, come inside, Miss Stoneford.'
'Thanks. There's still room for me?'
'Oh, yes!' Narcissa said and showed her the different rooms and told her about the prices.
After a quick tour, Mary chose one of the cheap rooms on the third floor. She told
Narcissa that she was a clerk at the central archives of the Ministry of Magic. "Not the
Department of Mysteries, mind. You need special training to be allowed near the stuff there.
Not that it stops people from trying to getting inside anyways."
Narcissa merely nodded, thinking about Lucius. She received the rent in advance for the
first week, and left Mary to unpack her old, worn suitcases and settle down in her room.
Then, as Narcissa walked down the stairs, the doorbell rang again. She ran down to the door
and let in five more wizards and witches. She showed them the rooms and they moved in after
having paid for the first week.
At the end of that first week both the third and the second floors were full. It was just
the first floor, with the best rooms, that was empty. But Narcissa was happy anyway. To
think that there would be people in this house again, actually paying to live here, where
there had been so much grief and anger in the past, was an humbling and elating thought.
And there was, Narcissa knew, the little extra thrill the guests got from having the Lucius
Malfoy's widow serving as their hostess, instead of looking down her nose at them. But money
was money, and the guests were polite enough not to bring up her past status.
The house itself seemed to enjoy the young and the not-so-young people walking the stairs,
going to each others rooms to have a chat, sitting in the breakfast room in the mornings
and rushing to the floo to get to work on time.
As the weeks turned into months many of the guests asked to change the weekly rent to a
monthly one as it was more comfortable to live at the hotel rather than having to fend for
oneself in a rented flat.
Narcissa had agreed and changed the payment periods, but still always asked that the rent
should be paid in advance.
Cassie, the House Spirit, was doing her best looking for things that needed to be seen to
before they broke or got too dirty. She could be seen flitting up and down the stair,
flickering in and out of sight. The guests were mostly from pure-blood families and had
grown up with ghosts in their own homes. Later they had met the ghosts of Hogwarts so they
didn't lift an eyebrow when they met the translucent girl spirit for the first time.
Dobby worked with the general maintenance of the rooms, cleaning and making the beds, doing
the laundry and washing the windows. It was to him Cassie went when she spotted something
that needed to be fixed.
Winky was in charge of the food, from the breakfast buffet to the sandwiches that some of
the guests asked for to lunch and the evening supper. She also did the dishes. Narcissa
would come down after breakfast to help. After the first days, Winky had decided that she
was not too much in the way and let her dry the dishes and put them away.
Kreacher worked in the garden, using his magic and his tenacity in an endless battle
against the weeds, some of which were magical plants hybrids and therefore much more
inclined to put up a fight than the common ragwort or dandelion. Some of those magical
hybrids even went hunting for flies rather than just sitting around waiting like a Venus
flytrap.
Snape had come by on a quick visit while he was visiting his parents in Yorkshire. He had
been intrigued by the magical plants and had asked that Narcissa send some of them to a
colleague of his at the Academica Borealis in the magical town of Kungsgava in the Baltic.
****************
The first Christmas came and went without much fanfare. There was a goose of course, and a
plum pudding, and a Christmas tree, but that was all. No decked halls, no holly and ivy
garlands and no mistletoe.
Winky had made some suggestions that she could put up some in the parlour and the floo room,
but Narcissa had said no. She'd seen how hard the House Elf worked and didn't want to add
to her burden. Besides, there was the matter of the butterbeer bottles that Narcissa had
noted underneath the kitchen sink. She didn't want to give Winky any reasons to drink.
Draco had spent Christmas at Mrs. Malfoy's, but had to go back to work early on Boxing Day.
Narcissa had been equally busy with her hotel and had only put one of Winky's sandwiches
in his coat pocket as he Flooed to his flat, which was now, after many rounds of paperwork
finally hooked up to the Floo network.
It had helped that one of Narcissa's guests worked at that department and had helped Draco
fill out the correct forms.
The following year passed quickly, and before anyone was ready for it, it was Christmas-time
again.
****************
Most of the guests were going to spend the holidays with their families. But Mary Stoneford
and a couple of others were going stay at Mrs Malfoy's Hotel over Christmas. Narcissa
didn't ask them why, but decided that it was their own business.
'I will stay here over the holidays too', Narcissa told Mary, 'my son, Draco, will visit
me from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.'
'Draco Malfoy?' Mary said.
'Yes.'
'Oh...'
'If there is a problem...'
'Er... Oh no, no problem at all.'
Narcissa wondered what exactly Draco had done to this girl to cause such a reaction. Her
son had never returned to Hogwarts after his sixth year, when he had fled with professor
Snape after headmaster Dumbledore's death. And Mary was a bit older than that, at least
twenty-two years old. Draco was nineteen, soon twenty. There hadn't been much interaction
between the different age groups at Hogwarts. And Miss Stoneford had been in Hufflepuff
to boot.
'Well,' Mary said shyly, 'I saw him in the papers, when Mr. Malfoy's trial was, and I
thought that he was very cute. Even in Muggle clothes.'
'Oh.'
So that's it, Narcissa thought. Well, well.
'And I'm a half-blood.'
Oh, Narcissa thought.
'Well,' said Narcissa after a moment, 'my son have spent the last three years in the Muggle
world, as you sureley knows, and plans on staying there.'
That made Mary look a bit happier. The girl had no poker face at all, Narcissa observed, not
for the first time.
'Well,' said Mary, 'I'm staying because I'm the youngest and have to take the Christmas slot.'
'Christmas slot?'
'That's the on-call slot. Everyone have two weeks every year when they have to be on-call,
just in case someone tries to break in at night. See, I've got this wristwatch, and if the
wards are triggered, I'm to go there and investigate and call Security or Maintenance,
depending. Only the newest gets the holiday slots.'
Narcissa nodded. 'Is it a new development?' she asked.
'Yeah, since the debacle at Department of Mysteries.'
'About time.'
Mary nodded in agreement.
Narcissa excused herself and went to the kitchen to see if Winky would allow her to help
out with the Christmas fruit cakes. Mary, she thought, was not bad-looking. And the girl
worked for the Ministry, which could be either good or bad. But at the same time she was a
half-blood. That alone would probably make any anti-Malfoys pause. It was a faux pas these
days to discriminate against half-bloods too. And it would be hard for anyone to accuse
Draco of sympathizing with the Death Eaters. After all, he'd lived among the Muggles for
years now.
Then Narcissa caught herself. What am I thinking? She chided herself, trying to arrange a
marriage? No, no! Not she, not now, not ever. This was not her youth, not her life. Draco
and Mary would have to figure out for themselves if they liked each other or not. She would
not interfere. This was their lives. Their feelings.
Narcissa knew that she'd been lucky to love her husband, and to be loved back. Not all
arranged marriages had ended like that.
Winky handed Narcissa a bowl, with flour and rum-soaked dried fruits in it, and a wooden
spoon when she entered the kitchen.
'Missus Malfoy,' said Winky, 'mix this, please.'
With a content smile, Narcissa sat down at the kitchen table and proceeded to blend the
flour and the fruits carefully while Winky blended the milk and eggs in a different bowl.
No need to worry now, Narcissa decided. If Mary and Draco liked each other, well, that was
good. If they didn't, well, no doing anything about it. What happened, happened.
Series Title: Spinning Tales
Story Title: House Spirit (Part Five)
Author: Cousin Giry
Characters (in this part): Narcissa Malfoy, Dobby, Winky, Kreacher and one OFC
Rating: G
Warnings: AU after HBP. Small spoilers for OotP. Work in progress.
Summary: Narcissa Malfoy deals with her family's past as she tries to restore both nr. 12
Grimmauld Place and her family's reputation.
Author's note: This begins in december 1999 and ends at Christmas 2000. It's a good idea to
have read School's Out and Snape Family Values as well as the earlier parts of Spinning
Tales.
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JKR and I'm just playing around in it.
Spinner Tales: House spirit (Part Five)
One never quite forget the very first client or customer coming inside through the doors of
a new business. Years may pass, and one might end up delivering to the Queen herself; but
that first person who bought something from you, who might have wished you luck, or not have
said anything at all; that person will never be forgot.
Mrs. Malfoy's first guest was Mary Stoneford.
It was the very first day the hotel was open for business. Rita Skeeter's article had been
in the Daily prophet the day before, and now everyone in the building, from the House Elves
to Madam Malfoy herself were waiting for the first guests to arrive.
At ten o'clock in the morning the doorbell rang.
Narcissa, who had chosen to wear her third best robes that day, brushed away some
non-existent lint and opened the door.
Outside in the sun was a young woman with two giant Muggle-style suitcases and a broomstick.
She was tall and bony, with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. There was something
horsey over her long face and narrow nose. Not to mention the buck teeth.
'Hello', said the young woman, 'is this Mrs Malfoy's Hotel? My name is Mary Stoneford.'
'Yes, it is.' said Narcissa, 'please, come inside, Miss Stoneford.'
'Thanks. There's still room for me?'
'Oh, yes!' Narcissa said and showed her the different rooms and told her about the prices.
After a quick tour, Mary chose one of the cheap rooms on the third floor. She told
Narcissa that she was a clerk at the central archives of the Ministry of Magic. "Not the
Department of Mysteries, mind. You need special training to be allowed near the stuff there.
Not that it stops people from trying to getting inside anyways."
Narcissa merely nodded, thinking about Lucius. She received the rent in advance for the
first week, and left Mary to unpack her old, worn suitcases and settle down in her room.
Then, as Narcissa walked down the stairs, the doorbell rang again. She ran down to the door
and let in five more wizards and witches. She showed them the rooms and they moved in after
having paid for the first week.
At the end of that first week both the third and the second floors were full. It was just
the first floor, with the best rooms, that was empty. But Narcissa was happy anyway. To
think that there would be people in this house again, actually paying to live here, where
there had been so much grief and anger in the past, was an humbling and elating thought.
And there was, Narcissa knew, the little extra thrill the guests got from having the Lucius
Malfoy's widow serving as their hostess, instead of looking down her nose at them. But money
was money, and the guests were polite enough not to bring up her past status.
The house itself seemed to enjoy the young and the not-so-young people walking the stairs,
going to each others rooms to have a chat, sitting in the breakfast room in the mornings
and rushing to the floo to get to work on time.
As the weeks turned into months many of the guests asked to change the weekly rent to a
monthly one as it was more comfortable to live at the hotel rather than having to fend for
oneself in a rented flat.
Narcissa had agreed and changed the payment periods, but still always asked that the rent
should be paid in advance.
Cassie, the House Spirit, was doing her best looking for things that needed to be seen to
before they broke or got too dirty. She could be seen flitting up and down the stair,
flickering in and out of sight. The guests were mostly from pure-blood families and had
grown up with ghosts in their own homes. Later they had met the ghosts of Hogwarts so they
didn't lift an eyebrow when they met the translucent girl spirit for the first time.
Dobby worked with the general maintenance of the rooms, cleaning and making the beds, doing
the laundry and washing the windows. It was to him Cassie went when she spotted something
that needed to be fixed.
Winky was in charge of the food, from the breakfast buffet to the sandwiches that some of
the guests asked for to lunch and the evening supper. She also did the dishes. Narcissa
would come down after breakfast to help. After the first days, Winky had decided that she
was not too much in the way and let her dry the dishes and put them away.
Kreacher worked in the garden, using his magic and his tenacity in an endless battle
against the weeds, some of which were magical plants hybrids and therefore much more
inclined to put up a fight than the common ragwort or dandelion. Some of those magical
hybrids even went hunting for flies rather than just sitting around waiting like a Venus
flytrap.
Snape had come by on a quick visit while he was visiting his parents in Yorkshire. He had
been intrigued by the magical plants and had asked that Narcissa send some of them to a
colleague of his at the Academica Borealis in the magical town of Kungsgava in the Baltic.
****************
The first Christmas came and went without much fanfare. There was a goose of course, and a
plum pudding, and a Christmas tree, but that was all. No decked halls, no holly and ivy
garlands and no mistletoe.
Winky had made some suggestions that she could put up some in the parlour and the floo room,
but Narcissa had said no. She'd seen how hard the House Elf worked and didn't want to add
to her burden. Besides, there was the matter of the butterbeer bottles that Narcissa had
noted underneath the kitchen sink. She didn't want to give Winky any reasons to drink.
Draco had spent Christmas at Mrs. Malfoy's, but had to go back to work early on Boxing Day.
Narcissa had been equally busy with her hotel and had only put one of Winky's sandwiches
in his coat pocket as he Flooed to his flat, which was now, after many rounds of paperwork
finally hooked up to the Floo network.
It had helped that one of Narcissa's guests worked at that department and had helped Draco
fill out the correct forms.
The following year passed quickly, and before anyone was ready for it, it was Christmas-time
again.
****************
Most of the guests were going to spend the holidays with their families. But Mary Stoneford
and a couple of others were going stay at Mrs Malfoy's Hotel over Christmas. Narcissa
didn't ask them why, but decided that it was their own business.
'I will stay here over the holidays too', Narcissa told Mary, 'my son, Draco, will visit
me from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.'
'Draco Malfoy?' Mary said.
'Yes.'
'Oh...'
'If there is a problem...'
'Er... Oh no, no problem at all.'
Narcissa wondered what exactly Draco had done to this girl to cause such a reaction. Her
son had never returned to Hogwarts after his sixth year, when he had fled with professor
Snape after headmaster Dumbledore's death. And Mary was a bit older than that, at least
twenty-two years old. Draco was nineteen, soon twenty. There hadn't been much interaction
between the different age groups at Hogwarts. And Miss Stoneford had been in Hufflepuff
to boot.
'Well,' Mary said shyly, 'I saw him in the papers, when Mr. Malfoy's trial was, and I
thought that he was very cute. Even in Muggle clothes.'
'Oh.'
So that's it, Narcissa thought. Well, well.
'And I'm a half-blood.'
Oh, Narcissa thought.
'Well,' said Narcissa after a moment, 'my son have spent the last three years in the Muggle
world, as you sureley knows, and plans on staying there.'
That made Mary look a bit happier. The girl had no poker face at all, Narcissa observed, not
for the first time.
'Well,' said Mary, 'I'm staying because I'm the youngest and have to take the Christmas slot.'
'Christmas slot?'
'That's the on-call slot. Everyone have two weeks every year when they have to be on-call,
just in case someone tries to break in at night. See, I've got this wristwatch, and if the
wards are triggered, I'm to go there and investigate and call Security or Maintenance,
depending. Only the newest gets the holiday slots.'
Narcissa nodded. 'Is it a new development?' she asked.
'Yeah, since the debacle at Department of Mysteries.'
'About time.'
Mary nodded in agreement.
Narcissa excused herself and went to the kitchen to see if Winky would allow her to help
out with the Christmas fruit cakes. Mary, she thought, was not bad-looking. And the girl
worked for the Ministry, which could be either good or bad. But at the same time she was a
half-blood. That alone would probably make any anti-Malfoys pause. It was a faux pas these
days to discriminate against half-bloods too. And it would be hard for anyone to accuse
Draco of sympathizing with the Death Eaters. After all, he'd lived among the Muggles for
years now.
Then Narcissa caught herself. What am I thinking? She chided herself, trying to arrange a
marriage? No, no! Not she, not now, not ever. This was not her youth, not her life. Draco
and Mary would have to figure out for themselves if they liked each other or not. She would
not interfere. This was their lives. Their feelings.
Narcissa knew that she'd been lucky to love her husband, and to be loved back. Not all
arranged marriages had ended like that.
Winky handed Narcissa a bowl, with flour and rum-soaked dried fruits in it, and a wooden
spoon when she entered the kitchen.
'Missus Malfoy,' said Winky, 'mix this, please.'
With a content smile, Narcissa sat down at the kitchen table and proceeded to blend the
flour and the fruits carefully while Winky blended the milk and eggs in a different bowl.
No need to worry now, Narcissa decided. If Mary and Draco liked each other, well, that was
good. If they didn't, well, no doing anything about it. What happened, happened.