At the Malfoy dinner table
"I received an interesting letter from Holly Potter." Narcissa couldn't help but notice her son perk up just a bit at hearing the name of his classmate. He tries so hard to mask his feelings, just like his father. Knowing that he fancies her, the way that he had talked about her in his letters made that obvious, well, to a mother anyways. She was proud of her son being a gentleman, and not pursuing someone in a relationship. Narcissa pondered for just a moment Holly's grasp of pureblood politics, choosing the niece of the head of the DMLE as a girlfriend. Though she still lamented the fact that such a prize was unavailable for her son.

Lucius was more concerned with his meal. "Oh?"

"It seems she might be staying at Hogwarts over the summer?"

"Yes. Regina Abbott has been hosting her, but she has accepted a job with Gringotts. In Egypt, I believe." Lucius took a sip of his wine before continuing. "I believe more suitable arrangements are being explored."

"She can stay here!" Draco blurted out, and quickly turned red at his over enthusiasm. "I mean, if that's okay… can she?"

Narcissa was able to contain her laugh, but couldn't help but smile. "I see no issues with that. Hogwarts is no place for a child over the summer. Lucius?"

"As long as you're prepared to handle another child here. You know that the summer break is my busiest time of year, and I may have a few meetings with some of the other wizarding schools, so I might be away for a few weeks in total."

"Oh, I think I'll manage. I know it's short notice, but why don't we bring her over tomorrow. She can get a feel for the place, and then we can take her and Draco to Kings Cross Saturday morning."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Lucius set his fork down on the table and straightened his posture. "Dobby!"

Dobby popped into the room a few feet from where Lucius was sitting. "Master needs Dobby's services?" The elf asked, making sure to keep his eyes looking at the floor.

"Prepare one of the guest rooms for a visitor. She will be arriving tomorrow."

"The nicest one near Draco's room, Dobby." Narcissa added in.

"Dobby will have a room ready tonight." And with that the elf was gone.

Mrs. Abbott and Hannah were both very happy for me that the Malfoys had offered to take me in. Since it was already getting late and we didn't know when I would be heading to Malfoy Manor, Regina summoned Jorpey and asked him to follow me up to my room and help me pack. I set out a nice dress and a set of pumps with a one inch heel to change into in the morning, but everything else was packed and ready to go within just a few minutes.

It still amazed me that all of my belongings can be reduced to a single trunk and a book bag, even though both are enchanted to expand. I'm sure that without the enchantments I would need a small moving truck to transport everything. I do think that the trunk might be running out of space though. Maybe it's time to start purging some of my clothes. Some things are starting to get a little too tight. Of course, getting rid of clothes means I need to go shopping again.

Going to sleep was strange. Even when I've been at Hogwarts I've had at least a few things I've left here just to have them waiting for me when I come back. Now, the room is almost bare, making me feel alone for some reason. My mind wandered to thoughts of my mum. It's not the same, but I'll be staying with her sister, my aunt. I got up and went to my bag and pulled out the one picture of all three sisters. Soon I would be with family, real family. Not that vile family that I lived with, but real family.

Morning came all too suddenly. I was having a pleasant dream, something about a picnic when I was woken by a tapping at the window. I had been up half the night unable to sleep, and now I'm so tired I just wanted to go back to sleep. A glance at the clock showed 6:40, too early to get up, too early for anyone to want to get up. The incessant tapping on the window and the morning sun shining through the curtains made staying asleep rather difficult though. Resigned to waking up, addressing the taping at the window was next.

Groggily moving to the window, I was greeted by a cranky owl that bit my finger when I reached for the letter it carried. "Ow! Stupid bird." I said, as I jerked my hand back reflexively and put my finger in my mouth tasting blood, and watching as the letter fell to the floor. The owl gave a screech and if an owl could grin, I'm sure it was, then flew off before I could even retrieve the letter from the floor.

With my finger still in my mouth I bent down to retrieve the letter and banged my head on the ledge of the window sill, which caused me to drop the letter again as my left hand went to the back of my head.

"Bloody hell! I'm too tired for this!" I snatched the letter off the floor with the hand not holding my head and sat down on the bed. As I was opening the letter I realised I needed to pee, just one more thing to frustrate me this morning.

After emptying my bladder I went back to sit on the bed and read the letter. If I wasn't upset before reading the letter, I sure was after reading it because all it said was 'Do not trust the Malfoys'. I recognized the writing as an auto quill, but that did nothing to help narrow down who could have sent it. How many people even know I'm staying with the Malfoys?

My contemplation was interrupted by a knocking at the door. "Holly? Are you up?"

"Yes, Mrs. Abbott, but I'm not dressed yet."

"If you want some breakfast before it gets cold, it's on the table. The Malfoy's will be here at eight."

"Okay. Thank you. I'll be down in a minute."

It took me just a few minutes to dress, and I was on my way downstairs. "You're up earlier than normal." I said, as usually nobody was awake quite yet, but it seemed that Mrs. Abbott had been up for at least an hour judging by the papers scattered on the table.

"Egypt is two hours ahead of us. I'll have to get used to it eventually, and I had several correspondences arrive that needed attention. You're up early yourself."

"Yeah. I kinda had a restless night, then something weird happened this morning."

Mrs. Abbott had a look of curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"An owl was tapping on my window. It was a very grumpy owl, too. It bit my finger and flew off." I started placing food on my plate when I felt a pain shoot through me, starting at my hand but soon covering the rest of my body. I saw Mrs. Abbott jump out of her seat, then kind of run towards me, but sideways. I think I heard my name being called from somewhere.

Regina waited anxiously by the floo. It had only been twenty minutes, but twenty very long minutes, since she sent word of what happened to the Auror office and St Mungo's. A healer had already arrived, and was with Holly now, but she was still waiting for an Auror to arrive.

Seeing Amelia arrive through the floo followed by Rufus Scrimgeour put her at ease though. "Thank you both for coming."

"Of course. Holly is quite special to my niece, and to me as well. You remember Mr. Scrimgeour."

"Of course." Regina said as she reached out and shook the offered hand.

"How is she?" Amelia asked.

"A healer is with her now. I was able to counter whatever was affecting her, but I did give her a dreamless sleep potion. Whoever did it was very sloppy. Judging by the enchantments, she wasn't supposed to remember anything, but she told me an owl woke her up this morning. I think when she told me about the owl, her subconscious realised there was something missing and that is what triggered the collapse."

"And what was the intent?"

"It looks like a compulsion charm, but I don't know what the intent was. I used a rather broad counter curse on her right away. She started to stabilize almost immediately, but I removed all traces of the curse before I could do any probing."

"And what of the letter?" Asked Rufus.

"I'm assuming it was a letter. There was a small pile of ash on her bed when I got there. There were enough trace elements of the underlying enchantments for me to piece a few things together." Her eyes looked to the bed where Holly was lying. "I don't know why anyone would target her like this. She is such a sweet young girl." Regina's eyes started to water a bit.

"We will do whatever we can to find that out. Why don't we check on Holly while Mr. Scrimgeour takes a look at the ashes. Not that we don't trust your assessment, Regina, but I do want this done by the book."

"I understand. Her room is upstairs, the second door on the left."

Rufus gave a nod, then departed the room for the stairs while Regina and Amelia went into the sitting room to see Holly.