The lake's surface gleamed like polished glass, reflecting the dark silhouettes of the ancient trees that ringed its banks. A soft breeze carried the sweet scent of night-blooming flowers and fresh grass. A flock of pure-white swans glided across the water, their feathers glowing under the moonlight. The largest one—the flock's leader—paddled to the shore and waddled up to Estelle, long neck dipping in a graceful bow.
"Beautiful Estelle, we're so happy you came to see us on your birthday," the swan said in its fluting voice.
Estelle smiled despite the knot in her stomach. "Thank you, Dudu."
Dudu was the name she had given him months ago, and the swan puffed up proudly every time he heard it.
"Have you come looking for someone?" he asked.
Estelle tilted her head. "Didn't Mammon tell you? We were supposed to meet here by the lake."
"Oh… I thought maybe it had something to do with the little lady hiding behind you." Dudu's dark eyes flicked toward the bushes. "She looks familiar. Pansy, isn't it?"
Estelle's heart skipped. She spun around.
Sure enough, a flash of white fabric showed between the leaves. Pansy Parkinson, still in her formal white dress, had followed her.
The moment Pansy realised she'd been spotted, she burst out of the bushes, cheeks flushed crimson with rage.
"I saw you!" she shrieked. "You freak! You were talking to that bird!"
Estelle blinked, too startled to lie. "Yes… his name is Dudu."
"Miss Estelle!" Dudu cried, wings half-spreading. "I can feel her anger. Run! Leave this place!"
Estelle's pulse hammered. She had never been hated before. She turned to flee, but Pansy's fingers clamped around her arm like a vice.
"Don't you dare run, you little Belling monster!"
Pansy's face twisted into something ugly. "I'm telling Uncle Lucius exactly what I saw. Let's see how long you get to stay at Malfoy Manor after that!"
She yanked Estelle closer, nails digging in. "Draco is mine! You—get back to that dusty old ruin you crawled out of!"
Estelle winced, trying to pull free. "Let go… please—"
The more she struggled, the tighter Pansy gripped. Bruises bloomed instantly across Estelle's pale skin—ugly purple fingerprints.
Tears stung Estelle's eyes. "You're hurting me!"
"Good!" Pansy hissed, voice shrill. "I knew Draco first! Why should you be the one to marry him?"
Estelle's voice cracked. "I'm not his fiancée… he's my brother!"
Pansy laughed—a sharp, ugly sound. "Brother? Please. Don't you know what 'god-daughter' means in a pure-blood family? It means you're promised to him, you stupid little monster. An arranged marriage!"
Jealousy had twisted Pansy's face beyond recognition. All her life she had trained to be the perfect future Lady Malfoy—perfect posture, perfect curtsies, endless History of Magic lessons—because her parents had promised her Draco since she was tiny. And now this quiet, silver-haired nobody had stolen him?
Pansy's eyes burned as she glared at those big, tear-filled blue eyes. Something strange twisted in her chest for half a second… but rage won. She shoved Estelle hard.
The little girl stumbled backward over the uneven stones at the water's edge.
"Miss Estelle!" Dudu cried.
A blur of white wings—Dudu and three other swans launched forward, wings spread wide. They caught her just before she hit the icy water, their soft bodies cushioning the fall like a feathery mattress.
Estelle landed with a startled gasp, trembling.
"Stelle!"
Draco's voice cracked across the garden. He came sprinting down the path, face white, tailcoat flapping behind him. Blaise, Theodore, Daphne, and the others were right behind him, eyes wide.
Draco didn't slow down. He skidded to his knees beside the swans and pulled Estelle gently into his arms.
"Merlin… Stelle…" His voice shook when he saw the vicious bruises ringing her arm. "What happened?"
Before anyone could answer, a furious yowl split the air.
"MEOW!!!!"
A streak of misty-blue fur shot out of the shadows. Mammon—now in his smaller house-cat form—leapt straight at Pansy. One powerful paw connected with her forehead in a perfect feline smack.
Pansy's eyes crossed. "How is there a—?"
She crumpled to the grass like a dropped doll.
Mammon landed gracefully, licked his paw once in disgust, then trotted over to Estelle. Two glossy black berries—clearly the birthday gift he and Pegasus had prepared—still dangled from his mouth. He dropped them at her feet and rubbed frantically against her ankle, purring and meowing in distress.
Only then did Estelle seem to come back to herself. She reached down to stroke his head, but the movement pulled at the bruises and she hissed in pain.
Mammon nudged her leg gently, urging her to stay still.
"Stelle, I'm taking you to Mother and Father right now," Draco said, voice thick with unshed tears. Seeing his brave little sister biting her lip against the pain, lashes still sparkling with tears, broke something in his chest.
He scooped her up as carefully as if she were made of glass, cradling her against him while the others stared in stunned silence.
The party, the presents, the Nimbus broom—none of it mattered anymore.
All that mattered was getting Estelle somewhere safe.