"You're my weakness."

"Is it really going to be okay?"

"Yes, why wouldn't it be?"

"I've heard what you've said. About him. I might only be eleven, but I'm not dumb."

"No one ever said you were Ekko. But I don't want you to worry, your sister is going to be there and she's going to look out for you."

"Sister? Oh, one of his other children?"

"Yes, Damitrius. She's my good friend, and was a housemate while she was at Hogwarts."

The eleven year old's eyes seemed to brighten at the mention of the school that would be her home for the next seven years, once summer ended. The older girl that accompanied her, Anabelle Mulciber, could not hide the smile that formed on her lips at Ekko's reaction. Hogwarts had been her escape from the family who didn't want her and while she still had to see her siblings every now and then, she was able to surround herself with other students to keep her sanity intact.

She hoped Ekko would find herself great friends once she began her time at Hogwarts.

"Will my name have to change?" Ekko suddenly inquired, brown eyes looking up at the older girl. Hit bit her lip, wondering if her response would make her happy or sad, or anything in between. The Mulciber girl slowly nodded, assuming it would be enough for Ekko. "Oh. I guess that's okay." Relief washed over the Gryffindor, glad that she wouldn't have to console a weeping eleven year old just before handing her over to the father she never knew she had.

There were two reasons why Hit had volunteered so eagerly to bring Ekko to her father. One, she wanted to be sure that Ekko was comfortable when meeting her father and new sister. And two, she wanted to be sure to get the chance to talk to Damitrius before leaving once they had all met. It was probably in her best interest to stay away from the affair, given how her family would most likely be around D'Eath Manor, especially Walter. But she wanted to be there for Ekko, no matter what.

"Alright, we're here." Hit swallowed hard, nervousness starting to show. She allowed Ekko to knock on the door of the D'Eath's home after a quick glance at one another.

The door opened shortly, a house elf staring up at them, not speaking. Hit was about to speak to the elf when Damitrius appeared. "Dami." Her gaze lifted to the woman standing before her.

"Hit, hi." Damitrius sounded a bit out of breath. "And this is Ekko, I presume?" She glanced down at her new, younger sister, before looking back up at Hit. Ekko had moved back, behind Hit when Damitrius appeared and only slightly nodded when the other D'Eath asked her question. Ekko felt Hit's hand fall on her back, to comfort, and she stepped out from behind the older girl. "Hello Ekko, it's nice to finally meet you." Damitrius held her hand out to the younger D'Eath and Ekko took it slowly.

Once they released hands, Damitrius stood up straight. "I'll go get my father, then."

"Thank you Dami."

Lorcan wasn't usually home at this time of day because he didn't generally embrace bright, cheery sunshine. It didn't agree with him. He preferred to be at Slugs and Jiggers by now, shuttered away in the potions lab there, but he did not trust Lupin to deliver the child. And Lorcan was not about to let anyone else have anything that rightfully belonged to the D'Eath family instead--more specifically, anything that was Lorcan's.

Zada had, as usual, not been moved by the announcement of another one of Lorcan's illegitimate offspring, and that pleased Lorcan. He did not want her either causing the child to spread horror stories around the school this fall that she was being ill treated. Nor did he want her ruined with excessive fawning, not that Zada would have the slightest clue how to do fawning of any sort anyway.

When it came down to it, Lorcan was a significantly better father--or was becoming so--than Zada would ever be a mother. Lorcan had been driven nigh onto madness throughout Zada's one pregnancy with Zada's constant complaints about everything--most especially about how she thought the whole process "deformed" her. While Lorcan had no objection to procreating, he did not want to procreate again with Zada particularly, not unless he could slip her a potion that would let her sleep, like the muggle's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty and then wake up when it was all over.

Little Xavier D'Eath was now three, and the boy seemed to take more after Lorcan than Zada, at least in his dislike of sunshine and his preference of rare beef. The toddler looked odd, though. Clearly, Lorcan needed a way to split the gene pool more effectively next time. Xavier had his dark hair, and the lightest icy blue eyes Lorcan had ever seen. That had to be some oddness in Zada's side of the family No D'Eath had ever looked like that. Xavier was going to look weird in family portraits.

He sighed, needing to redirect himself back to his work on the budget for Slugs and Jiggers when he was interrupted by Damitrius that Eleanor had arrived. Lorcan got up and went out towards the foyer, estimating the girl would be accustomed to some other lifestyle, something below her station. He did not expect her to understand or appreciate the finery of the D'eath family gothic mansion. Lorcan had worked tirelessly to restore to its former glory after it had been plundered and pillaged, first by Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, with their preferences for ridiculousness, and then by the careless nitwits that Voldemort had let into the place during the war. Clearly they'd been running out of cash before Lorcan had rescued the place.

Lorcan had restored the dark woodwork and parquet floors. He'd had the stained glass repaired, and he'd sought the world over for the precise furniture pieces, lighting, and artwork to make the place again the commanding palace the Death Eaters deserved.

"Master, the girl--she's here!" his house elf said, excitedly as Lorcan stepped out into the hall.

"I take it you've seen to her room?"

"Yes, Master," the elf nodded emphatically.

"And her clothing was sent?"

"Yes, Master, and it is in her room. Mrs. D'Eath ordered us not to touch it!"

"Of course she would," Lorcan said flatly. "You know better than to touch it. See to it that her needs are taken care of." The elf nodded, as Lorcan reached the foyer. He eyed the girl and Lupin's--what was she again? An apprentice? Lorcan had not expected the Ministry to allow a mere child to use the precious portkey he'd loaned them to deliver the girl to him. They weren't bloody keeping a portkey to the unplottable mansion, that was for certain. He glanced at the clock in the foyer.

"Right on time, I see," Lorcan said. "Excellent. Welcome to Death Manor."

Ekko wasn't sure what to think about the look and feel of the mansion. The only thing she knew was that it was definitely.. different from what she had experienced so far with both the pack's den and the Lupin's home. But she couldn't place whether it was better or worse.

Actually no, that was a lie. It was better than one of them, that was for sure, but it was hard for any place to not be better. The den had been dreary and dull, filled with werewolves that wanted nothing more than to see her dead, probably, if they had known that she was not completely human. She thought about that a lot, which was probably normal, but the part that most likely wasn't was that she didn't think she feared the thought of being killed by one of them, not now. Mostly because that would mean that she would be with her mother again.

Now wasn't the time for thoughts like that, though.

The older D'Eath, Damitrius, had come back to the foyer where she had taken a place beside Hit, mentioning that their father would be there momentarily. Ekko could feel herself getting nervous, but only because she didn't know what to expect. Was she supposed to expect him to accept her or reject her, no one had really told her what to expect. She'd tried to ask but Hit never really gave her a clear answer, so she'd decided that she would just play it by ear. Kind of the way Hit seemed to go about her life when it came to her family.

If anything, she could just be like her if everyone decided they disliked her.

Wait, was that mean?

Ekko barely had time to think about that when Lorcan D'Eath stepped into the foyer and began speaking. The young girl felt Hit's body stiffen up slightly when he arrived. "Death Manor?" Ekko questioned softly, looking up at Hit.

"Of course, we couldn't be late for this." Hit responded, before looking down at Ekko and nodding. "Yes, Ekko. The name of what's supposed to become your home now." She answered Ekko softly.

Ekko tilted her head to the side, looking at Hit. She could tell she was uncomfortable there, probably because of something to do with the Death Eaters she had heard being mentioned before. Hit's entire family, beside herself, was somehow involved with them, it seemed. It made Ekko sad to know that her father was apparently the leader of the group that torn her friend's family apart to some extent.

"Father," Ekko looked up to see Damitrius step toward him. "Would you like me to show Ekko to her room, or would you prefer one of the elves to it?"

Ekko looked around. Elves? Oh. Like at the Lupin's estate. They had them there too, that was good. But were they nice like the ones she'd been living with thus far?