"Stop fussing, Draco. Virginia will be here any moment now," Narcissa said, wiping a smudge of dirt off of her son's face that probably didn't really exist in the first place. Honestly, didn't she realize that the fact that the Weasley brat was coming here was why he was fussing in the first place? And he wished she wouldn't cat-wash his face anymore. It was quite displeasing.
"Mother," he scowled, knocking her hand away from his face. "Stop it."
"Fine then," she said with a haughty sniff. "If you want her to see you with that on your face, that's not my problem." She bent her head to look through her purse, muttering something about fuchsia lipstick, and Draco tried to discreetly wipe off his cheek. What if there was something on it? That certainly wouldn't do his flawless image any justice!
POP!
Draco quickly dropped his hands to his sides as Virginia stepped out of the fireplace. Unlike many others, the hearths at Malfoy Manor were all neat and tidy and rarely ever contained anything but a magical fire that didn't require combustibles. Thus, when someone entered their home by floo, they 'popped' in rather than 'poofed' in, for there was no cloud of soot and dust that would make a 'poof' sound.
She was certainly lucky they kept it clean, because she had chosen to wear a flowing, white sundress. It wasn't designer clothing, but it was quite nice anyway, and Draco wondered how the impoverished little girl had managed to afford it.
He also wondered when the impoverished little girl had manage to become an impoverished…woman. He had never noticed before, but her curves had filled out nicely. He thought back and realized that he had never actually seen her body before, because her robes were all hand-me-downs and were usually way too big for her. Still, it wasn't anything he had never seen before. He acknowledged her as a woman, but not as anyone worth being civil to.
As her son assessed his new employee, Narcissa stepped up to shake her hand. "Good morning, Virginia. What a lovely dress!"
Virginia flushed slightly, not used to being praised in such a way. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I made it myself."
"Really?" said Mrs. Malfoy. "How wonderful!"
Draco new his mother was just being cordial with the girl. She played nice with everyone and won their favors easily. Still, it was a nice dress - better than anything else she probably had, anyway - and it would have taken some work and talent to be able to make such a thing, even with magic as an aid. At least she hadn't worn one of her frayed, tattered frocks. His mother would have been offended.
"Before I go, Virginia," Narcissa said (Lucius had elected to leave a few hours prior), "Please let me introduce you to Bidda." A shy little house elf peered out from behind Narcissa's formal robes. "I'm assigning Bidda to you for the duration of the summer. She is to obey your orders and help you with your work. If she disobeys you in any fashion, you are to tell me straight away." Narcissa glared at the little elf for extra emphasis, and it shivered.
"Yes Ma'am," Virginia said, smiling.
"Wait a second, mother!" Draco burst out. "She's friends with that Granger girl! She'll set that elf free for sure!" Bidda squeaked and hid herself in Narcissa's robes, appalled.
"Nonsense, Draco," Narcissa said, catching Ginny's narrowed eyes. "You're more paranoid than Alastor Moody. Virginia is a pureblood. She knows perfectly well that normal house elves enjoy what they do."
"Yes," Ginny said, trying to keep her voice from sounding like a growl. Draco Malfoy was such an insufferable prat! "The house elves know very well what they could have if they were set free, and they prefer to serve their families. Hermione is wrong to force her ideas on a culture that believes differently than she does." Sometimes Hermione had no common sense. She had learned all about the goblin rebellions in history class, and those happened for much the same reason!
"See?" Narcissa said. "She most certainly knows how to handle a house elf, even if her family isn't established enough to own one."
Ginny flinched. Draco smirked.
"I left some instructions for you on the desk in your quarters," she went on, not realizing she had just insulted the redhead. "I really must be going now. I'll owl you in a few day to see how you are doing."
And without further warning, Narcissa Malfoy apparated out of the manor, causing Biddy to squeak again and leaving the two teenagers to glare at each other.
Author's Note: And now the fun can begin! Bwahahaha!