Chapter Text
“It's a job interview like any other, mom. I’ll be fine.”
“Maybe if you found something different, Rosie. In retail perhaps.” Her eyes pleaded with her but Rosemary’s mind was set and she was trying to step around her mother in a narrow hallway.
“I tried that. Remember how it ended? They told me I’m not qualified for retail. Or for being a nanny or for cleaning floos at the Ministry. I’m not qualified for anything… Except for this, maybe.” Rosemary’s patience grew thinner and she finally pushed past her mom, reaching for the door handle.
“Yes but… Malfoys? Is there no other option?”
“No!” The last thing Mrs. Brown heard was a loud slam of her door as Rosemary left the flat.
She rushed down the street to a public floo. She made sure to get ready with enough time to get to the floo and not be late but her mother’s display now made her run to make up for the lost time.
Rosemary was right on time when she flooed into a large richly decorated foyer of a Malfoy manor. Her gaze was drawn up, along the dark marble columns, reaching a ceiling covered with a charmed mural of a night forest scene. She absentmindedly took a few steps around the foyer, her eyes glued to the swaying of painted branches. The last time Rosemary saw magic like that was in the Great hall in Hogwarts, years ago. She felt as if she stepped into another world, a magic one. Well, despite being a witch, a pureblooded one at that, she never felt like a full fledged witch, not since she left Hogwarts at thirteen. Right as she became aware of her jaw hanging loose at the complex magic that was happening on the ceiling, a trembling squeaky voice pulled her out of her stupor.
“Khm, Miss…?” A skinny grayish house elf sheepishly got her attention.
“Rosemary Brown.” She straightened her back, trying to appear as if she at least wasn’t completely out of place standing in the middle of a foyer the size of her parents’ entire flat.
“Miss Brown, Master Malfoy is expecting you. Right this way.”
She followed the tiny creature up the grand staircase and down a tall hallway lit by a row of torches that shone golden light on deep emerald drapes that framed vaulted windows. It was early March which meant that at this hour of the afternoon sun was already set, making the view out of the windows appear dark and eerie. Rosemary’s eyes flew across the details of the hallway. Even though she was here, she couldn’t believe that there was a serious prospect that she could actually work here. No, not just work here - live here.
In a series of failed attempts to find long-term employment after not graduating from Hogwarts, Rosemary was besides herself to stumble upon a job listing that required no experience and no qualifications. The only downfall, at least in her parents’ eyes, was that the employer was none other than Lord Malfoy. No matter. For the job that offered bed and board on top of a decent salary, how bad could it be to be a housekeeper to Lord Lucius Malfoy? As Rosemary followed the house elf down the long hallway, the last thought that crossed her mind was ‘Wait, they have house elves. What do they need a witch housekeeper for?’ But just as the gray creature entered through one of the heavy-looking wooden doors and Rosemary followed along, the question mark above her head grew a few sizes larger.
“Miss Rosemary Brown.” Creature announced to a man sitting at a large wooden desk.
“Thank you, Dotty. You can go.” The blond man stood from his seat, indicating with an open gesture to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Rose, nice to see you again. Have a seat.”
“I… I thought I was having an interview with your father. The listing said the employment was under Lord Malfoy.” Rosemary still stood at the entrance, thinking there was an obvious misunderstanding.
“Yes. I am Lord Malfoy. You are having an interview with me. Make yourself comfortable, I will explain everything.” Draco sat back down into his leather chair, ignoring a baffled expression on Rosemary’s face as she sat across him. “I was glad to see your name on the list of applicants. You really need this job, don’t you?”
This was all too confusing and Rosemary all of a sudden had no idea what was happening. Since when was Draco a Lord? She knew him from school, they were in the same house, four years apart, but he seemed nothing like he used to be - cocky, brash, arrogant. Quite the contrary, Draco appeared to be rather polite, albeit aristocratic in the way he held himself. It prompted her to say something utterly daft. “Yes… um, sir.”
“Don’t ‘sir’ me, Rose. We went to school together.”
“Oh, yes. Sorry.”
“What happened to you? How come you never returned to Hogwarts?”
Rosemary took a deep steadying breath. This was the topic she dreaded. It was also the one that defined her. “After Lavender died, my parents’ couldn’t be persuaded that the war was truly over, that he wouldn’t find a way to return to power again.”
“Nonsense.”
“I know. But tell that to someone who lost their daughter. They refused to even think about sending me back there. For a while I was glad not to be back at Hogwarts. I didn’t want to be there, thinking whether I was standing in the exact spot Lavender got killed.” She spoke calmly, quietly. Like someone who digested the death of someone close a while ago but it still hurt deeply to be reminded of that trauma. “But as the years went by and my friends graduated one by one… And they all got decent jobs and went on with their lives…”
“I understand.” Draco leaned forward, touching his elbows to the desk and pensively folding his hands under his chin. He took a long pause, examining his thoughts. “Listen. Employment is in my father’s service but I will be the one employing you. You see, he is not well and he needs someone to do the day to day chores for him, to take care of him in a sense, a housekeeper in one word.”
Rosemary nodded along, listening intently. She had vast experience on how to conduct herself at a job interview but it usually got derailed at the point her qualifications were brought up. “I am ready to do whatever is required. I’m sure you can see from my resume, I have no problem with hard work or long hours.”
Draco placed a piece of parchment containing her resume in front of him. An exceedingly short section on her education followed by the rest of the page listing past rather short employments but each offering a recommendation on the count of her work ethic. “So, how come all your past employments were less than three months?”
“They were mostly happy with my work but, you see… Flints laid me off when they realized I never learnt how to apparate and what good is a nanny that can’t take their child to a picnic or shopping or anything. I really liked working at Madam Malkin’s but I never had classes on advanced charms so just shrinking clothing into the shopping bags was a challenge, and they fired me from The Leaky Cauldron because I was too slow preparing food the muggle way.”
“When can you start?” Draco asked right as she finished her sad report.
“Start?”
“Job is yours if you want it.” Rosemary’s confused look prompted Draco to elaborate. “My father can apparate by himself, although I haven’t seen him do it in a while. In fact, since he had his wand taken and destroyed by Voldemort, he refuses to use his replacement wand entirely, so having someone like you around could be non threatening, even beneficial for him. Salary is twenty galleons per week. So, when can you start?”
She had to quickly shake off the slight shock of being offered a job so directly. It usually took a bit more persuading. “Um… Immediately. I would just need to pack my things.”
“Good.” Draco took out a rather large piece of parchment that had the word ‘Contract’ on the top of it and Rosemary didn’t bother reading further. She grabbed the silver-feathered quill from the stand and scribbled her signature on the line at the bottom.
“One more thing. You might be serving my father, but I remind you that you are working for me. I will need to know how my father is doing.” Tall blonde stood up from the desk which prompted Rosemary to do the same and walk along him out of the study.
“What do you mean?”
“I am worried about him. After the war ended he never quite returned to his former self. Even though our records were expunged he was still seen as Voldemort’s right hand man. That stigma didn’t fare well in this new climate. He gradually became withdrawn, irritable. Imagine someone like him, and you have seen him before, lose most of his magic and his reputation on top of that. I had to take over the family business just to keep him from running everything into the ground.” Draco spoke as if confiding to a friend as they descended down the grand staircase down into the foyer. “Even my mother couldn’t bear it any longer and left. She was tired of the reactions her last name got after the war so she changed her last name to Black right after the divorce.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t know.”
“Yes, well… Anyway, my father, being as stubborn as always, still tried to meddle into family dealings. I finally lost my nerve six months ago and got him a flat in Diagon Alley just to keep him out of my hair. We seldomly speak and even then, those are not nice conversations. So I need someone who can keep an eye on him for me.”
“Diagon Alley?” Rosemary’s face sank at the realization. She won’t be working here, in this dark but beautiful manor but in some random flat in Diagon Alley. It crossed her mind that she should have read that contract before signing.
“Yes. This is the address.” Draco handed her a scrap of parchment with an address written on it. “I will make sure that he prepares a room for you to stay in. The rest is up to him but feel free to come to me if he creates any trouble for you. In fact, I expect you to do so. Be there tomorrow at noon.”
Rosemary flooed back home with a buzzing beehive of emotions in place of her head. She got the job and not just any job. The one where her lack of proper magic or experience or education was a weird plus. But she was so looking forward to working there at the Malfoy manor, never mind the ominous name of that place. Yet she won’t be working there. On top of that, she had no clue what to expect to find in that flat tomorrow. Was Mr. Malfoy sick or mad or just a bigot not coping with the new world?
Her parents were happy for her that she got the job, even if it was for the dreaded Malfoys, but Rosemary conveniently didn’t mention the location of her employment. No need to worry them with the fact that she will be living alone with one of the most infamous wizards in the country.
She didn’t quite sleep that night. Not out of fear but excitement. She would be finally out of her parents’ flat, like a proper adult. If she lasted on her new job she could even have a need to open an account at Gringotts in her own name, like an adult. Maybe she could pay for night school and one day take O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. Maybe.
-
376 Diagon Alley, flat number twelve.
Rosemary didn’t know what to expect but as she stood in front of the tall brick colored building, she had one thought in mind ‘Not as bad as it could be.’
The building seemed quite nice with all its walls being perpendicular to the ground – an accomplishment for a building in Diagon Alley. The building even had a free house elf as a doorman. Rosemary took a deep breath and started climbing the stairs.
‘Flat twelve, flat twelve.’ She kept repeating as she went from door to door but numbers seemed to be out of order and before she knew it, she lost count on which floor she was currently on. Just as she started to suspect that she might be at the wrong address, she climbed up to the last floor containing only one flat – number twelve.
‘A penthouse. Nice after all.’ She smiled internally as she raised her fist to knock.
After a few moments a tall blond wizard opened the door.
“Mr. Malfoy, I am Rosemary Brown, your new housekeeper. May I come in?” Despite her calm greeting, she hid quite a lot underneath.
Since Draco said his father was not well, she didn’t know what to expect, but nothing could have prepared her for what met her at the door. The wizard that she remembered seeing in newspapers and at school and the wizard standing in front of her seemed like two different men. His long blond hair that reached just below his shoulders fell around his face in semi-matted strands. His eyes, once piercing and silver in color, were now dull gray set in reddened eyelids. Wizard’s posture, or stubble-peppered face gave no clue that he was the aristocrat his last name and blood status implied. Truthfully, Rosemary found him hard to look at. Even his attire, although clean, looked disturbingly ordinary – a flannel shirt and dark jeans.
“Go away.” The wizard rasped out, shutting the door in Rosemary’s face.
But Rosemary was determined, she would not lose this job without trying. So she knocked again.
Nothing.
Another knock.
Nothing.
“Mr. Malfoy!” She gathered courage to shout through the closed door. “Your son sent me. I will not leave.”
The door flew open violently. “Fine. A housekeeper, you say? Go on, clean then.” Blond wizard spat as he demonstratively gestured to the inside of the flat, stepping aside to let Rosemary in.
She took cautious steps inside, past the wizard who’s glare was pure angry fire, trying to gather her thoughts. ‘Where do I even start?’ That was the only coherent thought she could form. Leaving her suitcase by the door, she walked through a tiny hallway straight into the living room that was also doubling as a kitchen and a dining room. Not a grand penthouse after all but a crummy attic flat with nothing but roof windows that were scattered across the slanted ceiling, not letting enough of the light in. Kitchen counter that stretched along one of the walls was stuffed full with used dishes that surprisingly didn’t smell of spoiled remnants of food, she suspected Mr. Malfoy threw a smell-canceling charm on them instead of washing them. The rest of the room was furnished with an inappropriately lavish leather sofa and two matching armchairs that formed a sitting area around a dark wood oblong coffee table that was currently holding random articles of clothing and a glass of some amber liquid. It was obvious those pieces of furniture belonged to the Malfoy manor and not this place. On the other side of the room, pushed up against the wall was a rectangular dining table with three chairs. The set seemed like it was inherited from a previous tenant. Only when Rosemary got to the middle of the room did she realize that there was a noticeable amount of dust on the less-used areas of the floor.
The general chaos and the intimidatingly unkempt wizard that followed her every move made her fight or flight reflex tingle. If she could, she would have run but after making such an effort just to be let inside, she needed to swallow her fear.
Mr. Malfoy glared at her from up above, as if all of a sudden he once again became the pureblooded aristocrat he once was. “Well? Why aren’t you cleaning?”
“Oh, right!” Still wearing her outer robe, Rosemary jumped in place and grabbed the first dirty dish that was within her reach and started fussing with it.
“I will be eating lunch in ten minutes. I will be in my office, you are not to disturb me.” Mr. Malfoy lost interest in the girl and disappeared behind one of the wooden doors.
Just then did Rosemary notice the two wooden doors on the wall closest to the sitting area, Mr. Malfoy closed the left one behind him. There was also another door on the same wall as the kitchen. Since it was half open, she could see that it was the bathroom, quite modest-looking and the only thing she really noticed was a pile of towels on the floor.
‘So, if that is his office and this is the bathroom, that over there must be his bedroom. But Draco said something about a separate room for me and I didn't see it.’ Rosemary took a deliberate turn round herself, looking for another door indicating her bedroom but the only thing she found was empty walls. Really empty – no paintings, no decorations… Well, unless one thinks of cobwebs as decorations.
Resigned, she took off her outer robe and placed it onto a rack by the front door, sighed, took out her wand and decided to start with the kitchen. No, he said he will be eating soon so she rummaged through the cabinets for a clean set of dishes and cutlery and set out the table for one. The fridge had nothing inside that could be considered as a prepared lunch. ‘He must be getting a delivery.’ It didn’t even cross Rosemary’s mind that it was expected of her to prepare his lunch in ten minutes.
She levitated the dishes into neat piles – it is easier to wash the dishes when they are sorted. That was the easy part but since she never got a hang of manipulating the water, she did the scrubbing by hand. Her mind started to wander, as one does while doing repetitive labor, but not for long. Mr. Malfoy swiftly opened the door to his office and glared at the girl.
“Why is my lunch not ready? Are you that slow or just stupid?” He spat at her which made her even more uncomfortable to be in his vicinity.
“I… How was I supposed to make lunch in ten minutes?” Rosemary dropped one of the spoons she was rinsing out back into the sink, making a loud clattering sound.
“I assumed my son got me a witch, not a squib. Magic, of course.”
“Well I don’t know how to prepare food using magic. I do it the muggle way.”
“Muggle?! What sort of useless waste of magic are you?” Rosemary’s eyes were threatened by tears and she had to put all her effort not to let one slip down her face. When she didn’t answer, he let out a loud huff and stormed past her. “I expect you to be done by the time I come back.”
He slammed the front door as he left, leaving a trembling girl behind. Draco was wrong. His father wasn’t appreciative of Rosemary’s conservative use of her wand, he merely saw her as incompetent. But Rosemary knew how to fight for herself. She wouldn’t let this get to her. She obviously failed at her first task, impossible as it was, so she was determined to excel at the one before her. She had no idea as to when would Mr. Malfoy come back nor did she know exactly what he meant by ‘done’ but she crossed her fingers that she had a couple of hours and assumed he wanted her to clean the entire flat.
A little bit of magic – as much as she was confident in using and not messing up, a lot of manual scrubbing, wiping and tidying up and the place was spotless. Well, the living area and the bathroom were. She decided against entering his office and the bedroom door was locked. She didn’t want to try and unlock it since the last time she tried that spell, the entire door blew up. Her dad was not amused. However, she made sure to have dinner ready – a stew with a little bit of everything useful she found in the fridge.
When she stood back and took a good look, this place didn’t seem half as bad but Rosemary was still disappointed her job wasn’t at Malfoy Manor. Nothing could compare to the luxury of that place.
-
When Mr. Malfoy came back in the early evening, he found his flat clean, tidy and smelling of dinner. ‘Impressive for a squib-like creature like her.’ He thought as he found Rosemary standing next to the dining table, setting out a table for one. However, he wouldn’t let such a pathetic display of mediocrity soften his approach, especially when he noticed her suitcase next to his sofa.
“Am I to deduce that you will be staying here?”
“Uh, yes. Your son promised me you would have a room ready for me to stay in.” Rosemary said confidently but not cockily, not to provoke the wizard she heard awful things about and his temper seemed to prove the stories.
“Nonsense.” Mr. Malfoy scoffed, taking off his outer robe and dropping it to the floor. “A room? Not possible. If you wish, you can sleep on the sofa.” He appeared to be enjoying her unease at this development.
Rosemary glanced once more at the decadent but not comfy looking sofa. ‘Leather, it would be more comfortable to sleep on the floor.’ It made her already miserable day even more depressing.
“I presume Hogwarts? What house am I dealing with here?”
“Slytherin, sir.”
“You? A Slytherin? That hat really is slipping.” He murmured to himself with a derisive snicker. “What was your N.E.W.T.s score? Just so I know how simple my sentences have to be.”
There it was. She hated when that topic came up and with him already deeming her stupid, this most certainly wouldn’t help. “I dropped out as a third-year. My sister died in the battle of Hogwarts and my parents didn’t allow me to go back there.” As she was speaking, Rosemary moved to the kitchen counter, making sure not to have eye contact with the vile man. She made sure to give the short version of the full explanation. As always, she pointed out that she didn’t drop out because of poor grades.
Was that a flash of compassion on Mr. Malfoy’s face? No, merely a well-hidden smirk at the girl’s misery. The tall blond wizard with the demeanor of a dementor decided to seat himself and have his dinner, completely abandoning the conversation.
“That needs cleaning. Take it to the shop down the street.” Mr. Malfoy pointed to the outer robe he abandoned on the floor. He just started eating when he noticed the timid girl didn’t jump to the task. “Now!” A loud growl broke through the flat and Rosemary’s heart almost jumped out of her chest but she managed to get her feet moving, picking up the garment from the floor.
She was just ready to leave as she put her own outer robe on and then it dawned on her, but she was reluctant to bother the boggart at his meal… but she had no other choice.
“Sir… I don’t have the key.” She said sheepishly, standing at the front door.
Such a simple statement, but it made Mr. Malfoy slam his fist on the poorly constructed dining table so hard that it noticeably shook. Obviously annoyed for being interrupted at his meal, he dug into his front pocket and took out a bunch of keys and without looking, flung it in the general direction of a girl. Rosemary caught the keys, luckily. “The rectangular one. Make yourself a copy and get lost.”
She dared not to say another word. Rosemary left in silence, glad to be out of that flat, on the edge of tears for fear that this is what her life from now on would be. No twenty galleons per week was worth this. No amount of galleons would be worth this. Draco was right when he said his father was not well. But he was not sick nor mad. He was a horrible human being living in a pile of trash, still holding himself as if he was a Lord of high wizarding society. He was nothing but a hypocrite. Any wizard a touch more skilled than Rosemary would be able to keep that tiny flat spotless just with a few flicks of his wand. Her services were not really necessary, she was there only to indulge Mr. Malfoy’s delusions that he was still better than lifting his wand to do anything close to being called housework.
Rosemary quickly found a magical cleaner and a key shop but she still wasn’t back until quite late in the evening. Her legs simply refused to take her back to that awful flat, to that awful wizard. She contemplated flooing to Malfoy Manor to report to Draco, as he requested. But doing so on the first day would make her appear as a failure. She was tempted to floo back to her parents’ flat but that would entail admitting she was wrong about this job and she hated admitting to her parents anything of that sort. She was an adult, she would not run back to her mommy every time things got tough. So she finally found herself back at the door with number twelve on it.
Mr. Malfoy was presumably asleep and the state of the living area was somehow comparable to the way she found it earlier today. Dining table was left as it was with used plates still on it. Something was spilled on the kitchen counter and the coffee table and sofa were once again holders for the clothes he apparently took off before retiring to his bedroom. Plus another glass of that amber liquid. She earlier found out that that amber liquid was firewhiskey. She knew the smell as her dad kept one bottle in the cupboard and used it only for special occasions. Here, it was used quite casually and in abundance.
Rosemary sighed, cast a silencing charm on the wall dividing the living area and the dementor’s bedroom. She hoped her charm worked – her day could only get worse by waking the man, and then she got to the cleaning as quietly as she could.