54 Vasiliev Family

During breakfast of the following day, Draco waited until Abraxas finished his meal before asking:

"Grandfather, do you know anything about the Vasiliev family from Russia?"

The older man raised an eyebrow at his grandson and placed his teacup, which was about to be lifted, down.

"You are interested in that girl? What's her name… Anna?"

"Anastasia," Draco answered instinctively. By the way that Abraxas' eyes cunningly lit up at his quick response, the blond boy knew that the Malfoy Patriarch was thinking in a completely different direction.

He tried to open his mouth to explain, however, before he could do that, the older Malfoy was already commenting:

"Ahh, young love," sighed Abraxas emotionally, his mouth curling up into a teasing smile. "Well, I remember how girls flocked me when I was young – after all, I was very handsome. At the time, many adults looked down on casual dating, which is very popular nowadays. You had to be engaged to be able to kiss a girl, can you believe it?"

Draco mutely shook his head. He wanted to interrupt and explain himself, but he was also slightly curious about the times that his grandfather lived, so he attentively listened.

"Well, those were different times," recalled the older man with a nostalgic look. "I, of course, didn't have the problem of girls refusing to sneak around with me in hidden corners of the school, however, I never truly indulged in the opportunity either. You see, what is easily obtained is boring – I liked the challenge more. And your grandmother was the most challenging woman I had ever met! I still think that she hated me when we were young, but she always refused to admit it. She was the only one for me…"

Draco felt a bit sad that he hadn't had the opportunity to meet his grandmother from the paternal side – she sounded like an interesting woman. To be able to make a man like Abraxas fall in love with her, she had to have been very able! One couldn't judge the older Malfoy by the way he acted in front of his family – he was actually a true Slytherin on the inside.

Their love story must have been amazing...

Abraxas' unfocused eyes returned to Draco. With wiggling eyebrows he suddenly said:

"Now my grandson will take over my mantle of being a girl-magnet! However, it's just too bad for those poor ladies that you are already interested in someone else!"

Draco was slightly startled from the sudden shift of topic – they were just talking about his grandmother, how come it was his turn already?

The boy rushed to deny: "I don't like her! I am still eleven, for Merlin's sake!"

The older Malfoy adopted a look that screamed, 'You can defend yourself however you want, but I already know the truth. Still, for the sake of sparing your pride, I won't say anything else on this topic.'

"You have to believe me," Draco futilely continued to argue his case. "It's just that the girl is slightly strange… Besides, I might meet her in the competition - I have to be prepared!"

Abraxas' skeptical look didn't disappear as he said:

"Fine, fine, I believe you. If you want to know about her background, I can tell you more. In the future, if you are interested in other pureblood girls, you can ask me about any of them – I will give you detailed reports. However, remember – girls like it better when you don't sneak around and collect information about them as though you are a stalker. It's better if you ask them yourself."

Draco turned completely mute and acted as though his grandfather was talking with air, rather than himself. The older man saw that he could no longer tease the boy, so he ceased his effort and turned serious.

"The Vasiliev family is one of the Most Noble and Ancient families in Russia," he began recounting. "In fact, this family has a slightly better standing than the Sokolovs, who you visited with Arcturus last year."

Mentioning his old rival, Abraxas' face scrunched up as though he just tasted a lemon. However, seeing his grandson's anticipating look, he continued:

"Their standing is better not because of longer magical family line or higher wealth, but because they are said to be very close with the Dark Lord Rasputin."

"Close? Is it a family relation?" Draco asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Well, not exactly… Rasputin himself is said to be a half-blood – that's actually why he is very serious about forbidding the marriage between muggles and magical folk. No one knows the exact reason, but many think that he had been abused at home and then bullied at school for his tarnished ancestry. His wizarding parent is also said to be from a smaller family, so what the man achieved is all his own credit."

"Then, what do you mean by 'not exactly'?" Draco started to get confused. Couldn't Abraxas explain everything clearly?

"Alright, don't be so impatient," admonished the older man, and continued:

"In fact, many only speculate about it because there's no actual evidence - it is whispered about in higher circles, that Rasputin's wife was from Vasiliev family. There was once a daughter by the name of Tatiana Vasilieva, but she mysteriously disappeared around fifteen years ago. However, from that time Rasputin treated her family very badly without giving a reason as to why – not like anyone would dare to ask him. The Vasilievs also seemed to be resigned to it."

Draco's confused look gradually cleared up. Suddenly, a wild thought entered his mind – he quickly looked up at Abraxas and asked with astonishment, "Wait, you're not saying that Anastasia is actually?.."

"Around five years ago, a small girl suddenly turned up in the Vasiliev family," the older Malfoy didn't answer the question directly, but his gaze was approving as he looked at his smart grandson.

"It was very strange because the girl's seventh birthday, which is the time when children are introduced into the magical society, had already passed. The Vasiliev family said that the girl's introduction was late because she had been sick and they weren't sure whether she would survive. However, because the illness was cured, the girl was finally allowed to be in public.

What was even stranger – Rasputin turned his attitude towards the Vasiliev family completely around! Suddenly, their children were promoted to the highest positions in the government, the businesses flourished and the Dark Lord himself started visiting the family's manor almost weekly!"

"She is his daughter…" Draco said out loud.

Abraxas nodded, "Yes, many are certain of it, however, it has never been confirmed, for some reason. The public says, that Rasputin is afraid that she will be targeted... But, in fact, who knows what goes on in that wizard's mind?"

Draco's eyes were unfocused as he considered new information, so he didn't see the way that his grandfather's eyes narrowed, and mouth tightened when he voiced the last sentence - as though he was hiding something.

'That explains her family, however, the reason for her strange attitude towards myself is still unknown,' Draco thought to himself.

Just as he turned to Abraxas to ask whether the older man knew anything about it, he realized that his grandfather was nowhere to be seen.