Ryellana Malfoy

Ryellana "Lana" Antigone De Changy-Malfoy is the youngest daughter of Nicolas and Magdalena De Changy. She is the younger sister of Rhiannon De Changy-Wilde, the widowed wife of Abraxas Malfoy, the mother of Lucius Malfoy, the mother-in-law of Narcissa Black-Malfoy, and the grandmother of Draco and Lila Malfoy.

Early life
Ryellana De Changy was born ten years after her sister Rhiannon, who would be married off before the younger girl was old enough to attend Hogwarts. The De Changys are an old French bloodline, and they relocated to England in the early 19th century, where they settled a large plot of land near Sheffield. Ryellana’s father’s branch of the family tree died with him, as he had no male heirs, and after Nicolas’s death, his younger brother’s family settled the estate. Ryellana was always fond of her niece Avalon, who was born when Ryellana was seven, just far enough apart that the two were never able to attend school together.

Hogwarts and early marriage
Ryellana was sorted into Slytherin like both of her parents before her, and after her graduation, she married Abraxas Malfoy, to whom she had been betrothed since childhood. Abraxas and Ryellana were near the age of one Tom Riddle, whose ideology made a lot of sense to the young Abraxas, who was a strong believer in blood supremacy. He joined the first round of servants to the man who would later be known as Lord Voldemort, and his wife supported him without joining the ranks herself. When she was nineteen, Ryellana gave birth to her only son, Lucius. She never worked, and with her husband often away, she spent a great deal of time caring for her son, leading the two to become close. Ryellana and her sister Rhiannon also made it a point to insist their children spend time together, as Avalon was an only child at the time of Lucius’s birth, twelve years after her own. Though the girl was old enough to resent being forced into this, the boy was not, and eventually even Avalon came to view their relationship as one of (highly age-separated, as with their mothers) siblings. When Lucius was three, Avalon’s brother Tristan was born, their sister Guinevere following three years later. After Avalon left school and married, the remaining children were still brought together frequently at the insistence of Rhiannon and Ryellana, and this also led to a friendship between Abraxas and Rhiannon’s husband Pellinore.

The First Wizarding War and into the present
 Eventually, Lucius went off to school, leaving only Ryellana and Abraxas to occupy their Wiltshire Manor- that is, when Abraxas was not away on business or on an errand for the Dark Lord. Lucius followed in his father’s footsteps to join the Death Eaters, and Ryellana now had three people to fear for, including her brother-in-law. She and Abraxas had been discussing a betrothal for their son for years, and they were spared the trouble of choosing when Lucius requested to wed Narcissa Black. Abraxas and Ryellana negotiated the arrangement with Cygnus and Druella Black, and that was that. Or… so they thought. Ryellana had always wanted a daughter as well as a son. She took to viewing Narcissa as her own child, and thus she was devastated when the younger woman broke off the engagement with Lucius. Ryellana supported her son’s efforts to mend their relationship, though she was also wary, as she didn’t want to see him suffer again if his plan failed. She watched him become darker in his grief, and she wanted to appeal to her husband to intervene, but around that time, Abraxas was stricken ill with dragon pox. Through medication- largely that created by his apothecary niece, Avalon- Abraxas was able to fight off his illness with minimal symptoms for years. Ryellana focused on keeping her family happy through social events and other diversions such as holidays, and she tried to shut out the knowledge of the darkness overtaking both men she loved. She became adept at hiding her opinions behind a smile and distracting herself with frivolity. Much to her great relief, Lucius and Narcissa were eventually re-engaged, and Ryellana was able to see her son happy once more. Things were peaceful for a while, and just before they were to be married, Ryellana convinced Abraxas to give the young couple reign over Malfoy Manor. Abraxas and Ryellana relocated to her family’s property in Sheffield, and a few years later, their grandson Draco was born. Ryellana and Abraxas spoiled him heavily at each opportunity. A few years later, Abraxas’s illness took a turn for the worse, and his condition began to rapidly deteriorate. He lost his battle with dragon pox in 1989. Ryellana currently resides in the De Changy home with her uncle’s family. She was thrilled to learn of her granddaughter Lila’s birth six months ago, though she wishes her husband were still alive to see her.