"Britain? Where's that?" a high-pitched squeak asked from behind me, as my little sister, Lyra hung upside down on the armchair, her platinum hair (that is a mirror shade of mine) hung suspended between the floor and the cushion.
Yeah my sister isn't exactly the brightest penny in the piggybank. (Come to think of it, when was the last time I saw her read an actual book?) But what can expect from a 10 year old pop princess? Not a child prodigy that's for sure.
Hey, don't look at me like that, I'm not dissing her. I love that kid.
Me and my sister have always been like two peas in the Malfoy Mansion pod. Well, I'm not like a pariah or anything among my peers. Hell, I'm actually pretty popular within my class populace of 500. But when it comes to house parties, I'm the guest, not the host. And with parents like mine, who can blame me? I'm the son of Draco and Astoria Malfoy. No kidding, that's seriously their names. Who wudda thought? And of course because their names are circus derived, they wanted to curse their children with weird names too. So behold! Scorpius Hyperion and Lyra Artemis. I got hell in Kindergarten.
Being the witty 15 year old that I am I decide to reply in the best manner that I can. Sarcastically. With my face still glued to the screen of my laptop, I said in a catatonic voice. "Great Britain: an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. Ninth largest island in the world. The largest in Europe. Is surrounded by over 1000 islets. Continent : Europe. Population of approximately 58.9 million people, oh and plus 4." While my fingers flew across the keyboard.
"How'd you know all that?" Lyra asked, her eyes as wide as saucers. She's so innocent I cant help but love her.
"Wikiedia does wonders, Ly." I finally turned around to point at the computer window and smirk my infamous smirk. My mom calls it the Malfoy smirk. My dad calls it his mirror image. Moi? I just call it cocky. Which fuels the already lit flames of amusement of my parents, much to my dismay. I mean as much as I love my family, (yeah even grandpa Luce. Hehehe, he never liked that name. He insists we call him Grandfather. Seriously. Is he for real? Who does he think he is? Al Pacino? I told this to my dad once and he just flipped out and took away my xbox.) I hate the fact that everyone thinks I have to be a miniature Draco. I'm not, so I try to show it every chance I get. But getting into trouble and doing the opposite of whatever rule they decide to give to me, doesn't give the right message. It just gives me less t.v time.
Lyra decides to deny the satisfaction of a smart comment and ignores me; she sighs though and continues her enlightenment list of questions. "So why are you moving there again?" She twirls a lock of her platinum hair between her fingers and raises her bright blue eyes to meet my own.
I know it sounds totally fem for me to even think this but sometimes I wish I had her eyes. Kinda sibling jealousy in a way, but I really wish I had her eyes color. She got mom's color changing blue-green eyes. While I'm stuck with Dad's steely grey ones. Sucks, but at least I have my mom's eye shape. Yeah, I have my Dad's bone structure, my Dad's eye color, My Dad's hair color and even my most of my Dad's facial expressions. All I have is my Mom's nose and her eye shape. And also as Lyra likes to remind me that I have girl lips, courtesy of dear old mum. Thanks, I got a Greengrass girl pout. I applaud myself.
Speaking of lips, I used mine to answer back in a drawl that people say reminds them so much of Dad's (Shoot!) "Told you a million times before Ly. I'm going there for some finishing school thingy." Yeah, I'm being shipped off to some country that I barely know with a bunch of kids that read encyclopedias instead of comics like normal people.
But then again, teenage wizards…is normal even remotely possible?
Hogwarts. I am not kidding that's the name of the school mom and dad are shipping me off to. They're taking me out of my very settled, comfy, upperclass, home in the Great U.S of A, to go to some snotty british school (that by the way, sounds contagious) where all the kids munch on scones or whatever. Okay, I'm being irrational, so sue me. I'm not being racist, It just blows that I have to leave my friends, my admirers, my stalkers, my ex-girlfriends, and of course Merlin Ambrosius High School, New York. And alright maybe it must have been one party too much for me. But I'm a red-blooded male. I gotta live right?
Well my rent's must've finally gotten the last straw when I came for dinner with the grandparents completely wasted. But god, I didn't think Dad was serious when he said that I was going off to his old school to learn some discipline. Well, actually I didn't remember a whole lot about that night, except I laughed. A lot.
"I don't get it! I get drunk a lot of times! Why did he choose now to send me to England?! Now of all times! At the start of my Freshman year!" I finally snap under all the built up frustration and end up using my sister as a therapist.
"You shouldn't have gotten drunk on the night of the dinner. Maybe if that happened Dad wouldn't be sending you off to England." Lyra pointed out.
"But it was a month ago. I didn't think he was serious about the moving thing until he told me three days ago to start packing up. Now I got 2 weeks until September 1, and I'm off to big, bad England. All my stuffs in boxes and we're leaving to England tomorrow, because it's not bad enough I had to say goodbye to everyone in like 3 weeks, which is physically impossible to say goodbye to your 4 years of life, but I have to leave 2 weeks earlier than needed because I have to get all my stuff. Um hello? Has anyone in England heard of The Owl Service? Or at least fedex? How can Mom and Dad do this to me? Sending me to a new country all on my own! I have to face a grade all on my own! I'll be in a new school, an new country, practically a new planet! I've grown up in America all my life! The only thing that ties me to Europe are my parents."
"Uh, Scorp weren't you born in London?"
"Right whoops. I always forget that."
"Don't forget Grandfather and Grandmother. We're related to them too."
"This is making me feel soo much better." I say, sarcasm obviously dripping off my tongue.
"Look," Lyra says, silencing me with a look. "Mom and Dad's heart is obviously in the right place. He's throwing all these things at you because he knows that you can survive it and come out a better person. Because let's face it, Scorp, you need discipline, culture, a firm-hand, and most definitely a change. And I think that Hogwarts must have that if they're willing to send their only son across the oceans to finish his school. And besides you need to straighten yourself out, I know you have the potential to be great."
My mouth has been gapping open for the entire speech. "How'd you….become….smart?"
Lyra rolls her eyes. "Since I started listening to mum and dad talk about you for the past year." She admits with no trace of embarrassment. That's another quality I love about my sister. She knows what to say, even when its not her own words. And she's not afraid to say who she quoted from. That's Malfoy pride and self-confidence all the way.
Lyra gets up to visit the bathroom, but before she exits she turns around with big, baby eyes and asks. "Scorpius, you're not going to forget about me right? You'll still keep in contact with me? You wont be one of your friends and be mean to me over the summer right? You'll write to me and send me letters right?"
I smile, a genuine one. Because though she's growing up. She's still my baby sister. " Even if I have to ride a hippogriff bareback, I'll send you letters from Hogwarts. Maybe even a picture. If I can manage." I hug her, cuz I cant help but. "Of course, I wont forget about you Ly-Ly. You're my baby sis. We Malfoys gotta stick together." She hugs me back. It's always been like that. Close, because there's no one else. I wait a couple of seconds before I start tearing up and detach myself gently. "Come on, little freakshow. No sibling PDA remember?" I joke.
Lyra rolled her eyes and gives me a W, in response. Dad's right, I'm totally rubbing off on her. Awesome, I have created a rampaging preteen to wreak havoc among the city dwellers of New York city, while I am away. It's Alive! It's Alive! I'm so proud.