Lucius's hand had an iron grasp on Tala's shoulder as they left the Head-Mistress's office and walked down the marble staircase. Tala kept her face forwards as they walked, her eyes glued to the mahogany entrance doors. She could feel everyone staring at her as they walked, throwing hatred at her with just their eyes. She didn't care that they disliked her, as far as she was concerned she'd never have to see their faces again thanks to her antics that morning. Unfortunately her twin sister, Ryann, had also taken the fall as well. Ryann had loved Beaubatons and now her sister had taken it away from her and for that Tala was very sorry.
Tala thought that Madame Maxine had gone lightly on her by just expelling her from the Acadamy but she was sure that her Father would make up for any lack in her discipline once they got home. As they came out the castle and walked through the courtyard Tala could see her victim from that morning, Sofia Roux, sitting next to the fountain with her cronies. Her arm was in a sling and she had a brightly coloured scarf wrapped around her head. Tala smirked at the sight of her, the arm had been pure accident but the head scarf was all of Tala's own doing. Sofia's arm had gotten injured when one of her friends had tried to intervine Tala and Sofia's argument by aiming a jinx at Tala. Only Tala had been to fast and Sofia to slow to move out the way. Tala had then jinxed Sofia with a jinx that turned the girl's hair into antlers. The only way to fix it had been to cut Sofia's hair off, hence the scarf. The matron had reassured Sofia that her hair would grow ack soon, what she didn't know was that Tala had tweeked the jinx to last several weeks. The glares Tala was getting now only fuelled her smugness and she made to take a step towards the group but Lucius dug his nails into her shoulder.
"Enough Tala" he hissed under his breath.
Settling on giving them a glare Tala let him direct her through the white gates and along the bridge. Waiting at the end of the pearly bridge was Ryann, Tala's twin sister, she'd already changed out of her blue Beaubaton's robes and into her own clothes. She was perched on her case with her arms folded and Fyfe, her Twany Owl, in his cage by her feet.
"You've gone and done it now sis" she said as they approched.
Tala could sense that she was angry, but only a little bit. The laughter in her voice was barely conealed, after all, Ryann had been the only one to applaud Tala and ask for an encore when Sofia had been taken away to the hospital wing.
"I'm guessing no fun for a month Pop?" Ryann asked.
Lucius looked down at her with a side glance "How about a year" he said.
"Oh well Tala" Ryann said standing up "Look on the bright side, you'll never have to see their faces again"
"Don't think you've got off young lady" Lucius said "I know you were there egging your sister on"
"Oh" Ryann sighed and winked at Tala.
Lucius put a hand on Ryann's shoulder and cleared his throat. "Brace yourselves girls, your Mother is livid" and with that he apparated them home.
***
When they arrived at Malfoy Manor Narcissa was waiting for them at the front door, behind her was Draco, the third twin making the Malfoy children in fact triplets. He knew his sisters were in deep doo doo and he absolutly loved it.
"Get into the kitchen" Narcissa said as they walked past her throughthe threshold. Solemnly the girls trudged through the house and into the kitchen where they took seats at the little dining table. The large grand dining room was researved for when they had guests. Narcissa and Lucius followed with Draco hot on their tails.
"Draco, go upstairs" Lucius said.
"But Father" Draco moaned.
"I'm sure you must have homework to finish before the start of the new year" Lucius said "Now go and do it" and with a flick of his wand Lucius shut the kitchen door in Draco's face. He then turned and joined the women in his family at the table.
"I cannot believe you sometimes Tala" Narcissa began "Why, why do you do these things?"
Tala looked at the table and shrugged.
"Tala, look at your Mother when she's talking to you" Lucius said darkly.
Tala slowly lifted her head "Sofia was picking on the first years as per usual and I was trying to stop her" she said. "I'd had enough"
"Why didn't you report it to a Professor?" Narcissa asked.
"I tried!" Tala excalimed "I complained about it all year but Sofia's Mother is on the parent council so nothing was done about it"
"It still doesn't make what you did acceptable" Lucius said "You are soiling the Malfoy name bit by bit"
"I was trying to do what was right" Tala retorted.
"It wasn't right Tala!" Lucius exclaimed "It was foolish, now you've been expelled and I'll have to face an inquiry at work. Mr. Roux was not happy when he recieved an owl and he's put in an offical complaint about you"
"I'm sure you can weasel your way out of it, everyone knows your chums with the Minister" Tala mumbled. She risked a glance at her Father and if his complexion could have gotten redder it would have then.
"Not only did you get yourself expelled, you dragged your sister into it as well" Lucius said "Tala, I don't think you realise how bad your behaviour has been today"
"I only jinxed her!" Tala yelled.
Ryann and Narcissa watched wide eyed as Lucius and Tala lared at each other. Neither of the other two Malfoy children every dared to challange their Father as much as Tala did.
"I'd give it up now Tala if I were you" Ryann muttered.
"You should listen to your sister more often Tala" Lucius said. "Go to your room, I'm sick if looking at you"
Slowly Tala got up and as she walked past Lucius he grabbed her arm. "Wand" he said. Glaring Tala handed over her Larch, 13 inch, phoenix feather wand. Tala was very proud of her wand, it was the only one in the family to have phoenix feather, both Ryann and Draco had unicorn hair cores and Lucius and Narcissa dragon heartstring. Tala knew exsactly where Lucius was going to put her wand, he'd taken it from her enough times. He had a cabinet behind his desk, on the top shelf there was a little stand were Tala's wand took regular vacations.
"When will I get it back?" she asked.
"Did I give you permission to speak?" Lucius asked and with that Tala left the room.
Ryann stayed sitting at the table as Tala left the room. She listened as Tala climbed the stairs, perhaps putting her feet down a little heavier than necessary. They then heard a door slam signalling that Tala was in her room.
Lucius looked at Narcissa who had remained silent "You think I was to hard on her" he stated.
"No" Narcissa said shaking her head "We need to be hard on her, this is the fifth problem we've had with her this tem. Thank goodness the year is over"
Ryann picked at a piece of loose wood on the table, the black paint sticking under her nail.
"And you?" Lucius said looking at Ryann "What do you make of all this?"
Ryann looked up slowly "She doesn't do it on purpose to spite you Pop" she said "No matter what you might think. She wasn't lying when she said Sofia was a bully, Tala can't stand bullies, neither of us can but she was the only one brave enough to actually do something about it"
Lucius rubbed his face. "Why can't she be more like you?" he asked.
"Don't say that" Narcissa interjected "Tala is perfect the way she is"
Lucius didn't reply but stood up. "I'm going to lock her in" he said and with that he left. Narcissa sighed and got to her feet. "No matter what your Father might say or do, he loves you both very much" she said and kissed the top of Ryann head.
"I know" Ryann said.
***
Tala had been sitting on her bed stewing when she heard the lock of her door click. She knew that her Father would come and lock her in at some point. She scowled at the door hoping that he'd feel the burn through the wood. Grumbling to herself Tala got up and went over to the window. She flicked the catches and pushed the pannels open wide, letting in the cool evening air. Taking a deep breath Tala could smell the pine trees from the forest that covered 5 acres behind the manor. Looking back into the room the family portrait caught Tala eye. She looked at herself, she stuck out like the black sheep she knew she was. Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and Ryann all looked pristine and proud with their almost white blonde hair, perfect teeth and emerald green and black clothing. Tala on the other hand had dark, long, wavy brown hair that went down past her shoulders making her look like a wild child. She was smiling and wearing the same emerald and black as the others but there was something about her that was different. Draco was the eldest of the triplets, Ryann the middle and Tala the youngest. As young children and very much so now Draco kept mostly to himself and chose to do socialise with his sisters much. Ryann was the most academic and excelled in sujects like charms, transfigeration and divination whereas Tala was better at Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and low and behold potions. Outside of school Ryann loved Quidditch and was an excellent player, Draco tried against her sometimes but she always won. Tala prefered to ride horses and was lucky enough to own two which were housed on the stables behind the manor. One was white called Ivar and the other black named Ebony. Ivory had become Ivar when his testicles had unexpetantly dropped and they were forced to get him gelded.
The other minute detail that set the sisters' apart from thier brother was the fact that they were both animagous'. Ever since they'd been old enough to walk they had been turning themselves into wolves. Aparently the first time they had done it Narcissa had almost had a heart attack and Draco had refused to come near them for weeks. Ryann's coat was pure white while Tala was black with a white chest. The pair would quite often go running together in the forest as changing into your animaous didn't count as underage remembered when her Father had taken her and Ryann to be signed onto the official animagous registar at the Ministry for stares that had gotten from Lucius's collegues would forever be etched into Tala's memory. She remembered clinging on her Father's hand as tightly as she could. The news that a pure-blood family had produced two animagouses' had been the heart of the gossip at the Ministry for weeks. Not many people knew, only the family and those few at the Ministry who needed to know. Tala finally tore her eyes away from the portrait and looked back out the window. The forest was calling so with an intake of breath Tala perched on the sill and as she jumped turned into a wolf before she hit the ground.
***
The forest, their forest was always empty. The trees expanded for 5 acres and Tala knew every inch of it like the back of her hairy paw. But something was different and not a good different. Tala came to a sudden stop when she sensed a change in the air, the forest was normally thick with the smell of pine and earth but today Tala could smell burning wood and the presence of men. She put her nose into the air and determined the direction the secent was coming from and moved forwards as quietly as possible.
Ahead of her Tala could see an area where all the trees had been cleared. In the middle was a fire pit where embers were glowing, gathered around the pit were tree stumps which had been chopped and made into seats, sitting on them were three men none of whom Tala recognised. They were all dressed in black and looked like they had been living outdoors for a while. She watched as another man came out the tent which was placed at the other side of the clearing. Due to the fact that it was a wizarding tent it was likely to be larger on the inside. The man that came out the tent walked around the pit and dropped down onto one of the stumps. He looked different from the others, he had long brown hair that was tied back in a messy ponytail. There were some strands hanging loose and these had been died red. His was wearing a leather coat and leather boots, his trousers were made of a plaid material. The way he walked and sat down suggested that he was the leader of the small group.
"Who's drunk all the Fire Whiskey then?" he asked picking up an empty bottle and chucking it into the fire where the flames turned blue for a few seconds.
"Fenrir, but I don't see you having a go at him about it" one of the men said.
The man with the red-streak in his hair growled and muttered under his breath.
"How much longer are we gonna be stuck out here for?" one of the other men asked.
"Ow' am I supposed to know?" Red-Streak man said irritatedly "I thought we was supposed to be staying in the dungeons under the manor, not out ere'"
There was a loud crunch of twigs and out of the trees to the right came a large man. Tala guessed that this was Fenrir. He was tall, probably bypassing 6'4, he had hair covering most of his body and he had scars on his was instantly wary and pressed herself lower to the ground. Fenrir came and sat down on the biggest stump, grabbed some meat that hd been turning on a spit and started eating.
"Well, any news?" Red-Streak asked with the a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. Fenrir shook his head. "Did you at least find out what's kept us out ere'?"
"The kids are back from school, Malfoy didn't want us in the manor with them there"
"Yeah, probably don't trust you around his daughters Scabiour" one of the men said.
The man with the red streak, Scabiour, laughed "It's him they gotta watch out for" he said gesturing to Fenrir. "Aving' said that how old are they anyway?"
"To young for you" one of the men joked.
"The youngest girl got them expelled from school now can I please eat?" Fenrir asked.
"I thought you already were" Scabiour said sarcastically.
Tala shuddered and decided that she'd heard enough and that I was time to go home. She slowly she backed away from the clearing and ran all the way back to the manor.
***
Once Tala was back at her window she turned into human form and climbed up the creaper plant, it was much easier to climb with apposale thumbs. Jumping back into her room Tala quickly went over and checked the door to find it was still locked. Grunting in fustration she balled her fist and hit the door as hard as she could.
"I'm ready to apologise to whoever I need to apologise to now" she shouted.
A few minutes later the lock clicked and Narcissa stood in the doorway.
"To be homest sweetheart, I don't know who you need to apologise to"
"Probably half the wizarding population" Tala said and that caused Narcissa to smile. She then pulled Tala into a tight embrace.
"My little troublemaker" she said fondly.
"I'm sorry I'm a pain" Tala whispered.
"You are a pain" Narcissa said pulling back and holding Tala at arms length "But your my pain. Come on, dinner's almost ready"
***
Lucius, Ryann and Draco had already started eating when Narcissa and Tala got to the table. Narcissa went and sat next to Lucius while Tala slipped into the chair next to Ryann. The house elf, Mackeral, rushed forward and put a silver plate in front of Tala.
"Thank you Macky" Tala said.
"It is an honour to serve my young Mistress" Macky said and bowed away.
Lucius grunted and Tala looked up at him sheepishly and looked down at her food. He hated it when she spoke to the house elves like they had feelings.
"Lucius" Narcissa scolded "I think your being a little hard on her"
He looked at her and then at Tala, he knew better than to contradict his wife. He cleared his throat again and looked back down at his food. "I've arranged for the girls to go to Hogwarts" he said and everyone looked up in interest.
"Have you dear?" Narcissa said.
"Yes, they will go with Draco at the beinning of this new term"
"Will we have to be sorted into houses?" Tala asked eagarly.
"Most likely" Lucius said "But I have no doubt that you will be sorted into Slytherin, like every other Malfoy before you"
"Everyone will already have their friendship groups" Ryann said looking at her mashed potatoe.
"I'm sure you'll settle in just fine" Lucius said and gave Ryann a smile, Tala looked up just at that moment and saw thi smile. She'd never admit it but she longed for him to smile at her like that. She couldn't help but feel like a disapointment to the whole family. She pushed her food around the plate with her fork.
"Pop" she said looking up "I'm sorry for today"
Lucius studied her "I'm glad you've decided to grow up Tala" he said "Perhaps after dinner you'd like to play us a song"
Lucius and Tala had a mutual love of music, more specifically the piano.
"Sure" Tala nodded.
After a few more mouthfuls she asked to be excused and made her way to the drawing room where the great black grand piano was placed in the corner. As Tala sat down she gently lifted the lid off the keys and placed her fingers gently on the ivories. She hadn't played in a while so was a little rusty. She'd practised a few little pieces and had decided on a piano version of 'Rains of Castermere', it was from a muggle TV show but her Father didn't have to know that. She's had enough time to play through the song once when the door was pushed open and the rest of the family came in. Draco picked up the lastest copy of the Daily Prophet and sat in one of the arm chairs while Ryann perched next to Tala on the piano bench. Narcissa and Lucius both stood next to the piano. Taking a deep breath Tala started her piece and no one spoke or moved till it was done. They then all burst into a round of applause.
"Well done" Ryann said butting shoulders with her sister.
"Thanks" Tala smiled.
"Well you've certainly improved" Lucuis said.
"I'll take that as a complitment" Tala smiled.
***
Afterwards Narcissa and Lucius excised themselves as they had 'matters that needed tending to'. Tala worried what those matters were. Ryann took Tala's hand and lead her from the drawing room and into the study.
"What's up?" she asked "You looked worried"
"Ry, you know you're the smart one and you always know what's going on?" Tala said and Ryann smiled and nodded "Well, do you think Father is messing around with things he shouldn't?"
Ryann studied her sister's face and then looked away. "What makes you say that?" she asked.
Tala told her about the men in the woods and Ryann took a minute to compose her answer. "We can't assume anything Tal" she said.
"But can't you feel it?" Tala asked streching her arms out.
Ryann nodded. "Just keep your eyes and ears open"
Tala nodded and Ryann patted her shoulder gently "Whatever happens, we have each other"
***