A/N Thank you for the fabulous response to chapter one! It's really awesome to get a thumbs up on our first story So, here it is, the second chapter of The secret Of The Altar! From now on, the story will be through Arabella's perspective. Here's something that you should know about her. Etymology of Arabella Nigelle Malfoy : Ara = Altar ; Bella = Bellona, the goddess of war ; Nigelle = from Phineaus Nigellus Black. Arabella, or Ara as she is fondly known, is everything that a Black family descendant is. Strong, independent, intelligent and a big prankster. A student of Beauxbatons till her sixth year, she's lived half her life in Paris. Read on to know more! We hope you enjoy this character as much as we enjoyed creating her, for it gave us moments of joy, when we were wallowing in despair during our final exams :P
A New Beginning
Finally the day had arrived. Dawn smiled upon the 1st of September, 1998. The sun shone with all its might over the horizon. Birds could be heard chirping in delight. The wind blew serenely over the countryside of Wiltshire. A new chapter was about to begin in my life. A new life at Hogwarts awaited me. The wizarding world's teens were to begin their seventh year afresh.
For the first time, in the glorious history of Hogwarts, there were going to be two sets of seventh years. After a lot of cajoling, my parents agreed to send me to Hogwarts to complete my last year at school, and of course, I couldn't be happier. I would finally strut around in Hogwarts robes, and above all, attend the same school as my brother.
"Wake up Ara! ", he yelled, and playfully punched me. Gotta get even with him. "It's no longer French Standard Time. I will leave you right here if you delay me!" he said, and went off to get dressed.
Downstairs, it was pretty chaotic. Mother was instructing Tibby, our house-elf, to prepare sweets and fruit cakes for our journey. She then furiously hovered around me, to ensure I packed well for Hogwarts. It gets really crazy when you have two kids getting ready to leave for school. Father was already seated at the dining table, catching up with the news in the wizarding world.
Draco came as well. I looked up at him with a devilish grin. With all the years we spent apart, he still has to learn to read my facial expressions. There was a shiny new box near his plate on the table. Of course, I told him that Mother had kept that for him, as a gift before his seventh year. Poor guy.
He opened the box, to find a fire cracker explode in his face! "Gotcha!", I said , with an evil grin. "Bloody hell! You're so immature Ara! Father, look what she did to me." He squeaked, in a frightened voice. Just then, Mother came in. "Bella, when will you stop your pointless tricks? Be responsible. You're going to Hogwarts now. Don't make me change my mind about sending you. Finish your breakfast and get dressed.", she said sternly. I scowled at Draco. Breakfast continued without much fanfare, and then we left for King's Cross.
King's Cross Station, was one of the busiest stations in London. Muggles were scurrying to board trains. The noise was infernal. Trains honked before leaving the platforms, Trains in Paris seemed way better. A few first years arrived at the station with their owls and cauldrons on display for Muggles. Dimwits. Obviously, they were met with stares from Muggles.
Father and Draco stopped at the entrance, to speak to Blaise Zabini's family. Mother and I walked ahead. Heads turned, and tongues wagged, as soon as people saw Narcissa Malfoy enter platform 9 ¾, with a girl, i.e. me, who resembled her in every way. Well, Draco and I had the same blond hair like Mother, I was almost as tall as her, and inherited her pale and haughty face. People were whispering stuff to each other, and stared at me from head to toe. Obviously, my existence was more of a secret, with me living in Paris. And to tell you the truth, the Malfoy's were a pretty reclusive family in the past few years.
Sweat began to break out on my forehead. I agree, we did not have a good reputation of late, but the icy stares bothered me. Father and Draco came along. Draco was fuming. As soon as he reached us, he burst out in anger.
"Mother! Did you see how these people are staring at us? And still you want us both to go to a place where we will have the whole school, and those mud blood loving teachers pointing fingers at us?" , he blurted.
"Draco, be quiet." Said Mother.
"Narcissa, take them both to the train," said Father. I shot glances at Draco.
"Do you always get stared at like this? You should have been nicer to people at your school! Darn. Hogwarts for me doesn't seem to be such a good idea now." I sighed.
"Shut up! I can't put up with people if I can't agree with them. You know that. It's their problem Not mine. Don't bug me Ara." , he said.
"Alright, alright." I said.
Just then, Pansy Parkinson arrived. I had never met her before, but she seemed pretty stuck up to me at the first glance.
"So… you must be Arabella." , she said, while glancing at me from head to toe. "Muggle robes, eh? Fancy seeing you at Hogwarts. This is the Hogwarts Express by the way," she signaled. "What animal did you get along ?..." She rambled on, without even introducing herself.
Sigh. I wonder if my brother had hurt himself on his head or probably was high on something when he met this girl and befriended her.
"Look Patty, or whatever you are called." – I interrupted her. "I've not been living under a rock all these years. I know what the Hogwarts Express is. We have better trains in Paris. Heard of the TGV? Wait. Of course you haven't. And this shirt is Gucci, by the way." I replied.
Pansy looked as if she had been run over by a truck. She scowled at me and stormed off. I'm glad she did! Draco went after her, like a dog follows his master. Ugh. I turned to search my parents. They seemed pretty worried. A few seconds later, I figured out why.
The Weasley's (figured it was them, as I saw 'an army of redheaded, freckled faces' in Draco's words.) Redheaded boy walked close to Harry Potter. It was Ron Weasley. No wonder my parents got worried. After that, people avoided us like the plague. People gathered around them, like flies take to a jar of jam. Everyone jostled for a glimpse of Harry Potter and the Weasley's. They were pretty famous after the war, no doubt. And the Malfoy's conveniently became the bad boys.
Draco came and stood next to me as they passed by, as if he were trying to protect me. I definitely heard snide remarks being passed by those twins. For a while, I wondered if they really were as nasty as Draco says. Their mother reprimanded them, but she too gave a puzzled look in our direction.
A little ahead, they were joined by a bushy haired girl, with her parents. I think she was that Hermione Granger. Draco often mentioned her at home. Aunt Bella called her 'mud blood'. And, she got tortured pretty bad at our mansion. Our parents came up to us and really tried convincing us that people don't hate us. Not that we believed them. Deep inside, they knew it too.
Draco nudged me and signaled me to look at Harry Potter and his friends. It was a no brainer that they were talking about us.
"What the – Malfoy has a twin ? Great. So now there are two of them." Said a disgruntled Ron.
"Shut up Ron! They are looking at us," Said Hermione, and then she hit him hard on the shoulder.
Soon it was time to leave. We walked to the train. Draco led me to an empty compartment and sat with me, inspite of being the Slytherin prefect. I almost ran out of there when I saw Pansy walk in. She sat right next to Draco and started babbling again, while he listened quietly. My stupid brother. I took a spot near the window and waved goodbye to our parents as the train rolled out of platform 9 ¾ . They really looked worried after what just happened. Mother was teary-eyed. But I think those tears were of both, joy and sorrow. Sorrow, obviously to see her family being frowned upon. And joy, for watching me and Draco start afresh. Her unfulfilled dream of seeing us both off at King's Cross was now a reality. It meant that all was well. "Goodbye Mother! Goodbye Father! I yelled excitedly. Train picked up speed, and soon we passed acres and acres of lush green countryside. The train chugged along the tracks as we passed tunnels and mountains. The countryside exuded calm and serenity. It brought a smile to my face. Surely, the start to my Hogwarts sojourn was not so pleasant. If you'd put together the cattiness of all the girls at Beauxbatons, you'd still fall short of the vibes we felt today. But then I looked across the compartment and saw my brother. The smile that he flashed was reassuring. We were finally going to school together, like any other siblings, and that's all I ever wanted. The Malfoy Twins were on their way.
A/N Yeah so that's it from chapter two ! We hope you like it, and please don't forget to review us! In the next chapter we bring you Arabella's first day at Hogwarts. We hope to post it soon Mischief managed!
We'll also answer to your questions in the next chapter! For now, let's just say, we're fans writing a Harry Potter fanfiction, the way we would've liked it to be. *smiles*