A/N: Hiya. It's me again. Here is the next chapter of ITWYLD (If Today Was Your Last Day) and another one is in the making. I know I said that I wasn't going to write anymore of this, but I found this chapter written out (by hand) and I thought it was a waste of 5 perfectly good A4 pages not to use it. So.... I did. Then I found some of the next chapter, so I'm gonna write that one, and get it typed up. I might just find myself wirting the chapter afetr next as well...
OK I wish to dedicate this chapter to my Nadines. I hope they are reading this, and that they go on MSN on Thursday after 6 P.M. I'll email you my new address dears. Just go on at that time.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter or any of its affiliates. I am making no money for writing this, and am putting them on this website in the hope that someone other than myself will enjoy them. They are for the sole purpose of entertaining, and I do not claim any ownership, apart from the plot details.
I woke up and even though I didn't open my eyes, I could tell that I wasn't in my own bed. I couldn't remember where I was until I opened both of my eyes and saw the pale pink curtains that enclosed my bed against the world. Of course, I was in the Malfoy's house.
I stretched slowly, luxuriously. I got out of bed and started to walk towards where I left my suitcases last night. Before I took 3 steps however, I stopped. My suitcases were gone. But gone where?
Suddenly, behind me there was a loud crack. I whipped round and silently cursed. I had left my wand in my handbag, which had been with my suitcases.
The creature that had appeared in my room bowed low, so low that it's nose almost touched the ground. It was then that I recognized it as an house-elf. The Malfoy's must have a lot of them.
"Master Draco requested that I inform you that breakfast is ready, Miss Black," it said.
"Thank you. Oh, and three things. One, don't call me Miss Black please. Call me Gen or Evie. Two, what's your name? And, finally, do you know where my clothes went?" I smiled, knowing that a smile makes people more comfortable.
"I shall call you whatever you wish. I shall inform the other house-elfs if you wish. My name is Ritchie. And your clothes were moved into your wardrobe. It's just through that door. Anything else, miss?" Ritchie replied, returning my smile, and pointing to a door I hadn't noticed before.
"No thank you Ritchie. Thanks for you all your help," I was actually grateful, and as I heard a loud crack, I walked towards the wardrobe.
I opened the door and stood there for a moment, stunned. There were more clothes here than I had ever seen in my entire life. And there at the back where my clothes. I walked slowly through the clothes, running my hands over them. The number of designers here, both Muggle and wizard, was unbelievable. I mean I knew the Malfoy's were rich, but even still, they must have either been billionaires, or have got huge discounts.
I reached my clothes and quickly pulled on my favourite T-shirt and skirt. The top was white with silver and black splodges of paint, and giant purple writing that said 'I 3 ROCK STARS', and giant slits in the back. There used to be purple material stopping you from seeing right through them, but I removed it. Now you could see my back. The skirt was black and had zips on it, sowed on in diagonal strips. I contemplated my pink tights and decided to wear them. I slipped them on and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
I decided my hair needed washed so I conjured a bucket, my shampoo and a towel. I pulled my top off and bent my head over the bucket. I quickly drenched my hair with a spell, and rubbed the shampoo in. then I rinsed it and wrapped the towel around my hair. Then I used two different spells to dry my hair, one to heat the towel, another to make it soak up the water more than it normally would.
I brushed it out and applied my green mascara and kohl eyeliner. I left the wardrobe and hurried downstairs. I found Draco waiting at the base of them, and grinned at him. He grinned back, before motioning for me to follow him. I was glad he had waited for me 'cause I knew that I would have gotten very, very lost in this mansion.
There were loads of portraits on the walls, mostly of blonde men and their wives. I assumed that they were previous Malfoy's. It seemed that Malfoy men preferred blondes, either that or some weird spell was on the men which meant that when they married their wives turned blonde so that the chance of them producing a blonde heir, therefore proving them to be a Malfoy. I couldn't wait to ask Draco about it, but when I opened my mouth to speak, he made a shushing motion with his hands. Oh, we must be surprising Aunt Cissy.
I know she is actually my cousin, but when I wrote to her and asked her what I could call her, she had insisted on me calling her Aunt Cissy. She said she couldn't bear to be formal, and that she had always wanted to have a niece she could help grow up.
Draco started making hand motions. I just raised my left eyebrow. He sighed inaudibly and reached for his wand. He started writing words in the air. He wrote, 'You have to wait at the kitchen door until I say so, ok?' So I replied, 'How will I know you're calling me?' At that he frowned and wrote, 'You'll just know. Just stop.' we had kept walking, and we must have reached the kitchen. I looked around and saw an open door, leading into a giant open-plan kitchen. Draco entered the room with a smile on his face, and spoke to someone I couldn't see.
"Good morning Mother. How are you today?" He was extremely polite, and it was a little scary.
"Good morning Draco. I'm fine thank you. How are you? And you shouldn't leave guests at the kitchen door, Draco. It isn't polite. Come in dear." This last sentence was slightly louder, obviously directed at the person at the door. I entered slowly, listening to Draco replying to his mother.
"I'm fine Mother, thank you for asking. She isn't exactly a guest. Genevieve arrived last night, but we decided to wait until this morning to tell you so that she had time to settle in." Draco was very calm and precise in his every word.
"Please, don't call me Genevieve. I much prefer being called Gen or Evie. Good morning Aunt Cissy." As I spoke, I walked over to Narcissa and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She returned the hug and kissed me on both of my cheeks. She looked me over, head to toe, and smiled.
"You're exactly how your mother described you. And you have such a wonderful sense of style. You know what looks good on you and how to put it together. Are you as good at working on other people?" She said, laughing slightly.
"I'm ok at doing it on other people, but no better than I am on myself. What can I have for breakfast please?" I asked, trying not to let her know that I was starving.
"Draco, show her where the cereals are. And bowls and spoons. And your Hogwarts letters have arrived. You can read them after you finish your breakfast. Now eat." As she had spoken, Draco had gotten up, and done exactly as she had asked, then sat back down, and continued wolfing down his breakfast.
I poured myself a bowl of Frosted Flakes, but left the milk off them. I prefer them dry. Once I had finished them, I reached for my letter. I had never had a Hogwarts letter before, and I was pleased to find that they weren't all that different from the ones they sent you at Beauxbatons. The letter went like this:
Dear Miss Black,
We are happy to say that we have room for you at Hogwarts. AT the start of the year you will be sorted after the main feast. You will be taking the same the classes you took during your last year at Beauxbatons. That is Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms and Herbology. We also have a new class that is compulsory for all pupils in 5th year and above. It is called Myths and Legends. Enclosed in this letter is a list of books you will need for September.
I would also like to add that 5th years and above may wear their own clothes during school, and will not have an official uniform. However, please do keep in mind that you are still in school, and if any teachers see you wearing anything that they think is inappropriate, they have the ability to deduct House Points, as do the Head Boy and Girl. If any of the teachers, Prefects or the Head Boy or Girl hear you mentioning other people's clothes in a derogatory manner, they can deduct points or give detentions with your Head of House, depending on how the insult was.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Severus Snape (Headmaster)
I scanned the list of books, then looked at Draco. He was sitting perfectly still, obviously in shock. He was staring at something in his hand.
I look at Aunt Cissy to see if she knew anything about why he was so still, but she looked just as confused as me. I got up to read his letter over his shoulder, and glanced at the thing in his hand. It was a badge.
His letter went very much the same as mine, except there was another paragraph. It read:
I wish to congratulate you on becoming Head Boy. This means you will be sharing a common room and living quarters with the Head Girl. You will each have an ensuite bathroom, and a kitchen so that you can eat your meals in peace. However, you must attend dinner at least thrice a week, so that we can be sure you are getting at least three decent meals a week. You will also have the power to deduct House Points and give detentions with the Head of House, but you must have a valid reason for doing so.
I squealed and hugged Draco, screaming "Oh My Gosh!! Head Boy!! Congrats Draco!! Aunt Cissy, he's been made Head Boy!!"
Narcissa heard this and started squealing herself. She shoved me out of the way so that she could hug her son, but I just started jumping up an down in the middle of the kitchen. "Eek!! My cousin's Head Boy!! Oh My Gosh!! You didn't tell me that you were the best in the school!! Well the best boy at least!! Congratulations coz!!" I wasn't even sure if anyone could understand me anymore, but I was too excited to care.
"Ok, a few things. One, last year I was the smartest kid in the entire school. Two, I can't be Head Boy. I just can't. Three, why is Snape Headmaster again? I assumed it would be McGonagall. Four, Mother, Gen, please calm down. It's getting hard to understand you. Five, what on earth is this new class? Myths and Legends? Is it some kind of joke? Six, I wonder who the new Head Girl will be? And finally, what time are we going to Diagon Alley?' Draco looked just slightly annoyed at me for disparaging his magical abilities and exam results.
"Draco, of course you're clever. Otherwise you wouldn't have been made Head Boy. And of course you can be Head Boy. Why on earth do you think you couldn't be? And in response to most of your questions, I don't know. However I do know when we're going to Diagon Alley. Just give me an hour or so to start getting to know Gen better, then we will go." Aunt Cissy sounded so sure of the fact that there was no reason for Draco not to be Head Boy that he visibly relaxed.
I turned to Narcissa and said, "So what do you want to know?" She just grinned evilly and motioned for us to go upstairs.
She went up before me, and opened a door right next to my room. She sat down on the settee, and started in her questioning. She asked me everything; about my childhood, about my mother, about my friends. Every time I answered one of her questions, she had another one ready. And they all required very detailed answers. She would never accept one or two word answers. And she required detailed descriptions of everything she wasn't she wasn't familiar with. Which was pretty much everything as I had led a very Muggle life, whereas she had led a very Wizard life.
It seemed like only five or ten minutes had passed since we had left Draco standing in the kitchen, so when Draco opened the door and said in a very impatient voice, "I've given you and hour and a half. Can we leave now? Please?"
I laughed, as did Aunt Cissy. "Time flies when you're having fun," I recited, remembering the old Muggle saying. This just made us laugh harder, and Draco look at us as if we were mad, which is an entirely plausible theory. But only a mad person would suggest it.
Eventually we calmed down, enough for Draco to sigh wearily, and say "Finished?" Which of course made us start again. He left, muttering something to himself along the lines of 'Living with a pair of escaped nutters… What have I done to deserve this?'
About five minutes later, we finally stopped giggling. I suddenly had an idea. I asked Narcissa, "How fast can you apparate? Fast enough to drop me behind Draco, and then get away before he sees you?"
I don't know. Probably. Why, what have you got planned?" She had a small smile forming on her face, anything that annoyed her son, she was up for apparently. That made my job easier, 'cause now I don't have to persuade her to help.
I quickly filled her in on the plan. "You apparate me down there, then apparate away. Wait ten minutes, then apparate down in a place, so that when Draco turns to face you, his back will be towards the kitchen door so that he won't see me opening it to go in."
"What will you be doing in those ten minutes?" Aunt Cissy was extremely eager, and excited. Perfect.
"Annoying Draco." I winked at her before going into more detail. "I'm going to cast a Disillusionment Charm, stand behind him, and then whisper things into his ear, then run away when he turns around to see who did it. Then do it again. The when you come down, I'll slip into the kitchen, the come out, saying that I had been having a glass of water, because I was really thirsty. You in?" I held my hand out to her, and she took it, shaking it quite firmly, while nodding her affirmative.
*Fifteen minutes later*
Hee hee, the plan worked perfectly. Draco was scared out of his wits, and quite firmly believes that the Manor has acquired a ghost. He doesn't even suspect Narcissa or I or tricking him. Brilliant.
We're on our way to Diagon Alley, pausing at the Leaky Cauldron, to get our new school things. I needed a whole new set of books, new quills, new ink, and most important, new clothes. Aunt Cissy and I are going to search for them, getting Draco's at the same time, 'cause he hates shopping and we're better at it than him. Practice makes perfect after all.
"Ok, now I'm going to get some things I need, how about I meet you in Le Beaux in about an hour and a half? You guys get what you need for school, then we'll have lunch, then us girls will live to go clothes shopping, while Draco apparates back to the Manor and amuses himself until we come back? Sound ok?" Narcissa had a plan already, and it sounded like she was anxious to get somewhere.
"That's fine Aunt Cissy. Go on, don't worry about us. We'll see you at lunch." As I spoke she kissed us both on the cheek and dashed off.
"Wow, she really wanted to leave, didn't she? I said, turning to face Draco. But he was too busy staring at the three people coming out of Flourish and Botts to pay any attention to what I saying. I waved my hand in front of his face a couple of times, but I got no reaction, so I pinched him. Hard. That made him jump.
What on earth do you think you're playing at?" He hissed, turning around to face me, his face livid and his whole body tense. That couldn't just be from me pinching him, so I decided that it was from those people he'd been staring at. I glanced at them, and saw that they were walking in this general direction.
"What is so special about those three?" I asked motioning towards the approaching trio with a finger. He turned to look at them again, and started glaring at them.
"Nothing. We just don't get along, that's all." His answer was pitiful, and I planned to ask the girl out of the three for the real answer. Now that they were closer, I could see that there were two boys, flanking the one girl. The girl had soft, brown hair, which framed her face perfectly. She had a fairly deep tan, obviously very recent. One of the boys had vivid red hair, while the other had dark, almost spiky hair, which covered most of his forehead.
They came slowly closer, when another girl called them. They stopped to let her catch, then kept walking. She too had red hair, though hers was a deep auburn, and was most likely the red-headed boy's sister. They kept talking and laughing, and obviously knew each other very well.
When they were just a few feet away, I called, "Excuse me." They all stopped and looked around, trying to see who had called them. My eyes locked with the eyes of the dark haired boy, and I felt like I was falling into a sea of green.
All the others had turned to look at us now, and none of them seemed very happy to see Draco.
I had forgotten why I had stopped them, so mesmerized was I by the boy's glowing green orbs. They seemed to dance and sparkle, and when he turned away to glare at Draco, I kept watching them, hoping they would start dancing again.
"Malfoy, tell your girlfriend to stop staring at me."
A/N(2): So the next chapter will be up soon. Enjoy :) Review if you want, if you don't.... Review anyway!!
Published: 18/2/2010
