A/N: So, after being impatient and stupidly stubborn for a while I finally gave in and now I officially have a beta. So if you see any mistakes or typos you can blame LovingEmerald. Ha, just kidding.. I wouldn't totally throw her under the bus, but I really appreciate her taking the time to read and correct the things that I wrote.. so thanks for that.
I also have to thank prim-a-prim and DiagonAlleyParis for helping me with my french. I guess two years of high school French really didn't get me very far... but at least I know that fromage means cheese... that will come in handy one day, I hope.
P.S. if you were confused about what a relief was, it's a type of sculpture where the subject is slightly raised or sunken from a plane- like stone or metal.
So, now you know.
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Cassius
As we make our way down to the bottom of the sea, I can't help but take a moment to look around at all the marvelous things that surround me, still in awe because I'm not jaded by the ocean yet. Fish weave in and out of the coral that's living and thriving on the rocks, and sea plants sway back forth with each movement. I look up at the shadow of the boat that is casting down on us, thinking about how funny the sea surface looks from down here, like a glass ceiling.
Paige punches me in the arm and I glare at her as she points over at a larger mass of rock, covered in moss and encrusted with other sea life that I can't even begin to know the names of. She takes out her wand and I see her lips mouth a spell, making it light up as she starts swimming towards the mass. I didn't even think to bring my own wand… I guess she is smarter than me.
The colors down here seem to be at their most chromatic and some of them don't even seem real to me. I pick up the camera that was tied around my neck and snap a picture as Paige places her hands on one of the protruding areas on the stone. She does another spell with her wand, and the sea plants scoot out of the way to open up some room for viewing. She motions to me with her hand and I snap one more picture before swimming towards her.
She looks to me and then points down at the uncovered area, and I tilt my head as I look down on it. There's obviously a manmade statue under all of these plants because we're both looking down at a carved human eye. It has to be as large as my body and I take another picture of it so the old men up on the boat can see. Finds are usually never this easy.
"Mr. Malfoy," I hear Dr. Bailey's wheezy voice in my ear. "Get all of those plants off of it so we can determine if it is muggle or magical."
Paige must have heard that too because she gets to work, casting spells that will make the plant life leach off of the stone. She's taking forever and only doing one little area at a time, so I roll my eyes under my goggles and grab her wand from her. She looks pissed as she glares at me, but I just shake my head and cast a better, more efficient spell. Taking plants off of old ruins is my forte, actually; I'm quite good at it.
I do wordless magic with her wand and with a flash of light the plants and sea-life are gone, so we're looking right at the giant statue head. The eyes are blank and carved without irises, and the nose is wide set and partially crumbling. The lips are slightly curved down and the brow line in bold and thick, making it obviously male. Beside me, Paige snaps a picture as I swim closer to inspect it. It's turned on its side and cut off by the neck so that half of it is buried in the sand. I swim around it, taking pictures of its sculpted hair that's tightly braided in small rows and then curled by the nap of the neck.
I snap a picture of the ear when I notice a large pearl looking object set in like an earring, but I know better than to touch that. If wizards did make this, I can bet there's a curse on it.
"Cass?" I'm surprised to hear Byron's voice in my ear and I vaguely wonder how he got on the boat before he starts talking again. "Try to get a closer look at the earring to see if there's a rune on it."
Paige beats me to it and starts snapping pictures. I swim up beside her to try and get as close as I can without touching it; I smile when I see rune symbols set around the perimeter of the white stone. As I'm taking a picture of it for Byron to see up on the boat, I see Paige reach her hand towards it out of the corner of my eye.
I try to tell her to stop, but nothing comes out because we're under water. When her fingers touch the pearl-looking stone, everything flashes white and I slam my eyes shut as a force jets me backward.
I wake up two hours later in a nice warm bed.
"What happened?" I ask groggily as I sit up and rub my head. My entire body hurts, and when I open my eyes, I see Byron sitting beside my bed. Dr. Bailey is hovering around the other bed in the room with pictures in his hands and under him I see Paige lying down, listening to whatever Bailey is telling her. I fall back against the pillows with a sigh.
"There was a pretty bad curse on the pearl," he says and I nod my head. "But you're alive."
"Obviously."
"That's actually good news though," he says and when I look to him he smiles. "That means it's a magical object," he sits forward with his elbows on his knees. "The way the thing was carved suggests something from the Hellenistic period, and the runes are very ancient. I'd have to view it myself to really read them"
"Would that be before or after the break from the muggles?" I ask as I rub my temples. My head still hurts badly, and my bones feel like they've been bruised.
Byron shrugs and sits back. "We don't know exactly when that happened, but the way the hair was braided is a throwback to the Archaic period in Greece, which is pretty unusual. It's sporting two signatures from two eras."
"Do you think that suggests something significant?" I ask, but Byron doesn't get a chance to respond because Bailey finally noticed I'm awake.
"Oh, Mr. Malfoy, good work!" he says as he waddles over to me and touches my shoulder. It makes me flinch because it hurts. We're lucky that curse didn't kill us. "We'll have to go back again in a couple days to get that head out of the water… We don't want those fools from Madrid beating us to it… after you're all rested, of course. We're not exactly sure what that cursed stone did, but you're alive, so nothing too terrible!"
"Of course," I mutter and out of the corner of my eye I can see Paige getting up and putting on her shoes. It makes me feel like a wimp for lying in bed like this, so I sit up as well.
"I must go show these pictures to the University, but you stay here as long as you need!" he runs off with the photos in his hand and I turn my body so that my feet are resting on the floor.
Paige approaches my bed, wearing the torn up jeans and a hoodie that I remember her in before we got on the boat.
"Look," she says sharply as she puts her glasses on, and I raise an eyebrow at her brisk tone. "I shouldn't have touched that thing. It was stupid, and it could have gotten us killed. So, I'm sorry."
The whole time she said that she was looking at the wall behind me and I smiled a little.
"I forgive you," I tell her with amusement in my voice because of how uncomfortable she looks right now. "On one condition," I say as I stand up and her eyes shoot to mine in surprise. I realize now that the clothes I wore before I put on the wet suit are back on my body, and I snort at the thought of someone having to dress me while I was unconscious. "I'm hungry and you have to buy me dinner."
I'm even surprised I said that, but as my stomach growled I ignored how bold I was being. She nods her head and goes to fetch her bag, while I turn around and get mine from Byron who's looking at me strangely with a suspicious tilt of his eyebrow.
"I don't need your comments," I tell him as I sling my bag over my shoulder.
"I wasn't going to say anything," he says softly.
We Floo back to England, landing at the University's History lab and I look down at my watch as Paige goes through her bag and takes out a small money pouch so she can count her coins.
"You really don't have to pay," I tell her as she starts counting things on her fingers. "I'm more than capable."
"I'm well aware of that, Mr. Malfoy." The way she said that let me know that she was well acquainted with my last name. "But I nearly killed you today so I think I can at least buy you a sandwich." Her dark eyes turn towards Byron who's cleaning himself of the soot that covered his body. "Are you coming too, Brian?"
"Byron," he corrects her, but she doesn't seem to care as she throws things around in her bag some more. He looks at me and then to her and shakes his head. "I don't think so."
"Oh, don't be stupid, you're coming. We might as well get to know each other better because this job is going to take a while. You know, we're going to be doing all the hard work because those rusty old men can't take it."
Byron and I both raise our eyebrows to that and I find myself smiling again despite the ache that's still present in my body. We decide on a cheap restaurant in Diagon Alley to have our meal, and once we're seated, an awkward silence falls over us. To fill it, I turn to Byron who's messing with his silverware.
"How was the funeral?" I ask and his eyes look up to mine.
"Who's funeral?" Paige asks and we both look to her. "Who died?"
Byron coughs before looking at me and I know he doesn't want to talk so I go ahead and answer. "Arthur Weasley… he's my mother's dad."
"Your Grandpa?" she asks and I nod my head. "Why didn't you go?" the way she said that made me sound like a jerk, and I felt the urge to explain to her my whole family history so she would understand.
I settle on: "We're not close with that side of the family," instead, as I roll up my sleeves. I'm starting to feel really hot and I can't figure out why, so I look around the room to see if I'm the only one affected.
"Then are you two related?" she asks, looking in between me and Byron. We both shake our heads. "Then why did you go, Brian?"
"Byron," he mumbles as he runs a hand through his hair. He looks up to her and then away. "My family was close with him," is all he says and I'm thankful when the waitress comes to take our order.
Throughout the rest of the meal we learned that Paige Montgomery did indeed go to Hogwarts, and she was two years older than us, in Ravenclaw. She told us how she got involved with Archeology and why she settled on it for a career. The whole time, she kept calling me Mr. Malfoy and ignored me when I told her to call me Cassius… but, at least, she was saying it right. Poor Byron was 'Brian' throughout the whole meal. I felt like I was getting a fever and my head started aching again, so I didn't get a chance to talk very much... not that that would have mattered because Paige talked so much no one would notice.
I kept on sending glances at Byron out of the corner of my eye because he wasn't eating anything, and I realized he must have taken Arthur Weasley's death harder than I thought. When I asked him if he was okay, while Paige was in the bathroom, he nodded his head and said he was fine, but I knew better than to believe that.
"You can go home if you want," I told him but Paige sat back down and dominated the conversation once again.
"So do you think that statue was a part of the missing island?" she asks after telling us about her other finds from around the world.
I shrug. The first rule of this type of job is to never get your hopes up because ninety five percent of the time it's going to disappoint you.
"If not, it's still a nice find," I tell her and she nods her head.
Byron picks up a stake knife and I watch him as he starts messing with it, pushing the sharp end against his skin and then running it along the lines of his palm. I start squinting my eyes because the lights in the restaurant are making my eyes burn, I don't know why.
"I wonder how much more is down there," Paige says as she stares off into space. "There must be all kinds of wonders at the bottom of the ocean, just waiting to be found."
I nod my head, but I'm not really listening because I'm too busy watching my friend as he dances the knife over his skin with a blank look on his face. When he pushes down hard on his hand with the sharp tip of the knife, blood starts to bead against his palm. I kick him under the table so he'll stop, and I flick a glance to Paige to make sure she didn't notice. She didn't. Like he was coming out of a daze he shakes his head and looks to me.
"I'm getting pretty full," I say and he nods his head.
"Me too."
"What do you mean you're full?" Paige asks as she looks at Byron's full plate. "You didn't even eat anything."
He shrugs and I stand up, pulling money out of my pocket as the waitress comes over to give us our bill.
"Is this all together?" she asks with the quill hovering over her little paper pad.
"Yes," Paige says as she takes her own money out of the bag but Byron and I both say no as the waitress looks uneasily between us.
"Here's mine," Byron says softly as he hands his money to the waitress, and he starts walking away with his hands in his pockets without even waiting on me.
"This should cover both of ours," I say, nodding to Paige as I hand the waitress a stack of coins.
"You're not paying for my food," Paige says, actually sounding angry. "I'm supposed to pay for you. You know, I am very capable of handling this by myself."
She turns to the waitress and takes the coins that I handed her out of her hands and replaces them with her own. I raise an eyebrow as the waitress looks at me nervously.
We're both standing up and I'm about ready to fight back, but I realize we've caused enough of a scene, so I sigh.
"Fine," I almost sulk like a child and I can't imagine why. "Pay if you like."
"I do like," she says snootily and the waitress finally feels safe enough to leave.
We walk out together and find Byron leaning against the front of the building, seemingly stuck in his own thoughts.
"Well, I guess I'll see you two in a couple of days," she says, and out here in the sun her dark eyes look almost auburn.
"Thank you for dinner," I tell her honestly and she rolls her eyes.
"Goodbye, Mr. Malfoy," she says curtly and I shake my head by how stupid that sounds coming from her.
"Goodbye, Miss Montgomery," I say to mock her but she doesn't seem to get it as she turns to Byron who has yet to acknowledge us.
"It was nice meeting you, Brian Lint," she says and neither of us even bothers to correct her.
She turns to leave and I watch her walk away with a tilted head, having no idea what to think.
"She's kind of pretty," Byron mumbles beside me and I look to him.
"Yeah," I say, turning back to her as she becomes smaller in the distance. "In a weird, bitchy kind of way."
Byron snorts beside me but doesn't say another thing as we Apparate home. When I get there, I fall down into my bed as a sweat breaks out on my body. I don't leave my room for days because of the painful headache that's beating into my brain like a sledge hammer.
Gavin
"Mr. Malfoy, your Father would like to see you in his office."
I roll my eyes as I throw the quaffle up and down in my hands with my feet propped up on my desk.
"Tell him I'll be there in a minute," I say, annoyed with the thought of having to face my Father again. Rodger nervously plays with his tie, and when he coughs to clear his throat, I lift an eyebrow. "Why are you still here?"
"Well…" he says, looking everywhere but at me. "He said that if you weren't in his office within the next five minutes that he will fire you."
He said all of that quickly and he took a big breath at the end and looked to me with unease. When I start laughing, he seems surprised.
"Honestly, my father can be such a pounce sometimes," I say as I stand up and throw the quaffle in between the three metal hoops that I have placed at the end of my office. When it goes through one of them, I smirk. "I suppose I should go then," I say as I walk past my secretary, headed towards the main office on the top floor.
I take the stairs instead of the elevator and of course when I get there I have to sit in his waiting room while he finishes something up with a client. I pick up a magazine and start reading it as I wait, thinking he must have threatened me with five minutes because he knows I always show up late. I love that my parents are doing that to me now. They'll say something is starting at noon when it really starts at one so they know I'll show up on time. It's actually quite funny.
His male secretary keeps giving me side ways glances as I wait and when the office door opens up, I don't even lift my head from the article I'm reading.
"I hope this arrangement works out for both of us," I hear my father say flatly as he shakes the pudgy man's hand.
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy. Thank you so much again. Thank you so much."
Dad nods and the man leaves, and then his shadow falls on me as he pivots on his feet and looks down with his hands on his hips.
"Come on in, Gavin," he says seriously and it makes me feel like I was a little boy again, when he would summon me to his study for serious talks about behavior and time outs.
"Sure, Father," I mumble as I follow him in and sit down across from his desk. If I must work for my dad, I think 'father' sounds more professional in the workplace.
I look around his office with my arms crossed, noting how much larger it is than mine and how boring it seems to me. Everything in here is gray, dark, and depressing… at least, that's my opinion.
"Your mother's contacted Addison's parents to discuss the wedding," he tells me and I nod my head, already knowing that. Addison has been talking non stop about it for three days straight. He pauses for a moment, waiting for a reply, and when I don't say anything, he opens his desk drawer and pulls out a paper. "Explain this to me," he says coldly, his expression changing in a blink of an eye as he throws the paper on my lap.
I look down and frown at the picture of me, stumbling out of a pub in Knockturn Alley, with my arm around that brown haired leach from last Saturday. Malfoy heir steps out again is the headline, and I throw it back on his desk.
"I don't think I need to explain that," I comment dryly and he stands up, walking around his desk and leaning his back against it with his arms crossed, trying to intimidate me with his size.
"I'm going to remind you again that you have a fiancée now, Gavin, a fiancée who is carrying your child. There are always going to be cameras following you around and you can't do stupid things like this anymore."
I sigh and rub my face. "It was just a little fun," I say as I slump back in my chair. "It's not fair that I can't just go and have fun with my friends without getting in trouble for it."
Dad glares at me and he picks the paper up, pointing to the girl in the shot with me. "What's the name of this friend of yours?"
I shrug, "Just some girl I met," I shake my head and sit up straight, trying not to be upset. "It's my life, Dad. I don't need you monitoring every move I make."
"It's not very fitting for a Malfoy to so publicly cheat on the woman that he claims he loves," he snaps and fire burns in my eyes at those words. "Your carelessness makes the whole family look bad."
"I didn't cheat on Addison," I hiss, angry that he would think that but knowing the evidence would draw that conclusion. "I've never done that to her," I say and that's the truth.
"If that's the case than I shouldn't open the paper to find a picture like this in it again, right?"
"Right," I mumble. I sit back in the chair and rub my eyes again. We're silent for a while as his sharp eyes cut into me. After a while of silence, he sits back down behind his desk.
"You can leave now," he says but I don't move right away as he sits down and readjusts his glasses so he can read from the parchment in front of him.
"Dad?"
He looks up to me and raises an eyebrow as he studies my face. "Yes?"
"When…" I stop myself because I feel like an idiot and out of my element. I sit up straight, and try to regain some of my confidence. "When Mom was first pregnant with Cassius, what did you think?"
"What did I think?" he repeats and I nod my head.
"Yeah," I say uncomfortably. "Were you, you know, happy about it?"
He takes off his glasses and sits back in his chair as he looks me over. I feel very unsure right now, and that makes me uneasy.
"Yes, I was happy about it," he tells me as he looks into my eyes like he was trying to read me. "I wanted to start a family with your mother, so naturally, I was pleased," There's another long pause and I look away from him. "What are you feeling?"
I shrug my shoulders and start messing with my hair. I'm really not used to feeling this way… So out of control.
"Gavin," he says to get me to look at him and when I do, I note that his face is much warmer than before. "You can tell me what's bothering you."
I debate whether I actually should or not. I'm not very good at handling feelings or organizing my thoughts around them. Everything was so much simpler before all this happened.
"I don't know if I'm happy about it," I tell him and he nods his head. "I don't know if I want to… have a kid just now and that makes me feel terrible." I said that quietly, like admitting I was unsure was something unsatisfactory. "Sometimes, I just feel like this whole situation is chaining me down."
"That's because it is, Gavin," he says and I snap him a look because that really doesn't help me at all. "The question you need to ask yourself is: do you love the girl you're going to marry?"
I nod my head and start messing with my bracelet. It seems like such a stupid thing to admit.
"Then you'll be happy, and even if you didn't I promise you that, as soon as you see the baby you two made together, all your doubts about the whole thing will vanish."
"You make it sound easy, but it's not," I tell him stiffly and he sighs.
"Yes, it is. You're just over thinking it."
"So, that Dr. Landwear guy," Dad rolls his eyes at the name and I have to agree with him. "He made us watch that… birthing thing…"I cringe at the memory. "And, that baby looked so small and gross."
"They clean them off, Gavin," Dad says like I was an idiot.
"I know that," I snap as I continue. "It's just so small and all defenseless. What if they make me hold her and I drop her and she dies?"
"Her?" he asks with an eyebrow raised and I nod my head.
"It's a girl."
He laughs at me and I glare again. "Good luck with that," he says and I don't find this situation as hilarious as he does. "Girls are harder to raise than boys. There's a lot of crying and feelings involved."
"That really doesn't help me at all. Thanks a lot," I tell him dryly.
He smiles at me. "They're awfully sweet, though," he says tenderly like he was remembering something nice. "Little girls break my heart."
"Right, that's nice," I say, not really sure if this talk helped me at all. "Thanks for talking to me," I say honestly as I stand up and smooth down my waist coat just so I have something to do with my hands. He watches me as I do this and then I remember another thing Dr. Landwear said. "Dad, was I really a big baby?" I ask, I don't know why, I guess I'll feel even worse for Addison if that's true because what if the baby is just like me?
He snorts and nods his head. "You were huge and your Mother delivered you with out a pain potion," I wince for her. "Speaking of your mother, you should visit her sometime soon. I'm sure she'd like to hear from you and you should thank her for giving you life."
I nod my head, but don't reply.
"Take the rest of the day off," he tells me and my eyes shoot to his in surprise. "What time is Addison done with classes?"
I look at the clock on his wall. "She has a two hour break right now and then she goes until four."
He nods his head and picks up his quill to sign some of the papers in front of him. "Go home, Gavin... and drop your brother a line. I haven't heard from him in a few days."
"I have a couple meetings set up today with..."
"I'll take your accounts for the day," he cuts me off, and again I'm surprised. He looks up to me as he puts his glasses back on. "Now hurry up before I change my mind."
I smile at him before I leave and I go back to my office to grab my wand and briefcase. I decide to Apparate because the Floo network does nothing but piss me off, and as I walk through the building, I note that Terrance's desk is empty; he must be taking an early lunch. I debate tattling on him, but resist the urge as I Apparate in front of my Flat complex and take out the key from my pocket. Addison chose my outfit this morning, she says she likes seeing me all dressed up like this, especially in green dress shirts with black, silver buttoned, waist coats. I don't know what it is... girls are weird about things.
I'm not the type of person one would expect to fall in love. I'm narcissistic, selfish, and a little on the mean side, but I think the reason why I'm so attracted to Addison is because she's the opposite of all those things. It's not only that's she pretty, because she is, but beauty is something many girls possess. I think a major reason why I'm still with her is because she doesn't think I'm bad like most people do. Most girls I've been with knew my personality, they heard about the way I treated people; they expected me to be a dick, but Addison didn't. She always acted surprised when I did something mean… it was like she had never heard of my reputation before, and even now that we've been together for years, she still acts like I'm a good person.
I place my key in the lock and turn it until it pops. With a little smile on my face, I open the door, intending to have some afternoon fun if Addison is home, but what I see when I step into the living room makes any chance of happiness I had for the day vanish.
"Gavin, why are you home?" Addison asks in alarm, probably because of the look on my face.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Terrance?" I ask and the both jump up from the couch as I slam my brief case down and take out my wand.
"Gavin, it's not what it looks like," Addison mumbles nervously as she looks at my wand that is now gripped in my hand.
"Shut your fucking mouth," I snap and she flinches. I zero my glare in one my ex-friend who's looking at me with wide guilty eyes. "Well?" I ask coldly and he gulps.
My mind is making up horrid images, and I want to kill them both. I was being honest with my father when I told him I had never cheated on Addison. Even though I had been in situations that would have made it easy... It would almost be funny if she cheated on me considering who we are. No one would believe it.
"What the hell are you doing at my flat?"
"It's now what it looks like," he repeats.
I find that when people say 'it's not what it looks like', then it is always exactly what it looks like, and sometimes worse. I shake my head and lift my wand.
"Wrong answer."
Lavinia
Mom really hasn't had much time to grieve over her father because as soon as we got home she dived into her other responsibilities - like planning Evelyn's last minute pool party, and meeting up with Addison's parents to talk about Gavin's upcoming wedding. In fact, I haven't really seen her very much the last couple of days, and when I have been around her, she's been really short with everyone....especially Dad. I can't imagine why, though.
Since we've come back from the funeral I haven't been locked up in the house, but whenever I asked to go somewhere or do something, he always says no... So, in a sense, I'm still grounded. Most of my time is spent outside in the garden by myself because I find the flowers relaxing and the beauty of the scenery helps me not feel so bad when I read letters from Darius and write him back, acting like nothing is wrong.
He wants to see me tonight.
I know I'll have to ask my parents but they'll probably say no, and for once that doesn't bother me so much. He says he has some tickets for a show tonight, some musical, and he asked me to go with him... I look at the letter before deciding I probably should ask. I fold his letter over and start heading back towards the Manor from my concrete bench in the garden. I'll go with him tonight and try to be normal with him. I hope it will get my mind off of stupid handsome Byron Flint.
I have been with Darius for over a year and I think I could fall in love with him if I give it enough time. I might even tell my parents that I want to go to that school in Florida, so I can take a break from England for a while. I find Mom and Dad in his study, obviously fighting about something, and I cough loudly and knock on the door frame to get their attention. Dad turns to me with a fierce look on his face, but Mom doesn't even turn from her spot as she glares at Dad.
"Um," I start but I can't quite get it out, figuring I should just leave and let them have this out by themselves.
"What is it?" he snaps at me and I pale at his tone.
"Well," I continue as I mess with my watch. "Darius wants to take me to some musical tonight in Seville and I was wondering if I could, you know, go with him."
Mom finally turns to me as Dad plants his hands on his hips. "No," he says sharply and I'm not really surprised by that answer because that's all he ever says to me now.
Mom's eyes flash and she glares at him before totally facing me with her cheeks flushed in anger. "Yes, you can go, Lavinia."
"Gin," dad warns but she doesn't back down, so dad's top lip curls back in disgust. "I already told her no. She's not going."
"I say yes. She's my child too, and you're being unfair. For goodness sake, Draco, stop acting like a bloody tyrant for once." Mom looks into my eyes and tries to smile but it looks painful because she's so obviously upset. "Have fun, honey."
"Goddamnit, Ginny. I said no, don't override me."
"You can go," Mom ignores him, looking directly at me.
"No, she can't."
"Draco!" Mom stomps her foot and I decide that now would be a good time to leave before I get caught up in their cross fires.
"You know what," I say and they both look to me with tense frames and scowls on their face. "I didn't really want to go anyways," I mumble softly just so I don't cause anymore friction between them. "I wanted to finish reading this one book anyways..."
Dad turns around and runs a hand through his hair as he lightly cusses to himself.
"I'm just... I'll just go to my room," I say but he tells me to stop.
"You can go," he says darkly and I raise my eyebrows and flick a look to Mom, but she's too busy staring at Dad to notice. "Alright?" He looks to me over his shoulder and I nod my head. "What time will you be leaving?"
"The play starts at eight," I answer as I chew on my bottom lip. I catch myself doing it and try to stop.
"What time will you be home?"
"It will probably be a few hours... so eleven maybe."
"Make it ten thirty."
"Draco..." Mom tries to scold him but he puts up his hand.
"Ten thirty."
"Ten thirty it is," I mutter before lightly stepping out of the room and closing the door behind me so they can finish whatever it was they started in there.
"I really hate you sometimes," Mom snaps and I raise my eyebrows, deciding to stay and listen. I turn around and put my ear to the door, feeling so much like Evelyn that I'm almost annoyed with myself.
"That's lovely, Ginevra," Dad says sarcastically. Footsteps tap against the floor and shadows move under the door. "I told you not to let those bloody idiots make you feel bad, but you didn't listen to me."
"I'm sure if you had to stand there and listen to your mother rant at you for killing your father, then you would be in a sour mood too."
"You knew it would be like that," he tells her harshly and there's a long pause before she answers.
"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," she mumbles.
More movements and more shadows move under the door. When Dad talks again his voice is much softer. "They don't matter anymore, remember?" She must have nodded or something because he takes the conversation in a totally different direction. "Ginny, we agreed a long time ago not to override each other in front of the kids. I didn't want Lavinia to go."
"Honestly, you don't have a reason for her not to. You're just being a jerk about it."
"I have my reasons," he says narrowly and I wonder what those reasons might be.
"She's eighteen... she should go out with her friends and have fun," Mom says, and even her voice isn't as harsh anymore. "I don't want her to hate us and I don't want to be like my parents."
"We're not going to be," he says in a deep voice and I can just picture him holding her and kissing her cheek. "Maybe you're right," he says softly, "Maybe, I'm being too strict."
"Maybe?" she says and then she snorts making him laugh. "I want to always be close to all of them, Draco," she says so softly I had to strain my ears against the wood to hear it. "My Mom didn't always hate me, and I couldn't imagine saying the things she said to me to Lavinia or Evelyn, no matter what they've done or what I believe."
There's another long pause and the noises that I'm hearing makes me think they might be kissing. That will never stop being disgusting.
"You're going to have your work cut out for you this weekend," I hear her mutter breathlessly. "Evie's having her first boy-girl party."
"I'm already dreading it," he says and I smirk.
"What are you doing?" I spin around and face Evelyn who has her hands on her hips and an amused look on her face. "Are you spying?" she asks with a smile as she looks at the door over my shoulder.
"Of course not," I say haughtily. "What are you doing?" I ask, eyeing the blue two piece swim suit that she's wearing. "Getting a little practice in for Saturday?"
She nods her head and smiles. She pulls out an empty butterbeer bottle from behind her back, and I raise an eyebrow. "I need your help," she says as I eye the trash she's holding her hands. "Please?"
"What do you need help with?"
"Well, come on," she grabs my hand and pulls me outside towards the pool house where she's been decorating everything with pink and blue streamers and balloons. I look around the place and sigh. It really is totally Evie, to be honest. There are sparkles everywhere and cut out stars are hanging down from the ceiling with white strings of yarn.
She sets the bottle down in the middle of the blue carpeted floor and spins it. I look at her like she's crazy. "What do you need help with?" I ask as I watch the brown bottle spin.
"I need you to help me rig this bottle."
She said that so matter of fact that it's almost funny. "Why?" I ask as I bend down and pick it up. "Did you clean this out?" I ask suspiciously as I inspect it.
"Stop being such a fuddy duddy," she says with a roll of her eyes as she takes the bottle back. "I need to make it so that when Xavier spins it, it will land on my friend Kendra."
"You want to cheat at spin the bottle?" I say in a flat voice, and I almost laugh at her as she tilts her head to the side to look at me.
"Of course I do, silly. I wouldn't ask you to help rig it if I didn't."
"Are you sure you don't want it to land on Jeremiah for you?" I tease and she scowls.
"Oh, please," she says with a roll of her eyes. "Kissing Jay on the lips would be like kissing Gavin or Cassius."
"You say that now," I tell her knowingly but she looks annoyed so I laugh. "There are two things wrong with your plan, Evelyn." I tell her as I take the bottle back and throw it in the trash bin, ignoring the indignant squeak she makes. "I don't think there is such a spell for that, and Dad's not going to let you play spin-the-bottle no matter how much you whine."
"I'll figure that one out," she says, digging into the trash to get the butterbeer bottle. "And, what Daddy doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Dad knows everything," I tell her seriously.
"We'll see," she says with her chin tilted up in the air as she blows on the bottle and stomps over to one of the wooden air quidditch tables. "If you won't help me with that, then will you at least use your wand and put a little spell on these for me, please?" she asks sweetly, holding up a stack of invites.
"What spell?" I ask as I walk over to them and pick up one of the cards that give people the information about her party.
"Could you make it so their skin turns neon pink if they don't attend," she asks hopefully and I snort.
"No, I won't do that for you," she starts pouting and I roll my eyes. "What if someone doesn't want to come to your stupid party?"
"Everyone wants to come, of course," she says arrogantly as she flips a few reddish gold curls over her shoulder. "But I just think it would be a laugh if someone was late and they turned pink. It's just for fun," She grabs my hand and blinks her big slate eyes at me. "Oh, please, Lavinia. It will be really fun and it's for my birthday. Don't be such an old lady."
"What did mom say about it?"
She looks to the side for a few seconds and I know what that look means. Mom already told her no to that idea. "Well, Mom and Dad have been so on edge lately. Lavinia, please, please, please, please..." I start walking away but she follows while tugging on the back of my dress. "Pretty please with a cherry on top? Please, please, please... "
God, she's annoying.
"Fine," I snap as I grab the invites and I take out my wand. "But if anyone turns pink it's not my fault."
"Oh, thank you!" she hugs me as I do the spell and I hand them back to her.
"Just make sure you put the counter charm on the back," I tell her as I let her know what the spell is. "Or else they'll stay pink forever. Gavin was the one who made up that curse, so no one else will know what to do."
She smiles and nods her head as she skips back into the pool house. I watch her go with a little smile on my face before heading back to my room and getting dressed for the night. I'm actually kind of nervous... not the good nervous you get before a date, but that terrible kind of nervous that rests at the pit of your stomach when you know you've done something wrong, and someone is about to find out. I put on just a simple black dress and I barely even take the time to do my hair or makeup. For some reason, it feels wrong to dress up for him when I would rather... ugh... I promised myself I wouldn't think about it.
When Darius gets to the Manor, he smiles at me and I feel a pang of guilt pierce my heart.
"I almost put out a missing persons report on you," he tells me and I can't quite look him in the eyes. Everything seems watered down about him. His eyes aren't as intense and his skin even seems grayer than a certain someone. I have to stop thinking about it.
We Apparate to the theatre and when we take our seats, Darius takes my hand in his own. I almost cringe when he does this and I resist the urge to grab my hand back. It's such a sweet and simple thing that a boyfriend should do to his girlfriend, but I can't help but feel dirty as his fingers intertwine with my own. The show starts, and of course, it's a musical all about the power of love. I caught myself scowling more than once at the sappy dialogue and lovey-dovey lyrics and I looked down at my watch more than ten times which caused Darius to look at me questionably from the corner of his eyes.
"Is something wrong?" he whispers in my ear when I look down at my watch again. "Is this show that bad?"
I shake my head as the main girl characters starts singing a beautiful song about how much she loves her prince. I smile tightly at him, but it feels more like a grimace. "No, it's just I have to be home at nine thirty," I lie with an apologetic smile.
"Nine thirty?" he says a littler louder in a disbelieving voice and the couple behind us shush him. "The show won't even be half over by then."
"It's my Dad," I explain with a shrug... and it makes me feel terrible.
He looks foreword for a few minutes, staring blankly ahead of him with a tick in his jaw and then he stands up.
"Hey, sit down," someone hisses behind us and I look up to Darius as he takes my hand and pulls me up as well.
"What are we doing?" I ask him as he steers us down the aisle towards the cloak check closet where he hands the woman his ticket. "Darius?"
"It's nine twenty right now, Lavinia," he says impatiently as he takes my cloak and helps put it on my shoulders. "You know your father is going to castrate me if I get you home even a minute later than he wants."
I nod my head but don't say anything because of the guilt that is threatening to choke me.
We Apparate to the front gates of Malfoy Manor and the old gates slowly swing open to let us in, so we can make the long trek up to the house. Darius takes my hand as we start walking and I try not to let it bother me. I watch his profile in the moonlight trying to make myself love him, but I just find myself comparing him to Byron and I hate myself for it.
"This night was kind of a bust," he mumbles as he looks up at my home.
"I'm sorry," I tell him, but he shakes his head and gently squeezes my hand in such an affectionate gesture that it makes me want to cry.
"It's not your fault," he says, looking down at me with a smile, "it's just one of the cons of dating Draco Malfoy's daughter, I guess." I look forward and he squeezes my hand again until I look at him. "Of course, the pros far outweigh anything your father can throw at me."
I know I should smile, but I just can't, so I look forward again. When we make it to the front door, I let my hand drop from his and I look at his feet as he puts his hands in his pockets. When he bends down to give me a good night kiss I turn my head to the side. My throat starts to feel tight and tears sting my eyes. He must have noticed because he tilts his head to the side.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry," I whisper and take a deep breath as I take a step back from him. "I have something I need to confess..."
"You're going to have to tell me at another time. It's nine thirty already, and you know how your dad is," he tells me and I know it's because he's afraid of my father.
I sigh sadly and sit down on one of the front steps.
"Take a seat," I tell him, and he hesitates before sitting beside me. I can't face him, so I look forward with my hands clenched together on my lap. "I... I did something and I know it's going to hurt you when I tell you," I tell him softly and I can tell his breathing has changed, and he's looking intently at the side of my face.
"What is it?"
I take another deep breath. "I cheated on you," I whisper and I'm not even sure if I said it out loud or if my lips just moved.
"Pardon?"
I turn my head and look him in the eyes as he searches my face. "I cheated on you."
"Cheated?" he says slowly, like it was sinking in. "You kissed another guy?" I don't say anything to that and my expression must look even guiltier than before because his eyes grow wide and he scoots away from me. "You slept with someone else?" he says in a disbelieving voice, like he was waiting for me to say I was kidding. When I nod my head, he rubs his face. "Jesus Christ, Lavinia, you wouldn't even let me feel you up!"
I blush, but he doesn't notice as he stands up and starts pacing back and forth in front of me. "I'm really sorry, Darius," I tell him honestly. I was selfish with my actions and I didn't even care about him at the time. What a terrible person I am.
"When?" he asks flatly when he stops pacing. He is turned slightly away from me so I can't see his face. "How many times?"
"Just once," I answer softly as I look down at my hands. "At my graduation party."
"Your graduation..." he trails off and then he shakes his head with a disbelieving snort. "It was because you were mad at me?" He really had nothing to do with it, but I can't say that so I nod my head and he starts pacing again. "Who was it?"
His voice sounds darker, so I look up to him. "It doesn't matter," I tell him honestly. Telling him won't change a thing, and it's not like Byron cares about me.
"It doesn't matter?" he hisses at me and I flinch. "Of course it matters. Tell me who it was, so I can go kill this bloke."
Coming from a person like Darius that threat is kind of ridiculous, but I can't find the humor in it right now, not when this whole situation is so upsetting to me.
"I really am sorry," I whisper honestly.
"I'm sure you are," he snaps and hot tears slip from my eyes. There's a long pause until he finally speaks again. "This guy..." he says with distaste, but I can't look at him. I wish this conversation was over so I could go inside and try to pretend like all of this didn't happen. "This guy that you slept with, do you want to be with him?"
I can't answer that question because I really don't know how to, so I shake my head.
"Do you still want to be with me?" he asks with such uncertainty in his voice that it's painful to hear.
I don't answer right away. "I don't know," I finally manage to get out and when I look up to him, I see him glaring off at the trees as he wipes his eyes off with the heel of his hands. I crumble a little more when I realize he's crying.
I've actually made a boy cry.
I feel like the worst kind of girl and I start crying in earnest now, which is usual for me in most painful situations. He cusses to himself and starts mumbling under his breath about how he should have known, and to get away from it I close my eyes and tilt my head down in shame because of what I've done and how much I've hurt him. We stay like that for a while until I feel warm hands wrap around mine. I snap my eyes open in surprise and see Darius kneeling front of me with his face level with mine. His brown eyes look almost black out here in the dark and deep down, I secretly wish they were blue and that makes me hate myself more than I already did. He studies my face before cupping my face in his hands and gently kissing me on the lips.
"Figure it out," he says softly against my skin and I nod my head. "Keep in mind that I'll forgive you," he tells me, and then he leaves.
I watch as his back disappears down the path and I stand up and wipe off my face. When I realize I'm still sobbing like an idiot, I go inside and start running towards my room, barely even glancing at my sister who's standing in the hallway. I keep the lights off as I crawl into my bed and I push Cato off my pillow as I pull it to my chest for something to hold on to. Cato meows in annoyance and runs out of the room, but I could care less. It takes hours, but eventually, I stop crying and I just stare blankly at the wall ahead of me with dry tear tracks still staining my cheeks. I've decided that boys do nothing but ruin my life.
When the door opens, I don't even bother turning and when a skinny body slides into my bed beside me, I don't bat an eyelash.
"It's okay, Lavinia," Evelyn whispers as she wraps her arms around me and grabs my hand that's clutching the pillow for dear life. "I think all boys are stupid."
I find it in me to smile a little at that, not so much because of what she said, but because she was obviously spying on me again. I'm not even mad.
"I agree," I say in a hoarse voice and I fall asleep to my little sister humming in my ear.
Evelyn
When I wake up, Lavinia is still sleeping beside me, so I think she'll probably sleep in late again today. She's doing that more and more often now, so I kiss her cheek before getting up and bounding to my room. May 30th, my birthday, is officially close. I spend the morning making sure everything is in order and putting the finishing touches on the decorations so I won't have to worry about it when Saturday rolls around. I eat my breakfast and my lunch with Mom and Dad because Lavinia stays in bed, and when it's time for my ballet practice, I make sure to pack all the pink invitations in my bag, right along with my ballet slippers and water bottle.
Mom Apparates me to the ballet studio and tells me to have a good time with a kiss to my cheek. I smirk as I prance into the ballet room where most of the people in the class are sitting on the floor, changing out of their regular day shoes. I clap my hands to get everyone to look at me and when all eyes are on me, I smile.
"I have an announcement," I say as I beam at everyone. Of course, Xavier rolls his eyes and he turns his back on me to stretch out his legs. "I'm having a party for my birthday on Saturday and you're all invited," I tell them all excitedly and I see their eyes light up.
I can't say I blame them. Malfoy Manor is like a wonderland to everyone who doesn't live there. I reach into my bag and pull out the invites, smiling at all the eager faces. "Make sure you bring your swim suits and a towel," I say as I walk in between them to hand out the cards. I weave around their bodies as I tell them about the pool we have in our back yard and lake we can jump in if we're feeling a bit more adventurous. "There's going to be plenty of food and stuff to do there."
When I hand one to Kendra, I stand a little straighter and try to make my voice louder, "Hopefully you'll be able to impress us all with your amazing diving abilities, Kendra," I tell her, watching to see if Xavier is paying attention out of the corner of my eye. Of course, that grumpy little troll isn't as he walks over to the barre and starts doing small warm ups. I find it awfully irritating when people don't pay attention to me.
"I really haven't done stuff like that in a while..." she mumbles, but I wave a dismissive hand.
"Hosh-posh," I say, batting that comment away, "I'm sure you're amazing." I will not have my plans of getting Kendra and Xavier to fall in love be spoiled, even if it's Kendra and Xavier who are the ones doing it. "It's charming how modest you are."
"I'm not –"
I ignore her as I walk over to the anti social French idiot who's stretching out his legs against the barre. I cough to get his attention and when he doesn't acknowledge me, I kick him in the shin. When he glares at me, I smile and hand him a pink invitation.
"You're invited too," I say sweetly.
He takes the invitation and looks down at it with distaste clearly written on his face before balling it up and throwing it in the nearest trash bin. Normally I would be insulted by that reaction, but it doesn't really matter because he already touched it meaning the curse I had my sister put on will work.
"Throw whatever hissy fit you like, Xavier," I tell him with a smirk. "You still have to come."
"Pourquoi devrais-je t'écouter, tu n'es qu'une petite fille gâtée?" he mutters angrily and I roll my eyes.
"If you really think I'm a spoiled princess than I suggest you make an appearance or you'll be neon pink for the rest of your life."
His hazel eyes snap to mine and he stops stretching, "What eez your meaning?"
My smirk only gets wider. "See you Saturday,"
He's about ready to question me further, but Madam Violet enters the room and claps her hands. "It's not social hour, people," she says harshly and everyone jumps up at the cold tone in her voice. "Take your places."
Everyone scurries to their spots, but me and when Madam notices her eyes narrow. "Miss Malfoy, I think it would be wise if you listened to me," she says and I nod my head and start walking towards my spot. "You might want to remove the flip flops."
I look down at my feet and then back to her with a smile on my face. "Of course, Madam."
I change into my ballet shoes and the rest of the class time goes by really fast. Most of the girls, and even a few of the boys, ask me excited questions about my party while Xavier the Irritating glares at me every time I turn to him. He really is a piece of work. Mom picks me up from practice and that night, I'm so excited that I barely sleep. The days pass by without much of anything happening, and when Saturday finally rolls around, I'm so giddy with happiness I fear I may bust at the seams.
I wake up extra early to make sure everything was how I liked it and Mom spent most of the morning in the kitchen baking my birthday cake. It was all lopsided and ugly, but so heartwarmingly endearing that I gave her a big hug as soon as I saw it. I don't understand why daddy just doesn't take over the job of making the birthday cakes every year. If you think about it, cooking is really close to potions, and my father is wickedly good at that subject.
When the clock in the hallway chimed noon, I ran up to my room to peel off my clothes and put on my new swimsuit. Mom bought it especially for this day, and I love it already. It's at two-piece that's light blue in color with silver stars patterned across it; the crisscross pattern on my back makes it look very cool... at least, that's what I think. I had begged Mom to do my hair and she finally gave in as I sat in front of her on the floor in one of the living rooms as she French braided my hair. She was just finishing tying off the right side when Jeremiah Floo'd in, and I jumped up and ran over to him, crushing him to me in a tight hug.
"You came!"
He rolls his eyes and awkwardly pats my back. "You say that like you actually think I wouldn't."
"Evelyn Grace," I reluctantly turn around to see my Dad in the doorway, giving me a stern look. "You can't just be prancing around the house greeting your guests in that," he looks at the swimsuit I'm still wearing, and I sigh.
"I wanted to show Jeremiah what I did to the pool house anyways," I say curtly as I look him over, smirking at the bright green shirt and orange swimming trunks he wearing. He looks ridiculous. "Come on, then." I say as I take his arm.
"Evie, don't you want me to finish your hair?" Mom asks with a small smile, and I find it in me to blush as I bring a hand up to my hair and notice that while one side is tightly braided, the other is still hanging down in loose curls.
"Oh, yes," I mumble as I plop down on the floor in front of her again. Jeremiah sits in the chair across from us, trying not to laugh.
It feels like it's been forever when she's finally done and I hop up again, making a motion for Jay to follow. "Wait, Evelyn,"
"What is it?" I ask impatiently as I cross my arms and face her again.
She takes out her wand and points it at me, putting a sun blocking charm on my skin and I roll my eyes irritably. "You're going to be out in the sun all day, little lady," she tells me in response to my reaction. "Don't give me that look."
"But I don't get freckles like you and Gavin," I whine. I will never get a tan if she keeps on assaulting me with sun screening charms that would protect even an albino who was allergic to the sun.
"But you can get skin cancer, so stop complaining," she says as she puts the charm on Jeremiah as well. That smirk he had on his face vanished pretty quickly after that, I must say. "Make sure if you go in the pool that Lavinia's out there with you."
"Fine," I mutter. My parents are making Lavinia be our chaperon and I bet they want her out there to spy for them.
She finally lets us go outside, and to Jeremiah's immense pleasure, Lavinia is already by the pool, sitting on the edge with her feet in the water as she reads a book. He stops walking all together as he stares at her in her modest one piece swimsuit.
"I hope you don't start drooling," I tell him haughtily. "I don't want all of my guests stepping in your saliva," I say as I start walking towards the pool house.
Jeremiah gives one more pining look towards my oblivious sister before chasing after me. "Is your sister going to hang out with us today?" he asks and I roll my eyes before opening the glass doors to the pool house. He stops in the door way and looks around with wide eyes. "Jeez Evelyn. Did you leave some glitter for the rest of the world?"
"Do shut up," I tell him briskly as I go over to the record player and turn the knob to full volume before switching it on. "She's going to babysit us, just in case any of us drown or something, she'll be able to save us," I give him a pointed look knowing he's deathly afraid of deep water and he mutters before turning away with his arms crossed.
The music starts blaring and Jeremiah jumps and covers his ears from the noise… I guess it is a bit loud. Outside, I hear a yelp and then a splash and my heart sinks as I run over to the doorway. Lavinia resurfaces from the pool and spits out a mouthful of water, and I gulp as she looks around her and then dives back under, only to reemerge again with her now ruined book in her hands.
"Oops," I whisper as she climbs out of pool and squeezes the book together so water drips from its pages like a waterfall. "Darnit," I say as she angrily flicks her long hair out of her eyes and flips through the now soaking book with a scowl on her face.
"What!?" Jeremiah yells beside me over the music with his hands still tightly covering his ears. When he looks over to the direction I was staring, he pales when he sees Lavinia stomping over to us.
"Turn that down!" she yells as she pushes us aside and makes her way over to the record player. She pulls the needle off the disc so it stops playing and then she turns around and glares at me. "You ruined my book!"
I'm almost surprised by the furious look on her face because she's been acting like such a zombie for the last couple of days. "Don't you know a drying charm?" I offer as Jeremiah slinks further behind me to hide. What a coward he is.
"Of course I do, but look," She opens the book and peels apart two of the soaking pages, showing me how the ink has all run together. "I don't know how to fix that. It's totally ruined because of you."
"Sorry?"
"You're going to be sorry if Mom or Dad can't fix it," she hisses before stomping away. I watch as she grabs her towel and she throws on a pair of shorts before going back into the house.
"Are you going to get in trouble?" Jeremiah asks behind me and I glare at him.
"Thank you for the support, bunny rabbit," I tell him. His official name should be Jeremiah the Cowardly. "I won't get in trouble if my Dad scolds me because I'll just start crying and he'll give in... if it's Mom though..." I trail off and let it hang in the air. I don't get away with half as many things with my mother.
I look around with my hands on my hips and when I see the butterbeer bottle I've been secretly trying to charm my eyes light up. "I have a job for you, Jay," I tell him as I walk over and pick it up. "I want everyone to play spin the bottle, so I can get Kendra and Xavier to kiss."
"That's a stupid idea."
I narrow my eyes at him. "No one cares what you think," I tell him shortly and then I flick a braid over my shoulder and tilt my chin up. "I'm going to try to bribe Lavinia, so she won't tell," and hopefully she'll forget about the mishap with her book… "And I need you to keep my Dad busy, so he doesn't pop his head in while we play."
"What do you mean 'keep your dad busy'?" He asks like that was a horrid idea to him.
"Well, when I give you a signal, I want you to go find him and tell him that you think stocks and bonds are interesting."
He makes a face at me. "I don't think stocks and bonds are interesting," he says flatly.
"So?" I sigh when he doesn't get it. "Take one for the team, Jeremiah. Just tell him that and he'll talk your ear off for an hour about it while we play."
He looks away with his eyebrows scrunched together as he thinks about it. "So, I don't get to play?" he asks and I roll my eyes again.
"You said it was stupid," I remind him and he shrugs as he looks at me crossly. "There isn't even a girl that's going to be here that you would want to kiss, is there?"
A faint blush stains his cheeks as he looks away. "Of course not, I just don't think it's fair that I have to go and talk to your frightening father, while that old toad Zavi-a gets to kiss everyone. That's all."
"Please, I'll be forever in your debt," I tell him as I blink my eyes and try to look pitiful.
He still stares at me stonily, but I can tell his resolve is starting to melt when I jet out my lower lip. "Oh, fine then, but you owe me one."
"You're wonderful!" I tell him and I hug him tightly again.
"Yeah, yeah..." he mutters.
"Evelyn," I turn to the door, surprised to see Mom there staring at me and Jeremiah with amusement in her eyes. "You need to come inside now and greet your guests as they show up."
I give Jeremiah an excited smile before skipping into the house to welcome my friends. The whole ballet class shows up with brightly wrapped presents and smiles on their faces as they look around them. Everyone but Xavier, of course, and I find myself disappointed that he didn't come. Maybe Liv did the spell wrong.
I start having fun despite my plan of romance being ruined, and after a while, a group of us start playing Marco Polo in the pool as house-elves hand out drinks and ice-cream. When it's my turn to be the finder, Jeremiah swims over to me and ties the blind fold around my eyes with his skinny chest pressing into my back.
"Can you see anything?" he asks into my ear and I shake my head honestly because now all that I see is darkness. "Good luck, birthday girl," he whispers and I smirk.
"I don't need your luck," I tell him with a smile, "I know I'll be able to find you in the shallow end where the water comes up to your knees."
He splashes me and I giggle before starting the game. "Marco?"
"Polo," a few voices answer at the same time and I swim to my left towards Tammy's voice.
"Marco?"
"Polo." I jump when I here Jeremiah's voice so close to my ear and I smile as I swim after him. With the blind fold on, I can tell that his voice is starting to get deeper and it makes me smile thinking of him as a man.
"Marco?"
"Polo," he answers and I can tell we're getting into the deeper end of the pool. I say Marco again and Jeremiah sounds so close that I lunge forward.
My hands find purchase on his shoulders and my chest runs into his, causing him to put his hands on my waist to steady me. I start giggling as I lower the blindfold with one hand, looking up into his eyes.
"Got you."
"Yeah," he says softly and he's looking at me in such a strange way that I almost ask him what he's doing.
A shadow falls over us and we both pull our hands back as I look up at my sister who's standing over us with her hands on her hips. "There is a very angry looking, neon pink, French boy in Dad's study."
I start laughing as I climb out of the pool, but Lavinia doesn't find it half as funny as she follows me back to Daddy's office. I open the door and see a very pink Xavier scowling with his arms crossed as my Dad leans against his desk and stares at him with his head tilted to the side. They both turn to me when I come in as a puddle of water pools at my feet because I didn't bother with a towel.
"I'm glad you came," I tell him and his eyes snap to mine. It's really funny that he looks so upset considering he's the color of bubble gum. "You really should have been on time, though."
"Do you know the counter charm to this?" Dad asks sharply, not finding it funny either. People are so boring.
I look over my shoulder at Lavinia, who sighs before lifting her wand. Xavier turns back into a normal shade as Lavinia looks at Dad. "She made me do it," she says before leaving the room with a stomp of her foot.
I look at Dad and smile, but he gives me another one of those fatherly 'you shouldn't have done that' glares. "Apologize to your friend."
"Je suis désolée," I tell him, trying to sound apologetic and I thought saying it in French was a nice touch but he scoffed at me. "Do you want to come swim with us?" I ask hopefully.
"Non."
"Oh, please will you stay?" I ask as I go over and grab his hand. Dad raises his eyebrows and Xavier tries to pull his hand back, but I clamp my fingers down. "I wanted to show you my Grandmother's dance room. You've heard of Narcissa Black, right?"
He nods his head as he looks at me like I was crazy. "Evelyn, if he wants to leave, you let him leave," Dad says briskly and I nod my head.
"S'il vous plaît?"
"Will my skin... stay normal?" he asks, pronouncing his i's like they were double ee's.
"If you stay." I tell him and Dad shakes his head at me, but I won't give in. Plan A is officially back into motion.
"Show me dzees dance room," he commands, and I roll my eyes.
Dad doesn't even stop me as I make a motion for Xavier to follow me. He does so with his snooty head in the air and his hands in his pockets. I suppose my father doesn't see him as a threat because he's so annoying and hateful towards me. The whole way to the swan room Xavier looks around the house with barely veiled disgust, and when he crinkles his nose at the suits of armor we pass I finally ask him what his problem is.
"Dzere ez no shame 'ere," he says as he shakes his head. I resist the urge to stomp on his foot so I square my shoulders before opening the door to the swan room.
"You're just jealous because you're poor."
He brings out the worst in me, he really does, and when his cheeks blush red, I apologize to him. He's the only person who doesn't like me and I think it's terribly annoying. I am a very likable freaking person. We don't talk the rest of the way as I open the hidden door behind the wardrobe. When we enter the dance room, his jaw drops as he steps onto the floor and looks around. The walls are covered in golden framed mirrors with ballet barres attached to them and the bit of wall that's not covered is painted a deep dark blue. The floor is black and the ceiling is white and modeled with large golden chandeliers hanging down low that cast the room in a soft orange glow.
"Isn't this nice?" I say as I walk over to Grandmother's portrait and I wave to her.
"Happy birthday, Evelyn," the painting tells me and I smile.
"Thank you. Grandma, this is my... " I was going to say friend, but I stop myself. "This is Xavier."
"The dancer?" she asks as she looks over my shoulder at Xavier who's still looking around the room in awe. "He's cute," she says with a smirk and I glare. "Why are you all wet? You look like a drowned cat."
"Don't be rude. Xavier, come say hello to my Grandmother."
Like he finally realized I was still very much in the room with him, he walked over to me until we were standing side by side. "Evelyn has told me a lot of good things about you," she totally lies and I snort. Xavier doesn't say anything and Grandma's portrait smiles coolly down at him. "Pleasure, anyways, Evelyn I hope you haven't forgotten my birthday is today as well," she says.
I nod my head. When she was alive we use to take a night and celebrate our birthdays together.
"Are you going to go visit me?" she asks with an eyebrow raised and my smile slips a little bit. I really don't want to go to the cemetery. "You know how much I love daisies."
"Yeah..." I say uncomfortably as Xavier watches me out of the corner of his eye.
"I think it's important to honor your ancestors and all that. It shows a proper upbringing."
"Of course. Well, sorry Grandma. Xavier and I really must be going... there are a lot of people outside waiting for me and… yeah… bye." I wave to her and grab Xavier's arm as we walk out. "Her portrait is awfully chatty," I explain to him as I close the wardrobe, hiding the door. "She really was never that way when she was around. I guess she just must get bored."
"Where does she leeve?" he asks and it's takes me a second to figure out what he was asking.
"Oh, she doesn't live anymore. She's dead. She wants me to go to the cemetery and put flowers by her tomb, but you know what? I hate doing it. I think it's quite depressing, but I think she just wants everyone to know that there are people who still care about her as opposed to those other Malfoys in the Mausoleum."
He looks at me, but doesn't say anything as we walk outside. He didn't bring a swimsuit, so he just sulked and sat off to the side the whole time, but personally, I was surprised he stayed. Every time I sent Kendra over to give him a drink or to ask him a question, he scoffed at her and she came back near tears every time because he was so mean. I also tried to get Kendra to do some cool things off the diving board, but she wasn't lying when she said it had been a while because the first dive she attempted, she landed right on her stomach and the smack against the water made everyone cringe. Her torso was red the rest of the day and I gave up on any plan of them falling in love because they were both being terribly stubborn about the whole thing. I decided to forgo the kissing game because it was a chore getting Xavier to come here and I bet it would take an arm and a leg to get him to play. I sure didn't want to be stuck kissing anyone here anyways.
Jeremiah was happy when I told him there would be no spin the bottle and he spent the rest of the day doing surly impressions of Xavier who was leaning his back against the pool house with his arms crossed. More than one time, I caught him looking right at me and I knew it was probably because he was thinking of how much he hated me and thinking terrible things about the way I looked. I didn't let it bother me. After presents and Mom's lopsided cake, everyone went home and thanked me for inviting them. I had my towel wrapped around my body as Xavier prepared to Floo away.
"Thank you for coming," I say, having practiced that line my whole life.
He nods his head and then he turns to the fireplace. He hesitates and I watch him questionably as he turns around and faces me again. "'Appy Birdzday, Eveleen," he says and for once, it wasn't jerky or mean. I smile at him and he nods his head tightly before leaving.
"I hate that guy," Jeremiah says behind me when everyone Floos away.
"I'm sure he hates you too," I say honestly, "He hates just about everything."
"I better get home. I'll talk to you later, Evie Stevie," he says as he tugs on one of my braids, calling me the stupid nickname that, for some reason, he thinks is clever. When he's gone, I sigh and sit down.
"So was it a good party?" Mom asks and I nod my head.
"Yes, I believe it was."
I have dinner with my parents and sister and when night time rolls around, I go through all the presents I had gotten during the day - new clothes from Mom and Dad; a new necklace from Kendra, and a stupid drawing of a blue snake from Jeremiah. I sigh as I put all my presents down and I think of Grandma's lonely portrait and grave, being all lonely on her birthday as well. I make a decision and I sneak into Lavinia's room to wake her up.
"Hey," I say as I push her shoulder. She had already been asleep, but I didn't care.
"What do you want?" she asks flatly as I sit down beside her.
"It's Grandma's birthday too, you know," I say and she turns and looks at me. That stupid portrait had me feeling guilty. "Her painting told me we should put daises by her this year."
"We?" she asks and I nod my head. "As in you and me?" I nod my head again and she sighs. "Let's do it tomorrow. It's past ten, so DeVaows is going to be closed anyways."
"Oh, Lavinia, what if someone forgot to honor your birthday, just saying they'd do it tomorrow?" I ask and she closes her eyes to go back to sleep.
"If I was dead, I wouldn't care."
"That's easy for you to say, you're alive." I push her shoulder again as she pulls the covers over her head. "Let's go. It will be really quick."
"No."
"Where's your sense of adventure?" I try to tempt her, but she just turns her back on me.
"It's not adventurous to go to break into a cemetery, it's morbid."
"But... Lavinia, Grandma really said she wanted us to go. I thought you were really close with her," I turn in her bed and face the opposite wall. I bring my hands up to my face and sniff loudly to pretend like I'm crying. "It's just such a shame that we celebrate my birthday, but we pretend like Grandma never existed." I sniff again and add a little sob until she breaks. "I'll go by myself, but I'm not allowed to use my wand..."
"Oh God, you're annoying," she says as she stands up and throws on a pair of shoes, still in her pj's. "It has to be quick. If Dad finds out we snuck out, he'll lock me in again and we'll never see the light of day."
I nod my head and smile when she grabs her wand. This is probably the most exciting thing Lavinia has done in her whole life, I muse to myself, as we pick the daises out of the garden in the backyard. Liv Apparates us both to the Cemetery where we climb over the gate and Lavinia nearly falls.
"This was a terrible idea," she whispers when she finds her footing.
"I think this is a brilliant idea," I respond, knowing I wouldn't have slept if we didn't come. When I get an idea in my head, I usually have to see it through.
The cemetery is totally dark and the moon is not out tonight, making vision clarity hard; but like always, the Malfoy Mausoleum sticks out like a sore thumb. I start running towards it when I see it and Lavinia curses under her breath before following me. I place my hand on the brass door and it glows faintly before slowly creaking open.
"Lavinia, do a lumos spell."
When she finally reaches me, she's all winded and her cheeks are flushed. "I'm never listening to you again," she says as she lifts her wand and when the spell lights up the room, she takes my hand. "This is even creepier at night. Why did I let you guilt me into this?"
"Because you love me," I tell her as I drag her to Grandma's tomb. I place the daises I had been clutching in the flower holder beside her name, noting that there is already a few there. Mom and Dad must have come earlier. "Happy Birthday, Grandma," I tell her as I look at the relief on the side.
"Happy Birthday," I hear Lavinia whisper and she squeezes my hand. I know she's probably afraid right now. She's not very bold.
"So, did you tell Darius that you want to break up?" I ask and her face looks down to mine.
"Are you serious?" she hisses and I raise my eyebrows. "We're in a cemetery and you want to know about my boyfriend?"
"He's still your boyfriend?" I ask and when she rolls her eyes, I smirk. These dead people probably like the conversation… it brings a little life to the place. "Does he know you love Byron Flint?"
"I don't love Byron Flint," she says with a blush as she turns her head away.
"Oh, you so do..." I tease as she starts pulling me out of the Mausoleum.
"Well, do you know that that Jeremiah kid is deeply in love with you," she says and I snort.
"No, he's not."
"You have no idea the way he looks at you," she says and I'm about ready to tell her all about the looks I had noticed Byron Flint giving her, but a weird scratching noise makes us stop in out tracks. "What was that?" she whispers.
It happens again and this time, it's me who's clutching her. "It's coming from behind us," I say and reluctantly, we both turn around.
I have this horrifying image of dead zombies crawling towards us, but when she lifts her lighted wand we don't see anything. The scratches keep happening and Lavinia says it must be an animal down there, but I want to find out so I snatch her wand and start walking back towards Grandma's tomb. I move the light around, trying to find a squirrel or another animal that would be able to make that chiseling noise, but when the light crosses over the brass plates, my jaw falls open.
"Lavinia, come here," I whisper.
"What is it?" she ask as she comes over to me and when she sees what I'm looking at she brings her hand up to face to cover her mouth. "That can't be right."
We stand there, staring at it for a few seconds before Lavinia turns her wrist and brings her watch up to her mouth.
"Dad!" she yells and it echoes throughout the large room. "Dad, please come here!"
"Lavinia?" I hear him say back and he sounds alarmed, obviously by the panicked tone my sister had. "What is it? Where are you?"
She tells him where we are and two seconds later he comes storming into the mausoleum with this vicious look on his face. When he sees us standing there relief washes over his features and he comes over to us with his wand lying loosely in his hand.
"What the hell are you two doing?" he snaps and Lavinia and I both look at him. "Well?"
I raise a shaky hand and point to the brass plate that just etched itself a date of death.
He follows my finger and when he sees what Liv called him here for, his face turns blank. "When did this happen?" he asks and his voice sounds weird and light.
"Just now," Lavinia whispers with her eyes swimming with tears.
We all turn back to the plate reading the name carved into the brass, letting us all know that that someone just died. I hold my breath as I read it over and over and over again, trying to tell myself that it's not true… because it can't be true, he can't be dead… not him.
I read the name again and start shaking…
Cassius Draconis Mafloy.