Chapter Eleven

A/N: Thank you to LaylaB for reviewing the last chapter.

In the upstairs wing of Malfoy Manor, where children had laughed and played for generations, the only sound audible was that of the sparse items being put into a suitcase, and the slow, lethargic movements of a quartet of children that had still not recovered from their shock.

The girls had not moved a great deal, merely sat on the bed as their brothers packed their bags for them, checking the room carefully to ensure that they had not left anything behind. Having established the relationship with their father, or strengthened it in the case of Capella, the two were not sure at all that they now wanted to leave Wiltshire, or that they wanted their family to be separate once more. It hardly mattered though, as they had no choice in the matter.

"Fi, where's your locket? Ellie, have you seen Fi's locket?" Asterion asked, ducking his head beneath the bed his younger sister had called her own, searching for the missing piece of jewellery. He was a little annoyed, but not surprised, when neither of his sisters gave any response to his question, and instead continued to sit together, the younger resting her head on the elder's shoulder.

"Girls, come on." Rigel chipped in, seeing that his younger brother required some assistance to get their sisters to respond. "We have to go, whether we like it or not, Mum said. So, you might as well help us to get ready. Staying any longer will just make it harder to say goodbye to Grandma, and to Grandpa, I suppose."

That comment could Capella's attention, and she raised her head to face her elder brother, her brow furrowing with anger. When she spoke, her voice was quiet, yet the venom in its tone was unmistakable. "And what about Dad?"

Rigel paused in his packing, looking down to the bed to meet his sister's eye. His facial expression implied that he did not understand the young woman's concerns, but her age meant that Capella knew her brother the best out of all of her siblings. She could see the guilt in his eyes, but it did not lessen her annoyance when he responded to her question with one of his own. "What about him?"

No longer could she prevent the sigh of annoyance that escaped her lips, and she seethed in annoyance, taking a deep breath before she spoke again. "He is our dad, Rigel, whether we like it or not. He cares about us, all of us, he loves us, and now Mum's taking us away again and you don't even think he deserves a goodbye?"

"Ellie, have you forgotten what he's done to us?" the eldest of the group asked his sister, seeming to be unable to believe what he was hearing. Over the years that had passed, Capella had certainly been one of the most judgemental over their father, surpassed only by Rigel himself, so to hear her speak in the man's defence was shocking for all of the children. "He left us before Phoebe was even born, when we were just little kids, and he never tried to make any contact with us since. In case you haven't realised, it was Mum that had to go to him, to ask for some help with his own children!"

"And in case you haven't noticed, it was Mum that walked out on Dad after they got a divorce!" the young woman cried out in response, standing abruptly from her position on the bed and rounding on her brother. "She upped and left Malfoy Manor, and she took us with her, but she never gave Dad her address, did she? So how was he supposed to find us, when hardly anyone knew where we were?"

"He could have tried!" Asterion exclaimed suddenly, ceasing to collect things to put into the suitcase and moving to stand beside the eldest of the group, his charcoal eyes now blazing with fury to match those of his elder siblings.

"And who says he didn't try?" Capella argued, breathing heavily at the effort of trying so desperately to convince her brothers of her point of view. "For all we know, he could have spent all these years looking for us. He might have visited us, or sent us presents at Christmas, or maybe even tried to get us back, if he'd known where we were."

"But who says he did?" Rigel shot back, throwing the young woman's own argument right back in her face. "Who says he even thought about us, in all that time? Ellie, you saw his face when we turned up at the door. He didn't exactly seem happy to see us, did he?"

"Maybe not." the brunette conceded, knowing that she could not deny this one of her brother's points. After all, she remembered full well the expression that had taken over their father's face when he had first answered the door to see his children stood on the doorstep. However, she was still utterly determined to make them see, and so she continued to speak, ignoring the sighs of annoyance that came from her younger brother at her persistance. "But since then, he really has been trying to make us feel welcome. Just look at Fi's birthday party and how hard he worked for that to happen. He wants to make amends with us, boys, so why don't we just give him a chance."

For a minute or so, there was silence, as the two males considered the words of the eldest female, the meaning behind the sentences finally beginning to sink in. Their eyes dropped to the mahogany floorboards, trying to disguise the guilt and tears surfacing in them. They had realised now, only too late, that Capella was right. Maybe he did care after all.

"Fi?" Asterion asked, trying to break the tension a little. The child gave no response, other than a quiet sniffle, only clutching her teddy bear tighter to her chest. "Are you alright? You haven't said much."

"What's the point?" she questioned in a quiet whisper, the response far too cynical for one so young. "We're going now, to live with Mum in America. We aren't going to see Dad again for ages, and Mum's going to move on soon, to go and marry... him."

"But that's good, isn't it, Fi?" Rigel chipped in, glad for the opportunity to regain a little ground on his argument. "We like him, he's nice, isn't he? So now we can have a new dad, one that won't leave us for years on end. One that cares."

"But I don't want a new daddy, Rige. I want the daddy we have." she told her older brother, her voice laced with the tears that were slipping down her cheeks. "Because he does care about us, he really does. He loves us, and I really love him. I don't want to go. I just want everything to be like it used to be, before I was born. Why can't Mummy and Daddy just see it?"

"Mummy and Daddy have moved on, Fi. Rigel's right. It's time to go back to the life we were meant to have." Capella sighed, blinking back the tears from her own eyes.

Only thirty more minutes had passed, and, having located Phoebe's locket, mysteriously wedged right into the floorboard behind the wardrobe, the quartet crossed the threshold of Malfoy Manor for the final time, their mother leading the way, and though some would sooner admit it than others, all four of them were trying to prevent themselves from crying.

It was time for them to move on.

A/N: Please review!