Arcadia made her way into the dinning hall with Stefan at her side, grinning to himself and chuckling every few strides. The main dinning room of the Malfoy Manor had double doors the led through to a smaller living room, where the Malfoy's and their guests would sit and have starter drinks before the meal. Stefan guided her through to where the rest of their family had seated themselves quiet happily and were being served by a terrified looking House Elf.
"I'm sorry if it's any kind of imposition," Sylvia was saying with a polite beam on her face, "My boys just decided they wanted to come at the last minute. They said they hadn't spent enough time with Arcadia over the holiday. They can be troublesome boys but they do love their sister..."
"Oh don't worry, Sylvia!" Narcissa assured pleasantly, "Your family is always welcome, and it's no imposition, honestly,"
"Mum thinks you're troublesome," Arry chanted to Stefan under her breath. "That means I'm the good one!"
Stefan gave a small laugh, "Yes, and a Malfoy using the word 'honestly'. Are we in an alternate universe?"
The room was dark, the heavy curtains drawn and a fire crackling in the middle of the far wall. A coffee table sat a little way in front of the fire, surrounded by four sofas and several armchairs. Lucius, Narcissa and Sylvia sat in the largest sofa opposite the fire, Blaise's parents sat on another sofa, Reanne's parents sat on another sofa, Blaise and Reanne sat on the third sofa and - Arcadia assumed - Draco had been sat with them. Haydrian, Damien and Markus were sat in the various armchairs. Stefan grinned and gave Arcadia a wink before moving over to the empty armchair between Haydrian and the sofa Blaise and Reanne were sat on.
"Ah, Miss Morreno," Lucius smiled in a way that was borderline smirk as Arcadia moved to find a seat, "I was beginning to wonder where you had gotten to,"
Arcadia smiled at him and chose not to reply. At that moment Draco stamped into the room, brushed past Arcadia with a slight growl and sat beside Blaise, who raised an eyebrow at the way Draco was rubbing his arm. Arcadia glowered happily at him and looked around, there was no where else to sit, Lucius was observing her from his position on the sofa - he knew she had no place to sit down but made no motion to produce another chair.
"Here, Arry," Haydrian said, he had been watching Lucius watch his sister and come to the same conclusion as Arry, "You sit here,"
Arcadia smiled at her brother and sat in the recently vacated seat, Haydrian perched himself on the arm.
Arcadia looked around and found she was sat directly opposite Reanne, who gave a look that was a mix between apologetic and pleading. 'I had no idea' she mouthed. Arry shrugged in reply, it wasn't Reanne's fault, but Arcadia couldn't help the part of her that wanted t avoid Reanne.
"Well," Narcissa smiled at the tensing atmosphere in the room, "Arcadia, you left rather suddenly; we all missed you this morning. Rebecca says you left just went; she said you'd mentioned you might leave the night before, something to do with a family issue..." Narcissa left the sentence questioningly.
Arcadia smiled, a smile that showed her teeth but didn't quite make it to her eyes, "Of course she did," she answered setting a friendly smile on Draco, "We had a nice little chat actually. She's not quite the sharpest tool in the box though, makes the odd decision that could land her in trouble. And her magical capabilities are lacking. Still, she has her looks to fall back on,"
Narcissa smiled cheerfully, Arcadia guessed she was something like Sylvia, pleasantly oblivious to anything that didn't cause her direct harm. "Oh yes, Falcon is quite fond of her,"
"How nice for him," Arcadia replied, still smiling. Who? She thought to herself, Oh, Tweety!
"Arry," Haydrian whispered subtly, "You might want to tone down the smiling. You look like you're bearing your teeth,"
Arry stopped smiling, "Maybe I am. Believe me it would be far more menacing if I wasn't in a dress,"
"Trust me, love, you look pretty menacing...or deranged. And it's nothing to do with the dress," Haydrian slid his gaze to Draco who was shifting rather uncomfortably at the mention of Rebecca, "Can I hex him yet?"
Arcadia let out a small, mostly unnoticed bark of laughter, "You think you can hex him subtly in a room half full of adults?"
"Hmm," Haydrian quirked an eyebrow, "You're right, I'll wait till dinner - there's the added advantage of hiding my wand under the dinner table,"
"Pervert," Arcadia replied. She took a moment to look around the room. She had never met Blaise's parents, his father looked just like him - with the exception of being much older - he had the same dark hair and good looks. His mother was a little unexpected, her hair was long and blonde, her eyes blue and her skin unnaturally pale, she didn't look old enough to be a mother and Arcadia was fairly certain she was only Blaise's mother through marriage.
Reanne's parents Arcadia had met once or twice, they were friendly people. Reanne had her mother's brown hair and her father's blue eyes. She held the same respectable beauty her mother had, although Reanne's hair was much shorter, somewhere between her chin and shoulders.
Arcadia slid her gaze further around the room and locked eyes with Lucius sending a slight chill down her spine; he looked unnervingly like his son. Lucius bowed his head slightly and Arcadia returned the gesture, aware Draco was watching them. She wondered briefly if he had told Lucius about his evil escapades, she doubted it as he might have to explain admitting an actual emotion. Then again Lucius might not be as bad as everyone said. Then again he was quite possibly having an affair with her mother and believed his son was capable of locking her in a cupboard.
But just think what he might look like naked... A little voice in her head said.
Haydrian nudged her with his elbow, "Arry, I prefer the menacing grin,"
"What?"
"You were staring at Lucius the way Mother does,"
"Wasn't,"
"Were," Haydrian returned, "and it is both unnerving and wrong. Please, save looks like that for your sex kitten,"
Arcadia snorted, "I assure you I will not be looking at Draco that way again," At least not for a while...
"I was referring to Blaise," Haydrian grinned.
"Sweet Merlin, I'm you but with breasts!" Arcadia stared in realisation.
"Well you got the better end of that deal," Haydrian replied staring at his own chest and sighing.
Arcadia was grinning back at her brother when a House Elf scurried in, squeaked something unintelligible and scurried away again. Arcadia was just wondering what on earth had just happened when the sound of high heeled footsteps came echoing through the dining room and Rebecca appeared in the doorway. She was wearing a black dress similar to Arcadia's, only one that showed much more cleavage and concealed much less leg.
Haydrian leaned back so he could speak more quietly to Arcadia, "Tall, blonde, slutty. I'm guessing this is Rebecca. Or Satan in a human guise,"
"Good guess," Arcadia sulked, "Remind me to give you a gold star,"
"Oh," Haydrian replied with a fake pout, "Mean is not a nice colour on you,"
"Neither is lime green but Sylvia still makes me wear it,"
"Ah yes...That outfit. Clearly she hates you,"
"Oh no no, you four are troublesome, that makes me the favourite,"
"She described you as 'an infuriating infant unable to make a decent clothing decision in under a decade' just before you walked in,"
"Damn it! And Damien very nearly owed me money on the favourite bet," Arcadia slouched a little lower in her chair and deliberately ignored Draco's side of the room.
Rebecca was explaining to Narcissa that Falcon would only be a few minutes and that she hoped they hadn't kept us all too long. Narcissa assured her we hadn't been kept and not to worry. Then Rebecca went about greeting Blaise and Reanne with a kiss on each cheek, she did the same with Draco and lingered only moments too long for Arcadia's liking. She turned, saw Arcadia and beamed. Arcadia disguised a wince and stuck a smile to her face that she would have to skin off later.
"Arcadia!" Rebecca squealed, "So lovely to see you back again," She moved over to Arcadia who stood - she had been taught manners first and foremost - and allowed her to air kiss each of her cheeks, "So soon," Rebecca added in a barely audibly whisper.
Arcadia beamed back maliciously, "Yes, Rebecca, a pleasure as always," She too lowered her voice but didn't take the smile from her face, "Touch me again and I'll make sure you wont feel anything for weeks,"
Rebecca gave a slightly forced giggle, "We'll see shall we?" She smiled a final time and moved back as Arcadia sat down. "And who is this?" She asked indicating Haydrian, "Boyfriend?"
"Brother," Arcadia replied without emotion.
"A very attractive one at that," Rebecca set Haydrian with an eyes-half-closed sort of look, "Single?"
"Uninterested," Haydrian said on a bored sigh.
"Really?"
"Truly," Haydrian replied, "And would you mind stepping out of my personal space? There's a definite something about you I'd rather not catch. Chlamydia perhaps?"
Rebecca's eyes were fully open now and she set an appalled glare on Haydrian, she turned and looked over Damien, Markus and Stefan. She looked back at Arry with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes," Arcadia smiled sincerely, "My other brothers. Haydrian, Stefan, Markus and Damien - or as they are often referred to as 'The Brute Squad'," Rebecca shot another, darted glance at the group of boys, "Oh don't worry," Arcadia soothed, "They only hurt girls on special occasions. Oh, wait, isn't it Christmas?" She smirked and felt her spirits pick up. Maybe this year Christmas would be more fun.
Falcon came hurriedly into the room at that moment, kissed Rebecca on the cheek and greeted the room.
"Well then," Lucius drawled, "Now we are all finally here shall we move into the dinning room and start with dinner?"
Sylvia and Narcissa made noise of agreement and the small group moved through to the large, dark wood table placed in the centre of the next room. The dinning room also had its curtains drawn, the fireplace burst into life as the group entered and Lucius flicked his wand in its direction. There were several candles floating about the room and Arcadia noticed a minimal of Christmas decorations, a few silver and emerald streamers here and there - no doubt the decorations were insisted upon by Narcissa and the colours by Lucius.
Narcissa did a quick count of people in the room. Herself and Lucius, Sylvia, Mr and Mrs Charles, Mr and Mrs Zabini, Draco, Reanne, Blaise, Arcadia, her brothers, Rebecca and Falcon. She turned to the table - which was sized for six - and whispered "Seventeen," she gave it a tap and the table sprang to life, expanding in a ripple down the room, chairs popping up with each meter the table expanded until it could comfortably fit seventeen.
"Adults this end, children that end if you please," Narcissa smiled.
Lucius sat himself at the head of the table, Narcissa on his right and Sylvia on his left, The Zabini's beside Narcissa and The Charles's beside Sylvia. Arcadia briefly suspected some kind of Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw face off but quickly shook her head. Damien sat beside the Charles's, followed by Stefan, then Arcadia, then Haydrian and Markus on the end. Opposite them Falcon sat beside the Zabini's, then Reanne, then Draco, then Blaise, and then Rebecca.
Definitely a face off, Arcadia thought.
Seconds later huge platters of food appeared on the table and Lucius - in the most polite way possible, which was not particularly polite at all - cast a quick spell between the adult's end of the table and the children's. For a moment Arcadia could see her Mother's mouth moving but couldn't hear a thing. Narcissa replied to whatever her mother had said and Arcadia still couldn't hear.
Oh Merlin! Oh Merlin, he's made me deaf!! That bastard has put a...a deafening spell on me to make me deaf! Oh lord! Draco must have told him and he must be mad and oh Merlin I'll never heard again! Oh Merlin Oh Merlin Oh -
"Arry?" Stefan asked, prodding her slightly, "You look like you're about to have some kind of fit,"
Arcadia stared at her brother. "I can hear you! Your lips are moving and I can hear you!"
Stefan looked at her like she wasn't entirely normal, "Yes Arry, thus is the power of speech. Are you ok?"
Arcadia stared back at her mother and realised what had happened, Lucius had cast a charm so that the adult side of the table could not be heard by the children's, and presumably vice versa.
Arcadia blushed, "Erm...I'm fine...I was, uh, testing you!"
Stefan still didn't look convinced, "Testing what?"
"Whether you...still...understood...uh, English..." Arcadia let the sentence drift off.
Fantastic, Arry, really...another gem that one.
Stefan placed a hand behind Arry's neck and pulled her into a hug, "Thank Merlin you're pretty," he said, kissing her on the forehead and then shoving her away again.
"No public displays of affection, please," Haydrian put in. "If you recall, Stefan, we only admit to loving our sister in the safely of our own home. Also you cuddling her like that might arouse suspicion of incestuous lesbianism," Haydrian winked at Arry and then turned his attention to the opposite side of the table. "Well, well, well. What a fun meal this will be," he grinned as he began to pile food onto his plate.
Reanne - who had met Arcadia's brothers before - gave an 'Oh God' sort of noise and ducked her head as she started to move food onto her plate.
"So Dracula," Stefan started, "May I call you Drac? Draccy Pants? Sex Kitten? Oh, well, Drac will do. Anyway Draccy Dracster I was thinking, what's it like to be born without a soul?"
Arcadia coughed slightly on the turkey she had just popped into her mouth.
"Yeah," Damien leant forwards as he pulled the gravy towards himself. "It must be difficult. You could write a book 'A day in the life of evil incarnate',"
"Now, now boys," Markus drawled, "Don't give him too much credit. I think being evil incarnate requires bravery as apposed to slimey-ness,"
"A good point, Markus," Haydrian glowered at the Malfoy sat opposite his sister, "What would you consider a more appropriate term for yourself Drac?"
Arcadia glanced at the blonde Slytherin and found a distant satisfaction at seeing him looking a little pale and considerably more worried than she'd ever seen him, he opened his mouth and then closed it again, setting his gaze on his plate.
"Too good to talk to us?" Stefan sneered.
"Not too good to shag our sister though are you?" Haydrian snarled.
"Not too good to shag that little waif at the end of the table either," Damien drawled.
Falcon's head snapped around to look at Rebecca, "Wait, what?"
"Ouch," Markus hissed, "I think the cat's been let out of the bag,"
"More of an angry tiger,"
"A sex kitten and dirty bitch...woops sorry, I moved into a dog reference,"
Falcon was staring at Rebecca, who had suddenly decided broccoli was an intriguingly interesting colour, "You and Draco?"
"I hope you're not too crushed mate," Markus shrugged.
"Yeah, nothing against you," Damien said with a twitch of the mouth.
Falcon was ignoring Arcadia's brothers, "Rebecca I am talking to you! You and Draco? You had sex with Draco?"
Rebecca dropped her fork to her plate, ran a hand through her hair and turned to look at Falcon. "Yes, me and Draco. Me and Draco had sex. People have sex all the time Falcon, you'll live,"
"'People have sex all the time'?" Haydrian snapped, "Yeah people have sex with people they're married to! People have sex with people they've known for years! People do not have sex with people that belong to other people that is not what people do!"
Rebecca narrowed her eyes, "People that have known each other for years? Your sister has had sex with Draco and she's known him for, what? a couple of months?"
"Arcadia has never had sex ever and she is not having sex until she is fifty and then she will be too old to enjoy it!" Stefan snapped, Arcadia felt he was a step away from covering his ears and yelling 'la la la' at the top of his voice.
"You had sex with Draco," Falcon asked again, his face had turned to something close to disgust as he looked between Rebecca and his cousin. Draco hung his head, refusing to acknowledge anybody. Falcon stared emptily between the two for a minute. Then turned to Arry, "Arcadia! Naked! Now!"
Haydrian leapt to his feet "Excuse me!"
Arcadia grabbed his arm and pulled him down into his seat, "Don't take this out on Falcon," She hissed.
"Actually, Arry," Haydrian replied, giving an assuring smile to his sister, it wasn't at all assuring as Arcadia could see the muscle in his jaw twitching. "you're right. We should take it out on Malfoy. Or Rebecca, maybe Blaise, he didn't do anything to stop it," Haydrian snarled.
Blaise looked up slightly shocked, "Arry, look, I am so sorry," Blaise whispered across the now silent table, "I had no idea what to do...I just..."
"Yeah, Zabini, we all feel terrible for you," Damien snapped sarcastically. "Meanwhile the lovebirds over there are carrying out acts that hurt other people. Intentionally no doubt. Maybe numerous times. No one knows except them so maybe its time for you, Malfoy, to stop staring at your bloody vegetables and explain why you thought screwing your cousins girlfriends was beneficial to your relationship with my sister,"
Arcadia felt her eyebrows fly up, And here's me thinking Damien was the quiet one...
Draco looked up and locked eyes with Arry, what surprised Arcadia was that his eyes were no longer worried and his face no longer pale. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were dark with rage. "You brought your brother's heard to berate me? To yell at me in front of my friends and relatives? You brought your brothers here to-"
"I didn't bring my brother's here to do anything!" liar "I have very little control over anything my brothers do!" more lies "I told them what you did to me because they asked, not because I have some overwhelming desire to see you hurt like you seem to have for me!" yet more lies! "I don't tell people I love them and then shag around! I don't want to hurt you because you hurt me; believe it or not I am more mature than that!" will the lies never end?? "So get off your high-bloody-horse and deal with the fact that you are a disgusting form of being that deserves to be berated and screamed at because you intentionally hurt people!" ah...truth...I prefer the lying
"More mature than..." Draco gave a bark of laughter, "You, Miss Morreno, and far from mature. You are borderline criminally insane! You barely understand anything that goes on outside your own little mental world, let alone what the word 'mature' bloody well means! You think I intentionally hurt you? Did you ever think maybe I wanted to hurt you because it's the only way to get you to act like a sane human being-"
"Oh, incredible! In-bloody-credible! You're actually blaming me for you sleeping with her!" Arcadia made a disgusted gesture in Rebecca's direction.
"Yes, Arry, I am. Most girls I'm with I have some slight clue what's going on in their heads, most girls I date are something close to normal. You...you're barely understandable, I feel like -"
"Bullshit, Draco. The only thing your feeling right now is a scapegoat," Arcadia glowered across the table and wished she'd said something that made more sense. "You...you know what? I just can't be doing with you anymore. You're hot, you're cold. You love me, you use me as an excuse to sleep around. You think you don't understand me? I assure you Draco, the day I understand what's going on in your head is the day I walk on water and learn to belch the alphabet backwards," Arcadia finished her sentence and stood, wincing and wishing she'd thought of something more poetic than belching.
Arcadia stormed around past Rebecca towards the door "Happy? You completed your challenge. And mine. Well done, gold stars for you," Arry hissed as she passed. Arcadia was only feet from the door when she heard Draco kick out his chair in a fury.
"Take another step and I'll hex you into next Tuesday!" Haydrian snarled menacingly.
Arcadia had her back to the scene and could only assume Draco took that extra step because the next thing she heard was her brother's roaring curses across the table. Arcadia spun and narrowly avoided a glowing blue bubble shooting from someone's wand. She had no idea what half the curses, hexes and jinxes being passed were - she was good at charms but it was a family trait, her brothers had told her they'd let her in on the vast array of hexes they'd personalized when she was eighteen and wise enough to use them. The next thing she saw was Draco on the floor covered in what looked like leeches, his body paralyzed, his legs looked as though they were wobbling slightly, his face was bright red, he gave the occasional hiccup that released a cricket from his mouth and his wand was in Stefan's hand.
Arcadia glanced over at the adult end of the table, the charm was still on so she still couldn't' hear what they were saying but Lucius was stood and looking angry as he yelled. Sylvia looked shocked as well as appalled as she covered her hand with her mouth and spoke calmly to herself. When Arcadia looked back Stefan had dropped Draco's wand into Reanne's hands and Haydrian was stood in front of her swivelling her around and moving her out of the door, their brothers flanking them.
"Time to leave, Arry," Haydrian said dully as he moved her away towards the front door. Once out of the Malfoy's grounds Haydrian wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders and apparated back to their home.