Classes were over for the remainder of the holidays, and to celebrate, Talia had eaten her way through two boxes of vanilla biscuits, courtesy of her father. It had seemed like a brilliant way to celebrate at the time, but now she was regretting her decision.
Talia lay in bed in the empty first year's dormitory, rubbing her stomach and burping every so often. The sound of soft footsteps from the common room caught her attention, making her sit up carefully and get out of bed. No one was supposed to be in the common room right now, at least no one that she knew of. All of Slytherin House had gone home for the holidays, all except her and Draco.
"What are you doing here?" Talia sneered as Draco strode into the girl's dormitory, hands in his pockets. "I'm still not talking to you!"
Draco quirked an eyebrow, resisting the urge to smile. As casually as he could, he replied with, "But you're talking to me right now."
"No I'm—I… ugh," Talia sputtered, glaring at him. This time Draco did smile, chuckling softly as well. "What do you want?"
"We're leaving for the manor together, remember?"
Damn it, thought Talia. She'd been dreading it, not wanting to actually talk to Draco, nor be anywhere near him. She was still mad at him! It had been weeks and he had yet to apologize to Hermione!
"Well," said Talia indifferently, "just give me a moment to pack."
"No need," said Draco dismissively, "the house elves will take care of that."
Talia glared at him, but nodded her head.
"So," started Draco awkwardly, looking around the room; he didn't know what to say but he just had to say something, "where's Brutus?"
"Brutus!" Talia called out, and in seconds, the little ferret ran out from underneath her bed, crawling up the bedpost and throwing himself on the mattress. "There he is," she said, pointing.
"Right," Draco mumbled, his face holding a guarded expression, "well, c'mon."
He had offered Talia his hand, but she had coolly ignored it and walked past him, Brutus trailing along behind her. It hurt Draco, this rejection was new, but he knew he was the one at fault, even though he would never admit it aloud. Oh, how he wanted to curse Pansy for opening her big mouth; none of this would have happened if she had only minded her own business.
"Well, here goes nothing," he told himself softly, following a few paces behind Talia.
Merlin, this holiday was going to be a tricky one.
Later that evening, Talia sat beside her mother at the Malfoy dining room table, eating her supper quietly as she pretended to listen to the adult's conversation. She really had no idea what they were talking about, nor did she really care. She was off in her own little world, eating her beef stew and looking forward to dessert. If there was one good thing that would come out of this holiday, it would be the desserts the house elves made—only the best for the Malfoys', after all. Talia could already imagine the pies and ice creams and biscuits and—
"Natalia," Narcissa's voice floated through the air, interrupting Talia's train of thought.
Talia quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and looked away from her plate, her sapphire eyes dancing along the table until she spotted Narcissa at the end of the table on the right side, Lucius seated at the head, while Draco sat beside him, on the opposite side of his mother.
"Yes, Aunt Cissy?" Talia asked with a small smile, hoping that she wore a convincing enough expression so that Narcissa wouldn't figure out she hadn't been paying attention.
She had absolutely no clue as to what was currently going on.
"Have any boys at Hogwarts caught your eye?" Narcissa asked with a small twinkle in her eyes, sending a look towards her son discreetly.
Oh no…
"Um, no," Talia replied, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I'm not really into that… stuff."
"Oh, come now," Narcissa pushed on, a teasing smile on her red lips, "there must be someone, maybe a boy in Slytherin House, hmm?"
Talia didn't really know what to say. She wasn't comfortable speaking about boys.
"Draco would make a fine husband," Narcissa said suddenly (proudly), giving her son a loving look.
Draco, who had been sipping lemonade from a crystal glass, nearly spit the juice back in his cup. Talia on the other hand, began to play nervously with the napkin in her hands.
"Cissy, come now, don't embarrass the boy," said Isabella, chuckling at the mortified look on Draco's face.
Narcissa ignored Isabella, her sights set solely on Talia. "Your Uncle Lu and I married young, with hardly any years of courting. It was arranged after all, but it worked out perfectly for us nevertheless."
"Love at first sight," commented Lucius, earning a pleased smile from his wife.
"You know, Draco will be of age once Natalia is about fifteen," mused Narcissa, giving Isabella a look. "The years fly by very quickly…"
"Narcissa, what are you trying to insinuate," asked Severus, who had been quiet throughout the meal until now, being seated across from Isabella and Talia.
"Well, you and Isabella are very good friends of ours and our children get along marvelously," Narcissa said slyly, "it is only natural for them to be together. They would make a fine couple—oh, and just think of the children they'd have!"
"Is that so," muttered Severus, the scowl on his face deepening.
Isabella chuckled halfheartedly. Narcissa always brought this up, so it was nothing new to her. The woman was convinced that Talia would become a Malfoy with time. However, the topic had never really been talked about in front of the children… or Severus, for that matter. It made her slightly nervous.
"Talia," Isabella said quietly, looking down at her daughter to see that she was bending her fork, a faraway look in her eyes. Oh, this was not good. "Honey, you alright?"
Talia blinked, letting her brows meet at the middle in confusion before looking down at her hands. Instead of the napkin she'd thought was in her grasp, there laid a white-gold fork, bent in the shape of the letter "L." Immediately, as if the fork were made of fire, Talia let it go.
The fork clattered and fell on her plate, the juices from the stew coating it and glazing it with a murky brown color.
"I uh—sorry," Talia mumbled with a deep blush on her cheeks, giving Lucius and Narcissa apologetic smiles, "I didn't realize I was doing that."
"Of course you didn't," Lucius said after a moment, a smile gracing his lips, which confused Talia. "You were staring at Draco the entire time, after all."
Ah shit.