This story takes place well after the Harry Potter and his generation of students have left Hogwarts. ElfFlame and I had created several sets of children from the various stories we've written, and since they were all around the same age, decided to throw them into school together. So this is a story, hopefully soon to be a series of stories based on several others. To help make more sense of these stories, it may help to read my story, De Die In Diem: From Day to Day, and ElfFlame's stories, Dragon's Tears, and Lost Love. Most of the kids come from those. We've also created many original kids not from our stories to help fill the ranks. Many of their last names may sound familiar to you. ElfFlame has files of the names and basic family trees of some of the children for all who are interested in finding out more background on these kids. Email her at ElfFlamehotmail.com if you want them. We hope you enjoy these, we've been having lots of fun thinking about them!
Disclaimer: You know the usual, all of this world is JK's, and we thank her for letting us borrow it. Only the original characters are ours!
Arsinoe de Blassenville: I'm glad you liked the beginning of the school year. I wanted her to be having a really good time before everything turned bad. And, unfortunately, this is the chapter when that happens. The rest of Teecie's school year will be consumed by what happens here. On another note, I'm so glad you liked Letters that ElfFlame and I did. We just felt they needed to be written after doing the Catharsis chapter in Dragon's Tears. Have you had a chance to check out After the Tears Fell yet? It's Adriana's side of the aftermath of Dragon's Tears. I think you'd enjoy it. Well, here's the next chapter, let me know what you think!
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
Teecie was enjoying her third year at Hogwarts so far. She was quite busy with classes, friends, clubs, and her letters to and from Owen. She was doing better in her classes than she'd ever done before, which surprised both herself and her professors.
For once, Teecie was actually at the top of her class in Transfigurations. Professor Weasley was quite excited to see how well she was doing. She gave Gryffindor house fifteen points after Teecie successfully transfigured a teacup into a bat. She smiled up at the professor while the bat flapped it's wings and nestled itself in her hair. The professor seemed amazed that Teecie had done this, and gave her the points to encourage her to continue.
Teecie was enjoying her Care of Magical Creatures class. They were studying the Diricawl bird now. Diricawls were fat, fluffy birds that didn't fly, but could disappear whenever they wanted to. Charlie told them that Muggles called them "Dodo" birds, and didn't think they existed anymore. They were very interesting animals.
The weeks flew by quickly. Teecie found the work load more than it had ever been before, yet still managed to get it all done, in spite of all the club meetings she went to. Even though she was having lots of fun, it was still quite stressful. Teecie was looking forward to the first Hogsmeade weekend on Saturday. She wanted to get away from all the work by spending time in town with her friends. She'd planned her whole day out. First she'd stop in at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer, then go to Honeydukes for sweets. Next it was shopping at all the stores, then back to the Three Broomsticks for lunch.
The Thursday before the Hogsmeade weekend, Draco asked Teecie to stay after Potions class, and informed her that he'd arranged for her to meet Zeren's parents that Saturday evening. She'd have to cut her day short in order to get dressed. There was a restaurant in Hogsmeade that Draco would be taking Teecie to to meet Zeren and his parents.
Teecie was upset, for she wanted to spend her whole day having fun, not sitting with stuffy old people, trying to pretend she was a proper lady from high society. She could tell from the way Zeren looked at her sometimes, that his parents were probably going to hate her. But, she'd try her hardest, for Draco's sake. She wanted him to be proud of her, and hoped he would be.
Teecie spent the rest of the week planning her outfit for her date with Zeren. She wanted to have it all planned out so she could spend as much time in Hogsmeade as possible before she had to leave. She planned on wearing a plain black evening dress, black nylons, and black slippers, and putting her hair up in a French twist. By Saturday morning, Teecie felt ready for her date with Zeren, though she was still a little nervous over the thought of meeting his parents.
It was a crisp, chilly day in late October. A clear, bright sun shone down upon the school as Teecie and her friends sat and ate breakfast. Rey and Carl were talking quietly to each other next to Teecie while the twins talked at a fast pace to her. From down at the far end of the table, Teecie could see James sitting with his brothers. Every once in a while, he'd make eye contact with her and scowl before looking away again. Sighing, Teecie took another bite of her cornflakes and turned back to talk to Patty.
A short while after breakfast ended, the students going to Hogsmeade began their trek into town. Professor Weasley stood in the Entrance Hall and checked to make sure each student had a signed permission slip. Teecie's father had signed hers a couple days before she had left for school. She walked arm-in-arm with Paul and Kali as they all walked to Hogsmeade. Paul was in the middle, and laughed and talked to both of the girls. Teecie was sporting her knit pink scarf, tied around her neck, and wore a green jumper over a pair of jeans. Kali was wearing a blue scarf, black mini skirt and a red jumper. Teecie told them about what Draco was making her do that evening. "I don't see why you let him do that kind of thing to you," Kali said, sounding angry. "I mean, you were perfectly happy with James until he tried to get you to see other boys. He's always interfering like that. He can be such a pain sometimes!"
"He's just trying to be a good older brother. He cares about us, that's all," Teecie replied. "What's your problem, Kali? You always give him such a hard time. What's he ever done to you?"
Kali grew pale and quickly changed the subject to a safer topic: classes. The three students spent the rest of their walk into town talking about school.
As soon as they arrived in town, the first thing they did was go to the Three Broomsticks pub. Teecie ran into the rest of her classmates and soon they were laughing and talking over bottles of butterbeer. The noise was overwhelming, yet grew quieter as a few professors from school walked into the pub. Professors Lupin, Longbottom, and Charlie Weasley sat at a table by themselves and ordered drinks. After a minute, they were forgotten as the students' chatter started up again.
Once the butterbeers had been finished, the students split up and went to the different stores around town. Teecie and the twins went off on their own. Honeydukes was so crowded that they couldn't get inside, so they walked up and down to look in the rest of the stores. It was a matter of principle that kept the three girls from going into Zonko's Joke Shop. They were the number one competitors of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, so the girls couldn't support them.
When Teecie and Paige came to Gladrags Wizardwear Shop, they looked as if they'd died and gone to heaven, for there was nothing in the world they loved more than shopping for new clothes. Their eyes lit up as they squealed at the moving dummies in the windows that wore different clothes that were the height of wizard fasion. As they went inside, where they ran into Carl, Patty went off to find Daniel. Paige and Teecie had fun as they dressed up and put on a fashion show for Carl, who critiqued their outfits. The girls had just tried on matching green evening gowns, which Carl had applauded, when they realized it was past lunch time. Before leaving, Teecie bought a silk pink headscarf to wear over her hair on cold and rainy days. Paige bought a matching blue one to wear.
Carl walked arm-in-arm with Teecie and Paige over to Madam Puddifoot's tearoom, a small restaurant, for lunch. The three noshed on cucumber sandwiches, cream of mushroom soup, and herbal tea while chatting happily. Teecie told them about her date with Zeren that evening and how nervous she was to be meeting his parents. Paige and Carl were very supportive and comforting, reassuring her that she was a great person and had nothing to worry about, and if Zeren's parents didn't like her, then it was their loss, not hers. Teecie felt better afterwards.
When they'd finished eating, the three walked to Honeydukes, which had cleared out enough for them to get inside. There were all sorts of sweets and treats to buy. Carl saw Rey in one of the aisles and went to go talk to him, while Paige met up with Patty and joined her. Teecie walked around by herself, looking at all the rows of sweets in the store. Some of them looked appealing, but she liked Muggle sweets best. She left the store after buying a slab of homemade fudge, and a box of chocoballs, the closest sweets she could find to their Muggle equivalent.
As Teecie was walking out of the shop, James was walking in. What was worse, he was holding hands with a girl. Candace Howe, a Ravenclaw girl in their year, had long red hair that was tied back in a plait, deep brown eyes that were covered with pink wire-rimmed glasses, and was wearing a red mini skirt and purple top. Teecie opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when James pulled Candace into the store. "Come on, Candace, I'll buy you some sweets," He said to her, glaring at Teecie over his shoulder as the door closed between them.
Teecie felt like she'd been kicked. James had replaced her already, with another girl who was far more beautiful than she was. She was feeling very ugly and upset as she walked past a few stores. Teecie was about to go back to the Three Broomsticks for another Butterbeer when she looked down at her watch and saw that it was time for her to return to the school to get ready for her date with Zeren.
It took about 20 minutes to walk back to the school, and another ten to get up to her dormitory. Teecie took her time preparing for the date. She carefully brushed her hair and tied it in a loose French twist before applying her pale pink lip gloss. Once that was all done, she slipped into her black evening gown, and matching nylons. After finding a silk black shawl and putting it around her bare shoulders, Teecie put her slippers on and left the room to go back to Hogsmeade.
Teecie was startled to see Zeren standing in the hallway outside the painting of the Fat Lady. "I'm supposed to escort you to the restaurant," He informed her, holding his arm out for her to take. Teecie thought Zeren looked pretty handsome in a set of fancy black dress robes. He had wonderfully tanned golden skin, and his hair was just a shade darker. It was swept back, and stayed in place by a magic spell, no doubt. He looked at Teecie with scrutiny through intense sapphire eyes, and not seeing anything to criticize, smiled, showing a row of sparkly white teeth.
As the two kids walked down the stairs, Zeren spoke to Teecie. "So, I thought we could floo to the restaurant. What do you think?" He asked, looking straight ahead of where he was walking.
"Are you insane? I'll mess up my hair! And my dress!" Teecie cried, letting go of Zeren's arm and pointing to her dress, looking quite upset at the thought.
Zeren smiled slyly. "That was a test. I'm glad to say you passed with flying colours. Your brother might just make a proper lady out of you yet!"
"Thanks a lot!" Teecie replied, smacking his arm lightly before taking it in her hand again. They continued to walk down the stairs, and out of the front door. After they left the school grounds, Teecie saw that there was a carriage waiting for them.
"I arranged for this so we won't get our clothes dirty. Besides, it's much too cold to walk at night this time of the year," Zeren explained while helping Teecie into the carriage. When she was settled, he covered her up in a couple blankets and furs before sitting down and telling the driver to go.
Teecie asked Zeren about his parents while they drove to the restaurant, which was a little bit out of the way from Hogsmeade. Zeren told her that his mum was the president of the Ladies Aid Society. They organized fundraisers for less fortunate people. His father ran the family business and took care of the manor in which they lived. "They'll probably ask you a million questions, but don't worry too much. They're mostly harmless," He said, right as the horse pulled up to the door of the restaurant.
The chilly October night air hit Teecie's bare skin as she stepped out of the carriage. Zeren saw how cold she was and quickly led her inside.
The restaurant only had a few patrons, so it was easy to find the table that the adults were already sitting at. The host led them to the table and helped Teecie sit down before handing out menus. The restaurant was called the Crying Quail, and the food was as pretentious as its name. Half of the words were in French, and Teecie had a difficult time understanding what everything was. In the end, she chose the Coq Au Vin, hoping it would taste good.
After everybody had ordered, they sat around in silence for a couple minutes before the questions started. Zeren's parents looked at Teecie appraisingly, searching for flaws in her appearance. When they found none, they began talking. "So, dear, tell me about your parents," Zeren's mother said, tilting her head and waiting for the response.
"Well, ma'am..." Teecie started, her voice trailing off. Draco had told her a little bit about what people like them would be unimpressed about hearing, like the farm, the fact that her parents worked on the farm, and the fact that they lived in a small house. She was supposed to impress them with her proper upbringing. So, remembering what she'd done at the dinner party two summers ago, Teecie decided to have fun with the answers. "My father is retired from the business he used to run, and my mother oversees the everyday goings on at the property we live on," She said, rather cryptically.
"And tell me, what are your favourite classes at school, Miss Orendes?" Mr. Travers asked, looking down his pointed nose at Teecie.
"Well, sir, I love most of my classes, though I'd have to say that Potions, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts are my favourites. Oh, and Care of Magical Creatures too," Teecie replied, smiling at him.
Mr. Travers wrinkled his nose distastefully. "Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, eh? Those are rather...dirty classes, wouldn't you say?"
"Maybe so, but it's nothing a good shower won't fix," Teecie replied, smiling. She felt a sharp kick on her shin and looked next to her to see Draco looking furious. She had no idea why he didn't like what she'd said, it was perfectly true.
Mr. Travers frowned. "I suppose..." He said before turning away from her and looking at Draco.
"You must excuse my sister, she tends to forget herself in social situations. She's quite irrepressible. I'm always having to look out for her, the little imp! But she's a good kid," Draco said, patting Teecie on the head.
Teecie couldn't believe Draco was talking about her like that. It was like she was two years old or something! Luckily though, it seemed that the question and answer portion of Teecie's evening had ended. It was now her brother's turn. Their food arrived just as Mr. Travers had asked why Teecie had a different last name from their father. She began to eat her food, which was delicious, while listening to his response. "Well, you know, after the war, it just wasn't safe to have that name, so the girls took their mother's last name," Draco said, cutting into his steak.
The adults started talking about the two kids like they weren't even there. Every one in a while, one of the parents would look down at Teecie and say something about her. "She is a good-looking girl, you'll probably have many suitors for her hand," Mrs. Travers said at one point in time.
"Yes, and she is still quite young, so I'm sure it will be very interesting," Draco said, smiling at Teecie and patting her hand. She thought she might throw up over the way they were talking.
Teecie tried to make small talk with Zeren, but was very distracted over what the adults were saying. Zeren seemed nonplussed by such talk. He was probably used to being considered background by his parents, which Teecie thought, was a sad thing.
The two kids were discussing their day in Hogsmeade when Draco patted Teecie's head again. "Well, I know Ticia will make an excellent mother someday," He said, seeming to reassure Mrs. Travers of some sort of concern she'd had. "She loves taking care of children, don't you dear?" Draco said, smiling at Teecie.
"Yes, I do. My greatest goal in life is to be the mother of seven children!" Teecie replied, smiling at Mrs. Travers.
"Oh, my, that's a lot of children. Why seven?" She asked, clutching a hand to her chest as though shocked beyond belief.
"It's a lucky number," Teecie replied, shrugging her shoulders. Mrs. Travers smiled half-heartedly before turning back to Draco. Looking over at Zeren, Teecie thought he could see the slightest hint of a smile on his face as he took a bite of his salmon.
"There she goes again! She's such a little prankster. Always keeping us on our toes," Draco said patronizingly to Teecie.
Things went smoothly for a while after that. Teecie finished her meal and ordered the creme brulee for pudding. It was so delicious that she decided she had to try making it herself sometime. Zeren was eating a slice of chocolate torte which looked incredible. He asked her if she'd like to try it. Teecie smiled and picked up her fork, took a small piece from his plate, and popped it into her mouth, savouring the flavour as it melted in her mouth. She didn't realize for a minute that the table had become completely silent. Looking up, she saw the shocked faces of Zeren's parents staring at her in horror.
Draco looked down at her with huge eyes, his mouth slightly agape. What had she done? Teecie was confused, but kept her mouth shut. "What did I do?" She whispered to Zeren. "Did I use the wrong fork?"
Zeren frowned and rolled his eyes. "No, you reached over to my plate and ate from it. You were supposed to let me cut off a piece and put it on your plate," He whispered back.
"Oh...what should I do now then?" She asked, blushing.
"Nothing, just pretend it didn't happen," He muttered.
After another minute, the adults seemed to get over the incident and went back to talking amongst themselves. Teecie's creme brulee didn't seem to taste as good after that. She wanted desperately for the date to end, and to return to her dormitory where she could have a good cry.
Another hour passed before Draco looked at his watch and told the kids they should return to the school before it got too late. Teecie and Zeren stood up, said goodbye to everybody, and left the restaurant. The carriage was still waiting for them.
Neither Teecie nor Zeren talked much on the way back to school. Teecie felt very foolish and inept, which wasn't a good feeling at all. Once they returned to Hogwarts, Zeren escorted Teecie up to the painting of the Fat Lady before kissing her cheek and telling her goodnight.
Teecie took a nice, long shower before going up to her dormitory. She changed into her favourite pair of pink shorts and a matching tank top before crawling into bed and falling right to sleep.
The next morning, Teecie woke up late and stumbled out of bed to get dressed and go down to breakfast. Once she was ready, she walked downstairs and into the Great Hall to eat. She saw Kali sitting by herself at the Ravenclaw table, and decided to join her for breakfast.
Teecie told Kali all about her night with Zeren and his parents. In the middle of the story, an owl bearing a small package flew over to Teecie and stopped in front of her plate of pancakes. Teecie was surprised, for she wasn't expecting anything in the post today, but carefully untied the package from the owl before it flew back off to the where it had come from.
It was a package about the size of a shoebox, covered in plain brown paper. There were no markings on it, but there was a small note attached, which Teecie read:
My Dear Teecie,
Last night was wonderful. I thought I'd give you a token of my affection for you. This is something I know you will love, just as much as I love you. Remember me when you see this.
-Zeren
"Oooh, Zeren sent me a gift!" Teecie exclaimed excitedly, looking at Kali and grinning. She quickly tore the brown paper off the box and opened the lid. She had been expecting something different from the pile of papers that were inside. Setting the box down, Teecie took out the papers and started to look at them. They were copies of pages from old editions of the Daily Prophet. What was this? Why would Zeren send her newspaper clippings? What kind of a present was that?
When she started reading through them more closely, it made Teecie's blood run cold and her stomach twist in knots. Every page had a picture and an article about her father on it. Why would her father be in all these issues of the Daily Prophet? She read some of the headlines: Malfoy the Infamous Death Eater, Arrested for the Ministry of Magic Break-In; Lucius Malfoy, Notorious Supporter of You-Know-Who, Denies Any Connections to the Death Eaters; Lucius Malfoy, the Death Eater, Signs Confessions of His Many Crimes, were just a few that stood out to Teecie. Teecie's mouth felt dry and her heart was pounding as she read them. She was confused, this must be a lie. It couldn't be real. It wasn't real.
Teecie started to read the articles about her father. They talked about things he'd done. He'd been a very famous Death Eater, whatever that was. They said he had killed people, and forced himself on women. Teecie felt light-headed and her mouth dropped open as she read. They said he'd taken part in torturing people, both Muggle and magical folk alike. The pictures of her father showed a very angry man snarling at her. He was dressed in very formal black robes and carried a snake-headed cane. How could this be her father, the loving man who wouldn't hurt a fly? It wasn't possible for them to be the same person. Teecie didn't understand; was this all true? Or was somebody making up horrible lies about her father? She stared at the picture of the hateful man who sneered at her, feeling cold, confused, and numb.
Kali had taken some of the papers and was reading them as well. She was very pale and trembling, her lips quivering as she pushed her plate of fruit salad away. Teecie turned to look at her sister to see what she thought of all this, and watched as Kali ripped the papers out of her hands, stuffed them back into the box and put the lid on as quickly as she could. After Teecie called to her quietly, Kali looked at her and put a smile on her face. "This is just a sick joke Teecie. Just ignore it and pretend you didn't see it, all right?" Kali said, her voice wavering as tears glinted in her eyes.
"But Kali, what if-" Teecie started to say before being cut off.
"No! It's just a joke! It's not real!" Kali yelled, picking the box up before standing to leave. Teecie watched as Kali left the Great Hall. She turned to look over at the Slytherin table carefully before she left the room.
Teecie stayed at the Ravenclaw table for a long time by herself. It couldn't be true. It had to be lies. Her father wasn't capable of doing anything like that. But slowly, doubt crept inside Teecie's mind. She thought about all the things she'd heard during the party. She thought about what Rey had said, and how her father always skirted the issue of his past. Deep down, she knew he must have done something horrible, but had never tried to think about it too hard. If she didn't think about it, it couldn't be real, or at least that's what she'd tried to convince herself. And, if they were lies, then somebody went to a lot of effort to fabricate old issues of the Daily Prophet. And where had the photographs come from? No...they had to be real. But Teecie had to make sure that those things were true or not. Feeling sick to her stomach, she turned to look up at Draco and Uncle Sev. She could easily ask them about it. They'd tell her for sure if it was true. But she wanted to research this more by herself first.
There was a large pile of homework waiting to be done, but Teecie didn't think about any of that as she walked quickly to the library. Her first task was to look up what a Death Eater was, and who "You-Know-Who" was. Once she'd found that out, she could research the Daily Prophet better.
After scouring the library, Teecie found the section on modern history. There were books about the wars, Death Eaters, Voldemort, the man behind everything, and even Harry Potter, the boy who had saved the world. His story must have been impressive, for there was even a series of historical fiction novels based on his life at Hogwarts, written by a Muggle. His story must have been leaked out. Teecie spent her entire day pouring through the books. She learned exactly what a Death Eater was, and what they had stood for, and the crimes they were guilty of. She read about Voldemort and how he had wanted to rid the world of Muggles and the Muggleborn.
Teecie read through the books about Harry Potter. She was horrified at the references to her father in them. She was almost sick as she read about what he'd done to open up the Chamber of Secrets. How could he do that to a little girl? And not just any girl-Ginny Weasley. She was Professor Longbottom's wife. That must mean he knew, and probably all of her professors did too. How could the man she knew be so cruel as to give a small child a diary that would control her and force her to do horrible things? Teecie couldn't understand it. Her father loved everybody. He'd never hurt a little girl.
As Teecie kept reading she couldn't help but wonder how could he have been so evil? And only two years later, at the World Cup, torturing Muggles, and months after that...at the graveyard. He had returned to Voldemort and had taunted Harry Potter while he'd been forced to confront the man who wanted to kill him. And after that, the break-in at the Ministry of Magic and his arrest. He had tried to steal a prophecy and give it to Voldemort, to help destroy Harry, but had failed. Though Teecie searched carefully through the last two books, there were no more references to him. Had he really done those awful things? Was it all true?
Teecie searched for more references to the Lucius Malfoy she did know, but found nothing, though there were references to Draco and Uncle Sev, but there was nothing about her mum either. If anybody could have gone up against Voldemort and beaten him, it was her mum. So, if she wasn't in those stories, they couldn't be true, right?
It was just as Teecie was almost convinced that this was in fact, a horrible joke, that small details started to come to the front of her mind. Things she'd heard as she'd been growing up, but never really thought about. Reni had been born around the time that the last of the references to Lucius were found in the books. And Lucius hadn't been there for the birth, Uncle Sev had. Adriana had always said that he had been away on business. Teecie was now wondering just what business she'd meant. And then Reni had gone to live with Uncle Sev for a long time, but why? And her mum had gone up against a Dementor, but why? Had she gone to Azkaban at some point in time? Why didn't Teecie know any of this? Suddenly, the memory of her first encounter with Harry Potter flashed in her mind. No wonder he'd been so shocked to find that a man like that had had more children. It made much more sense to her now.
Teecie was pouring through old issues of the Daily Prophet when somebody sat down next to her. Looking up, she saw Kali, still holding the box of papers, with a haunted look on her face. Teecie was silent for a moment before her face crumpled and she started to cry. Reaching her arms out, she wrapped herself around Kali, who started to cry too. They held each other for a long time, not talking, comforting each other.
After a while, they pulled apart and started whispering. "Kali, what are we going to do? Our father is a..." Teecie's voice broke as tears streamed down her face again. "And everybody knows. All the students, all the professors, even Muggles know! The whole world knows! Maybe we should go to Draco. Let's talk to him, he can help us," She said in a whisper.
"No! I won't go to him! There's nothing we can do," Kali yelled, earning her a scathing glare from Madam Pince, the librarian. "What are you looking at?" She shouted at her, standing up and walking over to the desk the librarian was working at. "You think you're better than us, don't you! Well you're not!" With that, Kali turned around, walked back to Teecie, grabbed the box of papers, and her sister's arm and dragged her out of the room.
Once out of the room, Kali told Teecie they couldn't stay at the school anymore. Everybody would be looking at them differently now. They couldn't live like that. "Go to your room and pack a bag with what you need to live with. Don't bother taking your wand, we can't use them. We'll have to live like Muggles. Meet me on the sixth floor as soon as you can. There's a room we can stay in until we figure out where to go. Go, now!" Kali pushed Teecie towards the stairs while she ran off to her own room.
Teecie wasn't used to seeing her sister so panicked. It scared her. As she ran to her room, Teecie was lucky enough to not run into anybody. Unfortunately, both of the twins were in the room as Teecie went in to pack her life into a bag to take with her. Teecie slowly walked to her bed and found a bag before putting clothes, her Magical Fun oven, all the money she could find, a couple books, and her stuffed pink unicorn in it.
"Teecie, what are you doing?" Paige asked, walking over to her.
"I...I forgot something I bought yesterday in Hogsmeade. I'm going back there to pick it up now. I won't be long," Teecie stammered.
"Oh? Do you really think it's a good idea to go-" Paige asked before Teecie cut her off.
"Look, I'm going to Hogsmeade, leave me alone!" Teecie snarled, picking her bag up and walking towards the door. Without looking back, she opened the door, and left the room before walking down to the sixth floor. Kali was waiting for her already, with a bag in her arms.
"Here it is, this way," Kali whispered, pointing to a small hole in the bottom of one of the walls. Teecie raised her eyebrows as she looked at the hole. They'd be staying inside a wall? She watched as Kali dropped to her knees, shoved her bag inside the hole before crawling in afterwards. It was a small hole, but looked as though it grew to allow the person to go through it. Once Kali was inside, Teecie dropped to her knees and copied her sister.
There was a staircase with about ten steps up to a landing. Teecie followed Kali up the stairs and looked around. It was pretty small, though there was a large window to look out of. There were things in the room that Teecie couldn't see because they were covered by dusty drop clothes. "Paul and I found this room in our second year. We were running around and playing hide-and-seek. We've come back every once in a while, so we can be alone," Kali explained.
Teecie started to uncover the hidden objects from their coverings. There were large chairs with soft cushions, beds with warm comforters on them, and desks like the ones from their classes, and several lamps that worked, giving off a warm glow and lighting the room more properly than the moonlight from the window. "This must be some type of storage room for extra equipment," She said quietly.
"There's a restroom across the hall, so we can use that," Kali informed her.
"And I brought my oven, so we can make food with that," Teecie said. Clutching her bag to her chest, Teecie sat down in one of the red plush chairs. She was startled when the chair made a loud, "Harrumph," noise as she sat in it. Apparently, it had gotten used to not being occupied for such a long time, it was insulted to be used again.
The chair was soft and warm, and as soon as she started to feel comfortable, the weight of her discovery hit her like a tonne of bricks. Her father was a murderer. And a rapist. How could she have not known that about him? Tears welled in Teecie's eyes and began to fall down her face. After a minute, she buried her head in the arm of the chair, and sobbed. Kali heard this and ran to join Teecie in the chair, which was large enough for both of them to sit in comfortably. Putting her arms around Teecie, Kali cried too, while the chair made sympathetic whimpering sounds to soothe them.
It was late in the evening by the time the girls had unpacked their bags and settled into one of the beds together. But there would be no sleeping that night though, for either of them. It would be the first of many long, sleepless nights for the girls.
Disclaimer: You know the usual, all of this world is JK's, and we thank her for letting us borrow it. Only the original characters are ours!
Arsinoe de Blassenville: I'm glad you liked the beginning of the school year. I wanted her to be having a really good time before everything turned bad. And, unfortunately, this is the chapter when that happens. The rest of Teecie's school year will be consumed by what happens here. On another note, I'm so glad you liked Letters that ElfFlame and I did. We just felt they needed to be written after doing the Catharsis chapter in Dragon's Tears. Have you had a chance to check out After the Tears Fell yet? It's Adriana's side of the aftermath of Dragon's Tears. I think you'd enjoy it. Well, here's the next chapter, let me know what you think!
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
Teecie was enjoying her third year at Hogwarts so far. She was quite busy with classes, friends, clubs, and her letters to and from Owen. She was doing better in her classes than she'd ever done before, which surprised both herself and her professors.
For once, Teecie was actually at the top of her class in Transfigurations. Professor Weasley was quite excited to see how well she was doing. She gave Gryffindor house fifteen points after Teecie successfully transfigured a teacup into a bat. She smiled up at the professor while the bat flapped it's wings and nestled itself in her hair. The professor seemed amazed that Teecie had done this, and gave her the points to encourage her to continue.
Teecie was enjoying her Care of Magical Creatures class. They were studying the Diricawl bird now. Diricawls were fat, fluffy birds that didn't fly, but could disappear whenever they wanted to. Charlie told them that Muggles called them "Dodo" birds, and didn't think they existed anymore. They were very interesting animals.
The weeks flew by quickly. Teecie found the work load more than it had ever been before, yet still managed to get it all done, in spite of all the club meetings she went to. Even though she was having lots of fun, it was still quite stressful. Teecie was looking forward to the first Hogsmeade weekend on Saturday. She wanted to get away from all the work by spending time in town with her friends. She'd planned her whole day out. First she'd stop in at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer, then go to Honeydukes for sweets. Next it was shopping at all the stores, then back to the Three Broomsticks for lunch.
The Thursday before the Hogsmeade weekend, Draco asked Teecie to stay after Potions class, and informed her that he'd arranged for her to meet Zeren's parents that Saturday evening. She'd have to cut her day short in order to get dressed. There was a restaurant in Hogsmeade that Draco would be taking Teecie to to meet Zeren and his parents.
Teecie was upset, for she wanted to spend her whole day having fun, not sitting with stuffy old people, trying to pretend she was a proper lady from high society. She could tell from the way Zeren looked at her sometimes, that his parents were probably going to hate her. But, she'd try her hardest, for Draco's sake. She wanted him to be proud of her, and hoped he would be.
Teecie spent the rest of the week planning her outfit for her date with Zeren. She wanted to have it all planned out so she could spend as much time in Hogsmeade as possible before she had to leave. She planned on wearing a plain black evening dress, black nylons, and black slippers, and putting her hair up in a French twist. By Saturday morning, Teecie felt ready for her date with Zeren, though she was still a little nervous over the thought of meeting his parents.
It was a crisp, chilly day in late October. A clear, bright sun shone down upon the school as Teecie and her friends sat and ate breakfast. Rey and Carl were talking quietly to each other next to Teecie while the twins talked at a fast pace to her. From down at the far end of the table, Teecie could see James sitting with his brothers. Every once in a while, he'd make eye contact with her and scowl before looking away again. Sighing, Teecie took another bite of her cornflakes and turned back to talk to Patty.
A short while after breakfast ended, the students going to Hogsmeade began their trek into town. Professor Weasley stood in the Entrance Hall and checked to make sure each student had a signed permission slip. Teecie's father had signed hers a couple days before she had left for school. She walked arm-in-arm with Paul and Kali as they all walked to Hogsmeade. Paul was in the middle, and laughed and talked to both of the girls. Teecie was sporting her knit pink scarf, tied around her neck, and wore a green jumper over a pair of jeans. Kali was wearing a blue scarf, black mini skirt and a red jumper. Teecie told them about what Draco was making her do that evening. "I don't see why you let him do that kind of thing to you," Kali said, sounding angry. "I mean, you were perfectly happy with James until he tried to get you to see other boys. He's always interfering like that. He can be such a pain sometimes!"
"He's just trying to be a good older brother. He cares about us, that's all," Teecie replied. "What's your problem, Kali? You always give him such a hard time. What's he ever done to you?"
Kali grew pale and quickly changed the subject to a safer topic: classes. The three students spent the rest of their walk into town talking about school.
As soon as they arrived in town, the first thing they did was go to the Three Broomsticks pub. Teecie ran into the rest of her classmates and soon they were laughing and talking over bottles of butterbeer. The noise was overwhelming, yet grew quieter as a few professors from school walked into the pub. Professors Lupin, Longbottom, and Charlie Weasley sat at a table by themselves and ordered drinks. After a minute, they were forgotten as the students' chatter started up again.
Once the butterbeers had been finished, the students split up and went to the different stores around town. Teecie and the twins went off on their own. Honeydukes was so crowded that they couldn't get inside, so they walked up and down to look in the rest of the stores. It was a matter of principle that kept the three girls from going into Zonko's Joke Shop. They were the number one competitors of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, so the girls couldn't support them.
When Teecie and Paige came to Gladrags Wizardwear Shop, they looked as if they'd died and gone to heaven, for there was nothing in the world they loved more than shopping for new clothes. Their eyes lit up as they squealed at the moving dummies in the windows that wore different clothes that were the height of wizard fasion. As they went inside, where they ran into Carl, Patty went off to find Daniel. Paige and Teecie had fun as they dressed up and put on a fashion show for Carl, who critiqued their outfits. The girls had just tried on matching green evening gowns, which Carl had applauded, when they realized it was past lunch time. Before leaving, Teecie bought a silk pink headscarf to wear over her hair on cold and rainy days. Paige bought a matching blue one to wear.
Carl walked arm-in-arm with Teecie and Paige over to Madam Puddifoot's tearoom, a small restaurant, for lunch. The three noshed on cucumber sandwiches, cream of mushroom soup, and herbal tea while chatting happily. Teecie told them about her date with Zeren that evening and how nervous she was to be meeting his parents. Paige and Carl were very supportive and comforting, reassuring her that she was a great person and had nothing to worry about, and if Zeren's parents didn't like her, then it was their loss, not hers. Teecie felt better afterwards.
When they'd finished eating, the three walked to Honeydukes, which had cleared out enough for them to get inside. There were all sorts of sweets and treats to buy. Carl saw Rey in one of the aisles and went to go talk to him, while Paige met up with Patty and joined her. Teecie walked around by herself, looking at all the rows of sweets in the store. Some of them looked appealing, but she liked Muggle sweets best. She left the store after buying a slab of homemade fudge, and a box of chocoballs, the closest sweets she could find to their Muggle equivalent.
As Teecie was walking out of the shop, James was walking in. What was worse, he was holding hands with a girl. Candace Howe, a Ravenclaw girl in their year, had long red hair that was tied back in a plait, deep brown eyes that were covered with pink wire-rimmed glasses, and was wearing a red mini skirt and purple top. Teecie opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off when James pulled Candace into the store. "Come on, Candace, I'll buy you some sweets," He said to her, glaring at Teecie over his shoulder as the door closed between them.
Teecie felt like she'd been kicked. James had replaced her already, with another girl who was far more beautiful than she was. She was feeling very ugly and upset as she walked past a few stores. Teecie was about to go back to the Three Broomsticks for another Butterbeer when she looked down at her watch and saw that it was time for her to return to the school to get ready for her date with Zeren.
It took about 20 minutes to walk back to the school, and another ten to get up to her dormitory. Teecie took her time preparing for the date. She carefully brushed her hair and tied it in a loose French twist before applying her pale pink lip gloss. Once that was all done, she slipped into her black evening gown, and matching nylons. After finding a silk black shawl and putting it around her bare shoulders, Teecie put her slippers on and left the room to go back to Hogsmeade.
Teecie was startled to see Zeren standing in the hallway outside the painting of the Fat Lady. "I'm supposed to escort you to the restaurant," He informed her, holding his arm out for her to take. Teecie thought Zeren looked pretty handsome in a set of fancy black dress robes. He had wonderfully tanned golden skin, and his hair was just a shade darker. It was swept back, and stayed in place by a magic spell, no doubt. He looked at Teecie with scrutiny through intense sapphire eyes, and not seeing anything to criticize, smiled, showing a row of sparkly white teeth.
As the two kids walked down the stairs, Zeren spoke to Teecie. "So, I thought we could floo to the restaurant. What do you think?" He asked, looking straight ahead of where he was walking.
"Are you insane? I'll mess up my hair! And my dress!" Teecie cried, letting go of Zeren's arm and pointing to her dress, looking quite upset at the thought.
Zeren smiled slyly. "That was a test. I'm glad to say you passed with flying colours. Your brother might just make a proper lady out of you yet!"
"Thanks a lot!" Teecie replied, smacking his arm lightly before taking it in her hand again. They continued to walk down the stairs, and out of the front door. After they left the school grounds, Teecie saw that there was a carriage waiting for them.
"I arranged for this so we won't get our clothes dirty. Besides, it's much too cold to walk at night this time of the year," Zeren explained while helping Teecie into the carriage. When she was settled, he covered her up in a couple blankets and furs before sitting down and telling the driver to go.
Teecie asked Zeren about his parents while they drove to the restaurant, which was a little bit out of the way from Hogsmeade. Zeren told her that his mum was the president of the Ladies Aid Society. They organized fundraisers for less fortunate people. His father ran the family business and took care of the manor in which they lived. "They'll probably ask you a million questions, but don't worry too much. They're mostly harmless," He said, right as the horse pulled up to the door of the restaurant.
The chilly October night air hit Teecie's bare skin as she stepped out of the carriage. Zeren saw how cold she was and quickly led her inside.
The restaurant only had a few patrons, so it was easy to find the table that the adults were already sitting at. The host led them to the table and helped Teecie sit down before handing out menus. The restaurant was called the Crying Quail, and the food was as pretentious as its name. Half of the words were in French, and Teecie had a difficult time understanding what everything was. In the end, she chose the Coq Au Vin, hoping it would taste good.
After everybody had ordered, they sat around in silence for a couple minutes before the questions started. Zeren's parents looked at Teecie appraisingly, searching for flaws in her appearance. When they found none, they began talking. "So, dear, tell me about your parents," Zeren's mother said, tilting her head and waiting for the response.
"Well, ma'am..." Teecie started, her voice trailing off. Draco had told her a little bit about what people like them would be unimpressed about hearing, like the farm, the fact that her parents worked on the farm, and the fact that they lived in a small house. She was supposed to impress them with her proper upbringing. So, remembering what she'd done at the dinner party two summers ago, Teecie decided to have fun with the answers. "My father is retired from the business he used to run, and my mother oversees the everyday goings on at the property we live on," She said, rather cryptically.
"And tell me, what are your favourite classes at school, Miss Orendes?" Mr. Travers asked, looking down his pointed nose at Teecie.
"Well, sir, I love most of my classes, though I'd have to say that Potions, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts are my favourites. Oh, and Care of Magical Creatures too," Teecie replied, smiling at him.
Mr. Travers wrinkled his nose distastefully. "Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, eh? Those are rather...dirty classes, wouldn't you say?"
"Maybe so, but it's nothing a good shower won't fix," Teecie replied, smiling. She felt a sharp kick on her shin and looked next to her to see Draco looking furious. She had no idea why he didn't like what she'd said, it was perfectly true.
Mr. Travers frowned. "I suppose..." He said before turning away from her and looking at Draco.
"You must excuse my sister, she tends to forget herself in social situations. She's quite irrepressible. I'm always having to look out for her, the little imp! But she's a good kid," Draco said, patting Teecie on the head.
Teecie couldn't believe Draco was talking about her like that. It was like she was two years old or something! Luckily though, it seemed that the question and answer portion of Teecie's evening had ended. It was now her brother's turn. Their food arrived just as Mr. Travers had asked why Teecie had a different last name from their father. She began to eat her food, which was delicious, while listening to his response. "Well, you know, after the war, it just wasn't safe to have that name, so the girls took their mother's last name," Draco said, cutting into his steak.
The adults started talking about the two kids like they weren't even there. Every one in a while, one of the parents would look down at Teecie and say something about her. "She is a good-looking girl, you'll probably have many suitors for her hand," Mrs. Travers said at one point in time.
"Yes, and she is still quite young, so I'm sure it will be very interesting," Draco said, smiling at Teecie and patting her hand. She thought she might throw up over the way they were talking.
Teecie tried to make small talk with Zeren, but was very distracted over what the adults were saying. Zeren seemed nonplussed by such talk. He was probably used to being considered background by his parents, which Teecie thought, was a sad thing.
The two kids were discussing their day in Hogsmeade when Draco patted Teecie's head again. "Well, I know Ticia will make an excellent mother someday," He said, seeming to reassure Mrs. Travers of some sort of concern she'd had. "She loves taking care of children, don't you dear?" Draco said, smiling at Teecie.
"Yes, I do. My greatest goal in life is to be the mother of seven children!" Teecie replied, smiling at Mrs. Travers.
"Oh, my, that's a lot of children. Why seven?" She asked, clutching a hand to her chest as though shocked beyond belief.
"It's a lucky number," Teecie replied, shrugging her shoulders. Mrs. Travers smiled half-heartedly before turning back to Draco. Looking over at Zeren, Teecie thought he could see the slightest hint of a smile on his face as he took a bite of his salmon.
"There she goes again! She's such a little prankster. Always keeping us on our toes," Draco said patronizingly to Teecie.
Things went smoothly for a while after that. Teecie finished her meal and ordered the creme brulee for pudding. It was so delicious that she decided she had to try making it herself sometime. Zeren was eating a slice of chocolate torte which looked incredible. He asked her if she'd like to try it. Teecie smiled and picked up her fork, took a small piece from his plate, and popped it into her mouth, savouring the flavour as it melted in her mouth. She didn't realize for a minute that the table had become completely silent. Looking up, she saw the shocked faces of Zeren's parents staring at her in horror.
Draco looked down at her with huge eyes, his mouth slightly agape. What had she done? Teecie was confused, but kept her mouth shut. "What did I do?" She whispered to Zeren. "Did I use the wrong fork?"
Zeren frowned and rolled his eyes. "No, you reached over to my plate and ate from it. You were supposed to let me cut off a piece and put it on your plate," He whispered back.
"Oh...what should I do now then?" She asked, blushing.
"Nothing, just pretend it didn't happen," He muttered.
After another minute, the adults seemed to get over the incident and went back to talking amongst themselves. Teecie's creme brulee didn't seem to taste as good after that. She wanted desperately for the date to end, and to return to her dormitory where she could have a good cry.
Another hour passed before Draco looked at his watch and told the kids they should return to the school before it got too late. Teecie and Zeren stood up, said goodbye to everybody, and left the restaurant. The carriage was still waiting for them.
Neither Teecie nor Zeren talked much on the way back to school. Teecie felt very foolish and inept, which wasn't a good feeling at all. Once they returned to Hogwarts, Zeren escorted Teecie up to the painting of the Fat Lady before kissing her cheek and telling her goodnight.
Teecie took a nice, long shower before going up to her dormitory. She changed into her favourite pair of pink shorts and a matching tank top before crawling into bed and falling right to sleep.
The next morning, Teecie woke up late and stumbled out of bed to get dressed and go down to breakfast. Once she was ready, she walked downstairs and into the Great Hall to eat. She saw Kali sitting by herself at the Ravenclaw table, and decided to join her for breakfast.
Teecie told Kali all about her night with Zeren and his parents. In the middle of the story, an owl bearing a small package flew over to Teecie and stopped in front of her plate of pancakes. Teecie was surprised, for she wasn't expecting anything in the post today, but carefully untied the package from the owl before it flew back off to the where it had come from.
It was a package about the size of a shoebox, covered in plain brown paper. There were no markings on it, but there was a small note attached, which Teecie read:
My Dear Teecie,
Last night was wonderful. I thought I'd give you a token of my affection for you. This is something I know you will love, just as much as I love you. Remember me when you see this.
-Zeren
"Oooh, Zeren sent me a gift!" Teecie exclaimed excitedly, looking at Kali and grinning. She quickly tore the brown paper off the box and opened the lid. She had been expecting something different from the pile of papers that were inside. Setting the box down, Teecie took out the papers and started to look at them. They were copies of pages from old editions of the Daily Prophet. What was this? Why would Zeren send her newspaper clippings? What kind of a present was that?
When she started reading through them more closely, it made Teecie's blood run cold and her stomach twist in knots. Every page had a picture and an article about her father on it. Why would her father be in all these issues of the Daily Prophet? She read some of the headlines: Malfoy the Infamous Death Eater, Arrested for the Ministry of Magic Break-In; Lucius Malfoy, Notorious Supporter of You-Know-Who, Denies Any Connections to the Death Eaters; Lucius Malfoy, the Death Eater, Signs Confessions of His Many Crimes, were just a few that stood out to Teecie. Teecie's mouth felt dry and her heart was pounding as she read them. She was confused, this must be a lie. It couldn't be real. It wasn't real.
Teecie started to read the articles about her father. They talked about things he'd done. He'd been a very famous Death Eater, whatever that was. They said he had killed people, and forced himself on women. Teecie felt light-headed and her mouth dropped open as she read. They said he'd taken part in torturing people, both Muggle and magical folk alike. The pictures of her father showed a very angry man snarling at her. He was dressed in very formal black robes and carried a snake-headed cane. How could this be her father, the loving man who wouldn't hurt a fly? It wasn't possible for them to be the same person. Teecie didn't understand; was this all true? Or was somebody making up horrible lies about her father? She stared at the picture of the hateful man who sneered at her, feeling cold, confused, and numb.
Kali had taken some of the papers and was reading them as well. She was very pale and trembling, her lips quivering as she pushed her plate of fruit salad away. Teecie turned to look at her sister to see what she thought of all this, and watched as Kali ripped the papers out of her hands, stuffed them back into the box and put the lid on as quickly as she could. After Teecie called to her quietly, Kali looked at her and put a smile on her face. "This is just a sick joke Teecie. Just ignore it and pretend you didn't see it, all right?" Kali said, her voice wavering as tears glinted in her eyes.
"But Kali, what if-" Teecie started to say before being cut off.
"No! It's just a joke! It's not real!" Kali yelled, picking the box up before standing to leave. Teecie watched as Kali left the Great Hall. She turned to look over at the Slytherin table carefully before she left the room.
Teecie stayed at the Ravenclaw table for a long time by herself. It couldn't be true. It had to be lies. Her father wasn't capable of doing anything like that. But slowly, doubt crept inside Teecie's mind. She thought about all the things she'd heard during the party. She thought about what Rey had said, and how her father always skirted the issue of his past. Deep down, she knew he must have done something horrible, but had never tried to think about it too hard. If she didn't think about it, it couldn't be real, or at least that's what she'd tried to convince herself. And, if they were lies, then somebody went to a lot of effort to fabricate old issues of the Daily Prophet. And where had the photographs come from? No...they had to be real. But Teecie had to make sure that those things were true or not. Feeling sick to her stomach, she turned to look up at Draco and Uncle Sev. She could easily ask them about it. They'd tell her for sure if it was true. But she wanted to research this more by herself first.
There was a large pile of homework waiting to be done, but Teecie didn't think about any of that as she walked quickly to the library. Her first task was to look up what a Death Eater was, and who "You-Know-Who" was. Once she'd found that out, she could research the Daily Prophet better.
After scouring the library, Teecie found the section on modern history. There were books about the wars, Death Eaters, Voldemort, the man behind everything, and even Harry Potter, the boy who had saved the world. His story must have been impressive, for there was even a series of historical fiction novels based on his life at Hogwarts, written by a Muggle. His story must have been leaked out. Teecie spent her entire day pouring through the books. She learned exactly what a Death Eater was, and what they had stood for, and the crimes they were guilty of. She read about Voldemort and how he had wanted to rid the world of Muggles and the Muggleborn.
Teecie read through the books about Harry Potter. She was horrified at the references to her father in them. She was almost sick as she read about what he'd done to open up the Chamber of Secrets. How could he do that to a little girl? And not just any girl-Ginny Weasley. She was Professor Longbottom's wife. That must mean he knew, and probably all of her professors did too. How could the man she knew be so cruel as to give a small child a diary that would control her and force her to do horrible things? Teecie couldn't understand it. Her father loved everybody. He'd never hurt a little girl.
As Teecie kept reading she couldn't help but wonder how could he have been so evil? And only two years later, at the World Cup, torturing Muggles, and months after that...at the graveyard. He had returned to Voldemort and had taunted Harry Potter while he'd been forced to confront the man who wanted to kill him. And after that, the break-in at the Ministry of Magic and his arrest. He had tried to steal a prophecy and give it to Voldemort, to help destroy Harry, but had failed. Though Teecie searched carefully through the last two books, there were no more references to him. Had he really done those awful things? Was it all true?
Teecie searched for more references to the Lucius Malfoy she did know, but found nothing, though there were references to Draco and Uncle Sev, but there was nothing about her mum either. If anybody could have gone up against Voldemort and beaten him, it was her mum. So, if she wasn't in those stories, they couldn't be true, right?
It was just as Teecie was almost convinced that this was in fact, a horrible joke, that small details started to come to the front of her mind. Things she'd heard as she'd been growing up, but never really thought about. Reni had been born around the time that the last of the references to Lucius were found in the books. And Lucius hadn't been there for the birth, Uncle Sev had. Adriana had always said that he had been away on business. Teecie was now wondering just what business she'd meant. And then Reni had gone to live with Uncle Sev for a long time, but why? And her mum had gone up against a Dementor, but why? Had she gone to Azkaban at some point in time? Why didn't Teecie know any of this? Suddenly, the memory of her first encounter with Harry Potter flashed in her mind. No wonder he'd been so shocked to find that a man like that had had more children. It made much more sense to her now.
Teecie was pouring through old issues of the Daily Prophet when somebody sat down next to her. Looking up, she saw Kali, still holding the box of papers, with a haunted look on her face. Teecie was silent for a moment before her face crumpled and she started to cry. Reaching her arms out, she wrapped herself around Kali, who started to cry too. They held each other for a long time, not talking, comforting each other.
After a while, they pulled apart and started whispering. "Kali, what are we going to do? Our father is a..." Teecie's voice broke as tears streamed down her face again. "And everybody knows. All the students, all the professors, even Muggles know! The whole world knows! Maybe we should go to Draco. Let's talk to him, he can help us," She said in a whisper.
"No! I won't go to him! There's nothing we can do," Kali yelled, earning her a scathing glare from Madam Pince, the librarian. "What are you looking at?" She shouted at her, standing up and walking over to the desk the librarian was working at. "You think you're better than us, don't you! Well you're not!" With that, Kali turned around, walked back to Teecie, grabbed the box of papers, and her sister's arm and dragged her out of the room.
Once out of the room, Kali told Teecie they couldn't stay at the school anymore. Everybody would be looking at them differently now. They couldn't live like that. "Go to your room and pack a bag with what you need to live with. Don't bother taking your wand, we can't use them. We'll have to live like Muggles. Meet me on the sixth floor as soon as you can. There's a room we can stay in until we figure out where to go. Go, now!" Kali pushed Teecie towards the stairs while she ran off to her own room.
Teecie wasn't used to seeing her sister so panicked. It scared her. As she ran to her room, Teecie was lucky enough to not run into anybody. Unfortunately, both of the twins were in the room as Teecie went in to pack her life into a bag to take with her. Teecie slowly walked to her bed and found a bag before putting clothes, her Magical Fun oven, all the money she could find, a couple books, and her stuffed pink unicorn in it.
"Teecie, what are you doing?" Paige asked, walking over to her.
"I...I forgot something I bought yesterday in Hogsmeade. I'm going back there to pick it up now. I won't be long," Teecie stammered.
"Oh? Do you really think it's a good idea to go-" Paige asked before Teecie cut her off.
"Look, I'm going to Hogsmeade, leave me alone!" Teecie snarled, picking her bag up and walking towards the door. Without looking back, she opened the door, and left the room before walking down to the sixth floor. Kali was waiting for her already, with a bag in her arms.
"Here it is, this way," Kali whispered, pointing to a small hole in the bottom of one of the walls. Teecie raised her eyebrows as she looked at the hole. They'd be staying inside a wall? She watched as Kali dropped to her knees, shoved her bag inside the hole before crawling in afterwards. It was a small hole, but looked as though it grew to allow the person to go through it. Once Kali was inside, Teecie dropped to her knees and copied her sister.
There was a staircase with about ten steps up to a landing. Teecie followed Kali up the stairs and looked around. It was pretty small, though there was a large window to look out of. There were things in the room that Teecie couldn't see because they were covered by dusty drop clothes. "Paul and I found this room in our second year. We were running around and playing hide-and-seek. We've come back every once in a while, so we can be alone," Kali explained.
Teecie started to uncover the hidden objects from their coverings. There were large chairs with soft cushions, beds with warm comforters on them, and desks like the ones from their classes, and several lamps that worked, giving off a warm glow and lighting the room more properly than the moonlight from the window. "This must be some type of storage room for extra equipment," She said quietly.
"There's a restroom across the hall, so we can use that," Kali informed her.
"And I brought my oven, so we can make food with that," Teecie said. Clutching her bag to her chest, Teecie sat down in one of the red plush chairs. She was startled when the chair made a loud, "Harrumph," noise as she sat in it. Apparently, it had gotten used to not being occupied for such a long time, it was insulted to be used again.
The chair was soft and warm, and as soon as she started to feel comfortable, the weight of her discovery hit her like a tonne of bricks. Her father was a murderer. And a rapist. How could she have not known that about him? Tears welled in Teecie's eyes and began to fall down her face. After a minute, she buried her head in the arm of the chair, and sobbed. Kali heard this and ran to join Teecie in the chair, which was large enough for both of them to sit in comfortably. Putting her arms around Teecie, Kali cried too, while the chair made sympathetic whimpering sounds to soothe them.
It was late in the evening by the time the girls had unpacked their bags and settled into one of the beds together. But there would be no sleeping that night though, for either of them. It would be the first of many long, sleepless nights for the girls.