[A/N Thanx 2 all
you guys who have reviewed my stories, though you are a select group. Please
R/R becuz I want ur take on my work. If you have any questions, put them in
your review or email me. Just so you know, Terri and I share a birthday!]
[Disclaimer!!! All characters belong to
the one, the only, J.K.Rowling!!! and do not belong 2 me @ all, k?]
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Terri
had discovered the hole in the corner quite by accident. She had been eight
years old, and obsessed with dressing up. Of course, the Malfoys never let her
have friends over, so she had to play dress up by herself.
On
that fated day, Terri had been going through her closet looking for something
to wear while she waltzed to the music of Gianni Kristoff's Concerto No.
8. The music hummed in her head, and she started dancing right where she was.
She danced all over the closet, and suddenly bumped in the far left corner of
it. Her foot fell through the carpet and she had screamed from terror.
Quickly,
she had removed her foot from the hole and pulled back the carpet, only to find
loose floorboards that had caved into the hole. Then, she had gasped and
smiled, for she finally had found a place where she could hide her most secret
possessions, and keep them away from the Malfoys and all their servants and
house-elves.
* * *
* * * * *
Returning
from her trip down memory lane, Terri opened the biscuit tin. Inside was the
only proof of her crush, Peter Raciti. Terri gushed as a black and white Peter
smiled and winked at her. She could feel her heart thump loudly in her chest as
she held his school picture from last year. That didn't matter, though; he was
still just as cute–maybe cuter.
She
placed the picture on the carpet beside her and reached once more into the tin.
This time she drew out a newspaper clipping. It was from the day before
yesterday's Daily Owl Herald; for some reason the Malfoys prohibited the
Daily Prophet in their household.
She
read the clipping quietly to herself.
The
clipping has moved! --- Please see chapter 3: the clipping.
So,
not only was he cute and smart and–, he was ever the helper of mankind, too.
Terri could never find the patience to tutor young children; just living with
Draco was quite enough!
If
only he noticed her other than during Quidditch games. But since that Morgana
Delacourris girl wasn't alive… Peter had been pretty much obsessed with her
(meaning Morgana, not Terri); he'd always be holding her hand or meeting her
out someplace. But after she was murdered during the summer holiday, Peter had seemed
a little preoccupied as he walked to and from classes. Sure, Terri felt sorry
that Morgana was dead, but now Peter was all alone…the least Terri could do was
help him deal with the death, right?
Terri
shook her head as she rid herself of the thought. What a selfish thing to
think! Quickly, she placed the clipping next to her and pulled out from the tin
birthday cards her best friends Cassie and Evan had sent her last March
twenty-third. She laughed as she looked at the back of Evan's postcard: a red ballon
that said 'Happy Birthday!' blew up, and the smoke
turned into 'Oops…' It was exactly the card
Evan would send. On the front he had written 'Happy
b'day Terri! Have a gr8 1.' Cassie's card was a little more professional: plain Happy Birthday in lilac on the front and a birthday poem inside. She read it and
sighed; she missed her friends now more than ever.
"Teresa?
Teresa! Where are you?" Terri heard Draco calling her. Quickly, she stuffed
everything back into the tin and lowered the tin into the hole. She placed the
floorboards in their original positions and pushed the carpet so it covered the
corner of the closet.
Standing
up and smoothing down her hair, Terri then opened the closet door and replied,
"I'm coming, you fool!"
Then, Terri
unlocked and opened her bedroom door. "What?" she asked.
"Mother
told me to come and tell you that dinner is ready."
"What?
Already?"
"Yes!
It's already seven o'clock. what did you think it was, four?"
Silently,
Terri agreed, but she said, "Of course not." Gazing at Draco's formal shirt and
pants, she added, "Gimme a minute, I have to change out of my jeans."
"You
need not change–"
"Yeah
I do. I bet we're having company or something; why else are you dressed up?"
Draco
glanced down and said, "Because I wanted to." He turned to walk away, and just
as he stepped on to the stairs, Terri could have sworn she heard him say, "By
the way, I think your hair looks quite dashing." Of course, it was totally
unlike Draco to say 'dashing' or pay Terri a compliment.
Either
way, Terri turned and locked her door once more. She went back to her closet
and sifted through her the hangers. Within seconds, she chose a knee-length
lavender skirt with a sheer layer over it and a sleeveless lavender blouse. She
pulled off her jeans and t-shirt and pulled on her formalwear.
Then,
Terri glanced at herself in her mirror above her vanity drawers. Her hair was
at shoulder length in a neatly trimmed layered style. It had been highlighted
with dark and light brown streaks; a definite plus and even more so because she
had easily convinced Narcissa to let her get them while Narcissa was in her
once-in-a-lifetime 'nicey-nice' mood. Terri grabbed a brush off the vanity and
pulled it through; she might as well try to tame her hair.
Finally,
Terri was ready. She glanced at her silver plated wall clock; it had taken her
all of five minutes to get ready. Well, better get down to dinner, she
thought.
She walked out of her room and slammed the bedroom door. Taking the stairs two at a time, she reached the dining room rather quickly. Rushing in, she found Narcissa and Draco sitting and waiting for her; Draco staring at her and Narcissa staring into space.
"Where's Lucius?" Terri asked.
"He's not Lucius to you," Narcissa said in a voice barely
above a whisper. "Call him Mr. Malfoy." [A/N in part 1, Narcissa goes thru
mood swings: nice/mean ;-). I think this is how I'll keep her: dazed]
"All righty, then. Where's Mr. Malfoy?"
"Important Ministry Meeting."
"Oh. Anyway, who's coming to dinner?"
"Coming?" Narcissa asked, confused. "Just some of my old
friends."
"Oh," Terri answered as Narcissa went back to her previous
status: staring into space.
Terri looked at Draco. He glared back at her. Rolling her
eyes, Terri took a seat at the table and toyed with her silverware.
A few minutes later, the doorbell could be heard through
the house. Terri heard the footsteps of Ralph, the butler, go to the door and
open it. She heard him greet whoever was at the door. Then there was silence.
