[Author's
justification: From now on, all A/N and Disclaimers!!! will be at the end of the
chapter and not at the beginning. Have fun reading! :-)]
* * * * * * * *
"Narcissa, darling, how are you?" a bright cheery voice
inquired. It seemed to Terri that no such voice had ever entered the Malfoy
household previously.
Immediately, Narcissa fell out of her trance. "Patricia
Keating! I haven't seen you in years. How wonderful of you to come to my
distinguished home. Come, come; sit. We were just about to have dinner."
"Oh!" exclaimed Mrs. Keating, showing no sign of her
surprise over this information. "I hope I haven't intruded."
"Nonsense!"
answered Narcissa happily. Terri and Draco looked at each other with confused
expressions. Never had either of them ever seen Narcissa in such a happy mood.
Not even Draco, though he and Terri had both seen Narcissa every day of their
lives except for their first year, when Terri had lived out in Godric's Hollow
near London proper with her parents Iris and Thomas Cautter. But that was
thirteen years before, when Voldemort had gone powerless, and just last year,
when he was still power hungry as he had been before and had risen again.
Whoa, Terri thought, Mrs. Keating should come over
more often!
Suddenly,
Draco stood up and stared at Mrs. Keating. How rude! Terri thought. But
then she saw what Draco was looking at. Or, rather; who.
Behind
Mrs. Keating was a boy wearing navy blue robes who seemed powerful yet
compassionate. How Terri deduced this from just looking at him, she never knew.
He had light brown hair and bright blue eyes, eyes that seemed like the water
off the beaches of islands in the middle of an ocean.
What
amazed Terri, though, was the immense hatred that shone in those eyes, reflecting
off Draco's gray eyes that gleamed with hatred that matched the other boy's.
She gave the boy a once over and concluded that he was a rival from Draco's
school, Hogwarts; for she had never seen him at Beaubaxtons or Tricular Private
School. [A/N the school that she had gone to from preschool until fifth grade]
"I
see you've brought Jeremy," Narcissa asked Mrs. Keating obsequiously. It seemed
that she hadn't noticed the hatred in the boys' eyes. "He seems to have grown
up much since I saw him last," she added, looking up at Jeremy.
"Yes,
indeed. He's mighty close to six feet [two meters] and is always, what is the
word…working out as the Muggles say. Say hello to Mrs. Malfoy, Jeremy."
"Hello
Mrs. Malfoy," Jeremy said. "Draco," he added, nodding once. He just glanced at
Terri.
"Well,
fancy seeing you here, Draco!" Mrs. Keating said, as if just noticing him.
"You're not on school holiday either?"
Terri
was confused. Draco wasn't on a school holiday? And yet he had been coming home
every time during the last four years when Terri had a holiday. Maybe this
was part of Lucius's master plan, Terri thought, laughing silently.
"No,
I'm not, Mrs. Keating. Mother insisted that I be home when Teresa here had a
holiday," Draco drawled, calling Terri by her proper name just to annoy her.
She glared. He smirked.
"Teresa?"
asked Mrs. Keating.
"Oh,
well…Teresa is my niece. She was orphaned thirteen years ago by the Dark Lord,"
Narcissa explained quietly. Terri could just hear her, she was whispering so
softly.
"He
wasn't her father!" Mrs. Keating exclaimed, suddenly looking at Terri.
"Heavens,
no!" Narcissa replied. "He–he killed her parents."
"Oh,
the poor dear." Mrs. Keating looked at Terri.
Terri
looked away. Her eyes landed on Jeremy, who looked straight back into her jade
green eyes. Something inside told Terri to stop staring, but she couldn't pull
her eyes away. The nagging failed to recede as she tried to understand what was
going on in Jeremy's head as his eyes softened just a hint.
"Teresa?"
Narcissa was saying.
"Uh,
yeah. What?" Terri said.
"Just
wondering what you find so interesting."
"Oh,
um…just wondering what's for dinner, that's all." Her eyes flickered to where
Jeremy was. He was oddly studying the dining table and chairs.
"Well,
in that case. Let's start dinner. Ralph!" she called. He came to the doorway of
the dining room. "Please alert the kitchens." Mrs. Keating certainly looked
impressed at Narcissa's choice of words as Ralph left the room.
*
* * * * * * *
A
few minutes later, there were five people sitting at the table eating a hearty
meal of pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy. The three teens were death
quiet, just eating. The adults were talking quite enthusiastically.
Terri
sat picking at her pot roast, sitting across from Jeremy. To her left was Draco and Narcissa was on her right.
Mrs. Keating was sitting to Jeremy's left.
It
took all of Terri's strength to keep quiet. At Beaubaxtons she was always
talking; the students loved her English accent, for they all spoke in the same
French accent. Even at the Malfoys house during holidays, Terri talked to all
her friends on the Muggle contraption known as a 'phone.' She had her own
cordless phone in her bedroom, talking and giggling to all her girl friends
from Beaubaxtons and Tricular as if she were a normal girl. Which she wasn't.
In
a pathetic attempt (in Terri's opinion) to start a conversation, Mrs. Keating
said to Terri over her wine, "I love your glasses, Teresa. Jeremy got his eyes
fixed before the term started; he said he 'absolutely hated' his glasses. Now,
yours are cute. Where did you get them?"
"Please
call me Terri," Terri replied politely in a sugary sweet voice that was so
unlike her own. "Uncle Lucius was a dear and presented them to me for my
birthday. They are Ocean Pacific brand, and were extremely expensive. Uncle
Lucius also provided me with prescription Oakley sunglasses. You can imagine
how I thanked him after he presented them to me."
"How
wonderful. Lucius is such a kind man." Terri thought she heard a tint of force
in Mrs. Keating's voice, as if she were lying out loud. Of course, Narcissa
didn't notice.
"So,"
Mrs. Keating said, "how is school, Draco?"
Narcissa
interrupted before Draco could reply. "Oh, Patricia; the children are on
holiday, surely they do not want to discuss school!"
Terri
was startled by Narcissa's reply. She suddenly had a flashback.
Any guest who ever mentioned
school in the Malfoy household was immediately silenced by Lucius or Narcissa. Draco never spoke of
Hogwarts; Terri never spoke of Beaubaxtons. It was as if there
was an unspoken agreement when it
came to school: don't speak about school.
But
Mrs. Keating went along with Narcissa. "Of course, Narcissa. They are on
holiday." [A/N is it just me or is it weird that I'm always calling vacation holiday?]
"Anyway,
I think we are all finished. After dessert, you may go entertain your guest,
Draco and Terri. Patricia and I would like to catch up on each other's lives." Narcissa
smiled at Draco. He stared back with a bored expression.
*
* * * * * * *
Dessert
was a slice of lemon supreme pie topped with whipped cream, not at all like the
usual of the eater's choice of ice cream. Afterwards, Narcissa and Patricia
went into the French room to gossip. Draco and Jeremy stood up at the same
time, never taking their eyes off of each other.
"I
think we can go outside," Draco drawled.
"Fine
with me," replied Jeremy.
They
walked out of the dining room three feet apart, Draco leading the way to the
backyard and Terri behind Jeremy.
Soon,
they reached the backyard. Draco and Jeremy sat stiffly across from each other
on some Henri Stalisse matress-on-metal deck chairs. Terri sat down too, Draco
on her right and Jeremy on her left.
"What's
wrong with you guys?" she asked. "I mean, what's between you?"
The
boys just stared at each other, the hatred practically flying through the air.
* * * * * * * *
[A/N Thanx 2 all
you people who have reviewed my stories. Please, please! R/R becuz I want
ur take on my writing. And 4 all of u who have reviewed; thanx so much again!
The Terri Stories, a.k.a. this, have had the most hits out of all of my fics.]
[A/N If you like my
style or just like my stories, click my name and R/R some of the other fics I've
written. Have fun!]
[Disclaimer!!!
If I seem crazy
or fazed at all to you, just feel free to beat me with a smelting stick.]
[Disclaimer!!! All characters belong to
the one, the only, J.K.Rowling!!! and do not belong 2 me @ all, k?]
[Question!!! Do I have
enough author's notes and disclaimers here?]
