At the door

[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?]