and it is notfairnotfairnotfairnotfair.
andie is the smart, pretty one, and bella is dangerous and beautiful, and then there is little you: prickly and boyish, bony and awkward, the spoiled one. andie says your beautiful, but of course your don't believe her.
you spend your days reading comic books
sucking on cherry pits
playing for hours on the piano
devouring action-adventure paperbacks meant for boys
running through the woods
kissing your reflection
eating chocolate bars. it is summer, and your boy cousins sirius and reggie are staying here at Black Manor like they always do (their parents, too) and your sisters and you and your cousins are just having a wild time.
bella is locked away in her room, studying madly for her NEWTS.
andie is painting and reading and playing with reggie. sirius hounds her like a dog. one of his friends has a crush on her, and he has been told to tell her, and convince her to go out with him.
sirius is sirius.
reggie spends all his time with andie or his mother, your Aunt Talitha. he is a shy (and in your eyes, quite pathetic) boy a month older than you.
and you, cissa, are busy see above.
that day your father threatened you with silencing charms if you didn't shut up and stop loudly singing Quidditch anthems. so you locked yourself in the drawing room, where the piano is. for once, you actually practiced without being forced.
now you are plunk plunk plunking chords, singing old jazz tunes in your reedy voice, and then you alternate them with rude ditties you compose on the spot. you are having a Grand Old Time.
there is someone at the door.
he coughs lightly, and you freeze, spinning you skinny eleven year old boy body around, your choppy hair that Mother is making you grow out flying everywhere.
he is a tall boy who looks like he just got out of Hogwarts. elegant and pale, with a pointed (almost rat-like) face that smirks at you.
"hello," he says, his voice light and merry. you try to smile, but find you can't.
you feel almost like some wild animal - caught by hunters, timid and afraid. he is all sleek fur and inky black robes and pale skin hair eyes and teeth and smiles and jaw.
"uh, hi," you stutter slightly, staring at the floor.
"and whom might you be?" he asks smoothly.
"ci - narcissa Black," you answer back.
why won't he leave?
"Lucius Malfoy," and he extends his hand.
you grasp the soft lily-white palm and shake it, and his eyes bore into you, and you feel almost like he is dissecting you, eyes swiftly peeling through skin muscle tendon bone, inspecting you closely, checking for flaws.
"I think I like you better then your sisters," he says, and lets go.
goodbyegoodbye please leave you pray helplessly.
and he melts into the shadows.
at dinner, you find out he was here to meet andie (poor andie) for some pureblooded maybe marriage contract thing, but he decided no. andie is glad.
"he creeps me out," she admits as she spreads butter on her roll. "he's bonkers."
bella bites a green bean, her eyes peering intently at her potions textbook (her worst subject).
"yeah, he's weird," sirius quickly agrees. he's so loyal; he'll do anything for a friend.
you don't tell anyone what happened. what they don't know can't hurt them.