A/N: sorry about the delay, I've got no real excuse since this chapter has
been written a long time ago, but hell, I had tons of things to do and
updated my other HP fic, so I forgot a bit about this one. Anyway, I hope
this chapter makes it up. Mmmh... for people who don't know me, I always
reply to every single review, so well, my A/N tend to be quite long after a
while. *sheepish smile*
Disclaimer: Alithea is mine. Draco is too, in my delusional little head. What can I say? Denial is good, thus I live in it.
Pere falc: Thanks, I hope you like second chapter as well! I hope you're gonna like this fic anyway, he he he...
Dirt-is-Yummy: Hello *waves madly* shhhh... don't upset the computer! *eyes dart around* you never know what it might do! I hope this story is gonna be good. The plot is still not very well formed in my head, but anything coming to the Malfoys is unpredictable. But I have a few interesting (or so I want to believe) ideas... *wink* I never came another story with this storyline so I really wanted to post it and I hope I don't disappoint. Fire'N'Ice found the name of Alithea and I started jumping madly in front of my screen, it was simply perfect. *smirk* Interesting is the word. Things around Dudley and magic tend to be great.
Fire'N'Ice: Rah rah *twirl* yeah, I posted it. And now I post another chapter and yesterday I worked on chapter 3, he he he. Thanks for the beta job, by the way. Mmmh, you know what? I'm in dire need of a chapter in the Anya story or the evil Snape one so hurry up! And where is KMS, huh? *taps foot* Nobody owns Meghan, you silly. Who would want to own her? *innocent smirk*
Happigolucky616: thanks, you hyper reviewer, lol. Yeah, the Dudley/Alithea interaction will get pretty interesting in this chapter *smirk*. And with Draco too... Cuz Draco is Draco and he HAS to be in as many chapters as possible...
Kristina: I know, but not completely set in the muggle world. Well, for now... *smirk* Huh huh, I've got a lot of ideas in my little head so continue to read and enjoy, and of course, review! Thanks for being my first reviewer! *grin*
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Chapter 2:
*Alithea's pov*
I wake up with the rising of the sun and immediately jerk my head in the direction of Meghan's bed. I feared that it was all a dream and that I had imagined her because I missed Draco. I see her brown hair pointing under the thick dark blue blanket and it makes me smile. She's real.
I get up carefully and open my trunk. There should be some healing potion somewhere, if I didn't forget it under my bed. I'm relieved to find it and clutch the little phial as if it was my salvation. I take the direction of the bathroom, I'm the only one up and I'm grateful for that. I have to clean my injuries before downing the potion and they should totally heal in about three hours. Shame that this potion can be taken only 24 hours after the accident, I could have spent a better night.
Half an hour later, I'm all set and go back to the dorm. All the others are still sleeping but Meghan. She's sitting in her bed, obviously still sleepy but a ball of brown fur is cuddled in her lap. As I close the door, she looks up and grins at me.
"Look, it's an owl! It's crazy, isn't it? It's so cute! And it's got a letter!" she all excited about the owl as fear clutches my stomach. Stupid Orion, can't even land on the right bed!
Meghan unties the letter from the owl's claws and look at the envelope in awe. "God, it's for you! How is that possible?"
I come to sit on her bed and take the letter. Alithea is written on the envelope in Draco's writing, I can't help but smile widely and rip it open.
""Dear Thea, As I keep my promises, I send you this (but it's really only because I promised) and I even told Pansy you message. She started to squeal in delight, please remind me to lock her in a closet and forget her for the rest of the year. Other than that, nothing really new here. Dumbledore again gave us his nonsensical new school year speech at which everybody applauded like idiots (I let you guess who applauded the loudest) No, it wasn't me if that's what you came up with. Oh, and you'll never guess who's our new DADA teacher... Percy Weasley. The school standards are getting lower and lower but well, his lessons are probably going to be fun. No I'm not smirking, what makes you think so? I hope everything's ok at your school, ask if you need me to change Dursley in something corresponding him better. Love, Draco.""
I chuckle slightly, this is so typically Draco. Then I realise that Meghan is still staring at me, I wonder how I can explain this. Maybe I can let it pass like this, it's worth a try.
"It's from my twin brother, he's in another boarding school." I hesitate a bit, but finally hand her the letter. She'll probably think it's weird that he writes on parchment, but I can always say that he's a weirdo. Which he is, by the way.
She lets her eyes wander on the letter and smiles a bit. She hands it back with a grin. "He's funny, you're lucky to have a twin brother, it must be fun! But why aren't you in the same school?"
"He's a bit... special, you know." Great. Couldn't be vaguer I guess. That was really a stupid reply, I can't believe it.
"He's a genius or something?"
I smirk internally at this. Draco, a genius. I shake my head and laugh. "Yes, he's quite intelligent. He even managed to tame that owl and taught him how to take letters to me and vice versa."
I see Meg's eyes widen, I'm a bit ashamed to lie like this, but I know it's impossible for her to know the truth. I can't exactly tell her like this that my twin brother is a wizard, that he's enrolled a school of witchcraft in Scotland, that he loves riding brooms and that the poltergeist haunting the castle is called Peeves!
"I'm impressed. So you use that owl to send letters? It's insane!" she's so enthusiastic, it makes me smile.
Our conversation as this moment is interrupted by Martha waking up and I feel relief wash over me, I'm glad it's over. Martha glares at us and graciously jumps out of her bed, only in her knickers and bra. Of course, she'll go to the bathroom like this. Once a slut, forever a slut.
As Meghan wants to get up, I take Orion in my hands and tuck him in my pocket. He hoots reprovingly and wakes the rest of the dorm.
"What was the bloody noise?" asks Sally while stretching. I don't mind her that much, she's appreciatively normal and rather intelligent.
"Two bitches wanted to wake us from our beauty sleep," snaps Julianna angrily. I laugh at her mockingly; if this is beauty sleep, the result is not very convincing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*Meghan's pov*
How do you feel when you wake up because an owl landed on you? I bet nobody knows but me, and maybe Alithea. I feel strange. An owl, it's not the kind of creepy-crawly that you can tame, is it? Ok, Alithea is weird, so maybe her brother is too, but an OWL?
Besides, I know she was lying. I admit that she's a good liar, nothing to say about that, but this context is way too unusual to fool me. Who uses owls for post? And she didn't really seem to believe in her brother's genius. I wonder what she would have come up with if I had let her speak.
Anyway, no more time to think, I'm starving and breakfast is in 2 minutes. Alithea leads me through a labyrinth of halls, doors and stairs. I'm scared, how will I ever find my way in this? A few students look at me in surprise, probably because I'm with her. From the way she greeted me on the train, I can tell that she isn't the most sociable person on Earth and with her sharp tongue, a lot of people probably took her comments right in the face.
We sit at the end of a table in a corner of the room and I survey the cafeteria. A crowd of orange and maroon chatters noisily and teachers totally ignore the mess. They look rather respectable, but well, in my mind, they'll always be teachers and thus, nuisances.
Of course, the central protagonist of this menagerie is Dudley Dursley. He's already clutching a package in his big hand and screaming to who listens (which means nobody) that his parents already sent his provision of sweets for the week. Considering the size of the package, I don't wonder anymore how someone can become that fat.
The day goes on slowly and boringly. I fall asleep in biology and in math, the French teacher rambled in that impossible language for two hours without breathing at all, I've got the whole biography of Shakespeare to write for tomorrow and I've got so many books in my bag that my shoulder is literally screaming its suffering.
As Alithea and I step into the dorms building, someone accidentally bumps into me and the shock scatters my books everywhere on the steps. I look behind me and face Dursley, you can cross out the accidentally. He smirks joyously.
"So sorry, I hope you're ok."
"I am. Disappointing, isn't it?"
I kneel down to gather my things. Alithea is already doing it and thanks to her, nearly all my books have reintegrated my bag. At that moment, Dursley steps toward us and grabs Alithea's hair, pulling her to her feet.
"Made a friend Malfoy? Touching, really. The outcast eventually learnt the word "socialize" over the summer!"
Alithea looks at him insolently, not even wincing as Dursley still holds her hair firmly. His little gang sneers at us, hidden behind him, all the other students have left, happy that it wasn't their turn to be bullied. Suddenly, he yelps and lets go of her hair, staring awestruck at his hand. I can see that it's all burnt, I've never seen that before, it's rather scary.
Dursley steps back and looks at Alithea with a mixture of fear and disgust. "You bloody freak." He then turns and runs inside the building with Puppet Polkiss, I hope it's because he wants to cry for his poor little hand. Alithea hands me my bag without a word and swiftly enters the building. This time, I can't let it pass and I drag her in a corner.
"What the hell was that?" I whisper forcefully. "And don't give me bullshit this time! An owl lands on my bed, you lies about your brother, now Dursley burns his hand by touching your hair? Some strange things happen around you, I want to know."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Alithea blankly stared at Meghan. She knew she was in trouble but she still held the hope that Meghan would let it slip.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she finally muttered, looking at her feet.
She was furious with herself. For years she had avoided having friends because she didn't need them and because they would only bring trouble. Now she had one, since the previous evening and it was already a mess. She was angry to have believed that she could hide it all and go on with life. Meghan was intelligent, she had already seen beyond her lies.
"Yes you know. What is it? Can't you trust me? Do you realise how I feel? I arrive here, I make only one friend, to realise that this friend is continually lying to me! There's no way out for you now, so tell me the truth for God's sake! You don't know where to start? I can ask you a few things; how did you burn Dursley's hand?"
Alithea knew that Meghan was saying the truth. She felt terrible. After hardly one day, she already had to let go of one of her secrets, so how long would she keep the truth about her father from her only friend? She let herself slide to the floor, feeling hopeless and wishing that Draco would be here to send Meghan to hell. He always had a sharper tongue than her, and even if being the youngest, he was quite the dominant one between them. She was counting on him, maybe too much, by the way.
What could she do now? She was screwed! She couldn't help but think bitterly about what Draco would say when she writes to him. She shook her head and looked up at Meghan.
"It's magic," she finally answered in a strangled voice.
Meghan came to sit next to her. "I beg your pardon?"
"It's magic. I burnt Dursley's hand with magic. My brother is not a genius, he's just a wizard, going to a school of witchcraft and wizardry in Scotland. Orion is his owl and in the magic world, everybody uses these animals to carry letters. Happy?"
Meghan started to laugh uncontrollably. "That was a really imaginative story, you're skilled at that! Now, can I have the truth please?" She then realised that Alithea wasn't smiling at all and it made her laughter die abruptly. "You're joking, right?" she finally asked unsurely.
Alithea silently shook her head and stared blankly at the cracked wall in front of her for minutes, trying to sort things out. "God, Draco's gonna be furious. The magic world is supposed to stay a secret and I just blew it up."
Meghan grinned. "It's still a secret and it's safe with me, I promise. But only if I can write to your brother and ask him plenty of questions that he's gonna find stupid."
Alithea laughed. "You remember Dursley saying that I learnt that word "socialize" over the summer? Well, if I have, Draco certainly hasn't and he's not about to. The guy is far worse than me when it comes to push people away." She paused and eventually got to her feet. "Come on, I've got to write to him."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Orion was yelling in Draco's ear at three am and it was really the kind of things that would drive him crazy. He made the nasty bird shut up and caught the letter that was destined to him. He knew it was Alithea's letter, but what he hadn't expected was the content of it.
He read it, over and over again, hardly believing what she was trying to explain. Profoundly annoyed and angry, he dressed up and sneaked out of the dorm. He strolled down the halls carefully, got to the main door and broke into a run to get out of the castle's grounds. He had every intention of apparating in Smeltings, he had to chat with a certain blonde girl.
Alithea and the rest of the dorm was sleeping peacefully when he arrived. He shook his sister awake, sorry to scare her in the process, but thinking that it was rather necessary. She whispered to wait outside, hidden behind the willow in the central court and she went to wake up Meghan.
AS she dragged her out, Meghan was still sleepy and not even realising what was going on. Till she felt the wet grass under her bare feet. She snapped out of her sleep and looked around. They were in the court, but they weren't alone. A shadow was waiting for them under a tree.
"What the hell is happening here?" said the shadow while stepping into the gloomy light coming from a room in the teachers' building. It was a boy, who looked a lot like Alithea and Meghan immediately raised the suspicion that it was Draco.
"I'm sorry, ok?" snapped Alithea angrily. "And if you came here to yell at me at four am, I'm not in the mood so don't bother!"
"I received your goddamn letter at three am and I wasn't exactly in the mood either! Why did you screw things like that? We already have more trouble to deal with than we can handle!" he replied through clenched teeth.
"I already formulated my apologies, deal with it!"
Meghan was watching the twins argue from a few feet away. Suddenly, she had the impression that someone was coming and decided to interrupt the little chat. "Sorry to disturb you, but someone's coming this way. My suggestion is shut up and run!" At this signal, the trio ran back inside and tiptoed through halls and stairs. Alithea led them to the attic, where old school furniture was rotting in peace and Draco used his wand to transfigure chalks in candles under Meghan's amazed gaze. When they were settled, the quarrel was already nearly forgotten.
"Won't you be caught if you sneak back in Hogwarts too late?" suddenly asked a worried Alithea.
Draco shrugged but he wasn't really listening. He was staring intensely at Meghan and she started to squirm under his gaze, feeling rather uncomfortable. Alithea noticed and elbowed her brother.
"Quit it Draco, it's not her fault."
Of course, he didn't listen to her and continued to fix Meghan with his clouded silver eyes. Finally, he spoke to her, but at this moment, she wished that he had just continued to stare at her without saying a word. "Let me get that straight; I don't think you're worth that mess and for me, you'll always be a danger and a way too curious and annoying little girl. Got it?"
"If I'm too curious, I'm not stupid, you stuck-up prat." She saw his eyes darken to a stormy dark blue and wondered if he was about to slap her or something. He was quite impressive, scary, even and she didn't really want to know if he was indeed a genius with his wand. He didn't reply and instead of thinking that she was victorious, she felt like she wasn't worth his thinking over a reply. He turned to Alithea and his face lit up.
"You should stop using magic to burn people, even if I have to admit that it must be highly entertaining when the victim is Dursley. Going now, got potions first hour today and Snape's in a fool mood; Longbottom's potion landed on him yesterday and the result was funny for us and humiliating for him, you got the point."
Draco apparated away, leaving a relieved Alithea and a shaken Meghan. The blonde girl caught the gaze of her friend and smiled, trying to cheer her up. Meghan couldn't help a comment go past her lips. "I don't like your brother. Annoying git."
Alithea chuckled and shook her head. "I know."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : Yeah, Draco's a git, but such a cute one... *sigh* *snaps out of daydream* Ok, please, don't mind me and REVIEW!
Disclaimer: Alithea is mine. Draco is too, in my delusional little head. What can I say? Denial is good, thus I live in it.
Pere falc: Thanks, I hope you like second chapter as well! I hope you're gonna like this fic anyway, he he he...
Dirt-is-Yummy: Hello *waves madly* shhhh... don't upset the computer! *eyes dart around* you never know what it might do! I hope this story is gonna be good. The plot is still not very well formed in my head, but anything coming to the Malfoys is unpredictable. But I have a few interesting (or so I want to believe) ideas... *wink* I never came another story with this storyline so I really wanted to post it and I hope I don't disappoint. Fire'N'Ice found the name of Alithea and I started jumping madly in front of my screen, it was simply perfect. *smirk* Interesting is the word. Things around Dudley and magic tend to be great.
Fire'N'Ice: Rah rah *twirl* yeah, I posted it. And now I post another chapter and yesterday I worked on chapter 3, he he he. Thanks for the beta job, by the way. Mmmh, you know what? I'm in dire need of a chapter in the Anya story or the evil Snape one so hurry up! And where is KMS, huh? *taps foot* Nobody owns Meghan, you silly. Who would want to own her? *innocent smirk*
Happigolucky616: thanks, you hyper reviewer, lol. Yeah, the Dudley/Alithea interaction will get pretty interesting in this chapter *smirk*. And with Draco too... Cuz Draco is Draco and he HAS to be in as many chapters as possible...
Kristina: I know, but not completely set in the muggle world. Well, for now... *smirk* Huh huh, I've got a lot of ideas in my little head so continue to read and enjoy, and of course, review! Thanks for being my first reviewer! *grin*
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Chapter 2:
*Alithea's pov*
I wake up with the rising of the sun and immediately jerk my head in the direction of Meghan's bed. I feared that it was all a dream and that I had imagined her because I missed Draco. I see her brown hair pointing under the thick dark blue blanket and it makes me smile. She's real.
I get up carefully and open my trunk. There should be some healing potion somewhere, if I didn't forget it under my bed. I'm relieved to find it and clutch the little phial as if it was my salvation. I take the direction of the bathroom, I'm the only one up and I'm grateful for that. I have to clean my injuries before downing the potion and they should totally heal in about three hours. Shame that this potion can be taken only 24 hours after the accident, I could have spent a better night.
Half an hour later, I'm all set and go back to the dorm. All the others are still sleeping but Meghan. She's sitting in her bed, obviously still sleepy but a ball of brown fur is cuddled in her lap. As I close the door, she looks up and grins at me.
"Look, it's an owl! It's crazy, isn't it? It's so cute! And it's got a letter!" she all excited about the owl as fear clutches my stomach. Stupid Orion, can't even land on the right bed!
Meghan unties the letter from the owl's claws and look at the envelope in awe. "God, it's for you! How is that possible?"
I come to sit on her bed and take the letter. Alithea is written on the envelope in Draco's writing, I can't help but smile widely and rip it open.
""Dear Thea, As I keep my promises, I send you this (but it's really only because I promised) and I even told Pansy you message. She started to squeal in delight, please remind me to lock her in a closet and forget her for the rest of the year. Other than that, nothing really new here. Dumbledore again gave us his nonsensical new school year speech at which everybody applauded like idiots (I let you guess who applauded the loudest) No, it wasn't me if that's what you came up with. Oh, and you'll never guess who's our new DADA teacher... Percy Weasley. The school standards are getting lower and lower but well, his lessons are probably going to be fun. No I'm not smirking, what makes you think so? I hope everything's ok at your school, ask if you need me to change Dursley in something corresponding him better. Love, Draco.""
I chuckle slightly, this is so typically Draco. Then I realise that Meghan is still staring at me, I wonder how I can explain this. Maybe I can let it pass like this, it's worth a try.
"It's from my twin brother, he's in another boarding school." I hesitate a bit, but finally hand her the letter. She'll probably think it's weird that he writes on parchment, but I can always say that he's a weirdo. Which he is, by the way.
She lets her eyes wander on the letter and smiles a bit. She hands it back with a grin. "He's funny, you're lucky to have a twin brother, it must be fun! But why aren't you in the same school?"
"He's a bit... special, you know." Great. Couldn't be vaguer I guess. That was really a stupid reply, I can't believe it.
"He's a genius or something?"
I smirk internally at this. Draco, a genius. I shake my head and laugh. "Yes, he's quite intelligent. He even managed to tame that owl and taught him how to take letters to me and vice versa."
I see Meg's eyes widen, I'm a bit ashamed to lie like this, but I know it's impossible for her to know the truth. I can't exactly tell her like this that my twin brother is a wizard, that he's enrolled a school of witchcraft in Scotland, that he loves riding brooms and that the poltergeist haunting the castle is called Peeves!
"I'm impressed. So you use that owl to send letters? It's insane!" she's so enthusiastic, it makes me smile.
Our conversation as this moment is interrupted by Martha waking up and I feel relief wash over me, I'm glad it's over. Martha glares at us and graciously jumps out of her bed, only in her knickers and bra. Of course, she'll go to the bathroom like this. Once a slut, forever a slut.
As Meghan wants to get up, I take Orion in my hands and tuck him in my pocket. He hoots reprovingly and wakes the rest of the dorm.
"What was the bloody noise?" asks Sally while stretching. I don't mind her that much, she's appreciatively normal and rather intelligent.
"Two bitches wanted to wake us from our beauty sleep," snaps Julianna angrily. I laugh at her mockingly; if this is beauty sleep, the result is not very convincing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*Meghan's pov*
How do you feel when you wake up because an owl landed on you? I bet nobody knows but me, and maybe Alithea. I feel strange. An owl, it's not the kind of creepy-crawly that you can tame, is it? Ok, Alithea is weird, so maybe her brother is too, but an OWL?
Besides, I know she was lying. I admit that she's a good liar, nothing to say about that, but this context is way too unusual to fool me. Who uses owls for post? And she didn't really seem to believe in her brother's genius. I wonder what she would have come up with if I had let her speak.
Anyway, no more time to think, I'm starving and breakfast is in 2 minutes. Alithea leads me through a labyrinth of halls, doors and stairs. I'm scared, how will I ever find my way in this? A few students look at me in surprise, probably because I'm with her. From the way she greeted me on the train, I can tell that she isn't the most sociable person on Earth and with her sharp tongue, a lot of people probably took her comments right in the face.
We sit at the end of a table in a corner of the room and I survey the cafeteria. A crowd of orange and maroon chatters noisily and teachers totally ignore the mess. They look rather respectable, but well, in my mind, they'll always be teachers and thus, nuisances.
Of course, the central protagonist of this menagerie is Dudley Dursley. He's already clutching a package in his big hand and screaming to who listens (which means nobody) that his parents already sent his provision of sweets for the week. Considering the size of the package, I don't wonder anymore how someone can become that fat.
The day goes on slowly and boringly. I fall asleep in biology and in math, the French teacher rambled in that impossible language for two hours without breathing at all, I've got the whole biography of Shakespeare to write for tomorrow and I've got so many books in my bag that my shoulder is literally screaming its suffering.
As Alithea and I step into the dorms building, someone accidentally bumps into me and the shock scatters my books everywhere on the steps. I look behind me and face Dursley, you can cross out the accidentally. He smirks joyously.
"So sorry, I hope you're ok."
"I am. Disappointing, isn't it?"
I kneel down to gather my things. Alithea is already doing it and thanks to her, nearly all my books have reintegrated my bag. At that moment, Dursley steps toward us and grabs Alithea's hair, pulling her to her feet.
"Made a friend Malfoy? Touching, really. The outcast eventually learnt the word "socialize" over the summer!"
Alithea looks at him insolently, not even wincing as Dursley still holds her hair firmly. His little gang sneers at us, hidden behind him, all the other students have left, happy that it wasn't their turn to be bullied. Suddenly, he yelps and lets go of her hair, staring awestruck at his hand. I can see that it's all burnt, I've never seen that before, it's rather scary.
Dursley steps back and looks at Alithea with a mixture of fear and disgust. "You bloody freak." He then turns and runs inside the building with Puppet Polkiss, I hope it's because he wants to cry for his poor little hand. Alithea hands me my bag without a word and swiftly enters the building. This time, I can't let it pass and I drag her in a corner.
"What the hell was that?" I whisper forcefully. "And don't give me bullshit this time! An owl lands on my bed, you lies about your brother, now Dursley burns his hand by touching your hair? Some strange things happen around you, I want to know."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Alithea blankly stared at Meghan. She knew she was in trouble but she still held the hope that Meghan would let it slip.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she finally muttered, looking at her feet.
She was furious with herself. For years she had avoided having friends because she didn't need them and because they would only bring trouble. Now she had one, since the previous evening and it was already a mess. She was angry to have believed that she could hide it all and go on with life. Meghan was intelligent, she had already seen beyond her lies.
"Yes you know. What is it? Can't you trust me? Do you realise how I feel? I arrive here, I make only one friend, to realise that this friend is continually lying to me! There's no way out for you now, so tell me the truth for God's sake! You don't know where to start? I can ask you a few things; how did you burn Dursley's hand?"
Alithea knew that Meghan was saying the truth. She felt terrible. After hardly one day, she already had to let go of one of her secrets, so how long would she keep the truth about her father from her only friend? She let herself slide to the floor, feeling hopeless and wishing that Draco would be here to send Meghan to hell. He always had a sharper tongue than her, and even if being the youngest, he was quite the dominant one between them. She was counting on him, maybe too much, by the way.
What could she do now? She was screwed! She couldn't help but think bitterly about what Draco would say when she writes to him. She shook her head and looked up at Meghan.
"It's magic," she finally answered in a strangled voice.
Meghan came to sit next to her. "I beg your pardon?"
"It's magic. I burnt Dursley's hand with magic. My brother is not a genius, he's just a wizard, going to a school of witchcraft and wizardry in Scotland. Orion is his owl and in the magic world, everybody uses these animals to carry letters. Happy?"
Meghan started to laugh uncontrollably. "That was a really imaginative story, you're skilled at that! Now, can I have the truth please?" She then realised that Alithea wasn't smiling at all and it made her laughter die abruptly. "You're joking, right?" she finally asked unsurely.
Alithea silently shook her head and stared blankly at the cracked wall in front of her for minutes, trying to sort things out. "God, Draco's gonna be furious. The magic world is supposed to stay a secret and I just blew it up."
Meghan grinned. "It's still a secret and it's safe with me, I promise. But only if I can write to your brother and ask him plenty of questions that he's gonna find stupid."
Alithea laughed. "You remember Dursley saying that I learnt that word "socialize" over the summer? Well, if I have, Draco certainly hasn't and he's not about to. The guy is far worse than me when it comes to push people away." She paused and eventually got to her feet. "Come on, I've got to write to him."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Orion was yelling in Draco's ear at three am and it was really the kind of things that would drive him crazy. He made the nasty bird shut up and caught the letter that was destined to him. He knew it was Alithea's letter, but what he hadn't expected was the content of it.
He read it, over and over again, hardly believing what she was trying to explain. Profoundly annoyed and angry, he dressed up and sneaked out of the dorm. He strolled down the halls carefully, got to the main door and broke into a run to get out of the castle's grounds. He had every intention of apparating in Smeltings, he had to chat with a certain blonde girl.
Alithea and the rest of the dorm was sleeping peacefully when he arrived. He shook his sister awake, sorry to scare her in the process, but thinking that it was rather necessary. She whispered to wait outside, hidden behind the willow in the central court and she went to wake up Meghan.
AS she dragged her out, Meghan was still sleepy and not even realising what was going on. Till she felt the wet grass under her bare feet. She snapped out of her sleep and looked around. They were in the court, but they weren't alone. A shadow was waiting for them under a tree.
"What the hell is happening here?" said the shadow while stepping into the gloomy light coming from a room in the teachers' building. It was a boy, who looked a lot like Alithea and Meghan immediately raised the suspicion that it was Draco.
"I'm sorry, ok?" snapped Alithea angrily. "And if you came here to yell at me at four am, I'm not in the mood so don't bother!"
"I received your goddamn letter at three am and I wasn't exactly in the mood either! Why did you screw things like that? We already have more trouble to deal with than we can handle!" he replied through clenched teeth.
"I already formulated my apologies, deal with it!"
Meghan was watching the twins argue from a few feet away. Suddenly, she had the impression that someone was coming and decided to interrupt the little chat. "Sorry to disturb you, but someone's coming this way. My suggestion is shut up and run!" At this signal, the trio ran back inside and tiptoed through halls and stairs. Alithea led them to the attic, where old school furniture was rotting in peace and Draco used his wand to transfigure chalks in candles under Meghan's amazed gaze. When they were settled, the quarrel was already nearly forgotten.
"Won't you be caught if you sneak back in Hogwarts too late?" suddenly asked a worried Alithea.
Draco shrugged but he wasn't really listening. He was staring intensely at Meghan and she started to squirm under his gaze, feeling rather uncomfortable. Alithea noticed and elbowed her brother.
"Quit it Draco, it's not her fault."
Of course, he didn't listen to her and continued to fix Meghan with his clouded silver eyes. Finally, he spoke to her, but at this moment, she wished that he had just continued to stare at her without saying a word. "Let me get that straight; I don't think you're worth that mess and for me, you'll always be a danger and a way too curious and annoying little girl. Got it?"
"If I'm too curious, I'm not stupid, you stuck-up prat." She saw his eyes darken to a stormy dark blue and wondered if he was about to slap her or something. He was quite impressive, scary, even and she didn't really want to know if he was indeed a genius with his wand. He didn't reply and instead of thinking that she was victorious, she felt like she wasn't worth his thinking over a reply. He turned to Alithea and his face lit up.
"You should stop using magic to burn people, even if I have to admit that it must be highly entertaining when the victim is Dursley. Going now, got potions first hour today and Snape's in a fool mood; Longbottom's potion landed on him yesterday and the result was funny for us and humiliating for him, you got the point."
Draco apparated away, leaving a relieved Alithea and a shaken Meghan. The blonde girl caught the gaze of her friend and smiled, trying to cheer her up. Meghan couldn't help a comment go past her lips. "I don't like your brother. Annoying git."
Alithea chuckled and shook her head. "I know."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : Yeah, Draco's a git, but such a cute one... *sigh* *snaps out of daydream* Ok, please, don't mind me and REVIEW!