The Furies
The Malfoys had gotten off to a rocky start. They were trying to get to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on time with very little luck. Narcissa experienced quite a bit of trouble trying to locate her cloak. Faith couldn't decide if her robes were right for a sorting and had changed three or four times before putting the robes that she had on during breakfast back on, coming to the conclusion that they would be best. Lucius wasn't able to find a servant that could properly harness the horses to the carriage. And then there was Draco. No matter what he did he was always in the way. He tried to give Faith his opinion on what robe to wear but kept offending her on accident. Then he tried to find his mothers cloak only to get shooed from her study. He then attempted to lend a hand with the horses but found himself sitting in a mud puddle. After he dried off and changed he couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting to do something important.
Eventually all four Malfoys were getting into the carriage just as it started to downpour. As the carriage pulled out of Malfoy Manor the rain worsened, making it that much harder to reach the school. Lucius hated to travel by carriage but many times he had no choice. Apparition was out of the question. No one could apparate to Hogwarts, and even if he could, he didn't fancy breaking wizarding laws letting Faith and Draco attempt to apparate. And he refused to use floo powder. Under no circumstances would he use floo powder. He would rather be late then on time and look unhinged. So it was by carriage that the family often traveled.
Inside the carriage, Lucius and Narcissa were seated together facing Faith and Draco. The younger Malfoys seemed content with kicking and poking each other when one moved too far onto the other's side. Narcissa found the situation utterly amusing; Lucius did not.
"Will you two please try to remember that you will be representing one of the most noble and prestigious lineages of wizards that this school have ever seen?" Lucius asked venomously. Faith and Draco separated themselves and looked out the windows in order to stop from laughing at their father's seriousness.
"Lucius, please, they're still children. And it is comforting to see them together again." Narcissa said as she looked at her children.
"Be that as it may, we are now late for an unprecedented private sorting which will place these two together and if this is how they are planning to conduct themselves it might be better to ship Faith back to Durmstrang or some other such place." Lucius said as he eyed his daughter. Faith's head shot away from the window and she looked directly into her father's eyes.
"Don't worry dear," Narcissa said sweetly as she placed her small hand on Lucius' arm "I'm sure that Faith and Draco will behave once inside Hogwarts."
Lucius pulled his arm from Narcissa's hand and pulled out his watch before sighing in aggravation. "I hate to keep the entire staff waiting because someone couldn't decide what to wear even though one was up and dressed at the ungodly hour of five in the morning." Faith rolled her eyes and bit her tongue to keep from starting a fight. An urge she had experienced many times since she rejoined her darling dad at Malfoy Manor.
Narcissa smiled brightly. "Not to worry dear, I used my fastest owl to inform the head master that we were running behind schedule and asked him not to assemble the professors until our arrival. Everything is just fine." Thinking that there was nothing else for her husband to complain about, Narcissa was pleased with herself and she sat back. But then Lucius found something else.
Lucius straightened his back and turned to face Narcissa. "Dear," he said in a tone of aggravation "when you keep your preposterous thoughts to yourself I pose no complaint. But the fact that you are spewing them with over zealous optimism in this situation is grating on my last nerve. And another thing, if you wish to help me influence the children that's fine, but never attempt to gain control of any situation involving them or any other time for that matter, and while you're at it, don't help me influence the children."
Draco looked at his father in shock and Faith gave her mother a look of absolute anger. Narcissa's face was flushed with outrage, but when she spoke her voice was calm and controlled...at first. "For the sake of the children I won't continue this with you here but I will tell that I find it appalling that you would speak to me in that manner in front of the children and even at all after our little discussion a few weeks ago. That's all I will say on this right now, but believe you me, we WILL finish this later." When she finished speaking, Narcissa's body was trembling with fury
"I'm sure we will." Lucius said coldly.
"You can count on it." Faith muttered under her breath. Both she and Draco were about to speak when Narcissa shot them a deadly glance warning them to keep their mouths shut just this once.
Draco stared at his parents in disbelief. He had always known that things weren't perfect between them, but he had never witnessed anything like what had just happened. He turned to Faith. She was looking straight ahead at their mother. Draco noticed something in her expression. She wasn't shocked or surprised at all. She was just upset. No, she wasn't upset, she was pissed off. And Draco knew all to well the hell hath no furry like Faith pissed. She was keeping her peace for now, but when the flood gates broke, there would be a world of damage done by that petite girl's rather large mouth and even larger vocabulary. And he couldn't wait for it to happen.
Draco had been on the receiving end of Faith's arguments multiple times in the past few weeks. She could get worked up faster then anyone he knew. He himself possed a short fuse and was quick witted, but Faith was slightly different. She would rarely open her mouth without first calculating the maximum amount of damage that could be done with her next remark. And she never missed a target. Gods help Faith Malfoy's enemies at school.
The rest of the journey was made in silence. Thunder had begun and lighting lit the sky very frequently. No one made a sound when they approached the school. Faith took in her new school in quiet and Draco stared at his shoes. Narcissa and Lucius eyed each other as the carriage stopped. Lucius held out his had for both Narcissa and Faith when they got out, neither accepted it. Draco walked along side of Faith as the made their way up the stairs to the school.
When they entered they were greeted by Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. "Welcome to Hogwarts" he said cheerfully. "It's wonderful to have you all here." As he said that, the Malfoys stepped into the well lit hall. He could tell that they were not a happy bunch. The parents were seething and the children were far from pleasant. Despite that, and the fact that they were all soaked, Dumbledore felt something resonating from them. What he felt was change and a shift of power.
He could feel the ability seeping from Faith, and Draco as well. He knew that he could expect a great deal from the two of them this year. He sensed that Draco had come into himself over the summer and that Faith was very powerful and together they were a force waiting to be reckoned with. From Narcissa, Albus Dumbledore felt something he hadn't felt from her in a long time: supremacy. Narcissa was as powerful a witch as was ever made and once upon a time she knew it. Dumbledore felt she was reawakened and power that once emanated from her in everything she did flowed through her veins once again. Dumbledore felt something in Lucius that he hadn't in a long time as well: fear.
Dumbledore lead them to the Great Hall, wondering what would be fact and what would be history at the end of the school term.
