Malfoy's desires
Chapter thirteen: Oh, brother of mine!
All names and places associated to Harry Potter belong to JKRowling and associates. I'm just borrowing its world for fun… no money is to be made from this.
The family dinner was a silent affair, only the sounds of cutlery gently hitting the dishes and the soft thud of glasses being deposited on the table, disturbed the relatively quiet home.
Fergus kept an ever-watchful eye on any bit of food that might fall to the floor inadvertently. Gerard usually did drop a few things when his wife wasn't watching, mindful that she would blow her top if she ever caught him doing so.
'My clean floors!' she'd say with a haughty look in her eye. She was forever resentful that they had never gotten a house-elf for their home. Which meant that she had to cook, clean and upkeep the house without much help from her husband.
Dinner was over and done with, so Katherine got up to help her mother with the clean up. As she busied herself with the cleaning, she heard her Mum over her shoulder.
'Kenneth!' she said chirpily, 'welcome home, my dearest. Are you hungry? Would you like something to drink?' Her mother went on and on, fussing over her son as she did every time she laid her eyes on him. It was quite nauseating at times.
'Mum, I don't need anything. I just came by to see how you guys were.' Kenneth said calmly, kissing his mother on both cheeks. 'No need to fuss over me like that.'
'I'm not fussing!' she retorted, slightly bothered by his refusal. 'I'm just making sure you are well. Can you blame me for looking out for your welfare?'
'No, mum. And I do appreciate your efforts on my behalf.' he concluded as he wound an arm around his mother's shoulders. 'Is Dad home? I need to talk to him.'
'He's in the sitting room, as usual. And your sister is actually here too. You'll find her in the kitchen.' Teresa said as she went back to cleaning up the dinner table.
Kenneth poked his head around the kitchen doorway. "Well, well, well... look what the barn owl brought in! Hey, Katherine! How are you doing?' Kenneth came around the center island and placed a light kiss on his sister's cheek.
'Doing fine, Ken. You?' she said as she placed the last glass on the shelf.
'Doing good, can't complain...' he said loudly, and then lowered his voice. 'Has Mum been bugging you? I sensed it when I got that effusion of motherly love in the dining room.'
'Same as usual, I guess.' she muttered under her breath. 'How's Greg? Haven't seen you two in such a long time. Are you still on?'
Ken sat up on counter, his eyes falling to the floor. 'No, it didn't work out. He was too involved in his ministry work, got scared that someone might discover his 'bent'.' he whispered so only his sister could here the news.
'Ah! Ken! I'm so sorry to hear that. I thought you guys made a cute couple... too bad it didn't work out.' Katherine patted her brother's arm, before sitting up on the counter next to him. 'Need an ear? I'll be glad to help if you want my sisterly advice.' she smiled sweetly at him.
Ken grabbed his sister by the neck, 'Nah, it's ok. I had a long talk with Jill and Michael the other day. It helped to take some of the load off... ' Jill and Michael were both cousins of theirs, on their father's side. 'But thanks for offering the help, it counts for more than you know.'
Katherine shrugged, 'what are sister's for?' Then she eyed him a little more seriously, 'you know you'll have to come out one day, with Dad and Mum if you know what I mean. They will suspect something's awry since you never bring any girlfriends home.'
'Yea, I know what you mean. I just don't look forward to mother's reaction. She'll probably want to kill me for being a poof.' Ken derided, 'her prodigal son... the great Unspeakable in training! She's going to flip her lid!'
'Maybe so, but Dad will come around, I'm sure. He'll know how to handle her.' Katherine offered quietly, even she wasn't totally convinced by the idea.
Ken smirked, 'yea, I guess so.' He got off the counter and asked, 'staying long tonight?'
'I don't think so; I have an early day tomorrow. You?' she asked as she accepted his hand to get off the counter.
'No, I won't stay long either. I have to meet my mentor tomorrow morning as well.' He said thoughtfully, but then his eyes swerved toward the window, looking at a very majestic eagle owl coming in for a landing. 'Whoa! Nice owl! I wonder who the post is for?'
He opened the window and handsome bird quietly strode in and went to Katherine. After it extended its leg at her, it kept a steady gaze upon her until she had taken the missive.
Unfurling the expensive looking parchment, her eyes grew wide as she read the short note. Her cheeks flushed as she looked around for a quill and some ink.
'Well? Don't keep me waiting, who sent it?' Ken asked with curiosity.
'Aren't you training to be an Unspeakable? I thought curiosity was banned over there?' Katherine said hotly.
Ken chuckled, 'I beg your pardon, Missy! No low blows, do you hear? I don't go around dismissing what you people do at Muggle relations, now do I?' He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 'Give us a peek and we won't say a word about it.'
Katherine gave him a dirty look, putting the parchment behind her back. 'No way, this is too hot to handle, even for an Unspeakable, such as you.' She grinned at him finally. 'It happens to be a letter from someone I met. And it's way too early for me to even call it anything but a friendly note.'
Ken looked at her, waggling his brows at her. 'Is it someone I know?' he said with some mischief, 'maybe a very well placed someone?'
'Why do you say that?' she said defensively.
'Come on, Katherine! Look at the paper it's written on... a few sheets like those cost more than half my flat's rental.' Ken had always been good observer. 'Come on, tell me. I won't tattle to anyone, I promise!'
Katherine rolled his question around in her mind, trying to decide if this was a good idea. After giving him a hard stare, she reluctantly shoved the letter in his greedy little hands. His triumphant smile soon fell as he read the letter and finally saw the signature at the bottom.
'You've got to be kidding! Him?' he uttered with dismay.
She nodded, waiting for the rest of his thoughts on the matter.
He reread the letter a few times, not quite believing that Lucius Malfoy obviously had some feelings for his sister. But there it was, black on white, as clear as day. The prose was bit stuffy, but it was indeed an invitation to dine with the man himself. Ken whistled as he thought of the possible repercussions. She worked for Arthur Weasley, an ardent defender of Muggles and their artifacts. How would this mesh with her dating one belonging to the Pureblood hierarchy?
'This could get a bit messy... you know that Malfoy is a premier Pureblood advocate. That won't impress your boss in any way.' he said cautiously, taking a quick glance at her face.
Katherine smiled grimly, 'like I went out of my way to get noticed! If its any one's fault, I should be blaming Arthur.'
'Please! How could you believe that? Arthur surely didn't arrange a blind date between the two of you.' Her brother said skeptically, shooting her another stare.
'Maybe not a blind date, dear brother, but he kept sending me to those horrid social events at the ministry. Our paths crossed a little while back and then on few occasions after that.' Katherine explained carefully.
A loud hoot was heard after she had spoken, the eagle owl was quite impatient to fly back to his master and started to claw the counter with sharp clicks.
'Hold on there, I'll give the letter back to you.' Katherine scolded the bird with a wave of her hand. She scrawled her answer at the bottom of the letter and tied it to the bird's leg. 'Ken, open the window for sir owl here...'
Her brother opened the window and the owl shot right through in a sudden flurry of plumes and strong beats of its wings.
'I just hope this doesn't backfire on you, Katherine. You know how the ministry gets when they smell a possible public relations problem.' Ken advised his sister.
'How could it? I'm not actually looking for any long-term commitment with the man. I just want to get to know him, that's all.' she said guardedly.
'Yea... I'll believe that one when Voldemort kisses Dumbledore's feet.' Ken uttered as he left the kitchen and his sister.