Sibling Rivalry (the Summer before fifth year)
Chapter 1
Draco stormed up the spiral staircase in his bedroom to his hideout in the attic. Cursing and throwing things across the tiny room he continued to stomp around directly above his father's office. Mumbling obscenities to himself, he finally sat down in his leather armchair, clenching his fists and fighting the urge to 'Crucio' his father. Reaching into a drawer in the bureau next to his chair he pulled out a journal and began writing furiously.
"The worst thing that could have ever happened to us has finally come to pass. I can't believe that my father could allow this. I hate my parents. I can't believe they would do this to me!" He heard his father calling for him and hid the journal. He crept down the spiral staircase and out of his room.
Lucius stood outside his office and glared at Draco as he approached. "The social recriminations we would face if anyone ever found out about this situation would be ghastly. I expect that you will refrain from any further tantrums if you wish to continue receiving an allowance." Draco bowed his head in respect and meekly agreed to behave himself.
"So where is she?" He peered into his father's office and saw his half sister sitting on the couch by the fire, curled up under a blanket and sound asleep. Lucius closed the door, nearly smacking Draco in the face with it.
"Leave her alone; you can talk to her in the morning. She's had a rather traumatic ordeal." Lucius stood in front of the door and motioned for Draco to leave. Depressed and angry, Draco headed straight for his mother's sewing room.
"Mummy! Why are you allowing that thing to stay here? I hate her! I want you to make her go away!" Draco looked pleadingly at Narcissa, who met his gaze with sympathy but would not speak. She broke eye contact and continued her crocheting. "Please?" He begged again, but this time Narcissa didn't even look up.
"Your father's decision to allow her to live with us is not within my control. Our family has certain social rules that we must abide by. We've had to face enough condemnation for his numerous affairs already." She stated as she miscounted her stitches and had to work backwards to undo the mess. "I cannot help the mistakes your father made in his past or the choice he made in bringing the girl here eleven years ago. It was entirely his decision to make though, and we must accept that." She hurriedly put away her crocheting and left the room. Draco just sat there and glared out the window.
The next morning Lucius went into his office to wake Morwena up for breakfast. She was quite a heavy sleeper and he watched her for a few moments before attempting to wake her. Morwena was not used to being shaken awake and lobbed a punch in his direction, not really knowing what was going on at the time. Instead of apologizing she got up and wandered downstairs to the table and was served breakfast immediately. She ate a fair amount and wandered aimlessly back upstairs, passing a groggy looking Draco on the way. He turned around and caught up to her. "Why did you have to come back? Couldn't you have just stayed in France?" He sneered at her and she smacked him in the face.
"Shut up, prat!" she cried as she raced to her room. Draco stood in the hallway dumbfounded for a few seconds before giving chase. He managed to hit her with a vase just before she reached her bedroom. In a great deal of pain, and rather badly cut, she crumpled to the floor. When he finally caught up to her she pulled the rug out from underneath him and sent him sprawling into a hall table, where he got a deep gash along his eyebrow. He pulled himself up and lunged at her. After successfully pinning her to the ground he punched her in the face. Morwena managed to wriggle one of her legs out from underneath Draco and kicked him in the groin. Draco, obviously very angry and in a great deal of pain, bit Morwena's arm as hard as he could. Morwena screamed and squirmed out of his grasp. She stood up and turned to run but was immediately knocked down by a blow to the back. Unfortunately, Draco miscalculated the amount of force a kick from his momentarily prone sister could have and was knocked into the door of his father's office, which promptly flew open as an angry Lucius stepped out to survey the spectacle before him. A rather vicious fist fight and hair pulling contest ensued between the two children but the festivities were soon broken up by their father, who looked as though he wanted to separate the fighting pair so that he could enjoy killing each of them himself. Narcissa walked gracefully up the stairs but fainted when she saw the damage the duo had inflicted on each other and the large vase that had once decorated the hallway. Lucius first revived his wife and then proceeded to help clean up and heal the wounds of the two belligerent teenagers.
"Well son, it appears as though young Mr. Potter won't be the only one in school with a scar on his forehead this year..." Lucius remarked snidely. Draco glared at his sister who stuck out her tongue and flipped him the bird. Lucius smiled and patted Draco on the back. "I see that you two are picking up right where you left off." He let a small snicker of laugher escape his lips and was promptly reprimanded by Narcissa.
"You would laugh at something as serious as this, that little demonic half-breed of yours could have killed our son!" Narcissa went over to Draco and wrapped her arm around him protectively. Lucius rolled his eyes at his wife.
"At least she didn't turn out to be a sissy. I told you that you spoiled the boy too much dearest. You turned him into a damn Nancy boy." He walked over to his daughter. "And for your information, her mother was a pureblood, and my daughter is about as far from demonic as you can get." He put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "She is my daughter and has every right to be here. Understood?" Sneering he stalked out of the room. Narcissa looked considerably paler but maintained her usual proud attitude. She let out a disdainful sigh and left the room. Draco glared at his sister.
"So how's old Moldywart doing?" Morwena asked in order to avoid another uncomfortable silence and somehow managed to look truly sincere. He looked mildly agitated still, but had calmed down considerably. Mornings at the Malfoy Manor were not fun for any of the parties involved.
"He's been busy attempting to kill Potter. I can't say I blame him. Potter is the most annoying prat to ever walk the face of the earth. I still can't get over the fact that they let him play Quidditch. It's horrible! Everyone thinks he's some sort of hero, but we all know he didn't do a damn thing. I think it's all just luck and his luck has got to run out at some point." Draco kicked at the rug and made it move just enough that his father's crystal decanter fell off of it's pedestal. Morwena caught it just before it hit the floor and laughed.
"Same old Drake. So, still got the hidey-hole?" She smirked and pointed to the ceiling. Draco grunted a vague 'yeah' and looked absolutely humiliated, even though they were the only two in the room. He headed out into the hallway and turned to glare at Morwena.
"Well, are you coming?" He snapped. Morwena ran over to him and grinned.
"I'll race you, and you can even count off" She laughed devilishly and Draco bolted towards his room. Morwena caught up with him halfway there and matched his speed all the way to the door. "Ha! Tied!" Draco pouted and stalked angrily into the room. He slammed the door and locked it behind them. The last thing he needed was for one of his parents to see his appalling mess.
It was very dimly lit, with a large canopy bed against the far wall. The room was decorated in various shades of blue, with many cobalt blue vases and bottles on shelves around the walls. A tiny shelf with ten books could be seen and his Firebolt was resting on the ottoman. The sofa, also blue, had a large mirror behind it and was underneath the spiral staircase that led to the 'hidey-hole'. Draco's closet was open and a vast array of robes and muggle garments could be seen lying haphazardly in great piles. The only thing that struck Morwena as odd was the pictures hanging near his bed. One was of them just before she left for Beaux Batons and was their father's favorite. Another picture was of some girl that she vaguely recognized from somewhere but she couldn't place it.
"Okay Drake, how did you get the picture from father's office, and who's that girl?" She sat down on his bed and looked up at the pictures. Draco sat next to her and smiled.
"That girl is someone I go to school with, and if you tell her I like her, I'll kill you. Now, the picture of us... I told dad I missed you and he let me have the picture." Morwena was mildly shocked by the fact that her seemingly hateful brother actually wanted a picture with her in it and assumed that he really only wanted it because it was one of the best pictures ever taken of him. She could not resist the temptation to let the world know that her brother, who hated everybody, actually had a crush. She slinked off of the bed and began sneaking quietly over to the door. Completely oblivious to the fact that his sister was attempting an escape, Draco continued to stare at the pictures a few moments longer. Morwena almost made it to the door before Draco figured out what was going on. "STOP! Don't you dare tell father... or mummy!" He motioned for Morwena to come sit by him again, and surprisingly enough, she did. "Father would kill me if he found out I was in love with a mudblood."
The temptation to reveal this to the world was overwhelmingly powerful. Morwena felt like she was about to burst. "She's a WHAT! Oh my God! We need to get you to St. Mungos!" She placed the back of her hand on his forehead to see if he was feverish. "Are you sure you're alright?" Draco grinned and took the picture down so she could look more closely at the girl, who was actually quite beautiful despite her obvious flaw.
"You must admit though, if she were pureblood she'd be perfect... Can you understand why I like her now?" He looked innocently at his sister who was obviously mortified by her brother's sudden show of affection for a mudblood. Morwena looked as though she was about to throw up and pushed the picture away.
"You disgust me." She felt bad about her remark, and he appeared to have been deeply wounded by her comment. "So what's her name?" She stood up again and glared at Draco. "Oh come on, you've got to tell me her name. I'm going to see her in school at some point anyway."
"Her name is Mandy Brocklehurst and she's a Ravenclaw."
Morwena nearly collapsed in a fit of high-pitched giggles. "A Ravenclaw! You like a Ravenclaw? Better get that idea out of your head soon. She's too smart for the likes of you." She continued laughing and headed up the spiral staircase and into their old 'hidey-hole'. Draco hung the picture back on his wall and followed his sister, mumbling under his breath and stomping up the stairs. "Oh my God! You still have your baby blanket up here! Eww! Don't you ever send the house elf up here? This place is revolting!" Morwena threw an obviously dirty sock at her brother who nearly fell down the stairs in an attempt to avoid the odorous object. "Okay, whatever I'm smelling up here, it obviously wasn't the sock. Dobby! Dobby where the hell are you!"
"Hey! Don't touch my stuff!" Draco raced over to his sister who had found his journal and was about to flip through it. "You can clean this place if you like, just let me bring some stuff down to my room and you can have it all to yourself tomorrow." He ran back down the stairs and hid his journal under his mattress. Meanwhile, Morwena began throwing all of her brother's dirty laundry down the staircase. Draco looked up through the opening at his sister and frowned. "That damned Potter kid freed our house elf. So now I have to do all of my own laundry."
Morwena paled considerably but was quick to reply. "Ooh. Sounds like I could have some fun with him. He must be a real charmer if you despise him so much..." Morwena smirked and threw another armload of dirty clothes down the stairs, just missing Draco who decided to let his sister take care of the cleaning. He took off his slippers and climbed into his bed for a nap. Morwena peeked out of the attic room and smiled. "You lazy ass!" She decided that it was a lost cause and went back to her father's office.
Lucius was busy talking to someone as she entered and she curtsied politely. "Good morning Sir, I did not mean to intrude, please accept my most humble apologies." Lucius motioned for her to join them and pulled a chair over for her. She sat down obediently and grinned at his guest. Feeling emboldened by her father's obvious approval she felt that it was her duty to introduce herself to this person, who seemed to be quite good friends with him. She outstretched a dainty hand in his direction, knowing that handshakes were something adults did to make themselves look powerful and important. "My name is Morwena and I write poetry. Who are you and what do you do?" The man took her hand and kissed it.
"You will refer to me as Professor Snape and I will be your potions professor throughout your schooling at Hogwarts." His face was expressionless and cold, which made Morwena that much more curious about him. Snape looked down at her and a slight hint of sadness flashed in his eyes. Morwena just barely caught it and smiled softly.
"Did you know me when I was a baby?" She looked up at him innocently and the cold gaze melted away. He nodded yes and cast a slight smirk at Lucius, who elbowed his daughter and pointed out the window. Morwena arose and the three went outside. Her father gave Snape a small tour of her old herb garden, which had been poorly maintained in her absence but was still usable.
"I can already tell you that she's going to be quite a handful in class. She's been mixing potions since she was five. Not very good ones mind you, but very deadly. As I'm sure you've noticed, all of the herbs here are poisonous. I used to pay her to get rid of mice." Lucius grinned and looked down at his daughter, only to be disappointed by the expression of disdain clearly written on her face.
"I am absolutely mortified that you made me do that when I was little. You disgust me too." She shook her head and looked straight up at Snape, scrunching up her nose. "Did you ever kill anybody?" Lucius immediately took her by the arm and covered her mouth.
"That is not exactly a proper question to ask someone angel." Lucius was very pale and smiled apologetically at Snape, who knelt down so that he was eye level with Morwena.
"You are a very rude little girl." Snape stood up and glared at Lucius. "You'd better take great pains to ensure that you foster her mother's traits and not your own. I do not want to deal with some demonic little tyrant that you created."
Draco watched the trio from a window in the dining room. He had not seen Morwena in four years and was unsure how he felt about her living with them again. He watched her carefully, taking in every aspect of her appearance and how she behaved. She had curly blonde hair and steel gray eyes. She had a completely different figure than the Malfoy women and would catch many an eye already. All three turned towards the house and Draco ducked so as not to be caught spying.
Snape looked down at Morwena with curiosity as she threw a nasty glare in the direction of the house. "So you noticed movement too?" He glanced up but saw nothing this time. Whoever it was, they were long gone. Morwena however, was not at all pleased that they were being watched and stormed off ahead of her father and his guest to go spy hunting. Lucius watched his daughter and beamed.
"She's such a little spitfire! I have the sneaking suspicion that she's about to get into another very bloody fight with Draco though. I swear that we could start charging admission to their fights. We'd make a fortune." With a sudden and extremely loud 'POP!' Lucius had disapperated. Snape paused before walking casually back into the house. He decided to do a bit of exploring while Lucius was preoccupied and soon found himself in Lucius' office, carefully rummaging through desk drawers. He slipped a few sheets of parchment into a hidden pocket on the inside of his robes and walked boldly out of the office. It was quite easy to follow the screams and loud crashes and it did not take him long at all to find everyone. When he arrived, Lucius had been momentarily stunned by a spell cast by his wife. Narcissa did not notice his arrival and dragged Morwena rather violently up off of the floor. She pinned her to the wall and held her wand to her throat, whispering something that only Morwena could hear. Draco limped over to them and pulled Morwena out of her grasp. Narcissa was shocked and her cheeks flushed with anger.
A cough from the hallway made everyone jump. Narcissa lowered her eyes and turned to face Snape, who was standing in the doorway wearing an expression of adamant disapproval. "You were not supposed to see that." She began to walk over to him and looked up at him pleadingly. "I'm really very sorry about all of this." She ignored her husband, who had finally come to and was in a dangerously violent rage. The large purple veins in his neck looked more pronounced than Snape had seen them in years. He looked down at her and grimaced slightly.
"From what I remember of the early days, it was the two mothers and their hatred of each other that caused the spring of animosity between the two children." Snape sneered at her and his threatening tone became more pronounced. "From what I have witnessed, this is not exactly what I believe one would call a healthy environment for a child." And without so much as a polite bow, he turned sharply on his heels and left. His black, billowing, robes somehow looking more like an ominous storm cloud than ever.