Seeing Red

Seeing Red

Author: Doublemint Mystique

Rating: PG

Summary: Draco's kid sister gets sorted into Gryffindor and develops a crush on our favorite Weasley.

Pairing: none as of yet

Comments/Feedback/ETC: [email protected]

Disclaimer: I own the story and...that's it. J.K. Rowling owns everything else.

Vicious Knives

    "Well, would you fancy this?" Lucius Malfoy said as he sat down at the spacious table in front of him. He crossed his legs, and blew a wispy piece of soft blonde hair out of his eyes.

    "Hmm?" Narcissa, his wife looked up from her swirling black coffee. Two sugars. No cream. She glanced across the table to her son Draco, who was taking a bite of his French toast. The bars of light that shone through the dining room window bounced off his slicked hair, and Narcissa had to shield her eyes for a moment.

    "Mad-Eye Moody is back in commission after spending ten months in his magical trunk. Isn't that interesting..." Lucius faded out, and turned the page of yesterday's Daily Prophet to finish perusing the story.

    The three laughed in unison, and from the outside window, anyone looking in would see a happy (if slightly peculiar) family having a pleasant time. That is, until their eyes scanned to the other side of the rectangular table.

    Sitting in a huff in her seat, a small girl no older than ten rolled her eyes at the fanatically cackling in front of her. Muttering under her breath, Calliopoea Malfoy shook her head in disbelief. She felt like screaming at the three people facing her. Or at least shoving something very sharp and very painful into the back of their banana yellow scalps.

    As she stood up from the table, thoroughly disgusted with the rest of her family, the scuffling of her chair on the linoleum floor snapped the Malfoys out of their bizarre moment of maniacal behavior.

    "Callie, do you plan on going somewhere?" Lucius asked his daughter, sighing with disappointment. His high hopes for Calliopoea were quickly distinguished when she stated that her lifelong dream was to meet Harry Potter. Yes, she'd been six at the time, and a might bit sloshed from the butterbeer she'd drank, but the mention of Harry's name in the Malfoy house was never received well.

    "Yes, I plan on going to my room to ponder why I am a spoon in a drawer full of vicious knives," she said curtly.

    "Really? Funny, I didn't hear you mention that you wanted to excuse yourself. Perhaps I missed it? Narcissa, dear, did you hear Callie request permission to leave the room?"

    "No, I heard nothing of the sort," she replied.

    "Draco, your young ears can pick up softer sounds. I'm sure you heard your sister say 'may I please be excused?'" Lucius turned to his son as he spoke.

    "No, Father, she's just been sitting there...doing absolutely nothing," Draco said with the pleasure of getting his moody sister into trouble.

    "I see. Well, Callie, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for this one," Lucius smiled wanly.

    "Thank you, Father," she began to move towards the double doors that led to the hallway.

    "Hold on just a second".

    She spun around, wondering about what she'd done wrong this time. She was about to respond with an annoyed 'what?', but thought better of it, and instead answered "Yes?"

    "Procedure in this household is not only to ask permission to leave the room, but to receive permission as well. Am I correct in this statement?"

    "Yes, but Draco never has to ask--" she started, but was soon interrupted.

    "Excuse me, did I ask you to comment on your brother's behavior? Draco is an intelligent young man, who earns excellent marks at Hogwarts and is a seeker for his house. You, on the other hand," Lucius continued, sneering at his rejected spawn, "have yet to give your mother and I any reason to feel a sense of pride for you. And you continue to exude an air of disrespect."

    "May I please be excused, Father?" she said quietly, on the verge of breaking down in that very spot and crying until she could cry no more.

    "No, Calliepoea, you will return to your seat and finish eating the remainder of your breakfast. And, if possible, keep that scowl off your face. It isn't flattering."

    "But--"

    "I'm going to have to ask that you refrain from speaking," Lucius broke in once again. "Your tone of voice does not sit well with me."

    And so, with a whimper, Callie sat down at the farthest end of the table, separating herself as much as possible from the three lunatics she was forced to call "family". The four of them sat in silence for a few moments, three against one.

    "Some birthday," Callie sighed to herself. For the past three hundred and sixty four days, she'd hoped and prayed that being eleven would be different then being ten. Her parents would treat her as something more than an unwanted holiday gift that must be kept out of obligation. However, it was now August 7, and although she had officially turned 11 a few hours ago, she was still a cast out old sock to her parents in every way that mattered.

    A minute or two later, a swarm of owls were seen flying towards the Malfoy residence. Some of the less intelligent ones continued to fly straight into the clear glass panes of the window, while the veteran flyers patiently waited outside for Narcissa to unlatch it.

    Crossing her fingers so tightly the tips of her knuckles turned a ghastly shade of unnatural white, Callie said a silent prayer to anyone who was listening. "Please let it be here," she said to herself, in regard to a certain piece of parchment she hoped to receive.

    "Well, what have we here?" Lucius was dangling a letter addressed to Calliopoea Malfoy between his pale fingers, taunting her by motioning to promptly rip the envelope to shreds. The famous Hogwarts symbol was emblazoned onto the parchment for all to see.

    "May I please have my letter?" she asked patiently and evenly.

    "No, I think I will open this letter myself. Shall I rip it open right away or wait a bit?"

    Lucius moved towards a drawer near the sink, and pulled out the dragon tooth he used as a letter opener. Ever so slowly, he sliced centimeter by centimeter through the paper-thin envelope. Sitting with her hands now gripping the edge of the table, Callie feared that if her fingers left the smooth surface, they might find their way around someone's throat.

    After a large amount of eternity had passed, the contents of the letter were finally revealed to the eagerly waiting persons. The top sheet of a multipage document was printed with the signature "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" letterhead, and was addressed to "Miss Malfoy".

    "Father, may I please have my letter?" she repeated once more, with a slight hint of insistence and desperation in her voice.

    "I think I'll hold on to it. I'm not sure I can trust you to read all the polysyllable words correctly. Now, let me see..." he paused for a moment, ignoring the sounds of his daughter huffing in the background. "Dear Miss Malfoy," he began.

    The letter went on to state that Callie had been accepted at Hogwarts, and that she must reply to the correspondence no later than August 15. Attached was a list of the supplies and books she would need for her first year.

    "Well, congratulations, Callie," Lucius said. Like an allergy-prone man who'd just tried to sniff a fresh spring daffodil, he struggled to get the compliment out of his mouth. Giving compliments to his enemies (or his daughter) was never his forte, but the hint of a stammer he released went unnoticed.

    Callie stood there, glued to the dab of waxed flooring she was teetering on. Damned be the words "parental consent", she thought. They couldn't possibly tell her she couldn't go, could they?

    "Callie, would you please leave the room for a few minutes? Your mother and I have to discuss this."

    Hoping that "discuss" really meant "we like to watch you sweat it out a bit", she spun around on one heel and headed towards the door for the second time that morning. She got as far as opening one of the doors and stepping over the threshold before she stopped.

    "Shouldn't Draco leave the room too? I mean, it really isn't any of his concern whether I--" she spoke, but Lucius interjected, as he likes to do.

    "Draco can remain in the room. At 15, he is responsible enough to know when he can speak and when it is best to keep his mouth shut." At this point, Lucius gave Draco a stern look, telling him without words that his invitation to remain in the room was pending. With the simplest out of place comment he would be schlepped into the hallway as well. Draco understood the message well, judging from the sudden change in his facial expression from one of elation to an image of annoyance.

    "Are you kidding me?" she muttered just loud enough for everyone else to hear.

    "Pardon?" Narcissa asked, opening her pinched mouth.

    "Nothing."

    "Good," her mother responded, her pasty smile curling into an abnormally curved line.

    Defeated, Callie exited the room alone, left to her imagination. In her cramped room, her vision blurred between reality and images of the freedom she was so close to grasping. Between shots of her armoire and mirror, she saw the Hogwarts Express and the Great Hall. In all actuality, she'd seen neither the Hogwarts Express nor the Great Hall, as her parents left her home when they traveled to Kings Cross. However, she'd heard enough of her brother's gloating to form pictures of elegance and fantasy in her head.

    After what seemed like an entire summer had passed, she heard yelling from the floor below. "Callie! Callie!" both her parents yelled up to her, and she felt the vibrations of brooms being forcefully pounded into the ceiling below.

    "Heaven forbid you actually walk up those stairs and knock on my door," she murmured as she approached the dining room doors with a sense of foreboding. What if they said no?

    "Calliopoea, we've come to a decision regarding your future schooling," her father began, as she stood there with baited breath and clammy palms. "We've decided that..." he stopped, just for effect, and she felt like bellowing "enough already!".

    Draco then proceeded to double over into a fit of coughs, disrupting the already tense situation. Flocking to their perfect son to make sure he was still alive and still perfect, Narcissa and Lucius all but forgot about the second child standing in said dining room. Giving Callie a vicious grin, Draco hacked away for a full five minutes. Stopping abruptly, he stood up as though nothing had happened, and Lucius returned to his announcement.

    "We've decided to let you attend Hogwarts," he said, and Callie felt her entire body go numb from every hair follicle to the tip of her littlest toe. She opened her mouth, but the frozen sensation she felt ran clear through to her voice box, and out came not even a whisper.

    "That's it? Not a stitch of gratitude?" Narcissa asked, waiting for a reply.

    "I half expected you to throw yourself down and kiss our feet, what with the riot you put on before. And yet, not so much as a 'Thank You' has come out of your mouth," Lucius said sternly. "I haven't sent Cerberus with the response to Hogwarts yet, Callie. I can still rip this reply into shreds, so I suggest you show some form of appreciation, you little

    The large Eurasian Eagle Owl in the corner of the room began to screech and flap his wings incessantly with the mention of his name. The four Malfoys blanched at the sound, and Draco hastily covered Cerberus' cage with a small black cloak.

    "Thank you, Draco," Narcissa said pointedly, giving her daughter a bitter look.

    Knowing that she'd better speak up, Callie recovered her speech. "Mother, Father, thank you very much. I'll do my best to...live up to your expectations," she finished weakly, for lack of better words.

    "Hmmph," Lucius grunted, amused. "We shall see, Callie. We shall see."