If Love is a Game...

Lanni Weasley

Story Summary:
It's the Marauders' final year at Hogwarts and they have everything - and that includes a few big problems. James matures and finally wins over Lily; Remus falls head over heels for Lucius Malfoy's cousin; and Sirius finally gets the girls of his dreams. But that girl is supposed to marry Malfoy and her parents hate Sirius and her friends. Soon, she must choose between being the next Mrs. Lucius Malfoy or the early deaths of Sirius and her friends. Deep trouble is on the horizon of bliss.

Chapter 19

Chapter Summary:
It's James's and Sirius's Seventh Year at Hogwarts and they have everything: brains, talent, skill, brawns, friends, and even the ladies. While James finally matures and wins over Lily; the girl Sirius has his eyes on is finally starting to realize that she has come to like him too. But what happens when Lucius Malfoy likes her, too, and her parents disapprove of him and her friends intensely? SB/OC/LM, J/L, RL/OC; Chapter Nineteen: The Melanies (Krystyna included) have dinner at the Malfoy Manor finally and hilarity (which means problems) ensue when Lorena doesn't realize that in order to please her "family", she has to act like them.
Posted:
01/08/2005
Hits:
821
Author's Note:
Okay, I just realized something. Brandy is a Muggle alcoholic drink. Hm, oh well, bother that!


Chapter Nineteen

Dinner Time at the Malfoy Manor

The Melanie household was in an uproar. Everything seemed to have been turned upside down as Mrs. Melanie raced around the house frantically, trying to fix everyone up. Andrew came down the stairs with his tie loose and she about died of shock.

"Andrew, fix that tie of yours, now!" Mrs. Melanie shrieked loudly. Muttering some things under his breath, Andrew went to fix his tie in a mirror, but before he had the chance to, Mrs. Melanie was fixing it up for him. Without complaining, he rolled his eyes and let her do it. Once she perfected his tie, she brushed was seemed like invisible dust off of his shoulder.

"Where's Krystyna?" Catherine, who was sitting lazily on the couch, asked lightly. She would not be going. She was feeling a little queasy and decided that she should stay at home, just in case. She had told Samuel to go anyway, that she would be just fine. She was due any day and felt no need to go to any boring dinner parties.

"Krystyna? Krystyna, where are you?" Mrs. Melanie cried out anxiously.

"Hold your hippogriffs, mum; I'm right here," Krystyna replied irritably, walking down the stairs in her new midnight blue dress robes. Andrew was gaping at her. She grinned. "You might want to close your mouth, little brother; you don't want to slobber on your new dress robes."

"You're--you're--you're not my sister," Andrew garbled stupidly. She rolled her eyes and came to the floor. She walked over to him and stopped, an inch taller than him only.

"Let's see... in your Third Year, when you did boggarts, you wet yourself when your boggart turned into Kreacher, a house-elf at the House of the Blacks," Krystyna said smugly, a grin on her face. Andrew's face turned pink, much to her delight. Mrs. Melanie could've died right there on the spot. "Am I your sister, Andrew?"

"You wet yourself when you were thirteen?" Mrs. Melanie exclaimed incredulously. Andrew, still pink in the face, slowly nodded his head. She squealed shrilly. "You're an embarrassment to the Melanie name!"

"Well thanks a lot for the title, mum," Andrew snapped, crossing his arms angrily. "How are we getting to the Malfoy Manor anyway, seeing as how I'm the only one who can't Apparate yet?"

"We're using Floo Powder," Mr. Melanie said gruffly. Andrew's pink face disappeared and he grinned mischievously. Krystyna's grin faded as she glanced at the fireplace with much displeasure. Mrs. Melanie suddenly pulled her to the side.

"Remember what I said, you need to land perfectly," Mrs. Melanie hissed urgently. "First impressions are everything, dear."

"Oh, great, so if I fall when landing, they won't like me, right?" Krystyna said sarcastically, looking a little hopeful. Her mother glared at her, but pushed her forward. They were all looking at her and she just wanted to know why. "Okay, what did I miss? Why is everyone staring at me?"

"Don't you know, you're going first," Marlena replied quickly, looking at her dully. She rolled her eyes and took some Floo Powder hastily. She got in the fireplace.

"Whatever," Krystyna sighed. She threw the Floo Powder on the ground of the fireplace. "Malfoy Manor!" Immediately, the green flames rose up and tickled her body again, but even they could not keep the cold mood from entering her body and mind.

Suddenly, she was spit out of the fireplace and she felt firm ground beneath her feet, but the spinning always made her feel so light weighted and she fell out of the fire with her eyes closed. Expecting her knees to come to a crash on the ground, she braced herself, but it never came. Someone had caught her from underneath the arms.

"You need to work on your landings," a voice drawled in her ear. She opened her eyes and looked up to see that Lucius Malfoy was the one holding her under her arms. She frowned and stood up.

"Thanks for telling me," Krystyna muttered, brushing the dust off of her robes. "It's not like I've already been told that before." He looked over her slowly and sighed.

"You have some soot in your hair," Lucius chirped nonchalantly. She rolled her eyes and went to get it out of her hair when Lucius began helping her. "Here--let me help you--"

"No, no, I can do it on my own, thank you very much," Krystyna replied firmly, frowning at him. He still hand his hands in her hair. She glared at him.

"No, I'll help you," Lucius said stubbornly.

"No, I'm fine on my own, Malfoy," Krystyna muttered irritably. He smirked at her and she glared at him even more. "Malfoy, just stop it."

"I'm just trying to help--"

"I don't need help! Get your hands out of my hair!"

"Can't I be a gentleman?" Lucius asked her softly, looking at her inquisitively. She gnashed her teeth together and just wished she could've slapped the smirk right off of his face.

"Be a gentleman and take your filthy hands out of my hair, Malfoy!" Krystyna growled furiously, trying to get his hands out of her black hair. "Malfoy, just sod off; you're a--"

At that precise moment, Mrs. Melanie appeared in the fireplace. Krystyna and Lucius immediately stopped fighting and stared at her while she stared back at them, getting out of the fireplace.

"What were you just about to call me, Krystyna?" Lucius asked with a smug smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. She turned pink as her mother looked at her.

"You're being a nice gentleman, helping me out and all," Krystyna lied, her anger bubbling in her veins. His grin broadened. She gave a small fake smile. "Thank you."

Mrs. Melanie smiled happily at the two of them. "You are such a wonderful young man, Lucius," she gushed at him. "You've grown up so well. Where is your mother?"

"She's in the formal living room, Mrs. Melanie," Lucius said politely, inclining his head slightly. As Mrs. Melanie didn't know where that was, she looked at him questionably. Krystyna rolled her eyes. He was being a suck up, the lousy jerk. "She can show you to it, if you please."

Lucius pointed somewhere behind Mrs. Melanie and she looked back to where he pointed at. Mrs. Melanie was blocking Krystyna's view. She smiled at Lucius gratefully and walked away. Marlena appeared in the fireplace and walked out serenely.

"Welcome to the Malfoy Manor. Where would you like to go, Madam?" a familiar voice came from somewhere. Krystyna looked back to see Lorena standing dully in front of Mrs. Melanie. She smiled faintly.

"The formal living room," Mrs. Melanie answered. Marlena inclined her head to Lucius and walked over to her mother to stand beside her.

Lorena nodded her head idly and tried her best not to yawn. "Alright, follow me if you would then," she yawned lazily. She sauntered out of the room and into another with Mrs. Melanie and Marlena trailing behind her slowly, talking quietly.

Mr. Melanie appeared in the fireplace and was greeted by Lucius's father, Mr. Malfoy. They shook hands with grins on their faces. "Ah, Rodger, how nice it is to see you again," Mr. Malfoy greeted warmly, still shaking hands with Mr. Melanie. "Come, we can have a bit of brandy and talk in my study before the house-elves finish with the dinner."

The two older men walked off into a different direction. Andrew appeared in the fireplace and the green flames died down. He stepped out of the fireplace and came face-to-face with Lucius's icy glare, which he gladly returned back. Lorena meandered back into the room, yawning largely.

"Didn't you get enough sleep today? You stayed in your room all morning and practically the entire afternoon," Lucius snapped at her.

"Didn't you get tired of being annoying? You've been like that for an eternity," Lorena replied crossly, her eyes narrowing dangerously. He cringed a little and looked away from her. Krystyna stepped away from him and walked over to Andrew. Samuel appeared and walked out of the fireplace solemnly. William appeared and staggered out of the fireplace.

"Hello, Lucius, you've grown to be quite the young man, I hear," Samuel quipped with a faint grin on his face. Lucius smirked smugly.

"I guess," Lucius sighed softly. William brushed some soot out of his hair and walked over to Samuel's side. He looked around the house. Samuel was also looking around. He hadn't been in this house for some time. Lucius seemed to read his mind.

"Marcus is in his room," Lucius blurted in the silence. Samuel and William looked down at him and awaited him to continue. "Lorena can take you there if you like." Samuel looked over and grinned (rather evilly) when he saw Lorena staring over into space, whistling softly.

"Thank you, Lucius," Samuel said gruffly. William was still looking around the place. Samuel tugged on his sleeve and William looked over at him. They walked over to Lorena, who was paying no attention to them at all.

"Hey, you look a little familiar?" William noted thickly. Lorena snapped her eyes to them and stopped whistling. She looked at them both and frowned.

"Of course I look familiar, you poof!" Lorena exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "I'm Mal--Lucius's and Marcus's cousin."

"Oh, yeah, I remember you now," William sighed, nodding his head. Samuel looked over at his brother-in-law. "You're that girl that had a bad temper."

"And I still do have that flaring temper, so, if you don't mind, hurry up and tell me where you want to go so I can show you and leave you," Lorena said impatiently.

"Nice to see you again, Lorena," Samuel muttered with his grin still on his face. "Just take us to Marcus's room." Lorena turned around and began to walk away.

"Don't worry; the feelings aren't mutual," Lorena murmured dryly as she headed off in yet another different direction, presumably toward Marcus' room, with Samuel and William following her. She rounded a corner and disappeared.

"Well, I guess we should head into the formal living room or whatever," Andrew sighed with much dislike. He was not going to like this at all. Personally, Krystyna felt that she was going to have a worse time than Andrew was, but she didn't voice her opinion.

"Krystyna, you can come to my room with me while we wait," Lucius said slyly with a mischievous grin on his face. She pulled a face.

"Don't make me sick before dinner," Krystyna replied sourly, mortified with the mere idea of being in a room with just him and her. She crossed her arms across her chest. "I'd like to still have my appetite before we even start to eat."

Andrew raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Lucius said nothing after her either. Lorena traipsed back to them and sighed. "Why am I always the one they treat like a house-elf?" she muttered to herself.

"Because you're the only one who needs to learn how to obey the rules," Lucius told her. She glared at him and rolled her eyes.

"Who asked for your opinion anyway?" Lorena snapped crossly. He took a few steps toward her and got in her face; it was brave and stupid at the same time. He glared hard at her and poked her with his index finger.

"I don't have to be asked to voice my opinion around here, Lorena," Lucius growled forebodingly. She smirked. "What are you smirking about?"

"Then that means that I don't have to be asked to voice my opinion around here," Lorena replied, putting her hands on her hips and still smirking. He shook his head.

"I live here," Lucius noted angrily.

"So do I," Lorena told him menacingly. "If you're going to get my face about something, make sure you have something to back yourself up. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself, Malfoy, because one of these days, you're gonna crash."

They glared at each other face-to-face. Andrew was trying to think of which one was going to break first. Krystyna was worried that Lorena might hex Lucius. She could see Lorena fiddling with something in her pocket. The tension was so thick in the air, you could cut it with scissors.

"Now get out of my face!" Lorena shouted furiously. Lucius quickly backed away from her, muttering something under his breath. As he glared at her, he suddenly heard the doorbell ring. Everyone turned around to look at the front door.

"That must be Brandon and his family," Lucius said, sneering at Lorena, who snapped her head back to him. "Aren't you going to get it?"

"Get it yourself, you stupid prat," Lorena snarled irately. "He's your bloody friend." Lucius smirked, but went to get the door anyway. Many loud voices came when the door was opened.

"Hey, Lorena, where's your room?" Krystyna asked quickly, glancing at the people walking inside the house now. Lorena looked at her strangely. Andrew was looking revolted when his eyes landed on something on a shelf. Krystyna raised her eyebrows a little.

"Oh, oh, yeah, I'll show you, Krystyna," Lorena said, finally getting it. Krystyna grinned. "Follow me, okay? You can just wander around the hallways except the East Wing, okay, Andrew?"

"Okay, whatever..." Andrew mumbled as his eyes traveled around the room at top speed. Krystyna and Lorena hastily rounded the corner and headed for the safe haven of Lorena's bedroom. Only there would they be able to get away from Lucius and Brandon, thankfully.

88

Thirty minutes of talking with Lorena, and the dinner had been finished. Now, they all sat in arranged seats at the long dinner table, eating and conversing. As Krystyna knew already, she was sitting next to Lucius and was also lucky to be sitting beside Lorena, who was watching her gravy swirl in her mashed potatoes.

"Don't just stare at your food; eat it," Krystyna thought she heard Mrs. Malfoy whisper to Lorena. She looked up and back down at her plate placidly. She picked her fork up and began mixing the gravy in with the mashed potatoes, bored.

"So... are you two friends at school?" Mrs. Malfoy asked. The four Hogwarts students at the table raised their heads up in question, staring at her.

"Which two, Aunt Selena?" Lorena asked quietly, frowning at her.

"Well, I know you're friends with Krystyna, Lorena; what a silly question to ask," Mrs. Malfoy noted, chuckling a little. Lorena rolled her eyes and looked down at her plate.

"Of course, Aunt Selena, I should've known better," Lorena muttered ungratefully. Krystyna didn't know what they were talking about. She looked down at Lorena bemusedly and in a very low whisper she added, "They're talking about Malfoy and you, and she's asking you."

Krystyna looked up at them and then at Lucius. Everyone was looking at her, awaiting her to speak up the answer. "Oh, oh, um"--she glanced at her mother, who glared at her--"yeah, we're sort of friends at school. I mean, we're in different houses and all, but we see each other in classes and weekends... yeah that's it."

Mrs. Melanie smiled. Lucius glimpsed at her and smirked. She rolled her eyes at him agitatedly. No one appeared to have seen it. "I hear you have top grades too, Lucius, is that true?" Mrs. Melanie asked hopefully. He nodded his head and she smiled brightly. "Wonderful, it's a shame you weren't made Head Boy... You would've been perfect for the position."

"Yes, I tried to... convince the other Governors of Hogwarts to let you become Head Boy, but, as usual, they had Dumbledore behind their back one hundred percent on their final decision. Although, if I recall correctly, five said it should've been you, Lucius," Mr. Melanie said gruffly. Lucius grinned smugly and inclined his head gratefully.

"And poor Krystyna; Hogwarts has gone to the dogs, it has," Mrs. Malfoy cooed softly, shaking her head. Mrs. Hemmingway, Brandon's mother, patted her on the back.

"Vat have they done, Selena?" Mrs. Hemmingway asked quietly. Mrs. Hemmingway, unlike her son Brandon, had a thick accent. Krystyna was confused. What was wrong with her? And what was this with Hogwarts and dogs? Dogs...? She tried to remember a memory of just months ago when she saw a big, black dog roaming the grounds outside in the middle of the night.

"As if making James Potter"--Mrs. Malfoy spat the name (Krystyna saw Andrew glaring at her)--"Head Boy wasn't bad enough, they made... they made a Mudblood the Head Girl!"

Krystyna spewed her pumpkin juice right back into the goblet and started choking on it badly. While Lucius tried to calm her coughs down, Andrew raised his eyebrows up. Lorena, however, was not one to stay sitting down. She jumped to her feet, almost knocking her chair on the ground.

"What?!" Lorena yelled furiously. Krystyna stopped choking and pushed Lucius off of her. She glared at him and then looked at her friend, who was standing up in a fit of rage. Mrs. Malfoy had just called Lily a Mudblood and that did not go down well with Lorena. Krystyna, if not for the fact that she wanted to see Sirius again, almost jumped to her feet too. She was glaring equally hard at Mrs. Malfoy. But Mr. Malfoy and Marcus both gave Lorena foreboding glares and she took them into notice.

"I mean... How dare they, that's incredulous," Lorena said rather snootily, as if Lily shouldn't have been Head Girl at all. Her blue grayish eyes, however, told a different story. Krystyna could see that it was taking all the self obedience she had not to ring her aunt's neck as she sat back down, pink in the face and clearly angry. "Giving the position of Head Girl to a..."

Lorena glanced at Marcus and her uncle. Mr. Malfoy glared at her warningly while Marcus wore a simpering expression on his pale face. Lorena wished she could walk right over there and punch him, but, alas, she could not. They urged her to continue and everyone awaited her to end her sentence. She looked away from them.

"To a Muggle-born witch," Lorena ended softly. Mrs. Melanie glanced at Mr. Melanie and, as if on cue, people began whispering. She smirked at Marcus and rolled her eyes. Mr. Malfoy's brow furrowed deeply and Marcus sneered at her. She glared at him. Estella sighed; Lorena was not making a very good first impression on the Hemmingway's. But Brandon, who was sitting beside her, sure look interested.

"Ha, you are always one for being too nice, Lorena," Brandon chirped. She glared at him from the corners of her eyes and scooted her chair closer to Krystyna.

"It should have been Krystyna, we all know that," Mr. Malfoy said in a low rumble. There were many murmured agreements. Krystyna felt that she shouldn't have been Head Girl and that Lily filled the position of Head Girl perfectly with James Potter. What was wrong with these people?

"What about Narcissa Black?" Andrew piped up, grinning largely. "I mean, she's just so lovely and adores Lucius to bits and pieces. Doesn't she, Lucius?"

"Hm, what's this about Narcissa Black?" Mrs. Malfoy asked calmly, looking over at her youngest son, who was gaping stupidly. Mrs. Melanie looked at him too. Everyone was looking at him. Krystyna was grinning and Lorena was simpering. He turned pink.

"Um... she's just a nice friend," Lucius said, tugging at his collar.

Andrew gave a short laugh and looked around at everyone, nodding his head knowingly. "Oh, yes, a nice friend, indeed," he quipped. "Why don't you tell them about the love notes and how she follows you everywhere, Lucius?"

Everyone was now staring down at him like hawks. He began to feel the pressure and turned a darker shade of pink in the face. He shrunk in his seat. Krystyna thought the situation was rather humorous and Lorena was trying so hard not to burst out laughing. Andrew was looking quite pleased with himself, a smug grin on his face.

"What's this about love notes?" Brandon asked curiously, eyeing his friend slyly. "So you've got a not-so-secret admirer, eh, Lucius?"

"But--I thought--you two--" Mrs. Malfoy was very confused; Lorena was very amused; and Lucius was very bemused--of what to say, that is. His mother had obviously thought that he and Krystyna were going out.

"Well, she's a little crazy about me, but I don't like her like that," Lucius explained hastily, sitting back up in his chair. Mrs. Malfoy, Mrs. Melanie, and Marlena looked quite relieved with that fact. "I like Krystyna like that."

"Ah... how sweet," Marlena noted softly, smiling.

"Speaking of sweet, these sweet potatoes are wonderful, Selena," William added after swallowing a second helping of sweet potatoes. Mrs. Malfoy beamed proudly.

"It's the Malfoy Family's Secret Recipe," Mrs. Malfoy told him kindly. He got some more. Marlena was happy to see that her husband was getting on Mrs. Malfoy's good side by being himself. "Of course, Krystyna might find out if they get married..."

Krystyna found the idea of getting married to Lucius revolting, but kept her falsetto smile plastered on her face to keep her parents happy. Lorena, however, had not figured out that she had to look happy in order to keep her aunt and uncle pleased with her because she was scowling. And only until she saw the furious look on Mr. Malfoy's face did she stop scowling and simply frown lightly. Krystyna suddenly found that, after eating more than she usually did, she was sick of eating and sick of sitting down next to Lucius. Just bringing up the thought of getting married to him made her feel queasy.

"So, do you think young Andrew vill make Head Boy?" Mr. Hemmingway asked, looking at Andrew, who was still wearing a smug grin. Lucius had finally sat back up in his seat straight and the pink had drained from his face, but he was glaring angrily at Andrew, who didn't much seem to care. "I think he might be a suited candidate."

"I'll be Head Boy as long as Bellatrix Black is not Head Girl!" Andrew exclaimed. Everyone stared at him confusedly. "Do you want me to die at the age of seventeen?"

No one answered him and they continued to the many different conversation. Brandon kept annoying Lorena very much; Mrs. Hemmingway, Mrs. Melanie, and Mrs. Malfoy were in a deep conversation about the new fashion designer; Marlena was talking to Estella about her bit in the Daily Prophet; Marcus, William, and Samuel were talking like friends again; Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Melanie, and Mr. Hemmingway were talking about the British and Bulgarian Ministry of Magic; all while Lucius suddenly put his arm around Krystyna, much to her dismay.

"Lucius, if you don't take your arm off of me, I will kick you," Krystyna hissed acidly, glaring at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, but I love you so much," Lucius whispered in her ear. She moved and he felt it, immediately taking his arm off of her grudgingly. Nevertheless, Lorena was not having as much luck getting Brandon away from her.

"Move your hand!" Lorena growled crossly. Brandon obviously did something because her cheeks flushed a dark shade of red. "No, no, get off of me, you bloody poof!"

"Ah, I just can't keep my hands off of you," Brandon sighed sweetly. Krystyna could just envision steam coming out of Lorena's ears. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Well, get used to it," Lorena muttered irritably, putting his hand on the table and turning her head away from him. He sighed deeply and continued to grin at her.

"So... I didn't get to ask before we left school, how is your relationship with Black going?" Lucius questioned calmly, leaning back in his chair. She glanced at him.

"Perfectly well, thank you," Krystyna told him, much to her happiness. He frowned. "It couldn't be any better, actually. Ah, what's better than teenagers... in love, hm?" She laughed with much mirth when Lucius gaped at her stupidly.

"You two look so cute together," Mrs. Hemmingway's voice came out of the blue. Krystyna, Lorena, Lucius, and Brandon all snapped their heads in her direction immediately.

"Who--me and him?" Lorena blurted incredulously, mortified.

"No, not you and my son--but you two do look so lovely together"--Lorena cringed at the idea of looking lovely with Brandon--"I'm talking about young Krystyna and Lucius. Don't they look so laid back vith each other?"

"I know, such a cute couple," Estella said lightly, smiling at them. Krystyna thought she might die. She was completely mortified. They had mistaken them as a couple. She was dating Sirius; not Lucius! They were jumbling it all up. She wanted to put them in their places and tell them everything, but seeing as how she wanted to see Sirius again, she stayed quiet, much to Lucius' pleasure.

"A cute couple?!" Lorena exclaimed loudly, almost falling backward in her chair. Marcus stamped on her foot from under the table. "Ouch! I mean... sure."

There was a moment of silence. "Bloody hell, that hurt, you nark," Lorena hissed to Marcus, who shrugged his shoulders and smirked triumphantly. She swore under her breath and felt for her toe, which was now throbbing painfully, under the table. Krystyna bit her lip.

"Um... The meal was wonderful, Mrs. Malfoy," Krystyna said politely. "May I please be excused from the table?" Mrs. Malfoy looked at Mrs. Melanie, who was looking at her youngest daughter softly. She looked back at Krystyna.

"Of course, you may," Mrs. Malfoy told her. Krystyna slowly got up from her seat. She looked over at Lorena, who was still rubbing her toes. "Lorena, if you'd like to go, you may go with her to your bedroom or the formal living room."

"My bedroom's just fine, Aunt Selena," Lorena said through gritted teeth, getting up from her seat rather quickly. Brandon frowned. Krystyna fixed the bottom of her robes and took a step away from Lucius, who tried to grab her hand before she left. "Thank you."

Krystyna and Lorena happily walked out of the formal dining room, Lorena apologizing for everything her aunt, uncle, and cousins did or said to her that was offending and Krystyna trying her best to stifle ever snicker she had. Thankfully, they reached her bedroom where Lorena was fit to burst about telling Krystyna something.


Author notes: Thanks for reading and please review! I'm sorry I mispelled your name in the Post-fic Author's Notes, sooshii. I apologize for that!