if looks could kill
Kayda was testing her luck by attempting to apparate to Malfoy Manor – her mind knew how to do it, but her body lacked any experience whatsoever.
Remus warned her that it might be dangerous, she ignored him – as per usual.
And, as per usual...she should have listened to him. As soon as she landed, her back curved over and she threw up directly into the perfectly pruned hedges of Malfoy Manor.
"Yuck– sorry." She gagged, speaking to the future house elves that would undoubtedly have to deal with that and using her jumper sleeve to wipe her mouth.
With wobbly steps, she pushed against the massive steel gate that towered high over her head – to no avail. It didn't budge. After a quick eye roll, she focused whatever energy she still had to her hand and with a loud crackle, a flame ignited in her palm. The veins beneath it were on fire, making her skin appear completely see through as it clearly showed her skeleton within her hand.
Kayda held the lock on the gate with the flaming hand and it melted instantly, dripping off and hitting the floor with a quiet sludge. She pushed against the gate again and it swung open slowly. The fire was instantly extinguished when she closed her fingers around it.
Knocking on the door was an easier task, and felt less like breaking and entering. A small House Elf opened the wooden door, staring up at her with beady eyes.
"Hello?" He said, tilting his head as he blinked up at her. "Name?"
"Hi, uh...Kayda Black? I should be expected." She smiled at the little elf and his shabby woven bag that draped over his skinny shoulders.
"Oh– yes. Yes, of course. Please, forgive Rookey. He had forgotten, only momentarily." The little elf lowered his head, stepping back and opening the door further for her to enter. "I am very sorry."
"Don't be, Rookey." She smiled, stepping in and making sure not to step on him at all. "It's perfectly alright."
"You mustn't be so foolish, Miss Black." Lucius Malfoy's voice hit the walls around her, Rookey fell to the floor instantly. "The idiot creature has to remember the guests we expect so that they may have an appropriate welcome. Isn't that correct, Rook?"
"Y-yes, Master." Rookey spoke into the cold floor, shivering.
Lucius was standing in front of her now, having sauntered down a few steps in the entrance hall. His hands were tightly behind his back, his long blonde hair falling perfectly around his sharp facial features.
"It really is not an issue, Mr Malfoy." She forced a smile.
He turned his nose up at her, lifting his jaw and staring her up and down as he did.
"You stench of dirt and...vomit. I'll have the Elf clean you." He waved his hand up and down her frame, then wiped it on his robe – despite having never touched her.
Before Kayda was able to respond with some sarky comment, that would earn her the same treatment she was sure Rookey would receive; Freya came bounding down the staircase.
"Kay-!" She shouted, jumping over the last four steps and crashing into Kayda's open arms– knocking her father's elbow as she did. He sighed and shook his head, but said nothing before he walked off down the corridor, Rookey hot on his tail practically crawling on the floor.
"Hi Frey." Kayda squeezed the girl's torso, burying her face in Freya's long, very messy hair that had flown over her shoulder at the impact.
"Come on, you're sleeping with me!" She laughed, taking her arms from around Kayda's neck, and grabbing her hand tightly.
"Ah so, dreams do come true." Kayda rolled her eyes as Freya dragged her up the stairs she'd previously come sprinting down.
"Oh, shut it." Freya shook her head. The pair walked through the many hallways of the massive building with ease. "Better me than my brother." She gagged, looking back and smiling at Kayda quickly.
"Piss off, Frey!"
"Speak of the devil." Kayda laughed, turning around and seeing Draco peering out of his bedroom door at the pair of them, his face contorted.
He coughed slightly when his eyes flickered to Kayda. Slowly, he stepped out of the doorframe and wasted no time on possibly being awkward as he wrapped his arms around Kayda, leaning down slightly due to how much he'd grown in the summer.
Freya refused to let go of her hand, but Kayda stretched her other one around Draco's shoulder, her head jarred back slightly to let her chin sit on it.
"Black?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you smell of vomit?" He huffed.
"Oh, I threw up in your hedges outside."
"What-?"
She smiled as he stepped back, his face did not mirror the expression. Before she could explain any further, Freya stuck her tongue out at her brother and dragged Kayda off down the corridor yet again.
"See you later, Malfoy!" She laughed as Freya took them up into a sprint.
"See you, Kayda." Draco whispered, staring at them.
Freya's room had ceilings that Kayda could only reach if stood on the blonde girl's shoulders, the far wall was entirely made of glass that curved outwards slightly, on each side sat two large curtains. The view outside was mesmerising – the hills and fields reaching for miles, the clouds in the sky above looking like a painting. Freya's bed was in the centre of the wall beside the window, a large wardrobe and a mirror the height of the wall beside it.
There was clutter everywhere, blankets and pillows thrown from the massive four poster bed, pencils that'd fallen off the L-shaped desk in the darkest corner and were now laying on the floor beside books that'd done the same from the bookshelf next to it.
"Sorry about the mess, I tell Rookey not to clean it cause I like to know where my things are. Then I never get 'round to cleaning it myself." Freya smiled, falling down onto a large bean bag right next to the window – Kayda was still staring at the room. "Come sit."
"Yeah– sure." Kayda scoffed, walking over to Freya and sitting on one of the other bean bags. "Y'know I don't care about the mess, I'm bloody used it from sharing a dorm with you for two years."
Freya rolled her eyes. "Wow, thanks."
The girls fell into mindless chatter for hours, discussing every detail of their holidays, along with anything and everything else.
"Mother said that she doesn't know how he escaped but I feel like she's lying. Father said he saw her writing a letter to my Aunt."
"How? Bellatrix is in Azkaban too." Kayda was laying down on the bag beneath her, her eyes staring up at the wooden ceiling.
"My other one, we don't see her much anymore. Andy or something–"
"Andromeda." Kayda muttered.
"That's it. How do you–"
"Same family." After a deep breath, Kayda turned so she could look at Freya without having to sit up.
"Oh...yeah– forgot." She laughed. "My Mother's Grandfather, is the brother..." Freya navigated her way through the words slowly, and partly with her hands. Kayda nodded encouragingly, her lips curved upwards, "of your Grandmother?"
"Yep."
"Which makes us..." The girl paused, "cousins?"
Kayda shook her head. "Second cousins. 'Cause your Mother is my First Cousin once removed."
"I hate Family Trees." Freya rubbed her eyes.
"Doesn't help that ours is overly complicated."
Freya laughed, then sighed heavily. "How are you coping with it?"
"'It' being my dad?" Kayda's head tilted back up to the ceiling after Freya nodded slowly. "Fine. I've been waiting for him to...show up at my door, or something, for like a month."
"He knows where you live?"
"Nope."
"What if he finds your Uncle? When you're not there!" Freya sat up quickly– she knew how much Kayda cared about her Uncle, which meant that any concern she had about Kayda, extended to Remus.
"I doubt it, but even if he does – my Uncle won't be there," she sat up a little, a grin forming on her lips, "'cause he's our new Dark Arts Professor."
"Shut up! What?!" Freya leapt onto the bean bag that Kayda was laying on top of, grabbing the girl's arms. "That means he'll be on the train then, right?"
"Should be. I've never seen any of our Professors on the train, though."
"Think they have their own compartment." Freya relaxed slightly, causing her elbow to dig into Kayda's side. "Why are you here? How come you're not going with him?"
Kayda sat up a little, "I wanted an excuse to see your dumb ass."
"Awe." Freya smiled widely, before falling onto Kayda's chest and curling up tightly as the girl wrapped her arms around her laughing.
Hours later and after scrubbing at her tongue hard with a toothbrush and downing about five glasses of whatever Freya was drinking, Kayda's breath finally stopped smelling of her incident. Freya had refused to let Kayda come to bed when her previous attempts had failed.
They laid together in the blonde girl's huge bed, despite the fact it would easily fit the both of them, Freya insisted that she was to have her head on Kayda's chest with the girl's arm around her.
"Hey...can I tell you a secret?" Freya whispered into the dark.
Kayda replied groggily. "Duh."
"You have to tell me one in return, though."
"You bitch." She laughed. "Deal."
"It's about Theo..." Freya was clearly smiling as she spoke, even if Kayda couldn't see the girl's face. "He came over in the holidays to 'hang out with Draco', but he snuck in here and–" She paused, biting her bottom lip.
"And..?"
Freya sat up on her elbows, her arm resting across Kayda's chest as she grinned down at the girl.
"He kissed me." She squealed, unable to resist. Kayda's face dropped as she gasped, sitting up quickly and grabbing Freya's shoulders tightly.
"Did he ask? Are you ok with that? How was it? Was it a cute kiss or a more desperate one? Details, babe."
"Ok, ok!" Freya crossed her legs, Kayda's hands falling from her shoulders and into her hands. "I'm completely fine with it and it was cute at first...he asked, and then he stood back for a second – stared at me, and then–" she was smiling so much it was difficult to fully understand her words. "He held my face with both hands and just, pulled me in really quickly!"
Kayda began rambling words that weren't in any particular order, Freya couldn't have been smiling more if she'd tried.
"Alright, your turn." She pulled her hands down from Kayda's face as the girl breathed out.
Kayda's throat closed as her mind scanned over every secret she had – she had to pick the right one.
"Merlin, how many do you have?" Freya laughed the longer Kayda thought.
After a moment, she inhaled sharply, her eyes darting away from Freya's expectant gaze.
"You remember Oliver Wood?"
Freya nodded. "The Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."
"Well," Kayda cleared her throat, "he is...my boyfriend."
Freya froze. She didn't blink for what seemed like an eternity, and not a single word left her lips.
"Frey-?" Kayda prodded at the motionless girl. "Ok, I broke you. I'm gonna go to sleep...uhm, goodnight."
It was silent. Kayda stared at Freya, who was still staring at nothing, before kissing her forehead and laying down and closing her eyes, giggling a little to herself.
"WHAT?!"
─ « ⋅ » ─
Kayda watched as several parents hugged their children goodbye, the biggest ones with crying siblings, the smallest with sobbing parents – she tried not to watch Narcissa and Lucius shower their own kids with affection, that was until she felt Narcissa's hand gently on her shoulder.
"Now, you will look after yourself. Won't you, dear?" She smiled, pulling Kayda suddenly by her shoulders into her chest and easily wrapping her arms around her head as if to protect her.
Kayda froze for a moment, completely unable to move. She felt two cold hands grab her wrists and lift them up to hug Narcissa back. She could hear Narcissa's heartbeat so clearly, feeling it pushing at her head softly. The woman began running her pointed fingers through her dark hair, putting it repeatedly behind her ear even when it was certain not to move.
"And you'll say hi to your father for me too." Narcissa whispered just before leaning back and holding Kayda's face in her hands. Before she could even muster up a response, Narcissa had pressed her lips to her forehead and was gone.
Freya grabbed her hand instantly, her teeth on show as she pulled Kayda up the steps of the Hogwarts Express.
The train was packed. As soon as Kayda had shaken herself out of her trance, she'd grabbed ahold of both Freya and Draco's hands, in an attempt to keep them with her as they navigated the busy carriages. The twins were dragging their cases so loudly behind them that Kayda was struggling to understand their conversation.
"I'm sure Gee's got a compartment, we just have to find her." Freya chuckled, pushing past someone and not bothering to apologise – Kayda did it for her, throwing a quick look at the blonde girl.
"Oh sure– rely on Greengrass to get us seats."
"Shut up, Draco." Freya spat.
Draco ignored his sister. "I don't appreciate being dragged, by the way, Black."
"Shut up, Draco." She replied shortly. Freya laughed rawly in his face.
Kayda wasn't paying much attention to their voices anyway, rather she was looking through each compartment's glass door to try and find even just one of their friends – that was exactly what she did.
A girl with long, untidy light brown hair was desperately attempting to get a suitcase up onto the railing above the seats, a girl with much shorter, black hair was beside her helping. Kayda let go of Draco and Freya's hands and slid the door open quickly, immediately pushing the case up next to Daphne.
The girl gasped loudly the second she saw the larger hands next to her own, her head turned in the same breath. "Kayda!" Daphne squealed, her hands covering her mouth before she wrapped them around Kayda's neck, knocking her balance slightly. "Oh Merlin, I thought you guys would miss the train."
"That's so cute and all–" Pansy started, her voice strained as she and Kayda tried their best to keep the case from crashing onto the floor of the compartment. "But...uhm, a little help-!"
"Daph–" Kayda laughed, the girl instantly put her hands back where they'd been, and together they managed to get the case safely on the rack. "God, you're trying to kill us."
"I would never." Daphne smiled up at Kayda before stepping around her to hug Freya tightly.
Kayda embraced Pansy tightly, muttering 'hello's and 'how are you's with arms wrapped tightly around one another.
With help from the whole group they managed to get the other three cases up onto the rack without much hassle.
"Where's the boys?" Draco asked after they'd all sat down, seeing that he was surrounded by just girls.
Daphne shrugged, "no clue. Haven't seen them, I figured you'd know."
"Well, I don't. Does it look like I know?"
"Shit– Malfoy." Pansy's face scrunched up, looking the blonde boy up and down quickly.
"And why're you in such a foul mood?" Theodore Nott's voice came from the compartment door, his lips curved as he stared down at Draco. "We don't talk to our girls like that."
"About damn time, Nott." Draco glared right back at him, but his eyes shifted – softened.
Freya was on her feet instantly – she ran at Theodore, her arms landing around his neck when she crashed into him. She had to stand on her tip-toes just to get her chin over his shoulder. His face buried itself in her hair as his hands fell gently on her hips.
Draco suddenly coughed loudly, glaring at the boy. Theo's hand's lifted to sit on Freya's waist.
"Theo–" Kayda sang, tilting her head and smiling up at him from where she sat. He kissed the top of Freya's head before stepping out of her embrace and leaning down to wrap one arm around Kayda's back and pressing his cheek against her forehead. She sat up a little straighter to put her own arm around him.
He sat down with a space between himself and Kayda – Freya, without any hesitation at all, laid down in that space with her head on Kayda's crossed legs and her own legs thrown over Theo's. Draco was opposite them in between Daphne and Pansy, who's hand was snaking up his arm slowly, he allowed it – but he was probably too distracted with glaring at Theo, who's own hand lifted off Freya's thigh slowly.
"Black," he tried to ignore Draco, "how you holdin' up?"
Kayda sighed, her head falling back and hitting the wooden board behind her. "I'm fine, so let's not talk about it. Yeah?" She looked around at all of them. Freya stared up at her with sympathy in her eyes, Kayda shook her head down at the girl.
Silence followed.
Theo tutted, sucking in air through his teeth sharply. "Out of all of 'em, who'd have thought Sirius Black would be the one to escape, huh?"
Freya lifted her knee quickly into his face.