Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Let There Be No More Curse	By : lexiatel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 61015 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to Jk Rowling, I do not make any profit in writing this story what so ever, I am just having some fun.

Chapter List
- 46
- 47
AN: The last chapter is here!

The Malfoy men stood alone in silence, sipping their firewhiskey, each lost in thought about the youngest member of their family.
Draco eyes wouldn't move from the floor. He was ashamed, he was embarrassed, but most of all, he was absolutely frightened with the upcoming, unavoidable conversation that he was about to have with his father. He had been hiding this for years, and now the time has come. Draco had no choice but to face it head on.
He wasn't sure what to expect. Yelling? Spewing of demeaning, hateful words? Hexes…? Was Father going to attack him over his daughter being a Squib? If this had been fifteen or twenty years ago, Draco wouldn't second guess the latter, but Father had changed since then, so who knew how he was going to react.
"I have been praying it wouldn't come to this."
Draco tore his eyes up from the red carpeting of the sitting room and looked his father dead in the eye.
I'll hit him, Draco decided, setting his drink down, getting ready to do it. No... I'll kill him if he disowns my princess.
"Come to what, Father?" Draco snarled.
Father turned around and carried his drink over to the sofa to sit down. With a deep sigh, he pressed his fingers to the corners of eyes. This gesture, this expression of pain, puzzled Draco. He relaxed some and waited to see if Father would elaborate.
"Bloody curse," his father chuckled, though no humour was present in his voice. "I thought, since Talitha had Muggle in her that she'd be different."
Draco narrowed his eyes, growing even more confused. "Different?" Wasn't she already different, being a Squib?
"I suppose it was… redundant to hope so," Father said, using one of the words Talli just had moments before. He leaned his head back to look up at the ceiling. "After all, the curse of our bloodline was broken with Scorpius, not with Hermione."
"What in the bloody hell are you talking about?!" Draco demanded. "You're making no sense!"
His father stood back up. Draco could see that the man's eyes were red and puffy. He was fighting not to cry. "It may just be easier to show you, Draco." He equipped himself with his wand, and put his hand on Draco's shoulder, apparating them to a new location. They were now in a large room with shiny, sparkling-clean floors and a high ceiling with several chandeliers.
Draco immensely confused. He would have thought that he was at the Manor, but he knew the home that he had grown up in, and this was not it. It smelled strange.
Pine...?
No, it had too much of a chemical odor to be pine.
"Ah, Master Lucius," a man greeted. "Ariesa has been wondering when you would bless her with another visit!" The man who addressed Father wore a green suit with gold buttons. He slightly bowed at Father who nodded in acknowledgement.
"Good evening, Michaels. And where is Ariesa at the moment?"
"This is her telly hour, but I shall go get her. She will be absolutely ecstatic to know you have come— the usual refreshment, sir?" he asked.
"No thanks, Michaels, I have had my fill for the night, much appreciated though."
Michaels bowed again before turning on his heel and making quick, long strides to announce their arrival to Ariesa.
"Mind explaining to me where we are?" Draco asked, following his father into a foyer with large double-doors that led outside. Draco stopped to look out them, noticing that the entrance (or what looked to be one from the inside of the building) was very Muggle-like. There was a driveway (with a limousine car parked in it) circling around a manicured flower bed. He wasn't unfamiliar with rich Muggles, having seen quite a few films about them. Someone very, very wealthy lived here. And they were not a wizard.
Father had sat down on a bench. He took his time putting his wand away into the inside of his robes. Draco thought that he was deliberately prolonging his explanation.
The younger man clenched his jaw in frustration and bit back an insult that he wanted to hash out. Instead, he forced his breathing to slow and sat down on a bench of his own across from Father.
Eventually, the bloody man would have to explain what he was hiding. Why else had he brought Draco here in the first place?
He said no words, acting as if Draco wasn't even around, and then footsteps could be heard coming toward them, and they both arose from the benches as a woman with wavy, rusty-red hair came into view. Her hair was light and feathery, trailing behind her as she walked.
If Draco hadn't been attached to a love bond with Hermione, he could see himself finding her attractive.
"Lucius!" she graciously greeted, softly wrapping her arms around him into a hug.
Draco lifted his eyebrows, surprised by the scene. Very few people were allowed to hug his father.
"How are you?" Father asked, pulling away, looking her over. "You look well."
"Oh, I'm quite fine." She waved her hand dismissively, catching eye of Draco. "Don't tell me!" She gasped in shock. Her jaw actually dropped, but her lips quickly formed a grin. "Is this Draco?"
"He is," Father answered simply.
"Come along." She gestured them to follow her back to she had came from. "It appears we need to talk, hmm?"
"Indeed we do."
She lead them to an enormous room that had all sorts of Muggle electronics and entertainment devices. She even had a bigger telly screen than Draco had, and he had a decent sized one.
"What on Earth is that?!" Father pointed to a machine that Draco couldn't even begin to describe— other than it looked like a single-person amusement park ride.
"That's my Icaros. It's an exercising machine. It puts you into a virtual reality and makes you feel like you're flying."
"It looks like a torture device to me," Lucius commented with scrutiny.
Ariesa laughed. "Sometimes, after workouts, that is what it feels like. You'll have to try it one time."
"No thank you."
She shrugged. "Your loss. Come sit down, unless you'd rather stand?"
"I think it's best if we sit," Father decided and chose a leather chair.
Draco followed suit when his father looked at him expectantly. Maybe he'd get answers sooner if he remained quiet and non-argumentative.
"So, why have you come, Lucius, and why have you graced me with Draco's presence? After all this time, you were very strict about keeping your family away from me."
Father cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with having to begin his explanation. "Talitha is Squib," he finally said.
Ariesa frowned and leaned back into the sofa she sat in. "But I thought the curse was broken?"
"Evidently not…"
"Oh, that poor dear. Well, Lucius, I'd be happy to home her—"
"Talli is not going anywhere," Draco growled, flying up from his seat, sending a look to his father. "Who is this woman?!" he demanded. "Does she secretly take in Squibs, hiding them away?! Talli is staying right where she is, and if you ruddy don't like it, you can go to hell!"
"Draco, you—" Father attempted to stop him.
"I'm out of here!" Draco headed for the exit. "You're a piece of shite!" he shouted. "I never want to see your face again!"
He got to just the door before he heard his father say something. Draco's blood was pounding wildly
in his ears, so he was certain he had misheard what his father had said.
He didn't know what made him turn around, perhaps it was because he wanted a reason to hex the man, but he did rotate to face the man, and when he did, he saw that his father looked different.
Defeated, yet… relieved.
"What did you say?!"
Father looked him dead in the eye. Without so much as a twitch of a muscle, he said, "Ariesa is my sister, Draco."
*/*
"I told you this would happen." Talli was buried under her blanket, and the door was closed to her room, but she could hear the adults arguing downstairs. Grandfather and Dad had both disappeared earlier after her announcement, and they had just returned only five minutes before when Mum and Grandmother pounced on them for leaving like they had.
Earlier while they were out, Mum had tried talking to Talli, telling her that being Squib wasn't something to be ashamed of, but Talli couldn't stop herself from feeling bad. It was to the point that her stomach was sick.
"Mother and Grandmother are just upset that Father and Grandfather left like they had," Scorpius told her. He was sitting next to Talli for moral support, but not even her brother could change what she felt like.
She felt like an outright failure.
Talli buried her face into her pillow. Her nose burned in pain from trying to fight the urge to cry, and she was losing the battle, and Talli didn't want Scorpius to know that she was about to do it.
"They'll work it all out. I'm sure of it." Talli knew Scorpius so well that she heard the apprehension in his voice.
He was worried just like she was.
The two couldn't make out the words, only the voices, and it was mostly Mum and Grandmother doing the yelling. Occasionally, Dad or Grandfather would interrupt with something, but it was a definite dumb move to do.
"When Mother sounds like that, you're supposed to just hang your head down low," Talli said after they had been listening in silence, and Mum had snapped at Dad with something.
"Yeah," Scorpius agreed. "And Father knows that, he's just not thinking."
"And it's all my fault…!" Talli couldn't hold back any longer. Tears flowed.
"It'll be okay, Tallistar," her brother whispered when he heard her whimper. He lay down next to Talli, patting her back.
"It's quiet now," Scorpius announced a few moments later, pausing from rubbing her back.
Talli loudly sniffed to clear her nose and listened intently. "What do you think's happened?"
"I'm not sure," he said thoughtfully. "I'm afraid to find out."
"Me too."
Neither one moved from the bed, listening closely for the adults to do something.
They jumped when there was a knock on Talli's door. "Princess?"
Talli hastily wiped her eyes and unburied herself from the blanket. She and Scorpius positioned themselves at the edge of the bed, side-by-side.
"Come in, Daddy," she announced, upset that her nose was semi-clogged from crying. He'd surely notice.
"Talli," Daddy addressed softly, almost in a whisper. "Your grandfather is requesting to speak with you."
"Must I?"
"I believe you should."
"Will you be there with me, Daddy?" she asked with a quiver to her lip. "I'm too scared to face him alone…"
"Of course, Princess."
She took her dad's hand and looked back at Scorpius who gave her a tiny smile.
"It'll be okay, Talli," he assured her. She watched him grab ahold of the amulet that he never, ever removed from around his neck.
"Yeah," she said slowly, watching as the stone that was embedded into the amulet glittered with a dim flash of light before the emerald darkened once again. She had never seen it do anything before, even though plenty of people swore often that they had seen it light up.
Talli suddenly believed her brother's words.
The rest of the adults seemed to have vanished. Grandmother must have went home, and Mum may have left to escort Grandmama and Grandpapa home since they had no magic since it would take forever to travel to Australia without it.
In the telly room, where Grandfather was sitting in, facing the door, Daddy released Talli's hand and stood behind her while she looked at her grandfather and waited for him to say something.
"Come here, lemon drop," he said and patted his knee.
Talli ran to him. Surely if he was going to disown her, he wouldn't call her by the nickname he sometimes used for her!
He caught her as she came up and lifted Talli onto his knee, allowing her to hug him. "Grandfather, I didn't—"
"Hush, child, I'm going to speak first, and you will listen, alright?"
Talli nodded her face against his shoulder.
"There is one thing I care about the most, more than anything in the world; do you know what that is?"
"Magic."
"No. It's you. And Scorpius, and your father, and your mother, and your grandmother, and the rest of our family."
Talli removed her head from Grandfather's shoulder. "Do you care about Grandpapa and Grandmama too?"
"I certainly do. They are good people."
"So… You love me even if I can't cast magic then?" Talli asked to be sure that she was understanding what he was saying.
"You being a Squib does not change how I feel about you. You are not a Squib because you have failed your family. You are a Squib because, in a twisted way, your family has failed you. Do you remember the story about Anne Marie Green?"
Talli nodded. "Yes, and Scorpius broke the curse, so he will be blessed with many sons."
"That's correct, but the curse also affected the girls of the Malfoy line and made them all Squibs."
"Oh… I'm cursed then…?" she asked, confused.
"Sadly, yes. I thought it was broken with Scorpius's birth, but apparently I have mistaken."
"Curses can be broken!" Talli insisted. "Maybe I won't be a Squib forever!"
"That's true, Talitha, curses can be broken, but Malfoys for the past few generations have tried to stop the girls from being Squibs, my own sister included."
"You have a sister? And she's a Squib?"
"Yes. I was eight when she was born, and my father sent her away immediately to be raised by my Muggle cousin who was the child of my Squib aunt. He knew that she would be a Squib, and he thought it would be better if everyone believed that she died at birth rather than knowing that the Malfoy bloodline sired Squibs."
"Grandfather, that is terrible!" Talli shrieked. "He should not have done that! What about your mother though? Why didn't she stop him?"
"Mother was sick with grief during that time. Father had both she and I thinking what the rest of the world did: as far as everyone was concerned, Ariesa had died. But I found a letter addressed to my father shortly after his own death, and I read it, learning of the truth and his attempts to create magic for her. I did not get to tell my mother about Ariesa's real fate though, for a Muggle had killed her on a train that very same day I discovered the truth."
Talli saw the hurt in her grandfather's eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that. I never knew your mother was… murdered..."
"Not many do," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "Ariesa was seven by then, and I went to meet her after Mother's death. She was an adorable, little girl, and I learned that my father, as vile as he was for what he had done to his wife and daughter, had given Ariesa an enormous fortune of her own. The only thing she had done without was the Malfoy name, but I believed that Ariesa had a better life than she could have ever had if she instead been raised as a Malfoy."
"Do you ever talk to Ariesa?"
Grandfather smiled and twirled a finger around a strand of Talli's messy hair which had been removed from her braids a while ago. "All the time, lemon drop."
"But I don't have to move too, do I?"
"Never," Daddy said firmly behind her, speaking for the first time since he had gone up to Talli's room to bring her down for Grandfather's talk. "You're stuck here with us, Princess. Magic or no magic."
Talli smiled and leaped off Grandfather's lap to hug her dad. "I love you, Daddy!"
Daddy pulled Talli into his arms, squeezing her tightly. "I love you too, Tallistar."
*/*
"They accepted me!" Talli squealed six months later, tossing her coat onto a hook. "I'm in the dance club!"
"That's great!" Scorpius exclaimed. He had been waiting all day to hear if she had gotten accepted.
Talli now went to a day school for Muggles, having been enrolled since the beginning of the school year. When she decided that she wanted to join the dance club shortly after starting, she spent night and day practicing and practicing for the upcoming test. The dance club only accepted the best thirty-two children in the entire school, so spots were limited.
Blaise Zabini had come over to offer advice and a few lessons to help her. He was a popular music artist now and knew some interesting moves that he promised would 'knock the Muggles off their brooms'.
Of course Talli had to remind him that Muggles didn't use brooms to ride on which only made him shrug.
"I'll have to write Uncle Blaise and tell him!" Talli said, hurrying to Mum's desk and getting the supplies to do it.
"Maybe you can tour with Blaise next year," Daddy joked.
"Nah, I'm not experienced enough, plus his shows never have kids dancing, Daddy!"
"Maybe in ten years then."
"Ten?! I say five, possibly seven! I'm great, Daddy, haven't you seen me?!" To prove it to him, she made a running leap over a large chair that Mum would snuggle up in with a book— when she had time to do it— and landed gracefully on the other side with a dramatic, finishing twirl.
"Very impressive, Tallistar." Daddy applauded. "But let's not use our priceless furniture for dancing props. I'll build a room for you to dance in."
"Yay!" Talli jumped up and down, smiling. The braids of her hair loosened with each bounce.
"The dance club might burn off all her extra energy," Scorpius noted.
Daddy scoffed. "All that practicing she did certainly didn't!"
"Can I go out broom riding now?" she asked when she sent off Daddy's owl to deliver her short letter to Uncle Blaise.
"Of course, but just until dinner."
Talli rolled her eyes. "I know the rules, Daddy!"
Daddy and Scorpius followed her outside. "Maybe it's time for you to get back on a broom," Daddy suggested to Scorpius. He tried to get Scorpius to fly any chance he could get.
Scorpius stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm fine with my feet on the solid ground."
"When was the last time you were on a broom anyway?"
"I was five, and I remember screaming until my throat was hoarse."
"I'm not sure where you get your fear from, son."
"I just don't like it, Father." Scorpius toed the ground, avoiding Daddy's quizzical look.
"Hogwarts is going to make you take flying lessons," Daddy warned him for the thousandth time. "I would very much prefer if you would let me show you a few tips before you go."
Talli saw that her brother was growing uncomfortable by the second, even though their dad was being gentle about it. He really had an issue with heights, and Daddy's pressuring of him to follow family tradition was not a solution.
"Come on, Daddy!" she said to distract him from Scorpius. "Will you fly with me?"
Dad looked between Talli and her brother.
"Go on, Father," Scorpius said, tossing his head toward his sister, seeing his out. "Talli has been cooped up inside a building all day. She'd love to play a game of Catch the Snitch."
Daddy didn't need to be told twice, he conjured up his broom and a Snitch, handing the latter to Scorpius and telling him to wait until he and Talli got into position before releasing it.
*/*
Scorpius waited with Father inside the noisy Muggle school hallway. They and many other people were there to pick up their kids from school who weren't in the transportation program.
A crowd of students hurried toward their awaiting family members, eager for the day to be over with, and as the group thinned, Scorpius saw his sister walking with her head down. Obviously something was wrong with the girl. She was usually full of fun and excitement, always eager to tell everyone what she had done at school each day.
Except for this specific day.
She was sad, and not excited in the least. Talli didn't want talk about it at all.
"What happened, Princess? What's wrong?"
"I don't ever want to come back!" Talli cried, running out of the building.
"Talli, wait!"
Father and Scorpius ran after her, chasing her until she stopped at the steps of a 'safe house' that was nearby for wizards to utilize. The Granger-Malfoys used it for flooing purposes.
Father gripped her by the shoulders, breathing hard. "Don't ever do that again! You could have been hurt!"
"Just take me home!" she pleaded through a sob. "Please, just take me home!"
"Talli, what happened? Why are you so upset?" Scorpius asked.
"Daddy, I want to go home!" She clung onto him, crying.
Father frowned and picked the whimpering Talli up into his arms and stepped into the safe house with Scorpius closely behind. They flooed home, where Talli made a mad dash for her room, slamming the bedroom door when she got into it.
"If she'd just tell me what's wrong, I could help her." Father looked helpless with his hands on his hips.
"Give her some time to think," Scorpius said. "Talli doesn't usually keep her problems to herself."
Father nodded, but Scorpius knew he was still worried, and Scorpius was also.
At dinner, Talli silently picked at her meal, having no appetite. Scorpius was sure that she had set a personal record of not talking. The last he had heard her say anything was back at the safe house.
"Sorry I'm late!" Mother announced, rushing into the room and sitting down at the plate that Toogy had dished for her. "Thanks, Toogy, it looks fantas—" Mother caught sight of Talli, cutting off the word. "Why aren't you eating, baby?"
Talli pushed her plate away and ran out of the room without a word.
Mother tossed a look at Father who shook his head cluelessly. "Something happened at school today, but she refuses to explain what it was."
"She won't even talk to me, Mother," Scorpius informed. "She's really upset."
Mother went to go see if Talli would talk to her instead.
Father let out a breath of air. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this."
"Ready for what?"
"Girly mood swings. Your mother is bad enough."
"You mean those that come with puberty? Isn't Talli just a bit too young for that yet?"
"Puber— How on Earth do you know about—" Father abruptly stopped, holding up his hand and closing in his eyes. "There are some books that are too mature for you, Scorpius."
"In some schools, they teach about puberty to ten-year-olds," Scorpius said. "I'm barely a year from the subject."
"So you can wait that year, perhaps longer."
"Father," Scorpius started seriously, "when I start Hogwarts, I'm sure I'll learn more than what I need to know about it— kids talk, or have you forgotten since you were one?"
Father's face paled. "Um, you know what, I'm not quite hungry anymore…"
Scorpius hid a smile as he watched his father exit the room stiffly. An occasional throat clearing could be heard.
"I guess that means extra dessert for us," Toogy said with a giggle.
Scorpius laughed. "I'll get the dessert plates!"
*/*
"Poor Talli," Hermione came down a while later and sat next to Draco.
He turned off the telly and faced his wife. "She spoke to you? What did she say?"
Hermione bit her lip anxiously. "It's my fault. I knew it would lead up to this eventually…"
"Your fault?" That's preposterous!"
"On the contrary… it's not. Talli's school has a bake sale coming up, and she's been assigned to make a loaf of bread."
"How is that your fault?"
Hermione repositioned herself, putting her head in his lap. She folded up her legs so that they wouldn't hang over the sofa, and then she let out an exhausted sigh. "With my work, I've been awfully busy. Bread takes a while to make, and she knew my schedule doesn't support it."
"Oh… So is that all...? Bread making?"
"What do you mean, 'is that all'!?" Hermione snapped, sitting up. "She was concerned about failing her duty as a student because I'm too busy trying keep peace in the world, and she couldn't have you help her, because you don't cook!"
"Of course I don't cook! Just have Toogy help her!"
"Draco, the assignment was to make it with a parent, not a house-elf!" She stood up to her feet. "Sometimes you're the sweetest man on Earth, but a lot of times, you are incredibly insensitive!"
"Hermione!" He went to stop her from leaving the room. "I didn't mean it like that!"
She spun around to face him. "Help her with the assignment, Draco," Hermione requested with a hushed voice.
"Me?!" he squeaked. "I don't know how to bake bread!" He tried keeping his voice to a low level, not wanting his daughter to hear him. "And Malfoys don't cook!"
"They do now," she announced firmly. "Do you want her to fail and look bad in front of her peers—"
"No, but couldn't you just take a day off?"
"I'm in the middle of something important right now!"
"More important than our daughter?"
"Don't you do that," she hissed, crossing her arms over her chest, tilting her head with an angry gleam shining in her eyes. "You said you could handle the children while I worked—"
"That's before I knew I would have to cook…!"
"It's not going to kill you, Draco! It's very similar to Potions, only easier! You find a recipe and follow it."
"You never follow a recipe!" Draco pointed out.
"But you will because I know how much you love that little girl. You wore pink shoes for her once, you can do this for her too!"
"She doesn't want me to do it, Hermione, she wants you!"
Hermione's lips slowly formed a smirk. Draco had never seen her smile so Slytherin-like… It was actually quite frightening.
"What?! Why are you smiling like that?!"
"Honey," she told him sweetly, her smile growing wider, "you are actually her first choice, but she didn't think you would ever agree to do it."
Draco's mouth clamped shut. His eyes narrowed at the news. Obviously, he wasn't going to win this battle no matter what he chose to do. "Fine!" he grumbled. "I'll help her bake a bloody loaf of bread!"
At least this way, Talli would be happy. His princess was far more important than he was.
He just had to make sure the bread was perfect because he wouldn't be the fault of his daughter failing the assignment.
*/*
"I'm not going to laugh, if that's what you're thinking."
"That's exactly what I'm thinking."
"Well, I'm wounded then."
Draco rolled his eyes at his father's sarcastic reply. "I'm sure you are," he said with the same dry tone Father had used on him. "You're going to stay and watch me foul this up, aren't you?"
Father's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Of course I am. You'll be the first Malfoy to cook since the dawn of time."
"Shut up," Draco grumbled, slipping into a heavier set of robes. It was cold out, and he had to pick Talli up from school.
"Scorpius is in his room," he informed his father since the man was going to stay with him while Draco was out. "He should be just about finished with the schoolwork I gave him. Make sure he gets a snack when he finally emerges, he has been shut up in there since lunch."
"I'm not cooking him anything," Father said teasingly.
"It's a good thing that you're not!"
"What, you think I cannot do it?"
"I foresee you burning the place down before we would ever get to eat anything edible that you could produce!"
Father scoffed. "Oh, please, Draco! Cooking is simple enough. Muggles do it. If they can do it, I certainly can too."
"I bet you a thousand Galleons that you can't do it."
"You honestly believe that I can't?"
"You can barely walk without your wand, Father, much less do something as simple as cook!"
Father stiffened and lifted up a brow. "Is this some scheme to get me to assist you with your promise to your daughter? Perhaps implementing the ability to point fingers should you fail?"
"I am not going to fail Talli," Draco firmly told him. "I don't care if I have to do this night and day until I get it right."
"You are such an amazing father, Draco. I can't say I would have done the same."
"I think you would." Draco tilted his with a smile, giving his father a look over. "Yes," he said after a thought. "If you were the same man back then as you are now…" Draco nodded, trailing off.
"Cooking?" Father asked doubtfully. He shook his head. "I do not think so."
"Not even if your overly-sensitive, non-magical granddaughter asked you to?"
"Don't you even think it, Draco! You better not!"
Now Draco was smirking, and he laughed as he apparated away, knowing that he could get Talli to ask him to join them, and Father wouldn't refuse her request of it.
*/*
Scorpius sat across from his sister, father and grandfather, as they readied to get started on Talli's bread making Muggle assignment. He would laugh if he knew it wouldn't bruise their ego, but Father and Grandfather each wore gloves to keep their hands clean from the upcoming kneading.
"We have to heat the water up to 46.1 degrees to proof the yeast," Talli read from the book that Mother had suggested for her to use.
"It says here that you don't have to proof the yeast," Father argued, reading from the label on the jar of yeast. "It's instant, so no need to go the extra step."
"Mother always proofs the yeast," Scorpius pointed out. "She says it's better to be safe than sorry."
"What could possibly go wrong?"
Grandfather's question was answered a few minutes later.
"Isn't it supposed to be foamy?" Talli asked with a scrunched up nose. She tapped the liquid measuring cup that they had attempted to proof the yeast in.
"Yes," Father answered with a sigh. He scanned the book for any sort of information, but tossed it down after a huff.
"Why isn't it foaming, Daddy?"
"I don't know, princess," he replied with forced calmness.
"I guess you should have waited the extra couple minutes until it was down to 46.1 degrees." Scorpius had advised them to do it at the time, but Father had thought it would be okay.
.
"Your mother said this was easier than Potions, and in Potions, there is a 3.2 degree leanway, I would have thought that 1.6 degrees would have made no difference!"
"When brewing with stickle sap, you must use precise temperatures, so maybe it's the same way with bread yeast," Scorpius pointed out. "You must have deactivated the yeast when the water was too hot."
"Let's try again." Talli took the glass to the sink and disposed of the yeast mess. "And we need to follow the directions this time," she stressed. "We can experiment after we make a loaf that at least the birds would be willing to eat!"
That earned a chuckle before they went back to business. This time, they got the yeast to foam, which made Talli let out a squeal.
"It's really stinky though!"
All went well until Talli burst out in laughter. Everyone had their own dough to knead (Scorpius offered to help, so he had some too), and Grandfather's glove had gotten stuck in the dough, his hand had slipped right out of it.
He laughed. "Examination gloves are not the proper tools to use when kneading bread."
Scorpius smiled and went back to kneading his dough, watching his family. He thought it was really sneaky of Talli on how she got their father to bake bread with her. It was great that Father had gotten her to ask Grandfather too because the elder man was thoroughly enjoying the activity.
Mother and Grandmother were pleased with the turnout. The smell and taste was delicious!
"You all did wonderful!" Mother complimented during dinner with a huge smile. She kissed Talli and Scorpius on their heads and Father on his cheek.
"It's the best bread I have ever had!" Grandmother chimed.
"I'll agree with that," Father said with a grin.
"Everyone at school is going think we're amazing!" Talli said excitedly and took a huge bite from her slice of hot, fresh bread.
"That is because we are amazing, Talitha." Grandfather and Talli exchanged quick winks.
*/*
When Scorpius started his own schooling, Talli cried more than her mother did, which said a lot because Mum nearly wouldn't release him from her hug, but Scorpius was just as upset as the rest of them.
"It's going to be so strange not waking up in my own bed," Scorpius said quietly with his arms wrapped around Mum, matching her tight hold.
"The home will seem empty," Dad added.
Scorpius sniffed and pulled away to smile. "Talli will still be around, Father, it won't be that empty!"
Talli didn't wait for her brother to initiate their goodbye hug. She crashed into him, nearly knocking the wind out of him. She sniffed into his chest, but no matter how hard she tried, the tears flowed.
Until his schooling was finished, she would only get to see Scorpius a few times a year. It was like he was moving away.
He was silent as he hugged her, patting her back. Scorpius hardly cried in front of people, and Talli knew he was fighting it too; he was much stronger than she was.
"I'll write every day," he promised, putting her at arm's length so she could see that he meant it.
"You packed the mirror, right?!" she asked panicstricken, though it wasn't the appropriate time to ask that now since they were miles from home.
"It was the first thing that went into my trunk," Scorpius assured her.
"Good." Her heartbeat slowed down.
"Alright?" Scorpius asked.
"No, but I'll surely live," Talli grumbled, reluctantly stepping back so he could have a private word with Dad.
A few minutes later, Scorpius began pushing his trolley away. Even his companion, Weetoo, had a sad ora to her. Her shoulders were slumped, and she wasn't on her swing where she spent most of her in-cage time.
The home wasn't empty while Scorpius was gone, but it was lonely and quiet. Talli didn't feel like doing anything anymore. She had stopped her silly singing and dropped out of the dancing club too.
Mum and Dad worried about her, but everyone knew that she missed Scorpius too much. She talked to him using the two-way mirror sometimes when he had the time. That was on the weekends, and they would talk for a long while before he had to stop again.
It wasn't enough though.
Mum and Dad sought advice to help her. Some people thought that this separation was good for her and suggested for Talli to sleep over at a friend's house, but it only worked for a short while to distract her.
Uncle Ron voiced that Talli was strange, he said that when his brothers started going to school, it was some of his greatest childhood memories. "Mum never forgot about me then."
Aunt Ginny said that when James left, the house was eerily quiet. "I was constantly expecting to hear a scream, having been so used to it." But as a child, she also felt very lonely when all her brothers had gone to Hogwarts. "That was a long year, I felt completely left out!"
At least Aunt Ginny had Hogwarts to look forward to, and she could eventually go to the same school to see her brothers year around.
Talli didn't have that option.
The Christmas holiday came around though, bringing up Talli's spirit some. She stood in the cold with her family and bounced with excitement.
Talli ran to Scorpius when she seen him at the door of a carriage, and he readied himself, emptying his hands.
"Tallistar!" his whispering voice cracked with emotion. He had missed his sister just as much she had missed him.
"Scorpius! Please don't go back!"
He laughed. "You know I must!"
"Yes, I know… but I was only hoping you would say you wouldn't…!"
He had grown noticeably since he had left, and Mum told him that she would extend his clothing a little in length.
The celebrations were massive that year. They went out and did a lot of things together. They saw numerous of Christmas shows and a Quidditch match. They stayed at both sets of grandparents to visit them and talk about the last few months.
"You look tired," Talli said the morning after Christmas.
"That could be because I am," her brother replied. He hadn't gotten out of bed just yet.
"You're not ill?"
"No," he said, smiling faintly. "I'm only exhausted."
"Shall I leave you to rest?" Talli didn't really want to go, but Scorpius looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"If you wouldn't mind?"
"Sure…" She closed him up and went downstairs to tell her parents that he wanted to sleep in.
Talli's eleventh birthday was a depressing one. Eleven was an important age to turn in the Wizarding world— unless you're a Squib.
Everyone tried to make her feel better, but Talli just couldn't put on a real smile. Scorpius wasn't even there. How could she celebrate without him?
"I'm sorry you're depressed, Talli," Vanity Goyle, ever the quiet, polite girl, said, sitting on Talli's bed. "You got a really nice broom though."
"I haven't been on a broom in weeks."
"Oh…"
"Do you want it?"
"I couldn't take your birthday gift, Talli."
"What does it matter? I'm Squib, eleven means nothing to non-magic people. I wish people would stop trying to make it into something."
"We're just trying to help."
"Did you get your letter, Van?"
Vanity crossed her legs, looking suddenly uncomfortable. "Yeah…" she answered quietly. "Right before we left for here."
"Congratulations," Talli whispered. She was truly alone now. Even Vanity Goyle who was rumored to also be a Squib had gotten a letter to Hogwarts.
"I'm sorry, Talli… I wish you could come with me. We would surely have lots of fun together."
"I wish so too…"
*/*
"Someone is at the Floo, Hermione," Toogy announced. "She asks for you and Master."
"You could have let her in, Toogy, she's probably here to see Talli."
"She is not here for Talli's birthday. She comes from Hogwarts."
"Draco!" Hermione called, hurrying to the floo, concerned that there was something wrong with Scorpius.
"Professor McGonagall, is Scorpius alright?!" she hurled herself to her knees to speak to McGonagall's head-shaped flames.
"Oh, Hermione dear, we can speak about Scorpius later, I just wanted to hand deliver this to you."
An envelope appeared above the flames. Hermione looked at it with interest before grabbing it. Her eyes widened, realizing what it was. "Is this really what I think it is?"
McGonagall's head nodded. The stern woman was smiling as if Gryffindor had just won a Quidditch match.
"But she's never—"
"Hogwarts says so, and that's all we will ever know."
Hermione laughed. She had read the term in Hogwarts, A History but had never heard it said out loud until just now.
Draco came up. "Hello, Professor, is Scorp—" he stopped his question, gawking at the familiar-looking envelope. He stared and stared in utter disbelief until he finally snatched it from his wife and broke the seal to see if it really was what it looked like.
"Draco!" Hermione shrieked, standing up to stop him. "That's not yours!" He spun around to keep Hermione from taking it from him, intently reading it.
"Talli!" he yelled out and actually ran off to show her the letter. "Tallistar! It's here! It's here!" He could be heard as his footsteps traveled up the stairs. "You're not a bloody Squib! You're a witch! Hogwarts says you're a witch!"
Hermione was just as happy, and she gave her former professor a quick thanks before she rushed after him, eager to see her daughter's delightful look of shock.
"There's no way!" Talli insisted. She looked hopeful, but she was determined not to get overexcited. "I haven't done anything magical!"
"You wouldn't have this if you weren't magical," Draco told her, waving it happily. "This is proof! It's better than a birth certificate! Let's go get her a wand!" he said turning to Hermione with shining eyes. Hermione had never seen Draco so proud.
"Can I really?" Talli brightened up at the thought of being able to own a wand.
Hermione smiled and nodded. "Let's go!" She sprinted out of the room with her husband and daughter close behind her.
*/*
The last time Talli had seen so many wands was when Scorpius was shopping for his own. The wand maker knew Scorpius's wand just as soon as he had walked in, and the sale was a quick one; nine and a half inches, stout, beech with a unicorn core.
With Talli, it was a little more time consuming, and as Mr. Loxidan piled up box after box, going through shelf upon shelf, she began to really think that Hogwarts had mistaken, and that she had gotten her hopes up for nothing.
She almost felt like crying, absolutely losing hope. Mr. Loxidan had practically gone through his entire supply of wands, but the kind man assured her that there wasn't a person yet who had walked out of his shop without a wand choosing them.
"Here you go, deary," he said, showing her all his shiny, white teeth in a smile. By the look of his eyes though, she could tell that he was getting a little anxious.
She took the wand he held out for her. Talli closed her eyes, wishing, hoping and praying that the powers above weren't playing some terrible joke on her.
She felt the wand jerk a little and opened her eyes, surprised by the sudden, strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. There was an audible whoosh, like the wind was blowing a slight breeze, and then a red, glittery stream fluttered elegantly out of the wand and circled around her. She felt it catch a few stray strands of her hair, and she scratched at the itch it made against her cheek.
"Ten and three quarters, wispy, black walnut wood, and a hammerkop feather core! What a mix, what a mix! Alas, child, that is your wand!"
She did not understand why the man said it like he had, but Talli wasn't paying too much attention anyway, she was grinning from ear to ear, clutching her brand new wand tightly.
She was truly a witch now…!
Nearly a month later, Talli and her parents once again waited at Platform Nine and Three Quarters for Scorpius. She held her wand in pure anticipation. Scorpius hadn't been told yet because Talli wanted to surprise him. He had known something was up though since her mood had dramatically changed, but no matter how much he tried getting her to tell him, she wouldn't.
She saw him hop off the train, smiling at the sight of his family, but this time, she didn't run up to him like she had on Christmas and Easter breaks and instead made herself stand by her parents until he approached. She rocked on the tips of her toes, just itching to scream it out. Talli was able to constrain herself though.
"Hello, Mother, Father," Scorpius greeted, happy to see them. Mum instantly pulled him into a cramping hug.
"Oh, sweetheart, you look so tired!" she crooned over him.
"Yeah," he chuckled some. "The last couple of weeks were awfully noisy. My housemates party a lot!"
"Look what I got, Scorpius!" Talli exclaimed, unable to keep quiet for any longer. She wiggled her prized possession for him to see.
"Seriously?" he asked, taking a moment to look from her to Mum, and then to Dad. Their unison of nods made him smile. "That's great, Talli!" he cheered, taking her into a hug before they started comparing their wands side-by-side. "You will absolutely love Hogwarts!" he told her. "It's perfect for you!"
"I just can't wait!"
And that was the honest truth. She wondered which house she would get sorted into, and which of her friends would be her housemates. What subjects would she be good at? Would it be Potions like it was with her parents and Scorpius? Which position of Quidditch would she play, and would she end up being a Quidditch captain in her later years?
Well, that was a dream of hers, and now that she was officially a witch, it could be made possible!
She gazed at the patch on her brother's school robes of which he had draped over his arm, frowning at a thought that suddenly came to her:
My brother and I aren't going to be housemates...
Unlike Scorpius, who had no clue where he was going to be sorted when he had first gone to Hogwarts, young Talli Jane Malfoy-Granger knew exactly what she was going to be before ever having to step foot into the school.
She picked up the speed to her steps, having lagged behind her family some after her realization. She took the hands of her parents, gently swaying the link she had made.
Talli decided that she wasn't going to tell anyone what she was thinking and wanted it to be a surprise. Though, they all probably knew which house she'd be sorted into anyway.
END

AN: There is a sequel to this that will follow Scorpius and Talli. It won't really be a Dramione (they will be a side pairing, but hardly mentioned). The sequel is called "Show Me the Way" Do not expect quick updates on this yet, as I'm still writing it. You can find it on A4O under the same penname.
**lets out a whoosh of breath** Wow, it took almost two years to write this. Amazing! Thanks for being here with me on this glorious ride, it was really great! You guys are awesome! See ya on the other side! **salutes**
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