Letter and Ball

She just continued staring at the legendary seal on the letter that every child who has read those famous books wishes to receive. But here it was. They were both unable to look away from it, scared that it would disappear.

Of course they were expecting it. After all, Alpheus had received his two years ago. But still, it was very shocking.

It had been three years since they had died, or to put it more politely, had come to this world.

Two years ago, Sierra had performed her first accidental magic. And as she had gotten the opportunity to experience it, she was able to focus on that feeling of using magic easily.

A year later, she had succeeded in moving a ball with the help of magic.

Sten had succeeded in performing magic a few months before Sia's accidental magic. After that, it did not take him long to get the hang of it, though it was very taxing.

Soon he was going to start his occlumency tutoring.

Sam had also performed his first accidental magic a few months after he turned five. Now he was trying to use it consciously.

Al had mastered occlumency quite fast and, getting the hang of magic was also not very hard for him. By the time he had received his letter two years ago, he was already able to use his magic quite freely. He had just needed more practice.

And lastly, Karalyn, she was always a quick learner. She had mastered occlumency a few months after Al and had started getting the hang of magic about a year ago. She spent most of her time reading about different fields of magic saying that she found them facinating.

In those three years, they had all come to accept the wizarding world and magic. They had stopped being surprised by small things.

"Michael, are you free on Sunday, darling? Girls, what do you say we can go to Diagon Alley on Sunday?" Vallerie asked.

"I'm free this Sunday, we can go to Diagon Alley in the morning. Don't forget the Malfoy's are having a ball this evening. " their dad reminded.

The sisters groaned in synchronization, and their dad grinned.

They had never been much interested in social events, they were not social animals. After attending the ball in their first year, they had already given up on that tiring task.

But after lots of threats and bribes, their mother was finally able to get them to go to this ball.

'Well, whatever. It won't be too hard.'

___

"Ladies, we are going to be late if this continues." Michael shouted from downstairs for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Yes, we'll be down in a minute." and Vallerie answered for what felt like the hundred and first time.

For the last hour, their mom had been trying to arrange every single hair in its proper place in Kar's 'messy' bun. Though it was very hard as she wasn't exactly cooperating.

Till then Sierra had been waiting because their mom had wanted all of them to go down together. She was trying her best to prevent her dress from wrinkling. Though she doubted if was succeeding.

After what felt like a century, the three went down.

And as soon as their dad saw their mom, he grinned.

"You look, beautiful darling." He said with a charming smile.

But soon that smile fell when he noticed the sisters standing behind her. The speed at which his expression changed was very amusing.

"Valerie, I like my daughters more in jeans." He commented.

"Dad, do we not look good?" Sia pouted.

"No, no dear, you look stunning. I promise." He hastily replied.

And she grinned. Of course, they do. Dare he say something different.

He had always been like that. When her sister had worn a saree for the first time just for fun, he had not liked it at all. Something about how - these things made him feel that his daughters had all grown up. And how it made him realize that a day will come when his little princesses would be stolen away by some strangers.

He was very different from other dads who would usually feel happy that their daughters were finding a life partner and settling down.

He had always taught his daughters to be independent and to never let anyone decide their life. Both Kar and Sia were daddy's girls, and he was totally his daughters' hero.

Sierra went and hugged him, "Dad, we are going to be late. " He smiled.

"Shall we? " He asked their mom, giving her his elbow.

"Follow right behind us, girls." Valerie told her daughters before taking his hand.

Soon they had disappeared in the fireplace.

Karalyn and Sierra followed right behind them.

"Malfoy Manor," they said together.

The known yet unfamiliar feeling came over them, and the next second they were stepping out of the fireplace into an elegant room.

The room was dripping with luxury, every single item worth a fortune.

It was mostly in tones of green. And though Sia didn't usually like shades of green, the way the room was artistically decorated, even she could not deny that it was beautiful.

It had this mysterious, dark feeling to it.

In a while a young house elf came to greet them and show them to the ballroom.

He had big green eyes, and the girls soon recognized him as Dobby.

That's it. That was enough to awaken the fangirl inside them.

Hah, but they had to control it.

He leads the family to a magnificent ballroom. There were already many guests present. All dressed to flaunt, in luxurious clothes.

When the four entered the room, and a couple comes to greet them. A man with platinum blond hair accompanied by a blond woman.

The man was handsome, though not like a manly man. He looked more elegant, like a peacock.

The woman was also a beauty, and though she looked cold, there was a hidden warmth in her eyes.

Together they were a picturesque couple. Perfectly complementing each other.

"Welcome to the Malfoy manor, Mr. and Mrs. White. It's a pleasure that you were able to come." Narcissa said. Her voice cold and clear.

"And these must be the young ladies of the White family here." She continued

"Yes, these are my daughters Karalyn and Sierra." Valarie introduced her daughters with pride.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy." Kar and Sia also greeted the couple politely.

She nodded at them.

"I hope you enjoy today's party," with that Narcissa smiled and left.

It did not take long for the parents to be pulled away from the girls by their friends.

Having nothing better to do, they looked around the hall, trying to see if either Al, Sten, or Sam were there yet. But as always, they were the first to arrive.

In such situations, Kar and Sia would usually go to a corner and talk amongst themselves or just sit comfortably in silence.

It was just their thing. The sisters would just sit in a room comfortably, busy in their own worlds, thinking about different things. And people would wonder if they had a fight or something.

They had this bond that both of them were very grateful for.

But today was different. Today they could not do that as their mom had given them a firm warning. If they were to sit in a corner and not socialize with others at this party, she had decided to stop their occlumency lessons for a month.

And for them, that was a scary threat. Enough for Sierra to pull a reluctant Kar across the hall to a group of snobby rich kids around their age. A typical example of a group they would avoid from meters away. But here they were.

Few of the kids noticed their presence and greeted us. The girls too smiled at them though neither of the two (Kar and Sia) knew who the kids were. And honestly speaking, they had just never bothered.

On reaching there, Sierra noticed that two boys were fighting over at a table in the centre. And all the kids were enjoying the show, giggling, laughing, and cheering.

'They really were kids.'

Seeing the scene, Sia spoke amusedly," So childish."

"So childish."

"So childish."

She heard a snort from her right, where Karalyn was present. And a drawl from her left, where she just noticed stood two boys. One with platinum blond hair and beautiful blue-grey eyes, the other with dark hair and steel grey eys. They were around 8 years old.

Sierra stared at the blonde for a while. Observing. It did not take her long to attach a name to that face.

Draco Malfoy.

A really confusing character.

People had always had different opinions about him. Some looked at him as a victim, while others as an arrogant, spoiled rich kid.

Sia too was never able to form a clear opinion about him. At the starting of the book series, she had always found him very annoying. Though by the end of it, he just seemed like a child who was scared and alone.

It can be said that he idealized his father a lot when he was a kid and wanted to be just like him. But as he grew up, he understood that his father was not the perfect man he saw and knew.

But isn't that the case with many people? How can it justify his actions?

Sia had read a book a few years before dying. In that, there was a little boy who grew up with his elder brother and mother. His father had abandoned them. He always looked up to his brother as someone perfect. He wanted to be just like him, take all his qualities. Whether they be bad or good, he did not care.

But as he grew up and understood how many mistakes his brother had made and how wrong he was sometimes, he started having second thoughts. It did not mean he stopped loving his brother. His brother was still the most important person to him, someone he would give his life for. Just that he did not want to be like him anymore.

And at that time, he used to be very confused. Conflicted and scared.

Sia always thought Draco was like that little boy.

Sierra turned to Karalyn. And she could see it in her eyes that Kar had also recognized the blonde boy.

Though they both were equally unaware of the other boy's identity.

All four of the kids stared at each other surprised as well as amused.

" Draco Malfoy." The blonde nodded at them.

" Karalyn White." " Sierra White." They too introduced themselves politely.

After that all three of them turned to the fourth boy. He had not spoken a single word till now. He was very quiet and showed no expression.

After few seconds of staring back at us, he sighed.

"Theodore Nott"

Hearing this Draco smirked victoriously.

Well, this is getting interesting.

'Guess tonight won't be that boring.'

_____