New beginings...where to start..tbd

"Well, it depends on perspective," I pointed out.  "To us, half of what we did we were just being kids... so no biggie, right?  But according to Father, we crossed the line and got in trouble.  So it all depends on how you look at it.  I justify half of what we do by saying that we're just kids."  I flashed her a grin.

I gave a laugh and shook my head, "Draco, we were never kids in Fathers eyes, just...little people he could boss around like he did to adults at work." I looked over at him and sighed, "I mean, you were speaking like an adult when we were six because it was how 'proper wizards spoke and we were proper wizards and witches'." I raised my eyebrow and sighed again. I wished we had gotten to be children, even for a day, but the Malfoy reputation had been implanted in our brains from the time we were born. "We never really had a chance."

I sighed and had to agree with her.  "I think Father just likes the sound of his own voice," I said, chuckling slightly but with little humor.  "That's probably the only reason he bosses us around so much... half the time it makes no sense."  I looked at her.  "One day, we'll get the chance we need, though, to get away from him.  I promise."  I would make that chance if I had to.

I gave a small laugh, "Yes, he does like to hear himself talk." I agreed. He was right though, we were just kids being kids but because he was our Father, we got in trouble for things we sometimes didn't really understand. I smiled up at him, "We will," I agreed agin, "our Happily Ever After." I couldn't wait.

"Exactly," I said, smiling at her.  I felt a little bad about talking about Father like this, but I could not help it.  Sometimes I had to... and there was no way I would speak of him like this to anyone other than my sister.  I was not stupid; I knew word would travel back home and I would be punished for doing so if I said these things in the wrong company.

I gave a little laugh, "At least we have each other we can talk to about this kind of thing. Can you imagine if Father ever heard us." I didn't even want to think about it. The normal punishments probably wouldn't be enough if he ever found out. I shuddered, reminding myself that Father would never find out. Draco and I were good at keeping secrets, we already knew that.

I felt Juniper shudder beside me at the same time I did so.  I could not help but chuckle slightly at our reaction.  "I think that just answered it for us," I said, shaking my head.  "Sometimes I wonder what it's like to not fear one's father... I think things could actually be happy if that were the case."  If only.

I laughed slightly at our reactions with Draco, we were apparently on the same page. "To not fear ones Father, that would be the day." I sighed, knowing that would never happen. We were already in this too deep for that. "The best we can do is walk on egg shells around him which we practically do now anyway."

I nodded.  "Well, at least when we're at school he doesn't have as much of a say," I said.  "And the only good thing about Father is that if something goes wrong for us, he will correct it."  I did enjoy running to him to fix problems with teachers if I had any.  Just wait until my father hears about this... that was one of my favorite things to say.  And it worked.

"That's true," I replied with a nod."You always go to Father because you know he'll fix all your problem. He doesn't care much about mine though." I reminded, "More perks of being the disappointment." I said, my voice full of sarcasm.

"Yeah, but at least you still get the sweets from Mother," I said, trying to lift her spirits a little bit.  Mother always sent goodies to both of us.  At least she tried not to show any favoritism, though it was not like Father appreciated Mother's opinion.

"And they are always nice." I nodded in agreement, "but it's not like she can convince Father to accept me." In truth, I wouldn't really know how to react if he ever did accept me. It would be such a foreign concept to me, at be accepted.

I nodded and shrugged.  "It's nothing special -- Father's acceptance.  If anything it just adds more stress," I told her.  He held me to higher standards than Juniper and that made it quite difficult for me.  Not saying that Juniper had it easy because she did not.  I knew that and she knew that.  I was just attempting to help her see things from a different light.

"I guess that's true." I could only imagine the stress that was on him to be in Father's shadow. It was stressful enough being the disappointment, never know when something would be blamed in you just because. "Truth is, I wouldn't know what to do if Father ever did accept me." I voiced my thoughts from moments ago, "Not that I have to worry about that at all." I gave a smile to my brother, showing him I didn't care what Father thought. For the most part, it was true. There was only the rare time I felt like I would give anything to be a real Malfoy.

I shook my head.  "If the day came for Father to accept you, I'd fear that he was an impostor," I admitted.  It was sad, the entire situation.  I put a hand on her shoulder.  "And it doesn't matter what Father thinks.  You've got me.  And I accept you just the way you are."  I smiled at her.