SOMETHING RIGHT THERE.

[lucius]

With a tired sigh, Lucius climbed the steps that led up to the second level of Flourish and Blotts; compared to places like the Ice Cream Parlour or The Leaky Cauldron, there was a certain silence that came with Flourish and Blotts. Given that the new school books were due to arrive only tomorrow, students and their parents had yet to come and flood this place with their needs. And even if they did, hardly anyone bothered to peruse the second floor - sometimes, the Malfoy heir wondered if anyone actually read anymore. Was it that hard to think that perhaps reading was something that most people required nowadays, and was a skill one simply could not ignore? However, it was because of the quiet that Flourish and Blotts offered, that was why Lucius was even here in the first place. As a Malfoy, it was probably obvious that he had a lot of friends. Or allies, as it was probably more apt to name them. Because of that, one simply could not deny that he was heavily surrounded by people all the time, and peace did not come easily. Or silence, for there was certain to be a person gossiping around him and talking about the latest news in town. While another person might have been interested, Lucius cared not for this information; it might be useful when he was older and had to, ah, persuade people through such means, but at the age of fifteen he was content to not know who was dating who and so on. It was boring, to be honest, and people should have better things to do than to talk about this, should they not?

Running a hand through his blond hair, the Slytherin gave a small stretch as he walked, taking measured steps as he conquered the entire length of the stairway. A small price to pay for the silence that was to come, he mused to himself, and decided that it was worth it. Not often did one get the chance to have peace and quiet, for his own home was flooded with guests of his father's, demanding that they needed a place to talk. Abraxus, being Abraxus, was more than happy to extend the invitation to them, and because of the racous laughter that men tended to have, he could hear the effect of their conversation even from the room. While a silencing spell would have worked to stop the noise, Lucius simply didn't understand why he had to use such a thing in his own home. No, he simply would not accept it; and that was the reason why he had made his way out to Diagon Alley. The schoolbooks came out tomorrow, but Lucius could certainly pre-order them; with the Malfoy wealth, any shopkeeper would be a fool to not promise to deliver them, for losing the patronage of the Malfoy family was something that wouldn't be good at all. Shaking his head as he finally reached the second level, he moved to the well-positioned sofa there, sitting himself (gracefully, to his credit) in it. The position was well, for he was able to observe whatever was going on in the first floor, yet those below could not see him. Leaning against the sofa gratefully, an unexpected sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he closed his eyes.

Man, was he tired. Death Eater training was harder than people thought it was - over the holidays there had been more and more trainings, the Dark Lord having asked one of the more highly noted Death Eaters to train the new recruits. Scars that were in the midst of healing littered his toned body, which was why he opted for long sleeved robes as much as possible at the moment. Topless? You wish, for Lucius simply did not want to put up with the idea of having to suffer any questioning. A small frown pulling at the corner of his lips, the Malfoy crossed his legs, moving to gingerly pick up one of the tomes that were around him. Opening it, he placed it on his lap, his left hand lazily flipping it as he scanned the contents. Lucius Abraxus Malfoy, reading? Why yes, he was actually rather fond of that hobby. Finding the time for it was rare, and to find him even doing it was rarer. But it was an international truth that at the moment, should anyone make their way up to the second level of Flourish and Blotts, they could see Lucius reading. Oddly enough, he looked rather at peace. Queer, indeed.

WORD COUNT! 772
TAG! No one, feel free to join.
NOTES! Lmao, it's somewhat horrible because I was working on nothing. Disturb him, he's reading; he probably forgot to notice you :i

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[LUK HARRISON ANTHONY]

It was too early to be buying school books, but if one place in Diagon Alley promised to be quiet, it was Flourish and Blotts. Part of the reason for the peaceful silence in the books store had to be because it was too early to be buying books for school; no children or rambunctious teenager would be running around the shop begging their parents to buy them things, other than their school books, that they didn't need. Luk honestly couldn't be that critical in that regard because she made her parents buy her things that she probably didn't need, but she sure as Hell wanted. One of the things she did NEED was to get away from her little cousins before their drove her to committing homicide. Most small children didn't like books, so Flourish and Blotts was not only a quiet place to seek sanctuary, the wordy books it contained was a child repellent.

Eariler that day, the second Luk agreed to accompany her aunt and cousins to Diagon Alley, she regretted it. One of Luk's biggest weaknesses was clothing, and if you promised to buy her some, you could get her to do just about anything within reason. Her aunt knew of this of course, so that was how Luk ended up agreeing to such a painstakingly loud and annoying afternoon. It started off with her two little cousins (both boys) telling her how much she looked like a boy. Luk maintained her mentality that you didn't have to be a boy to wear a shirt and tie, especially when that shirt had mid-waist and shoulder darts and French seams and the tie was green and pink striped. Apparently her cousins had to be expects at spotting homosexuals, because that's the only type of boy she would look like.

From there, Luk had to endure ice cream spilled on her at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, exploding snap cards thrown at her in Gambol and Jape's, and having every dress pointed out to her at Madam Malkin's. By mid-afternoon, even Luk herself was shocked that she hadn't killed her cousin's yet. She decided for her sainity and the children's safety, which she didn't care about, but she'd need something to tell her aunt and her parents, she departed for a safe quiet place. That's how she came to be a Flourish and Blotts.

Luk wasn't a bookworm, nor did she dislike the act of reading so she was very indifferent to the contents of the store. Still, since she was there, she might as well take a look around. People wrote books on every topic so she had to be able to find at least one that interested her. After searching the first floor and finding noting but a little less hope in humanity when she saw a book about 100 ways troll boogies could be used for cosmetic purposes, she wondered up to the second floor only to find a familiar face; Lucius Malfoy. Luk smirked; she didn't know if she could consider her and Lucius friends simply because she wasn't entirely sure if Lucius considered anyone a friend. Most girls were captivated by the boy's looks and charm, but not Luk. She was many things, but shallow wasn't one of them. Intelligence and confidence were the things Luk looked for and although Lucius had these things, there were other things about him that she didn't like, though not enough to not be "friends".

Luk went over to the Malfoy. "Studying already, Lucius?" she said with a smirk.

[lucius]

A scowl immediately adorning his face at the sound of another coming up the steps - there as a reason why the stairs weren't carpeted, after all - Lucius raised his head from his book, wondering if it was possible to chase the person away. The silence that this place provided was but rare, and to have yet another of his 'places' interrupted was something that Lucius didn't really want at all. It was annoying to have to go find another one, for hardly would the Malfoy bear having to put up with noise. He was surprised to see that it was Luk who was having to be the target of his scowl, and while it didn't immediately disappear, he eased into a neutral expression. Now, he wasn't entirely sure what sort of relationship he had with Luk. Certainly not the romantic one; Lucius wasn't looking for someone as hard-headed as her. Soft, gentle, most definitely. He couldn't envision Luk as the caring wife, although he did admit that he did see a blond in his future. Ah, but that was another story, and for another time. He wasn't going to start on his ideals for a perfect wife at the moment.

"Do you really think of me as such a studyholic?" he replied in turn, a question instead of an answer to her own. However, it did bear nothing but a question he did want an answer to. Studyholic, him? Lucius couldn't remember when he had ever been like that. Sure, he got excellent grades, and passed splendidly in his classes, but that was because of the prior tutoring he had at home, plus the extra sessions he was given during the holidays in between extra training. With such drills being given to him, it was probably more of a surprise if he didn't pass; not only that, Abraxus expected the best out of his only child, which meant that failure was simply not an option here. He didn't study - he just had a superb memory, at the end of it all. Which was why he was able to regurgitate information eloquently when his professors asked of it, and he surprised them even though he had seemed to be not listening. If only they knew.

With a smirk as she seemed to be perusing books, he raised an eyebrow at her. "I could say the same for you. Looking for books, really? Never thought it possible of you, Luk,"

[/color] he drawled in turn, although he should know better since she was a Ravenclaw. Despite not being a member of his own house, he put up with Luk for the reasons that she was, firstly, a pureblood. Secondly, she had to have some intelligence in order to be sorted into the house of Ravenclaw, after all. Thirdly, and possibly the most important reason, she had issues with the Marauders, and Luk was more than glad to see someone outside his own house having issues with said people. Of all people, he would really like to punch that one Sirius Orion Black - how he was related to Bellatrix he had no idea, but the boy sure had an ego with no looks to boot. Why yes, Lucius thought Sirius wasn't handsome in any way at all. The Malfoy could go on about the many faults that the four of them had, but there was an advantage this year that he had over them, that being that he had been made prefect. The shiny badge was in his house on his table, but it had been delivered it to him all the same.

Oh, how the Malfoy couldn't wait to send them into living hell for crossing him or any other Slytherin. Bella, he was sure, would exact due punishment to them too. The cousin of hers was bound to give him a hell of a time, seeing as she was the other prefect of Slytherin. Cygnus Black had only been too proud to announce it when the Malfoys and the Blacks had met once over the holidays. As the good son, Lucius had smiled and given his congratulations, although he'd rather have Bella tell him directly, since Cygnus seemed intent on getting Bellatrix into his good books. For all it was worth, Lucius hoped that he didn't intend for his oldest daughter to wed the Malfoy heir; as charming company as Bella could be, he also didn't see her as the bride for him. Picky, picky.

WORD COUNT! 757 w/ coding
TAG! LUK
NOTES! Rambling, ahoy!

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[LUK HARRISON ANTHONY]

Luk rolled her eyes; of course she knew Lucius wasn't a studyholic. At school it seemed like studying was just one of those things that was too cool for Lucius Malfoy. It really was remarkable how he was able to get such good grades when so much of his time was dedicated to other activities. Of course, money did buy a lot of things. . . She wouldn't it put it past Malfoys to bribe staff members to keep Lucius marks up. Though, perhaps she was being a little too cynical; she wasn't a heavy studier and she got good marks in school. Luk's curiosity for how Lucius maintained his grades was quickly over shadowed by how much she didn't care. She preferred not to get involved with other people's personal matters. That was part of was set her apart from other girls; she hated gossip. Luk couldn't care less who was dating who or who cheated on who. It was very shallow entertainment. She was far more concerned with her own self. Besides, pondering how someone got good grades had to be the most boring topic ever.

"Well, no more or less than any ordinary student," said Luk flatly. She knew Lucius Malfoy would be annoyed by being considered 'ordinary' in any regard. People like Lucius considered themselves to be rather extraordinary. It was like a cloud of arrogance followed him where ever he went. Luk couldn't say she minded; she was rather conceded to a certain extent and Lucius' pride was fun to poke fun with at times, but she knew where to draw the line between playful teasing and just being annoying. Luk sighed as she invited herself to take the seat next to Lucius on the couch. She planned on staying there as long as she needed to standing just seemed silly and if Lucius was going to offer her a seat, he would have done so already. Any gentleman would have offered her a seat as soon as she got there. Not Lucius. If Luk didn't know Lucius nature so well by now, she may have been offended. On the same token, he had to know her well enough to know she wasn't about to wait for any invitation to join him on the couch.

"If I was really looking for a book I wouldn't have stopped to talk to you," she said with a small smirk, "I'm actually attempting to escape the insufferable pledge that is my younger cousins. Every time I'm forced to spend an afternoon with them, I make it a point to thank my parents for letting me be an only child." Luk hated children and every time she was around her cousins it seemed less and less likely that she would have kids one day. Of course first she'd have to find the right guy and with Luk's high standards, that may take a while.

"Since we've established that you're not the studious type, what compelled you to come here?" Luk asked. "I doubt you'll find a book here that your family doesn't already own, or could just brought to them." She felt like Her circumstances for being there were somewhat out of the ordinary. She couldn't help but ponder what had brought Lucius the store because she was almost certain it wasn't the appeal of the books. As much as she wouldn't ordinarily care about such a thing, even she couldn't help but be mildy curious at times. Maybe he was escaping from something just as she was.

[lucius]

He inclined his head in acceptance of that reply from her, flipping another page as he diverted his gaze away, back to the book at hand. Feeling the sofa sink slightly at an extra weight, Lucius didn't even need to look up to know that Luk had gladly just sat herself beside him. Invitation or not, she would have done so anyway, so his invitation he hadn't bothered to extend would have been simply redundant. Perhaps it was a good thing that he had decided to keep it to himself instead of saying it out. Scanning the page of text he was on, he ran a hand through his hair, not really wanting to make conversation with Luk unless she was insistent on that. He didn't speak unless spoken to, or if he really wanted to say something. But then again, with Luk he had nothing he could actually say, for he was sworn to secrecy about matters that he thought were somewhat interested and possessed great potential to be discussed about in length.

"You wouldn't, really?"

[/color] Here, Lucius doubted greatly, for with his imposing presence and existence arrogance, he couldn't believe that Luk would actually ignore him. Deny as she might, the Malfoy was actually really handsome, was he not? Compared to books, he should be more likable company. At least, to the general superficial population that existed. To his enemies, he knew they would certainly prefer other company. But to people he considered to be on good terms with, surely his presence was much better than the books? And yes, he considered himself on good terms with Luk, no matter what she might think. If he even bothered to talk to you civilly, he probably didn't mind your presence that much, or he put up with you, which was better than nothing. And seeing how he had yet to hex her or anything of that like in order to rid himself of her presence, it probably showed how much he was able to tolerate her.

Raising an eyebrow when she spoke about cousins, he gave a small laugh at that. "You? Babysitting? Were your parents sane when she made this decision?"[/color] His tone full of mirth, Lucius couldn't believe someone actually allowed Luk to babysit. Now that was a horror, in ever sense of that word. Although he didn't fully agree that kids were horrors - he did envision having kids someday - he could practically sense the annoyance from the other. There was an aura, even if Luk was oblivious to it. Nodding when she made that observation about his family, he leaned back into the sofa, pausing momentarily in his reading.

"How astute of you,"[/color] he drawled, the conversation not phasing him slightly even if it was about his family's wealth. "Abraxas is having guests over, and I, being the good son, decided to give them the space that they needed."[/color] That wasn't a lie, but since he had never once invited Luk over to the Malfoy Manor, or she had never seen anything past the ballroom where they had their parties, she probably wouldn't know that they really didn't need him leaving to have their space. But he wasn't going to critique his father's behavior in front of someone he wasn't exclusively close to, so it made sense to just give the best sounding excuse to her. She would accept it, and even if she didn't, he wasn't going to offer another. "Besides, does it surprise you that I might actually like books?"[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[LUK HARRISON ANTHONY]

"Well,maybe I'd give you a quick greeting, but I wouldn't stick around to chat." said Luk offhandedly. In truth, even if she was looking for something, Lucius was a hard person to ignore, a fact that extremely annoyed Luk. Most people Luk was on a casual level with were easy to overpass, but she had to admit something about Lucius did draw her in. It wasn't his good looks, as he probably assumed, it was the fact that he disliked people possibly as much as she did. That was a very hard trait to find in a person, well, in people who weren't in Slytherin anyway. She got along surprisingly well with most of the house. It often made her wonder why she just hadn't been sorted into Slytherin. The only trait she lacked was the fact that she could care less about blood line. She didn't campaign for muggle-born rights, nor did she go out of her way to torment them. She just really didn't car either way and never commented on it; she like to keep her opinion on that to herself. Perhaps that's what kept her from being sorted into Slytherin.

"Well, I've never thought of my parents as completely sane, but it was my aunt's idea for the most part,"she said flatly, "she needed someone to help keep an eye on the little monsters while she did her shopping. In my defense, I was bribed into it, but at certain point, even the promise of buying me clothing isn't enough to compensative for the crap I've been through today." If was well known that Luk loved fashion and clothing. It was one of her very few girlish traits even if her particular brand of fashion wasn't very feminine. She didn't fancy skirts or dresses; she preferred a shirt, tie, and suspenders over a gown any day. Luk even refused to wear the skirt as part of the girl's uniform at school. She wore pants instead.

Luk didn't question the size of Malfoy Manner or the possibly of Lucius simply relocating within it. What the Malfoys didn't inside their home was their business and if Lucius preferred not to be there when it happened, that was his choice. What she did find amusing was how Lucius always referred to his father by his first name. It was one of the many things that made him so interesting to her. She did wonder if he would call his father by his first name around the house. Very few people compelled her curiosity like that. Luk's parents were used to her being sarcastic and cynical because they were very much the same way, but if she called them by their first names, she would certainly be grounded.

"It doesn't surprise me no," said Luk as she herself picked up a near by book and started flipping through the pages. Of course, with her luck she had to pick up a book about magical rashes and boils with moving illustrations. She immediately regretted her decision to pick up a book at random and quickly put it back. "How is it that I manage to find the most vile, disturbing books in this place?" she said more to herself than Lucius. "You obviously aren't running into the books I am or you may not like them as much as you claim."

[LUTHAN AURELIUS TALINTHORPE]

[[ Hope you guys don't mind me butting in so late... ]]

"Wait at Flourish and Blotts. I will join you later."

That had been the entire contents of the simple note that Luthan had found floating in midair when he had woken up. There was no signature, but the flair in the writing indicated that it had been his mother who had left him the message. She liked to dramatise things, even the little things like that. It was coming around to that time of the year again, when the beginning of the school year drew closer, and students were making a mad rush for their supplies from Diagon Alley. For a number of years, the Talinthorpes had been requesting home deliveries of all the supplies, but this year, his mother had suggested, or decided, rather, that they would make the purchases themselves. Luthan didn't mind terribly. Diagon Alley was still, at the very least, a wizarding region, and the Floo network connected the shopping district directly to the fireplace in their living room. If the trip to Diagon Alley had involved mingling with Muggles along the way, then the boy might have been less willing to co-operate.

It was rather troublesome that his mother had neglected to leave a meeting time in the message. Her work at St Mungo's was unpredictable, so she might have factored that in, but nevertheless, to be asked to wait at the bookshop, perhaps for more than an hour, was not something that Luthan particularly wanted to do. Nor could he simply go off on his own, because if there was one thing that Lady Talinthorpe despised more than anything else, it was lateness. Punctuality was an absolute must when dealing with her, and even with her son, she showed no leniency.

The boy made his way up to the second floor, knowing from past experience that it was a place to seek peace. Schoolbooks were always displayed on the first floor, so the annoying brats could get them without disturbing the patrons who wished to spend some time reading. As he sailed down the rows of shelves, quickly skimming the titles on the book spines he passed, he plucked one from the shelf, whose gleaming lettering spelt "Darkness through the ages - Regimes of terror". A bit of a history lesson, and at the same time, perhaps some insight into the minds of some of the greatest Dark Wizards in time. A book selling legitimately like this obviously wouldn't carry any details about Dark Magic, but the historical account could still be quite telling, and Luthan had learnt a few things from studying the actions of Dark Wizards before.

As he made his way to the public reading area, he kept an eyes out for an empty chair, cursing the fact that he was still underage, and unable to perform magic without being reprimanded for it. It wasn't as if he would breach the Statute of Secrecy; he knew enough magic to silence any Muggles who saw him doing something strange.

"You obviously aren't running into the books I am or you may not like them as much as you claim."

The voice sounded familiar. The Slytherin rounded the corner, to find two other blonde-haired students before him. "Why, this is a surprise. Malfoy, Anthony. How are the two of you?" He knew the Malfoy heir well. Lucius was a prefect in the year below him, after all, and it was impossible for Luthan not to know of anyone with blood as pure as the Malfoys. As for Luk, she was someone he only knew at face value, really. He knew that someone who wasn't in Slytherin, she was quite tolerable, and at times displayed many of the traits that he would have expected to find in his own House, but that was about it, really. It wasn't like him to go out of his way to get to know his fellow students from other Houses, especially if they weren't in his own year.

[lucius]

"Forgive me if I deem you foolish for succumbing to such a bribe,"

[/color] he said, although his tone indicated that he was indeed far from apologetic. If she had indeed been silly enough to accept her task on the fact that she would get clothes, Lucius would indeed call her foolish. Certainly she was well acquainted with the town itself to make a trip herself there, for he had not pinned her down as someone who was lazy. At the age of sixteen, surely Floo was not too difficult? Since she was a Pure-blood, exposure to the magical ways of traveling was not limited, unlike those Muggleborns. Yet another reason why he didn't believe in letting Muggleborns enter their world - they were simply too out of place to fit in properly, and he would gladly bet that they would be the ones that would let their secret slip when they returned to the Muggle world, despite the Ministry's obvious try at restricting them from using magic. Silly, as if that would actually work.

He gave a dry laugh as he watched her change of expression as she picked up the book, the timing of it precise such that he had watched the entire exchange when his attention had been briefly diverted from his own book. "I daresay the books must like me," he replied conceitedly, looking not a bit abashed by that explanation that he provided to her. Surely it should make sense. That, or he had the good sense to at least read the book's title before opening it. He knew to stay away from any books that were from Indian Origin, for often enough they contained content that was for more... mature situations. Not in the gory way, but the more graphic and foul way.

It was a pity she didn't share the good sense that he did.

As he awaited a retort that he knew would come from the Ravenclaw, another voice cut into their conversation, and Lucius immediately glanced to the newcomer. "Talinthorpe,"[/color] he greeted in reply, the name familiar to him since it was obvious who it was. Any lesser being would claim ignorance of the man, but given the Malfoys ties with about the entire Pure-blood community, Lucius knew many and seen more. "Fine, as I could possibly be,"[/color] he replied to Luthan's question as to their well-being, propriety calling for such a question at a time when two people meet. He highly doubted that Luthan was actually concerned with his welfare, but nonetheless, he did give a reply.

Silently observing the other, who like Luk, was one year older than him, Lucius wondered what could have possibly called said boy here too. Of course they knew each other - having been made prefect recently, and the fact that they did have connections with each other through familial means, Lucius had no doubt that he would be seeing more and more of the boy throughout the year. If the prefect meetings weren't one, there was always the other. Nodding his head as he flipped yet another page of his book, having finished reading the other - or skimming, if one had to be honest - he took a glance at the page, before looking up again. "Your holidays enjoyable so far then, Talinthorpe? I hear Anthony's hasn't been,"[/color] he drawled, gray eyes giving them the time of the day for only a brief moment before flickering back to his book.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[LUK HARRISON ANTHONY]

"Of course you would," said Luk with a smirk. She knew her decision had, indeed, been mildly foolish, but most didn't realize her relationship with clothing. It was her biggest weakness. When she saw an article of clothing in a shop window she had to have it. Her parents were beginning to consider it an illness, but Luk considered it a hobie and a healthy obsession. She far from expected Lucius to understand. It was really shameless, the things Luk had done in the past to get clothing, including babysitting and cleaning when the house elf was sick. Most of these things, Luk would never admit too, especially when she had such judgmental acquaintances.

"Perhaps you just have better luck at blindly drawing books than I do," said Luk flatly. Apparently she didn't have the same luck in book stores as she had in clothing stores. She began to wonder if the store held any books on fashion. . . If it had books on rashes and boils it had to contain something on wizard fashions. Once she got bored with Lucius, she decided she would go search for such a book. In the mean time she glanced over at the younger boy an mentally analyzed his choice of wardrobe for the day; long sleeve robes. How typical. Well, he was still young yet so she tried not to judge. She'd love to pick out an outfit for him. In fact, she;s love to be able to dress all the boys at her school. Luk was just a little obsessed with how men dressed. Not so much with girls because most of them were a hopeless cause.

Luk was shaken from her thoughts, by the arrival of another Hogwarts student; Luthan Talinthrope. Luk had lessons with Luth, unlike Lucius, because they were in same year, but the was mostly the extent of their interation. Luth was the type of Slytherin who only liked to formally acquiant himself with members of his own house. This didn't bother Luk in the slightest because there wasn't much about the boy that interested her and she had no energy to put toward trying to converse with people like that. However, given the present company, Luk decided it was best to be tolerant with the boy because she knew Lucius would quickly side with his house mate if things got tense.

"I think my summer misfortune are hardly of interest to Mr. Talinthope," said Luk indifferently. Where Lucius may have been mildly interested, Luk knew that Luth could care less about her summer. She wasn't about to waste her breath on someone who would probably ignore her anyway. "but do tell us of you're summer, Luthan." Luk didn't care, but she was at least going to exchange the same mock pleasantries that Luth had started.

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[LUTHAN AURELIUS TALINTHORPE]

The exchange of pleasantries was far from pleasant. Luthan's upbringing had so deeply imprinted upon him the importance of talking about such things, even when they held absolutely no value beyond the superficial appearances that had to be kept up in the upper social circles, such that it was simply a part of him. Those from a similar background found it familiar, some found it out of place, others found it charming. With these two, it was probably a formality that they were well used to. Luthan had little interest in their well-being. It was clear that neither of them were particularly ill, both were holding themselves properly, and when they replied, there wasn't the slightest hint of raspiness in their voices.

"My holidays? Fine I suppose. I cannot say that anything astoundingly noteworthy happened. A handful of social gatherings, most of which you were probably also invited to, although I do not believe I saw you there." Upon finishing his sentence, the boy's hazel eyes studied his junior. The Malfoys had made no comments about their son's absence at the parties, which suggested that they approved of whatever he had been doing over the holidays instead.

Luk's voice seemed bored, was she apprehensive that he had intruded upon their conversation? Luthan's interactions with the Ravenclaw had been few and far between, but he hardly thought that he had given her any reason to dislike him. He didn't ignore her entirely, nor was she one of the people he made life a living hell for. On the other hand, he didn't go out of his way to socialise with her, so that might have caused her apprehension. Annoyance that he didn't pay as much attention to her as he ought to have?

"You'd be surprised, Ms. Anthony," he replied, with a coy smile. While using surnames to address people was a rather common practice, using titles was not, but Luthan mimicked her address to him, lest she feel left out. "I may not give the impression, and hard as it may be to believe, but there are indeed things in this world which interest me. Misfortunes in particular can be rather intriguing." He didn't mean to mock her in any way. In fact, it was something of a compliment, although you would have to dig hard and deep to find the positive note in a comment like that. Simply the fact that Luthan was mildly interested in her misfortunes meant that she was someone he recognised as a person worth listening to, for something. There were people whose misfortunes, no matter how tragic or painful the consequences, he wouldn't have bothered to listen to.

[lucius]

"It's not perhaps, Anthony, it's definitely. It's a fact, of course,"

[/color] he said confidently, the trace of arrogance appearing once again as he flipped yet another page, not caring to close it in favour of sustaining conversation. Conversation would go on with or without him - it was but a matter of what conversation he thought interesting enough to put in his own two cents. That then was real conversation; anything else was but mindless chatter and prattling. He was important to make or break a conversation's status, really. Rubbing the bottom of his lip, he shook his head, determined not to let himself slip into some sort of state where he would drift between thoughts and the real world. To be caught off guard and not listening would deem him rude, not that he would care - but if vital information let slip he would have missed his chance to learn of it.

He closed his eyes, he tilted his head back as Luthan saw fit to share his experience from the holidays with them. At the part where Lucius' absence had been noted, Lucius simply tilted his head, fixing his cold grey stare towards Luthan. "It would do you great good if you did not try to find out where I was. If I was not there, it merely meant that I had been summoned into one of the inner rooms for a good round of discussion with the elders. I believe some of the elders of the family were missing, too? It's part of my preparation to take over the Malfoy household, of course. Besides, those balls were not important. I was at the one of the Blacks, by request."[/color] He had only gone for that one because his father had insisted on maintaining ties with one of the oldest families in the world, the need to be Pure-blooded even included in their crest. While reluctant to go for it, the idea of seeing Bellatrix gave him the idea that she would be tolerable company. The idea that he would be able to see Narcissa Black, the famed little sister of Bellatrix was even more enchanting. Unfortunately, while the former had been fulfilled, the latter had sadly not been. He had caught not one glance of Narcissa Black, pity.

The middle Black sister had been duly ignored by him.

His gaze swiveled between the two, although he let it linger longer on Luthan as he talked, for Luk had not seen fit to provide any interesting conversation thus yet. Would she see it fit to repeat the reason why she was out here? Giving a wave of his hand as he gestured for Luk to just repeat the reason why she was out here, it seemed for a moment that Lucius was in charge. often enough he didn't seem to be younger than them, merely because blood status wise he was perhaps at the highest. A feared surname that he bore, it was no wonder that he was efficient at using it to his greatest advantage. Ever since first year he had not been rudely treated for fear of the consequences, and was one of the few first years who escaped bullying. Older years knew better than to even touch Bellatrix Black, and when Narcissa came along, her sister had made sure anyone who dared to do anything to her would suffer even more. Blood purity and money did make the world go round, after all, and Lucius was living proof of that. With a lazy smile on his face, he drawled, "Do tell him, Luk. I'm afraid Luthan here might just die of curiosity."[/color] The teasing evident, he didn't continue from here.

Crossing his legs once again as he flipped yet another page, he paused mid-sentence as a thought crossed his mind. Glancing up as he met the other two's gaze, he inquired, "I do wonder. Did anyone of you have the misfortune of meeting Sirius Black and his gang of prats this summer? I know the Black skipped out on a few of the parties, Lady Walburga having indulged me in this, and I quote, "most pitiful fact" indeed. What were they up to, hmm?"[/color] Raising an eyebrow as he waited for a response, he blinked once, hinting that they should speak at will.[/blockquote][/size]

[LUK HARRISON ANTHONY]

Just as Luk had expected, Luthan went on about the 'social gatherings' he had attended over the summer. Luk didn't understand why this was meant to sound impressive; she'd been to a number herself, even ones hosted by the minister, and she's been bored out of her mind. The only thing mildly entertaining about them was making fun of the Minister's wife's wardrobe; the woman had the fashion sense of a blind, retarded troll. On one occasion the woman wore bright orange robes with green jewels. She looked like a bloody pumpkin! Luk nearly vomited from the grossness of it all.

What was mildly interesting to Luk was Lucius' insistent that Luthan not bother to find out why he had missed said events. The way Lucius had said drew more attention to the fact than he probably meant to. Had Luk been more curious a person, she might have wanted to investigate the matter further, but she was not. She understood why someone would want to miss such events and Lucius wording was probably meant to make his reasoning sound more impressive. Most Slytherins were show offs in their own sly way.

Luk saw Lucius small hand jester as almost a form of command to tell her to speak. She hated being told what to do, especially by someone younger than her, and she hated such gestures, even ones as simple as that. It didn't rank among the more annoying jesters like tapping her shoulder for attention or snapping a finger at her. Those events don't end well for the person foolish enough to preform the jester. In Lucius' case, the nonverbal command was mildly tolerable, but Luk still gave him a sharp glare as a warning not to do it again. Still, she decided to go on and tell Luth or her misfortunes because she was really too lazy to put any energy toward a confrontation. That, and Lucius' words did get a small smirk out of her because she doubted very much that Luthan would not be able to get through the rest of his day without hearing her story.

"Well," she began with a tired sigh, "my aunt bribed me into helping her watch over her children while she did some shopping. The action ended up not being worth the bribe so I escaped and here I am." She said it rather quickly with a very bored tone; she hated repeating herself even when someone wasn't around to hear her story the first time. She wasn't one of those types of people who enjoyed telling a story over and over again every time she ran into someone who hadn't hear it before. Those type of people were attention whores in Luk's opinion.

Luk rolled her eyes and made a disgusted sound at the mention of Sirius Black and his friends. "God help you if any of you did have to run into them," said Luk, "fortunately, I didn't, though I suppose you two are a bit more likely to run into Black seeing as his family is a part of your social circles. At least in those cases your wouldn't have to deal with the other three, but I daresay Sirius is enough to get the blood boiling." Luk, unlike so many other girls at Hogwarts, was not a fan of Sirius Black. She also was one of the very few girls out side of Slytherin that Black didn't flirt with on a regular basis and Luk was almost certain this was because Black thought she was a boy. Not having shameless advances made on her by Sirius Black was one of the very few advantages of her androgynous appearance. She wasn't quite fond of the other three either; Potter was a show off and a twit, Lupin, though quiet, had a very sickly and awkward air about him that Luk couldn't stand, and Pettigrew was fat. Enough said.

[LUTHAN AURELIUS TALINTHORPE]

Well, well, well. Apparently the summer activities of one Lucius Malfoy were a touchy subject. Luthan could not remember having touched a nerve of his junior before, but there was a first time for everything, it seemed. "As you wish, I won't inquire further," replied Luthan, silkily, without any intention of keeping his word at all. Pass up on something that intrigued him so much? Not a chance in hell. Luthan delighted in probing into the inner workings of others, finding out what made them tick, and then finding ways to use that to his advantage and for his amusement. And at least, it seemed he'd found a foothold for young Master Malfoy, a place to begin his probing. The younger Slytherin had carried himself with the almost the same degree of caution that Luthan had for the past five years, and finding a chink to begin picking at was a difficult task. That wasn't to say that Luthan expected to disintegrate Lucius. It just gave him something to set his mind on, and he was always in need of the enrichment that the trivialities of lessons at Hogwarts could not provide.

"Well, my aunt bribed me into helping her watch over her children while she did some shopping. The action ended up not being worth the bribe so I escaped and here I am."

Luthan gave a sweeping bow. "Why, thank you, Anthony. I do believe you have saved me from the untimely death that Malfoy predicted." He straightened up again, smirking, as only a true Slytherin knew how. "I'm sure the young ones are no worse off now than they were before." A normal person might have interpreted that as an insult, but Luthan doubted the girl would take any large amount of offence to it. From what he could see, she was unlikely to take the things he said all too seriously anyway. Even if they were absolutely true. Luk certainly didn't strike him as the type of person to be friendly with children, nor did she seem to be someone that children would be particularly warm to. It was rather like cuddling up with a cactus.

At the mention of the idiotic Gryffindors who held the admiration of the majority of the equally dim-witted members of their house, Luthan could not help but smile. "I very much doubt that those idiots would keep the same company as we do. The only exception is Black, and as you have reported, he is unlikely to enter our territory. As to what they might have been up to, I make it a habit not to delve into the minds of fools, so I would not know. If I were to hazard a guess, I would assume it was something foolhardy, ill-thought out, undignified and disapproved of by Lady Walburga." It was all they ever did, really.

[lucius]

He gave a shrug of the shoulders, this small gesture meaning that the conversation about his whereabouts was thereby not to be talked about anymore. Knowing fully well that Luk did hate the fact that he used gestures to convey whatever he wanted to say - and that his gestures were rather condescending - he decided to change the topic, for this was unpleasant in its own ways. Lucius knew he had let something slip - it had been his intention, really. If there was a fault that the Malfoy just had to have, it would be his damn pride. And hell, Lucius was rather proud of the fact that he was part of a powerful army, or he was soon to be. He was only in training, so far, because his age didn't comply with the requirements. And while he couldn't talk about it, subtle hints were more than welcome. Both Luk and Luthan were more than eligible to be part of it, for only the purest of bloods were allowed into it. Half-bloods and Muggle-borns, float left please. To hint about it seemed but appropriate. To keep it under wraps seemed but a huge pity, or so the Malfoy thought. But more importantly, everyone had to know that Lucius was part of an important group, and it was probably not wise to cross him.

He gave a small laugh at the look that Luk sent his way, although he did make good note on her reservations towards such condescending behavior from him. Alright, he would not do it again. If he bothered to remember. Which was highly unlikely, but the Malfoy was admitting nothing. Lucius, however, did give a patient look as Luk talked about her summer, and watched as Luthan said that the children wouldn't be worse off. He nodded, voicing his own opinion out. "I believe I questioned her aunt's sanity," and that was true. He still didn't believe that her mother and aunt would believe that Luk would serve as a proper guardian. She wasn't the type to take care of younger children, and he didn't think many did. The only one he knew that had a great protective sense over her siblings would be Bellatrix, but Bellatrix was a work of art herself. There were many things Lucius didn't understand about his fellow prefect, nor was he willing to find out, for fear of the repercussions. But there was no denying that the eldest Black was very protective of her younger sisters, the youngest especially. It was probably the reason why Lucius had yet to properly approach Narcissa, but that was a story for another time.

He gave yet another laugh as he listened to Luk's reaction about Sirius Black. He had to hand it to her, for if there was one thing that Luk had, it was her indifference towards the charms that the prat displayed. He was also rather appreciative of such a quality, and that was why he talked to her. One of the reasons. Running a hand through his hair again as he took yet another moment to listen to Luthan's reply about what he thought of the Marauder. "Well, I'm more than glad that you all share similar opinions, for once. I'm only glad that Dumbledore wasn't foolish enough to appoint either him or that Potter as Prefect. Lupin, although not much better, is but a good choice." At this point, he turned his head towards Luthan, and remarked to him, "I believe we'll be seeing much more of him this year." If his tone didn't reveal enough, his personality might show his disgust towards the other fifth year Gryffindor. His house warranted enough dislike on Lucius' part, and he wasn't looking forward to having to keep meeting him. It would take some self-restraint to prevent hexing on his part towards the other.

Maybe, if he was in luck, he could focus on hexing the eldest Black son instead. Sirius would be more outright with his response and returning in hexes, and was more than likely to earn himself demerits and loss of house points. Perhaps this would work out in the end. After all, Lucius was always the manipulative one. To structure it so that Sirius Black would be vital for Slytherin's win that year... it was simple enough.

[LUK HARRISON ANTHONY]

EvenLuk didn't believe Luthan's promise to Lucius. The boy wasn't about to let something like that go so easily. Luk couldn't see what was so bloody captivating about the younger boy missing a few parties. Then again, Luk wasn't as familiar with the etiquette in the other's social circles or, perhaps, if missing a social event was unusual for Lucius. Either way, Luk still wasn't about to put energy toward solving this mystery. Though, it would be interesting if Luthan's persistence cause some type of conflict between the two boys. Perhaps Luk would will have to make herself familiar with an inquiries that Luthan may make.

The boys each had their own little comments in regard to her story, neither comment was unexpected. "Well, in that case I wish I would have kept my mouth shut," said Luk lightly with a mock smile. She was only teasing, of course, in retaliation for the sarcasm thrown her way by both boys. She didn't mind the teasing, but they had to expect to get as much from her. At this point, it had to be expected from all parties involved and rarely was offense taken. That was part of why she enjoyed being around slytherins; they shook off nasty comments and expected them in return. Aside from that comment, Luk was done with discussing her reasons for being there. For something that considered so insignificant by the others, her little story had remanded a key topic of conversation. Even she thought it was boring to talk about.

"Lupin is a prefect?" said Luk with disgust, "if that's Dumbledore's attempt at taking some control over Black and his stooges than it sure is a pathetic one. But, I must say, it's not as if Dumbledore had many options with the fifth year Gryffindor boys. I suppose Lupin is the most tolerable out of the lot of them if he had to pick one." Out of the four morons, Lupin probably was the only one Luk could see being a prefect. He did seem to be the one to be dragged along against his better judgment. Still, he was one of them and he was a bit of a prat. It would be interesting to see hold Lucius handled having Lupin as a fellow prefect.

"Lucius, since you brought them up, do you have some sort of strong vendetta against them?" Luk asked slyly with a smirk, "Obviously they have to bother you enough to where you feel the need to bring them up in conversation." There were plenty of people Luk disliked, including the four Gryffindor fifth years, but not enough to put forth the energy to bring them up in conversation. Luk couldn't help, but be a little curious in this regard, after all, it couldn't evolve into a heavy conflict that even she couldn't ignore. Yes. the mundane gossip of who is dating who was boring to her, but a straight up battle between two boys at school could be interesting. And Luk was sure it wouldn't take much provoking of either party to get it started. As shameful as it was, on occasion, Luk did enjoy creating conflicts between people when she was bored. At one point, Luk had all the other girls in her dormitory at each others throats simply because she had had a boring week. On the same token, she was able to resolve such conflicts with her forceful verbal skills. However, whatever was between Lucius and the Gryffindors was nothing Luk would ever be able to solve with words, nor would she want to.