When Malia Burke looks at people in the eyes, she hears the name of the person that means the most to them. She's gotten used to having to hear stranger's names everytime she meets someone new. What she didn't expect was looking into someone's eyes...
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Malia Burke's expensive shoes made loud clicking sounds as she walked across the marble floor of the kitchen. She wasn't leaving for the station for another hour but she was packed, dressed and ready in anticipation to leave her house for another beautiful year. She poured herself a glass of water and leant against the kitchen counter, her electric blue eyes staring at the hands on the clock, willing for it to tick just that little bit faster.
"Stop lounging against the counter, Malia. Stand up straight." her father's piercing voice rang through the room, bouncing off the stone surfaces and giving Malia goosebumps from every angle. He stood in the centre of the room and looked down at his eldest daughter, his piercing stare daring her to look away. Perseus Burke was not the sort of man you wished to be on the wrong side of. Even to his wife and children he was chilling and never seemed particularly interested in them or their lives. Unless of course an aspect perturbed him such as displeasing friendships and opposing beliefs to his own. He worked in a very high position in the Ministry and demanded respect from absolutely everyone he came across - he got it.
"Yes, Father." Malia responded monotonously as she pushed her shoulders back, her nose instinctively going in the air so she was painted the picture of the perfect Pureblood child. She played the part rather well. She walked with the aristocratic air that every member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight seemed to inherit, she could make a grown man wimper with one glare and she could fool all of the other blood-supremacist wanker-filled families that she attended dinner parties with into thinking that she shared the same beliefs as them. In reality: one of her best friends was a muggleborn; her Hogwarts tie was blue, not green; and the people that she considered her surrogate family- the Potters - were well-known 'blood-traitors'. Malia was good at hiding her feelings. She had an impenetrable mask on her face that didn't betray much about what she was thinking. She was told she seemed permanently calm but she knew it was just a nice way of saying it didn't look like she had any emotions at all. She only let people see what she wanted them to see. She had a different face depending on who she was with. And with her father, her face rarely moved at all. Malia's father knew that she would never follow in his footsteps to support the Dark Lord but he seemed oddly unphased with it, as long as she kept her thoughts and opinions to herself. Which she did because she was not stupid, nor was she Sirius Black.
Malia had known Sirius since before she could talk because of all the Sacred Twenty-Eight balls she was forced to attend. They had found sanity in the twat-decorated mansions as soon as they discovered each other and had formed a pact to stick together. What Malia didn't know was when her neighbour and best friend, James Potter, went to Hogwarts a year before her, he would meet Sirius Black and they would hit it off straight away. Malia wasn't surprised when she heard the news. She always thought the boys would get along. It also meant that she'd have two people to hang out with as soon as she got to Hogwarts which was not a bad thing. Well, technically she's have three because she knew Sirius' brother Regulus but she wasn't sure he'd really count. At every single party, whilst Sirius used to gravitate directly to Malia and spend the whole night with her, Regulus would stay behind with his parents, sending his brother furtive glances and looking very unimpressed with the whole thing. Malia didn't hold it against him, Sirius did enjoy making a scene, but she figured the brothers would be at least slightly similar. They didn't seem to get along like she did with her sister. Raya was three years her minor but the pair were as close as sisters could be. Raya was slightly more excitable than Malia and would more often than not have a smile on her face. Other than the difference in expressions, the sisters looked exactly the same. They shared the same straight, dark hair that fell to their ribs. They had identical sets of piercing blue eyes and they both had the bone structure of goddesses. As soon as Raya grew a few inches they would be practically impossible to tell apart. Raya didn't mind though. She idolised her older sister, she would often find herself questioning her father's beliefs just like Malia did, though she never told anyone. She had a soft spot for her father, as he did for her, and she would never dare oppose him. She was nothing like Sirius.
As the years went on, Malia noticed Sirius rebelling more and more against his parents. She also noticed that something inside him had changed. The thing was about Malia, whilst being gifted with beauty, intelligence and a general sense of morality, she was also given one more thing...an ability if you will. Since Malia was a child, she had been adept at a very rare type of Legilimency, so rare that it had never been heard of before. When Malia looked into someone's eyes, she heard the name of the person that meant the most to them. Sometimes it was more than one name, sometimes the name changed, but she always heard it. For eleven years, when Malia looked Sirius Black in his enchanting, grey eyes, she had always heard the name Regulus. That was until Sirius came back from his first year at Hogwarts. The name Malia heard had changed to James. It was then that the girl feared for Sirius' home life. He had been sorted into Gryffindor and he was becoming more and more outspoken about his beliefs. Malia knew pureblood families, and she knew that Sirius' behaviour was not tolerated.
That was why she held her tongue. She was not a Gryffindor. She wasn't courageous and loyal, she had a sharp wit and thought logically. Her Ravenclaw traits kept her from speaking up and being beaten every time her father said...well...anything. Not that her mother would have really let him hurt her. Portia Burke was nothing like her husband. She was kind-hearted and loving and never thought ill upon anyone because of their blood status. Why she married Perseus, Malia had no clue, but she was thankful that she had her mother at home to keep things civil. Portia was the one that introduced her to James. When the family moved into their house when Malia was one year old, Portia had become extremely close friends with Euphemia Potter who lived across the road with her two-year old son. Malia knew her father didn't approve of the Potters. Despite never outright saying it, he had never spoken a word to either Euphemia or her husband Fleamont so Malia knew not to bring them up in front of him. But their house was the one she would go to whenever she wanted to escape, which happened to be rather often. But the family were always happy to see her.
Her only other escape from her father was Hogwarts. That's why Malia was so impatient when it came to going back to school. She was frightfully excited, not that she showed it, and could hardly wait for the Potters to knock on their door so they could take her and Raya to King's Cross Station. She was in her Sixth Year and she was beyond ready to start N.E.W.T. classes. She had passed her O.W.L.s with incredible results and, living up to her Ravenclaw stereotype, she much preferred learning in school to sitting in her room for three months trying not to piss off her father. She was excited to see her friends that she hadn't been able to see all summer and she was excited to go back to the castle that seemed to provide her with endless hiding spaces to relish in her needed silence. What Malia was most excited about though, was not having to pretend. As soon as she stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, she could take off her mask. She could slouch in her seat, she could lean against her best friend's shoulder, she could laugh loudly and she could roll up her skirt. She didn't have to adhere to her father's strict wishes. She could just be.
right so i have two ongoing books as well as another upcoming sequel so i have no clue why i'm writing ANOTHER BOOK but fuck it - i can update three books at a time right? yeahhhhhhh
