morning n e w s {Amadeus}

[izzie]

Izzie woke unusually early that morning, so when she headed down to breakfast, there was hardly anyone in the Great Hall just yet. She took a seat near the middle of the Slytherin table so her peers could sit around her if they decided to show. However, many of Izzie's friends were late risers, prone to gossiping well into the night. So she didn't quite expect anyone to come just yet.

Taking a piece of toast, Izzie munched in silence for a few minutes. When the owls fluttered in, she was still largely alone. Her owl dropped The Daily Prophet next to her and Izzie picked it up expectantly. The news of the day startled her somewhat. Right on the cover, in big bold letters it said "SENIOR UNDERSECRETARY FOUND DEAD" with a smaller thing underneath that added "Phillip Deas murdered by witch or wizard unknown". Izzie's eyes widened and she quickly put the newspaper down on the table, not wanting to read it any longer.

She ate her toast almost awkwardly for the next ten minutes, not sure if she wanted to inspect the article or not. Phillip Deas was a prominent figure in the Ministry of Magic, so his death was obviously no random event. It was making her rather uncomfortable. Her skin still crawling, Izzie noticed someone new entering the Great Hall. She finished off her toast just in time to see whoever it was head toward her.

[amadeus]

Amadeus had awoken a bit early for his standards, but he had found himself unable to return to sleep, so he had dressed quietly and left the other second year Slytherin boys to their slumber. He was glad, however, when he came up to the Great Hall for breakfast to see that Izzie was already there. Amadeus hadn't seen her of late, he supposed that she had been busy during her OWL exams. Those Amadeus was not looking forward to, but he figured they were still a ways off for him, no need to be concerned with them just yet.

"You're up early," Amadeus commented, sitting down at the table across from his sister. Something about her seemed... Off. He helped himself to a bowl of porridge and a generous glass of pumpkin juice, his usual way of starting the day. Amadeus peered over at the newspaper his sister had discarded, reading the blaring headline about the Senior Undersecretary being found apparently murdered. He made a soft "hmm," noise, though went back to his porridge unaffected by it. But now that he was getting a closer look at her, Izzie seemed nervous almost. He swallowed a spoonful of porridge before speaking.

"You all right?" asked Amadeus, slightly concerned although he would never admit it to himself, or especially his sister. While he waited for a reply Amadeus took a sip of pumpkin juice, his eyes flickering over to the newspaper and than back to Izzie again.

[izzie]

Izzie smiled slightly when she saw that it was Amadeus. She admired how easily he sat down, barely glancing at the newspaper before taking some porridge. Izzie enjoyed talking to Amadeus, but at the moment, she wished she had slept in a bit more. "You're up early as well," Izzie commented in reply, picking up a glass of pumpkin juice and taking a sip.

It was silent for a moment before Amadeus asked her if she was alright. Realizing that she was probably acting a bit strange, Izzie pushed the newspaper towards her brother. "Fine, just thinking about this, that's all," she replied, glancing over at him. Amadeus looked almost concerned, but the moment Izzie thought it, the emotion vanished from her brother's face. Perhaps she had simply imagined it.

[amadeus]

"I couldn't sleep," Amadeus said simply, which was the truth. It was an odd thing, but morning like that happened at least three times a month for him, he would wake up at least an hour before he usually would and not be able to go back to bed. At least it hadn't converted to any sort of insomnia, Amadeus would have no idea what to do with himself if he couldn't get to sleep all right. He took a bit of his porridge, half wondering what was bothering his sister, though he wasn't quite curious enough to ask.

He sipped his pumpkin juice again, forgetting about the newspaper almost entirely. At this phase in his life Amadeus had little care about politics, though he did see himself in the ministry some day. He imagined that the Malfoy name (and money) would bode him well should he decide that he wanted to go out for politics of any sort. "I'd think you wouldn't be too concerned about it, given what father talks about," said Amadeus. The Great Hall was empty except for them, but he wasn't taking any chances. In Hogwarts it seemed that even the walls had ears.

[izzie]

"I know the feeling," Izzie commented. She pushed aside the pumpkin juice and reached for the coffee, of which there was surprisingly little. She supposed that not many Hogwarts students drank coffee, but Izzie was practically addicted. And since she had gotten nearly no sleep the past two nights, coffee was especially crucial that day.

"Mmm," Izzie said quietly, thinking again. "Not surprised, no. But it's safe to say that father didn't know about this one." She was sure that at home Draco would be furious as to why he didn't know that Philip Deas was going to be killed. He liked to think he was in the inner circle of the Death Eaters, but Izzie knew that wasn't entirely true.

[amadeus]

Amadeus only nodded, as he had a mouthful of porridge and wouldn't dare talk with his mouth full. Their mother had forced table manners down their throats as children, and he saw no reason to not allow those to carry over to Hogwarts. Amadeus found himself thoroughly disgusted when his housemates would make messes at the table, talk with their mouths full, and worst of all smack their lips as they chewed. The last of the list annoyed him more than any of the others. Eating was a quiet activity, not one that needed to have attention to be drawn to with unnecessary noise.

"Really?" said Amadeus after he had swallowed, only slightly surprised. Though he did have to wonder why it was that Izzie knew that Draco had not been told about it. Was she in with the Death Eaters too? It was bad enough that Ariadne would be joining ages before him, let alone Ascella. And she wasn't even seventeen yet! Amadeus took a sip of his pumpkin juice, he really didn't know what to say at that minute.

[izzie]

Izzie poured herself a cup of coffee and then took a large drink of it. She waited for Amadeus to finish chewing before he responded, glad that he was doing so. There were far too many of Izzie's friends who talked with their mouth full, which Izzie found rather repulsive. She didn't fancy seeing half-chewed food inside people's mouths. Clearly Amadeus felt the same.

"Yeah," Izzie said simply, not knowing what else she could tell Amadeus right then without practically informing everyone in the Great Hall that the entire Malfoy family was involved with the Death Eaters. Izzie may not have always been the most careful person, but she didn't have a particularly strong desire to go to Azkaban. "Don't think many expected this," she commented after a short pause, then lifted her coffee cup to her mouth once more.

[amadeus]

[blokquote]"Hmm," said Amadeus, wondering how on earth that it was that Ascella was in with the Death Eaters. There wasn't a doubt in his mind about it at that point. How had she done it? Surely Draco wouldn't be so biased as to permit Ascella to join but not his son. That was just too much of a double-standard, even for their father's standards. He took another bite of porridge, his mind being taken away from the Death Eaters momentarily to how the Hogwarts house elves made everything taste so good. Even something as simple as porridge was better than average.

"It does seem... All of a sudden," said Amadeus, pausing a bit mid-sentence to find the proper words. Though of course now it might bring the whisper of Death Eaters returning into something more than a rumour. Amadeus was eager to see how events would unfold, or if it would just be written off as being in a high position in the ministry. After all, there were plenty of people not thrilled with the way things were run, it was a given that high-ranking officials would make more than a few powerful enemies.

[/blockquote]

[izzie]

Izzie watched her brother carefully, trying to grasp what he was thinking. They couldn't say much at the moment, but by watching Amadeus' actions, she could get a better idea of his meaning. She got the feeling that Amadeus was slightly envious that Izzie knew about the Death Eater's movements more than she did. It struck her that Amadeus might want to join more than she had originally thought. Izzie wasn't quite sure how she felt about that, but she certainly wasn't going to say anything, especially not at the moment.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Izzie agreed with a nod. She folded up the newspaper and slipped it into her bag, deciding to read the rest later. Most of it probably wasn't too terribly interesting, but Izzie would probably skim over to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. It was a habit of hers, especially when she couldn't sleep.

[amadeus]

Amadeus took the last bit of his porridge, still feeling slightly hungry, though not enough so for a second helping. Perhaps he would just have a piece of fruit or something. The code was driving him crazy, he couldn't wait until the summer when they would be at home and could use whatever language they pleased without fearing that someone might be listening in. Of course, the house elves were there, but they were forbidden to say anything that might make the family look bad. Helpful little confidants they were, it was like the equivalent of the Unbreakable Vow.

Amadeus wasn't sure if a house elf would die should they decide to reveal information that had been forbidden to tell, but he just knew they sure as hell weren't going to do that. "Though I don't think anyone should be too surprised, being in a public office like that, makes you bound to attract a lot of attention," said Amadeus, and then also polished off his pumpkin juice before reaching for a shiny red apple in an attractive fruit display not too far away from him.

[izzie]

((OOC: Bah. Boring. Want to just start something at the Malfoy Manor?))

[amadeus]

((OOC: Haha, sure, that sounds better.))