"Chook... chook... chook... chook..."

That was the seconds passing by through the old grandfather clock at the end of the hall. A lot of people said it was "tick, tick", but they were wrong; it sounded more like "chook, chook". And Cepheus Malfoy would know; it was his absolute favorite sound of all time. Ever since he was little, he'd lay down flat on the carpet, close his eyes, and completely relax, allowing the chook-ing to dictate his pulse.

He'd asked his parents many times if they could move the clock into his bedroom, but they refused, insisting that the clock was too important to their family history to be hidden away in a young boy's room. They were always obsessed with their family name, his parents, and did everything as if the whole world was watching. But if the whole world was watching, they would know the truth about Cepheus; that would be a catastrophe.

One day in June, Cepheus was sitting against the clock, letting the sound completely relax him. He needed it, especially after last week. See, every full moon, Cepheus Malfoy turned into a werewolf, though he was lucky to have Severus Snape as his godfather; Uncle Sev was one of the few wizards who could successfully brew the Wolfsbane Potion, which kept Cepheus from losing his mind when he transformed. Both Cepheus and his older brother, Draco, thought Uncle Sev was far too brilliant to be a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; the man could be the greatest potioneer in the world if he wanted to; maybe he could even figure out a way to make Wolfsbane taste less like rotten eggs. Strawberry would be nice, thought Cepheus, I'd like that. But alas, Uncle Sev refused to leave his post and achieve greater things, even though teaching made him absolutely miserable.

Anyway, today was the day Cepheus had been anxiously awaiting since January; it was the day Draco would return from Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express! The boys' relationship had been a bit rocky after Cepheus was bitten; the past two years, Draco had barely paid him any attention when he was home. But just before he'd left for school at the beginning of his third year, for the first time in years, he had hugged Cepheus; he had said goodbye, smiled, and wished him a good year at home. And when October came, Draco actually sent Cepheus a birthday card and some chocolate from Honeydukes; he hadn't even acknowledged the younger boy's birthday since Cepheus turned eight. He was eleven now. And Draco was starting to come around.

It wouldn't be long now; as soon as Cepheus' parents woke up, they'd have breakfast and go to the station. The boy was already fully dressed, as he'd woken up at the crack of dawn like always. So he sat there, listening to the clock, waiting for his parents, rocking in rhythm with the chooks. The sunlight streaming in through the tall mullioned windows slowly grew brighter as the minutes ticked away. Excitement fluttered in Cepheus' stomach as he wriggled and adjusted his legs in every imaginable position. He stared expectantly at the door to his parents' room; still closed and not a single sound coming from within.

At seven o'clock, Cepheus decided they should wake up; he barged into the enormous master bedroom, ran across the polished wood floor as fast as his pinchy shoes would allow, and jumped up on the bed in between his parents, who were now groaning and trying to hide under their thick black comforter.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Cepheus shouted, yanking the blanket off his mother's frizzy blonde head. "Today's the day! Draco's coming home!" He yanked the blanket off his father too. "Come on!"

"What time is it?" his father moaned.

"Little after seven!" Cepheus chirped, standing up and jumping on the soft, plump bed.

"Too early..." his mother pulled the blanket back over her head.

His father tried to give him a stern look, but was interrupted by a yawn. "Cepheus... go back to bed..."

"But I can't!" Cepheus frowned. "The sun is up!" He jumped off the bed, ran to the bedroom window, and pulled the emerald curtains open, allowing bright morning light to illuminate the room. "See? It's time to start the day!"

"It's my day off." Father laid back down.

Mother had turned away from the open window. "His train doesn't get in for hours. Go play with your bloody dragons or something!"

"And, please close those curtains!" Father added.

Cepheus' face fell. "Yes, Father." He pushed the curtains closed, plunging the room into darkness once again.

"Thank you..." Mother said.

"You're welcome." Cepheus replied. He didn't leave, however. Rocking on his feet, he stood by his parents' bed, smiling eagerly. What seemed like an eternity later, but was probably closer to thirty seconds, Cepheus asked, "can you wake up now?"

"Get out!" Father pointed to the door, thoroughly annoyed.

Cepheus frowned and looked down as he walked away. Before going through the door, he turned around and asked, "what about now?"

Father groaned. "Cepheus, I swear to Merlin, if you ask again, we won't take you to the station today; you'll have to wait for us to get home to see your brother."

"But-But-But-"

"No buts!" Father yawned. "We'll tell you when we wake up, just be patient!"

"Yes, Father." Cepheus left the room and closed the door behind him. He hated being the only morning person in the family. As slowly as he could, he walked in a straight line back to the grandfather clock while humming the latest song by the Free Dragons, his favorite band;

"Livin' in the fast lane 'cause I can,
A risk taker, that's who I am,
I live for fun,
Not for knuts,
And livin' in the fast lane's how I get my kicks,..."

When he got to the clock, he turned around and walked back up the hall, past his parents' room, past his and Draco's rooms, to the end of the hall, where the tall door to the third floor tearoom stood locked, guarding Mother's finest crystal, China, and other various expensive dishes that she didn't want her children getting into and messing up. He played with the doorknob for a moment, still humming, then turned around and ran back to Mother and Father's room. Jittery, he creaked the door open so only a sliver of light fell across the floor. Cepheus' heart sank when he heard his father's honking snore. He considered going in and trying to wake them up again, but then he wouldn't be able to go with them to pick up Draco. With a sigh, he closed the door and walked back to the clock, leaning against it once again.

Maybe a minute later, there was a harsh winding of gears; when Cepheus looked up, the clock read 11:30! He kept up and ran to his parents' room, threw open the door, and hollered, "wake up! Wake up! It's eleven-thirty! Come on!"

"Bloody hell!" Mother exclaimed as both adults bolted up.

Cepheus ran up to his mother. "Really! It says eleven-thirty on the grandfather clock!" He tugged on her hand. "Come on! Let's go have breakfast! How 'bout pancakes? And sausage links? Bacon? Custard? Eggs Benedict?"

Mother chuckled, rubbing her temples. "Give me a moment to wake up first."

"Okay!" Cepheus bounced on the balls of his feet. "We should get lemon cake for dessert tonight! That's Draco's favorite, right? Lemon cake with chocolate ice cream! Or maybe that's my favorite... yeah, pretty sure I'm the one who likes that!" He chuckled. "But still; can we? Can we? Can we? We can get Draco's favorite too? Isn't it red velvet? No, Dutch chocolate?"

"Dutch chocolate." Mother nodded. "Sure. We'll get some cake and ice cream. But not until after we pick up Draco; wouldn't want you getting tempted, would we?"

"Yay!" Cepheus threw his arms up happily. "I love cake! Cake is the best dessert, you know? I mean, of course you know; you and Father have been alive longer than me! You've probably had loads more cake than me!"

"Cepheus..." Father grumbled. "What did you do?"

The boy turned to his father, frowning. "What?"

"It's not eleven-thirty; not even close!"

Cepheus creased his forehead. "But the clock said it was eleven-thirty..."

"Not that one." Father pointed at the clock hanging in the master bedroom, which showed the time as not even being seven-ten yet.

Blushing, Cepheus stuttered, "b-b-but the clock in the hall said eleven-thirty... I'm sure your clock it broken." He walked to the window and grabbed the curtain. "I'm sure the sun is up high now." He pulled and the curtain glided open, showing all three Malfoys how wrong he was; the sun was still very low, barely over the thick green forest that made up most of the vast property; there was still dew on the flowers in the window box.

Mother groaned and laid back down, pulling the blankets over her head, and Father shook his head. "Sometimes I really hate accidental magic..." he muttered as he refluffed his pillow. "Close the curtain and get out," he told his son sternly.

Instead, the boy climbed up onto the bed and laid down between his parents. "But I'm bored!" He whined. "I wanna play with you!"

"We'll play later, dear," Mother said softly, squeezing Cepheus' hand, "I promise. Once we've woken up and had breakfast, of course."

"But when will that be?"

"Not now." Father replied.

Cepheus pouted.

"How about this," Father said, "go outside and fly around a bit on your broomstick for a while."

"Okay..." the boy closed the curtain and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

When he got to his own bedroom, he kicked off his shiny black shoes and pulled his battered blue trainers off a shelf in his wardrobe, which was open and had clothes crammed into the back corners, covered in dust and forgotten. He slipped them on, grabbed his Nimbus 2001 off his untouched desk, and bolted out of his room.

________

What do you think?

Love ya!

CC