MALFOY, tanith adeline

[tanith]

Nickname: Rosi!
How You Found Us: Proboards support, I think.
Contact Via: [e-mail] or pm me.

What can be found in a name:
Tanith [meaning 'Serpent Lady'], Adeline [French origin - Noble, kind] Malfoy
When the day I was born:
12th April 1960
The Angels screamed:
Porcius Malfoy, Camille Malfoy (née Beauregarde)
And Hell shut its doors:
None
While creatures retreated:
One quite overweight and lazy black cat called Hepzebah.
To depths unknown:
Pureblood

I hide from them:
- the astronomy tower at night
-the little hut in the woods near her cambridge manor
-the library
-the quidditch stands when it's raining and deserted, it's peaceful
Be who they want to see:
Eyes:Blue. Tan's eyes are rather watery and pale, her mother's blue eyes, missing out on the predominant 'steel grey' colour that is so dominant on her father's side. Still, the light piercing blue is still rather striking combined with the always rather glazed look in Tanith's eyes when she drifts off into one of her many day-dreams.
Hair: What Tanith did inherit from her father's side was her long white blonde hair. Her hair is a bone of contention for Tanith's perfectionist mother, who would prefer it long and sleek - ladylike. Tanith likes her hair the way it is - dry and stubborn, usually pushed hastily behind her ears or pulled into a messy bun. Her hair reflects her persona in that way - Tanith isn't much of a lady yet.
Height: 5"2
Weight: About 100lbs.
Markings: As a relatively clumsy girl Tanith has a multitude of small scars and markings already. Most notably: A large burn on her right thigh from an upturned cauldron in her Mother's kitchen aged six, one large scar on the back of her neck from falling off the tireswing in the grounds of her home aged ten, and three rather sinister light purple markings on her upper arm from when Lucius had tricked her into trying to feed a blast-ended skrewt her sweets when she was seven.
As well as her clumsy nature, Tanith's stubborness and sharp-tongue often land her in trouble with Porcius. Thus, along with the burn on her thighs from that curse gone awry in years passed, in the Summer and Christmas holidays Tanith's altercations and arguments with her father often leave her with small scrapes, burns and other marks across her limbs from spiteful curses sent her way when she refuses to back down. She does remind herself to keep her mouth shut the next time but somehow it just seems to leave her head the next time the holidays roll around.
Overall description: Although Tanith could have the potential to grow into a beautiful young woman she is at the current time one of those girls who could be kindly explained as needing to 'grow into' her looks. Quite simply, she embodies the a-typical 'awkward teenager'. Her delayed growth spurt and messy appearance means that Tanith tends to put more effort into other things other than beauty. She doesn't wear much make-up (although her mother owl's it to her in copious amounts - because "If you don't start courting now we'll never have you married off!") and the only thing she does indulge in beauty-wise is lashings of nailpolish. Every day of the week it's a new colour and although it's often applied slap-dash and messily, Tanith doesn't care. It gives her something to bite and pick at when she's nervous and she loves watching the feint glint of the laquer from the sunlight through her classroom windows as she day-dreams in her lessons.

Tanith's 'couldn't-care-less' messy attitude to beauty continues in her clothes. It's clear to see that she comes from a well-off family and when not in her uniform she's often seen in imported designers from France, Italy, whatever's in fashion that week according to her Mother. But Tanith cares little for the labels, and although her clothes are distinctly expensive they are also worn down and scuffed by nighttime meanderings around the school. Her favourite black pants are stained by potions, the cuffs of her white silk shirts blotted by blue ink and her favourite cashmere jumper which she refuses to throw away freying at the elbows. As a rather timid girl Tanith is guilty of using her messy clothes and aversion to beauty products as a way of blending in with the rest of the year. If only it weren't for that bloody hair that marks her out(!) No, only joking, she does like the hair secretly.
But that leaves no one:

-Model: Sasha Pivovarova
To discover that inside:
Tanith is something of a rarity among all the raging teenagers in Hogwarts, in that she is generally cripplingly shy. She spends the majority of her time in the library of Hogwarts or on the grounds, and basically keeps to herself. Despite this, Tanith doesn't believe that she has a lonely life at Hogwarts and is quite happy and content with her own company. She also enjoys the benefits of long afternoons spent reading ahead in the library by achieving O's or E's in the majority of her subjects (bar Herbology, where she's completely useless). Tanith isn't very much naturally gifted, but merely works hard and takes pride in her schoolwork.

Because of her rather slight appearance and quiet demeanor people often mistake Tanith for an easy target and dismiss her as a possible threat. In her younger years at Hogwarts it had made her often the target for jokes and hexes (albeit behind the back of Lucius, who had a steadily growing reputation in the school already). Thus, she has learned to protect herself, and she has done so rather well I must say. She is quite a powerful witch in her own way and ironically, due to the amount of time she spends shying away in the library her magic has become complex and powerful. It would make her a rather formidable threat to come across if she utilised the aspect of her personality more often.

Unfortunately, and although Tanith would loathe to admit it, her quiet demeanor is the overriding force and so she usually shies away from any conflict she may face. Her long term goal at Hogwarts would be to leave the shackles of her timid behaviour behind and become her own person.

Being brought up in a wealthy, respected Pureblood family like the Malfoys, Tanith has led an inevitebly sheltered existence. She has always always been proud of her heritage and it is a belief bred into her that as Purebloods, as Wizards, they are a Higher Race. It was this childhood belief that earned Tanith a place in Slytherin at 11, and a belief she is only growing to question now, at fifteen and a little more grown up. Despite Tanith's misgivings, she still has an extremely strong sense of belonging and pride at being a Pureblood Witch, she is merely beginning to question what it means to be a Pureblood Witch these days. These are concerns that Tanith believes she must always keep to herself. Despite her misgivings at the undercurrent of whispered pureblood superiority, the thought of being exiled or being branded as a Blood Traitor is exponentially more terrifying.

Tanith takes a lot of time getting to know a person, stemming from a deep rooted mistrust and fear that began in childhood. She is, perhaps justly, rather suspicious of anyone that tries to befriend or get close to her. She has a protective wall so to speak that surrounds her, making it both difficult for anyone to get close to her, and more importantly, easier for her to keep her views and beliefs to herself. However Tanith's personality is not just the cold aloof Slytherin, and if you really know her she can be more sensitive and caring, but she is select about her friends, and it takes a long time to get past that cold surface.
This soulless being:
- the library restricted section
- time alone and uninterrupted
- hogwarts grounds when it snows
- astronomy & potions
- early autumn
- gillywater
- the smell of her mother's expensive perfume
- winning in arguments
- her cat hepzebah
- taking wizarding photographs
- liquorice wands
-the knight bus (once you get used to the stomach-wrenching jolts)
Is just as lost:
- superficial girls who care about nothing but apperance
- gossip
- Porcius Malfoy
- Herbology
- being clumsy
- unpleasant surprises in bertie botts every flavour beans
- Porcius Malfoy
- rejection
-losing
-quidditch
- alcohol
- hot weather
-the 'slug club' or not being invited to the slug club
As everyone else:
-intelligent
-witty
-a good liar
-caring (although only to a select few once she knows they can be trusted)
-deep thinker
-quick-learner
-curious/enthusiastic about learning and the world around her
In a world that knows only hate:
-timid
-stubborn
-clumsy
-sharp-tongued
-holds a grudge
-perpetually nervous
-over-sensitive at times
And causes pain for the soulless like me:
- Her alliances are not as steadfast as Tanith would pretend. Although she is incredibly proud of her prestigious bloodline, she shies away from most of the staunch political views of her classmates and family, preferring to hide the shaky uncertainty about the movement that plagues her. However she is outwardly quietly supportive of the growing political pureblood 'movements' for obvious reasons. Tanith would hate to be shunned from her relatives or branded as a dreaded 'blood-traitor'. Nethertheless, the way that Pureblood mania is headed does make her secretly nervous.
-Tanith hates being so shy, and although she professes great dislike for the girls who giggle and gossip in her dormitory she would love to come out of her shell and be one of them, have the kind of influence her name dictates that she should have around school. But she just can't seem to shake off the shackles of being so timid and cautious, believing herself always to be inadequate to the girls who seem to dominate her house. However, she pretends instead to think herself above them and feigns disinterest in their pretentious school-girl gossip.

They left me to die:
Based in Normandy, France, Tanith has her Grandmére Beauregarde and one rather older spinster aunt who pinches her cheeks and speaks down to her in wheezy French, and whom she loathes visiting.
On a bed of roses:
Her father has one brother, Abraxas Malfoy, Tanith's uncle. Her only other extended family are Abraxas' brood, her cousin Lucius and her aunt Drew. She also has her Grandmother Malfoy, a rather severe and frightening woman who Tanith was named after.
Blood seeping through:
The Malfoy family are one of the oldest and wealthiest Pureblooded families in Britain, and with wealth and age come secrets, secrets, secrets. To pick one out of everything that has been so well covered up by the Malfoy family influence over the years would be impossible. However, Tanith does note that in recent years this influence has been used to cover up her father, Porcius', alcohol problem and helped him to keep his position at the Ministry of Magic.
The satin sheets of fame:
The Malfoy family are notoriously wealthy, although Tanith's own family are rather less well-off than Abraxas' side, the older brother being the heir.
What a bitter story of love:
Tanith was the first and only child born to Camille and Porcius Malfoy, who is the brother of the highly regarded Abraxas Malfoy. Porcius was the less respected of the two brothers, and still retains a deep-seated bitterness for his elder brother who seems to outshine him in all aspects of life. It was this jealousy so to speak that led Porcius to seek out a wife quickly after Abraxas married Drew, anxious to keep up appearances. His marriage to Camille was arranged by her highly-respected Pureblooded French family, although she was quite a few years his junior and the marriage was never a union based on happiness or love. Porcius Malfoy rather lives up to his namesake of 'pig'. Keeping his prestigious postion at the Ministry of Magic only through the connotations the Malfoy name holds, Porcius' main concerns in life are his rather questionable assosciates and side-lines, and the bottom of a Firewhiskey bottle. By the time Tanith was born Porcius and Camille lived in a completely estranged marriage, whilst still together under one roof, with the former an established aggressive bully.

Tanith was rather a disappointment to Porcius, who was hoping for an hier to rival his brothers' older child, Lucius. Alas, this was not the case and Tanith came into the world, not kicking and screaming and bleeding blue blood as Porcius expected, but instead rather feebly, a month early, quite wheezy and weak and not the Malfoy he expected at all. He and Tanith had kept their distance ever since then, for Tanith had learned by a very early age that Porcius flew off the handle easily and into violent rages where he cursed everything in sight. Furthermore, the timid daughter fuelled his inferiority complex and seemed to be living proof of his inadequacy to Abraxas, and so the very sight of her quickly began to enrage him. After several deep burns along her legs as she just missed a curse at age four, Tanith had decided that Camille was an easier option to be closer to as a parent.

Throughout her early life, despite an estrangement with her father, Tanith lived a happily and well-provided childhood and had lived, ate and breathed purity of blood. Frequent visits to Abraxas' large Manor exacipated this, and it was explained to Tanith frequently that as a Pureblood, as a Malfoy, as a Witch she was a higher and more select race, and that one day they would rule, and not have to hide out in their small communities. Rather than relish or on the other hand reject the information, the young Tanith merely accepted it as fact. Just like, once Lucius had preceeded her by two years at Hogwarts, she accepted it as fact that she would follow her cousin into Slytherin House, where she belonged.

It was this belief that landed her in Slytherin once she had shakily placed the Sorting Hat on her own head two years later. It was the strong belief that her blood was some sort of elixir, that was of a higher force, that made her tell the hat rather matter-of-factly that she would go there no matter what it's decision. Although undeniably she was horrified when the Hat had suggested at first... Hufflepuff. Shudder at the thought! It was one that she kept to herself. It was at Hogwarts that Tanith first came to terms with the magnitude of her naivety. It was a whole other world to her. Granted, she had learned under supervision, how to control some of her magic at home, but the subtleties of the Magical Society were beyond her until then. Suddenly there was popularity, and friendship and enemies and love to consider. The prospect of there being an outside world, where there was love beyond her Mother's cuddles, threats beyond Porcius' rages, importance beyond blood - the very idea of it perplexed her. And as it dawned on her how sheltered and indoctrinated her childhood had been Tanith drew slowly and slowly more into herself, until she became the quiet clumsy fifteen year old she is today.

Shortly put, Tanith now no longer shares the aggressive Pureblooded hatred of her fellow Slytherins, nor the aggressive thirst for equality of Blood that the Gryffindors believed in. Perhaps the Hat was right to believe to put her in Hufflepuff. Tanith Malfoy is someone who sits on the fence, alone in a rapidly divided world. Anyone who grew close to Tanith could arguably sway her one way or the other - which surely makes the fence a dangerous place to be.

-- Hope this is okay, I just picked a typical sample post from one of the last threads on another Marauder's Era site

No. At that word Tanith felt her face drop involuntarily, and she was glad that she had been standing at her dresser with her back to Silas. Her hands froze in the act of uselessly arranging messy quills and scraps of parchment on top of her dresser, breath catching in her throat. Silas didn't want to be friends with her - he had come here to tell her that he didn't want anything do to with her anymore, that they should avoid each other, that it was for the best if they forgot any feelings they had for each other entirely. Tanith gulped, angry at herself for the sudden panic and disappointment that gripped her at his admission and her own irrational thoughts. After all, why should she care if Silas wanted to completely ignore her from now on? Hadn't fate proven so far that they were better off apart? But Tanith found that she didn't care anymore and she wanted nothing less than to continue to berate herself over her confusing feelings, the inexplicable lingering wish to remain near to the boy who had hurt her so much. The fact remained that she did care whether Silas wanted to be friends with her or not. And yes it was crazy and confusing but she couldn't deny the fact that the only thing that would hurt her more than being near Silas right now would be being far away from him from now on. Cautiously Tanith turned around to face him, silently mouthing his 'No' back, her brows furrowed at his suddenly different tone. But she couldn't have expected in a million years what that different voice meant for her.

I love you.

It took Tanith a moment to realise that her breath had caught in her throat and she wasn't breathing. Never, never would she have anticipated that. Silas had never edged towards saying he loved her before. Yes, he had gushed about how great she was when he was feeling tipsy, how fun she was, how much he enjoyed spending time with her. But even with a few drinks to loosen his tongue Silas was always smart enough to steer clear of the 'L' word altogether. Although, Tanith's room-mates had gossiped about it enough, telling her that there were specific rules for those sort of admissions and coaching her on what to do when he finally did say it. All that coaching though had suddenly gone out the window. She was completely shell-shocked. It was probably because nothing like that had come out of Silas' mouth before. Not just the 'L' word but something that was so pure and sincere - his behaviour was usually so guarded, and at time even manipulative. He treated their relationship at times, like everything else in his life, as a game. Tanith had searched endlessly to break down that guardedness. She had always thought it was pointless. Seemingly she was wrong. She found herself gasping a little, more to pull air back into her oxygen starved lungs than anything else.

Now that she had got over the shock there were bigger things for Tanith to consider. Like a response for one. It occured to her that she had never been told 'I love you' outright like this before, so out of the blue and appealing. Yes it was true that her room-mates had sometimes had exclaimed 'Merlin, I love you Tan' after she had finished their overdue Potions essays, or her Mother had often soothed her with 'Je taime, cherie', but they were nothing like this. The answer, the right answer was obvious but Tanith found that it wasn't like it had been portrayed in all those cliché romances where the girl proclaimed her love and ran into the boys arms. Her lips were parted a little in anticipation but the words just wouldn't come. She wasn't able even to move forward towards those arms. In the same way as the fateful night of the Christmas Ball she felt her knees might give way at any moment. It wasn't that she didn't want to respond the way she was supposed to but she just wasn't able to do it. Although she had to admit, it did suddenly provide her with a new idea - perhaps he had acted out, slept with Lauren, because he was scared of that 'L' word, because he was scared of actually being crazy in love with someone when all he was used to was games. But that didn't solve the problem of her absent reply. She didn't want to hurt him, she wanted so much to avoid it.

"I - I don't know what to say." Tanith's voice was shaky and small, the way she felt shaky and small. Suddenly she realised the appeal of being held by someone like in those cliché romances. Si's arms would at least keep her upright. "Nobody's ever said that to me before ..." She was able to take a few shaky steps towards him now, looking down at her clasped hands, strengthened by her own words. "But - But I've never felt like this with anyone before." She stopped, right in front of him now. Tanith realised how long it had been since she was close to him, she could feel his hot breath on the crown of her head. Now that she had started talking, Tanith found it was like a stopper gone from her chest. She couldn't stop. "I don't know what to do. I'm an idiot for wanting you so much, but I still ache for you. I can't stop thinking about you."

[.going down in flames.]