How Many Times.?
Chapter One~ Muggle Bookstore
This is a big day in my life everyone! The first time I have ever stepped into a Muggle store by myself, actually at all, but I'm by myself now. I chose a bookstore because I'm taking a class at Hogwarts where I have to study filthy, pathetic Muggles upon the wishes of my father. He says it will help me when I need to help Voldemort with matters involving the scum. At least the place isn't dark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Draco crept his way down the streets of London relatively immediately outside the Leaky Cauldron. He finally spotted something intriguing. "Barney's Bound Books," he read aloud to himself. He shrugged. "How bad can it be?"
He shuffled into the tiny store in between two enormous corporation buildings. It was even tinier then it looked from the outside and was somehow still immensely crammed with more books than Flourish and Blotts. All the shelves were painted a dark green, which pleased Draco very much to see. He was going to miss that color after this, his seventh and final, year at Hogwarts. The buzz of the incandescent lights above him was a little nerve racking, but they illuminated the shelves and titles much better than even enchantedly bright candles.
Draco started to browse through the isles. These titles all sounded so funky! What is 'The River of Lust'? Why the hell would anyone need to know about 'His Majesty'? Draco slid one of the books out of the shelf to glance at the cover. He immediately put it back. What kind of books are these?
He found only one set of books with a sane title in the whole of four shelves. He pulled out the first addition of 'Aspire to Nothing' by Cilia FitzMartin. It was a relatively new book seeing as it was still in hardback and thus left no room for an 'odd' cover.
It looked harmless enough, and if he had correctly counted what little Muggle money he had, he could just scrape by with buying it. He didn't really care what the book was about; he just wanted to know how a Muggle would think or what they could say about their boring lives. He chose the one with the sane title so as it wouldn't draw too much attention, and if the book was bad, his case would rest that Muggles were useless.
Draco sauntered up to the green counter with a strange sorting machine on top. Earlier, one of the customers had purchased a book there, so Draco followed the woman's example. No one was there. Draco waited for about a minute until he grew impatient.
"Hello?"
An older, sort of plump woman with a small stack of five or so thick books in her arms answered by emerging from a back room Draco hadn't noticed before. She eyed the boy at the counter with a rather nasty look, and Draco in turn almost reached for his wand to curse her. He stopped himself and quickly brushed it aside.
"Sir, one moment," the woman responded and turned back to the door. "Cart- hall!" The woman's screech almost blew one of Draco's eardrums. He heard a small crash from the room, and a moment later a much smaller woman stumbled out with a load of maybe thirty books in her hands.
This woman was much younger and much thinner than the other. Her hair, which would have been long and brown with blond ends, was pulled back with a large hair-clip, but some had already fallen in front of her face messily. She wore glasses with thick black, teardrop frames, a plain, forest green t-shirt, and black pants. She looked immensely frazzled and was obviously the cause of the crash in the back room.
The woman hastily plunked the stack of books down by the door and turned to the large woman, brandishing a flustered pair of pink cheeks. "It's pronounced Car-tall, Ms. Barney," she said in a forcedly calm voice. Ms. Barney turned to the back room and left the younger woman to tend to checking Draco's book.
The woman Carthall walked head down to the counter and slid 'Aspire to Nothing' across the green wood. Draco saw her smile as she examined the binding.
"Did you find everything alright, sir?" Draco could tell from her tone she was still smiling.
"Yes," he replied shortly. He handed the coins to the girl and checked the walls for a clock. "Do you know what time it is, miss?"
Carthall tapped a few of the buttons on the cash register and the bottom compartment ejected. Without looking, she sorted the coins with her thumb while wiggling her watch around her other wrist to read the time. Her smile got bigger.
"It's 4:22, sir. And time for me to get off." She quickly looked down at the coins and placed them in the change pockets, but after that she reached to her back pocket, extracted another small piece of change, and dropped it into the same nook.
Draco gave her a puzzled look. She looked at him with a faint lasting smile.
"You were a little short, but don't worry. I covered," she said.
"Oh." Draco had only the faintest idea what she meant because he knew he was suppose to meet his father back at the Leaky Cauldron at 4:30 for school shopping.
"Did you need a bag, sir?"
"No."
"Your receipt?"
"No need."
The girl tore the small white paper into six halves and wished Draco a lovely afternoon. Draco was moving so quickly, he didn't even glance up at the girl while shifting through the green, book-filled shelves and the green door.
The air of London instantly filled his nostrils. The wind curled around him and suddenly he was reminded of a relaxing walk through the grounds of Hogwarts. This was astonishing because Draco had never expected anything to remind him of the wizarding world here.
The employee from the bookstore ran out a few seconds after Draco, swinging her bag over her shoulder, ripping the clip from her hair. She said hello to a man a little older than her in age on the street in front of the store. He laughed as she twirled around in the wind. The breeze seemed to just rap her gently in mid-air, lifting her hair gracefully from her shoulders. She hugged the man; he kissed her cheek and proceeded to run his fingers through her windblown locks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They must be a couple. I never thought I would envy a Muggle. Ever. I need to meet people out of school. Only I can't do that because I have to ace every subject and learn all sorts of new things with Father over summer, not to mention every spare waking hour I have I devote to Quidditch practice. Why me?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As soon as Draco stepped into the dingy pub of the Leaky Cauldron, his eyes strained to make out the equally dingy figures stalking around in the bad light. His eyes adjusted and immediately they set on the trio he was not in the mood to see.
For the past year, Draco had found no pleasure in walking up to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, firing up a rally of some of the worst put downs both parties will ever know, and walking away just as discontented with the Dream Team as before if not more. He took much more pleasure from beating them at any of their own games: Quidditch, wealth, and grades.
Draco steered his way around them discreetly and exited the pub to Diagon Alley. It felt almost weird for him to walk around these streets wearing Muggle garments. In this light, the robes of wizards looked of a little overkill. Draco's hand went to his pocket for the crumpled supplies list. Seven things left for the seventh year; back to work.
Let the transformation begin!
Chapter One~ Muggle Bookstore
This is a big day in my life everyone! The first time I have ever stepped into a Muggle store by myself, actually at all, but I'm by myself now. I chose a bookstore because I'm taking a class at Hogwarts where I have to study filthy, pathetic Muggles upon the wishes of my father. He says it will help me when I need to help Voldemort with matters involving the scum. At least the place isn't dark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Draco crept his way down the streets of London relatively immediately outside the Leaky Cauldron. He finally spotted something intriguing. "Barney's Bound Books," he read aloud to himself. He shrugged. "How bad can it be?"
He shuffled into the tiny store in between two enormous corporation buildings. It was even tinier then it looked from the outside and was somehow still immensely crammed with more books than Flourish and Blotts. All the shelves were painted a dark green, which pleased Draco very much to see. He was going to miss that color after this, his seventh and final, year at Hogwarts. The buzz of the incandescent lights above him was a little nerve racking, but they illuminated the shelves and titles much better than even enchantedly bright candles.
Draco started to browse through the isles. These titles all sounded so funky! What is 'The River of Lust'? Why the hell would anyone need to know about 'His Majesty'? Draco slid one of the books out of the shelf to glance at the cover. He immediately put it back. What kind of books are these?
He found only one set of books with a sane title in the whole of four shelves. He pulled out the first addition of 'Aspire to Nothing' by Cilia FitzMartin. It was a relatively new book seeing as it was still in hardback and thus left no room for an 'odd' cover.
It looked harmless enough, and if he had correctly counted what little Muggle money he had, he could just scrape by with buying it. He didn't really care what the book was about; he just wanted to know how a Muggle would think or what they could say about their boring lives. He chose the one with the sane title so as it wouldn't draw too much attention, and if the book was bad, his case would rest that Muggles were useless.
Draco sauntered up to the green counter with a strange sorting machine on top. Earlier, one of the customers had purchased a book there, so Draco followed the woman's example. No one was there. Draco waited for about a minute until he grew impatient.
"Hello?"
An older, sort of plump woman with a small stack of five or so thick books in her arms answered by emerging from a back room Draco hadn't noticed before. She eyed the boy at the counter with a rather nasty look, and Draco in turn almost reached for his wand to curse her. He stopped himself and quickly brushed it aside.
"Sir, one moment," the woman responded and turned back to the door. "Cart- hall!" The woman's screech almost blew one of Draco's eardrums. He heard a small crash from the room, and a moment later a much smaller woman stumbled out with a load of maybe thirty books in her hands.
This woman was much younger and much thinner than the other. Her hair, which would have been long and brown with blond ends, was pulled back with a large hair-clip, but some had already fallen in front of her face messily. She wore glasses with thick black, teardrop frames, a plain, forest green t-shirt, and black pants. She looked immensely frazzled and was obviously the cause of the crash in the back room.
The woman hastily plunked the stack of books down by the door and turned to the large woman, brandishing a flustered pair of pink cheeks. "It's pronounced Car-tall, Ms. Barney," she said in a forcedly calm voice. Ms. Barney turned to the back room and left the younger woman to tend to checking Draco's book.
The woman Carthall walked head down to the counter and slid 'Aspire to Nothing' across the green wood. Draco saw her smile as she examined the binding.
"Did you find everything alright, sir?" Draco could tell from her tone she was still smiling.
"Yes," he replied shortly. He handed the coins to the girl and checked the walls for a clock. "Do you know what time it is, miss?"
Carthall tapped a few of the buttons on the cash register and the bottom compartment ejected. Without looking, she sorted the coins with her thumb while wiggling her watch around her other wrist to read the time. Her smile got bigger.
"It's 4:22, sir. And time for me to get off." She quickly looked down at the coins and placed them in the change pockets, but after that she reached to her back pocket, extracted another small piece of change, and dropped it into the same nook.
Draco gave her a puzzled look. She looked at him with a faint lasting smile.
"You were a little short, but don't worry. I covered," she said.
"Oh." Draco had only the faintest idea what she meant because he knew he was suppose to meet his father back at the Leaky Cauldron at 4:30 for school shopping.
"Did you need a bag, sir?"
"No."
"Your receipt?"
"No need."
The girl tore the small white paper into six halves and wished Draco a lovely afternoon. Draco was moving so quickly, he didn't even glance up at the girl while shifting through the green, book-filled shelves and the green door.
The air of London instantly filled his nostrils. The wind curled around him and suddenly he was reminded of a relaxing walk through the grounds of Hogwarts. This was astonishing because Draco had never expected anything to remind him of the wizarding world here.
The employee from the bookstore ran out a few seconds after Draco, swinging her bag over her shoulder, ripping the clip from her hair. She said hello to a man a little older than her in age on the street in front of the store. He laughed as she twirled around in the wind. The breeze seemed to just rap her gently in mid-air, lifting her hair gracefully from her shoulders. She hugged the man; he kissed her cheek and proceeded to run his fingers through her windblown locks.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They must be a couple. I never thought I would envy a Muggle. Ever. I need to meet people out of school. Only I can't do that because I have to ace every subject and learn all sorts of new things with Father over summer, not to mention every spare waking hour I have I devote to Quidditch practice. Why me?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As soon as Draco stepped into the dingy pub of the Leaky Cauldron, his eyes strained to make out the equally dingy figures stalking around in the bad light. His eyes adjusted and immediately they set on the trio he was not in the mood to see.
For the past year, Draco had found no pleasure in walking up to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, firing up a rally of some of the worst put downs both parties will ever know, and walking away just as discontented with the Dream Team as before if not more. He took much more pleasure from beating them at any of their own games: Quidditch, wealth, and grades.
Draco steered his way around them discreetly and exited the pub to Diagon Alley. It felt almost weird for him to walk around these streets wearing Muggle garments. In this light, the robes of wizards looked of a little overkill. Draco's hand went to his pocket for the crumpled supplies list. Seven things left for the seventh year; back to work.
Let the transformation begin!