Draco forlornly looked over at the other children playing all together behind a barrier and noise shield. They were jumping, frolicking, and apparently shouting, though he was guessing at the later because of the shield. He envied them. Even though they were for the most part a number of years younger than him, he wished he could join them. Instead he had to dress up in a suit and tie, attend a Ministry function with his father, socialize with the other attendees, and take notes on what he learned or needed to report to his father. Never mind that he was the only ten-year old, and the only child present, not counting the younger children who were in the daycare having fun. His father wanted him to make connections and to learn the ins and outs of power and high society in the wizarding world. Not that Draco had a choice. This was his fourth Ministry function, and it was boring as heck. Yet, he was a Malfoy. He was not allowed to show his boredom or any other emotion other than happiness while in public. He must put on a mask, stand straight and aristocratic, be polite, and appear interested to whomever approached him. Everyone attending were either government employees or people of power and influence, so, he was also supposed to learn as much as he could. Draco supposed that someday in the future it would be useful, if he ever got a job in the Ministry. As of today, he never wanted to step foot in the Ministry of Magic ever again.
Another attendee came up to him and started talking to him. He said that he had been unable to talk to his father, Lucius, and that he wanted to change the way that each department within the Ministry wrote new regulations and laws. Instead of the head of the department writing a new regulation and enacting it as law, he proposed that a majority of the senior members of the department had to agree to the new regulation, and that at least one other department had to sign off on it before it could become a law. He was asking for his father to support his proposal.
As the man was talking, Draco took out his pad and his self-writing quill and started to take notes. When the man paused, Draco asked, "I am sorry, who are you and which department do you work for?"
"Eduardus Limus. I work on the Minister of Magic's Support Staff."
Hoping to end the conversation, Draco said that he would inform his father and ask him to contact the man. Yet, Eduardus did not take the hint. He started to launch into explaining why his proposal was needed and what good it would do. Draco put on his mask of looking interested and nodding at the man when he finished a sentence or two, but he moved in his position so that he could occasionally glance at the small children playing while pretending to follow the man's conversation. Eduardus did not seem notice, which is not surprising because Draco had not met an adult yet who could read his face when he put on his mask.
Then something unexpected happened which brought Draco out of his hidden boredom. Another man with red hair, freckles, and worn clothes stepped up to them and said, "Eduardus, why in Merlin's name are you bothering to talk about your boring legal proposal with a kid? Will you please leave him alone and go talk to someone who cares about your proposal?"
"Do you know who this is? Do you know his father? I think I am talking to exactly the right person if I want to get my proceedings accepted!"
"I do not care! He told you that he would inform his father of your proposal and ask him to contact you. No kid wants to talk about legal proceedings! So, go bore somebody who can understand it if you must, but will you please leave this boy alone?"
The first man glanced sharply at the red-haired man, muttered something under his breath and then stomped away in a huff. The red-haired man turned to Draco, winked and grinned at him, but the grin looked forced.
From his description and his worn shoes and clothing, Draco thought the man might be a Weasley. Draco knew all the pure-blood families; the Weasley's were pure, but they were poor and considered traitors to the blood. Draco kept on his neutral facial mask and said, "I did understand Mr. Limus and his legal proposal." He looked up and made eye contact with the red-haired man, almost asking him without saying a word why he did not think that he would understand it.
"Did you really? That is impressive considering your age." He grinned and this time Draco knew it was real because the grin went up to his eyes. "I would say you are ten. Is that correct?"
"Now I am impressed. Most adults think I am younger than ten because of my height, but some, especially adults at these functions, tend to think I am older because of my vocabulary and intelligence. How did you know I was ten?" He was just curious, it was not important to.
The red-haired man chuckled and answered, "Because if you were older, you would be at Hogwarts and not here. If you were younger, your intelligence and presence here would be even more remarkable. And because I have a ten-year old son who is about your height and weight." The man's eyes lost his focus, as if he was thinking or looking far away. Then he frowned, but Draco did not know why.
Draco pressed his lips together but did not frown. It was a trick he learned to keep his expression neutral. "I should have considered that." It did explain why he was most likely ten. "I did not follow your son's part. Is he the reason you were thinking and then frowned?" Draco raised his eyebrow to show he was interested in the man's son, hoping that it would prompt the man to answer his question.
"Uhm, you are very observant." The red-haired man looked sharply at the boy, considering if he should say more. "Yes and no. I was thinking that I wish I had thought to bring my sons to these Ministry events so that they could learn about the Ministry and make connections, but only Percy has expressed an interest in the Ministry, and most of them would not have been intelligent enough at ten to learn from this, and they would have hated being here as much as you." The man grinned at the blond-haired boy as if he had shared some great conspiracy.
Draco glared defensively, "I do not hate being here."
"Could have fooled me." Draco remained silent but continued his glare to the point of entering a staring contest. So, the red-haired man added, "Take it easy son. If you want me to never say that again and tell no one, I will. Yet, I saw your pretended interest slip for a moment when you tried to end the conversation and Eduardus ignored it. And when he continued to babble on, you moved to glance at the younger children playing. Your face never gave you away, but your eyes longed to join the children in their play." The red-haired man winked at him as if to say that his secrete was safe.
Draco's cheeks turned red as he smiled. "You are also very observant. Please do not tell anyone. And why have you been observing me for quite some time Mr. Weasley?" Draco raised an eyebrow at the last. He was not angry or afraid, but he thought it odd that Mr. Weasley had been watching him.
Mr. Weasley's mouth went open as if in shock. He had not mentioned his name and did not believe he had ever met the smart blond before. As if to explain an unasked question, Draco explained, "You work in the Ministry, have red hair, freckles, several sons, one son being a ten-year-old, and another named Percy who is most likely at Hogwarts. This fits the description of Mr. Arthur Weasley, chair of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office." Draco twisted his lips in a smirk and raised his eyebrows to show off his knowledge. Draco could show off in public if he had earned the right to do so.
The man looked confused. "I do not believe we have met. I am Arthur Weasley, as you correctly deduced. Who are you? Have we met before?" This time, Mr. Weasley's eyebrows went up in question.
"No, we have never met. As for your other question, I asked you a question first?"
Mr. Weasley frowned trying to remember the question. "Oh yes, I have been watching you for a while." After a pause that implied he had been thinking, he said, "Hmm, mostly because I felt sorry for you. Here you are a ten-year-old kid at a boring Ministry event, socializing with adults, and taking notes no less. Heck, I skip these events whenever I can come up with a valid excuse!" That would explain why they had never met before at the other events Draco had gone to. "Now, I have answered your question. Please answer mine."
Draco looked down at his shoes and smiled. Mr. Weasley was clearly not the brightest apple in the lot. Draco's hair and eye color were very uncommon outside of the House of Malfoy. And numerous people had said that he looked like his father, though Draco had trouble seeing it, outside of pictures of his father as a boy. Draco looked up at the man, straightened his back to stand tall, raised his chin in an aristocratic manner, and said, "If you cannot figure it out, I am not going to tell you." Seeing the man's startled look, Draco added, "At least until we say good bye." Even his posture and manners screamed who he was. Who else but the Malfoy heir would be at one of these miserable Ministry events? Draco smirked, thinking it might be fun to have Mr. Weasley try to figure out who he was. All the information was already staring him right in the face!
Mr. Weasley's eyes twinkled and he chuckled. "Alright, if a ten-year-old wants to have me at a disadvantage in a conversation, I can live with that. And if he wants me to try and figure out who he is, I am game, but I will need to find out more about him. So, I will need to ask you some questions, though I will not ask anything direct, such as is one of your parents a department chair in the Ministry. No, my first question will be what is your favorite sport?"
Draco beamed, "Quidditch!" This was proving to be his most interesting conversation ever at one of these Ministry events.
"Very good. And who is your favorite world cup team?" After hearing that it was Bulgaria, Mr. Weasley asked, "In the last Quidditch World Cup, how many games, semi-finals, and world cups did you watch where Bulgaria played?"
"All of them."
"All of them!" Mr. Weasley practically shrieked. The boy was clearly a quidditch fanatic and from a very wealthy family. "Well, I have narrowed your family to one of the few who are quite wealthy."
Draco rolled his eyes but said nothing and tried to keep his face neutral. Of course, he was from a wealthy family. His black and shiny kangaroo leather shoes, his dark Italian dress pants, his white silk shirt, and his silk tie should have informed him of that.
Mr. Weasley pursed his lips in thought. Did Ron mention that Bulgaria was playing a Quidditch match next week? Arthur did not have time to follow quidditch, but several of his sons did. "My son Ron would be so jealous of you. He too follows Bulgaria with a passion. Will you be going to Bulgaria's game next week?"
Draco frowned. He could not see how that question could be useful in determining who he was. And why was Mr. Weasley talking about his son? Was he losing interest in trying to discover who Draco was? The answer would also be useful to someone who was planning on kidnapping him. Draco initially thought to withhold his answer before realizing that he had already sort of answered it. "Yes, I plan to go to Bulgaria's next game." He then gave a smirk and said, "And should not Ron be more interested in boxing than in Quidditch?" After seeing Mr. Weasley's confusion, he added, "After all, with five older brothers, boxing would be more useful in defending himself."
It took him a moment, but Mr. Weasley laughed when he got the joke. "No, Ron does not know a thing about boxing. You have impressed me again by knowing about a muggle sport." He looked at the blond boy clearly wondering who he was talking to. "My next question is, in the following week, will you be planning anything special for the anniversary of the day that Harry Potter defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
The change in topic and the question itself so startled Draco that he froze. This was a topic that he was not supposed to talk about if he could avoid it. Clearly, he could not. He quickly brought his face back to a neutral expression and looked to see if Mr. Weasley had caught his slippage. Fortunately, the red-haired man had been looking elsewhere as he had waved to someone. Draco forced himself to breath normally. Draco was not supposed to tell people outside of the family, that they did not celebrated Harry Potter Day. The Malfoy's were to keep up the image that they were respectable and celebrated what the masses did. Yet, if Draco lied to this question, it would throw Mr. Weasley off. Was the red-haired man asking this because he suspected that Draco was from one of the pure-blood families that did not celebrate Harry Potter Day? It was highly likely since a lot of the wealthy families were pure-blood families. So, what should he do? Draco examined the question carefully before answering it and choose his words with care. "No, nothing special. Just the same things we always do." All his words were the truth; he just left out that they did not celebrate the day. "Lots of food, sweets, and wine, though I only am allowed a sip from my mother's crystal glass." This was true too, because the Malfoy's on most days had lots of food, sweets, and wine.
Mr. Weasley turned to look at the blond boy as he answered, and he smiled when Draco frowned about the wine. He wondered why children often wanted to drink what the adults were drinking. He frowned as a thought occurred to him. He had never heard anything about Harry Potter since the day that he defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. "I wonder what has become of Harry Potter? He must be around ten by now."
"Is he not living with his parents in the Potter manor or estate?"
"What?" This was the first time the blond boy appeared uninformed about a topic most people, including most ten-year-old boys, knew. This surprised Mr. Weasley, but he said nothing about it. "No, the Potter's, like most wizards and witches, lived in a house. Very, very few live in a manor or an estate. And Harry Potter does not live with his parents because He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named murdered them."
"What?" Draco asked. Clearly, he had not known this. "Why did he do that?" Draco had been told that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had tried to change the Wizarding World for the better. Namely to preserve the old ways and to keep the blood of wizardkind untainted and undiluted by muggle blood. Did we not need to protect the purity of magic? Yet, Draco did not think that murder was a change for the better.
"What?" This was the second time the blond appeared uninformed about a topic most people knew. "Uhm, I suppose there were a number of reasons. First, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were opposing him. They had gone into hiding about the time that Harry was born, but He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named found them, entered their house and killed them. Second, the Dark Lord tortured and killed many of his opponents and followers who had disappointed him, that was why he was so feared. Third, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wanted to kill Harry Potter, and you can bet his parents attempted to stop that." He had been watching the boy's face loose its color, but now he looked like he was about to throw up. "Are you OK?" he asked with concern in his voice.
Draco was not OK. His mother had told him nearly nothing of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but his father had said much, and all of it was positive and glowing. The Dark Lord had tried to change the world for the better, but evil muggle-loving wizards and witches had opposed him and defeated him. His father never mentioned that he had murdered many and tried to kill a baby. He looked to his father who was on the other side of the room talking to someone. His father had clearly not informed him of many things, but had he lied to him? Draco did not want to believe that. Could Mr. Weasley be lying to him? "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to kill a baby?" Draco asked in disbelief.
"What?" Mr. Weasley asked in astonishment. Did not everyone know that? This bright boy was now appearing to be totally ignorant at least on some topics. "Er, yes, son. The Potters failed in their attempt to stop the Dark Lord, but when he cast the killing curse on Harry Potter, the curse rebounded and killed the castor instead. Harry was untouched except for the scar on his forehead." Then he added with a tone of voice that implied he was talking to a very young or stupid child, "That is why Harry Potter is called the Boy Who Lived. How can you not know this?"
Draco hated it when people talked down to him like he was stupid. He was clutching his belly from the sick feeling in his stomach, his face was very pale from what he had heard, and his ears were red from embarrassment making him look very odd indeed. "I… I… d-do not know," Draco stuttered. He hated when he stuttered. "M-Maybe my folks told me very little because they wanted to shelter me from the violence." Draco believed this was true of his mother, but for his father, he suspected he had other reasons.
"Oh!" Mr. Weasley gasped. He had assumed the worst and never thought of that. "Sorry! I did not realize some parents would try to shelter their children about that! Please forgive me and my big mouth! Please do not tell your parents!"
"Please do not tell your parents what?" someone sneered to their side.
