Draco Alatus
Disclaimer: All of the characters but Sidra Malfoy belong to the great J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Draco Alatus is Latin, meaning Winged Dragon in English. If people like it, I will continue the series.
"Lace?" shouted Sidra Malfoy, her nose wrinkling at the thought. "You expect me to wear lace to Diagon Alley?"
Her silvery hair brushed against Narcissa's as she flounced out of the room. She ran down the spiral staircase, muttering to herself, "Why would I ever wear lace?"
Draco, her brother, turned from his place at the table, where he was completing a particularly long and quite boring summer essay for Professor Binns. He finished the last sentence with a flourish and rolled the parchment up, glancing at his sister.
"You ready yet?" he asked lazily, checking the time. Sidra glared at him and crossed her arms, heat rising in her cheeks.
"I would be," she said under her breath, "if I wasn't being forced into wearing lace."
Draco grinned at her and stood up. "Just wear velvet or something, all right? I don't want to be late."
Sidra sneered at him, a sneer so very like his own. She turned on her heel and a light flicked on, warning Draco that she was searching for a very fancy robe, one hidden under a magicked stone that even his parents didn't know about.
Draco had only kept Sidra's secret on account of sometimes wanting to use the space himself. Sidra kept all of her special robes their, among with her books. As much as Draco hated to admit it, Sidra was as an avid reader.
"What about this?" called Sidra a moment later, as she appeared in a pale blue robe that matched her flashing eyes.
He cocked his head and nodded slowly. "Yes, that will do." Draco smiled softly to himselfyes, it would do very well.
"What do you mean, 'that will do'?" she asked, frowning.
"Never mind," sighed Draco. Let's go." Sidra's glance remained icy as she whipped around and took a step back as she came face to face with her father, Lucius.
"Draco, Sidra," he said, looking between both of them with beady black eyes, "We're going. Now."
Both of them very obediently filed out to the car, one that the Ministry had lent them. Sidra didn't say a word as she sat with her lips in a thin line and her arms crossed so tightly across her chest that Draco was sure she couldn't breathe.
"Oh, come on, Sidrait's only a bit of lace Mum wanted you to wear," said Draco finally, trying to break the tension.
She shot him a murderous glare and he could hear her breathing hard through her nostrils. "Only a bit of lace?" she said between gritted teeth, so quietly that Draco could barely hear her. "I hate lace more than anything in the world, Draco."
Sidra refused to talk to him for the rest of the car ride.
"Out," ordered Lucius, stopping in front of the entrance to Diagon Alley. "Be back here in two hours. Go."
Sidra and Draco hurriedly jumped out of the Ministry's car and entered Diagon Alley. Sidra had been there before, but never to buy school supplies as this would be her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Meet you in an hour outside Flourish and Blott's," shouted Draco over the crowd as he was shoved to the side and away from Sidra. She didn't respond, only turned to the nearest store, Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
She unfolded the slightly battered list of things she needed to start the term on September first. Black robes, with silver fastenings.
"Hogwarts, m'dear?" came a kindly voice to Sidra's left. She started, but quickly regained her composure and nodded. "Step up here for fitting, then."
"Harry? Let's go!" Ron Weasley stood at the bottom of the rickety stairs, looking up at Harry Potter, his best friend.
"All right, I'm coming," grumbled Harry, disappearing quickly into the room and coming out with a piece of parchment in his fist.
Mrs. Weasley was bustling about, making sure that Fred and George, Ron's twin brothers, had their Hogwarts lists, as well as enough money to buy everything needed.
"We know, Mum. How many times have we done this?" exclaimed an exasperated Fred as Mrs. Weasley checked him over again.
"Yeah," chimed in George. "We have enough of our own money too. We made loads off of our Canary Creams," he said, winking at Harry.
Harry grinned back. He had won the Triwizard Tournament last year, among other things. The prize had been one thousand Galleons, all of which he had given to Fred and George to start their own joke business. It had been very successful so far indeed.
"Come on," muttered Ron, grabbing Harry's hand and dragging him out. Mr. Weasley was waiting to escort them to Diagon Alley.
"All ready then?" he said jovially as he surveyed Ginny, Fred, George, Ron, and Harry approvingly.
They arrived at Diagon Alley in no time. It was packed with students, many of which Harry and Ron knew. They met forgetful Neville Longbottom almost as soon as they entered, but he didn't have much time to chat as he was searching for his toad, Trevor.
Outside of Flourish and Blott's, where they had been loaded down with books, they saw their other best friend, Hermione Granger. She waved and attempted to cross the crowd towards them, not quite succeeding in the way she had planned.
When they finally did reach each other, Hermione grinned brightly. "How are you? I haven't seen either of you all summer!" she exclaimed.
Ron and Harry grinned. It was good to be back together, the inseparable trio. "We've just gotten our books," said Harry.
"Oh, I decided to save books for last," said Hermione, brightening. Books were, undoubtedly, her favorite thing in life. Harry and Ron exchanged glances and Ron looked like he was trying very hard to suppress a groan.
"Well" said Harry slowly. "Where haven't you been?"
Hermione frowned, trying to remember. "Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions," she said finally. Ron and Harry nodded. They hadn't been there either.
"Ron!" All three of them turned. Fred and George were dashing through the crowd expertly, and came up panting by their side.
"What?" began Ron, but George silenced him.
"Here, buy yourself some new dress robes. On us," said Fred, winking discreetly to Harry. He grinned back. Ron looked from one to the other, but they both nodded vigorously and extended a hand filled with gold Galleons.
Ron took them hesitantly, expecting something to happen to him, expecting one of Fred and George's pranks. But nothing did.
A grin spread slowly across his face and he tugged Harry and Hermione into the shop, looking around for dress robes that didn't have lace cuffs.
Hermione ended up buying a new set of dress robes too, even though she still loved her periwinkle blue ones dearly. Ron was able to buy two pairs of dress robes with Fred and George's money (although one was just to show Malfoy he wasn't that poor).
Harry, however, didn't buy anything. He sat staring out of the window at the crowds that passed by, occasionally waving to a familiar face. Suddenly he started.
A girl that looked so similar to Malfoy entered. Harry looked up at her silvery hair and pale skin. She looked much younger than Malfoy, though. He was sure that she was Malfoy's younger sister, probably just starting at Hogwarts.
"Excuse me," said the girl in a very Malfoy-like voice to the woman who had been helping Hermione. "I just bought some robes here about a half an hour ago, and I was wondering if you had this robe in lavender."
She then proceeded to pull a light blue robe out of one of the many bags she was carrying and lay it gently on a table. The woman cocked her head and nodded, slipping behind a curtain and reappearing moments later with a dress identical to the girl's except in lavender.
"Thank you," she said, turning from the counter.
Since when do Malfoys say thank you? thought Harry.
Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes fixed on Harry. Her eyes performed the familiar flick upward to his scar before returning to his bright green eyes.
"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" she said softly.
For a moment, Harry considered ignoring her. But he knew, deep down, that he should give her a chance, even though she was his worst enemy's little sister.
"Yes," he said. "Who are you?"
"Sidra Malfoy," she whispered, shifting her bags to the other hand and checking the watch on her wrist, sighing. "I've got to go," she said and exited the shop, the bell ringing into the silence after her.
Harry's eyes followed her until she vanished in the swarming crowds of people.
"Harry?" asked Ron in a low voice. "That wasn't Malfoy's little sister, was it?" Harry glanced away from the crowd and nodded. Ron and Hermione both looked very worried.
"Why are you so worried?" he asked, standing up and brushing past them. "She didn't seem too horrible."
"But another Malfoy" Ron whispered. "Imagine how they're going to team up," he sighed. Hermione nodded in agreement.
"I think we're in for a rather difficult year," she said quietly.
Personally, Harry agreed.
