DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter
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Hey y'all! Welcome to those of you just joining us, and welcome back to you guys who have stuck around through The Night Before! If you didn't know, this is the prequel to The Night Before so you can go check that out too if you'd like! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Reviews are my favoritest thing in the world, so I hope you'll leave a few :)
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YEAR TWO
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Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak
It was a gorgeous day outside, but one would never know that from the dark and compressed streets of Knockturn Alley. The gray and depressing surrounding seemed to block out the rays of the sun on its own. It reflected well on the mood of a certain young blonde wizard, trying to pass the time staring up at the ceiling as he spun quickly around in a worn out black armchair.
Squeak, squeak, squeak
He casually wondered how long his father would put up with the rusty squeaking of the armchair before he –
"Draco!"
A swift smack on the shoulder from the end of his father's serpent cane cut off Draco Malfoy's thoughts. He winced, dropping his feet to the ground and spinning around to face his father's stone-like glare. Every time he looked at his father's face he saw an unreachable perfection; what his father wanted him to become but knew he could never reach.
"Enough" his smooth voice ordered sharply.
Draco sighed and let his head fall back against the chair. He wasn't sure if his father really had business to do in this shop or if he was just trying to torture him. Impatiently, he started loudly tapping his thumb against one of the old brass buttons that decorated the arm of the chair. An agitated Lucius slowly turned away from the shopkeeper yet again, getting Draco's attention.
"If you are not going to sit here quietly," he warned, "then I suggest you find somewhere else to occupy your short attention span."
Draco rolled his eyes but got up from his seat and left the shop quickly, incase his father saw the gesture. He may loathe his father's dictator-like rule over him, but he wasn't about to try and fight it. He knew he would lose.
Looking up the alleyway he saw the bright and bustling opening where Knockturn meets Diagon Alley. Draco shoved his hands into his robe pockets and walked defiantly in the opposite direction. The last thing he wanted to do before being placed on a crowded train was be around people. He dreaded the train ride back to Hogwarts he would have to take in a few short hours. His first year there had dragged by painstakingly slowly, and this year wasn't expected to be much better. Sure, he had carved his niche in the Slytherin house, but it wasn't as glorious as he had hoped. If things had gone as planned first year, Harry Potter would have been on his side. But no, Mr. Boy-With-A-Heart-Of-Gold had to go all noble on him and snub away at his offer of friendship. Fine. What did he care? Potter turned out to be a pushover anyway, which only infuriated Draco more as he watched Potter's popularity increase daily.
He shows off that idiotic looking scar of his and suddenly people fall at his feet...
In all honesty, the rivalry with Harry was the only thing that made Hogwarts bearable for him. Draco loved the challenge to be better than him at everything, and he especially loved the satisfaction when he succeeded. Nothing made him feel more content than seeing the look of frustration on Potter's face when he lost. The thought even now brought a wicked grin across Draco's face. Suddenly he stopped and frowned, quickly shaking his head. Thoughts of Potter did not need to invade his mind right now. He wanted to enjoy this time alone, and his trail of thought had left a nasty taste in his mouth.
Looking around, Draco realized how deep into Knockturn he had gone. No one but a stray cat seemed to inhabit the dirty cobblestone street. He looked up at the damaged sign that dangled above his head.
Fossey's
The outside of what seemed like a bar looked run down enough for Draco's liking. If he was lucky, he could have the place to himself to brood. Slowly he pulled open the door and peeked inside. It seemed quiet enough, so he risked opening it the rest of the way. A small bell over the door chimed his arrival and he was swiftly greeted by an older, cheerful looking woman. She was plump and decorated in a bright floral apron. A large, welcoming grin beamed down at Draco. He regretted his decision immediately.
"Why hello there, my dear!" she practically sung. Draco groaned internally and tried to take a step back out the door, but she quickly closed it behind him and grabbed his arm, steering him toward a table.
"You seem a bit young to be wandering around the streets of Knockturn all by your lonesome! Not the nicest of places to be, no sir! But no matter, no matter. Anything I can get for you, my dear?"
She plopped him down into a hard, rickety old chair. Draco looked up at her in disdain. "Butterbeer" he grumbled.
"Coming right up!" she said happily with a pat on his shoulder. He tried to swivel his body away from her, but she had already disappeared into the kitchen behind him.
Draco sighed and folded his arms on the table, resting his chin on top. He took the opportunity to look around. There were only a couple empty tables with a few chairs set up. All the furniture was old and simply made. Across the floor was an empty stone fireplace, a faded rug at its base. Two large green armchairs sat on either side, a large beat up red couch lining the length of the rug. Despite the ancient look of the place, it still seemed to be well kept and optimistic. This annoyed Draco to no end. He had been looking for a place to sit in a dark corner by himself with no one bothering him where he could be alone with his thoughts.
Not gonna happen, he thought angrily as he heard the quick padding of the woman approaching him.
"Here we are, dear! Enjoy! The name's Fossey, just plain Fossey will do! Don't be afraid to use it!"
Draco just silently watched her set the bottle down in front of him. He waited until she moved away to clean one of the tables before he reached for the drink and sipped it slowly.
At least the place is empty, he reminded himself, trying to make the best of the situation. He took another sip of his Butterbeer before returning to his original position. With a sigh he started thinking of what lay in wait for him at Hogwarts.
The crowded common room…sharing a room…Crabbe and Goyle…
He honestly didn't mind Crabbe and Goyle so much, when they didn't annoy the hell out of him, but he craved having someone with even a speck of intelligence to spend time with. Some of the older Slytherin students had some potential, but most of the Slytherins were all the same; conceited and deceiving. Naturally, Draco prided himself in his ability to manipulate people, but it didn't help that the rest of his house seemed to have the same talent. It made trusting them very difficult.
"So what brings a young man such as yourself down this far away from the hustle and bustle of Diagon?"
Draco flinched and glared at the woman. Her kindly eyes seemed to be searching for something in his. He didn't like that.
"School starts again soon, doesn't it? Lots to buy, I'm sure. Although I can't imagine you needing the likes of anything sold down this street! No sir! Not that anyone would be selling, mind you. Dead as a desert out here, it is! Not much to enjoy for a young man like yourself, no sir!"
"I don't like crowds" he growled.
"Ah, one of the loner kinds, are you? Not that I blame you, of course. Hard to hear ones self think with all the chatter and hullabaloo!"
Hard indeed…
"Can't say you'll find much of that down here! No sir not many wandering souls come by in the daylight hours. Silent as a graveyard in here, I'm afraid! But no matter, no matter. This place will be busy as anything once the sun dies down, let me assure you!"
A silent swig of his drink was Draco's only response. He focused his attention on the bottle, staring at it angrily.
Fossey hesitated a moment. "Of course, even the light of day doesn't scare away some mischievous individuals. Can't be too careful around these parts! Oh my hearts and stars you should see some of the shady looking folks I come across now and again! Not too safe for a young boy, no sir!"
"I can take care of myself" he snapped back. Draco hated being treated like a kid. What he hated more though was the look of pity the woman seemed to be giving him.
"Oh no doubt, love! No doubt you can! I can see you have a good head on your shoulders. A smart young man like you knows how to handle himself, I'm sure!"
Draco ignored her, spilling the last of the Butterbeer into his mouth.
"Anything else I can get you, love?" she asked with a hint of worry in her voice as she came to gather his drink. "Anything you'd like to eat? Another drink?"
Draco opened his mouth but froze, a familiar tug pulling at his gut. It was a sensation Draco had come to discover he always felt when his father demanded his presence. He quickly stood, reaching into his pocket and dropping a few coins on the table. As he made his way toward the door, Fossey called after him.
"Good luck in school, my dear! I hope to see you again! Fossey's will always be open and welcome to you so stop by for a visit!"
Draco just rolled his eyes and left without a word. Breaking into a jog Draco hurriedly made his way back to the shop he left his father in. Just as he had predicted, there Lucius stood outside of the shop, waiting.
"Where were you?" he asked coldly. Draco looked up into his father's dark silver eyes.
"I went to get a drink" he responded shortly. Lucius' eyes ran up and down his son before pivoting where his stood, his dark colored robes flowing out behind him. Draco quickly followed behind him.
They made their way up Knockturn, merging with the rest of the crowd going into Diagon Alley. The atmosphere seemed itself seemed to change along with the surroundings. Here the sun shone brightly, bouncing and glittering off the vibrant colors that filled the streets. A steady stream of voices from hundreds of witches and wizards floated lightly through the air. The shops that lined the street had their wares on display in the most eye-catching fashion. A few owls flew overhead with messages and parcels in their grasp. Street vendors happily shouted their contents to the bustling crowds. A few Hogwarts robes could be seen on the younger crowd, running to and from the supply shops, wide grins on their faces. Draco glared at each one of them.
After shuffling through the mass of people for a few minutes, Lucius and Draco stopped outside the bookshop. Lucius turned his head slightly, but not enough to face Draco.
"Get your books. I will be in shortly."
Draco furrowed his eyebrows, but nodded and entered the bookshop. His father often sent him off to do his own thing while Lucius disappeared for any length of time. Draco never asked about it, assuming it was of matters that could not be spoken about. He didn't understand any of it, but then again it didn't concern him so why bother trying to figure it out?
As he stepped through the doorway of the shop Draco found it to be unpleasantly crowded. Looking around he saw all of the books on display to be Gilderoy Lockhart's. He picked up a random book in disgust.
The man has his face plastered all over the place, yet he can't do magic worth a shit!
Very few people knew of Gilderoy's secret, that he wasn't nearly half of the wizard he claimed to be, and those that did were on the more powerful side. Gilderoy's only talent was for memory charms, which he conveniently used on those who knew his true self. He was smart enough not to mess with power though, and accepted a small fee in exchange for secrecy and not attempting to erase the more predominate wizards and witches' memories. The Malfoys were a part of this handful. It was this money that funded most of his travels that he wrote about in his books, as well as publishing the books themselves.
A sudden jostling of people behind Draco caused him to turn around. Just as he did he saw an all too familiar mess of black hair cross his path. Draco huffed loudly in annoyance.
Of course the Boy Wonder would be here…
Still needing to purchase his books Draco decided the best way to avoid Potter was by waiting out his visit upstairs. After he left Draco could get what he needed without any contact at all. He jumped up the stairs, book still in hand, and made his way to the balcony railing that looked over the packed bookstore. He rested his elbows on the railing and watched the crowd below.
Draco quickly found his assumption before to be correct as he saw a reporter drag Harry from the crowd over to where Lockhart stood signing books. There was a flash of light as the reporter's camera went off. Both Draco's hands gripped the book he held tightly, the corner of his lips curling up in a snarl.
No matter where he goes Potter always has to be the center of attention, the prat!
He glanced down at the book he held, Lockhart's smug face grinning ridiculously back at him. Potter's head was directly below. If he just let go…
No. Stop being childish, Draco. You're above a maneuver like that.
Exhaling slowly, Draco opened the book to a random page. Without reading it he ripped the page out of the book.
Better.
He looked over the railing and saw Harry smiling along with Granger and a few Weaslys. The whole scene sickened him. Potter was way too happy. Draco suddenly considered it an obligation to put somewhat of a damper on his day. He folded up the ripped page, put it in his pocket and smoothly glided down the stairs to intersect the young wizards before they exited the shop.
"Famous Harry Potter" he spat as he cut off the raven haired boy's path. Harry looked up at Draco and his face fell immediately. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page!" Draco smirked as he saw Harry's jaw tighten.
Day 1 of getting on Potter's nerves…
"Leave him alone" a tiny voice challenged. Draco's eyes flashed as he turned toward the youngest of the Weasly herd. His smirk turned into a half grin to see Ginny Weasly take a step forward towards Draco, trying to look menacing.
Oh, this is just too good to be true.
"Oh look, Potter!" he taunted back, not caring to control the pleasure he got from this from being written all over his face, "You've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco shifted his eyes back to Ginny whose entire face had suddenly become a very deep shade of red. He would have to remember this and keeps tabs on the two of them. There was always room for fresh material to torment Potter with.
A hard thunk of metal connecting with Draco's shoulder wiped the smile of his face instantly.
"Now, now, Draco, play nicely." Lucius said in a cool tone, pushing Draco aside with the silver snake head of his cane that was still resting on his shoulder. Lucius took a step towards Harry, but before he could say anything Arthur Weasly appeared behind him.
"Kids, it's mad in here. Let's wait outside." He suggested to the group with a wary look at Lucius.
"Well, well, well. Weasly Sr." he sneered.
"Lucius." Arthur replied simply.
The older blonde haired wizard tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes. "Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur? I do hope they're paying you overtime. But judging by the state of this," he said grabbing Ginny's battered textbooks from her small cauldron and looking them over, "I would say not." As he slid the books back into the antique pot, Draco noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was another book added to it. He shifted his gaze up to his father's face which gave nothing away.
Lucius took a challenging step forward in Arthur's direction. "What's the point in being a disgrace to the name of wizards if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Draco saw Arthur's expression harden. "We have a very different idea of the disgrace of wizards, Malfoy" the red headed wizard shot back. The smirk on Lucius' face disappeared.
"Clearly."
The two elder wizards stared each other down for a moment before Arthur ushered his group out of the bookstore. Draco watched them leave in satisfaction. One thing he did like about his father was his ability to always get the last word in and somehow win the confrontation. It was something Draco had wanted to work on himself.
"Get your books and let's go. I won't have you late for the train" Lucius snapped coldly without looking at his son. Draco nodded and ran to get in line with the rest of the students.
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