Disclaimer: As if. I wish it were mine lol
Author's Notes: This chapter is definitely shorter... but eh. This chapter is sort of awkward, but I'm trying to get to the good stuff so, so be it!
Chapter Two: Draco Malfoy and the Dusty Shack
The hideaway was indeed very shabby, as had been expected. It appeared as though it had been uninhabited for decades, at least. The architecture of the shack was shoddy at best, what with the way the bricks and wood were pieced so haphazardly. Vines grew and wrapped all along the sides, and even seemed to be growing inside as well. The door was blocked, and the windows were shattered.
I found myself wishing that Spinner's End really was the place I was supposed to hide away in.
"We'll spend the first week or so cleaning up, of course," Snape informed me casually. "Since this is a Muggle neighborhood, there will be no use of magic. It is prohibited, do you understand me?"
I scowled at his sharp tone, and nodded with a clenched jaw. "I understand perfectly," I ground out, clutching my wand tightly.
"Then you will have no problem handing it over – just to be sure?" Snape requested with a condescending sneer.
"There's no bloody way in hell that you'll be getting my wand!"
"Good boy, always be readily suspicious. But you will give it to me, because I am your new guardian, and for our safety, I must hide yours. Consider it safekeeping."
I itched to brandish the 9-inch stick of oak clutched tightly in my hand and utter a curse that would immobilize him while I ran for it. But before I could even give into the urge, I felt it fly out of my unyielding grip.
"You cheated!" I cried out, watching helplessly as Snape pocketed it. "You said it in your mind! You didn't even give me a chance to—"
"If you really wanted to keep your wand, you would have been on guard, and prepared for my 'cheating' as you so delightfully phrase it," he answered silkily. "You are as well trained as I in the forms of magic I use."
"As well trained?" I scoffed. "I've only been learning the tricks for a year. You've had your entire life! That was no competition! And I haven't even really tried that!"
He seemed to tire of my immature antics, and glided toward the door. He took a small knife from inside his robes, and cut away at a few lone vines that crept along the frame, and whispered a soft spell.
Alohomora, I suspected as the door swung open with a loud, disturbing creak.
He didn't know that the Alohomora was nowhere near strong enough for this magically protected house.
---
Inside, the damage was horrible. What little possessions the last owners had had were now lying broken on the floor or where they stood. Glass shards from worthless vases and windowpanes littered the floor, dust rose with every step, and cobwebs occupied almost every free corner and doorway. There was just one, modest room that squeezed all the elements of a home into its corners.
There was a small kitchen plunked in the corner to my left, which was just big enough for a leaking, rusted sink, three cabinets with a short countertop, and an old, dusty white boxy-thing. I moved forward to open it, and it was completely dark. I gathered its purpose was to hold food, because of a peculiar, moldy package that smelled atrocious. Leave it to Muggles to have no idea how to properly keep food.
"Ugh," I gasped, pinching the bridge of my nose and slamming it shut. I was too afraid to look in the small freezer. "This is absolutely abysmal," I sneered haughtily, shooting a look at Snape.
Two beds were placed perpendicular to each other straight ahead, and there was a night table in between them. It had a broken drawer that hung out, and whatever was in it was, of course, covered in dust. There were no sheets for the beds, and there was one lone pillow that appeared to have had the stuffing beat out of it. Judging solely from the feathers all over the floor and bed.
Along one wall was a lumpy sofa, with a little table placed in front of it.
"What's that?" I asked Snape, pointing to the small black box on the table.
"It's called a television. It's used for Muggle entertainment," he explained with a bored tone. "Those knobs change the station and adjust the coloring."
"Change it to what?" I asked.
"Draco, I have not the time nor the patience to explain the complex workings of Muggle things," Snape snapped irately. "Accept that it does not matter to us, because it is broken anyway."
Sulking a little, I moved along, trying to see if there was anything of use in this little shack. If you could even call it that.
"A broom!" I exclaimed, finally feeling a little excited. Yes, finally, the Muggles knew what they were doing.
Snape had an amused look on his face as he watched me approach it, but I thought nothing of it.
"Up!" I demanded impatiently, unable to wait to feel the wind through my hair. Nothing happened.
I knew it was definitely an older model (who could blame them, they were so behind in the times), but I had hoped it would still respond.
"The only thing that piece of garbage is good for is to sweep up this mess," Snape said, unable to force down his grin. "Muggles don't use them to fly, it's just an item for cleaning."
That was it. This was ridiculous. Take me home, right now. Take me to my leader, and let him have his wicked way with me. Damn the consequences, damn it all, I just wanted to die. Muggles were even worse than I thought.
"What am I supposed to do to keep entertained," I whined, stomping my foot and reverting to my childhood tantrums. "These Muggles are so boring and unclean! How do they live? I can't understand it! And where is the bathroom?"
Wordlessly, Snape pointed out the broken window directly behind me. There, was something shaped almost strangely like a coffin that stood vertically.
Oh Merlin, I could practically see the flies swarming. Suddenly, I could smell something foul that was not from the Muggle foodkeeper.
He smirked at my discomfort, and dropped a large box on the floor, sending thousands of pounds of dust up into the air. I cocked my head, unable to recall seeing him taking such a huge box.
He didn't know that in that box, was the mysterious package Snape had to stop by Spinner's End for.
---
The neighborhood that surrounded the hideout seemed almost luxurious in comparison. They were tall, skinny, and scrunched together. But at least someone was living in it to keep it … decent. They were freshly painted, and their little gardens were far from manicured and award-winning, but they were decent.
"Why couldn't we have those houses?"
"There were already people living in them," Snape replied dryly. "Couldn't very well hide ourselves from them, now could we?"
"Hello! Obliviate, much?" I asked snidely. "They're inferior to us anyway! Just a bunch of Muggles, who would care?"
"They are most certainly not inferior to us," Snape growled dangerously, fixing me with a severe stare. "It's that kind of thinking that gets you to where you are now. Aside from which, we would have to go through a long chain of Muggles to assure that no one remembered the original owners."
And that was the first time I had ever had any indication of Snape's real feelings about the issues my Lord harped on endlessly.
My mouth opened and closed wordlessly, and a sense of triumph came over me. "You don't hate Muggles the way we do?"
"Mister Malfoy, thinking that anyone is inferior to you is entirely too preposterous. Not only is it egotistical, but it would only set you up for disaster."
"Oh yeah? How so?" I challenged, gesturing to the houses in the neighborhood. "These prats would have had no idea what hit them!"
"By thinking they are not up to par would cause you to lower your usual standards," he replied in his usual oily voice. My challenges seemed to have no effect over him, for his expression did not change by even the slightest degree.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"My, you certainly are ambitious. Trying to catch me off guard, Draco? To come crawling back to Lord Voldemort, with information about his beloved spy? I assure you, you will gain nothing of use that you could possibly ever care to report back to him," Snape said, ignoring my question.
I turned to face him again, fixing him with one of my best glares. The Slytherin part of me would not give up, even though I knew logically he was right. Maybe he was entirely loyal to the Dark Side.
"We must come back inside," Snape commanded. "We do not fit out here in our wizardry robes. Especially not with your Hogwarts one. It would be too curious to Muggles."
I followed his once more billowing black robe wordlessly, and closed the door as gently as I could. I still feared that this place would collapse, and I didn't much fancy the idea of dying in such a Muggle fashion. I preferred to be taken by magic.
"It's been a long day," Snape said to finally break the silence. Whether he was referring to yesterday, I wasn't sure. "We should rest."
The suggestion itself was absurd, because it was the middle of the day, and the sun was shining brightly. On top of that, there were no curtains on the windows to block out the light.
But even as he said it, I could feel my eyelids drooping. Despite my short nap, I suddenly felt as if I hadn't slept in years. And like the cliché, suddenly everything was dark.
He didn't know that Snape had gone against his no-magic rule, and cast a spell over Draco to force him to sleep.
