A/N: Special shout outs to alikmionejean, ., and Mrs Angela McCarty ily xx for their reviews. The rest of you who are reading this and not reviewing, I'm sending cyber dust mites at you. No, there's no good reason why they're cyber dust mites. They just are.
Disclaimer (since I haven't done one yet): I do not own the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I wish I did, because then I'd be fabulously rich and famous - actually, no. That sounds sort of like hell. Erm...yeah. Anyways, I'm not JK Rowling. However, Emerald Zabini (who may or may not be in this chapter, I don't remember), Will Corner, Sam Baker, Dylan Abernathy and Lyra Malfoy are all mine. Mine. *random Gollum moment*
Chapter 4: Dylan
Mr Malfoy was really nice. This was my first impression. My second was, "Damn they have money."
Looking at Ly and Scor, you can't tell they're rich. They seem incredibly normal. Like, normal to the extreme. But no, looking at their dad, the main thing is money. My family isn't exactly poor, but we don't have enough money for a flat at the centre of London along the banks of the Thames. We live in Wandsworth. On Harris Street. We don't have enough money for a place with more than two bedrooms.
Or enough money for a driver.
It was a huge luxury Muggle car, a Limousine in fact. Mr Malfoy sat in the back with us, our trunks in the boot. Their driver was a wizard.
"How was your first year, Lyra? Scorpius?" Mr Malfoy asked. The driver didn't talk.
"Great, Dad," Ly said.
"We made a bunch of new friends," Scor said.
"I gathered," he said, gesturing to me, Sam and Will.
"But we've made more than them," Ly said.
"Am I not enough for you?" I asked, pretending to look wounded. Mr Malfoy laughed.
"No," she said, sticking her tongue out at me.
"Yeah, she needs James too," Scor said, raising his eyebrows and winking in no particular direction.
"James?" Mr Malfoy asked curiously, looking as goofy as his son. "Who's James?"
"Her boyfriend," I said.
"He is not!" Ly insisted, looking as though I'd betrayed her on a deep emotional level.
"Then why'd you give him your address?" Will asked, speaking for the first time.
"I did nothing of the sort," she insisted, crossing her arms.
"That's right," I said, I hit Will in the arm as if letting him in on a secret. "It was a love note."
"Ah," he said in mock comprehension.
"I need more girl friends," Ly said.
"No you don't! You love us!" I said. Mr Malfoy laughed whole heartedly.
"Dad, can we send them all away?" she asked.
"Nope," he said. "They're entertaining."
"Thank you, sir," I said. "I'm Dylan by the way." I shook his hand. "That's Will and that's Sam."
"So was it really our address?" Scor asked.
"Yes," Ly mumbled, covering her mouth with her sweater.
"Why?" I asked. "He's a Weasley. He doesn't need to defect to your house."
"This James character's a Weasley?" Mr Malfoy asked, eyes lighting up.
"Well, technically, he's a Potter," I said. Mr Malfoy's eyes widened in a thrilled grin.
"Good girl, Ly," he said.
"Thanks, Dad," she said. "And I gave him our address so that they could all come over if their parents would let them."
"How many Weasleys are we talking about?" Dad asked.
"Seven," Scor answered, scratching the back of his head. Mr Malfoy blinked in shock.
"You've made friends with seven Weasleys?" he asked.
"Well, five Weasleys, two Potters," I corrected.
"Of course you have," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Will they all fit, what with Emerald and Lizzie coming to stay for the summer?"
"Em and Lizzie are coming to stay for the summer?" Ly asked.
"Yeah," Scor said. "Uncle Blaise and Aunt Daphne are going to France with Morgana and refused to bring Em and Liz with them."
"That was kind," Ly said. Mr Malfoy seemed to be trying not to laugh.
"So, let's see," Scor said. "You and Mum take up your room. Then Ly and I take up two, and Em and Lizzie can share with Ly, so that's only three."
"There are more than three rooms in your house?" Sam asked.
"Yeah," Ly said awkwardly.
"Or, alternatively, we could just shove you lot all upstairs," Mr Malfoy said.
"This is true," Ly said. "That leaves well, all the rooms empty except yours. I suppose we could put Lizzie in a room of her own, since we're so much older than her it would be weird for her to hang out with us."
"It's only two years," Mr Malfoy said, "but I see your point. So the attic it is?"
"You're going to stick twelve people in an attic?" Sam asked.
"Thirteen, actually," Ly said. "You forgot about my cousin Em."
"And if we really wanted to, we could stay in the rooms," Scor said.
The car turned into a parking garage under a tall apartment building. We stepped out and the driver piled all our trunks up.
"Drop those in the attic," Mr Malfoy commanded of his driver. We followed him to an elevator standing apart from its fellows. Given the three Muggles that walked right past it without a second glance, I suppose it was like the Leaky Cauldron. Mr Malfoy waved his wand at it and the door flew open. We followed him in. The moment the doors closed, they opened again and we were looking at a posh foyer.
Please let me repeat that these people have money. And a lot of it.
As Sam, Will and I looked around in awe, a feverish looking woman came out of what I assume was the kitchen.
"Lyra!" she exclaimed, rushing forward to hug her daughter. Lyra looked shocked.
"Hi, Mum," she said, stiffly hugging her.
"Scorpius!" their mum said, hugging Scorpius too. "I've just done some tea, it'll be ready in a minute." She bustled back off into the kitchen. Mr Malfoy stared after her in a concerned way.
"Is she okay?" Ly asked.
"Erm…yes," Mr Malfoy said hesitantly.
"Dad, she looked happy to see me, so I doubt quite highly that she's 'fine'," Ly said. Mr Malfoy looked uncomfortable.
"Dad?" Scor asked.
"Yes, she's fine," he repeated. "I trust you'll show your friends to the attic." He turned and followed his wife into the kitchen. Scor and Ly looked highly concerned.
"Okay," Ly said finally, and walked into the main cavity of the flat. Up ahead was a wall of large French windows onto a balcony that overlooked all of London it appeared. In the centre of the room was a large flight of stairs. "This is the way to the attic." We followed her up the stairs. She turned at the level we were on and showed us to a second more secluded staircase. The door at the top of the stairs said "Attic."
Instinctively, I knew this was a posh apartment building in down town London and "attic" wasn't going to mean dust, cobwebs and family secrets. I still wasn't prepared for the reality.
"Holy…" Will started.
"Mother of God," Sam said. My jaw was glued to the plush carpeting.
It looked like a Sherlock Holmes hideout. A large collection of clothes of every shape, size, fabric and colour lined one end. There was a multitude of antique furniture lying around. The room itself looked like it'd been pulled out of a home decorating magazine about "DIY: The Library Attic Closet." Because all the walls were covered in dark mahogany shelves, all full of ancient books. Some didn't even have covers. And in the far corner was a spiral staircase.
"What is this place?" I asked.
"Home," Ly said, tossing her bag onto a chaise lounge that was easily from the nineteen tens. She flopped onto it. Will, Sam and I stood near the door as Scor fell onto a different over stuffed arm chair.
"You can't break anything," said a voice from behind us.
"Em!" Ly exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and hugging the girl behind me.
"Ly!" she exclaimed back. "So who are you lot?"
"Dylan," I said, extending my hand. Em shook it. Sam and Will looked shell shocked. Especially Will. "That's Will and Sam," I added, pointing at them. "They're unused to being around girls," I added in a stage whisper.
"Ah…" she said. I nodded. "That's quite pathetic."
"Believe me, I know," I said.
"They're almost as bad as Al," Ly interjected.
"Except Al's sort of skittish around everyone," I said.
"So true," Scor said. Will and Sam sat awkwardly on the carpeting. Ly, Em and I rolled our eyes at them. Scor sat with them.
"Are we all staying up here?" Will asked.
"Yeah," Ly and Scor answered at the same time.
"And are we being joined by our friends for sure?" Sam asked. Ly shrugged. There was a thud from the window. Ly rushed over to it and opened it to allow an owl to land. It stuck out its leg pompously. I never knew owls could be pompous, but I guess that's reasonable. It appeared to raise its eyebrow as Ly ran to untie the letter. She pulled it off and un-scrolled it. The owl looked at a feathered lamp disdainfully.
Ly read rapidly, and then smiled widely. "They're coming Tuesday next."
"Which ones?" Scor and I asked in unison.
"James, Fred, Rose, Al, Roxie, Lucy and Dom," she said. "I'll just go tell Dad." She bounded out of the room.
"Dom's coming," Sam said, trying to keep it casual.
"And Roxie," Will added, trying to keep his tone casual as well.
"Weasley?" Em asked.
"Yeah," Scor and I replied in unison.
"Oh, dear Merlin," she said, falling back onto a couch. I like her. "Do you two like them?" Em asked.
"No!" they exclaimed in unison. I rolled my eyes.
"You're both terrible liars," I said. As one, they threw two pillows at my head.
"I don't like Dominique!" Sam exclaimed. "Everyone likes Dominique!"
"And you're a straight guy, so it stands to reason you do too," Scor said.
"Shut up," he grumbled. We laughed at him.
"And Will, you can't lie to us," I said. "We've all seen you scribbling in your journal."
"It's not a journal!" he insisted.
"What is it?" Scor asked.
"It's where I keep my Transfiguration notes," Will said. He crossed his arms and looked moody.
"Perhaps we had a studying intervention with the wrong member of our dormitory," I said to Scor. He nodded in agreement.
"I have one just like it where I keep my Charms notes!" Sam exclaimed. My jaw dropped in abject horror.
"I don't know how I'm friends with you people," I said. "You are sick and wrong, and we should have you committed."
"Oh yeah, Dylan? And what are you good at?" Sam asked. I knew he didn't necessarily ask it to be rude, but he has this blunt way of putting things.
"Taking pictures," I said.
"Such a handy life skill," Em said.
"What are your skills, Em?" I asked. "Lounging? Shopping perhaps?"
"Leave her alone," Will said. Scor, Em and I stared at him in shock. Sam had pulled a composition book out of nowhere and was scribbling in it. This must be the infamous Charms notes book.
"Lounging while shopping, in fact," Em said. The corner of my mouth twitched. We burst out laughing. "No, I dunno what I'm good at, but I'm a terrible shopper. I know I look like I should be fabulous at it, but I'm really rather crap."
"So what do you intend on doing with your photography?" Scor asked.
"Photojournalism," I replied instantly. And it was true. Ever since my cousin had gotten me a camera for my eighth birthday, I'd taken more photos than any child alive and I'd string them together to make stories.
"Cool," Em said. Just then Lyra bounded into the attic.
"Dylan!" she said, out of breath. "Your cousin's here!"
"Why?" I asked.
"I dunno. Said something about not getting an owl at all, and everyone else is okay to come stay by the way, I talked to Dad," she said in a rush.
"I'm going to go see what Amy wants," I said. I ran down the two flights of stairs to the main floor.
Perhaps I should explain why my cousin is coming to find out why I haven't owled. When I started showing signs of magic at age four, my parents (Muggles, the worst sort) wanted nothing to do with me. Amy, my cousin, had been out of Hogwarts two years and decided to take me in. She's raised me for as long as I can remember. She's the one I live with in Wandsworth. She's the only family I've got. And the only family I need.
I reached the kitchen, where I saw her sitting with Mr Malfoy and Mrs Malfoy and a nine year old girl who greatly resembled Em. I cleared my throat to announce my presence. I could tell from her posture that Amy knew exactly who had just walked in the door (she was facing the other way) and was not pleased with me. I shrunk back as she whirled around.
"Would it have killed you to owl me?" she asked.
"No," I squeaked.
"I mean, you send the preliminary along, but don't send any confirmation or anything," she said.
"I'm sorry!" I insisted, hugging her. When I do this, she generally stops being angry. She sighed in exasperation and hugged me back.
"Don't do that to me okay? I was worried sick," she said. I could hear Mr Malfoy chuckling to himself. Mrs Malfoy swatted him in the arm. He stopped laughing.
"I'm sorry," I said again. "I meant to write, I really did, I just got distracted."
"It's okay," she said, holding me at arm's length and making me look her in the eye. "Just don't do it again." I nodded solemnly. "Now go," she said. "Hate for you to miss valuable conversation time with your friends." I smiled and dashed back out of the room. I could hear the adults laughing still. When I got back to the attic, it was to find Ly had stolen Will and Sam's notebooks. She was rifling through them while dancing out of their reach. As I walked in she stopped dancing away and stood there in shock, staring at one of the books.
"This isn't class notes," she said. "These are Charms you're working on creating…"
"Yeah," Sam said awkwardly. "May I have my book back, please?" She handed it back, still looking shocked. Will held out his hand as well. She handed it back and sat down looking stumped.
"Here I was, all prepared to mock you and now I can't," she said. "Ruin my summer," she muttered.
"Somehow, I think you'll live," Scor said. I fell into a chair next to her.
"Yeah, besides. James is coming Tuesday next," I said. The guys exploded in laughter when she hit me in the arm.
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