She had until August. That's how long Natalie was allowed to stay. In that time, she was determined to show Natalie what her previous year had entailed, with the exception of Hogwarts, considering she couldn't very well take Nat to Hogwarts in the middle of summer... It just didn't work that way.

They'd spent most of the day going into nearly every shop in Diagon Alley, at Nat's whim. They hadn't bought anything, saying they'd come back so Rem could get her school supplies, anyway.

Not long after arriving, they had visited Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, which Natalie had been beyond thrilled about, and nearly begged Remington to buy her a Pygmy Puff. She'd thought it was quite amazing that Rem actually knew the two attractive gingers that ran the store, and had tried a hand at flirting with both of the twins.

Somewhere along the line after they moved on, they'd run into Fay and Remington had introduced the two girls. Though Fay seemed a bit surprised by Natalie's exuberant energy, and Nat a bit put out by Fay's lack of it, they seemed to get on alright.

They stood all together at the side of the cobblestone road, having just visited Sugarplum's Sweet Shop. Remington had a couple chocolate frogs, having already eaten one. Fay and her were watching in amusement as Nat went through a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. She laughed when the blonde popped a greenish bean into her mouth, only to spit it onto the sidewalk.

"Absolutely not guacamole!" She said, making a face.

Remington shook her head lightly, glancing back at her friend as she lifted another bean for inspection before sticking it cautiously into her mouth. The girl never learned anything.

"And you're still going to eat them?" Fay asked in disbelief.

"I want to find myself one that tastes like a Big Mac." Natalie remarked, chewing on the bean. "I think this one's carrots, but I'm not really sure."

Fay was staring, but Rem rolled her eyes.

"Alvers?" She recognized the voice immediately, and felt her stomach clench slightly as she looked over Natalie's shoulder to see a very familiar white-blonde boy standing just a couple yards away, where he'd apparently stopped walking when he'd seen her.

She stuffed her chocolate frog boxes into her handbag before responding, "Malfoy." Her eyes not leaving his.

She felt Nat's elbow rest on her shoulder once the girl had moved to stand at Rem's side. "So this is the infamous dreamboat, huh?" She remarked tactlessly, bringing a quick, telling blush to Rem's face.

Draco smirked slightly at Remington's humiliation. Fay scowled indignantly at him.

"Huh. Didn't expect him to be so blond." Nat continued. "You always seemed to like the darker boys better."

"Natalie!" Remington hissed under her breath.

"Well I'm not sure whether that's an insult or a compliment." Draco commented.

"Take it as an insult." Fay snapped, "It's better deserved."

"It's more like her thoughts spoken aloud." Rem said a bit sharply, speaking across Fay and shrugging the other girl's elbow off her shoulder.

"Are introductions in order at all, Alvers?" He inquired.

"Natalie Ravscroft." Nat responded for herself, "Muggleborn." She added a bit snobbishly.

"That's not something you should be advertising." He remarked, giving Natalie a look.

"Just letting you know. Normally your kind get upset when they find out they've spent their time on someone they deem inferior." She said, her voice as chipper as always, but edged in a warning.

"Well I can tell why you and Alvers are friendly." Draco said, glancing at Remington.

She arched her eyebrows, "I knew this would happen with you two." She muttered.

"Fine, you know what?" Natalie said, "Why don't we go back to the candy store, Fay? I want more jelly beans." She looked pointedly at Fay, who simply looked back for a moment before slowly saying, "Sure."

Remington stared at them in minor irritation as they turned to walk back to Sugarplum's.

"I daresay that her attitude is nearly worse than yours." Draco remarked.

"She's just... she feels like she's losing me." Rem murmured, turning her eyes on him. "I hope you know they're not coming back."

"We can find them later." He said, tipping his head to gesture that they walk in the opposite direction.

She looked at him for a moment, but decided to follow. "So what brings you to Diagon Alley?" She asked conversationally.

"We're in town for my father's trial." He replied tersely.

"Oh," She said quietly, a bit nervously, "Ah-"

"My mother decided that we might as well kill two birds with one stone." He cut across her, as if she'd never spoken.

"School shopping?" Rem inquired.

"Somewhat." He responded. She got the feeling that there was something he wanted to add, so she didn't say anything right away. She started to doubt her impression after a short bit of silence. "I'd like you to come along."

"Shop-" She started to ask, her eyebrows furrowing.

"To the trial." He interrupted.

She cast a disbelieving, sidelong look in his direction. "What about Natalie?" She asked.

"Bring her along if you must." He said nonchalantly.

She would've asked if he was sure, but she knew better. He wouldn't have offered if he wasn't sure. That wasn't a very Draco-esque thing for him to do. "Alright."