-INSERT REGULAR DISCLAIMER HERE-

"What do you want?" Dad asked, a confused look on his face. He was in his study with Lucius and hunched over some papers, staring at my siblings and I through slightly glared eyes.

"A trampoline!" Kevin repeated. I rolled my eyes. Kevin never really picked up on the subtle hints in life, like the fact neither Dad or Lucius had any idea what a trampoline was.

"It's this thing you bounce on," I said, summing my knowledge of the Muggle contraption, "and it's so much fun..."

"If it's something that falls under the category of Muggle," Lucius said coldly, "I won't have it on my property, unless it fits in your little room."

Shane's jaw dropped, "But sir... Trampolines are massive!"

"Then no."

I glared at Lucius; he always had to ruin everything! We'd been living in this... castle for almost two weeks now, and any time we'd ask Dad for something, he'd cut him off and tell us No. I wonder how Grandmother manages to put up with him.

"Actually, father," Dad said strongly after clearing his throat, "if it gives them something to do... Why not?"

"Because it's Muggle filth," Lucius snapped, glaring at Dad, who rolled his eyes.

"Father, this will keep them out of your hair."

Lucius looked over at us and his eyes wandered over to Kevin, who was poking one of the hanging plants with much interest. I held on a snort.

"Fine..." Lucius grumbled, going back to his papers, "Fine. But pray tell where you are going to get this... thing?"

We all exchanged nervous looks and Shane spoke up, "We sort of... already ordered a Muggle taxi to take us downtown... and we'd get it at one of the malls there."

"A what?"

"A taxi," Kevin groaned. I can imagine he is wondering why no one can hear us speaking today. My brother can be clueless sometimes.

"It's a ... car that takes you around," I explained awkwardly. "We can't Floo in because there are no fireplaces... And none of us are allowed or know how to Apparate yet."

Annie groaned beside me, "It's a big yellow car that takes us places. I think it should be blue, but no one ever listens to me. SO. Now that you know what it is we can go."

"What makes you think you're coming?" Kevin demanded, crossing his arms, "The last time we went to the mall you stayed in that ruddy Barbie store for almost two hours."

"It was PRETTY!"

"It was pink..."

"I just pretended it was BLUE!"

Dad groaned softly and his head fell in his hands. Lucius sneered at my brother and sister and I pinched Kevin to shut him up.

"You may go," Lucius sighed, "but we will accompany you."

Dad shot his father a wide eyed stare and Annie squealed happily, "Yeay! Daddy you'll like the mall... It has the best food..."

Annie enjoyed the fine dining of McDonalds from time to time, loving each and every Happy Meal toy she got.

"Hey, it's your funeral," Shane chuckled. "You two want to be surrounded by Muggles and cramped into a taxi... Fine by us. We'll call you when the taxi gets here."

We turned and left, leaving Dad and Lucius in hushed conversations. I guess Lucius wanted to come with us to make sure we didn't... over spend? Who knows.

"Loo where are you going?" Kevin demanded as I hurried off to my room.

I looked over my shoulder and replied, "To get changed."

"Why?"

He must have drunk a Clueless Potion this morning or something.

"I'm not going to a mall dressed like this," I snapped. There could be guys there! Good looking Muggle guys who have every right to check me out. I grinned at the thought.

Kevin groaned loudly, "You look fine."

"Do not... I'm in grubs!"

I shut myself up in my room and dawned a very nicely shaped pair of pale jeans, a sleeveless black top, and a thin, black jacket to cover it, which I ended up rolling the sleeves up to my elbows. Then I pulled my long hair back into a high ponytail and applied some make up.

"TAXI'S HERE!"

"COMING!" I shouted, gabbing my purse filled with Muggle money and hurrying down the stairs.

"Why'd you change?" Shane inquired as he slipped into his shoes, looking me over, "Weren't you already dressed?"

"I'm going to the mall," I snapped. He and Kevin looked at each other and I moaned, "I want to look like I can fit in to society. God you two are clueless."

"Why did you change, Eloise?" Dad inquired as he and Lucius came down the stairs, dressed in suitable Muggle clothes. They gave off the impression of rich Muggles, but they'd blend well.

I stared at Dad in annoyance, "Because I'm going shopping."

"... So?"

"Women and girls alike find it a necessity to make themselves look nice when going out in public," Lucius explained as he slid his wand into his inside jacket pocket.

"Thank you," I sighed, glaring at my brothers. "None of you understand the female species."

Shane rolled his eyes and Kevin grinned, "I know the female species plenty... If you know what I mean."

I stared at him for a moment, "Ugh..."

Annie finally came stumbling down the stairs, clad in a blue pair of jeans, like mine, and a blue sweater.

"Let's go, let's goooo..." she whined, grabbing Dad's hand and dragging him towards the door.

"Annie likes the mall," Shane explained quietly to Lucius as Kevin and I hurried out after Dad and Annie.

"She truly is a Malfoy," Lucius murmured.

Annie had a weird obsession for shopping. She was the true girlie girl of the family, other then the fact she repulsed pink. Luckily, we asked for a large, roomy van type taxi, so we all managed to fit.

Hopefully. The driver got out quickly when he saw us and smiled, "So sorry I'm late, but I just had to stop and get myself some morning coffee... Well, gracious, looks like it's almost afternoon. Well aren't you adorable," he smiled down at Annie, who was trying very hard not to laugh, "Right. How many are we? We should fit."

He was gay. I could tell it right off the bat that he had a more feminine side then most men. I judged by his hand and how he spoke.

He pulled open the door and bowed, "And where are we all off to today? Family outing, how sweet!"

Lucius looked irritated by the man already, so I figured it should be me who'd step up and do all the talking.

"Yeah, back to school shopping," I chuckled, stepping in front of the male population of my group. "Bit clueless on where the malls and stuff are."

"Well... men can't help that," the driver sighed, looking over at Dad with sudden interest. I tried so hard not to burst out laughing as Dad's eyes widened.

"We want Hiltshire Mall," I explained. "Downtown one... It's got one of those large... uh... department stores?"

"Right right," the driver chuckled, "They have this nifty little shop that makes great cappuccinos... I think I have the name."

I smiled, "Great... Well... Get in."

Shane and Kevin climbed in first, taking up the farthest two seats, then Dad and Lucius clambered in to the middle seats and I sat in front.

"Where do I sit?" Annie whined, looking at all the taken seats.

"You can sit with me," Dad said awkwardly, shifting around to make some room on his seat. Annie climbed into the van and clambered up on his knee, looking very happy with herself. I doubt that's what Dad meant, but that's what he got.


Lucius couldn't believe he was spending time in a MUGGLE car with a Muggle and going to a mall where he would be surrounded by hundreds of Muggles. If Severus caught wind of the outing he would never live it down. Luckily, Narcissa was out visiting with her friends, and would never know about the trip. She had a tendency to gossip. Lucius had his own reasons for going along on this little trip with his four new grandchildren. He wanted Draco to get closer to them. After all, he was their father, and he had been spending a lot of time at work lately. But, he knew his son. And his son felt very uncomfortable alone with four strong minded children, so Lucius figured it would be best if he was there for moral support. The boys were in the back seat, speaking rapidly about Quidditch statistics, occasionally making fun of a Muggle or two that was walking down the busy streets of Hiltshire.

Lucius had been here often in the past. Just because he loathed Muggles, didn't mean he would not take advantage of their fine restaurants when he wanted to treat his wife. It was one of the more... upscale Muggle villages he had seen around his home. The houses were all done up wonderfully, much like his Manor, and people dressed like the proper aristocrats they were. His grandchildren, however, seemed to stand out when he looked them over.

Shane and Kevin were both in 'shorts' that went absurdly below their knees, and baggy tshirts with rubbish like 'No Fear' and 'Billabong' written across them. Annie and her sister looked alike in jeans and ponytails in their blonde hair, but Annie's top was conservative, while Eloise's left little to the male imagination when it came to her cleavage.

He would have to speak to his wife about that... Maybe she could help Eloise dress properly.

The Muggle taxi pulled to a stop and Lucius made haste to get out of the perfumed smelling vehicle and away from that horrid Muggle music playing from the radio.
Yes, yes he knew what a radio was. Lucius Malfoy was not as clueless as people thought.

Draco, however, was not as accustomed to Muggle ways of life, and as he stepped out onto the curb by the large mall, he looked much like a lost little sheep. Once Eloise had paid the driver, the entire group began to walk in, but Eloise dropped down suddenly beside Lucius. He frowned and looked down just to see she was tying her shoe. Kevin waited beside his sister, while Shane caught a look from Lucius and went to rescue Draco from his smallest daughter's clutches.

There was a whistle suddenly and Eloise stood up, glaring at the pair of teenagers sitting atop rather old looking motorbikes.

"You interested in a ride, gorgeous?" one called, much to Lucius's annoyance.

Muggle's clearly had no idea how to woo a woman, or treat her with respect for that matter.

He found his hand reaching for his wand. It was a typical reaction to getting rid of pests, but Eloise just rolled her eyes.

"Not on that small piece of equipment," she replied back loudly, glaring.

"Oi... Don't insult the bike."

"Both you and I know neither of us were talking about the bike," she spat, turning on her heel with a satisfied smile on her face. "Shall we go in?"

"Nicely done, Loo," Kevin chuckled, nudging her with his elbow as the pair walked slightly ahead of Lucius.

He sneered at them. Loo was something else he would have to change. It made his granddaughter sound like she was a toilet every time her brothers talked to her. It was very disrespectful.

The three of them stepped into the mall, and instantly Lucius was hit with everything Muggle. From the music playing on the overhead system, to the smells coming from the fast food vendors, to all the Muggles walking around him. He spotted his son looking disgusted while Annie and Shane spoke about something.

"Look at Dad's face," Kevin sniggered. "Looks like he's going to hurl."

Lucuis gave him a bit of a shove forward, which shut him up quickly.

It would have been a lot easier raising children that were very young, maybe if they were all Annie's age. That way their minds could be taught how and what to think. At this age, however, they had their own beliefs, especially Shane.

He was getting better at not snapping at Lucius, but the wizard knew troubling times would be ahead with the teen.

"Right..." Shane said firmly, taking charge of the situation, "Kev, me and Loo-"

"Eloise, Kevin and I," Lucius corrected, looking down his nose at his grandson, who's eye twitched when he was interrupted.

"Yeah..." Shane grunted, "Are going to go make this quick and pick up the trampoline. There's a coffee shop just down to the left where we can meet you as soon as we pick up what we need."

"Why can't I come?" Annie demanded, giving Shane a pinch on the leg, "I never go anywhere."
"You walk too slow," Kevin snapped, rolling his eyes.

Eloise shot him a narrowed glare and bent down to face level with her sister, "Stay here with Daddy and ... Grandfather, and we promise you can be the first person to go on the trampoline, ok?"

"Promise?"

Promise," Eloise said soothingly, winking.

Lucius had to admit, Eloise was very good at handling her sister.

"Well..." Draco stuttered, trying to sound authoritive, "Don't be gone too long. And... don't get something that will break so we'll need to come back and get another one."

Lucius made eye contact with his son and they both shared a private smirk, Draco's less of a confident smirk then Lucius.

When Draco was younger, maybe six, he made a huge fuss about buying a racing broom to use around the property. Of course, Narcissa was horrified with the thought of Draco whizzing around fifty feet in the air and forbid Lucius from purchasing his son a broom. Torn between his son's whining and his wife's nagging, Lucius gave in to the lesser of the two evils and bought his son a broom of his choice. Draco was very specific about getting the broom of his choice, even though Lucius suggested a different one. Draco had a small fit in the store when Lucius tried to force his choice on to the small boy, and eventually just gave up and bought Draco whichever broom he wanted.

It broke the next day and Draco managed to break his arm from falling. Narcissa punished Lucius and made him sleep on the couch for almost a week for not listening to her, and he was then forced to go buy Draco a different broom to keep his son from moaning anymore.

He did not wish to relive the experience of shopping for something he had already purchased again.

"Don't worry, Dad," Kevin laughed. "We'll get the best quality. Most expensive."

"We will not," Eloise spat. "Not while I have to pay for it... We're getting a cheap, but good quality one."

"Nothing cheap is ever good quality," Kevin stated.

Eloise opened her mouth, but Shane cut her off, "We'll see you all in about a half an hour. Here's some Muggle money-"

"No need," Lucius said coolly, "I have Muggle money. Go and be quick."

The three of them shot off into the crowd of Muggles and were soon gone from sight.

"If we were going to let them go off on their own," Draco snapped. "Why did we come?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow at his son's tone, then looked down at Annie, who was picking at her nails.

"Oh. Right."

"Are we going to stand here all day?" Annie asked suddenly, "Let's go do something."

She let out an annoyed huff and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Yes..." Draco said nervously, "Do you want to go for a drink... A hot chocolate or something I mean."

"No, Daddy," Annie replied gently, as though she was fussing over a baby, "we came to a mall... We should go shopping!"

"But-"

"Yes, Draco," Lucius chuckled, an amused grin on his face, "your baby wants to shop. Go buy her something nice, then come find me at the cafe."

"Father," Draco hissed through gritted teeth.

Lucius just grinned and handed him some Muggle money, "Splurge on your daughter."

Annie gave Lucius a thick hug around the waist, then grabbed Draco's hand, dragging him off.

Lucius stood in slight shock. None of his grandchildren had hugged him yet...

It was a nice feeling.


Draco silently cursed his father for sending him on a lone shopping spree with his youngest daughter. Annie apparently hadn't noticed his nervousness and babbled on about how nice the mall was and that she wanted to go buy a new dress.

"Merlin," Draco muttered as Annie pulled him into an expensive dress shop for toddlers, "she's just like mum..."

Growing up, he had watched his mother buy expensive clothes made from the finest silks, much to his father's discontent. He hoped Annie wouldn't always be like that.

"Daddy," Annie moaned, tugging on his sleeves, "did you hear me?"

"Sorry, Daddy was daydreaming," he chuckled. "What did you say, Pumpkin?"

He liked calling her that. It made her feel like she was his daughter... More than she was.

"Do you think this dress goes pretty with my hair?" she inquired, holding up a poofy blue piece of fabric in front of her body, smiling angelically.

"Why are all of your things blue?" he inquired, "Don't you like any other colours?"

"Blue looks pretty on me," Annie snapped, raising her eyebrow, "Mummy said blue goes nice with blonde hair."

"Your mummy was right," Draco agreed, "But... I know another colour that would look beautiful on such a pretty little girl."

"Really?"

Draco grinned. He knew how to draw attention from the ladies, even if they were miniature ones. Flattery goes a long way with witches. He walked over to a rack with a bunch of green dresses, none of which had the poofy mess of frills that Annie's blue dress had. Most were very long, and somewhat elegant looking for a five year old.

"That's a pretty colour," Annie admitted, pinching the material, "and it's very soft..."

"I think a certain young witch would look very pretty in it," he whispered as she took it off the rack and toddled over to the mirror, getting a look at herself.

"I look nice Daddy... Can I have it?"

"Of course, sweetheart," Draco answered, almost melting at the look his daughter had sent him. "You can have anything you want..."

He couldn't refuse her anything! She just looked so adorable!

After about forty minutes, Draco was at the cash, paying the Muggle woman the money for the seven new dresses Annie had found, all in different hues of green.

"Now I like blue AND green," she confessed, grabbing the one sweater he had purchased her and replacing her blue one with it.

Draco was rather proud of himself. He had gotten Annie into his Slytherin colour without so much as a small peep. He added a point to the overall score of things, then led Annie out of the shop, off to find his father at the Muggle cafe.


"He's sooo adorable," I cooed.

We hadn't made it past the pet shop, and had sadly been sitting in a pen full of puppies for the past half an hour after we had left Dad and Lucius. All of my family had been animal people. We had a few cats when we lived with mum, and I remember us having a dog when Shane and I were much younger.

There had been a little German Shepard pup that had ceased to leave us alone the entire time we sat in with all the puppies, and I think we've all fallen in love with him.

"We may not be able to keep him," the store keeper confessed. "He doesn't do well with the other dogs unless there are humans around. They all pick on him."

"He does look sort of runty," Shane admitted, rubbing the dog's back softly.

The store keeper nodded and sighed, "We may have to send him someplace else if we can't find him a home. No one wants a runt."

That sold us.

Within seconds, I was forking over enough money to pay for the dog, plus buy us a crate, a leash, some food, a dog dish and a few chew toys. It really only hit us the minute we were out of the store with a puppy in a crate that we had to explain to Lucius we were bringing something else into his house.

"You two go first," Shane whispered as we spotted Dad, Lucius and Annie seated at a circular table outside of Starbucks, sipping happily on their drinks. "If he freaks out... Well... At least Bo won't hear it."

That's what we decided to name him. Bo.

Somehow it just fit.

Kevin and I slowly walked up, saintly expressions on our faces.

"Where is your brother?" Dad said instantly, noticing Shane wasn't with us.

I opened my mouth sweetly, ready to explain, but Kevin suddenly burst out, "Annie... You aren't in blue..."

I looked over at my sister and my eyes widened, "You... You're in green!"

Annie hadn't worn anything but blue for ages now! What... What happened!

"I suggested green also looked nice and she agreed," Dad explained, a smug smirk on his face, "but seriously, where is your brother?"

Kevin and I looked at each other and he stared at me pointedly. I sighed, "We bought something... um... other then the trampoline."

Lucius looked up from his coffee, an eyebrow raised, "And what would that be?"

"Well..." I sighed, trying to break it to him gently, "It has four legs, a tail and says woof?"

"A PUPPY?" Annie squealed, standing up quickly, "Where! Where is he!"

"You bought a dog...?" Dad said slowly in disbelief, "An animal? What happened to wanting a trampoline!"

Shane slowly walked in on the scene, the small dog crate under his arm. Annie hurried around the table and peered into the cage, squealing when Bo licked her fingers.

"Dogs chew and destroy everything," Lucius spat, "I-"

"We'll take all blame if he does something," Shane said firmly, "and... We'll train him and completely look after him, we promise... And- ... Annie... you're... you're in green."

"Doesn't it go nicely with my hair?" she asked, flicking some blonde curls behind her shoulder, "What's his name?"

"Bo."

"How common," Lucius murmured, taking another sip out of his coffee.

"So can we keep him?" Kevin asked slowly.

Lucius and Dad looked at each other, then back to us, and as if on a cue, we all tilted our head to the side, "Pleeease?"

We had perfected that art a long time ago. All four of us would tilt our head to the right, dawn totally innocent expressions, and whine.

Works like a charm.

"When your Grandmother has a fit about that thing chewing her antique furniture, do not come crying to either of us," Lucius stated. My jaw almost dropped when I saw him let out a rare smile as he looked our new little puppy over from a distance.

I knew it... Our charms gets us what we want, whenever we want it.