Chapter Two: Discomfort

Acacia gets her Hogwarts letter a little while later. She makes a list of things she'll need for second year. There are really only three things on it:

New potions ingredients

New parchment and ink

Gilderoy Lockhart's complete essential works

Gilderoy Lockhart is a wizard who has written several autobiographical books and is famous for being brilliant at all kinds of defensive magic. He's always getting into some new pinch involving a banshee or a vampire; he comes out on top, and then he writes a book about it. You have to hand it to him, he knows how to sell himself; he's supposed to be filthy rich. Mary loves him. The most Acacia will admit to is that he's very handsome, and she finds the way witches shriek over him to be hilarious.

Their new Defense teacher must be a fan.

Acacia also gets another letter around this point in her summer. It's carried in on Draco Malfoy's eagle owl, but when she opens up the note it's not in Draco's handwriting. In fact, the note is on monogrammed parchment.

Miss Acacia Potter

is formally invited to

Dinner at the Malfoy Manor

The date it gives is tomorrow night.

"Oh, Acacia, I don't know," says Mary immediately. "You've heard of Lucius Malfoy. I don't like this..."

That's when Acacia notices a second letter underneath the first. This one is from Draco.

My parents have heard that you shut me out of that complete debacle at the end of last year, and they're frantic that someone of "your standing and importance" doesn't trust me because of my family. They basically want to butter you up. You'd sleep in a spare room at our house after the dinner and then come to the Alleys with us to buy school supplies the next day.

Please say yes or I'll hear about it for ages.

Draco

"Well," says Acacia, eyebrows risen in surprise, "I guess I'm having dinner with the Malfoys."

Acacia has a Seer's dream the night before her dinner: she's walking barefoot into a pit of snakes. Doesn't take a genius to figure that dream out.

Acacia isn't sure how nice to dress for the trip to the Mafloys', but she figures, she's going to a formal dinner at a manor with filthy rich political people. She should probably dress well. She knows from Draco that they're all Slytherins, so she plays that up a little bit, dressing in shimmering, fairy-like forest-green dress robes and putting her red hair up in a delicate bun behind her head. She wears dangling wood-cut earrings. Her wand goes, hidden, in a pocket of her robes.

Did the Malfoys really used to work for you? she asks Tom at one point, nervous, before the dinner.

Oh, yes. They were quite good at making life miserable for Muggles. Tom just says it so casually. But don't worry, he adds at her emotion. I doubt they're inviting you over to poison you. Your godmother would immediately figure it out; it's too obvious. No, this seems like just the sort of thing the Malfoys would do. Ally themselves with the strongest witch around.

Acacia, oddly, does not feel better after this conversation.

At the appointed time, Acacia takes the Floo to Malfoy Manor. She stumbles out at a magnificent white marble fireplace. A crystal chandelier hangs above her. She looks out the window beside her. It's paned in diamond. Out beyond it is a magnificent garden, filled with white peacocks and decorated with a fountain; beyond it all, monogrammed wrought iron gates frame the grounds. She looks forward; before her is an ancient corridor, carpeted sumptuously and lined with moving portraits of ancient Malfoys. A heavy wood door stands across from her.

"Miss Potter," says a very familiar voice, and Acacia looks around in surprise to find - Dobby.

Dobby the house elf is bowing to her; he puts a finger to his lips when he sees her surprise. His eyes are begging.

"It's him, isn't it?" she whispers. "Lucius Malfoy?"

Dobby simply nods.

Now on high alert, Acacia moves sharply behind Dobby, out of the drawing room, down the hall, and into a huge dining room with a long and ornate dining room table in its center. Despite all the grandeur, the three family members currently at the table are seated very far away from each other, and the atmosphere is silent and cold. Acacia prefers her tiny kitchen in the cottage with Mary.

The two adult Malfoys stand: both are pale and sharp featured, with white blond hair. Narcissa Malfoy is beautiful and cold; Lucius Malfoy looks eerily like his son.

"Acacia Potter..." says Lucius softly, smiling in a snake-like sort of way. Acacia feels uncertain, like she's being sized up. Determined not to be afraid of this, she lifts her chin and looks them boldly in the eye, almost glaring.

She can feel Tom smile inside her mind, and indeed Lucius Malfoy seems to find something he likes there too, because he waves a hand and tells her, "Please be seated."

The house elves (thin, beaten creatures in filthy pillowcases) bring out the food - all of it high end, complex, and fancy, arranged in aesthetically pleasing arrangements, for example a roast goose surrounded by steamed vegetables - and everyone settles down to eating. There are so many utensils before Acacia that it's quite incredible. She'd had to make an emergency Floo call to Blaise and Daphne yesterday and ask them for help when it came to wizarding table etiquette, which neither she nor Mary knew or had ever cared to learn. They'd sighed long sufferingly, but come over and patiently explained to her what each fork did and for what occasion.

"Always sit up straight," they'd advised her as well. "And never look the way you're feeling."

She thanks her friends to the high Heavens in her head.

After a few minutes of eating, Narcissa and Lucius begin talking. "That's a beautiful dress, Acacia," says Narcissa reservedly to start off with.

"Thank you," says Acacia shyly, uncertain. "I bought it at Madam Malkins."

"That's where we met," Draco adds in.

But for the most part, his parents ignore him. They spend extensive time asking Acacia about her classes, hobbies, friends, and Quidditch. Lucius makes some approving noises when she mentions her grades, which are excellent, and her friends Blaise and Daphne, both of whom are considered Purebloods.

Then Acacia witnesses a complete about-face from Lucius.

"Draco!" he says sharply, suddenly sitting up straighter. "Elbow off the table, and don't slouch!"

Draco sits up straighter, taking his elbow off the table. "This is boring," he mutters rebelliously.

His father opens his mouth in annoyance to retort, but he and Narcissa exchange a long look. Then Narcissa turns to her son and says, "These are necessary codes of social conduct. They aren't boring."

Draco is still frowning down at the table. (Later, Acacia will pass by the sitting room on her way to get a late-night snack from Dobby in the vast kitchens, and she'll hear Lucius Malfoy speaking to Narcissa in the drawing room. "I wish I had a son who was more politically adept," says Lucius, and Narcissa scolds him and asks him to patient.)

The conversation by the end of dinner has come around to the end of her last school year.

"I was amazed," Lucius says softly, raising an eyebrow, "that any first year could fend off such a legendary wizard."

Acacia smiles uncomfortably. "Oh, I only stalled him," she says. "It wasn't so hard, really."

The entire affair is actually quite uncomfortable.

Later, Dobby leads Acacia up a grand oak staircase and down another carpeted hall to her spare bedroom. It has diamond paned windows and a magnificent fourposter bed with velvet blankets. Acacia slips into her nightgown and into bed, but she doesn't get much sleep. She lays awake, clutching her wand tightly in her hand underneath the blankets, fully aware that she is sleeping in the same house as two people who would in a second have her dead if the right powerful person demanded it.

The next day out shopping in the Alleys with Draco and his father is no more comfortable than the rest of it. The two of them take her down Knockturn Alley. It's even dodgier than Acacia had imagined it to be. It's a dark, narrow, cobblestone street full of dingy shop windows. Shrunken heads, miniature Acromantulas, and candles that give off poisonous fumes are just a few of the items on display. The atmosphere should seem cool, but there's something just a little too dirty and dark-intentioned about it.

You like it here? she asks Tom in surprise.

You don't? he asks in equal surprise.

Well, the ambience leaves a little something to be desired, she admits jokingly, staring around herself and then edging a little closer to Lucius Malfoy.

They enter a large, dark shop, Borgin and Burkes.

I used to work here, convincing owners of Dark magical artifacts to part with their valuables, says Tom informatively, his tone curious and pleasant.

I find that deeply unsurprising, says Acacia. I bet you were very good at it.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

The shop owner, an older man with limp, greasy hair named Mr Borgin, practically falls over himself to serve Mr Malfoy. Acacia overhears parts of their conversation. Mr Malfoy appears to be selling. "You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids - I have a few, ah, items at home that might embarrass me - as you see, certain poisons might make it appear -" (Acacia knows exactly where they're hidden, too: underneath the drawing room floor. Draco pointed it out to her while he was showing her around the manor after dinner last night. The Malfoys really are putting a great deal of faith in powerful people automatically being inclined to the Dark Arts. She'll save the information for if they ever try to threaten her.)

Meanwhile, she's observing the items on display. There's a whole shelf full of skulls. A nearby glass case holds a withered hand on a cushion, a blood-stained pack of cards, and a staring glass eye. Masks, human bones, human fingernails, and rusty spiked instruments hang from the walls. Hangman's rope and a cursed opal necklace complete the picture.

How has this whole shop not been confiscated yet? Most of it has to be illegal.

Does that bother you? she hears Tom ask suddenly.

No. I just don't want to know where they got those real human bones from, that's all.

She can feel Tom sneer, and she resists the urge to roll her eyes.

Oh, bugger off, she snaps. She feels a flare of annoyance from Tom.

Acacia turns to Draco. "You want to go to one of the other Alleys?" she asks.

"Why?" Draco asks in genuine puzzlement. "Father was going to come with us."

"This is... an interesting shop," says Acacia.

"I know, it's cool, isn't it?" says Draco brightly.

"Fascinating." She pastes a faux smile on her face. "And I think I've seen all the interesting I can handle over the past couple of days with your family. I'm heading out of here. Want to come with?"

Draco frowns, but turns to his father. "We're going to go off and shop," he says.

"I'll buy you the new racing broom and meet you at Flourish and Blotts," Lucius responds.

Tom is still annoyed with her - he probably considers her... caution... to be weakness - but Acacia tries her best to ignore this as she shops with Draco. Away from his father, anyone he's been taught to see as inferior, and any Dark magical artifacts, Draco can actually be a rather pleasant person. He has a great sense of humor, and they talk and laugh, pointing things out to each other, as they walk together down the other streets, past fantastical magical creatures, potions ingredients, and globes of the moon.

They buy new potions ingredients and parchment and ink while they're out. Then, soon enough, they make their way to Flourish and Blotts. There's a long line of witches outside, standing in line for Gilderoy Lockhart, who's at a signing table within the shop, signing copies of his latest autobiography Magical Me.

Draco and Acacia slip in through the crowds, grab their textbooks, and then stand from the floor above watching all the crowds filter by below. They have a good time making fun of the mess of witches oohing and aahing over Gilderoy Lockhart, who looks up roughly every five seconds and beams brightly for the flashing cameras.

"What do people even like about him?" Draco asks, mystified, after a while.

"Well, aside from the fact that he's a very powerful wizard?" Acacia asks rhetorically.

Draco rolls his eyes, a look of distaste on his face. "Aside from that," he says.

"He has nice eyes."

Draco stares at her in disbelief.

"What? He does. They're very... blue," Acacia decides. "And he has a nice chin."

"That's why witches like him?" Draco is incredulous. "Because he has a nice chin?"

"Don't ask if you don't want to know the answer," says Acacia simply.

"So just because I don't have blue eyes -!"

"What on earth are you talking about?" Acacia asks irritably.

Draco opens his mouth, changes his mind, looks away, and says bitterly, "Oh, never mind."

Acacia looks around, and brightens. "Oh, look, there's the Weasleys!" She points to the huge red-haired family, which includes Ron, down below. Then she hurries down the stairs to meet them.

"Great..." she hears Draco grumble behind her, but he follows along willingly enough.

"Hello, everyone!" Acacia smiles and waves. "Hello, Ron." She turns to Ron, who shrugs and says hi. "This is Draco Malfoy," she introduces her friend. "He's a prat, but he's alright enough."

Draco rolls his eyes. "Thank you for that ringing endorsement."

Acacia looks backward and winks. "You know I love you."

Draco scoffs, but turns very pink and tries hard not to smile as he looks away.

"So how's it going?" she asks Ron, turning back to him.

"Oh, you know. Playing Quidditch with my brothers, enjoying break. The usual," says Ron. Then the little red-haired girl next to him nudges him sharply. "Ow! Oh... This is my younger sister, Ginny. She's, er - she's kind of a fan. This will be her first year at Hogwarts."

Ginny steps forward, looking up at Acacia with the wide, adoring kind of eyes Acacia usually associates with Dobby. Acacia immediately feels like running. "Hello!" says Ginny. "I think you're so incredible!" she gushes, fangirling.

"Er - why?" Acacia asks before she can stop herself. Draco, Ron, and the other Weasleys are trying not to smile. "I mean, not that I'm not awesome -" Acacia recovers, holding herself up jokingly. "But how would you know that? You've never met me."

"But all the incredible things you've done -!" Ginny blushes, fists up before her face, eager.

"But for all you know, I could be a horrible person," says Acacia wisely. Ginny stares up at her in confusion. Acacia has the strangest desire to pat her on the head. "Always remember this. See that guy?" She points up at Gilderoy Lockhart. "He could be a total asshole. Never judge someone based on their fame."

Mrs Weasley, a plump middle-aged woman, blushes and looks away.

Just then, Mr Malfoy and a balding red-haired man in shabby robes who must be Mr Weasley struggle through the crowds to them at the exact same time.

"What's going on?" Mr Weasley asks, just as Mr Malfoy says, "Draco, what are you doing conversing with these people?" Mr Malfoy's nose has wrinkled as he looks over the Weasleys - Draco once called them "blood traitors", which has to mean they support Muggle rights.

"I wasn't, Father," says Draco immediately. "Acacia was."

Mr Malfoy looks over at Acacia with narrowed eyes. Acacia smiles sweetly, though inside she's uncertain. "Do you have a problem with the people I choose to greet, Mr Malfoy?"

Mr Malfoy looks vaguely disgusted, but says, "Not at all. If you choose to lower yourself and ruin your reputation by interacting with these people, I'm sure that's very charitable of you."

The Weasleys all flush red, but Acacia can't concentrate much on that because at the same moment Mr Weasley punches Mr Malfoy in the face.

What follows is a long scuffling match, as the two punch every inch of each other they can reach, rolling all over the floor. ("Arthur, stop, what will Acacia Potter and Gilderoy Lockhart say!" Mrs Weasley cries.) The two of them even knock over Ginny Weasley's new cauldron, throwing her textbooks everywhere. People all over the crowded shop shriek and start stepping backward. Acacia reaches her hands out, and forces the two apart with magic.

"Enough!"

Everything remains silent after a moment.

"I'm friends with both of your families, and I get that you both hate each other, but we're in the middle of a goddamn shop," she says darkly. "No one's fighting here, especially not over me."

She lets them go and sets them back down on the floor. Mr Malfoy straightens his collar, flushed, as Mr Weasley puts a hand through his hair and looks away sheepishly. Acacia realizes too late that the whole shop has gone silent. Everyone is staring at them.

Acacia goes over and picks up a shaken Ginny's books, handing them back to her. All of a sudden, a textbook is shoved in her face. Mr Malfoy is holding it out to them, his face guarded and annoyed.

Acacia hands Ginny her book back.

"It can't be... Acacia Potter, breaking up a fight at my book signing..." Acacia looks around to find Gilderoy Lockhart approaching her slowly in something like delight. He reaches out, yanks her to his side in an iron grip, puts an arm around her, and beams for the assembled crowd. "Not that I couldn't handle it myself, of course, but it looks like the lovely young Miss Potter has done it for me!"

The crowds laugh and cameras start going off. Some of them are for the Daily Prophet. Acacia smiles uncomfortably.

That's when Gilderoy Lockhart makes his announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, I do in fact have an announcement to make! When Miss Potter came today wanting to meet me, she had no idea she will in fact be seeing more of me very soon. Yes, that's right, I am going to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year!"

Want to make bets on how long he'll last? Tom asks her smugly in his mind.

Oh, come on, it's Gilderoy Lockhart. Give him a little credit, says Acacia.

The position's cursed, Acacia. Unless he breaks the curse, he's not going to last longer than a year.

Acacia eyes the beaming man sideways. His sparkling white teeth are blinding, and his gold hair looks so stiff it could hold a quill. But he certainly is very full of himself, isn't he? she asks grudgingly. He made us buy his entire essential works as our textbooks.

She can feel both the Malfoys and the Weasleys glaring at her.

The air is very stiff as Acacia follows the Malfoys back into the Leaky Cauldron. Mr Malfoy refuses to look at Acacia as he sweeps along before them. She can't tell if he's embarrassed or annoyed. Feeling rather rebellious, she decides at the moment that she doesn't particularly care.

They stop outside the Leaky Cauldron fireplace and Mr Malfoy turns around. "I assume you can find your way home from here?" he asks brusquely. Acacia nods.

"It was nice to meet you, Mr Malfoy," she says. "It's been very... enlightening."

Mr Malfoy gives a cold, stiff nod in reply.

Acacia turns apologetically to Draco. "See you at school," she says.

"See you at school," he returns. Then he glances to his father's turned back and rolls his eyes. She smiles.

They step into the green fire, and a few moments later they are gone.