Kyla: Well, here it is! I kind of had writer's block on a couple parts, but I got this chapter done! YAY! Lol. Enjoy!

Draco of the Malfoys No Longer
Chapter Eleven
by
Kyla

The next morning came around, and it was time for the trip to Diagon Alley. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Blaise were already congregated downstairs in the kitchen, waiting on Remus, Ron's parents, and Draco. After a few minutes, the werewolf and Arthur and Molly entered into the room, all looking slightly disgruntled.

"Blaise," Remus sighed, "we can't seem to get Draco out of his room. Might you know of a way?" He looked to the suddenly smirking Slytherin.

"Of course, Professor," Blaise exclaimed jovially and left up the stairs. He came to a halt in front of Draco's bedroom door and knocked lightly. "Oi, Draco, you in there?"

"Go away, Blaise," came Draco's voice, muffled by the door, "I am not going."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Right," he said unconvinced, "well, if you really don't want to go, I suppose I'll get to have Potter all to myself today! Don't worry, I'll keep a very close eye on him." The sly grin on his face grew when he heard a slight shuffle inside the room.

"Don't you dare," Draco growled, sounding closer to the door.

"All right," Blaise faked a sigh, "I'll just tell him that you'll be waiting in bed for him then? I'll let him know how much you want to ravish him and tell everyone how you just couldn't go today because you were afraid you would jump the Golden Boy. Would you rather I do that?" he asked seriously though he was close to cracking up.

There was another sound of shuffled footsteps. A pause filled the upstairs until Draco muttered, "You wouldn't..." His voice trailed off anxiously, fairly sure that Blaise would indeed follow through with his threat.

"Oh, you know I would, Draco," Blaise replied grinning madly, "you know I would. Anyway, we should be back sometime this afternoon. See you!" With that he turned and started off down the hall at a leisurely pace.

"Wait!" Draco shouted, anxiety written all over his face as he swung his door open and ran out into the hall to stare horrified at Blaise's back.

Blaise paused and looked over his shoulder at the blond. "Yes?" he asked casually. When Draco tried to say something, nothing came out, and Blaise sighed, "I can't wait around all day, Draco. I got things to say, people to see..."

Draco's eyes widened to the size of plates. "NO!" he shouted terrified. He took a deep breath and said, more calmly, "Okay, you win... I'll go... just give me a minute to get changed..." Dejectedly, the blond walked back into his room to change, pushing the door halfway shut.

Blaise grinned triumphantly and waited in the hallway for his friend. He was fairly manipulative, but it was Draco's own fault for liking Harry Potter. He had made it too easy for Blaise to have this power over him, and Blaise was sure that he wouldn't let this power go to waste.

"Let's go," Draco said briskly as he swept past Blaise and down the stairs, refusing to look at his friend.

Blaise chuckled and followed after his friend. He was sure this would be an interesting day. He and Draco walked into the kitchen, where everyone else was gathered. They were to floo to Diagon Alley.

"Ah, so Blaise did manage to drag you out of your room after all," Remus chortled amused. "What's your secret?" he asked Blaise.

Blaise shrugged, a big grin on his lips. "Like you said, Professor, it's a secret," he said slyly, leaving the others to try and draw their own conclusions.

"Can we go now?" Draco snapped, getting quite uncomfortable.

"Of course, of course," Molly exclaimed brightly and offered the floo powder to everyone, each person taking a handful from the bowl. "Ginny, you follow after Remus," the elder woman instructed to her daughter, who nodded.

Remus was the first to step into the fireplace. He enunciated clearly, "Diagon Alley!" In a roar of green fire, the werewolf was gone. Next, Ginny went through, followed soon by Ron, Hermione, Harry, Blaise, Draco, Arthur, and finally Molly.

"Right, first stop will be Gringotts then?" Arthur said brightly and ushered everyone out of the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace. The group headed out back and entered into Diagon Alley, making a beeline for Gringotts to withdraw some money.

Draco and Blaise waited outside with Remus while the Weasleys and Harry dipped into their vaults and Hermione exchanged some muggle money for the wizarding world's currency.

As Harry and the Weasley clan made it to Harry's vault after stopping by the Weasley's vault, Harry's face burned with embarrassment and shame when he was withdrawing some money from his vault. He could feel the Weasleys' eyes following him, and he felt awful. No matter how many times he offered to share whatever was in his vault with the family, however, he was always refused. He still felt bad though.

Harry gathered more than enough for himself, but that was only because he planned on trying to at least pay for lunch or something for everyone that day. Plus, it was always nice to have some currency with oneself, in case something were to come up.

All in all, the Boy-Who-Lived was relieved when he was out of Gringotts. He was the first one out of the bank. When the Weasleys were out as well, the group headed for their next destination, which was Flourish and Blotts to get their schoolbooks.

"How do you expect us to get our books?" Draco, referring to himself and Blaise, snapped at Remus, "it's not like we have any money."

Blaise elbowed Draco discreetly and shook his head. "It's fine, Draco. I've got some saved up. We can split it," the boy said brightly and flashed the blond a wide smile as he drew out a small, heavy sack of money.

Draco's face fell suddenly. He was stupid to not have tried to do what Blaise had done. He should have saved up some money in case of emergencies. "No, that's all right," he near-whispered, "you keep it. Use it on what you want... I'll just borrow your texts," he added with a smirk, "or maybe you'll let me skip the books and just borrow your homework?"

Blaise blinked before laughing, "You know you don't want to borrow my homework!"

Remus smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Draco, we will get your books. You must have them." When Draco went to speak, the werewolf held up a hand to quell the flow of arguments and said, "Don't worry about the money. I think we can manage enough to get your school supplies, but as far as spending money goes... well..."

Draco sighed, "That's fine, Professor."

Harry had overheard the conversation, but acted indifferent. He would pay Remus back if the werewolf was going to pay for Draco's school things. Either that, or Harry would pay for the blond's school supplies himself and not have Remus bother with it, which is how it turned out. He had ended up grabbing Draco's books and heaping them onto the counter with his own purchases, telling the man he was paying for them jointly.

Draco's face flushed in shame. He did not want Harry's pity, and he voiced this thought bitterly, arguing with Harry, who ignored him and paid for the books without so much as batting an eyelash at the blond. Then, Harry roughly shoved the books back into Draco's arms and scowled. "I didn't do it for you, Malfoy," he stated irritated. With that, he began to ignore Draco again as he waited for the others to make their purchases as well.

Blaise leaned down to whisper in Draco's ear with a mad grin on his face, "Oh, look at Potter... He's already buying you things! Just makes him all the more irresistible, hm?"

Draco glared at his friend and swatted Blaise away from him after hissing to his fellow Slytherin, "Be quiet, you idiot! Do you want the whole WORLD knowing?"

Blaise laughed and pushed a seething Draco out of the store in order to follow the rest of the group, their next stop being Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions and Scribbulus Everchanging Inks to restore their ink stocks, both of Draco's purchases paid for by Harry yet again, further making the blond upset.

Lunch came to pass, and the group settled on one of Diagon Alley's many cafes, picking one of the tables with brightly-colored umbrellas outside. The day was so nice, that it would have been a shame to eat inside somewhere and pass up the pleasant day.

As the day wore on, Draco's guard slowly fell. At first, he had been wary about coming to Diagon Alley. He feared he would see his father or other Death Eaters. So far, however, he had seen none, and little by little, he let his guard fall as he joked around with Blaise.

It was because of Draco's lack of attention to his surroundings that an arm reached out from an alleyway and jerked him from the group. The boy went to scream, but a voice whispered a silencing curse on him. His gray eyes widened fearfully when none other than Lucius Malfoy leaned forward to reveal himself to his son, the hood on his cloak falling away so that Draco could see the triumphant smirk on the man's lips. "Hello, Draco," Lucius whispered with an insane grin.

Blaise, who had stumbled in confusion when Draco was jerked away, finally came around and scowled. He drew out his wand and rushed into the older Malfoy, knocking Lucius away. Being sure to keep his wand on the glowering Lucius, Blaise chanced a glance at Draco out of the corner of his eyes and muttered, "You okay, Draco?"

Draco, shaky and still under the influence of the silencing curse, nodded his head and fumbled to draw his own wand. The three were then at a stand-off, and Lucius made no move to back down. He felt confident of himself to be able to take on two young, inexperienced wizards. It was only when Remus hurried to Blaise and Draco's side and asked, "What in the world? Ah, Lucius Malfoy..." The werewolf then trained his wand on the elder Malfoy, as well.

Lucius glared at the three standing before him. His gaze lingered on Draco, who narrowed his eyes cautiously. No one could ever tell what Lucius might have up his sleeve. The older Malfoy suddenly smirked at who he had once called son. "Beware, Draco," was all he said before apparating away.

"Are you both alright?" Remus asked in worry and looked closely at each boy in turn.

"I'm fine, Professor," Blaise replied distracted. His attention was already on Draco as he asked the blond if he was alright too.

Draco tried to speak. His mouth opened and formed words, but no sounds came out. He choked and coughed then decided on merely nodding yes in an unsure manner. He didn't understand why the other two weren't removing the silence spell on him. He scowled at them and stamped his foot and pointed to his throat, mouthing the words, "Undo the spell, you idiots!"

"What in the world?" Blaise asked, bewildered. He didn't know what to do and looked to Remus for help. However, Remus was just as confused. He guided Draco back to the others, Blaise following along behind, and questioned the blond on what happened, giving him yes or no questions.

Molly and Arthur decided it was best to cut the trip short and head on back. So they ushered a group of whining teenagers while Remus and Blaise stuck with Draco and tried to figure out what was happening.

"What's wrong with Draco, I wonder?" Hermione whispered as she, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and even Blaise were ushered out of the room.

Blaise, in a grumpy mood and angry at being shooed out as well, grumbled, "His father attacked him... Something's wrong with Draco, but I'm not sure what. It's like he can't talk..."

"At least it will be quiet around here for a while," Ron shrugged as he carried on up the stairs as if he didn't really care.

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione watched as Blaise scowled at Ron's back before the Slytherin hurried to catch up to Ron and trip him on the redhead's way up the stairs. "Oof!" Ron hit the stairs with a thud and groaned as he sat up. Harry and the two girls laughed quietly at Ron, who winced at the now-forming bruise and glared at Blaise's retreating back.

Blaise matched the glare by throwing one of his own over his shoulder. "Next time, think about what you say, Weasel King," he snapped before going on his way and ignoring a highly annoyed Ron.

"Here," Harry was still grinning as he held out a hand to help Ron up. The redhead grunted and took the offered hand, standing up and dusting himself off.

"I hate to say it, Ron, but I think you deserved that," Ginny giggled at her brother.

"Oh, shut up," Ron scowled at his baby sister.

Hermione was giggling as well, but she was able to say, "I agree, I think you might have ended up pushing Blaise just a tad too far." She and Ginny looked at one another and laughed at the image of Ron falling gracelessly.

"Oh, bloody brilliant! You're both siding with a Slytherin! Honestly, Harry," he rolled his eyes, "what is the world coming to?" He and Harry shared a laugh, too, and the four made it up to the last few stairs and settled into Ron's room—it being the closest to them—to play Exploding Snap and some Wizard's Chess.

Kyla: What'd you think? Don't forget to review real quick! It'll make me so happy! XD