All characters belong to JK Rowling
Chapter 21 – Everything Looks Better if You Squint
After buying too many sweets for the children, and charging them to Draco's room, Lucius Malfoy escorted them outside.
"Where did Hermione and Draco go?" Marie asked.
"I think they went back to the Inn," Lucius announced. "I'll show you around the town, and then I'm sure they'll meet back with us before your appointment at the school."
Marie shrugged and said, "Fine by me." Looking at her brother, who was eating another piece of candy, she asked, "Where do you want to go next, Jeff?"
Tucking his bag of sweets into his backpack, he looked up and then down the street. Then he looked across the street. Finally, his gaze rested on a store at the corner of the crosswalk, on the opposite side of the road. He pointed at that store, a smile instantly gracing his dark, good looks.
Marie squinted her eyes toward his destination and asked, "What sort of store is that?"
"It's a Quidditch store," Lucius announced. Looking down at the children, he said in an arrogant manner, "You probably know nothing about Quidditch, do you?"
Marie laughed, as Jeff smiled quietly. "Of course we do. Though he rarely told us anything else about magic, our dad couldn't keep that from us, because he played once a month with a few of his Wizard friends. Sometimes Draco played with them. That's how we first met Draco. When we stayed with our dad on the weekends, he would take us to watch his matches occasionally. Our mother was so angry when she found out he took us the last time that she refused to let him see us for three months."
As Marie spoke to Lucius, Jeff scribbled something on his notebook and showed it to Lucius, who answered, "Yes, you're correct, your father played when he was in school. He was on the Slytherin team with Draco, although he was older than Draco was."
Marie's eyes grew wide as saucers and she asked, "Our father was a Slytherin?"
"Of course," Lucius returned. Without another word, he started across the cobblestone street, taking a hold of the back of Jeff's sweater with one hand. He looked back at Marie and barked, "Come along, Miss Marie."
Once they were in front of the Quidditch store, Marie said, "Our father never, ever spoke of his time at Hogwarts. I don't think he thought our mother would allow us to come to school here."
"Hasn't Draco explained it to you?" Lucius almost growled.
"Hermione's explained all about Hogwarts to us," Marie answered. "And we've read Hogwarts, a History, but no one's told us about our father's time at school, or which house he was in, or anything."
That statement outraged Lucius. His son was remiss in his handling of these children. "Well, your father was in Slytherin. He was a pureblood. Did Miss Granger explain to you what a pureblood is?"
The children both nodded. Jeff wrote down, "Hermione is a Muggle-born."
Lucius rolled his eyes. "Some people call her that."
"It's not nice to call her that other word. Draco told us about it. Mudblood, that is," Marie said, whispering the last part. Jeff's eyes grew wide when Marie said it.
Lucius looked almost bored and answered, "It's not that bad of a word. In any case, you and your brother are half bloods, which can't be helped."
"I don't mind being a half blood," Marie quipped.
"You wouldn't," Lucius snapped back.
"Were you a Death Eater?" Marie asked quickly.
Lucius narrowed his gaze on the young girl. Jeff quickly went to his sister's side. "Did Miss Granger tell you all about Death Eaters, too?" Lucius folded his arms in front of him.
"She told us about the war with the Dark Lord Voldemort, and about Harry Potter, and Death Eaters. You're not in prison, so I just wondered if you were one, because Draco said he was. He showed us his Dark Mark once."
Lucius didn't know what to reveal to these children. Their own father was a Death Eater, though like his son, he was extremely young when forced to take the mark by his family and the Dark Lord. Looking in the window of the store in front of them, he decided ignoring the matter was not the answer, even though he wanted to do that very much. Apparently, his son and their tutor had ignored things long enough.
Well, no more.
Lucius moved over to a bench, which was next to another shop. He motioned for the children to join him. Marie sat next to him and Jeff sat on the end.
"I was a Death Eater. I was once the Dark Lord's most trusted advisor. I spent time in prison for my crimes. I'm not a perfect man, and I still do many wrong things, but one thing I don't do is still subscribe to the Dark Lord's doctrine, which supported the theory that Muggle-borns and half bloods were inferior to purebloods. I'm still proud of my heritage, but that doesn't mean I think I'm better than others, do you understand?"
Marie glanced over at her brother, who was nodding. She looked back toward Mr. Malfoy and nodded as well. He added, "Your father was only a little older than my Draco, just out of Hogwarts, when he was forced by his father to take the Dark Mark."
Marie looked on the verge of tears. "Our father was one of those people? He was a Death Eater? He fought on the dark side during the war?" Without looking, she grabbed her little brother's hand.
"Yes and no," Lucius commented. "He was a Death Eater, but like my son, it wasn't his own choice. And he did things for the light side, at peril to himself, therefore when the war was over, he was granted a lighter sentence, and then a full pardon."
"Why didn't he ever tell us all of this?" Marie inquired.
"I have no clue, although I assume he might have if he had lived longer," the older man said steadily. "For some daft reason, he seemed to have been ashamed of his magical side, but magic is something to be proud of, not ashamed of, and I want you to be proud."
Lucius stood up, smoothed down his robes, and without another word to the pair, he walked straight into the Quidditch shop. Marie and Jeff remained on the bench, by themselves, and finally Jeff wrote on his notebook, "It doesn't matter to me. He was our father, and I still love him."
Marie stood, said in agreement, "I still love him, too," and with her brother behind her, they followed Lucius inside the shop.
Like most boys, Jeff loved all sorts of sports, but being small for his age, he never excelled at any of them, but the first time he saw a Quidditch game, he fell in love with the game. He was fascinated with flying and with all things concerning the sport. He drew complicated drawings that featured all things Quidditch and he wrote stories about it, too. After Hermione gave them a book about it, he read it from cover to cover, more than once. Everything in the store enthralled him, he began to finger all the equipment, his eyes bright and round, his mouth opened in awe.
From behind him, Lucius asked, "Do you know anything of this sport, besides having watched your father play it a few times?"
Jeff pointed to a book and then toward his chest. "Ah." Lucius understood. "Did Miss Granger have you read this book, is that it?" Jeff nodded yes. Lucius laughed, and picked up Quidditch through the Ages, then placed it back on the shelf. "Well then, you know the basics."
Marie began to rummage through the different uniforms hanging on a rack. "Is this where the team members for Hogwarts get their uniforms?" she asked.
Lucius answered, "They can, yes. They have a nice assortment of brooms as well." He pointed up at the ceiling and said, "They have the house colours of each Hogwarts house hanging above, and at the end of each year, they change these to represent the team of the winning house." He stepped further back into the mostly empty store, with Marie and Jeff following him.
A clerk approached. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy. How may I help you today?"
"These are my son's wards. If they require anything, you will help them, and with all haste, is that understood, man?" Lucius looked down on the small man with a haughty air, which Jeff found intriguing, and Marie found somewhat vexing.
"Oh, of course, of course, it's so nice to meet them, charmed, I'm sure." He turned to Marie and Jeff and bowed at the waist. "I'll set up an account in your son's name. Are they going to Hogwarts this coming term, sir?"
"Of course they are," Malfoy replied. "Now leave us in peace. We shall beckon you if we require assistance."
The man backed away, down another aisle. Lucius turned to the children and explained, "You must always show those under you who's in charge. Remember that children. Now, Jeffrey, just because you're small for your age, doesn't mean you can't play Quidditch. We should get you a broom, and hire an instructor right away. You probably won't play the first year, because no one ever plays their first year."
He was interrupted when Marie said, "Hermione told us that her friend Harry Potter was the youngest seeker in a century and he played his first year."
Lucius acted as if he didn't hear her and continued talking, "…but that's no reason why you shouldn't get all the equipment and practice, if you're interested, that is. I say you have a good chance to be a keeper or a seeker some day, if you apply yourself."
"I don't even like Quidditch and my brother mostly likes to draw and write stories about it," Marie interjected.
Lucius turned toward her and said, "If you don't like Quidditch then why are you still here? Go to another store or something. I think there's a bookstore around the corner."
Marie gasped and looked terribly hurt. She backed away and then walked slowly down another aisle. Lucius beckoned for the clerk and told him to outfit Jeff with all the equipment he would need…from a new broomstick (the very best Draco's money could buy) to a full set of balls and equipment (a Quaffles, two Bludgers, a Golden Snitch, four bats, whistles, and a complete uniform.) He knew that would keep Jeff happy and occupied, while he did something to mollify his sister.
Lucius spied Marie at the end of one of the aisles, at the back of the store, standing and staring in front of an old, long, wooden, glass enclosed, display case. The case was taller than she was, and took up the entire back wall of the store. Inside the display case were pictures of both professional Quidditch teams as well as teams from Hogwarts over the years, along with trophies and ribbons and other paraphernalia.
The young girl was running her hand lightly across the glass, deep in thought, not really paying attention to the contents of the case. Lucius stood on the other side of the case, pointed to a picture and said, "Here's a picture of the Slytherin team when Draco played with them the very first year. I bought them all new brooms that year."
"How nice," Marie commented, without emotion. She stopped walking and stared down at the glass, her hand over the picture in question. After several long, drawn out moments of silence, she asked, "Why don't you like me?"
He walked closer to her, hesitated, and then answered, "I like you."
"You don't act as if you do," she complained.
"You don't act as if you like me either," he pointed out.
Moving her hand back and forth over the glass she said, "Perhaps I don't. I don't know. I think I resent you being here. I think you're here to cause trouble, and I don't like it."
Again, silence ensued before he said, "Perhaps I'm here to prevent trouble, and I think you're a bit too insightful. I think you're a bit too much like your tutor for my taste. Draco told his mother you were a true Slytherin, through and through, but do you want to know what I think, Miss Marie?"
Marie turned to look up at the older man. "What do you think?"
Lucius looked down into the dark brown eyes of the young girl, on the cusp of womanhood, and he saw no fear, no apprehension, only inquisitiveness, bravery, honesty, a sense of high morals, and a sense of protectiveness. In other words, he saw a young Hermione Granger, and it unnerved him. He was about to say so, when he noticed that she glanced away from him and started staring hard, over his shoulder, at something high in the display case.
She stepped around him, stood as close to the case as she could, and pressed her nose almost right against the glass. "Mr. Malfoy, could you help me?"
Lucius was again unnerved, but more by her determined attitude and by the unexpected change of subject. He stepped closer. "How may I assist you?"
"I'm not tall enough to read what this says," she complained, standing on tiptoes, hands pressed on the glass. Lucius pulled out his wand and said a simple hovering charm so that the girl was soon almost as tall as he was. With her new height, she looked intently at a picture of a Hogwarts Quidditch team, her hands pressed flat against the smooth, cold glass.
The picture was a Magical picture, so the members of the portrait moved around. The participants were smiling and waving. Underneath the framed picture was a plaque with the words, Hogwarts Quidditch Cups Winner 1994.
Lucius stood behind her, one hand coming to rest beside hers on the glass, the other on her back, to steady her. "What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew. He saw the face of a young man smiling back at him from the picture. The boy would have been in his fifth year, and he was the Slytherin Chaser. Dark haired, handsome, outgoing. Marie had his eyes. Jeff had his smile.
And underneath his picture was the name 'Charles Warrington - Chaser'.
By this time, Jeff had joined them. He had on full Quidditch garb, with a beaters' bat in his hand. He was confused at first…why was his sister hovering off the ground in front of a display case? Why was she breathing hard, almost at the point of tears? Why was Lucius Malfoy looking frantically around the store?
Lucius said the spell to suspend the charm and Marie came back to the ground. She wasn't aware that her brother was standing on her other side of her when she asked the older man, "Why does it say Charles Warrington under a picture of my father as a boy? His name was Ian Charles Ellington! True, some of his magical friends, like Draco and Oliver Wood called him Charlie, because of his middle name, but his name wasn't Charles Warrington!"
Lucius looked from Marie, to Jeff, then back toward the doorway of the store. Where were his blasted son and Miss 'Mudblood' Granger when he needed them? Marie actually grabbed Lucius' robe and demanded, "Mr. Malfoy, please, tell me if that's my father!"
"Yes," was all he could say.
"Is that his real name?"
"Yes," he answered again.
"And he lied to us all these years?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know," Lucius answered honestly, because he didn't.
Marie stifled a sob and turned, running from the store, confused.
Lucius started to run after her, but was force to turn back when he heard a loud smashing sound behind him.
The sound of shattered glass and splintered wood rebounded like thunder throughout the empty store, and the clerk came running toward the back, his wand drawn, as Jeff took the beaters bat and smashed the glass from the display case into pieces. Lucius drew his wand and held up his hand for the man to halt.
Jeff reached up into the case, grabbed the picture, and stared at it. With a ragged, disjointed breath, and the picture in one hand, the beater's bat in the other, he walked across the glass and wood, the broken glass squishing and splintering under the weight of his feet, toward Lucius Malfoy.
He dropped the bat to the floor, stood beside Lucius, and showed him the picture. The elderly man placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and nodded, before he confirmed, "Yes, that's your father. His name was Charles Warrington. I'm sorry everyone lied about his name, but you shouldn't have broken that display case like that, boy."
Jeff shook his head no, as tears began to rush out of his eyes. He shook in fresh fury, and pointed at another person in the picture. He pointed the tip of his index finger right on the girl's body, several times hard, and then looked up at Lucius, imploring the man to understand.
Finally, Lucius did. He understood. He nodded once more, took the picture from the boy's tight grip, tucked it inside his robe, placed a protective arm around the boy's small shoulder and said, "I understand, Jeff. I understand. Don't fear."
Looking at the still startled clerk, Lucius Malfoy threw a handful of galleons on the floor, flicked his wrist at the display case, fixing it as if it had never been broken, and said, "We'll be taking this outfit, all of the things he picked out, as well as this picture. Have everything we don't walk out with delivered to The Hounds Tooth Inn. Do you understand?"
The clerk agreed without protest, rushing over to collect the things Jeff left in the other aisle. Walking toward the front of the store, Lucius said, "Get changed into your clothing and get your rucksack, Jeffrey. We need to find your sister."
Jeff pointed again toward Lucius' pocket of his robe, where the older man had tucked the picture.
"Don't worry about this woman." Jeff wiped his tears with the back of his hands with Lucius' promise and started toward the dressing room. "Jeff?" Lucius called out.
Jeff turned back.
"Does she have anything to do with why you can't speak?"
Once again, the boy merely nodded, for he could do nothing else.
Lucius felt anger on behalf of the boy, but he didn't show it. "Run along, get dressed, and then we'll find your sister." On the outside, Lucius was his usual calm and collected. On the inside, he was incensed and was already plotting revenge. Was this the trouble his son spoke of, if so, he didn't think his son realize the extent of the trouble.
Thank goodness, Lucius had decided to come to Hogsmeade after all.
For anyone else who is having problems editing their stories (with the Error 2 message) here is what a few very nice readers have told me to do -
adding chapters to existing stories -
When you click 'Edit' and get the 'Error Type 2' message, look up in
your address bar. In the URL, if you delete the word 'properties' and replace
it with the word 'content,' then hit enter, it should take you to where you
can edit your chapters.