Playground

Lucius sat on the bench at a playground analyzing the latest movements in the financial sector, deciding which stocks to buy and which to dump. He had a meeting later that day with his broker and promised Rose to take her to the Natural History Museum afterward. The little witch was thrilled to see the dinosaur-bones and secretly the Malfoy patriarch was looking forward to it as well.

Why he had to take his daughter to a public playground though, he didn´t understand. Even though this particular one was rather nice since it was situated in a good neighborhood. The very thought of being bothered by noisy muggle-woman shamelessly hitting on him while watching their children, disturbing him from his crucial work and not being allowed to hex them made the former death eater shiver.

And the fact that he did not even get the point of this endeavor did not help either. Sure an exhausted Rose was less troublesome during meetings but he could have watched her play on his estate just as well. The older wizard suspected that Hermione wanted their daughter to have at least some contact to muggle children which in itself was a lost cause since all Rose ever did was occupying the swing, for hours, regardless if someone else wanted to have a go at it as well.

Calculating his profit margins to the squeaking sound of the swing the dark wizard heard a couple fighting from afar. Always the Slytherin looking for blackmail material he couldn´t help but tune in.

"-I can´t pay you alimony for the next couple of months my wife´s getting suspicious."

"She didn´t care about it for the last decade."

"This time it´s different, something got to her."

"Even if, I fail to see the problem."

"I still love you," the man said.

"And I told you when I got pregnant, that you had to break up with at least one of us and you didn't. That´s why I left you. What do you want me to do? Should I talk to your wife?"

"Really? You would do that for me?"

"Sam, why don´t you run to the playground and wait there for us," the lady told her son and waited for ten seconds before slapping her ex.

Lucius chuckled. Living in a world without television made him appreciate those dramas even more so. The boy complimented Rose on her dino-cardigan.

"Thanks, Molly made it for me. It´s an Ankylosaurus."

The mother sat down next to the wizard. She wasn´t what he expected from a 'side-dish'. She looked tough and must have been in her forties already. She was also quite heavy, not in a good way and she wasn´t particularly pretty either.

"You have a cute... daughter?"

"She is," he replied annoyed. Here we go again.

"Do you come often to this playground? I´ve never seen you here before."

"Only when I have to work in London."

"Where are you from?"

"Wiltshire."

"That sounds nice."

"My wife keeps complaining about the lack of electricity." Not really but he had to drop the keyword. It must have worked since the lady was now silent.

"What do you do for a living," she asked after a while.

"I manage my family's estates."

"That´s great. I just happen to be one of London´s best daytraders," she answered handing him her business card.

He didn´t even look at it but was about to hand her a 10 000 Pound check to invest simply because he was curious and day trading sounded interesting when he heard Rose falling off the swing. Out of reflex, he stopped the wooden plank from swinging back and hitting is daughter's head magically. Unfortunately, the boy had seen him.

"Mom! Did you see that?! He just did this thing I told you about! And you didn´t believe me!"

The mother looked confused. Lucius turned her card. 'Sophia S. Goyle' it said. Well, this was getting interesting. He added another zero to the check and handed it to Ms. Goyle. She couldn´t believe that someone she just met would invest such a large sum just like that.

"Under one condition, you tell me something about your biological parents."

She was now even more confused. How did he know she was adopted?

"I don´t know much, I was adopted when I was six or seven..., they... Why can´t I remember anything about them?" the lady just now realized with tears in her eyes that something was odd.

"I think you should talk to my wife."

"Is she a psychiatrist?"

"No, she does know a thing or two about population-genetics... she will help you out."

The man joined his ex after he smoked a few cigarettes on the bench. His face was still red.

"Father, I don´t like him," Rose said hiding behind her father.

Everyone stared at the man wanting for an answer. He swallowed hard.

"She´s the granddaughter of a friend he explained to his ex.