"I'm bored," said Draco loudly.

Leo rolled his eyes as much as he could without moving. He couldn't move because Madam Malkin's assistant was busy adjusting his robes.

"Draco, you're always bored!" It was true: Draco was never happy except when attention was on himself. Leo wasn't such an attention-seeker, at least not always. He certainly didn't dislike attention, not by any means.

Draco sighed and said "I don't see why – "

"Oh, can you just shut up?"

Draco did. Leo knew he didn't take it personally – despite their regular disagreements, they were very close. In fact, to all intents and purposes, they were brothers.

Leo had lived with the Malfoys for ten years, ever since his mother had been sent to Azkaban. His father, the previous Lord Asriel, had died shortly before in the service of the Dark Lord. The Malfoys and the Asriels had always been friends and fellow servants of the Dark Lord, so it was only natural that Lucius and Narcissa should take on the raising of Leo.

Madam Malkin was talking to another customer, a first-year. He was small and skinny with messy black hair and green eyes. He came over and sat down on the stool next to Leo.

"Hullo," said Draco, clearly sizing him up, "Hogwarts too?"

The boy replied "Yes."

Draco said in his bored, drawling voice, "My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands. Then I'm – "

Leo sighed and interrupted, "Don't you think we should actually introduce ourselves before we start revealing our entire lives? I'm Lord Asriel."

Leo preferred to be known by his title, rather than his first name.

"Draco Malfoy. As I was saying, I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll – "

"Draco! When will you learn some tact? You don't just tell strangers all about yourselves like that! We have no idea who he is!"

Draco glared at Leo and said defiantly to the other boy "I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Leo sighed but decided it was best to concede defeat on this and let Draco make a mess of things. It really wasn't worth the effort and he might be able to talk to the boy alone.

"There you are," said the assistant, "you're done. If you'd like to go next…" she said, gesturing to Draco.

Leo stood up and Draco took his place.

"Have you got your own broom?" Draco asked.

"No."

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No."

Draco clearly wasn't pleased with the answers he was getting.

"I do – Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No."

Draco paused to stealthily roll his eyes at Leo then continued, "Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but we know we'll be in Slytherin, all our families have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm."

Leo was beginning to get the impression this boy didn't know much about Hogwarts, or the wizarding world.

"I say, look at that man!" said Draco, pointing outside the window to where a huge man was standing holding two ice-creams.

"That's Hagrid," said the boy, "he works at Hogwarts."

This was surprising – he actually knew something!

"Oh, I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

Leo gritted his teeth to prevent himself from yelling at Draco, who was being an idiot. If he wanted to be friends with this boy, it might be best not to insult someone he'd clearly met and liked.

"He's the gamekeeper," said the boy, looking as if he wanted to leave quickly.

"Yes, exactly. I've heard he's a sort of savage – lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."

Leo shot Draco a very hard glare.

"I think he's brilliant," said the boy coldly.

Instead of backing down and apologising, Draco said, "Do you? Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead."

Draco said, not sounding at all sorry, "Oh, sorry. But they were our kind, weren't they?"

Typical Draco. Now he was going to start on one of his pure-blood rants.

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."

"I really don't think they should let the other kind in, do you?" At this Leo tuned out. Personally, he thought the whole pure-blood thing was a load of nonsense, but unlike Draco he had some tact and didn't want to displease his adopted parents.

Madam Malkin said that the other boy was done and he left very quickly.

"Draco, you complete and utter idiot!"