Chapter 3: Encounters in Diagon Alley
Diagon Alley, Wizarding London, England
August 1, 1992
Lyra glanced around the pristinely clean interior of Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and allowed herself a moment to center herself. The hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley had felt stifling to her after a summer of being mostly alone, with the exception of her siblings, her mother, her aunt, and her cousin. Dora had not visited as often as Lyra would have liked, but she knew she could not really expect Dora to cater to her as much as she had in the past. Dora had spent the first month of summer hanging out with her friends and family before heading away to Auror Training on the Isle of Mann.
"Satyra, just pick one," Arya's voice brought Lyra back into focus and she turned her gaze back to her twin sister and their younger sister. Satyra had been quite excited about their outing to Diagon Alley today. She would be starting Hogwart's as a First Year and she was determined that she would be sorted into Slytherin. Satyra had spent all of the previous year listening to the complaints and mutterings of their father who had been unhappy that Arya had sorted into Ravenclaw. Satyra had declared that like a true daughter of the House of Malfoy she would go into Slytherin. The summer had strained Arya's patience in dealing with Satyra, which was a pity since she always gave Satyra more patient care than Lyra could.
Lyra didn't bother to give Satyra time to bicker with Arya. Such behavior would be unseemly. Their mother and father would never trust them alone in any of the shops ever again if she didn't stop them before it was too late. She moved forward to the counter, forming a wall between her sisters, and glanced at the pictures of ice cream before her. "I would like a bowl of chocolate ice cream please sir, my sister Arya," she paused to indicate Arya at her right hand side, "would like a bowl of Chocolate Chip ice cream drizzled lightly with chocolate syrup. My sister Satyra," she indicated her youngest sibling on her left hand side, "would just love a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of vanilla ice cream."
The man behind the counter smiled at her. "Of course, right away Mistress Malfoy," then the man turned away and began to take care of their orders.
"Lyra, I'm sorry," Arya whispered with shame in her voice.
Lyra gave her a curt nod and then said, "I will await our order. Go with Satyra to pick a table outside where we can eat our treat."
Her twin sister nodded and then took a hold of Satyra's hand. Satyra looked mutinous as though she would protest until she met Lyra's gaze, and the protest died before it made it to her lips. Lyra was relieved to watch her sister's walk away. She hoped that Satyra's behavior was not indicative of how the day was going to go. She was bringing the worst out of Arya, and Lyra could not stand for both of her sisters to be acting like brats, especially in public. She was hyperaware here of the fact that she was expected to act like a perfect lady, even at twelve. Here, amongst so many of the Wizarding Worlds Shopping Witches and Wizards, where one slip up could damage the Malfoy reputation.
They were shopping without mother today, and that was another reason for Satyra's behavior. She always acted the proud arrogant brat more often when they were alone with Lucius than when they were with Narcissa. Lucius had ordered them to go to the Ice Cream parlor and await his presence while he took care of some business. Then he had imperiously strolled down Diagon Alley and into Knockturn Alley. Lyra had watched him do it and had been amazed that many witches and wizards had not seen him. She was sure it must be a charm he placed on himself to make others unaware of his presence turning into the street that was known for its nefarious places of business.
Knockturn Alley had shops that sold counterfeit goods, dark arts materials, and the like. It had gambling dens. It had bars that sold strange potions and cocktails that, while not quite illegal, were probably borderline illegal and would surely be illegal if the Ministry truly looked into. The irony is that many Auror's enjoyed going there in their offtime, and so those places were safe from intense scrutiny. Of course there was Arya and Lyra's favorite book store, Miranda's Tomes of Ancient Antiquities. The store was far better than Flourish & Blotts, if one wanted to read ancient magical books. Knockturn Alley also had the best sweets shop in all of Wizarding Britain. Some of the sweets names would probably make the Muggle-raised students run for the hills. "Chocolate Covered Gremlin Hearts" just did not seem to appeal to the Muggle-raised for some reason.
"Here you are Mistress Malfoy," the man behind the counter said as he offered her a tray for her to carry that held her orders.
"What? You intend for Mistress Malfoy to carry that on her own?" came a voice that she recognized quite well.
She turned to smile at her new companion. "Mr. Zabini, it is good to see you," and it really was. Though she had exchanged letters with Blaise over the summer, they had not visited one another. He had been abroad in Italy for the summer visiting his father's relatives. She had thought he would be gone until a few days before term started.
Blaise bowed elegantly to her, "And you, Mistress Malfoy, but please let me carry this tray for you."
Lyra eyed him speculatively for a moment before nodding in gratitude, "If it will not inconvenience you too much."
"Not at all," he assured her as he took the tray from the man behind the counter who was smiling at his display of old world manners.
"It is refreshing to see that chivalry has not died," the man said to Blaise. "It seems that young men have no real manners anymore these days. It does my heart good to see that there are some who still practice the old ways."
Lyra blinked in surprise but she then smiled at the man, "Thank you Sir."
Blaise likewise exchanged a final pleasantry with the man and then he followed Lyra out into the sunshine and toward the table that harbored her siblings. Satyra was glaring mutinously at Arya until she noticed Lyra walking toward them with a handsome boy behind her. "Satyra this is Mr. Blaise Zabini. He is a member of Slytherin House and is one of my companions at school. And of course Arya you remember Blaise," she finished the introduction.
Blaise bowed first over Satyra's hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you," and then he released her to take Arya's hand and repeat the gesture only this time with more warmth and familiarity. "Mistress Arya, it is a pleasure to see you again after such a long summer."
"Was it a long summer because you missed our good company or simply because you spent your summer in boredom?" Arya asked in a good natured tone of voice even as Lyra handed her the ice cream that was ordered for her.
Blaise smirked. "Mistress Arya," he began, "you know that I could not say other than that I missed your gracious company." His voice was smooth and charming as he spoke.
Lyra laughed along with Arya and she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Satyra was watching Blaise like a hawk. She could not tell if Satyra liked Blaise or disliked him though she was leaning toward the latter. Satyra had always preferred frank speech to the charming evasiveness that was Blaise Zabini.
She was grateful for Blaise Zabini's presence since it kept Satyra more subdued than she had been acting before. While Satyra seemed willing to act a brat before adults today she at least had the good sense to not alienate her peers by acting in such an unattractive way.
"Will you not be getting any ice cream, Blaise?" Arya asked of their friend.
Blaise shook his head in the negative, "No. The truth is that I saw you sitting out here with your lovely sister and then I noticed Lyra was standing in the parlor awaiting your order. I decided that I must go in at once and offer my assistance."
"For which I am grateful," Lyra politely assured him. Though she could have easily handled the tray with their ice cream treats, it was very nice of Blaise to have offered to do it for her. As the oldest child, Lyra was accustomed to handling things on her own, and it was only at Hogwart's that she had truly been forced to accept that the boys around her were going to do little chivalrous things. It had been hard for her to deal with at first until she realized that they needed to be permitted to do those little things. They had been taught to do those things for ladies.
"It was nothing," Blaise said with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Have you kept in touch with the others over the hols?"
Lyra nodded in the affirmative. "We spent the summer with our mother and aunt, but we did exchange letters with everyone else. You were the hardest to reach over the hols, everyone else spent a little bit of time in Britain."
Blaise grimaced. "I could not help it. Mother is with yet another paramour and she had put off sending me to visit my uncle for the last four years. He would not be put off any longer."
"I was not chiding you," Lyra said. "Simply stating a fact."
Blaise blushed slightly at that, "Oh, I see."
"Is that Pansy over there in front of Flourish & Blotts?" Satyra suddenly asked as she pointed toward the book shop that was a little further down the other side of the street. They had the perfect vantage point to view the comings and goings of that shop and of the Leaky Cauldron's entrance to Diagon Alley, from the table that Arya had chosen for them.
Lyra looked to the book store for a few moments and then nodded, "I do believe it is."
"We should go greet her then," Satyra said pointedly. "We have to go there to collect my school books in any case."
Lyra looked back to her ice cream. She was almost finished with the small bowl she had purchased. It had only been two small scoops. She nodded to Satyra, "Just as soon as I finish this we may go."
Satyra fidgeted in her seat, "Could I not just go on my own, you can see me from here."
Lyra shook her head in the negative. "Father would flay me," she informed Satyra. She was grateful when Satyra subsided at that reminder instead of pushing the issue. Perhaps if Blaise had not been seated with them she might have. It was now clear to Lyra that something about Blaise was off putting to Satyra. It was a pity. Blaise was a kind boy and he had connections to some of the better Italian families. For a third daughter of the House of Malfoy, an alliance with him would have pleased their father.
Once she finished her ice cream the four arose. Blaise looked as though he would have liked to escort Lyra but Satyra swiftly grabbed her hand. Lyra watched his expression turn bemused by Satyra's actions. Instead he offered to escort Arya to which the other Malfoy agreed. Lyra could feel Satyra's irritation as they walked ahead of the two.
"Why does he think he can just force his presence upon us?" Satyra hissed softly to Lyra.
"He's my friend as well as Arya's," Lyra told her youngest sibling.
"Friend?" Satyra questioned. "He seems less like a friend and more like some smooth talking suitor."
Lyra smiled at Satyra. "He's been in Italy with his father's kin for the summer hols. Some of their old world mannerisms was bound to rub off on him. Besides, if you sort into Slytherin you better get used to the males around you acting like Blaise."
"What do you mean?" Satyra asked.
"Most of the males come from upper crust Pure-blood families just as we do. They have been taught proper manners all of their lives. At Hogwart's they have an opportunity to put them into practice in a safe environment, safer than say Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream shop," she said the last pointedly, and was pleased when Satyra's cheeks were suddenly a rosy red blush.
"I get your point," Satyra said while trying to project a more grown up façade. "So I will have to get used to males acting like your friend?"
"If you sort into Slytherin, yes," she answered. "Slytherin House is not just the House of the Cunning. We also care about the Old Ways and Ancient Traditions."
Satyra nodded her head in understanding. "But what if I dislike them acting that way?"
Lyra smirked as they walked into Flourish & Blotts book store. "Then pray you sort into Gryffindor. Despite the supposed Chivalry of that House, I have yet to see one of the Lions act chivalrous."
"Do you hear that Fred?" a voice said from her left. "The little Malfoy girl says that we Lions aren't a chivalrous group."
"Did she now?" came the voice of the other one.
Lyra took in Satyra's wide-eyed countenance and then she turned away from her sister to meet the threat of the terrible terror twins of Gryffindor House. "Fred and George Weasley, always a pleasure to be in such company," she said lightly.
This seemed to give them pause. "Why is that Little Malfoy?" the twin that she was sure was George asked her.
She smiled at him. "Why? Because everyone knows that the terror twins of Gryffindor bring joy and cheer everywhere they go," she paused and leaned closer to them both to impart "Well, so long as one has a sense of humor that is."
The twins grinned then and looked at each other before looking back at Lyra. "I think I like this one Fred."
"I do too," the one she thought was Fred said. They could be tricking her though, they tended to do that to everyone around them.
"What brings you here Little Malfoy?" one of them asked her.
"Books for school?" the other asked.
"Or did you want to watch the carnage play out?" the first one said.
She blinked at the word carnage and then took a good look around her at just how full the store really was. "The carnage I think," she said with a curious tone of voice. "Just what is going on here?"
"It's a bloody nightmare is what is going on," one said and Lyra swiftly decided she was assigning him the designation of Red number four and the other would be Red number five. It made sense in her mind since the twins were the fourth and fifth born sons of Arthur and Molly Weasley.
Lyra nodded her head as she took note of the many women and some males in line for the book signing of one Gilderoy Lockhart. "Oh yes, I see," she said as she watched Harry Potter get pulled to Lockhart's side. She giggled at the startled and horrified countenance of the Boy-Who-Lived. "Yes, it's a great Greek tragedy."
Red number five smiled at her. "See, she gets it."
"Wait, did Lockhart just say he was going to be teaching at Hogwarts?" Red number four asked.
Lyra groaned. "He did," she confirmed. "My father is on the Board of Governors. He told me a few days ago that Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart would be this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor."
Both of the red headed boys groaned and Lyra was left thinking that this was a truly surreal moment. She had not really suffered much at the hands of the twin terrors the previous year. The red headed boys did not like to pick on the First Years much, even if they were in Slytherin. They were not truly bullies. They liked to pull pranks, but the kind that made everyone laugh, not the sort that humiliated others. They often pulled pranks on each other in order to make others laugh. From what she had seen of them the previous year they just believed in good fun and wanted to make people happy. She thought they were the type that would be truly repentant if one of their pranks went wrong and upset someone. Yet these two boys were Weasley's and the Malfoy's were hated by the Weasley family. Ronald Weasley had certainly made that perfectly clear to her.
She glanced to her left and frowned when she realized that Satyra had wandered off. She grimaced but did not let herself panic. Satyra would not have left the store without Lyra. She was sure of that. Arya and Blaise were standing outside, she noted as she glanced out of the window. The two had clearly chosen to remain outside away from the crowd. She wished that she had been so clever. At this rate she very much feared that they would have to return to Diagon Alley another day for their school books, or just have them delivered by owl post.
"Well if it isn't Malfoy," came the voice of Ronald Weasley.
Lyra blinked a moment in surprise at the venom in his voice and turned her gray eyed gaze toward Ronald Weasley who had Hermione Granger on one side of him, Harry Potter on the other and a red haired girl that it took Lyra's mind a moment to realize was the youngest Weasley child, the only girl. She could not recall the daughter's name, but then they had never interacted before.
"Weasley," she nodded her head in perfect greeting, proud that her mother and aunt would have found nothing wrong with her posture nor her tone and inflection. She was nowhere near as polite to Ronald Weasley as she had been toward his older twin brothers, but she was not aggressive either. "Potter, Granger, Miss Weasley," she added to the greeting because it was the correct thing to do. Her tone of voice was more welcoming to the youngest Weasley than it was to Potter and Granger who were treated to like treatment with Ronald Weasley. She felt gratified when the youngest Weasley gave her a tentative smile.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ronald snarled.
Lyra was surprised that the boy was foolish enough to be so openly hostile toward her. She understood him doing so in the halls of Hogwarts. He was a Gryffindor and his family were followers of Dumbledore, so of course he felt he could get away with being awful to her in Hogwarts, but this was not Hogwarts. No, this was a perfectly respectable book shop in Diagon Alley.
He did not deserve an answer but she chose to deliver one anyway. With a bewildered tone to her voice she responded with, "I was going to attempt to purchase school books for my sisters and I, but that seems like a nearly herculean endeavor today," at this last she motioned toward the crowd of onlookers and the line of people waiting to meet Gilderoy Lockhart.
"It is really crowded in here," piped up the voice of the youngest Weasley girl.
Lyra smiled kindly at her, "It is," she agreed. "My little sister and I came in here, but my other sister was smarter than us. She chose to await us outside." She motioned toward the window where the silvery blond head of Arya Malfoy could be seen having a polite discussion with Blaise Zabini. "Mr. Zabini has chosen to keep her company while she waits."
"I didn't know you had a little sister, Little Malfoy," Red number five said then.
She smiled at him as she answered him "Yes, her name is Satyra."
She frowned when Ronald Weasley scoffed at her sister's name. She turned her hardening gaze upon him. "Something caught in your throat Mr. Weasley, perhaps you should go outside and purchase a drink from one of the shops? Or perhaps a simple aquamenti would do?" she suggested the last.
He glared at her, "No, there's nothing wrong with my throat."
"Oh, but I have heard you make such a disparaging sound before," she pointed out. "So it was either that your throat had problems or you were insulting my sister's name."
"Oh you are right bright to have figured that out," Ronald said. "Let me spell it out for you, your sister's name is stupid."
"Ronald!" scolded Granger from beside him. "That's a terrible thing to say."
The youngest Weasley nodded her head in full agreement with Hermione Granger. It was clear that she was not in approval of her brother's nasty behavior. The twins did not seem completely enamored of it either. This gave Lyra some hope that she and her sisters might never have to worry about troubles from those Weasley's at least. Satyra and the youngest Weasley were going to be in the same year, perhaps the two girls could get along and become friendly if not friends. The Weasley and Malfoy feud ended by an everlasting friendship between a girl of House Weasley and a girl of House Malfoy? She liked the idea, even if she thought it the sort of romantic fancy that Dora had tried to warn her against. It was a good thing for Lyra that while she could appreciate romantic fancy, she did not possess a squishy romantics soul.
Ronald would not be deterred. "Her name is stupid and so is yours," he insisted.
Lyra flinched and balled her hands into fists at her side. She wanted so badly to hex the boy. She was glad that Satyra was not at her side right now. She would hate for this boy to make her cry. As it was, she was sure that he would be terrible to Satyra just because the girl was a Malfoy. She had rarely met someone as truly prejudiced against a single family as him. He was giving her Uncle Severus a good race on who was more prejudiced against a family. Ronald's hatred of all things Malfoy seemed every bit as awful as Severus' hatred of all things Potter.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," came the smooth aristocratic voice of her father from behind her. She watched as Ronald's pallor paled slightly at the sight of Lord Malfoy. "Lyra, do fetch your younger sister. We shall pay for the books she has collected and then we shall get the rest of your books by mail order."
"Yes sir, I did think the store would be too crowded to accomplish much," she admitted to her sire. With a prompt curtsy to him she then turned her attention back to the group of school children before her. "Weasley's number four and five it was my pleasure. Potter, Granger good to see you again. Miss Weasley it was nice to make your acquaintance," then she turned her hard gaze on Ronald Weasley and gave him a nod. "Weasley," the last was said in an emotionless voice.
With that she turned away and moved through the store to seek out Satyra. She sighed when she found her sister and one of the store attendants. The man was carrying a large stack of books. She knew that father would buy her all of them, just because arguing with Satyra as to why she must have all of them at once was a foolish endeavor to do in public. "Father is here, he wants us to hurry," she informed her sister. She looked to the attendant and smiled politely. "Please take those to your counter and ring them up. It will be paid for on the Malfoy account."
"Very good Mistress Malfoy," the young attendant said before moving away with the books.
Satyra smiled. "I nicked Arya's school list, so I picked out the books that you and Arya needed as well. Most of what new books you needed is from that Lockhart."
Lyra smiled as they made their way through the crowd of shoppers. "Not keen on him then?"
"I don't like strutting peacocks," Satyra said and then she stole a glance at Ronald Weasley.
Lyra noticed the look and frowned. Satyra was not developing a crush on that horrible boy was she? She really hoped that her sister had better taste than the likes of Ronald Weasley. He was mean and nasty to anything that did not suit his ideals.
Thoughts of Satyra and Ronald Weasley flew from her mind when she reached the spot her father had been standing and she saw him engaging in a Muggle Brawl with Arthur Weasley. The two men kept pummeling each other with their fists. She gasped in alarm and moved forward to attempt to stop her father from causing a further spectacle when she felt two arms grip a hold of her. She fought against the grip and then felt those arms pull her closer against a chest and then the arms were around her, holding her close and refusing to let her go. Warm breath at her ear made her cease her struggles. "Stop it Lyra, you'll get hurt."
That voice, she knew it. It haunted her dreams, filling her with a longing that ate at her soul. She loved that voice and she cursed herself often for that loving. It was the voice of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the boy whom she had thought was her friend at the first meeting, the boy who shattered her when he had refrained from being her friend. She should fight him now, get him to release his hold upon her. She could not find the will to fight. It felt too good to let Harry hold her. She ceased to struggle in his arms and some part of her expected him to let her go but he did not. He seemed to fear that it was a ruse to get him to let her go and so he kept hugging her, holding her tightly from behind.
"What do you think you are doing? And Lyra, what is father doing?" Satyra's voice was grating to her senses but she stole a glance at her little sister. The girl was staring at Lucius with wide and frightened eyes.
"He's fighting just like a Muggle would," she informed Satyra. "Do you remember what Auntie taught us about Muggle fighting?"
Satyra nodded, "They have many ways of fighting because they have had to develop ways to protect themselves. They do not have wands and so they must have some ways in which they can protect themselves and their loved ones."
"Very good, Satyra," Lyra said from her position wrapped up in Harry Potter's arms.
"So does that mean that man is a muggle?" Satyra asked with a curious tone.
Lyra shook her head in the negative and enjoyed the feeling of Harry's chin resting on her shoulder. "No, that man is Mr. Arthur Weasley. He is a man of good reputation and he works for the Ministry."
"Like father does," Satyra nodded. "So why are they fighting?"
Lyra winced at the question. "I fear father might have been rude to him. The Malfoy's and the Weasley's have feuded for a long time Satyra. I do not know why we have been fighting, but our fathers are led by the feud I think." She wished that Satyra would not ask them anymore questions until they were able to go home. She really did not want to be having this conversation in front of Harry Potter of all people.
"He was rude to Mr. Weasley," Harry confirmed. "They exchanged words and then, well I'm not really sure who threw the first punch," he admitted to Lyra.
She turned her head to glance at him and noticed the gleam in his green eyes, the excitement of watching a fight. She shook her head slightly. Why was it that the male gender enjoyed such violence? And just what had gotten into her father? After all of his preaching to them about how they needed to behave themselves and act with proper decorum in Diagon Alley so they did not harm the Malfoy reputation and then what does he do? He engages in muggle fist fighting with Arthur Weasley. The shame of it!
Lyra giggled slightly as she watched her father land a left hook to Arthur Weasley's face after Arthur had made some sort of taunting remark. Well, if they were going to throw decorum aside then they should be sure to fight their hardest and win. She would be able to tease her father about this for years to come, so she supposed that was something.
She felt Harry's gaze upon her and turned her head to look at him. He wet his lips as he stared at her and she felt that he was suddenly nervous. "Lyra, I," he began but then stopped as a flash of light erupted in front of them.
Lyra watched him squint his eyes even as she did herself. Harry had gotten the full blast of the light whereas she had been turned to the side of it, thankfully. She looked before them and felt dread seize her as she recognized the Photographer for the Daily Prophet.
"Hey, you can't just take pictures like that!" Harry yelled at the man who was already turning away to take pictures of the fight between Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy.
She groaned. "Actually, he can," she informed him. "We are in a public place; therefore, he is protected by the law. It would be different if we were on private property."
"But this is a store, surely it would be considered private property of the shop owner. We were not standing outside in the street," Harry pointed out.
"During store hours, all of the shops here would be considered public domain," she informed him.
Harry groaned and rested his chin on her shoulder again. "So what are we going to do about that photograph?"
Lyra frowned at that. Harry Potter was the one who had embraced her and kept her stuck to him. So why was he so upset that someone had photographed him holding her? She felt anger surge through her. It was because she was a Malfoy that he didn't want the world to know he had been seen so close to her. It was the same reason he had chosen to not be her friend. She glanced at the red heads around her cheering their father on in 'beating the arrogant git' and 'teaching the vile Malfoy his place' and she felt anger and hurt clash within her for dominance. She would rather feed the anger than the hurt.
"Don't worry about it, Potter," she said in a voice that was tight and clenched with her anger. "I am sure the Prophet will instead print a story about the Weasley and Malfoy feud instead of a photograph about you holding me in Flourish and Blotts. Now let go of me," the last she hissed out at him.
Harry shook his head growing angry himself. "I'm just trying to help you, why do you have to be like this?" his voice was angry and she was glad for it. After the taunts of Potter and Weasley, though mostly from Weasley, of the year before she had grown used to the sound of angry Harry Potter. It made it easier to just think of him as Potter then.
Lyra glared at him. "You have no right to touch me. You are not a close relative and you aren't my friend," she argued back, her tone was ruthless.
He glared hard at her and she felt him loosen his hold. When she made a move to leave his embrace he maneuvered himself in front of her and he stared into her eyes glaring hard. "I'm not your friend because you are a ruthless little snake," he declared even as his hands gripped her upper arms and he shook her.
Her eyes widened at his audacity and then narrowed in rage. "No, you little hypocrite," she said as she moved closer to him and his eyes widened at her move. "At least be brave enough," she sneered the word brave. "To be honest with yourself. You heard that my name was Malfoy and then you turned your back on me. You let another boy ruthlessly tear me down over sins that I had not even committed. You let that boy mock and hurt me and act like I had killed Muggle-borns and Muggles. You let him do that and you did nothing and then you spent a year going along with him and letting him convince you that I was some sort of evil incarnate," she took a breath and then glared into his beautiful green eyes. "That is what happened, Harry Potter, and it happened before the sorting hat had chosen a house for me. Knowing what House you would sort into, it was the last place I would have wanted to be," she informed him scathingly.
Oh it felt good, so very good to be able to tell the arrogant boy off. Maybe now that she had, she would be more successful in forgetting the boy existed. She hoped so. Thinking about how Harry Potter had acted in the robe shop and then how he had acted on the train hurt in ways she had not known she could hurt.
"I," Harry began to respond after a few moments of silence. He had stared at her for several moments considering all she had said but more, the why of it. "I hurt you?" he asked and she immediately stiffened.
Of course he had hurt her, badly. She didn't want him to know he had hurt her though. She did not want him to know that he had the power to do it again, that she had not yet severed this strange tie that existed between them. "Hurt me, you?" she said with a scoff. It was an attempt at subtle denial. It did not force her to say the words outright, to lie outright. It would allow her to misdirect him.
"I did," Harry whispered. "You were crying when you left the compartment," he took a steadying breath then and raised his hand to her face, to cup her cheek. He was shocked when she smacked his hand away.
"Don't you dare touch me so intimately," Lyra commanded and in that moment she was every bit the Malfoy Heiress, granddaughter of the Old Dragon Abraxas Malfoy. His hands fell away from her in surprise and she felt bereft for a moment without his touch but she schooled herself not to show him that she felt the loss so keenly. "You lost any such possible right a year ago," she informed him and then she moved away from him and grabbed Satyra's hand and pulled her away from Harry Potter and the rest of the Weasley children.
She kept her sister with her by the doors and watched dispassionately as an Auror came into the store and separated Arthur Weasley and her father. Both men were forced to give statements of how the fight started and due to her father's considerate offer to cover the expenses of any damaged property the owner of Flourish and Blotts chose not to press charges against the Weasley and Malfoy Patriarchs.
A few moments later, Lucius Malfoy looked nearly immaculate once more with the exception of a split lip. He covered the cost of his daughter's school books and then approached the front door of the shop as regal as a prince. "Come Lyra, come Satyra, we are meeting your mother at Melusine's," he said casually but loud enough that others could hear the name of the restaurant that existed on the corner of Diagon Alley and Horizont Alley.
Lyra turned with her father evading the green eyed gaze of Harry Potter as she exited Flourish and Blotts. She was forced to prod Satyra along and she glanced back to note that Satyra had in fact been staring at Ronald Weasley. She sighed, that could bring nothing but trouble. Against her will she stole a glance at Harry Potter and there was something other than anger toward her in his eyes but she could not decipher it, and she had not time to try. They exited the shop and swiftly collected Arya. Lucius spoke briefly and politely with Blaise Zabini and then they parted from Blaise and made their way to Melusine's.
It was only later that night when Lyra was tucked into her bed that she pondered why her father had engaged in a Muggle Brawl. Though Lucius had tried at dinner to make them think he had simply lost his temper and all patience with the hated Arthur Weasley, Lyra did not quite buy it. Her father was an arrogant sort, but he was cunning and had a far better mastery of himself than what was displayed earlier that day. If she didn't know any better, she would say that he had been ensuring a distraction so that everyone would dwell upon his brawl with Arthur Weasley instead of upon something else. She frowned into the darkness even as she wondered, 'Father, what did you do?'
I feel that I should address this because I have had reviewers tell me that they feel I am "Harry Bashing". Hopefully dear readers, you will be able to understand that I am not really bashing Harry in this story. He went from being an abused boy to finding out he was a Wizard and a Celebrity over night. It was a lot to take in. Due to the abuse he had suffered with the Dursley's he has learned to protect himself from potential threats and Hagrid talking about Death Eaters made him think that they and their children would be threats to him. It does not make his behavior fantastic, but it does make sense that he would guard himself against the children of known Death Eaters. He also had never had a friend before and so he wants Ronald Weasley to like him. For that reason he is willingly go along with Ron. We will eventually see Harry truly thinking for himself but with all kids/teenagers it will take some time. Also this story has thus far been from Lyra's POV and so her opinions and emotions towards people, and Harry in particular, currently color the narrative. I would like to thank everyone who has been reading this story so far and have been kind enough to favorite, follow, and leave reviews. Special thanks to Slytherin66 who is always so kind to me and leaves me fantastic reviews!