Draco Malfoy Promises To Be A Good Boy This Year

Part Seven

Father Dearest And A New Friend

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One cold day in November, not long after Ginny's fourteenth birthday, I bundled up well in heavy dark denim jeans and a winter jacket and went for a walk outside. One of the nicest parts of staying at Snape's was the ability to go for a stroll in Muggle London whenever I felt like it. There was much about it that I didn't understand but I learned quickly now that I was exposed to it. There had been rough moments, of course. The programming of a video player practically had Harry and I at each other's wandpoints, but once we figured it out we were able to watch American cinema whenever we felt like it. Snape arrived in the closet to check on me, took one look at Harry and me, staring at the television with our mouths hanging open, rolled his eyes and promptly left again. Apparently, I was fine, in a matter of speaking, so he hadn't been back to see me since.

So one afternoon when I was bored with the television and my friends were in class, I decided to take an afternoon stroll. I walked along the street, pressing my nose up against store windows to gaze at all the Muggle things I could own if I wasn't a wizard. I even sent an owl to my mother that said: "Dear Mother – what I would like for Christmas is a green sports car and a blender. Thank you – your son, Draco." Harry thought it was perfectly ridiculous, but I thought they were reasonable requests.

On this particular day, I ran across a jewelry shop and pressed my hands and face right up to the window, admiring all of the beautiful jewels. Jewels I knew about…for instance, that girls love them. I sucked in my breath, summoning up all my courage, and marched into the store. I did a lot of looking, but not much Muggle buying. Harry had helped me buy the video player, since I didn't know how to use Muggle money.

I headed over to the counter and looked up at the tall elderly woman behind it. "Hello. I was wondering how you go about picking out a ring for a girl?"

She slid her glasses down her nose a bit and blinked at me. "A ring for a girl? Young people today, they start earlier and earlier…how old are you, love? About twelve?"

I bristled. "I'm fifteen!"

She squinted at me. "Oh, sorry, honey."

I closed my eyes and thought, 'Can we get past the fact I'm short and get on with this?'

"What is her ring size, Hon?"

"What? I don't know…um…thirteen?" I guessed the first number that came into my mind, hoping it was close.

"Those are pretty big fingers." She held up her pointer finger and thumb to demonstrate a size thirteen.

That was way too big. "Her fingers are like mine." I held up my slender pale hand.

"Oh, let's try a five and a half, then."

After a good deal of confusion and embarrassment on my part, I managed to come away from the shop with a beautiful little ring with a brilliant sapphire and two small diamonds in it. I slipped into a little alley and unpackaged it, slipping it on my finger, imagining what it would look like on Ginny's. I held out my hand in front of me and smiled. "It's so beautiful…it's the perfect Christmas gift." I immediately felt nervousness bubbling up in my stomach. I had never given a girl a really important, expensive gift. For her birthday, I had given Ginny a little tee shirt that said 'Honorary Slytherin' on it, and a stuffed kitten that looked a good deal like Hermione's cat Crookshanks. They were fun gifts for a fun day, but for Christmas I wanted to do something very special. I sighed happily and stared at the ring.

I had started to slide the ring off my finger to put it back in it's little box when I was clunked over the head. I sprawled on the pavement and the ring rolled away. "No!!" I grasped for it, but I was grabbed by my arms and slammed into the wall. I saw stars and pain rolled through my body. When I managed to get my eyes open, I stared in fuzzy terror at the dark cloaked figures standing in front of me. "G..Go away…I don't have a quarrel with you!" They were Death Eaters.

I could feel the largest one smile. "Don't worry, young Malfoy. We're just here to deliver a message to you." He drew back his arm and punched me firmly in the stomach. I howled in pain and dropped to my knees, clutching my middle. I was then hit hard on both my cheeks and then over my back. I dropped onto the ground face down, trying to keep my consciousness. The Death Eater glared down at me behind his mask. "We suggest you start acting more like a Malfoy, lest you risk being a disgrace to your father. We wouldn't want that, would we? I would rethink your present company if I were you…" He kicked me sharply in the side and I screamed.

A cold voice from the back of the pack carried to my ears, which now had blood in them. "Leave him. He's had enough."

"Father!" I gasped.

I heard footsteps approaching rapidly. "Disparate!" my father hissed and they were gone. The next moment, a pair of hands was running over my body.

"I don't think anything's broken…" The owner of the hands spoke.

"Who are you?" I moaned.

"I'm Thomas." He kneeled down by me and looked at my face. He was older than me by a couple of years, with dark brown hair that fell in his eyes, a lot like mine. He had beautiful dark eyes and a striking smile.

"Thomas what?"

"I don't know…I'm an orphan and I've never had a last name. What's your name?"

"I'm Draco Malfoy." I looked around frantically. "I lost a ring. It was a very important ring. It was for Ginny…"

His eyes lit up. "Ginny?"

"Yes, my girlfriend." I crawled around on the ground, blood dripping from my nose.

"Hold on there, chap. Let me see if I can help." The boy fished around in the alley and eventually held up the prize. "Is this it? It's beautiful!"

"Oh yes, thank you!" I clutched the beloved ring. "Those bastards almost made me loose it."

He pulled me up to my feet and helped me along. "Where do you live? I'll help you get home. And who were those people in cloaks, anyway?" He gave me a puzzled look. "Who would want to beat up a kid? Some kind of cult?"

I didn't feel like lying. The worst that could happen was that he'd think I was mad and head for the hills. "They were wizards. Dark wizards."

"Wizards? Aren't they only make-believe?"

"Oh no, I'm a wizard too. It's hard to be believe, I know, but…it's true." I hung my head and expected him to call me a freak and run away.

Thomas's eyes widened, but he didn't seem afraid. "Really? I've always loved tales of wizards and witches! Ever since I was a child I have wished I could be magical. I always secretly hoped they existed." He studied me. "Draco isn't exactly a normal name, come to think of it."

"Mother always calls me her little dragon."

"I like it. Better than boring old Thomas."

Thomas and I went to the flat so I could get myself cleaned up. I was a real mess. During the walk back there, I learned that he had no idea who his parents were and didn't even have a place to go. He had run away from a Muggle orphanage because he was dubbed as being strange and no one liked him. I felt a certain companionship with him almost immediately since I had left school because of almost the same reasons. I thought it might be nice if he stayed with me in the flat, since neither of us had anywhere else to go or anything else to do. I wanted someone who didn't have to go home at midnight.

Later, we lounged around on the 'Snape Rug', Thomas watching me cast little spells with my wand. I was wearing my Hogwarts robe for show. "So there's actually a school where they teach you all this stuff? That's so fabulous." He picked up my wand and studied it. "I wonder if you could teach me?"

"I would, but I think magic is something you have to be born with. If you're a Muggle, you're just stuck."

"I hate being a…Muggle…as you call it. I wish I was like you." He rested his dark head on his hand and gazed out the window at the twinkling lights of London. "And you said the others would be coming soon? They come every night?"

"Pretty much every night. We do our homework together and then act like goons till they have to leave."

"And Ginny will be coming?" He picked up my favorite picture of Ginny, which I had placed on a table under an electric lamp. It was a wizard picture, so she waved at whoever looked at it. Thomas had been thrilled with the idea. "Who's that with her? The baby?"

"Oh, that's Nattie. Nathaniel, really. He's my boy."

Thomas's eyebrows went way up. "You and Ginny have a baby?"

"Well, not exactly. His real father is Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard of all time. Nathaniel was supposed to be his heir to the Dark Forces." I told him the story of how it all happened and how Ginny and I came to be the surrogate parents of little Nathaniel. Thomas listened with wide eyes and his mouth open in awe.

"That's quite an adventure! I should like to meet this tiny little chap. He looks darling."

"Oh, he is. But he's full of trouble, just like I am. He's only about eight months old, though, so he can't really walk yet on his own. But he'll be into everything once he can move around well." I sighed. "I miss him a lot. He's with Ginny's parents."

"Is he then? Will he be coming here at all?"

"I'm sure he will. Ginny will probably bring him."

"Wonderful." He ran a finger down the picture. "Nathaniel…"

There was a sudden burst of light from the closet and Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all came tumbling into the room at once. "I did NOT step on your foot! You stepped on mine!" "You did too step on my foot! Someone stepped on my foot! Ginny, did you step on my foot?" "Why do you always blame everything on me, Ron? I'll tell Mum! She'll send you a Howler!"

"Ahem!" I cleared my throat and they all gawked at Thomas, who bowed slightly. "This is Thomas…he's a Muggle boy who's very interested in magic. He's been waiting to meet you all day."

Hermione and Ron stood there, grinning with embarrassment and wonderment, and Harry stared at Thomas, his head cocked to the side slightly. Ginny, meanwhile, walked up to Thomas and looked up at him. "Hi…" She then lifted a hand and put it under his chin, tilting his head slightly. "Are you sure you're not a wizard?" She stuck out her tongue slightly in concentration.

He smiled down at her and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. It's lovely to meet you, Ginny." He kissed her hand and she blushed.

Harry shook his head hard. "Er…nice to meet you. I'm Harry Potter and this is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Draco, a word?"

The maniac pulled me into my bedroom and sat me on the bed. "Draco, do you think it's wise to be telling this boy all about us?"

"I think it is. He scared off a group of Death Eaters, including my father. They tried to kill me, see?" I showed him all my bruises.

"You do look miserable. It was lucky he was there. But did you have to bring him here? What if he tells the Muggles about us? We'll get in trouble."

"Don't be such a prat, Harry. You've never cared much if you got in trouble. You've gotten too rigid."

"That was then. This is now. And you were supposed to be trouble-free this year too, remember?"

How could I forget? "Look, give him a chance? He's just like me, except he's not magical like us. But he should be."

"And this coming from a boy who hates Muggles and Half-Bloods…" Harry crossed his arms and grinned. "Could it be the great Draco Malfoy is reforming?"

I jumped up and shoved him over on the bed. I laughed and ran from the room. "Me? Ha! Never!"

Despite some original resistance, everyone became used to Thomas's presence quite quickly. He was so funny and charming, it was hard not to like him.

Thomas had no magical power of any kind, but he still tried as hard as he could to learn all about being a wizard. His favorite wizard subject was Potions, since that was one thing he could help me do. We would sit around every afternoon with my cauldron bubbling in the middle of the kitchen table and follow the instructions Professor Snape had sent for me. "Thomas, hand me the frog eyes, will you?"

Thomas ran his finger down the list of ingredients. "Draco, if you added enough of this spice, it would make a very powerful explosive."

I took the frog eyes and dumped them in the cauldron. "How do you know?"

"I took Muggle Chemistry."

"Oh…" I didn't really know what that meant, but I was sure it was a very useful course.

Thomas's eyes suddenly took on a mischievous gleam. "You know, Draco…with my help, we could make a potion that would really give the Slytherins a 'bang' they would never forget….."

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