Unraveled
Chapter Six: Normal
Normal. That was all Fiona wanted to be. She wanted to be normal. It didn't matter where. She just wanted to be normal somewhere. In the wizarding world, she didn't know how to do magic like kids her age. In the Muggle world, she was doing some strange, unexplainable things. At least the Muggles couldn't explain the things she did. She was a child prodigy. The adults marveled at her skill as a musician. The children were a little envious of her talents. She had no friends.
Still, Fiona kept her head held up high. She walked with the same regal grace her mother had. Fiona knew that she and Nell came to San Francisco because Nell's father's practice was there. He allowed Nell to go off and tend to Fiona's needs. Nell picked up and dropped off Fiona everyday for school. Nell also wanted to provide Fiona with some normal things. Laura and Richard Lawson acted like proud grandparents. They were still trying to get Nell married, but she wasn't ready even without Fiona to worry about. She was too buried in her career.
Fiona was at school. It was a nice, sunny day. Very typical California weather. Fiona wanted to get to the school's music room because there was a piano there. She had to abandon her piano back in Virginia. The music teacher, Mr. Carlton, let Fiona go use the piano whenever she wanted. She was popular among the teachers for her intelligence. The only thing that annoyed most of the teachers was Fiona's lack of participation and attention in class. Fiona hardly paid attention in class, but when called upon, she always provided the correct answers.
She walked into the music room and found the piano waiting for her. She dropped her book bag off on the chair and started playing a Beethoven piece. Her love for classical music came from her mother, but Fiona soon moved to more modern pieces. It was another half hour before class, so she continued playing until her digital watch set off five minutes before the class bell was supposed to go off. Disappointed that time was up, Fiona got up slowly. She really missed her own baby grand piano. Nell said that she would get Fiona a keyboard soon, but for her fourteenth birthday.
She was turning fourteen soon. Fiona didn't really want her birthday to come. She had never had a birthday without her mother before. She remembered being little and asking for things her mother couldn't afford. Nell always came through and bought the things Fiona wanted. Fiona now realized that her mother must have felt horrible for not being able to give her everything she wanted. Fiona didn't know that Thalia had money set aside for her, and Nell was also providing for Fiona's needs. She wasn't alone.
She walked into English class on time and took her seat next to the window. "Today, we will be covering more of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Now, I need to assign parts. Let's see who hasn't played Romeo?" asked Ms. Raine.
Some of the boys raised their hands reluctantly. They really didn't want to read Romeo's role. Shakespeare was a little hard for the class, and they didn't want to look stupid. She picked one of the boys, Rick.
"Okay, who hasn't read Juliet?" asked Ms. Raine.
Some of the girls raised their hands while Fiona didn't bother. She didn't care. "Ms. Black? Have you read Juliet's part for the class yet?" asked Ms. Raine. She was eager to engage Fiona in class participation. Fiona looked at her from the window and shook her head slowly. "Then, you will read Juliet."
Fiona opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. It was too late to stop Ms. Raine. She was already calling on other people. Fiona wanted to raise her hand and volunteer for the part of the narrator who was only supposed to read the stage directions. "Let's begin," said Ms. Raine pleasantly.
Fiona reluctantly stood up and followed Rick to the front of the room where they said the lines. Rick was fumbling through the couplets, while Fiona read it with expertise. The class was impressed with Fiona's reading, while Rick almost kissed her on the cheek because it was the balcony scene. Fiona had pulled away from him before he had the chance.
"Very good Rick. Fiona. Go back to your seats," said Ms. Raine. She gave them their assignments for the next week. Fiona was out the door before everyone. The girls thought that she was cute. She made the perfect, believable Juliet. Rick and the other guys wanted to get to know the new girl better.
"Do you think she has a boyfriend?" asked one of the boys hopefully.
"You dumb ass. She hasn't been in Francisco long enough," answered one of the other boys.
The boys continued to walk off talking. Fiona shook her head at the attention. As far as she was concerned, boys were stupid.
*
Draco didn't know where he was. All he knew was that he was not in a wizarding place any longer. What have I gotten myself into?, thought Draco as he walked forward. He had to take off his cloak. He had landed in an alleyway. There were cats that scattered upon his arrival. He shuddered at the thought of all the Muggles that were out there. However, he quickly straightened up his shoulders. They were just Muggles and couldn't hurt him. He folded his cloak as much as possible and took off part of his school uniform.
He took off his outer vest and tie. He folded his robes over them and the invisibility cloak. He kept the bundle under his arm and his wand was in his pocket. Draco always carried some galleons with him out of habit. He walked out of the alleyway into the sharp sunlight outside. It almost blinded him. Draco cautiously looked around to see if anyone had noticed him, then he quickly moved out of the alleyway.
To Draco's relief, no one saw him. He walked along the street in the sunlight. It was not natural for Draco to be in the sunlight like this. He was actually nearly happy as he walked along. He felt free. There was no father telling him what he was supposed to do. There was no mother telling him what was appropriate or not. There were no teachers telling him that he had to finish his work on time. It was wonderful.
Best of all, Draco wasn't being told who he had to marry. Let Voldemort's grand brat be damned! He didn't care. He wasn't going to marry the spawn of the spawn of the Dark Lord. Why couldn't Voldemort bestow that honor upon someone else? Draco had caught sight of the Dark Lord during the summer. He looked very strange to him. Voldemort didn't look the slightest bit human. He looked like a snake that was turned into a man halfway. If Voldemort's granddaughter looked anything like him, Draco didn't want to see her either. Draco knew that it was a new body that Voldemort was walking around in, but still.
He willed himself to stop thinking of it. He was free now. However, he didn't know the first thing about interacting with Muggles. His father would have killed him for running away. "Young man, do you have the time?" asked an elderly man.
Draco's first instinct was to throw out an insult, but instead he looked for his pocket watch. "It's five past noon," said Draco.
"Thank you," said the man as he bowed to Draco and went off.
That wasn't too bad, but Draco realized that he was hungry. He didn't have any Muggle money on him. He had to remember the blasted spell to convert the wizard's gold he had. He didn't even know exactly where he was. He spotted some Muggle teenagers headed into a place called Harrods's. He heard part of their conversation.
"Did you see the Cup? It was so close. I hope England makes it," said one of the boys.
"Yeah! Do you want to go and get something to eat?" asked one of the girls as she rolled her eyes at the boy who just spoke.
Draco waited for them to go into Harrods first before following in after them. He was amazed to find Muggle shops. It nothing like Diagon Alley, but it had staircases that moved people up without them moving themselves. There were people walking around with bags full of purchases. It was Saturday. Draco had never seen anything like it in his life. The Muggles weren't as backwards as he thought.
He watched as people made purchases with cards and they signed slips instead of handing money over to the cashiers. There were shops that sold candlesticks for homes and places that had the smell of herbs. He found that there was a Muggle bookstore that was well-organized. The bookstore looked like stately. There was a stand with books. A book on the stand caught his eye. A book by some Muggle named J.R.R. Tolkien, called Lord of the Rings. He picked it up and read the back of it. The book stated that it was the entire trilogy. The word "wizard" caught Draco's eye. Draco put the book the down, but only so that he could discreetly perform the conversion spell for money he had. He found that he had quite a bit of pounds on him now. He picked up the book and took a deep breath. This was the first time he had ever purchased any Muggle items from a Muggle store.
"It will be £ 14.00," said the salesclerk with a smile.
Draco was slightly confused with the Muggle money, so he handed the salesclerk a twenty pound note. The salesclerk gave him change, and Draco was off. He decided that he wasn't dressed right. He went into a shop and bought some clothes. Once again he trusted the Muggle salesperson to give him the right change. He had quite a bit of money on him, so he bought a wallet while he was in the store to put it in. He continued until he reached the ground level of Harrods. He finally found the Food Hall. It looked like a market. Draco wanted something he could eat that was already prepared. Finally, he found a bunch of restaurants. There was a place that sold pizza. There were lots of Muggles there, so Draco decided to try it even though there was a line. It seemed safer than some of the more exotic restaurants they had. Draco was amazed to find that it tasted good. He also drank some weird Muggle drink called a soda. It was bubbly and cold, but it tasted good. The soda was sweet, but slightly bitter. The bubbles, at first, were burning him slightly. Draco was careful to get an extra cup of water just in case. Afterwards, Draco saw an ice cream shop and decided to get some. He was not happy to find that the Muggles had plainer flavors, but he decided to get what the server recommended. Draco felt happier. He knew that it wasn't going to last, but he allowed himself to enjoy his freedom for a while.
The Muggles were surprisingly polite. When some accidentally ran into him, they quickly apologized. However, more than once during the day, Draco had to remind himself that the Muggles were still inferior creatures. Draco didn't know that his view of the world was starting to change.
*
Hermione, Harry, and Ron were sitting in a Muggle library because Hermione needed the computers. Remus looked around. It was very rare for him to be in the Muggle world. Remus wanted too look around the library. Ron felt out of place, so he stayed near Hermione and Harry for security.
"Let's see," whispered Hermione. "The guardian is a doctor. The Muggles keep databases on doctors because they need licenses to practice."
"Why?" asked Ron.
"Because they hold the lives of other people in their hands," replied Hermione as she typed up the address for the American Medical Association. She found that that the doctors' registry was broken up into states. Hmm. I'll start at the place where Snuffles' daughter was at last."
Remus walked over to where they were. "Virginia," he said quietly.
Hermione moved the mouse around and typed a bit. Ron thought it was strange that all the letters were jumbled up, but Hermione used the computer keyboard with expertise. "Dr. Nell Lawson practiced medical at a local hospital at Falls Church Virginia, close to the US capital."
"But, she's moved since then. Snuffles is sure of it," said Harry.
"Okay, but I need an idea of where she went," said Hermione.
"California. That's what Snuffles said. Look for two Lawsons. Nell Lawson's father is also a doctor," suggested Remus.
Ron was impressed with Hermione's skill on the computer. "I found out that she has a medical license in both California and Virginia. There's a Richard Lawson with a private practice in San Francisco. He has a website, but then again almost of them have websites," said Hermione after ten minutes.
They went through the website where the address of the clinic was and the hours of the office. "It's pretty typically these days. You can find almost anyone on the web," said Hermione triumphantly.
"Let's get the address. Snuffles will need it," said Remus. Hermione quickly wrote down the address, phone number, and fax number. She added the e-mail address and the website address, even thought Sirius probably didn't know how to use them. She double checked everything before whipping the history off the computer, so that the next person couldn't tell where she had been.
"We're done. What do we do now?" asked Hermione.
"We're in London for the weekend," said Ron excitedly. He was a little loud because he earned some looks from other people.
The four of them left to go back to the inn that they were staying in. Harry and Ron shared a room, while Hermione and Remus had separate rooms. Remus decided that he had to contact Sirius with the information, so the three students joined him. "Sirius, Hermione came through," said Remus.
"Thanks, Hermione. I knew that you could do it," said Sirius with a smile.
"You're welcome," said Hermione as a blush came over her cheeks.
Remus told Sirius the information. Sirius only asked for it to be repeated once more to double check. "How are you, Sirius?" asked Harry with concern.
"I'm fine. Be careful, Harry. Take care of yourself. You, too. Ron. Hermione. Remus, I'll stay in touch," said Sirius as he faded out.
"What do you want to do now?" asked Remus.
"I've never been around Muggle London before," said Ron.
"I haven't been around here much at all," said Harry.
"Where would you like to go?" asked Remus. The three of them looked at Hermione. She looked surprised.
"Well, there are a good amount of museums to see in London," said Hermione thoughtfully. Ron shook his head, while Harry gave Hermione a funny look. Remus hid his amusement. Ron reminded Remus strongly of Sirius when he was younger. Harry was definitely like his father.
"I don't think so!" declared Ron, not sparing Hermione's feelings at all.
"Like you know where you want to go?!" spat back Hermione.
Harry took one step away from them. Remus thought that was like Lily. She always knew when to step back and let people fight. "All right. Why don't we all pick something and do it?" suggested Remus.
"That's fine with me," agreed Harry.
"All right, but only one museum," said Ron gruffly as he shot a look at Hermione.
"Great," agreed Hermione.
*
Draco enjoyed himself, but he didn't know where else to go. He still had lots of money, so he wasn't that worried. Draco ran his fingers through his hair. He usually kept it slicked back, but during the day, his hair loosened. His bangs feel over his eyes. He wore the Muggle clothes he had bought and tried to blend in as much as possible. He was getting looks from some of the Muggle girls as he walked passed them.
He was just leaving when he saw Potter and the others. He nearly froze in his spot, but calmed himself back down quickly. He had to get passed them without being too obvious. His only hope was to walk passed Weasley. Weasley was the least observant of the group. The main problem was that damn DADA professor. Lupin was too observant. Draco took a risk and walked passed Weasley without running into them by keeping his head down. His platinum blonde hair shielded his face. However, he was surprised when Professor Lupin's hand darted out and grabbed Draco's arm.
"Mr. Malfoy," said Professor Lupin in his usual calm, mild voice.
Draco shook him off his arm and took off running as fast as he could. Harry looked surprised. "That was Malfoy?!" shouted Ron.
Harry took off running after Draco. Ron quickly followed behind him. Hermione stood there stunned while Remus still remained calm. "What's going on?" asked Hermione.
"He's the one," said Remus quietly. That piece of the puzzle fell into place. He knew that Draco had to be the one that Voldemort selected as Fiona's husband. "What was he doing here?" asked Hermione in amazement.
"I don't know, but I think I know how he got here," said Remus thoughtfully.
Draco ran as fast as he could. He quickly took off for the crowds of Muggles going against the flow. The Muggles served their purpose and blocked Potter and Weasley off. Draco made it to the Muggle subway system. He took the stairs to the Underground, not knowing where they lead.
Ron and Harry stopped in their tracks. They looked around them and realized that there were too many Muggles around. They couldn't just draw out their wands. "Where did he go?" asked Ron.
"I can't tell," admitted Harry. He had no idea that Malfoy was that fast. "What do you supposed he was doing in London? Do you think he knows about Snuffles?"
"Let's go back," said Ron as he and Harry took one more look around. They walked back to the front of Harrods where Hermione and Remus were waiting for them.
"That was strange. I was sure that was Malfoy," said Ron. "He walked right passed me, but I didn't noticed until you grabbed him, Professor Lupin."
"What's he doing in here? Why was he wearing Muggle clothes?" asked Harry in a hushed voice.
"We're not sure," said Hermione. She spent the time trying to question Remus, but to no avail.
"Why don't we go get something to eat?" asked Remus as he stood up. He was wearing Muggle clothes like Ron, Harry, and Hermione. He was dressed in slacks and a white shirt. Remus walked towards a restaurant. It was a café. He pulled some Muggle money out of his pocket and handed it to Hermione. "I'm not too sure about the money, so I'll leave you in charge."
"Can we talk about what just happened?" asked Harry.
"That was strange. I never thought I'd see Malfoy anywhere near so many Muggles. The only time he's out around Muggles is at King's Cross to take the train," said Ron.
"We saw him at breakfast back at the Hall," said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Obviously he's here for a purpose, but he took off. I should report this to Severus," said Remus.
"Maybe, Snape sent him here," said Ron.
"No, I don't think so. Malfoy wouldn't just come here on his own. It's too much of a coincidence," said Harry. "What are the odds that he'd show up here as we showed up here?"
"I didn't see him when we took the portkeys over here," said Hermione.
"That's true," said Remus. He was letting the three of them think things out, but he had already formulated what had happened. It was interesting to see what they would come up with.
"He probably has a cloak like mine," said Harry.
"That's true. The Malfoys could afford stuff like that," said Ron.
"But, that still doesn't explain everything," insisted Hermione.
"Also, he took off running, but I don't think he knows his way around this part of London," said Harry.
Ron started laughing at the thought of Draco being lost in Muggle London. "Maybe, he won't find his way back!" he said happily.
"Of course he will. If he uses his magic, he'll get caught. If he hasn't used his magic already," said Hermione in a more quiet voice.
"You said that Snape sent him out on purpose, Professor Lupin," said Harry.
Remus nodded. "It's hard to tell, but things are more complicated than you think," he said, musingly.
Hermione had a look on her face as if she was concentrating really hard. Ron and Harry soon forgot the whole thing as soon as the food arrived. Remus knew that he had to contact Professor Dumbledore and tell him about sighting Draco. Either way, it was an interesting lunch.
Meanwhile, Draco emerged from the Underground. He didn't take the subway anywhere. He didn't think it was safe, and he didn't even know what it was. It looked like a train, but stranger. It didn't even sound like a train. Draco smirked and thought about how fun it was to get away from Potter and Weasley. He had outsmarted them.
He had to find a place to stay. Draco looked around him. He moved away from the crowds of Muggles. They were all moving in different directions. Draco stopped. He couldn't run forever. Damn. He couldn't do it. If those four were able to find him by accident, his father would be able to do the same. Draco needed to sit down. He walked over to a bench and sank into it. All he wanted to do was escape. He opened the bag that held his school robes, uniform, and cloak. He found the book that he bought. He took it out of the bag.
The Muggles weren't as bad as he thought they were. He still didn't like them, but he didn't loathe them so much. They were still inferior creatures. They were still backward in certain ways, but he had seen some of their marvels. He looked around him. Would it be so bad to be normal? To have no magic? They were happy.
Everyone was happy. Draco wasn't happy really. He only lived through moments of false happiness. He had money, power, and flawless bloodlines. He had everything, but he wasn't happy. He didn't like the false happiness. He wondered if anyone else was living like this.
*
The wind came slowly over the trees. It was lunch time. Fiona was happily eating by herself. She did some of her homework while eating an apple. She stood up and stretched out her arms, tossing the core into a nearby trash can. Things seemed nice and peaceful. She turned her head and spotted a man dressed in strange clothes. They were obviously Asian style, but they were long robes. He was tall with dark brown, almond-shaped eyes. His hair was black and short. His robes were a rich blue. The sleeves came over his hands with rings on each of his middle fingers to hold the sleeves in place.
Fiona realized that he was looking straight at her. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. She stepped back away from him. "Who are you?" she whispered.
"My name is Ryu Ran," said the man with a pleasant smile on his face.
Fiona felt her voice caught in her throat. Who was this stranger?
"We will meet again soon," said the man in a gentle voice as he disappeared from her sight with a pop. Fiona sank to the ground.
More magic. More magic to remind her that she wasn't normal. What did he mean they would meet again soon? She stood up and tried to act like everything was fine. Fiona searched through her bag to find the cell phone that Nell gave her. She was told to call her if anything came up. Fiona bit her lip as she stared at the cell phone. Suddenly, the phone rang, starling her.
The number was Nell. Fiona answered, "Nell?"
"I'm sorry, but things are getting really chaotic here today. Three of my father's nurses are out with the flu, so we're swamped. Fiona, I need you to stay at the school. Don't leave on your own. I'll call up to check on you later," said Nell in rush.
"But, Nell…" started Fiona.
"I have to go. I'm sorry. We'll talk later. Bye, Fiona," said Nell as she hung up. Fiona put the phone away. She sighed. So much for telling Nell about the stranger. Maybe, she dreamt all of it. She shook her head. She couldn't afford to be ignorant about her surroundings any longer. She spent the rest of the lunch doodling in her notebook until the bell rang.
When school let up, Nell called again and told her that she would have to wait an hour at the least. Fiona sat in the music room to catch up with her music. It wasn't as if there wasn't anyone there. A lot of the students had after school sports and clubs. The music department didn't have much in it, not even a glee club. Most of the other students taking music left to go to the conservatory.
While playing Beethoveen's Fur Elise, Fiona looked out the window to see owls gathering. I thought owls were nocturnal. What's going on?, thought Fiona as she stood up and went to the window. The owls peered into her face. Fiona stepped back away from the window. One of the owls swooped into the classroom. It was carrying an envelope in its talons. It dropped the envelope on the piano keys and took off. The other owls followed it.
She walked back to the piano. It was clearly addressed to Ms. Fiona Lily Black. She picked it up gingerly, half expecting it to explode. She turned it over to see that it was sealed with Japanese and Chinese characters stamped into the wax. She carefully opened it to find a note to her.
"Ms. Black,
We have already met today. I said that we would meet again. Please come to park and follow the owls to my house.
Ryu Ran"
Fiona looked around her. She wanted to know what it all meant. She knew better than to disobey her aunt, but she had no choice. Fiona picked up her book bag and turned off her cell phone. She took off for the park. Where, perhaps, Fiona could find some answers to her questions.
AN: Draco discovers Harrods. I had to look up the information before and found the official website. If there are any native, Londoners reading this, please correct me if I am wrong. The website was so nice. I thought it would be interesting to see Draco at the mall, so I choose the more familiar Harrods. God, I just want to go to London to check it out. ^_^ I'm in no way endorsing Harrods. I just like to shop. The title for this chapter is supposed to show Draco what's normal for Muggles, and it also leads towards Fiona finding out what's normal for wizards. Look forward to Sensei Ryu Ran. Special thanks to Yukari for some information on Harrods and to IvyDragon for beta reading. ^_^
Disclaimer: I hereby, solemnly swear that I am up to no good…wait wrong oath…I don't own Harry Potter.