All three of us walked out of Knockturn Alley and into the bright sunlight. Once my eyes adjusted to the intense glow, I immediately recognized Diagon Alley in front of me. Happy to be in a place I actually knew, I found myself smiling. I followed Lucius with Draco right beside me, our robes billowing behind us, no doubt giving us the appearance of power, especially since all of our robes had glittering silver serpents on the front.
I looked down at the ring on my thumb, and saw that the yellow color had disappeared, and the original blue was coming back. I glanced over at Draco and smiled; the ring turned even bluer. I didn't have to ask Lucius where we were going. I already had an idea of where we were headed, and my assumption proved true when Lucius turned and went inside Gringotts, the wizard bank.
We continued to walk in silence as we passed many goblins sitting behind tall desks counting and weighing coins. The clink of bronze Knuts, silver Sickles, and gold Galleons echoed against the marble walls of the bank. Lucius stepped up to the goblin at the very end of the hall.
"Excuse me," Lucius said to the goblin.
The goblin looked up, about to say something, then changing his mind when he saw who was standing in front of him.
"Yes...err...Mr. Malfoy. Can I help you?" the goblin asked.
"Yes, Lutin, you can," Lucius said, "We would like to make a withdrawal from vault three hundred and thirteen, and of course, the Malfoy family vault."
"Very well," Lutin replied.
He stepped down from his stool and led us through a door on his left. A stone passageway was before us, lit by torches on the walls. Lutin whistled loudly and a cart pulled forward on a set of railway tracks on the stone floor. Lutin climbed in first, followed by Lucius, myself, and Draco. As soon as we were all inside the cart, it shot forward down the passage, steadily gaining speed until it seemed we were going to crash at any moment. Cold air stung my eyes as we went deeper and deeper into the ground under Gringotts.
We stopped so suddenly that all of us were jerked forwards. I had to admit that I was glad to get out of the cart. I looked up and saw that we were at vault three hundred and thirteen, which I recognized as the vault where my parents kept our money. All four of us scrambled out of the cart, and I was trying to remember how to unlock the door to my family vault, since I was sure that my parents had never used a key.
"Elizabeth," Lucius said suddenly, jerking me from my thoughts, "you must run your right index finger along this line."
Lucius showed me a crack in the vault door that appeared to be an ordinary fracture, but I traced my finger along the line and was amazed to see the door swing open.
"Your father and I shared our views on security. We both made sure that only members of our family could enter our vaults. Therefore, at this time, you are the only person among us who can open this vault," Lucius explained to me.
I nodded and I stepped inside the vault, followed by Lucius and Draco. On the stone floor were many bags of wizard money, some of them with silver and gold coins flowing out of the opening.
"We did not, however, have the same views when it came to organization," Lucius said, with a small playfulness to his tone.
I laughed, glad to see that Lucius had a small sense of humor. Lucius then pulled a bag from his robes; it was the same as those inside the vault: black with a shining silver "S" on the front. I took it from him and bent down, filling it halfway with coins from the stone floor. I stood up and placed the bag carefully beneath my robes. I looked around the vault and noticed another bag in a back corner. It seemed to be larger than the bags of money, and it didnt have the imprints of the coins showing.
"What is that?" I asked Lucius, nodding toward the bag.
"Oh, yes. Your parents wrote a letter to be given to me should anything happen to them, and they said that there would be something in this vault for you. If it is what I think it is, then your time at Hogwarts will be more interesting with it than without it," Lucius said.
Intrigued, I walked over to the corner and opened the bag. Inside was a flowing black cloak with an iridescent silver foil around the edges. On the back of the cloak was the same silver design as the bag, complete with the huge silver "S." I swung it over my shoulders and was surprised to see Draco's jaw drop.
"What?" I asked him.
"That's...that's an invisibility cloak!" he stuttered.
"Really?!" I said, shocked.
I looked down and saw that my body was no longer there; my head was just floating in midair. Lucius did not seem surprised. He instead looked as if he was expecting it to be there.
"You were right. Hogwarts will be even more fun with this," I said.
I removed it from around my shoulders and folded it up. We left the vault and climbed back into the cart. I held the cloak on my lap as we zoomed around corners, traveling even deeper underground. After another few minutes of flying down the railway, the cart stopped and we all got out of it. I looked up to see the vault number but I could not make out. I supposed that this was the Malfoy family vault, and I watched as Lucius took out his wand and made a giant "M" over the door. At once, I heard locks clicking from within the vault, and the door swung open slowly.
"Only a Malfoy could get inside this vault. Just like only a Silverlio could get inside yours," I heard Draco whisper in my ear.
"At least if theres money missing, there's only a few suspects," I said softly to him.
Draco laughed slightly and we all walked inside the vault, except for Lutin, who waited outside. The vault itself was shining, the walls sparkling with light. All along the walls were small boxes, each with a white card on the front, resembling a huge Muggle filing cabinet. I read some of the cards nearest me; many of them were the names of family members, while some were made for certain things, such as clothing and wands. Lucius went first to a box that read: D. M. School. He reached inside and produced a handful of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, and handed them all to Draco, who put them inside the velvet bag he kept inside his robes.
Once that was done, Lucius opened the box that was directly next to the one meant for Dracos school supplies. I was surprised to find that this box was marked with a card reading: Silverlio. Curious to see what was inside, I took a step toward Lucius. He opened the drawer and pulled out a small black box, which he handed to me. Confused, I lifted the lid and found a beautiful silver necklace inside, made of very fine silver links with a heart-shaped pendant, complete with a small emerald on the front and my last name written in fancy curved writing.
"Wow. Where did this come from?" I asked Lucius.
"When you and Draco were born, your father and I bought necklaces for the other. Draco got his on his sixteenth birthday a few months ago, and heres yours."
I looked over at Draco to see if this was true, and to answer my question, he reached under his shirt and revealed a silver chain like mine, but his pendant was in the shape of an "M" with an emerald just like mine on the bottom.
"Why are you giving it to me now?" I asked while putting on the necklace, "I mean, you waited for a certain day to give Draco his, but what makes today so special for me?"
Lucius raised his eyebrows.
"But this day is special. As of today, you...are a Malfoy."
I knew that this was going to happen, but hearing it aloud made it even more final. I knew that Lucius would become like my new father, but I didn't really expect Lucius to put it that way.
"You, of course, will keep your last name, but you are now a member of our family. We will treat you as such, and you will also feel the advantages that the Malfoy reputation has to offer you," Lucius explained to me.
"Thanks, Lucius."
He gave me a rather warm smile, and we all left the vault and got back into the cart once again. After the many twists and turns back to level ground, we climbed out of the cart and out into the hall where the Gringotts goblins were still counting coins. We left the bank with money to spend, and I wasnt sure where I wanted to go first.
"Well, I think the first thing we should do is get you some new robes for school," Lucius said to me.
"Good idea."
Lucius pulled a silver pocket watch from his robes, checked the time, and then glanced back up at Draco and me.
"Since we are on a tight schedule and we have many things to buy, why don't you give me your book list and I will go to Flourish and Blotts and get two of everything? Draco, you can take Elizabeth to Madam Malkins and make sure she gets the correct items for her uniform."
Draco rummaged through his pockets and handed his father a piece of parchment. Lucius took a quick look at the list and turned to go inside the bookstore on the opposite side of the street. Draco and I walked across the alley and went into the store next to Flourish and Blotts: Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions. A bell clanged when the door opened and an older-looking witch came forward to assist us.
"What can I get for you today?" she asked.
"My friend here will be attending Hogwarts this year, and she needs the requireduniform," Draco said, obviously trying to sound business-like, resembling his father.
"Are you sure, dear? She seems to have Hogwarts robes already," she answered.
"They are borrowed robes she needed for the journey here. She needs three sets of robes for herself."
"Very well, dear, please step up here," the stout witch said, nodding at me and pointing to a footstool a few feet away. I handed my invisibility cloak to Draco, and removed his robes from around my shoulders, which Draco took into his arms as well.
I stood on top of the footstool and a black robe was thrown over my head. The plump witch began to make adjustments to the robes, sticking pins into the seams so that they were the perfect length. The process did not take long at all, and she was done before I knew it.
"You're done, now, dear. I'll just take this robe and have two more made just like it. It will only be a few minutes," she replied.
I stepped down from the stool and walked over to where Draco was standing. I took the cloak and the Slytherin robes from him and held them in my arms until the witch returned from a room in the back of the shop with a large bag in her hand.
"Here you are, dear," she said, handing the bag to me, "You'll find three sets of black robes, a black pointed hat, and a black winter cloak inside."
"Thanks," I said.
I pulled out one set of the black robes and pulled the cloth around my shoulders. I put Draco's robes and my invisibility cloak inside the bag and reached inside my pocket for the velvet bag.
"That will be sixteen Galleons, my dear," the witch said.
I handed her sixteen gold coins from my bag, and Draco and I left the shop. We stopped in another store to buy quills, ink, and parchment and we were finally able to sit down at a table outside the ice-cream shop after purchasing ice cream cones from inside.
"Well, there's going to be a lot of talk about you once we get to Hogwarts," Draco said after swallowing a bite of ice cream.
"Why? Im not that interesting."
"You will be. I don't think we've ever seen a new student except for the tiny first-years. Everyone's going to want to know everything about you. You'll never stop answering questions," Draco replied.
I licked the ice cream cone and thought about what Draco had said. I wasn't used to getting too much attention from anyone, and having the whole school asking questions and spreading rumors might prove to be too much.
"I'm not sure if I could handle being the only person in school with a million people following me at all times," I said, thinking out loud.
"You wouldn't be the only one."
I took the final bite of the ice cream cone and looked up at Draco with questioning eyes.
"Harry Potter," Draco began, rolling his eyes, "has his own fan club following."
"Oh, really? What's he like?"
Draco finished his cone and swallowed.
"He's always in trouble, yet seems to get away with everything, except with Snape of course."
"Snape? Who's that?" I asked Draco.
"He's the Head of House for Slytherin. He teaches potions, which is Potter's worst subject. If it weren't for Snape, he'd probably have full run of the school. All the other teachers give him special treatment."
"Jealous, Malfoy?" a voice said from a few feet to our left.
Draco and I turned our heads to face three other students, a tall boy with red hair, a girl with frizzy curls, and another boy with dark hair and glasses, all of them with a shield on their robes depicting a lion and the word Gryffindor below it. I saw Draco roll his eyes again.
"Why would I be jealous of scarface here?" Draco said angrily as he stood up.
"Because he's better than you'll ever be," the girl said with an attitude.
"What makes him so much better?" Draco asked, somewhat eager for the answer.
"I dunno," the girl started, "maybe it's because you're evil and he's not."
"You make it sound like theres something terribly wrong with being a little evil," I said, standing up from the iron chair.
The three Gryffindors looked at me, as if for the first time. They looked me over from head to toe and looked to Draco, then back to me.
"Who's this?" the boy with glasses asked.
"This is Elizabeth. Father's her new guardian, since he and her father were such good friends, and since her parents are no longer alive to take care of her," Draco explained, with a slight smirk on his face.
"And who are these people who are making a rather rude first impression?" I asked Draco.
"Oh. Sorry. Im Harry. Harry Potter. And these are my friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," the boy with the glasses said, pointing at his companions when he said their names.
"Hmm, I've heard of you," I said to the three.
"Well, if you're spending so much time with Malfoy, then I'm sure it's nothing good," Hermione said.
"If you must know, I was just going to say that a few girls have spoken of you at my old school. And, Draco hasn't been impolite when it comes to you three."
Ron snickered when I said Draco's name.
"Think my name is funny, do you?" Draco said, "Just don't forget, my name means a lot more in this world than yours does."
"Take it back, Malfoy!" Harry said.
"Why should I, Potter? Does the truth hurt too much?" Draco replied, taking a step toward Ron.
Ron moved his arm quickly, but I was faster. Before Ron could even open his mouth to curse Draco, I shouted, "Rictusempra!"
Ron fell to the ground and started clutching his stomach, trying to stop himself from laughing. Harry and Hermione bent down to reverse the tickling charm I had sent Ron's way, his wand still grasped in his hand.
"Come on," I said to Draco, who was laughing heartily.
"Do we have to? I wanna see him rolling on the ground," Draco asked, still giggling.
"Yes," I said, and I pulled Draco in the opposite direction; I could still hear Ron laughing as he rolled on the ground.
Ron's laughter faded away as Draco and I walked down Diagon Alley, away from Harry and his friends. We stopped inside Quality Quidditch Supplies so Draco could get a broom-cleaning kit for his Nimbus 2001, and I got some owl treats for Amadeo from Eeylops Owl Emporium. From the cauldron shop at the end of Diagon Alley, Draco and I bought new cauldrons; Crabbe had apparently burnt the bottom out of Draco's old one, and I bought a collapsible cauldron disguised as a sterling silver one to give to Pansy as a "lets-forgive-and-forget" present. We also stopped at the Apothecary to stock up on ingredients we would need for Snape's potions class, and we were only able to sit down for a few minutes while having lunch at the Leaky Cauldron.
By the time we met up with Lucius hours later, Draco and I were so laden with school supplies that we were happy to sit down, though the bags took up a chair inside the Leaky Cauldron by themselves. Lucius, though, walked inside the pub with nothing in his arms at all, even though he had said he was going to buy our books. Lucius sat down across the table from me, with Draco between the two of us.
"Where are our books, Lucius?" I had to ask.
"Once I had them, I Apparated back to the house and put them in your bedrooms."
"Oh...thanks," I said.
"You're quite welcome. Draco, why don't you and Elizabeth go get some drinks for us, while I take these things home for you?" Lucius suggested.
"Yes, Father."
Lucius stood up and gathered all of our items from the chair and disappeared into a dark corner. Draco and I went to the bar and ordered three butterbeers, then came back to the table and sat down. Within moments, Lucius reappeared from the shadows and sat down in his chair.
"How was your day?" Lucius asked, taking a swig from his mug after wiping the side of it smugly.
"Fine. We met quite a few people, and we've gotten everything on our school lists," I answered.
"Who all did you meet?"
"We met Pansy Parkinson back in Knockturn Alley, and Harry Potter and his friends showed up outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor," I said with enough disgust for all four of them.
"Oh, really? I'm sure that was quite interesting," Lucius replied.
"It sure was, Father. Weasley tried to curse me with his wand, but Elizabeth here was too fast for him. She hit him with a tickling charm that left him on the ground for ages," Draco said with a slight amount of happiness to his tone.
"Did she now? Well, that was quite impressive, but I must impress upon you how that is frowned upon here. You could get into serious trouble with the Ministry for using magic outside of school," Lucius said.
"But it was an emergency, Lucius. If I hadn't sent that harmless spell Ron's way, then who knows what he could have done to Draco?" I said vigorously.
"I guess thats true, but lets try not to use spells any more until you get to school?"
"Yes, Lucius."
"Well then, since we've all had a very busy day, I think it would be a good idea to go home and get some rest," Lucius replied.
Draco and I simply nodded. All three of us swallowed the rest of our drinks and left the pub without a word. We passed the ice cream parlor and started down Knockturn Alley. Once we were sure we were out of sight, Draco and I embraced and the three of us Disapparated from the spot.
We appeared only seconds later inside the foyer of the Malfoy mansion, which was now home to me. Lucius started down the hall to the kitchen to see about dinner, but I stopped him.
"I'm not that hungry, Lucius. Maybe Sabs could just bring me a small snack in a couple of hours," I said.
"Very well."
"I'm not that hungry, either, Father," Draco said.
"Well, I guess I'll tell the kitchen staff not to make dinner this evening, since I must admit that I'm not very hungry myself," Lucius said, as he turned and left to talk to the house-elves in the kitchen.
"I've got to get upstairs. I have a few last bits of homework to finish," Draco said, heading toward the stairs.
The footsteps of Lucius and Draco soon vanished, and I was left alone at the base of the stairs. I finally decided to go upstairs to my bedroom and find something to do. I climbed up the stairs and walked down the hall to my room. I noticed light seeping from the crack under Draco's door and elected not to bother him. Instead, I opened the door to my room, where the antique lamps magically lighted themselves. I looked around the room, searching for something to do.
I noticed my new schoolbooks sitting on my desk, and a trunk had been added to the décor, with my school robes and the collapsible cauldron resting on top. My eyes settled on the bookcase, and I figured a book would take my mind off of things; I walked over and grabbed the first book I saw, which was Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart. I sat down on my bed and opened the book.
I tried in vain to keep my mind on the book, but I couldn't help thinking about the Malfoy family. If my father and Lucius had been such good friends, how come Id never met Draco before? And for that matter, how come I'd never met Lucius or his wife? I also found myself thinking about what the future would bring for me. What was Hogwarts going to be like? What was going to happen between Draco and me? And, I also wondered what else was going to change now that the Malfoy name was backing me up.
I had so many thoughts flying around inside my head that I barely heard the knock on my door some time later. I assumed it was Sabs with something small to eat, so I merely said, "Come in," while turning the page I had finished about five minutes ago. I looked up and saw Draco come inside the room with a tray.
"Sabs sent this up in case you were hungry," he said as he came toward the bed.
"Yeah, I could use a little snack," I said.
Draco stood with the tray in his hands.
"Please, sit," I replied, gesturing for him to sit on the bed with me.
Draco set the tray on the nightstand next to the bed. On the tray were two glasses of milk and a plate of fresh cookies. Draco handed one of the glasses to me and took the other in his hand as he sat down on the edge of the bed. I closed the book in my lap as Draco moved the plate of cookies from the tray to the bed.
"You don't really believe that guy, do you?" he said, taking a bite from one of the cookies.
"No, I just wanted something to do. Besides, even if he didn't do it, the story is a little interesting," I answered, taking a cookie from the plate.
"You know, he was our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher during my second year," Draco said.
"Really? I bet that was an interesting year."
"Well, every year has been rather eventful since Potter showed up. I think he just likes the fact the trouble always seems to follow him," Draco replied, swallowing the last of his cookie.
"Can we not talk about him?" I asked, putting the rest of my cookie back on the plate.
"Yeah, sure. Sorry," Draco said, taking a sip of milk.
He moved his hand and I couldn't resist laughing at the milk mustache that appeared on his upper lip.
"What? Whats so funny?"
"Nothing," I said, trying to stifle my laughter, "it's just..."
"What?" he replied, now smiling himself.
"You have...a...milk mustache," I said.
Before I realized it, I had leaned forward and used my thumb to wipe the milk from his lip. Our faces were merely centimeters away, and I couldn't believe I'd done it. But now that I was there, it didn't seem so wrong. I stared into Draco's brilliant gray eyes as he drew even closer to my face.
"Oh, gosh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't," he said, jerking away.
"Draco? When are you going to learn when to talk and when to shut up?"
I reached out and grabbed Draco's collar, pulling him closer until he was near enough to kiss me, which he did without concern.