Chapter 30
"Lucius, hurry! The Knight Bus is going to leave any minute--"
Somewhat reluctantly, I boarded the said bus, and seated myself right beside her. Yes, I was on my way to have a very muggle vacation. I'd written to my parents, a letter full of gaping holes that they would never notice. Terribly sorry that I would be unable to go home for Christmas. . . I would be there a little after New Years' Day. . . Yes, N.E.W.T.'s were no trouble at all. . . It went on and on. It was so easy, lying to them. Not because they never knew, but because they never cared.
"I'm glad you finally made it. Don't worry, muggles aren't that horrible. I've lived with them for years." I bit my tongue at the reply I had been about to make. I'd been irritable lately, but with good reason. Garednon had, amidst his constant muttering (maybe the Cruciatus had driven him mad; I heard that happened to people sometimes), informed me that my initiation would come soon after the holidays.
No. I wouldn't let him of all people bother me. And Lily. I turned towards her, resolutely, determined to enjoy this. "And so, I pop up at your parents' doorstep, and tell them I'm your wizard boyfriend--" Oh no. Not that look. I could always tell when Lily had a plan up her sleeve.
"Lucius--" I knew it. She'd said my name that way, the way I liked especially, and she was going to use it to her advantage. Women. "About your clothes." She didn't actually expect me to don muggle clothes, did she? Because I wouldn't. "You see, muggles. . . they haven't worn robes since Rome. . . well, they don't really wear robes. You would look. . . out of place," she pressed on.
"No, going on a muggle holiday is bad enough--" Why, why did she have to look so beautiful when she pleaded with me? I tore my gaze away from her, and looked at the landscape, which passed intermittently between leaps and blurs.
"You wouldn't want to be the laugh of muggle society, would you? Please? For me?" She wheedled, almost expertly. I had the sudden mental image of her asking her Father to buy her a new book, or dress. He probably did.
"I said--"
"You'd stick out like a sore thumb, and--" her eyes looked up at the ceiling, obviously searching for greater, grander, more convincing arguments. The emerald green of them practically lit up with an idea, and she continued, "you might risk the exposure of our society, Lucius!" I smirked.
"It's about time it gets exposed. Muggles are so ignorant." I never told her, and I regret that now, but I always loved it when she wanted something from me. However small the favor she asked, being needed always brought a strange feeling to my heart.
"But. . . then. . . Lucius, be reasonable. . ."
"Fine, I will be reasonable." I arched my eyebrow insinuatingly. After months of being around me, she knew instantly what I was insinuating.
"I'm not going to. . . you know, I wouldn't. . . I mean, just to convince you?" She gave a small, half-hearted little laugh that did nothing to conceal the blush creeping up her cheeks. She was so innocent.
"Well, my dear, I wasn't thinking that, but, now that you mention it. . ." I leaned forward, an exaggerated, amorous expression on my face, and she, following my lead, put on a face of mock horror as she tried to 'fend off' her unwanted lover. Despite all that, we both managed to collapse on the small bed, Lily's shriek not entirely muffled (a strange woman who the conductor had named Madame Marsh gave us a reprimanding look from her corner of the room).
This was something and Lily often did. She loved being the star of her own play, and, as much as I hated to admit it, so did I.
We never knew this would end up a tragedy, and not just a comical romance, like we'd always thought. We'd been doomed from the start.
"Mister. . . er. . . engineer sir? Could we stop by. . . a muggle clothes shop?"
"An expensive muggle clothes shop" I interjected. If I was going to look like a muggle, I was going to look like a rich one. The thought alone of looking like a muggle made me shudder.
The Knight Bus took one more, agonizing BANG! (Lily stumbled into a chair and I fell back against the wall) before we reached our destination: A small muggle shop with the word DESIGNER printed on it.
I paid the conductor-slash-engineer before I stepped into open, muggle territory. I shuddered again, and I heard Lily laugh behind me. She wrapped her arm around mine, leaning against my cloak. "They're only muggles Lucius."
We were greeted by a blast of warm air, despite the lack of a fireplace. Muggles were inventive little creatures, weren't they?
The clerk eyed us suspiciously. I knew he doubted either of us would be able to pay for anything; we looked too young. And with his muggle stupidity, he didn't know my robes (hand-woven and bewitched to keep me warm in the winter and cool in the summer) had cost a fortune. Immediately, I put on my haughtiest look. He might have been a stupid muggle, but I was willing to bet my wand on the fact that he knew what rich and arrogant meant.
"What do you suggest I wear?" I said this to Lily, of course, but the clerk flocked to my side anyway, looking less suspicious than before. The haughty look must have been working.
"Well, sir, I suggest--" I swept away imperiously toward the other end of the room, looking around. Bloody hell, how did muggles put these contraptions on themselves? They looked ridiculous, and I was expected, by Lily, no less, to sport one of these things?
"Yes? What do you suggest?" My voice was bored, and I could hear Lily stifle a giggle behind me.
"Well. . ." the clerk sounded more nervous now, "a gray sweater, maybe, to set off your eyes, and white--"I stopped him with a gloved hand.
"Black, always black. But the gray shall do fine."
"And a coat, Lucius, don't forget the coat. Muggles" the clerk raised an eyebrow at this word, but Lily paid him no mind, "don't have spells" (both eyebrows raised now) "to keep you warm." I nodded.
"A coat. A nice, black, coat." He handed me the gray jumper, black trousers, and, after a bit of digging through shelves (wizard clerks never had to do that; they just accio-ed the thing over), he handed me the coat as well. It was long, and, after a moment, I felt I had a sort of affinity to it, as it closely resembled my robes.
"Lucius," Lily said again, "you'll be staying for almost a week. . . don't you want some more clothes?" Oh yes, I'd forgotten. Muggles were so primitive they actually had to wash their clothes.
"Clerk," he turned around, trying not to be affected by the rudeness which I'd addressed him with, "get a black, charcoal gray, light gray, and blue black sweaters, all in my size; I presume you know my size?" He nodded yes, and I continued, "and, more black pants."
"And a white sweater," Lily added hastily, smiling imploringly at me. "I want to see you in white. You'd look like an angel." She smiled again, burying her face in my robes. I shrugged, and held her tightly. If it made her happy, why not?
The clerk looked at me for affirmation with Lily's suggestion, and I nodded impatiently.
Impertinent fool.
"Sir, ah. . . would you like to try them on?"
"No." I snapped, trying not to join in with Lily as she snickered behind me. The Lily of a few months ago would never have snickered. She would have admonished me gently to me nicer to the shopkeeper, the poor thing. Obviously, I'd been a horrendously bad influence on her. I smiled.
I paid for the clothes, and, doing the quick arithmetic in my head, noticed that it had only been a little over 5 galleons. Muggle clothes were so cheap, I almost laughed. And this was supposed to be an expensive store. Expensive, my arse.
"Shall you summon the Knight Bus, or shall I?" We were standing outside the store, the cold wind making mischief with my hair. I suppressed the immediate urge to do a Hair Replacement charm. That, I could do later. Muggles would notice.
"Oh, I thought we'd take muggle transportation." She looked up at me apprehensively. "A muggle trip, remember?" I let my breath out in a deep sigh.
"Fine. Muggle transportation it is."
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Author's Notes:
Sorry it took me so long to add a new chapter. Urgh, the dreaded midterms have come. In fact, they haven't even yet (I'm typing away in my room when everyone thinks I'm studying), so the next chapter will take a while. Wish me luck! J
And if you want some teasers, a small clue as to what's going to happen in the next few chapters. . . read my reply to Sarah, where Lucius makes an appearance J
Ooh, ooh, I almost forgot, Jason Isaacs, the muggle actor who played Lucius, has a daughter, and guess what her name is???? LILY!!! *sob sob*
Tv-fan-06—thanks for reviewing! J
Diabla666—I'm glad you like the metaphors, or whatever they're called J I have a book full of them, and I stick them in my stories when I feel the need to J Well, about the Lucius-arrogance: It's the way we feel when we're in love, so, in Lily's eyes, Lucius is close to perfect. She's closing her eyes to the darker side of him (something she'll regret later), because he can do no wrong. That's what she thinks, anyway J And, I guess James is a little unseemly with arrogance, since she's used to him being the good guy, and Lucius has been arrogant since the day he was born, so she rationalizes, through her rose-colored-glasses, of course, that Lucius can't change his arrogance that quickly, etc. Glad you mentioned it, though J And I hope you understood my incoherent babbling.
Dwen—Hope you enjoyed yourself wherever you went (was it Romania? Like Lucius?) I'm glad you liked the symbolism too; I can be a horribly symbolic person sometimes J I hope this chapter had enough interaction, and trust me, there will be a lot more next chapter, and probably the chapter after that. These are almost the last few fluff chappies
BananaLuver—thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you like the story! J
GoodCharlotte—yes, the teachers were sitting with them in the compartment J Most of the stories are narrated by Lucius directly, so he adds in tidbits of things to come, things that haven't yet happened; I hope I didn't confuse you! J
Sarah—of course I'd dedicate it to you, J
*turns to Lucius, who has been sitting, quite idly, beside her *
*gasp*
"You did the Cruciatus on her?"
*Lucius looks abashed in a proud, arrogant way*
"And if I did?"
"That would be so mean."
*Lucius raises eyebrows*
*Lucius tries, and miraculously, succeeds, to look innocent*
*Author curses (and, at the same time, blesses) his angelic features*
"But she started it."
"You sound like a little boy."
"That's what Lily's supposed to say."
"I know. Just reminding you what she'd think of you if she saw you were torturing poor muggles."
*Lucius looks pensive (and so, horribly, horribly handsome, damn him)*
"She did."
*Lucius shakes head, and tries to take away cloud of depression that has magically appeared above his perfectly coiffed head*
"How was the dragon-meat?"
*Author tries not to throw up at the memory*
*Author feels sorry for Lucius, with the Lily-subject being breached, and dutifully holds back retching-sound*
REMEMBER REVIEW! PLEASE?? FOR AN OLD FREAK DYING OF MIDTERMS? J
