Chapter 34
The pub was, from afar, disgustingly dirty.
Upon closer inspection, however, I found it was. . .
still disgustingly dirty.
And I'd thought muggles were, at most, half-civilized creatures.
Johnson was parking the car, and the others were in the restroom. Ah, time alone with Lily; what I'd been wanting since this little trip had begun.
I moved over to where she stood (it was Lily; I glanced discreetly at her eyes first), and whispered, "You're sure about this place?"
She laughed softly. "Of course I am. They don't make food this good anywhere else, Lucius."
"And all that mold is just their secret spice, is it?" I muttered sarcastically under my breath. Lily, who had ears like a fox and eyes like a cat, gave me soft nudge and a glare (another thing she'd learned from me, obviously).
"Trust me, all right?" I sent her a skeptical look. She gave a comical sigh. "I'd trust you with my life, so at least trust me with your stomach."
No, she wouldn't have said that, if she'd known what I was going to be soon. A Death Eater. You shall kill a muggle, or a mudblood, of my choice, Lord Voldemort's words echoed in my mind. Again, I shook it off. I always did.
I'd made up my mind, before this, that I was going to enjoy (or, at least, try to enjoy) my last few uncorrupted days with Lily. And I would.
If the food didn't kill me first.
"I trust you, but, frankly," I gestured toward the decrepit watering hole, "I don't trust your taste."
"This from a man who refuses to buy robes under twenty galleons?" She raised an eyebrow at me, and I shrugged, placing an arm casually around her shoulder.
"I like dressing myself in finery; you blame me for it?"
I received a soft poke in the chest.
"Yes, you arrogant snob," she said affectionately.
"Well, my uncouth little cretin," I said, just as affectionately, "at least I don't buy robes second hand." She gasped.
"I do NOT—" What she didn't do, I never found out (though I did have a fairly good idea of what she was going to say, my being the one who provoked her in the first place), because Jillian, back from the restroom, barged in.
"Much as I hate to interrupt this rather adorable lover's argument, my stomach's growling. Food time, anyone? Everyone's already inside." Lily blushed furiously, and I smirked. One point for me.
"You know, as well as anyone, that I do not get second hand robes!" She hissed, loud enough only for me to hear.
"I never said you did." I said, feigning surprise. She turned a pretty shade of pink.
Had I mentioned before how much I enjoyed getting her angry? Probably.
"You know, as well as I do, that you were implying it!"
"Was I?"
"Yes, you--" I grabbed her by the waist, and planted a quick kiss on her lips. I didn't do this to keep her quiet; I truly enjoyed bantering with her, really, I did, but it just couldn't be helped.
Jillian, who had turned around to watch our amazingly sluggish movement toward the bar, rolled her eyes in amusement.
Lily, on the other hand, was not so amused. Her eyes widened in shock (how she did this, when she was responding quite eagerly to my kiss, I don't know).
"You, you, you--" she sputtered, unable to find a single word on the considerable expanse of her vocabulary to describe me.
"Arrogantly brutish snob?" I offered.
"Arrogantly brutish snob," she agreed un-heatedly, linking her arms with mine.
And so we walked into 'The Pub' (this was completely anonymous, the name being covered in so much grime that it was unintelligible).
"Took ye long enough," Johnson said loudly, once we had found their table.
"They were a little. . . busy," Jillian said just as loudly. Lily turned that lovely shade of pink all over again, and I gave myself a mental note to thank Jillian for making her blush.
"Aye, weel, nothing we havena done before, no?" said Johnson, muzzling his face in Jillian's neck. She giggled.
"Definitely not."
Someone at the table cleared their throat. It was Lil—Nad. Her eyes were blue, not green, I reminded myself.
"Well, those of us who haven't turned into horribly lovesick little puppies want food." She looked somewhere over my shoulder, nodded, and, within moments, a waitress had managed to wade (over the surprisingly dense crowd of patrons) to our table.
"An' what would you be liking?"
Unlike myself, I noted, everyone else had no need to refer to the menu. They'd already memorized it.
"Hamburger, with a side order of potatoes."
"Same here, but make it mashed potatoes."
"Steak, medium rare, mashed potatoes, extra gravy."
There were a few more choruses of who-knew-what, before the waitress turned to me.
"Uh, er--" I stalled. To tell the truth, I had no idea what kind of food they served to muggles, even with the menu. What on earth were burgers? They all looked at me expectantly. I pointed to Lily. "Same thing she's having."
"Tha'll be a burger then," she nodded, scribbled hastily onto her notepad, and looked up again. "Drinks?"
"Water"
"Coke"
"Coke"
"Coke"
And what was Coke? This was the customary muggle drink, I assumed. Well, I wasn't a muggle. I would have water, just to be safe. As I opened my mouth, to say my order, Lily beat me to it.
"We'll both have coke."
Once the mysterious beverage arrived, my heart (along with my stomach, liver and other vital organs) sank.
Oh, absolutely wonderful. I was going to have my innards churned to butter by a dubiously dark, hopelessly acidic, muggle drink; the worst adjective so far being the word 'muggle'.
Lily took a ladylike sip, and smiled at me encouragingly.
"Try it." She whispered.
"What's in it?" I whispered—no—hissed back.
"Sugar, Carbonated Water, Caffeine, etcetera. Sort of like Butterbeer." I arched an eyebrow, and took a cautious sip. Save for the momentary instant my tongue burned, the drink was rather good.
Not that I was going to admit it.
Malfoy's never admitted they were wrong; not even to themselves.
I pushed the drink away in apparent revulsion.
"Butterbeer's better."
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Author's Notes:
I know I promised Petunia and Vernon to pop up in this chapter, but, as I typed away with Lucius hissing instructions into my ear, I found out they didn't. They'll be there by the next chapter. I know it took a pretty long time for this chapter to come out, but it's not my fault, it's Lucius'! He's already begun telling me about how Lily's story should be like (yes, I've decided on a Lily's POV sequel, which starts pretty much after Lucius. . . *sob* *sob*), and strangely enough, I've finished around three chapters of it already. Of course, it's pretty useless since I can't post the sequel with out finishing this *apologetic smile*
Thank You's:
Briana Marie—J I read a bit of your story, and Petunia and Lily are sweet J I think she must have been like that, until *scary music* Lily found out she was a witch J *gasp*
Black Snow—thanks for reviewing! J
Dwen—aww, L Poor Dwen, hope you're feeling better! Then again, you probably are better, by the time I've posted this. Lucius *who is, currently, sulking behind me and trying to play with my guitar strings* wishes you well too. J
Jess—thanks for the long review! J I'm glad you like the story. Yes, Lucius is absolutely wonderful to look at, especially when he's in a rage. *sigh* I could stare at him for hours. *cough cough* Of course, because of my vacant stares, he gets even angrier, and rants even longer, about my lack of attention, and, I have no idea how this got included, my clothes as well. Hmm. J
Anastacia-Gwydion—I'm rushing off to read your story the instant I upload this J
Addy—Thank you! There's a reason I made her look like Lily. . . You'll know why in a few more chapters, but see if you can figure it out now J Belated Happy Birthday, by the way! (from me and Lucius) J I'm glad you like the chapter endings; I try to make them sound as witty as possible, but I thought this chapter's ending was a bit. . . plain L Oh well, can't get em' all! J
