Three days later Winter was sitting on her front doorstep awaiting Lucius Malfoy.
Her mother had agreed with Lucius's request to take Winter shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley. In fact, Lydia Bradshaw was so thrilled about the idea that she hadn't stopped talking about it since the Malfoy family owl had delivered Lucius's letter two days earlier.
Winter couldn't help feeling just as thrilled as her mother, though she didn't voice her feelings out loud, because she didn't want to raise suspicion.
She wasn't sure exactly why she felt wary of raising suspicion, because nothing inappropriate had happened when she had dined with Lucius three days prior, but the memory of that evening had her feeling confused and uncertain.
Winter knew Lucius had decided to involve himself in her life for noble reasons, so the idea of the situation being suspicious was almost laughable, yet somehow, she felt uneasy.
The only logical reason she could think of for feeling this way was out of fear of anyone finding out she had a crush on a middle aged man.
She knew Brielle would find it hilarious and her mother would be furious. She couldn't decide which of those was worse.
The sun was shining bright, reddening Winter's bare shoulders, which were exposed by the thin straps on her white knee-length dress. She decided to wait outside for Lucius because her mother kept prodding her with questions. She was already nervous enough about seeing him again, she certainly didn't need anyone adding to her nerves.
Her moment of peace was short lived however, when Brielle threw the front door open in a dramatic fashion.
"Tell me sister," she began speaking, and Winter could tell she was angry by the tone of her voice. "Do you have a great deal of anxiety in your life?"
Winter furrowed her eyebrows, unsure of what Brielle was asking.
"Do you have something worrying you? Something irking your poor little soul?"
"I don't know what you're getting at."
Brielle sat down beside Winter and sighed.
"Just answer the question, sis."
"Um," Winter paused suspiciously. "No? I'm not particularly anxious."
Brielle smiled at this, but it wasn't a nice smile. Her eyes narrowed like she was trying to conceive the most condescending expression possible before snarling, "then tell me, why have you taken a Draught of Peace potion from my bedroom?"
Winter felt panicked, realising she had never returned the potion to her sister's bedroom three nights ago. She had been too caught up in her own head, thinking about what had happened that evening.
But before Winter could scramble an answer together, out of thin air a large figure appeared in front of them.
Lucius Malfoy.
He had apparated just in front of the door step.
Winter quickly got to her feet, but Brielle stayed seated.
"Mr Malfoy," Winter said quickly, her voice shaking out of shock at his sudden appearance.
"Hello Winter," Lucius smiled fondly at her, before his eyes turned to Brielle who seemed entirely unimpressed. "And you must be Brielle."
"Yep." Brielle said plainly.
Winter glanced down at her sister, who still wore a mean expression over her face. She widened her eyes in an attempt to snap Brielle out of it, but Brielle rolled her eyes.
Lucius chuckled in response, which took Winter by surprise, because she was certain Lucius Malfoy wasn't used to anyone speaking to him without respect.
She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, nervously watching Lucius from behind her long eyelashes.
He turned back to Winter, unbothered by Brielle. "I should speak to your mother and then we can get your supplies."
Winter nodded, stepping aside for Lucius.
She smiled up at him as he walked through the front door and the moment he was out of ear shot Brielle snorted.
"You really are pathetic, you know?" Brielle got to her feet, and folded her arms over her chest.
"What are you talking about?" Winter snapped back quickly.
"Wipe that stupid doe-eyed look off your face and get a little spine."
"Huh?" Winter blurted out, feeling annoyed by her sister's insults.
Brielle rolled her eyes. "You're really thick some times, aren't you? Just be careful around that... man..."
Before Winter could question her sister any further Brielle gracefully jumped off the door step onto the gravel path. She turned to look at Winter over her shoulder.
"Going to Diagon Alley to meet Adrian. Please don't try to talk to me if we run into each other there."
With the blink of an eye Brielle had vanished, leaving Winter standing alone on the door step.
Brielle had been able to apparate for a few months and she made sure to let everyone know about it by apparating as often as possible.
This made Winter think her sister was pretentious and annoying more than ever before.
A moment later Lucius and Lydia opened the front door to join Winter on the door step. Lydia was wearing a smile large enough to bare all of her perfectly white teeth, and Lucius looked very pleased also.
It was a rare occurrence for Winter to see her mother smiling, but since Winter was invited to Malfoy Manor the first time Lydia couldn't stop gleaming.
Winter was sure she was the favourite child now, a title Brielle had held for most of their lives, simply because she was the most alike Lydia.
"I'll have her back for dinner," Lucius nodded at Lydia.
Lydia thanked Lucius and went back inside, leaving Winter standing alone with him.
He said nothing, but held out a hand toward Winter. She knew this meant they would be travelling by apparition to Diagon Alley, but she had never apparated before, and the thought of it made her nervous.
She knew Lucius was obviously very capable of travelling this way, and she'd be safe in his hands, but she was unsure what to expect, and the unknown frightened her.
Lucius began to smile.
"No need to worry, my love." He said. "It will only take a moment."
Winter felt her heart flutter at his words, and took hold of his hand.
The ground beneath her seemed to quickly vanish, and she felt weightless. The sudden shift made her stomach drop, and she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling like the world was spinning around her. She felt like she had temporarily lost the ability to hear and her ears rang loudly, before suddenly her feet made contact with a hard surface with far too much force. Her knees buckled as the world seemed to stand still and she regained her hearing.
A sharp pain burned through the skin on her knees as they made contact with the cobblestone footpath. She felt a strong pull on her hand lifting her before she could collapse into a heap on the floor, and she stood up straight letting her vision refocus on Lucius standing beside her.
His hand was still holding onto hers firmly, as if he were worried her legs may give-way again, and his eyebrows were pressed into a look of concern.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
Winter winced as the stinging sensation arose in her scraped knees.
He let go of her hand and glanced down at her grazed skin.
"I do apologise," he began while pulling his wand out from inside his cloak. He pointed the wand at her knees but said nothing.
The stinging began to fade and was replaced by a sudden warmth, then nothing at all.
Winter glanced down to see her wounds completely healed, and Lucius put the wand back into his cloak pocket.
"I didn't expect you to hit the ground quite so hard," Lucius spoke, taking hold of Winter's forearm and beginning to walk.
"It's okay." She said, taking quick steps to keep up with Lucius's large stride.
She felt his gaze turn to her, so she looked up at him. His grey-blue eyes were intense as ever.
"I'll try to be more gentle with you next time."
He smiled slightly as he said it, and Winter felt her cheeks turning red.
Diagon Alley was reasonably busy, there were witches and wizards of every age darting in and out of shops lining the street. Most of the people shopping at this time of year were buying supplies for the return to school, so Winter expected to see plenty of familiar faces.
Lucius kept a firm grasp on her forearm as the pair walked toward Flourish and Blotts, a book store where Winter would be buying her school books.
"Do you have you supply list?" Lucius asked.
Winter reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper, then handed it to Lucius.
He unfolded it, quickly browsing the list.
"Magical, Marvellous, Music: book three?" He asked, turning to look at her.
"It's for choir."
"Oh you're in the Frog choir. Lovely. Perhaps I'll be able to see you sing one day."
Winter blushed again as Lucius held the shop door open for her. When they were inside they were met by the sound of people chattering throughout the busy store. Winter recognised a girl from school standing by a shelf near the front counter, her name was Cho Chang, and she was a member of Ravenclaw.
The pair had never spoken before, as Cho was a year older and they had different friendship circles, but she still knew of the trauma Cho had endured during the previous school year. Her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory, had been killed brutally during the final task of the Triwizard Tournament.
It was unknown what had really happened to Cedric that night, though there were rumours he had been murdered by the Dark Lord. Most people didn't believe those rumours, but Winter did, because it was Harry Potter who had said it, and she knew Harry Potter wasn't the sort of person to make up such a preposterous lie.
Winter could barely imagine the pain Cho must have endured, but she couldn't help feeling her stomach drop at the sight of her, because if Cedric really had been murdered by the Dark Lord, Winter felt guilty, despite having nothing to do with it. She knew her father was tied closely to the Dark Lord, and in some way, that made her feel associated to the awful crimes he had committed.
Lucius placed his hand on Winter's lower back to usher her toward the counter, because she had been frozen at the sight of Cho.
Winter hesitantly passed her, but Cho didn't glance up from the book she was reading, and Winter felt slightly relieved to avoid her.
An hour later Winter and Lucius were standing outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Lucius was holding Winter's supplies; which included a stack of books, a large pile of robes, and an assortment of potion ingredients.
Winter was enjoying spending time with Lucius, and the more she spoke to him, the more she was beginning to like him. It had become obvious to her that her feelings for him were deep, yet she wasn't sure why. She thought perhaps it was because he was the first person to show her any real attention, yet she was certain she would like him regardless, because he was charming and good-looking.
The pair were about to enter the store when a man approached Lucius. Winter had never seen this man before.
"Lucius!" The man said. "I need a word with you."
He was a large man, with dark hair, and an unpleasant face.
Before Lucius could respond the man turned his eyes toward Winter, and he frowned.
"Winter, if you'll excuse me." Lucius said, suddenly sounding quite serious. "I will meet you out here when you've bought what you need."
The man continued frowning at Winter, and she felt uneasy. She wasn't sure if he was looking at her like that for a reason, or if his face was always so unappealing.
"Who is this?" He asked, his eyes narrowing while looking toward Lucius.
The air suddenly seemed very tense as a silence fell between Lucius and the man. Winter felt Lucius's body against her back. The close contact made her feel a strange mixture of emotions, but she felt safe while Lucius was around.
"Winter." Lucius spoke again, and she tore her eyes away from the unpleasant man. Lucius was looking down at her, his body still in contact with hers. "Please continue your shopping."
She nodded, and turned toward the store without taking another glance at the man.
"Goyle." She heard Lucius say firmly, as she entered the store.
Winter assumed the man must have been Gregory Goyle's father, considering them sharing the same name and the fact that he was very large and mean-looking.
As she entered the store she let the door slam closed behind her.
The atmosphere inside was almost as uncomfortable as it was outside. The store was almost silent, which made the attention turn toward her loud entrance. Several people were glancing toward her, and she quickly ducked her head down and walked further into the store to get away from curious eyes.
She needed to speak to the shop keeper to ask for some Slytherin Quidditch robes, but she pretended to browse the shelves for a while until the few people in the store stopped staring at her.
She picked up a pair of gloves, reading the size 'large' and tossing them back on the shelf, knowing they wouldn't fit. As she went to pick up another pair she heard a familiar voice.
"Yes I need a Slytherin uniform, large thanks."
It was Adrian.
She looked toward the counter to see Adrian and Brielle had both made their way into the store now and her heart quickly leapt in her chest. She wanted to avoid Brielle at all costs, but she was looking Winter directly in the eye.
Adrian turned to follow Brielle's gaze, and met Winter with a large smile.
"Bradshaw!" He yelled. "You getting your gear too? Hey hey another Slytherin set for her."
The shop keeper looked toward Winter and nodded, saying nothing as he walked into the back of the store.
"Come on, what are you hiding over there in the corner for?" Adrian continued speaking far too enthusiastically, waving his hand to encourage her to stand with him at the counter.
Winter sighed and joined Adrian and her sister, and instantly Brielle scoffed, though she said nothing.
"Who are you here with? You didn't come here alone, I'm sure." Adrian asked.
Winter always thought Adrian was far too nice to date Brielle. As far as Slytherins go, he was probably one of the best of them, and he got along with most people regardless of their house, unlike most Slytherins who were very exclusive.
"Uh, Lucius Malfoy." Winter said meekly, avoiding glancing toward Brielle.
"Oh Draco's dad huh? What's he doing here?"
Before Winter could answer, their conversation was interrupted by somebody standing behind them.
"Oh no, he's not buying the lot of you new brooms again, is he?"
Winter turned to see two red-haired boys towering over her; one of them frowning, and the other smiling at Winter with his arms folded over his chest.
She knew the pair as the Weasley twins. The two of them were Hogwarts students and on the Gryffindor quidditch team. Though she was familiar with who they were, she had never spoken to either of them at school, as they were two years above her - the same year as Adrian and Brielle. She knew their younger brother, Ron, who had shared several classes with her in previous years, and she always got along nicely with him, so she had assumed the entire family were as kind as Ron.
"No." Winter said quickly, looking away from the smiling twin to see if the other softened his expression at all. "No he's not, same old brooms as last year."
His face changed slightly, he didn't quite smile but he stopped frowning, and he was looking Winter up and down.
"Hey George," he said to his brother. "I don't know about you but I think the Slytherin team are getting smaller and smaller each year, this one looks almost too young to play."
Winter felt her face flush red and quickly retorted, "this is my third year on the team."
The other brother, whom she now knew was 'George' responded, "He knows. Fred's just teasing. You are quite small though, don't you think it's a bit dangerous for you to play?"
He was smirking, and Winter wasn't sure if he was joking or actually making fun of her.
"Hey, hey." Adrian intervened, "you lot know she's a better chaser than any of the girls on your team, stop trying to put doubts in her head."
"I don't know about that." The first twin, Fred, spoke again. "Angelina is in another league to Bradshaw."
Brielle snorted, suddenly becoming interested in the conversation. "If you're going to insult my sister please do not bring her down to the level of Angelina Johnson. I know Winter is utterly incapable of almost everything, but she's not that incompetent."
"What's your problem with Ange?" Fred asked, the frown returning to his face.
"Other than the fact that she's a Gryffindor?" Brielle rolled her eyes.
"Come on now," Adrian said with a laugh. "Can't we all just be friends?"
"No." Brielle and Fred said at the same time.
The shop keeper returned with the Slytherin uniforms and placed them on the counter.
"Large for you." He said, nodding toward Adrian.
"And for you, extra small, yes?" He asked Winter, and both the Weasley twins let out a laugh.
As soon as Adrian paid for his gear Brielle snatched it from the counter and turned to the twins. "Well as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I don't want anyone to see me in the presence of a Gryffindor, or yet, even worse - a Weasley."
Fred laughed and stepped aside for her to storm past them.
Adrian quickly gave them an apology and chased after her out of the store, leaving Winter standing alone at the counter.
"You know she has it coming when we're back at Hogwarts." One of the twins said to the other. "I have an idea already."
Winter pretended not to hear what they were talking about as she paid for her quidditch uniform and thanked the shop keeper. From what Ron had told her about the pair, she knew the Weasley twins had a reputation for pranks, so she didn't want to give them a reason to turn the prank on her. She also thought Brielle probably deserved to be pranked, so she said nothing and chose to mind her own business.
When she turned to face them Fred stepped aside again to allow her to walk between the pair, and she avoided making eye contact with them.
"See ya later Extra Small!" One of the pair yelled as she pushed the door open, and she turned to look at them one more time.
George was smiling and Fred gave her a small head nod. She didn't respond but smiled meekly and quickly exited the store, letting the door fall shut behind her.
Lucius was standing on the opposite side of the street, his arms still full of Winter's supplies, and Mr Goyle was nowhere to be seen. She thought Lucius seemed annoyed, by the stern expression on his face, but as she approached him his features softened.
"Let's get you home. It appears I have some business to attend to."
He took hold of Winter's hand again, this time interlocking his fingers between hers, and held it tightly. Winter closed her eyes, and Lucius disapparated.