Malfoy's Secret Court
Chapter 3
Roberto massaged his temples with a weary hand. The sigh that escaped him was that of a parent reigning in their overly chipper child. Ever since they had left the tent Draco had insisted that they stop by the quidditch store. Roberto, not wanting to upset the younger man, had obliged. But now he was regretting his decision.
"Robbie, can I have this too?"
"What?" Roberto turned; there Draco was standing with yet another nameless frivolous item. He guessed that Lucius, though he certainly had the money for it, had never spoiled Draco like this. That thought caused him to nod his head. Draco appeared as though he was experiencing a summer Christmas. He just wouldn't stop smiling.
"Draco?"
"Yeah?" The younger man called from the opposite end of the shop.
"I'm going to go and pick up your text books, meet me there when you're done. Oh, and miss?" The store clerk whirled around to face him.
"Anything that man over there brings up to the counter just put it on my tab. This should be more than enough for whatever he buys." Roberto plucked a five pound sack of galleons out of his pocket and set it on the counter in front of the astonished woman. Her eyes having grown to the size of dinner plates as she nodded, Roberto left the shop.
A certain Dark Lord was not happy, which in turn resulted in Severus Snape not being happy. So as Severus was purchasing a few books for some light reading he did so with a scowl on his face. Not as though he usually smiled, but he wasn't usually glaring at the world. At the present moment, he was. A criminal wizard who was neither on the side of light or dark had been playing a few pranks recently.
Roberto Malfoy had not only magicked his toilet pipe to empty over Voldemort's head every time it was flushed, but pranked many of the Dark Lord's top death eaters as well. It was no longer uncommon for death eaters to stalk into the meeting place with vivid pink hair or wearing dresses that they couldn't get to come off. Roberto was definitely on top of Voldemort's hit list. Apparently the Malfoy brat had proved to be an even greater annoyance than Potter, because the-boy-who-lived had not been mentioned for several meetings now.
Severus smirked, Roberto was doing the side of light a favor, whether or not he was intending to. With Voldemort so distracted he had not been bothering the rest of the wizarding world for some time now, and more or less completely shifted his focus off of Harry. The bell on the door to the shop rang and by instinct Severus glanced over his shoulder to see who it was. Ah, what a wonderful coincidence, here came the object of his thoughts now.
Roberto strode confidently in the book store with a look of utter frustration on his face. What was troubling the prankster now? Severus politely turned back to his shopping, but his mind was not at rest. He focused all of his magical power into sending out probes towards Roberto. His thoughts weaving through the air like spider webs until they found an aura that was uniquely Roberto. Once touching him they seeped through his barrier into his mind only to hit a brick wall. You'll have to do better than that to read my mind. Who is this?
-Severus Snape.-
Grease ball standing in the Dark Arts section?
-I would prefer a different name but yes.-
"Figured as much."
Severus whirled around to find Roberto standing directly in front of him with several books in hand. His hair was short and a vivid red. Windblown was an understatement for shaggy locks atop his head, and his bright green eyes didn't look perturbed so much as bored. He wore a long black dragon skin coat that was apparently of very high quality. But once your eyes got past the coat he obviously wasn't very well dressed. All that covered his chest from the biting cold was a sheer wife-beater. Some form of muggle pants with belts and chains clothed his lower half, and thick scuffed boots adorned his feet.
"Are you done appreciating my looks now? I have to buy these school books for Draco and myself."
"Since when did you decide to attend Hogwarts?"
"Um, since I decided that I was really bored, yeah, that was probably it." Roberto yawned and began approaching the check out counter.
"I haven't heard a teenager call an education a solution to boredom in my entire career as a professor." Severus remarked. He picked out the few books that he wanted and followed the criminal to the front of the store.
"You're a professor at Hogwarts I take it?"
"Yes, I am. I'm the head of Slytherin House, the house that your younger brother is in."
"Really?"
Roberto's interest was peaked now. How well did this professor know Draco? What was their relationship exactly? He'd have to ask Draco later. It was at that moment that the blond chose to enter the store.
"Thanks for all the stuff Robbie!"
"Hn." Roberto tossed a few galleons at the store clerk and picked up his books. He was almost out the door before a sudden greeting interrupted him, "Professor Snape!"
Roberto turned slightly to observe the interaction between the two. Draco leapt at his professor in an unavoidable glomp. Severus Snape seemed to expect the gesture as he returned the embrace momentarily.
"How have you been Draco?"
"Great! Robbie and I are here for our school supplies."
"Draco, we have a lot of shopping to do, so can you please hurry it up?" Roberto urged, he was just now realizing the consequences of letting Draco spend as much as he wanted at that quidditch shop. The younger Malfoy had dropped all of his shopping bags on Roberto so that he could properly tackle his favorite professor. Now thoroughly weighed down by shopping bags, Roberto was beginning to wonder if sending Draco back to Lucius's was worth the guilt. It was as he was pondering this that someone else entered the bookstore as well.
Two red headed young men with freckles to spare, glued at the hip, were conspiring loudly about something that sounded a lot like a prank. Hmm, that sounded entertaining. Roberto was about to drop his brother's bags and strike up a conversation with the would-be pranksters but Draco chose that moment to interrupt once again.
"Come on Robbie, we should be getting back to the tent so that we can start packing!"
"Draco, we aren't leaving for school for another few weeks, why should we start packing now?"
"I'll tell you on the way home."
"Hn." Home? It was home already? They had spent only a few days together and Draco had already latched onto him. Roberto mentally sighed; it had always been like this. They were closer than most brothers, and Draco had this tendency to cling to him. The petite blond had done it since they were both very small. Instead of making friends with the neighbors children Draco would stay inside and play games with Roberto. They went everywhere together and did everything together. They weren't brothers they were best friends. That was, until Roberto left and never came back. The night that Roberto had broken his promise he had destroyed their relationship. It could never go back to the way it had once been.
But Draco had discovered the line between a makeshift brotherhood and old friendship. For some reason he had decided to flirt with it. Roberto was not pleased about this. Draco's actions were bringing up old memories, fond memories of their relationship. He preferred those memories to stay firmly rooted in the part of his brain labeled 'shit-from-old-life-that-I-don't-want-to-like-anymore'.
Toby was waiting for them in the courtyard of the leaky cauldron. As he waited for Draco to climb on in front of him Roberto was shrinking all of their purchases to fit in his pocket. The feeling of a warm body pressed up against his front reminded Roberto of where he was. He wrapped his arms around Draco's waist and tangled his fingers in Toby's mane.
"Alright Toby, time to head home."
There was a five minute interval between taking off and when Roberto nudged Draco for a response to his earlier question. "So why are we packing once we get to the tent?"
"I asked Professor Snape if we could come and stay at the castle before beginning of term because of our situation. He said that it would be fine. I don't know about you, but I would prefer to stay in the castle then in that tent all the time. You wouldn't have to worry about security either, I might add." While he was explaining Draco leant back against Roberto.
"Ah, I guess that'll be okay. I've been receiving some pretty nasty threats from Voldemort lately."
"The Dark Lord has been sending you threats?" Draco screeched.
"Yeah, your head master scares the shit out of Voldemort, right?"
"Well, supposedly yes. Professor Dumbledore is the only one that the Dark Lord has ever feared. Why?"
"Good. Hiding out at your school is the best thing for me right now. I could probably hold my own against about four death eaters at once, but a swarm of them and their leader…that I can't do. So how many years are there again?"
"Seven."
"Huh, do you think that the Dark Lord will leave me alone if I hide out for seven years? Isn't that Harry something-or-other kid going to kill him sometime soon? If I wait this out then boy wonder can nuke 'im and I'll be homefree!"
"Robbie!"
"What?"
"Why is Voldemort angry at you?"
"Well besides the fact that our toilet's pipe empties out on top of his head? Um, I've been pranking his death eaters in rather…demoralizing and utterly mortifying ways over the past few months. He isn't very happy with me right now."
"Robbie…" Draco sighed. Roberto laughed softly, his head once again resting on Draco's shoulder. They shifted into a comfortable silence as they made their way back to the tent. If Draco was going to flirt with the edge, Roberto was going to flirt back and win. There was no way that Draco was going to do this to him; he would make sure of it.
TBC…
