Chapter 8
How much longer is this going to take?" Lucius asked, a bit of a whine edging into his tone as he took a seat on the side of the room and kicked his feet restlessly against the bottom of the bench. "I want to go look at fun stuff."
He and his guardian were at Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in Diagon Alley. Draco had needed new robes for the office and had asked the boy if he wanted to accompany him. Lucius, being somewhat weary with the familiarity of the Manor, had jumped at the opportunity to come to town. That said, the intrigue of the robe shop had worn off quickly for the six-year-old, particularly when he had already been forced to stand still for ten long minutes as the seamstress had taken his measurements and fitted him with a new pair of robes as well.
Draco, who was standing on a pedestal in the center of the room, raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Madame Malkin still needs to alter my new robes, so you'll just have to wait." The man then turned his attention back to the tailor-witch, who had thrown several pieces of cloth over his head and was now instructing her enchanted pins to adjust the fabric as needed.
"Don't wanna wait." Lucius muttered as he pouted on the bench. Sitting in the robe shop was boring, especially when there were so many new toys and magical items to look at in the other shops. Diagon Alley had changed quite a bit since the last time he had been there with his mother, and the young Malfoy wanted to explore.
At that moment the door to the shop opened, admitting a middle-aged witch and her two teenage daughters. The sound of laughter outside caught Lucius' attention. He looked, and before the door closed he spotted two children run by giggling, with miniature quidditch figurines flying beside them.
That does it! The boy thought. I'm not going to just sit here all day!
Lucius watched as Madame Malkin moved away from his guardian to assist the new customers, leaving the enchanted pins to do their work. This was his chance! The boy stood and made his way toward the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" He heard Draco ask. In his peripheral vision, he saw the man go to move, only to flinch slightly and still when one of the pins stuck him.
The child paused for a moment and looked over at his guardian. "I'm going to do something fun!" He declared.
The elder Malfoy narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Oh no you're not. You sit right back down there. I told you that you would have to wait."
At his guardian's words, Lucius stomped his foot. He was tired of waiting. "No!" He shouted at the man. "You can't tell me what to do!"
And with that he turned and walked quickly toward the shop's opening. He twisted the knob and opened the door without looking back once.
"Lucius Malfoy, don't you dare set one foot outside this shop!" He heard Draco growl behind him before the door slammed shut. Taking his chance, the boy bolted down the street and followed several other children into one of the nearby stores.
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Draco emerged on the street exactly 3 minutes and 7 seconds later. It had taken longer than anticipated to gain the tailor-witch's attention so that she could disengage her pins and free him from the fabric; He was sure that the blasted witch must be either going deaf or had developed selective hearing. He cursed himself silently as he scanned the busy street, looking for any sign of the child. His mother had warned him several times over the last week that he needed to take Lucius in hand, but he hadn't listened. After the incident with Mr. Collins, Draco had felt so guilty that he had become overly indulgent with the child and rather lax on enforcing the rules in the past few weeks.
And now, the boy clearly thought that the didn't need to listen to him.
The man's heart began to race as he scanned the street once more. He saw no signs of Lucius anywhere. Spotting a group of kids down at the far end of the street, he headed in that direction – hoping that he would find his charge among them.
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Lucius braced himself against the shop doorway as a couple of older boys pushed past to get a better look at the broom on display right inside the store. As the young Malfoy looked around, he could tell that this was clearly a quidditch shop. Lucius had never much cared for quidditch, but he did like flying okay. Besides, any place was more interesting than the stuffy old robe shop.
He moved forward to get a closer view of the broom. It was sleek and shiny, much different than the racing brooms he remembered. There were roughly half-a-dozen children gathered around it, all squealing in delight and clapping as the flying object did tricks in the air periodically. The boy soon grew tired of being jostled by the other kids around him, though, and so Lucius left the broom display and opted to move further into the shop.
While the front of the store was raucous and crowded, the rest of the shop held only a few customers and thus was much more calm. Behind the broom display were rows and rows of shelves, some containing toys and figurines while others exhibited basic playing supplies, such as balls, cases, and cleaning agents. Two teenagers stood in one of the aisles, comparing gloves and rain goggles and arguing about whether dragonhide offered more or less protection from the elements. Across from the shelves, on the wall next to the door, hung a variety of racing brooms – some of which were clearly more pricey than others. There, a young shop attendant was helping an elderly man choose a beginner broom for his granddaughter. At the back of the shop, at the counter, stood an older mustached shopkeeper who was talking with a red-headed customer. Grasping the customer's hand was a small toddler who was joyfully playing a game of catch and release with a infant version of the snitch.
Lucius wandered down one of the empty aisles - one that sported merchandise and memorabilia for all the popular teams. He paused for a moment to watch the miniature models of the Hogwarts quidditch pitch and of the professional stadium at Bodmin Moor. Each model had tiny player figurines that played out various maneuvers, and Lucius watched in fascination as a dark-haired figure with glasses dove for the snitch on the Hogwarts pitch and then tried to catch the tiny golden object while standing on the broom. The younger Malfoy was sure Draco would ban him from flying ever again if he even thought to attempt such a stunt.
Moving on down the aisle, Lucius soon found himself surrounded by the colors of Hogwarts' houses. He picked up a green scarf with a silver Slytherin "S" on it and wrapped it around his neck - despite the fact that it was warm outside - before continuing to peruse the school items. He was looking at a silver and green Slytherin pennant when a new book on notable Hogwarts matches caught his eye. The cover featured a raven-haired boy with glasses who looked similar to the figure on the Hogwarts model. The boy was racing on his broom, his hand outstretched toward the snitch. Lucius' attention, though, had actually been caught by the platinum-haired child beside the other boy. The blond looked remarkably like – could it be? Lucius gave a small gasp and snatched up the book, tracing a finger over the blond figure on the cover.
"Draco" he whispered as he slowly settled on the floor and opened the book.
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Draco ran a hand through his hair as he exited Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. While on some level he was relieved not to have found Lucius in that particular store, he was aware that he was quickly running out of options. He had already checked the Magical Menagerie and Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, and he had even ducked his head inside Flourish and Blotts. And the boy was still no where to be found.
Trying desperately to ignore the anxiety mounting in his chest, Draco looked toward the entrance of Knockturn Alley. Surely the child hadn't gone in there. He thought. He could remember being thoroughly spooked by the place as a small boy, and that was in spite of the fact that Lucius took him there fairly regularly. Then again, this was Lucius. It was possible that the boy could have found Knockturn Alley alluring even as a child and – No. Draco shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought. Coming to a decision, the wizard turned on his heels and made his way back down toward the other side of Diagon Alley. He would search the shops down there before he even considered stepping foot on Knockturn Alley.
One thing was for certain - he decided as he passed back by Madame Malkin's - he was going to make sure that Lucius thought thrice before ever pulling a stunt like this again.
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The boy on the cover was Draco! Lucius had located the story about that particular match rather quickly, and despite the fact that the story was more about the other boy than Draco, the younger Malfoy had read it through twice, his excitement growing with each line. Energized by his find and curious what other treasures the store might have to offer, the boy jumped up with the open book and quickly ran between the shelves, his gaze gliding over the images included with the story once more as he did so.
As he rounded the back corner of the aisle with his head still buried in the book, he ran into someone. He floundered for a moment and then looked up to find the red-haired customer from the counter, her toddler clutching tightly to her leg at her abrupt halt.
"Oh. Careful!" She said in a kind voice as she placed a hand on her young son's head.
"Sorry." Lucius looked up at her. She was regarding him with caring eyes. His gaze, though, quickly strayed to a poster beside her of the Holyhead Harpies. "That's you!" He said, pointing.
The witch laughed as she knelt to his level. "It is." She nodded. "I'm Ginny, and this little fella is James." She indicated the toddler beside her.
"Hi." The younger Malfoy said. Realizing that she must be at least somewhat famous had him suddenly feeling shy.
She gave him a warm smile. "You must be Lucius." At the boy's surprised expression, she added, "My dad told me about you and your situation."
"Oh." Lucius wasn't sure how this woman's father knew him, but he chose not to say anything more.
"Isn't anyone here with you?" She asked after a moment, and with that she started looking around him and over the tops of the aisles.
"No! I came here on my own." He said quickly. He had suddenly remembered his abrupt departure from the robe shop earlier and he had a feeling that Draco was going to be cross. The last thing he needed was for this stranger to take it upon herself to seek the man out.
The witch raised her eyebrows in disbelief, and he decided he should probably elaborate. "I can take care of myself."
"Oh, I'm sure." Ginny said, giving him a nod. "but perhaps we should find your guardian, just in case."
No. This was not going how he wanted it to. He watched as she started to stand, her gaze trained down the aisle behind him.
"I don't have a guardian." He blurted out.
The woman's attention snapped back to him, her mouth forming a little "O" of surprise. "You don't?" She said, and he could hear the slight amusement lining her voice, "then who takes care of you?"
"I-I do." He said, barreling straight ahead with the fib and growing in confidence with each word. "I don't need anyone to take care of me or to tell me what to do." When the witch raised a skeptical eyebrow, he continued, standing up a little straighter and looking her in the eye. "I'm in charge at the Manor, and I have loads of servants that do everything I say."
"Hm." She mused. Lucius waited with bated breath to see if she would buy his fib. What she said next, though, surprised him.
"And would one of those servants be named Draco?"
Lucius' eyes widened at her use of his guardian's name. Did she know him? He watched as her eyes moved from him to a point behind him, and he pivoted, following her gaze. He turned to find his guardian standing only a couple of metres behind him in the aisle, leaning against one of the shelves with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were narrowed and trained on his charge. His expression was cool and composed, but there was something about it that instantly unnerved the child.
Uh. Oh. Lucius recognized that look. It was the same look Draco had worn when he had swatted the younger Malfoy in the library. And it told Lucius one thing.
He was in a world of trouble.
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Author's note: Thank you for the reviews and follows. I hope you are enjoying the story so far!
