Chapter 28: The Festival
Al and the Malfoys whisked into the privacy of a ravine near Oxford via the portkey of an old tea kettle.
"Oh, come dear, your scarf has slipped again. Ah well, more time to grow into." Narcissa adjusted the fabric encircling Al's small frame as he regarded her quietly. While she had considerably warmed to him, he had become more hesitant in her presence… wary of triggering a sensitive issue.
"Thanks ma'am erm…"
"Cissy remember? Please, no need to be formal. But you do have good manners" She moved cheerily on to her grandson, who seemed considerably more comfortable with the attention. Well, Al supposed, he was probably used to the occasional politics.
The group treaded a small path in the lightly sprinkled snow, substantially less than Ottery St. Catchpole. Astoria had let Al choose from a healthy collection of festival masks and he now donned a swirling rendition of a phoenix face. Scorpius looked back at him from behind a tiger, grinning.
"Where'd ya want to go first, mate?" He skipped happily as the family rounded the corner of the valley and a raucous pandemonium wafted into their ears. Al knew the festival was largely a muggle affair, but he swore he could hear the low rumblings of dragons beneath the tumult of fair jingles and general squealing. He shrugged, "You said the fairies were nice, right?"
"Yes! We'll go there!" As he pulled Al a little ahead of his parents, he whispered more serious, "Thanks for putting up with all that back there...she's out of the loop is all. We don't share those beliefs."
"Erm, oh no problem. She's… she's nice otherwise." But Al couldn't help but think to Scorpius' Luke-warm approach to the Markov twins near the end of the semester. Perhaps his grandmother had planted more than Scorpius was aware. Still, the dizzying lights and pops of circus games was rapidly diminishing his motivation to continue his thoughts. There was an ice skating rink where small automated elves were whirring hilariously in clumsy loops and emanating a jolly carol slightly out of unison. And a small carriage painted quant red and gold hues sold roasted chestnuts.
Draco and Astoria had briefly left the boys to get tickets and Al heard the man whisper "Five, with the Merlin pass please."
He returned with a stack of small plates, like the popped-out lens of a glasses frame. "Here Al, they should fit well in the mask. He pressed the thin glass to the eye socket and Al caught a brief iridescent shimmer ripple along the curve. After eagerly refitting the mask back on his face, he caught Scorpius laughing as he felt his mouth drop open.
Gone were the animatron elves. Instead, a great multitude of real house elves skated joyously to the tune of the carol, being played by a dynamic brand of goblins with one troll who was doing rather well at bashing a large, golden gong. It was like they were tripping over each other, but as Al continued to observe the chaos, he realized each potential collision was skillfully avoided by a flip or spin away. Presently, the song changed to a more romantic tone (the troll looked a little sad to not bang the gong anymore) and the house-elves quieted their frenzy, heading to the edges of the rink. Two tall creatures entered the rink and began swirling to the melody, launching each other high in the air as they spun throughout rink in large figure-eights. Al had never seen something like them- both were graced with eerie blue-white hair, like the aura one might expect to glance off of a star, and long, slender features from their almond eyes to long curved fingers.
"They're from Siberia," Scorpius informed him, nodding to the couple, "But you see them east of the Alps. They go by many names but in general they can be called Tall elves."
"Creative," Al replied as he admired a particularly complex trick. As the couple moved, they allowed a sort of powder to drifted from their person to the effect that it briefly captured their last pose like a strobe light as they went through their routine. Astoria was chatting avidly with a house elf fitted with a rather large chest of metal trinkets not unlike a hot-dog seller at a baseball game. She toyed with one of the gadgets as Draco came near and after seeing the price, paid and dropped the small thing in his pocket.
Beckoning to the boys as another song resumed the fumbling of all the elves he nodded to a small tent across the walkway, "The Fairies are in there."
Al hurriedly followed the Malfoys, but not before jumping at a proximal roar. "Wow." He watched as the chestnut seller, another portly goblin, unleashed a small green dragon to light a new batch of treats, winking as he caught Al's eye.
If the skating elves hadn't completely unhinged Al's jaw, the fairies surely finished the job. The tent was sectioned into several small theaters, where the small beings played out different musical renditions of wizard and muggle fairy tales alike. But they were not simply actors, the entire scenery was a moving living swarm of glowing creatures. He watched a particularly impressive set mimic stormy waves, as heaps of blue and green glittery wings undulated and carried a single small form on a raft. The music was in several foreign languages, but it didn't really matter; Al could feel the victory and anguish bore from the notes that matched the various scenes. Suddenly from the end of the tent, what seemed to be a fizzling red sparkler rapidly gaining momentum and size exploded into a long dragon breathing throngs of fairy-composed glowing fire. It weaved and bowed agilely through the crowd, the fire fairies dancing atop the alighted guests like cackling embers.
Narcissa had immediately made her way to this exhibit (Fairies were her favorite stop every year) and Al spotted her looking positively youthful as she delighted in the fairies wilting gracefully around her. She made her way towards them now, "Absolutely beautiful, somehow they always come back bigger. I do wish they kept the swan routine though, not as flashy but so elegant…" She crouched, nearly eye level with Al, "What do you think?"
"It's marvelous," Al was always fond of the performances at professional Quidditch cups, but this was beyond comparison.
Narcissa nodded, pleased, "Yes it's brilliant, a little gem my son found a few years-well I suppose its many years-back. Scorpius' little muggleborn friend came here with her family- little did they know what they were missing!"
"Jeya, mother," Draco intoned as he checked the time, "I believe the first dragon show starts in ten if we want to catch that."
Scorpius seemed equally pleased that Al was enjoying himself, "It's fun right? Maybe…maybe we can take Rosie here next year too? And James and all of them really." He rushed along, blushing slightly.
"Oh I think she would love this." Al replied.
The dragon show, unlike the last stops, was more of an anxious exhilaration as a few performing wizards leapt from the backs of at least ten flying dragons (adolescents of a rather small species), juggling hoops and balls that they periodically lit from the flaming breath of their animals. Narcissa bought Al and Scorpius a large bag of roasted chestnuts and a few toffees being peddled by a rather lumbering ogre. They munched happily on their treats as they ran through tent after tent. The acrobatic elven performances, a goblin-run auction of rare metalwork designs, a vampire opera and ghost funhouse (Narcissa didn't much like the spectra running through her).
Before leaving, Scorpius suggested they play a few of the muggle fair games, hoping to win a prize. Draco had just procured a roll of tickets for each before he turned abruptly, looking concerned, and made off in the direction where he had left his wife. Narcissa instead led the boys to a stand composed of a wall of balloons, with sets of darts laid out.
After a few minutes (and a substantial dent in their tickets) Scorpius and Al were quietly willing the balloons to pop as they missed yet another round.
"Blimey I wished I brought my wand." Scorpius muttered.
"Yer right bout that lad, ya need a certain magic to get these," The muggle Fairman chuckled naively.
"Now I tell you Malfoy, I would have never took you for a fan of these things- what are you trying to kidnap one of your house-elves back into indentured servitude?" Al and Scorpius froze as the familiar sneer they'd heard harassing their headmaster surfaced from the crowd.
The putridly snobbish face of Driscoll Haverford materialized moments later, just after Draco and his wife appeared, looking hassled and worn. From behind him, Al could see his son, Adrian, smugly in tow. Their expressions deepened to a vicious gleam as Haverford spotted Narcissa, "Oh my, you do have nerve to bring her out in public." He regarded the stylish, decorated woman with the contempt of a garden pest.
While Draco ignored the snarky comments, hurrying Astoria and making to grab the boys and leave, Narcissa drew herself tall towards the man, matching him in haughtiness. "Nerve is what you would call addressing me in that way, what, are you a Governor now? Pity, the paucity of funds your committee has raised for the school in recent years. Your lip-service is hollow promises."
Driscoll sneered, "We wouldn't take a penny of your wealth if you emptied your Gringotts vault on our doorstep. Blood money is what that is. And somehow the school has done fine without you extorting it for familial gain." He glanced around the vicinity as if searching for someone, "Where's your weasel of a husband? Or are you smart enough to at least keep him leashed up at home."
This seemed to break the cool exterior of Narcissa as her eyes flashed dangerously, "Don't you say a word about him." She hissed.
Driscoll's mouth dripped poisonously as he grinned, "You know the new edition of a 'History of Magic"? I quite enjoy his picture featured in there. You know the one I think, tell me- does he prefer kissing dementors to you still?"
Draco and Narcissa whipped out their wands, to the great surprise of the Fairman, "Um I'm going to consider that cheating…"
Narcissa looked at the muggle, irritated, but it was enough to regain her sensibility, "Draco dear, it's time we go," She said, controlled in measure. With a brief wave of her wand, the Fairman's eyes clouded, and six balloons exploded, for good measure.
"Ah sorry I- Oh!" The burly man mustered, surprised, "All three for each? Haven't seen sumthing like that all night er pick a prize, anything."
Al picked out a long, stuffed cobra as a nice addition to the Slytherin dorm. Scorpius got a lion.
"Oh are you getting that for the girl," Narcissa chuckled lightly, avoiding Haverford as he remained stubbornly in their way, "She's in Gryffindor right?" she turned to Al, "I know he has a crush but he won't tell me much other than she's very smart… always a good thing."
"Driscoll, I know there are better things to stare at than us, I don't want to waste your evening." Draco had remained glaring at his colleague. Haverford growled, still needing to say something. Then, he turned to Scorpius.
"Since you've seemed to have weaseled your way into old Minerva's more foolish sentiments, I suppose you can considered yourself safe in school," Al held in a snort as he thought about the safety of Hogwart's halls by the end of the semester, "But I wanted to tell you directly that if you sabotage my boy again, I will wreak havoc on every last strand that connects your miserly family to the fringes of our society do you hear?"
A shadow swooped into Draco's features as he strode towards Haverford, "Don't. Talk. To my son ever again or I will gladly cut my own last 'threads' in what I will do to you." He seethed
Far from being intimidated, Haverford relished finally getting under the man's skin. Enough to provoke him into a fight Al suddenly and worriedly realized. That had consequences for Ministry members. Haverford hadn't recognized him, not of the distinctive blonde features of the other Malfoys, under his mask. He wondered if the man would want Harry Potter, and by extent, the sitting Minister, to know about his antics.
"Maybe you should ask your son to tell you the truth before you risk your position over some silly fight about nothing" Al slipped off his mask and watched the magical beings disappear from the scenery, leaving the fairgrounds comparably tame. "Did you really become Governor to improve the school? Or just to bribe the hat into placing your son in Gryffindor?"
Adrian locked eyes on him and Al had the sinking feeling that he was probably going to pay for this once term started. He should warn James as well… Luckily Driscoll had enough sense to shove his son away at the moment, recognizing Al. His eyes betrayed a heavy amount of confusion; clearly the man did not expect a Potter to be in this company. Al was a little disappointed that he didn't look more offended. He thought he'd landed a pretty good insult.
Draco seemed to appreciate the comment, as a smirk fleeted across his features. But responsibly, he took the moment to usher his family away and had for the festival exit.
They crossed back into the valley and located the portkey. Just before the kettle activated Draco eyed Al again, almost mischievously, "You know, I was beginning wonder when I'd see a true sign of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley underneath all that etiquette. I figured it could only hide for so long"
Al grinned.
Back at the Malfoy residence Narcissa said her goodbyes, "It was nice to meet you Al, this…" she pointed between him and Scorpius, "I like this pair."
"You could stay 'til midnight Mum," Draco had warmed to her company greatly as the night progressed and Al was reminded that Narcissa's visits were few and far between.
"No, I can't leave him all by himself for the New Year," Narcissa paused hopefully, but her son only drew his lips tight, saying nothing. Sighing softly, she kissed Draco and Astoria goodbye and pointed at Scorpius' lion, "Tell me how she likes it!" winking.
"Well, we have an hour or so before midnight," Astoria addressed the boys, "Would you want to watch a movie? Here we have a few classics", plopping a binder of discs between them.
"Dear would mind?" Astoria cocked her head towards the stairs, "I think I might need a dose before bed."
"Ah yes," Draco followed his wife upstairs, leaving Al and Scorpius alone.
As the house grew quiet, Scorpius flipped through their options, showing potential ones to Al. But before they settled into the film, the blonde boy looked at him meaningfully.
"You didn't need to cause a scene at the festival mate, Adrian's going to give you hell now too."
Al shrugged, "His dad was trying to get yours in trouble no doubt, at the Ministry. He didn't deserve that."
Scorpius pondered that for a moment before replying, "So, do you like them?"
Al paused, contemplating the night's events, "I mean they've been very nice to me. So yeah, I like them." He didn't know why he was so hesitant to say this but the certainty that Scorpius was trying to draw from him made him suspicious.
He smiled, "Okay, that's good."
For a while they busied themselves with a movie, but as the night drew nearer to midnight, Scorpius grew anxious, watching the stairs that stubbornly remained empty of his parents. "Hmm, better check on them. They might have forgotten the time."
Al rose from his seat and a strange expression brushed over Scorpius, as if he wasn't sure he wanted Al to follow him. But after a moment, he led him up the stairs. From what must have been the bedroom, a light tune that Al recognized from the festival was quietly escaping into the hall. Scorpius was slightly ahead of Al and peered his eyes into the room first, before abruptly turning away as if the sight disgusted him. "C'mon Al we'll just wait…"
But Al had already glimpsed the scene.
Throughout the evening, Astoria had been wearing a bulky sweater with thick, billowy sleeves. But now those sleeves were rolled up and Al could spot a number of plastic fixtures coming from underneath her skin. A few of the pieces were affixed to short tubes, from which Draco was attaching bottles of medicine. Astoria looked in pain but smiled when Draco's lined face became too concerned. "It's alright honey, maybe you should go down with the boys soon and make sure Al gets home all right."
But Draco acted like he hadn't heard her, busying himself with switching the vials. "Half these muggle medicines make you worse off I think, bloody idiots…" He muttered, carefully reading the label of the next dosage.
"It's better to feel a little bad than wait until tomorrow. I'll take three times as long to recover" Astoria gently reminded him.
The song was coming from the small metal music box that Draco had purchased from the House Elf at the festival. The melody began to slow, dragging out the cheery tune into something more somber. This, too, annoyed the blonde man, who stared at the object with utter distain as the notes finally ceased altogether. "And what's this?" He cried, "Selling muggle garbage is what. Who would want to keep winding this thing over and over again when it barely plays for two minutes?"
At this he snapped out his wand and hit the box with a charm. Instantly the music came back to life…but not for long. Whatever spell that Draco had cast was winding the box very fast and the tune was no longer waltzing, but speeding through in an unnatural tempo. Soon, the notes started skipping, and a long, notched piece of metal crinkled out of the turnstile. The room went silent once more.
"Argh," Draco grabbed the little toy, but Astoria took it from him as he changed another round of medicine, looking gloomy.
Delicately, she wound the fragile piece of metal back into the machine and turned the key, letting the tones sing through the room, returned to their intended pace. "My Dear" She said meaningfully, "Magic doesn't guarantee everlasting control -however it might help with drawing out the inevitable. Muggles don't expect things to last forever… I think we ought to understand that a little more as well."
She smiled softly as Draco sniffed and blinked rapidly, avoiding her gaze, "Sometimes there's more dignity in letting things just end."
"I really can't hear this right now Tori, I can't" Draco rasped softly, finishing the injections, "How are you feeling."
"Okay, maybe good enough for one dance even." She winked and reset the music box. Draco looked stunned for a second, but then melted naturally into a slow, swaying routine as Astoria held out her hand. The couple had clearly taken lessons, Al thought, as they gracefully floated around the foot of their bed. Draco turned and held his arm up to spin his wife and Al realized he'd also rolled up his sleeves. Extending from the base of his wrist, a rather grotesque meshwork of blackened ink and scar lines worked its way up until the joint at his elbow. It looked like a nest of worms."
Scorpius had giving up leaving, but he caught Al's line of sight and resumed his exit with a great tug on the smaller boy. Quietly, he dragged Al downstairs, where the movie was still playing, though as they sat back on the couch, the story ended, leaving the credits and a widening gap as Scorpius sat dejectedly.
"Sorry Al, I figured that upset you… the Dark Mark and all."
Al was upset, but not particularly because of the Mark. He was feeling choked up, like something was literally climbing up his throat. It wasn't unlike when his father had come home confounded- a sort of sense that an adult could sometimes be tragically breakable when they were supposed to-when they needed to- be infallible.
But Scorpius was clearly avoiding that topic. He'd never explained Astoria's sickness other than that it was doing better under muggle medicines. But even the assortment of treatments Al witnessed seemed to be slowing, rather than stopping the weakness that wracked this mother's body. Still, the Mark seemed like the lesser charged topic of conversation.
"Scorpius, did you always know that your family was… well… "
"Evil?" Scorpius grinned wryly as Al reddened, refusing to agree, "Malevolent? Diabolical? Wretched? Wicked?"
"Wrong. On the wrong side." Scorpius sobered as Al finished his sentence.
"My parents wanted me to have a relationship with my grandparents initially. My mother's parents more or less disowned her when she returned to Hogwarts. One of her friends in Slytherin, Sia Chen- she'd been adopted by a wizarding family but was a muggleborn- she helped hide her in one of her parents' estates when her name appeared on one of Umbridge's Inquiries. But my father's parents were still very happy with me."
This had struck Al as odd- he'd never thought twice about whether the elder Weasleys would 'approve' of him. Sure, they had expectations, but Al couldn't recall ever feeling the need to earn their affection, even as the massive brood of grandchildren grew steadily.
"I loved going to their House- It's a huge, beautiful Mansion. They used to hire fairies to decorate the tree because it was so tall, the ceilings were so high… and it was full of all these old artifacts, trinkets…" Scorpius lapsed into wistful memories as Al sat courteously, knowing this manor also held a dungeon used to hold and torture a great many of his parents' friends during the War.
Some discomfort must have escaped his control because Scorpius suddenly righted his track, looking sheepish, "I went there a lot when my father was first trying to get hired at the Ministry and my mother was becoming tired… My Grandfather would always let me touch everything and tell me stories about my ancestors- he had this magnificent family tree in his study. The branches would end in constellations… like my name see? Draco is a dragon, Lucius Orion, Abraxas Aquila- that's an eagle… He said that Malfoys didn't just leave the Earth when they died- they took their place in the sky to guide their sons and daughters so our progress wouldn't falter."
"So, what happened?" The blonde boy set his jaw tightly.
"My grandfather was teaching me how to ride a broomstick- well I was really young- so more like hover. He always wore these long shirts even in the summer, but he had his sleeves rolled up. And there was this tattoo on his arm, really faint but intricate." Scorpius paused, already becoming embarrassed, "I think I was around seven and I knew about Voldemort, but just the bare story you know- I thought he was like a monster like in Fairy Tales- I didn't even know he had followers. He told me he had been in a secret society and that was enough for me"
"Anyway, the next time Jeya came over to play…. I drew them on us and pretended we were in his secret society." He paused, trying to gauge how disgusted Al was.
"I mean, you didn't know mate…"
Scorpius shrugged, "Sure- we didn't even put them on the right arm. And I gave Jeya two because she was the head of the group…" he laughed mirthlessly, "My dad came home and freaked out… like scary freaked out. He wouldn't let Jeya go home until he scrubbed everything off. Like he could have used magic, but I think he forgot… And then he screamed at me and when I told him about my grandfather being in a secret society, he just apparated and didn't return home until really late."
Al was pretty sure he'd heard enough, but Scorpius seemed to like being able to share a bit of his isolated childhood.
"My mom found me crying and explained what the Dark Mark was and Death Eaters and such and that was enough for me to not want to play like that. But then my father came home with these horrible books, like journals of Death Eater crimes and their oath and mission. He made me read and recite them all before he let me go by my grandparents again."
"And he showed me his Mark. It's all mangled up because he tried cursing… and cutting it out."
Scorpius fiddled with his thumbs, "I thought that would be the end of it, you know. I went back to their estate and my grandmother was very sorry and fretful about what happened, and my grandfather apologized." He paused, "But then, when my grandmother went to bed, he took me into his study and rolled up his sleeve again…"
Al put his hand out to comfort his friend, whose eyes were welling with tears, "He said, 'I know you think this looks marvelous, don't you? Isn't that why you wanted one of your own?' I felt so horrible. And then he talked about the real meaning of being a Malfoy heir- the principles I needed to stand for. Things about the friends I should have and the type of girl I should marry…"
"The thing is, he'd said some of these things before. Things about Muggles blaming wizards and Muggleborns not having traditions like old families," Scorpius sniffed, "And they didn't seem so bad, but it was because I didn't know the whole picture… where they came from. Once I couldn't get those books out of my head, I could really see what he had planned to make me into…. I ran away actually, that night. I couldn't sleep in the house. My Dad found me, and I never went back. It's only been a year since my grandmother could see me again unsupervised. I don't know if my grandfather tried… I … I disappointed him."
"I think he failed you mate." Al squeezed Scorpius' shoulder, not really knowing what else to say.
"I know," Scorpius replied softly, "But sometimes I still want him to be proud of me, even though I know what it would take."
The two boys sat in silence for a while, until Draco thankfully punctured the sinking mood. "I'm sorry! It's a little past midnight but let's ring in the New Year!" He conjured three small mugs of golden liquid, "Butterbeer… well no beer for you two but honestly the taste is the same." He smiled cheerfully as they raised their glasses.
"To friendship, good health, and landing a good hex on Haverford…if he deserves it," Draco laughed lightly as the boys heartily saluted that toast.
As Al waved at Scorpius and Draco through the green flames, he thought about how little the few paragraphs in his textbook did justice to the complexities of his friend's family. Though, he supposed, perhaps history was far too cluttered to consider little details that might distract from the big picture.