NOTE: Bold = Anastasia's written response Slanted = Anastasia's mind-link response
I follow Draco and Mr. Malfoy through Knockturn Alley's dark and scary road until we finally pass into Diagon Alley. A sigh of relief escapes me as we pass into the lighter and happier place than that other one. Unfortunately, Diagon Alley isn't as bare as Knockturn Alley and that is something that I don't really prefer. I mean, I love watching happy people and being around people, but I don't like being in a large crowd that could potentially give me claustrophobia.
Draco notices that we could easily lose each other and grabs my hand to make sure that I am with them. I smile at him and move behind him so that way we are in a line with Mr. Malfoy in the front, breaking the sea of people. I know that I should go look for my brother and the Weasleys, but honestly, I just want to spend time with my best friend and his father. Also, I want to leave Mr. Malfoy with a good impression, because I am his only son's best friend.
"So, Ana," Draco calls out to me, and I look at him with a questioning glance, "Are you here to get Hogwarts supplies as well?" I nod my head happily, and I start to bounce around with excitement. He laughs at my childness and has a thoughtful expression on his face. Before I can ask him what he is thinking about, he turns back around and tugs on Mr. Malfoy's sleeve. The older Malfoy looks down with a slightly annoyed expression on his face, but Draco seems like he doesn't notice. They start to whisper to each other or I should say they are speaking to each other in normal volumes because everyone else is basically being super loud. Not wanting to interrupt them, I focus on the storefronts as we pass each magical store.
"Ms. Potter," Mr. Malfoy disrupts my window shopping, and I quickly look up at the tall man. "Would you like to go supply shopping with us? Draco would love if you would join us," Right after he asks me, I immediately want to say yes, but at the same time I am supposed to be here with the Weasleys and I don't want them to worry about my absence for the entire day. Sighing, I take out my notepad and tell them my decision.
"I would love to join you two, but I am actually supposed to be here with the Weasleys and I don't want them wondering where I am the entire time," I tell them, and Draco looks instantly disappointed. Guilt quickly rises through me, and I quickly backtrack my earlier statement. "Well, I can join you two, but we need to let the Weasleys know."
Right after the young blonde reads my last sentence, a grin appears on his face and he grabs my hand again. Sadly, I don't know where the ginger family is at, and I tell the Malfoys that as well. My blonde friend seems eager to go and find them but is stopped by his father.
"Hold on, Draco," Mr. Malfoy calls out while sharply putting his cane in front of the younger version of himself. My best friend quickly looks up at his father while having a slight hint of fear, "I have some business to do first then we can look for the Weasleys. For now, why don't you and Ms. Potter go into Flourish and Blotts while I take care of my business."
Draco and I agree to his request and quickly head into my favorite place in Diagon Alley. Oddly enough, when we enter the building that is usually empty and this time it is super crowded. I don't mean that there was like twenty people, I actually mean there are probably hundreds in this small building. Making sure that we have each other, we quickly head up the staircase so that way we can get out of the crowd.
"What do you think is going on?" I ask Draco, who after reading my question, just shakes his head in reply. Sighing, I decided to look at the books that are laying on the stairs while Draco continues to watch the crowd. As I continue to look at the books, I hear a ripping sound behind me and I quickly turn around to find Draco tearing some pages out of a book. As quickly as possible, I grab the book out of his hands while shaking my head no with a frown on my face.
"Sorry, Ana," Draco says to me while giving me a sheepish grin. I simply just roll my eyes while I try to not laugh at his behavior. I don't want to encourage this type of behavior from any of my friends.
Right as I am about to go back to the books, I glance up at the door for a split second and my eyes don't recognize who I just saw until a second later. A smile appears on my face as I realize that my brother has just arrived with my best friend, Hermione. While I start walking down the stairs, the crowd swallows Harry up and I end up losing him. Well, I guess I'll wait to talk to him as he is leaving. Draco grabs my hand and pulls us up the stairs until we can finally see why everyone is here.
There is an older man with golden colored hair and light blue suit. He is giving the crowd a dazzling smile and is chuckling. Even from my place in the room, I can feel a pompous air rolling off him. Honestly, he doesn't seem like someone that cares about other people and only cares about himself. Wait..What am I doing?! I can't go around judging someone before even meeting them! Shame on me for doing that. I must admit though; this man is kind of cute. Wait...almost all the people in this bookstore are females and they all seem to be here for this man.
"Who is that man, Draco?" I ask my best friend.
"From what it says on his poster," Draco starts to say while pointing out the obvious poster that I somehow overlooked, "This man is Gilderoy Lockhart." I nod my head while turning my attention back to Goldilocks. Hey, even though I think he is cute that seems like a good nickname for this man. Why does his name sound so familiar? Quickly, I take out my supply list and look over the list of books that we need to get. This is the man that wrote almost every single book that we are using for textbooks this year. Maybe, his books will teach me something. I need to read them before school starts.
"Excuse me," a man with a camera says to people as he pushes his way past the crowd. I watch the man as he struggles with all the giggling females that are just watching Goldilocks smile his charming smile. A smile appears on my face as the cameraman finally stands in front of Gilderoy and that's when I notice that the ginger family is right behind him with my brother amongst them. The man starts to take pictures of Goldilocks and this celebrity doesn't seem bothered by the bright flash at all.
As he starts to his left for the cameraman to get his better side, Lockhart briefly looks up from the camera and his eyes lock in on something or someone. His smile slowly slips from his face and he is serious instead of that confident air that was surrounding him a moment earlier.
"It can't be...Harry Potter?" Goldilocks says, and I facepalm into Draco's shoulder. I don't know about big brother, but I would feel so awkward at the moment. Taking this opportunity, I hide behind Draco, because I definitely don't want to be called out by this cute man.
Looking over Draco's shoulder, I watch as the cameraman drags my big brother to Gilderoy's side. I watch as the man starts to whisper in my brother's ear before smiling at the camera again. My brother doesn't seem to like all of this attention and definitely doesn't want to be in front of the camera. As I continue to watch the exchange between this popular author and my brother, the man hands him his entire book collection for free. Oooo, I wonder if he will let me read those. The cameraman takes one last picture before rushing out of the bookstore.
Everyone starts to clap, and Goldilocks starts to autograph the females' books. Finally, I slowly walk out from behind my best friend because the man is busy. Looking down, I notice that Draco's hands are in fists and his entire body looks like it is tensed up.
"What is wrong, Draco?" I ask him, and he sighs as he releases the tension from his body.
"Nothing, Ana," he says, but I quickly grab his arm and look at him. A sigh escapes his lips as he looks at me. "I just hate that Potter gets all of this attention."
Nodding my head, I pat my friend on the shoulder as we start to walk down the stairs. Honestly, I don't even notice the attention that my brother gets like he got from Goldilocks. As long as I am not a part of the spotlight then I usually don't mind my brother having this kind of attention. Unfortunately, I know that Draco most likely doesn't have that mindset and so I just continue to pat him on the back.
My best friend smiles briefly before heading down the stairs. Surprisingly, the cameraman, who I thought already left, rushes past us and out the door. Big brother and the Weasleys are heading to the door when Draco gets off the stairs and stands in front of them.
"I bet you just loved that, didn't you, Potter?" he says, and anger quickly passes through me, but then I remember that he is just jealous. When someone is jealous they just need to release it out and, unfortunately, those same people sometimes say mean things during that release time. I grab his hand and give his hand a squeeze for reassurance. Draco briefly looks at me, but then continues his jealousy rant, "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page." Now, that is just not true. This has been the only time that he has gone in here and now is most likely going to be on the front page.
Little Ginny gives Draco a not so scary glare and steps toward him. He looks down at her as she says, "Leave him alone." She is too adorable to take seriously, and I think my friend agrees with me because a smirk appears on his face.
"Look, Ana. Your brother got himself a girlfriend," he says, and I smile slightly at Ginny. Honestly, I think her crush on my brother is cute, but I don't know if they would make a good couple. My brother doesn't even find anyone cute at the moment and probably won't think so for quite a while.
Right after Draco finishes his sentence, a cane is placed on Draco's shoulder. Turning my head, I notice that Mr. Malfoy is standing behind us, and I quickly move to my brother's side while Draco moves off to his father's side.
"Now, now, Draco, play nicely," Mr. Malfoy says to his son before looking at us. Giving him a smile, I watch as he interacts with my brother for the first time. He gives me a simple smirk before looking at big brother and saying to him, "Mr. Potter. Lucius Malfoy, we meet at last." He holds his hand out towards my brother, and he looks at it briefly before shaking it. Mr. Malfoy takes this opportunity to pull my brother close and look at his legendary scar, his words not mine.
"Your scar is legendary," he simply says before glancing at my brother again, "Well, so is the wizard that gave it to you." My brother quickly steps back, and my mood instantly drops into my stomach. That same wizard had made both of us into orphans. He is nothing more than a despicable being. Harry must have felt how sad my mood became because he wraps his arm around my shoulders. Big brother repeats what I thought to Mr. Malfoy as Hermione walks up next to myself and Draco.
"You must be very brave for saying his name, or very foolish," Mr. Malfoy says after my brother says Voldemort's name. I don't understand why people are so afraid of saying his name. It's not like he will suddenly appear out of nowhere just because you say his name. Hermione agrees with me because she looks at Mr. Malfoy while saying:
"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," she says, and he looks at her. He starts to say her name but looks at Draco for confirmation. We both nod our heads as he finishes his sentence.
"Your parents are muggles, aren't they?" he asks her as he looks at her parents who are talking to Arthur. For a second, a frown appears on my face at the way he has said that word. What is so wrong with her parents being muggles? While he continues to talk to everyone, I open up my notepad and start to write my question for my blonde-haired friend.
"Does your father not like muggles or muggle-borns?" I show him the question and he briefly looks at it before sighing. He gently takes my hand and leads me up the stairs again. Once we are far enough away from everyone else, he turns around and looks like he is trying to figure out how to tell me.
"For a simple answer, yes, my father hates anything that deals with muggles," he replies, and my eyes widen in shock. Draco must have noticed my shock because he quickly tries to justify his father's hatred, "You have to understand that there are people who just don't like muggles. Usually, those kinds of people are from the pure-blooded families that are in Slytherin. It's just the way that it has always been."
"Do you hate muggles too?" I ask my friends as my lip starts to quiver in sadness. It is never okay to dislike someone just because of their heritage. That isn't right. He looks at me sadly, but he nods his head.
"That is how I was raised. Please, don't hate me," he says, and I nod my head. I can't fault him for that because like he said he was raised to not like them. Giving him a sad smile, I hug him and look down at everyone else. Oh, Godric! I might hate that they dislike someone because they are related to muggles, but I understand that everyone also has their own opinions. The only thing that should matter to me is my own opinion because the only thing that I can change is my own opinion and nobody else.
After grabbing my hand again, we head back down the stairs and reunite with the rest of the group. Arthur Weasley is talking with Mr. Malfoy and from the tension in the room, I can safely say that they do not like each other. Mr. Malfoy glances at us and starts to talk to Arthur.
"Also, Draco wants Ms. Potter to join us on our supply shopping," he says, and Arthur looks at me as if he is asking if I want to go. Quickly nodding my head, I watch as Mr. Malfoy turns around and walks out the shop. We walk past everyone and I wave at all of them. Draco looks at them with jealousy/anger still on his face before gently pulling me out the door. I hope that this will be the last time that I deal with this kind of situation.
Author's Note: I hope that y'all enjoyed this chapter and I'm sorry that it took so long to get out. I have been sick for an entire week and only just got better again. Anyway, please comment below and tell me what y'all think because I love to read your guys' opinions. Like I said in this chapter, everyone has their own opinions and I like to know everyone else's opinions. :-)