A/N:...I absolutely dislike Lucius Malfoy. Why did I put him in this story!? It was so hard to write him...and in the end I'm still not completely satisfied! But since I've brought him into the story, I shall press ahead and try writin' him the best I can. Ha ha...God...(TT_TT)
Anyways, thanks for reading, thanks for those who've reviewed and followed this story so far. It's so much appreciated! ^w^
Chapter Eight
In Which She is Enchanted
Arabella stood by herself near the hidden pub known as the Leaky Cauldron. She had a finger twirled in her hair, while one foot was tapping constantly. She was nervous, so much so that she was about to leave, after all she had arrived half an hour early.
Sighing to herself, and believing it would be for the best, she made way to leave, until his regal voice called out to her.
"Leaving already? We haven't even gone inside yet."
A shiver shot down her spine as Arabella turned to see Mr. Malfoy standing behind her. Her eyes were wide, like a deer caught in headlights.
An arm slipped around her shoulders. "Come, let's go inside." He motioned towards the pub with his free arm.
Her feet felt as though they had a mind of their own. She allowed Mr. Malfoy to lead her inside.
"Mr. Malfoy, a pleasure to see you again," greeted the bartender. He was the same balding man she saw the last time she came here. "And it's nice to see you as well, Miss Roland was it?" He said to Arabella, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Y-yes." She nodded.
"Tom, a private room if you please," said Mr. Malfoy, placing what looked to be gold on the bar's counter.
"A private room?" Arabella croaked.
"Of course, if we were to stay here, then other people would be bound to listen in on our conversation. I prefer privacy." He took Arabella and followed Tom upstairs. "There's no need to worry," he said now in a low voice. "I am not the kind of man who would do anything…indecent to someone like you."
Arabella could only stare straight ahead, hoping that Mr. Malfoy could not see how red her face probably was.
The two followed Tom up a winding staircase until he opened a room for them. The room itself was much more spacious than Arabella had been expecting. It was generously furnished with leather chairs and a matching sofa, cherry wood tables, and paintings on its walls. The paintings themselves demanded Arabella's attention for they seemed to moving on their own, like people would on a television.
"Anythin' else you be needin' Mr. Malfoy?" Tom asked before excusing himself.
He glanced down at Arabella with narrow eyes. Her full attention was still on the various paintings hanging around the room. "I suppose you can bring up some tea and a treacle tart."
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy." Tom gave a small bow before taking his leave.
Lucius took this moment to get a closer look at the muggle girl. She was thin, rich brown hair, large dark brown eyes; admittedly, she was a pretty little thing. From her knee length skirt to her stuttering speech, her presence screamed innocence to him, but she was still a muggle, a lowly muggle.
"Do muggles even eat treacle tart?" he wondered aloud.
Her eyes snapped from the painting she was examining to him. "Muggles?"
Ignoring her, he sat upon on of the chairs in the room near a table, his gloved hands crossed. "Sit down." His hand waved over to the empty chair close by.
She obliged hesitantly. "So…um…what's a muggle?"
"Do you like treacle tart or not? Do you even know what it is?" Lucius asked, without answering her question.
"Of-of course I know what it is! And I happen to like it very much!"
Lucius twiddled with his thumbs. "There is no reason to shout." He said. Blushing, she her eyes darted around the room, keeping her sights set on anything but Lucius. "So tell me, how long have you been able to…see the Leaky Cauldron?"
Arabella frowned before answering. "I remember seeing it when I was little, when my father would take me out for Sunday brunch…"
"And your father," Lucius cut in. "He is…able to see it as well?"
She shook her head. "No. Nobody I've ever met has been able to see it…or anything else for that matter…" She added.
"And what, pray tell, else is there?"
"Well…nothing really…ha ha…" Arabella laughed weakly.
"If you're going to lie, you can at least put some effort into it." He said bluntly. Arabella's stomach felt as though it dropped a thousand kilometers. "Tell me, are you good at anything?" He asked.
"I can play piano?" She said, scratching her ear.
"Was that a question or an answer?"
"An answer!" Arabella exclaimed, slamming her hand on the table. "I can play the piano very well!"
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "I already said this before, but there's no need to shout. We're indoors. My word, muggles are more barbaric than I thought."
"I still have no idea what a 'muggle' is, but it's quite obvious that you don't seem to like me very much Mr. Malfoy!" She frowned, having just about enough of him and his condescending tone. Without another word, Arabella snatched up her bag and stood to her feet. "So if you would kindly excuse me, I think I shall take my leave."
She stormed towards the door, only to discover it was locked. Feeling utterly foolish, her fingers fumbled with the lock. For some reason it wouldn't turn. Red with embarrassment, and from her previous outburst, Arabella turned to Lucius. "I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, but is there something wrong with this door?"
A devilish grin appeared on his face. "Poor Tom hasn't even brought in the tea and tart yet. You should at least stay a little while longer for that, right? Don't you think it'd be rude to leave now?"
Arabella's stomach felt as though it dropped a thousand meters.
"Why don't you come here Miss Roland? I have something I'd like to show you." He cooed.
Her eyes had a worried look, a young doe trapped in the headlights.
"Don't just stand there. Come here." He ordered. She felt that there was no choice but to obey.
"I wonder, how is it you've been able to avoid the Ministry's detection so far?"
Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"You, a mere muggle, a person with no magic, have been able to see things you should not be able to see since you were a young child. The Ministry would have, or should have, noticed you at some point. The Ministry has precautions against these sorts of things you know. Take this place for example, the Leaky Cauldron has charms and spells that keep it from being detected by muggles such as yourself. You should not be able to see it or enter it for that matter. I find it hard to believe that you aren't of some sort of magical descent…"
Arabella struggled to connect all the new learned information together. "Then since I am a muggle, a person with no magic, then you are…a person with magic? A…"
"A wizard, yes."
"I realize that you must like making fun of me, Mr. Malfoy, but if you think I'm going to believe something like that then…"
"You said so yourself didn't you? That nobody else seems to see some of the things you see. Why do you think that is? Couldn't magic be a possible reason for this?"
Arabella was stumped. She couldn't deny the possibility that magic exists; after all, she knew fairies existed. Tamesis and Linore were living testimonies of that. If fairies and their fairy magic could exist, then couldn't wizards and wizard magic? "Prove it. Prove that you can use magic." She demanded.
Before another word could be spoken, a knock came at the door. "Enter," said Lucius.
The door swung open and in came flying in a tea kettle, tea cups, plates, and a treacle tart. Tom stood at the door way. "Is everything to your liking Mr. Malfoy?"
"This will suffice for now."
Happy that Mr. Malfoy was satisfied, Tom closed the door.
Arabella was stunned. She turned in her seat to look back at the door and turned back to look at the table before her. "How…?"
"Magic." Lucius answered simply.
"And…and you can do this too? Can you show me!?" Arabella asked, suddenly very excited.
Lucius scoffed. "It's illegal to perform magic in front of a muggle under, unless under dire circumstances; however, for you I suppose I could make an exception." Lucius held out his slick cane. The top of which was embellished with the head of a silver snake. He removed the decorative piece to reveal a really smooth black stick.
"Is…is that a wand?"
"Well it certainly isn't a tree branch is it?" Lucius said, before pointing towards a vase of wilting flowers. "I'm only doing this once." With a simple flick of his wrist, the flowers blossomed once more, beautiful and vibrant.
Arabella's face glowed. "Wow! That was wonderful!" She clapped, giving Lucius a small applause. "You know, faeries don't need to use wands to use magic." She said, helping herself to a cup of tea.
"Is that so?"
"Yes," She said excitedly. "At least the two faeries I know don't need to use wands. Wouldn't it be amazing if wizards were somehow descended from faeries, or somehow distantly related?"
"I see nothing pleasant about it. The mere idea of that being true makes me sick to my stomach…" Lucius said.
"But faeries are such wonderful creatures…"
"Creatures…" Lucius spat the word, before pouring himself a cup of tea. "Faeries are beneath wizards, Miss Roland. In fact, wizards and witches are the top of the wizarding world, above all other magical creatures."
"Really? Does that mean you know a lot of complex magic?" She asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.
"I can do things you couldn't possibly imagine in your dreams…or your nightmares." Lucius chuckled, a dark glint in his eye. "But enough about me, I still have more questions to ask of you."
Arabella was a bit frightened. "Am…am I in trouble or something? You mentioned before something about the Ministry and how I shouldn't be able to see things…"
"I won't be reporting you the Ministry. If anything they would lock you up and try to decipher how it is you're able to see the things in our world. No…I feel there is much more you can offer."
"Do you mean…do you think I could learn magic too?" She dared to ask.
"I don't know. It doesn't seem very likely, since you never received a letter to attend Hogwarts, am I correct?"
She blinked. "What on bloody Earth is Hogwarts?"
Lucius sighed. "A magic school, where young witches and wizards learn magic. But don't worry, even if you can't use magic, I could find something for you to do in the wizarding world if you'd like. I'm a highly influential figure in the wizarding community and I daresay that every witch and wizard in the community would agree. I'm sure I could work something out that is…if you're interested?" He arched a blond eyebrow.
"Oh…" was all Arabella could manage to say. He had rendered her speechless. "I couldn't possibly…." She said, shaking her head. "Your world is probably wonderful and probably so much better but I couldn't just join it. It just seems too easy…"
"And what makes you think this kind of thing should be difficult? The odds of you meeting an influential wizard such as myself are slim. Don't you think our meeting as fate or perhaps destined?"
Arabella frowned. "I'm…I'm still not sure."
"Then why don't we meet again next week?" He said quickly. "I would hate to see you pass up such an opportunity."
"I'm afraid I can't. I have a party to attend to and I am to play a song for the host, the son of the Spencers. I want to work on the music still…."
"No matter. Take your time and think about my offer."
"But how will I contact you?"
"I'll be contacting you, so there's no need to worry about that." Rising from his chair, he grabbed hold his cane once more. "I think we are finished here for today, Miss Roland. It's been a pleasure."
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Malfoy." She stood quickly, giving a small curtsy.
"Also, before I escort you out, I think it's best that you keep this conversation we just had to yourself. We wouldn't want the Ministry to catch word of your existence, lest you want to find yourself in an unfavorable situation. I may be influential, but once the Ministry has you under custody, there will be very little chance I can get you out."
"Of course Mr. Malfoy."
"Good." He led her down the stairs and back onto Charing Cross Road. She waved him goodbye, her mind whirling with thoughts. Lucius returned the farewell with a curt nod, unable to keep the smirk off his face. He was very pleased with himself. Even though Arabella gave no immediate answer to his offer, he knew that she was as good as his. He laughed silently to himself as he reentered the Leaky Cauldron. This had been easier than performing a levitation charm.