A/N: Your reviews are so encouraging. Thank you so much for enjoying my story!
Narcissa was away from the Manor that Wednesday morning, busy at her weekly board meeting with a group of witches who organized fund-raising events for various charities. Thus Alice was left to her own in the green room, and she decided to simply read a book she brought along while listening to the fountain run nearby. While flipping through pages on social theory, her mind wandered from time to time to the previous incident in the drawing room; was Mr. Malfoy's involvement with that dark wizard really an undercover plot for the Ministry or was he lying to her? She would have no chance of finding out and she knew she shouldn't say anything either way. It was an uncomfortable position to be in, especially when she felt slightly in danger because of it.
Draco arrived home an hour later and entered the green room to find Alice lounging with her legs up in a wicker loveseat next to the fountain; as usual her heels were placed on the ground nearby. Seeing Alice look up at him and smile made Draco feel perfect inside.
"What is that?" she asked amused but also concerned; Draco had brought his Nimbus 2006 with him.
"We're going to have your first flying lesson today," he said proudly.
"Oh, I thought we forgot about that," Alice teased.
"Not likely," he set down the broom and sat next to Alice, lifting her legs to rest on his lap.
"How was your lunch?" she asked; Draco had met the head of the International Alchemical Society that afternoon.
"Humbling, not every day you meet such an esteemed alchemist and have him tell you that he's in awe of your research," he said still elated from the meeting.
Alice's smile grew wider.
"But what about you?" Draco asked eagerly, "You have any good news?" He was curious how her meeting with McGonagall went.
Alice nodded, "I got the job, or more like I accepted the job since they were ready to offer it."
Draco pulled out a letter from his back pocket and waved it in front of her, "Then it'll be both of us at Hogwarts next year." He just received the letter from McGonagall that afternoon asking him to fill Professor Slughorn's position as Potions Professor.
"That's great news!" she said surprised, moving to hug him tightly.
Looking at her cheerfully he said, "We should celebrate, but only after your flying lesson."
Alice laughed, she knew she couldn't get out of it. "Speaking of magical forms of transport, McGonagall already set up Apparition lessons for me at the Ministry."
Draco noticed Alice looked a bit uncertain, "That's good though, with practice, you'll be fine. You can do anything Alice," he said confidently, lifting up her chin with his hand, "So what did you think of Hogwarts?"
"Enormous, and odd," Alice was not sure how else to express it.
"Odd?"
"Well, odd in the magical sense. Upon arrival, I got to talk to my grandfather's portrait and presumably the previous headmasters who also hung on the wall, and there was a troll…"
"You saw a troll?" Draco said surprised.
"No, but McGonagall was late due to one, and then the moving staircases, an enchanted ceiling, and talk of the job being dangerous, I mean, it was all a bit overwhelming," Alice expressed her feeling of sensory overload in the quickness of her words.
"You'll get use to it, trust me," he took her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, something they did often as sign of affection. Everything had been going right for both of them and they hoped things would only get better.
Alice fidgeted with her hair more than normal this morning, spent an extraordinarily amount of time rummaging through her closet to find something to wear, and she couldn't decide whether she should bring her netbook, not knowing if there would be much down time during the lesson. She would be heading to the Ministry of Magic for her first Apparition Lesson. An owl post had arrived from the Ministry earlier that week explaining the six-week summer intensive course that Headmistress McGonagall enrolled her in. Typically Hogwarts students take a twelve-week course in their sixth year of study; that is if their seventeenth birthday falls during the school year. For Alice, however, she would be meeting for six hours every Friday for the next six weeks. Spending the next six Fridays at a place she did not have fond memories of was not her idea of a good time. She knew this was why it took her a longer time than normal to get ready; she was a little anxious to go back there. She remembered leaving the Grand Atrium with Draco after the trial and hoping she didn't have to see the inside of that place again. She knew more people would recognize her there than anywhere, and she'd also be on her own, surrounded by magical people, doing magical people things. She hoped she wouldn't appear as clueless as she felt.
After a small session of meditation, something she did less and less of these days since the trial, Alice gave herself a final look in the mirror. "Well, just try your best to blend in," these words gave her minimal encouragement as she tucked her wand into her bag. Draco had offered to take her to the Grand Atrium, but Alice insisted that she go alone, for the learning experience. She knew where the telephone booth visitor's entrance was and felt if she didn't start doing more of these outings alone, she may never become comfortable with maneuvering the magical world. Draco was extremely proud of her initiative, though he did make her promise to call him by mobile if she got lost or encountered any problems. Alice had bought Draco a pre-paid mobile phone last week and spent the better part of that evening explaining to him how everything on it worked; and she thought she asked a lot of questions. Of course, simply having a quick line to Alice made Draco feel much better. It was not that he thought she was in any imminent danger; he just had less trust in people, knowing full well what dark wizards and witches were capable of and the notoriety Alice had already gained for herself in their circles. The simple ability to call Draco was also a comfort and joy to Alice who never realized how much she took this muggle technology for granted until the only other option was sending a post by owl.
She took the tube into city center and found the downtrodden street that had the unimposing red telephone booth on it. After she stepped in, she removed the parchment that had detailed instructions on how to use it. Picking up the dirty telephone receiver and placing it not too close to her ear, she dialed 62442, which spelled the word "MAGIC." A witch's voice began speaking, but not through the phone, from somewhere in the booth. Looking around curiously, Alice replied with the necessary information, "Alice McNally for Apparition Lessons." A silver badge popped out with her name and purpose on it and shortly after the booth began to descend like a lift, taking her down to the Grand Atrium.
It was warm outside, a typical summer day in London, and it felt nice to be dressed in lighter attire - a very conservative blue chambray shirt dress and the most comfortable wedge platform sandals she owned - though, as Alice stepped into the atrium, she debated whether she should have dressed differently, seeing how her muggle attire always stood out to a certain extent amongst the sea of long robes and tailored suits. As she exited the booth, she was swept along with a flow of people; Ministry workers making their way to their various offices. Her course was set to start at 8 am, which she thought was probably also the start of the work day. She moved to a spot in between two fireplaces to check her parchment for the classroom's floor and room number. The paper was continuously illuminated by green light coming from the fireplaces as workers flooed in.
She read, "Department of Magical Transportation, level six, room 608." "Okay," she thought, "I need to use the lift." She looked back over the crowd and it seemed most people were headed through a set of golden gates and she remembered the lifts were behind them. These gates acted as security for the workers but since she was a visitor, she would first need to go to a security checkpoint to be searched and have her wand registered.
Alice showed her silver badge to an unpleasant looking watchwizard who was dressed in peacock blue robes and sitting on raised stool. He rose from his spot and mechanically waved a thin, flexible golden stick over Alice's front and backside, a Probity Probe, making her feel like she was getting searched at the airport with a dowsing rod. It stopped on her bag.
"Wand," the man requested staidly.
Alice quickly reached into her oversized bag, searching for the thin stick. At first sweep, she couldn't find it so she brought her bag in front of her to get a better angle, giving the watchwizard a goofy smile as an apology. "How embarrassing," Alice thought; she felt like her wand was intentionally hiding from her. She pushed aside her wallet and book, removed her netbook, which took up the most room, and after a few more seconds of frantically searching she pulled it out. This wasted time was much to the displeasure of the watchwizard as he grabbed it from her abruptly; a small line of visitors had started to form behind her. He then dropped her wand into a brass machine which vibrated to produce a piece of parchment from a slit in its base. This parchment contained information on her wand, its wood, core, and how long it's been in use. "I guess I'm now dog tagged in a way," Alice thought to this practice. After placing her wand back in her bag, since even the Ministry's security couldn't restrict a wizard's right to carry their wand, she headed through the golden gates.
After waiting momentarily for an open lift, she noted the violet paper airplanes flying above her and the small goblin dressed in a highly tailored suit next to her. She reminded herself not to stare at anything or anyone, especially when both the airplanes and goblin accompanied her on the lift. A lady's voice called the seventh floor's name and Alice waited as passengers got on and off. She encountered a look of recognition from a young witch but luckily she said nothing. Finally, the sixth floor was called and Alice sidestepped the goblin and made her way down a large hallway, following the numbers on the doors, "607…608." Stepping into the waiting room, Alice was reminded of going to driver's education school when she was 15. In most of the chairs sat teenagers, presumably those whose birthday didn't fall during the school year and were there to either take lessons or the certification test. Before Alice even approached the apparition window, a raspy voice of an old witch called out to her, "Name?"
"McNally," Alice said discretely after going forward, she flashed her badge.
"Group C, wait to be called," the woman croaked, a quill next to her had already checked off Alice's name on a piece of parchment.
Alice quickly went to sit in an open chair; it was wooden without any cushions. She was unsure how long she would have to wait so she pulled out the book from her bag and began reading, though her mind couldn't really focus on the words. More of what she presumed were students filtered into the room and found open seats. They were all younger than her and Alice had the odd thought that she'd encounter some of them in the hallways of Hogwarts next year. She continued trying to go through sentences of printed text.
A boy with dark brown and slightly unkempt hair occupied the seat next to her and seemed interested in the book she was reading since she noticed he peered down at it twice. After the second time, Alice looked at him, he appeared to be around seventeen, though his outfit was overly tailored for his age.
Alice's brief glance suddenly gave him leeway to talk, "Haven't seen you around Hogwarts, what school do you go to?"
"None," she said, trying to be honest and then thinking perhaps she needed a haircut or something else to age her before she started teaching again.
"Oh," he realized maybe she was a little older but that didn't deter him from flirting, "So where did you go to school? By your looks, probably Beaubaxtons, hey?"
She had no idea what he meant, "Nowhere you'd know I'm sure," she said politely, hoping he'd not push for information.
"Ah American I presume by your accent, visited there with my dad once," he said proudly, sounding like it was an accomplishment, "Spent a week in Massachusetts, he was contemplating buying the Fitchburg Finches, but it wasn't a good deal in the end. Already own the Tutshill Tornadoes. The name's Pryce, Broderick Pryce. Yours?"
"Alice," she said feigning a smile and not feeling like divulging her last name. She assumed he was talking about quidditch teams by their names, meaning he must be from an overly wealthy family.
"So, Alice the American," he continued, overly amused, "You missed out on Apparition classes at school too?"
Alice replied, "You can say that." Obviously this kid didn't know who she was which actually gave her mild hope that people were either forgetting what she looked like or never heard of her.
Broderick continued cheerfully, "Unfortunate for me, my birthday falls in the summer months. Not sure how they do it in the states, but it means I get to spend my summer here playing catch-up. Shouldn't be too hard though, considering I play chaser for..."
"Group C! Group C!" An old man opened a side door and called, giving Alice a reprieve from listening to anymore of his boasting.
"Well, that's me," she said optimistically, quickly packing her book in her bag and standing up, hoping to leave the talkative kid behind her.
"Me too," he said, "Looks like we get to do this together."
Forget that idea, Alice thought as she entered the room along with about fifteen other classmates. Not surprisingly, they were all teenagers.
"Broderick!" A young man noticed his friend as they were entering the hall, "Thought I'd find you here. Who's that?" He said quietly; he saw his friend talking to Alice prior.
"An American," he whispered, "Not bad hey?"
"She looks familiar," his friend said curiously, but not sure why.
The instructor called, "Now everyone find a seat. There's one for everyone." They had entered a large empty room that had just enough uncomfortable wooden chairs for them to sit on. "We'll go quickly through some information and then get into training. My name is Wilkie Twycross, I'll be your apparition instructor for this summer course." Alice wondered how many courses this man taught, he was extremely old, with barely any hair left on his head. "You should all be aware of the rules of apparition, it's illegal without a license and also dangerous because you risk splinching. In order to ensure safety, I heed you all listen to my instructions. But there is a medical emergencies unit located in the Ministry in case of any calamity."
Alice's nose scrunched at the possibility of a medical emergency and she raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss McNally, I presume," the instructor knew from McGonagall that she'd be in his class.
"I apologize for asking Mr. Twycross, but what is splinching?" She felt completely daft but more so she wanted to know what she was getting herself into before attempting it. The entire class turned their heads to look at her and most, minus Broderick Pryce, recognized that she was indeed that woman whose face was constantly in the pages of the Daily Prophet awhile back. Additionally, they knew about her relationship with Draco Malfoy, who many had as a substitute Potions professor at Hogwarts.
"Ah, valid question and expected, splinching is the separation of random body parts that can occur during apparating. It occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. This is why lessons are most prudent and why a test is necessary to get your license. We will concentrate on the three D's: Destination, Determination and Deliberation. One must be completely determined to reach one's destination, and move without haste, but with deliberation. Now I want everyone to repeat after me, Destination, Determination, Deliberation."
The class repeated these three words several times per the instructor's request.
"Now everyone please go and find yourself a hoop on the side wall and space yourselves throughout the room." Everyone rose from their chairs and did as the instructor requested, finding the metal hoops along the wall and spacing themselves out.
The thought of disconnecting any parts of her body made Alice's stomach uneasy. "Was he serious?" she thought as she picked one of the metal hoops from the pile. She believed there were really too many sadistic practices in the magical realm.
Broderick's friend nudged him and whispered, "Can't believe you chatted up Professor Malfoy's girlfriend."
"Huh?" he said confused picking up his hoop.
"You heard me!" he said hushed, "She's Dumbledore's granddaughter, from the trial."
As if a light bulb switched on in his brain, Broderick's face turned a bright shade of red and he made sure to distance himself from Alice when they spaced out.
Alice kicked her hoop in front of her and then listened to Mr. Twycross's instructions, ever more skeptical about this destination, determination, deliberation business.
"Everyone have their hoop in front of them? Okay, the inside of the hoop is your destination. Concentrate continually on your destination. You must be determined to move your whole body from outside the hoop to inside the hoop. Always do so with deliberation. Destination, determination, deliberation…"
Alice now understood how difficult this would be. While most of the youth in her class had started learning to cast non-verbal spells, she had only recently mastered some childish charms from grade three. Utilizing her mind to do anything magically, sans the use of a wand, was way beyond her current level. All she could do was think of herself standing in the hoop, though she felt this act was akin to daydreaming. "Was that enough?" she thought. Obviously not since nothing happened. Not much was happening for the rest of the class either which surprised her. Mr. Twycross continued to go over the three D's, rewording what he already said to try to make it sound like he was teaching something new. Alice quickly realized learning to apparate was squarely placed on the shoulders of the individual trying to do it. As with most magic, it was to mould the mind to do the trick. At least she was not a complete disaster at riding a broom, even though she warned Draco that she was an awful car driver when she first learned. She realized now that it was much easier to direct an object than oneself.
After several hours standing around and thinking of being in their hoops, they were given an hour lunch break. A majority of the students decided they'd have time to run to Diagon Alley for some fast food and were off as quickly as Mr. Twycross said the class was dismissed. Alice packed a simple peanut butter and jam sandwich to hold her over. It was a comfort food and a staple from childhood, probably due to the fact that it was the most competent lunch her father could make after her mother passed away.
Alice gathered her bag and wanted to find a quiet space to keep working on a PowerPoint presentation for a lecture she would be giving at a Science and Technology conference that Sunday in Edinburgh. Admittedly, while staring at the hoop for past few hours, she found herself thinking over her presentation. She felt guilty about letting her mind wander from apparating, but it happened.
Leaving the Apparition Testing Center, she decided to check out the lobby and reception area of the Grand Atrium for a place to sit and type, seeing how every other level had offices and was probably completely off-limits to her. Heading off the lift, she was caught again in a flurry of witches and wizards heading out for their lunch break. She rounded a gigantic fountain that had statues of gold in its middle, having not paid much attention to it earlier. The lobby and reception area was on the opposite end of atrium. It was reminiscent of a hotel lobby with several leather chairs and small side tables, the aesthetic matching the features of the atrium with polished dark wood floors and peacock blue lighting. There were several places open to sit, but she decided on a seat off to the one side, hoping not to direct attention to herself. Taking a quick bite of her sandwich, she booted up her netbook and began going through her PowerPoint slides; changing a few things she thought about during the lesson. "No apparating, but at least I'll be more prepared for Sunday," she mused as she completed it. She finished off the rest of her sandwich and looked up from her position. It was the middle of the lunch hour and the lobby had become rather quiet, for most people had met their intended parties and left the premises. Feeling curious, she got up to take a closer look at the massive fountain. She always had an interest in public art, and seeing a new fountain brought back fond memories of her fountain finding frenzy in Rome two years ago. She went with two grad school friends; all of them had visited Rome before so fountain finding was a new take on it. They found thirty by the end of the weekend, taking pictures and documenting each one.
The figures towered over her and she was impressed how finely gold leafed they were, although part of her wondered whether they were actually solid gold. There was a witch, a wizard, a goblin, a centaur and a house-elf, all on equal footing. Water shot out from various orifices creating a great splashing sound that Alice could hear now that the atrium was empty. A small engraved sign on the base read, "All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethren will be given to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries." Alice assumed this meant magical folk also threw coins into fountains; "Did they also make wishes?" she wondered. Amused but without any galleons, Alice removed a pound from her wallet and threw it in. "A little muggle charity," she thought amused. She also found her mobile phone, wanting to take a picture to add to her collection. She first realized there was no coverage at all here which was disconcerting, perhaps it wasn't allowed? Turning on the camera option, she moved back and held it up to get the right angle, the image of the fountain coming up in her view finder.
Before clicking the button, a hand quickly pushed her phone down, it was Blaise Zabini. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said, his voice instantly reminding her of being interrogated by him weeks ago. "I could have you cited for violating your contract," he added.
"For taking a picture for my personal collection?" she asked wide-eyed, thinking he couldn't be serious.
"Your device could fall into the wrong hands," Blaise remarked.
"I doubt it," Alice wondered if he was just giving her an unnecessarily hard time because he could.
"What is your business here?" He asked suspiciously.
"If you must know, I'm taking Apparition Lessons," she regrettably placed her phone back in her bag.
"A little fast on your magical agenda, isn't it?" he said rudely.
"It was by request of Headmistress McGonagall, I'll be teaching at Hogwarts next year," she replied with equal smugness.
"Humph, Muggle Studies no doubt," he repressed a laugh while crossing his arms over his chest.
"No Divination," Alice replied sarcastically, resisting the urge to roll her eyes and wondering where his discontent came from.
"Don't let the Slytherin students give you a hard time. Subtract house points when needed, usually gets them to fall in line," he said almost encouragingly. "Well, I'll no doubt see you at the Malfoy's event. Send Draco my regards."
"Sure, will do," she replied, surprised that the conversation ended pleasantly. After he walked away, she looked back up at the fountain, thinking once more of the wish she made before tossing in her coin.
More Ministry of Magic employees were returning from lunch prompting Alice to check her watch. "Time to return to staring at the floor," she thought as she reluctantly turned to reenter the golden gates, flashing her silver badge at the disgruntled watchwizard who gave her a scathing look on her way in.
The remaining hour of class was much the same as the first few. The three D's reverberated from Mr. Twycross's mouth and Alice tried her best to concentrate. One blond witch in the class had success at the end of the day, much to Mr. Twycross's delight. She apparated once but couldn't repeat her actions. Alice, along with the rest of the class, wondered what they were doing wrong.
Two in the afternoon could not have come around any sooner for Alice when class was dismissed. Mr. Twycross reminded all of them to remember the three D's and never attempt to apparate without an experienced witch or wizard nearby, in case of accidental splinching. Again, it took only seconds for most students to leave the classroom with Alice following slowly behind; but, she was stopped by Mr. Twycross.
"One moment Miss McNally," he said before she reached the door, "I'd like a word."
"Sure," Alice said, wondering what it was about.
"I understand you're very new to magic, which could make apparition a more trying a task. I just wanted to let you know that if there are no results in several weeks time, you will be given extra lessons as requested by Headmistress McGonagall."
"That's very kind sir, I will try best in the allotted lesson time, however."
"That's the spirit," he said cheerfully.
Alice politely made her adieus and secretly hoped she'd get this before having to succumb to extra lessons. She then exited the same way she entered the Ministry, through the telephone lift in the Grand Atrium. Once she made it back to the muggle world, noting the relief she felt by being in the familiar territory of a dingy London backstreet, she decided to ring Draco who asked her to call when she was finished.
"Hey," she said, after hearing his voice.
"Well, how did it go?" he asked, happy to hear she made it safely through the day.
"Felt like watching paint dry, this apparating business is going to be hard I think," she said.
"It takes time for everyone, I'll have to give you some points on it later."
"Hopefully more than just three D's," she laughed.
"Oh, you must have Wilkie Twycross as your instructor," he noted, having had the same man teach him.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"No one can forget him and the three D's," Draco laughed.
"I guess not, so how's your presentation coming along?" Alice asked while waiting to cross the street.
"Almost done," the conference where he'd be receiving his gold medal was the following week and he would be presenting his research as well as giving speech at the award ceremony. "What about your presentation?"
"I'm pretty ready to call it done too. Just need to practice a little before we go." Alice had planned to take the train up to Edinburgh but Draco said that was nonsense and he'd apparate her close by to save time and the cost of a ticket.
Draco added, "I hope you're still up to going dancing tonight."
Alice's face lit up and she felt like she radiated heat from her cheeks, "I can't wait. I'm heading to the West End now to dress hunt for the party but I'll be home after that. You can call me when you're ready to come over." With the International Alchemical Conference fast approaching, so was the Malfoy's celebratory gala and Alice still had not found the right dress for it.
"Will do, have fun shopping," he said, knowing full well she would.
"I think I need it after staring at the center of a hoop for five hours," she laughed, "Talk to you later."
That afternoon a little shopping acted as therapy for Alice who walked store to store searching for the dress. Though she was no newcomer to dressing up and had enough little black dresses to go to cocktail parties all week, she had not been to an event considered this formal. It would need to be a full-length gown which she had never worn before. Trying these garments on in the fitting room was a unique experience, as were the price tags. Thank goodness for plastic, Alice thought while checking the tags. A few hours and several stores later she found it, a dark blue shaded silk gown with unique asymmetrical straps and an empire waist that had beaded detail at the bodice. She hesitated about the color, although dark blue centered the dress, it did flow into a lighter blue at the bottom and top. She wondered if she should go with something more basic like black, though no other dress she came across felt the way this one did. After one more look in the mirror, she knew, this was it.