Author's note: Thank you for the lovely reviews, I was actually nervous because the chapter was away from the usual plotline. Now I've realized that I accidently said that it was before Christmas and before New Year's Day….let's change that considering the fact that this occurs during school time yes? Good. Well let's see it was around the beginning of spring, all those frivolous holidays passed before Sirius maybe? . Neither important nor relevant I suppose, just know that this is before the Quidditch game.
~Of Silver and Gold~
Chapter 20: New Observations and New Faces
Draco and Blaise flew down, both worn down after another challenging race, they sure were competitive he had noticed. Draco wiped his brow with his sleeve and felt his heart beating heavily against his ears. He was oblivious to Blaise staring at him.
"What you want Blaise?" He asked after finally noticing.
"Draco, have you noticed your sister as of lately?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Are you clot? I see my sister every day." He replied.
Blaise rolled his eyes and began to walked towards the mansion once more. Draco immediately knew that he meant it in another way, and he followed him immediately.
"What did you mean? Come on Blaise" Draco asked wanting to know.
"Well, have you noticed she's getting you know….girly?"
"Well wasn't she before?" Draco asked amused.
"You tosser, I mean like…prettier?" Blaise asked tentatively.
Draco's expression changed.
"You're barmy" Draco commented. "But watch yourself, if you screw up, I'll make sure to botch any chances you will ever have with her" Draco warned.
Blaise nodded and was glad that his dark skin prevented him from showing a deep blush. He walked in awkward silence with his best friend and sighed in embarrassment.
"Why now? Like out of nowhere?" Draco asked. "I'm not denying the idea of you wooing her you know, it'd be nice to have you in the family Blaise, you know if you manage to tie her down"
Blaise shrugged.
"She's different, teases more often than usual, and she's I don't know different" Blaise said frustrated.
"Who's different?" a light feminine voice asked.
They both turned to see Angel eating strawberries in a bowl with a frown on her face and Pansy at her side with a half hearted smile.
"No one" they both said.
Both girls looked at each other and shook their head.
"What brings you here Pans" Draco asked his girlfriend.
She walked over and kissed his cheek lovingly.
"Well Angel called me to not only ask for a sleepover at my home, but also to take her shopping."
"You owe me" Angel replied.
"Deeply sorry" Pansy said.
"What happened?" Blaise asked.
"She broke my wand" Angel glared at Pansy once more while Pansy had the chance to look sheepishly.
"Sorry" Pansy muttered.
"How you might ask?" Angel continued dramatically, "She had this fashionable spell apparently to decorate my wand from France in a more fashionable way. It ended up being on fire!"
Pansy was blushing from embarrassment, while the boys began to chuckle.
"I feel useless without my wand" Angel commented eating a strawberry sadly.
They heard footsteps only to find Narcissa and Pansy's mother Holly Parkinson, and Blaise's mother Isabis Zabini walking beside Narcissa with shopping bags. As they saw their children, they smiled seeing them together.
Holly Parkinson was a tall pale woman, with hair always up as to show her aristocratic features. She was an old friend of Narcissa, and they both aided one another in the conquest of their husbands. She had continued the tradition of naming children after flowers with Pansy.
Isabis Zabini was thought to be the most beautiful witch in the entire Wizarding world. She used to be an African queen, and her name Isabis, meaning beautiful was very fitting for her at a young age. It seemed that when she was Angel's age she was kidnapped by Blaise's father who was entranced by her beauty. She fell in love with him, but after their child's birth, and his death of illness she remarried six other times, but no one would ever attain her heart like her first husband, Blaise Sr., had.
"What's going on dear?" Narcissa asked.
"Pansy broke my wand, I feel withdrawal" Angel whined.
The mothers frowned knowing that without a wand, witches usually felt useless. Her moods would swing from amused to anger, to depression, but worse of all that would mean her magic would be all over.
"We need to head towards Ollivanders I suppose, wouldn't want you to destroy the house. Come now, we'll return shortly" Narcissa said.
Pansy frowned slightly feeling bad, but as she felt Draco squeeze her shoulder, knowing that maybe it was for the best.
"You didn't know, now come on, how about you join Blaise and I for a little trip yeah?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"I am horrid at flying." She replied "I'll go drink tea with mother and Mrs. Zabini to await their return." She said.
She smiled and kissed Draco quickly before running off towards her mother's location where tea would be served soon.
"So what we were talking about" Draco began once more.
Blaise groaned.
"I shouldn't have said anything to you, you git" Blaise said annoyed.
Ollivander's ….
Angel looked around surprised at how dimly lit the shop was. The walls were covered with boxes and boxes which what she thought were filled with wands. Narcissa pushed her softly to walk towards the desk and she looked around.
"Don't worry dear, I got my wand here" she said.
She hit the bell and suddenly and old man popped up. He made her jump and she looked at him somewhat nervously.
"Hello, oh Mrs. Malfoy good to see you again" Ollivander said smiling.
"Lovely to see you too, now my daughter has had her wand ruined and she needs a replacement as soon as possible before she destroys my house" Narcissa said.
He nodded and began to look around.
"How many years has she had the wand?" he asked.
"Three, but now she's dealing with withdrawal" she commented frowning.
"Hm…let's try this one" he said and handed her a twelve inch, hawthorn wood with veela hair.
She switched the wand and she was thrown backwards. She handed him the wand somewhat dazed and waited for the other painful wand. Getting a wand was a painful process as she had learned, rather than actually destroying the shop, she would be the one in pain. Narcissa had once commented that maybe it was that she didn't match her previous ones.
"Miss Malfoy, what is your birth date?" he asked.
"December 12" she replied.
"Ah…Elder wood, that explains it" he said. "You know Miss Malfoy; Elder Wood is usually for feminine qualities, and thought to be of feminine gender. Celtic calendar, states that its planet is Venus and the element is water, such as your Slytherin self."
"I heard it protects you and heals you from dark magic" Narcissa added with a small smile.
"Bright as always Mrs. Malfoy" Ollivander said charmingly. "Here we go, Elder wood, dragon hair, and twelve inches" he said.
She swooshed it and it gave her a shock making her wince at the pain. He frowned and wondered.
"Hm….this is the last elder wooden wand I have" he said "10-inch, Elder wood, horned serpent core for the intellectuals" he said.
She nervously took the wand and she felt warmed going through her. She felt warmth going all around her and swished her wand only to repair some boxes from previous wizards that were there. She looked down at the wand and saw how beautiful it was. It was a cream color, for the bark of the tree was dyed to royal blue while the handle was a designed to be handled at a curve and the stone at the bottom to symbolize the serpent. She smiled at how fluid it seemed.
"Finally" Narcissa said looking at how the wand was swirling with magic around Angel.
"What a rare thing indeed" he murmured.
"What is?" Angel asked.
"It's sister wand…never mind" he said smiling. "Glad to be of assistance"
Angel smiled, paid her three galleons and walked out of the store. She failed to notice how Narcissa had stiffened up at the comment. The sister wand, that wand she remembered belonged to Amourette Holmes. Seemed that no matter how she tried to make that child hers, it would never be complete.
They both walked through the streets and chatted on and on about nothing in particular, but Angel could not help but think that the wand was quite interesting considering how horned serpent was not always used and not even native to Europe. She shrugged it off just glad that she had her wand, a new one, but a wand nonetheless.
"Come, dinner should be set" she said tugged her towards her and Apparated her.
As a small plop was heard in front of the gates, they began to walk towards the mansion.
Angel's eyes looked up and saw Draco and Blaise racing around, while in the deeper part of the gardens were Pansy and the women drinking tea awaiting them.
They immediately walked towards the table in the gardens.
"Lovely of you to stay" Narcissa said smiling.
She sat down among her friends, while Angel sat beside Pansy as they began to chat. Tea, Merlin she despised tea, it was well…her cup of tea, thus she looked out towards the games going on.
"Pans, why don't you go play with the boys?" Angel asked.
"I'm horribly clumsy on a broom, wouldn't want to embarrass myself in front of Draco." She replied.
Angel smiled at her sympathetically.
"Hey, do you think I can stay with you tomorrow?" she asked.
Pansy immediately nodded.
"Absolutely why?" she asked.
"Well, I don't want to ruin boy's night" she said. 'And I don't want to deal with father' she thought.
Pansy smiled brightly.
"Oh goodie, then I get you." She said. "Let's go pack"
Angel laughed and was tugged along by Pansy towards the mansion. Their laughter caused the boys to look down and stop their game to see them go off. Draco smiled seeing her sister cheerier than prior times with his girlfriend, but he knew some things had changed. She was no longer cherry; more subdued and less…childlike, it was as if she had grown up more. He had to say he was disappointed that she was no longer his little sister bothered him, she didn't need him that much anymore.
"Stop looking at her Blaise" he said not even wasting energy to stare at Blaise.
"You git, how did you- I didn't" Blaise said insulted. "Whatever, let's play"
They went off to chase the snitch trying to get better at Quidditch. They had to beat Harry Potter, they needed to.
Angel's Room…
She was amused at how Pansy would be easily excitable, but a thought crossed her mind. As Pansy packed for her, she laid on her stomach on the bed and studied Pansy. Many called her pug-faced but in reality Angel thought she was quite pretty. She had long black hair, and a straight thin nose, which people called snobby. She remembered there was a time where Pansy's cheery attitude matched hers, of course this was because Pansy never experienced the hardships that she had experienced in a mere two years.
"You ready?" Pansy asked.
Angel nodded and she grabbed her bag and walked downstairs towards the floor network. Pansy and her chatted along the way only to stop once they saw the boys heading inside, after all playing was no fun in the dark.
"I'm sure we're going to beat Potter this year, we've got to" Draco said excited and confident.
"Absolutely, that git won't know what hit him" Blaise replied just an enthusiastic.
As they saw the bags, Draco raised his brow.
"Leaving me after only one day?" he teased.
She shrugged half smiling.
"Going to have a girl's night at Pansy's" she replied. "I suggests you invite your trolls Crabbe and Goyle and have a boy's night there."
"And where do you think you're going" Lucius drawled.
Angel turned around and frowned.
"Why can't I-" she began.
"We have company, two of our old acquaintances" He replied before she could finish. "Pansy, you have a lovely evening, you too Blaise, you're mother's are waiting" he said.
Both Pansy and Blaise knew that this meant that the Malfoy children were not able to be with them. Pansy and Angel hugged, and waved goodbye. Angel was wide-eyed as Blaise walked over and hugged her and she waved half heartedly and confused as he walked off only to be teased by Pansy.
"Get ready, you both look dreadful" Lucius ordered.
Angel ran immediately towards her room and direct towards her closet where she took out an emerald dress. She sighed slipping it on and pointed a wand to her hair trying to fix it. She despised this whole process, but she knew that it would be impossible for her not to when it was what the children with power did. She mumbled slipping on her shoes and then muttered a spell for makeup.
As she opened her door, she noticed that Draco had finished at the same time. They smiled in relief and they grabbed each other's arms to walk downstairs towards the dining room. They forced a polite smile as there were two guests.
One looked downright cheery, but his eyes showed differently, the smile never reached his eyes, while the other woman looked like a downright giant.
"Hello dears" Narcissa said smiling.
"Igor, Olympe, these are our lovely children: Draco and Angel." Lucius said.
Severus nodded their direction showing his acknowledgement while both the woman named Olympe walked over and hugged them both, and the man named Igor shook their hands. Dinner began and they began to quietly listening to the adults talking. They heard things like:
"Such a shame Draco could never go to Drumstang, he'd be a very good asset" to "Angel would have been an exquisite mademoiselle for our academy dear Narcissa"
They rolled their eyes but ate their meal never peeping in; after all it would be rude.
"Yes well this year it shall be held in Hogwarts, five years since we've seen you. Shame your son is not older, he could have been good competition for our champions" Igor commented.
"Excuse me, but what is being held at Hogwarts?" Angel asked curiously.
Lucius glared at her knowing that she was out of place, but she wanted to know.
"No need to give her that look Lucius," Igor said.
He smiled at her making her shiver slightly.
"The Triwizard Tournament of course" he said. "It happens every five years and this time it takes place in Hogwarts"
Draco and Angel were surprised but said nothing else. Then it ended, and they said their goodbyes, for they needed to get a goodnight sleep for tomorrow where the game would take place. They were invited to the ministers box by Igor himself and they smiled politely and left.
"Scary aren't they" she mumbled.
"Absolutely" Draco replied.
"Night" she said.
"Night, sorry you couldn't get your way" he said.
He kissed her forehead and closed the door of his room, making her enter her own and do the same. She knew where she now stood, her father was pushing her away, testing her limits to see her break the contract, but she would not, she could not.
As she laid in bed, she found herself staring at the ceiling wondering just what mess she had gotten herself into. She knew in the long run it would be worth it, but it was painful to realize how much harder her life got. Sighing, she forced herself to get some sleep.
Meanwhile…
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,
We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from
Harry about my son Ron.
As Harry might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place
this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets
through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
I do hope you will allow us to take Harry to the match, as this really is a once-in-a lifetime
opportunity; Britain hasn't hosted the cup for thirty years, and tickets are
extremely hard to come by. We would of course be glad to have Harry stay for the
remainder of the summer holidays, and to see him safely onto the train back to
school.
It would be best for Harry to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the
normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I
am not sure he even knows where it is.
Hoping to see Harry soon,
Yours sincerely,
Molly Weasley
P.S. I do hope we've put enough stamps on.
Harry looked up at his uncle and couldn't help but ask.
"So - can I go then?"
Harry saw Uncle Vernon's face began to get red, and then purple then his moustache hair began to bristle. Harry knew that it wasn't the best timing, but it was too good to be true. He knew that his uncle was thinking about it. If Harry was happy, then it would go against all that his uncle stood for, but if he allowed it he would be free of the freak. Harry was hoping that he'd be allowed to go.
"To get you out of the house anything, I need a freak free house" Vernon said.
Harry nodded and walked away glad that he was able to leave the hellhole he had to call home. He quickly wrote a letter to Sirius and he handed it to Hedwig.
"Hey girl, take this to Sirius yeah? Go towards the Weasley's house, that's where I'll be." He said.
He caressed Hedwig's cheek and the moment he opened the window, Hedwig was out soaring into the sky.
Hours Later…
After the horrid time that he had experienced with the Dursley's and the awkwardness of the Weasley's trying to introduce themselves towards his uncle and aunt, they had finally reached the Burrow, and he was able to rest.
He was happily eating dinner with them and he wished he had a family just like this. He then looked up to see Ginny smiling at him lovingly and not even touching her food. He smiled politely and looked down only to hear sniggers from the twins. He blushed not because of Ginny, but because of the situation in general. She was a nice enough girl, but it just wasn't…it was as if she was family.
"Time to bed" Mrs. Weasley said.
"Bed?" Harry asked.
"We'll be getting up quite early" Mr. Weasley replied.
She shooed them towards the bedrooms and he crawled into bed with Ron as they were forced to squeeze.
As Harry immediately closed his eyes, he fell into deep slumber, not knowing that before that he would have been forced to wake up five hours later.