Chapter 9) The Man in the Window

or Giddy

Selected Listening: The Man of A Thousand Faces- Regina Spektor

They exited their little hideaway, smiling and holding hands, every once in a while looking at each other and giggling. During one of these moments, Draco's face went from smiling to stark and he dropped her hand.

She looked ahead to see Narcissa and Lucius coming out of the alleyway of the restaurant. Anastasia similarly dropped her giddiness, moved another half meter away from Draco, and the two walked to join his parents. Nothing in the adults' expressions read that they had spotted the small gesture of affection.

"Are you done? Superb timing. Let's go home," Narcissa said shortly, but the tone was not directed at them.

There was a spark in Lucius's eye, a fire that had been lit by something the man had said to him. He was now on a mission.

"It's only a quick errand, Cissa," Lucius said. "I'm sure Borgin would love a quick drop by and Draco's grown so much since he's seen him last."

"Who's Borgin?" Anastasia whispered to Draco.

"We're going to Borgin and Burkes?" Draco asked, "Now? It's like 9 pm, isn't he closed?"

Narcissa let out an exasperated sigh.

"Borgin? No, he always works late," Lucius said nonchalantly. "If you'd rather take them home, Cissa, I would prefer that over you sighing every three seconds."

Narcissa leered at her husband.

"No, no, we'll go. It's fine," she said, trying to convince herself. "It's fine."

Anastasia trailed behind the Malfoys all the way down to Madame Mulkin's robe shop. They took a hard right into a shrouded alley that descended as they followed the path. Every once in a while, Anastasia would glance at Draco nervously and he would beam back at her, which gave her the confidence to keep walking down the darkened path. Though, she had to keep her hands folded behind her back to avoid wanting to take his.

When they reached the shop, the man behind the counter came out and greeted them "Malfoys? All three…wait, four?" he stared at Anastasia with a leery glance.

Mr. Malfoy quickly engaged him in conversation, mentioning that Dolohov suggested he stop by. Mr. Borgin invited Lucius into the back room to discuss, while Narcissa, Draco, and Anastasia were left to browse.

"Wander as you may, but do not touch anything," Narcissa warned.

Anastasia began perusing the shop, glancing at all the skulls and metal objects through the glass display cases. She wanted to hear what Mr. Malfoy and Borgin were talking about, but it seemed Narcissa was already on that task, having become quite interested in the display cases near the door of the back room. Draco didn't seem to mind the detour and examined a glass curio cabinet full of rare poisons.

Realizing she wouldn't be able to do her own sneaking without looking odd, Anastasia wandered over to a piece of jewelry which lay on its own cushion, unshielded by glass. It was a great necklace of spectacular opals, gleaming with a rainbow of their own design. She felt if she stared at them long enough, she, might fall into one, slowly she reached her fingers up to stroke one of the stones—

"Anastasia!" Draco grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled her back. She gasped in surprised at his closeness. "Did you hear what mum said? Don't touch anything."

"It was—it was just…" she had heard Narcissa. She didn't know what it was about the necklace that made her forget those instructions. Draco pulled up a large paper label dangling from the display by a string.

"It's cursed. One touch and you would have landed us both in St. Mungo's…possibly for eternity." He whispered. She stared at him, baffled at how close they had come to death in that unthinking moment. Draco wrapped her once more in an embrace. "Bloody hell, you scare me sometimes."

Anastasia let him hold her for a second longer, and pushed him away, smiling shakily. He seemed to have forgotten his mother was across the room. She leaned to check Narcissa's reaction and found that the woman had not moved from her vantage point, ear still perched towards the door. If she heard them, she hadn't shown it.

"Why is she bothering?" Draco asked, now also watching. "There's likely a silencing spell on the door."

"Maybe she knows a counter spell," Anastasia whispered and moved to a spot on the window to gaze out of. At least there, she wouldn't be hypnotized by any cursed gems.

She stared out at the street which had grown even darker in the blackening twilight. The grey stones and walls of Knockturn Alley glowed a sort of indigo in the evening jewel tones of summer, and few people walked about. Those that did seemed incredibly secretive, not wanting to be seen at all.

A very tall man in a gray button-down shirt, slacks, and a battered black jacket walked across the courtyard. He looked up at Borgin's, stared at the illuminated window where the two teens lounged, and then made direct eye contact with Anastasia.

The man narrowed his eyes, flicked his tongue, and walked away.

Anastasia turned to Draco, who returned his attention to the poisons display.

"Did you see that?" she asked him. He glanced briefly out the window.

"Blokes are weird around here…wouldn't worry about it too much," he said nonchalantly.

"He was coming towards the shop, he looked directly at us, and then turned the other way and left," Anastasia emphasized.

"He saw you and left. If you're coming to Borgin's you usually wouldn't say what you wanted to buy in front of the daughter of the headmaster of Hogwarts and former grand mugwump."

"Would people around here know what I look like?" Anastasia asked. "And I swear he looked at both of us."

Draco folded his arms, as if he were trying to shrug it off, but his face read unnerved.

The door to the office creaked and Lucius exited with Mr. Borgin. Narcissa jumped away from the front display at the same time Draco jumped away from Anastasia, looking at a large black cabinet in the corner and she continued staring out the window, trying to get a glimpse of the man she had seen before.

"Happy to see you, Lucius. Would your family like to use the floo? A lot easier than backtracking to the Alley."

"Certainly, Borgin. My son and our guest are not quite accustomed to apparition yet," he said. "A few more years and maybe they will not feel so inclined to tail behind me to drop in on a friend."

"It's no problem at all. Ah, young man, I see you've found interest in the vanishing cabinet. Too bad I'm not sure where the other one's gone."

"Oh, um," Draco looked again at the black wooden box with intricate ironwork spun throughout its hinges, "suppose it's in the name."

"Well, that's the thing," Borgin said with a smirk, coming closer, "it's not the cabinet that's supposed to vanish. It's what's in the cabinet that's supposed to vanish someplace else…feel sorry for the last bloke who tried it out…never found him."

Draco eyed the cabinet, impressed, and let the door swing closed.

The next day, Anastasia rose, stretched her limbs, and immediately smiled to herself. A giddy bubbliness had consumed her that only made her ill when she thought about the shocked faces of the Weasley's who had walked in on her and Draco's accidental date.

The date might have been accidental, but this time, the kiss was real.

Anastasia readied herself and went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Draco was already sitting at the table, sipping a cup of tea. When he saw her, he grinned ecstatically, and tried to cover up his smile with another sip of tea. Mopsy served her a plate of pancakes and she sat down across from Draco.

She couldn't stop smiling if she tried.

"Where's the paper?" Anastasia asked, looking around.

"Mum said it didn't come today, something about an interruption in service," Draco shrugged.

"Oh," Anastasia commented. "I was hoping they'd have some sort of information about the World Cup."

Draco spent the meal explaining all sorts of things he saw at the World Cup when he went with his family when he was younger.

"It's a shame you're not coming with us. Do you really have to go to the ginger house? Especially after how they treated us last night?"

Anastasia turned crestfallen.

"They've been expecting me, and Harry and Hermione will be there too. I need to go and explain myself a bit…" she trailed off, wondering how they would react to the news, Hermione especially.

Draco's gaze stared at her soberly.

"You don't have to explain anything to them, Anastasia. Your personal life is your business."

"What's this about a personal life?" Narcissa asked as she swept in. The two exchanged panicked looks of determination, in which they decided nothing.

"Oh, classmate stuff," Anastasia excused. She wasn't sure how she felt about Narcissa discovering that she was dating her son. She expected the woman would be happy…but there was something so embarrassing about it all. "I think I'm going to repack my things…"

"Make sure to bring your dress robes, dear," Narcissa remarked, "it's on your school list this year."

"School list?" Anastasia asked. She took the parchment letter from her godmother and Draco peeked over her shoulder.

"Huh, wonder why we need those?" Draco asked. "Did your father say anything?"

Anastasia paused.

"Grandad did mention the event…I'm guessing the same reason your father said Durmstrang is visiting, but he never mentioned formal wear. Neither did Minerva," she commented discerningly, but she saw a smile play at Narcissa's lips as she took another sip of her own tea.

"You know something, don't you?" Anastasia asked.

"Young magics should have some sense of formality by the time they graduate. It's a reasonable requirement. Glad to see that they've made a wise decision," Narcissa said, taking another sip of tea.

There was an implied "for once" at the end of Narcissa's comment that Anastasia didn't take kindly.

"Packing," she said, and left the room.

Anastasia turned down the hall to go to the loo before ascending the stairs, and when she emerged, she found that a panel was sticking out of the base of the stairs.

A secret room.

Anastasia crept closer to the crack in the door. Through it she could see artifacts of various degrees of magic stacked to the ceilings. There were piles of books and iron instruments, and several objects emblazoned with a symbol of a skull with something winding out of its mouth. A giddy Lucius Malfoy smiled and hummed to himself. He moved to leave.

Anastasia jolted back into the bathroom and emerged again innocently. When she did, the door behind Mr. Malfoy was sealed as if it didn't exist at all.

Lucius Malfoy glared.

"Aren't you happy to be returning to your blood traitor brethren today?" he smirked to himself as if there were more to the joke than she realized, "I'm sure they'll be as pleased to host you as we were."

Anastasia felt a heat flush to her face and tried to take a deep breath. She had to be brave instead of letting Mr. Malfoy get under her skin every time they crossed paths.

"I'm sure they will be," she vouched. Although, with what happened the night before, she wasn't so sure.

"Right…well…ta ta…" he said and began to walk away down the hall.

But Anastasia felt she couldn't leave things there. No matter how secret, she and Draco were in a relationship, and she would eventually have to bear civil terms with the man. She forced herself to leave on a high note.

"Thank you," she pushed out of her voice and attempted to smile, "for your hospitality, Mr. Malfoy. It truly was a delight."

Lucius turned slightly and gritted his teeth.

"The pleasure's all ours."

After Anastasia finished stuffing all her new belongings into her rucksack, Draco coerced her to the game room to teach her pool. She vaguely listened as he explained the rules and performed the "break" which he said was important. She tried to focus, but it was very difficult to take her mind off what happened. She had the sickening feeling that Lucius's giddiness over his secret room had something to do with his conversations with Dolohov and Borgin the previous night.

"Now, once we teach you how to shoot, we can really play." Draco handed her the cue stick and she tried to line it up as he had done originally, but she couldn't quite get her posture right.

He laughed.

"It's not funny, Draco," she said.

"Sorry. Here, let me help." He came around her back and took hold of her wrists, helping her adjust the angle and anchor her stance. He slid one hand down her right arm to her fingers where he adjusted those too. Anastasia felt her breath hitch. The scent off his skin was alluring, and over her shoulder she could see his mischievous smirk.

"There, now just like that." He helped her hit the ball in front of her. The white one bounced off of the purple four, and the ball rolled slowly into the back corner pocket. He looked back to her, and she realized their faces were only inches from each other.

Anastasia and Draco slipped so easily into snogging that it felt as if they'd done it for centuries. His hands on her waist and shoulders, she dropped the pool stick and tangled her hands in his hair. They might have stayed there all afternoon, but the loud, forced clearing of a throat brought their makeout session to a stuttering halt.

The two jumped apart. Narcissa stood in the door with her fists on her hips. Anastasia's face burned as she stared down at the pool table. Draco kept one arm around her waist as he tried to smooth things over with his mother.

"Uh…surprise! Stasia and I are dating. Isn't it great?" he chimed in a strained tone.

"Why yes, I'd say that's fantastic news…though your father might need some time to adjust. How long has this been going on?"

"Since uh—" Draco panicked, his grip curling into Anastasia's side "—since last night. Not long at all. I mean, we had to do something with our time while you two had boring adult conversations. And erm…could we maybe not tell father until at least…Christmas?"

Anastasia looked up, a little less panicked than before. Narcissa's softened smile proved she was taking all this in good humor.

"Very well…I'll let you inform him in your own time. But I don't think you'll be back for Christmas this year," she remarked.

"Why not?" Draco asked.

"Exciting things are happening at school…" Narcissa twittered with a grin, started to leave, and then stopped herself in the door frame, gesturing to them with her finger, "until then, if you want to keep this private, I suggest keeping your hands off each other."

She flitted away without explaining anything more.

Draco relaxed, noticed Anastasia inching away, and then, despite his mother's directions, pulled her to his side completely.

"Well, that takes care of that," Anastasia said, smiling sheepishly. Her thoughts still reeled with the way all the adults seemed to act around this odd school event that no one bothered to elaborate on. Draco smiled down at her serenely.

"Suppose it does. It's no surprise though. Mum adores you. I've never seen her so happy to have a house guest."

Anastasia smiled and leaned into his side.

"Do you think your father will ever come around?" she whispered.

"Hopefully…one day…he'll have to at some point," he tried to reason, but was having a hard time convincing himself. Draco straightened his bangs with his free hand.

Anastasia liked how he said at some point. It implied that no matter the tyranny of Lucius Malfoy, Draco planned for their relationship to last quite a while.

And for that, Anastasia became giddy once more.