<3rd POV>
Not soon after Harry's birthday, the letters from Hogwarts arrived. The letters made their presence known by two owls flying into the dining room during breakfast with the letters in their talons, falling into their respective receiver. Harry and Draco eagerly took their letters from the owls' grips, before opening them.
For a few minutes there was silence as they all read their letters.
SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda GoshawkBreak with a Banshee by Gilderoy LockhartGadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy LockhartHolidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart43 Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy LockhartVoyages with Vampires by Gilderoy LockhartWanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy LockhartYear with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
Tom, who was sitting right next to Harry peeked at the letter before snatching the letter from Harry's grip, ignoring Harry's cries of protest.
"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan of Lockhart... Unbelievable. The guy is a complete idiot, who would want to hire this pathetic excuse of a man?" Tom muttered under his breath.
Most of the occupants had to stifle their laughters.
"So when are we going to Diagon Alley?" Draco asked, folding his letter neatly and placing it at his pocket.
"Maybe today." Lucius replied, "I heard that Maria Zabini is coming to Diagon today too."
"That would be wonderful... Maybe the two of us can do some shopping together, it's such a pity I live with all boys... except for little Rosaline of course... I'm sure I can convince her to buy some clothes..." Narcissa trailed off, lost in her thoughts.
Harry and Draco shared each other horrified yet at the same time terrified looks.
"I on the other hand will not be going, as I have potions to brew." Severus stated. Everyone else quickly agreed.
~
"I have some business to do at Burgin and Burkes. Why don't Draco and Harry go with me there while the rest of you go to Gringotts to get out some money?" Lucius suggested as soon as the doorway to Diagon Alley.
"Agreed. See you Lucy!" Sirius called out before dragging Remus and Tom into the crowd. Narcissa was carrying Rosalie and was following her cousin.
"Did he just - Never mind." Lucius sighed before turning his attention to the small alleyway leading to Knockturn Alley.
"Now be careful the two of you. Don't touch anything."
And with that the three made their way carefully to Knockturn Alley, or more specifically, Burgin and Burkes.
As they entered the dingy little shop, Draco was immediately drawn to a necklace on display.
"Draco, don't touch that." Lucius snapped at Draco who was reaching out to the necklace. Just as soon as Lucius finished talking, Draco seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in.
A stooping man had appeared behind the counter, smoothing his greasy hair back from his face.
"Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again," said Mr. Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair. "Delighted - and young Master Malfoy and young Master Black, too - charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced--"
"I'm not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling," said Lucius.
"Selling?" The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin's face.
"You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids," Lucius told the shopkeeper, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it for Mr. Borgin to read. "I have a few - ah - items at home that might embarrass me, if the Ministry were to call..."
"Certainly Mister Malfoy..."
~
A few minutes later, the three reached the front of Flourish and Blotts. They were unfortunately not the only ones making their way to the bookshop. They saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:
GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
"Is he for real?" Remus asked out loud, finally managing to make his way to Harry.
"Come with me Harry." Draco said, pulling Harry into the crowd. As soon as they entered, Harry, to his surprise, was being dragged by Draco to the second floor of the bookstore, looking at the chaos from above.
Whilst Draco was busy scanning the crowd, Harry was busy buying the books needed, including extra ones, for his potions examination tomorrow.
He nearly jumped when Draco tapped on his shoulder.
"You done Harry?"
Harry nodded before handing off the books he picked for his blonde haired friend. The duo made their way down the stairs just in time to intercept the Weasleys, Potter, along with Granger.
"Bet you loved that didn't you Potter?" Draco drawled out, leaning against the banister of the staircase.
"Famous Evelyn Potter, can't get into the bookstore without making the front page." Harry continued, standing next to Draco.
"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" said Ron.
"Look at that Potter! You got yourself a boyfriend!" Harry scoffed, watching as Ron's face turned as red as his hair.
"Ron!" said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George. The twins sent the two Slytherins a discreet wink. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."
"Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley."
It was Lucius. He stood with his hands on either sides of Draco and Harry's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.
"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," Lucius said. "All those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime?"
He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration .
"Obviously not," Lucius continued. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Weasel or Weaslette.
"What is going on here?" James Potter asked, strutting into the shop as if he owned it.
"None of your business Potter." Lucius sneered.
Sirius and Remus quickly reached the group, taking a look at it.
"It's Mr. Potter to you Malfoy." James drawled, ignoring his two ex-best friends.
"And it's Lord Malfoy to you Mr. Potter."
Harry and Draco hid their laughter behind their hands as Potter's face turned as red as his daughter's hair with anger.
"Oh shut it Malfoy. You're just jealous we're richer than you!" the Potter girl sneered at Harry and his family.
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that... Try checking your accounts, you'll see that Draco's family is much richer than you." Harry suggested.
"Is there a problem here?"
Harry nearly sighed and relaxed at the voice. Tom was known to calm down the atmosphere, or make the tense atmosphere become more tense. But whatever it is, Harry knew that Tom will be able to talk some sense into both Potters.
"Who are you??" Weasel asked rudely.
"Someone who has better things to do than to talk to you, especially after seeing you hang around the half-blood and a ... " Tom ended his statement to turn to Granger, who blushed red due to being under Tom's intense gaze. Tom was a handsome man, with his high cheekbones and tall figure, no wonder he can wrap everyone around his finger.
"Let us go. We need to go now..." Remus ordered.
And with that, the Malfoys, Riddle, and Lupin-Blacks left Diagon Alley.
A/N: I'm Back!! Yeyy! Can someone try to guess which movie/book the phrase 'Oh, I wouldn't worry about that.' comes from? Good luck guessing..
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