Draco and I landed on a semi-busy street in Diagon Alley. Everyone who passed was dressed as we were, with thick cloaks and sweaters. Women passed by wearing a warm looking hat, making me want tone as well. My breath drifted from my mouth in vapory wisps, as if a Dementor were sucking at my soul. The air was so cold that I was shivering, and the fresh snow peppering my dark hair didn't help.
"D-Draco..." I shivered. "I think it's too cold for ice-cream..."
"I think you're right." His cheeks and nose were turning cherry red from the cold. "We don't have to go get ice-cream. I just said that because it was the first thing I thought of."
"But Lucius said-"
"It doesn't matter. I really don't want ice-cream. Do you?"
"No..."
"Then we're not getting any. I want some apple cider. "
"I want a hat." I put my hand on top of my head, which was quickly getting soaked.
"Okay, we can stop and get a hat, then go to The Leaky Cauldron."
"Okay." I agreed, and this time I grabbed his hand, for warmth. "Where can we get a hat?"
"I don't know. IT's your hat." We started walking. "Just pick a shop. Most places have hats."
"Okay..." I trailed off, feeling stupid. I had never really bought a hat. Uncle Severus had gotten me the two I had had. I wasn't with him when he had, so I had never thought about it before. "What about this one?" I stopped at a store window.
"I've never been in here." Draco announced. Of course he hadn't. This was where Uncle Severus had taken me to shop. Draco, no doubt, shopped at up class department stores like the one Scabior had taken me to.
"It's okay, I guess." I shrugged and went through the door. It was almost void of customer's, probably because anyone who would shop here would not be extravagantly wealthy, and anyone who was even Middle Class would be at home with their families on the day after Christmas, instead of out shopping for possessions.
I glanced around, and sat what I was looking for. Sitting in the front of the shop, near the register, was a display of knitted wooden caps and scarves. I quickly made my way to them, dragging Draco with me. I browsed through them, until I finally decided on a black one with a small purple stripe on it. I took it up to the register.
"How are you this evening?" The cashier asked as she began ringing up the cap. I avoided her eyes.
"Good." I replied in a soft voice. She told me the price and I gave it to her from the allowance Lucius had given me before we left. She asked if I wanted a bag. I told her no, took the cap from her. Draco quickly thanked her, and we left. I put the cap on my head. This time, Draco took my hand.
He started leading me down the cobblestone street. He stopped at The Leaky Cauldron, and pulled me inside.
The building was warm and cozy. A fire was crackling in the fireplace. Witches and Wizards were happily drinking and eating in various places. The air smelled of cinnamon and musty beer. Draco brought me forward to the bar. The bar tender looked up.
"What would you like?" He asked. Draco cleared his throat.
"Two apple ciders, please." He ordered for me. "And two cinnamon buns."
"Alight." The bar tender nodded. Draco and I sat down at a table, after dropping our cloaks over the back of the chairs. I kept my hat on. We sat in silence until the bartender came with the drinks and pastries. Draco thanked him and took a drink. I did the same.
"This is really good." I weakly smiled.
"It's warm." He laughed.
'Yeah...' I took another drink of the spicy liquid, letting it warm me. Then, I glanced at the cinnamon bun.
"Eat it." He encouraged .I continued to stare at it. I wasn't really hungry. I never was. "TI's good." He bit into his as an example. I carefully pinched off a piece with my thumb and index finger and popped it into my mouth. I showed a weak smile again. "Do you like it?"
"Yeah." This time, I picked up the whole pastry and bit into it.
And it was good. The dough was sweet and gooey. The cinnamon backed into it flavored it perfectly. The frosting that covered the pastry complimented the rest of it.
I took another bite, and then washed it down with come cider.
"Do you know what I really want?" I propped my chin up with my hand. "Dome Fyrewhiskey . I got to drink it all the time when I Snatched. I miss it. It was so warm..." I looked back at the Bartender. We looked eyes for a moment, then stiffened and looked away.
"Some Fyrewhiskey does sound nice...." Draco admitted. HE raised his hand. "Excuse me. Two FyreWhiskey's please!" The Bartender nodded. Soon after, two filled shot glasses were in front of us.
Draco and I looked at each other, and then picked up our shots.
"Cheers." He said, and then threw it back. HE put it back down on the table, his cheeks flushed and his eyes watering. I could tell he was having a hard time getting it down, which made me giggle a little bit.
Then I threw mine back. It felt glorious; the burning sensation of the strong liquid felt so familiar that I was almost comforting. I put my glass back on the table, feeling refreshed.
"I think I want another." I took in a sharp breath. "Do you want another?" Draco shook his head no. "I do. Bartender? One more, please!" I put my hand in the air as Draco had. This time, the Bartender used magic to make it fly over to me. I wasted no time drinking it as well. "I think I-"
"You don't need another." Draco stopped me. He was back to drinking his cider.
"Why not?" I was defiantly making me feel better.
"Because, if Dad finds out I let you have any of it, he would kill me."
"Fine." I kind of understood, but I still wanted some. But I guess I had to settle for the Apple Cider. I took another bite of the Cinnamon bun before drinking some of it.
We fell into a silence. As time passed, I began to feel funny. Not exactly drunk, although I was a bit tipsy, but... funny. My thoughts were racing, and my heart was pounding. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, and then opened them back up. I did not like this at all.
"What is it?" Draco asked. I shook my head and opened my mouth to reply, only... no sound would come out. I tried again with the same. I tried again with the same results. Panic filled my chest .I couldn't speak. I didn't know why, but I couldn't speak. I began to tear up. "Elle?" I pounded on the table, wide eyed. Then, I pointed to my throat and mouthed,
'Can't'
"What is going on?" He tried again. By this point, I was full on crying from fear and frustration.
'I can't speak' I mouthed.
"W-what do you mean you can't speak?" Draco finally figured out what I was trying to say. "Has this ever happened before?" I frantically shook my head no. "Then what could-"He stop, short, his eyes widening. "You're new Combination! The alcohol is reacting with your Combination! Oh, no..." He covered his face. "Dad's going to kill me!"
'I can't talk!' I tried to yell out.
"We can't let him know?" He went on. I took a deep breath, which sent a wave of heat through my body. It was a hot flash. I had had a few because of the Mark, but the Mark was now a light colored, lightning bold shaped scar. Now it had to be a result of my Combination reacting with the Fyrewhiskey. I felt my face turn bright red.
"Elle?" He asked. I knocked the remainder of my cinnamon bun off of its plate and used it to fan myself. He took it from me. "We have to leave, but... We can't let Mum and Dad know..."
I waved my arms around as if to say,
'How are we going to do that?'
"I know. I know. We don't know how we're going to do this, but we have to get you in without them knowing. They'll be able to smell the Fyrewhiskey on you. We can't let them smell you, either.
I waved my arms again.
"Come on. We need to leave." He got up, put his cloak on, then went behind me and put my cloak over my shoulders. He pulled me up, after laying the payment for the drinks on the table. He took my arm. "We're going." And Disapparated.
We reappeared in his room. I jerked out of his grip and ran to his desk. I grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment.
I CAN'T TALK!
I wrote.
AND I'M HOT! AND TIRED! HELP ME!
When I finished, I ran to Draco and showed him the paper.
"Don't yell at me!" He said, referring to the capital letters. I threw my arms in the air again. "I know you're freaking out. I'm freakng out, too. But we cannot let them know! So stop freaking out! What do you think you need?"
I wrote on the parchment again.
-Pajamas
-Combination
-Melvin
That was all I needed. I handed it to him. He read over it, and then put it down.
"Alright, I will go get them. We can pretend that you got tired and wanted to go to bed. If they ask, you wanted to stay with me tonight, okay?"
'What' I mouthed.
"They can't see you. If they come in while I gone pretend to be asleep."
I nodded my head yes and lay down on the bed. I waited, expecting Lucius and Narcissa to come in, but they didn't. I began to relax, although I couldn't speak. It would end soon... hopefully....
But what if I was permanently stuck like that? That if I had taken my voice away forever by drinking two stupid shots of Fyrewhiskey? I was on medication; it was obvious that I shouldn't have been drinking. I brought this upon myself. I'm so stupid....
I began crying.
I lay on the bed, silently crying, until I heard something outside of Draco's room.
"She's asleep!" Draco frantically insisted. "Don't wake her up! It's been, um, a long day! Please, don't go in there."
"What is wrong with you, Draco?" Narcissa questioned. I heard the door knob turned. I closed my eyes and curled up, trying my best to keep my breathing under control. I heard the door open.
"Eleanor?" I heard Lucius question. I didn't move. "Are you awake, dear?"
"She must have been tired if she's fallen asleep before you even got her Combination to her..." Narcissa said suspiciously.
"Oh, yeah. Really tired. Really, really, tired. That's why we should just let her sleep. She can stay in my room tonight."
"What is wrong with you?" Narcissa asked.
"She can't stay here. She doesn't have her pull up on. We have to get her up. Eleanor?" Lucius questioned, and nudged my shoulder .I tried my best not to respond. "Eleanor, wake up." He tried again. To make everything seem normal, I had no choice but to act like he had waken me up. I rolled over and rubbed my eyes. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" I nodded my head yes. "Just tired." I nodded again. "Well, then, let's go to your room." He tried. This time, I shook my head no and grabbed onto Draco's arm. Lucius frowned. "Come on, Elle." I shook my head yet again, and pressed my face into Draco's arm. Draco let out a shaky breath.
"That's okay. She can sleep with me tonight. She's done it before. If It'll make her happy, just let her."
"Well... Fine. But she still has to put her pull up on." Lucius gave in. We waved his wand and two pairs of night pants flew in. He handed me one and put the other on Draco's night stand. HE took my pajamas from Draco and gave them to me. "Go change. Here's a extra pull up in case you need it tonight. I'll give you your Combination when you come out, and you can go back to sleep. Okay?" I nodded my head yes and did as he asked. Afterward, he gave me my Combination, both parents gave me a kiss and said goodnight, and left.
Draco fell onto the bed, letting out a relieved sigh.
"That's' was close." He covered his face.
I nodded my head.
"Lets hope you can just sleep it off." He put in. I shrugged. "You don't have to go to sleep if you don't want to. " He explained. I shook my head no and pointed to the empty vial on the nightstand next to my night pants. I had already taken my Combination: I would be out in fifteen minutes.
With nothing else to do, I curled up against him just enough to feel his warmth; barely touching him with my back, hugged Melvin, and drifted off to sleep.