Darius Lestrange
Without a second glance, Edith ran onto the sunlight-scarce, cobblestone street, carelessly passing between unassuming characters, her eyes watering at the stench that filled the narrow winding path. The tall terraced buildings of Knockturn Alley towered over her like a gang of dark menacing figures. She weaved through the uncanny shop-fronts and squeezed her body past haggard witches, their skinny arms reaching out, long bony fingers threading between Edith's silky hair. The hags bellowed and beckoned with croaky grunts which Edith thought was strong competition for a garden toad. One could wonder how, despite the commotion, her mind was grounded only, and only on one thought.
That boy.
Edith halted her pace as she grew near the towering stone pillars, which bordered the two London allies, resembling a vast portal separating the two foiling realms. Her feet crept across the invisible barrier as her eyes struggled to adjust to the vibrant tones of busy Diagon Alley.
It was as if Edith had been transported through time and space, from a dark forest to a meadow of colourful wildflowers. The familiar bustling street, which she had annually haunted, stood before her like an old friend, welcoming her with wide open arms.
Dancing signs, intricate displays and delightful laughters enchanted her, all stricken from-the-path thoughts disapparated at once. Including him.
She found her rhythm again as the jolly music from street buskers and shopfronts mesmerised her. A dark skinned gentleman who resembled a hairless hippopotamus sat cross-legged on the cobblestone pavement, melodically tapping an ancient tribal drum, a business-like beam slapped upon his face as witches and wizards passed by him, gold jingling in their robes.
She pressed on and the yells of a newsboy pierced her ears, "Prophet! Prophet! Get ya Daily Prophet here!"
Edith drifted towards the market stall and glanced down at the stack of newspapers laid out, she picked one off the top and began to examine the front page.
'MINISTRY UNDER FIRE OVER UNSPEAKABLES SCANDAL'
The men in the black and white moving picture stared back at her. Edith scanned some smaller writing further down the page which was unaccompanied by a photo.
'TRIPLE MUGGLE MURDER CASE CLOSED'
Edith's heart skipped a beat as the dealers hand slammed the paper back onto the stall. "Oi, you gonna buy that or wot little lady?"
"Ah- sorry sir, maybe next time" Edith chuckled, still facing the vendor as she widened the distance between them.
Her legs paced her backwards slowly and the next thing she knew, Edith was back-to-back with a towering mass.
"HULLO EDITH!" Shouted the pungent-smelling, shanty-dressed giant boy. The joke of Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid.
"Oh, erm, hello Rubeus.." Edith mumbled, averting her gaze anywhere but Hagrid's beetle-black eyes.
"FIFTH YEAR'S GUNNA BE A BUZZ!" He roared. Curly matted locks concealed his face, he sported a worn old trench coat, with tears and loose threads, Edith wondered how he had acquired a garment so large, and concluded that he must have procured the piece from the tomb of a giant goblin. "I CAN HARDLY WAIT!! OH JUMPING GARGOYLES, UH, ER.. FORGOT SOMEONE, AGH- THING.. UHH, I'LL CATCH YOU LATER!"
It was impossible not to notice the oversized boy, as he darted through the street, parting the wave of shoppers like Moses and the Red Sea. Every step he took was comparable to a 8.0 magnitude earthquake.
A subconscious sigh escaped Edith's lips. "I need to find my friends" she thought to herself.
She set off again, passing once more by beggars and buskers. A slim feminine figure, faced away from Edith, clothed in a dark green fitted dress, with black, heeled, leather loafers, stood alone outside Madam Malkins Robe Boutique, this had to be Walburga, Edith thought. She skipped over to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"There you are Wal, I've been trying to find you guys."
But to her surprise, the girl who turned around was in fact, not Walburga, but an unamused young witch who shoved away Edith's hand and strode off, without a word.
"Oh dear, my apologies!" Edith yelled, though she was sure the girl pretended not to hear her.
"There you are Edie!" Beamed the voice of Bonnie.
Edith turned back towards the robe outlet and was relieved to see Bonnies face, followed by Tobias, Walburga and Druella.
"Merlin's wand Edith, you're covered in soot, what in the world happened to you?" Tobias cried.
This was the longest Edith had gone since the moment she laid eyes upon that boy, that she had gone without thinking of him.
She ignored Tobias and the girls, who stood there, patiently awaiting Edith's answer.
Edith couldn't resist it. Her mind blocked out everything. Her friends, the bustling sounds of the street. All outside thoughts were irrelevant. The only thing that mattered was that boy.
Him
Edith shook herself, what was she thinking? It was not like her to have something as trivial as a boy to consume her mind.
"I'm fine, I just ended up.. at Ollivanders, down the road." She held back the truth, for she could not deal with the fuss that would erupt if they knew where she had really ended up.
The cinnamon sweet scent cushioned her as the warm embrace of her best friend blocked her from others. For a moment the world stopped, as she found her place again.
"No matter ladies... and gent..., we should head to Flourish and Botts, I need to purchase some books for History of Magic." Walburga changed the subject.
"Oh, but I could really do with finding the Quidditch wares store, whatever it's called. I want some new gear!" Bonnie fussed.
"Don't you realise Bonita darling, they don't want you on the team. Girls don't play Quidditch. Why can't you get that in your thick skull?" She wavered, Edith was unable to deduce whether she was just sincerely looking out for her friend, as she detected a hint of malice.
"Okay, why don't you two go to the bookstore, and I'll go with Bonnie to the broom shop? There, sounds fair right?" Edith mediated.
"The Quidditch wares shop, STOP if you think you girls are going there without me, think again, it is BOY HEAVEN in that place." Tobias shrieked, springing up and down, clasping his clammy manicured hands together.
"Alright then, see you later ladies." Walburga dragged Druella along with her, leaving abruptly.
Bonnie and Edith turned to face one another, and headed off, hand-in-hand, in the direction of their destination, Tobias elegantly leading the way.
~
They stood outside the store front to Quality Quidditch Supplies for a moment. For they had every reason to be nervous. The shop was bustling, at the busiest day of the back-to-school season, packed with tall, athletically built young wizards.
Edith gulped, her cheeks flushed red as she squeezed uncomfortably past boys she recognised to be on the Hogwarts Quidditch teams, her body pinned against theirs. They jeered and smirked as the out of place triad crawled like harvest mice between their large bodies.
"Retreat ladies, retreat!" Tobias whispered, but it was far too late.
All of a sudden, Edith heard the voice of somebody behind her.
"Sinclair and Selwyn. You're the last two people I'd expect to be here." A sinister, malevolent whisper filled her ears. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and her cheeks flushed a deep scarlett.
"I don't suppose Selwyn can play Quiddy, the only brooms he's mounting are-" another voice called out from further away.
Edith shuffled her body around to face the first voice's owner, she tilted her eyes upwards, and they eventually met those of a tall, dark eyed boy who she recognised to be none other than Darius Lestrange. An unsettling seventh year who frequently teased her when they crossed paths in Hogwarts, usually the Slytherin common room, or in the Great Hall if Edith didn't make it away fast enough after dinner. Darius Lestrange flirted with just about anything female that breathed.
Darius hair was the darkest shade of brown, with curls falling against the side of his head, eyes dark and empty, his complexion no fairer than her own. His pink lips curled into a sinister smirk.
The older boy's long cold finger met the tip of Edith's chin, as she recoiled in reaction. "What is a delicate flower such as yourself hanging around in a place like this? Looking for a bachelor my little Edith?" Darius smirked, pulling Edith's face closer to him.
The tension increased as other Slytherin boys took notice of what was going on, they formed a circle as they ganged around Edith, like a pack of wolves closing up on a deer.
"Slow down boys, she's mine." Darius had gotten so close to Edith's body that there was no more than an inch between them. "Why don't we take this outside, my dear." He whispered flirtatiously, a finger coiling around a lock of Edith's long hair.
"Thats my best friend you're talking to, you gruesome testicle!" Bonnie hounded, fisticuffs raised towards Darius, her expression enraged. Edith knew this was a mistake on Bonnies behalf, as she braced for the boys reaction to plain, boyish Bonnie, sticking up for her friend against Darius Lestrange.
Darius released Edith, a cruel smirk still printed upon his handsome face, he advanced towards Bonnie.
"And who do you think you are? Right. Don't make me laugh now. You're the reason Edith was dragged here." He turned his attention towards the mean looking boys scattered around him. "This one boys, turned up to Quidditch tryouts." He cackled, the boys around him jeering along, sycophantically.
"A fine young lady like Edith, doesn't need a land whale such as yourself, stalking behind her, fending off all bachelors. Isn't that right, Miss Sinclair?" Darius sneered.
Edith turned to Bonnie, she was trembling slightly, a glistening in her eyes, though Edith knew her best friend was brave, she also knew she wasn't bulletproof.
"Leave Bonnie alone Darius, you're a right creep, just stay away." Edith clutched Bonnie's arm. "Come on, let's leave."
Darius grunted menacingly and inched towards Edith, like a predator, his arm raised...
A deeper voice cut in and Darius was stopped.
"Now now Darius, you must remember your manners, did I not teach you any chivalry, any gallantry my boy?"
An even taller, darker figure appeared behind the shoulder of Darius. His voice was a cold charming whisper. His presence commanded the silence of the shop floor instantaneously.
"It would not be prudent of you to lay a hand upon young Miss Sinclair and her friend, would it now?" The man extended his hand towards Edith's, shaking it firmly, and slowly. His skin felt as cold as his voice.
The man was a few inches taller than his son, his skin paler, his eyes enclosed by dark circles. He was sporting a black tail coat paired with a white shirt. His tone business-like.
"Doctor Lestrange, a pleasure, it's been a while I believe Miss Sinclair," His lips curled into a small smirk. "How is your father these days, I know as well as anyone that it's not easy work running the Department of Mysteries, I've heard he is doing a fine job taking over after my departure as Head of Department." He finished.
The dead and absent look upon his eyes reminded Edith of her own father, an unspeakable who had taken over Dr Lestrange's position after he left. She thought it must be the stress of the job that gave the two men those dark cold eyes. There was something about Dr Lestrange that made Edith feel uneasy. Whether it was his intimidating appearance, or how she got the feeling he was trying to assert dominance over herself, much like his son. Edith couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to belittle her father somehow.
"It's nice to see you sir. Yes, my fathers doing well." Their hands parted. The cold look on his face remained.
"Well, what a pleasure it is to have seen you, Miss Sinclair. You make sure my son behaves himself now." He smirked once again. Darius rolled his eyes.
"Come now Darius, we have places to be." The Lestranges fled out of the shop, the silence remained for a few moments longer until some of the Quidditch boys filled it as the passage of minutes went on.
"Why was his dad sort of fine though." Tobias flushed shamefully, causing Edith and Bonnie to squirm uncomfortably and roll their eyes.
"And I thought a guy couldn't get any creepier than Darius." Bonnie murmured, as they trailed out the store.
As quickly as Edith was about to agree with her friend, her mind was once again consumed the image of a boy who was creepier than Darius and his father.
That boy filled every corner of her mind. Why couldn't she get him out? He seemed as arrogant as he was handsome, she thought. No, surely she couldn't be falling for him! She didn't even know his name.
~~~~~~~~