Draco Makes a Discovery
"Nope," Draco instantly declined Nathaniel's idea of taking off without letting his mother know. The last thing he needed was to be accused of kidnapping a Muggleborn. "We are going to tell your mum where we are going first— you'll need money to purchase things anyway."
"Money's no problem!" Nathaniel assured him. He turned around, practically skipping back into the house.
Draco sighed, already exhausted by this kid's excitement and energy. He lagged behind, following Nathaniel back into his mother's room, where the young wizard was rummaging through a purse for some Muggle cash.
"The wizard professor is going to take me shopping for school supplies," Nathaniel explained to his mother who hadn't even noticed his presence.
Mrs. Latson didn't bother removing her eyes from the obnoxious Buffy box. "Bring me back a fizzy drink then."
"Of course," her son acknowledged.
Nathaniel pocketed himself a good bundle of cash. Thanks to Granger's need to jot down an excessive amount of information, Draco knew that the kid had hundreds of pounds in his possession, only half of which he would need, and that's if he bought everything brand new.
Out in the hallway, Draco looked around to see if there were any eyes on him. Neither Mrs. Larson nor Abilene could see what he was about to do. He set his hand on Nathaniel's shoulder, and without needing his wand, he apparated them into Diagon Alley.
When they landed, Nathaniel bent himself over, gulping in air, caught off-guard by the spell. "What in the—" He didn't finish his sentence. As he stood up, his eyes widened, taking in the scene, realizing that he was no longer in his home. He grimaced, clutching his aching stomach, stuck between discomfort and awe.
Draco reached into his suit, pulling out two items. "Here." He handed him the potion first. "This will help ease your stomach from the apparition."
Nathaniel looked like he was going to vomit. He took the potion, wary of it, contemplating if he should drink something given to him by a stranger.
This kid wasn't too brilliant. He was willing to travel alone with a stranger but feared that same stranger might drug him. Draco had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the stupidity.
Hufflepuff.
"It's medicine. I brewed it myself. Perfectly safe to consume."
An exact thing that a dark wizard with ill intentions would say to poison an innocent child. Alas, the kid either trusted him or he didn't, and Draco didn't care either way. It wasn't his stomach that was in agony.
Nathaniel took the gamble. He dunked back his head and gulped down three swallows of the potion before he threw himself forward, spitting out what he had failed to swallow. "Holy Mary and all Christ's angels!" he gasped, horrified. "That tastes like actual piss!" He spit his mouth out a few times, trying to rid it of the foul aftertaste.
Draco tutted, pulling his lips into a smirk, finding Nathaniel's reaction deeply amusing. "I expected as much. " He held out the second item he had removed from his suit. "Most of our cures are foul tasting— be silly to expect fermented animal parts and herbs to taste like a pumpkin tart!"
Nathaniel eagerly took Draco's offering: a spearmint sweet. He quickly unwrapped the hard candy, popping it into his mouth, and aggressively worked up a good amount of saliva to mask the horrid flavour he had just been subjected to.
"Much better," the boy announced a moment later.
First, Draco took him to convert his money. He had personally never used a converter, but Draco had a feeling he'd be visiting this shop quite often during the next three years.
Nathaniel exchanged half his Muggle money into assorted Wizard coins, and Draco explained what each coin was worth.
The first thing on the list to buy was a set of robes. They walked down the street. Draco noticed that people were watching him closely as he traveled with the Muggleborn. Draco made an attempt to ignore the staring.
He then called upon Toogy to buy the books Nathaniel would need while he was getting fitted for a nice set of robes (he could afford it, after all, insisting that his parents wouldn't care about his spending. Draco wondered what they did for living, but he didn't ask).
"That's a neat creature," Nathaniel complimented, speaking about Toogy. "How much does one cost?"
Draco raised up an eyebrow, mildly surprised that he had correctly assumed that house elves had a price tag. "More than you will ever afford, I assure you that."
"So millions then?"
"Almost 400,000 Galleons. Each. My family owns quite a handful."
Nathaniel's eyes bulged. "You're right! That is expensive! So, if you're so rich, why are you working as a teacher?"
Draco busied himself with neatly folding up the newly purchased set of robes and stuffing them into a bag that was charmed to not get heavier when things were added to it.
"That's none of your business." Though, Nathaniel would probably find out soon enough if he took up the hobby of reading the Daily Prophet. Draco Malfoy's punishment was a popular controversy at the moment.
"Probably has to do with everyone staring at you, doesn't it?"
"Let's go get you a companion," Draco muttered, ignoring his inquiry.
To his relief, Nathaniel took the hint. "Oh, like a cat or a toad?"
"Or perhaps something more interesting than those."
"What do you suggest?"
"A white peacock would impress your peers."
Nathaniel made a face. "I'm not a huge fan of birds!"
"Well, go on and take your pick then," Draco said once they got into the 'pet' shop.
Nathaniel walked down the aisles, checking out each animal that was for sale. He finally pointed out something after several minutes.
"This one!" he said, taking down a terrarium from the shelf. It housed a small spider. The tag on it said maratus albus, and Draco stopped himself from releasing a grunt, finding the irony less than amusing.
"This could be a namesake of the former Hogwarts Headmaster in that history book you showed me," Nathaniel informed unnecessarily since Draco already knew this. "But I know it as a peacock spider. I read about them in a book. The beautiful males dance for their females before they mate and get eaten."
As if to prove it, the colourful spider began dancing in a rhythm that reminded Draco of a Latin dance mix with some sort of dodging, duel moves. Draco actually found the dance intriguing — and he wasn't at all a huge fan of spiders, but this thing was sort of… Well, it was cute, if he was being honest. It had shiny, blinking eyes that made the creature even more likable. It also had a furry appearance with its tiny grey hairs, making Draco believe that it had a soft texture to the touch.
"Interesting that you'd warp my suggestion…" Draco noted.
"I'm going to name him Marabus," Nathaniel decided as they left the shop. "A mash-up of his origin name."
Draco didn't think it was a terrible name.
It was time to buy a wand now; the best for last. It took only two wands before a wand chose Nathaniel's hand.
"So I can cast magic now, like a real wizard," he announced proudly.
"Unfortunately, students are only allowed to cast magic at school— because you don't know how to properly control your magical core yet."
Nathaniel pouted. "I have over two months to wait! How can they expect me to wait that long?"
Draco shrugged. That wasn't his problem. "You'll get in trouble if you do," he warned him. "Besides, you could hurt someone. Like your mum or sister. Best to wait."
The boy sighed. "Well, I don't want to hurt anyone…"
"Then you better not cast any spells until you're at school, where there are people who could assist you should an accident occur," Draco stressed this firmly.
Toogy returned with the stack of books and other less exciting supplies that every first year needed.
"Thanks, Toog," Draco said, placing the goods into the bag, advising Nathaniel to take his time reading the books over the duration of the summer so that he was familiar with them.
Draco then suggested that they stop at the sweet shop so that Nathaniel could get a bag of mints to use for when he had to drink potions. He explained to the boy that he always carried a handful on him. Nathaniel thought Draco had a good idea.
Finally, they stopped to get some wizard postage stamps. "If you have any questions, you can send me a letter." Draco wrote down his contact information.
Nathaniel read the address. "You live at the school?"
"For now," was all that Draco answered with.
Nathaniel made sure he got his mother her requested drink before it was time to take him back home.
With his job done for the moment, Draco returned to his dorm at Hogwarts, needing a good, stiff drink. Being exceptionally nice was exhausting.
His eyes slit with annoyance when he stepped inside his room and saw he had an uninvited guest. He would have to force himself to be nice for just a few minutes longer, which was going to be difficult, given who it was that was sitting in his desk chair, lounging there as if they were the best of mates.
"What gives me the privilege of seeing your face today?" Draco asked dryly.
Weasley eyes were sparkling. He was quite enjoying his status above Draco with the latter having to kiss his arse.
"You surprised me, Malfoy," he admitted warmly. "I can't believe you did it, but you treated that Muggleborn fairly decently. I'm really impressed."
Draco should have expected they were going to check up on him. He was annoyed that he was being spied on, but he had no say in the matter. Draco didn't blame them with his back history, but it was still obnoxious to have someone watching your every move. He wondered if there was ever going to be a time in his life when someone wasn't breathing down his back, expecting him to follow their every command.
"Come to give me a medal then, have you?" Draco snipped out sarcastically.
Weasley laughed. "As if." He stood up, reaching into his pocket of his jeans and extracted his hand a moment later. A tiny strip of parchment was pinched between his index and middle finger. "Your next charge," he supplied.
Draco took it, reading the paper. One of Draco's brow flew up. "This is only a name."
"Yup."
"Your swot of a friend gave me an entire biography on the Larson Muggleborn and you stand before me, giving out just a measly name…?"
"Research gives me a headache," Weasley confessed, implying that it was Draco's problem, not his. "Sounds more like a job For an Extremely Repentant and Retired Ex-Deatheater Trainee."
Draco held back a sigh. "Do you even have an address for this precious, little jewel?"
"Nope. I'm sure you'll figure it out though. You're a smart wizard. Smarter than me even, right?"
An ape is smarter than you.
Draco had to bite his lip to keep his sharp tongue at bay. "I'll figure it out then," he muttered.
Measly Weasley was going to be Draco's new nickname for him. Actually, Draco was disgusted that he hadn't thought of it before now.
Weasley's smile widened, splitting his face into two. "I knew you'd see it my way! Have fun, Malfoy!" He released a hearty laugh, finding Draco's predicament completely amusing.
"Thanks," Draco grumbled. He knew well enough that Draco wasn't going to have fun.
Draco fetched himself that drink. He had definitely earned it. Two years ago, Weasley would have been rewarded with a good curse to his bollocks for treating Draco like he just had. Draco had no power anymore though. He had to be a good, little soldier.
He sipped at his fire whiskey, sighing at its numbing effect. He had to limit his drinks to three, knowing he'd probably turn into a drunkard if he allowed himself to lose control.
He closed his eyes, letting his mind get lost in the early days of his childhood when he was the happiest. Back when he had friends, respect and memories that lacked haunting images and sounds.
He set his glass down, having finished his third. Draco readied himself for bed, taking one, last look at the name Measly Weasley had given him.
Hans Bricket
His eyebrows furrowed as something came to his immediate mind. He had seen that surname before. Draco had an exceptional memory. Especially text he had read from books. He searched his mind for what he had read that name from. In his mind, each saved memory was stored on a shelf, safely sealed away in a jar, as if they were potion ingredients. He looked at each jar as he passed them.
The title of a book suddenly came forward: The B.O.S.S by Winifred Thatcher.
The Book of Soily Squibs.
Draco reread the stored text, freshening up his knowledge on the information.
Bricket was once a name that belonged to a Pureblood family, but the name faded away in the early 1800s when the last heir became a Squib.
There was a possibility Hans Bricket was a distant relative of this family.
Draco pulled himself out of the chair with a smug grin plastered to his face, pleased with himself as a solution to his problem became apparent. He knew exactly how he could find this kid. The answer was right here in Hogwarts.