Draco

The dress was bought for a little over 4000 Galleons and the suit for a little less than 5000. I knew it. Pansy tried the whole day yesterday to convince me to switch around the order of the presentation, stating that dresses would always sell for more than a suit and therefore were the superior piece of clothing. I should’ve wagered more than just a round of drinks, just to get on her nerves, but well, a round of drinks was still a win and she would sulk about it anyways. As my father raised from his chair, I raised a questioning brow at him to ask what he wanted me to do, but he just left. I took it as a sign to be free to go and do as I please. I was thankful for being spared to be present at the exit and say my goodbyes to the guest as I already feel utterly exhausted from the interactions with magical folk all day. I made sure to avoid any eye contact as I waited for Pansy and Blaise close to the door that would lead backstage.

As someone cleared their throat, I looked up. I haven’t seen that woman before, but I immediately recognised the dress she was wearing - it was one of my earlier creations. “Oh, sorry, Ms, where are my manners?”, I said in my most charming voice while I slightly bowed. She laughed out heartily, “Oh, dear. Hester Ravens.” She made a curtsy and continued, “I just wanted to come over and let you know how much I’ve enjoyed the walk tonight, absolutely fantastic. I do look forward to shopping at your boutique next month. See you then, Mr Malfoy.” She beamed at me, gave me a small wink and took off towards the exit and I was left in a quite puzzled state, wondering if the shop on Diagon Alley would truly do okay. To be honest, I have never really thought that witches and wizards would want to buy my clothes. Not that they were not stunning and exquisite, I’d just always assumed they would shy away from the name the clothing was associated with. I knew that Pansy and Blaise wore my line in the magical world, I never thought that there were others who’d do the same. I watched the crowd, as it slowly moved towards the exit and the bar and noticed even more people that wore clothes that I’d designed. I felt a small hope sprout although I didn’t really dare to believe in it yet.

“Oi, Malfoy”, a deep voice called out harshly. I jumped at the sudden disruption of my thoughts and twisted my head until I spotted Weasley standing half hidden behind a pillar a couple of feet to the left of me. How did he get so close without me noticing him? I tried to suppress a shudder, that man was freaking me out with his intense stare that felt like he was trying to get under my skin. The guy had the audacity to smirk at me for being startled. I frowned and snarled at him, “What is it, Weasley?”. Wickedness flashed over his eyes for a whiff of a second; it was gone so fast that I wasn’t even sure if I was really just being paranoid like my friends kept telling me. For an unbearable long awkward moment, he just stood there and watched me as I started to twitch a little under his stare. He finally spoke up, “’eard you haven’ been around much.” What an understatement! Since he didn’t continue I nodded briefly, annoyed at the way he seemed to be perfectly fine with his heavy accent. “You should try an’ catch up with what’s been happenin’ around here - lots has changed.”, his voice still low as he continued to stare me down “There’s rumours of a new movement tha’ tries to hunt down rehab pure bloods, blood trai’ors”, he snarled. I flinched at the term, knowing very well that I’ve used the term for the redhead and his family before. He completely ignored my reaction and continued, “Since you bein’ famous an’ all and now coming back tha’ migh’ spark their interest. So, be careful an’ try not to hang out in the open on your own.” If he was trying to spook me, job well done. I guess, I deserved it, but I was still annoyed with this bulky man in his royal blue suit that not only went extraordinary well with the red of his hair but also matched his blue eyes that now rested on me heavily. There was something deeply unsettling in his gaze that I couldn’t name. “I’ll keep that in mind, Weasel”, I snapped, stiffening my back, frowning at him. He took a sudden step in my direction and shrouded over me, lowering his voice even further while also dropping an octave lower, “’ark at me, ferret, I’m dead serious. This is still confidential, so don’ go ‘round and spill the beans, bu’ watch your pretty back.” I stared up at him and searched his face for any sign of deceit, but his warning seemed sincere. His eyes grew darker at his last few words. I felt fright wash over me, but pushed it down quickly, nodding slowly instead while I tried to hold his gaze in the hopes of not showing any weakness. He seemed to relax a little and leaned back out of my personal space. A couple of silent seconds passed awkwardly. Then he scratched the back of his neck and said casually, his voice in his regular tone now, “Proper job, keep it up. Especially liked the suit.” He flashed me one of his uneven smiles. I stared at him utterly baffled and my cheeks blushed lightly. How could he say that like that, after basically scaring the shit out of me with his looming presence and the warning he just gave me? I was lost for words. ”See ya around, I guess.”, he shrugged, turned around and walked towards the exit. I just stood there and stared at the redhead as he left. What was that all about?

“Well done, my friend!”, Blaise called out to me grinning triumphantly and wide. “Shall we hit the bar then? Rewards want to be collected, right?”, he winked at me and shoved an elbow into Pansy’s side who, in response, sputtered in discontent. “Let’s get out of here”, I agreed, forcing Weasley’s unsettling presence and warning out of my mind. Although I would try to be even more careful now.

As I woke up on Monday morning I still felt tired and strained. I shouldn’t have taken Pansy and Blaise to that Muggle club yesterday for a follow-up celebration. A headache throbbing behind my forehead. I needed coffee, badly. Maybe I should take the time to pick up a sober-up potion on Diagon Alley before heading to the Ministry. Coffee in hand I headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. With a second cup of coffee and mail in hand, I stepped onto my patio about twenty minutes later. My eyes fell on a black envelope that was lying on my garden table, with no address nor stamp. I assumed an owl had brought it here, although I wondered who’d send mail via owl here especially with that choice of colour. Tossing aside the Muggle letters, I picked up the black message, tearing it open and pulling out a black sheet of paper. With red dropping letters, it read, “You’re next, blood traitor”.

With shaking hands I sat across from Gawain Robards who examined the letter with great interest, “My men already expected that you might get threatened, in fact, we wanted to contact you to arrange a meeting today after your other appointment at the Ministry. Unfortunately, this has reached you before we could inform you, but to comfort you, this was a plain threat with no harmful magic. So nothing befell you when you’ve opened it.” I sighed and felt a small relief settling in my chest, but I was still worried. “What kind of people are they?”, I asked Robards, trying to not say anything that would lead him to expect Weasley already had warned me before. Robards frowned, “Well, unfortunately, we still do not know a lot about the movement’s members or whereabouts, but I’ll hand the letter over to our experts and we’ll sure find out something about them from this. Let me ensure you that eradicating these dark mages is our Aurors’ top priority.” Although this was surely comforting, this was not going to calm me or my racing thoughts. What happens if they try to attack me next time instead of just threatening me? What happens if they attack me while I’m in the Muggle world doing my job? Would they go after my parents? I sighed in tense frustration. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard about our new Division of Personal Protection. It’s inspired by the bodyguards of the Muggle world and our men are focused on keeping potential victims safe and sound while our Aurors focus on hunting the bastards down.”, Robards announced proudly. “Well, as far as we can tell, you are currently the person who’s most likely to be targeted by the movement.” I felt my throat close in fear as I gasped for air. Even though this was somehow expected, it was still a shock to hear these words spoken out loud by the Head of the Aurors. “No need to worry though, Master Malfoy, we would like to assign you our best man and head of the division for your protection and investigation, if you’d agree.”, Robards beamed at me, like a proud father looking at a child opening its Christmas presents. I blushed and looked down at my still somewhat shaky hands. “We’d make sure that our protection has as little impact as it can on your personal life. The man has a good reputation as well, he’s just returned from duty at the Muggle Royal House, so don’t you worry.”, the man continued a little sulky to my lack of enthusiasm over his words. I sighed and nodded worriedly, “If you’re sure you want to offer your protection to me of all people -“. “Great, that’s settled then. You can return to your appointment then, you’ll be picked up once you’ve finished.”, he cut me off with a satisfied grin across his face. “If anything happens, or you need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact our on-call duty”, he slid a card across the table. “What about my parents?”, I finally managed to ask. “As I said, Mr Malfoy, we are pretty sure that the movement would try to get to you specifically and are not after your parents or friends”, my eyes grew in shock at his words. I haven’t even thought about Blaise or Pansy being in danger. “But”, he said as he noticed the panic in my eyes, “we, of course, will also keep an eye on people close to you, wizards or Muggles.”

As I walked out of Robards office half an hour later, I saw Potter and his partner, I assumed, waiting across the door. I stiffened a little, but nodded politely and started to walk down the hallway. “Morning, Malfoy”, Potter said and his partner added, “Don’t you worry, Mr Malfoy, we’re gonna catch those lunatics”. Potter smirked and his partner winked at me as they stepped into the office behind me. I gaped at the closing door for a second, before shutting my mouth again and hurrying to my bi-weekly report. What was that about? Why were they being nice? I was glad Potter was still with the Aurors and not going to be one to look after me. It would be weird to be around the Saviour, especially since our animosity was still not completely set aside. Although I felt safer already of the promise of someone capable around myself and the people I cared about, I also grew anxious remembering the long months I was constantly being watched by the Ministry before. I didn’t like the memory of that, always being watched by judging eyes making sure to remind me of all my wrong-doings of my earlier years in life. I prayed to the Gods that it would pass quickly and that I was worrying too much. I also hoped that the Personal Protectors, as they were called, would truly not be too intrusive and, above all, not constantly judging me, or reminding me of who I used to be. Subconsciously I grabbed onto my left arm where the Dark Mark was fading on my skin.