Chalk Colored Cheeks
You know that bizarre myth about twins, one is always the devil and the other is some sort of a saint. How about the strange mind link that muggles are so sure is a fact. As any twin will tell you, it’s a very misleading myth, and it gets old. The Malfoy twins are no exception to this. Even in a world full of magical twins suffer from an attachment that they cannot control.
Hogwarts was going to be different Eloise was sure of it. She loved Draco but to be constantly compared or connected was tiring. Everyone did it their parents, their friends, and even strangers. It was always the same ‘Draco why won’t you be more like your sister’ or ‘You’re Draco’s better half, right?’ They had no idea how miserable it made them feel.
Though Eloise was so sure it would be different this time, Diagon Alley was slowly diminishing her hope. The strangers in the shops cooed at the twins like they were dolls or some sort of collectible. An idea of individualism popped into her head in an instant, they should split up. Despite her parents' wishes for them to stay together while shopping, she needed to get out.
“Draco, I have a wonderful idea.” she sang.
Draco gave her a puzzled look and replied “By wonderful do you mean troublesome?”
Eloise bit her lip at the accusation and continued “We should go shopping separately”
He gave her a horrified look and then looked at his shoes. Eloise knew the thought of disobeying their father shook her brother to his core. She put her hand on his shoulder to reassure him.
“El you know how angry father will be if he finds out.” he pouted, keeping his eyes locked on the ground.
She sighed knowing how protective their father was of her, ‘Eloise, my joy you can’t play such a dangerous quidditch position’ and ‘Go practice your piano, it’s not safe to go wandering off alone.’ Annoyance did not even start to comprehend her feelings on the matter. Quidditch was her dream and her father was trying to squash it. When they played at home, she dreamed of being a Beater for team Ireland one day. They did not even have enough friends to play a team, but they could pretend. Eloise tried to explain to her father that she does not wander, she is exploring.
“How about this” She proposed. “I’ll get my owl alone and I'll meet you at the robe shop. Mother and Father will never know we split up.”
“Fine, but don’t take too long” He muttered looking up at her.
Eloise went left towards Eeylops Owl Emporium and Draco went right towards Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. Eloise had walked in the shops and was bombarded by the sound of owls some cooing, another shrieking. She squinted her eyes trying to adjust them from the bright outside to the dark shop.
It was quite overwhelming so many owls to choose from, she had so many eyes on her. The smaller screech owl eyed her cautiously. She approached him accidentally startling the poor creature. As she backed away from the screech owl she rammed right into another cage. The brown owl in the cage did not shriek or attempt to get away. He made a calling sound to her as if he were saying ‘hi.’ He was the one for her and they had a bright future ahead
Eloise approached the blonde witch at the front, placing the cage on the counter. The witch smiled at her while ringing up her purchase.
“That will be 10 Galleons, love” the witch informed her.
Eloise handed her the money she fetched from her coin purse and grabbed her owl from the counter bidding the witch goodbye.
Eloise faced back to the way she came towards the robes shop; she was so excited to show off her new pet. While caught up in her excitement, she was not paying attention to the people on the street. She accidentally rammed into Someone falling to the ground barely catching the cage in the process.
Looking up to see who she ran into she was met with a pair of doe-eyes, the more she stared the more detailed they got. She examined the owner of those eyes with utmost detail. The boy was about her age, he was quite short but still managed to be a couple of inches taller than her. His head was covered with tidy blond hair. His round face was scrunched in concern for her, and his eyebrows were knitted together as if thinking of something to say.
All of a sudden Eloise was talking a mile a minute “I’m so sorry! Are you hurt? Is my owl okay? Draco is going to kill me if father doesn’t kill him first!”
The boy looked at her with wide eyes and then talked in a soft voice “I’m fine honestly.”
Eloise continued to ramble almost to the point of tears, staring at her owl with a crestfallen expression.
“Everything is going to be alright, please don’t cry.” he consoled “Are you hurt? Do you want me to get help? My Gran is nearby at the cauldron shop, she can help”
Eloise was suddenly grounded as the boy worried for her, she got off the ground and dusted off her jumper.
“No no no, you don’t need to get your grandmother I'm fine.” she reasoned “I just have to get back to my brother before my parents find out I'm gone.”
Suddenly Eloise started toward Madam Malkin’s only stopping when she heard a voice call after her.
“Wait.” the boy from before called “I didn’t catch your name”
She turned quickly and smiled “I’m Eloise.” then took off again.
He smiled back at her and shouted “Neville!” and then his voice turned soft as he reaffirmed “my name is Neville.”
Eloise continued to Madam Malkin's without incident this time, and before she knew it she was there.
On her way to the door she passed a giant man waiting by the shop, he intimidated Eloise by his side alone.
The man noticed her and bellowed “I’m sorry love, am I in your way?”
The kind tone of the man reassured her and her dear evaporated as she smiled back at him.
“Not at all sir.” she reassured “I’m just looking for my brother, inside the shop.”
As the man went to continue a scrawny boy with messy raven hair came out of the show with a scowl on his face.
“There you are Harry; I was just talking to miss Malfoy here” the man smiled at the boy “Harry" before noticing his frown.
Eloise made a small gasp at the man knowing her name but said nothing else. She eyed Harry for a moment hoping he would speak.
Harry’s frown was replaced by a sheepish smile as he spoke “Oh hello, I'm Harry and you are miss Malfoy?”
She giggled at the formality “Eloise Malfoy” before continuing “Speaking of which, was there a boy in there, blonde hair, grey eyes, kind of annoying.”
Harry laughed at her before speaking again “Ya actually, why?”
“He’s my brother, I'm sorry if he was rude, I got all the manners in this relationship.” She explained.
“No worries, I know how annoying family members can be.” he laughed
“Well my brother is expecting me, so I must go” Eloise replied leaving Harry and the man behind as she walked into the shop.
She walked into the shop and was instructed to the stool next to her brother where she had assumed Harry had been standing before.
“There you are, finally, I was getting worried,” Draco whined from the side.
“I’m here now, so you don’t need to whine about it.” she rolled her eyes.
“How long does it take to get an Owl and come back?” he complained.
She sighed nipping at her lips “I met some people, had some social interaction for once.”
Draco scrunched his face up “We have social interaction, we have each other, Crabbe, Goyle, Knott...”
“You know what I mean you, big baby, there is nothing wrong with more friends” a metallic taste filled her mouth.
Draco crossed his arms in a pouting motion “What do you mean friends? You barely talked to them El”
As Eloise went to reply the bell of the shop rang revealing their parents in the doorway. Lucius kept a blank face making no attempt to acknowledge his children. Narcissa on the other hand nodding to her children and smiled.
“Mother! Father! Look at my owl” Eloise shrieked in excitement.
“Eloise my joy, what did we say about yelling. Look what you did to poor Madame Malkin, apologize” Lucius reprimanded as he pushed his cane into the ground.
Her smile dropped and was replaced by a polite frown “I’m sorry Madame Malkin, I won’t do it again.”
As Eloise and her brother wrapped up their fittings, she zoned off thinking. She thought about Hogwarts, the boys she had met, Slytherin house, and most of all leaving home. A tapping noise brought Eloise out of her daze, signally it was time to leave.
For the rest of their time in Diagon Alley, she didn’t care about going to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor or Racing brooms. Eloise wanted more and she had no idea how to obtain it, as she was the girl with everything.
It was really at that moment that Eloise knew telepathic connections between twins were fake. If they were real Draco would have felt her sense of unbelonging and confusion, maybe he would have helped. Sadly, he paid no mind to his sister or her feelings at the moment, he was too excited to look at racing brooms than to care. Having a twin was supposed to be easy, a built-in best friend, but they couldn’t be more different.