Green Eyed Monster | Draco Malfoy

59. Patented Daydream

Chapter 59 - Patented Daydream

Two days after I was woken with my Hogwarts letter, we were headed to Diagon Alley. I was glad that we were allowed to go, even though Mrs Weasley was trying to convince us it was too dangerous; but I needed new robes and Fred and George's new shop was on the list of places to see - and even the new and unimproved me could not turn that opportunity down. Without seeing them who would make fun of me now that I had still gotten Prefect after murdering someone? Or who would properly congratulate Harry on becoming Quidditch Captain for me? I knew that even at my best, I couldn't properly appreciate that one.

When I walked down for breakfast that morning, Mrs Weasley seemed very stiff and nervous about our trip...and then she abandoned that to start fussing over my eating. Maybe that made her feel better - so with that thought, I accepted the hassling. I was hardly sitting down before Bill placed a full bag of coins on my empty plate, giving me a smile. I assume it would have been easy to see my confusion, but he decided not to answer the unspoken question and allowed his mother to force feed me instead. When I was allowed to breathe between bites, I was able to finally peek into the bag of coins - it was more money than I had taken out in the past three years.

"Er - what the hell is all this?"

"And where's mine?" Ron complained at once, looking longingly over my shoulder into the sack of gold, silver, and bronze coins. I quickly did up the drawstring so he couldn't gawk and drool in the food he was leaning over.

"That's already Audrey's, idiot. Here, Harry," Bill tossed a bag to my brother as well. It looked just as swollen as mine did. "I got it out of your vault for you because it's taking about five hours for the public to get to their gold at the moment, the goblins have tightened security so much. Two days ago Arkie Philpott had a Probity Probe stuck up his...well, trust me, this way's easier."

"They're really using Probity Probes?" I asked, fighting a tired smirk.

"A little too loosely, if you ask me," he said, trying to withhold a smile himself. I loved Bill, he was one of my favourite Weasleys - just below Ron, who was under Ginny, who was second to Fred and George. I wished the twins would have been here to catch our jokes, but was comforted by the thought I'd see them later today.

"Thanks, Bill," Harry commented, continuing with his food - clearly not getting the joke, either.

"'E is always so thoughtful," Fleur Delacour - a rather painful person to look at for both my own insecurities and my own history - was stroking Bill's nose and looking love struck again. Ginny pretended to gag behind her, making my brother choke into his cornflakes.

By the time breakfast was done, people were ready to go. Mrs Weasley implored that I bring Circe, so I was sure to grab her some treats while I went upstairs and tried to look decent...but looking decent was practically impossible nowadays. I was clean and showered, my clothes were fresh and unwrinkled for once, but there was no calming my hair or fixing my ghastly looking pallor. I think I had tossed and turned so much in my excess of sleep that I had permanently bent my hair in more directions than it had ever before stood.

The murky day around us made the Weasleys and I stand out more - our red hair burnt like a beacon to draw unnecessary attention. There was a Ministry car waiting at the front of the Burrow for us, too. I had seen a car like this once before - that car had proved to cause a lot of trouble four years prior.

"It's good Dad can get us these again," Ron said with a smile while he showed how he could stretch out in the back as the car took off. The car had been expanded so that Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and I could all sit comfortably in the back seat. I still kept Circe on my lap for my own comfort, but something told me that we could have made room for her too.