𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄

Chapter 8

Chapter 8: "Chapter Eight"

From that day forth, Draco was quite content with the fantasy world he painted for himself in which he was a prince, scattering largess to the populace. In his world, Theodore was a happy, cheerful, well-fed child with loving parents and adoring fans, rather than the little drudge who would sneak up to his room every afternoon after finishing his duties to feast on candies, cakes, and ice cream. Some days, Theodore did not dare to stay for longer than a few minutes in the bright, warm room, and when this was the case, Draco would slip him a packet of goodies done up in paper. As the weeks went by, he began to look into shop windows whenever he went out, searching for things that could be easily concealed. The first time it occurred to him to pick up little meat pies, Theodore went quite faint with hunger at the sight of them.

"Oh, sir," he murmured, his eyes glowing, "these will be wonderfully filling. As much as I adore sweets, they do tend to disappear. These, I'm quite sure, will sit, at least for a little while, and be very satisfying."

They were satisfying, as were small sandwiches picked up from a nearby café, delicious hard rolls with fresh creamery butter, and sausage links. In time, Theodore's sunken cheeks began to fill out, and that lean, hungry look about him gave way for quite a healthy, well-fed sort of glow.

The other changes to Theodore were brought about by the other sustenance Draco could give him, which was the companionship and kindness. Every day, his chores seemed a little easier, he could bear any punishments he received a bit better, and the cold glares and malicious sneers tossed at him by the other students seemed a little bit less painful. On those days where he could only stay for a few minutes, a cheerful, friendly sentence or two was enough to keep Theodore going well into the night. And oh, the days when he could relax on the thick carpet in front of Draco's fire, munching on fresh-baked bread and cool, tart fruit while Draco related marvelous and engrossing stories, those days were the absolute best of his life.

He had been only a very small child, maybe four, when his parents had deposited him at Fudge's school and had gone away, never to return. When they had been killed in an ambush of a party of Aurors, Theodore had immediately fallen into disgrace. All his property had been confiscated, his name permanently blacklisted, and all rights and privileges he had had before were considered null and void. As the Notts had left their son in Fudge's care, it was his prerogative to do with Theodore as he chose. And as he was quite a devout Light side supporter, he considered Death Eaters and any related persons to be more worthless than filth, and treated them accordingly. Theodore had grown up knowing only the world of servitude, and had had the idea that he was quite evil drilled into his head from a very, very young age. It was circumstances like that that made young Draco positively tremble with fury, at the way the Ministry of Magic turned a blind eye whenever anyone associated with the Death Eaters was involved, regardless of age. Had Theodore been removed from Fudge's 'care' and properly educated and 'reprogrammed', so to speak, he might have made an excellent student and possibly a wonderful Auror someday. However, as he was officially under Fudge's guardianship, he had to do whatever Fudge instructed.

As a result of this poor treatment, he had scarcely known what laughter was throughout his entire life. Of course, his parents had never really been the laughing type, so he might not have known laughter regardless. However, as a slave to the master of a boys' school, where he had to watch others having fun while all the while knowing he'd never be able to join them, had left him quite bereft of laughter. Draco, however, made him laugh, and laughed with him, and, though neither of them knew it, the laughter was just as good for them, if not better, than all the most wonderful foods Draco could procure.

His friendships with Blaise and Theodore helped to make the days and weeks pass much more quickly, and, before he knew it, he had been at Fudge's Seminary for almost two years. During that time, he'd shown himself to be a quick study and an accomplished student, a caring and friendly child (although he did have a bit of a hot temper, that had the horrible tendency of emerging whenever the Gryffindors were involved), an excellent conversationalist and storyteller (everyone from the students to the teachers to the cheerful portrait of Godric Gryffindor had been regaled by his stories), and the best sort of person imaginable. He had truly lived up to his pretend status of Prince Draco. While some of the children used the title sarcastically, whenever they were feeling particularly snippy toward the show pupil, most of them believed in it wholeheartedly and used it with a sort of reverential awe. In fact, even Mister Fudge had taken to mentioning it whenever parents would visit in hopes of conveying the idea of sort of a royal boarding school.