The Mists of Memory

Chapter 5 - Diagon Alley

Draco woke to a delicious smell, which immediately reminded him of how hungry he was. His stomach growled as he stretched and looked around; nothing had changed from the day before. However...

He got up and the mere thought of having to wear Ron's clothes again disgusted him. Although the clothes fit his body well enough, he was too proud to keep wearing them. He had to go buy new robes; although the very thought of going to Diagon Alley was giving him the creeps, he knew he had no choice. Luckily, he didn't think many people would recognise him. Who would suspect that this vagrant wrapped in a second-hand robe could be one of the richest men in the country?

He put on the warm maroon jumper and the robes, also made in the same sickening colour. Where the hell is your taste, Weasley? he thought, quite disgusted. He then went straight to the kitchen, after having fixed his hair by running his fingers through it; recently, he spent very little time on his appearance, having more important things to do. Right now Draco's most urgent need was to find food, as he was starving—of course, sleeping in such proximity to the kitchen wasn't helping.

'Morning, Malfoy. You're such an early riser!' Ginny's voice called to him from a distance. The young woman was busy cooking what appeared to be tonight's dinner, and she didn't even bother turning around.

'Seems you're an even earlier bird, Weasley. The smell of your cooking woke me,' he said, trying to be polite. He still remembered what he'd done the night before, and he was so ashamed of himself for having shown his weakness... and in front of a Weasley no less.

'If you're hungry, eggs, sausages and rashers are on the stove. You can set up the table and have your breakfast,' she ordered, talking to him without looking at him.

Draco didn't move initially, wondering if he should do as he was told or just stubbornly wait for Weasley to do it for him. He eventually decided that he was too hungry and the wait wasn't worth it. He approached the stove and put two eggs and some rashers on a plate.

'No House Elves, huh?' he muttered as an annoyed frown furrowed his brows.

Hearing that Ginny raised her gaze from the meal, and stared at him in surprise. 'You won't find House Elves here, Malfoy. First of all, we don't have enough money to own one.' She noticed that Draco was sighing at her words and added, 'Besides, Hermione would never agree to it.'

Draco rolled his eyes at that and Ginny smiled, watching him walk away from the stove with a plate in his hands and seat himself down at the table. As she had now finished preparing dinner, she decided to be kind and get him toast and orange juice. After that, she wiped her hands on her apron and sighed.

'I'll have to go shopping today. My wand needs cleaning so I'll have to go to Diagon Alley,' she told herself absentmindedly.

Draco's interest in her words grew. 'I'll come with you,' he declared; it seemed more like an order than a request, and this annoyed Ginny.

'Says who?' she retorted, glaring at him.

'I do,' was his curt reply. They stared at each other, both determined not to be the first to look away. But eventually Ginny lowered her gaze and Draco chuckled. 'It's not like I'm looking forward to going out with you, Weasley. I need to buy some new clothes and I've got to go to Gringotts. And....' He stopped for a moment to drink some of his juice. Then he stayed silent, not willing to say anymore.

'And...,' Ginny prompted.

'I have to go somewhere else too,' Draco replied, looking at his eggs with fake interest.

'I'm afraid I'll have to follow you,' she said as she used her wand to order the plates to move to the washing bowl and wash themselves. 'You're a wanted criminal.'