A Tale of Two Dragons: A Dramione Story

Chapter 1

Three Years Ago

[Daily Prophet, page 4]

From Riches to Rags to Riches!

Malfoy's Magical Matters, the largest sensation in Diagon Alley since the establishment of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, has hit an all time sales high. It has become quite the popular site among Hogwarts students, muggleborn witches and wizards, and artifact collectors alike. Collector and customer Scurfy McPea stated to Daily Prophet interviewers that he has "never seen such ingenuity. We all get tired of being sold self-inking quills, but here you never see the same thing twice. Every time I come I find another invention the wizarding world has never known it needed." The owner, Draco Malfoy, 20, lost all standing and wealth along with his family during the height of the wizarding war due to his association with You-Know-Who. However, with the success of his artifact shop on the rise, a new legacy is being carved into his family tree, offering hope to all who found themselves in disfavor. When interviewed, Malfoy told the Daily Prophet "I enjoy my work. Nothing makes me more proud than creating something that can be loved."

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Present Day

It was 7am, the best time of the day.

Draco sat up in his bed and leafed through the planner on his bedside table.

To Do:

Send patronus beads to Chang

Feed rats

Gringotts sale, vault 2056, 3pm

Brew more Quick-Floo, almost out

Enchant the last of the notebooks

Fix electricity receivers

Meet Dewey Sloapes, noon

Yell at the new stockboy

Copy sales reports

Draco sighed. Far too many things to do today. But he really was running low on stock, and needed to spend some time looking for those willing to sell. He got out of bed and lifted his wand until his bedsheets had neatly tidied themselves. In his closet hung an array of suits, black, gray, navy, and dark green. He selected his best black suit and shirt, and rummaged through his tie rack, pulling out his favorite purple silk tie, striped with bold white and silver bands. He laid these items out on his bed and cast a straightening charm over the lot, leaving them without any trace of a wrinkle.

After emerging from the bathroom, he opened the window to allow his eagle owl, Ramsey, to come in and take the parcel of empty glass beads to Cho Chang to be enchanted. Now dressed, he headed downstairs into his shop.

He made his way to the back of the stockroom, half of which was completely full with rows of levitating rat cages. He opened a drawer, withdrew a large packet of sunseeds, and started summoning each cage, dropping a dish of seeds in each, whispering "Eat up boys, I'll need you to do your best for me again. We're almost there."

Draco got out his stack of notebooks and sat at his workbench, enchanting each with a protean charm and then an exclusive binding charm. Bewitched ribbons slithered through the air, tying themselves into bows around a set of two notebooks. Amidst his task, he heard a bell ring at the front of the shop. It was the stockboy, letting himself in to ready the shop for the day.

"Ah, yes, Riley, I've been waiting for you," Draco said, turning to face Riley. "Did you or did you not test the set of vanishing cabinets in the corner? They've been due since Tuesday."