(HP Đồng nhân Eng) Seven Years Too Late

Chap 12

"Come on, Megan. Why don't you try on this one?" Draco held up the vividly colored blouse he'd plucked off the rack.

They were in one of Draco's favourite shops on Main Street. It had been there for less than a year, but even in that time the store had gained a rapid popularity, carrying an eclectic mix of clothing, furniture and various bric-a-brac.

It was doing a pretty brisk business today and Draco had been about at his wit's end thinking of something to entertain Megan.

They'd already practiced some simple magical spells, brewed a first year potion and then driven into town to walk around and do some shopping. This was probably more than Brody would have approved of, but driving over to the mall in the next town would have undoubtedly sent him over the edge and the shopping center on the other side of Little Whinging held little appeal to Draco.

So browsing down Main Street had been the proposal Draco had made to the girl. Megan had agreed, almost as if she'd believed she had no choice. Probably because everything that had happened in her young life lately had definitely not been her choice. The girl was so excruciatingly sad is was heartbreaking.

"What do you think?" Draco waggled the padded hanger and the purple and blue tie-dyed fabric seemed to shimmer a little. "It'd look great with your coloring."

Megan's lashes barely lifted long enough for her to look at the blouse. She'd hardly spoken five sentences all morning. Not that she was rude, inordinately polite, if anything. "I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but I don't have money," the young girl all but whispered.

Draco tossed the blouse over his arm and crouched down in front of Megan. "Well, I do," he countered gently. "And I love to shop. This is a gift from me so all you have to decide is if you like the colors." The blond wizard looked at the clothing rack, which was actually an old fashioned phone booth with pipes sticking out of it at all sorts of odd angles. "Or do you prefer something else?"

Megan's fingers lightly touched the fabric, as if she couldn't quite resist. She finally leaned forward a little and kept her voice lowered. "Mr. Brody doesn't take me out shopping," she said almost inaudibly.

"I'm not Mr. Brody," the Slytherin whispered back. He squeezed Megan's thin shoulder. If Draco accomplished anything today, he was going to get a smile out of this girl. It also kept his mind off the fact that when Harry had left his house that morning, the Gryffindor had said nothing whatsoever about calling or seeing him again. He, of course, hadn't wanted to make an issue about it in front of Brody, so the blond had cowardly said absolutely nothing. He'd just watched Harry walk out the door. It had been a dismaying moment of déjà vu.

"Well? Want to try it on?" Draco questioned the girl to keep his mind off these confusing and discouraging thoughts. "There's a dressing room behind the counter there. I'll wait right outside the door," he promised.

The girl nibbled her lip again, then shyly nodded.

Triumphant, Draco straightened. He took Megan's hand and they walked to the back of the shop. He handed over the top to Megan and opened the door that afforded privacy for the single changing room. "You have to show me when you have it on," he told the child. "No switching back to your sweater before I get to see."

Megan ducked her chin, but nodded and closed the door.

Draco hummed under his breath along with the Christmas carols that were playing on the shop's sound system. Maybe he'd take Megan out to the riding stables. The girl might like a horse ride as much as Eli had. In fact, maybe Eli would like another lesson and Draco could hex two birds with one wand.

The expression made him mentally wince given how Megan's parents had died. Was it any wonder the child was skittish? She was an exceptionally smart girl. She knew the sort of danger she'd been in before they'd brought her out of the wizarding world.