“Father,” announced Draco, “I need to draw some gold from the account.”
Both his parents looked up at him. He stared at his father resolutely. “I’ve run out of decent clothes. I’d like to get a few fitted.”
“Of course,” said Lucius, pleased. “May I ask if there is some special occasion?”
“No, there isn’t.”
“He does need a few,” Narcissa said to her husband. “I’ve seen his wardrobe. In fact, I was going to suggest he do this.” Turning to Draco, she asked, “Where are you getting them from?”
Hoping that his answer wouldn’t produce any major reaction, Draco said, “Twilfit & Tattings.”
Lucius merely gave him his permission, but Narcissa cocked an eyebrow at him. Draco ignored it.
Draco stood right outside the large store. His nerves were wrecked and his purse was full of Galleons. At least, he had a viable reason to be there, he told himself. Sending a silent prayer to Merlin, he straightened his collar and went in.
The decor of Twilfoot & Tattings had changed since the last time he had been there. The heavy silk curtains were gone; the magenta walls had been painted over with a light cream wash, and the huge velvet sofas had been replaced with smaller, sleeker black leather ones. Draco distinctly remembered small stuffed animals prowling in the corners. They were nowhere to be found. In their place he found tall, cylindrical crystal vases from which grew a silvery plant which he had never seen before in his life.
Having forgotten why he had come here, Draco hovered near the entrance, taking in the bizarre and bare, but also intriguing renovation. As he stared bemusedly at the twirling dummies showing off the latest designs inside glass cases, a salesperson approached him.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“Yes,” said Draco, swiftly regaining his composure. “I want to get a few robes fitted.”
“Certainly, sir,” trilled the salesperson. “Let me get a designer for you.”
“Will it be possible to get Miss Greengrass?”
“Miss Greengrass is a little busy at the moment.”
“Tell her it’s Draco Malfoy,” said Draco. “I’m a friend of hers.”
The salesperson’s eyes widened in recognition. Draco quickly turned away, not wanting to see the rest of the reaction.
“Of course, Mr Malfoy,” the salesperson said briskly before leaving.
Draco began to feel nervous again as he waited. Just play it cool, he told himself. You’re here for business purposes. No need to break out in a sweat. To keep his mind busy, he walked towards a crystal vase to observe the plant. He had earlier concluded they must be artificial, but when he got closer, he found out that they were …
“Authentic,” said Astoria, gliding into his view. She was wearing a pale grey dress made of some floaty material whose name Draco didn’t know. Her hair had been braided intricately, and she was wearing the same silver hoops that he often dreamt of.
“They are breathing,” he said. His voice came out a bit hoarse. Clearing his throat, he said, “What are these plants called?”
“Argenta Rosa,” she replied. “Daphne got them from Venezuela. Beautiful, odorless and they grow anywhere you put them. Very expensive, of course, but the store was ready to shell out the price.”
“They’re rather interesting,” said Draco.
She smiled at him. “So … did you come here for something or just to see me?”
“The latter?” said Draco, trying to be smooth, but he only came out sounding too sincere. “Uhm … not really, I need new clothes.”
“Follow me, then,” said Astoria as she led him towards a smaller room. The door had a small plaque on it which said Astoria Greengrass. “What kind of clothes are you looking for, Draco?”
“Robes?”
“Well, what type of robes would you prefer? Collars? Without collars? Do you want it fitted or loose?”
“No idea,” he said truthfully. “I’ll leave that part to you.”
“Hmmm. Let’s take off your robes.”
“What?”
“You can keep your pants on, don’t worry.”
“But “ but “ ”
Laughing, Astoria said, “I’ve seen far too many semi-naked bodies to give a Knut now, Draco.”
Before Draco could protest any further, she raised her wand; he watched helplessly as the buttons flew open and his robes fell to the floor. Thankfully, he was wearing clean pants.
With narrowed eyebrows and puckered lips, she appraised him for some time. Draco wanted to disappear into the air when he saw his own reflection in the mirror. Back at school, he had had a good body because of Quidditch, but the war, and then five years of doing little apart from moping had taken away much of its hardiness. On top of that, there were the scars.
“Are we done now?” he asked quickly as she went round his back.
“Yes,” she said. “You can put your robes back on.”
He thought her voice sounded softer, but it could easily have been his imagination.
The first thing Draco did when he got back home was to undress and scrutinize his body properly.
“I need to get back into shape as soon as possible,” he said to himself. Then, he put his clothes back on and headed towards the broomstick closet downstairs. Grabbing his old Nimbus and a Quaffle, he walked purposefully towards the open field in the back of the manor.
He met his father on the way. “Are you … flying?” asked Lucius.
Draco answered with a nod and went outside the back door. The air smelled glorious. Without further ado, he put one leg over the Nimbus and took off. It was an exhilarating feeling; he had missed this. Quidditch, which he used to love, had been pushed into a musty corner when other far more important things entered his life.
This was one of those many instances which constantly reminded him what an idiot he had been. With a vengeance, he raced towards the hoops that permanently hung high up in the air, and shot his Quaffle through the middle one. It missed by several feet.
He had loved Chasing as a kid, yet when he arrived at school, and Potter became the youngest Seeker in a century, he had happily given up the Quaffle for the little Snitch. He was done Seeking now. Besides, the Quaffle provided more of a workout.
Astoria had promised him the robes would be delivered the next week. Draco had a goal: he was going to lose the excess fat and reshape himself completely. An idea had formed in his head as she was designing for him. On purpose, he chose a tight-fitting style, against her advice. He didn’t think his body would drastically change in the span of a week, but a month was definitely a reasonable deadline.
Astoria would just have to keep altering his robes and get used to seeing his face.
Over the next seven days, Draco was often out in the manor grounds. He jogged in the mornings and practiced with the Quaffle in the afternoons. He even began to control his diet. His parents were curious, he knew that, but presently they stayed away from interrogating him. He supposed they were relieved in a way.
The parcel arrived by owl when he was having lunch.
“What is that?” asked Lucius.
“Delivery from Twilfit & Tattings.”
Without finishing his dessert, he ran upstairs to his room and shut the door. He proceeded to ripping the cover off and then taking off whatever he was wearing. His heart thumped wildly as he put the new robes on.
When he looked at the mirror, he saw that he was smirking. The robes were loose around the middle.
“Hmmm.”
Astoria was biting the end of her quill, perplexed. “Did you lose some weight during the last week? My measurements are never wrong.”
“I started playing a bit of Quidditch,” said Draco, having decided to be honest to an extent.
“But even so…”
Draco shrugged. “You could alter it, couldn’t you?”
“Of course,” she said. “It’s just … I didn’t know anyone could lose that many inches in a week.”
Their eyes connected; Draco was the first to look away.
“Tell me, Draco,” said Astoria, and she sounded amused, “you didn’t do this on purpose?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if you’d wanted to lose weight and you were looking for motivation?”
Draco laughed. “Good one,” he said. “But I really do need them for this party at the end of the month.”
“No problem.” The amusement in her eyes hadn’t completely disappeared yet. “I shall just have to measure you again.”
The next time Draco tried the robes on, he discovered she had changed the cut around the waist and tailored in a row of light elastic bands. There was a note attached to the package.
“So that you won’t have to take the trouble of coming to me again. Enjoy your Quidditch!
Astoria”
He cursed fluently under his breath before pocketing her note in defeat.
Draco felt like a moron teetering in front of Twilfit & Tattings and not being able to waltz in. Up until the moment of Apparation, he had been sure of the next stage of his plans. So what if the last robes didn’t need any more fittings? He could always get new ones.
But now that he was facing the cold, white façade of the store, he felt uncertain. Was her note, which was currently in his cloak pocket, meant to be a sign of dismissal? How could he cope with it if she rejected him? What did he have going for himself, other than the healthier body which his rigorous exertion had produced?
However, fate acted faster than him on that day too. Before he could Disapparate, Daphne Greengrass, Astoria’s sister, strolled into the scene, smoking a cigarette.
“Draco!” she called.
Draco hadn’t been close to her. Rather, Daphne hadn’t been close to anyone, except maybe Zabini, whom she had dated for a brief spell in sixth year. He had never warmed up to her at school, although he couldn’t now remember why.
“Daphne! How have you - ?” He couldn’t finish his sentence as the stench of the smoke entered his lungs and he started coughing.
“Fantastic,” she said, flicking the cigarette to the ground and rubbing the light out with the tip of her high heels. “You?”
“I’ve been better,” said Draco.
“No doubt.”
Draco tried to gauge what she meant by that. Then he wondered if he was paranoid.
“What brings you here?” he asked her.
“My sister works here,” she said with a jerk of her head in the direction of the store.
“Oh! I know. I “ ” Draco hesitated.
“You’ve been here before?”
“She made a few robes for me.”
“Ah.” Daphne scratched the back of her head. “Are you going in?”
“Well …”
Leave, the voice in his head said. She’s going to be trouble.
“Oh, come in,” said Daphne, and to Draco’s surprise, she pulled his arm and led him into the store. As soon as they had reached inside, she asked, “What do you think of their new décor?”
“It’s certainly interesting.”
“Is that the only adjective you can find?” said a familiar voice.
Both Daphne and Draco turned to find Astoria standing behind them with a spray in her hand. She was grinning.
“Ria!” cried Daphne. “I told you not to water it.”
“It’s not water, Nee.” With a roll of her eyes, she handed the spray to her sister who opened the lid and checked if it contained water. “She’s a bit insane when it comes to her precious plants.”
“Water makes them droop,” explained Daphne. “Anyway, Draco here was waiting outside the store for Merlin-knows-what, so I brought him in.”
Draco could feel Astoria staring at him. “She’s joking. I’d just arrived.”
“No you hadn’t,” said Daphne. “You’d been standing there for at least fifteen minutes.”
Flushing, Draco asked, “How would you know? You just got here.”
“I was sitting in the café opposite the store, darling,” said Daphne.
She was smiling, and Draco, who could feel himself flushing, was suddenly reminded of why he hadn’t liked her at school. He felt uncomfortable around her because he didn’t know what to expect from her.
“She’s pulling your leg,” said Astoria as Daphne began to laugh. “There is no café opposite the store.”
“Ah.”
As Daphne went on laughing, Draco stole a glance towards Astoria, whom he hadn’t been able to face in the seconds that had passed recently. She had some colour in her cheek, too.
“Anyway,” he said in an attempt to salvage the situation, “I was wondering if you could make another set of robes for me.”
“Sure,” said Astoria, “but I have something to do right now. Could you give me ten minutes?”
Draco had no choice but to sit with Daphne. He loathed the sense of helplessness she inspired in him as she sat there watching him, one long leg draped over the other, both exposed in a thigh-high slit which hadn’t been noticeable before. He supposed she was attractive, but in a way that was different from her sister. However, no amount of good looks and shapely legs would make him warm up to her at the moment.
“My sister is responsible for the renovation,” she told him, waving her hand to indicate she was talking about the interiors of the store. “She despised the stuffiness of the previous style, but then, who didn’t? It’s just that no one had the balls to suggest that it was high time they had a makeover.”
“She has great taste,” said Draco.
“Ria has never been a fan of wizarding décor,” she said. “She actually got the idea from Muggle magazines.”
There was no mistaking it; Daphne was baiting him. Her tone was nonchalant, but her eyes were lit up.
“Then, Muggles have great taste, too,” replied Draco.
She smiled. “Who would have thought, eh?”
Draco didn’t reply.
“You wouldn’t believe what she did if I told you,” she said.
“What did she do?”
“She got a Squib to put this together.” She leaned forward a little as she went on. “His name is Ewan Delaney, and he’s quite big in the Muggle world. They’re pretty thick.”
Draco was suddenly having difficulty breathing. “How “ how did she meet him?”
“He’s the cousin of a friend,” said Daphne. “Ria has always liked fashion, and she has apparently been exchanging letters with him since Hogwarts. I was shocked when I found out. Imagine, a girl in Slytherin, corresponding with a Squib who is so completely absorbed in the Muggle world.”
He knew he shouldn’t probe any further; he knew he was playing into her hands, but Draco had to find out. It seemed like a matter of life and death to him. “Are they dating?” he asked her.
“I suppose,” said Daphne, who was leaning back on the sofa now. “I don’t mind, of course. The guy has wealth, success, and being a Squib, he’d have little trouble taking Astoria into his life.”
“And what does your parents have to say to that?” demanded Draco at last.
Daphne shook her head slowly, as though she was disappointed in him. “We don’t do everything they tell us to. Never have.”
He couldn’t stand it any longer. Mumbling about some work he had to do, he got up.
But she wouldn’t let him go so easily.
“That was why my parents were so eager to set the two of you up,” she said finally. “She was so thrilled when you agreed not to play along.”
Because You Came by hestiajones
Chapter Endnotes: Sorry for the wait! Exams and a million other things happened. Thanks to Croll/Equinox Chick for all her help.