When Draco arrived back in his store on Diagon Alley, no one was in the front of the store. Draco walked past the counter and looked into the work room. Astoria was putting the finishing touches on her batch of Oberon’s Nectar. With the only other person in the building being his wife, he turned towards the door, pulled his wand out of his pocket and flicked it. The sign flipped to show that the store was now closed. As the sign flipped, draperies appeared and covered the windows. He looked at his handiwork and smiled; no prying eyes would be able to lip read their conversations and report them back to Goyle.
–I’m back, Astoria. We have to talk. We have so much to discuss. There are many things that will need to be thoroughly planned.â€
Astoria walked through the swinging door into the front of the shop wiping her hands on a small terrycloth towel. She dropped the towel onto the front counter and moved to take her husband in her arms.
–Oh, Draco! I had a dream, Goyle ambushed -- I awoke and you were gone.†Astoria said to Draco all in one breath with an anguished quaver filling her voice.
–Later, we’ve got so little time. And one false step could mean death, Azkaban, or shame for both of us. We must tread carefully. I have a plan and we must follow it. Understand?â€
Astoria stared into her husband’s eyes. She seemed to be trying to perform Occulmency on him. He reached over and stroked the hair around her left ear. The two of them looked into each other’s faces. She seemed more precious than ever to him.
–I just came from a meeting with my father and we came up with a plan - a plan that could keep you and Scorpius safe, and maybe restore the House of Malfoy to a solid footing.â€
–We can’t trust him! He could be leading you into a trap for his own gain,†Astoria answered, her face wrinkled with concern.
–He might sell you and me for a tin Knut. However, if he let anything happen to Scorpius he will have to answer to my mother. And it is Scorpius’ future that matters, not ours.â€
She nodded in acceptance. –What must I do and when do you need me to do it?â€
Draco took her head back in his hands and kissed her on the forehead. –First, I need you to finish your batch of the Nectar for Ollivander. He’ll send either Wallace or Scamander here to pick it up before lunch. After that’s done, I want you to go to the Cauldron and talk to Hannah Longbottom. â€
Astoria listened to husband and periodically nodded her head as his instructions sank in. What was required wasn’t really that much, especially for a Slytherin mother who was trying to protect her family.
Hogwarts
As the Gryffindor team returned from their unsuccessful trip to Quidditch pitch, they were carrying their brooms over the shoulders, as the walked back into the Great Hall. The group of about twenty students was greeted by a lot of stares and a few cat-calls from the Slytherins.
Freddy Weasley stopped the team and pointed to an open area about a third of the way down the house table to hold an impromptu meeting. He asked the team to gather around him so they could hear his instructions.
Rose, who was walking a step behind, noticed that Abby Baird turned her head toward the Slytherin table and quickly looked away. Abby shook her head and said to no one in particular, –Oh, now you want to be friends.â€
Rose looked to the Slytherin table and saw a vaguely familiar young girl surrounded by other first-years ending a small wave towards the group. –Who’s that?†asked Rose.
"Kelly Howe, she was in our compartment on the train. Remember, when we went to practice? I waved at her, but she ignored me. Now, she wants to be my friend,†Abby indignantly replied.
Rose stopped. What Abby had just said didn’t make any sense. Why would a Slytherin ignore someone when they were alone, but risk being ridiculed by her classmates to wave to a Gryffindor? As Abby was about to sit next to her brother at the Gryffindor table, Rose reached over to tap her on the shoulder. She also grabbed Scorpius, who as always, was standing nearby.
–What?†they both asked Rose.
–I have a hunch. Follow me.â€
Rose took Abby by the hand and walked around the end of the Gryffindor table towards the Slytherins. The movement of the Gryffindors had not gone unobserved. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw that Grenda Zabini, Vestara Vesper, and a couple other female students were shadowing her movement.
The girl sitting to the left of Howe chimed in before anyone could speak. –Hi, Crissybell. Or is it Abbybell?â€
–No, you mean, its Prissybell Baird,†the girl on Howe’s right added. Rose heard a low growl coming from Abby.
Rose ignored the first-year’s attempts at humour.
Is that how the Sorting Hat does it? The people with the lamest sense of humour are automatically Sorted into Slytherin?
She stopped in front of the Howe girl. The little girl began to try and sink under the table. Rose saw her anguish, but she had to get one answer. –Kelly, when did you first come down for breakfast?â€
–Don’t answer her! Just because your old man’s an Auror, Weasley, doesn’t mean you can hassle whomever you like,†snapped Vestara.
–Yeah, go and take your turncoat boyfriend with you,†Zabini added with a superior smile on her face.
–Shut up! Rose has a reason for her question. She wouldn’t pick on this girl for no real reason,†defended Scorpius. He actually had no idea what Rose was doing. He didn’t mind the turncoat boyfriend comment, but he wished he knew of a way to wipe the smirks of Vestara and Grenda’s faces.
Kelly had almost slid out of sight under the table by now. She nervously looked up to the older girls. –I just--– she started.
–I told you not to say anything,†Vestara told Kelly who began to visibly shake.
Scorpius felt someone move in next to him. Jimber and Albus had walked over, showing their support. However, the addition of two more Gryffindors to the group walking over to the table caused was for more Slytherins to come over into the conversation. Mars Pyter and Anthony Tarleton, the Quidditch Captain, were among the half dozen or so who joined the girls opposite of the Gryffindors.
–Get back to your own area, Gryffindors. We don’t need you polluting our table,†Tarleton asserted.
Rose took a deep breath and raised her hands with the palms out just as Broomwright had done on the path to the Quidditch pitch. –If she answers the question now, we leave. If you keep her from talking to us, then you’ll just have to talk to the Aurors.â€
Scorpius flinched. While he knew that Rose meant to say that talking to her was the lesser of two evils, he knew that his grandparents and maybe his own father would have taken her comment as a threat or as lording her father’s position with the ministry over them. He had to rescue Rose.
–Rose, you don’t mean that. What she was trying to say, is that we have only one question. If she answers, we leave. However, if the blue robes get involved, we’ll all have to waste our first Saturday waiting in queues to be asked endless number of useless questions. And after that, the Headmaster will want to talk to us. And next, our Heads of House will get involved and lecture us. Look up at the ceiling; it’s a warm and sunny day. Who wants to be stuck in here doing that?â€
Rose had bristled at the first half of his comment, but her look softened as he finished. The comment also seemed to make sense to many of the Slytherins, except for Pyter who looked like he just wanted to hit someone.
Tarleton called a huddle with Zabini and Vesper. When the three emerged, they formed a wall behind Howe. Tarleton spoke.
–Kelly, you can answer the high-and-mighty Miss Weasley’s one question. Say nothing more, understand, girl?â€
Kelly Howe nodded. Scorpius wondered if the girl was about to faint. All of the blood seemed to have drained from her little head. She wet her lips and looked at up at her older housemates. –I just came down with Olivia and Blanche. We’ve been here ten or fifteen minutes at most.â€
Rose smiled, –Thanks, Kelly. I’m sorry about all of this.†And with the answer to her question, Rose started to turn on her heel.
Tarleton reached across the table to restrain her. From the look on his face, Scorpius thought that he had some questions of his own he wanted answered. Scorpius and Albus reached out in a vain attempt to block his grab.
"Hey, leave my cousin alone,†shouted fourth-year Lucy Weasley from just inside the door. The actions around the Slytherin table had also drawn the attention of the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, which was now on the move toward the Slytherin table.
Tarleton did not let go of Rose until Freddy showed up. Tarleton locked eyes with his opposite number and gave him his best condescending look just to see Freddy’s reaction to the provocation.
Freddy sensed a trap, but also knew he could not back down, –So, what’s all of this about, Rose?â€
"When we arrived for breakfast, there was a young Slytherin girl eating all alone at the end of the table.†Rose, pulled her hand free from Tarleton, pointed directly at Kelly. –The person eating alone looked like her, but she said she had just come down. So-†Rose let her teammates connect the dots.
–The centaurs saw a human, and the forest is being searched. So you think the intruder was hiding here inside the school?†Freddy Weasley finished.
–Why hide in the Great Hall? She might run into herself,†said Scorpius.
Jimber chimed in. –She was probably hungry. Maybe whatever she’s doing in the forest is taking longer than she expected and she’s running low on food.–
–What are you on about?†demanded Vestara.
Scorpius began to explain to everyone in the group what they had learned from Hagrid. He decided to tell the story. Rose didn’t have the experience with talking to Slytherins and he didn’t have any parents working in Ministry. When he finished, he turned to see if Rose wanted to add anything. She was not there.
–She mentioned something about telling her father before the intruder could escape,†informed Albus.
With the explanation, the group began to disperse. Scorpius sighed. Rose had missed his explanation and insights. He thought she might have been impressed.
Freddy Weasley ordered the team up to the common Room where they could talk about rescheduling the try-outs. He was satisfied with the little scene his cousin had accidently orchestrated. He had taken leadership and protected his charge. Kitty-Kat had been one of the last ones to come over and join in. She had also kept her silence when she got there. Freddy thought that that it might have helped his standing with the team. He had just won his first victory over Kitty-Kat with the help of her right hand kitten.
Leaky Cauldron
At lunch, Astoria walked out of her potion shop and turned towards the Leaky Cauldron. She walked through the brick entryway and through the door into the Public room of the Cauldron. Walking up to the bar, she asked, –Is Hannah working today?â€
The grey haired barkeeper looked at her and replied, –She’s in the Bistro. She’s probably driving the poor cook crazy with her observations.â€
Astoria thanked the man and walked toward the doorway that leads to Hannah’s Bistro at the Cauldron. As she entered, her eyes, as always, were drawn to the wall on the right side of the restaurant. A spell, like the one on the ceiling of the Great Hall in Hogwarts, made the wall disappear behind a current image of the shops and shoppers in Diagon Alley as seen from near the brick entryway. The illusion gave the place the feel that you were actually eating in a sidewalk café not a dingy inn. She realized for the first time that someone here could see the doorway to the potion shop. Astoria filed the fact for future use. If they were to help Goyle, they could not use the front door while the restaurant was open. If they did, they could be seen. Being seen could be bad or good depending, on who saw them together and what that person had been told so that the correct interpretation could be made.
A brown-smocked waiter with a name plate that said Brandon came up to seat her. Astoria demurred. –I’d like a cup of tea and I need to talk to Hannah. I’ve only got a few minutes before my husband… I mean before I have to get back to work.â€
Astoria hoped the waiter would pass the ‘slip of the tongue’ to his boss.
Hannah walked into the Bistro from the kitchen. She was very frustrated with the replacement chef, who was not rounding off her dishes like they should be. While the food was still tasty and served in a reasonable time, the new chef did not add the little touches, like the Kiwi fruit sculptures that her restaurant was known for. In just a couple more months, Alice would be weaned and she could return full-time to her kitchen. If the chef needed a job, she could run the bloody inn.
She looked at the table by the wall to find Astoria Malfoy watching her potion shop through the illusion. Astoria’s face was pinched and she was stirring her tea a bit more forcefully than people usually do. Something was wrong with her, but Hannah was not a usual confidant of the Malfoys. If anyone had been in Astoria’s confidence it would have been Rebekka Dokes, the wife of the Cauldron’s former handyman, but they had returned to the Island. Perhaps Astoria had no one else she trusted.
Hannah made the rounds with her customers. While sharing small talk with one set of the diners, she noticed a slightly undercooked salmon and some overcooked asparagus spears. She signaled Brandon and whispered her permission to discount the meals if they complained.
Finally, she reached Astoria. –How’s you tea?†she asked. Hannah sat down opposite of Astoria and waited for her to open up.
Astoria looked up at Hannah and quickly back down to her cup. Looking back up at Hannah and she took a deep breath, biting her lip. –On Friday morning before we were ready to open, he was there waiting for us. Do you remember Gregory Goyle?â€
Hannah nodded. On the night of the Yule Ball, Crabbe and Goyle had trapped her in a corner and threatened to grope her. It was only thanks to that Durmstrang boy’s intervention… She stopped the reminiscence and replied, –Unfortunately, I do.â€
Astoria looked her in the eyes and continued. –Goyle threatened Draco. Actually, he threatened to hurt me and Scorpius. He wants Draco to brew illegal potions and poisons for him. Goyle has this crazy plan to become the King of the Thieves.â€
Hannah had a weird image of Goyle with a crown and scepter seated on a throne resting on top of a pile of stolen goods.
Astoria looked at the wall toward the image of the shop and dropped her gaze, –Draco doesn’t know what to do. I think if it was just the two of us, he’d confront Goyle or go to Harry Potter. He can’t though. You should have heard what his father called him last year for helping the Aurors defeat the Malaites.â€
–Must be tough having Lucius Malfoy as a father-in-law,†Hannah offered, sizing up what she was being told.
–Forget that, Goyle knew things about the Quince case that weren’t in the paper. He knew the parents were on the bed and about the hair clipped off of the older girl, Margaret. Draco wonders if he or one of his cronies was actually the kidnapper.†Astoria stood up looking at the wall.
–What’s wrong,†Hannah asked, reaching out to touch the other woman’s hand.
Astoria pointed to the illusion on the wall. In a small space between two businesses, two men were talking in the shadows. The larger one could have been Goyle. –I’ve got to get back. I’m being followed. And if they have Polyjuice, anyone in the Alley could be a spy.â€
–Please, warn your husband. The intruder may be one of Goyle’s cronies waiting to get to my son. If you do that, I’ll do anything you want. Free potions, gold, you name it. Help keep Scorpius and his friends safe.†And with that, Astoria pulled her hand free, reached into her cloak and dropped a couple of silver coins on the table. She walked away from her untouched cup of tea. Hannah watched the wall and saw how the men between the two buildings let Astoria pass and then they followed her about a half dozen paces behind until she entered her shop. One of the men walked on up the way and the second man disappeared into the shadows across from the potion shop.