De Die In Diem: From Day To Day

De Die In Diem

Prologue

It was a hot, humid day in Diagon Alley in the latter days of August. Parents and children filled the stores as they shopped for the coming year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lucius Malfoy and his son Draco were spending the day running various errands in the different stores in and around Diagon Alley. Draco had dragged his father into a musty, old trinket shop to look around. He was spending his time, gazing at all the items on the shelves, with Lucius impatiently pacing the store floor. Anger crossed his face as he approached Draco to tell him to hurry up. He hooked his walking stick around his son's arm and yanked on it hard, pulling Draco off balance backwards. Draco's innate sense of balance kept him from falling, but wary of his father, moved further into the store, to try to prevent Lucius from forcing him to leave.

Furious, yet not wanting to create a scene in public, Lucius stormed to the other side of the store where a woman caught his eye. She looked at him momentarily, then turned her face back to the book she was looking at, ignoring Lucius completely. This only managed to make Lucius even more angry. Who did this woman think she was, ignoring him, as though he was some common citizen?

Lucius turned and stomped back to where his son was looking in at a glass case filled with toy soldiers that were busy shooting miniature guns at each other. Lucius wanted to leave now and raised his walking stick to rap Draco's knuckles. Having been in the store the whole time they had been, She was tired of seeing this man act like an obnoxious git, and intervened. From across the store, she willed his stick to fly up and hit Lucius in the face instead of his son's hand, as she began walking to where the two stood. The force of the blow knocked Lucius off his feet and he flew backwards, sprawling spread-eagled on the floor. Lucius was stunned and in great pain, and he looked around to see if anybody else had witnessed it and who had been responsible for doing that to him. The only person he saw was that woman.

She was very striking, with chin-length, jet black hair, and coal black eyes that compelled Lucius to stare into them. Her eyes looked familiar to him, yet he couldn't place them at this time. She had olive-tone skin, was of average height and build, and wore a white sundress that was showed off the best of her features. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She met his eyes with an equal sneer on her face, and began clapping her hands in amusement over the situation. Still on the floor, Lucius could only look at her in awe. He could feel the powerful magic within her and knew She was a woman to be greatly admired and respected. She walked over to him and stood by his side.

Looking down at him, in the same condescending voice he used when speaking to people, she said, "Well done, well done, and what will you do for your next trick? Pull a rabbit out of your hat? Saw your lovely assistant in half? Make somebody disappear? Those were always my favourite magic tricks at birthday parties when I was a child. But don't worry, with just a little more practice you'll get them down pat. I'm sure you'll make a fine magician some day." For extra effect, she bent down and patted the top of his head patronizingly.

After that, She looked around and saw that the wand had come apart from the rest of Lucius' walking stick. She raised her eyebrows and said, "You still use a wand? Amateur!" Standing up, she tilted her head back and looked down her nose at him, laughed and walked away, leaving Lucius dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open, unsure of what to make of the situation. The scent of vanilla filled his head as She walked out of sight, and Lucius dropped his head to the floor and lay there, silently. He had never been spoken to in such a fashion before in all his life. If it had been any other person, he probably would have killed her before she had finished her smart remarks. Didn't She know who he was? He was Lucius Malfoy and nobody treated him like that and got away with it.

Draco, smartly, had slipped silently out the door so his father wouldn't hear him laughing, but returned to help dust him off. As she had walked past Draco, she smiled at him and winked before walking away. That small act filled him with an attraction he was not used to, but liked very much.

Lucius replayed that scene in his mind several times. As angry as he should be, he wasn't, and at that moment, he could not understand why. He couldn't determine how old she was, she looked young, but the contempt for him that she had displayed could only come from many long years of practice. Slowly the humiliation of the scene melted away leaving a great desire to know more about her, behind. He knew he'd just met his soul mate.

Sighing deeply, Lucius slowly pulled himself up off the floor and began dusting himself off with Draco's help. Picking up the two pieces of his walking stick and reattaching them together, he and his son left the store and walked over to Flourish and Blotts.