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Title: What's Come Over the Boy?

Contributors: dm_fugitive, seviesnape, _crucioqueen.

Edited By: Megan Marie

Posted: 11-15-05

Game Date: August 2^nd (midday)

Disclaimer: No one at Levicorpus owns Harry Potter, the world or its characters. We just like to play in J.K. Rowling’s world. Nor do we own the Barenaked Ladies.

* * * * * * *

"Sleep?" Draco repeated to himself and looked at the bright sunlight pouring through the window.  Perhaps Professor Snape thought he had stayed up all night.  Maybe they assumed Neville had tortured him, rather than provided him with well, not a comfortable bed, but pillows and blankets.

Draco did go up to his room however and flop on the bed.  He emptied his pockets of the garden shears, chocolate frogs, and broken pieces of Frank Longbottom's wand.  He stared at them for a moment, then ripped his robes off and put on some fresh clothes.

He looked back at the chocolate frogs and wand pieces, and then tucked them away in one of his drawers.  He put the thin wallet holding his Greater Hangleton Library card and his credit card in his pants pocket.

Draco had still never handled muggle money.  They had given him the credit card specifically to buy groceries.  Probably still unknown to the Ministry, Lord Voldemort had set up a few substantial muggle bank accounts back during his first rise to power.  Their contents donated by several unlucky muggles who had fallen prey to Imperius curses or in some cases outright theft.  They had spent fourteen years gaining interest, so funds were hardly an issue.  No one had tried to give Draco a budget, as long as he kept the house stocked with food and wasn't too outrageous, he had free reign with the groceries.

He had rather resented the task at first.  A Malfoy, playing errand boy, fetching groceries, but now, it felt more like his duty.  And one he guarded jealously.  It gave him some sense of control, some momentary escape.

Draco combed his hair quickly and went back downstairs.  He went to the lab to check on his potions.  He worried for a moment that he might run into Snape, but the Potions Master was occupied elsewhere.  He stirred the Felix Felicis, which was the one Snape had made him throw out three times already, and just glanced at the Polyjuice.  All it had to do was bubble for a few more days.

Draco headed back up to the kitchen, confirmed that he had indeed drunk the last of the milk last night, took the list stuck to the fridge by magnet, he'd never really had a chance to play with magnets before, he had amused himself for several hours by seeing what he could and could not stick it to.

He heard someone passing in the hall, but not really in the mood to speak to anyone he slipped out the kitchen door and started the long walk to the grocers.

He walked through the village green, where the pub, a small church, and a couple of stores circled.  There was a bit of a park area in the middle with a few benches.  He had sat there for hours, reading over Ginny's letter "Perhaps you saw Bill..." and thinking.  At some point the preacher had come and stood besides him. 

"Are you lost, son?"

Draco had scowled at him in a distracted sort of way. "No, I live just up that hill.  Old Riddle Place."

The preacher had smiled at him gently and sat down.  "There's more than one way to be lost."  Draco scowled at him a little harder.  "I noticed that you haven't come to church yet, and I'd hate to think it was for lack of invitation."

Draco's lips parted, but he said nothing.  His mother had told him to stay away from churches.  Churches were dangerous places, though he had never understood why.  The white washed building with the little bell tower hardly gave off an aura of foreboding.

"So will I see you next Sunday?" the preacher pressed.  "Nine o'clock?  We're small but we have a pretty active youth group."

"No, I don't think so," Draco said.

The man was trying not to show disappointment.  "Too early for you?" 

Draco shrugged.  "Don't really see the point," he said.  "I mean what do you do?"

"Ah," the preacher considered him for a long moment.  "We conquer death, fill the empty places, talk to God and listen for answers.  You ever felt empty, Drake?  Like something was missing?"

"No," he had lied. The preacher had smiled.

"Then you're unique."

"Does the grocery girl go to your church?" he had asked, indicating the general store.

"Lacy is a member of our flock, yes," the man had said.

"Flock?" Draco repeated.  "Isn't that what you call a group of sheep?"

"All we like sheep have gone astray," the man said as if quoting something.  "But you could say that is what the church is.  Sheep who have found a good shepherd."

Draco's thoughts had been on Fenrir.  Fenrir had called him a "sheep", called Snape his "sheep dog".  Much as Draco would have liked to push those words out of his mind, he couldn't.  His mind whirred with analogies.  Who was his shepherd?  Who commanded the sheep and the dog?  "Do sheep really need a shepherd?"

"I think we all need someone to look after us," the man replied.  "Sheep aren't very smart.  They don't realize all the dangers out there.  Without a shepherd, they'll fall to the wolves."

"What do you thinks better?" Draco had asked as much to himself as the man sitting beside him.  "To have a bad shepherd or no shepherd at all?"

The preacher had cupped his chin in his hands.  He seemed to be giving the question serious thought.  "In the short term, I think it might be better to have any, but in the long term, a bad shepherd will fail his sheep.  Through neglect or malice, he'll lead them to their death."  Maybe he saw Draco pale, because he had added.  "You should choose your shepherd wisely."  

* * * * * * *

Draco shook off the memory. He had spent that long night in Neville's closet thinking it over. But it wouldn't quite leave him, those words and others crept on the edge of his mind, even as he selected meats and produce. He filled his baskets more than usual. With all the new arrivals at Riddle House, they were eating through the stores more quickly than before.

It was a small store with one register. The same grocer girl that had advanced on him the other evening was standing behind it. She didn't pay much attention to him at first, which suited him just fine. He was not sure how to act around her at the moment. The little radio beside her blared music tinnily. The muggle "pop" was fairly tolerable. Draco liked to listen to it, since they didn't have a wireless at the manor.

Anything, plain can be lovely
Anything loved can be lost
What if I lost my direction?
What if I lost sense of time?
What if I nursed this infection?
Maybe the worst is behind.
Feels just like I'm falling for the first time.₁

Draco sniffed and wiped furiously at his eyes. He was not going to cry in front of muggles, besides he had shed his tears the night before. He gathered his baskets and shoved them onto the counter...paying a lot of attention to the candy display, so he would not have to look at Lacy.

She scanned the groceries. Smiling in a smug way that made him uneasy.

"You okay?" she asked. "You look a bit under the weather."

"I spent the night locked in a closet," Draco said dryly, and she laughed.

"I haven't seen you in a few days," she said in a low voice, not that there was any need, at this point they were alone in the store. "I thought maybe I scared you off." Draco didn't say anything, and she laughed again. "You're buying a lot today."

"Grandpa's guests," Draco said.

"Oh, so that's what's been keeping you busy.” He nodded.

"Did I scare you?" she tried again.

"No," Draco said resolutely, though he continued to study the candy display.

"Good," she said airily. "So when do I get my tour of the house?"

Draco finally looked at her in awe of her audacity. "I've got a girlfriend," he stammered, not sounding nearly as casual as he had intended.

"Lucky girl," Lacy said, hardly looking flustered. "What's she like?"

"Are you done?" Draco asked indicating the groceries. "I've got to get the milk back before it sours."

Lacy stuck her tongue out at him. "Yeah, sure, give me your card." Draco grabbed his bags and escaped as quickly as he could. He walked quickly back to the house and decided to bring a cart or wheelbarrow with him next time, because the loaded bags were cutting into his arms.  

* * * * * * *

He dropped the groceries on the counter, stuffed the essential items into the refrigerator and headed back out. He took a much longer walk to Greater Hangleton. Sometimes he apparated part way, but he felt restless and wanted to stretch his legs. He checked his journal at the library and leafed absently through some picture books.

Draco did like books, but he had a bad habit of skimming rather than reading.

He lost track of time, until the sun hit through the windows with an annoyingly bright glare, and he realized it was setting. He made it back to Little Hangleton as twilight was beginning to set and stepped back inside the kitchen. Snape sat facing the door and eyed him warily as if he had been lurking there the whole time, awaiting Draco's return.

Snape stood from the chair, and his features hardened as he spat out a string of sentences with such distain that it would make the average person's bile rise in their throat and tears well in their eyes.

"The day after you get captured you run off again without telling anyone? I would have thought you were smarter boy but you show the same signs of arrogance as Potter. You think no one will harm you? From now on you will tell your father, myself, or Bellatrix where you are going, or else you won't be leaving the house at all." He crossed his arms and watched Draco.

"I went to the grocery store," Draco said, feeling a mixture of sheepishness and indignation. "We needed food."

"Oh that's your excuse for your insolence, is it?" He snarled and snapped his arms to his sides causing his cloak to billow out.

"Your father doesn't want you getting groceries anymore. Elf work." After this he stood for a moment longer, and left the room. Draco was not about to be walked out on. He followed Snape into the hall.

"Yes, cause the House Elves can just waltz into the local store. What happened to keeping up the illusion of being a Muggle house? I mean even if they magic up the food, don't you think locals will find it rather odd we stopped buying things?"

Snape heard Draco speedily walk up behind him. He listened to his "argument” and Severus could not believe his ears. Since when did Draco mouth back?

"Ask your father." he said without turning around.

"I'm not ten!" Somehow it was much easier yelling at the back of Snape's head than his face. Still he dropped his voice to a more normal level. "I've got by without my father for a year now. You want me to check in, fine, but my father doesn't dictate my routine anymore."

Snape tensed when Draco began to raise his voice. His shoulders lifted and you could just feel the tension grow. He turned around snarling, like usual.

"I suggest you lower your tone Mr. Malfoy. You may be of age but that does not mean you ought to go on a power struggle with your elders."

Draco looked back at Snape. A few retorts started to form on his tongue, but he rolled them off again. This really wasn't worth getting on Snape's bad side over. Besides Snape had a point.

"I'm sorry sir," he said. "I think I'll go to bed now." He almost added ‘if that's okay with you?’ but checked himself. Snape watched Draco leave the room.

“What's come over the boy, my god?” Snape thought. He stood around for a moment longer thinking about Draco's behavior, and decided it was time for bed. He went to the lab to check a potion, and then went into and warded his chambers.

* * * * * * *

Draco collapsed on his bed, still feeling more restless than tired. He pulled out Ginny's letter, the broken pieces of Frank Lonbottom's wand, the notes he had taken from Potter's journal, the copy of the potion Bella wanted him to make, and various other pieces of the puzzle he had collected.

It was a puzzle, he was sure. He thought to himself as he fingered the jewels Pansy had given him, felt the odd desire they created and dropped them on the bed covers again. It was a puzzle, and he was missing far too many pieces to it.

He tried to ponder it all, but his brain churned like molasses and kept running off in odd directions. His eyes kept wandering back to Frank Longbottom's broken wand. He had taken it on the off chance it might help him escape, but he was free now. He didn't really need it anymore. He could just throw it away, toss the pieces in the fire, but that seemed wrong.

And far too much was wrong these days. Draco tried to push it out of his mind, but it kept distracting his focus. Finally, he pocketed the broken pieces, and skipped back down the stairs.

"I'm going to the shed, Aunt Bella," he said as he passed her in the living room. She made a "hmm" noise but didn't look up from her book.

The garden shed was built like a small barn. Draco called Oberon, his eagle owl, down from the rafters where he had been roosting. He found a small box and some butcher paper and wrapped the pieces in it.

He spent another long while trying to write a note to go with it.

I took these because I thought I might need them but…I didn’t realize what these were until later, and I understand what it’s like to miss your father so…I’ll trade you one wand for another.

But that didn’t seem right. After much crossing out and increasing irritation, he tore off a corner of some used paper and wrote:

Sorry, Draco.

Feeling ineloquent, but to the point, he sent the package and letter off with Oberon. And returned to the house.

Bellatrix was still sitting on the couch, reading her book when Draco came back in. She looked over at him, and meekly smiled.

"You've got our resident know-it-all in a spin Draco, congratulations." She said in a cool tone. Not much she could do would make Snape that mad. Lucky Draco.

Notes:

 1. Barenaked Ladies “Falling for the First Time”

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