Broken: a Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter 15 - Annoyance

Alexia was woken by a soft and continuous nudge on her arm. She groaned and rolled over, not wanting to wake up completely just yet. But the nudge continued, now on her back.
"What?" she said in a sleepy voice.
"Ms Laurel wants Miss Alexia to be woken so they can go to Diagon Alley today." the squeaky voice of Belly the house elf said.
Alexia sighed and rolled over. She pulled off her sleep mask and blinked several times, adjusting her eyes to the light. Belly stood beside her bed, blinking his huge eyes at her and holding a silver tray of food. She sat up and adjusted the pillows, then turned to Belly who held out the tray for her to take.
"Master Alexia's favourite fruits and pastry," Belly said.
"Thank you," Alexia said in a snappy voice, "You can leave now."
Belly nodded and started for the door.
"Oh, Belly?" Alexia said.
Belly stopped and turned, "Yes, Miss Alexia?"
"I'll be wearing my black heeled boots today, make sure they're polished."
"Of course, Miss Alexia." Belly said, then left, shutting the door behind him.

Alexia took the silver butter knife and buttered the french croissant. She had always loved anything to do with France. She loved croissants, the shopping, the fashion, french accents and the luxurious atmosphere of France. Her and her mother had been planning a trip to France this summer since last summer and Alexia could not wait. She took a sip of tea and flipped through today's Daily Prophet which Belly had slipped onto the tray. She continued to read, sip her tea and eat her croissant as well as the variety of fruit that had been cut up on a plate. All the fruit was homegrown and was wonderfully fresh and juicy. There was strawberries, slices of apple, banana, melon and several other sweet and delicious tropical fruits which could never be grown in Wiltshire if it wasn't for magic.

•••

When Alexia and Laurel had finally made it to Charing Cross Road in London, they walked to the Leaky Cauldron to get to Diagon Alley. The pub was nested between a muggle bookshop and record store, and was dark and shabby.
As they walked into the pub, several people sitting at the bar and the shadowed tables, looked up to see who had entered. Two older ladies who sat at a table closest to them, drinking small glasses of Sherry, started whispering to each other not realising both Laurel and Alexia could see and hear them. This annoyed Alexia and if she wasn't with her mother, she would have confronted them and made them feel embarrassed for what they were doing.
For a reasonably famous place, the pub was quiet today. Alexia could never quite understand that apart from its entrance to Diagon Alley, what made it so famous. All that seemed to be on the menu was soup, soup and more soup, and in her opinion soup wasn't the nicest kind of food. The owner of the Leaky Cauldron, Tom, stood at the bar. He was an old man, quite bald. He nodded at Laurel and Alexia, "Ms Burke, how was your Christmas? Could I get you a drink?" he asked.
Laurel wrinkled her nose, "I'm quite alright, Tom, thank you." she said, then looked over at Alexia and strode off towards the back of the pub.

Alexia hurried along behind her, out into the chilly courtyard. Laurel tapped the bricks in the wall in an anti-clockwise order, then, the doorway to Diagon Alley formed so the two could walk through.

Being Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, the Alley was quiet; only a few stores were open. The window displays of the latest spell books, broomsticks, Quidditch equipment, cauldrons and other magical objects, glittered with colour, made especially eye-catching for the Christmas holidays. Notes reading holiday opening hours and christmas greetings had also been enchanted in the windows for shoppers to see. Despite its desolation, the shopping area still had its usual happy atmosphere.

Alexia followed beside her mother to the South Side of Diagon Alley, the heels of their shoes tapping against the cobblestone ground. Occasionally, they stopped briefly to greet passerbys that they knew and once they were stopped by a magazine paparazzo to smile for a photo. Towards the end of the South Side was Twillfit and Tatting's, the dress shop Alexia usually purchased her clothes from and the shop that were dressing her for the ball.