Weaving through the shelves

A bookshop wasn’t something Narcissa Malfoy regularly went inside but this bookshop was new and also very vintage. Narcissa knew she would probably end up spending many hours inside the shop as she loved her books but it was rare that she could spend an extended amount of time drifting through the shelves and brushing her fingers along the spines. No one expected Narcissa Malfoy to be in a bookshop. Madam Malkin’s or another expensive robe shop was a place where one would expect to find the Malfoy Matriarch. Narcissa just loved to prove them all wrong though – whoever ‘they’ were.

So, crimson red heels hit the cobbles of Diagon Alley and she continued on her way towards the bookshop. She was wearing some nice Muggle clothes if she said so herself and liked matching the red with the black. She had a black pencil skirt which came down just past her knees and a crimson blouse with ruffles around the front. It was well cut and still gave room for a little bit of cleavage. She wasn’t about to turn into a Knockturn Alley whore. She had far too much pride to stoop that low.

Narcissa shook her head and stopped outside the bookshop. She checked the opening times and smiled to herself before pushing the door open and stepping inside. She closed the door behind herself and walked over to a pile of old tomes that had been piled on a table. Narcissa smiled and picked up one of the leather bound books on top. It was slightly smaller than the rest but she unwrapped the cord and opened the book up. She began to scan the page and her feet instinctively began to wander around, heading for the back of the shop where more of the older books were kept.

Wilson was going through the streets of London. He had some business to do or else he would not bee seen here. He entered the Leaky Cauldron, greeted the regulars, some of whom were his friends, and went to Diagon Alley. He moved the rocks wandlessly with a few moves of his fingers and entered the usually busy streets.

He positioned his glasses and looked around. Unusually empty, but he did not care that much. He was wearing his brown suit, white shirt and a dark brown tie. He also has his dark brown robe above, similar to the one Remus Lupin used to wear. This was, actually one of his robes. A present he received not a long time ago. He walked down the alley and entered the bookshop.

He had ordered a book and he was informed that it had arrived, so he needed to pick it up. He walked to the main desk and greeted the owner. ''Good day my good chap. I had placed an order, the new guide to dark magic for professors, and I was told that it had arrived. The name is Wilson, James Wilson.'', he said loudly and clearly so that both the owner and a good part of the library could hear him.

The dust was starting to choke Narcissa but she ignored it well enough, choosing to try and keep as much of the dust on the books as possible. She didn’t like it circling around the air too much because it was stale and coupled with the smell of old books that varied with each volume, it was almost suffocating. Narcissa tapped the leather of the book with her manicured fingers, her eyes scanning the spines of the books on the shelf. There were books there that were sitting in the Malfoy library and Narcissa idly wondered if she could sell on a few of the first edition books that had been passed down from Malfoy to Malfoy. It didn’t seem like a very smart thing to do though. Lucius would be incredibly displeased if he found out.

She pursed her lips in concentration and turned around, deciding to look at the shelves parallel to the one she had been looking at. The problem was that she didn’t know what she was looking for. No one seemed to have written anything exciting or even mildly interesting though, so that didn’t inspire much. There were just hundreds upon hundreds of books which probably had meanings to someone as the scrawl of the owner was on the very first page below the title. The books which surrounded her, the books that had been lost and parted from their owner, meant nothing to her.

Narcissa tapped the book in her hands against her chin and her grey eyes flicked around in search for something to jump out at her. She spotted a red-leather bound book and walked over to the shelf near the main desk area of the bookshop. She was, however, still concealed by one of the columns which held the thatched roof up. She put the smaller book on one of the toppling piles of books that covered the tables and took the red one off of the shelf before opening it up.

The pages were blank apart from a number in the bottom right corner of each page. Narcissa frowned and ran her hand across one of the water damaged pages. She didn’t think the water could have washed the ink away – not if the page numbers were still there. She frowned a little more but couldn’t help but smile. Both books were interesting and she would have fun disabling whatever charms had been placed on the book so the text was revealed. Narcissa picked up the smaller one but continued to look through the red book, trying to find any tell-tale signs of ink once being there.

She heard a familiar voice and looked up to see James standing there. It was fairly bizarre and Narcissa was slightly confused as well as happy to see him. It had been a while – far too long as far as she was concerned but that sounded needy. She couldn’t help but smiled and she closed her book. She stood there and decided that it would be best to watch and see. She could think of nothing particularly witty to say so she thought that in good time he would notice her standing there. Her heels were loud enough against the hard wood as it was so it wouldn’t be long – especially if she wandered off to look at some more books.

The owner returned with the book. ''Here it is, professor Wilson.'', he said with a cheery voice. ''Thank you very much lad. Here, and keep the change.'', he said handing him the money. ''Thank you.'', replied the owner. ''You seem to be empty today? How come?'', Wilson asked. ''Empty professor? No! Why, there is a pretty lady around here somewhere. I only managed to catch a glimpse. I was packing some books you know.'', said the owner. ''Ah, I do apologize then.'', Wilson said and turned around to see the lady.

He smiled. ''You will excuse me. I have to greet that lady.'', he said. ''You know her?'', asked the owner. ''Obviously'', replied Wilson with a smile. He walked a to Narcissa and put his hand on her shoulder.

She was beautiful. He just stared, like she was some portrait, a beautiful portrait, not knowing what to say. He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and opened them. ''Narcissa, my dear. What brings you here?'', he asked.

Narcissa smiled to herself and watched James converse with the owner who seemed to love his job very much. Narcissa held her books close to her, eager to perhaps hole away in a coffee shop and try to decipher the riddles both books contained. It seemed as if she would have to put that on hold and she definitely didn’t mind if she had a better way of spending her time. She smiled teasingly at James and looked around. “What does one do in a bookshop?” she asked with a laugh. “Perhaps dancing?”

She wasn’t serious and she doubted highly that someone would be able to manoeuvre their partner around the book piles and columns. Some people would call the place a mess but Narcissa loved it. She would have taken the entire shop home with her and would have purposely made sure it landed on Sandra. It would be a certain type of Wizard of Oz déjà vu but it would give her an excuse to chuck the Death Eaters out of Malfoy Manor.

“No, I was in the area and thought that it would be a good idea to see what books I could find. The library at the manor is... lacking in material.” Her eyebrows knitted together in concentration but her face melted into a smile a few seconds later. She wasn’t sure how to describe the Malfoy Library. She was bored of it now as she had finished every book that had graced the shelves – even the ones that seemed to want to turn into ash in her hands. “What brings you here then, James?” she asked in interest.

''What brings me here? This little book. A new guide for us professors which always excludes the fun parts, which is why I dislike them. But you have to be in touch.'', he said with a smile as he showed her the book. This new guide was nothing different from the old one, but it was sort of an obligation to have the newest edition, which is why he had to order and buy it.

''The Manor Library? Interesting enough... I supposed you would have too many books to read in one lifetime. But it seems I am wrong. Has anything caught your eye?'', he asked.

Narcissa was slightly confused. Wasn’t the point of being a Professor to make learning fun for the children? She wasn’t sure. She had always wanted Draco to have fun at school. He always seemed to be complaining though so she did tend to ignore the boy when he started whining. She held her books out for James to see but she saw then that there wasn’t anything to see. The magic was inside and wasn’t that the way everything should be? Shouldn’t the magic be waiting to be found instead of being there for someone to see?

“I have had a lot of time on my hands. There is material there that must be as old as time but that has not stopped me from reading it. I suppose when there is only so much shopping that can be done, wine that can be drunk and galleons to bet on Quidditch matches and Muggle horse races then books are the only thing to keep you interested. They have served me well over the years but I think perhaps a challenge might be good for me. These two are riddles in themselves and possibly have more layers than I imagined. I do look forward to having a look through them. Will you be making any more purchases?”

''No, no more purchases. I would not have come out if it had not been for this book. I had such a pleasant time in my new office.'', he commented. His new office was more comfy than his last one. This proved that DADA was a major subject and Muggle Studies only selective.

''You do need to change your habits, my dear. Wine and bookies do not make a good combination, unless the bookie is the one that is drunk. You become even more miserable after all of it. Neither delirium caused by alcohol, nor the winnings of a bet make your life more... satisfactory. But, never mind that now. Are you finished 'round here or?'', he asked.

“Spending too much time alone could drive a man stir-crazy, James.” Narcissa laughed. She knew well enough how irritable Lucius became when he spent too much time in his office with a bottle of brandy or whatever he was drinking. She did tend to stay out of his way when he came storming out and terrorizing everything in sight. Usually he took his anger out on the house elves though and Narcissa was just glad it wasn’t her. “Something must keep you occupied there.”

“These are habits that have long been dead and the drunken bookies mean that even more money comes my way. I have quite a lot of luck when betting and even if it is a loss it isn’t my money that I am squandering.” Narcissa shrugged. “It has been a while I must say. My interests have changed over the years, I assure you.” She smirked and held her books up. “I have to pay for these but yes I am more or less finished here, why?”

''Well, you pay up and we shall see what we do later, that is, unless you have anything planned. If you do, do not worry about me, my new office never lets me down.'', he replied briefly and went to the exit, waiting for Narcissa.