I'll go anywhere

Mexico on a wild hair
Have you ever seen California?

Did Draco absolutely have to come to Hogsmeade this evening? No. Of course not. Was he looking for a reason to get out of the castle for a little while? Yes. Yes, he was. It helped, of course, that he could insist he required an ingredient for the next day's lesson that was not supplied by the inept Herbology professor and pop down to Dogweed and Deathcap to pick up what he needed.

Made for a pleasant after dinner excursion--one free of students, thank Merlin! Draco did not even mind the chill. Bundling in a Slytherin scarf, heavy coat, and fine soft dragonshide gloves, the Malfoy took his time strolling down from the castle to the little town that lay below. It was not his dream to be a professor. Once, he had fancied the idea more than he did now. The actual work was not fulfilling...especially since he had to have TAs since he had lost magical capacity. 

He thought he was quite good at adjusting to change. He had done it time and time again...but even though it was November now--nearly December actually--and he had been living this 'new' life of his at Hogwarts sans magic since September. He really had not adjusted to it. There had been a rhythm to life at Aurora. He had fallen easily back into it after finally getting out of the work camp. Even though he had been removed from his work there for years, it had never really left his mind...he'd still shared meals and conversations with old coworkers while he had been in Knockturn Alley. His days had been filled with manual labor, but his mind was always still focused on the problems he had become so fascinated with since he first began to explore blending the lines between alchemy and engineering. 

Draco had it in his mind to resign from Hogwarts--but he would not do that in the middle of the school year. He would do the year and that would that. He would go back to Aurora full-time and he would have given the job that 'was befitting his station' a go. It would be better to be further removed from what was going on with Ministry and the Death Eaters. He wanted as far away from that as he could get---not that he managed often to get very far. His name and the godforsaken skull and snake on his arm kept him anchored to every single one of his father's mistakes. He fought against that hate, though, in the ways he could--in sneaky, silent ways that had impact but made no splash. He...rather like his aunt...was always focused on self-preservation. 

"Allow me," he insisted pulling open the door to allow another customer to head into the plant shop before him--his voice silky smooth and his gesture made with all the charm and grace of his Black and Malfoy ancestry. When he finished up here, he'd pop over to the Hogs Head or 3B for a drink--maybe drop a note to have some company join him before he had to return to the castle. He'd need to do patrols at midnight, but that was still hours away. 

Open | OUTFIT | 500+

If you wanna just hide out We could send a post card back @ Lord Malfoy OUTFIT

The loss of Alaric's magic had... hit him rather hard. From the start of the day to the very end, he had a hard time adapting. It was as if reached for a tool that he no longer had- well, not as if. He had literally locked his wand away in one of the manor's many safes. He wasn't using it and he didn't want any harm to come to it. Just in case this was ever fixed. In case he got his magic back. Until then, he would do his best to continue without something that had responded to him ever since he was six years old. Now he had to tie his ties by hand, he had to file things at work and pay attention, he couldn't even brew potions for his family anymore. He could no longer do what his family had traditionally done for many generations. From the very beginning of their family tree, every single adult had studied potions and become a potioneer. Only the squibs did not, and that was for very obvious reasons. Still, they were expected to study potions anyhow. This came from the time in which the Slughorns were the owners of two or three apothecary shops and everyone in the family had to cooperate. A lot of them only went into that kind of study because it was family tradition, especially now that they no longer had to stock pharmacies since Panacea had become a health insurance company. Alaric, though, had always loved potioneering. When he was little, uncle Horace would sit him on the counter while he brewed and teach him how to do everything, step by step, patiently and warmly. He missed that man terribly every time he went down to the manor's labs.     He had never considered how much he would miss brewing until it was no longer an option. He had taken to just rearranging the bottles and vials of their storage rooms down in the cellars, filled with rows upon rows of brews that the Slughorns made on their free time. Al, after all, enjoyed it, and so did Corwin and his parents. Then the many cabinets with the necessary ingredients for all these potions and poultices were fully stocked and he really had nothing to buy. But he needed something to distract himself with. He had been planning on inviting Oralie out for a cup of tea today, she could get out of the castle whenever she wanted since she had her work at Panacea. But he had chosen against it, in the end. All he'd had to do was go to Hogsmeade -easily done, he could floo over from his office into the Three Broomsticks- and send her a note. Admittedly, he should've sent a note before leaving but since it would arrive later than he would like this, he'd chosen to send it from Hogsmeade. And then he hadn't. Well, he didn't want to take Oralie away from her studies more than necessary, of course. That was the most obvious reason. Also, he didn't quite know if he was perfectly alright, emotionally speaking, and he didn't want to worry her. On top of all of that came the fact that... well, he had realised that Oralie had not eased up to Cora like he'd hoped. Was it too hopeful of him that he'd expected it to just blow over? That he'd expected her to just get used to the idea and be okay with it eventually? He'd been planning on talking to her about it. Calm her down and all that- Cora was going to be his wife and he found that he cared about her. It was very distressing to notice that they were at each other's throats whenever they met, and he knew where it had originally come from. Of course Oralie was upset that Al was getting married. He understood that. But that didn't mean that he wasn't... quite sad about it.     But he had chickened out and decided not to do any of this. Instead, he'd wondered the streets and into shops. He'd taken the afternoon off to spend with his little sister anyway so there was no work waiting for him. The only shop he'd not stepped into yet was Dogweed and Deathcap. A rather bittersweet idea, going in there, considering that he had absolutely no use for anything inside it anymore. Yet, when he made to enter, the door was held open for him. Alaric blinked and looked at the man across from him. He had a familiar face, probably from some social function or another, but he didn't have his wits about him enough to fully pull up a name. So he merely nodded with a "Thank you." Then he walked inside. What else could he do? A strange person opened a door to him, it was a bit rude to just change his mind and leave. However, once he was faced with the shelves and cabinets he just... felt a little lost. He felt lost in general.

credit to alisha of adoxography.

I'll go anywhere

Mexico on a wild hair
Have you ever seen California?

The gentleman Draco opened the door for was not unknown to him. Though younger, Alaric Slughorn was a pureblood--and really there were not that many of them who had managed to keep their riches after the Second Wizarding War. Of course, the Slughorns had somehow escaped Durant's fines and seizures, as well. The Malfoys had not been so lucky. They'd been stripped of everything. 

Their shared social circles were not why that Draco knew Alaric, though. They had both been involved in the Sanctuary. They had little interaction during that time. But they had worked together a small amount. The last time he had spoken to the wizard had been in early April of this year. Draco had been providing a temporary safe house for a number of muggleborn runaways--and Alaric was to ferry the group across to Paris via a portkey he had secured under the guise of a business meeting. Much had changed since then, though--and it seemed that his face had not immediately been recognized by the Slughorn...or Alaric was feigning as such to keep it from seeming like the two were overly friendly (not that they had ever been, even before the Sanctuary dissolved).  

Draco followed the Slughorn into the shoppe, beginning to peruse the shelves, and eventually found himself again in an aisle with the other pureblood. Alaric did not seem to have a purpose about him in the moment, which struck Draco as peculiar. He did not know the man well, but in their previous dealings, he had always found the Slughorn to be very with it and on task. Dogweed and Deathcap was not really the sort of place one just browsed either... It just seemed odd. If it had been only the Sanctuary and society events to associate the two, he might have just excused himself past the other man, but there was a new connection between the pair that he thought merited conversation.

"Lord Slughorn, I thought that was you- Professor Draco Malfoy" Draco said politely, extending his hand towards the other man, ready to shake. "I must say your sister has been a great help to me. Oralie is one of the most brilliant students in the NEWT class--and she has been a fine teaching assistant. Your family undoubtedly lives up to its potioneering reputation."

Lord Slughorn | OUTFIT | 400