"You will address me with the proper respect required of one higher in station than you, Viscount Malfoy. Is that understood?"
Face slowly contorting, the Death Eater quickly settled back into a neutral expression though the anger was palpable in his eyes. "Of course Lord Potter."
Wanting to dismiss him out of hand to further humiliate him, Harry held himself back from doing so. Who knew if the self-conceited ass would lose his shit and start flinging spells at him.
As the egotistical lickspittle was about to head back to his table, his wife spoke up. There was no denying that Narcissa Malfoy was an attractive woman, with her silver-blonde luscious hair, steel-grey eyes, slim hourglass figure, high cheekbones, full red lips, and haughty features. Harry would have been drooling all over her if he didn't know that she was so black-hearted. Why shouldn't she be when she married a man like Lucius and had a son like Draco.
"Who is this guest with you, Lord Potter? Is he your mysterious caretaker? We at high society have always wanted to know who took in the Potter heir."
Harry was just about to answer that it wasn't any of her business until Sirius spoke up for himself. "The name's Andrew Goldhound," Sirius stated as he had out his hand for the Malfoy woman to greet and made sure to also lay on thick the American accent. "And yes, I am the Guardian for young Harry Potter."
"Ooh, really," the woman said as she put on what was clearly a modicum of amazement. "How did you amount all the people looking to take in Lord Potter, result in him being in your care?"
"James and I go way back, so he left me first in his will to take care of our young Lord Potter."
"Ah, but I never heard about you, Mr. Goldhound. You would think that James and Lily Potter will leave their son in the care of someone well known. Not a total stranger."
"Well, you see me and James are distant cousins, plus we hit it off so well when we first met, we were instantly like brothers. So James knew I would take care of his son like I would my own if anything happened to him."
"I see, well, nice to meet you Mr. Goldhound, we will leave you to your lunches."
"And to you as well," Sirius replied as he nodded his head.
With that, the Malfoy couples started to walk away with only Draco lingering for a moment as he looked to and fro as confusion was written all over his face.
"Draco," Malfoy senior called out without even turning his head around, "Come along now."
Draco seemed to want to argue but he wisely shut up and followed along in the footsteps of his parents towards their reserved seat.
Once they were far gone, Sirius eased out his wand and waved it around as he muttered something under his breath. "That should stop them from eavesdropping," Sirius announced as he put away his wand.
Nodding his head, Harry didn't put it past the Malfoy's to eavesdrop in their conversation and he did not want anything to be let slip at all.
Facing his godson head on, Sirius seemed to have a scowl on as he asserted, "What were you thinking doing that?"
"Doing what?" Harry asked, as this was a fit that Sirius never seemed to be mad towards him. No, it wasn't anger. It was something much worse that made the pits of Harry's stomach fall out, disappointment.
"Confronting Malfoy like that!"
"What, I was putting him in his place," Harry answered, "Just like you taught me."
Putting his face into his hands, Sirius groaned out loud, then turned back to face his godson. "I have never taught you anything like that, and if I did, I apologize if I gave you the image of that. You need to know pup, that you stand in a very precarious situation. You just can't be making enemies left or right."
"But isn't Lucius already an enemy of ours?" Harry shouted, trying to defend his position and change Sirius's opinion of him.
"Yes and no."
"What do you mean yes and no. He is a death ea-"
"Shh, even if I have some wards placed around us, you shouldn't be shouting that name. Anyways, what I mean to say is that good old Lucius over there doesn't yet know he is our enemy since unlike us he thinks the Dark Lord is long dead, so we can use that to our advantage."
"Why would we ever work with our enemies." Harry asked in a barely level tone. He just couldn't believe that Sirius, the man who he thought was incorruptible, would ever recommend something like that.
Sighing out loud, Sirius stated, "Remind me next time, your politics needs a lot of work. I am not saying we bring him to our side or even turn to his side. No, all I am saying is we can use him to our advantage. Do you understand that pup?"
Taking a moment to think it over, and realizing he was overreacting for no reason at all. Harry slowly nodded his head, and said, "What you are saying is we can get him onboard for key matters, we would like to see pass."
"YES!" Sirius shouted, glad that his godson was opening his eyes.
"But what sort of matter?" Harry asked.
"Well of course, Dumbledore, duh."
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"Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy" Harry called out as the pair of two wizards were heading out once they finished their meals.
"Yes." the older Malfoy wizard responded as he looked up from his meal and the light chat he was having with his wife.
"I have come to realize the error of my ways when my uncle pointed out that I was being insolent towards you while you have only been the proper gentlemen."
"Ooh," the wizard simply said as he clearly was never expecting that in his life. He quickly took a glance from the corner of his eye where Sirius stood a few paces away and where the Animagus nodded his head in acknowledgment.
Taking advantage of the man's moment of unbalance Harry continued, "You see I thought that House Malfoy took up a feud with House Potter when your son showed me animosity and malice."
"Is that true Draco?" Mrs. Malfoy asked her son who looked like a fish plucked out of freshwater.
"Yes," Harry continued, enjoying Draco' nervousness and unease. "Your son has on multiple locations called me a Half-blood to my face and behind my back. He has also insulted my companions numerous times, showed me complete lack of respect when he demanded a duel and never came. Plus I must add, he has shown my family's closest alley House Longbottom's heir Neville distant and loathing, plus even calling him a squib at times."
Turning to give his son a single long glare who squirmed under his father's hard glower, Malfoy senior spun around and faced the young Potter heir. "You have my deepest apologies, Lord Potter, we had no idea our son was carrying out these acts. It is clear that we have let our son's behavior get out of hand."
"There is no need for apologies, Lord Malfoy," Harry said as he played to the man's ego, "Your son's act is his alone and nobody else's."
"Yes." the man said as he nodded his head, seeming to argue wholeheartedly.
That is until Mrs. Malfoy spoke up, "Even still, our son represents his house and his behavior shines a bad light on us. There is the matter of recompense, what do you say dear husband?"
Malfoy senior seemed to be once again stumped as he processed everything his wife said and scowled at her. Then seeming to realized where he was, the old Death Eater straightened himself up, and declared, "Yes, there is the price of recompense to discuss."
"Ooh, no, no, there is no need for that Lord Malfoy," Harry said as he continued to flawlessly play the part of the innocent party in all this matter.
"Lord Potter there must be amends," the gorgeous woman said. "What do you say bequeath you a few of our magical farms and greenhouses, plus formal alliance between our two families."
Holding back the grin that was about to split his face when he got what he came here for, Harry continued with his facade and played along. "That would be too much to ask my Lady I could never accept that."
"You must my Lord," the older witch said, and oh how that sent a shiver down the young wizard spine when she spoke his title like that. "There is no way I can accept anything less."
"If you insist, my Lady," Harry said as he hung his head in stiff acceptance.
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Once the two wizards were long gone, Malfoy senior turned to face his wife with rage in his eyes and shouted. "How could you give away my own properties like it is your god damn own."
"Oh hush dear husband," the woman said as she uttered their marital title in pure contempt. "I will be giving away my own properties from my dowry. You won't have to worry your little self about it."
Straightening himself up, and ignoring the tone that his wife kept with him, the wizard simply uttered "Good."
"What I would worry about is your own son." the milf voiced as she didn't even turn to face her son but rather the exit where the two wizards left from.
"Yes," the older wizard uttered as he turned to face his only son with narrowed eyes. Then the shouting started, as the Malfoy senior yelled, "Do you know what you could have cost me boy?!"
Ignoring the little father and son bonding time that was going on in front of her, the wicked witch bit her lips in a sensational manner as she turned her mind towards the young wizard that played her husband like a fiddle and ran off with all that he wanted. Steamy, carnal thoughts crossed her mind as she imagined how she would try to get her hands on the young, vigorous, and very rich wizard.
Ow, the things that they would do behind her husband's back, the things that they would do!
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"So what sort of score would you give me?" Harry asked as he and his godfather walked down the roads of Boards Way.
"I would give you a 7," Sirius responded back with as he only gave it a moment of thought.
"A seven! Come on, that had to be a 10 out of 10. A clear perfect score."
"You might have fooled Malfoy and his little clone, but don't think for a single moment that your little tricks got past Cissy old dearie."
"Pfft! Come on, I had her by the strings." Harry uttered as he wasn't believing his godfather's bullshit
"Are you sure it was her and not you?!"
"No way," Harry replied but he was now sort of hesitant.
"Would you rather trust me, who practically grew up with the woman or yourself?" Sirius asked as he moved along. "Who really knows nothing about her?"
"Wait," Harry called out, trying to catch up to the man but he made sure not giving his young ward no chance at all.
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"First stop, the barber shop!" Sirius announced as they stood before a small squat blue building that had the sign of: Weeoanwhisker's Barber Shop. The store was located in Horizont Alley much like "Diagon Alley" is a play on "diagonally", Horizont Alley was a play on "horizontally".
Walking inside, both wizards were greeted to a pleasant atmosphere where a single elderly man whose hair long turned grey sat listening to the radio.
Seeing two new customers walk in the shop owner got up from his chair, and patted the stool over. "Hello, are you here for a hair cut?"
"Yes, Mr. Whisker's" Sirius announced, "Just for my nephew only though."
"Alright, come, sit, sit."
Doing as he was told, Harry sat down at the rotating stool, there really weren't that many hair cuts he got in his life. Usually, his hair magically stays the same mop of unruly hair. Once he was comfortably seated, the older man asked what type of hair cut he wanted and Harry started to describe what he fancied.
"Yea, just trim the top and cut my hair short on the sides and back." [A/n: check out the cover to see haircut.]
"Okay." the man answered as he started to get to work.
As the man was finishing up, Harry asked, "I was wondering Sir, will my hair grow back up overnight?"
"Is that an issue you face son?"
"Yea, once my aunt gave me a really bad hair cut and my hair grew back up overnight. That was the last time I ever got a hair cut, and strangely my hair stays the same."
"Ah, you got magic running things amok," the old man said as realization blossomed on his face. "Let me see what I can do about that." the man said as he reached into a drawer and started looking around.
"Yes, here it is," the man said as pulled out a Sleekeazy's hair product. Spraying the canister all over his head, the man expressed, "This will make sure your hair grows naturally and keeps out magic from running wild."
"Thank you," Sirius said as he got up from his seat where he was reading some magazines. "Here is the payment," Sirius added as he presented his vault card, "Make sure you take an extra 25% for the spray."
"Thank you, Sir," the older man said as inclined his head.
Once they were done, both wizards headed out, and continued on with their shopping.
The next stop they made along their tour was Gringotts Money Exchange a wizarding Bureau de change, there they used their vault cards to exchange some Galleons into British pounds so they could have some pocket change on hand.
Next stop was the Stowe & Packers Magical Bags which sold all sorts of bags whether it be suitcases, backpack, wallets, handbags, small packs, duffel bags, briefcases, and other accessories. Harry made sure to spend well there as this shop had very useful bags that were magically expanded thus he got himself a magically expanded suitcase which was as big as a whole closet.
Then he got himself a wallet that could fit thousands of British pounds and as many business cards as he could want. Last but not least, Harry got himself a handbag which would be of immense use since from now on he would not have to lug around his books at Hogwarts. Just those three magical items cost Sirius over a hundred Galleons and when it was changed into pounds it was thousands.
After that, the two wizards went to a shop called Cogg and Bell Clockmakers. There Sirius picked up a mysterious package, and no matter how much Harry begged and pleaded the man never said what was inside it. The only thing the older wizard let slip was that it was his birthday gift.
Then it was to go to Dr. Filibuster's Fireworks where they picked up all kinds of fireworks for the birthday party. Just from that alone told Harry, Sirius and Mrs. Tonks were going above and beyond for his birthday party.
Afterwards Sirius and Harry made their way to Bowman E. Wright Blacksmith, metalsmith shop that sold numerous weapons, armor, and other accessories. Harry was more interested in the accessories more than anything else as he bought an Earring of Evasion which helps you dodge spells and physical attacks, though he did not know when he would get his ears pierced.
He also bought a Ring of Resistance which grants the wearer resistance to most elemental damage whether it be Fire, Lightning, Ice, Acid, Force, and Psychic. In addition to that, Sirius pointed out an unusual pocket knife which granted you a small modicum called a Lucky Blade to which he quickly bought on Sirius's card. At that point, he really didn't care when the blacksmith named the ridiculous price of 400 Galleons for all three items.
Following that, the two of them made a small pit stop at a cart called Eternelle's Elixir of Refreshment which sold all matters of beverages and smoothies. There Harry got some rainbow-colored drink which contained every fruit possible in each sip and it had the inverse effect of temporarily changing your pupil color every time the sun shined on it.
After drinks, it was to the House-Elf Placement Agency. When Harry asked why they were going there, Sirius's simple answer was, "You need a bunch of house-elves to make sure all your properties are at tip-top shape and so do I."
Harry couldn't argue that point since he recalled that his account manager telling him the horrible state all his properties were in.
Walking into the place, they were immediately greeted by two house-elves that held the door for them. Entering the store which was dark and dingy, and contained nearly nothing, they spotted a young man sitting behind a desk picking his nails and twirling his wand in the other hand.
"Hello." Sirius greeted as he walked deeper into the store.
Looking up from his nails, a young man with slick back blond hair and muddy blue eyes stared up at them. "Hello to you," the young man greeted back as his teeth shined in the light. "What can I do for you today?"
"I am here to buy in bulk house-elves," Sirius stated.
"Great," the young man said as he got up from his reclined position and removed his feet from the table. "Do you have proof of your buying power?"
Presenting his vault card before the laid back young man, he stared down at it as his eyes widened, and nodded his head.
"A platinum member, dang you do not see a lot of those. Well then come with me to the back!"