Chapter Two: Shopping Extravaganza!
Lizzie was frantically throwing clothes around her room, searching for the perfect outfit to wear but to no such luck, she couldn't decide on which looked better for the evening of the Christmas Ball. It was only just a few days before Christmas and of course, being the Slytherin queen and all, she considered it a must to have a new dress for the occasion, or in her case at times, a new wardrobe. Her mother would never understand the way she loved to spend her money, perhaps as a child she viewed money as the same way she did but ever since her father came into the picture at age seven, her views changed drastically. She was simply Daddy's Little Princess, no matter what age she was at the time, although her grandmother's tastes tended to rub off on her as well as her father's influence had. She was currently in her room in the Slytherin headquarters. Professor Snape had personally made see to it that a Malfoy always had their own room and also one of the best there could possibly be. She was truly treated like royalty around here, including with the Gryffindors, partially only because she was Ginny's daughter as well as Draco's.
"Lizzie, what on earth are you doing?" a voice suddenly asked.
Lizzie turned around and began speaking in French.
"What do you mean? There are only a matter of days before the Christmas Ball and I still don't have anything to wear! And how am I supposed to go to the ball with Michael if I don't have anything to wear? Although, he probably wouldn't mind that, but still!" Lizzie rambled on in French.
"Ok hold on!" Lizzie's best friend, Nicole said.
At her best times, Lizzie had the habit of becoming the exact shadow of Ginny, in that she ran on the multi-task route more often than the one thing at a time route. It was one of the things she prided herself in the most.
"I'm starting to get used to the different languages you speak but if I translated correctly from what you just said, it's time for us to go to Hogsmeade. And Michael who? You never told me about him! And just how many languages do you speak?" Nicole asked keeping up with Lizzie's banter of short speaking in such a hurry. She often wondered if Lizzie would ever slow down but then again, she wasn't considered the best and brightest, let alone the queen of Slytherin, for nothing.
"Six and it's not even the weekend yet and you're saying for us to go shopping?"
How anyone couldn't want to go shopping was beyond her ability to comprehend at times, Lizzie thought.
"Dang, woman! I can barely speak two and yet you've mastered six!" Nicole said. "And yes, we're going shopping, I know you have an invisibility cloak so don't say you don't."
A look of defeat came to Lizzie's face, how Nicole knew everything about her, even the things she hadn't gotten around to telling her about yet, she somehow knew.
"I saw you buy it last time we were in Knockturn Alley," she explained, "Now tell me about this Michael person. Who is he? What house is he in?"
"When are we leaving? And how the hell did you find out about me being in Knockturn Alley?"
Nicole chose to ignore the latter question, "we can leave now if you like."
She helped Lizzie into her cloak and walked her over to the fireplace, "And don't think I'm letting you ignore my question about Michael."
She knew Nicole wasn't about to give up, she never did unless it wasn't really important to begin with of course. "His last name is Potter and he's a Gryffindor."
Nicole gasped, the Slytherin queen was dating the Gryffindor king, what was the world coming to next? Oh wait, Lizzie's mother already did this! Except Lizzie didn't have six older brothers to try and stop her from dating the rival house. Surely the first few Malfoy and Weasley ancestors were turning over in their graves at this situation.
Lizzie took a handful of floo powder and said, "W3!" as she dropped the powder.
{ W3 meaning, Fred and George's new joke shop. }
They arrived quietly into the somewhat kept neat and clean joke shop. The walls were black with various colors splattered on the walls. According to Gred and Forge, as they liked to call themselves at times, Muggles often painted their homes or business in this style. And of course, they had a blast doing the painting themselves, the splatter painting that is. The floors were wooden with the occasional splatter paint from the paint wars the twins would have, even the ceiling had a speck or two of the splatter war. When it came to Muggle ideas, of course their father had always been one to be intrigued by Muggles and their objects, especially the function of a rubber duck apparently. The twins thought that perhaps their father's obsession had rubbed off on them as well, hence the reason for the look of the shop had taken on.
As far as Lizzie could see, George was in the back and Fred was behind the counter but was paying no attention to who might be entering into the store via the fireplace, or even the fireplace in general. Her mother always said the best time to prank one of her uncles would be when they weren't looking. Her mother was a trained prankster, taught by the best brothers, Fred and George, although to them they perhaps though they trained her a little too good. Charlie and Bill always had a hand in helping Ginny out as well. Percy and Ron hated that of course.
Silently, Lizzie lifted her wand and muttered a spell in Latin towards Fred, sending him a little bit of a chill and then an invisible hand tickling each of his sides.
"Lizzie!" Fred said as he jumped at the sudden movement. "What on earth are you doing here ? Aren't you supposed to be at Hogwarts?"
"Uncle Fred, since when have you cared if I skipped school or not? Considering you did that every chance you got unless Grandma Weasley put a restriction spell on you," Lizzie fired back.
"You are too much like your father," George said, coming in. "What do you need? And we promise your parents won't know of this whole ordeal."
"We're shopping for a dress for the Christmas ball, or at least I am. It's in a few days and I still don't have a dress to wear," Lizzie said quickly in Latin.
Fred, still translating what she said in his mind, then said, "Ok, Lizzie, you've got to speak English with us, understand? We do not speak as many languages as you do."
George came up to her and held out a little bag.
"Your father knew you'd do this one day," George said. "He said there's a hundred galleons in this bag for you to use one day, and the day has come. Don't be like your mother or our mother for that matter and just take it and go have fun."
A pair of eyes watched Lizzie beam with joy.
"Thanks Uncle Fred and Uncle George!"
Lizzie began to drag Nicole out of the shop and down the street.
"Lizzie!" Nicole shouted over the loud voices of the crowd.
There was currently a concert of some kind going on. Suddenly, a big wave of people talking and hollering came through the streets of Diagon Alley. Lizzie and Nicole, both had about three shopping bags in total with in each hand.
The phrase, `Shop til' you drop, was often Lizzie's motto when out shopping but of course, Nicole perhaps thought she took it a little too literally than actually meant to be in the first place.
g, `Shop til' you drop'.
Apparently, Nicole thought, Lizzie was taking that saying literally.
"Nicole, head over to your left!" Lizzie shouted back.
Nicole went and so did Lizzie. They came to a shop that read, `Sunshine's Fashion Styles'. The store was bustling with people. People were everywhere. Apparently, they come on a very good day. The store had everything: from ordinary clothes to fancy, prom dresses.
Lizzie's eyes went wide with excitement as they entered. Lizzie turned to Nicole and looked her in the eyes.
"Whoever wins gets to choose how long we stay here," Lizzie said, as she held her fist out.
Nicole did the same, "Ok ready, set, go."
Both Nicole and Lizzie quickly did the `paper, scissor, rock' game. Two out of three win, won the game for Lizzie.
"We won't leave until I have the perfect dress to wear," Lizzie said.
"What about the other clothes we got today?" Nicole asked.
"What are you? The wardrobe clothes, number, limit police?" Lizzie asked in Latin.
"No," Nicole said back in Latin also. "Let's go!"
Over the next several hours, Nicole and Lizzie tried on just about every outfit in the store. Lizzie probably had about a fourth of the store's stock of clothes in her picks. She had seven different styles of dresses in many colors laid out in front of her.
At the moment, Lizzie had on a strapless, midnight blue dress that made her look like royalty, either a princess or a queen, she looked like one of them. The dress went past her feet in the back, and had just enough material in the front so that her feet could still walk and not trip. It had a shiny, glossy look to it, with a touch of a glitter magic added. It also had white, glossy, long gloves to go with it.
Better not let Daddy see this, Lizzie thought. He'd probably faint. Either that or grin until Mum saw this.
"That is gorgeous, Lizzie!" Nicole exclaimed, as she saw Lizzie standing by the mirror. "I think that's the one."
"I think so too," Lizzie said. "What do you think Michael will say?"
"Nothing," Nicole said.
"What? What do you mean nothing?" Lizzie asked, starting to get offended.
"He'll be too tongue twisted after he's seen you to even say anything," Nicole said. "You'll be lucky if you get him to say anything!"
Lizzie grinned at the thought now knowing this was the perfect choice. Even though she never would have dreamed she would be going to the ball with her father's childhood enemy's son, Michael, she certainly knew this dress had it's perks about it and for that, she was upmost grateful.
"How long have you two been together?" Nicole asked. 

"Since we got on the train back in September," Lizzie said.
"And you didn't tell me?" Nicole asked. "Why so long under wraps?"
"You know our families," Lizzie said. "And the school too. It's not everyday that you see a Slytherin and a Gryffindor together, let alone a Malfoy and a Potter."
"Your parents were both from different houses," Nicole stated. "And as I remember you saying, Weasleys and Malfoys were each other's number one enemy."
"Yes, but they didn't get together until my mum got a job at my dad's company: not while they were here," Lizzie said. "My father would flip out if he knew I was going out with a Potter, let alone somebody in Gryffindor."
"What would that matter? You're a Slytherin. You're just like him. What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Nicole said.
"I like the way you think," Lizzie said.
"If you were a full-blooded Slytherin, you'd be exactly like me," Nicole said. "Can't blame that on your mother, though; I like your mother: I love her cookies."
"You and my brother both!" Lizzie said. "Don't know which is better at times."
"Oh come on," Nicole said and then grinned. "Besides, you still manage to live on."
"Yeah, cause you just wanna go cruising for hott guys in the summers," Lizzie said. "That and shopping every week if we were allowed."
"You know it!" Nicole grinned and then noticed all of the other dresses Lizzie had lined up just waiting to be tried on, "Are you about done trying on dresses? I thought you were getting the other one?"
"I am," Lizzie said. "Can't help if I want to get a red one too. Valentine's Day isn't that far away after Christmas!"
"They're two months apart!" Nicole said.
"Exactly," Lizzie said, smirking proudly like a true Malfoy.
"You know you scare me at times with that smirk of yours," Nicole said. "Guess that's why over eighty percent of the Slytherin household know better than to come across you."
"You know it," Lizzie said, gathering the clothes she wanted to purchase. "Let's go check out and get some ice cream and then check back in with Uncle Fred and Uncle George."
Nicole too gathered her things that she wanted to purchase and went along with Lizzie. There were two lines, both of which were empty. Lizzie took one and Nicole took the other. Before long, they were heading out with at least five shopping bags in each hand, including the other bags from previous shops. They headed towards Fred and George's joke shop.
They entered the shop to see Fred sitting in the seat near the candy machine and George testing out new products in the back. Lizzie always knew that if George was sitting near the candy machine or sitting and being quiet for anything, it meant Fred was generally always in the back testing something or another. If the product was something they really were excited for they would have just closed up shop for an hour or so until they were done.
"Holy moly!" Fred exclaimed, as he saw the girls' hands decked out with about ten bags a piece for each girl. "I guess you both took the shop til' you drop saying, literally."
"You know it," Lizzie said. "That's what I do. Could you imagine what Grandma would say if she knew about this?"
Fred laughed at this. "Yes but could you imagine what the look would be if your grandfather saw this, let alone your mother?"
"No, but I know that Grandmother Narcissa would be mighty proud of me," Lizzie said.
"That I would be, Elizabeth," a voice said.
Narcissa was the only one who called Lizzie by her real name. She had a knack for calling people by their given names, perhaps it was the proper thing to do as what she may have considered to be done, Lizzie thought.
Lizzie turned to see her grandmother Narcissa, grinning proudly.
"Grandmother Narcissa!" Lizzie said as she dropped the bags of clothes and went to her grandmother's arms.
Narcissa always liked Lizzie the best. She looked exactly like her son, Draco, and she spoiled her rotten. Lucius was no longer a part of the Malfoy legacy. He had betrayed the oath of the former Malfoys'. The oath was, ` You demand the proper respect to the name Malfoy, but you must never harm the future, Malfoy heir's mother or their family.' What Lucius had done to Ginny in her first year had set a mark on him forever, and it had also landed him in total darkness and bad luck until the day he died. He was in Azkaban at the moment.
"Now look at you!" Narcissa said. "Just like your dear, old great-grandmother, always taking the shop til' you drop saying literally. And that she did too. You make me proud, dear."
Narcissa took a moment to look at her granddaughter again and then smiled once more. "Now get along back to school before your father finds out."
"You won't mention this to him will you?" Lizzie asked.
"As long as you don't mention you saw me," Narcissa said slyly in return.
"You got a deal," Lizzie said, and then went over to the bags on the floor and picked them up. "Nicole, let's go."
"See you later Uncle Fred and Uncle George!" Lizzie said. "Remember you never saw us!"
"Got it!" Fred said.
"Just don't tell your mother about our new invention," George said. "In fact, don't leave yet. Come over here and test this out."
Lizzie grinned, set down her stuff and went to see what it was.
George held out a little bottle that was a white color for Lizzie to take.
"Be careful who you put some of this to," George said. "Just tap a little bit of this into somebody's food or drink: they'll have the hiccups for days. And not to mention they'll say things as if they were delirious from a wild fever!"
"Try it out on your classmates first before you try it on Adrian," George said. "And whatever you do, don't let your mother see that. She'll have our hides as fast as the speed of light if she ever sees that."
"Will do," Lizzie grinned. "See you two officially at Christmas."
By officially, Lizzie meant when they were really supposed to see the other. Unofficially, Lizzie and Nicole would go get ice cream every other Friday of the week and then stop at Fred and George's shop to help test out new products, as well as stock up on free supplies of hilarious pranks. One prank would say, "You should be kin to Umbridge!"
That one had gotten shut down quickly as soon as Ginny heard about it.
Lizzie and Nicole then went to the fireplace, stepped in with all twenty bags, and Lizzie said, "Slytherin Queen!"
Slytherin Queen was the code word for Lizzie's room at Hogwarts.
After another several hours of sorting and putting away new clothes in the wardrobes of each girl's closet, they both fell on their beds and laid there for a minute.
"Want to do each other's nails?" Lizzie asked, five minutes after they had jumped on the other one's bed and hit the pillows with their heads.
"With my new nail polish I got earlier?" Nicole asked, grinning.
"You grin too much you know that?" Lizzie asked.
"And you smirk too much," Nicole said.
"Comes with the quality of the name," Lizzie said. "And yes, let's get this party started."
"If you weren't a Slytherin, I'd say that ole' hat would be crazy not to put you in your rightful place," Nicole said, as she then got out her new polish. "Pink or blue?"
"Blue," Lizzie said. "Gotta match my dress."
"Only you would think that five days before the ball," Nicole said.
"You know it," Lizzie grinned as they then chatted away while they did the other's nails.
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