I HATE WRITER'S BLOCK!
The countryside quickly passed by the train's window. Gwyn didn't even bother to try and take it in. The last couple weeks had passed in a blur of boys and schools, maybe with a little splash of Justin thrown in there.
She was on her way home, something Gwyn loathed. Only could the summer bring her home. Sadly or happily, depending on which way you looked at the glass, this was not the summer reason. This was to get away from reality, and she could always count on her mother to help her escape.
Yes, Gwyn could always count on her mother to keep her from reality. Her mother was already detached from reality, so following suit wouldn't be too hard. Gwyn wasn't sure if the way her mother acted was because of the pills or the denial about how bad her life turned out.
The compartment door slid open and Draco said, "Gwyn," Gwyn shot him a dangerous glare. "Opal, I was thinking. It seems such a shame that we should waste this half an hour with an empty compartment."
"Go fuck yourself in the loo, Malfoy," Gwyn answered him. "Meaning, get the hell out of my compartment."
"Your loss," Draco said. "I think I'll go give Cho a whirl."
"You go girl," Gwyn responded with a smile.
Draco gave her a nasty look and then left. Draco walked back to his compartment where the rest of the Slytherins were. He slumped back in the seat and stared out the window. He quickly looked over at Pansy and shrugged. "Hey Parkinson, wanna have some fun?"
Pansy's face lit up and she answered, "Sure."
Draco smirked and led her into the next compartment over.
Gwyn didn't even bother to look for her mother at the train station. Gwyn started walking past her peers with their parents until she reached the end of the train station. Gwyn sat down on her trunk and dug into her pockets looking for how much Muggle money she had left from the summer. She counted it out and decided that it would be enough to get her halfway there in a taxi, and then she could walk the rest.
Gwyn put the money back in her pocket and sighed. As Gwyn stood up she bumped into a woman. "Excuse me."
The woman didn't even acknowledge Gwyn and walked towards her son. Gwyn watched her as the woman greeted Draco with a smile and a quick pat on the shoulder. Gwyn averted her eyes before any emotion could surface.
Gwyn signaled a taxi and got in quickly. "Where to, Miss?" the taxi driver asked.
"The closest sixty pounds will get me to Auxford," Gwyn answered him.
As they were driving, the taxi driver asked, "You coming home for winter holiday?"
"Yeah."
"Why didn't your parents pick you up?"
"Must not have read my letter yet," Gwyn told him.
"Did you send it in time?" the taxi driver asked.
"I think so," Gwyn answered, looking out the window.
The taxi driver just nodded and looked at the meter. It was at fifty-eight pounds and they weren't even half way there. The driver looked at Gwyn in his mirror and shut off the meter.
He brought her to the outskirts of the small town of Auxford and said, "All right Miss, comes to sixty pounds even."
Gwyn smiled at him and handed the money over. "Thanks."
"How is school, Draco?" Narcissa asked in the limo.
"Fine," Draco answered her.
"Your father was very pleased that you decided to come back to the Manor during holiday," Narcissa told him.
"Oh, Father." Draco's mind flashed back to the image of his father and five-year-old Gwyn. He quickly dismissed the image and said sarcastically, "Yes, I'm sure he was very pleased."
"He was," Narcissa protested. "He says you are old enough to accompany him on one of his meetings."
Draco raised an eyebrow. His father's meeting included meeting up with old Death-Eater friends, and more then once his father would come back at three in the morning, smelling of someone else's perfume. Draco's father never told his family where he was going or what he was doing. Something Draco was eager to know.
"When?"
"Tomorrow night," Narcissa told her son not sure to be proud of the step her husband was taking to better his connect with Draco, or to be worried.
Draco nodded and the ride back to the Manor was completely silent. As was that night's dinner. Their greetings were just quick murmurs and nods. At the end of the meal Lucius patted his face with the napkin and said, "Draco, if you desire to accompany me on my meeting tomorrow be ready by seven and let your attire not be a disgrace on this family."
Draco held back a sneer and nodded.
Gwyn was up the next morning, and after surveying her refrigerator, was making bacon and eggs. As the bacon was sizzling, she heard her mother quickly run down the stairs saying, "I know karate and I have a bat."
Gwyn's mother stopped in the kitchen and let out a sigh. "Hi honey, is it winter holiday already?"
"Yeah, I talked to you last night before you went off to your business meeting," Gwyn reminded her.
"Right, well you know in the morning I don't have the best memory," Gwyn's mother defended, going over to the table. Her mother was in socks, plain gray shorts, and a white shirt with a black zip down the middle sweater. She sat down at the table and rubbed her temples.
You don't have the best memory about me, Gwyn thought bitterly. However, out loud she said, "You don't have much food that seems edible. All there was, was some bacon and eggs. Do you want me to go shopping?"
"What?" Gwyn's mother said, popping her head up. "No, you don't have to. I was planning to go shopping before my next meeting. Speaking of which, do you-?"
"I have to work late tonight, so you don't have to worry about me," Gwyn said. "I'll be gone all night."
"My first meeting is here, but my second meeting is out of the house. I probably won't be back until mid morning," her mother told. "Where do you work again?"
Gwyn paused and said, "The book store."
"You told your mother you work at a book store?" Sarah Nadacie asked with a laugh. Sarah Nadacie was Gwyn's co-worker who had dark skin and dark hair.
"I know, I should stop lying to her," Gwyn said. The two of them were in a kitchen, helping prepare for the night rush by pre-making some of the food.
"Look on the bright side," Sarah told her, "this way your mum won't bust you to the cops like my mum almost did."
Gwyn held in laughter, while she put a pizza in the oven. A small fat, balding man walked in and clapped Gwyn on the back. "Opal, great you're back. Great, we're going to need you tonight. You've got the Traditional Room."
"Okay, Tommy," Gwyn answered him. As soon as Tommy left, Gwyn asked Sarah, "What's going on in the Traditional Room?"
"Some important Wizarding family," Sarah answered her. "Either way, you know what the Traditional Room means."
"Drunken rich idiots," Sarah and Gwyn said together.
Draco was dressed in black leather pants, a black tight shirt; with a black robe topping it off. He leaned against the fireplace, waiting for his father. Lucius walked down and looked over Draco. Draco sneered and asked, "What? Not appropriate enough?"
"It's fine," Lucius answered coldly. "Let's go."
Lucius and Draco stepped out of the fireplace and were greeted by a woman with a matching black skirt and black long sleeved belly button shirt. She had on a pointed witch's hat and said, "Hello, welcome to Merlin's Dirty Secret. Do you have a reservation?"
"Yes, Malfoy party in the Traditional Room." Draco looked around. He had heard about this place. It had a secret backroom where many men will go when they don't want to feel alone at night and the waitresses were scantily clad. This place was many men's dirty secret.
"Malfoy, yes, right this way." The hostess had the choice to lead them behind five doors. The first door on the right was in the form of a Gothic arch and was dark green. The second door was bright yellow with a silver star. The third door was a deep red with a little heart on the door. The fourth was in the form of a Roman arch and was a solid oak door. The last door was a lighter color wood door with a circular window in it. The woman led them into the last door.
The room was dimly light and had low tables with men sitting on the floor on top of pillows. The men were staring at waitresses, who were only wearing short, tightly tied, low cut kimonos. The waitresses had to bend down, getting whistles and grabs from the drunken men.
"Here is your table, Mister Malfoy," the hostess told them, filling the glasses with water. "I will send your waitress out soon."
Lucius nodded and sat down at the table, where some of Lucius' friends were already drinking. When Draco sat down, a small fat man walked up to his party. "Hello Mister Malfoy, what a pleasure to have you here in my humble abode."
"This place is anything but humble, Tommy," Lucius told him.
"Have you ordered yet?" Tommy asked.
"No, we just arrived."
"I get you White Opal," Tommy told them. Draco's attention climaxed when he heard the name 'Opal'. He shook it off, thinking it was just a stage name. "She's the best of the best."
"Opal, I don't think I have ever had the pleasure of meeting her," Lucius said. "Is she new?"
"No, but works very few hours and only the important parties get her," Tommy told him. "I'll go get her now."
Draco took a sip of water, while he saw Tommy lead a girl dressed in a light blue kimono, with white hair pulled back into a bun and decorative chopsticks crossing in the bun. Draco choked on his water, as he saw that underneath the powder white makeup was Gwyn Opal herself. Gwyn shot him a smirk and slowly slid off her kimono. Underneath the kimono was a mini skirt that was an aqua blue color with silver dragons stitched into the shimmering fabric. Her top was a matching fabric of the skirt, and was a belly-button tank top. She had glitter all over her chest, arms and legs. She bowed and asked, "Hello, welcome to the Traditional Room. Can I get you men anything to drink?"
Draco just gaped at her. He had forgotten how good she looked without the Hogwarts robes on. He smirked and answered her, "Black Barrel on the rocks."
"Anything else?" Gwyn asked, flashing a smile at them.
"No, we're fine for right now," Lucius told her.
"I'll be right back with your drink, sir," Gwyn said, with a small trace of disgust.
As Gwyn walked away, Tommy asked, "So you like?"
"Don't lose her," a man Draco recognized to be Pansy's father.
"Yes, she has a special wit about her," Lucius agreed. "I think we can all go for martinis."
"I'll have Opal send them out," Tommy said before bowing his exit. He went into the back room and found Gwyn and Sarah pouring drinks. "Opal, they love you."
"Great, I'm sure they'll love Sarah more," Gwyn said. "Tommy, please let Sarah take over for me."
"Then you have to do the Stardust room," Tommy told her.
Gwyn grimaced and said, "Ok, I'll keep the Malfoy party."
"Great, also bring out five martinis with the Black Barrel scotch," Tommy said before leaving.
"Why did you want leave the Malfoy party?" Sarah asked.
"I know the son."
"Oh, is he cute?"
"A pain in the ass, but a cute one," Gwyn told her. "Well, I better get out there."
Gwyn gathered the drinks on a tray and stepped out into the Traditional Room. She gracefully treaded over to Draco's table and handed out the drinks. "Is there anything else I can get for you, sirs?"
Lucius nodded and said, "Yes, this is Draco's first time here. Would you be so kind as to show him around?"
"My pleasure sir," Gwyn told him, holding in a twitch of disgust. As Draco stood up Gwyn said, "Follow me Mister Malfoy."
As Gwyn led Draco to the front of the restaurant she said, mockingly, "Sounds like Daddy was trying to get rid of you."
"You should keep your mouth shut or I won't leave a tip, Gwyn," Draco retaliated.
"My tip is included in the bill, it is called gratuity," Gwyn informed him with a smug smile. They reached the four other doors and she asked, "Which room would you like to see first?"
Draco's eyes scanned the different doors and then he pointed to the dark green, Gothic arch. Gwyn nodded and opened the door.