Chapter 19

The day, many people were waiting for, finally arrived.

Andromeda clad herself in a new robe, which she had purchased especially for this day.

Her husband was dragging his feet again.

Ted wasn't much of a morning person, so Andromeda had to call him to order and urge him to hurry up.

„Why do you want to leave already? It's still early." Ted complained.

„The early wizard catches the Hogwarts Express."

„Yes, yes, I know... And the late witch catches an unwanted marriage." Ted joked, and received a stinging hex on his ass for his effort.

„Hurry up!"

When the couple arrived in Hogsmeade a whole hour before the agreed upon time, there were already many people gathered in front of the impressive wizard tower their nephew had erected.

The Black Malfoy Tower looked even more magnificent than in the pictures in the Daily Prophet.

And Andromeda wouldn't have thought that this many people would apply for a job here today, even if a part of them were onlookers, there were still more people than she would've expected, reminding her of Lockhart's book signing event two years ago.

It was going to be a long day but she was kind of looking forward to it.

There even was a young reporter with her camera man going around, asking all kinds of questions.

Andromeda was just asking herself if Draco had already arrived and how she and Ted would manage to make their way through the crowd, without people freaking out and yelling at them for cutting in line, an old house elf suddenly appeared before them.

Andromeda immediately recognized him as the Black house elf Kreacher, even though the elf had aged unfavorably and was wearing a brand new black robe with the Black emblem on the back.

Andromeda had to look twice to make sure this wasn't some kind of illusion magic, seeing a house elf wearing actual cloth was a first for her.

„Mistress Andy and her pet mudblood, Kreacher was sent to welcome you and lead you inside on Master Lord Black's orders." Kreacher greeted them with his sharp nose held up high, sneering at them.

Without waiting for a reply or even acknowledgment from the couple, Kreacher led the way through the crowd.

The couple protested against Kreacher's address of Ted.

But Kreacher just ignored them, so they couldn't do much else but to follow the rude elf.

Some people in the crowd complained about them making their way through, until they realized Kreacher was the Black elf, then they started fawning on them.

Some of the people even recognized the Tonks couple, some from Hogwarts and the gossip surrounding their scandalous relationship, and some from their work as consultants.

Magical Britain was really just a village.

The closer they came to the tower's doors, the more people fawned on them, trying to increase their chances to get a job.

The couple wasn't quite sure how to handle that, but they didn't have to worry, Kreacher was there to dismiss everyone firmly and rudely, „Back off, you imbeciles, members of the Black Family coming through!"

„Tonks Family." Ted corrected.

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Kreacher just ignored him, but inside the privacy of his mind Kreacher thought Ted was right, and that the mudblood didn't deserve the honor of being called a member of the Black Family.

But it wasn't their decision, nothing counted more than the word of Master Lord Black.

When they had finally entered the tower and the heavy door had closed behind them, the Tonks couple was amazed at the tasteful interior design.

And this was only the foyer.

It was obvious that this would become a sales room in the future, with the great counter in the center near the far wall and the display cases at the sides.

Only that the display cases weren't stocked yet, and the counter looked like it had been lowered to the height of a regular table, so that people could behind it comfortably.

There were four chairs behind the counter, and one chair in front placed at some distance.

„You can take a seat behind the counter. Master Lord Black is still upstairs. Kreacher will go inform the master, that you have arrived." With a ‚pop', Kreacher disappeared into thin air.

The Tonks couple sat down, and Ted wondered, „Who do you think the fourth chair is for, honey?"

„I don't know either. Draco never mentioned a fourth interviewer to me. I reckon we are going to find out soon enough." Andromeda replied evenly, but truth be told, she was a little worried.

But as long as it wasn't one of Draco's parents, Andromeda was confident she could handle whoever Draco had invited.

Not five minutes later, the door behind the counter opened, and two blonde-haired people entered.

Almost the same height, one with stylish short hair, the other with luscious long hair.

Andromeda rose from her seat to greet Draco.

Then she laid eyes on her little sister and froze mid-movement.

At the same time, Narcissa discovered Andromeda.

„Draco, what is she doing here?" / „What is she doing here?"

Both sisters were equally taken aback, turning towards Draco with fire in their eyes, questioning him almost in sync.

„Mother is here because she agreed to help out for awhile and record some shows for the Magic Mirror Network. And I invited her to get her input on the employees I am going to hire, just like I invited you, Aunt Andromeda." Draco then turned to his mother. „And I invited Aunt Andromeda, because she is going to be the one to represent me on the Hogwarts board and in the Wizengamot."

„What?! How could you choose ‚her' for that?!" Narcissa was indignant, pronouncing ‚her' with as much as disdain as she could muster (and that was a lot).

„Because she is family." Draco said simply.

„That blood traitor stopped being family when she left us to marry that mudblood dog. You should send her away, she will only hinder your business and ruin everything." Narcissa insisted vehemently.

Ted pursed his lips at this affront.

Andromeda let out a cold laugh, „Why would I ruin the business? You are the worthless one, that hasn't worked a day in her life, you pampered little princess. You probably won't even be able to handle a single day of actual work... You should just admit your incompetence now and quit, before you embarrass yourself and the Black Family name."

„What?! It's you, who is the shame of the Black Family, damn mudblood strumpet!" Narcissa retorted heatedly.

„That's rich, coming from a death eater bitch." Andromeda countered just as heated.

By now, they were already completely ignoring Draco and Ted, totally immersed in their sister quarrel.

„It looks like they could use some time for themselves. Come on, I will show you the tower." Draco pulled Ted away.

Hopefully, their quarreling won't make one of them storm off, when they are left alone.

But Draco got the impression, it was more likely that their fight was motivating them even more to stay and do their work excellently in the future to show up the other one.

So Draco wasn't overly concerned.

Draco first showed Ted the other rooms on the ground floor.

He started with the costumer toilet.

Then he showed Ted the bigger bathroom for the employees.

Afterwards came a very big storage room, where some completed mirrors were already stored.

There wasn't anything else to show on the ground floor at the time, except for the stairs and the magical elevator.

On the second floor were two big workshops, one for creating mirrors and the other for monocles and telescopes.

Draco realized, one couldn't do all the recordings for the Magic Mirror Network with just the mirrors themselves.

So he planned to sell recording telescopes for distance, ones that had the same zooming and slow-motion features as the omnioculars which were especially popular for professional quidditch games, and recording monocles for convience.

On the third floor of the tower were some offices, including the manager's office.

Ted was really stunned when he saw the spacious and luxuriously furnished office, that was going to be his.

„That's really mine? I get the biggest office?" Ted wondered.

„Yes, as is appropriate for the manager of such a great business." Draco affirmed with a smile.

„What about your office?" Ted inquired.

„It's on the upper floors." Draco explained. „There is still one upper floor I want to show you."

Before Ted could ask, Draco continued, „No, not my office space, but the recording floor."

The two wizards entered the elevator again.

„This is the only upper floor that can be accessed by the employees at the moment. The other floors are still closed for everyone but me. That's why you can't use the stairs to get up to the record room and have to use the elevator. The upper floors are mostly still unfurnished and I haven't made the final decision yet how I am going to use them. Mainly, that's why I blocked them off."