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He was here again.
Cinderella purposely stared straight ahead, breezing by the boy with the stark black eyepatch loitering at the entrance to Gringotts before he got the chance to open his mouth.
Once, twice, even three times might be a fluke. But this is the fourth time in a row I’ve seen him here at Gringotts, so he’s either homeless (doubtful, given his pricey clothing) or a someone looking to start trouble. And trouble is the last thing I need right now.
Cindy warily glanced back while turning a corner, but the strange boy with the eyepatch was gone. She heaved a sigh of relief-
—And solidly collided with a goblin carrying a tall stack of parchment. They both toppled to the ground, Cinderella’s wand jabbing her harshly through her thin robes. Everything the poor creature was holding went flying in all directions, a flurry of papers scattering everywhere. Cinderella was mortified, especially as the goblin started to swear effusively in harsh Gobbledegook.
“I’m terribly sorry!” Her face burned as bright scarlet as her hair when several other wizards and goblins turned around at the commotion.
Brilliant. More attention. Just what I needed.
She hastily piled the goblin’s work as fast as she could under the goblin’s beady-eyed glare, and a few sympathetic bystanders stopped momentarily to help. One last parchment had floated next to a nearby wizard’s shoe, and she was just about to grab it when the wizard himself bent down and offered it to her.
“Thanks-“ Cindy’s voice died in her throat as she got a good look at him.
It was Eyepatch Boy.
“-thank you, sir.” She finished stiffly, snatching the paper out of his hand as quickly as she could.
The boy smiled lazily. “You’re welcome. Never imagined a Trieux would be so clumsy.”
Cindy’s blood ran cold. Trieux. There was only one other Wizarding family that still cared about her ancestral bloodline. She knew there had been something dodgy about the boy, but she never imagined he was one of them.
The Erlaufs.
She spun on her heel and bolted out of the bank. Gringotts could wait; she needed to get home, to Aveyron. The boy had clearly been lying in wait for her, which meant the Erlaufs had most likely run out of patience and set their sights on her as their next target.
Why can’t they just leave me alone? Her thoughts were bitter as she sprinted through Diagon Alley, her pale blue robes billowing out behind her. Thank Merlin it was summer and her clothing was light and thin. They’ve already taken so much from me. What more could they want?
“Wait!” Oh, bollocks. Was the blighter actually following her? “I need to talk to you!”
“Bugger off!” Cinderella shouted back, putting on another burst of speed. She briefly touched the pocket where her wand was stored to make sure it hadn’t fallen out. Not that she could even use it, still being underage and all. “Tell your bloody rotten family that it’s still not time yet!”
She just needed to pass through a few more blocks to reach the Leaky Cauldron and Floo home. She pinched the powder in her other robe pocket in anticipation.
“Cinderella Lacreux! If you care about anything about Aveyron and your family, please listen to me! I know how you can save them!”
It was the desperation in his own voice that convinced her. What would a smug prat like him have to be desperate about?
She paused outside the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for the boy to catch up. She folded her arms as he stumbled to a halt in front of her.
“What-“ she started, but the boy bent over double, wheezing.
“Hold…let me….catch my breath.” He held up a finger, and Cindy’s lips twitched. It was good to know that all her daily errands for Aveyron Manor kept her in better shape than some spoiled Erlauf brat. And unlike her, the boy was wearing a thick green jumper that was most unsuitable for the weather.
She was petty enough to enjoy Eyepatch Boy’s suffering a little longer before her compassion got the best of her. She sighed and gestured towards the Cauldron.
“Fancy a drink?”
The boy briefly glanced up, his single eye gleaming. “Thought you’d…never ask.”
Once they were seated at one of Tom’s creaky old tables, the boy gratefully chugging down a glass of ice water, she laced her hands under her chin and stared him down.
“What do you want from me?” Cindy said bluntly. The old her might have smiled nicely and danced around with polite, meaningless chatter first. That girl had died on the same day as her father, once she learned that pretty words were all well and nice, but they did nothing to pay off a lifetime of debts.
“Would you believe me if I said I just want to help?”
“No.” Cinderella said flatly. “You’re from the Erlauf bloodline, aren’t you? Why would you want to help a Trieux descendant?”
“Why not?” He countered. “A blood feud between our families doesn’t mean I automatically despise every Trieux I meet.”
“That’s exactly what a blood feud means.” She said heatedly, folding her arms in front. “It’s why more than half of my extended relatives are gone. The Girards, the Lefebvres, the Feautres…most of my cousins had to attend Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts after you bankrupted them and ruined any chances they had of remaining in Britain.”
“Me? I was a literal child at the time. What could I have done?”
“Obviously not you specifically.” Cindy glowered. “I meant you as in the Erlauf families. Especially your bloody ringleaders, the Cristophs.”
He winced. “You can’t really judge us all by the actions of a few, right?”
“Of course not.” She glanced around. Aside from the two of them, the popular Wizarding pub was mostly empty, being that it was barely midday. “But if you want be evaluated, I can tell you that following and stalking me all over Diagon Alley certainly hasn’t won you any points.”
“Now hold on.” The boy frowned. Now that Cinderella was actually getting a good look at him, he was beginning to look somewhat familiar. “I’d wager that stalking is a bit of an over-exaggeration, no? I’d consider us acquaintances, at the very least.”
“Do you now.” She pursed her lips in a disbelieving thin line. “I did not realize that four brief encounters would be enough to merit any sort of relationship. Speaking of which, you must have quite the obsession with Gringotts, to show up there four days in a row.”
“Believe it or not, that had nothing to do with you. I was avoiding some…unpleasant obligations of my own. Seeing you there everyday just happened to be an unexpected, albeit pleasant, bonus.” Eyepatch Boy waggled his eyebrows, grinning. Cinderella revised her assessment of him as a smug prat to a smug loony prat.
She sighed. This line of questioning getting nowhere, so she might as well get to the point and stop looking a gift horse in the mouth.
“Quit waffling around. You told me you knew a way to save my family. What is it?”
Eyepatch Boy leaned in conspiratorially. “Go out with me.”
Cinderella choked on air, eyes bulging. “I beg your pardon?! Have you gone mad?”
“Not for real, mind you!” Eyepatch Boy backpedaled quickly, single eye widening at the thunderous expression on her face. “It’d be just for show. If you pretend to go out with me for a bit, you’d be free from your debts and I’d get to skive off on some familial obligations. I’m proposing that we start a…what’s the word they use in those Muggle shows? A fake relationship! ”
“You have gone mad.” Cinderella decided. “Absolutely barmy. You want us to pretend to fancy one another? I don’t even know your name!”
“Oh, that one’s easy. It’s Friedrich. Fred to my friends.” He smiled suggestively. “But as my girlfriend, I suppose you could call me whatever you’d like.”
Cinderella felt the beginnings of a massive headache settling in. “Oh believe me, I’d like to call you several things, but they are all extremely unfit for polite company. Not that you would even count as that.”
“I’m flattered you have so many pet names for me already. That means our fake relationship is already off to a roaring start.” Friedrich smiled with boyish charm, and perked up. “Hey! Could I call you Pet? Cinderella is a bit of a mouthful, if I’m being candid.”
Cindy breathed in, slowly and deeply.
Patience, Cinderella. You can’t kill him. A dead body will only add to your problems.
As much as she hated to admit it, Friedrich’s idea did have some merit. Being involved with an Erlauf meant she’d be exempt from paying off her debts, thanks to some sort of archaic Pureblood regulation from long ago about shared privileges. It’s why her father had remarried in the first place, tying himself to a woman distantly related to the Erlaufs and saving him and Cindy from the destitution that had gutted the other Trieux families a decade ago.
Cinderella would be lying if she said she’d never considered doing the same herself after her father passed. Becoming the new head of the family, she’d inherited all of the remaining debts with none of the exemptions since she shared no actual blood with her Erlauf stepmother and stepsisters.
Since she was a minor, and a student to boot, the Cristophs had been slightly more lenient, delaying her yearly payments and allowing them to accrue until she was of proper Wizarding age, seventeen. At that point, she would either have to pay it all completely, or lose her home and family to the Erlaufs.
She was sixteen now. A long, hard year of penny-pinching and working herself to the bone had allowed her to almost reach the amount needed to buy off the Erlaufs, but not before she turned seventeen in half a year’s time. Friedrich’s offer was the best shot she had of getting everything she had dreamed of.
It was far too good to be true.
“Would you care to explain what’s in it for you, Friedrich?” Cinderella graced him with a steely look. “And specifically, why me?”
He hesitated, his gaze skittering away. “I can’t explain it fully, but let’s just say that having a fake girlfriend would make my life a lot easier for now.”
“…okay. Fine. But why me?” She repeated, uncrossing and recrossing her arms. “Did you think I’d be desperate enough to accept anything you’d offer?”
He shifted, hunching a little. It was the first sign of discomfort she’d seen from him. “That’s not-I mean-everyone at Hogwarts knows you’re as honorable and kind as they come, Cinderella Lacreux. I never meant to imply-“
“Hold on.” Cinderella broke in, several puzzle pieces clicking into place. “You know me from Hogwarts? You go to Hogwarts?”
Friedrich paused, looking bemused. “Yes, I go to Hogwarts. What, did you think I decided to pick some random young witch off the streets willy nilly?”
“I told you I thought you stalked me.”
“You told-I thought you were having me on!” Friedrich nearly knocked over his glass in his agitation. “You mean to tell me that all this time, you didn’t remember me at all from school? At all?”
Cinderella squinted. She felt a little rude saying no, given how distressed he seemed over it. “Perhaps? Are you…a Ravencl-“
“Slytherin. I’m in Slytherin, a year below you, Miss Hufflepuff Prefect.” Friedrich said, an injured look on his face that she refused to feel guilty over.
“…ah.”
“Blimey. Really know how to take down a bloke’s ego, don’t you?”
Something clicked in Cindy’s head. “A Slytherin named Fred…” she said slowly, the gears in her mind whirring. Hazy memories were beginning to surface, forming a picture that she really didn’t care to know. “Friedrich…Friedrich Cristoph? As in the son of Freja Cristoph?”
Friedrich grimaced. “Guilty as charged.”
“The very woman who’s been making my life a living nightmare?” Cindy was aware her voice was rising at an alarming volume. “You’re her son?”
“That,” Friedrich said with the air of someone being sentenced to Azkaban, “would be correct.”
Cindy was silent for a while. For Freja Cristoph’s own son to be doing this…she had to admit, she was rather curious. “…You’ll have to do this again, you know.”
“I’ll have to-what?”
“You can’t just waltz up and demand for me to go out with you.” She said briskly, straightening her robes in a business-like fashion. “I’d like a wee bit more tact next time.”
“Oh?” There was suddenly a warm glow in Friedrich’s eye. It was, Cinderella unhappily noted, a very nice shade of brown. One that reminded her of Aveyron’s freshly tilled fields. “Next time, you say?
“And I’d like to set down some ground rules. Including when this relationship will be terminated and what it will entail.”
Friedrich burst into laughter. “What do you want, a signed magical contract?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.” If there was anything Cinderella had learned recently, it was how to bargain. “Forgive me for not trusting a Slytherin, and an Erlauf at that, to keep their word.”
“Ouch.” Friedrich playfully put a hand over his heart, eye still sparkling with suspicious warmth. “A clumsy Trieux and a suspicious Hufflepuff. You’re quite the rare find, Pet.”
“And don’t you forget it, Fred.”
“It’s a deal then.” Friedrich caught ahold of one of her hands and brought it to his lips, briefly grazing the back of her knuckles. “Don’t go falling in love with me for real now.”
Cinderella yanked her hand back, forcing herself not to flush at the intimacy of the gesture.
(Or how nice it felt.)
“Trust me, that won’t be a problem at all.”