Yer a Wizard, Julian

Julian had stormed out and was now far from the Hall - well, as far as he could reasonably go within the bounds of his current legal mandate, at least. Walking briskly and with hands tucked deep into pockets and breath misting into the cold, crisp afternoon air, boots squeaking just barely on grass, the ground still wet from recent rains and the snowfalls of December something of a memory.

He was breathing somewhat heavily, partly from the pace of his march, and partly from pure emotion. Even a good half hour had not calmed him, in fact he only felt more frantic. Lies were anathema to him, and this was the biggest, and most personal, that he could never have expected or imagined. And such a denial - so much hidden, not just one fact, or several facts, or 250,000 facts, but a whole occult world denied to him. Part of him wanted to just march back inside and write furiously - but the greater part needed time and space to process and to catharsise.

If only.... if only... he grimaced and breathed out a frustrated sigh.

"All a bit too much, is it?", came a deep, slightly amused, slightly clipped voice from behind him. Julian whirled to see Lucius Malfoy standing, leaning gently on his cane, one eyebrow slightly raised, and lips pursed in polite but bemused query.

Julian strode toward him, half a mind to thwap him one, but before he could even begin to raise his hand he thought better of it, and merely responded testily, "do you really have to sneak up on me like that? It's rather disconcerting."

Lucius shrugged, "Apparition will shock more if I appear in front of you, so I consider it preferable," he replied with a mild tone of reproof.

Hmmm, thought Julian - fair call, and nodded. "Well, thanks for not coming in the middle of the bloody night this time.

I've chatted to mum this morning - she'd kept this from me for my own safety, apparently," he spat out bitterly. Lucius nodded.

"We suspected as much. A shame - you may have accomplished much during the War - but then again, there were also many casualties... " and here Lucius's voice dropped to a lower tone, "... and we were lucky ourselves to have survived, even with .... ignominy..." the word rattled around uncomfortably on his tongue. "But now, there is much to be done, and if you feel you're ready, we can begin your belated ... schooling. Though because of the extenuating circumstances, I doubt you'll need much training, and I expect most aspects of wizardry will come naturally to you, despite the delay."

Julian nodded, and responded soberly, "I haven't had time to really think about it too much, to be honest - err, whether I'm ready, that is." He felt his heart still beating fast from his brisk pace earlier - or perhaps, it was now in anticipation. He shrugged and grinned lopsidedly, "I can't say that I'm not keen to begin, though."

Lucius nodded, lips pursed in a thin smile, "Excellent. In that case, let us start at the logical beginning. If you'd not mind... " and he stepped toward Julian, hooking his arm through his brothers'. Julian realised this probably meant another of those stomach-wrenching disappearing acts, and clenched his jaw, his whole body tensing.

"Oh yeah, looking forward to this..." he muttered under his breath as Lucius raised his wand and they both disapparated with a slight pop.

....

After the wrenching tumbling stretching and reforming into reality, Julian stumbled forward slightly, catching his balance and breathing deeply, hoping to stave off the worst of the sickening feeling in his belly, focusing on the ground before him, hands on his knees as he bent forward and blinked in the somewhat muted light, rough cobblestones beneath his feet and dominating his downward view. But then he had a sudden pang of confusion, as he looked at his legs, realising that the tracking bracelet was mysteriously missing.

Raising his head slightly, he realised the nausea was passing, and the ground was feeling more steady... and he raised his eyes up to what appeared to be a very traditional but somewhat dingy English town laneway bustling with folk, and across to Lucius beside him, who smiled serenely.

"Errr... " Julian began, "... what happened to the tracker?"

Lucius chuckled. "Oh, those kinds of apparatus don't apparate - muggle ... errr, technology, I understand, is quite limited," he muttered with a note of disdain, as if the mere idea of tracking a person with something so primitive was rather quaint and amusing. "But I'd enchanted it before we met formally - and it will reappear on you as required by the muggle authorities - whenever you return to Ellingham. Should keep them happy, eh? We must get you apparating on your own as soon as possible too, I dare say." He nodded firmly, emphasising this.

"To that end of course, we must furnish you with a wand - which is why I've brought you to Diagon Alley. Ollivander is the best wand maker in the UK and his shop is located here, you see. Was closed for a couple of years after the war, but all is in order once more now, more or less. There's really no other option of course, without a continental journey.... " he shrugged.

"Come." And with a flourish, Lucius beckoned, indicating a direction, Julian nodded, and the two headed purposefully up the Alley in the direction of Ollivander's.