Epilogue

Epilogue

Draco’s shop had been open less than a week. Business was by no means brisk, but he had already had a handful of customers. He hoped that word of mouth would improve business. After all, his customers had asked for potions that were generally used less than ethically. If word got out that those types of potions were for sale, it should improve traffic to his shop.

Unfortunately, Phaedra had not ignored him as he had hoped. She had instead insisted on overseeing the opening of the shop. It had been all he could do to keep it from rivaling Madam Puddifoot’s in femininity. He wanted a shop that looked more like Snape’s dungeon; that was the proper look for an apothecary.

In the end he had reached a bit of a compromise with her. It still wasn’t what he had wanted, but it was close enough. And as she turned her attention elsewhere, he could make the subtle changes necessary.

He knew that he had very little time to turn a profit, but he had finally gotten Phaedra to agree to cut costs. Things would be tight, but he had faith that he would succeed.

The bell on the door rang to let him know he had a customer, and he looked up from the books to see the unfortunate sight of Lucius Malfoy. The color drained from his face.

Lucius looked around, disapproval on his face. “How… quaint,” he said condescendingly. “I see you actually decided to work. It must be a first.”

Draco knew that he had been less than attentive as a Malfoy, but his outlook had changed. “So, did you come to ruin my business?”

Lucius clucked in disapproval and replied, “Manners, Draco. I know I taught you better than that. It’s not becoming of a business owner to be rude to a customer.”

He didn’t believe that for a minute since he knew that Lucius had Severus brew all his potions. “You? My customer? I doubt it. What do you want?”

“I merely came to see what you were making of your life. I must say it is more than I expected, though you have chosen a very difficult line of work.” He opened one of the jars and sniffed at the contents. “One with many potential pitfalls.” He smirked as he turned to face Draco.

Once again, Draco was filled with a sense of dread. He knew there were dangers when dealing with some of the controlled ingredients, which is why none of them were displayed. While it was rare for Ministry officials to visit Knockturn Alley, it did happen from time to time. And if Lucius prompted them to conduct a surprise inspection, Draco had no doubt they would. “Is there something I can assist you with?” he asked in what he hoped was a polite tone. He was tired of Lucius and his lectures.

“I don’t think I’m in the market for anything… today. But I will keep your shop in mind when I am.” He grinned slyly, indicating he would be keeping an eye on Draco.

Draco couldn’t take it anymore. “You destroyed me once. Does it hurt your pride that much to see me trying to make something of my life?”

“Not particularly,” he said drolly. Without saying another word, he left the shop.

Draco involuntarily shivered. He could only hope that Lucius really wasn’t concerned. Besides, there was nothing he could do. The majority of their money was invested in the shop. He would just have to wait and see, and be very careful about any of the more questionable activities he was going to engage in. If there was one thing he had learned from Lucius, it was that failure was not an option.

Draco Black was determined to succeed.

~The End~

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A/N: Thank you for much for reading and especially thank you to those who left reviews. I will be going through my reviews soon to reply to them. I really appreciate them.

I hope that all of you enjoyed this final installment of the Glory Trilogy, and thank you for being patient in waiting more than a year for me to post this episode. It was a great challenge to write a story in three parts from three different points of view.