Diagon Alley

The sun rose on the last day of July, but Lily Evans did not. Instead, even as the familiar scratch of an owl at the window irritated her ears, she rolled over resolutely and pulled the well-worn blanket over her head. Her room at the Leaky Cauldron had been freezing cold when she had arrived late last night but now, as the sun beat down and warmed her to an almost uncomfortable degree, Lily wriggled her toes out from under the covers, and hung them over the side of the bed to cool. The owl continued to peck and beat its wings impatiently against the window. The panes creaked in their brackets and, just seconds later, a post-owl had crashed through the glass and toppled, with a shaken squawk, onto the floor. Lily leapt out of bed.

"What did you do?" she frowned, and ducked down to untie a letter from the owl's outstretched claw.

It ruffled its feathers, spraying shards of broken glass over Lily's bare feet, and gave her a look that said, 'well, that's what happens'. Lily raised her eyebrows and, once the letter was free, tumbled back into bed. The owl gave a hoot.

"I don't have any food," said Lily, unfolding the parchment. The owl hooted again. "You want money? I only have Muggle money." The owl tilted its head in consideration, and then gave a brief nod of approval. "Alright then," she said, "but the Post Office won't like it."

From a drawer in the bedside table, Lily pulled out her purse and, struggling through some quick currency conversion in her head, removed two silver coins. She beckoned the owl towards her and dropped the coins into the small leather bag that hung from the claw that had not carried the letter. The owl hopped from one foot to the other, testing the weight of the bag. Seemingly confident that he could bear this new load, he gave a hoot of farewell and shot off through the broken window. Lily grimaced, unsure how she was going to explain that to Tom.

Turning her attention back to the letter, it read:

Lily,

We'll meet you at the station at 10pm then. Shame you get in so late – there's a pub quiz tonight at The Three Broomsticks which Mum really wants you to come to. We've got most topics covered, apart from Muggle Studies – which obviously you'd be a dream at. It's okay though, we can go next week. DON'T LET DORCAS PUT YOU OFF. It's really fun here over the holidays I promise.

See you soon,

Marlene

On the bottom right hand corner of the page, scrawled in a different, but equally familiar hand, were the letters 'PTO'. Lily did so and, with a chuckle, read:

Lil -

GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN. Hogsmeade is, as feared, super dull over the summer. Nothing is happening. Honeydukes = shut. Shrieking Shack = not even shrieking. Marlene will make you think that endless pub quizzes at The Three Broomsticks are fun, DO NOT TRUST HER. It's too late for me, but save yourself. RIP me.

Dorcas xxx

Lily snorted and, casting the letter aside, felt her heart pound with excitement at the thought of seeing her friends soon. This summer had been pretty painful as summers go. Petunia had been unpleasant to her from the moment she had stepped through the door. Before this summer Lily had at least been able to discuss Hogwarts with her family as Petunia sat in stubborn silence. But now, with any mention of school or of magic, Petunia would stand up and leave the room altogether. Her older sister had refused to speak to her, or even to meet her eye the entire holiday. Petunia's new boyfriend didn't help matters. Lily wasn't sure what Petunia had told this Vernon Dursley, but he looked at her like something disgusting stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Ironic, Lily thought – avoided at school for not being witch enough – whatever that meant – and hated at home for not being Muggle enough.

Casting those thoughts away to the back of her mind, determined to be cheerful, Lily sat up, stretched, and carefully tip-toed over to her trunk. However hot it might be outside or under the covers, the stone floor of her room was still ice-cold. Lily stuck a hand carelessly into the trunk, pulling out whatever she could find. Once dressed, Lily stuffed Marlene and Dorcas's letter, her purse and wand into her satchel, locked up her trunk and, with some effort, began to drag it out the door. With one final glance over the room to check she hadn't forgotten anything, Lily's eyes fell upon the broken window. She gave a sharp intake of breath. Sidling over to the window, Lily first glanced out into the corridor, and then down into Diagon Alley below. Confident that no one could see her, Lily pulled out her wand and, with a gentle tap on the broken glass, whispered: "Reparo." As she jumped out of the way to avoid the stray shards of glass that soared to the window and slotted back into place, a small, smug smile played across Lily's lips; she had missed magic.

As it was still early, and so as not to wake the other guests, Lily tried to drag her trunk down the stairs as quietly as possible. Two floors down however, a door was flung ajar and a very large, disgruntled head shot into view and stared meaningfully at Lily as she passed by. The next floor down, a bleary-eyed St Mungo's worker opened his door and, with a kindly flick of his wand and a yawn, magicked Lily's trunk the rest of the way down the stairs. "Thank you!" Lily whispered, with an apologetic smile. Lily stowed her trunk safely behind the bar, thanked Tom, and promised she would be back by 1pm at the latest to collect her trunk and pay for the cost of the room.

Squeezing out the back door of the Leaky Cauldron, Lily, with some difficulty, pulled out her wand and carefully tapped a brick in the wall opposite, three up and two across from a collection of dustbins that sat festering in the sun. The brick wall fell away and, with a sigh of pleasure, Lily stepped into Diagon Alley. The cobblestones and the glossy windows of the shops to Lily's left and right sweat and glistened in the heat of the day. Lily was surprised by the hustle and bustle of the street despite the early hour. Although Ollivander's was dark, Lily could make out movement at the back of the shop. A shop assistant was sticking a sign to the window of Madam Malkin's which read 'HALF OFF DRESS ROBES'. Flourish & Blotts was already packed, with many witches and wizards trying to force themselves into the already cramped shop. Lily, curious, bent down and retrieved one of several hundred dropped pamphlets peppering the pavement outside the shop which read '3 SICKLES OFF 'THE COMPLETE GENEALOGY OF THE PURE-BLOOD WIZARDING FAMILIES' IF YOU PRESENT THIS LEAFLET AT THE COUNTER. ONE USE ONLY'. Lily's stomach turned. As she watched, a particularly sweaty, balding middle-aged wizard pushed his way out of the crowd, 'The Complete Genealogy of the Pure-Blood Wizarding Families' gripped tightly in his hand, which was raised high above his head so as to prevent anyone from taking it from him. Catching Lily's eye, he smiled with great relief at her.

"I'm in it," he breathed, clutching his side to sooth a stitch, "my family's in it! Not one of the oldest families obviously, but we're in it!" Lily attempted a smile. "Do you want me to see if you're in it?" he asked kindly, "save you the trouble of trying to get through that," he added, nodding at the gaggle of people trying to push their way into Flourish & Blotts.

"I won't be in there," Lily said.

"Oh, come on," he said, nudging her encouragingly, "don't be pessimistic, you never know. Best to find out anyway. That way if you are in it, you've got some proof in case You Know Who comes calling," the man chuckled, "and if you're not in it…well…"

"I'm definitely not in it," replied Lily, flushing, "I'm Muggle-born."

The man's reply, whatever it was, was lost to Lily, as she stumbled away hastily, the colour rising in her cheeks. She felt short of breath now, and much less sure on her feet. "Stupid cobblestones," she muttered, as her ankle twisted and gave way beneath her. Gripping a chair that sat outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, Lily tried to steady herself. One deep breath, two deep breaths, three deep breaths. Lily shut her eyes. She could still hear the cries of desperate Flourish & Blotts patrons in distance behind her – 'Get out of my way!', 'I was here first!', 'Ow, that was my toe, you imbecile!' Lily couldn't help but laugh.

Her resolve returned, Lily opened her eyes and glanced up. Gringotts loomed large in the distance, its white walls almost unbearably bright. Shifting her satchel more comfortably onto her shoulder, Lily marched on. Down the street, up the stone steps, through the bronze doors – with an awkward semi-curtsey of acknowledgement to the goblin guards on either side – and into the entrance hall. Just as she had done for the first time six years ago, and once a year, every year since, Lily approached the smallest desk in the darkest corner of the atrium, above which an engraved, golden sign read 'EXCHANGES'.

"I'd like to exchange some Muggle money please," Lily said politely to the goblin perched on a high, ornate seat behind the desk, which was several inches taller than Lily herself.

Peering down his long, hooked nose at her, the goblin replied in a scratchy voice: "Put the money up here." Sifting through her satchel, Lily withdrew her purse and upturned it noisily onto the desk. Several notes, and coins of gold, silver and bronze, a whole summer of saving, fell out with a clang that reverberated around the room. "Is that everything?" the goblin asked, his lip curled in distaste, dragging individual coins towards himself one at a time with a yellow-nailed finger.

"Um," Lily shoved her hand back into her satchel, grazing the bottom of the bag in search of coins. It was empty. Turning out the pockets of her jeans proved equally unfruitful. Sticking her hand in her jacket pocket in one last-ditch effort, to her great surprise she withdrew a crisp £5 note. Pinned to the money was a note which read:

Just some walking around money, spend it wisely. (And I want a Chocolate Frog to add to my collection).

Love, Dad

Lily smiled, and slid the money across the desk. "That's everything," she said.

The goblin tutted, and began jotting down numbers in an enormous, dusty ledger that sat on the desk in front of him. Lily waited patiently, shifting from one foot to the other, while he counted out her Muggle money. Glancing around wistfully, Lily noted a man across the hall withdraw a small, golden key from his robes and hand it proudly to a small boy who clung to his arm. The boy grabbed the key in his chubby fist, and shoved in it his mouth. Lily wondered, not for the first time, what it might have been like to grow up in this world. Growing up knowing about the existence of goblins and of mountains of gold piled high under the earth, only accessible by what amounted to nothing more than a rickety rollercoaster on stilts. Turning back to the goblin, she watched him work affectionately.

"Are you pleased?" she asked, trying to make conversation.

"Pleased about what?" the goblin replied, not looking up.

"About the Ministry commissioning the creation of a Goblin Liaison Office. I read about it in the Prophet last night. It's quite a step forward, don't you think?"

"I don't read the Prophet. Wizard trollop, if you ask me."

Lily was silent. "Still," she continued, after a moment's thought, "it must be a good thing. Finally the Ministry will start paying attention to what –"

"The Ministry are only paying attention to what goblins want because of You Know Who," the goblin interjected matter-of-factly, "the Minister wants to get us on side, before he does."

"You Know Who's doing a pretty terrible job of getting the goblins on side if that is what he's trying to do. That poor goblin family in Dorset," Lily said, her brow furrowed.

The goblin surveyed her, with something like approval written across his face. "Here you are," he said, pushing towards her a modest, but pleasing pile of coins, "it's a favourable exchange. Very favourable."

"I'm sure," Lily said in agreement, scooping the coins off the desk and dropping them loose into her satchel, "thank you very much."

"You're welcome," the goblin replied, "and –" he continued, as Lily turned to go, "I am pleased about the Goblin Liaison Office. We've been waiting a long time."

Lily smiled, and raised her hand in farewell.