Inspired by a picture of Severus Snape, an unnamed woman and a small infant.
A woman only in her twenties lounged against the back of her sofa. The small oriental fan she waved offered her little relief from the heat of the day even with its added cooling charms. Arielle sighed yet again as she attempted to wipe the perspiration away from her brow but the back of her hand did little to remove the quickly forming droplets. Even here in Scotland the weather went from one extreme to the other. In winter snow storms blew a gale and in summer the heat was relentless.
Eventually the young woman came to a decision and placed the fan on the pillow beside her and began the shuffle to the edge of the sofa. Normally she would have been easily able to perform such a task but well into her third trimester of pregnancy she had been sapped of her energy, flexibility and agility. With a few wiggles, a huff and a push she managed to stand from the low sofa. Pulling herself straight she combed her long fringe away from her face and off her sticky forehead back towards the twist the rest of her hair was pulled back in. It wasn't natural but it suited her. The short blonde bob she once knew was gone and replaced with by a waist long, creamy brown head of hair.
Hobbling, she made it into the bathroom of the small cottage. Swiftly filling the large tub with water she disrobed and slid into the refreshingly cold water.
~*~
"Next please," called the teller from behind his counter. A grey suited man in his thirties who had a balding head stepped away from the front of the que and towards the free teller.
Towards the middle of the line stood Arielle dressed in a long cotton dress and low comfortable sandals. She had been standing for what seemed like all afternoon and her feet were swollen and her back ached. She tried to ignore the pain as best she could but she was soon considering simply leaving the line and seating herself on one of the rather comfortable looking sofa chairs. The thought of losing her place in the line however was incentive enough for her to remain standing and tough out the pain. She would be facing much worse in a few short weeks.
For what felt like the twentieth time she looked towards the large black and white clock fixed to the wall above the tellers only sigh in disappointment. Only two minutes had passed since she had last looked. She adjusted her purse strap and continued looking around the at the brightly coloured posters and brochures of low interest rates and over 50 plans.
The tellers were inordinately slow taking too much time to process the customers in her opinion. They were so inefficient, unlike the goblins at Gringotts. It was not often one would expect to find a witch or wizard placing their money in such an insecure place as a Muggle bank. But what Muggles lacked in security they certainly made up for in anonymity. Even the most basic forged wizarding papers passed the scrutinising eyes of Muggle authorities. It was in part what made co-habitation relatively easy. You could go anywhere and be anyone among the millions of muggles. And in any case Arielle was not up for the trip to London every time she wished to make a withdrawal from her account.
The reason she had chosen this large bank branch situated in the middle of the closest major city, Glasgrow, was its anonymity. She was simply one face among the hundres of others. Not only that, it was also relatively close to the cottage and the Ministry had no idea she was even here. She was an illegal, at least in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic. She had always been, but she had also always been two steps ahead of them which was why she was still here. But that would soon change and no longer would she need to fear being sent back to her country. Soon her child, her daughter with her English father would allow her to stay her indefinitely.
She held a small everyday account which allowed her to keep track of her finances while also keeping a small secure box which held both documents and a reasonable amount of Wizarding money to complement the Muggle money. Her husband held an account n his own name with Gringotts for all of their Wizarding needs.
Today she planned to make a small withdrawal and deposit some galleons in their secure box after borrowing a few for baby things, but plans can change in the blink of an eye.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" shouted a masculine voice. Arielle wasn't sure where it had come from to start with but when everyone suddenly dropped to the floor at least four men with masks on could be see spread throughout the bank each brandishing a small black object.
The man who had been standing behind her urged her to get to the ground but there was no way that she wasn't going to be able to get to the floor in her state.
Each of the masked men began weaving through the people to different points around the branch until they were evenly spread out. They all looked identical in their black pants and jumpers to the untrained eye, though she could spot their differences in stature and build easily. One of them headed up to the counter with another behind him as they began to demand money and access to the safe boxes. A slightly broader shouldered man than the rest started towards her.
"Miss, get down," insisted the man on the floor.
Broken from her stupor she tried to squat down so that she could lie down like all of the other people in the large bank. A kick to her side sent her sprawling on the ground.
"Aaahhhh!" she exclaimed as she came down hard.
"Stay down," growled the masked man before he continued around a circuit.
"Miss, are you okay?" whispered the man.