Shaun waited eagerly outside of the large book store situated on Oxford Street. His excitement began to build as he looked around at all of the other young and old children who snaked the line along the street. The line appeared endless. The sign that had stood so long outside of the shop window read
'Harry potter and the eighth Horcrux- A signing with JK Rowling herself!'
The very reason everyone was queuing today. JK Rowling had finally released her new book. The eighth Harry potter novel, the book people had been desperate to read for five years.
Everyone waited in the cold wind of the night. The Gryffindor scarf's wrapped around the enthusiastic fans did not prevent them from chilling. But no one complained.
Shaun rubbed his hands together. The back of his hands where blue and purple. The coldness was getting harsher as the frost flakes began to fall from the sky.
'Your hands look as if they are going to drop off!' Said Lavender, Shaun's closest friend.
'They feel like they are as well' replied Shaun as Lavender took of her Slytherin coloured gloves and handed them to him.
'Slytherin?' questioned Shaun with mock disgust as he began to place them over his hands.
'I know! You know I would have preferred Ravenclaw but Pottermore sorted me in Slytherin so that's why I got the gloves and this hat!' she said as she pointed to the beanie on the top of her dark wavy brown locks. Shaun laughed.
'Well at least you weren't placed in Hufflepuff! What good's a Hufflepuff?' said Shaun as he and Lavender both began to laugh.
A man made his way from inside the building to the front doors. He pushed hard on the pair of them and began to open them widely. A few of the more excited fans began to scream and chant. Lavender turned to Shaun with a wide grin.
'Here we go! This is what we've been waiting all night for' she said as she turned back to face the man who began to check the eagerly patient fans tickets along with two very importantly dressed men.
The queue began to reduce as more and more people began to enter the bookshop.
'Have you got our tickets?' asked Shaun as the pair of them began to approach the men checking them.
'Yep right here!' said Lavender as she waved them above her head so Shaun could see.
'Just us two thank you!' said Lavender as she handed the man the tickets and pointed at Shaun.
'Yep, go right in!' said the man as he directed his hand through the doorway and up the wide staircase on the left.
'Thank you!' replied both Shaun and Lavender in sync. The two of them quickly paced through the doorway (with which was surrounded with huge bookshelf's flooded with the new releases) and up the stairs. They gently jogged to the top.
As they approached the top of the stairs they could see the vast crowds gathering around a small desk with a fountain pen laid upon it. Two large security guards stood just behind it with a stern faced woman to their right reading of a clipboard with her Bluetooth wireless wedged in her ear.
'Miss Rowling will be out momentarily' she began to say as the crowds cheered and screamed.
'But can we please organise a single file line around the desk and down the shop floor please' she said trying to assert her authority. The crowds shuffled and bustled until a line (not completely single file) remained with which trailed all down the long shop front and down the stairs from which Lavender and Shaun had just appeared from.
Lavender and Shaun had barged their way through to a spot near the front of the queue (lavender's elbows doing most of the work). The woman with her clipboard gave a gentle nod and disappeared into the two doors situated close by, with which were plastered with posters of the Hogwarts crest upon them.
'I can't wait any longer!' said Lavender with excited anticipation. Shaun laughed.
'No neither can I' he replied. The two of them watched the doors intently until the woman with the clipboard began to hold the doors out wide. JK Rowling walked from within to screams and bright flashing lights. Her hand was held in a wave.
'There she is' yelled and pointed Lavender as JK Rowling herself continued to wave and smile at the crowd. She then sat at the small table surrounded with banners of the Hogwarts crest and nodded to the woman holding the clipboard. The woman directed the first fan over to the table where her book was being signed. JK Rowling nodded graciously and passed the book along. The overwhelmed fan looked as if she was going to faint there and then.
'Only about thirty people until it's us!' said Shaun as he watched the next fan appear breathless at the sight of his supposed goddess.
The line began to reduce more and more until there were only two people in front.
'I don't think I can wait any longer' said Lavender as she watched the young boy grab his signed book and make his way down the staircase bobbing up and down with joy. On his way down he passed two large men in cloaks and masks who barged him aside.
'Look! There dressed as death eaters!' laughed Shaun as he pointed towards the two large men. Everyone began to stare at the men. There authentic costumes couldn't have looked any more real.
'Next!' urged the woman with her clipboard. Shaun and Lavender both turned to face the woman. They were the next in line. Lavender grabbed Shaun's hand eagerly and squeezed it hard as she pulled him towards the small table. Shaun blushed. There moment had come.
'Avada Kedavra!' screamed one of the death eater dressed men. A flash of green flew past lavenders face almost caching her small nose. Shaun grabbed her and pulled her back. The bolt of green erupted just behind JK Rowling. A hoard of panicked screams echoed from the rowdy crowd behind as more green bolts soared around the room. The two large bodyguards both dropped to the floor lifeless as the flashes of green hit their large stomachs. Shaun pulled Lavender from within the hysterical crowd. A few green flashes had hit a few innocent standbys with who now lay still on the floor.
'Come on! The emergency exit!' cried Shaun as he pushed through the large crowds trying to avoid the green streaks. He made it towards the exit and pushed the metal bars to release the catch on the door.
'Get in!' yelled Shaun to Lavender as he swung the exit doors open into a long corridor. A flash of green skimmed the top of his head as he ducked to the floor. Lavender ran through into the corridor and held her hand out for Shaun. He pulled himself up and ran beside her down the bleak plain white corridor. The echo of the screams had not subsided and rang in their heads as they came to the end of the corridor. A small staircase led down to the floor below with which at the bottom lay a door leading onto one of the back alleys off Oxford Street.
'Through here!' said Shaun as he led the way down the stairs and out onto the back alley. The cold chilling wind bit them as they stood breathless and alone in the small dark alley.
'Are you alright?' asked Lavender as she observed the singed ends of Shaun's ginger hair.
'Yes I'm fine' panted Shaun as he lent forward to try and regain his breath.
'What an earth was that?' questioned Lavender as she looked through the door they had just evacuated in panic.
'I have no idea!' said Shaun worryingly as he noticed the silencing of the screaming.
'It seemed as if they were spells or something. I know it sounds stupid but that's what it looked like' said Lavender.
'I know! But it couldn't be, could it?' replied Shaun as he unravelled his phone from his pocket and began to dial 999.
'I'm afraid you'd be correct' came a third voice from the end of the alleyway beside two green wheelie bins. It was a man no older than fourty walking directly towards them. He had dark hair and a plump face which appeared to be illuminated with fright and dread.
'What? Who are you?' asked Lavender as she began to hide behind Shaun's shoulder.
'Neville Longbottom, undercover Auror'.