Lots of tags to cover before we start, more than I could cover in the summary. This includes Fem!Harry, plenty of bashing of various characters (I can't say who will be exempt just yet), strong Harry (eventually), a couple of OC (le gasp, KageNoYoko using OC?), and probably even more that I'm forgetting, but will include in future chapters as it comes up.
Oh and this first chapter is largely laying the groundwork for future chapters and a bit of world building. Future chapters will focus more on character building and back story for some of the things I hint at in this chapter, so if anything doesn't make sense right now it should in a few chapters.
Also I might have used a few noteworthy names depending on what you play/watch/read, so disclaimer: none of the names used in this story really belong to me. They all belong to their respective owners.
With all of that said how about we begin?
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Moving silently through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley, the wizarding world's supposed saviour, Rose Evans, kept her head down as she walked towards the largest structure in the area, Gringotts, while doing her best not to attract any attention to herself.
Wearing a large cloak with dark red trim on it to deter people from asking questions (as she quickly learned, wizards were less likely to pay attention to someone if they were garbed in the colour of Gryffindor), and a hood pulled p over her face in order to hide her more distinguishable features, such as her bright red hair and emerald-coloured eyes, Rose made her way towards the wizarding bank in hopes of accomplishing her business and getting out of the wizarding world as quickly as possible.
Memories of her first trip to Diagon Alley came unbidden to her mind when she thought about the extremes she had to go through to get anything done in the wizarding world without attracting attention, and the stupid oaf who had basically been the cause of her early hatred towards wizards.
Before entering the Leaky Cauldron with the half-giant, Rose had been intrigued with the idea of being a wizard, as Hagrid claimed she was, but instead of simply continuing out back in order to let the pair into Diagon Alley proper, Hagrid stopped to speak with the barkeeper. Nothing to worry about at first glance, and Rose was patient enough to wait for Hagrid to finish exchanging pleasantries with the barkeeper, but lost all respect for the man because of the next thing to come out of his mouth.
Without bothering to lower his voice in the slightest Hagrid shouted loud enough to be heard over everyone else in the pub "nothing today Tom, I have to take Rose to get her things for Hogwarts. Important business straight from Dumbledore, ya know."
Staring up at the man incredulously, Rose squeaked when all eyes in the room turned to face her, and see what all the commotion was about. Things rapidly deteriorated from there, until it was all Rose could do to stop herself from beginning to punch people.
The wizards began to swarm around the girl, shouting over one another their praises towards the girl, and trying to get close enough to touch her, which made the girl's skin crawl as she could clearly see how disgusting most of their hands were.
As she would only find out later, the reason why everyone immediately knew that she was the girl-who-lived was because apparently following the defeat of the dark lord, the name Rose was considered sacred, and naming your own child after the famed saviour was considered highly taboo.
So, due to Hagrid's supposed slip of the tongue, Rose ended up getting mobbed by her first group of fans, and despite cries for help Hagrid refused to move to help the girl at first. It was only after the mob died down slightly after a few people had managed to grab onto her to be satisfied that Hagrid waded into the crowd easily enough with his bulk, and forced people to disperse, claiming that they had to get on with their business.
Rose was at least thankful at the time that the same thing didn't happen when they stepped onto Diagon Alley proper, or else she would have held Hagrid even further in contempt for forcing Rose to deal with her fame.
Now though the buffoon was not with her, nor were any other people that could potentially blow her cover, so Rose managed to move quickly enough through the crowds and slip into Gringotts without trouble, to the girl's relief.
It came as a surprise that the first thing she heard when she stepped into the bank was a very familiar and headache-inducing shrill cry from the Weasley Matriarch, who was standing in front of a teller shrieking at the poor Goblin, who appeared uninterested in whatever she might be talking about.
Apparently growing tired of shouting as it didn't appear to be having any effect on the Goblin, Molly stormed off towards the door, thankfully passing Rose without realizing who the person in the cloak was, and the younger girl shrugged her shoulders before taking the now vacated teller's desk and adjusting her hood slightly to allow the Goblin to see some of her bright red hair and green eyes.
"How interesting Ms. Potter, Molly Weasley was just in here interested in gaining access to the Potter vaults, but as I did not have permission from you, she was forced to leave without whatever she wanted" the Goblin commented coolly, boredom dripping from his tone.
"It's Ms. Evans if you please" Rose requested of the Goblin as a frown marred her otherwise pretty features "and I have never given Molly Weasley permission to access my vault, so I don't understand what that old harpy might be up to attempting to gain access to my personal funds."
"Matters for another time" the goblin replied with disinterest, leaving Rose to believe he meant more along the lines of never getting back to it, to her annoyance. "What might the Goblins do for you today Ms. Evans?" He asked, though there was a snide tone as he hissed out her preferred surname, which made the girl seethe silently, but hold herself back for now.
"I would like to be escorted down to my vault in order to make a withdrawal, if you do not mind" the girl asked, keeping the annoyance out of her voice at having to deal with this greedy little monster.
Without responding, the Goblin made a few gestures to one of the other Goblin that was moving around in the lobby, and when he approached the two began to communicate in their native language for a minute. Once finished, the Goblin gestured for Rose to follow him and began to lead her to the back of the bank where the mine carts awaited to take her down to her vault.
Much as she would have liked to enjoy the ride down to her vault like the child she should have been, Rose was deep in thought during the voyage, and occasionally glanced at the Goblin who had been assigned to escort her, wondering if he was just a normal Goblin, or if this one had been given another assignment by his superior that she was unaware of.
Unlocking and slipping into her vault was easy enough, and she was glad that the Goblin remained outside as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a shrunken trunk, which she enlarged with the push of a button before opening and getting down to work.
The act of transporting all of her money into the trunk took longer than she expected it to, but finally she managed to get the last of her cash inside, and zipped it shut with a note of gratitude to whoever thought of applying enlarged spaces to the inside of the trunk, as otherwise she never would have been able to fit all of her things into the trunk.
Shrinking it down once more and hiding the trunk away, Rose departed from her vault for hopefully the last time, and got back into the cart with the Goblin, who sneered at her, making her bristle and consider pushing him out of the cart once they got moving. She only thought better of it because she knew they would ask questions, and he was the only way that she was getting out of the cart without likely crashing it.
It was a relieved young girl that departed from the stuffy bank a few minutes later with all of her funds stored in a trunk she now carried with her, and out of reach of those who might want her money for their own purposes.
After doing a bit of research over the summer, Rose had discovered that the Goblins were not the only magical bank in the wizarding world, though they were definitely the surliest of the lot, and the only reason that most wizards knew about them was because their family members always went to the Goblins. It was a self-sustaining system from parent to child.
Most muggle-born were also pulled into the system through the wizards only speaking about the Goblins, so many people were unaware of their other options, and too lazy to do the research about alternatives.
Another thing which kept many people from learning about the other wizarding bank was that it was not located in Diagon Alley, but another all that catered to a wider range of people than just magical Britain.
Slipping back out of the Leaky Cauldron was as easy as entering, and once she was clear, Rose moved to a nearby bus stop and took a seat. Unshrinking her trunk and storing away her cloak revealed the dark-blue sweater that the girl was wearing beneath, along with a black skirt and a pair of worn running shoes, and now looked the part of a teenage girl going on a trip, possibly to visit with friends.
No one paid the girl any mind as she waited for the bus to arrive, allowing Rose to gather her thoughts and continue making plans in her head. So far things had been going according to her plans, but really, infiltrating Diagon Alley had been the difficult part, since the chances of someone recognizing her were rather high.
Her next step was reaching the acclaimed Salem Alley, and hopefully being able to find her way to the bank ran by the Dwarves, since they were much more benevolent than the Goblins, and there was less chance of her being recognized.
Sighing in relief when the bus pulled up, Rose had to take a moment to reach into one of her pockets to fish out the directions that she had found to Salem Alley, before telling the bus driver where to drop her off. He gave her an odd look at the destination considering how she looked, but was convinced when she told him that she was just meeting her friend there.
Rose had to hold in a cackle when she noticed a familiar red-haired harpy walk right past the window she was sitting at without noticing the girl as the bus set off, and she relaxed back in her seat with a fantasy novel as the comforting sound of the bus' engine hummed around her.
The trip didn't take long, and Rose smiled as she disembarked in front of a homely-looking hotel that her directions claimed was her destination. Shrugging and stepping inside, Rose was immediately impressed.
Unlike the Leaky Cauldron, which looked as though it had never been cleaned before, the inside of the hotel was nicely decorated with flower pots, couches, and had light music playing in the background. The smell of food could be picked up wafting out of a doorway which lead into a dining room for the residents, and Rose decided to stop in once her business was concluded in the alley, since she hadn't been able to eat much for the last few days.
Stepping up to the desk, Rose returned the smile offered by the motherly-looking woman working, and told her the words that she had copied down onto her paper along with the directions "Salem was a tragedy."
Winking to the young girl, the woman replied easily enough "but we grew stronger because of it" before becoming business-like "what can I do for you today dear?"
"I've found myself recently without residence because of some altercations with my so-called family, and I was hoping to rent a room here for a bit while I conducted some business in the area" Rose explained her situation to the woman, remaining slightly vague due to the few people mulling around in the lobby.
"We'd be more than happy to put you up in a room for a bit dear, as long as you have the money to pay for it" The woman replied, before leaning in over the counter to whisper to the girl "we accept both forms of currency, just in case you're a bit short on either."
Nodding in understanding, Rose dug into her trunk and palmed a few galleons to pay for the room before handing them off to the woman with a smile, none of the other people the wiser to the transaction.
"Excellent, I'll have one of the girls take your trunk up to your room, unless you'd prefer to do it yourself?" The woman offered, but Rose shook her head, considering she needed her money for what she planned to do in the alley.
"Sorry, I should head back out now, so if I could just have the key to my room I'll get out of your hair and find my way up there later" the younger girl explained. With a smile and a nod the woman reached under the desk and grabbed a key card for the girl, before handing it over to her with a smile.
"Your room is 2-C, so I hope that you enjoy our accommodations. Also you are free to get something from the dining room at any time, since the cost of food is included in what you've already paid for along with your room."
Giving the woman a thumbs-up to let her know that she understood, Rose leaned in over the counter to ask one final question "how do I get into Salem Alley?"
Smiling as she closed the distance between the two until they could feel each other's breath caressing their cheeks, the woman explained "go into the elevator and insert your wand into the key-hole, it will take you into the alley."
Thanking the woman once again, Rose grabbed her trunk and walked over to the elevator, thankful that no one else got in with her. Doing as she had been told, Rose withdrew her old holly wand, stopping to glare at it for a moment, before putting the tip into the key-hole underneath the other buttons, and watched it glow for a moment.
She didn't expect her wand to begin flashing rapidly before disintegrating into golden dust, and for a heart-wrenching cry to follow it, along with a phoenix feather appearing in the dust for a moment.
Blinking in confusion as the dust blew away on an invisible breeze, Rose shrugged off the oddity, though she reminded herself that now she would have to track down a wand shop as well and replace it, before she was surprised again by the elevator beginning to move.
The black wall gave way to a tube of glass surrounding the elevator, reminding Rose of an elevator she had seen in a big local department store, and gasped as she got her first look at Salem Alley.
Unlike Diagon, this alley was quite clean, and there were more than just wizards and witches walking around, as Rose saw a few Giants stepping around people as they towered over the different shops, and some creatures flying through the skies without a care in the world. It was definitely a better first impression than Hagrid had made with Diagon Alley, and Rose was eager to see more.
Once the elevator finally stopped, the glass doors slid open, allowing Rose to step out into the alley proper, and breathed a sigh of relief when no one immediately noticed her. It would be awful for her to get this far just for someone to recognize her and then rat her out to Dumbledore.
Another difference between the two Wizarding alleys was that no one wore robes in the crowd. Most people were wearing very casual clothing, some wore rather fancy suits or fine dresses, and even the creatures were wearing normal clothing.
Snapping herself out of her gawking, Rose looked around a bit, before approaching a woman who appeared to be leading along a group of kids, and tapped her on the shoulder in hopes of asking for directions.
"Hello there dear, is there something you need?" The woman asked the young girl, offering her a smile while she held the hands of the children, some of whom were trying to slip away with little success.
"Yes, I'm sort of new to Salem Alley, and I was hoping that you might be able to point me in the direction of the Dwarven bank?" Rose inquired, trying to be friendly with the woman.
A small frown momentarily crossed the woman's face, but it left just as quickly as it appeared, and the woman nodded her head to the girl "yes, the bank is just down the street, you should be able to pick it out by the large sign with a coin and money pouch on it."
"Thank you, but if I may ask, why did my question seem to annoy you?" Rose asked, not wanting to make a bad impression on this woman.
Biting her lip for a moment as se obviously weighed the pros and cons of telling the girl what had bothered her, the woman seemed to give in and explained "I'm sorry, there's just a bit of bad blood between the people that go to Salem Alley and those that use Diagon Alley primarily. I had just thought you might be another pure-blood trying to find the bank in order to tell the Dwarves to shut down their operations, but I suppose it's a bit silly since you're only a teenager."
Rose had to laugh at the bizarre situation and smiled up at the woman "trust me, I have no love for those wizards from Diagon Alley, or most pure blooded wizards, I've just recently learned about this place, and was hoping to talk to the Dwarves about setting up my account."
"Well good luck then dear, and trust me, the Dwarves are much better at business than the Goblins ever were to most of us."
Departing from the woman, Rose did as she was told and continued down the street, offering smiles and waves to the friendly people that she passed, until she noticed the aforementioned sign, and slipped in behind another person, only to pause for a moment as she got her first look at the Dwarven bank.
Unlike Gringotts, where surly-looking beasts wandered around occasionally scowling at one of their customers, the Dwarves appeared to be quite jovial, with smiles everywhere as they worked along with their clients, and comfy looking couches scattered around the main room for people waiting to be served.
It was immediately obvious that this was much more simple compared to the Goblin's bank, since they had a towering monolith of imposing stone in Diagon Alley, while this place was built out of the space of two shops, and Rose got the feeling that the rest of the bank was hidden underground, hopefully not organized through a bunch of twisting mine cart tunnels and vaults.
Spotting an open teller Rose approached cautiously, unsure of the customs, but when no one moved to impede her and the Dwarf simply continued smiling around his beard in a way that reminded her of a much less dense Hagrid, Rose felt at ease.
"And what may I do for you today lassie?" The Dwarf asked in a thick Scottish accent which could have made him sound more gruff if not for the wide smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye as he looked at her. Another difference between the two banks was that the Dwarves desks were not raised above their clients, which made it feel like they were on a more even footing with the slightly height-challenged race.
Stumbling over her words for a moment, Rose finally managed to gather herself before rolling her trunk up beside her and clearing her throat to make sure she didn't become a mess again "I recently have become disillusioned with much of the wizarding world, and decided to take my banking elsewhere due to certain parties less-than-friendly interest in my funds."
Stroking his beard, the Dwarf leaned back in his seat, nodding along to the girl's explanation before offering her a question "Goblins?"
At the girl's nod the Dwarf shook his head before beginning to mutter to himself "so focused on their own rules that they don't care when people poke their fingers in where they aren't wanted."
"As for you lassie, I'd be more than happy to help you set up an account for your funds, but I'd first need to know a few things, if you wouldn't mind" The Dwarf explained, which Rose had already expected. Despite her late parents being the ones to set up her account with Gringotts, Rose had a bit of an idea what setting up an account entailed, mostly because of watching her aunt when they would go to the bank when she couldn't hand Rose off to be someone else's problem for a while.
"I'd be more than happy to offer whatever you need if it meant no longer having to worry about my money disappearing into grubby hands," Rose replied firmly, making the Dwarf chuckle to himself before he climbed out of his seat and gestured for the young girl to follow him.
Doing as she was expected, Rose followed the Dwarf to one of the side doors in the room, and the pair made their way down to the second level of the bank, while the man explained some of the workings of the bank to the girl "unlike the Goblins, we built down instead of out when it came to creating this bank, so the building is split up into multiple sub-levels, with the very deepest reserved for our most important transactions, and various vaults scattered around on each level based on the importance of our clients."
"What about things like security?" Rose voiced her thoughts, knowing that the Goblins created their tunnels with the intention of confusing those seeking to steal from their clients. She hadn't expected the Dwarf to begin laughing like a cheerful grandfather before smiling over his shoulder at her, making her relax a little bit more in his presence.
"Obviously you've never heard a thing about how Dwarves fight, or you would realize how silly that question is lass" The Dwarf replied cheerfully "Anyone who would even consider stealing from a Dwarf must not have any sense to begin with, and whatever remained after we got through with them would make some stomachs turn."
Pausing a moment and turning to face the girl, the Dwarf's eyes became deadly serious for a moment as he stated in a firm voice "never pick a fight with a Dwarf lass, unless you are very sure of your own skills."
Nodding her head quickly as a small spark of fear and what she would later realize was respect flew through her body, before the cheerful grandfather was back in front of her as he slipped through a door, making her aware of just how many floors they had descended.
The door opened into a long hallway lined with more doors that Rose could only guess the use of, until she passed a few and noticed each had a sign on the door marking them as "occupied."
Around halfway down the hall the Dwarf finally paused, and gestured Rose into a vacant room, which was nicely furnished with a small fireplace, a desk, and a comfortable-looking chair for the girl to sit in.
Gratefully taking the chair when offered, Rose watched the Dwarf move around the desk and sit opposite her before smiling as he could more than easily see the stress leaving her body because of the chair she was occupying now. Allowing her a few moments to calm down, the Dwarf cleared his throat as they got down to business.
"I am Muradin Bronzebeard, eager to be your solicitor in this and hopefully future transactions, and to whom might I be speaking today?" Muradin asked the girl, which made her smile widen.
"Rose Evans, at your service Mr. Bronzebeard" The girl introduced, though was surprised by the very slight twitch of his eyebrow when she spoke her name to him, though he hid it very well and didn't allow his grandfatherly persona to drop.
"Fascinating, I would imagine that you are related to the late Lily Evans nee Potter, perchance?" Muradin inquired, making Rose scowl at the reminder of her family name and the fame that unfortunately came with it."
"Yes sir, I am the only daughter and heiress of the Potter family fortune, though I have to say that I have no idea what that entails" she admitted to the man, whose face immediately contorted into the first scowl she had ever seen on a Dwarf's face. It was not an experience that she wished to repeat, especially aimed at her.
Beginning to complain in a language that Rose didn't understand, it took the Dwarf a few minutes to regain his composure and sigh before offering the girl an apologetic look "sorry about that lass, don't worry about my outburst, it's just a bit of old blood between the Goblins and Dwarves that you don't need to hear about."
"What was with the reaction to my lack of knowledge about my family?" The girl inquired, hoping that it wouldn't set off the man again, feeling as though she was walking on eggshells.
"Being the last Potter is a very big deal lass, obviously not something that the Goblins felt like informing you of" Muradin explained to the girl, before adding in a lower voice that Rose expected she wasn't supposed to hear "likely wanted to pad out their own pockets with more Potter gold" before getting back to business.
"The Potters were one of the wealthiest families in Wizarding society up until their unfortunate passing at the hand of the dark lord fourteen years ago and their account went completely silent. Because of the disappearance of the only remaining heir, people had thought the account would be frozen and all assets be distributed to alternative sources, mostly partners of the Potter family, you know, a bunch of legal stuff no one wants to wrap their minds around, but when you re-entered the wizarding world the Goblins should have taken you aside to explain your holdings."
"No, all that happened was I entered the bank with the half-giant Rebeus Hagrid, he handed over my key to the Goblins, and we went down to my vault" Rose explained her first trip to Gringotts with the man, making Muradin scowl again.
"First of all, this Hagrid shouldn't have had your key" Muradin told the girl "since you were the last living descendant of the Potter family, the key should have gone to whoever was caring for you at the time, or if unavailable or unwilling, the Goblins should have regained ownership of it until such time as you stepped forward to claim your family fortune, most likely through a blood test, and been given a new key to access your vault with."
"Second, whichever Goblin had spoken to you should have taken you into a separate room when you announced yourself as Potter, confirmed your claim through the aforementioned blood test, and then briefed you on all current Potter holdings, since the account was in stasis for so many years."
"None of that happened" Rose admitted as her own annoyance rose "are you saying that the Goblins intentionally withheld information from me?"
"Most likely lass, and considering who had your key when you re-entered the wizarding world, I get the feeling that there's a deeper plan here than either of us are aware of" Muradin replied with rising ire of the headache this was turning into.
"Are you thinking that this all comes back to Albus Dumbledore?" Rose inquired, thinking along the exact same lines, since Dumbledore had been the one to put Rose with the Dursleys, and had given Hagrid her key."
"Exactly, but for now we ought to do our best to check the damage and limit any further meddling from the old codger" Muradin stated, before sinking back into his seat "getting the information from the Goblins might take a bit of fighting, since we've never really seen eye to eye, but since you came to us first, we have the right to the files in the name of our client, but wrestling away your gold from them might take a bit longer."
"But I have all of my gold in my trunk here" Rose stated, gesturing over to the aforementioned trunk which still had yet to leave her side.
"Unlikely" the man claimed, and waved off Rose's attempt at asking a question "if the Goblins didn't immediately take you aside to speak about the Potter accounts, then the only money you have is from your trust vault, which your parents would have set up when they were expecting you to be born."
"What you have is a stipend withdrawn directly from the main Potter vault and placed into your vault each year for your school things, as well as additional money for personal purchases" Muradin explained to the girl carefully "though because of tampering, it's hard to say whether the stipend is the amount your parents intended, or the amount a certain person wants you to have."
"I know that I could have likely purchased better clothing for myself with the money that I had in my vault before my first year, and since then I have barely touched what was in my vault except to purchase my school things."
"For some reason I have a feeling that the withdrawals in your statements will show something a bit more sinister, and neither of us will like what we find, despite how necessary it will be Ms. Potter" Muradin admitted, the scowl across his face matched by the teenager. a thought going through her mind of whom exactly was most likely to blame for any discrepancies in the girl's account.
"But that's a matter for later lass, right now we should get to work setting up your account, and seeing what we can do about the money that you have on-hand, since gaining access to the potter vaults will be an uphill battle with the Goblins" Muradin said as his personality shifted back to the happy old man as he began to dig through some of the drawers in the desk he was sitting behind in search of the forms that they would need.
While she waited, Rose made a vow to herself that she would find a way to get back at those who crossed her no matter what, and not just for messing with her money, but all of the other things that had happened to her in her life, including being put with the Dursleys.
Her fist closed and she could feel her nails digging into her flesh, but ignored the pain as she made a vow to get even, unaware of the way a small amount of blood leaked through her fingers as she thought this.
Far away from the girl, a certain book in the ministry office came to life and began to glow, before a wind pushed it open and began flipping pages rapidly, until it stopped on a clean page and words began to appear on it, recording the girl's vow for anyone to see. Once the last line was finished and the oddly red ink dried, the book slammed shut once more, startling the person closest to the artifact, but he didn't bother to investigate, considering it not really his problem as he scratched the back of his head and got back to work.
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Rose sighed to herself as she finally stepped back out into the bustling streets of Salem alley, feeling quite drained from all of the things that she and Muradin had to go over in order to create her account with the bank, but feeling relieved that at least that was done so far, which left her with only a few errands left to complete before she could retire in her hotel room for a bit.
Since it was still rather early in the day, Rose figured that she ought to get the second most important errand out of the way, so with a heavy heart she approached someone and made an inquiry about a clothing store.
Unlike some girls that she unfortunately knew, Rose wasn't very interested in dressing up to be pretty, and much preferred her own style and functional clothing over frilly clothes that might make people give her a second look.
Offering her thanks to the woman she asked, Rose moved further down the street with her eyes open, looking for a supposedly large building with a needle and thread on it, and upon finding it sighed to herself before stepping inside.
Almost immediately the girl was accosted by a slightly older girl, who smiled as she saw the girl, and offered a friendly greeting to her "welcome to Threadbare, how can I help you today?"
Finding her tongue caught for a moment, Rose had to try and regain her balance before she responded, realizing that she had been doing a lot of that recently as her body wasn't used to such casual conversations "err yeah, I recently had to leave the place I lived, and I'm afraid I didn't get to take most of my clothing with me, so I kind of need an entirely new wardrobe" the girl admitted sheepishly, drawing small circles on the hardwood floor with her worn out shoe.
The older girl's face immediately lit up at the claim, and Rose squawked in surprise when the woman grabbed her hand and began to drag her along further into the store as she began speaking with the girl "well that's easy enough to take care of, though a whole new wardrobe won't exactly be cheap" she warned the girl.
"Money won't really be a problem" Rose replied, remembering the large amount of money that Muradin had helped her to count out and balance, and the amount she had taken out knowing that her other purchases might be rather expensive.
"Well then, the first question is rather obvious then kiddo, what's your name? I'm Annie by the way" the salesgirl introduced herself "I figure that we should get to know one another if I'm going to be able to help you find what you'd like."
"Do you do this for everyone that comes into your store?" Rose asked first, before remembering her manners and offering her own name back to Annie.
"We try our best to get to know our customers, since we find that helps them get more comfortable with us helping them find what they'd like in the store" Annie explained as she took the younger girl into a section of the store that appeared to specialize in clothing for teenage girls, making Rose blush the same color as her namesake as she noticed a few sets of underwear hanging out in plain sight to her embarrassment.
"Now, what kind of style do you like Rose? Judging by your clothes you don't go for the more extravagant things like some girls your age, and I will admit that sweater looks nice on you" Annie complimented, making Rose blush deeper if that was even possible, and shuffle her feet slightly.
"I'm not a fan of really frilly or revealing clothes" Rose admitted "I'm okay with wearing skirts but I prefer pants, and I am wearing shorts under this skirt" she said, before squeaking as the older girl unceremoniously stepped closer and lifted up the girl's skirt to confirm that she was wearing shorts.
"So you're sort of a conservative type" Annie said as she stepped away, allowing Rose to push her skirt down, her entire face bright red at this point and fighting the urge to hide her face. Annie noticed none of this as she began picking through the different clothing racks, which Rose had noticed were mostly Muggle style clothing.
"Hmm, well if you'd prefer to wear things that hide your body, but keep yourself warm, I'd recommend you try on a few of these things" Annie said as she picked out a few warm-looking jackets for the girl and putting them in her arms before moving away again.
Taking a guess, Annie grabbed a few pairs of jeans and stacked them on top of the jackets, before adding only two skirts and a pair of black shorts for the girl "there, those should be good to start with, but before we pick out things like shirts and the like I'll need to see you without the sweater on" the girl explained.
Still red-faced, Rose did as she was told and wasn't really given a chance to argue as she was pushed into a changing room by the older girl "get changed into whichever you like most, and come out so I can see how it looks, then we can pick out the rest of your wardrobe" Annie ordered with a smile on her face before closing the door on the younger girl.
Doing as she had been told, Rose undressed and got changed, leaving her sweater on a hanger in the room, before shimmying into one of the pairs of jeans that Annie had picked out for her. Taking a deep breath, Rose gathered up her courage before opening the door and stepping back out into the store so that Annie could see how she looked.
The older girl appeared surprised and pleased when she saw the younger girl step out of the changing room, and smiled as she offered compliments "you look pretty good in that, but I think I have a few ideas for top that you shouldn't be too uncomfortable wearing along with one of those jackets I added to the pile" the girl claimed before going to another rack and beginning to dig through.
Kicking her feet and wrapping her arms around her torso, Rose just kind of stood there uncomfortably as she waited for the salesgirl to find what she was looking for, still unused to being this exposed in public.
Rose was pushed back into the change room with a few tops that she hadn't gotten a chance to look at right away, and told to get changed by Annie once again. Sighing and following orders, Rose picked up the shirt at the top of the pile, and felt her face go red as she realized it was a very short tank top, which would easily expose her stomach if she tried it on.
"I can't wear this in public!" Rose cried loud enough for Annie to overhear, making the girl's smile widen as she leaned against the door to offer a bit of encouragement.
"Just put it on Rose, and then slip into one of the jackets I gave you. I promise you'll look awesome!" Annie told the girl, and despite still being rather flushed, Rose admitted the girl's opinion did make her feel slightly better, and after swallowing the lump in her throat, got changed.
Almost forgetting the jacket, Rose grabbed it and slid it on, before zipping it up and stepping out for Annie to inspect. She squeaked when she noticed a frown on the girl's face, and was once again left uncomfortable when the girl invaded her personal space.
Moving faster than Rose could hope to react to, Annie reached up and unzipped her jacket, making the younger girl try to pull it closed again, but Annie grabbed the girl's wrists and forced her to march over to a nearby mirror so that both could get a look at her.
"Look at yourself Rosie, trust me, you look awesome" Annie comforted, and though Rose was initially hesitant, she managed to shore up enough courage to open one of her eyes (which she didn't remember closing) and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
While it wasn't exactly the kind of thing that she would normally wear, Rose did have to admit that she looked nice, and was further surprised that the girl looking back at her in the mirror was herself. Her stomach might have been a bit pale, but it was flat and smooth-looking, and her mind offered that if she really got too uncomfortable that she could zip up her jacket.
Turning to look at Annie, whose head hovered over her shoulder, Rose blushed and voiced her thoughts to the older girl "I guess that it isn't too bad" she admitted shyly.
"Told you that you would be super cute like this" Annie chirped back before leaving the girl to go and obviously get something else for her, as Rose continued looking at herself in the mirror in surprise.
A few minutes later Rose was again surprised as Annie grabbed her wrist and started dragging her back to the change room, and her face went red when the older girl came inside with her before closing the door behind the two girls.
Backing up nervously, Rose was about to ask what the older girl was doing now, when she noticed what was in Annie's hands, and her face went pale out of fear for her life.
"No way" Rose immediately complained, crossing her arms and trying to look intimidating in front of the other girl, who wasn't impressed.
"Come on Rosie, you said you need an entire new wardrobe, that means underwear as well" Annie reminded the girl, holding up the undergarments to the younger girl "I have two younger sisters Rosie, it's not like you have anything I haven't seen before."
"I refuse!" Rose repeated, trying to back away from Annie unsuccessfully while she thought about the embarrassment of undressing in front of this almost complete stranger.
"Don't you want to look nice in front of your boyfriend?" Annie tried reasoning with the younger girl. Usually this worked, but Rose's face just twisted as she wrinkled her nose at the disgusting thought.
"I hate boys" Rose explained in a firm tone "I don't want a boyfriend." Considering most boys she'd met in the wizarding world had just wanted to be her friend or date her because of her name or money, Rose completely refused to let guys anywhere near her if they were going to be such greedy pigs.
"Oh, so you're into a nice smooth lady then?" Annie teased, and giggled when Rose's face lit up again. It was so easy to tease the younger girl, but since Rose didn't argue about it, Annie had a feeling she didn't entirely dislike the idea.
Taking the chance now that Rose was distracted Annie pounced and began to help the girl undress, making Rose wail and try to fight off the older girl. A few other people in the store just gave the noisy changing room a look before returning to their own business, leaving the two crazy girls to their antics.
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Rose sat pouting in a chair opposite her earlier tormentor, a glass of water in front of her while Annie drank cheerfully from a can of soda.
"Oh come on Rosie, you still haven't forgiven me for helping you out like that?" Annie asked cheerfully as she watched thee younger girl shrink in on herself "I told you a bunch of times that you looked super cute in those underwear, why don't you perk up a bit."
"I feel violated" Rose mumbled to herself with a pout before taking a sip of her water through the straw she had also ordered, making Annie just giggle to herself, able to sense that the younger wasn't angry, and was actually being pretty cute right now.
The two girls were sitting outside of a nice little cafe in Salem Alley that Annie knew about and had dragged Rose along to after they finished their little game of dress-up, and Annie had even agreed to treat the younger girl to something to eat when she heard Rose's stomach growl.
"Having two sisters means that you have to get used to those kind of things Rosie" Annie informed the younger girl with a smile as she pointed at the youngster with her drink "I might as well consider you my unofficial third little sister now as well."
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, until Annie perked up as she thought that she'd overheard Rose say something under her breath. Curious about what the younger girl might have said, Annie asked for her to repeat herself.
Blushing the entire time, Rose admitted her deeper thoughts to her new friend "I guess having an older sister wouldn't be that bad" which made Annie smile wider and lean back in her seat.
Changing topics for now, Annie remembered Rose explaining what she was doing in Salem Alley, and decided to quiz the girl a bit "so what's the next stop on your trip through Salem Alley Rosie?" She inquired.
Remembering her errands, Rose perked up a bit at getting off the uncomfortable topic of their little game in the clothing store "I need to find somewhere to get a new wand" she explained to the older girl.
"That's easy enough" Annie claimed "there are plenty of wand shops in Salem Alley, just depends on what kind you'd like. Though I have to ask what happened to your old wand, since you obviously made it down here with one."
Shrugging her shoulders, Rose didn't really have a way to explain what had happened to her old wand without the whole truth "I put it into the keyhole like I had been told to, but after it activated the elevator, my wand just disintegrated."
"That's odd" Annie replied, bringing a hand up to her chin and beginning to stroke it "I've heard stories about people's wands being overpowered by the magic requirements of the keyhole, but those usually only happen to wands from that fraud Ollivander, or ones that are too weak for the owner" she explained to Rose, before remembering as she added "and wands that have been used to cast spells with the intend to harm and kill innocent people, but I doubt that relates to you Rosie."
Kicking her feet, Rose felt a bit embarrassed as she explained "I got my wand from Ollivander before my first year at Hogwarts" and jumped when Annie slammed her fists onto the table, making both girls drinks jump and nearly spill on the table.
"That explains everything!" she shouted, catching some attention from other people sitting nearby, but they turned away again quickly. Rose got the feeling that Annie was a bit infamous around Salem, and people just brushed off her antics "that fraud gave you one of his piece of crap wands."
"I don't understand, people told me Ollivander was the best wand-maker in Diagon Alley" Rose explained to the irate girl, who laughed at the claim sarcastically.
"That man is a fraud, a thief, and a con-artist of the highest order" Annie countered "he stole the secrets to wand-making from one of the nicest families I've ever known, recreated a bastardized version of it, and passed them off as a family secret."
"I don't really understand" Rose explained, looking up at Annie out of confusion and a bit of fear for all the noise that she was making at the moment about the wand-maker.
Taking a quick look around, Annie reached down into her boot before withdrawing a wand that looked completely different from any Rose had seen before. Bringing her fingers up to her lips, Annie shushed the younger girl, before pointing her wand over to a nearby table where a man was sipping a cup of tea and reading a newspaper.
Waving her wand in an intricate-looking pattern, Rose could see the crystal at the top shining brighter before the table and man began to hover up into the air. Thankfully the man didn't appear bothered in the slightest as he continued drinking his tea and reading, just ignoring the fact that he was floating.
"See Rosie, I'm sure what you've been learning from Hogwarts is nothing like what I can do, and my wand is a lot better than whatever yours could do" Annie claimed as she held up the spell for a bit longer before lowering the man back to the ground.
"I do have to admit that was rather impressive, but the floating charm didn't look anything like that" Rose told the girl, who scoffed again.
"What you probably learned was another bastardized spell that your so-called purebloods reverse-engineered to suit their weaker powers" Annie claimed aggressively as she slid her wand back into her boot "most of that pureblood society was built upon what true witches and wizards learned, and then made into a way that those weaklings could do."
Rose shrivelled slightly as she remembered she was sort of one of those purebloods, and Annie immediately noticed the younger girls change as she reached over the table to take Rose's hand in her own.
"Trust me Rosie, you're nothing like those jerks" Annie comforted the girl "I could tell the minute you walked into Threadbare that you're different, and I'm sure that with a little proper training you'll be something awesome."
"You really think so?" Rose asked hopefully, many of her hidden insecurities coming out from behind the brick wall where she kept them, making Annie's smile widen again.
Getting up and grabbing Rose's wrist, Annie pulled the smaller girl from her seat and left some money for their drinks before pulling the girl away from the cafe in the direction of the exact shop she knew the younger girl needed to go to "trust me Rosie, you're going to be a powerhouse when I'm done with you.
The trip didn't take as long as Rose expected before the two girls were outside of a rather quaint-looking store that had a wand decorating the sign out front, cluing the younger girl in that it was likely where she would be getting her new foci, and felt a surprising amount of eagerness building in her gut.
Pushing the door open before pulling Rose in behind her, Annie marched into the store like she owned the place, smiling wide as she called out "Mr. Anton, I found someone for you!"
A frail-looking old man came shuffling out from the back room of the store, and Rose was once again amazed at how friendly he appeared to be as he was all smiles "ah Annie, I thought I wouldn't be seeing you until one of your sisters came in to get their wands, but I see that you brought me something better" he added once he noticed Rose partially hiding behind the older girl.
"I found her needing to get some new clothes, and she told me that the keyhole ate her old wand" Annie explained, doing all the talking for both of the girls more than happily, since it seemed Rose was a bit shy right now.
"No surprise, she has traces of that disgusting pureblood magic all around her, it was probably one of Ollivander's specials" the man deduced quickly before turning away from the pair and lifting up one of his hands "lets see what my store can offer this young one."
Blinking in confusion, Rose watched the man just standing there instead of going to look for a wand, and looked up at her friend for an explanation.
"This is how he goes about finding everyone's wands" Annie whispered down to the smaller girl "if he has the right wand for you, it should be reacting to your presence in the shop, and come to him once he finds it."
Sure enough, only a few minutes later a single box came flying out of the back room, and Rose noticed the man's eyebrow raise as he turned back to face the pair, holding something that looked too small to hold a wand.
"Well that's a surprise" Annie stated as she noticed the small box in the man's hands before beginning to laugh and pat Rose's back "good job Rosie, seems you're even more special than I expected."
Stepping closer, the man held out the box to the fourteen year old, who could somehow feel a connection with whatever was inside, despite never seeing it before in her life. Reaching out with shaking hands, Rose took the box from Mr. Anton, and slipped the lid off of the white box.
inside was what looked like a bracelet, with various colored stones around it along with a single larger rock that had an unknown rune etched into it. Taking the item out of the box, Rose looked at the older man in confusion as she held the trinket, unsure of what to do with it.
"What you hold there is a bracelet foci, a more rare focus that few people are able to attune to and use" Mr. Anton explained happily "what people are unaware of are that they are also more powerful, and allow even more magic to be focused through them than a typical wand."
"I'm so jealous Rosie" Annie complained, though Rose could tell the older girl was just joking since she was still smiling down at her like a proud older sibling.
Following her instincts, Rose took the bracelet and slipped it onto her left arm, and realized that it simply felt right to have the trinket there now, like a part of her body had been missing all this time and she hadn't realized it until now.
"Each foci we make here have a chosen to bond to, but some never find their partner, either because they are unaware of this place, or because they refuse to admit the existence of our people" Mr. Anton explained to the girls "many of these foci will simply disappear when their chosen's life runs out, and never get a chance to be used."
"How sad" both girls mumbled, before Annie perked up and grabbed Rose's left hand, bringing it up to get a better look at the girl's new foci "wow, it sure feels powerful, I can literally feel it pulsing against your skin."
"That's to be expected, this girl you found has more magical power flowing through her blood than anyone I have ever seen come into this store" Mr. Anton claimed, making Rose blush at the compliment "I can only see you doing amazing things with this focus now in your possession, and I only expect you to become more powerful, especially, or perhaps despite this troublemaker that you've become friends with" the man said, shooting a glance over at Annie, who tried to look innocent.
"Thank you very much for this Mr. Anton" Rose offered, honestly quite lost for words at the moment as she felt her magic singing through her veins. Annie laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled down at her.
"Consider it nothing dear, I just expect you to be good and not do anything too naughty with that bracelet" Mr. Anton warned the young girl "Salem really does not need anyone as bad as Ms. Russo here."
Both girls laughed at the man's teasing, before Rose paid for her new focus and the pair departed from the shop, leaving the old man to his thoughts.
"Let's see what the girl will do now that she has the proper focus, and someone to stand behind her with pure motives" Mr. Anton commented to himself before shuffling deeper into the store so he could get back to his work.
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"Maybe I should take you home with me tonight and start teaching you a few simple charms and such" Annie suggested as the pair walked through Salem Alley, Rose still pulling her trunk behind her as the two wandered aimlessly.
"I wouldn't mind learning some new magic, but what about the trace that's put on all witches and wizards who are under-age?" Rose asked, remembering the trouble that she'd gotten into before for using magic while underage with a frown.
"Oh, only those pure-blood fools use the trace, and it's mostly to keep the half and new bloods from learning more magic than them" Annie explained with a wave of her hand "besides, your trace probably was destroyed along with your old crappy wand, and now you have a new focus to play with that doesn't have any trace on it."
Lifting up her arm, Rose took another look at the bracelet on her wrist, smiling at the way the stones surrounding it caught the light, and the comforting thrum of the magic under her skin "maybe I will take you up on that offer in that case" she replied.
"Cool, and you can come and meet my little sisters, I'm sure that they'll just love you" Annie stated before a thought occurred to her "you might want to watch out though, they could drag you off and make you try out some of their clothes because of how cute you are when you're embarrassed."
Unfortunately the pair were cut off from further talk as someone spoke up in front of them, making Rose freeze quite suddenly in shock and fear "what are you doing down here scar-head, trying to find some new filth to surround yourself with?"
"What's your problem?" Annie asked, noticing the way that Rose had frozen up, and stepping in front of the girl, pushing her behind her rather imposing frame to protect her "do you usually just go up to girls and make fun of them?"
"Hardly, this girl just doesn't know her place" Draco Malfoy replied with a sniff before looking up at the older girl "obviously filth like you are too stupid to realize when your betters are speaking either" he added dismissively to the girl."
"Why are you here Malfoy?" Rose managed to hiss out through her chattering teeth, trying to hold back her fear of the cruel boy as she held desperately to Annie for stability.
"Father needed to come to this horrible place in order to conduct some business with the savages, and wanted me to come along so that I could see how the lower class lives" the blonde-haired boy claimed with a wave of his hand "it's simply filthy how close you people are to the Muggles, and look at what you're wearing."
Annie's face was rapidly changing into a scowl aimed at the brat who was badmouthing her people, but held herself back for Rose's sake, reminding herself that starting a fight out here wasn't worth it, no matter how nice it might feel to punch this boy in the face.
Thankfully Draco was distracted as an older blonde approached, making an equally rude comment "come Draco, I am finished with my business here, let us leave these savages to their mud pit."
"Coming father" Draco replied, before smirking around Annie at Rose, and following the man like the obedient little dog that he was, leaving a shaken girl and her guardian.
"Wow, wasn't he a little asshole" Annie commented as she glared at the boy's retreating backside, before noticing how much Rose was shaking "calm down Rosie, the little shit is gone now."
"I should be okay...I think" Rose replied, though the stutter in her tone didn't inspire confidence in the older girl as she held onto the girl like a lifeline.
Sighing as she used her free hand to pat the younger girl on the head, Annie was going to wait for the younger to stop shaking, but stopped when Rose's eyes closed and she started to fall backwards.
Using some of her reflexes, Annie caught the small girl in her arms, and was surprised by just how light she felt. Brushing those thoughts off for now, the older girl tried to focus on what she should do with the unconscious girl, and only one real answer came to mind at the moment.
"Well, looks like you get to come to my house whether you like it or not Rosie" Annie commented to herself before she dis-apparated on the spot with the fourteen-year old in her arms.
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As I stated at the beginning of the chapter, I will explain more about the characters in future chapters, and that will include the reasons why Rose is acting the way she does in this chapter. It was not because of my writing her inconsistently, as much as it might seem like it, just be patient with me and I'll explain everything.
Also ouch, this is probably one of the longest single chapters I've ever written in the last...ten or so years, and I can't say whether or not future chapters will be as long, but don't expect them to come out very fast if they are, as writing this much takes more than a day for me to complete, unlike a chapter that's say only about 8-12 pages long.
This including the fact I do my own spell-checking and proofreading for my work, which means it takes a bit of time to finalize a chapter for publishing (and even then I don't always catch everything.)
All I can ask is that you please don't rush me for chapters, and I'll do my best to keep you guys appeased. See ya next time everyone~!