Following on from Black Love Conquers All…
"How are we getting to Diagon Alley, Remus?" Esme asked happily as she and Remus walked down the train platform. They had just caught a train from Scotland to London and were now bristling past many of the commuters.
"We need to get to the Leaky Cauldron," Remus said, taking hold of her hand and firmly leading her through a revolving door. They were stopped by a Muggle, who demanded to see their train tickets. Esme watched in awe as Remus passed two small orange pieces of paper to the Muggle, who nodded his head at them and allowed them to pass.
"Is that a shop?" Esme asked, resuming the conversation as she wanted to know everything about her upcoming day.
"No, it's a pub," Remus replied, looking around to see if it was safe to cross the road.
"A pub?" Esme repeated, quickening her pace to keep up with Remus. "What, do you need some Dutch courage before facing other wizards?"
Esme had meant it as a joke, because she couldn't understand why they were going to a pub, but Remus scowled at her comment. Clearly, he didn't find her enthusiasm at being in the open as easy to come by as she did, and he kept glancing nervously around passers-by, as though expecting to see someone he knew.
On they walked, past bookshops, cafes, high street stores. Esme turned her head in every direction, just watching as teenage girls giggled and shopped, distressed mothers scolded their rowdy children, and cars beeped and hooted every three or four minutes. She had never seen this many people in the whole of her life let alone in ten minutes. Every now and again she caught her reflection in a shop window and was always surprised to see a wide-eyed blonde eleven-year-old girl gaping back at her.
"Here we are," Remus said, suddenly stopping, causing Esme to bump into him. She peeped around him, staring up at a rather grubby-looking pub, which was passed by pedestrians without being looked upon once. "Come on."
"We're really going in there?" Esme asked, baffled as she followed Remus to the dirty front door. "I thought you were joking."
Remus smirked at her as he pushed open the door and allowed her to pass him. It was unsurprisingly dark and shabby, and was occupied by five or six people at the most, who all glanced at Esme and Remus as they walked in. Two of them did a double take, and Esme felt Remus' hand on her shoulder as one of them, a tiny man with a large purple hat, approached them in a hurry.
"Remus!" he said, rushing forward to shake his hand. "How delightful it is to see you again. How long has it been?"
"Too long, Dedalus," Remus said warmly, but Esme noticed he was gently pushing her forward, as though wanting to escape this conversation. However, Dedalus was quick to notice this young girl he hadn't met before and stuck a hand out to her before she could move away.
"And, who is this young lady?" he asked brightly. "You didn't tell me you had a daughter, Remus!"
"I don't, Dedalus," Remus said, watching as Esme hesitantly shook Dedalus' hand. "This is Alexa Prince – my cousin's daughter. I'm here to take her to buy her school things, that's all."
"Ah, I see," Dedalus said as Esme firmly took her hand back. "I don't suppose you've heard from –" He looked around the pub, as though expecting someone to be listening in – "Sirius Black's daughter? I heard that she was smuggled out to France."
Esme froze, terrified that this stranger had worked out immediately who she was. If he had, then he would most likely tell everyone and she would not be allowed to attend Hogwarts. She glanced at Remus, expecting him to look as panicked as she felt, but to her surprise, he smiled at Dedalus.
"No, I haven't," he said calmly as he started slowly walking through the bar. "I'm sorry to say that Elizabeth never told me of her plans for her daughter. Now, if you'll excuse me, Dedalus, Alexa and I need to go to Diagon Alley. We don't have much time."
"Of course, of course," Dedalus exclaimed, smiling broadly at Esme, who attempted to smile back. Remus said his quick goodbyes and firmly led Esme through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard.
"Who was that man?" Esme asked when she felt sure that nobody had followed them.
"Dedalus Diggle," Remus answered, pulling his wand out of his cloak. "He is an old friend of mine." He tapped the wall in front of them three times with his wand and patiently waited, for what, Esme had no idea. She watched the wall curiously, wondering whether Remus had gone mad. And, then, one of the bricks wiggled and jumped out of place, allowing a small hole to form. Several other bricks followed its example and moved out of the way until a large archway was formed and Remus walked through it, Esme following eagerly.
"Esme, this is Diagon Alley," Remus said and grinned at Esme's widened eyes. "Come on, we need to get to Gringotts."
Esme followed without complaint, her eyes flickering over every shop in sight. There was a cauldron shop, an Apothecary, an Owl Emporium, two broomsticks shops, a bookstore, a joke shop, a robe shop, a sweet shop, a wand shop, various stalls, an ice cream parlour and many others. Esme smiled as she passed them, not even noticing where Remus was leading her.
"Esme, this way," Remus whispered and Esme tore her eyes away from the ice cream parlour and looked at a snowy white building and towered over all of the other shops. And, there was a goblin stood outside.
"Wow," Esme breathed, staring unashamedly. The goblin bowed at them as they passed him and walked through the silver doors.
"Wait here," Remus said quietly and Esme did as she was told, moving out of the way of the doors. She silently watched hundreds more goblins sitting on high stools, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off from the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Esme turned her attention to Remus, who had approached the counter. He was talking to a rather ugly goblin in a hushed whisper, and handed over a tiny golden key. The goblin looked at it closely, glancing every so often at Esme by the door. She instinctively looked away, not wanting to draw attention to herself.
"Ragnok!" she heard someone yell and quickly identified the voice as the goblin Remus was talking to. Another goblin appeared and Remus turned around, beckoning Esme forward. Keeping her eyes down, terrified that someone would notice and guess who she was, Esme rushed forward and joined Remus' side.
"Take Mr Lupin and Miss Prince to vault seven hundred and ten," the first goblin said, and the second, Ragnok, nodded, walking off towards a large door behind the counter. Remus instantly followed, taking Esme's hand, and they were both led into a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. Ragnok whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They all climbed in and before Esme knew it, the cart hurtled off again. Esme closed her eyes as a wave of nausea floated over her. She felt Remus take hold of her hand again and she squeezed it thankfully, but refused to open her eyes until the cart had stopped completely.
"Esme, we're here," Remus whispered eventually, and Esme quickly climbed out of the cart, grateful to be back on solid ground. Ragnok ignored her and unlocked the door of the nearest vault by pressing his hand against it. Esme peaked around Remus and a gasp caught in her throat. Inside were thousands of gold Galleons, hundreds of silver Sickles and several heaps of bronze Knuts. Esme had never seen so much money in her life. She and Remus had hardly any money, and yet all of this money – if she was right – had been sitting here since her mother had died.
Remus pulled out a small bag and piled some of the money into it, counting it so Esme knew exactly how much of it she had to spend.
"Is this really all mine, Remus?" Esme whispered, out of Ragnok's earshot.
"Dumbledore told you," Remus replied quietly, as they all left the vault. "This was your mother's vault, and your grandmother has been putting money into it for some years." His eyes flickered to a vault further down the wall, and Esme turned around. "That vault was your father's, although you're not allowed in there."
Esme nodded, although she didn't really understand why, and climbed back into the cart. They hurtled back, Esme with her eyes closed again, and soon enough they were walking out of the bank and were back into the blinking sunlight.
"Where to first, then?" Esme asked, looking around the street. Remus looked at his battered watch and sighed.
"Uniform first, Esme," he said firmly, as Esme had started to walk in the direction of the ice cream parlour. Instead, they both entered Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where they were met with a squat, smiling witch, who greeted them eagerly as they entered.
"Hogwarts, dear?" she asked and Esme nodded. "Right, come with me."
"I'll wait here," Remus said quietly as Esme followed Madam Malkin to the back of the shop. She was stood upon a stool, where Madam Malkin slipped a long robe over her head and began to pin it to the right length. Esme stood uncomfortably, waiting with bated breath whilst the enthusiastic witch worked with nimble fingers, darting here and there, muttering to herself.
"That's you done, dear," she finally said and Esme hopped down as Madam Malkin pulled the robes off her and took them over to the till. Remus was still waiting for her, staring out of the window, and happily paid for the robes.
Over the next hour, they moved from shop to shop, buying everything that was on Esme's school list; parchment, quills, ink, books, cauldron, a set of scales, a brass telescope and some basic potion ingredients – Remus had to order them, as Esme had no idea what to buy.
"Just a wand, and then we can get some ice cream," Remus said, looking down at the list. Esme also glanced at it, and noticed something.
"It says here that I can have a pet," she said, reading the small note at the bottom of the list. "Can I, Remus?"
Remus narrowed his brow, looking thoroughly confused.
"Why do you want a pet?" he asked in a hushed whisper. "You can turn in any animal you want."
"I know," Esme said, rolling her eyes. "But, it might be nice having a pet. Besides, I only ever turn into an animal when I'm in danger. Please, can I get one?"
Remus couldn't resist the pleading look in Esme's bright blue eyes and nodded his head.
"Do you want an owl, a cat or a toad?" he said, sighing heavily. Esme's eyes lit up at his words and she hugged him tightly before dragging him to the Magical Menagerie. It was very cramped and noisy inside, and every inch of the walls were covered by cages, holding all kinds of animals; poisonous orange snails, black rats, a giant jewel-encrusted tortoise and even a transforming rabbit.
"A cat or a toad?" Remus asked, following Esme around the shop. She stopped at the cages of cats, studying them intensely.
"I definitely don't want a toad," she said, not averting her gaze from the rows of cats, all meowing gracefully in their cages.
"That one has your eyes," Remus joked, nodding at a siamese cat, whose bright blue eyes were the exact same shade of Esme. However, Esme wasn't looking at the Siamese cat. Instead, her own blue eyes were fixed on a black kitten in a far cage. Its fur was sleek and shiny and it was meowing softly as it pawed the bars of its cage.
"Remus, she's beautiful!" Esme breathed, moving away quickly to look at the playful kitten.
"Black cats make loyal, charming pets, you know, young lady," a voice said from behind her and she turned to see an elderly lady beaming at her. "Although, you might want to pick a different black cat, dearie. Despite being quite trained, this one is incredibly timid and –" she lowered her voice as Remus fought through the crowd to reach Esme – "she has attacked some customers."
Esme narrowed her eyebrows, looking back at the kitten. She seemed so perfect and innocent, with her big blue-green eyes staring into hers.
"Remus, can I please have her?" she asked, swinging around to face him. "Please, please, please!"
"Are you sure?" Remus asked, evidently worried at the saleswoman's words. "I mean, if the cat is going to attack you…"
"She just needs to be shown affection," Esme protested firmly, and added in a hushed whisper, "just like I did when I was young, remember? If I show her the same parental affection you showed me, she should be fine." And, before Remus had time to say anything, she turned back to the saleswoman and beamed. "I would like this one, please."
Raising an eyebrow, the saleswoman unlocked the cage and forced the little kitten in her arms, getting scratched in the process. Esme rushed forward and gently took the kitten from the saleswoman, and as if by magic, it instantly relaxed, purring gently. Esme beamed again, and glanced at Remus, who raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"All right, that is nine Galleons, please," the saleswoman said, also shocked at the kitten's sudden good behaviour. Remus handed over the gold coins and he and Esme happily left the shop, holding the kitten close in her arms.
"Just your wand now, and then we can go home," Remus said, heading back down the street.
"Just my wand and then ice cream," Esme said, smirking. Remus smiled back and they both headed to Ollivanders' wand shop, which was quite shabby-looking.
"Esme, we can't take the cat inside," Remus said quietly, one eye on the kitten, who stopped purring at his words. Esme stroked its back comfortably, and paused.
"All right, you stay out here with her, and I'll go in by myself," she finally said, suspecting what her new kitten's reaction would be. Sure enough, she scratched Remus' arms bitterly as Esme walked away, and into the shop. A bell tinkled as she stepped inside and she saw that a boy was being dealt with by whom she suspected was Ollivanders. The boy was with a rather tall man with a long mane of shaggy black hair and a beard that covered most of his face. He seemed quite scary, but then he smiled at Esme and she instantly relaxed. She also smiled at the boy as he passed, secretly thankful that she wasn't only one who seemed nervous.
"Good afternoon," said a soft voice, and Esme spun around to see an old man standing before her, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.
"Hello," Esme said, suddenly nervous.
"I've been expecting you, Miss Prince," said Ollivanders, slightly emphasising the last word. Esme lowered her gaze awkwardly.
"How do you know –" she paused, raising her head, but defiance egged her on – "How you know who I am?"
"Albus Dumbledore sent me a letter explaining your situation," the man said in a low voice. "He told me what name you would assume when you arrived. I didn't need to be told your name, though. I recognised you the moment you walked in, even if your hair has changed. You have your mother's eyes. She had a rather swishy wand, you know. Cherry, eleven inches. Very good for defensive spells. Your father's wand was rowan wood, twelve and a half inches, excellent wand for charm work. However, I think you might be… different."
He suddenly pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket, giving Esme a piercing look.
"Which is your wand arm?" he asked and Esme held out her right arm, too nervous to speak. Ollivanders measured her from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round her head. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss. Prince. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
He flittered around the shelves, checking boxes and muttering to himself.
"Right then, try this one," he said. "Hazel and Kneazle whiskers. Ten inches. Surprisingly swishy. Just take it out and give it a wave."
Esme took the wand out of the box and waved it for a millisecond before Mr Ollivander took it out of her hand, replacing it with a smaller wand. "Rosewood and unicorn hair, eight inches, springy. Try it, go on –" Esme tried to wave the wand but it was snatched back and replaced with yet another wand – "Blackthorn and Kelpie hair. Eight and a half inches, springy."
Wand after wand was thrust into her hand and she soon began to feel foolish as the pile of dejected wands got bigger. Eventually, he handed her yet another wand – "ebony and dragon heartstring. Twelve and a half inches. Rare but very powerful" – and she finally felt something different. Her fingers went warm and when she raised the wand above her head and flicked it, a stream of blue light flowed out of the end of it and vanished beautifully.
"Oh, brilliant, just brilliant!" Mr Ollivander cried, looking incredibly pleased. He took the wand away from her and put it back into its box, wrapping it in brown paper. Esme happily paid seven Galleons for the wand and left the shop to be greeted by Remus, who seemed to have finally calmed down the kitten. He was also holding two ice cream cones.
"What did you get?" Remus asked, handing her one of the ice cream. Esme licked it eagerly with her pointed tongue, allowing the kitten to sit perfectly on her shoulder.
"Ebony and dragon heartstring," she replied, relishing the ice cream. "What flavour is this?"
"Strawberry and liquorice," Remus replied, and he appeared to be grinning at her. "It was your mother's favourite, and she used to feed it to you when you were upset. It would calm you down immediately. Sugar always did, strangely."
Esme grinned mischievously but said nothing.