Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter, JKR does, and I claim nothing but the rolls of baby-soft toilet paper I bought today with my hard earned money!

Chapter 2

Landlady of the Cauldron

Days later Liam and Caroline still hadn't spoken without an obviously strained mood in the air and September was just around the corner. It was apparent that Chris wasn't going to be home for a good part of the year so their mother suggested that it was a good idea for the whole family to visit London, which was an obvious pretense for Carol and Chris to go shopping for the school items from the list provided by the letter from Hogwarts.

"Daddy, will I too get a letter when I turn eleven?" Shelly chirped from the backseat in innocent curiosity.

"Now now, Shelly. Daddy's driving," Caroline approached kindly, hoping to deter any further mention of the subject, "Don't bother the driver."

Liam frowned deeply and clenched his teeth, trying to keep his attention on the London streets and nothing else, though not just for the sake of driving. He didn't seem to want to discuss anything involving the letter from Hogwarts and rarely spoke since the fight that followed, seemingly deep in thought about something which was troubling him. He couldn't help however but spare an occasional piercing look at the rear view mirror where the other back seat occupant was visible next to his precious little daughter.

"Am I a bother, Chrissie?" Shelly asked her older sister meekly. It was quite evident that her father's silent treatment was troubling Shelly.

Chris thought her little sister might have considered the whole thing her fault, because the day after the fight she seemed to regret bringing the letter from the doormat back with her. Not that she wasn't excited when she found that what was written was all true – "I told you it was real!" – but now she was torn between wanting a letter of her own and wishing for everything to be back to normal.

"Of course not, Shells." Shelly brightened at her sister's comforting words. "Rather, you're a mighty bother, you are!" Chris finished as-a-matter-of-factly which earned her painful a dab in the side from the smaller child.

"If the two of you don't pipe down, I'm throwing both of you out of this car right this instant!" Liam caused the girls to jump, surprised by the harsh tone of his voice.

Caroline seemed to be intent on ignoring his outbursts and exclaimed, "Oh, here we are! This is our stop, Chrissie."

Liam's Opel Corsa halted near the curb of Charing Cross Road to let off Chris and Carol.

"Have fun at the zoo, you two!" Caroline beamed at the ones remaining in the car but her husband just grunted and drove off with an uncharacteristically less than enthusiastic Shelly.

"Mum, are you sure we can get all of this stuff in the middle of London?" Chris approached with skepticism as she addressed the list she was looking at, now that Liam wasn't there to send dirty looks at every mention about anything to do with the letter. "I highly doubt they sell dragon hide gloves at every corner."

"Not unless you know where to look," her mother threw with a wink over her shoulder.

As she followed Caroline down the busy street, Chris began to question whether the woman really knew where they were going but the thought left her when her mother stopped in front of a small grubby-looking pub which Chris just then noticed. It was odd how it casually blended into the background, for it looked older than the shops on either side. So out of place that it had to be magic for no one else on the street to pay it any attention.

"Come on then," Caroline called while holding the dark door of the entrance, motioning for her daughter to go inside as if it was safe enough for a helpless woman and an eleven year old to enter such a dodgy place. "Everyone knows the Leaky Cauldron."

True enough, Chris could see a distinctive sign with the silhouette of a large leaking cauldron swaying with the soft pre-autumn breeze.

"Is this one of those places only for wizards?" Chris wondered aloud, carefully stepping inside the pub.

It was a bit dark and shady, softly lit by candles. Groups of people gathered around wooden tables, chatting, drinking, gambling, creating a low buzz. Some of them were somewhat oddly dressed in long robes and strange hats. A trio of old grumpy witches complete with pointy hats sat in the corner, drinking strangely colored brandy and smoking long thin pipes with strangely colored fumes as they gossiped in hushed voices. A group of men dressed in black and red robes and top-hats suddenly cheered loudly from another corner, clinking and sloshing their mugs as the last two of them, the only ones in a different set of colors, grumbled and cursed at an antique radio which was emanating soft glowing colored smoke with a sandy texture inside which small three-dimensional uniformed smoke-people floating on sleek brooms high-fived each other.

As Chris and her mother ventured further inside what looked like more of a peculiar old fashioned tavern, an upright broom went by, held by no one, as if animated to clean on someone's instructions, just like the hovering teapot two tables away was filling up teacups by itself. When they reached the bar, Chris craned her neck to watch how cups and glasses cleaned themselves in the sink, but her view was obscured by a blonde woman in a long apron.

"Merlin's beard! Caroline! Fancy seeing you come in through these doors after all those years," the landlady waved a finger jokingly.

"And what about you, Hannah?" Caroline crossed arms and smirked. "Take a look at you! Landlady of the Cauldron! Who would've known!"

"Well, you know what they say, that's the dream."

"Speak for yourself!"

Chris looked back and forth between the two laughing women who seemed to know each other, not really sure how to react.

"Well, well, well," Hannah said when she turned her attention to Chris and bent over the counter to get a better look at her. "And might this young lady be who I think it is?"

"You guessed right," Caroline rested her hands on Chris' shoulders. "Chrissie here is starting at Hogwarts this year."

"My, how time flies!" Hannah beamed at Chris. "You must be positively excited!"

"What's this I hear about Hogwarts?" a surprisingly normally dressed man in a button up and vest joined their conversation, leaning casually on the bar.

"Neville!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Long time no see!" He offered a polite smile to Caroline and her daughter. "You up and disappeared after..." He cleared his throat and looked away awkwardly. "Well... you know."

"After I became like this, yes," Caroline smiled sadly to herself, also looking away.

Chris sensed from the way they were avoiding the subject that someone losing his magic was something shameful and not to be talked about among wizards.

"Oh, where are my manners," Hannah interjected to dispel the tension. "I forgot to mention Neville and I are married now! We live right upstairs."

"Really now!" Caroline was glad to talk about something else. "I never would've guessed the two of you would end up together!"

"Neither could I! How people change, huh?" Hannah laughed and looked lovingly at Neville who shyly smiled to himself, rubbing the hairs of his neck. "Which reminds me, he's teaching Herbology at school now. Professor Longbottom! Can you imagine that?"

Caroline chuckled. "As strange as it sounds, it kind of suits him."

"I wonder why but I get the feeling you girls are making fun of me." Neville sighed in exasperation with a small smirk which only made the women laugh again.

"Some things never change," Hannah let herself say and they slowly fell into an uncomfortable silence, during which Chris sent her unwavering questioning gaze to her mother.

"Um, right, this is Chrissie," as if just remembering her daughter was there, Caroline looked down at Chris and motioned towards her old friends. "Chris, this is Hannah and Neville Longbottom. We went to school together."

"Though we were in different years," Hannah interjected, "but your mother and I were housemates!"

"Oh, um, hi!" Chris opted with a feint of a smile, not even bothering to ask about what Hannah meant by "housemates". She was too busy with the realization that this was the first time meeting people who knew her mother from before. "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure." Neville beamed and offered a handshake which she hurriedly took. "Guess I'll be teaching you at Hogwarts. Hope you'll find at least a bit of an interest in the study of herbs and plants, both magical and otherwise. It's really quite fascinating, Herbology, controversial to popular belief," he started to explain as Chris nodded her head stupidly, trying to imagine how that would be different from regular Biology.

"Now now, Neville, try not to bore the young lady before she's even had her first day at school," Hannah joked to stop her husband from rambling, much to his disappointment.

"Yes, on that note, we have a lot of shopping to do, don't we Chrissie? Would you do us the honor, Neville, since I, uh... well, you know." Caroline smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, yes, yes, of course!"

Chris and Caroline bid their farewells to Hannah and Neville led them through the bar, to the back of the pub and out into a small chilly courtyard with nothing but four walls, a couple of wooden crates and several empty glass bottles in strange shapes among some weeds. Under Chris' curious gaze Neville produced a smooth wooden stick, looking suspiciously close to what might represent a realistic magical wand, and using its tip he proceeded to tap some of the stone bricks on the opposite wall with measured precision. When he retrieved his wand, a small rumble was heard while stone quivered and wriggled, making a small hole, which got wider and wider as the process continued until the whole wall opened to a view of a crowded street with peculiar shops that twisted and turned out of sight.

"This, Chrissie," announced Caroline, smiling broadly with her eyes shining with something akin to happiness tinged by melancholy, "is Diagon Alley."

It was hard for Chris to hide her excitement as she and her mother crossed the opening and entered the street. She almost jumped at the sudden noise of the brick wall closing by itself behind them with Neville giving them a little wave before the stone bricks hid the view of him. It was even harder not to gape slightly every way she turned as they walked down the crowded street. Her mother had to grab her by the hand so Chris wouldn't fall too much behind, busy staring at the window of a shop with curiously shaped chocolates and sweets some of which changed taste and color or did little dances. And her mother had to pull her away every time she caught her daughter making a group of three long-bearded wizards uncomfortable when she stared at their odd robes, hats and spectacles for a bit too long.

"Come now, Chrissie," her mother reminded as she tugged her away from a cage full of baby bats in front of an obscure pet shop, "we need to get a bit of gold first."

"Gold?!" Chris questioned, her bewilderment evident.

"That's right, from Gringotts," her mother said nonchalantly, like it was the most normal thing in the world and there was nothing wrong about them looking for gold at this time and age.

Caroline led her daughter up the white stone steps of an imposing snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Chris drew closer to her mother's hand on their way through the large bronze doors as they passed a pair of uniformed guards at the entrance which bowed politely to half her height. Standing up some inches shorter than Chris, they had swarthy clever faces, pointed beards and unnaturally long fingers and feet.

"Mum," Chris whispered urgently up to her mother, "what're those?"

Eyeing carefully the second pair of guards at the silver door that followed, Caroline hushed back quietly, "Goblins, Chrissie. You'd do well to remember they don't like being referred to as it almost as much as they don't tolerate thieves."

They entered a large hall made of marble lined with numerous doors through which people were led in and out by other goblins. Grandiose chandeliers of clear crystal and shining gold hung in mid-air under the high ceiling and the hundreds of candles had dripped stalactites of wax reaching down, but the marble floors looked unstained by even the tiniest of drops. Chris and Carol made their way to a tall counter where numerous goblins were busying themselves with heaps of precious stones, gems, gold and paperwork.

"Good day," Caroline approached a goblin who looked like he was free. "May we make a withdrawal?"

He eyed them tiredly under long white eyebrows and drawled in a monotone, "Certainly. Name and key, madam?"

"Ah, yes! Of course!" Caroline promptly let go of Chris' hand to nervously rummage through her handbag. "Caroline, er, Selborne," she stammered as she opened a small old wooden box and took out a rusty little metal key to slide it onto the counter in front of the goblin. She snapped the small wooden box shut before the tiptoeing Chris could sneak a peek further into its purple velvet insides. Chris shot her mother a disgruntled look, most of which was because she had just now found out what her mother's maiden name was, not that she had ever asked about it prior to that day.

The smartly dressed goblin with the long white eyebrows examined the small old fashioned key with his strict gaze, turning it over twice in his long calloused fingers. He then produced a large thick book from behind the tall counter, slamming it on top, which caused an exhale of dust to shoot out from between the long untouched yellowed pages of parchment. Flipping over a few of them somewhere in the middle of the book, he traced a long finger down a list of faded out characters and numbers of a strange and unknown to Chris language. The goblin double checked the key and finally looked straight at an already fidgeting Caroline.

"It appears your vault no longer exists, madam Selborne," the goblin drawled, not at all perturbed by this information and to Chris' small shock he turned the small rusty key between his long fingers once again, somehow making it crumble to a tiny heap of ashes on the counter. "Its contents have last been reallocated upon your marriage due to the absence of another heir to the family line."

Chris's eyebrows shot up at that. The goblin obviously meant her mother's first marriage to her father as Chris doubted Liam would own a vault in a wizarding bank.

"Ah, yes," Caroline avoided the looks of both Chris and the goblin to stare at the remains of the small rusty key, "I should have guessed."

"Which also means you have access to your husband's family vault where the contents of yours have been reallocated," the goblin aided, "Should you have brought that key as well of course."

Caroline fidgeted with the small old wooden box in her hands as if the thought of taking money from her previous husband sounded highly unappealing. Nevertheless, she popped the box open again with a sigh, taking out another small old fashioned key, made of pure clean spotless silver with an intricate design, and propped it onto the counter carefully, as if it were a precious object by itself.

"Mortimer Harpton," still avoiding her daughter's eyes, Caroline announced clearly to the goblin and nervously brushed an imaginary stray hair behind her ear.

Chris whipped her head from the form of the enchanting tiny silver key to stare at her mother's reddening uncomfortable face. She never told her Tim wasn't her father's whole name. Chris felt cheated.

The long-eyebrowed goblin looked at that key closely as well and checked his book before he turned his head back to Caroline.

"Everything's in order, madam. I'll have someone take you to your vault."

Then he called another goblin with small beady eyes and a goatee who had been waiting patiently by one of the doors. He led them through as he held the door open. The setting was entirely different to the strict marble of the previous hall. They seemed to be inside a cave tunnel dimly lit by flaming torches, the narrow stone openings of which traveled deeply under in a steep slope. The apparent method of getting around in such an unwelcome environment was the aid of the little railway tracks stuck to the stone ground. The tiny-eyed goblin let out a loud whistle and a small rattling cart appeared from behind the corner.

After they boarded, the ride seemed so wild and dangerous that Chris felt the need to keep her eyes closed against the rushing air. But after a while she got used to the wind in her hair and the rattling speed of the cart which seemed to be steering itself, so she opened her eyelids. Views of underground caverns and carvings, rocky tunnels and unidentifiable creatures lurking in the dark spread before Chris in an instant. With a sudden almost vertical drop downwards, Chris shouted and clutched the front of the cart as if on a roller coaster but then her voice was cut off by a sudden lurch upward into the previous horizontal position, a sharp turn and an abrupt stop of the cart. By the sight of the seemingly floating platform in front of a narrow metal door on the passage stonework, she realized they had reached their destination.

The beady-eyed goblin unlocked the door which for some reason emitted a slowly creeping gust of thick, gleaming, steamy white smoke that stuck to the rocks all around them. The door opened slowly and the wet stones shone the same as the piles of gold, bronze and silver sprawled onto the floor of the vault in tiny mountains. Chris couldn't help but gape as her eyes widened. Even without the knowledge of how much was this small fortune in regular currency, she knew that her father must have definitely been better off than Liam.

Before she could ask if most wizards had that much gold in the bank however, Chris' mother snapped at her with "Don't stare like that!" The woman quickly snatched a few coins from each different pile into a small velvet bag from her purse and was quick to exit the vault and hop back into the cart, her desire to leave as soon as possible more than evident. "We're done here, let's go."

"But mum, what are these?" Chris who had stepped into the vault called over while examining a small mirror which seemed to reflect everything except herself. She had just noticed there were shelves on the walls with various objects beside the coins on the floor.

Caroline's hairs stood on the back of her neck and she shouted back at her daughter, "Christina, don't you dare touch anything in there! Come back here this instant! I said we're leaving!"

Almost dropping the small mirror as she jumped from the sudden change of volume in her mother's voice, Chris hurriedly left the item on the shelf and ran back to the cart with a small pout.

- x x x -

I hope you feel like reviewing!