To Die For
Chapter Three
The next morning came much quicker than Christine would have liked, and she woke an hour before the sun had fully risen to prepare herself for the day ahead. She dried her robes with magic, then pulled them on over her pajamas, and she dissapparated, reappearing in her room at the Leaky Cauldron.
Her room was nothing extraordinary- like the rest of the inn, it looked, though clean and comfortable, old and shabby. It consisted of a heavy mahogany wardrobe- which creaked when it opened-, a master bed, made-up neatly with sheets, pillows, and blankets, a window over-looking London, and a bed-side table and lamp. The unpolished wooden floor boards groaned under pressure, even under Christine's slight weight, and the room was plainly decorated- but it was comfortable.
Despite the fact that she had been staying there for a month, the wardrobe and bedside table remained empty, and she hadn't taken any interest in unpacking at all. She had all of her belongings and possessions packed within her bag, through the aide of an Undectable Extension charm. If the house-keeping thought it odd, however, they did not mention it.
Sparing her the agony of searching for her clothes by hand, Christine retrieved them with a summoning charm. Quickly, she changed into a pair of denim cut-offs, a tank-top, and a pair of sneakers, and took a bit more time doing her hair and make-up than she would on any other day. With a handful of Sleek-Easy's Straightening Potion, her glossy golden locks were straightened and shiny, hanging neatly below her shoulders. Then, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she stowed her wand in her back-pocket, and exited the room, descending the wide spiral stair-case, and entering the pub.
"Thanks for the room," Christine said briefly, handing him a pouch of galleons, and placing it on the counter in front of Tom, the Inn-keeper.
"It was my pleasure, miss!" he called after Christine, but she had slipped out of the pub, and into the old, littered alley behind the Inn through the back door. Utilizing her wand, she tapped the brick wall in the familiar pattern, and before her eyes, the bricks began shifting, until they formed a tall arch.
She walked through and into Diagon Alley, or what was left of it. Previously, the number and varieties of wizarding families were what made a trip to Diagon Alley so enjoyable, something which the once-thronging market now lacked. There was no one buying, selling or meeting up on street corners, no gossip; no young children fighting about who was next in line for Florean Fortesque's, or eating ice creams, or marveling at the items for display in the windows; No boys and girls trading wizard cards, or bragging about the last quidditch match they attended with family and friends, no one discussing their favorite teams or players.
The streets of Diagon Alley were empty, almost barren, and only the few daring families who had enough nerve to leave the so-called safety hurried by, casting a weary eye on their surroundings, rushing hastily in and out of shops, as if afraid to be caught out in the open, or off-guard. Christine's guess was that most of them were too anxious to go out shopping, and instead took the liberty of ordering supplies through catalogs, which, in Christine's opinion, was even worse- at least getting supplies yourself than the Ministry wouldn't get you're address.
Christine made her way towards the most noticeable shop of the latter. It was painted with bright, whimsical colors, and a large sign with blinking lights bearing the legend: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Opening the door labeled WWW, she walked into the vast shop, which, despite Diagon Alley's clear need for customers, was still thriving with business.
As always, there were shelves of products, toys, prank kits, candy, Skiving Snack-boxes, and even a corner of the shop which had a small dedication to Muggle Magic tricks, which was made up of card-tricks, illusion tricks, and many other forms of practical magic. And, among a family of redheads, seldom a bushy-haired girl, and the famed Harry Potter himself, she could just barely make out the famed Weasley twins, whom she only differentiated from the others by their magenta robes. They were also accompanied by three others, only one of which she recognized: A tall, heavy-set, but kindly looking man, too tall to be any man, yet too small to be a giant, most-likely the result of cross-breeding; a tired, worn-out looking man wearing shabby, patched-up robes, and the famed auror Mad-Eye Moody. The other two were a bit more conversational, exchanging ideas and compliments with whom Christine assumed was the Weasley family; Moody however kept a watchful guard- his magical eye swiveling maddeningly around in its socket rather sickly.
She bent over a display of a bubble in jar which grew out of nowhere and got bigger until it popped, and changed colors, pretending to be interested in it, waiting to be noticed by any one of the party.
She did not have to wait long, however. It seemed that Christine had caught the attention of Moody, whose magical eye swiveled onto her, and he hobbled over to where she stood, bellowing so loudly that she dropped the jar, which shattered on the floor, and tripped over herself, nearly falling.
"What in bleeding hell do you think you're doing?" he growled, grabbing Christine's wand out of her back pocket and brandishing it at her like a whip. "You'll blow your buttocks off like that, you will. Or worse, a Death Eater comes up and steals your own wand to use it against it you. Is that what you want?! Hmm?"
"No monsieur," Christine gasped, still shocked from his reaction. By now the Weasley's and their other accomplices had already turned their attention to her, and she could feel her cheeks brighten with embarrassment.
"Don't scare the poor girl, Mad-Eye." The shabby-looking man made his way over to her, a kindly, friendly smile in place. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, thanks." She replied, gathering herself together again, and returning his smile gratefully, accepting her wand from Moody, who looked rather disgruntled that Lupin had stolen his thunder.
"Are you sure?" George asked, smirking mischievously, exchanging a glance with his twin. "I don't think so; what about you Fred?"
"Oh, definitely not," Fred said, joining his brother next to Christine, grinning deviously, circling her, as if making an observation.
"My Lord!" George gasped, placing the back of his hand to her forehead, and she stared at him and his brother perplexedly. "You're hot!" By now Christine was already rolling her eyes.
"Fred! Take record of this immediately!" George pronounced loudly, and Christine sighed exasperatedly, as Fred began checking off details on an imaginary clipboard.
"Yes sir," Fred said smirking, still recoding information with his imaginary pen. "Beautiful blonde, blue eyes, Sex-" he paused for a moment and grinned flirtatiously at Christine, "Yes, please!"
Christine's cheeks flushed red with anger, and was about to protest when Mrs. Weasley interrupted. She stalked over to where they stood, and whacked either of the twins with her heavy purse, looking quite terrifying, snapping loudly. "Enough, you wretched idiots!" Mrs. Weasley growled, and the twins, with a slight wince, backed off, looking annoyed and affronted at insulted in their own shop. Hermione and Ginny exchanged giggles, while Ron praised his brothers under his breath, extorting a pair of grins from Fred and George.
Then she turned to Christine, who took a slight step away, as if afraid she'd be next. But she looked much sweeter, and sounded a lot kinder than she had just a moment before when she spoke to Christine. "Sorry, for my sons, my dear. They wouldn't know a rejection if it hit them in the face. Now, where are you're your parents?"
"They're not here," Christine replied, downcast, and Mrs. Weasley looked positively appalled.
"Well, surely there must be someone with you?" she inquired, looking shocked. "A young lady, such as you should not be off gallivanting by herself, especially during times such as these."
"No, there's no one. But I really should be going anyways, if I stay too long they'll find me." Christine said, casting her eyes around the walls of the shop nervously, though she really had nothing to fear- as long as they needed her she'd be alive.
"On the road is not the place to be, you have just as much a chance of getting found out there than in here, if not more. They'll be expecting you to be on the run, not out shopping in broad daylight." Remus said, joining in on the conversation again, "What did you say your name was again?"
"Christine." She replied.
Beside Hermione, Ron's face lit up with inspiration and realization. "Oh I know you! You're that Balfour girl whose parents were murdered by the Death Eaters!"
For a moment Ron looked truly pleased with himself for putting one and one together- until Hermione, along with Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley, snapped at him, and Hermione warningly stomped on his foot, and he yelped rather loudly, his ears turning red with embarrassment.
Turning to Christine, Mrs. Weasley smiled sweetly, and said: "Well I can't leave you on your own, surely enough. You can spend the remainder of the summer and school holidays with us."
"As taunting and generous an offer that is, Ma'am I cannot accept it. I'd be intruding." Christine protested.
"Of course not." Just until you finish school then. You must be what- about six-seventeen?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Yes." Christine replied with somewhat of a smile. "You're too kind, but I can't accept your offer."
"Nonsense," she said, her tone much more serious, her face hardening in a very What-I-say-goes-so-that's-that kind of way. "I know the Headmaster very well, I'm sure we can arrange something."
"Now," she continued, "This is..." and so she introduced everyone in the very odd, very large group. And so on did she continue till she reached Harry. "And this," she said, gripping Harry's shoulder gently.
"Harry Potter," Christine said with a smile, "It's nice to finally meet the one I've heard so much about."
He noticed that, unlike most people her gaze didn't fly automatically to his forehead and stay permanently glued to his scar; instead, she maintained eye contact, and kept a sweet, friendly countenance about her, rather than fawning over how brave he was and hanging all over him. This, in turn, allowed him to feel more comfortable than he would on most first acquaintances. Gripping her hand gently, he shook it in greeting, and returning her smile, replied, "It's nice to meet you too."
"Ohh, yeah," Ron agreed under his breath, watching Christine with a dreamy look, and a warning "Ron!" from Hermione, followed yet another groan of pain from Ron.
Ginny too, did not look very pleased, though it was not in Ron's behavior- it was with Christine. Sure, she and Harry might not be together anymore, but that didn't mean Ginny wanted him to be seeing or interested with anyone else. However, she did not make a comment, for her family, and, more importantly- her mother- were all situated there.
After Christine, the Weasley's, and everyone else were all acquainted, they went about collecting their supplies for their last- or for Christine, first- year attending Hogwarts. When they all were ready, Christine, and the Weasley's and the rest of the group, apparated into the kitchen area of the burrow.
13
