Chapter 3-
The warehouse was isolated, it stood tall surrounded by rubbish and old furniture, the windows were shattered, bricks crumbling and various vines crept along them. Deep inside the clearly abandoned building, a lone flame flickered on and off. The shadowed figure sat, with his back against the wall, resting his chin on his knees as he distractedly clicked his fingers at regular intervals each click creating a small flame that danced at the tips of his fingers. His eyes watched the small ticking clock, barely illuminated by the irregular light.
11:59pm
A sharp beeping cut through the silence, echoing throughout the building, this was followed immediately by the whispered words, "Happy birthday Harry".
The peaceful moment was broken by a quiet sigh, causing Harry to spring to his feet, snatch a small knife from his belt and, with a slight flick of the wrist, throw it towards the origin of the sound. He slapped a hand onto the wall just above his head, the room was flooded with light from a street light wedged in the corner.
Harry sagged slightly in relief and giggled at the sight of a shaggy dog, the knife stuck in the wall above the large dogs head.
"Come here, you dumb animal," Harry huffed in amusement, he patted his thigh encouragingly, the dopey dog trotted towards Harry- tail wagging and oblivious to the dangerous situation he had just been a part of.
Harry slid back down the wall and pulled a leather pouch from his pocket.
"Just my luck, huh?" He murmured, observing a chancy golden coin, "useless money? D'you think it's real gold? It's got to be worth fucking something science he ran after me like a lunatic."Harry chuckled, tipping the sack upside down, a handful of coins clattered on to the concrete and a.. key?"
Harry frowned, plucking the key from the pile of coins, he held it up to the light when he noticed writing.
'Gringotts wizarding bank' huh
Harry was leaning against a lamp post munching on a roll of warm bread, twirling a golden pocket watch with his other hand thoughtfully.
He had been searching for answers for some days now and he was no closer than he had been when he began. It was the longest in a while he hadn't discovered the answers to a 'mystery' almost immediately and it was starting to grate on his nerves.
From a young age he always made it his business to know things, whether about his peers, his careers, his enemies or Einsteins theory of relativity. Currently his fellow criminals had been giving hims wide berth, they quickly learned to avoid Harry when he was in one of his moods- the dark cloud that followed him became more potent and so served as fair warning.
Harry took the last bite of his roll and set off, aiming for a promising looking road, he was sure one of the mobsters would know something. Before Harry had a chance to take a step, a hand came down onto his shoulder, he tensed.
"Naw, naw, wotcha doing 'ere lad? Loitering? Where's ya parents?" The ruddy faced policeman tried to turn Harry towards him.
"Dead." Harry replied shortly, shrugging the hand off his shoulder aggressively and pushed his was past people to cross the road. He heard the officer calling after him but he ignored it and kept walking.
Harry twichted slightly as he walked, the unwelcome touch still ghosting over his shoulder. His legs kept moving aimlessly, almost definitely lost. He came to a stop in front of a dark, noisy pub. As far as he could see, everyone walking past ignored the ruckus and smashing coming from within the pub- clearly indicating a bar fight. Harry shrugged to himself, it's worth going in as people often left their wallets and valuables exposed when distracted by a good brawl. Harry smirked as he pushed the door ajar and slid in.
Abraxas lifted his eyes from the spinning display and looked cooly at his father subtly threatening the wizard at the front desk. He coughed lightly and his father responded with a slight jerk of his head, Abraxas quickly turned and left Dervish and Bagnes, glad to be away from the older Malfoy. He stepped out into a quiet road, running a hand down the sleeves of his robes as he set off towards the three broomsticks.
Abraxas was sat in his usual place and was soon joined by his classmate and long time friend Alfred Avery. "Malfoy," Avery greeted,"Finally managed to escape your fathers wrath, I heard he lost out on a fair amount of gallons and his key to a mere muggle." Avery smirked, collapsing into the chair across from him.
Abraxas took a gulp of butter beer before addressing his friend, "he's been absolutely unbearable for the past few days for the past few days, that thief really has infuriated him." He muttered looking down at his drink.
Avery leant back and eyed his friend carefully, taking in the slight hunch of the posture of his normally straight backed peer. He hummed in agreement, "He's not the most pleasant at the best of times" He murmured, glancing round hesitantly and lowered his voice, "Hey Abraxas, you can always come and stay at mine whenever you ne-"
Abraxas turned sharply and cut him off, "It's fine, nothing I can't handle." He looked back at his beer and continued, "Thankfully he has someone else to direct his anger at, the fool who sold the purse as 'unstealable'."
Avery sat up, "They are."
"What is?" Malfoy asked, confused.
Avery raised his eyebrows, "The new money pouches, they are 'unstealable', which, by the way, I don't think is a real word, but that's the new line they sell, they're invisible to muggles- intangible."
Malfoy laughed bitterly and leaned towards his friend, "what's worse than being pick pocketed by a muggle? Hm? Being pick pocketed by a filthy muggle-born" he hissed.
Avery's eyes widened in comprehension.
