Chapter 3
On Saturday morning, Fred woke with a start. His dreams had once again been scattered with the occasional memory of war but right before he'd woken, only one picture was showing in his mind: his family in Egypt. How he wished that everything was just as perfect as that now.
He got up, dressed and, as he had done the previous day, made a rather pathetic attempt to flatten his hair. He was both excited for and dreading his promised visit to Diagon Alley. He wondered how much had changed, whether so many of the shops he knew and loved were still there.
But having to explain what he did- that massive act of betrayal. Was it really worth the risk? If he hadn't made the deal, if he hadn't walked right into a trap, would his family have survived? But even after everything Molly had told him the night before, after all her effort, Fred still couldn't bare the idea of explaining what'd happened.
When everyone had woken and eaten breakfast, they headed out into the wild, winding streets of London. Fred had made sure that he had plenty of Muggle money in his wallet just in case he no longer had access to his and George's Gringotts Vault. He also had the key to said vault and his wand, so he could access Diagon Alley.
After about fifteen minutes of pushing their way through the crammed streets, the three of them finally reached scruffy a pub named 'The Leaky Cauldron'.
"That's funny, I've never noticed this pub before!" Kat exclaimed.
"Neither have I!" said Molly.
"That's because you weren't looking for it," replied Fred as the entered the pub.
It looked just how Fred had remembered. Behind the bar stood the barman, Tom, hunched over the butterbeer pump, filling a glass. When Fred entered, he glanced up.
"Mornin'," he mumbled and went back to the drink.
"Follow me," Fred said quietly as he began to find his way through the tables and towards the back door.
"Wait," Tom said suddenly.
Fred stopped so unexpectedly that Molly and Kat both walked into him. He heard a shuffling sound which he knew must mean that the barman was waddling towards them. He sealed his eyes shut. A cold, heavy hand landed on his shoulder and spun him around. There was an awkward silence in which Fred was determined not to make eye-contact with the old man.
"They told me you were dead," he mumbled.
Fred swallowed and winced. But he soon found himself wrapped in perhaps the most uncomfortable hug he'd ever experienced.
"Erm… I'm sorry I think you've mistaken me for someone else," he said hurriedly in his unconvincing Irish accent. "I've never met you before in my life," he unwrapped himself from Tom's grip and backed towards the door, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go, lots of shopping to do." He turned to Molly and Kat and the three of them sped through the door, leaving Tom the barman more than extremely confused.
They stood in the little yard and Fred removed his wand. He pointed it at himself and quickly performed a charm so that his hair turned dark brown ad he grew a rather lengthy beard. He didn't want to risk too many people recognising him
"I'm not risking it anymore. How do I look?"
"Stupid," replied Molly, giggling.
"Do I look like me, though?" he demanded.
"Only if you look really closely," Kat said seriously.
Fred nodded, "It'll have to do," and he raised his wand once more. However, this time, instead of pointing it at himself, he tapped a certain brick in the wall- three up and two across above the rubbish bin. Immediately, the wall began to fold in on itself to reveal Diagon Alley which was concealed behind. Next to him, Kat let out a small gasp of sheer amazement and Molly merely muttered, "Wow!"
Just like the Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley was exactly how Fred recalled it to be. The same colourful shops were lining the streets and the familiar buzz of excitement and joy filled the air. It was crammed with witches and wizards, none of which- thankfully- Fred recognised. The wall behind them closed and they joined the crowd of people who were mingling around the shops.
It took a while to get down the street as Molly wanted to stop and look in every shop window that they passed.
"It's no good going in now," Fred kept telling her, "We don't have any money yet!"
Finally, they reached Gringotts, the wizarding bank. As they climbed up the marble steps, Fred felt around in his pocket for the key. Molly reached the top of the stairs first and pushed open the huge doors to reveal the inside of the bank. A sparkling gold chandelier hung from the detailed, patterned ceiling. Two long rows of tall desks lined each side of the long hallway and the marble floor had been scrubbed so vigorously, that Fred could see his reflection in it.
"I think you two should stay here and I'll-" he stopped, "What's wrong, Mol?" he asked Molly who was staring in awe at the strange creatures who sat behind desks, writing furiously.
"Wha... what are they?" she asked.
Fred laughed, "Don't worry, they're only goblins. You'll meet far scarier creatures than these guys. Goblins are grumpy- don't like humans much- but they're harmless." Having reassured Molly about the goblins, Fred continued, "If you two stay here I'll go and ask about the money. I have the key so hopefully, they'll let me in."
Both Kat and Molly nodded, so Fred walked toward the nearest goblin and presented the key to him. "I need to collect some money from vault 467, please," he said while the goblin behind the desk picked up the key and examined it closely.
"Fair enough, please follow me," replied the goblin sharply.
'That was easy,' Fred thought as he beckoned for Kat and Molly to join him in following the goblin through a small wooden door behind him.
The family had to duck to pass through the doorway, but once they had come out the other side, they stood up straight gazing around the cold, stone around them. The cave was a labyrinth. There were passages that split off in every direction- up, down, left, right and even upside down! A long track ran through the middle of the cove and a wagon, which they all hopped into, appeared in front of them. It whizzed off the moment Kat had stepped into it, steered by the goblin. A chilly breeze whipped the back of Fred's neck, nipping at every patch of bare skin it could find. The wagon zoomed along the track, turning corners and flipping over occasionally, until finally it came to a stop outside a vault. Fred got out from the cart, signalling for Molly and Kat, to stay where they were.
He approached the vault door where he waited for the goblin to hobble over. Fred handed him the key, the goblin opened up the bank door and Fred stepped inside. Completely amazed at just how much money there actually was, Fred grabbed a few handfuls of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts and stuffed them into his money bag before exiting the room.
After another thrilling ride back to the main hall of Gringotts, Fred thanked the goblin and left the beautiful bank, Molly skipping beside him and Kat stumbling along queasily. They left the building and were greeted by a refreshing breeze in the fresh air. Kat sighed and stood up straight, "That's better," she sighed happily.
The three of them made their way back down the steps, but just as they'd reached the bottom, and to Fred's utter dismay, he heard an extremely familiar voice from behind him.
"I'm telling you, Harry, I recognised that man. I know him from somewhere!"
"Don't be so ridiculous, Ginny. He's just an ordinary wizard out shopping with his family!" a man's voice retorted.
"Mum, dad!" came a whining little voice and for a moment, Fred thought it was Molly until he looked at his own, very confused daughter. Without waiting to hear what the little girl wanted from her parents and pulling Kat and Molly with him, Fred pushed through crowds of bustling witches and wizards and sped toward the nearest shop- Flourish and Blotts, the book shop.
As they ran through the door, Fred moved Kat in front of him and then lots of things happened very quickly.
As Fred rushed to close the door behind him, Kat accidently ran into a short woman with ginger, curly hair who was just leaving the shop. Molly ran straight into her mother and grunted when she fell back with such force, she hit the hard, wooden floor.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry!" fussed Kat.
"It's quite alright dear, not to worry," the woman replied and Fred froze in horror. He knew that voice very well.
"Let me help you with that," Kat said kindly, indicating to the books she had knocked out of the woman's hand in the collision.
"No one bother helping me then," Molly said as she picked herself up and brushed her jeans down.
"Thank you very much, dear," said the woman gratefully as Kat picked up her books and handed them back to her.
Once again faking an Irish accent, Fred turned to Kat and said, "Right then, shall we find these books we need?"
Without making eye contact with his mother, he grabbed his daughter by the hand and drove her towards the nearest shelf.
"Excuse me?" said the sweet voice of Molly Weasley behind him. Fred cursed under his breath and turned back as enthusiastically as he could.
"Yes?"
"Do I, do I know you?" his mother asked.
It pained Fred so much to reply with a simple, "No. No, I don't think so."
Mrs. Weasley took a step towards him, staring suspiciously into his guilty eyes.
Kat broke an extremely uneasy moment between mother and son by saying suddenly, "Where on Earth has Molly gone off to?"
Fred winced. His wife had just called his daughter by the name of his mother- or had she just called his mother the name of his daughter? Either way, Mrs. Weasley snapped her head to look at Kat and Fred looked down to see that Molly had indeed vanished.
"I'm sorry?" she said.
"My daughter, Molly. She's wandered off somewhere."
"Oh," Fred's mum replied. "Don't worry, dear." She turned back to Fred, "A mother always finds her child."
