Ch 4
A/N: This was one of the most fun chapters I've ever gotten to write. Enjoy.
The next day Victoria found herself stepping out of Heathrow airport onto a bus; some people would call her crazy by taking muggle transport, but since she'd never been to London before she couldn't very well apparate there. She had absolutely no idea where she was going but that didn't matter. She was on her way to find herself.
The only thing she knew for sure was that this particular bus was headed east. This being a strange town she had no idea of where to find the wizarding area, although she knew a place this size there had to be one. For a moment she started to wonder if she was doing the right thing by being here, but decided that she was too excited to care.
After a while she decided that she had too much energy to simply sit on a bus any longer. She got off and looked around. The road she was on seemed to be downtown, not that she knew downtown from the outskirts. As she walked along she saw restaurants, book shops, music stores, and a movie theater, but what seized her attention was a pub. It was sandwiched between a big book store, and a record store. She watched as people walked past the pub, but not one person looked at it. She had a strange feeling for a moment as if this was the place she needed to be.
It seemed a small seedy looking place, but something about it seemed to draw her in. The sign above the door showed a witch stirring a cauldron, and read The Leaky Cauldron. Warily she reached for the door and went inside. The little pub wasn't much better inside. It was dark and stuffy. She sighed in relief as she saw what could only be witches and wizards who sat talking at small tables or sharing a drink at one of the booths. Most people wore robes, some carried books with strange titles such as "The Modern Witch, What is it", or played idly with their wands.
There was one man at the bar who caught her attention. His shaggy black hair matched his leather robes perfectly. He had a carefree air about him while he talked with two other men.
The man to his right seemed about his age, both young, but when he turned towards her she noticed that his warm hazel eyes made him seem much older. This man's robes looked as if he'd either gotten them from a very poor second hand place, or he'd been very hard on them. They were turning from their original black to almost grey and very thin in places. His hair was a sort of mousey brown, cut short, but she could see spots missing as if they'd been pulled out. Two long scars on his cheeks gave him the appearance of being a fighter.
The man on the left looked too large to be real. He was almost twice the size of anyone else in the room and he took up two stools to himself. She saw beetle black eyes shine in her direction as he laughed at a joke the middle man had said. His dark hair and beard were wild; covering so much of his face that it was hard to tell that there was really someone behind them.
A moment later she noticed the man behind the bar looking kindly at her, his bald head glinting in the light. "Anything I can do for you miss?" he called to her, as she was still standing just inside the door.
She smiled, stepping up to the bar, "Yes actually. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the nearest hotel, or inn maybe?" She asked hopefully, trying to ignore the eyes of the men sitting a little way away.
"Why no need miss. I can rent you a room meself. Have some just upstairs." He smiled at her, she noticed now that he only had a few teeth, and of those none looked like they'd be hanging around much longer.
"Really," she set her bags down, smiling, "thank you."
"My pleasure." He stepped out from behind the bar, "Follow me." He waved his wand at her bag and it suddenly flew up the stairs ahead of them. She followed him up the stairs, coming to a stop behind him in front of a door with a large brass number 10. "Here we are Miss." He opened the door and stepped aside so she could enter.
The room to her standards was beautiful. It was full of polished oak furniture, a comfortable looking bed, and a fireplace. Seeing the bags had already taken up residence on a large desk that sat in one corner of the room she thought that this place was perfect. The smile faded from her lips for a moment as she asked, "And the price?"
"Don't worry Miss, we try to be reasonable, two Galleons per night." He smiled again, noticing as she sighed in relief.
She reached into her pocket and realized that all she had with her was her muggle money. She looked up to him, and he smiled again. "Not to worry, you can pay me tomorrow. Gringotts is closed for the night anyhow."
"Gringotts?" she asked, stuffing the money back into her pocket.
"You're not from around here are you?" he asked kindly. She looked sheepishly up at him as he continued, "Gringotts is the wizarding bank in Diagon Alley." She still looked confused so he went on, "It's the largest wizarding area in London. Just behind the pub here."
"Thanks." She smiled.
"You're welcome. The name's Tom by the way. If you should be needing anything let me know." He waved as he closed the door behind him.
She looked around the room again, smiling. 'This is where I'm meant to be.' She thought to herself, flopping down on the bed, which was even more comfortable that it had looked. The down comforter enveloped her in its warmth and she thought about her day. She still didn't know how she'd found this place, but she felt as if luck was on her side.
Her stomach gave a slight rumble after a few minutes, reminding her that she hadn't had much to eat since she'd left the States. She'd brought a sandwich, choosing against the airplane food, which she knew from previous experience to be horrible. Pulling herself up she went back down to the main pub in search of something to appease her appetite. She noticed that there were fewer people there now, only a couple in the back that seemed to be so wrapped up in each other they wouldn't have noticed anyone else, and the mysterious man in the leather cloak from earlier.
She picked her way around a few tables and took a seat at one of the stools a little way away from him. He turned to her and gave her a sly smile, his steel eyes sparkling at her. She ordered a black current juice and cider when Tom came and placed a menu in front of her. She felt like she was reading another language as she skimmed over the menu in her hands, things like bangers and mash, black pudding, bubble and squeak, and toad-in-the-hole. She had never heard of any of these, and wasn't quite sure if she really wanted to. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the man got up and took a stool next to her.
He laughed lightly at the lost look on her face, "May I offer a suggestion?"
She looked up at him, considering him for a moment, uncertain if she should trust him or not. Finally she shrugged, "Why not."
"Stay away from the black pudding. Most American's can't stomach blood sausage." He grinned, watching as she turned slightly green.
"Blood sausage!" She asked taken aback, "Please tell me you're kidding."
"Nope." He answered taking a long pull from his mug. "It's actually quite good, but you might want to work your way up to it."
"I don't think I'll ever work up to that." She said feeling her stomach give a slight turn just thinking about it.
"Suit yourself." He shrugged, setting his now empty mug back down on the bar and motioning to Tom for another.
Tom poured him another from the tap and set it in front of him smiling at her he asked, "Sirius here isn't giving you too much trouble is he Miss?"
"Oh Tom, how could you say such a thing?" Sirius asked, looking hurt.
Victoria laughed as Tom rolled his eyes, "No, he's fine, just trying to steer me through the complicated labyrinth of English cuisine."
It was Tom's turn to laugh, "I'll have something for you in a jiffy." He disappeared into a doorway behind the bar, leaving the two alone.
"You know, you've got one up on me." He stated leaning back on his stool.
"How's that?" she asked leaning an elbow on the bar.
"You know my name, but I don't know yours. Sirius Black, at your service." He jokingly took her hand and kissed it.
"Victoria, Victoria Knight."
"Beautiful name. It suit's you." He watched as she blushed, averting her eyes back to the menu. He caught the change in her demeanor and said, "So what brings you to this side of the Pond?"
She looked up at him again, wondering for a moment if she should tell him the truth or not. Shrugging she decided that it wouldn't hurt, "Well it's a long story."
"I've got time."
"Well," she started, "Yesterday was my birthday…"
Tom came back with a plate of fish and chips before she had a chance to say anything else. She reached in her pocket, not thinking, and pulled out her muggle money again. Gasping slightly, she felt Sirius put a hand on her wrist stopping her, "My treat, think of it as a belated birthday present."
"Thank you," she said honestly. Taking a bite of fish she sighed contentedly.
He watched in amusement as she ate. He didn't say anything until she was half-way through. "Yesterday was your birthday and…"
"Oh sorry." She embarrassedly took a swallow of her drink, finishing it and motioning for another. "Yes, yesterday was my birthday and my parents lovingly told me that I was adopted."
"That's bollocks!"
She laughed, not needing to know exactly what he said to understand, "Yep, just out of the blue. They decided that my 18th birthday was the perfect time to find out."
"What did you do?"
"I asked them every question I could possibly think of. They didn't know much but the one thing they could tell me is that my parents were from here."
He nodded, talking another long drink from his glass. "So that's why you're here."
"Yeah." She sighed, looking down, "I came to try and find my parents. I know that they're both magical, but that's about all."
He studied her for a moment, "Well, either you're completely off your trolley or bloody brilliant! How many people have the guts to just pack it all in and go for what they want?"
She blushed, "I guess you could say that. Right now I'm feeling a little more crazy than "brilliant"."
"Why's that?" he asked, she noticed his speech becoming slightly slurred. He'd obviously been drinking for some time now.
"Well like you said, I just packed it all in. I'd already been accepted to the Salem Witches Institute, the most prestigious wizarding University in the States. My parents already had a job waiting for me when I got done with that. I chose to just walk away from all of that."
He shrugged, "I still say you're brilliant. I don't know many people could have done what you did." She smiled; feeling like it was time to change the subject. He did the honors for her, "So how does one get into the good graces of a beautiful witch like yourself?" he asked his eyes holding that same sparkle they had when she first saw him.
She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, and then looked down at his mug which was almost empty, "Finish your drink."
He looked at her as if she'd lost her mind, but did as she said taking the last bit. She took the mug from him tipping it over onto its rim on a napkin. "Did you know that you can read foam from a beer the same as you could with tea leaves?"
"You're barking." He shook his head watching as she turned the glass back over staring into it.
"Hmm," she said studying it. "Very interesting."
"What?" He asked, now leaning forward on his stool.
"I thought I was… what did you say, "barking"?" she smiled impishly.
He didn't say anything, leaning back again, trying to look disinterested, failing miserably. "So what do you see." He said finally.
"Well…" she said pointing up towards the rim of the glass, "right here I see a swarm of bees."
"What's that mean?"
"Success with an audience." she said never taking her eyes off of the mug.
He smiled smugly, "Is that so?"
She ignored him, "Right here I see a bush, that's new friends." She smiled up at him momentarily.
"I can see that." He replied, not bothering to look at the glass.
She indicated to a place towards the middle of the mug, "See this loop? That means impulsive actions bring trouble."
He laughed heartily at that, "Trouble is my middle name darling."
She smirked continuing on, "And right down here. All the way at the bottom," She paused for dramatic effect, "a tree without leaves." She said sadly.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Disappointment." She laughed.
He pulled the glass back, looking down in it, turning it this way and that. "Well it could be bagpipes if you look at it like this." He said almost pleadingly.
She chuckled, "It's the same thing."
He looked like he was going to argue with her for a moment. Then his eyes lit up again. "Well what about yours?"
She shrugged, finishing her own glass then turning it over as she'd done his. When she decided enough time had elapsed she turned it back over, but he suddenly took it from her, "Oh no you don't. It's my turn."
"Ok, just tell me what you see." She answered amusedly watching him study the tiny bubbles on the glass.
"Wow there's a lot here. Well this looks somewhat like maybe… a monkey?"
She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips, "A flattering mischief-maker."
He snorted a laugh, "Fair enough. And this looks like a plane."
She nodded, "A sudden journey, not without risk. Makes sense really."
He nodded in agreement, looking back in the glass, "This looks like a head."
"New opportunities." She answered simply.
"This here looks like a candle and next to it is a crutch." He said turning the glass to one side, trying to catch the light better
"The candle is help from others in the pursuit of knowledge, and the other is…" she wracked her brain for a moment, the alcohol and jet-lag seeming to catch up to her, "help from a friend. How that one works when I have no friends here I'm not sure."
His head snapped up from the cup, "That hurt."
"Oh come on Sirius, we don't know each other yet."
"What better reason to keep me as a friend?" He smiled.
"Ok, friend." She conceded, rolling her eyes, "Anything else in the glass?"
He looked down again, "I think this is an elephant." He said pointing to a place close to the bottom
"Uh that's…" she closed her eyes trying to remember, "wisdom, strength, lasting success, a trustworthy friend."
"See you need me." He smirked.
"Yeah, yeah," she laughed, "That it?"
"Just one more, right down at the bottom, looks like a shamrock."
"A bit obvious." She answered, "Good luck, or a wish coming true."
"So does this stuff really work?" He asked placing the mug back in front of her.
"I don't really know. I've never tried it before." She smirked, this time her blue eyes dancing with mirth.
"What? You made all that up?"
"No," she laughed, "my mom taught divination. I was never particularly great at it, but I had to know all about it."
He shook his head looking at her incredulously. She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. He smiled at her, "Well Victoria, thanks for the reading of my future. Why don't we call it a night? Looks like you need some rest from your trip."
She smiled gratefully, "I guess so."
He got up from his stool, and helped her to her feet. "If you're not doing anything I'd be more than happy to show you around Diagon Alley tomorrow."
"That would be great." She smiled, "I'd really appreciate it."
"Think nothing of it." He smiled down at her and walked her to the staircase, "That saves me from buying you supper again."
She laughed and started up the stairs as he walked out the door. As she fell into her bed that night she thought again about her journey. The only word that came to her mind as she started to drift off was serendipity. A smile crossed her lips, 'That's what it is' she thought to herself, 'a happy accident.'