A/N: Happy New Years everyone! Hope your celebrations were fun.

Just in case you're wondering about the new picture, I decided it was time Scourgify had one. The character featured is Vinnie. It was the most flattering picture I could find of him.

To my guest reviewer Marie, thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the songs mentioned in the chapter.

No Beta


(V)(°,,,,°)(V)


Chapter 7: Allen in Wonderland

"Valeria, sweetheart, can you come here?"

The girl in question looked up curiously from her current painting of two enormous black dogs, and padded softly over to her mother standing by her door.

"Can I help you, Mother?" It seemed oddly strange that her mother would ask, instead of command.

"Actually, yes," Victoria Crabbe handed her a book. The little girl eyed the blush on her mother's face suspiciously before examining the book. It was a blue, paper-back novel with a handsome, blond wizard dressed in lavish purple robes, standing importantly on the edge of a cliff. The words Break with a Banshee were emblazoned at the top. The title was oddly familiar, but Valeria couldn't figure out why, never mind what her mother was trying to ask her.

"You want me to... read this novel?" She asked, confusion evident in her voice. Her mother beamed down at her, nodded emphatically, and dragged her by the arm to one of the living rooms. She sat down on one of the plush sofas and smiled at her eagerly, looking distinctly like an overexcited, ugly puppy. Valeria stared back at the woman.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Victoria asked impatiently and Valeria blinked at her.

"You want me to read it right now?"

"Of course!"

Valeria muttered to herself and sat next to the woman, flipping open the paperback. She raised a brow at the page before her. 'Gilderoy Lockhart, eh? I see he's already starting his life of fame and fraud. Although I still haven't a clue why Mother wants me reading his books.'

After a few minutes of silent reading, Valeria heard a forced cough, but decided to ignore it in favour of hurrying up and completing her task. A few more pointed coughs later, and her mother was poking her painfully in the side.

"Ow! What the heck was that for?" She turned to glare at her mother, only to drop the heated look at the sight of a repulsive, puppy dog pout on her mother's face. "What? What did I do?"

Her mother muttered a response under her breath and picked at the fabric of the armrest.

"You'll have to speak louder than that, Mother."

"You're supposed to be reading it to me..." She shot the full force of her twisted, revolting pout at her daughter. Valeria stared hard at her mother.

She had been a Crabbe for six years now, and the complete backwards craziness that embodied her family name still managed to catch her unawares. Her mother was, in all seriousness, asking her six-year-old to read her a story. It should have been the other way around!

Although, now that she thought on it, it made much more sense than what she had presumed before. If she recalled correctly, Lockhart's books had garnered a lot of popularity among the witches, and she knew for a fact that her mother couldn't read anything longer than a simple paragraph. Her mother wanted in on what all the witches were raving about, and she could only do that with the help of her daughter. Goodness knows Vinnie couldn't read to save his life, her father was much too busy, and Victoria would never 'stoop so low' as to ask Binky to read to her.

Despite the puppy dog eyes, however, Valeria was still hesitant about reading this book to her mother. For one, it was a book of lies, and despite being forced into living a lie herself, she hated anything to do with dishonesty and harmful manipulation at another's expense. Especially if it hurt them.

Another was that Lockhart would be writing a long line of books, and she knew giving her mother this small treat would drive her to buy the next release, and the ones after that. Valeria didn't want her family to end up supporting Lockhart's fraud and ego by continued purchase of his series, nor did she want her mother's time and affections to be wasted on him. But most of all, even after only fifteen minutes of reading, she could tell it would be the most horribly written work she had ever, and will ever, read.

The punctuation itself was horrendous! She could understand a few mistakes; a missing comma here, an extra comma there. But no! She had yet to find one correctly used in this book. There was one comma that she swore she could hear it begging for a mercy killing, to either be erased from existence, or burned off completely like an unwanted Black family member. The grammar was weak, and most of the more complicated words weren't even used correctly. The spelling was not to be spoken of, the horror of even attempting to describe it in words was more panic worthy to Valeria, than it was for Professor Quirrel to face down an army of vampires. The real icing on the rotten cake, however, was the content of the story.

Valeria could see the appeal, she really could.

A handsome, charming young wizard facing the odds and saving a helpless village from a monstrous beast. What witch wouldn't enjoy such an adventure? But there was a little too much charm, a little too much hair flipping. His character was too exaggerated, too perfect. The villagers were a tad too incapable, a tad too daft. And the women! Oh, the women... They were all too beautiful, too elegant, and way too busty for it to be possibly true. One of them literally swooned as soon as he entered the village. It was as if their only purpose was to feed his narcissistic ego! As a female, Valeria found it absolutely degrading.

It was decided. She was going to flat out refuse and burn every copy of his books that she could find.

"Forgive me, Mother, but I-"

"As a reward for being such a sweet daughter, we could go on a family shopping trip to Diagon Alley! Whatever you want, sweetie."

"- must insist on reading you this book! Right now, in fact! We will finish it before tomorrow! When did you say we were going to Diagon Alley?"

So, it was a bit hypocritical and shameful, but honestly it was Diagon Alley! If her father hadn't refused to allow the kids to visit the famed market, Valeria wouldn't even have deigned the thought of subjecting her mother and herself to this. But alas, the tight grip her father had on her and her brother's surroundings was very much real, and Valeria was very much desperate to see the wizarding world. Valeria did have her pride, but even that wasn't worth the chance of visiting Diagon Alley.

Besides, even though Valeria was an artist, she wasn't of the kind that prettily arranged words on parchment. So, the six-year-old adult read the novel with gusto, pausing deliberately before 'exciting' parts, and reciting the dialogue in character.

Victoria very much enjoyed the effort.


(V)(°,,,,°)(V)


"Ha! Oh Rowena, this is too much!"

"I know! And apparently he was sorted into Ravenclaw!"

"Ravenclaw? Him? You must be pulling my leg."

"No, really, I'm not. Here," the little girl flipped further into the book. "The gassy- think he means 'ghastly'- banshee was upon me, she had the chance, but didn't scream and finish me off. She lifted me in her arms and make to carry off with me, which compounded me. Then I realized; she was obviously in love with me. No witch can resist my face or my body. It is the same for this banshee- Oh god, I can't take this, it's too funny. But I am not into her, and I cannot let her have her way with me. So I retail with a curse and it hits her and she dropped me. She was in pain. She was about to scream, but I used my quick thinking and a spell I learned while in Ravenclaw that stops her. Finally, I vanquished her."

Valeria gasped while the painting in front of her continued to laugh so hard, she knocked over the bowl of fruit into the next frame. "Ms. Crabbe, look, he just used 'vanquish' correctly!"

"What's wrong with you?" Ms. Crabbe asked while wiping away oily tears.

"What isn't?" Valeria blinked up at the portrait. And blinked. And blinked again, over and over.

"Really, you're blinking far too much."

"Oh. He dispensed completely with comma's and paragraph breaks in this last bit. It's actually painful to read," Valeria squinted down at the page in front of her. "My Lord, I think he switched from third person, to first person, and back again for the hundredth time here."

"Is there nothing redeeming about this book?"

"There really isn't," Valeria shoved the pages at the canvas. "Look, his spelling is trying to wage war with our eyes."

Ms. Crabbe's left eye twitched after a minute. "This writing would be understandable if English were not his first language, and he didn't have access to editors, but he did, didn't he? This is beyond ridiculous!"

"Not even then," the little girl disagreed. "The content is atrocious, I personally think he should chop off his writing hand."

"Remind me again why you read this book?"

"Freedom," Valeria intoned solemnly. "And very nauseating puppy dog eyes."

"Your mother? Ms. Crabbe snorted. "Figures."

Valeria simply shrugged. If Ms. Crabbe wasn't family, she would have exacted revenge in her mother's honour. As it was, the Crabbe's had an unspoken rule that only family can insult and sneer at family. Vinnie and she made fun of their father on a near daily basis, and their mother attempted snide remarks about their distant relatives.

"It was nice though," Ms. Crabbe murmured.

Valeria snapped out of her musings and gave her an incredulous stare. "Are you mad?"

"Not the book," the painting rolled her eyes. "Reading. Or the closest thing to it. I haven't touched a book in years, it was... nostalgic. Comforting, even."

"I could read some more decent books to you," Valeria offered up immediately. "Not sure why I hadn't done it before."

"That would be wonderful," Ms. Crabbe beamed.

'And that is exactly why I go out of my way,' Valeria thought as she grinned back at Ms. Crabbe's radiant smile. She rarely ever truly smiled; it was nice to see her friend happy.

There was a loud clanging behind them.

"Can we help you, Valere?" Ms. Crabbe asked politely. Valeria turned her head to see her father lurking in the shadow of a suit of armour, desperately attempting to reattach a limb to the poor thing. 'How spectacularly creepy.'

"Hello, Father, what brings you to this side of the Crabbe manor?"

The man cleared his throat, gave up on the impromptu armour surgery, and stared stiffly at his daughter, "Your mother has asked me to inform you that we will be visiting Diagon Alley, next friday at noon. You are to dress in casual, but durable robes. We expect you to behave in a manner befitting a Crabbe lady."

'So, run around like a maniac shouting about the horrendous tails that muggles possess?' Valeria thought derisively as she responded in the affirmative. She expected him to make a speedy getaway, but he remained there, almost glaring at her in frustration.

"How did you do it?" He demanded after a moment.

"Do what?"

"Convince your mother."

"Ah," Ms. Crabbe gestured to the forgotten book. "Her mother asked her to read this to her. She loved it, apparently."

"Read this book?" He addressed his daughter, looking a little pale while examining the front. "Is it any good?"

"Oh yes, it really engages the mind," Valeria replied smoothly while Ms. Crabbe muffled a snort. "Makes you analyze nearly every word."

"Truly?" He looked at it with more interest.

"Without a doubt. Fair warning, you'd best be on your guard around Mother now. She may try and 'lift you up in her arms', and 'have her way with you'," Valeria cackled at his retching, her laughter swiftly turning into gagging noises, alongside Ms. Crabbe's and her father's at the images her words provoked.

"Merlin, that was disgusting," the painting gagged. "Wasn't it, Valere?"

The man paled even more and quickly escaped down the hall, pace quickening at the lazy goodbye Ms. Crabbe sent his way. Valeria tilted her head contemplatively at the empty space he occupied a second ago, before looking to the portrait in confusion.

"Why is he so afraid to look at you?"

Ms. Crabbe simply smirked devilishly and said, "I was a very annoying portrait back in the day."


(V)(°,,,,°)(V)


Finally.

Finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally!

That was all that went through Valeria's mind as her family stood in front of their fireplace reserved for the Floo. Her mother was humming to herself, her father was twitching, and Vinnie was quietly complaining about how Draco and the Ape weren't coming with them.

Valeria was trembling with excitement before the hearth, nodding absently to Valere's warning to behave. They were going to Diagon Alley! It was no Hogwarts, that was for sure, but it was the closest thing to a fairy tale adventure. New, uncharted territories! Lost texts and scrolls to be discovered and read! Mysterious items and artefacts waiting to be discovered! Magical foods and sweets to be sampled! Strange creatures to be tamed! All available for purchase in the biggest wizarding centre in London, save for the damsels in distress and evil villains. Well, maybe not the evil villains. She was travelling with a few of them, after all.

Valeria was effectively deaf to everything around her in her excitement. Her father threw in the Floo powder, the flames roared a vibrant emerald, and the Crabbes stepped into the fire as one.

One could suppose her excitement was why their destination took her by surprise. And by surprise, it was really more like someone had taken a frozen catfish and beaten her senseless with it.

The Crabbes had stepped out into a dim, and very dusty shop. Now, Valeria wouldn't have minded an antique shop; that only meant older and more fascinating items to explore and examine. This shop, however, had a more... morbid assortment than what the little reincarnation had been expecting. Appalling masks hung from every wall, blood stained objects were displayed proudly in glass cases, and human bones littered the tabletops and counters. And there, nestled comfortably on a violet cushion, was a withered Hand of Glory. Valeria recognized the Dark object.

'We're in Bogey and Burkes.'

"Good afternoon, Mr. Borgin," Valeria's father nodded apathetically at the shopkeeper.

'Borgin, bogey, same difference,' Valeria shivered and inched closer to her twin brother, quietly grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly. Their mother was examining the items and still hummed to herself, their father carrying on a sneering contest with Mr. Borgin. Vinnie was content to just stand there blankly, serving as a wall for his younger twin sister.

Valeria supposed she could have been a little more collected than the bag of shivering bones she was currently impersonating, but the shop had an... oppressive feel to it. If she could liken it to an image, Valeria would have described a ring of tall and imposing cloaked figures surrounding her, leering and whispering evil things in her head. She almost felt a little violated standing there in that dank shop.

"Mother," she squeaked out. "This isn't Diagon Alley."

"Oh, you're quite right, dear," the woman continued to examine a set of mouldy toenails. "We're in Knockturn Alley."

"And what, pray tell, are we doing here?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked," she turned around and beamed at her children. "I believe it's time you two start getting used to Dark objects, and the Darker side of the wizarding world."

"What?!" Valeria squeaked louder.

"And we'll be taking a small detour through Knockturn Alley every time we visit Diagon Alley!" She continued on happily. "Oh, look at you two. It's wonderful to see you both so excited!"

Vinnie was, as per usual, staring indifferently at a fixed point in space, and Valeria was, quite literally, quaking in her slippers. 'What part of this looks 'excited' to you, you mad woman!'

"Time to go," Valere announced, and Valeria sagged with relief. "A walk through Knockturn, then we'll be off."

Valeria whimpered at that, clung onto her twin tightly, and followed the rest of the Crabbes out of the shop. To her right, she could see the exit onto the bright streets of Diagon Alley. To her left, the alleyway went deeper into Knockturn, deeper into the shadows despite the noon light shining high above them. Against her better judgement, they ventured further into the darkness.

The people there were mean.

A lady she swore she recognized from one of the movies offered them a tray of fingernails, black with rot. She grinned toothily at Valeria- or rather un-toothily considering she had no teeth- and the little girl squeaked in response. An old man with a strangely green eye openly stared at her, causing her nerves to go further over the edge. An important looking man sneered down at her, muttering about ill-bred little weaklings. A group of old hags glared at her, mean whispers reaching her ears about such a disgraceful family. Malice was rife in the air.

Valeria's heart pounded.

They all glared, sneered, stared, smirked, leered, whispered- anything that made her even slightly uncomfortable. Even worse were the objects they carried, sold, bartered. Some were intimidating, some were subtle. Most were dangerous, little were harmless. A few even beckoned to her. All, however, whispered to her, and all frightened her.

Who wouldn't be? That cursed teddy bear over there was speaking softly in her ear about how wonderful it would be to savagely tear a person's fingers off, and oh would you just come here and play with me? And look at that stuffed cat head over yonder. It wanted to kiss her.

"Children!" Victoria gestured for them to come closer to a particularly nasty looking stall. "Would you just look at these!"

Vinnie, being the obedient brick that he was, moved to the display, almost dragging Valeria along behind him had she not let go. Her hands shook and she hunched in on herself, the flimsy protection her brother provided now gone. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes, and she was on the verge of her first crying fit in almost five years.

A stark contrast from her expectations for this trip. She should be enjoying ice cream at Florean Fortescue's now. Not here. Not next to Innards and Other Human Remains.

The tears were spilling over, when Valeria heard a sigh and a hand ruffle through her hair. She peeked up, her father's tired face peering down at her.

A surge of indignance coursed through her body.

How dare he? Bringing his children to such places, subjecting them to Dark influences. They could easily go mad, their curiosity driving them to pick up and touch and play with whatever they came across. Allowing these people to pick at and criticize them with their looks and whispers. Obliterating whatever shred of innocence they had left. This place was scary.

So how dare he look at her with such disappointment in his eyes.

What did he expect, an impervious child?

A flawless mask?

Perhaps a sneer, disdain even?

Valeria glared at him, her nostrils flaring. She took in his straight posture, his unaffected expression. She looked at her mother and brother, examined the woman's oblivious smile and the blank indifference of the boy's eyes. They were all walking about as if they owned the place.

'Screw that.'

Screw shielding herself with ignorance, dimwit, or a practiced mask.

Screw a shield, period.

Valeria wasn't going to hide. She wasn't a coward. She wasn't going to let these pureblood traditions of blank masks, thinly veiled insults, and scorn affect her. She wasn't going to conform to their expectations. Like hell she was going to let them frighten her.

Do the good folk know what dangerous thing Valeria was going to do?

She was going to wear an open expression.

Let them see her fear.

Let them eye her sadness.

Let them witness her anger.

They couldn't touch her. She be damned if she was going to let them attack her with her own emotions.

Screw ignorance.

Screw idiocy.

Screw masks.

Screw pureblood tradition.

'And screw these stupid, racist purebloods!'

Valeria was going to charge in, guns blazing.

With those convictions settled in her heart, Valeria gave a mighty stomp on her poor father's foot as she strolled over to her brother and mother.

Head held high, glare fierce, pincers snapping dangerously, and prouder than any Crabbe.


(V)(°,,,,°)(V)


After finally leaving Knockturn Alley (Valeria owned that place), and their mother successfully withdrew gold from Gringotts, the Crabbes were off to explore the sunnier face of the magical realm.

Valeria and Vinnie had immediately disagreed on where to go first. The bigger twin wanted to go to the Quidditch supply shop, and the littler one was adamantly refusing on the grounds of a still lingering trauma of a past flying mishap. Ten minutes later, Valeria and her father were wandering around, their counterparts ambling to their own preferred stores.

Diagon Alley was... spectacular! Brightly coloured buildings and shops, eccentric wizard folk, mystifying items and treats. Valeria couldn't have asked for more.

But look! There it was! The long awaited moment. The long awaited store.

Flourish and Blotts!

Books! Books everywhere! Books stacked in bookcases, books piled upon more books, books peeking behind books that were peeking around corners, book mountains, flying books, twitching books, smelly books, colourful books...

"... Screaming books, oh look over there, it's a bloody book, and- by god, is that a porno section?!"

The rather sketchy looking young man startled at the yelp, and pulled the curtain shut, displaying a sign that read, 'Adults Only'.

"Valeria," her father cleared his throat after glaring at the curtain, and looked her straight in the eye. "Do not ever venture near that curtain or that young man. Those are despicable influences, and I do not want you near them."

"Oh, come off it," she snorted. "I know you secretly want to check out that section."

Leaving behind the spluttering man, she delved deeper in the shop, effectively losing him in the chaos of the shop. It wasn't a particularly difficult feat; the layout was chaotic and she was pretty sure the bookcases moved around.

'Now, where is the Magical Beasts Section?' Valeria mused to herself as she wandered around blindly. Through some kind of luck- that Valeria was highly suspicious of seeing as she had no luck to begin with- she happened upon her desired section a few minutes into her aimless walking. Her eyes positively lit up.

The section appeared huge, appropriately so considering the countless amount of magical creatures running amok in the world, and there was but a single teenage boy examining the available titles. Valeria scanned the spines of the books intently, lost to the world, when she spotted a particularly interesting title, The Complete Encyclopaedia of Dragons. Squealing excitedly, she reached out her small hand and grabbed the book a second before a pale, freckled one could. There was disgruntled sigh, but the little girl largely ignored it in favour of flipping through the book's pages.

Valeria stopped flipping at a page that triggered an old memory, older than the six-year-old body she currently inhabited.

-"Accio Firebolt!" Harry screamed, pointing his wand towards the castle as he dodged another fireball and hid behind a large outcropping of rock. The great big scaly beast reared up and breathed flames into the sky. It's black scales shone along with the spikes on its back, it's yellow eyes narrowed in fury.

"You think they'd let me keep it as a pet?" My sister whispered from the seat next to me, eyes sparkling and the light from the theatre screen casting her face in an unearthly glow-

The Hungarian Horntail's moving portrait in the encyclopaedia was exactly the same as in the movie; angry and fire-breathing. Valeria shook her head dazedly, and read more on the beast that the Boy Who Lived would be facing down eight years time. It was truly a magnificent creature, Valeria thought while smiling softly to herself.

It was around that moment that she became aware of an annoying breathing sound, from next to and just behind her. The boy from before was reading over her shoulder, not even trying to be inconspicuous about it, and was practically breathing in her ear. She rolled her eyes and flipped to the next page, hoping he'd move on. On the contrary, he grumbled and leaned in, clearly not having finished the page she had skipped. His shadow blocked her light.

"Do you need something?" Valeria snapped angrily, shutting the book and swiftly turning to glare up at the teenager. She was mildly surprised to see flaming red hair, freckled skin, and sheepish brown eyes, only having noticed it now. This wasn't who she thought he was, was he...?

"Not exactly," the boy scratched the back of his head. "Just really wanted to read that book."

"Why don't you pick out your own then? I'm sure there's plenty," she pointed out, her anger dying down in the face of another animal enthusiast.

"That's the last one," he sighed, looking depressed. Valeria was uncomfortable with the guilt rising at such obvious misery.

"Well..." Valeria shifted nervously on her spot, and held out the book. "I suppose I could let you buy it yourself. I've got a lot of other books I want to read anyhow."

If possible, the boy looked even more dejected. "Can't. Not enough allowance. Mum actually sent me here to buy a book she wanted."

If the flaming hair and love of dragons was any indication, the tight budget practically sealed the deal. Valeria was almost sure the boy in front of her was Charlie Weasley, second eldest brother to Ron Weasley. He was clearly a Plot Relevant Character, the equivalent to her as the Black Plague, but she couldn't bring herself to avoid him in the face of those puppy dog eyes. Just like with Victoria's uglier version of the persuasion tactic, Valeria couldn't resist indulging the older boy.

"I'll make you a deal then," she spoke up pompously. "You carry all the books I pick out, and I'll lend you this book after I finish reading it."

He blinked at her, surprised. "What? Really? How many books are you planning on getting?"

"More than I can carry," the girl shrugged nonchalantly and held out a small hand. "What do you say?"

"We have a deal," the boy grinned and shook her hand. "Name's Charlie, by the way. Charlie Weasley."

"Valeria," the girl grinned back. "Pleasure."

"No last name?" He enquired curiously.

"I do have one, actually," Valeria admitted. "But I'd rather I didn't at all."

"Why not?" Charlie asked, perplexed.

"Obviously," she began seriously. "Because it's more mysterious that way. Like Madonna."

"Madonna?"

"Ever listened to Madonna's Like a Virgin, or Material Girl?"

"No."

"Good. They're terrible songs."

He laughed, "So, mysterious like this Madonna?"

"Like Madonna," Valeria agreed. "Only I'm much cooler."

"Obviously," he played along with the little girl's antics.

"You catch on pretty quick, my dear sidekick," Valeria grinned at his bemused expression and turned around to examine the shelves again. She quickly selected five more books, three of which were solely on dragons.

"You really like dragons, huh? Oof," he gave a huff as Valeria shoved the books at him. "I've got a sister around your age and all she cares about are those storybooks about the Boy Who Lived."

Valeria raised an eyebrow at that. She had forgotten about the youngest Weasley's obsession with Harry Potter. It was a scary thought, forgetting little plot points as the years went by. Sooner or later, she might forget something important. Valeria would have to remedy that.

"Don't compare me to any six-year-old," Valeria scoffed. "I'm much older than you, for your information."

"Is that so," he looked at her, bemused once again. Valeria nodded and set off walking towards another section.

"That's right," the little girl said seriously. "If you count my six years in this life, nineteen in the other one, I should be... what? Ten years older than you?"

"Eleven," he corrected automatically, eyeing her. "Although I wouldn't just add them up like that. Six extra years as a kid doesn't exactly make you a twenty-five-year-old adult."

"I suppose, yes," Valeria agreed a little sadly. "I don't feel twenty-five, nineteen, or six at all. I'm lost in limbo and I have no idea who I am."

"Well, having no last name can do that to a person," Charlie added gravely, before his face cracked and he burst out laughing. "Sorry, I just can't. A past life? You're a funny kid. Quite the jokester."

"That I am," Valeria smiled. "But, yes. I do love dragons. Never met one, but I intend to have one as a pet someday."

"Pfft. A pet?" Charlie chuckled, his voice sounding distant to Valeria's ears. "You think you could tame such a magnificent beast?"

- I looked at my sister and resisted a chuckle for the sake of our fellow movie watchers, the sounds of Harry's crash as he evaded the dragon on his broom in the background. I whispered back to her, "A pet? You think you can tame that creature?"

My sister grinned at me, opened her mouth, and whispered, "Of course-

"- It's just like a fire-breathing dog, ain't it? Should be easy as pie."

Charlie laughed once again, harder than before, his peals of laughter echoing with the memory of her own from so long ago.

"You know, I had my doubts about you being a normal six-year old," he said after he finally got control of himself. "But those doubts have been cleared now; you're definitely a fool brat."

"Har har, Mr. Weasley, you are hilarious," Valeria monotoned, rolling her eyes. "You shouldn't talk to your elders like that. Show some respect."

He snorted, "I could say the same to you."

They continued to bicker back and forth, Valeria selecting books in between and piling them up in Charlie's arms, and before long they were up to his face.

"Is this the last of them then?"

"Definitely not," Valeria shot immediately. "That joke was in poor taste."

Charlie groaned, "Are your parents even going to let you buy this much?"

"Of course," she replied. "Mother loves to spoil, and Father only knows how to show his affection through material objects."

"That," Charlie said. "Is kind of sad."

He attempted to shift the weight in his arms, but stopped when he eyed a particular set of books on display around the pile that was already in his face. "Oh, great, could you grab me one of those? It's the one my mum wanted."

Valeria obliged and picked up one of the books- and did a double take at the book she was currently holding. It was a blue novel with an important looking wizard clad in purple robes, the words Break with a Banshee jumping out at her face. 'New Edition' was scrawled directly beneath them.

Mildly curious and repulsed, Valeria flipped open the new edition and snorted at the text she saw inside. It was the same as the older one, only this time they seem to have been able to afford an editor. A very patient and amazing one at that.

It was no wonder they release a new one, really. She found it hard to imagine that Hermione would come to admire such an idiot through his awful writing, let alone see Dumbledore agreeing to hire this man as a professor.

"This is a horrible book," Valeria warned her sidekick. "My mother had me read to her, and the whole thing was absolutely atrocious."

"Well I'm not the one who wanted it," he shrugged, almost dropping a giant tome on English wizarding law, and grimaced. "Do you even need such a huge tome on wizarding law?"

"Yes," she said dismissively and added Lockhart's book to the pile. "I'm trapped in an engagement agreement with an ape. I'm looking for ways to break it before I go to Hogwarts."

"I'm pretty sure you can refuse it when you're of age," he pointed out.

"Yes, I can, but I am engaged to an ape," Valeria stressed. "Every minute of it is positively sickening."

"I doubt he's an actually ape," he said dryly.

"There are only minute differences between him and the primates."

"Alright, alright. Point taken," he grumbled. "What happens if your family forces you into marrying him then? Aren't uppity purebloods uptight about those sorts of things?"

Valeria eyed him for the uppity pureblood comment. She didn't let on about her family status, but evidently he had puzzled it out for himself. He was sharper than he looked.

"I don't know. If worst comes to worst, I'll probably elope with another man. Preferably a half-blood or a muggleborn... or even just a muggle. Excellent way to stick it to their faces," she mused to herself, before looking up at him with a grin. "Would you run away with me? Rescue the damsel in distress from the horrible marriage of doom?"

"No can do," he chortled. "I'm a pureblood, they wouldn't be offended quite enough."

"Nonsense," she joked with him. "I'm sure a blood traitor would be equally as bad in their eyes."

"How did you-" he spluttered for a moment before shaking his head. "Never mind. Can we hurry this up? I can't feel my arms."


(V)(°,,,,°)(V)


"Oh, look. There's my father," Valeria pointed at the frazzled man over by the Herbology Section. "Doesn't he look so pathetic? Wandering around like a confused, lost little puppy."

Charlie gave her a strange look from behind the corner of a book, "You're a little frightening for a six-year-old, you know that?"

Her sidekick managed to get a good look at her father, "Oh hey! It's the Rune Guy!"

"Ruin guy?" Valeria asked slowly.

"Rune Guy," Charlie corrected. "He invents runic circles, or arrays or something, designed to mimic the effects of real spells without the wandwork. My dad said his sister came up with it, your aunt I mean. Everyone says he's crazy though, because it takes a lot more time and effort to accomplish. Why go through all that trouble when you could just say a few words with the same results? I'm pretty sure he's the only one in his department."

Valeria took a moment to process this onslaught of information, "You sure it wasn't my father's aunt? I don't have one."

"Really?" He asked, surprised. "I was sure it was a sister."

The little girl shrugged and let the issue drop, "Let's go, I think we're done here. I'll owl you when I'm finished with the encyclopaedia and send it over."

"To the Burrow, thanks," he informed her uselessly. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"No, no. Thank you," she said with mock politeness before heading over to her father. "Hello, Father. What brings you to this side of Flourish and Blotts?"

The man jumped, turned around and grabbed her shoulders frantically, "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"

"Where did you think?" She raised an eyebrow and pointed a thumb over her shoulder at Charlie. "And you've been looking in a shop for two hours and you only just found me?"

He ignored her sarcasm and eyed her sidekick suspiciously, "And who's this?"

"Charlie Weasley," the boy in questioned answered, voice muffled from the books in front of his face. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"Weasley?" The man looked alarmed. 'Not as alarmed as I was though.'

"That a problem? Would you have preferred I chat up that one instead?" Valeria pointed another thumb at the sketchy young man from before with the... questionable hobby, who blushed at the comment and scurried off. Valere turned a little green.

"No, no. This is just fine," he gulped, before eyeing Charlie sympathetically. "She roped you into carrying all her books, did she?"

"That she did, sir," the boy replied jovially.

"Yes," Valere sighed. "My little Valeria can be very persuasive."

"Your little Valeria!?" The girl in question yelled, indignant. Both of them ignored her, Valere carefully moving the pile of books into his arms and Charlie removing his mum's book.

"See you around, Valeria," Charlie waved goodbye. "Was fun, albeit a bit painful."

Valeria waved back at the retreating figure of the boy before turning to glare up at her father, who was desperately trying to balance the books. He managed to levitate a few of them.

"Oh, Father, here. Let me help you," she immediately took the smallest and lightest book, which happened to be a short collection of dragon fairytales. Her father looked down amusedly at her and the small book. He reached out, ruffling his hand in her dark hair for the second time that day. She smiled sweetly at him, before quickly escaping his hand and vehemently stomping on the same foot as before, walking away towards the exit. He choked, trying very hard to steady the now unbalanced pile of books in his arms.

"Try not to drop them, I'd hate for my books to get damaged," Valeria called over her shoulder, holding up her small book for the clerk who was ringing up Charlie's purchase to see. "Hey, Clerk! My father'll be paying for this one too!"

The clerk simply looked bored, Charlie amused, and her father in pain. Smirking to herself, Valeria walked out of the shop into the bustling streets of Diagon Alley. She was continuing on her way, about to flip through her book again, when she spotted a sad sight near the entrance to Knockturn Alley.

Valeria sighed to herself, and walked over to help out the very lost looking boy


(V)(°,,,,°)(V)


Allen looked around himself in wonder.

He wasn't exactly sure how he got there. One minute he was walking home from school, tripping, falling through a hole, and the next he was walking through this amazing place.

Which wasn't just an amazing place, the little boy soon began to realize. It was a magical place!

He wondered if he was still in London, because no place in his city looked quite like this. Mismatched, crazy, colourful shops lined the streets, people in robes that looked like witches and warlocks stirred around him, talking loudly about strange and magical things.

The boy had been walking around without direction, enthralled with his surroundings. He was standing in front of a particularly dark looking alley, when a hand grabbed his own and quickly dragged him past it.

Amazed, he looked to see a girl around his age in one of those robes, eyeing him with calculation behind her grey eyes. She had a pointy face, stringy black hair, and a slightly upturned nose. The girl raised a brow.

"Muggles should be more careful around here, especially near Knockturn Alley," she scolded him lightly. "C'mon. You've got an older brother or sister who was accepted into Hogwarts, right? I'll help you find your family."

"Muggles?" Allen asked excitedly, eyes sparkling. "Knockturn Alley? Hogwarts? What are those?"

The girl stared at him, "Surely you can't be that daft? How did you miss all of that in the excitement of your sibling's acceptance?"

"Don't have any siblings," he chirped happily. "What's a muggle?"

"Then- How did you get here?" She pressed on, confused, and ignored his own question.

"I fell through a hole and ended up here," he replied. "Say, is this Wonderland? That would be fantastic, Allen in Wonderland!"

The girl, however, did not look like she thought it was fantastic. Instead, her face paled drastically and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. She looked hysterically to the dark alley and around them, grabbed his hand again, and dashed off like a bat out of hell.

"Hey! Where are we going?"

"Shh!" She shushed him and hissed. "Be quiet! Don't you understand, you're in danger here!"

"What?"

They pushed through the crowds, racing towards an unknown location. The girl looked as though she was running from Death himself. Finally, they raced through an archway and into a tiny, empty courtyard, almost smacking into the brick wall before them.

"This is just a wall, what are we doing here?" He asked loudly while the girl counted bricks. "Oooh! This is a magic wall, isn't it?

"Shut up, damsel," she hissed at him again when she lost count.

"I'm a boy."

"Sure you are, Alice," she said absently as she started counting again.

"My name is Allen."

She didn't seem to hear him, however, because it looked like she had found the right brick. With a triumphant 'Aha!' she brandished her forefinger and poked the nondescript, red brick.

Nothing happened.

She poked it again. Still, nothing happened.

"I don't have a wand," she whispered, her voice becoming increasingly hysterical. "I don't have a wand! What am I supposed to do?!"

She poked frantically at the brick, before slamming the side of her small fist at it repeatedly.

"Open up!"

The girl was on the verge of tears, panting from her mounting panic, and clawing at her hair- the book in her hand tangling with the strands. A red spark fizzed in front of the both of them, their eyes widening.

"Wow," he whispered, awed, eyes sparkling again. "That was amazing. Can you do that again?"

Valeria's mouth popped open, then widened into a mad grin, "Oh, yes I can!"

She clenched her fists again and screwed her eyes shut, a look of sheer concentration on her face. The paperback book she carried bent horribly.

Another red spark popped into existence, and Allen reached out to catch it with his hands. It was warm and ticklish. Several more sparks burst around them, until finally one of them hit the desired brick. It moved into the wall of its own accord, and the bricks around it moving in unison, forming another archway into an identical courtyard. The only difference was a wooden door on the other side.

"Wow!" Allen shouted while the girl took a moment to breathe. Next second, he found himself being pulled once again, through the door, straight through a pub with a couple of curious eyes, and out onto the streets of London.

"Now that," Allen yelled in her ear excitedly. "Was an adventure! That was incredible!"

The girl flinched and considered the boy in front of her, "Should I have one of the wizards inside Obliviate you?"

"Obliviate?" He asked. "Is that fun?"

"No," she shook her head. "That could be too harmful for a child like you."

"Hey! We're the same age!"

"Yes, of course we are, little damsel in distress."

"I'm a boy."

"Sure, sure," she mocked tiredly, wincing down at the ravaged book in her hand. "Oh, no. I ruined it."

"Is that a book about dragons?" Allen beamed at the book of fairytales. "Are they real? They're real aren't they? And so's magic! Isn't that spectacular? Do you think I could get a dragon? Are they like pets? Like a cat, only it breathes fire!"

The girl blinked at him, overwhelmed, before she stared with a sad look in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"Are you alright?" Allen asked a little worriedly.

"I- yes, you just... just remind me of someone I knew from a long time ago," the girl suddenly looked so tired and so old for her age.

"Oh," he said before leaning in with a conspiratorial whisper. "Are they... you know... dead?"

"Not exactly," the girl smiled softly for a second at his childish forwardness. "Someone else close to her passed away, and because of that I can never see her or her sisters again. I wonder how they're doing right now..."

"That's silly," the boy said. "If you're worried and you want to go see her, then go. Besides, even if you really can't see her again, at least you're still friends, no matter how far away you are. When my gran died, my mum cried lots, but she said it was okay because people who are lost to you will always be with you. In your memory, or your heart, or your dreams, or the things you do or say, there's a little part of them that will never leave you."

The boy finished quoting, and the girl blinked at him.

"The wisdom of children, eh?" She muttered and gave a short chuckle. "Thank you."

"No problem," he grinned, deciding not to mention he didn't really understand half of what he said.

"You're half right though," she said teasingly. "They're more like fire-breathing dogs, than cats."

"Really? Oh boy, I want a dragon!" They boy shouted excitedly. "Wait 'till I tell my mum, she's going to freak!"

The girl frowned at him, "You can't tell anyone about what you saw today."

"Why not?" He asked sadly.

"Well, magic is..." She began slowly before her eyes shone. "Magic is a little shy. If you tell anyone about it, it'll... Poof! Hide and disappear completely!"

The boys eyes widened and he whispered, "No. I can't tell anyone? Not even mum?"

"Not a soul," the girl shook her head sagely and continued dramatically. "You can't even suggest magic is real, or you'll never see it again!"

Allen gasped.

"So you won't say anything?" She asked a little worriedly. Allen shook his head slowly, eyes wide.

"Do you know how to get home from here?"

The boy nodded.

"Good, because I'd be just as lost as you are," with that, the girl turned as if to leave, and the boy immediately latched onto her arm.

"Wait!" He shouted. "Can we be friends?"

The girl shrugged and said before leaving again, "Sure, I suppose."

"Hey, wait a second!" Allen shouted again, a little frustrated. He pulled a pencil and a scrap of paper out of his schoolbag, scribbled his address down, and shoved it into her hand. "Come visit me."

The girl hesitated, conflicted, before a corner of her mouth lifted, "Okay."

The boy watched as she walked back towards the pub doors, wondering if she was actually going to keep her word. It had suddenly occurred to him that she hadn't given her name. The girl turned around waved, and shouted at him.

"See you later, Alice!"

The boy blinked as the doors closed behind the girl, the pub slowly shrinking between the two buildings next to it, disappearing from sight.

"My name is Allen!"


(V)(°,,,,°)(V)


Valeria was humming, content, as she walked back to her bed chambers.

"So," a voice inquired, halting her in her steps. "How was it?"

Valeria turned to greet Ms. Crabbe with a nod and replied nonchalantly, "Oh, you know. Vanquished evil villains, discovered ancient texts and treasures along with my new trusty sidekick, rescued damsels in distress, had a heart warming ending scene. The usual."

The portrait raised an eyebrow. "Of course, what else could happen on a shopping trip? But did you say you rescued a damsel?"

"Yes, I think she fell through a rip in time and space, or something," Valeria frowned. "It was quite shocking actually."

Ms. Crabbe narrowed her eyes, "I can't tell if you're serious or not."

"Perfectly serious."

"Huh," the portrait leaned back in her chair. "Sounds like you really had that adventure you've been craving. It was fun though, right?"

"Not at first," Valeria admitted, her face darkening. "My stupid father! He took us through Knockturn Alley! Us, children! Mother doesn't know what she's doing half the time, but he should know better."

"Valeria," Ms. Crabbe said sternly. "Your father is not a bad man, you can't keep judging him unfairly like this."

Valeria was taken aback at the out of place scolding. She glared at the painting, "Ms. Crabbe. He's a Death Eater."

"Was, Valeria," the portrait looked weary. " He was a Death Eater. Not anymore."

"He's done terrible things. Killed even."

"Yes. Yes he has," she replied sadly. "But that is in the past, and he regrets it all terribly. You'll have to forgive him some day, Valeria."

"If he truly regrets, then he'd have convinced Mother not to take us to that dank, evil alley," Valeria growled.

"But wasn't he doing that already?" Ms. Crabbe argued. "He did his best keeping you two away from the markets. There are some things your father cannot argue with your mother. He was just doing his best to protect you."

Valeria opened her mouth to argue back, but she had no words. She closed it when she remembered her fear in Knockturn, Vinnie walking away from her, hunching in on herself, then her father's warm hand gently laid on her head, his eyes, the look of disappointment in his eyes...

Was that disappointment in her, or someone else?

Valeria gulped, and shifted uncomfortably, unable to handle it all. She looked everywhere except at Ms. Crabbe's concerned gaze, when her eyes landed on the neighbouring painting.

"You still haven't picked up your bowl of fruit from the next painting?" She forced a laugh. "Honestly, you're laziness transcends even mine. I don't think I've ever seen you out of your own frame. You should pick it up before someone else claims it."

Ms. Crabbe smiled sadly and looked away, "Of course."

With that, Valeria hastily said goodnight and fled into her chambers, throwing herself onto her bed and taking a nap before dinner time.

Was that disappointment in his eyes, or something else?


(V)(°,,,,°)(V)


A/N: ... And yet another OC. I wonder if we'll ever see Allen again? I had already planned for the Knockturn Alley scene to end as a heartwarming scene where Valeria follows her father's example, but her character just wouldn't let me.

If anyone's interested about the 'traumatic broom incident' Valeria was bemoaning, you'll read about it next chapter. This one was just too long

This chapter is, yet again, the longest yet. Trying to fit all of my planned scenes in just a few chapters is taxing.

Seriously hoping all the crap Valeria raged on about Lockhart's writing doesn't appear in my own. That would be horribly embarrassing.

Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

Remember to review! I love them so much.

-Fiction.

Preview of Next Chapter (Because why not?)

"Ah, yes," he sneered down at her. "Here's our little Dark Lord protege. The terrorizing is coming along splendidly, I assume?"

She froze and gulped audibly. He knew. She didn't know how, but he knew what she did.