"A Golden Ticket!" The shopkeeper was beside himself with excitement as he looked at his other customers, his chest filling with pride. "And in my shop of all places!"

"Hey there, let me see it." The balding man had cast his newspaper aside as he and the middle aged mother crowded around Verity and little Charlie to get a better look.

"That is incredible! My Henry has been opening twenty bars a day trying to find one," said the mother, her eyes wide with surprise and a tad bit of envy. "Yet this little one finds it after only two goes…"

"Verity, is it really a Golden Ticket?" asked Charlie, his brown eyes glancing up at his cousin while a bright smile played on his face. "I'm not dreaming am I?"

Verity leaned in closer to study the ticket held tightly in his hands. It bore the logo of the famous chocolatier and in black letters printed upon the seemingly fragile golden material, the words "Golden Ticket" could be read. The woman didn't know what it was, but she could have sworn she saw a few strange symbols run across its surface as Charlie removed the ticket from the chocolate bar to get a better look. The ticket didn't look as if it were something a muggle could make easily, in fact it looked as if it was made from real gold, the kind of gold that only goblins were quite apt at making…

Verity nearly jumped when the balding man rested a hand on Charlie's shoulder and leaned in close to him. "Listen, I'll buy it from you. I'll give you fifty dollars. How about it, eh? And I'll give you a new bicycle as well. Ok?"

"Are you crazy?" The mother shouted, having overheard the man. "Why, I'd give five hundred dollars for that ticket!" She turned her attention to Charlie, who was looking very uncomfortable with these people standing so close to him. "What do you say? You want to sell me your ticket for five hundred dollars, young man?"

"That's quite enough of that!" The fat shopkeeper yelled, his booming voice making everyone jump in surprise. "You two leave that poor boy alone. He found the ticket fair and square." He looked at Verity and gave a nod. "You take your boy straight home Miss. Don't let anyone try to take that ticket from him, no matter what."

"Of course," Verity said with a grateful smile as she wrapped an arm around Charlie's shoulders. "Thank you sir." She said a quick goodbye as she pushed her way past the man and woman, steering Charlie away from them and out of the shop. "C'mon Charlie, we have to get you home."

Charlie didn't need telling twice as he started running ahead of his cousin, occasionally jumping up in the air as he did. Verity struggled to keep up with him, considering that running was not her best method of getting around; she was a bit out of shape for such exercise. Charlie seemed to know a better route to his house than she did because they were making their way right past the closed gates of the chocolate factory. As they ran, Charlie waved his Golden Ticket to the lit, frosted windows, the smile on his face large and filled with new life "I'll be seeing you! I'll be seeing you real soon!" He cried as he ran, glancing back at his cousin to make sure that she was still behind him.

Verity had never gone past the factory on the way to her cousin's, perhaps because she usually stopped by the grocery store first, which was quite a ways away from the factory itself. As she ran to keep up with Charlie, a funny warmth emanated from the large wall beside her, as if it were reacting to the presence of the boy that ran ahead of her. The very part of her that knew a magic spell when she saw one, could not help but feel the unease grow in the pit of her stomach at the feel of the strange magic. There was something going on here and she had a gnawing feeling that it all focused on the mysterious Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory.

--

"Mum! Mum!" Charlie burst through the front door of his home, his cousin trailing in after him and looking completely out of breath.

Eliza Bucket came out of the grandparents' room, holding a large pot that contained a hardy broth for the elderly people. "Goodness Charlie, what is going on?" She looked over to find Verity closing the door to their home, her cheeks and nose a bright pink from the dash against the icy wind. She pulled off her brown scarf as she smiled at her cousin and glanced at Charlie.

"Go on Charlie, tell your mum." She said as Charlie danced in front of his mother, the excitement in his little face was enough catch his grandparents' attention.

"Charlie, what's happening?" Grandpa Joe called from the room, catching the sight of his grandson looking so exuberant not going past the old man. He leaned as far as he could in his bed, the other grandparents watching the door. Charlie caught his grandfather's eye and he rushed past his mother as waved the ticket in the air. "Look! I've got it! The last Golden Ticket! It's mine! Verity had bought me two candy bars and second one had the ticket! Everyone at the store wanted to see it but the shopkeeper saved me and we ran all the way home and here I am!" He turned to his mother then, his brown eyes bright with excitement. "It's the fifth Golden Ticket, Mum, and I've found it!"

Eliza Bucket simply stared at her son while the grandparents, who had been holding their dinner trays in their laps, dropped their spoons with a clatter. For about ten seconds there was absolute silence in the room. No one dared to move or speak; it was as if a petrifying spell had been cast on the entire family.

Finally, Grandpa Joe spoke, asking the question that echoed in everyone else's minds save for Verity's. "You're pulling our legs Charlie, aren't you? You're having a little joke?"

"I am not!" cried Charlie as he rushed back to the bed and held out the ticket for him to see. Grandpa Joe leaned forward and took a close look, his nose almost touching the ticket. The others watched him, waiting for the verdict.

Very slowly, with a slow grin spreading across his wrinkled features, Grandpa Joe lifted his head and looked straight at Charlie. The color was rushing to his cheeks, his eyes wide open and shining with joy and growing excitement. The old man took a deep breath and suddenly, without warning, an explosion of seemed to take place in him. He threw up his arms and cried out with joy. "Yippeeeeeeee!!" At the same, his long bony body rose up out of the bed and his dinner tray went flying to the floor, soup and all. In one fantastic leap, this old fellow jumped onto the floor and started a dance of victory right there in his pajamas.

"Yippeeeee!" He shouted. "Three cheers for Charlie! Hip, hip, hooray!"

At this point, Charlie's father walked into the room. He was cold and tired from shoveling sidewalks all day and looked it. He had just set his shovel by the door when he had heard all the commotion and at the sight of his father jumping around stopped him dead in his tracks. "Cripes! What's going on in here?" asked Jonathan, his brown eyes wide with surprise. It didn't take them long to tell Jonathan what had happened, seeing as everyone was talking at once.

"I don't believe it," he said, "It's not possible."

"Show him the ticket Charlie!" shouted Grandpa Joe, who continued to dance around his striped pajamas. "Show your father the fifth and last Golden Ticket in the world!"

"Let me see it Charlie," said Jonathan in a tired manner as he moved to the only chair in the room and collapsed down on it. He held out his hand to his son and Charlie came forward to give the precious ticket to his father.

"Read it aloud!" said Grandpa Joe, finally climbing back into his bed. "Let's all hear exactly what it says."

Jonathan held the ticket close as he read the fine print on the back of the ticket. He trembled slightly, appearing to be somewhat overwhelmed by the entire business. He cleared his throat and began to read aloud Mr. Wonka's personal message to the lucky finder. The contents of the ticket were pretty straight forward: A standard greeting, an explanation of what was in store for the finder, mostly surprises that they were to find out once they had arrived. On the very end of the message, Mr. Wonka had these instructions to give.

"…Here are your instructions: The day I have chosen for the visit is the first day of February. On this day, and no other, you must come to the factory gates at ten o'clock sharp in the morning. Don't be late! You are allowed to bring with you either one or two members of your family to look after you and to ensure that you don't get into mischief. One other thing- be certain to have this ticket with you, otherwise you will not be admitted.

(Signed) Willy Wonka"

"The first day of February?" asked Verity, who had been silent up until this point. She was leaning against the doorframe, her hazel eyes studying the ticket that her cousin-in-law held. "Isn't that tomorrow? I'm sure that today is the thirty first."

"I think your right Vee," Eliza said as she bent down to pick up the spilled dinner tray and soup Grandpa Joe had been so keen to knock over. "I believe Charlie found that ticket just in time…"

"Then there's not a moment to lose!" shouted Grandpa Joe. "Wash your face, comb your hair, and brush your teeth-."

"And for heaven's sake boy, get that mud off of your pants!" Grandpa George cut in, looking as terribly excited as Grandpa Joe.

"Now don't fluster poor Charlie," said Eliza as she got to her feet and set the tray aside. "We have to keep calm; this is a big deal for everyone. What we have do decide is this- who is going to the factory with Charlie?"

"I'll do it!" Grandpa George shouted, leaping out of bed once again and startling the other old people. "I'll take him! I'll look after him! You leave it to me!"

Eliza took in a gentle breath as she smiled at her father-in-law, a kind smile that did not go past Verity. Grandpa Joe may seem well enough now but he was a very old man with health issues that might need attending to should the stress be too much. Eliza looked at her husband then and gave a nod, "How about you dear? Shouldn't you go?"

Jonathan studied his wife, then his father and finally his son, a heartbeat past before he answered. "Well Liz, I'm not sure that I should…"

"But dear, you must-"

Jonathan held up his hand to cut off any protests and shook his head. "Mind you, I would love to go, it would be tremendously exciting. However… I can't afford take a day off and I think that the person who deserves to go most of all with Charlie is Grandpa Joe. He seems to know more about it than we do, provided he feels well enough of course." He looked at his father and smiled the moment Grandpa Joe let out a whoop and seized Charlie by the hands, pulling him around in a dance.

"Well, he certainly seems well enough," said Verity with a gentle laugh as she watched the old man and his grandson.

Eliza gave a nod in agreement but still seemed to be troubled by the thought. "Perhaps you're right… I just don't feel comfortable having Grandpa Joe go off by himself. I certainly can't go with them, I have to stay here and take care of mum and dad and Josephine…"

Charlie, who had finally managed to be released from Grandpa Joe's dancing, turned his mother and smiled. "Why doesn't Vee come with us? She was the one who bought the candy bar with the ticket inside. It only seems fair she should come along." He looked at his cousin then and his smile grew, a pleading look appearing in his brown eyes. "She can take care of Grandpa and me, I know she can."

Verity felt distinctly uncomfortable as all pairs of eyes in the room landed on her, a faint blush rising up in reaction to the sudden attention. Eliza smiled; her son's idea seemed to be just what she needed to clear her worry. She turned to her cousin, her smile expectant. "Verity…"

"No," Verity shook her head as she pushed off the doorframe. "No, I can't run off to tour some mug- some chocolate factory when you need my help here-."

"It would be of a great help to me if you went with Grandpa Joe and Charlie tomorrow." Eliza said, walking over to her cousin and taking her hand. "Please?"

Charlie ran over to grab Verity's other hand and put on the best pout he could muster. "Please Vee? Come with us?"

"Ah Verity, you deserve to go to this factory just as much as Charlie does!" Grandpa Joe exclaimed, rushing over to wrap a long, bony arm around his niece's shoulder.

It was hard to say no when there were such pleading looks coming from three very sincere faces. Verity closed her eyes and groaned, knowing that she was going to regret this decision as some point down the road. She tilted her head back, asked Merlin for patience, and let out a huge sigh. "All right, all right… I'll come." She said, amongst the sudden cheers that erupted from both Grandpa Joe and Charlie.

The sound of earnest knocking on the front door interrupted the touching family moment, the earnest knocking then turning to a banging. Jonathan got up from his chair, eased his way around his family and went to answer the door. A moment later, a swarm of reporters, cameramen and photographers rushed into the small home. They had tracked down the finder of the fifth Golden Ticket and they all wanted a story to air for the evening and morning news.

For several hours, there was complete chaos in the tiny home and it must have been near midnight before Jonathan Bucket was able to get rid of them so that Charlie could finally get to bed…

--

"I can't thank you enough Vee," Eliza said as they stood outside of her home. It was closed to one in the morning and Verity looked exhausted. Eliza leaned forward and pulled her cousin into a tight hug. "So much has changed since this morning and all it took was your showing up at our door."

Verity laughed a little and returned the hug. "I suppose but believe me when I say that I didn't plan on Charlie finding the last Golden Ticket."

"Well I don't doubt that," said Elisa with a laugh as she pulled away and smiled at her cousin. "You should get going, we'll see you early in tomorrow."

Verity nodded, wished her cousin goodnight, and left the Bucket's home. It didn't take her long to get to the inn and it was so late that there was no one about to see her open up the brick wall. The moment she entered the inn, she was greeted by candlelight from the pub area. As she walked past, she noticed that Donald was behind the bar and speaking with a wizard, the frown on his face indicating the seriousness of the conversation.

At the sound of her footsteps, Donald glanced her way and the frown eased just a bit. "Ah, here she is Ignatius. I told you she would be by when she was ready to."

Verity paused in mid-step, watching as the wizard turned around, a familiar head of short, well groomed, copper brown hair and a matching moustache revealing the wizard to be her older brother, Ignatius Prewett. From the frown that adorned her brother's face, Verity could only guess that his unexpected visit meant that it was for less than pleasant reasons…