It was the day before Easter and Diagon Alley was rammed full of people. Cassiopeia fiddled nervously with her new robes, finding them stifling in the heat of the spring sun and the overcrowded café. She took a nervous sip of her water, relishing the cool sensation it created as it slid down her throat and rested in her belly. She was waiting for Mrs Malfoy, though she was beginning to regret her choice of meeting place. She had not planned for the unseasonably warm weather before the holiday, and it seemed the heat had drawn larger than usual crowds to the shopping area. She had barely managed to snag a table outside the popular café, earning herself a dirty look from the proprietor when she only ordered a glass of water.
She pulled again at her robes, finding them a bit too stifling for the weather, and frowned when she caught a glimpse of her silver bracelet. It was nestled nicely next to her friendship bracelet that was twinned with one of her best friends, a muggle born witch, and the irony of such an existence almost broke her frown. She could only imagine what her mother would say if she found out. She shivered, she could only imagine what she would do if she ever found out.
Her dark thoughts were interrupted by her name being called, Mrs Malfoy stood in front of her table, looking both pleased to see her and appalled by the hustle of the café. She stood to greet her aunt, and wavered when the Malfoy matriarch made a move to embrace her. The woman paused, sensing the hesitation in the girl, and brought her arms back to her side, uncertainty flashing across her face. The look passed as she turned her attention to the busy café, sneering at the business before turning back to the girl with a warm smile.
"Happy late birthday Cassiopeia, I hope you enjoyed my gift. I was so pleased when you responded and suggested we go out. Did you have any place in mind…" she paused, distaste once again crossing her features as she looked at their environment, "or would you rather me choose?"
Cassiopeia flushed, gazing around at her surroundings. It was obvious Mrs Malfoy found the place beneath her, and honestly she wanted somewhere with a bit more privacy to commence her plan. She needed something from the Malfoy woman, and she did not want prying ears hearing her request. Though a dark part of her did enjoy seeing Mrs Malfoy obvious discomfited, and she briefly considered suggesting they stay where they were, just to watch her squirm a bit.
"Er, I had no place in mind. This was the only café I knew in Diagon Alley, so I thought it would be a good meeting point. I think you mentioned something about a place with cakes?" she scratched the back of her neck, pushing her curls more in her face. Mrs Malfoy beamed, "Patisserie Valerie, they have a wonderful chocolate cake that I think you would just find divine."
And so Cassiopeia found herself in a very quiet, very cool, and very expensive roof top café in Diagon Alley. Unlike most the places on the wizarding street, the café lacked the medieval or traditional charm and in its place was a bakery that was modern, and extremely fashionable. It made Cassiopeia twitch slightly, but with a deep breath she took a seat with Mrs Malfoy in a private booth overlooking the hustle down below on the street. It was the perfect place for the rich to look down on the commoners below, and Cassiopeia pulled at the sleeves of her robes awkwardly, reaching for the pot of tea that was placed on the table in front of them. She blushed deeply when her hands knocked that of the server, who was still holding the pot intent on making the tea for them. She muttered a quick apology and went back to looking at the people down below her doing their shopping and enjoying the unbearable heat.
Mrs Malfoy kept up a steady stream of mindless chatter, small talk and things that were both totally inconsequential and beyond the young girls care. She ate her cake, which was admittedly divine as promised, and nodded in what she hoped were the most important parts.
After an hour Narcissa had gleaned some very basic information about the girl, she enjoyed music, was interested in magical theory, charms, and transfiguration. She was not very fussed about any type of sport or game, but had been known to place checkers on occasion. From what she gathered Cassiopeia spent nearly all of her free time reading, and spoke nothing of having any friends or allies in her house.
Mrs Malfoy was observing her with sharp eyes, taking in her posture, her reaction to her conversation. In all truth Narcissa Malfoy was nervous, and an awful habit of hers from childhood was to use small talk as a method of easing the other party into their comfort zone. Cassiopeia however did not seem to respond well to her usual small talk, something that worked on the vast majority of the witches and wizards she met with. Though the more she thought about it the more Narcissa berated herself for thinking that any usual social conventions would work on the girl, they never did for either her mother or the aunt she resided with. It was time to change tact, a gamble certainly, but one she hoped would pay off.
Narcissa put her teacup down and signalled for the server to clear up their empty cake plates and to refill the tea. She examined the girl quietly once more, weighing her next move. Cassiopeia had her head ducked, her face covered mostly by unruly and untamed curls, and fidgeted in her seat.
"But of course, you really have no interest in small talk do you child?" She wasn't unkind about it, but her voice changed, flatter and more matter of fact. It was her real voice, one that was free of the flourishes, fake laughs, and the false softer, high notes that she adopted for social situations. This was a voice of a woman with a brain between her eyes, a woman who should not be underestimated. The change was subtle but it was enough to startle Cassiopeia into looking up at her aunt, question.
"It's not that I don't have an interest in it per se…." she trailed off, glancing away again, her cheeks colouring.
"But you didn't ask for this meeting to get to know each other or to gossip about the wizarding society. You want something." Narcissa was rarely so blunt, normally dealing with the machinations of fellow socialites, she found this liberating.
Cassiopeia fidgeted and Narcissa could practically see the girl's brain spinning, trying to figure out how to approach her aunt with whatever it was she wanted. Narcissa smiled softly, Cassiopeia seemed to be many things, but she still had a long way to go to be a tactful schemer. She knew the moment the girl gave up trying to think a way out of the situation, her shoulders slumped slightly, she clenched a fist nervously, and made direct eye contact with Narcissa, at least for a short extended period.
"I wanted to ask for your help." Her voice was quiet but strong, assured.
Narcissa nodded, keeping her face carefully blank. She had assumed as much.
"As you know, I am living with an aunt who was burned from the family, meaning she has no claim to any of the family assets. This put the family I live with in a certain er, financial state." She began, glancing away quickly, losing her nerve slightly.
"They're poor is what you are saying. And you want what, access to your inheritance so you can give it to certain burned family members." Years of practice hid the disappointment on Narcissa's face. It was always about money with people, and it seemed that her own estranged niece was no different.
"Well, yes and no. I do want access to the Lestrange vault but not to give to the Tonks. Ted has a well enough job but what I do not want is to have money being spent on my things such as clothing, school supplies, and such when I have my own money, somewhere." She swallowed, eyeing the older woman carefully, "and more importantly, there are a few purchases that I'd rather they not know about. Certain er…ingredients and books that have caught my eye that they would maybe not approve of."
Narcissa waved off the first part of her statement, "They took the responsibility of raising you, the least they should do is spend their own money to clothe you and feed you. If they can not do such a thing, then they should let you live with people who can."
She took a sip of her tea, raising an eyebrow and the most interesting part of the girls request, "and just what might these items be?"
Cassiopeia fidgeted again, and muttered under her breath. "One more time dear?" Narcissa asked pointedly. The girl sighed, "I am after a few potions, and a few books for purely academic reasons. Hexes, jinxes, and the like, I saw a few titles that I took an interest in. Titles that er... well my guardians definitely would not approve of." Cassiopeia averted her eyes once more and took another hasty sip of her tea.
Narcissa was quiet for a moment, observing the girl and thinking. She was slightly underwhelmed by the girl's intentions, but then what more could she expect. Narcissa had been absent from her life, and the only contribution she had in it recently was to buy her something. She supposed it was a place to start, but she hoped the girl would come to see her more than the rich aunt she was.
Now it was Cassiopeia's turn to examine the Malfoy woman as she thought, scrutinising her behind her curls. She was frowning and looking away in thought, mulling over her request.
"It's not just about your money." Cassiopeia blurted out, blushing again.
"I, well I mean I did want your help in gaining access to the family vault. But I guess, I was also curious about you. I er, barely remember you, from before. You brought me those chocolates, I remember that, er well you didn't intend them to be used as they were." She felt slightly nauseous recalling eating a few of the sweets and becoming horrifically ill as her father laughed. He had spiked a few pieces in the box to induce anything from uncontrollable dancing, standard stomach sickness, and one even made flames erupt from her ears, which promptly set her hair alight.
Narcissa opened her mouth, about to ask a question about them, looking slightly alarmed, but Cassiopeia plunged onward, not really wanting to go into details of her fathers actions. "I guess I was also curious if you were like your husband." She shrugged, uncertain how to proceed without insulting the woman.
Narcissa herself was uncertain how to take the girl, or how to even respond. It was clear they had a long way to go before they really establish a real relationship, but she supposed helping the girl with her inheritance would be as good of a starting point as any. Even if it was going to be used to attain certain questionable items that her guardians would disapprove of. The vault was after all her birthright. Narcissa sighed, taking a delicate sip of tea before nodding tightly.
"Fine, but you must only visit it with me, and I want you to promise me that you wont buy anything too dangerous. In fact, I want to know what you are buying. Or at least the shops you are going to."
Narcissa raised a hand, halting the girls objections, "I will neither judge you nor stop you from spending money on certain items that others may find questionable, knowledge is power. I do however wish for you to be safe."
Cassiopeia closed her mouth and scowled, furiously thinking of a loophole around this request, and reluctantly agreed. She would be vague about some of the things she bought certainly, but the woman did have a point. Cassiopeia knew first hand how dangerous magical objects could be if one wasn't careful. Merlin knew the Malfoy's had plenty of experience with the more frowned on aspects of magic.
And so the pair found themselves at Gringotts, Mrs Malfoy taking charge in the discussions over the ownership of the Lestrange bank vaults. After what seemed like hours of discussions, paperwork, and identification proceeds, Cassiopeia clutched a small, assuming, iron key. There were restrictions on her vault access, Narcissa demanded it of the goblins; Cassiopeia was the only person allowed access to the vault. The only relative allowed to go in with her was Narcissa herself, no one else and no one could enter on her behalf. She had to be physically present.
It was late in the afternoon when the pair left the bank and Narcissa was quiet as she walked the girl back to the Leaky Cauldron so she could floo home. They walked slowly, basking in the residual heat of the sun that lingered in the now shaded areas of the street. Cassiopeia fiddled with her robes awkwardly and kept looking at the Malfoy woman. "I-er—I'm sorry Mrs Malfoy. You must think I was just using you for my own gain. I well, I'm not good at this." She gestured between them awkwardly and grimaced. "I mean, I don't socialise well, especially with people who know about my erm, well past. And well, not only do you know about it, you saw it, some of it. And your husband was there, for some of it too, I remember that clearly. I guess, I am uh, I'm trying to move beyond all of that, and well, you kind of are a part of all of er everything and well…" she was rambling, trying to articulate what she was feeling, while also conscious they were in a public place. "I guess it's just hard, nobody else knows about me. Really knows. And I guess I want to keep it that way."
Narcissa had stopped them and gazed at the girl standing before her. She was hiding again, shrinking away from any contact that Narcissa had tried to initiate, and she felt such sadness and regret well up inside of her, threatening to choke her. In that moment she cursed her sister, cursed her for causing such uncertainty and sadness in the young girl, for inflicting such wounds. And it was clear her husband had some role in the girls traumatic past, something she would be having a conversation with him about in the very near future. She couldn't help the girl if she didn't know what she had been through, but judging from her demeanour, she had been through hell.
"I want to keep trying Cassiopeia, I truly do wish to be a part of your life. The past was filled with darkness and sorrow, and while we cant change that, we can move on and grow. We are all moving on, myself, Lucius, and your cousin, Draco, all of us. We are in a time of peace, without such threats looming on the horizon. Cassiopeia focus on being you, whoever that may be, and I hope that you can find a place for me in your future as I would be truly honoured to be a part of it."
Cassiopeia nodded and the pair slowly started walking towards the pub once again. They remained silent until Cassiopeia was standing in near the threshold of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, her hand hovering over the floo powder she paid a knut for.
"Mrs Malfoy—"
"Please, Narcissa dear." Narcissa interrupted her.
"Aunt Narcissa-" she swallowed, embarrassed once more, "Andromeda wanted me to ask you about going shopping for er new robes. She thought you would have more success than she has had. Though I don't know why she wants me to go shopping for more clothes, I have four perfectly fine sets of robes. Why would I need any more?" she huffed irritably, remembering their argument and failed shopping trip earlier in the year.
Narcissa was surprised when laughter escaped her as she imagined what pains her estranged sister might have had trying to deal with the recalcitrant girl. Andromeda had never been one for shopping, and it seemed it was a feature Cassiopeia also possessed. "Of course dear, perhaps after Easter before you return to school?" she asked, mirth dancing in her eyes as she remembered youthful shopping trips with her sister.
Cassiopeia nodded quickly, swallowing her knee jerk rejection. She really didn't see the point of shopping for more clothes when she already had more than she'd ever had before in her life. But equally she didn't want to alienate the Malfoy matriarch. She seemed like a nice enough lady, at least so far. And she also seemed like someone who enjoyed shopping
"I'll need to check with er, well you know. But I'm sure after Easter will be fine. I don't think it'll be a problem. Dromeda will probably be relieved, she doesn't seem to like shopping very much." Cassiopeia scratched the back of her head, not missing the way Mrs Malfoy twitched at the sound of her sisters name. It was a sensitive issue, and if there were still remaining Black family members alive they would surely frown on Narcissa even speaking to her, regardless of her circumstances.
"Thank you Aunt Narcissa, for everything. I er, I hope I get better at this." And with a final awkward smile before disappearing into the floo network back home.
xxxx
Her birthday party was planned for after the Easter holiday and was a quiet affair. Cassiopeia opted to have part of it at the local arcade, much to the delight of the Mr Weasley who was immediately taken by the brightly coloured flashing machines. His vocalisations of awe was met with many an odd look and gossip amongst the other patrons, meaning the locals gave the group a very wide berth in the arcade. It was perfect for Cassiopeia, Mr Weasley scaring away all the muggles with his strangeness meant she rarely had to wait in line to play a particular game. She had naively invited Mr Weasley to play with her on a 2 player fighting game, but his excitement overcame him and Ted had to politely intervene before he either had a stroke from excitement or caused enough ruckus for the group to be kicked out.
Nymphadora was stuck on Space Invaders and Cassiopeia took turns with Constance and Daniel in playing the fighting games. The whole Weasley clan was in attendance, and while Charlie stayed glued to the trio of first years, his older brother bill pestered Nymphadora for a turn at Space invaders. Charlie's younger brother Percy was perched in a stall carefully eating pizza and trying to converse with the adults, while the twins used to arcade as a large hide and seek arena. Cassiopeia was a little rusty and had a few close scrapes with loss, but ultimately pulled out ahead of her two best friends and Charlie. It was the most she had spoken to Charlie since the summer before, he was so relaxed without his friends around and he was finally able to speak his mind and talk about something that wasn't quidditch.
Constance's parents were pleased to be in a such a normal setting and found Mr Weasley highly amusing, they were soon helping Ted reign in the wizards awestruck giddiness and Daniels parents, one of whom was a half blood, were having an animated in depth conversation with Andromeda over some television show. Most exciting however was Cassiopeia's new tapes she picked up the day before, during a surprise trip to a local record store, the trio sat taking turns on with the tape deck while the others played a round on the game cabinet.
Cassiopeia was in a great mood not only because she was surrounded by the few friends and family she had, though that was definitely a large part of her good mood. She was ecstatic because the party was the culmination of what had been one of the best weeks of her life. Easter had been a brilliantly quiet affair, with Ted's parents once again opting for an international vacation instead of having a family dinner. She had met up with her Aunt Narcissa one more time and had managed to have a good time despite her general displeasure with shopping trips. But aside from buying a few new robes that weren't terrible, she had managed to use her new found funds to put into motion a plan that would help her significantly with her nightmare problems and day to day exhaustion, meaning her next term at Hogwarts would go smoothly and that she would have no problem with her work load as the end of term exams approached.
And so she boarded the Hogwarts express to go back for her final term of her first year at school in good spirits. She had purchased a few more books on magical theory and muggle electrical currents, and curled up in the corner of her train cart with her headphones firmly in place to begin her reading. Her friends, rolling their eyes at her bookish ways, played a game of exploding snap and conversed amongst themselves about their Easter holidays and a few muggle television shows.
Xxx
It was less than a week before Cassiopeia found herself back in detention. This time it was Professor Quirrell who caught her, assigning her two weeks to serve with him and deducted 10 house points. She had been in a busy corridor between classes when she caught a second year Slytherin casting a jinx in her direction. Cassiopeia deflected it back at the boy, causing him to be hoisted into the air by his ankle. She smirked as she watched the student flap about in a panic, but her mirth was short lived when she felt the Professor's hand on her shoulder.
It had been worth it, and serving detention with Quirrell had so far proved to be one of the easiest and enjoyable detentions she had served yet. Initially he had her writing lines about not jinxing students, but soon they both got so distracted by academic conversations. Quirrell was a rather easy man for Cassiopeia to speak to, and once enticed into a subject that he was particularly interested in, he could speak about it for ages. So her detentions slowly morphed from writing lines to spending the evenings doing extra research and writing papers for Quirrell. Most students would have found the extra schoolwork punishment, but given the topics were directly related to her side research project, she actually relished the time allowed.
She was also helped by her solution to her nightmares and general day-to-day exhaustion. She had realised that the opportunities for caffeine were too limited for it to realistically sustain her, so Cassiopeia had put into motion a new plan over the Easter holiday. She had gone to an apothecary in Knockturn Alley the morning before meeting with Mrs Malfoy for her shopping trip, and had purchased a bi-weekly supply of dreamless sleep potions and pepper up potions, all to be delivered to her at Hogwarts. She had paid a pretty knut for such a privilege, but she was finding a few sips of dreamless sleep before bed, a fraction of the usual dose, helped her sleep through the night peacefully and left her feeling well rested. The pepper up potion she carried on her person and sipped throughout the day, during moments when she felt the familiar onslaught of fatigue. She was careful to limit her doses, carefully keeping track of them so she could hopefully keep her tolerance down, but so far they were working marvellously. She was feeling great and was accomplishing so much more in her waking hours now that she wasn't constantly fighting the fog of fatigue.
In an effort to limit her dependency on the potions, Cassiopeia often took one of two nights a week without them, and instead cast her usual silencing spells. It was during one of these potion-less nights when she woke up in the dead of night with her body wracked in imaginary residual pain from her dream. Her nightmare had been vague, not a specific memory, but instead filled with the Cruciatus curse. More importantly the nightmare and her tingling nerve endings had given her a flash of inspiration for her electrical spell project. She nearly fell out of bed in her haste to grab a quill and some parchments from her bag before scrawling out her questions and hypotheses down before her half asleep mind forgot them.
As she woke up more and the phantom pains faded she reviewed her notes, feeling equal parts trepidation and excitement. She really thought she was onto something, though she wasn't quite certain how to approach the professor about it.
She sat on her idea for two days before finally finding an opportunity to bring them up with Professor Quirrell. It was during her detention; she was reading a book about different curses and their corresponding punishments in the wizarding justice system, as set down by the international confederation. She gulped, even with the research giving her some entrance into the topic, she still hesitated. This conversation could go very poorly very quickly if she wasn't careful and could lead to some very uncomfortable questions about her past.
"Professor, do you remember when you were introducing me to spell diagrams and we spoke briefly about curses, and how they were fuelled by emotion."
Quirrell hummed, his finger marking his place in the book he was reading at his desk as he looked at his student, raising his eyebrows.
"Er, well, I've heard about one curse, just in passing of course, I obviously don't know much about it, but I you know, hear stories…" she trailed off and the professor raised his eyebrows even further, silently urging her to get to her point.
"Well, you know how the body has something called a nervous system? That is controlled by electrical impulses. In the muggle world they can use external electrical input to stimulate these nerves to cause different sensations in these body, corresponding to nerve endings, using it for behavioural therapy or for well, as a weapon to incapacitate someone."
Professor Quirrell couldn't raise his eyebrows any further so he settled with another hum, confirming he knew of the nervous system.
"Well, I just had a thought. Right now, obviously. Well, I have heard of a curse that causes phantom pains, supposedly excruciating for the victims, and yet the victims have no physical damage to them despite feeling as if a thousand knives were stabbing them whilst simultaneously being set on fire. Er, well, so I've heard at least." She coughed, averting her eyes and rubbed her neck nervously, "well, I just thought, maybe this curse is stimulating the electrical system in the body. Causing the pain signals to fire. And if this magic is interacting with an electrical field, perhaps even emulating certain electrical pulses, maybe well, I don't know…" she blushed noting the professor staring at her with his brow slightly furrowed.
He scrutinised the girl, his brain whirring as he processed her idea. After a minute or so of silence Cassiopeia had to break it, "never mind, it was a stupid idea. Forget I ever mentioned it." She murmured, bowing her head towards her book and flipping a few pages.
"Nonsense." Quirrell muttered, still staring at her, his eyes unfocused as he thought, she flushed in embarrassment. Of course it had been a stupid idea. "It's a rather interesting thought. One that merits some more research, but it is indeed a promising lead. The Cruciatus curse, that's the name of the curse you were recalling. It's forbidden, illegal to even cast it," His eyes focussed on her again, narrowing slightly, she hid behind her curls.
"Oh, that's what its called, I didn't know." She tried to sound innocent, trying to carefully construct a surprised face. She wasn't sure she pulled it off judging from the look on his face.
However his eyes slowly unfocused once more as his thoughts raced and he began nodding his head, thinking through the possibilities. "But there might be some more information on its mechanics in the forbidden section. Perhaps." He trailed off, still thinking. "Of course the Cruciatus requires a very strong intent and hatred to cast. But I suppose its nature does interact with electrical currents, albeit ones that are already active. But it also must be simulating those same currents, having the same effect as if the real thing." He scribbled a few things down; she could see it was a rough spell diagram as he tried to unravel how the curse might look in its basest form.
This continued for about ten minutes, him muttering under his breath and Cassiopeia straining to hear. From what she could make out, it seemed as if Quirrell had more than a casual knowledge of the curse, she didn't think he had ever cast it, but seemed to have certainly studied in more than a passing interest. He finally glanced at his pocket watch, glancing at her in surprise.
"O-oh. It seems that is all the time we have for tonight Miss Tonks. I will have to do some more research, but tomorrow evening we can begin discussing whether this curse has some usable components for our little project."
The next evening found Quirrell poring over a large, menacing book on his desk, with everything else cleared away. Cassiopeia couldn't quite explain why she felt the book was menacing, something about it just seemed off. It gave her the chills and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She hovered a few meters away from his desk, eyeing the book warily. She didn't really wish to get any closer to it.
"A-ah. Miss Tonks." Quirrell snapped the book shut and carefully stowed it below his desk. Even while it was out of sight she could still feel its aura, it was thick and slimy, making her skin crawl.
"I spent most of last night and this evening looking into your hypothesis, and I think we may be onto something." He gestured to a chalk board was filled with detailed scribbles of various spell diagrams, white smudges indicating areas that he scrubbed away in a fit of frustration or enlightenment.
"The curse does not just interact with the bodies natural electrical impulses, it simulates them, if you look here—" he started explaining the diagram to the wide eyed first year, speaking almost feverishly as he chased the inspiration.
In all truth most of what Quirrell was saying went over her head. But it was a promising move in the right direction and hopefully would lead to a functioning spell.
Their progress picked up after Quirrell had his minor breakthrough, and Cassiopeia was relieved to never see that menacing book he found the spell in again. Soon she was balancing writing progress reports for the headmaster, and Professors Flitwick and Snape, as well as studying for end of the year exams. She sipped at the pepper up potions mindlessly, always when she had a moment alone, and spent more and more of her free time in the library.
So wrapped up in her studies she barely noticed the Slytherin's hexing campaign against her. It had become so commonplace that casting a standard shield charm became second nature. She rarely even lifted her head from whatever she was reading to retaliate.
Not to say that she took the harassment lying down. That would be showing weakness, she orchestrated her own pranks on her dorm mates. From leaving slugs in their shoes, planting spiders in their beds, to sabotaging bathroom products, to quietly spreading rumours that sowed discontent amongst the girls. She was subtle about it, capitalizing on the fact that a few of her fellow dorm mates were childish enough to keep diaries, and were foolish enough to not ward said diaries with any type of protections. She quietly made copies of key pages and left them in carefully chosen places around the school where she knew interested parties would find them.
Quirrell's excitement over their progress wore off as he gradually hit a dead end. They had managed to get the tape player to turn on, and to begin playing music, but the effect only lasted a short time before it fizzled out into inactivity.
Soon the end of term drew near and the prospect of listening to music again over the summer was buoying Cassiopeia's mood over their failure to create a spell to power muggle devices.
It became an obsession of sorts, dominating her every thought, the sooner she could finish her exams, the sooner she could go back to the Tonks, and read what she wanted to and get lost in her own world.
A little over a year ago all she wanted to do was come to Hogwarts, and now she couldn't wait to leave it, at least for a little while.
And so with all of her exams done, and with her final study session with Professor Quirrell, where she effusively thanked the man for helping her throughout the term, she was soon boarding the Hogwarts Express bound for London.
A/N So I am not very happy with how the Diagon Alley scene turned out, it was like pulling teeth writing that particular passage. Summer holidays are up next.
tibys