It was a couple days after my battle with a crazed Sorcerer; the White Council had lifted my Doom of Damocles sentence due to the capture of a dangerous Warlock, and the protecting of a family in danger of said Warlock. Morgan had saved my life, after suspecting me of being the one to kill all of the people who had died during the past three nights. I'd found out that the man behind the killings was using the power of the thunder storms to fuel his dark rituals.

In the end I ended up confronting him in his house by the lake, which ended up burning down along with his huge supply of the drug Three Eye which gave normal people the Wizard Sight, which allows us to see things in their true form, the one most people don't see. I'd alienated Murphy by not telling her the whole story, and I was now in a strange little shopping center with Charlie, Harry, and Hermione, it was turning out to be one of those weeks.

I had Bob in a small pouch on the inside of my duster, and he had confirmed that the place we were in was indeed called Diagon Alley. So we had proceeded to do our shopping, and honestly it was great. There were things in this wizarding shopping center that I'd never seen before, the coolest being flying broomsticks which the owner told me had varying levels of speed and agility, and were used to play some sort of all wizard sport called Quidditch.

However we couldn't get anything because the money that these wizards used wasn't standard currency, it was golden, silver, and bronze coins, called Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. The shop keeper told us that we could open an account at the wizarding bank called Gringotts, and exchange what he called, Muggle money, for Galleons and the like. So we went straight there, after getting directions from a kindly fellow in what looked like a green bathrobe, and a pointy hat.

At the doors were two fae of the Winter Queen's court. "Goblins! Goblins run this bank Harry!" Bob was as excited to see all of this as I was. The kids were enjoying themselves as well; even Charlie was, though she was trying to be the 'mature' one. Inside, there was a wall with a poem on it warning thieves that to steal from this bank would end in the thief's death. Knowing the Unseelie (winter) fae, I knew that the threat wasn't an empty one.

We walked up to the main desk, and a goblin who was very ugly, even for his kind, spoke; "Names!"

"Dresden, Potter, Granger, and…" I looked at Charlie who nodded, "…Black."

"Potter? Does Mr. Potter have his key?"

"Key?"

"Yes Mr. Potter has a vault here in Gringotts, left to him by his parents, Lily and James Potter." The goblin spoke almost with reverence when he spoke of James and Lily Potter.

"Uhhh, no, we were never informed of Harry's vault." I answered.

"Come with me." The goblin said shortly. He jumped down from his perch and stood at knee level with me, chest level with the kids, and waist level with Charlie. We followed him into a room that looked to be sound proofed. The door slammed behind us as soon as we entered, five goblin guards drew weapons, swords, and axes mostly, but the one we had followed drew a malicious looking mace.

"Mr. Potter, please come with me, this man is dangerous," The lead goblin said.

"No he isn't he saved me!" Harry's defense of my actions was noble, but I wasn't about to let him get hurt because of me.

"Kid, take Hermione and go with the goblins you won't be hurt, am I right?" The goblin nodded, "NO! Say it!"

"They will be safe."

"Do you promise?"

"They will be safe."

"Once more just to clarify."

"They will be safe."

A fae, lives by rules, rules that it cannot break, on of those rules being the rule of three, something said thrice is a promise which a fae cannot break. After the goblin said his third sentence, I pushed the children over to him.

"The word he gave is good, don't give them trouble, I promise I will see you again. Four goblins, two per child escorted the children to an antechamber, four more took their places, and the lead goblin tilted his head at me.

"You know of our rules?" He asked puzzled as to how a mortal could possibly know of the rule of three.

"Yes, now drop the act, you winter court lackey." Again the goblin was taken aback at how I knew so much. "Do what you will, I'll have you know, this will not end quietly."

"No, I think it will. Sheath your weapons." The goblins around us did as commanded. "You look almost familiar to me Mr?"

"I already told you! Dresden!" The goblin's eyes widened and all of the goblins around us started talking amongst themselves. It was my turn to be confused. Looking around, I saw portraits of a woman, she was human, her eyes were deep brown, almost black, her cheekbones high, but not too high, she had a shapely body, and she seemed to almost stare into you, even through the pictures.

I felt the all too familiar tug of the soul gaze, and was instantly teleported into a mindscape so very different from any I'd been in previously, that I thought for a moment that I was in the mind of a Fae. Then I began to see things, mortal things, that I recognized. A picture of my mother and father, holding hands, side by side, the bracelet I now wore on my wrist lying on an endtable along with the same pendant I wore around my neck. Turning a full 180 degrees, I saw the room I grew up in, the one my father had barely paid for on his measly salary as a stage magician. Tears sprung to my eyes and I fell to my knees.

Soon I felt a presence at my side, and a hand on my shoulder. I looked up into the same deep brown eyes, as in the picture, the same deep brown eyes I'd dreamed I'd see somewhere other than a picture since I was old enough to know who they belonged to.

The deep brown eyes belonged to my mother, Margaret Gwendolyn.